Here in the states, that's what we call "asking for it".

In one of my classes there's a girl I just don't mesh well with (I shall call her Perude). We have a mutual friend in the sweetest girl in the world (I shall call her Sunshine). Sunshine is one of those perpetually nice, giggles in the face of adversity, occasionally clumsy and daft but you can't help but like her kind of people. I've come to the conclusion that Perude hangs out with Sunshine because she's the only one that will put up with her behavior. Perude looks down her nose at other people...she thinks if you don't wear designer clothing you're less of a person, she perpetually points out to her classmates that she's "smarter than most Americans", and if you have to work through school you're too poor and shouldn't even bother. Now, after that statement, let's take a brief glimpse at me...I show up to class in hoodies, jeans, and stocking caps. Uh, I'm an American and I think a pretty smart one. Oh, and I work through school.
I'm perpetually biting my tongue around this girl because Sunshine is very tenderhearted and she really wants everyone to get along. I've told her I just don't agree with Perude's behavior and I'll try to be civil for Sunshine's sake.

I agreed to be civil. Not to let the perfect moment go by.

We had small group critiques in studio yesterday. It was me, Perude, and the instructor. Perude showed the instructor her work, the cover of which she had "spent hours handpainting" words that were descriptors of the artist she was writing about. The instructor made a little joke about how he hoped they were all spelled right to which Perude replied that she was certain they were because her spelling is "better than American's". I started looking through and couldn't help it when I saw "arogant". I pointed it out and she said "No, there's only one 'r', I'm certain". The instructor just laughed and told her she was wrong. Then I pointed out 'entrepreneuor', 'confiddent', and 'inovative'. She looked to the instructor for help and he told her she was still wrong. She then had the 'arogance' to say she still has better spelling than Americans. I just looked at her and said, "well, not this American" and laughed. I even managed to get a giggle out of the instructor.

Life has its good moments...

my second attempt at wasting time, uh I mean posting today

Kapgar Kwiz
Shamelessly stolen from mom's blog via her buddy Kapgar.
1. Do you like blue cheese? Mmm, only on a steak
2. Have you ever smoked heroin? Whoa, no way.
3. Do you own a gun? Uh, no.
4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? Never been to Sonic.
5. Do you get nervous before doctor's appointments? Only the unpleasant ones.
6. What do you think of hot dogs? I love them at baseball games, covered in everything you can put on em. Or the superdogs from the cart out by the bars.
7. Favorite Christmas song? That's tough, I can't pick just one.
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Coffee with a coffee chaser.
9. Can you do push ups? I can but they're pretty pathetic.
10. What do you order at Starbucks? I don't buy anything at Starbucks. I try to support the local joints.
11. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? Does a watch count? Otherwise its my nosering (sorry dad)
12. Favorite hobby? I don't think I really have one, the more I think about it. I exercise and do art but I don't think of either as a hobby, they're more necessities.
13. How do you eat your eggs? Usually scrambled with salsa but I also like 'em fried on top of pancakes. tasty.
14. Do you have A.D.D.? I've wondered if I do but I think I'm just overanalyzing.
15. What’s one trait you hate about yourself? Overanalyzing? Ha...no, I don't really think I HATE anything.
16. Your eye color? It changes...sometimes it matches my hair and sometimes its more hazel.
17. Name three thoughts at this exact moment? I wonder if the instructor knows I'm not working on my project? Maybe I should go zap my coffee. That girl on the end is really starting to annoy me with her arrogance.
18. Name three things you bought yesterday? Coffee (how many times can I mention coffee in one post?). A pastry. An 11 x 17 color copy.
19. Three drinks you regularly drink? Coffee. Mountain Dew. Water.
20. Current worry right now? How am I going to get my car back and get my mom's back to her?
21. Current hate right now? Uh, I don't think I really hate anything. Mom's right, it's a hefty word.
22. Favorite place to be? In bed.
23. How did you bring in the New Years?Watching a "Lost" marathon with my mom at her house.
24. Where would you like to go? A nice warm beach...maybe Hawaii.
25. Name three people who will complete this? I don't know if I even have three people who read my blog regularly, ha.
26. Do you own slippers? Of course. A fuzzy pink pair and a fuzzy blue pair.
27. What shirt are you wearing?A gray tank top and a zip up fleece thing.
28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets?Nooooo, I hate static electricity.
29. Can you whistle? Yeah, I guess.
30. Favorite color? Dark red
31. Would you be a pirate? Sure, why not. I wear bandanas alot anyways. I'm just an eyepatch away.
32. What songs do you sing in the shower? Girly songs from musicals...I guess girly songs in general.
33. Favorite girl’s name? Alaina (if by some quirk I ever have a kid...)
34. Favorite boy’s name?Jack or Joe
35. What’s in your pocket right now? Lint.
36. Last thing that made you laugh? I almost biffed it on the sidewalk in front of someone this morning. I had to laugh at myself.
37. Most frequently dialed phone number? Uh, I used 11 minutes on my cell phone last month. I don't use phones.
38. Worst injury you’ve ever had? I sprained an ankle playing basketball a few years ago. I try to be careful with myself.
39. Do you love where you live? Uh, with the exception of winter, its not too bad.
40. How many TVs do you have? One...
41. Who is your loudest friend? My sister. She's kinda quiet until she laughs. Then she's the loudest person I know.
42. How many dogs do you have? One...
43. What are you thrilled about right now? Thrilled? Its early, I don't even think about thrilled until after noon.
44. Do you have a crush on someone? Hm. No. It's kinda sad, now that I think about it. (Top Chef is coming back though, so does Chef Tom count?)
45. What is your favorite book? The Time Travelers Wife.
46. What is your favorite candy? Hm, I don't think I have one.
47. Favorite Sports Team? The local college team, I guess. I cheer for them, even though they've been a letdown as long as I can remember.
48. What song do you want played at your funeral? The chicken dance. (hell if I know, gah)
49. What were you doing at 12 AM last night?Sleeping.
50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? I just want 10 more minutes...

