I have great news. I have finally, finally purchased my all-time favorite movie.
On sale at HEB tonight there it was, sitting pretty on an end-cap display. Waiting for me. And I did not hesitate to drop that pretty little thing right in my basket. Actually I was on the phone with my dad and I got real quiet and I think I whispered "no way. Dad...this is a momentous occasion. I am finally going to buy my all-time favorite movie."
And then I ended up forgetting half of the things I actually went there to buy. No worries though. I have finally begun to start the collection of my all-time favorite movies. And here they are, in case you were just dying to know!
The Saint The Thomas Crown Affair For Love of the Game The Notebook And there's one more but I'm forgetting it. I'll go ahead and add the new Star Trek in its place. Because I'm geeky like that.
Ahh, it's wonderful! New pens and notebooks, textbooks, novels, bookstores. It's time to dust off the old brain and begin a new semester of college.
And I think I love it.
Actually what I really love is getting organized. I love planning everything out and marking things in my calendar. I like figuring out a schedule and laying out books in the order they need to be read. Just makes me happy.
There's something about the hustle and bustle of a busy campus that I enjoy too. Of course, don't get me wrong, there are days where I am loathe to rub shoulders with one more frat boy or run up another three flights of stairs (because I don't want to be that one person that everyone judges for taking the elevator).
So far, so good though. I go up six flight of stairs twice a day Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I'm hoping that at least by October I won't be huffing and puffing quite so much. And the calf/thigh burn actually is quite nice. Feels like I can get a work out and go to class all in one go. No more trading one for the other. Ha!
But there will always be a fight between class and sleep. This morning I woke up at 7:03, 7:26, 7:48, 8:03, and for the last time at 8:24. I can't help it. I have two alarms; both of which stay on the other side of the room and I just go back and forth between my bed and my desk turning off alarms, practically asleep before I fall back into bed each time. Mornings are a beautiful thing! That's why I wake up so many times. I just want to relive it over and over.
I'm pretty sure I told you all about my Professor Snape. I've started a list in my notes keeping track of the new thing he hates each day. If you recall the first of the list is 'women and believers.' Now it also reads: children, Scots, Welsh, pirates. Today he finally just owned up to it and said "I hate everybody if you haven't figured it out yet. Don't take it personally. So many people do. I just don't like you." And I thought, "Finally!" You have to read that in Snape's tone of voice to get the full effect:
I don't think you have to watch the whole clip to get the picture; the first 40 seconds works well enough!
We also begin every lecture session with a loud, hearty bark that begins deep in the old man's cigarette tarnished lungs and comes forth as a gravelly growl. Then he coughs, says "ALRIGHT you lot. Let's get on with it. (pause) HISTORY of Rome. Now that's a fair topic, wouldn't you say? Easy to sum up, is it? WRONG! Not much is known about the origins. BUT let's begin. That's why they pay me now, ISN'T IT?" (Capitalized words are shouted). He is a riot! I think I may actually like his old curmudgeonly self in the end.
In my British Novel in the 20th Century class we've been watching a film about D.H. Lawrence, author of Sons and Lovers which we've begun reading. The film is hosted by Anthony Burgess (author of Clockwork Orange) and is hilarious though it's not meant to be. He waxes poetic about many things, and condemns women for being lazy during the 20th century while the men go to the coal mines. If he had even read D.H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers (which was based on Lawrence's life) he would be fully aware that women do, in fact, work themselves nearly to death.
But I digress.
I just spent $221 at the bookstore today. That's the part I always hate about new semesters. I've bought about 22 or 23 texts. And that's the other part I hate about new semesters: staring down the reading lists and realizing that I will spend the next five months being bogged down with mandatory reading assignments.
Bright light on the horizon! I'm about 95% sure I'm going to Colorado for a little vacation. I am ecstatic! I love road trips. And I love Colorado. I remember going on trips with youth ministry when I was in the ministry and then as a leader. The bus/plane/train ride was always the best part for me. Once we got to where we were going I was ready to turn around and go back. That's the best part about traveling anyways: the getting there.
26 August 09 E379S Poets & Punks: English Culture After 1945 Professor Nehring => enemy of modernism & Master of Tangents "Why uselessness is a virtue" tangent Beatles are irrelevant because they were "nice guys" Rolling Stones => anti-Beatles "Bloody Mick Jagger" #1 curse word in 70s in Britain(?)
26 August 09 HIS 321M: Rome through Death of Julius Caesar Final Wed 9 Dec 7-10 pm Professor Morgan => DumbledoreSNAPE IRL (in real life) Hates women and believers. Great.
Be jealous. Be very jealous that you are not in these two most interesting/awkward classes.
