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| Of gin and juice at my favorite local restaurant, Community |
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| Of birthday dinner at home- early for me, late for my mom |
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| Inside the beautiful new terminal at the Sacramento airport |
11/15/2011
Pictures
10/31/2011
10/27/2011
I'm in for it
Look:
And it's only October. I am planning to go out on Saturday for Halloween...I got a knee-length black puffy coat just in time.
I am dressing up: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I fell in love with Lisbeth Salander of the Millenium series. She's one of my biggest onscreen inspirations. She's brilliant, fierce, and tenacious. She's been brutalized in every way possible but is not a victim.
And when she's on trial, wrongly accused of being insane and sociopathic, this is how she walks into the courtroom:
Then she proceeds to calmly blast dragon-sized holes in the abusive lies brought against her (by corrupt secret government agencies protecting ex-Soviet informers, of course, being that this incredible character is the anchor to a thriller series.) It's incredibly satisfying to see this person face their tormentors bravely, justly, without changing anything about herself because of what other people think. She's a big girl's role model. It's funny- the only other powerful mainstream female character that is a role model to me for the same reason is Elle Woods:
Maybe next year! (Oooh- And maybe next year I will have a puppy too!)
Anyway, the sad thing for me is that my hair is too long to get it into a mohawk. I tried last night, using industrial grade products, and it's not happening. I could cut my hair. But then, it's supposed to snow and rain, and I'm going to bars in Brooklyn. So I might just wear the rest of the costume. Plus the coat.
10/07/2011
I don't eat/ I don't sleep/ I do nothing but think of you
"You keep me under your spell"
Maybe the ideal scenario is that these words would describe a love interest. But my love interest is too far away to be keeping me from eating or sleeping. Instead, classes and thoughts of exams are doing this. That's the worst kind of mindset to have when not sleeping or eating- worrying. But dreams are to come. If you care to know where these particular lyrics came from, I am currently obsessed with everything about the movie Drive (linking to clips from the soundtrack- the preview gives too much away, and I want you to see it.) I would love to think that the music is the perfect accompaniment to this post too.
Today, I got an internship with the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy at the Earth Institute. If there were a dream within the dream of coming to study in this program, (a dream which apparently, when realized, precludes other kinds of dreams. When our biggest dreams come true, do we always lose sleep over it?) it would be to combine those esteemed and respected words with "communications" on my resume. It's exciting. It's ten hours a week. I can handle that right? If a second dream can come true, I can start being able to sleep again, right?
Making new connections is good for me. That picture above is of my city from the Hudson River last night- I went with some of the other people in my program on a cruise put on by the School of International and Public Affairs. It was fun.
I've taught myself what a derivative is, and what the relationship between a first and second derivative tells you about individual preferences toward risk, and all kinds of other microeconomics factoids in the last few weeks. There is still a lot I don't know. I am still freaked out by the fact that I'm being tested on Lagrange multipliers- I was so wrong that I didn't need to learn math in high school. LESSON: learn as much as you can, while you can. Sometimes your wildest dream requires calculus.
One of the programs I will work to support at the Lenfest Center is called PositiveFeedback, and one of their upcoming events is a "dating game" event between artists and scientists. The concept is to "set up" artists and scientists, to see what kinds of influences and projects result. It's going to be at The New School for Design in Manhattan. I know a few artists, some with decades of dedication to various crafts behind them, and some with just a few years, who would make great dates. Aunt Margaret, it's on Thursday, December 1st. Alison, I know you just came out here....
I'm exhausted. Let's see how this literal dreaming thing goes.
Maybe the ideal scenario is that these words would describe a love interest. But my love interest is too far away to be keeping me from eating or sleeping. Instead, classes and thoughts of exams are doing this. That's the worst kind of mindset to have when not sleeping or eating- worrying. But dreams are to come. If you care to know where these particular lyrics came from, I am currently obsessed with everything about the movie Drive (linking to clips from the soundtrack- the preview gives too much away, and I want you to see it.) I would love to think that the music is the perfect accompaniment to this post too.
Today, I got an internship with the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy at the Earth Institute. If there were a dream within the dream of coming to study in this program, (a dream which apparently, when realized, precludes other kinds of dreams. When our biggest dreams come true, do we always lose sleep over it?) it would be to combine those esteemed and respected words with "communications" on my resume. It's exciting. It's ten hours a week. I can handle that right? If a second dream can come true, I can start being able to sleep again, right?
Making new connections is good for me. That picture above is of my city from the Hudson River last night- I went with some of the other people in my program on a cruise put on by the School of International and Public Affairs. It was fun.
I've taught myself what a derivative is, and what the relationship between a first and second derivative tells you about individual preferences toward risk, and all kinds of other microeconomics factoids in the last few weeks. There is still a lot I don't know. I am still freaked out by the fact that I'm being tested on Lagrange multipliers- I was so wrong that I didn't need to learn math in high school. LESSON: learn as much as you can, while you can. Sometimes your wildest dream requires calculus.
One of the programs I will work to support at the Lenfest Center is called PositiveFeedback, and one of their upcoming events is a "dating game" event between artists and scientists. The concept is to "set up" artists and scientists, to see what kinds of influences and projects result. It's going to be at The New School for Design in Manhattan. I know a few artists, some with decades of dedication to various crafts behind them, and some with just a few years, who would make great dates. Aunt Margaret, it's on Thursday, December 1st. Alison, I know you just came out here....
I'm exhausted. Let's see how this literal dreaming thing goes.
