I'm feeling a bit peaky. Okay, actually, I feel worn out, through and through. Gave my She & Him tickets to a couple of the Pink House girls. Just watched the above clip on tv. Both Mel Brooks and Rick Moranis are geniuses.
This photo is a polaroid with some special film made for my old school polaroid camera. (It's a long explanation about the film, and far too geeky if you don't already know about it.) I only bought two packs and am regretting that (I should have splurged for more). The tones are a little sepia-ish, but I think they add even more of an old fashioned look to them. (The pug photo from below is also with this film.) Anyhow I've only got 16 shots total (14 left). I hope I don't screw any of them up!
Oh, and the car? The sign in the window boasted it has never rusted. 1950 Plymouth. For sale, if you're interested.
This weekend I've got people coming in town (including a brief visit from this fabbo lady), scouting for a photo project and it's going to be a scorcher from what I hear. What do you all have planned?
I said I would post about the reunion that I went to last weekend, but didn't. I didn't have the time and I didn't really know what to say. Except that it was great and being back there made me feel centered again. I was able to revisit an important period in my life and not get (too) maudlin. Photos can be seen here. (If you don't get the gnome, my apologies. He's come to be the mascot of the place I used to call home. He's like a secret handshake - you know him, you're always a member of the club.)I have two weeks and three days until I leave the country for three weeks to ping pong around Western Europe. I have less than that time to prepare for/finish any number of group projects, homeworks, 20 page papers (only one thankfully), final exams, other detrius that school throws in my path.
I need to start planning what I'm packing. A rough list is sketching itself in my brain, but I need to write it down. I have to pack in a some-what smart way, seeing as I'll be gone long and will be hauling my crap on my back for three weeks. Luckily I don't have to pack the bridesmaid's dress I'm wearing for the wedding in Ireland in week 2 of my trip (thank you bride!). I'm just going to try and pack as minimally as possible, assuming at least once I will hit a laudromat. (I believe the key to this is packing a LOT of changes of underwear.)
I have my first two-ish weeks planned, but have about 4 or 5 days between my Germany school-related program ending and my return flight in London that are wide open. I would like to spend a couple days in London, but am worried about the cost. I am already planning on bothering a friend of a friend who just moved there, because once he slept on my futon, and maybe now he has a futon that can reciprocate. If anyone has any lost-cost solutions, or suggestions of how to spend my time, I'd love to hear them!
I am ready for the adventure and both wish I could play it totally by ear and simultaneously have all of my nights booked in some hostel or another. I plan on taking copious photos to share when I return, but don't be too jealous of me, because have you seen the exchange rates recently? Ouch.
In other news, my awesome friend Eliza is working on the new version of The Electric Company and it got written up in the NYT. I hope it succeeds!
Sunday was my golden birthday - my age is now the same as my birth date. These photos are of my twin brother and I on our first birthday. My mother was of the "push them out of the nest as soon as they can and they'll learn" ilk. Plus she was exhausted with twins, so on our first birthday she gave us both bowls of mashed potatoes and our own spoons and let us have at it. She figured we'd figure it out and be feeding ourselves in no time. She was right.
I had a great birthday - I think it's my best birthday in recent memory. I went to New York and visited with some great old friends - one who was a supremely excellent hostess. I ate so very well. I walked so very far. I saw a favorite band play, and they were so very rocking. I also got to meet two blog friends who were generous and kind and fun as I thought they'd be. I am so lucky for the friends I have (new and old) - they make my life much better.
I'm feeling a little overwhelmed my the kindness I've met through this space (and flickr). I was nervous prior to meeting up with Kathleen - I joked with my friend Natasha that it was like a blind date. But I realize now it's like meeting pen pals. You are already friends, you've just never met in person. Kathleen is just as I thought she'd be, and I wish I hadn't suggested meeting at the MoMA, because we were plagued by crowds and it would have been better if we had just found a spot to chat over tea and cookies or something. It was great meeting her and M.A. Peel. I always feel like I'm tripping over myself to talk - I jump around conversation topics because we have such little time together and I have so much to say!
When I finally got back today I had two packages from another blog friend, Meg. Again, I'm just overwhelmed by the generosity and friendship I have found. Thank you all, new, old and in-between friends. Here's to another great year with new adventures.
PART ONE: Daydreams (via email last week)
Email to friend: I want to go to Paris and run into Wes Anderson dressed all nattily. And then make him realize we were meant to be. (Which is I'm sure what the Sartorialist did.)
Her response: Umm - yay! It kind of makes me want to MOVE to Paris and spend my days doing something kind of pointless and yet employable. Publishing? Floral consultant? Then I could spend my days being modestly fabulous and rubbing elbows with the man. How much do you love the little horse lapel pin? And the stars tie? I truly truly love him...
My response: Yes, I have to love anyone that is thoughtful about the little details of their life. Let's move to Paris. You can arrange flowers. I'll push croissants in the bakery next door. We can meet beautifully dressed ex-pats from elsewhere, marry, have little babies with French accents and multiple passports.
