Senior Gala/Bowling Photos! :D

Art blog updated! And photos!

A Wonderful Day! :D

What a happy follow-up! I'll have photos soon.

So, last night was the MICA Senior Party: 'Gala Obscura'. I picked out a sexy outfit (low-backed lacy corset top [with cardigan, just in case] and black high-waisted skirt with my sky-high Nine West heels) and met John, then Katie, Colin, and Robin on campus to catch the shuttle to the Wind-Up Space, where the party was held. We arrived first (yeah, we're THOSE people), but we got first pick of the seating, free beer and wine [woooooo], and the delicious food (lamb [LAMB!], spinach dip, yummy fruits and veggies...but no desserts...awwww). We met Jessica there. Everyone looked so good! Katie wore this AMAZING black kimono-esque tunic from the 70s (her mom's) with studded booties, Jess looked perfectly classy in a belted black sheath, and the boys dressed it up with ties! (With a cardigan, in Colin's case; and a vest, sans tie, in John's case.) Yay for pretty!

It was low-key, but really fun! Some of us got more than a little tipsy (ROBIN AND JESS :P), but there was dancing (Colin dances! I never knew!) and it was so, so great to see most of the cool people from our class together (making people pay $20 for a party is a sure way to weed out the dirty people--aka the ones who drink PBR :P). Plus, I got a lot of compliments on my outfit!

Bethany (a rather large-busted graphic designer): "OMG YOU LOOK GREAT. YOUR BOOBS ARE OUT! HAHA, MINE TOO! *points to herself*"

Haha, Bethany.

Katie and I had a great heart-to-heart during the party about our respective boyfriends and futures. It's really nice to have a girlfriend who WANTS to talk about these things! It's a refreshing break from people who are unserious about life/don't really know where I'm coming from.

The party went from five to eight, although we got out of there around 8:30--The Super-Six (Me, John, Colin, Katie, Jess, Robin) piled into Colin's Volvo and headed out to a duckpin bowling place where we played three games under our 'bowling names'. We averaged the scores--John (J-squared) won by a landslide, then Katie (K-Dizzle), then me (A-Bomm...Woo, bronze!), then Jess (J-Whaat), Colin (The Explosion), and Robin (Mondo Boss). It was really, really fun. :D I drew cartoon portraits of all of us, with John lending some awesome lettering skills to our names, and Colin offered some helpful advice in morphing the unsatisfactory drawings into hilarious characters. (Ex: Colin became Agnes de Goodwood, and I became Gus the Trucker.)

It's nice to have a niche. Better than nice.

Time for homework, then John and I are going to his aunt and uncle's for dinner. :)

Love,

-A.

Valentine's Day and a few churchy/cultural musings

Last year's Valentine's Day was a huge disappointment (even in Italy). This year made up for all that and more. :D

John and I went to church yesterday morning, then grabbed lunch at Sofi's Crepes with Emily and our neighbor Maggie before John had to go to rehearsal for Midsummer. I did laundry, showered and dressed for dinner before meeting John to go to P.F. Chang's in the Harbor. We caught the Light Rail and made it in time for our 6:30 reservations, which ended up being closer to 7:30 reservations due to delays. BUT, we got a super-awesome cushy VIP booth, so that made up for it. :) We got egg rolls (YES) and I got almond and cashew chicken, which was delicious, and John and I shared a banana spring roll dessert with pineapple-coconut ice cream. YUM! It was a really fun and relaxing dinner, and I just love him! :D

Nora (Robin's squeeze) and Dewey (Nora's elder brother and JEN'S recent romantic interest) also visited this weekend. Nora came to my performance at Coffeehouse of Luurrrve (I sang "I've Never Been In Love Before" from Guys and Dolls) and John, Jewey (as we nicknamed Jen/Dewey), Emily, Colin, Katie, Nora, Robin and I all gathered at our place to play Balderdash (for about three hours!) afterwards! Super fun and super silly. :D We'll just say--geese, swans, kakkerlak (kyaa-kur-lyaaaak), and The Stuff: DO YOU HAVE IT?

As I said, I woke up early yesterday, and John, Emily, Maggie and I went to church. The sermon itself was fine--about Jesus growing to learn and know His Father and His purpose, etc. However, there were two testimonies about 'Unity Month' in the church. The first was from a Korean woman who didn't really experience a racially-diverse church until she and her husband went to Paris for his job. When they came back they found Faith Christian Fellowship (where I attend), and knew that's where they wanted to belong because of it's diversity. Fair enough.

The second woman grew up quite sheltered--lived in Colorado, college in western Massachusetts. She decided to attend medical school in Baltimore, which was obviously a huge change. She started attending FCF and obviously found herself more integrated with non-whites. Okay, cool. BUT, then she used the phrase 'racial reconciliation', and spoke about how she realized we (as in, "we whites") have to repent for what our forefathers did to the slaves. "Our country was built on the backs of slaves and Native Americans," she said. "We need to stop overlooking and sugar-coating that aspect of history." She closed with, "Happy Black History Month!"

