Dear Simone–
Let me sum up my whole weekend for you in advance of its passing: study times. I have four midterms and a paper due on Monday (the paper is the second part of my French midterm, and yeah, it will be written in that same language). I also need to do some reading/rereading so that I will be ready to tackle the more sizable paper that I will be turning in on Thursday for my Islam and Modernity class (the class as a whole convinced my professor to assign it over spring break–why? I don't know– but I will be going on that dig with my paleontology class, and I either won't be able to or won't want to work on a long paper during that time, so I requested an earlier set of dates, which my professor agreed to). As a speedy alternative, may I offer you some links, as promised?
BUT FIRST, SOMETHING FROM THE ARTISTIC WORLD:: DANCE:
Merce Cunningham's company will no longer be touring after one final two-year turn about the world. This is devastating news (for me at least) since the Cunningham company was a long-standing favorite of mine and since the part of their tour that brought them to my neck of the woods has already passed without giving me a chance to catch them. Apart from his early success as a performer under Martha Graham, Cunningham also:
1) Created a school of dance thought about movement that initiates from the spine.
2) Engaged in the intellectual conversation about the relationship of music and dance. His stance on the matter was developed with his artistic partner and lover, the avant garde musician John Cage, and was basically an idea that dance and music should exist independently of one another, although put side by side. Cunningham often rehearsed without music, and the first time his performers would hear what they were moving to would be the moment that they were on stage performing it in front of their opening night audience. Just because he used one song on a particular night did not mean that he would use that same song for the next night's performance, or indeed any music at all.
3) Developed the most sophisticated dance software available to date (DanceForms, which he developed by attaching sensors to the bodies of dancers as they moved).
4) Came out with a sophisticated idea of randomization in dance, famously called "Dance by Chance". He used the I Ching, phone numbers, letters in names and more to create individual movements/determine the order of segments of choreography, sometimes in the minutes before his dancers were to go on stage. No two productions of certain pieces were the same. Put this with the music situation, and it rapidly becomes apparent that dancers in his company had to have a certain level of fluidity in their performing abilities.
5) Really made it possible to see dance as a philosophical (not just an artistic) pursuit. The list of his contributions to the art form continue, but I will cease while I'm ahead. I loved this man.
Some of his pieces included:
–Biped (I apologize for this version of the dance but there aren't many available online–bear with it though and you can see the animated silhouette projections that helped to make this dance so cutting edge. This is probably Cunningham's most famous piece.)
–Ocean (Again, apologies. He's too intellectual of a choreographer for people to resist making commentary over his works. This piece had many possible segments that could or could not be performed. The full work, if performed one segment after the other, runs around 90 minutes.)
–Sounddance (Another classic Cunningham.)
–Pod (As they enter the theater, audience members are handed an iPod shuffle with earbuds. As the piece is performed, there are several songs on the shuffle which the audience member can switch between, so every audience member's viewing experience would be different, because even if you listen to the same song, different movements will be happening at different times in the music. This also frees the dancers to talk to each other on stage as they perform.)
–Nearly Ninety (The last piece of choreography that Merce himself prepared for the stage.)
So there you have it. The skeleton of the passage of a really great artist, a technological mind, and a philosopher at heart through this world and into the next. His company is slowly shutting down their repertory (the page listing it doesn't even have half the pieces on it that were there two years prior) and work is being done to digitally preserve the legacy of Merce Cunningham. Cunningham died in the summer of 2009, around when I was at Governor's School.
LINKS OF THE DAY:
A pie I made last night with some friends. It takes very little time to make. Uneaten, for now.
John Cage (Merce Cunningham's romantic and artistic partner) wrote the famous musical piece 4'33". I'll tell you more about him sometime. He's also an interesting bird, but in the field of music.
Oh yes. After you read this, hit the random button for hours of possible entertainment.
This song is stuck in my head today. Bon Iver is good stuff. Dark Was the Night was an album compiled by a whole host of talented indie artists as an effort to raise money and awareness about HIV and AIDS.
Scant as that is for links, I am afraid that I must offski to do studious things. I will try to post again soon. À bientôt, cherie!
Swingingly yours,
moi
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Bookishness Galore
Dear Simone–
OH MY GOD. It's Thursday. For the next 54 minutes. WHERE HAS THIS WEEK GONE? I apologize for the delay in writing, babe. This week has been study-study-study. Next week's promise: midterm-midterm-midterm. WOO! Get EXCITED. (No.) ]: P
Whatever. Things have been good, and that's the point. I went home this past weekend and had some good times there. My parents made me delicious food (because they are both brilliant cooks) and, aside from going for a ridiculously late-night walk with me on Friday before watching some dance films, they also put up with me almost all day on Saturday while we hiked at Reedy Creek, trekked through IKEA, got ice cream, and ran through Trader Joe's. They finally gave me the boot for a while when, arriving chez nous, my parents realized that my friends from high school (several of whom are still VERY close to my heart) were playing ultimate frisbee out on the field across from the entrance to our street (I can see it from my bedroom window). My arrival actually ended the game because people decided to come sit and talk instead of continuing play (and I had been SO ready to go). Duncan needed a lift home, so I got to see his family (love his mom especially–she hugs me hello) and I got to visit the greenway that I refer to as the Greenway, a place that Duncan and I love for many individual and a few shared reasons. I took a meandering route home–I love driving. Then my parents and I went and saw a movie. It was So. Sad. But so beautifully animated. Some of my absolute best friends and I went late-night rambling upon my return chez moi: Duncan, Lauren, and Jack. Jack drove. After a Cookout stop, we took the back roads up to old Kannapolis. I have driven my friends out there on a few of our driving excursions in the past, and they have developed a fascination with the little downtown that surrounds our old studio. Jack calls it "Zombie Town," and we always joke that the horde of zombies is just waiting to burst from the shop windows. We went to the outdoor theater (where we did La Bayadere so long ago) and danced/ran/spun around on the stage before we discovered the best playground ever at the nearby YMCA branch. Having climbed there for a while, we went to look at Dale Earnhardt and at the old studio and while there we had some adventures that you might appreciate. Over the phone or face-to-face sometime, and that's a promise. :) We drove home, went back out for a few more loops of driving nowhere, and then we all actually went to bed. My dad made waffles for all of us the next morning. My dad makes the BEST waffles. No question. At noon, Duncan and I offski-ed for Chapel Thrill once more, and I cannot really depict the craziness that is our car rides, except that I think I laugh more and harder during those short spaces of time than I do in all the surrounding months, not even kidding. That was the basic outline of my weekend.
Monday: felt like two days due to a shower at noon. The post-shower part of the day was significantly better than the pre-shower part. Showers are almost like sleeping in that you emerge into a sort of newness. I feel like I can do more when I feel fresh like that.
Tuesday: was mostly spent studying in the Union. Yeah, I know, surprising right? I do actually study you know. Just usually not in such high concentration that it leaves me with so few other adventures to relate. Tuesday's highlight: Kate came over at 3:15 in what might become a Spring 2011 tradition. We walked and talked about memory palaces, the ridiculousness of bras and how impractical they can be for women, and access to compost heaps for local aspiring gardeners. Then we watched this episode of Doctor Who, one of the best I've ever seen (even on second watch).
Wednesday: involved lots of walking just for the joy of it. I love walking. French midterm = pas de problem. More walking. Study times. Also I went to South Campus at one in the morning and ate some fresh-baked banana bread while pretending to watch Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain but actually having a deep conversation. Small loss in a way, since Amélie is a movie that I can almost recite entirely, and almost (even) in the original language–I love it unspeakably well and it has had a truly massive influence on making me who I am today. If you haven't watched it before, do, I implore you.
