Carol got a SWEET lamp base with pretty flowers and stuff etched in metal. Then we went for coffee and bagels and Gramma and I brought home some deliiiicous bread and bagels. I’ve been eating almost nothing but bagels and steak lately. It is maybe not the best idea of diets, but it is sooo yummy. We just ran out of my cereal and yogurt last weekend and I’ve been too busy to shop and we didn’t really need groceries until yesterday and I’m leaving tomorrow, so it wasn’t worth getting a huge tub of yogurt for one day’s use that would then sit in the fridge for a week. We got these excellent bagel twists that have fruit bits in them. I ate so many bagels before I left home.

Thursday I basically finished my homework, OH and got a haircut! Yay! I had been needing one for a long while. I basically can’t stand long hair at all anymore. It needs to be impressively short or it just bothers me. Pat’s been feeling a lot better physically, even if some of his meds are giving him nightmares. We talked a bunch, which was fun, then watched our nightly shows. I then stayed up far too late and had to wake up for the train in the morning.

Today I woke up at 7, ran out of the house, and got on the train at 8:15am. The train ride down was lovely for a bit, but then the fog rolled in so I watched Stephen Fry’s latest performance. I actually adore a lot of things about Stephen Fry, and probably in part because he is so fantastically in love with the English language. I sat next to another girl who had never been on the train before, but knew Portland really well, so she told me a few places to go. Nic was late to pick me up, then we walked to his dorm and dropped off my stuff. We hung out a bit, he showed me the new Kirby game, which is very cute, then we went to the food stands nearby to get lunch since we were both starving.

I got pad thai for lunch since I was craving it at the time, and Nic got a sandwich. I’m excited for all the food I’m going to eat here since we don’t eat out a ton at home. We came back to the room and Nic went to class and took a test while I watched some 30 Rock on his Netflix. Turns out? That show is really hilarious. We watched a TON of that this afternoon, then went shopping for an air mattress and pillow for me at a few department stores. We dropped that off at the dorm when we finally found what we were looking for, and then made a run to Safeway for dinner items. We made burritos for dinner and watched more 30 Rock, then Nic’s friend, Kt came over and we chit chatted for a long while, before deciding to watch this old Mike Meyers movie, So I Think I Married An Axe Murderer. It was pretty funny. I’m about to die since I got three hours of sleep last night and I’ve had two cups of coffee to keep me going today and I’m crashing epically. Gnight people!

I am feeling shitty.

Yeah. This is me. Feeling shitty. After a whole day of UGH. I think this is a good way to start this blog.

What did I do? Homework. What did I forget to do? Homework. What is now late and probably wont ever get turned in? A paper for my film class that I thought was due next weekend. What else that I’m doing right now? This test that was due yesterday. Did I say yesterday? By that I meant Monday which was now two days ago. Outside totally matches my mood, as it hasn’t stopped mizzling all day.

Up news? Turns out the dance at Danny’s school is Rocky Horror themed. I think I’ll go as Brad Majors. Asshole. It’ll be rad.

Yesterday I woke up and I was super tired, because it was 6am and I had gone to sleep at like 2:30. I took a shower and ate breakfast, then drove Nic to the train station. It was still fiercely raining, which was a bit overwhelming to drive over there in that weather. We made it there through some creative navigating on my part, and he was early. I drove all the way home on the highway and across the bridge by myself for the first time, which was a little horrifying because it was raining really hard and there was a side wind advisory on the bridge. But I did it! Cause I rock! Hoorah!

After that I started working on homework, but ended up falling asleep for two hours or so, then going out shopping with Gramma. I bought some wild berry skittles on a whim. They taste like childhood to me. When I was little my mom would give Ian and I a pack of skittles to split. We went and ate them under the stairs, Im not sure why. I made up a game to split them evenly where we would take turns closing our eyes and picking out a skittle for the other person, and they had to guess what flavor it was.