a weekend off

I did nothing this weekend. You heard me, nothing. I decided that I needed it. I slapped together a page layout for this morning and it appears it was enough to appease the graphic design deities. Saturday, I worked in the morning (it doesn't count as work, really.) and then went out of town with friends. We goofed around, had some tasty mexican food and just relaxed. I came back late that night and then slept the entire day on Sunday. Okay, I woke up for about 5 hours so I could watch Millionaire Matchmaker reruns. Oh, and I suppose I technically was up and around since I left the house for coffee and to print off my page layout. But really, I counted it up and I slept from 2 AM on Saturday night until 6 AM this morning with only about 7 hours of functioning. Now, a part of me thinks I should feel somewhat guilty but the other part is saying who cares. Most of the university is getting sick with the flu and if I can take a couple days off to enjoy myself, I'll consider it a method of prevention. Everyone needs a jammie day, er, weekend...

noting that the blinders are on too tight

The other day at the gym, I worked out on the elliptical thingy for about 40 minutes and then went and lifted weights. I had brought along Chipmunk but we parted ways in the locker room. After working out, she walked up to me on one of the machines. When I asked her where she'd been the whole time she looked at me like I was crazy. She had been on the machines right next to me pretty much the whole time. I chalked it up to being 'in the zone'.
Tonight at dinner, the same thing happened. I was eating with friends and after dinner, I got up to get my coat and someone yelled my name. I looked at the table next to us and it was some old friends that had been waving and trying to get my attention at dinner the whole time. Apparently, a couple of the friends I was eating with even noticed but they just thought they were waving at someone else.
Now, I'll admit, I don't like being in large groups of people or crowds and usually as a coping mechanism I just tune everything out. But I usually don't when I'm in a managable setting, I'm usually people watching. My only explanation is the full moon. And maybe the batman mask I've been wearing. Yeah, lets stick with the full moon.

Slowly murdering braincells...

