Good start.

Miniature snowman made on the first day of Christmas Break.

'Nuff said.

The Infinite Book List

Christmas Break is coming, which means reading reading reading!! I don't know how many books I will be able to finish, but I might as well compile this list of book I am wanting to read, so that if I continue to have time into next semester, I will have plenty to choose from!

Yay!

Kurt Vonnegut:
  :  Mother Night
  :  God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
  :  Welcome to the Monkey-House
  :  Happy Birthday, Wanda June
  :  Slapstick
  :  Jailbird
  :  Palm Sunday
  :  Armageddon in Retrospect

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
All Quiet on The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarq
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner

Stephen King:
  :  Pet Semetary
  :  Needful Things
  :  The Shining
  :  The Dark Tower Series
  :  Misery



I know it's a crime that I haven't read some of these books. I will continue to add to this list as I see fit. I looked at some "100 books you MUST read" lists and I was surprised to see that I have actually read a lot of them. Go ahead and comment and suggest books for me to read!

What makes me laugh = what makes me

I thought I would just compile a list of the web comics and blogs that I read on the reg. I don't feel complete if something doesn't update on time and I can't look at it around 10pm. There are tons of other comics that I have checked out, but it takes something really special to capture my interest and make me a regular reader.

Note: Yes, I am aware that the first two are "lesbian" web comics. I love the artists quirky style and stories, plus I like boobs?

I Was Kidnapped By Lesbian Pirates from Outer Space
Yu+Me: Dream
Stick 'Em Up
XKCD the nerdiest web comic EVAR
A Softer World
Perry Bible Fellowship
The Year in Pictures a blog that provides me with a lot of inspiration
Photoshop Disasters
LOLcats life is not complete without this or LOLdogs :)
LOLdogs
Least I Could Do
Anders Loves Maria
Questionable Content the very first web comic I became addicted to over 4 years ago
Bigger than Cheeses
Married to the Sea along with all the others by Drew and Natalie, as follows
Toothpaste for Dinner Drew
Natalie Dee Natalie, obviously
Superpoop Drew
McCain Comics Drew. PS, Drew & Natalie just had a baby!! Squee!
Sad Guys on Trading Floors A more recent acquisition. Yay economy
White Ninja
Dinosaur Comics
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal everything from AIDS, racism, sexism, to abuse are FUNNY!
Ding!
Looking for Group WoW comics are a necessity of life


Wow, it's amazing seeing my obsession in one long list like that. I am truly 1337.

The Most Hectic Semester.

Ever.

German 102, Indians of North America, Art Metals, Art History of the 18th Century, and Introduction to Photography.
A hell of a combination that likes to deprive me of free time and sanity.

This honestly has been the hardest semester I have ever had. I do not even have time to go find a job. I feel like I am having a panic attack almost every time I look in my agenda. Things are always due, there is always reading, tests often. I have to get started on a ten page paper soon. Lordy!

But I wouldn't have it any other way.


In other news, New Zealand was the best thing to ever happen to me. Without a doubt.
Just a few mementos from my life changing experience.

Almost ready.

I leave for New Zealand tomorrow morning. I am pretty darn stoked. This trip is going to be a big deal for a lot of reasons. I have never flown alone. I won't know anyone in the group. It will be my first time in the Southern Hemisphere. I will finally get to participate in a conservation project. Basically, I am expecting this trip to be mind blowing.

I don't tend to get excited easily over these kind of things, but I can feel the tummy upset starting. The last couple times I flew to England, I ended up throwing up because the airplane food doesn't always sit well. I think it's always their breakfast foods. I don't know what it is, but things like Egg McMuffins and packaged sausage and blah blah has always made my stomach roil. So I think I will try packing or buying something that hopefully won't make me grab desperately for the barf bag.

I also feel kind of funny from my good byes. It's almost like this will be the first time that I will actually...miss people? I have never been homesick before, though I am always wanting to go to England, which is where my heart is. But when I hugged everyone at the Venue good bye and they looked genuinely sad...it felt funny. I kept telling myself that no one would miss me, that I am not a big deal in anyone's life so no one would really care. But I get the feeling that they really will. And that means I will.