I was pretty annoyed by the whole testimony. Another thing--our bulletins explained Unity Day, and this sentence appeared: 'For youth who have grown up in a generation sheltered from the legal racism of our past, was the Obama victory a big deal?"

Firstly, it is important to remember that the US did own and use slaves for a hundred years before the Civil War. It is part of our history, and we teach that history in order to acknowledge that wrong to subsequent generations. I've never felt that the participation of slaves in the founding of our country was overlooked or underrepresented. In fact, I would say that that's an aspect of history we concentrated on. In my (Northern and mostly white) elementary and middle school, we absolutely observed Black History Month. It didn't make a big difference to me then--I was brought up to look at people as equals no matter what. (A side note--I despise the phrase 'African-American'. The first part of this article [vulgar though it may be] describes my thoughts on the subject exactly.)

As I got older, I heard about the movement to pay restitution to black families in our recent history (like, in the last thirty years), and it made me realize that it was a step backwards for anyone (of any race/color) to dwell on the mistreatment of blacks during slave times. Those who perpetrated those offenses (not to mention those who suffered them) are long dead. And not only that--private organizations were BOYCOTTED due to their connections to slavery. I'm talking as recently as 2005. Was the Emancipation Proclamation not enough of an apology? Freedom wasn't enough? I mean, I'm Irish--can I ask for reparations for MY ancestors being mistreated at the turn of the century? Can I boycott the places that denied them jobs until they apologize for their long-dead managers? What about Chinese History Month? Indian History Month? No? But I digress.

I do believe that racism is still alive and well--I'm not an idiot. I'm aware that several groups (racism does not belong to blacks, as it is unfortunately thought to) are being mistreated and prejudiced against in the US. However, I am a firm believer that this is an exception to the rule now.

The recent election is a whole other issue--the fact that it was so important that Obama was black (half-black--he's as black as he is white, people) was pretty sickening to me. WHO CARES IF HE IS BLACK? The important thing is if a politician is ready, competent, and if he or she in the best person for the job. Age, sex, and race/color DO NOT MATTER.

Obama's election could be an indicator that the US has reformed enough, and is 'ready', as a country, for a black president. Or, perhaps, we never had a more competent political option from another race/color in recent memory (Jesse Jackson? Al Sharpton? UGH.). Or perhaps, some people were voting for him because of his race and color. This CNN exit poll shows that the LARGE majority of every minority voted for Obama, including 95% of black men who voted voted for Obama, and 96% of black women. I think that it is just as bad to vote for Obama because he is a person-of-color as it is to vote against him for it. I could have cared less that Obama is half-black--I didn't vote for him because I think he was the absolute wrong choice.

It think it's time to stop singling out any race/color. The color of our skin is simply aesthetic. We are made equal. By paying more attention to one over another, we're moving away from equality and towards racism--however good our intentions may be.

I mentioned the testimony to my sister--her response was telling:

Lauren: Ahh, Black History Month. The most useless month of recognition...Me and my BLACK FRIEND FROM AFRICA were talking about that the other day. (Her emphasis--the friend is 'Jabbie', her neighbor from Sierra Leone. From Wikipedia: "Unlike most African nations, Sierra Leone has no serious ethnic or religious divisions. People often married across tribal and religious boundaries.")

Me: What did he say?

Lauren: He said that whenever they specially recognize black people then it's not equal, because they're trying to promote black people when they should be just like everyone else.

_______

Well, there you go.

I'm on fire, and now I think I'm ready to bust a move...

When John took me to visit Betsy over the break, she revealed herself to be my Secret Santa, and she gave me an adorable mug with this awesome letter 'A' on it, and a ticket to see Motion City Soundtrack, who is one of our favorite bands!

The concert was last night, finally, and I went with Betsy, her sister Mamie and their friend Nora (who has recently been snuggling it up with Robin!). We went right after my first senior/graduation meeting.

(STRESSFUL. I was getting really freaked about it, but John insisted that it just looked like a lot to take because I was looking at it all at once. He demanded that I have fun at the concert. :D)

We got there at the end of the first band, The Swellers, who sounded pretty cool. Then This Providence, who were fronted by this attractive Englishman with what was possibly a wedding ring? Pretty cool, and the band was great. The last opening band, Set Your Goals, was just a bunch of rapping/screaming, which was not so fun, particularly when the moshing started.

But then Motion City came on and they were super-great and really fun to watch. I've never been more rowdy at a concert. :D They played a bunch of my favorites. They played: The Future Freaks Me Out, Hold Me Down, LGFUAD, This Is For Real, Last Night, Broken Heart, Even If It Kills Me, My Favorite Accident, Perfect Teeth, The Red Dress, and a few songs from the new album that I didn't really know (I only heard the album existed about a week ago and I didn't listen to it before the concert): Atat, Her Words Destroy My Planet, Pulp Fiction, Hysteria, Worker Bee, A Lifeless Ordinary, and Delirium. Super fun. :)

The best part was at the end of the show--they played their last song and left the stage. A few moments later, a few kids started chanting 'One more song!' and within ten seconds the whole venue was one voice. "One more song! One more song! One more song!" Clapping and speeding up as we went. The whole place was in on it for a solid minute as we sped up, and I was worried what would happen if the chant culminated and they didn't come out for an encore.