PART TWO: Thoughts on the weekend
My weekend was full of friends from different eras/spheres of my life, though they all overlap, even if they don't know each other well. Thursday I got to spend some quality time with my friend Kristen. We hiked around Lake Griffey, and we paused often to admire the brown trees and the silence, and to discuss the finer points of movies and books we liked and disliked. We spent the evening eating pizza, watching Northern Exposure and with me reading her BtVS comics. (I'm totally hooked - damn you Joss Whedon!)
The rest of the weekend was mostly spent with a group of six to seven other girls (the number fluctuated slightly), in celebration of our friend's impending wedding in Ireland. I felt a little out of step, which makes sense since of the girls I do know, I had only seen/kept in good contact with the bride and I hadn't really seen the rest since we graduated college five years ago. In some ways it was easy, as it is with old friends. In others it was hard, since most of the party was coming from NYC and knew each other on a more regular (if not daily/weekly) basis. Plus I was the only one of the group that did not have some major long term relationship. All of this coupled with nostalgia, heavy drinking and poor sleep has left me a little depressed.
I did duck out of the estrogen fest to visit with my friend Anthony, whom I've grown to admire more and more. We shared easy conversation over lunch. Instead of driving me straight back to the Union, where I was staying, we buzzed over to his place to show me the color samples for the walls of his new/old house, because he knows I'm a dork when it comes to thoughts of home decorating. I'm jealous of his squeaky wood floors and his killer vintage stove.
PART THREE: Random thoughts on music
According to iTune's email today, the new Death Cab album out in May is supposed to be good. I don't know how much I believe an ad that doesn't cite its sources, but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless. I heard the tail end of its single this evening on the radio. Really, though, "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" has been in my head for days. Maybe that's because of my demographic. According to AllMusic's review of the album on which that song appears, "Thematically, Plans is the Death Cab for Cutie suitable for graduate students, world-weary and wiser from their experiences, realizing they can no longer be love-starved 20-somethings without a clue yet hopelessly cursed to face the same issues." Yep, that nicely rounds out how I'm feeling. Watch the video below.
I've been away since Thursday, visiting with lots of friends in old stomping grounds. I'm paying for the weekend already, as a cold is settling into my body. Just in time for the new quarter to start. I'll post later in the week. Hopefully I'll have some good photos to share.
By the time many of you read this, Pi Day will probably be over. I had been planning on big Pi Day festivities here. I had planned to do a special Pi Day PFR, with a friend whose birthday is today. (She's one of three friends that share this auspicious day.) I blame the g-d blizzard, of which I am still very bitter, for my plans derailing. It threw my week out of whack and kept me from pie. I will try and have a post Pi Day PFR soon, but it won't be the same. Since I can't bring you pie, please read about Pi. Did you know that today is also Albert Einstein's birthday? (And Michael Caine's, which is neither here nor there.)
This week and next is full of friends that I don't normally see. In fact, I'll see a couple of friends next weekend I haven't seen since I graduated college, and I'm really excited about that. I got to show another friend around town yesterday, giving her a quick tour of scenes from my childhood, and then we rambled in the country a bit. It was very nice. The weather was supreme. Today it's rainy, and it looks like the rain will continue into tomorrow. I'm cool with it though, 'cause it's NOT SNOW. I swear that if it snows again this season I'm giving up and running away to the circus. Near the beach.
Have a lovely weekend, all. I'm off to celebrate my friend's birth. And yes, I'm bringing her a pie.
I am in a supreme mood this evening. My final projects are turned in. I already have two grades back, which show favorably for my effort this quarter. The sun is out. The snow is melting. It's warm and I'm feeling better about the world. Really, what I want more than anything, is to have a dear friend sitting across from me so we can chat. Oh, I am a world class chatter, and I feel the urge for some gossip, some back and forth, a little witty repartee or two. I tried bugging a couple of people on my drive home, but no luck. People are at work (or screening their calls).
I did talk for a second with a friend, who I get to see next week, and found out about some of the grad schools she got into. (So far I approve, because they all are places I'd like to visit.) She invited me on a possibly last-minute-whirlwind trip to North Carolina. I'm tempted, because I'd badly like to visit the beach, if only for a day. But I've got expensive travel plans this summer (partially involving her), so it will most likely not happen. It's nice to daydream about, though.
Besides my vague ramblings, I thought I'd post a couple photos from the weekend before the blizzard. Our previous melt. My mother and I went on a walk through Denison University's campus and around town. I'm a little in love with its observatory.
But I'm currently *not* doing my schoolwork, as she guessed I would be. I'm a little miffed about being snowbound. I walked out to get the mail and the plow barely made it into the drive before getting stuck. The snow is heavy and wet, but it is melting. If you stand outside any of the doors you hear the loveliest of tinkling sounds as the run-off makes its way out the drain spouts.
Instead of continuing to write my papers I was cooking, or shall I say experimenting? I made a marinade for some chicken wings. I more or less followed the instructions, but I realized while "cooking" why I'm not allowed in the kitchen. I hope it turns out edible!
I also found this cute-o short film on youtube. I wish I was somewhere where driving in a convertible with the top down was an option! (I also must confess that I'm a car dancer and singer.)
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