Today: a last minute lunch cancellation by a friend left me to further studying. Bored of books after a few hours of quiet, I returned to my room and completely reorganized it, the satisfying and methodical work of a few hours. Organizing is something that I approach with hesitation and reluctance, but once I start doing it, I remember that I LOVE organizing things. Then I went to do my job-that-I-love (Zumba–good class tonight). I wandered campus alone for a few hours before returning to the dorm to–three guesses to what–study. And write this blog post.
Tomorrow is going to be awesome. But in the meantime. Let me give you something that is not a list of things that I did recently.
Books That I Want To (Hope To) Read This Summer:
Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder (PRIORITY–FINISH)
1984 by George Orwell
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
Naked by David Sedaris
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert M. Pirsig
Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tzu
The Qu'ran by Muhammad (and maybe some hadiths if I can find any good translations thereof)
The Odyssey by Homer (FINISH)
Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope by Shirin Ebadi (FINISH)
And a Time to Die: How American Hospitals Shape the End of Life by Sharon R. Kaufman (FINISH)
Narcissus and Goldmund by Herman Hesse (FINISH)
Vingt Ans Après by Alexandre Dumas (FINISH)
Les Malheurs de Sophie by Sophie Ségur (FINISH)
The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating by Alisha Smith and J.B. MacKinnon (FINISH)
That's about as ambitious as I'm willing to be, since I actually do hope to get through this entire list this summer. And possible save time for a little more. I haven't gotten to read for pleasure since semester uno here at UNC, and I feel starved for books of my own choosing. A lot of these books are ones that I've been drooling over for months now. You can probably tell a lot about me from the smattering of books that I've put here on my "Definitely Read" list. There are still many others that I would *like* to read, but that I can also live without reading (for now). Suggestions for additions are welcome. No subject is inherently too boring either.
An adventure just called me (literally, on my cell phone). I will make a post that is exclusively links to make up for the lack of such a section in this post. I hope you're well babe. I WILL post tomorrow (will, will, will). It's been Friday for thirty-nine minutes now. :)
Flighty but yours (and oh-so-intellectually so),
moi
OH MY GOD. It's Thursday. For the next 54 minutes. WHERE HAS THIS WEEK GONE? I apologize for the delay in writing, babe. This week has been study-study-study. Next week's promise: midterm-midterm-midterm. WOO! Get EXCITED. (No.) ]: P
Whatever. Things have been good, and that's the point. I went home this past weekend and had some good times there. My parents made me delicious food (because they are both brilliant cooks) and, aside from going for a ridiculously late-night walk with me on Friday before watching some dance films, they also put up with me almost all day on Saturday while we hiked at Reedy Creek, trekked through IKEA, got ice cream, and ran through Trader Joe's. They finally gave me the boot for a while when, arriving chez nous, my parents realized that my friends from high school (several of whom are still VERY close to my heart) were playing ultimate frisbee out on the field across from the entrance to our street (I can see it from my bedroom window). My arrival actually ended the game because people decided to come sit and talk instead of continuing play (and I had been SO ready to go). Duncan needed a lift home, so I got to see his family (love his mom especially–she hugs me hello) and I got to visit the greenway that I refer to as the Greenway, a place that Duncan and I love for many individual and a few shared reasons. I took a meandering route home–I love driving. Then my parents and I went and saw a movie. It was So. Sad. But so beautifully animated. Some of my absolute best friends and I went late-night rambling upon my return chez moi: Duncan, Lauren, and Jack. Jack drove. After a Cookout stop, we took the back roads up to old Kannapolis. I have driven my friends out there on a few of our driving excursions in the past, and they have developed a fascination with the little downtown that surrounds our old studio. Jack calls it "Zombie Town," and we always joke that the horde of zombies is just waiting to burst from the shop windows. We went to the outdoor theater (where we did La Bayadere so long ago) and danced/ran/spun around on the stage before we discovered the best playground ever at the nearby YMCA branch. Having climbed there for a while, we went to look at Dale Earnhardt and at the old studio and while there we had some adventures that you might appreciate. Over the phone or face-to-face sometime, and that's a promise. :) We drove home, went back out for a few more loops of driving nowhere, and then we all actually went to bed. My dad made waffles for all of us the next morning. My dad makes the BEST waffles. No question. At noon, Duncan and I offski-ed for Chapel Thrill once more, and I cannot really depict the craziness that is our car rides, except that I think I laugh more and harder during those short spaces of time than I do in all the surrounding months, not even kidding. That was the basic outline of my weekend.
Monday: felt like two days due to a shower at noon. The post-shower part of the day was significantly better than the pre-shower part. Showers are almost like sleeping in that you emerge into a sort of newness. I feel like I can do more when I feel fresh like that.
Tuesday: was mostly spent studying in the Union. Yeah, I know, surprising right? I do actually study you know. Just usually not in such high concentration that it leaves me with so few other adventures to relate. Tuesday's highlight: Kate came over at 3:15 in what might become a Spring 2011 tradition. We walked and talked about memory palaces, the ridiculousness of bras and how impractical they can be for women, and access to compost heaps for local aspiring gardeners. Then we watched this episode of Doctor Who, one of the best I've ever seen (even on second watch).
Wednesday: involved lots of walking just for the joy of it. I love walking. French midterm = pas de problem. More walking. Study times. Also I went to South Campus at one in the morning and ate some fresh-baked banana bread while pretending to watch Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain but actually having a deep conversation. Small loss in a way, since Amélie is a movie that I can almost recite entirely, and almost (even) in the original language–I love it unspeakably well and it has had a truly massive influence on making me who I am today. If you haven't watched it before, do, I implore you.
Today: a last minute lunch cancellation by a friend left me to further studying. Bored of books after a few hours of quiet, I returned to my room and completely reorganized it, the satisfying and methodical work of a few hours. Organizing is something that I approach with hesitation and reluctance, but once I start doing it, I remember that I LOVE organizing things. Then I went to do my job-that-I-love (Zumba–good class tonight). I wandered campus alone for a few hours before returning to the dorm to–three guesses to what–study. And write this blog post.
Tomorrow is going to be awesome. But in the meantime. Let me give you something that is not a list of things that I did recently.
Books That I Want To (Hope To) Read This Summer:
Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder (PRIORITY–FINISH)
1984 by George Orwell
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
Naked by David Sedaris
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert M. Pirsig
Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tzu
The Qu'ran by Muhammad (and maybe some hadiths if I can find any good translations thereof)
The Odyssey by Homer (FINISH)
Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope by Shirin Ebadi (FINISH)
And a Time to Die: How American Hospitals Shape the End of Life by Sharon R. Kaufman (FINISH)
Narcissus and Goldmund by Herman Hesse (FINISH)
Vingt Ans Après by Alexandre Dumas (FINISH)
Les Malheurs de Sophie by Sophie Ségur (FINISH)
The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating by Alisha Smith and J.B. MacKinnon (FINISH)
That's about as ambitious as I'm willing to be, since I actually do hope to get through this entire list this summer. And possible save time for a little more. I haven't gotten to read for pleasure since semester uno here at UNC, and I feel starved for books of my own choosing. A lot of these books are ones that I've been drooling over for months now. You can probably tell a lot about me from the smattering of books that I've put here on my "Definitely Read" list. There are still many others that I would *like* to read, but that I can also live without reading (for now). Suggestions for additions are welcome. No subject is inherently too boring either.