Thankfully, I wasn't disappointed! They reappeared, and the lead singer was like "That was beautiful, you guys." It really was. Not to be totally cheese-tastic. :D I love stuff like that! I love groups of strangers coming together spontaneously for something awesome and fun! So, they played Disappear, another song from the new album, and for the last song, Everything is Alright, which is one of my favorites and I was hoping they would play it, so I was really excited!

So, naturally, when I got home, I had, like, seven hours of homework ahead of me and I didn't get to bed until 5:30. Oh well. :P Worth it, and it was a good warm-up for my grave shift tonight.

Today was busy, but rewarding. I had class from 1-3:45, then 4-8, just in time to get to Colin's for pizza and LOST with Jen, Robin, Nic, and eventually Katie and John (my teacher is a LOST fan, so we'll probably always get out before 9). I've watched maybe ten full LOST episodes, and most of those were from the second season, so I only know about 25-30% of what I should, but that's more than enough for me to follow, especially since I watched the last season finale last fall. It was just nice to be with my friends. :)

John kept me company for the first half of my shift (an hour and a half to go, wooo!) and read to me for awhile. Sweetie.

The snow has been TUMBLING down here! It's totally beautiful--night snow is the best kind; I love seeing it illuminated by the streetlights--and there are rumors of maaaybe classes being canceled (but I'm not going to jinx it!). I'm personally looking forward to sleeping in either way--my first and only class is at 7 pm!

Hope you're all doing well. :)

Love,

-A.

An Actual Report.

My last entry was more of a rant, so here's a real update of how my time at John's was:

-Hung out with Brian and finally got to Pete and Elda's, a yummy (and POPULAR) pizza place near the beach.

-Hung out with Marie at the West Side Tavern and sang KARAOKE: 'Since U Been Gone' and 'Somebody to Love'. I rocked it out.

-Visited St. Rose, where John went to high school, with Brian, Dave, and another former classmate, Alicia; then we met up with Sharon (who went to St. Rose) and her boyfriend Pat, and grabbed dinner at a diner nearby and went to Sharon's for Pictionary, Finish Lines, and Disney Trivia. Aw, yeah.

The bottom line is, I'm really, really happy. I've never felt this great about being with another person. I just get really scared of things sometimes--tears-and-panicky-scared: jobs, money, "The Real World"--but I feel so much more secure knowing John is going to be there, right with me. Whew. Thank you, God.

In other news, school has started again! I had my first two classes today, one (a portrait class) which I dropped due to expenses (a skull and paper are expensive!), but I replaced it with a Professional Development course that fits in the same slot and fulfills the same studio requirement, but is only 2.5 hours per week. YES. I'm also taking Life Styles with Dan Krall, who is awesome. I took Narrative Illustration with him sophomore year and I can easily isolate that time as the period I grew the most. He was encouraging and helpful, and tough, and I'm looking forward to working my butt off again for him. :P

More soon,

Love,

A.

A little venting that's been building up over nearly three and a half years. (Also, template re-do!)

I’ve always doubted my talent in the visual arts. I’m quite sure of my singing talent, and decently confident in my acting abilities (usually), but I’ve never quite sat comfortably with my art.

I like my art just fine, for the most part, but it’s difficult to attend such an amazing school where you see so many fantastic people making this gorgeous, seemingly effortless work constantly. MICA does a good job of not fostering a comparative or competitive spirit, particularly within the illustration department, but I’ve always had that tendency without any help. I have a very hard time not comparing myself to my fellow classmates, for better or for worse (usually for worse).

I acknowledge that I am absolutely not the most talented student in my year and major. Most days I’m not sure I’m even in the top 50%, which is disheartening, as I’ve chosen this for my career. My mom (oh, moms) assures me I’m way too hard on myself, but I’m not so sure. After all, she isn’t here all the time, seeing what I see. Plus, she’s my MOM.

I get disappointed in myself. I know a large part of my disappointment has to do with my own lack of work ethic, which is a start. This is an issue I need to solve, and soon. However, people outside of the art community don’t seem to understand how difficult and time-consuming art really is. Try having to complete multiple pieces within a week or two. These artworks must be smart, conceptual, beautiful, individual, and perfectly-crafted. I admit, I wasn’t aware of what art was going to demand of me when MICA first accepted me.

When I arrived home after my first semester at MICA, most of my friends asked a similar question: ‘How do you grade art?’ With all of the things I mentioned above; all the effort and intelligence and beauty. Sort of like Miss America. Haha, just kidding. Miss Americas aren’t intelligent. :P

It’s a challenge, and it’s often a really fun challenge. Sophomore year was the most fun for me—the projects were usually small, quirky, useful assignments: editorial, mostly. My Narrative Illustration class helped me turn out some of my best work because I’m passionate about characters and stories. It’s a good feeling, seeing your work improve. But it’s hard to keep that confidence up when that improvement still hasn’t raised you to a level where you can compete professionally with your collegues.

