The Tulip Poplars Say 'hello'

And also, I am feeling very bloated and wheezy. Also, the pressures of my all-too-human existance are bearing their weight on my shoulders. Mostly, it's passover. I hate that. It's my favorite holiday next to Yom Kippur, and here I am, not being very thankful for it. On the up-side, we'll be dyeing easter eggs this Friday. That's pretty awesome, right?

I will eat this sushi, then eat all of Tokyo.

I spent most of the weekend, sans formal, in bed, continuing to recover from whatever virus G-d has see fit to give me. After a morning talking about art brut in Alison Smith's class and showing off my ex-boyfriend's massive boy scout patch collection, I got the go-ahead to go back to bed, which is where I am now. Above is evidence of my weekend, where I managed to stay awake long enough to make a plate-full of sushi. Big adventure of my sushi-making? I made tamago, or egg-cake sushi (tamago is where Tamagotchi comes from, btw.) It turned out great! I just need to figure out how to get my sushi rice a little bit more moist, and then I am never paying $1.50 for a piece of tamago sushi again. Hope everyone's enjoying the sunshine in Baltimore today! I'm going to drink lots of fluids. -L!

Rag rugging

The most recent project for Alison Smith's commemorative textiles class here at MICA, I'm turning old commemorative t-shirts, my mom's comforter from college, my scraps of the fabric I've designed and printed, and incomplete projects into a very colorful, very practical, rag rug. I'm braiding then sewing, and there's lots of cutting fabric on the bias, which I'm finding surprisingly enjoyable. The concept of this piece isn't monstrous--(that should be an m-dash, but I don't know how to do that in this here courier) take things which are taking up space, no longer practical for what they were intended, or take an emotional toll to look upon, to make something which goes on the floor and keeps your feet from feeling the chill. Something so inherently yours and personal that it gives you great pleasure to keep these things in a practical, non-hording way. And it doesn't matter I think that my audience won't know, because I know, and this project is for me. The current unit in that class, I should mention, is trench art. Next is Art Brut. Anyway, I'm chugging along on my rug, and taking in the weather. Found a room-mate for next year and am applying for housing in the Meyerhoff, so hopefully that goes well. It really depends due to the housing lottery. I've just had bad luck with my landlord, and I don't want to deal with that until I'm a grown-up (ie out of college or when I get my first grey hair, whichever comes first). It's sooo beautiful out, I think I may go biking to fells point before my TA position this afternoon/evening. Maybe I can convince Laura to let us take a walk to the Contemporary Museum or something?

Spring, you tease you.

One week ago, it was t-shirt and jeans weather in good old Mobtown. The crocuses were blooming, the freshmen were out in the courtyard of the Commons dorms, birds, etc etc etc. A few days ago, it sleeted. The second photo, you can see the blossoms on the tree, and the sleet on the ground. It's pretty ridiculous. Spring, why you gotta be a tease like that?

Yesterday

Yesterday would have been a year with J. It wasn't an easy day. One of my roommates is utterly one-month-in in-love with her boyfriend, and I miss that. I miss him. And I still don't regret being with him, and every relationship leads to a better one, and everything, everything, happens for a reason. It was a little more heartbreaking finding out that a new RA has moved into my old quarters. I want to tell her about my residents, but I know she's got to learn how to interact with them in her own ways. A year is not a whole lot of time in the span of a life. It's 1/20th of my life, 5%. So much has changed in such a short while, but it'll just be a blip in memory, eventually. J's sick, it's really hard to resist the urge to be there to comfort him, to call him and see how he feels. Instead, I have to be alone with myself, and think about how I feel. Which is a whole lot harder, for me. While I have fewer responsibilities, there's a lot up in the air right now. Still haven't found a camp job for the summer, or figured out where I'm living and with whom next year. Miss my residents, miss programming for them (though I am doing programming for the Jewish Student Union now that I have the time and can prioritize it). And, of course, there is the reality of how I don't want to be an art-maker right now. How art is less interesting than residents. But, when I step back, I think of how I've grown and changed in the past year, how part of me has become the me I recognize better, the one that explores the city and has days that are easy to reminisce about. Yesterday was tough, but things are getting easier, in ways. As the weather improves, my SAD starts to go away, and that's pretty amazing.

I love cable.