We drove out to Purdy, which was where Gramma grew up. It’s really gorgeous and right on the water. He’re we’re elevated and it’s not quite the same as having it right at your feet 6 feet off the road. That is a really awesome feeling. When we got home I basically did homework all night. I did take some breaks to watch Dancing With the Stars with Gramma. That show is kind of rad now that I’ve watched it a few times. When I went to sleep the wind was blowing really hard past the eaves of the house, so it was making an erie screeching sound… Horrifying. I slept way later than I wanted to, but hey, when am I ever on a good sleep schedule? Back to work now kids…

I got a container of honey and a small root of ginger and made ginger honey! I love honey AND ginger so this was a great combination! I used most of it as part of the inside of the pie, and the rest went in a jar for tea and toast later! The pie didn’t have white sugar at all and had a ton of ginger and I added a bit of cayenne for a more complex flavor on top of all the other spices I add to pies. It turned out pretty good and I like the idea of a flavor I’m getting, but I think next time I’ll cut down the pepper and add more cloves, because I believe baked goods, especially anything with apples, should have a distinct clove essence and I didn’t get quite enough and it was a teensy bit too spicy for what I want to experience.

We watched some Iron Chef America and that show where they choose the next Iron Chef, and I finished my homework for History of Cinema. We had a roast for dinner and after dinner we ran up the hill for some ice cream to go with the pie and devoured the pie. It was a slow happy chill day.

I found this video of a camera that was sent into space on a balloon and survived. It was pretty awesome to think that weather patterns held out that well and they built it sturdy enough to survive all the impressively horrible things on the way out and in. Also in awesome links? This is probably the best costume in the world. I want it and the squid one they made also. I have to wake up at about 6 to take Nic to the train station, so I’m gunna go pass the fuck out for a few hours. Gnight!

I really needed to go shopping at some big stores because I was feeling iffy about buying things online without trying them on first. Nic wanted to look at formal wear stuff, cause that’s what he loves shopping for. When we got there there was a SALE at Macy’s that we didn’t even know about. That was rad. He got himself a new shirt and I talked him out of yet another tie, because he has about 50 already. Then we headed over to Victoria’s Secret, which was approximately the busiest place ever. I tried on a bunch of stuff and found some things I really like, but they didn’t have the color I wanted in my size, so I’m ordering them online. They have a special until Monday for free shipping, so I’m getting on that. They also didn’t have what I wanted at Eddie Bauer, but my pants are now ordered and on their way.

We needed food after that and hit the food court for some Philly cheese-stake sandwiches. That was pretty good. Then we went to the apple store to play with the toys. I face timed Max on his iPhone 4 from one there. That was fun, but not really better than Skype. I told him we were playing Left 4 Dead 2 later that night. We got kind of bored and left, then as we were walking there were people in the hall just giving away mini toblerone bars. Nic and I played shuffle board against each other and he won a big one, then gave me some. I think they were promoting a new flavor or something. We came home and had chinese for dinner with Gramma and Pat, and after dinner we played Bananagrams, which I dominated at.

After dinner? WE PLAYED LEFT 4 DEAD 2. Nic and I played versus with almost a full game of people we knew for like 3 games, which was a blast! Then Nathan, Josh, Max and I played campaign on normal and were absolutely destroyed, which kind of sucked. It was still pretty fun in spite of that. We all got together on skype so we could have a legit voice chat going, since Steam tends to drop the audio in various forms when you move between stages in a level. It’s extremely frustrating. We played until like three in the morning and finally beat the level. It was a fun filled day.

Yesterday I woke up, took a shower, ate breakfast, and started in on homework. I went to lunch with Gramma and some of the ladies from church. They were super nice and our waiter was a blast. The owner came out and talked to us for a bit ’cause he knew a bunch of the ladies and he was really cheesy and nice. I had a shrimp sandwich with delicious things, a salad, and some of Gramma’s clam strips. One of the ladies told me that I was a delightful young lady and a pleasure to talk to. That basically made my day. They both said they hoped I’d come again and that I wasn’t too bored listening to them talk about their broken bodies and dead friends. Well, they said it in cute old lady words instead. I really like hanging out with old people sometimes!

