August 2009
1 post
July 2009
5 posts
Let Go
Last night and this morning I finally let go of everything that was holding me back from sketching figures. I think it had to do with fear mostly, and self-criticism, but now I’m loosely drawing arms and legs the way I was meant to.
This week’s Collection Development class freed me to do this, where we are required to do a project where the figures aren’t necessesarily human....
“Authenticity is invaluable. Originality is non-existent. It’s not where...”
– Paul Arden, It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be
Sunday
This post is dedicated to my mom, who thinks I don’t blog enough.
Yeah, yeah I know the “Learn something everyday” experiment fell through, but I had a lot of drama to deal with during the break and so all I felt like doing was going to the pool and watching Frasier.
I don’t really have a lot to say at the moment. I have my second day of class tomorrow and I’m...
Shower drama
It turns out my shower has been leaking water into the apartment below me for the past six months.
I’ve had problems with my shower since I got here. Low pressure, no pressure, no cold water, no hot water, no water at all - you name it. They “fixed” the hot/cold water thing about three months ago and that’s when the problems really started. It turns out that every time I...
Not just here for the free pizza
Having a free place to live certainly helps out my situation, but I don’t think people understand that I actually like being an RA.
Yeah the occassional middle-of-the-night calls are rough, so is getting residents to do paperwork that I need them to fill out when I need them to do it. There are other things I don’t like that I can’t really mention here, but I can tell you that...
June 2009
67 posts
Lift from the knees
Yesterday I lifted a crate full of acrylic paint and other crafting supplies, as well as a totebag stuffed with other various knicknacks from my parents’ house in Arizona. I lifted it from the car to the elevator [took a break], the elevator to the fire door [took a break] the fire door to my front door [took a break] and my front door to my kitchen table [took a break and ate some...
Day 5: LEARN SOMETHING EVERYDAY
If I don’t do any extra-credit learning on the weekends (just learning that is imperative to survival - where’s the nearest Chevron, for instance), this entry will make me techincally “caught up” in my quest to learn something every day.
Intrigued by the lyrics of the Rush classic, “Bastille Day” I decided to delve into the actual event and see if what they...
Day 4: LEARN SOMETHING EVERYDAY
Nick asked me at Rubio’s today, “What are refried beans?”
“Beans that have been fried, then fried again.” That was my reply. Wrong!
Wikipedia knows best:
“Refried beans are traditionally prepared with pinto beans, but many other varieties of bean can be used. The raw beans are soaked overnight, stewed, drained of most of the remaining liquid, and converted...
Day 3: LEARN SOMETHING EVERYDAY
What does it mean to be “in escrow”?
Nick and I drive by real estate for-sale signs all the time that say “IN ESCROW” and haven’t been able to come up with a good definition. I always thought that if you were selling your house and had finally reached a deal with a buyer but they were slow to pay you (possibly because they were still trying to sell their house) it...
Day 2: LEARN SOMETHING EVERY DAY
My bout with a computer dead battery/power cable is through. I’m back in action! Also, I saw Jada Pinkett-Smith at The Grove yesterday as I made a mad dash to the Apple store. How thrilling.
Now I’m catching up on my learning. Day 2 (Tuesday, if you’re counting) is all about vegetable dyes.
Did you know that the amount of cotton needed for a basic cotton t-shirt is treated with...
Wednesday
Computer failure, Tom Ford’s house, helicopter chase, dumpster dive, computer rebirth. It’s been an interesting day.
Grades Don't Matter
Alas, a wretched A- has seet my gpa for this quarter at 3.94, just 0.6 shy of a 4.0. Still, that’s the nearly highest GPA I’ve had since my first semester of 7th grade, when I didn’t have P.E.! That calls for a non-athletic celebration.
I had a B- average in P.E., where the grades were given in terms of effort and how cute the creepy male P.E. teacher thought you were. I’m...
Day 1: LEARN SOMETHING EVERYDAY
Tonight I was wondering about clouds. I have this great little encyclopedia at my desk and it has a weather section. Here are the questions I set out to answer, and their answers, with a little help from Google!
How do clouds form?
According to NASA’s Kid Science News Network, “clouds form when water vapor condenses (changes from a vapor to a liquid) around condensation ...
“Your behavior is a reflection of what you truly believe.”
– Hyrum Smith
Sorry, Starbucks
I really am. I know I stopped calling, it just didn’t feel right. It’s not you, it’s me. I’m not in love with you anymore; everything happened so fast. I really need some time to figure things out, and I wasn’t looking for anything serious. I’m cheating on you with Diet Coke. This relationship should have ended a long time ago.*
I’m not going to drink...
LEARN SOMETHING EVERY DAY
Inspired by the book The Know-it-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World by A.J. Jacobs I’ve decided to choose a topic each day and write about it.
Now I just need some topics…
Goals
This list will be updated as the tasks are completed.
THINGS TO MAKE
1. Hooded capelet
2. Drop-wasit tunic
3. 12-gore skirt
4. Wrap skirt
5. Long-sleeve sweater wrap
6. Hobo bag
7. Tank top dress
8. Tank tops to sell to FIDM scholarship store
9. Fix the following old clothes so they are wearable: white jeans, black pencil skirt, green/blue top, brown tank
10. Fix patterns and organize...
“Treat yourself with patience, kindness and love.”
– Domino magazine
Hair, Hair Everywhere
I think I’m really going to miss my hair.
I’ve had long hair forever. The shortest I’ve ever had it was shoulder length, when I was in elementary school, and I remember feeling upset when I saw how short it had been cut. Last Friday I was planning on making the chop and donating my hair to Locks of Love. My friends came into town so I never made the appointment, and as I admire...