The only major moving I did today was my small metal tables, my television, my step-stool, and my folding chairs. I worked six hours straight doing my Desk Assistant thing, and have off the next three days, which I will use to finish moving and maybe go to DC on Monday (can you say "painting cherry blossoms like woah?"). I've still got loads of kitchen packing, clothing folding, and, finally, cleaning to do. Not to mention the loads of papers which I can never seem to handle completely. At one point it'd be nice to just go ocra/paperless, once I get a computer that's going to last me a while. I've had my little Averatec since Freshman year, and it's case, though replaced once, is showing it's wear, in the form of cracks (not even hairline anymore). The smell of smoke is sort of pervasive in this apartment, I have to close my door and even then it doesn't stay out entirely. I'll have to figure something out. I know it's sad that I'm back in bed, but I'm really happy watching Discovery channel from my loft bed and working on camp staff applications. So glad it's spring break, even though moving sucks. I apologise for the relatively thoughtless nature of these posts, as I've got no huge insightful blog posts on blog theory or on what being dooced so thoroughly feels like. You know? Of course you do, Interweb. Of course you do.

Spring Has Sprung!

It's official: Whilst the tulips and crocuses made their first appearance on Martin Luther King Day in Bolton Hill, they have returned full-force, with a vengeance. The snow all melted yesterday, I'm up for a 6 am to 12 noon shift at the Meyerhoff, my home for the rest of the semester, and the birds are singin', the sun is shinin', and it's otherwise quite goregous out. Perfect weather for moving, right? As if ANY weather was perfect for moving. Still, I did all my laundry at the new place, made my bed yesterday--a loft bed, full-size--hung up my secondary/alternative lighting situations, showered at the new place, etc. Today's mission is the tables, shelves, printer, and TV. I've got a TON of papers that I'll have to sort through, but I have four days (including today) to finish moving, and I think I'm allowed, at least a little, to start setting up the new place as I'm moving out of the old. I did a bang-up job of keeping all my shelving, hardware, power cords, nails, lights, and all those other moving essentials as the first things to the meyerhoff. J is going to give me some coaxial cable and help me move my monstrosity of a television into my room, which will be freakin' sweet (as these dorms are outfitted with cable!). I took the safety rail off of my bed, though one leap from it yesterday confirmed the ladder as a true neccessity, as the shock reverberated through every little tarsal, meta-tarsal, and the calcaneus of my feet and made me yelp in pain. Moving isn't that bad, though I'm not getting the best vibes from one of the new room-mates, though that may be because she was using my room as her own personal studio. But, I like their friends, it's a little messy for me but that means that I won't feel the pressure to bring things back up to code, and I do my art at my studio anyways. I think only time is going to prove to the new roommate that I am NOT devil-spawn, and I promise, scout's honor, to be on my best behavior. I unpacked the ol' inflatable mattress from my days out on the Terrace, and tucked it under my bed as possible chillaxing space. Alex, my amazing stupendous resident, and I watched The Little Princess (old school Shirley Temple style) and packed yesterday. One of the crappy things about moving is definitley going to be moving all my kitchen stuff. The counter-space is somewhat lacking, and the new place smells like ciggies (it's a smoking apartment), but I have a full-size bed, and I'm pretty sure I'll be okay.It's official: Whilst the tulips and crocuses made their first appearance on Martin Luther King Day in Bolton Hill, they have returned full-force, with a vengeance. The snow all melted yesterday, I'm up for a 6 am to 12 noon shift at the Meyerhoff, my home for the rest of the semester, and the birds are singin', the sun is shinin', and it's otherwise quite goregous out. Perfect weather for moving, right? As if ANY weather was perfect for moving. Still, I did all my laundry at the new place, made my bed yesterday--a loft bed, full-size--hung up my secondary/alternative lighting situations, showered at the new place, etc. Today's mission is the tables, shelves, printer, and TV. I've got a TON of papers that I'll have to sort through, but I have four days (including today) to finish moving, and I think I'm allowed, at least a little, to start setting up the new place as I'm moving out of the old. I did a bang-up job of keeping all my shelving, hardware, power cords, nails, lights, and all those other moving essentials as the first things to the meyerhoff. J is going to give me some coaxial cable and help me move my monstrosity of a television into my room, which will be freakin' sweet (as these dorms are outfitted with cable!). I took the safety rail off of my bed, though one leap from it yesterday confirmed the ladder as a true neccessity, as the shock reverberated through every little tarsal, meta-tarsal, and the calcaneus of my feet and made me yelp in pain. Moving isn't that bad, though I'm not getting the best vibes from one of the new room-mates, though that may be because she was using my room as her own personal studio. But, I like their friends, it's a little messy for me but that means that I won't feel the pressure to bring things back up to code, and I do my art at my studio anyways. I think only time is going to prove to the new roommate that I am NOT devil-spawn, and I promise, scout's honor, to be on my best behavior. I unpacked the ol' inflatable mattress from my days out on the Terrace, and tucked it under my bed as possible chillaxing space. Alex, my amazing stupendous resident, and I watched The Little Princess (old school Shirley Temple style) and packed yesterday. One of the crappy things about moving is definitley going to be moving all my kitchen stuff. The counter-space is somewhat lacking, and the new place smells like ciggies (it's a smoking apartment), but I have a full-size bed, and I'm pretty sure I'll be okay.