This weekend my roommate and I went to a show at this venue called Wyldwood. It is such a cool place. It's someone's house (Andrew & Amy) and they use their backyard as the venue. The deck is the stage with twinkling lights wrapped around the trees, although I guess they don't twinkle. There's a suggested $10 donation; people bring lawn chairs or blankets, a bottle of wine, appetizers or whatever you plan to eat and the hosts provide hot dogs and usually s'mores. They haven't had s'mores the last few times because there's a burn ban in effect, but hopefully later this year they will.
I love this place.
It's so quaint and slightly magical. I love the atmosphere and the fact that a bajillion people aren't there, talking over the music. Usually just roommate and I go, and it's really fun. This past Saturday Danny Malone was playing. He's not one of my favorites, though roommate loves him. However this past week he redeemed himself in my eyes. It probably helped that he was hammered and hilarious and I had just eaten the most amazing dinner of chicken potstickers and stone ground wheat crackers with goat's cheese paired with a Fresca sitting on a picnic blanket under a starry sky with twinkle lights in the foreground. What can I say? I'm classy like that. Please excuse my camera phone.
Yesterday (technically last night around 1 am) I finished my fourth quilt top. I think it's my favorite. I need to see about getting my mom to quilt it the next time I'm in Houston. I'm ready to take it on my next picnic/Wyldwood visit already. I should invest in a real camera; the colors are so much better in real life.
Classes start tomorrow. Wicked at the Bass Concert Hall Thursday. And Michaela and Megan are hanging out in Austin this weekend! Michaela I'm so excited that you're coming to visit!
My friend Kara just introduced me to this thing called Take Away Shows. Basically, the organizer invites different bands to play in weird places - alley ways, restaurants, streets, etc. Most of the videos seem to be in Paris. He connects them to a microphone and achieves the most amazing sound quality. What you see them singing in the video is what they're singing right then. Phenomenal. So so many of the bands are ones I love: Bon Iver, Guillemots, Vampire Weekend (the audio on "Kids Don't Stand A Chance" is unreal!) Sufjan Stephens, The Kooks, and Jason Mraz even did a few videos (which truly showcase his talent. Sometimes I write him off, but then I remember his concert I went to years back...the guy can sing).
Two of them you must absolutely, absolutely watch. Absolutely.
First one is Arcade Fire. No joke, they get in an elevator and one guy is ripping pages out of a magazine to create...just an awesome cohesive sound. This video is particularly long, but worth it. Did I mention they were IN an ELEVATOR?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-5XK-2Ufd4
AND! If you've seen the Where the Wild Things Are trailer and wondered what that awesome song was, they perform it at the end of the video. If you just want to watch that part (don't be lame watch the whole video) you can jump to about 8:50 right before they start. Sigh, I would have loved to have been there. I have it playing in the background right now. So. Good!
The second that you must see is Sigur Ros. And if you've never heard anything by Sigor Ros....it's like you're experiencing something spiritual. They're an Icelandic band and it's just too beautiful to describe. I, mm, honestly just love Sigur Ros. Que belle!
So, let me just make it easy on you: Take Away Shows: All Artists Personally, I think you should view the French side of the website, but I just like French, so don't stress yourself out trying to translate things.
I hope that link works. If it doesn't, google "take away shows"
It's a good song. Listen to it. Haven't watched the video so I can't vouch for what it's about, but the song is good.
Did I mention the song is good? Or did I mention that I finished my class this morning? Or that I'm TWELVE hours shy of graduating? Did I? Well, shoot. Let me tell you!
Also, happy birthday to my roommate! Off to El Chilito for tacos and beer (or soda).
Is there such a thing? I was just on a study break to eat dinner and realized that I could follow dinner with a few Oreo's for dessert. As I was eating the first one I wondered if there was a proper way to eat an Oreo. The first one I just straight up dunked in my soy milk (which, if you haven't tried soy milk: it's wonderful); the second cookie I opened up with the intent of getting all the icing on one side, licked the icing off, stuck the cookie back together and then dunked it in milk; the last one I opened up, ate the icing and then dunked each side in separately to prolong the goodness that is Oreo. But my question remains: is there a proper way to eat an Oreo? How do you eat an Oreo? Does it matter? Has my brain begun to melt with the influx of Arab history material?
I feel the answer to all of these questions is: I don't know.
Maybe I will one day explore and formulate a thesis that analyzes a person's personality by the way they eat their Oreo's. I have feeling that those who don't consume Oreo's are going to score extremely poor.
And for all of my hard work I think I will reward myself with one more Oreo. Because hey, twenty-four hours from now I will only be 12 credit hours away from being an alumna. Six years in the making. Holla! And Hook 'Em!