I nurse a strange paranoia in myself. At MICA—at any art school—we critique artwork. Not only in class, but amongst ourselves—we rank out who can draw and who can’t. I have this feeling that my closest friends at MICA (exceptionally talented designers and artists in their own right) privately think of me as the least talented among us. I may be entirely out of my mind in thinking that (actually most of my friends haven’t seen my work due to this very insecurity), but it’s a feeling I can’t shake.

To change tack, I’m not sure I can say that I’m passionate about art. Maybe about portraits. I’m not sure I can say I’m passionate about MY art. I enjoy doing it, certainly, and I often like what I do. I love looking at beautiful art, but I’m the first to say I’m a strict classicist with little to no interest in contemporary fine art. I’ve felt passionate about people and about singing, but I’m not sure I’ve felt that same rush about art. Perhaps it’s because I’ve never really expressed myself artistically.

The closest I’ve ever come to doing so was in a thirty-page comic book/diary I drew while I was in Florence, Italy this past Spring. It was funny and cute and sometimes sad, and my artwork made some huge strides, and I was happy with the product, but I’m hesitant to call what I do ‘expressive’.

Or maybe I’m just being a giant WEENIE. Thoughts?

Thanksgiving was lovely (the soup went over well!) and TOO SHORT. But I can’t wait for this semester to be over so I can take John home to my family! :D

I got to talk to Em and Drea this week, for the first time in a babillion years. I’ve been realizing lately how close I am to them, and how much closer I’ve stayed to them as my MICA friends have shifted. I love you guys!

Overall, I’m happy, if stressed with all the effing work I have to do before the semester’s end:

-At least 15 pages of thesis work done, plus a few pages inked plus final critique.
-10 page paper for Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt plus a final exam.
-Objectivity final exam.
-ArtMarket and final Lab critique.

BLAH.

Wish me luck.

Lots and lots of love,
-A.

Pumpkin Picking and Wedding Accoutrements.

I forgot to mention the awesome time I had picking pumpkins at Baugher's Farm on Sunday afternoon with Robin, Colin, Katie, Ben, Nicolette, and Jen! (Shame on me!)

We went up around 1:30 and found the place to be PACKED, waited in line a few times for the hay ride up to the pumpkin patch (which was fine, because the weather was PERFECT). We took a lot of absurd photos (including an extended photo shoot where Robin and Colin switched shirts and Robin climbed all over the broken tractors pretending to be a farmer). I'll post some when I get them. :)

We all got the perfect pumpkins (Jen had a huge one, then she saw an abandoned one while we were in line for the hay ride back, and spent ten minutes deciding which one she wanted), and got some food (yummy hot dogs, hamburgers, and fries), then checked out the marketplace and tasted some amazing (FREE!) apple cider and fudge. We also acted like little kids and took photos in the 'face-sticky-outie' things (You know what I'm talking about), and got a hilarious video of Colin playing on the kids ride-y tractor.

:D I love my friends.

Even better, on Wednesday we're having a Pumpkin Carving/Seed Roasting/Pie Making party (with the apples Colin and Katie picked from the same farm the week before)! I need to prep my design! (I bet Colin will have something appropriately geeky and type-based. :P Graphic Designers. Sheesh.)

ALSO, I finally got some info back on Alexandre and Rheanna's wedding! I got a message from Rheanna with all of the bridesmaids attached, so we can start being all buddy-buddy. I'm excited. :)

Another good thing--I may be doing an illustration job for a Baltimore sports blog! At this point, it REALLY looks like it needs a designer instead of an illustrator, but if they pay me, I don't really care! :P I like Baltimore, I like sports, I like drawing! And I like money. It's a win-win-win.

Betsy is coming this weekend, too! So much excitement! And yet, I need to be concentrated on my thesis, etc. Signed up for ArtMarket, and I have some stuff to assemble.

Love you all, and I hope you're well.

-A.

I fear the drop, but once I get started...

Last Friday afternoon, Colin, who organized our Six Flags trip, Facebook-chatted me with the warning that hurricane-level rains/storms would be hitting NJ the following day, and could we maybe take the trip Sunday instead? Now, the trip had already been rescheduled once, and I had work on Sunday, not to mention that this was short-notice and this had been a seven-day forecast. I told him no way.

SO, I woke up at 7:20 AM the next morning, and called Robin five times to make sure HE was up and moving. Jen and I walked down to Colin/Katie's place at eight and met up with the three of them and Jess, who drove from Frederick, MD to be with us! We had some coffee and chit-chatted before driving out at 8:30.

The drive was easy, and a lot of fun--I actually felt so joyful to be spending time with these new friends. Colin drove, Robin was in the passenger seat, Katie, Jess, and I were in the back seat, and Jen was in the way back, where there were two extra seats one can pull out for children. :P The only hassle we ran into was a little bit of traffic about ten miles outside of the park.

We finally arrived, and the sky looked grey and it had already rained, but we were hopeful. After all, the park was nearly empty, which is always good. We met Betsy (!) in the entrance of the park, where she'd been cooling her heels waiting for us for about a half hour, but in the meantime, had made friends with a guy on stilts. We also noticed the 458' (45 stories) tower of Kingda Ka, currently the world's tallest and fastest coaster. It's pretty scary-looking, but Robin and I both committed to it first thing.

