my first painting

it's been awhile since i've updated. i wasn't going to, but steven thought it would be a good idea and I agreed. Sometimes I need a little external motivation to do something. Basically, my friend Patrick let me come out to his studio space and create this work of art. I have been going through all this emotional stuff lately, and have been overly analytic. I need some type of artistic outlet because my mind isn't able to grasp everything that's been going on.. I had been thinking a lot about metaphors to try and figure it out, and came up with the idea for this painting. I had so much fun making it- patrick even showed me how to stretch the canvass myself, so i literally made the entire piece myself (well, with some help with the canvas from patrick)

below are some photos from the event.

scrabble pictures

this is a picture during the only game i won that night.


this is a picture of the two coolest buddies i made that night. the dude's name is paul and he is hilarious. i think the woman's name is heather and she was excellent company on the train ride home.



this is the facilitator going over how to use the timers. apparently he thinks we are morons. he is a little bit strict, but i still loved that he ran the show and got so many prizes donated. he is a good guy in my book.

scrabble, coffee and school

that is my life this past weekend.
this week is one of my busier weeks and i am sure that next week will be on par. it's the end of semester, so i am currently spending most of my days drinking coffee and eating bagel sandwiches at mercury and swim cafe, eyes glued to my laptop, highlighter in hand. it's not bad, actually. as much as i complain about it, i really enjoy the process of learning. call me a nerd, but i love school even though it can stress me out at times.

last night was my scrabble tournament. it started at 3:30 and ended at 10:30! it was a lot of fun. I played well for my skill level- not the best i've ever played, but not the worst. I got two bingos (one being 'persona' and the other being 'eloping') and walked away with two books, two cookies and a 15-dollar gift card for some japanese restaurant. i ranked 17/21, which goes to show how fierce the competition was. the fun thing about it was that it didn't seem competitive. people were there to play their best and have a good time. the high score of the night was 497!!! that is CRAZY!! it is inspiring, really! so yes, i had a lot of fun and i'm glad i went. also, food was included and swim cafe served free coffee and made this delicious sweet potato and black bean dish, salad and a homemade apple cobbler with ice cream for dessert!

i've also been practicing yoga a lot to maintain my sanity. it seems like yoga is the one consistent thing in my life and i really value it. this morning josh and i went to a 6:30am class and i feel great. i love practicing so early in the morning. i am really tired to start with, and my body takes much longer to wake up, but it heightens my body awareness and by the end i feel so energized and the fact that i am up so early and have that great of a start to my day inspires me to be productive and tackle the things i need to tackle. for example, it is 11am right now and i have a)practiced yoga b) ate a delicious breakfast of steel cut oatmeal and fresh fruit with soymilk c) read 4 articles for class tonight and d) updated my blog. and it's only 11!!!

okay. thanks for reading and i hope to post some pictures from the tournament soon.

fuck yeah!

barack obama is president and me and some of my closest friends were there to witness it.

it's been awhile

and i realize there is too much to update in one post.

things are okay. i am trying. just trying.
academically i am feeling a bit underwhelmed. I am happy with the amount of work- it's enough to keep me busy but not too much where I am going to go crazy. The quality of the work is what underwhelms me. I'm not convinced I have a place in urban planning. I just don't feel interested in a majority of the work to date. That's not to say it's not interesting or I could become more engaged in later semesters. I'm still going to continue working hard and trying to find my place within this sphere.

socially things are up and down. I am making a pretty big effort to go out and explore the city and make new friends. last week I went to the california clipper with a group-- it's been a bar/lounge since the 30s and has a ghost!

Here is a picture of the bar when it first opened:




Here is a picture of the woman who a psychic identified as the ghost:


Things that I am looking forward to include the following:
1. meghan's visit in december!!
2. getting to see julie's new apartment when i visit for thanksgiving
3. california for christmas!
4. volunteering for redtail farms next season! (i shopped there regularly this season at the market by my house and the farmers are this young, hipster couple and we discussed me helping next season at the market)
5. working on this new song i am writing for piano, maybe even finishing it

has anyone else seen the new commercials trying to stop the hate on high fructose corn syrup??

i can't figure out how to post the video in my blog, but here's the link

i'm sorry, i like hating on HFCS!
sure it's not the worst thing in the world for you, but it's what it stands for. it supports the entire system of unsustainable agriculture i am trying to fight. one that idolizes mass monocrop corn production, is ruining small, diverse farms and is probably one of the lease energy efficient ways to sweeten overly processed plastic foods that fuck with people's taste buds!

AND, the woman in the commercial was totally on buffy for a few episodes in the 4th season and i hated her character then, too!

more than a month??

well, i won't bore everyone with the entire past month, but here are some highlights (with pictures!) in my recent memory.

1. josh and i went to critical mass yesterday. there were literally thousands of cyclists and we took over the street and it was totally insane and so much fun. at one point i saw two cyclists with a stereo attached in the middle, blaring classical music. everyone went silent for a good minute to listen to it. eerie.

anyway, before the route got started, josh and i got our pictures taken for bike salute. there is a guy trying to get 1000 pictures of people with their bikes over their heads:




2. steven is such a good roommate. i have been craving sushi pretty much the entire month, but have been too broke to treat myself. steven decided to take me to coast, which is one of the better sushi places in chicago. it was just what i needed that day-- good company (steven, josh and i) and good sushi! i guess i sort of need that every day, but it seemed extra special last week when it happened. we went all out and here are some photos from our dinner:




3. we got a puppy!! well, it's steven's puppy, but since i live with him it's like it's mine. i was nervous at first to live with a dog. then i saw him, fell in love and all my worries went away.



4. classes have officially started. so far nothing seems too demanding.. it seems a lot like undergrad except more students pay attention. it's only the first week, so we'll see how long this phase lasts, but right now i'm pretty happy about the workload. still no word on my research gig, but time will also tell that story. i just get to wait it out.