After that I basically came home and forced myself through some homework. I spent a lot of yesterday doing note for human sexuality. That was kind of a pain, but at least it’s incredibly interesting. We did a crossword, but the power went out in the middle and then it got dark, so we lit a TON of candles (every candle we could find) and tried to finish it, which got incredibly frustrating after a while. We decided to go drive around and see how widespread the outage was, and it was impressively widespread. As we drove into the driveway the lights came on! So we made some soup and watched Wheel and Jeopardy! like normal.

Today I finished most of my homework for the weekend during the day. A lady who sells pearls came over and looked through Gramma’s bead collection, but not before I scoped it out first. I got a bunch of stuff that is absolutely gorgeous, some that’s made already and some that I intend to make into necklaces and things. It should be interesting. The pearl lady was super nice and we talked a bunch and she said I should come down and see her stuff sometime and she could help me figure out how to string some things and get me hooked up with a ton of pearls cheap. … Now she just sounds kinda like a drug dealer. “Yeah I got your fix right here, honey!”

Weird. Then I finished up and we got our pizza that we wanted to get last night, but couldn’t cause of the power outage. Gramma likes thin crust, which absolutely confuses me. Thin crust is like asking someone to shove half burnt crackers into your delicious pizza. Thick crust is like having delicious breadsticks PLUS PIZZA. Awesome. After dinner we watched Jeopardy! and then headed out to pick up Nic from the train station! He’s staying here for the weekend, which should be fun. He showed me Minecraft, which seemed like a pretty sweet game. I’d probably play it for a few days and then get tired of it. I think Max would love it though. It’s nothing but constructing, which is his favorite part of The Sims.

We’ve been going through Craigslist forever and I neeeeed to sleep since its like 3am. Have a rockin’ night!

Today I kind of fell apart mentally. I was super scattered and I didn’t get a ton of work done like I was hoping. BUT tomorrow is a new day. I housesat a bit while the cleaning ladies were here and Gramma was getting her hearing checked. The people told her that “her son is right” and she needs some hearing aides. We all knew that, but she’s reluctant over the price. We can’t freaking talk to her without yelling and repeating ourselves four times every time we say something. Do you know how hard it is to say something three times in a row, progressively louder, until you are shouting, without sounding like you are angry? Let me tell you, it’s near impossible. That was the highlight of the day. Also we watched the president’s thing with all the broadway stars tonight and it rekindled my love of show tunes. There is something fantastic about musicals and I absolutely love so many of those performers and the songs and oh god… I know I know… A music major is about the only major I could switch to with less professional options.

I just watched a video interview with the guy who plays Elmo on Sesame Street. Surprise! He’s a big old nice black guy, who’s really funny. Another good thing I saw today was this video on Empathy and how it is actually an evolutionary phenomenon. It really confirmed a lot of my philosophical and biological standpoints and brought them into the worldview for the future of mankind. Speaking of the future of mankind! Don’t drink bottled water. If there is tap water readily available then DRINK IT. It is the same thing, but you’re just paying thousands of times more than you should and it’s shitty for the environment, and possibly you. Bad plan man, bad plan. That link is a great video on the subject explaining it all. This link is a link to the site supporting Bottled Water Free Day.

Today I woke up late. This is starting to be a trend I’m a little disappointed in. Then I accomplished almost zero work. Another trend I’m not proud of. Guess what tomorrow is though? WEDNESDAY! And that means a variety of things including getting an assload of work done because I can. I have pretty much all day tomorrow to do work, so I’m going to make the most of it. Also I intend to take a break to sit in the sun and draw. HAH.

We went to the library and I got a few new albums from that, as well as finishing downloading America’s greatest hits album. The band not the country. That’s pretty awesome since I love new music to listen to. Today I actually pretty much ended up wandering the internet and feeding my brain artistic stuff which felt really good since I’ve been feeling kind of blah the last few days. This cover of 7 Nation Army is the best I’ve ever heard… And I’ve heard a loooot of covers of that song. That’s including the cover by the female half of Pomplamoose, whom I love. It’s done by this French guy with a really retro style. It’s cute AND musically appealing. Not that Pomplamoose isn’t, cause it really is… but this is just rad.