An adventure just called me (literally, on my cell phone). I will make a post that is exclusively links to make up for the lack of such a section in this post. I hope you're well babe. I WILL post tomorrow (will, will, will). It's been Friday for thirty-nine minutes now. :)
Flighty but yours (and oh-so-intellectually so),
moi
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Songs, Sci-Fi, and Studious Madness
Dear Simone–
I forgot entirely to tell you about Monday morning's glitter explosion! A gal in my dorm was in the bathroom the other morning, trying to maximize her pretty factor so that people would know she was single by choice. And then she exploded glitter powder all over herself and her beautiful outfit. Not the fairly light kind either, but the kind that looks like an iridescent sheet on your skin. Because nothing says single and empowered like butterfly-wing colors all over your everything. I'm sure Viviana could pull it off fine though: she's really gorgeous.
Anyway. This week was surprisingly studious for me. We watched this online documentary in my Tuesday Islam & Modernity class, and then I returned to my dorm. It was so beautiful outside that I couldn't stay indoors long, so I packed up some books and some food and went to picnic and study in the graveyard near my dorm, which has gorgeous trees and tons of sunlit grassy patches. Yay for cold coffee, pears and peas over poetry and French.
After a while studying got boring, so I started singing while reading and then I ended up just singing and watching people watch me as they cut through the area. My sister came to hang out with me after her classes ended, and we ended up using 50 broken pieces of pine needles to do an I Ching reading, which is an ancient form of fortune telling that comes from the Confucian tradition in China. The sun set, so we went in for coffee and TV shows off of the internet. The Office, 30 Rock, and classic Doctor Who all have very special places in my heart. Especially that third one: sometimes I think I should just quit college and go write for Doctor Who, because I know that show (classic series and new) inside and out.
Wednesday was marked in frisbee, a serious talk with Duncan about something that was said over the summer that I have never been able to shake (you'd never know that being called a ghost could do such psychological damage), and a surprise visit from my UNCW freshman friend Lauren! I love Lauren with an intensity. She was one of two friends that I had throughout high school that I was friends with both in and outside of school. Aside from her love for German, Spanish and Japanese, her obsession with Darth Vader, her wild skill at Ultimate frisbee, and her general Florida-raised Cuban gorgeousness, Lauren is also studying to be a nurse. She is seriously thinking about transferring here, so the campus tour I gave her might have been extremely biased pro-Chapel Hill as a result. Maybe. I had to take a few breaks (to go and judge some calligrammes for a French Department contest, to plan a sushi/make-your-own-recycled-whiteboard/Exit Through the Gift Shop community night for Cobb Dorm next week, to choreograph a few new Zumba routines... you get the gist). The night out on Franklin ended with coffee and a group discussion about feelings before Lauren and her Miata-driving ami drove off for Wilmington (1 am). Then George spent the night in my room.
Weekdays are quiet. Today's adventures were fairly few, aside from massive amounts of hanging out with people and just a bit of studying (I do do that occasionally, you know). There were Indian dancers in the Pit this afternoon, so I ate out there and watched them do their thing. I think I might join the intramural frisbee team. I'm so out of shape for it–the last time I played frisbee well and regularly was over a year ago, and though I could keep up with the boys back then (and even surpass some of them) a) it's been a while since that time and b) the boys didn't stop playing, so they're all much much better than I am by a long shot at this point. Catching up is a pain.
The night is still young. Studying, coffee, and a quick choreography review before I teach are happening now. At 8 I teach my Zumba class (hopefully it'll be good). And after that... well, who knows? The night is still young. Tomorrow after classes, Duncan and I will go pick up his car and go home for the weekend. I'm not sure how my time will divide itself there, but mostly I just want to chill with my parents since I'll be missing spring break for that paleontological dig I'm going on.
To make up for the quietness of my life at present, I give you...
TODAY'S LINKS:
Several of today's have been shamelessly ripped from my fBook page.
Classify galaxies for the Hubble project.
Collect things. Or just find more websites that do it for you. 1-2-3-Quest!
Another really awesome photography project that's out there.
Speaking of photography: something nifty and vaguely related.
The science of absurdity. Learn to measure abstraction.
The best possible punctuation.
Nothing to say.
Musical Artist of the Day: Florence + the Machine. I think I've already run a few things by her in your direction. But it's time to get intense now. She does the most unspeakably splendid things with the harp and her own rich, well-ranged voice. This was my first love with her (though not my first exposure), this might have been last summer's anthem, this song might be my all-time favorite by her, this is a song by her that I would love to own, and these two songs are ones that I've recently been obsessed with. She also does some neat cover work for other bands.
Since I keep giving you links to music, maybe I should give you a better way to explore it. You can save playlists of songs on this site, you can listen to stations like with Pandora (only without the adds or 40-hour/month cap), and you can even upload your own iTunes library onto the player. It's awesome.
Anyhow, I must return to mes études and choreographic review. I love love love reading your comments. I'm sorry I haven't been responding to them, but I do appreciate it–I feel like I've been seeing a whole new side of you through them recently. I hope you're well, babe.
Ooh! I almost forgot. Google search "241543903" and look at the images. What do they have in common? I believe some PDFs near the top of the hits list will give it away, but try it anyway. :)
And one last link, for kicks and giggles.
Your caffeine-loving friend,
moi
I forgot entirely to tell you about Monday morning's glitter explosion! A gal in my dorm was in the bathroom the other morning, trying to maximize her pretty factor so that people would know she was single by choice. And then she exploded glitter powder all over herself and her beautiful outfit. Not the fairly light kind either, but the kind that looks like an iridescent sheet on your skin. Because nothing says single and empowered like butterfly-wing colors all over your everything. I'm sure Viviana could pull it off fine though: she's really gorgeous.
Anyway. This week was surprisingly studious for me. We watched this online documentary in my Tuesday Islam & Modernity class, and then I returned to my dorm. It was so beautiful outside that I couldn't stay indoors long, so I packed up some books and some food and went to picnic and study in the graveyard near my dorm, which has gorgeous trees and tons of sunlit grassy patches. Yay for cold coffee, pears and peas over poetry and French.
After a while studying got boring, so I started singing while reading and then I ended up just singing and watching people watch me as they cut through the area. My sister came to hang out with me after her classes ended, and we ended up using 50 broken pieces of pine needles to do an I Ching reading, which is an ancient form of fortune telling that comes from the Confucian tradition in China. The sun set, so we went in for coffee and TV shows off of the internet. The Office, 30 Rock, and classic Doctor Who all have very special places in my heart. Especially that third one: sometimes I think I should just quit college and go write for Doctor Who, because I know that show (classic series and new) inside and out.
Wednesday was marked in frisbee, a serious talk with Duncan about something that was said over the summer that I have never been able to shake (you'd never know that being called a ghost could do such psychological damage), and a surprise visit from my UNCW freshman friend Lauren! I love Lauren with an intensity. She was one of two friends that I had throughout high school that I was friends with both in and outside of school. Aside from her love for German, Spanish and Japanese, her obsession with Darth Vader, her wild skill at Ultimate frisbee, and her general Florida-raised Cuban gorgeousness, Lauren is also studying to be a nurse. She is seriously thinking about transferring here, so the campus tour I gave her might have been extremely biased pro-Chapel Hill as a result. Maybe. I had to take a few breaks (to go and judge some calligrammes for a French Department contest, to plan a sushi/make-your-own-recycled-whiteboard/Exit Through the Gift Shop community night for Cobb Dorm next week, to choreograph a few new Zumba routines... you get the gist). The night out on Franklin ended with coffee and a group discussion about feelings before Lauren and her Miata-driving ami drove off for Wilmington (1 am). Then George spent the night in my room.