9/24/2011
Dang it, and come visit me
Dang it refers to my reaction when I see that the trailer I linked to in the previous post didn't come through for those of you who smartly receive these via email. This is it.
Come visit me refers to the fact that my graduation date is Thursday May 17 2012 at 11am EST, Columbia University New York NY! I finish school the week before, and will be in New York at least through the end of May. So you should come stay with me. Sister and her husband already have announced their intention to come for a week, so you might get more hot water in the shower if you don't stay at the same time. But there it is, an invitation for free room and free tour guide. Board won't be free, because we'll be going out for every meal...
My place is quite nice. You will like it. Some new art: framed posters of my friend Alison, the promos for the art-music-fashion event she was involved in this summer in Sacramento.
Come visit me refers to the fact that my graduation date is Thursday May 17 2012 at 11am EST, Columbia University New York NY! I finish school the week before, and will be in New York at least through the end of May. So you should come stay with me. Sister and her husband already have announced their intention to come for a week, so you might get more hot water in the shower if you don't stay at the same time. But there it is, an invitation for free room and free tour guide. Board won't be free, because we'll be going out for every meal...
9/22/2011
A bit of everything
When my plane came in for landing last weekend, late Sunday or rather, early Monday, the pilot came from the south into LaGuardia. The length of the island of Manhattan flashed by at increasing speed and decreasing height, and the dark of the darkness surrounding those millions of lights felt like a blessing. The rows of streets- when we got low enough, I could see all the way to the Hudson on the other side of the island-- made me feel, ironically, like a Western girl because they looked exactly the way straight crop rows look when you drive past them. Flashing past, radiating towards and away with always one pointing straight at you. Only they were yellow and red striped lanes, and there's something striking about tall buildings split into small blocks. It was the most incredible landing I ever had, and it was damn deserved after the worst travel weekend of my life. Friends don't let friends fly American Airlines.
This week I am: sick, stressed, hard-pressed for time. Also I have about 3 friends within 3,000 miles. I messed up a project and the director of my program didn't even let me finish the presentation before telling me so. Then, I turned it around into a (I think) success in 24 hours, but we'll see about that next Wednesday. Oh, Whine Whine Whine! (Wine?)
So I took a walk, had 2 sorbet bars and a veggie burger for dinner (no wine. I'm sick remember?). Then this trailer made me think, Screw this, all I want to do is read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, which I never read, and I know hardly anything about the story other than It Is Not Intellectual Reading. ...I wonder why it calls to me now. Also, there is something universally attractive about the way the Lisbeth character is portrayed here- just someone different for mainstream audiences, someone strong and weak in ways we hardly ever see, someone whose motivations are different too. (I'm a fan of that.)
SO I am not beating myself up for not Going to Enough Career Fairs! Doing Enough Reading! Making Enough (any) People See the Awesome Maria! or anything else. I'm human and I need a break sometimes, so is everyone else in my program, and smack me the next time I even think I'm the only one who feels this way. I would be a robot if I could do a one-year Masters and never miss a beat or need a break.
I always feel bad for my boyfriend: if, as I assume, he reads these posts, he never gets any new material. He's the only person I talk to every day (though that's been off this week...time difference finally causing trouble) and he gets the same stuff here. Well then, a few new things: My Energy Policy professor is the former Minister of Energy of Portugal. Things are crazy on campus this week, because of all the UN activity- plenty of events as foreign dignitaries come to the city, and all the protestors that follow them. I'm too tired to think of anything else, and run the risk of just giving up on the entire post, so there's this: the boyfriend, the crazy smart sweetheart, found out today that he's a recipient of the Brown Scholarship. Here's $10,000, NBD. And it's only appropriate that that is at the end of the blog post, because it was at the end of the phone conversation too---after I told him all this stuff above.
This week I am: sick, stressed, hard-pressed for time. Also I have about 3 friends within 3,000 miles. I messed up a project and the director of my program didn't even let me finish the presentation before telling me so. Then, I turned it around into a (I think) success in 24 hours, but we'll see about that next Wednesday. Oh, Whine Whine Whine! (Wine?)
So I took a walk, had 2 sorbet bars and a veggie burger for dinner (no wine. I'm sick remember?). Then this trailer made me think, Screw this, all I want to do is read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, which I never read, and I know hardly anything about the story other than It Is Not Intellectual Reading. ...I wonder why it calls to me now. Also, there is something universally attractive about the way the Lisbeth character is portrayed here- just someone different for mainstream audiences, someone strong and weak in ways we hardly ever see, someone whose motivations are different too. (I'm a fan of that.)
SO I am not beating myself up for not Going to Enough Career Fairs! Doing Enough Reading! Making Enough (any) People See the Awesome Maria! or anything else. I'm human and I need a break sometimes, so is everyone else in my program, and smack me the next time I even think I'm the only one who feels this way. I would be a robot if I could do a one-year Masters and never miss a beat or need a break.
I always feel bad for my boyfriend: if, as I assume, he reads these posts, he never gets any new material. He's the only person I talk to every day (though that's been off this week...time difference finally causing trouble) and he gets the same stuff here. Well then, a few new things: My Energy Policy professor is the former Minister of Energy of Portugal. Things are crazy on campus this week, because of all the UN activity- plenty of events as foreign dignitaries come to the city, and all the protestors that follow them. I'm too tired to think of anything else, and run the risk of just giving up on the entire post, so there's this: the boyfriend, the crazy smart sweetheart, found out today that he's a recipient of the Brown Scholarship. Here's $10,000, NBD. And it's only appropriate that that is at the end of the blog post, because it was at the end of the phone conversation too---after I told him all this stuff above.
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