Heh. This picture shows the correlation between trustworthiness and different beard types. Rad. It agrees with my hatred of chinstrap beards. Right next to the wolfman there at the end where it belongs. These are some HARD CORE FLOORS. I particularly love the pressure sensitive one. (Both of these links are courtesy of Carley! <3) I have got to get back to reading this sweet graphic novel book Peter sent me in the mail. It’s called Mercury and it’s set in two different time periods at once about women who are related over that span of time, but the stories are told simultaneously. I’m hoping they show influences flowing from the first to the second storyline. It’s really great so far. The art is wonderful. It’s by Hope Larson if you’re interested. Toodles!

Oh WAIT! Watch this video before you do anything else. It’s really trippy and awesome. It’s “A Girl Like You” by Edwyn Collins. The video is so rad. The music sounds kinda like it’d be Jefferson Airplane influenced… that kind of weird chill but still stimulating feeling. The video has sweet inter-gendered silhouettes going on with the singer/guitar guy playing at the same time… it’s just something you need to go experience. Totally worthwhile. In my opinion.

After shoes we went to Michael’s, which, compared to ours in Fairbanks, was very disappointing. I’ve noticed that all the stores here are smaller. At least the ones out of the small selection we have in Fairbanks. They had like a half of an aisle, in the words of an employee, devoted to sewing. I got some new clasps for necklaces because I have two broken ones on necklaces I really like. Later we came home and I read the funnies and had some lunch. I went up to Fred’s for Gramma to grab some things for dinner. I like driving on my own. It feels nice. I miss The Wolf though. That car is a bundle of fun. We had leftovers for dinner and I had a craving for grilled cheese, made it, then remembered I don’t really like grilled cheese. So that sucked.

I watched Dancing With The Stars with Gramma because she seems to really like that show and heck, at least it’s not judge judy. I kind of like these competition shows, even if they are popularity contests. Judge all you want. Gramma and I hope Bristol gets kicked off this week because she is just frustrating us and we like pretty much everybody else. Blogging about television? Original. I don’t really want to talk about my life right now since I’m kind of generally pissed off right now. It’ll blow over and I’ll feel right as rain again in a day or two. Here’s hoping it’s tomorrow, since I’m ready to be excited about life again and tomorrow is as good a day as any. If not? Enjoy your day for me. : )

Done? Never. I found this amazing site showing what looked like multicolored sculptures that were very organic and beautiful. LOOK AGAIN. It turns out that those “sculptures” were really just paint droplets viewed very closely. How were they made into such beautiful shapes? Well the video explains it extremely well as well as showing some very dynamic and breathtaking shots of the paint in action. They stretched a material over a speaker then arranged droplets of paint onto the surface and fed sound through the speaker making the fabric vibrate and the paint leap into the air mixing color and creating beautiful lines.

If you are aesthetically  pleased by anything related to color or shape or line then check that out immediately. It’s inspiring. Sometimes I feel like the frontiers of art have been explored and originality is running low. Movies tend to get me down because of how formulaic they can be. It’s nice to know that the art world still holds some sense of original creation and is still discovering ways to manipulate materials. It makes me want to be an artist all over again.

Another good find was off of wimp.com, which is a grand source for good videos without the junk on the side. I’d rather link you to the original website, however. This video (Changing Education Paradigms) talks about the changes in education that have taken place and discusses the problems with the current education system. It makes a lot of really important and well thought out points and is presented in a really fun animation style.

This kitty cat video made me really miss Buddy, my adorable fatty who loves water. I can absolutely see him getting a drink like this. I’ve seen him bite at the stream of water from the side to get a drink, but this is probably more effective actually… Hilariously cute. On that positive note I must depart. Goodnight sweet prince.