Blessedly, the rain held off all day, and the sun even came out! It was perfect. The first roller coaster we went on was El Toro--we all rode it (Jen gets nervy about coasters, and it was ALMOST the only one we all rode together), and it was TERRIFYING. I wasn't sure if I could do Kindga Ka after wimping out on El Toro--a wooden coaster.

But we kept on trucking, and by the end of the day, Robin, Colin, Jess, and I had ridden every coaster in the park (Jen, Katie, and Betsy sat out a few. Losers. :P), eaten some tasty amusement park hot dogs and french fries, gotten soaked on the Rapids ride (Jess and I, at least), and treated ourselves to ice cream.

So, yes, we rode Kingda Ka. It was really nerve-wracking at first, especially with the signs placed at the entrance of the ride that read: "Sometimes Kingda Ka's train doesn't make it over the hill. This is a normal occurance. The track is designed to reverse itself and reset." SCARY. But, we did it, and it was actually a lot of fun! I can't imagine being in the front row for that one though. :/

Since we got done with all of the coasters fairly early (we had less than 15 minute waits on all rides), I suggested that we do a couple again. We re-rode Bizarro with Jen and Katie, who missed out the first time, and Betsy, Robin, Colin, and I got in line to re-ride Nitro. When we got to the top of the line, obviously the line was longest for the front row (Nitro seats four-across), but Colin suggested we wait it out (all four minutes longer) and ride in front. New Daredevil-Alyssa was all about it, and Betsy, after slight hesitation, agreed. So, we strapped in.

I should preface by saying that Robin is afraid of the big, slow ascent, not the drop. There's something about it that really freaks him out--the possibility that something could go wrong. Kingda Ka has a massive ascent, but it goes 128 miles per hour, so there's barely time to register it. Nitro, however, is loooong and sloooow. I was happy as a clam, and Robin, two seats over, was like stone, clutching his harness and fixed on the top of the hill. In an attempt to loosen him up, I reached over Betsy to give him a high-five.

He glanced briefly in my direction, "I'm good." I had to laugh.

The ride was, naturally, the best one of the day. :)

Katie, Jess, and I boldly danced with the creepy Mr. Six guy in front of a crowd of people after that (there is video that I'll post when I can), doing the Macarena and the Cha Cha Slide and YMCA. We left the park pretty soon after that, and said goodbye to Betsy (:( ), and got on the road. The drive back was a more difficult, as the sky broke open less than twenty minutes after we left the park (Colin is a trooper). We decided to drive through Colin's hometown in PA, right near Philly, and get a cheesesteak. It was delicious, and nice to see a piece of Colin's life outside of MICA. :) Post-cheesesteak, the rain was even WORSE, elevating Colin from 'trooper' to 'demi-god' at maneuvering through it.

I had the awesome opportunity to bond with Katie, Colin, and Jess, who I don't see that often/know that well, and see Betsy, who is all ready to be an accomplished graduate student! I'm confident that the trip will spawn a pretty awesome set of friendships. At least, I hope so.

Secondly, I started classes:

Monday: The Problem of Evil. My professor is a stern-looking man with a cane who attended Yale, Oxford, and St. Andrews. He was drafted in 1969 (after dropping out of his first year of college) and went to Southeast Asia for 13 months, and returned to an offer to work for the CIA, which he did for a couple decades. He'd learned 15 or so languages before he suffered a stroke in 2003 or 2004. He had to relearn talking and walking, and he writes with his left hand now. Since then, he's brought his knowledge of languages up to nearly 20. WHAT. WHAT. AMAZING. So far, this class looks like it will be fascinating in matters of faith. I'll be challenged and reaffirmed all-together, I think. I'm excited. :)

Tuesday: The Lab. Whitney Sherman, my professor, is the chair of the illustration department. She's been described as a 'Dragon Lady', but that hasn't come out at all yet. The point of this class is to produce something to be sold--being so wrapped up in my thesis plans, I had to come up with something on the fly, and ended up with a pretty great idea, if I do say so myself! Obviously, writing is therapy to me. Also, revenge/retribution/justice has been a recent theme in my life. SO, I combined the two, and intend to make a witty "Little Book of Revenge"--a sort of workbook for people to put down all the things they WISH they could do, without actually causing harm, of course. There'll be sections for each sort of offender (exes, co-workers, roommates, telemarketers), and a blank section for "Supplies" and "Execution". I think it'll be a hit--my classmates laughed and Whitney was encouranging. At least...I'd buy it. :)

Wednesday: Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt. The best thing about this class is that I know and am friends with a lot of people in it. :) My professor is a youngish fat man with that unfortunate idea that luscious, shoulder-length hair will distract me from his hugeness. However, he seems knowledgable, and I'm looking forward to it, although it seems like a lot of work.

Thursday: Senior Thesis. The doozy. My section, with the very-pregnant, very-British, and very-adorable Rebecca Bradley, is populated with a few unfortunate candidates (in both personality and quality of work), but overall, I'm pleased. My presentation was okay, but it just reinforced the amount of work I need to get done. BLAAAH.