Weekdays are quiet. Today's adventures were fairly few, aside from massive amounts of hanging out with people and just a bit of studying (I do do that occasionally, you know). There were Indian dancers in the Pit this afternoon, so I ate out there and watched them do their thing. I think I might join the intramural frisbee team. I'm so out of shape for it–the last time I played frisbee well and regularly was over a year ago, and though I could keep up with the boys back then (and even surpass some of them) a) it's been a while since that time and b) the boys didn't stop playing, so they're all much much better than I am by a long shot at this point. Catching up is a pain.
The night is still young. Studying, coffee, and a quick choreography review before I teach are happening now. At 8 I teach my Zumba class (hopefully it'll be good). And after that... well, who knows? The night is still young. Tomorrow after classes, Duncan and I will go pick up his car and go home for the weekend. I'm not sure how my time will divide itself there, but mostly I just want to chill with my parents since I'll be missing spring break for that paleontological dig I'm going on.
To make up for the quietness of my life at present, I give you...
TODAY'S LINKS:
Several of today's have been shamelessly ripped from my fBook page.
Classify galaxies for the Hubble project.
Collect things. Or just find more websites that do it for you. 1-2-3-Quest!
Another really awesome photography project that's out there.
Speaking of photography: something nifty and vaguely related.
The science of absurdity. Learn to measure abstraction.
The best possible punctuation.
Nothing to say.
Musical Artist of the Day: Florence + the Machine. I think I've already run a few things by her in your direction. But it's time to get intense now. She does the most unspeakably splendid things with the harp and her own rich, well-ranged voice. This was my first love with her (though not my first exposure), this might have been last summer's anthem, this song might be my all-time favorite by her, this is a song by her that I would love to own, and these two songs are ones that I've recently been obsessed with. She also does some neat cover work for other bands.
Since I keep giving you links to music, maybe I should give you a better way to explore it. You can save playlists of songs on this site, you can listen to stations like with Pandora (only without the adds or 40-hour/month cap), and you can even upload your own iTunes library onto the player. It's awesome.
Anyhow, I must return to mes études and choreographic review. I love love love reading your comments. I'm sorry I haven't been responding to them, but I do appreciate it–I feel like I've been seeing a whole new side of you through them recently. I hope you're well, babe.
Ooh! I almost forgot. Google search "241543903" and look at the images. What do they have in common? I believe some PDFs near the top of the hits list will give it away, but try it anyway. :)
And one last link, for kicks and giggles.
Your caffeine-loving friend,
moi
Monday, February 14, 2011
So It's Valentine's Day
Dear Simone–
Happy Valentine's Day! I love you, babe. <3
I celebrated today more than the non-celebration that I usually hold: I brought my friend Hanna a doughnut breakfast for our 9 am biology class today, and she gave me a few chocolates that she picked up in her 8 am Italian. Romantic doings = done, insofar as they ever will be in the context of my life at present.
So I explained to the Interested Boy that I didn't want to have anything romantic in my life at present. He understood and then we hung out and talk about sci-fi and impulsive thoughts/actions and studying for an hour or so. Forgiving people are remarkable things.
Everything looks rosier with heart-shaped glasses.
So anyway, let's get some V-day action going.
Angsty French love.
Making flirtation as easy as blinking.
Something a friend had on his Tumblr a while ago.
Letters from one known source.
And many more from unknowns. (I submitted something to this second site. Once, a long time ago.)
Music.
1 2 3 Personal Experiences.
4 5 6 Slightly More Classic Expressions of Emotion. Sort of.
7 8 9 Other Tunes Worth Hearing.
What would Valentine's Day be without a little vicious heartbreak? But it's not all sad sounding sighs.
And because I have to: being single ROCKS. Bachelorette for life. :D
Another kind of love.
And yet another kind of love.
Every gal (and most guys) needs some chocolate in her (or his) life. These particular ones are highly recommended if you're feeling fancy.
I'm afraid that that's going to be it for today, babe. Have a wonderful Valentine's Day. Take a meandering conversation over the phone with your darling bf, munch a truffle or two, or go really crazy and treat yourself to a delicious dinner. My oh-so-romantic evening plans: studying biology over salad and girl talk, contemplation of divorce proceedings in Iran, several cups of coffee, a late-night mix CD drop off on South campus, and finally a post-shower curl up with Olivier (my beloved teddy bear) before drifting off to sleep. Quiet nights are awfully nice. :)
Singularly (and so happily) yours,
moi
Happy Valentine's Day! I love you, babe. <3
I celebrated today more than the non-celebration that I usually hold: I brought my friend Hanna a doughnut breakfast for our 9 am biology class today, and she gave me a few chocolates that she picked up in her 8 am Italian. Romantic doings = done, insofar as they ever will be in the context of my life at present.
So I explained to the Interested Boy that I didn't want to have anything romantic in my life at present. He understood and then we hung out and talk about sci-fi and impulsive thoughts/actions and studying for an hour or so. Forgiving people are remarkable things.
Everything looks rosier with heart-shaped glasses.
So anyway, let's get some V-day action going.
Angsty French love.
Making flirtation as easy as blinking.
Something a friend had on his Tumblr a while ago.
Letters from one known source.
And many more from unknowns. (I submitted something to this second site. Once, a long time ago.)
Music.
1 2 3 Personal Experiences.
4 5 6 Slightly More Classic Expressions of Emotion. Sort of.
7 8 9 Other Tunes Worth Hearing.
What would Valentine's Day be without a little vicious heartbreak? But it's not all sad sounding sighs.
And because I have to: being single ROCKS. Bachelorette for life. :D
Another kind of love.
And yet another kind of love.
Every gal (and most guys) needs some chocolate in her (or his) life. These particular ones are highly recommended if you're feeling fancy.
I'm afraid that that's going to be it for today, babe. Have a wonderful Valentine's Day. Take a meandering conversation over the phone with your darling bf, munch a truffle or two, or go really crazy and treat yourself to a delicious dinner. My oh-so-romantic evening plans: studying biology over salad and girl talk, contemplation of divorce proceedings in Iran, several cups of coffee, a late-night mix CD drop off on South campus, and finally a post-shower curl up with Olivier (my beloved teddy bear) before drifting off to sleep. Quiet nights are awfully nice. :)
Singularly (and so happily) yours,
moi
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Blue Sharpies and Diamonds
Dear Simone–
My early morning escapades made me sleep in until 1:00 pm today, which is actually the latest I think I've slept in in my entire life with only one exception (4:25 pm on the day of the Preakness, three years ago, when I was only woken up because my family wanted to make sure I could get in on the betting as to which horse would win and watch the race with them). Oops. Really I hate being asleep past 10–I feel like my whole day has been wasted if it takes me that long to wake up. Sitting in bed awake doesn't count though. :)
What did I do today? Well, I did Duncan's laundry with him (I did most of the folding), then we played the new game of DDR that Duncan just bought cheaply for a while (I'm in the 3-4 out of 10 range of difficulty right now, but most of my friends are total beasts at the game), then we smashed for a shorter while (I play Lucas with passable skill, but again, most of my friends totally rock that game) and then we went out with Patrick, Ben, and George to throw a few frisbees around for an hour or so. Ben broke out his guitar for a while upon our return (the boy is a fantastic musician), but I had to go home and eat lima beans so that I wouldn't feel so bad about the hush puppies and milkshake that I got when Duncan, Ben, and Maggie (Duncan's girlfriend, who is pretty cool) and I made a run to Cookout in Durham (a 20-minute-ish drive which we spent listening to dance remixes and playing strip Padiddle). After going home and having a mini me-time-style dance party in my room for an hour or so, I went on a few really ridiculous and amazing adventures with Ben and Duncan (which I would love to tell you about over the phone or face-to-face, but care for a certain community of wonderful people prevents me from divulging on the internet). The three of us then returned to Duncan's room, debated setting up a tent in one of the lounges, and then just ended up dividing Duncan's pillow and blankets among us to have a sleepover.