But I will definitely be taking the time to call and email. I need to learn how to keep in contact with friends. I am growing up. I can't cut all ties like I did when I was a kid. I found some old letters a middle school friend wrote to me after she moved. I know the letters stopped because I wasn't writing much to her. I love my friends and I want to keep them, even if I end up moving far away. I want to be able to visit them every few years and catch up on all times. I guess this will be a training session.

I guess I am excited :)

Perfume

Today I watched the movie Perfume. Let's just say I was nothing short of amazed.

I think the movie was so extraordinary partly because it walked a fine line very close to being completely ridiculous. If I was to tell the story to someone, they would probably say it sounded totally stupid and weird. But the way the movie was composed and directed made me just eat up every bit of it. The things that happen are so extreme but yet somehow understandable. I believe the film was a really beautiful examination into the search for love and the power of innocence.

Not to mention Ben Whishaw was absolutely beautiful in a creepy way. I swear his neck is five miles long. Mm.

All Wet

My oh my the day I have had!!

I went out on my bike to enjoy the evening since a quick hail storm had cooled the day down. I was amazed how green the city looked from the rain and the overcast sky. Barely five minutes into my ride I found this guy hanging out by the lake in Julia Davis Park.



I have never seen a heron just chill and walk around, so it was pretty amazing! I am glad I didn't scare him off into flying away.

I had to keep stopping and rerouting while I rode, however, because huge chunks of the Green Belt were blocked off. Basically, the flooding they predicted a few months ago is coming true.



That is from atop the Friendship Bridge. You can clearly see that the water is reaching the bottom branches of the trees.



This was the first flooded spot I encountered, under Broadway. While I was taking pictures, a couple hard core bikers went ahead and rode through. I was wearing jeans and was not willing to do so. Little did I know, I was going to end up soaked later anyway.



I caught this guy further down the Green Belt. He said he hadn't expected the water to go very far. Turned out he was sadly mistaken!



This was under Parkcenter. I ended up riding east after taking this picture, into a residential part of town I had never seen before. I was amazed to see the nice houses over there. I was extremely amazed to see that some of them had pools. Houses with pools are fairly rare in Boise.

The moment I left the fancy neighborhoods, the wind picked up and I had to ride into it to get back over Parkcenter and to Winco. I was barely moving and my legs were aching on the way. Getting over the bridge was probably the hardest part!

Once I finished getting a few things from Winco and I had my bag on my back, I realized my ride home was about to get much worse. As I crossed Myrtle to start up over the Capital bridge, the light rain started. Then the hail started. And finally, right when I was over the bridge, the heavy torrential rain started. I had sunscreen running into my eyes and my glasses were completely wet, so I could barely see let alone ride my bike. When I crossed University, I totally ate shit when my bike lost traction in the water. When I finally got home, my light grey clothes were all a very dark grey, and I was soaked clear down to my underwear. Unfortunately, I got no pictures of this as I got right into the warm shower, afraid I was going to catch pneumonia.

It was still a really nice day since I got to see Boise in a rare green state. I also cooked my first dinner in the apartment. Whole wheat penne with alfredo sauce and ground turkey, with some tomatoes and parmesan on top. Delicious.

Get summer started right.

Today I went on a bike ride with my room mate. It was the kind of day that I have been waiting for. Winter lasted way into Spring and some days feel like Late Summer. But tonight was just the perfect temperature and perfect light. It felt good to spend time with someone as well, since I have been a bit of a loner for the past few months. I got to talk about things I have been needing to get off my chest with someone who is willing to actually respond instead of blow it all off.

I am glad the semester is over, and I am close to going to New Zealand. I feel good about this summer. My room mate is an art student too, and hopefully we will work together on some stuff to keep our minds working creatively. I really want to make a pin hole camera from my oatmeal container. I also want to buy a Holga camera (not some reworked overpriced one from Urban Outfitters), a polaroid (preferably a Sun 600), and a Duaflex (so I can do some through the viewfinder stuff). Hopefully I am not setting my sights too high :)

In other news, I shaved my head.



Exciting!

Obsession with losing.