Senior Seminar. Allan Comport is my hero. I resolve to become one of his favorites by the end of this year, dammit. The whole of MICA IL '10 (about 100 students) broke into "study groups" of five--sort of support groups for the coming year. I got nervous--one of the unfortunate candidates above nearly approached me to form a group, but I wiggled out, and my group consists of: Tiff (Marla's roommate), Michael (Robin's roommate), Kyle (one of the first kids I made friends with at MICA), and Adam (who is a practical stranger to me, but is very nice and pretty cute :P). I'm nervous--I always get nervous about sharing work--but I think this'll be a good group, especially since I need to learn Photoshop and Kyle is really good. :D

Objectivity: What I thought was going to be a class related to the divine ratio, and other mathematical awesomeness is now a class unrelated to "Nature, numbers, and doubt", as the subtitle first referenced, but rather "An introduction to the philosophy of science." It's going to get bloody. :P John and I will be the lone Christians/Conservatives holding down the fort in the corner. My professor, Patrick, is a nearly-thirty, bald southern man who is actually really attractive (there's a touch of James McAvoy in him), but has this absurd and amazing Southern-crossed-with-posh-philosopher voice. I can't even begin to describe it without an accompanying imitation.

As far as Hector, it isn't even worth explaining at this point--our wires got crossed, misunderstandings, blah blah. Ian helped me sort things out a bit on my end thanks to his insight into Hector's feelings (or lack thereof). It's basically as I suspected-but-chose-to-push-away: He's not interested in a relationship, and I suspect if he was, he wouldn't want it with me. This was a big disappointment at first, but I'm dealing and am really looking forward to moving ahead as FRIENDS. Ian was kind enough to soften the blow by letting me in on the fact that Hector said he really enjoys spending time with me [as a friend], and I think, awkwardness aside, we'll be fine. :) Special thanks to Emily, Robin, Brandon, and Jen for putting up with me.

In other news, for those of you who are QVHSites, ALEXANDRE IS ENGAGED AND IT IS BEAUTIFUL. For those of you who don't know who that is, Alexandre (or 'The Xandman'), was a sweet but SUPER-nerdy kid in my College-in-High-School French class senior year. He got a girlfriend his freshman year at Pitt, and our CHS class was so stunned and thrilled, we actually organized a BARBECUE at his house in order to meet her. It was excellent, and she's very cool.

SO, three years later, they're all engaged! Yay!

I've also spent the last few days visiting with John and his friend from the UK, Abi, who he met while studying abroad. She's really funny and fun, and isn't offended that my apartment is London-themed and nicknamed "The Flat". (Emily R., hopefully you aren't offended either. :P) Today I'll be hanging out with them again, and if the new friendship I'm trying to establish with Hector works out for tonight, I'll see him this evening. Wish me luck!

Anyway, I'm off to hang out with Robin soon. I'm showered, wearing my new skirt and feeling pretty good (despite my small problem of missing 2/3 of a desk shift this morning...ooops). Hopefully the rest of my day can be productive and fun!

More soon--Love!

-A.

New York, New York: Where cute Jewish babies threaten to kill each other in the sandbox. Part Two. (With a dash of "Why I Love Brian")

When we left Our Heroes, they had ventured into Long Island. :)

After the bad news about my aunt, we stopped at Haagen-Dazs to get Ben, Betsy, and Jess a Banana Split Dazzler (*shhhing!*) and went to the park to eat it and saw five adorable Israeli kids in their underwear and smirking at us, then went to this restaurant called Pancho's for Mexican. Yes, dessert first. :P

Lunch was good, but the waiter was a jerky face and they added the tip automatically so we couldn't stiff them for their bad behavior. LAME. But we drew cute cartoons on the table paper, so we win.

After lunch, we worked off the calories at a local playground--we played on the swings (Ben took one particularly nasty spill and scraped his arm after Betsy and I both warned him on separate occasions about jumping from swings) and had an impromptu photo shoot on the grass. We overheard the toddlers responsible for my entry title--some gems from their mouths include:

"I'm gonna cut your head off!"

"My mother and my brother are gonna kick you in the ASS!"

"I'm going to get a bat and hit you in the FACE!"

Yup. Charming.

We drove around a bit more and went back to Ben's house to chill for a while before I met his dad more properly. Whew. He was intense! SERIOUS EYE CONTACT. But in a good way, although he wasted no time in telling me that if I don't learn Flash I'll never make money. :) He warmed to me more once he found out my interest in conservation, however.

The drive back to Baltimore was more pleasant that the drive from--we were all more awake and good-tempered. :) Not to mention the wide array of funny things that went down. More bridge-phobia for Jess (that trooper! :D), a great deal more Betsy-and-Alyssa-Sing-Along ensued, and during a rousing rendition of "Poker Face" by Lady GaGa, my personal favorite moment occurred:

Bets and Lyss: "P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face!"
Jess: "What is she saying? Poke her face?"
Bets and Lyss: "No, no. POKER FACE. Like the game. Have you heard that term? Poker face?"
Ben: "She's saying 'butterface'. You know, like a Butterface."
Jess: "Butterface? Poke? Poke-her-face?!"
Bets and Lyss: "NO! POKER. POKER FACE. Like the card game!"
Ben: "B-b-b-butterface, b-b-butterface!"
Jess: "I don't understand! Why are you all saying different things?!"
Bets and Lyss: *Laughing too hard to correct Jess*

Hahahahaha. I can't even keep from laughing now!