Let me tell you about one of my art projects. So I mentioned in the previous post that I had an art project which I got to show off to Christian, right? Basically, I've created an alter ego for myself, a lovely gal who totes around a blue sharpie and leaves messages on printer paper duct-taped around campus. Blue is a wonderful excuse to go rambling on and around campus at 2-3 in the morning. I've done two releases of messages. Examples of messages? "Home alone is baking, bouncing around to loud music, pretending I can play the guitar, being naked," "What have you done to make today memorable?" "I have always looked up to her," "I kind of love snails," "I love perching here," "I asked a girl out once. She said yes. Nothing came of it," "I cry when I see something that strikes me as beautiful," "I am NOT my major, nor my lack thereof," When a boy, he sat in a tree, eating ravioli from a bucket <3,"I still struggle with an eating disorder," "Do you ever just want to drop everything and run?" "First kiss: in the woods. He was never more than a crush to me. That is okay," and many many many more. All of them are true statements and views, directly pulled from my personal life. I've written several hundred and released only about half of them across campus. I made myself a fake email address (through which I've made this blog, actually), girl.with.the.blue.sharpie@gmail.com, which I posted up with a request for human contact by one the dining halls on campus. Six people emailed me before the post got taken down, and three of them have actually stayed in fairly consistent contact (Michael, Finch, and Heather) despite the fact that I'm a stranger to them (they only know me as Blue). We've been in correspondence for going on three weeks, and I've proposed to them that we go chalking across campus one night and actually meet. Duncan started a small campaign of responses, though his are written in green sharpie and all capital letters (in contrast to my blue sharpie, all lower case), though his postings have been fairly small in scale so far. A few more neat things surrounding the project:
There is an arbor along one of the less-traveled avenues between academic buildings, and I had tucked a message up in an obscure place in one of those frames. Someone moved it. It is now much more visible on a brick wall beneath the same arbor. It says: "The world is a surreal and absurd place. I love it." Someone out there totally gets the message, and that person is the same one who moved that message to a visible spot.
I put a message in my favorite place on campus, that fourth-story walkway I mentioned in the previous post. It said: "(this is my secret, favorite place on campus)." Over the course of the three-ish weeks since I put it up, people have written responses on it. This is very exciting for me. They go like this, in order of appearance: "Not secret anymore, because it is also my favorite place on campus," "Me too," "Me three," "Totally my favorite spot!" and "This is awesome!" I love the human race for things like this. There are mud prints of shoe treads from where people have stepped on it, wind has curled the corners, and rain has beaten the enduring paper. I actually took this one down. It has become a treasure, and though I think destruction is gorgeous (especially of things that I make), I was moved to save this piece of wonderment, as a reminder of how marvelous the world can be. And here it is:
So. That's all I have to say about that for now. I'll definitely let you know when I work on this project again though. ;)
LINKS OF THE DAY:
Marina and the Diamonds, the original artist of the dance remix that appeared earlier in the post. She's really great, but has yet to tour outside of the UK. I love the richness of her voice. Some of my favorites by her include this song, this song, this song, this song and this song. Cool fact: the "Diamonds" in the artist name refer to Marina's fans. You could be one of us.
Magically done.
So long, boredom. A blog that updates many times a day.
A lovely little flick for the would-be traveler.
Something my sister gave me via fBook. Um?
If there is anything you want more of or less of on the blog, please please please don't be afraid to ask.
Things to look forward to: snails and bivalvia! non-romance! antique water bottles! and so much more. :)
Adorably (I hope) and certainly adoringly,
moi
My early morning escapades made me sleep in until 1:00 pm today, which is actually the latest I think I've slept in in my entire life with only one exception (4:25 pm on the day of the Preakness, three years ago, when I was only woken up because my family wanted to make sure I could get in on the betting as to which horse would win and watch the race with them). Oops. Really I hate being asleep past 10–I feel like my whole day has been wasted if it takes me that long to wake up. Sitting in bed awake doesn't count though. :)
What did I do today? Well, I did Duncan's laundry with him (I did most of the folding), then we played the new game of DDR that Duncan just bought cheaply for a while (I'm in the 3-4 out of 10 range of difficulty right now, but most of my friends are total beasts at the game), then we smashed for a shorter while (I play Lucas with passable skill, but again, most of my friends totally rock that game) and then we went out with Patrick, Ben, and George to throw a few frisbees around for an hour or so. Ben broke out his guitar for a while upon our return (the boy is a fantastic musician), but I had to go home and eat lima beans so that I wouldn't feel so bad about the hush puppies and milkshake that I got when Duncan, Ben, and Maggie (Duncan's girlfriend, who is pretty cool) and I made a run to Cookout in Durham (a 20-minute-ish drive which we spent listening to dance remixes and playing strip Padiddle). After going home and having a mini me-time-style dance party in my room for an hour or so, I went on a few really ridiculous and amazing adventures with Ben and Duncan (which I would love to tell you about over the phone or face-to-face, but care for a certain community of wonderful people prevents me from divulging on the internet). The three of us then returned to Duncan's room, debated setting up a tent in one of the lounges, and then just ended up dividing Duncan's pillow and blankets among us to have a sleepover.
Let me tell you about one of my art projects. So I mentioned in the previous post that I had an art project which I got to show off to Christian, right? Basically, I've created an alter ego for myself, a lovely gal who totes around a blue sharpie and leaves messages on printer paper duct-taped around campus. Blue is a wonderful excuse to go rambling on and around campus at 2-3 in the morning. I've done two releases of messages. Examples of messages? "Home alone is baking, bouncing around to loud music, pretending I can play the guitar, being naked," "What have you done to make today memorable?" "I have always looked up to her," "I kind of love snails," "I love perching here," "I asked a girl out once. She said yes. Nothing came of it," "I cry when I see something that strikes me as beautiful," "I am NOT my major, nor my lack thereof," When a boy, he sat in a tree, eating ravioli from a bucket <3,"I still struggle with an eating disorder," "Do you ever just want to drop everything and run?" "First kiss: in the woods. He was never more than a crush to me. That is okay," and many many many more. All of them are true statements and views, directly pulled from my personal life. I've written several hundred and released only about half of them across campus. I made myself a fake email address (through which I've made this blog, actually), girl.with.the.blue.sharpie@gmail.com, which I posted up with a request for human contact by one the dining halls on campus. Six people emailed me before the post got taken down, and three of them have actually stayed in fairly consistent contact (Michael, Finch, and Heather) despite the fact that I'm a stranger to them (they only know me as Blue). We've been in correspondence for going on three weeks, and I've proposed to them that we go chalking across campus one night and actually meet. Duncan started a small campaign of responses, though his are written in green sharpie and all capital letters (in contrast to my blue sharpie, all lower case), though his postings have been fairly small in scale so far. A few more neat things surrounding the project:
There is an arbor along one of the less-traveled avenues between academic buildings, and I had tucked a message up in an obscure place in one of those frames. Someone moved it. It is now much more visible on a brick wall beneath the same arbor. It says: "The world is a surreal and absurd place. I love it." Someone out there totally gets the message, and that person is the same one who moved that message to a visible spot.