That Millionaire Matchmaker show on Bravo is making me question the sanity of all West Coasters. Or maybe just the rich ones and the gold-diggers that are trying to snag them.

and yet I'm still watching...bastards.

keep your fingers crossed **updated**

Black and white photography is laughing at me. Oh yes, laughing. I took this class over the digital class because I thought a dark room was wildly romantic and artistic and a purist thing to do. I shoulda been a lazy sack of shit and just done digital. At any rate, its kicking my ass.
First roll of film got eaten. Literally eaten. By the camera. Yum yum, maybe I'll have seconds later.
Second roll only had about 3 usable shots. I took it as a sign that I'm still learning and give it time. Sure.
Third and fourth rolls didn't look like they should. Nothing usable, regardless of my settings. Instructor recommended reshooting.
Fifth roll...got...eaten. This was where I had an urge to chuck the camera into the fireplace and watch all the bits and pieces melt into oblivion.
Sixth and last roll didn't look like they should. Again.
My project is due tomorrow and I have nothing to show for a week's worth of driving myself bonkers. I'm hoping my instructor shows mercy on me. I've tried, I really have. I have never been more challenged by a class and it shows. I'm also hoping that the problem is my camera and not some stupid mistake I keep making. May the photography gods smile upon me tomorrow...


**thankfully the light meter on my camera was off by a couple stops. My instructor is having me submit all my crappy contact sheets and then I can resubmit the project later. Hooray!

Because they're chalky and I don't have to like them

Tomorrow is the day. Yeah yeah, lovey dovey day of wasting money. Consider me the scrooge of V-day. I just don't get it. You future guys who want anything to do with me, just skip this day. It doesn't count. Get me flowers on some random tuesday and we'll call it good. And maybe some chocolate ice cream sometime, that would be good, too. But I digress. Tomorrow, I will pass on all the hoopla. I'll stay in, make myself dinner and have a lovely quiet night alone. Friday, I will celebrate. The candy goes half off. Hooray!

Twentysome years in the works

My baby brother is getting married tomorrow.

Okay, so I've never really thought of him as my baby brother. He's only two years younger than me and has turned out a foot taller so 'baby' really doesn't fit. At any rate, he's all growed up now.
It's a little weird to think about. The fact that we're all older catches me especially when I think of him. It seemed like when we were little, the rest of us kids were always picking on him. He was perpetually young...he has ADHD (which you really wouldn't notice it now that he's older) and growing up he had energy like a small chipmunk and an equal attention span. It was hard to keep up with what was going on. There was always mischief and occasional frustration but I think that's common for four siblings.
Looking back, I tend to just remember the fun times with JD. I remember playing matchbox cars and video games and The Living Room Olympics (never when mom and dad were home, of course). There were four-wheelers, snowmobiles and riding bikes (the little twerp got it down before I did and it still kinda bothers me). There was playing in my dad's shop and both getting yelled at...apparently "the shop is not a playground, damnit!"
As I've gotten older, the fact that he has too is always surprising me. Being busy with school and moving away for a little bit, every time I would see him it was astonishing to see that he wasn't the same goofy kid. Sure, he acts goofy every now and then but that's standard for our family. But the realization that he's an adult tends to catch me off guard. The great part is he's not just an adult, he's a really good one. He's turned out to be a nice guy, full of integrity and quick to help people out. I'm always amazed at how quick he offers to help me out when I'm in a bind. He's got the best heart. And of all of us siblings, he's turned out to be one of the softest towards animals. It cracks me up how quick he's been to take up scraggly animals.
So before I go on a rant and get all sappy, I really love my brother. I'm happy that he's managed to find someone who is his female equivalent (its really quite creepy) and she appreciates him as much as we do. I'm glad he's happy and I'm excited to get another sister-in-law.
So to the happy couple, congratulations...I love ya both. And in the eternal words of dad, at least I'm not a mean drunk.

Speak of the devil...

Captain Snowcloud's birthday is today! He's also been sick this week so maybe you can pop over and give him a hug. Don't tell him I sent you, though. He thinks I'm mean...