I seem to get something out of stumbling onto someone's myspace, someone that lives here and I have seen before, and finding out they take photographs or they draw, etc, and making myself feel like crap for not being anywhere near the skill level they have. Recently, I found a girl's profile, and she has the most amazing camera collection I have ever seen. I literally hated her when I saw those old polaroids and toy cameras and etc.

How the hell am I going to grow artistically if I cannot stop comparing myself to others. Even when I am just sketching, I will think of someone who has an awesome art style and wish I could do that instead. I have absolutely no faith in the skills that I possess, which to me are meager skills, though others are constantly complimenting me.

I am a little disheartened. I want my camera lens to arrive so I can take some pictures and feel better about myself.

Progress Promised...eventually.

Today I ordered a new lens for my camera, so that should be here by the end of next week. Which means I should be able to start posting some drawings and photographs! Hoorah! There are only 2 scanners on all of campus, and they are always occupied, so the reason I cannot get them up is I just go ahead and photograph them. The quality isn't always as good, especially since my room has very awkward lighting, but it works.

And I have been drawing! It's funny, because once I get into it, it's very hard to stop. I just wish I could find a certain time every day to do it. I usually catch myself sitting around right before bed and tell myself to start drawing when I am all groggy eyed and incoherent. But I have always done my best writing when I couldn't focus on the monitor, so I suppose that's a-ok!

Speaking of writing, so far I am beating my friend in the words-per-day contest. Which surprised me. My first night I wrote over 1000 words!! I think it's party because I found this awesome program, Writeroom, which is a fullscreen writing program. It reminds me of my mom's computer when I was a little kid, and I would just pound away on the keyboard to see the green type scroll across the black screen. It really helps you focus. I am only using the one month trial, which works well for the contest, so we will see if I actually buy it when time runs out. Probably not, because I am cheap. But it's nice for now.

I just borrowed a new book from my book supplier (aka an ex boyfriend who has the books stacked double on his bookcase) and I have noticed that since I started reading regularly a few months ago, my reading speed has picked way up. I feel 12 years old again, when I could put away a book in a couple AR periods. It works fine when I am reading fantasies that are 900 pages long, but when I read 1984, I was a little upset with how quickly I finished it. So I am now reading The Eye of the World, the first book of 14 in an epic fantasy series by Robert Jordan. It's really really good, and I am putting it away quickly. It's a good thing I have class and homework and sleep to distract me, because I would probably read for 10 hours straight if I could.

Not much else in the news. I get to spend this weekend catching up on homework, since I am a slacker. At least I am getting a lot of reading done on the side!

Let's make this more difficult.

A friend just challenged me to a written words per day contest. I used to write so much it was ridiculous, but nowadays I am lucky if I get a chance. So...I guess I will try to update this regularly and try to win. I hope that isn't cheating!!

Not off to a good start.

It was my most recent goal to start doing some sort of art every day, trying to take photographs more often, drawing more often. etc. Forcing myself to create because I keep getting into ruts. Art is just like every other craft, you need to work on it every day to become better.

Today I was documenting an art project for my 3D foundations project. We had to make body forms using tape. So my friend and I collaborated and we made homeless people. They are pretty awesome. We finally took them out today to photograph. After finishing with the first one (and trying to adjust to the stares we were getting), we started to set up the second form. I was leaning over, letting my camera hang from the strap. I must not have been thinking. Because the next thing I know, one of the straps comes UNDONE and my camera starts to fall. I grab the strap and my body freezes in disbelief. The camera is hanging about 2 inches above the ground. And suddenly the second attachment comes undone as well and my lens goes CRACK on the ground.

I almost had a mental breakdown.


Good news, the camera body is a-ok. Doing dandy.
Lens is totally ruined. Ironic, because I had just started looking at lenses. I was tired of my kit lens. I wanted a pretty telephoto. Yet I wanted plenty of time to save up for it.

Basically I feel like shit. Oh, and we had to ask a friend to take photos of the rest of the homeless plastic doods for us. I felt even more like shit watching someone else do my job and thinking "I don't know if he is getting enough angles...he doesn't seem to care...what? That's a dumb place to shoot from!" etc etc. But they will probably turn out just fine.



I better get an A on this project. And $500...because I blame the art department. Yeah.