I put a message in my favorite place on campus, that fourth-story walkway I mentioned in the previous post. It said: "(this is my secret, favorite place on campus)." Over the course of the three-ish weeks since I put it up, people have written responses on it. This is very exciting for me. They go like this, in order of appearance: "Not secret anymore, because it is also my favorite place on campus," "Me too," "Me three," "Totally my favorite spot!" and "This is awesome!" I love the human race for things like this. There are mud prints of shoe treads from where people have stepped on it, wind has curled the corners, and rain has beaten the enduring paper. I actually took this one down. It has become a treasure, and though I think destruction is gorgeous (especially of things that I make), I was moved to save this piece of wonderment, as a reminder of how marvelous the world can be. And here it is:
So. That's all I have to say about that for now. I'll definitely let you know when I work on this project again though. ;)
LINKS OF THE DAY:
Marina and the Diamonds, the original artist of the dance remix that appeared earlier in the post. She's really great, but has yet to tour outside of the UK. I love the richness of her voice. Some of my favorites by her include this song, this song, this song, this song and this song. Cool fact: the "Diamonds" in the artist name refer to Marina's fans. You could be one of us.
Magically done.
So long, boredom. A blog that updates many times a day.
A lovely little flick for the would-be traveler.
Something my sister gave me via fBook. Um?
If there is anything you want more of or less of on the blog, please please please don't be afraid to ask.
Things to look forward to: snails and bivalvia! non-romance! antique water bottles! and so much more. :)
Adorably (I hope) and certainly adoringly,
moi
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Crazy Things Go Down On Fridays (Because No One Should Be Studying)
Dear Simone–
HISTORY LESSON. Sort of.
So the biggest conquest that is credited with the borrowing of Scandinavian words into the English language (the reason that we have words like "them," "they," "their," "to and fro," "sky," "skip," "take," "keep," "give," "awkward," "scraggy," "dream," and more) was the Danish invasion of 866 A.D. Basically there was a big struggle between two factions in Denmark and the losers got booted out of the country. So they came to England. Determined to stay put (and not just maraud and go home, as had been the norm in previous centuries), the invading Danes systematically began to take the kingdoms of England over: Essex, Sussex, Northumbria, and whatnot. Eventually the only kingdom left standing was Wessex, which held out for decades and decades against this conquering force, with particular success under one King Alfred.
Time for a King Alfred story. So King Alfred was wandering through the woods alone and he came on this hut with a peasant couple in it, and they, without recognizing him as the person keeping Wessex safe and guarding the future of England, invited him to join them for dinner. He accepted and came inside. The woman doing the cooking was making a dinner centered around oat and wheat cakes, but there was a lot to do, and the woman couldn't keep an eye on the cakes as they cooked. So she asked Alfred to please look after them, and he said he would do his best. The woman scurried off, and Alfred (though he tried to maintain focus) soon became abstracted while trying to think of how he was supposed to defend his kingdom from the Danes while also running things smoothly within the country. As you can imagine, the woman came back into the kitchen to the smell of the cakes burning and, in a moment of anger, she shouted, "You silly man, can't you even watch these cakes to see that they don't burn?"
Apparently every English schoolchild would know this story. Professor O'Neill said so, so it must be true. How historically accurate is this tale? Estimates run at about the same level as the story of George Washington and the Cherry Tree (nil). Anyways, the Danes eventually gave up on Wessex and reached an accord with Alfred and his people to divide the land in peace. Then intermarriage happened between the factions, and Scandinavian words entered our vocabulary. Don't you love history?
A poem that I love. Ignore the picture.
Cats being cats.
I CARRIED MY CAMERA AROUND ALL DAY FOR YOU TODAY.
Today is Hinton James day. Hinton James (aka "Hojo") is the most distant South campus dorm, arguably the lowest quality dorm, and (as seems to follow) usually a place where freshmen live. There has been a guy wandering around, dressed as Hinton James. He gave out free cupcakes this morning apparently.
This guy was dancing in the Pit today while I was having coffee with a friend:
Like a bad person, I skipped my 1:00 french class to enjoy the sunny weather and hang out with my dear friend, Hanna. Like me, she switched roommates this semester, only she was the person doing the moving. I got to see her new room for the first time today:
She also had this adorable sheep pen lying around.
This bird has apparently passed away without a mark of harm on it. There are flocks of them that flit around near Wilson and Mitchell (where my paleontology class meets). It has been there for several days now, actually.
I had to go to a trunk show for Aerie Fit today, as part of my job. Basically I got free workout clothes: score! Most of the stuff I elected to nab is more geared at comfortably lounging around I think, but it works. The lady in pink is Jamie, one of my bosses. I like her a lot.
The instructors going to the college fitness expo at the end of February showed us the demonstration that they prepared for the expo.
My Aerie Fit acquisitions, pants and a fleece hoodie. Time to curl up and go to sleep, as warm things always make me want to do.
But I didn't sleep. So last night's adventures, in a very tight nutshell:
1) I went on a date (yes, with the interested boy). And I realized that though I really like him, I haven't been swept away so much that I want anything beyond friendship. We ate cheap pizza at Artichoke & Basil and then I dropped him off at Joyner, taking a pass on the post-date movie opportunity (I think a bit to his bewilderment). Instead I went walking alone and found (among other things) a way onto the roof of a field hockey stadium, which had a rather lovely view of South Campus.
2) I called up Hanna and pulled her away from her studies (like the bad influence I am) to go and get fro-yo at Yo-Po (delicious), and we picked up a few extras to our party as we walked up to Franklin (a girl named Laura and a guy named Christian). Christian left to gather some friend for a jam session.
3) I almost settled to study with Hanna and Laura when my friend George called me and offered to walk around campus with me. Naturally I bolted out to meet him, and we walked and talked for a good two hours, mostly about his progress with organizing the intramural Ultimate Frisbee team that my friends usually put together, a team called the Orange Iguanas that I currently have an available spot on (if I wanted to take the offer). I'd like to, but I don't know if I have the time.
4) Returning to Morrison (at around 12:30), I followed someone in and found Christian having his jam session in a kitchen on the second floor of Morrison. Christian alternated between the cello and guitar, Rachel was on guitar, Alex was on guitar, and a guy named Jordan played the dulcimer. All were highly highly talented musicians. They played many songs by touch, including this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and many many more (I'm only realizing now how many I've forgotten) and they also made up a few songs, lyrics and all, on the spot. George ("hoar-hay") the singer/guitarist joined us later, as well as René and Hilary (the latter, though drunk and craving post-party munchies at 2 am, still totally rocked out on a drum set upon her 2:15ish arrival). Nutella and graham crackers for all!
Either Nutella is every good thing about life distilled into edible form, or peanut butter is. I'm still torn.
5) After a while, (2:50ish) Christian asked me if I wanted to go somewhere on campus and just scream. The answer: resounding YES. So we made our way up to quad, stopping to climb a fence and discover a secret garden-ish space behind Wilson Library. Then we went to my favorite secret place, a fourth-story walkway between two of the science buildings, high and gorgeously lit and under the stars. No screaming took place (or howling–sometimes I do full blown wolf howls just for the hell of it when I go to my walkway), but I did get to show off one of my art projects to Christian and there was a tickle fight and we may have fallen asleep up there except it was freezing and 4:30. He walked me home while telling stories about how he streaked through two libraries and the Union during first semester exams, and then he threw out the fact that he didn't want to date at present. O.K. ...? He gives back massage hugs. Apparently they're famous among certain circles, and I can believe it. Who does that, anyway?
Then my roommate and I bitched about boys for a while. Then we went to bed. Calleigh is awesome.
That was my Friday.
Affectionately yours,
moi
HISTORY LESSON. Sort of.