Also, Betsy was foiled in her search for a Spock collector's cup--she is now in love with Spock since seeing Star Trek with me, Robin, the two Bens, Colin, and Jen a few weeks back.

It was a fantastic weekend all around. :) Thanks, you guys, for making it so awesome! :D

SIDE NOTE!: Eric, the Gossip Girl fan who came over last week, did come over and hang out. He also admitted that he wanted to ask me out on a date, but thanks to his return to Austin, no go. But, we made plans to hang out on Friday. He said he would call me and--Surprise!--did not. Well, that is, he called at 9:30pm, while I was on my way to New York City. And he only called to tell me why he couldn't hang out that day! Leave my hanging all day, then that! Lame. But oh well.

I also saw Marla on Monday. I got called in to work at the Meyerhoff desk that morning from 8 AM to noon, and posted a status update about it on Facebook. At about 11:30, Marla walks in. I look up and freeze, but she just says "Hi", her mouth in the hint of a smile, and walks to the computers. I felt my eyebrows fly up "Hiiiiiiiiiii..."

About twenty minutes later, she goes to walk out, without saying one word to me.

"Marla, wait."

She turned, and I saw that her eyes were red and moist.

"I'm sorry."

She almost smiled, but mirthlessly. "Thank you." Then she turned on her heel and walked right out.

Like any stalker, I checked her internet history. She only visited two frivolous animal blogs, no e-mail. It clicked. She has a computer at home. She saw my status update. She came to see if I would apologize.

Joey had a different theory: "She prob wanted to see if you gained weight in Italy and then got pissed when she realized you lost a babillion pounds!" (Unlikely, but funny. Except for the part where I had a babillion pounds to lose. :P )

So, relatively painless, and I guess that's that for now. We'll see if we see each other again any time soon.

I hope you're all well. Love you!

-A.

P.S. Why I Love Brian, Part 4? 5? Lost count.

Me: *Persuade, persuade, persuade*
Brian: Haha. You're like the little devil on my shoulder, except you have good intentions.
Me: So I'm the angel? Maybe a bit of both.
Brian: I can deal with that. Angel of gossip. :P
Me: Angel of human interest!

P.P.S. GO PENS! Lord Stanley, here we come! :D

New York, New York: Where cute Jewish babies threaten to kill each other in the sandbox. Part One.

This weekend, I went to Glen Rock, New Jersey, New York City, and Great Neck, Long Island.

It was so much fun I can only begin to describe it. :) (Be warned, this is a detailed account!)

Betsy and I picked up Jessica and Ben (friends of Betsy's, acquaintances of mine [not this Ben]) and got on the road at about 9 pm on Thursday night...and drove in the wrong direction for 45 minutes. WHOOPS.

Thankfully, we were heading north to New Jersey in short order, and Betsy and I went ahead and sang along (perhaps annoyingly) to the songs on her iPod (for those who don't know us, we have virtually identical tastes in music)--we knew almost all the words to every song, as Jess pointed out (I'd like to think admiringly :P).

We stopped in Delaware for a late snack around 11 and observed some of it's fine patrons and employees (including a freakishly tall blonde woman and an uncomfortably flirtatious clerk) and got a very strange blend of foods (hamburgers, trail mix and Starburst) for the last half of the trip.

We finally made it in to Glen Rock, Betsy's hometown, by about 1 AM--we were all exhausted, but still stayed up meeting and greeting Betsy's adorable parents and puppy until about 3 AM. (In the midst of this, Ben drops the unexpected news that he is very allergic to dogs...ooooops!) Finally, we crashed in Betsy's basement--Ben and Jess on the couches with the "fluff blankets", as Jess coined the term, and Betsy and I on the air mattress on the floor.

We set our alarms for 8 AM, but then reality kicked in, and we woke up at 11:30. :P

But, we got a treat for our laziness, which was a DELICIOUS bagel breakfast with cream cheese and lox and tasty jellies. :) And who doesn't love tasty jellies?

We took the NJ Transit (and had a sighting of Betsy's ex's best friend) to the Path, and ended up on 9th street, outside of Betsy's brother's apartment building. I got my first taste of Pinkberry a few blocks later (YUMMY) and at Ben's suggestion, we went to the Cooper-Hewitt Museum to see the sustainable design exhibit, which was really, really cool. Even better, because we got in for free, thanks to Ben's previous employment there!

By the time we got out of the museum, the temperature had dropped to frosty, which was awful for us girls, who were dressed in shorts and dresses and tee shirts. So, we sought warmth in a Mexican restaurant on 83rd that we still can't guess the name of! The type on the awning was really hard to read, and the receipt was labeled 'Percy's Bar and Grill'...wtf? Either way, we had some tasty sangria (serving the underaged, gasp!), and mole sauce (made from chocolate, not moles).