12 August 2009
Here's the quilt top I started last weekend. It's not completely finished - I still need to put borders on it. But the blocks are all assembled and put together. My camera phone doesn't really do it any favors, but the colors are a lot brighter in real life.
And, when I moved my sewing machine and sewing table up this past weekend I found the first two quilt tops I ever made.
I can't remember which of the two I made first...probably the green one, maybe. I know I was living in Huntsville at the time so it was between three and four years ago. I love sewing. I wish I had my mother's eye for color.
This past Friday I drove to my parents' house in Houston for a short visit. They're leaving to go on vacation next weekend so I wanted to see them before they left and I had a few things to pick up/drop off as well. While I was there, my mom and I picked out some fabrics for a new quilt that I'm making.
I'll upload a picture of the quilt top once I finish it. The pattern is called "Turning Twenty" and you may have guessed this, but it requires 20 different fabrics. The blocks turned out to be a little dark after assembly, but when I cut them down to size I cropped the darker fabrics out so it's not quite so masculine looking. I also bought fabric for another quilt pattern that I'll start soon after the first quilt top is completed. I'm really excited about that quilt because I love the colors we found. Hopefully I'll have some time this weekend after my final.
Speaking of class, I can't believe this session is almost over. I have a paper due Wednesday and a final on the 15th, which is Saturday (!!!). Today class was canceled which was a wonderful blessing because I seriously needed to catch up on some reading and some sleep.
I carried my kayak down with me this weekend too, think I mentioned that last time. Here's a picture of my dad kayaking. The ducks were a little bewildered and I think my dad got a kick out of following them around.
After my dad tired himself and the ducks out, I got in for a spin around the little lake. On my way back in I heard the fountain turn on...you better believe I turned right around and paddled through the fountain/under the spray until my kayak had taken on about as much water as I felt comfortable with. SO. MUCH. FUN! The water was incredibly dirty though and smelled pretty foul - there's a large-ish duck population. But did I mention that it was ridiculously fun?
If you're reading this on RSS feed, get yourself over to my actual blog and check out the new layout which cost me 6 oz of sanity and a good night's sleep. I used a custom blog template and then changed EVERYTHING. See that purple navigational bar? It was lobster red and not meant to be customized. I printed out the codes (17 pages worth) and read until I found the right code. There was a lot of trial and error, but it was worth it. I re-acquainted myself with Photoshop (forgot just how awesome that program is) and re-familiarized myself with html too. I'm a proud mama! If only I could figure out how to tweak the header so that it stretched further across...
This morning I took my dad and my kayak to one of the neighborhood lakes so he could try it out. I think he really enjoyed it. I took some pictures on my phone; I'm trying to figure out how to get those off the microSD card and onto the computer. I'll work on it. I feel like I'm catching up with technology today!
I've also been working on a quilt top since I've been at my parents' (just since yesterday afternoon). I'll get a picture of that too. Now ask me how much reading I've done and how much progress I've made on my paper? Ah, oh well. There are more important things in life. Like family. And I love mine.
I don't ever really commit anything to memory. Just now I was presently surprised when I (re)discovered the classes I'm taking in the fall. In no particular order:
History of Rome: The Republic British Novel in 20th Century U.S. Foreign Relations, 1776-1914 Senior Seminar - I'm pretty sure this is: British Punks and Poets, English Culture after WWII... or something like that.
Should be really interesting. 12 hours left after this summer session ends next week. What on Earth am I going to do come December? Ideas?
Also, I'm going to need the heat to go away. My flower garden is wilting. Very sad. And oh yeah, it's a zillion degrees in our house. So a cool front would be nice too. Just saying... =)
05 August 2009
Can anyone help me with my blog? I designed a new header today, but A) I did it in Publisher and it will probably have to be re-done in Photoshop, and B) I'm going to need to reformat everything else too to match. I've forgotten all the coding stuff that I used to know. Suggestions?
I might need to move to Colorado or somewhere in the Carolinas or even Seattle. I have a semi-estranged aunt and uncle and several older cousins who live on the coast of North Carolina near the Outer Banks (love, love, LOVE the OBX area). Perhaps they would let me visit for a while.
Mostly I just need a road trip with my kayak. Not a trip in my kayak, mind you. I wouldn't get very far. But a trip with my kayak where I can get into some new waters.
There's a possibility of going to Colorado in September. You better believe I've considered my kayak as the one thing I desperately want to take along , right after my memory foam mattress. However, it would probably be a huge inconvenience to everyone along on the trip so I will undoubtedly leave it at home.
Just know, however, that I have begun to itch for a new adventure destination and it most assuredly involves my little boat.
I'm a twenty-something adventure-seeker, though often lazy. Music moves me, life inspires me, salvation frees me, gardening relaxes me, kayaking soothes me, and cooking is just plain fun.
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