So the biggest conquest that is credited with the borrowing of Scandinavian words into the English language (the reason that we have words like "them," "they," "their," "to and fro," "sky," "skip," "take," "keep," "give," "awkward," "scraggy," "dream," and more) was the Danish invasion of 866 A.D. Basically there was a big struggle between two factions in Denmark and the losers got booted out of the country. So they came to England. Determined to stay put (and not just maraud and go home, as had been the norm in previous centuries), the invading Danes systematically began to take the kingdoms of England over: Essex, Sussex, Northumbria, and whatnot. Eventually the only kingdom left standing was Wessex, which held out for decades and decades against this conquering force, with particular success under one King Alfred.
Time for a King Alfred story. So King Alfred was wandering through the woods alone and he came on this hut with a peasant couple in it, and they, without recognizing him as the person keeping Wessex safe and guarding the future of England, invited him to join them for dinner. He accepted and came inside. The woman doing the cooking was making a dinner centered around oat and wheat cakes, but there was a lot to do, and the woman couldn't keep an eye on the cakes as they cooked. So she asked Alfred to please look after them, and he said he would do his best. The woman scurried off, and Alfred (though he tried to maintain focus) soon became abstracted while trying to think of how he was supposed to defend his kingdom from the Danes while also running things smoothly within the country. As you can imagine, the woman came back into the kitchen to the smell of the cakes burning and, in a moment of anger, she shouted, "You silly man, can't you even watch these cakes to see that they don't burn?"
Apparently every English schoolchild would know this story. Professor O'Neill said so, so it must be true. How historically accurate is this tale? Estimates run at about the same level as the story of George Washington and the Cherry Tree (nil). Anyways, the Danes eventually gave up on Wessex and reached an accord with Alfred and his people to divide the land in peace. Then intermarriage happened between the factions, and Scandinavian words entered our vocabulary. Don't you love history?
A poem that I love. Ignore the picture.
Cats being cats.
I CARRIED MY CAMERA AROUND ALL DAY FOR YOU TODAY.
Today is Hinton James day. Hinton James (aka "Hojo") is the most distant South campus dorm, arguably the lowest quality dorm, and (as seems to follow) usually a place where freshmen live. There has been a guy wandering around, dressed as Hinton James. He gave out free cupcakes this morning apparently.
This guy was dancing in the Pit today while I was having coffee with a friend:
Like a bad person, I skipped my 1:00 french class to enjoy the sunny weather and hang out with my dear friend, Hanna. Like me, she switched roommates this semester, only she was the person doing the moving. I got to see her new room for the first time today:
She also had this adorable sheep pen lying around.
I had to go to a trunk show for Aerie Fit today, as part of my job. Basically I got free workout clothes: score! Most of the stuff I elected to nab is more geared at comfortably lounging around I think, but it works. The lady in pink is Jamie, one of my bosses. I like her a lot.
The instructors going to the college fitness expo at the end of February showed us the demonstration that they prepared for the expo.
My Aerie Fit acquisitions, pants and a fleece hoodie. Time to curl up and go to sleep, as warm things always make me want to do.
But I didn't sleep. So last night's adventures, in a very tight nutshell:
1) I went on a date (yes, with the interested boy). And I realized that though I really like him, I haven't been swept away so much that I want anything beyond friendship. We ate cheap pizza at Artichoke & Basil and then I dropped him off at Joyner, taking a pass on the post-date movie opportunity (I think a bit to his bewilderment). Instead I went walking alone and found (among other things) a way onto the roof of a field hockey stadium, which had a rather lovely view of South Campus.
2) I called up Hanna and pulled her away from her studies (like the bad influence I am) to go and get fro-yo at Yo-Po (delicious), and we picked up a few extras to our party as we walked up to Franklin (a girl named Laura and a guy named Christian). Christian left to gather some friend for a jam session.
3) I almost settled to study with Hanna and Laura when my friend George called me and offered to walk around campus with me. Naturally I bolted out to meet him, and we walked and talked for a good two hours, mostly about his progress with organizing the intramural Ultimate Frisbee team that my friends usually put together, a team called the Orange Iguanas that I currently have an available spot on (if I wanted to take the offer). I'd like to, but I don't know if I have the time.
4) Returning to Morrison (at around 12:30), I followed someone in and found Christian having his jam session in a kitchen on the second floor of Morrison. Christian alternated between the cello and guitar, Rachel was on guitar, Alex was on guitar, and a guy named Jordan played the dulcimer. All were highly highly talented musicians. They played many songs by touch, including this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and many many more (I'm only realizing now how many I've forgotten) and they also made up a few songs, lyrics and all, on the spot. George ("hoar-hay") the singer/guitarist joined us later, as well as René and Hilary (the latter, though drunk and craving post-party munchies at 2 am, still totally rocked out on a drum set upon her 2:15ish arrival). Nutella and graham crackers for all!
Either Nutella is every good thing about life distilled into edible form, or peanut butter is. I'm still torn.
5) After a while, (2:50ish) Christian asked me if I wanted to go somewhere on campus and just scream. The answer: resounding YES. So we made our way up to quad, stopping to climb a fence and discover a secret garden-ish space behind Wilson Library. Then we went to my favorite secret place, a fourth-story walkway between two of the science buildings, high and gorgeously lit and under the stars. No screaming took place (or howling–sometimes I do full blown wolf howls just for the hell of it when I go to my walkway), but I did get to show off one of my art projects to Christian and there was a tickle fight and we may have fallen asleep up there except it was freezing and 4:30. He walked me home while telling stories about how he streaked through two libraries and the Union during first semester exams, and then he threw out the fact that he didn't want to date at present. O.K. ...? He gives back massage hugs. Apparently they're famous among certain circles, and I can believe it. Who does that, anyway?
Then my roommate and I bitched about boys for a while. Then we went to bed. Calleigh is awesome.
That was my Friday.
Affectionately yours,
moi
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Of too many workouts, inherently hipster haircuts, and crushed dreams. (Among other things.)
Dear Simone–
So I figured it would probably be easiest if I started a blog in your honor instead of dealing with the formatting messiness of fBook. Et voilà! A blog just for you. You wanted to hear about my life? So you shall, but you can switch off at any moment. C'est à toi, cherie, but that is the beauty of using this site, right? I can't really make promises about the regularity of posting here, but I shall do my very very best.
What did I do today? Well other than read in bed this morning and go to my sole T/Th class at 11, I spent virtually all day working out. Which means bouncing around my room like a maniac in booty shorts and a workout shirt, because I teach Zumba, and I'm allowed to do stuff like that (and I get paid for it–I have the BEST job). I wrote a routine to that dub-step song that Duncan got me into, which has been stuck in my head for several days now (still not sick of it). I keep meaning to write a routine to this song, but every time I try I just end up having a little solo dance party in my room, and I only realize that I haven't been doing any choreography by the time the song ends. Fail. I started working out at 1:30, and I was basically working out solid block through the class I teach at 8 (which ends at 9). I could barely move when I got home. Those long days of PDT rehearsals paid off though, right? Kind of.
I didn't actually work out that *whole* time. My sister came by for chatting and coffee and after that I went and hung out with Duncan for a while. He does photography for the DTH, our oh-so-celebrated student newspaper (at a school where journalism is a hot major), and had just gotten out of doing a photo assignment covering this play. He actually had another assignment to do down in Carrboro, which is the hippie-liberal town just down Franklin Street from downtown Chapel Hill. We picked up his car and drove there (for time efficiency-it's really only a ten minute walk or so once you're off campus) so he could take pictures of cars on a road that they're going to expand. Not quite ready to return to campus, we went and got some local, organic munchies at the wonderful (if a little chère) Weaver Street Market. And what is more delicious than curried vegetables with rice, chocolate milk from a glass bottle, and blueberry danish, might I ask?