Real World
I always hear that the “real world” is so cutthroat, but all I’ve observed so far is that the laziest, most talentless people are consistently given second chances, are easily forgiven for big mistakes, and get ahead by virtue of their fake personality alone. If this isn’t obvious anywhere else, it’s as prominent as a reality show where I live.
Does that make it...
Reading May Cause Boredom
I like to read funny people’s memoirs. Not only does it give me a new perspective on life, it also helps me come up with ideas of things to write about on here. It doesn’t hurt to laugh at others’ mistakes while contemplating funny incidents of your own. While I can’t remember them all, I know that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading Ellen DeGeneres, Laurie Notaro and...
Paradox
What can you learn with each new frustration you face?
For me, it’s mainly to not get frustrated.
Downtown LA Webcam →
This is the only *real* way I can check the weather since my exterior hallway is freezing and I can’t see but a smidgen of sky up through the courtyard!
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt
Go to sleep
When I first got here, I went to a workshop on surviving school. I scoffed, of course, since I had already gone to one of the largest universities in the country, and survived. However, our department chair said that when frustrating things happen to you in LA, all you can do is go to sleep. It will look better in the morning.
I’m stunned every time I find this to be right.
Running
Today, I will attempt to run for the first time in 8 months.
Yesterday I had to literally run home from school to get something I forgot. Despite how humid it was and how tight my clothes felt, running felt great.
I used to run at least a mile a day. I would run at night, outside, all around Tempe. I would never get so exhausted that I couldn’t run home, so sometimes I would end up running...
I want to be a writer the way Kyle Johnson is a... →
LA, Betrayal
LA and I are celebrating our 10-month anniversary this month, and that’s a milestone I know that some people never reach, be it geographically or romantically. Unfortunately, I’ve lost the sense of belonging to a neighborhood, despite the fact that I see the same grim and smile-less corporate clones each day and smell familar [usually disgusting] smells.
I often miss the public places...
Foodons
Because I eat nothing but mac & cheese, black bean tacos and Cheerios, I’ve decided to try a new hobby and get cooking. I looked up some recipies, and while everything I found had garlic or onions in it, I will still attempt to make:
Spaghetti sauce made with tomato paste, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes. That’s the only way I can handle it. I might put some basil in, but really...
“So much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it.”
– Willy Wonka
Things I wish I could find
two mechanical pencils
my clear ruler
The Hills season 1 disc 1 from Netflix, which Nick and I watched as a joke, but then I lost
my wonderful 3-year old Prada sunglasses - mainly because I managed to have a pair of sunglasses for three years and not sit on them, scratch them with a nail file or slam them in a car door
I’ve been misplacing things a lot, and it’s frustrating. For...
Monday's Playlist
Surrender - Cheap Trick
You Make My Dreams - Hall & Oates
An Apparition - Queens Club
Abandon Ship or Abandon All Hope - Four Year Strong
Give it Up - The Format
Too Much Time on My Hands - Styx
Peg - Steely Dan
Tangled up in Plaid - Queens of the Stone Age
You’ve Got Another Thing Coming - Judas Priest
No One Like You - Scorpions
When my closet is organized, I am at peace.
This was something I had to do before I started stuyding for my pattern grading final. Please enjoy my insanity!
One side (the longer side) is devoted to dresses. I categorized them into casual and formal. Casual dresses include jersey knits, then lightweight cottons. They are ordered ascending by sleeve style and then by color from light to dark within the sleeve category. All of them are on...
Beware of the Lakers
If Lakers fans would shoot two holes through the front door of my school last night because they were excited about winning the game, I’d hate to ever see what would happen if they lost! It was awesome seeing the “security guards” and “district safety officers” trying to awkwardly stand in front of it so people wouldn’t ask questions.
Tragic Internet Life
iWeb is driving me insane and I don’t like any of the templates. My dream is to have one cohesive website, with my fun pictures, photos of my work, and a variety of different blogs. I want people to be able to leave comments and share ideas or suggestions. My family won’t have to log in to see it, it won’t crash because the pictures are too big and it will be overall very...
You can't choose your last name, unless you're a...
Stephanie: I just think my last name is horrible, in general, but that's another story. It's everywhere!
Hayley: at least your last name isn't weiner.
Does Lotus know about this?
Top: Dodge concept electric car Bottom: Lotus Exige
It doesn’t help that they’re both orange, but these cars are extremely similar!
My Proposal
Don’t get me wrong - I love wedding movies - mostly to see what people are wearing, but nevertheless, they are a good way to waste two hours and there’s a sense of excitement, disappointment and a happy ending that you can count on. After seeing some commercials for Sandra Bullock’s new movie, The Proposal, I was thinking that there seem to have been a lot of wedding movies in...
“All that is necessary to break the spell of inertia and frustration is to act as...”
– Dorothea Brand
How to get rid of a canker sore
*note: a canker sore is not a cold sore. Cold sores are herpes, canker sores are when a sharp piece of food cuts the inside of your cheek or tongue somewhere. Just wanted to clarify because some people don’t know the difference!
1. Obtain packet of salt. I find that In n’ Out salt works the best.
2. Wash your hands, especially if you are in a fast food restaurant getting the salt.
...
Countdowns
7 classes left for this quarter
8 days until the last day day of classes and the scariest final of my life: Computer Grading, Marking & Cutting. Yes, scarier than ACC 316
9 days until my residents move out
10 days until I’m donating my hair!
29 days until my internship starts http://www.nationltd.com
43 days until my 2-year anniversary with Nick
192 days until I’m completely...
Is it sad that I now go to bed each weeknight,... →
3 things I was reminded of today
Never underestimate how far your charisma, creativity and energy can take you.
Be proud of what you’ve made, and show it with enthusiasm.
Care about people other than yourself and you will be rewarded.