Life on a less literal level. Still mundane. First of all there is the continuing backlash from the haircut: I get random compliments from strangers on it, which is wonderfully flattering. I found all of these old glasses while I was home this past weekend, but if I wear any of them, I look like a shameless hipster gal.
As you can see, it's a serious problem and perhaps an even more serious temptation in many ways. Fortunately I've been able to abandon my Buddy Holly rims in Duncan's room (along with my peanut butter–I'm enough of an addict to classy peanut butters that I can polish off a full jar within 24 hours unless some limitations are put on my access to such deliciousness). Access to those glasses might make me end up like this.
I also got an amazing hat. But what kind of animal is that supposed to BE, anyway?
I thought it was an owl at first. Other suggestions have included a lemur and a koala.
Celebration time: I got a mix today! From my dear friend Ben, who is into Economics and Political Science, with a minor in Islamic Studies and who is EXTRAORDINARILY snobby about his music. He has excellent taste though, so he gets away with it. You met him briefly when you visited. He has gorgeous hair.
The CD he gave me features nothing but the Silversun Pickups, a band that I love, but that I had very little of in my collection. This is his favorite song by them. And his least favorite, which I gave you on your mix, and which this CD was in response to. My personal favorite is probably this song, but that might change after I've listened to this CD for a while. It's exciting. I'm kind of obsessed with music. :)
So my Guerilla Art Group is going to put a notebook out in the Pit in an attempt to get people to put their random thoughts in it. After two weeks of no one actually going out to get a notebook, I kind of got fed up with the whole thing and butchered one of my more lightly-used class notebooks to make this:
The layered aluminum foil looks like waves at the top, and the feathery looking bit is made of hand-torn shreds of printer paper, held on with good old Scotch tape. It took me quite a while to make, but it was totally worth it. :)
I'm struggling right now a lot with the whole idea of dating. There is an interested fellow, and we were quite fresh with each other the other day in his room, but I'm worried that I may have made a mistake with that. You might not know this about me (having never been in a position to be exposed to this trait), but I am probably one of the flightiest and most skittish people you know. I want to spend my life being able to travel where I want, when I want, with whoever I want to, and however I want to, all without any reason beyond for the sake of adventure. Needless to say, my issues with commitment are giving me pains at present, and I don't really know what to do with that, or with this poor boy (who has no idea what he's getting himself into). I have always been single, and I've recently come back to terms with my own lasting singleness. Food for thought. I think about isolation a lot. I actually wrote a fairly intense essay on the subject once, of my own volition and inspiration. Committed relationships. Terrifying. I tried to tell my sister why I didn't want to get in a relationship. She disapproved. No one can generate such crushing disapproval as can be gained from a philosophy major, let me tell you.
I won't always treat this like a diary. :) No matter what I write though, I will try to put up some cool stuff that I've come across in my explorations of the internet, past and present.
LINKS OF THE DAY:
Favorite stop-motion flick. It's short, but gorgeous.
Staircases, reimagined in all their ordinary splendor.
The three-year-old in me cannot get over this cake.
A chipmunk.
Learn Spanish! BBC style.
Affectionately,
moi
So I figured it would probably be easiest if I started a blog in your honor instead of dealing with the formatting messiness of fBook. Et voilà! A blog just for you. You wanted to hear about my life? So you shall, but you can switch off at any moment. C'est à toi, cherie, but that is the beauty of using this site, right? I can't really make promises about the regularity of posting here, but I shall do my very very best.
What did I do today? Well other than read in bed this morning and go to my sole T/Th class at 11, I spent virtually all day working out. Which means bouncing around my room like a maniac in booty shorts and a workout shirt, because I teach Zumba, and I'm allowed to do stuff like that (and I get paid for it–I have the BEST job). I wrote a routine to that dub-step song that Duncan got me into, which has been stuck in my head for several days now (still not sick of it). I keep meaning to write a routine to this song, but every time I try I just end up having a little solo dance party in my room, and I only realize that I haven't been doing any choreography by the time the song ends. Fail. I started working out at 1:30, and I was basically working out solid block through the class I teach at 8 (which ends at 9). I could barely move when I got home. Those long days of PDT rehearsals paid off though, right? Kind of.
I didn't actually work out that *whole* time. My sister came by for chatting and coffee and after that I went and hung out with Duncan for a while. He does photography for the DTH, our oh-so-celebrated student newspaper (at a school where journalism is a hot major), and had just gotten out of doing a photo assignment covering this play. He actually had another assignment to do down in Carrboro, which is the hippie-liberal town just down Franklin Street from downtown Chapel Hill. We picked up his car and drove there (for time efficiency-it's really only a ten minute walk or so once you're off campus) so he could take pictures of cars on a road that they're going to expand. Not quite ready to return to campus, we went and got some local, organic munchies at the wonderful (if a little chère) Weaver Street Market. And what is more delicious than curried vegetables with rice, chocolate milk from a glass bottle, and blueberry danish, might I ask?
Life on a less literal level. Still mundane. First of all there is the continuing backlash from the haircut: I get random compliments from strangers on it, which is wonderfully flattering. I found all of these old glasses while I was home this past weekend, but if I wear any of them, I look like a shameless hipster gal.
I also got an amazing hat. But what kind of animal is that supposed to BE, anyway?
I thought it was an owl at first. Other suggestions have included a lemur and a koala.
Celebration time: I got a mix today! From my dear friend Ben, who is into Economics and Political Science, with a minor in Islamic Studies and who is EXTRAORDINARILY snobby about his music. He has excellent taste though, so he gets away with it. You met him briefly when you visited. He has gorgeous hair.
The CD he gave me features nothing but the Silversun Pickups, a band that I love, but that I had very little of in my collection. This is his favorite song by them. And his least favorite, which I gave you on your mix, and which this CD was in response to. My personal favorite is probably this song, but that might change after I've listened to this CD for a while. It's exciting. I'm kind of obsessed with music. :)
So my Guerilla Art Group is going to put a notebook out in the Pit in an attempt to get people to put their random thoughts in it. After two weeks of no one actually going out to get a notebook, I kind of got fed up with the whole thing and butchered one of my more lightly-used class notebooks to make this:
The layered aluminum foil looks like waves at the top, and the feathery looking bit is made of hand-torn shreds of printer paper, held on with good old Scotch tape. It took me quite a while to make, but it was totally worth it. :)
I'm struggling right now a lot with the whole idea of dating. There is an interested fellow, and we were quite fresh with each other the other day in his room, but I'm worried that I may have made a mistake with that. You might not know this about me (having never been in a position to be exposed to this trait), but I am probably one of the flightiest and most skittish people you know. I want to spend my life being able to travel where I want, when I want, with whoever I want to, and however I want to, all without any reason beyond for the sake of adventure. Needless to say, my issues with commitment are giving me pains at present, and I don't really know what to do with that, or with this poor boy (who has no idea what he's getting himself into). I have always been single, and I've recently come back to terms with my own lasting singleness. Food for thought. I think about isolation a lot. I actually wrote a fairly intense essay on the subject once, of my own volition and inspiration. Committed relationships. Terrifying. I tried to tell my sister why I didn't want to get in a relationship. She disapproved. No one can generate such crushing disapproval as can be gained from a philosophy major, let me tell you.
I won't always treat this like a diary. :) No matter what I write though, I will try to put up some cool stuff that I've come across in my explorations of the internet, past and present.
LINKS OF THE DAY:
Favorite stop-motion flick. It's short, but gorgeous.
Staircases, reimagined in all their ordinary splendor.
The three-year-old in me cannot get over this cake.
A chipmunk.
Learn Spanish! BBC style.
Affectionately,
moi
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