It was even colder when we left the restaurant, so we stopped into a Gap to see if they had some cheap sweaters, but alas, even their sale prices were positively ridiculous, so we forwent that and decided to head back out of the city--Ben and Jess went to Ben's house in Long Island for the night, and Betsy and I took the train back to Glen Rock, where we made brownies and watched the ends of Runaway Bride and Little Women (I cried when Beth died, I'll admit it!).

The next morning, Betsy and I rode with her dad into the city to pick up Ben, Jess, Betsy's sister Katie and brother Tom, and brother's girlfriend Amy. It was a surprisingly quick and easy pick-up, and when we got back to Glen Rock, we basically sat on our asses watching movies all afternoon until the pre-Memorial Day, Memorial Day cookout! I swear to God, best scallops I've ever had. Also, we got delicious homemade ice cream from this little place called Van Dyk's. :D

We also met Betsy's former neighbor and childhood friend John, who, aside from mild racism and lack of tact, is very nice and funny. The five of us were 9 years old for a couple hours and played on a nearby elementary school playground, earning such nicknames as "Baller Ben" and "Jenius (or 'Jeanius', as Ben prefers) Jess", and getting shown up by smaller kids climbing on the jungle gyms.

Then we tortured the boys and watched Dr. Horrible (less-to-no-torture) and Hitch (medium-to-heavy-torture) and went to bed.

We shot for 8 am again, and were slightly more successful--we got up at 9:30 (well, Ben managed to get up at 8, and decided to poke Jess in the head in order to wake her :P).

We got another pleasant breakfast surprise from Betsy's mom, who made us plain, blueberry, and chocolate pancakes serves alongside strawberries. OMG SO GOOD.

We drove to Long Island, which was, again, very easy and short, and got to know each other a bit more, concentrating on phobias. They ranged from the less serious (spiders for Betsy), to the funny in theory but actually valid (bridges for Jess) and the scary and tragic (small spaces/confinement and bad news for me, hurting others for Ben). It was really pleasant to get to know Jess and Ben better--they're both really funny and thoughtful and fun to be around. :)

Ben's neighborhood of Great Neck was adorable and Jewish and reminded me of Sewickley in a lot of ways (as did Glen Rock, for that matter). We met his parents--his mother was adorable--and brother, and after looking at some baby pictures and witnessing a funny water fight between Ben, his brother and their dad, we hopped in Betsy's car and headed into town.

Unfortunately, at this point, I had missed a call from Dad, and his voicemail gave me that awful feeling in the pit of my stomach that said there was something wrong (although I'd chalked it up to some disappointment in me he had). I got a text from Mom as well, so I answered that, and she asked if I'd spoken to Dad. I said no, and the sick feeling intensified, so I asked why. Apparently, my Dad's older sister was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer, and was given about 8 months. :( My aunt and I aren't close, but she's the closest family to me that's died while I've been old enough to understand. I was shocked, and I cried a little, but mostly out of being overwhelmed--I love my aunt, and she was absolutely the most invested and attentive of my Dad's siblings to us, but the closeness just isn't there to feel the loss for myself. I feel the loss for my Dad, though. Very sad.

Thankfully, I was with three supportive, wonderful friends who were nothing but helpful.

Okay, this has to be continued...part two coming up!

BTW, I just had contact with Marla for the first time in, oh, 6 months. It was uncomfortable, but a breakthrough. I got to apologize in person. More soon.

Love,

-A.

AHHHH, relief!

On the relationship front, anyway.

Things with Ben couldn't have gone better! Well, okay, that's simplifying it a little.

I took the MARC to DC on Friday, and after a few stops on the Metro, greeted Ben in Virginia. That evening was great--I met a couple of his friends and we hit it off just fine! We hung out at a hookah bar and just talked and watched Ben's friend Tyler whip him at backgammon five times :P

The NEXT day however, was weird and awkward and it was so, so painfully clear how much we DO NOT gel as a couple. So, we went to breakfast and had an awkward walk and argued a lot about God, as we do. It's just so tense, and he's bad at letting things just go without making them into a ten minute dissertation about why he's right. Despite all of this, he is a good guy, and I am really excited about staying friends with him.

So, we are FINALLY making our way back to Baltimore--after about twenty minutes of relative silence, he reaches over and takes my hand, and I just come out and say it: "Look, I think us dating would just be all wrong. We're so not right for each other."

Now, I get a little nervous here, because, as I wrote before, I'm expecting him to be hurt, but then again, our morning was PRETTY BAD. But he surprised me: "I was trying to figure out how to say the same thing, gently." My insides were singing hallelujah, I'll tell you that!

After that, we were totally fine! It was just, so NICE to be able to be normal and friendly and funny, but still talk semi-awkwardly-but-mostly-funnily about our "romance", AKA "makeouts" and why we would never have worked out (so, SO many things!).

At my suggestion, we had a cookout for Robin last night, as he left today for Pittsburgh. It was a lot of fun, and I have to say, there is never a time I feel more comfortable and joyful than when I am in a roomful of relaxed, fun people that I love. :)

Ben bonded with Colin and Robin over Rock Band last night, which we played from 11 PM-2 AM (I sang--doy), and he stayed over in my bed (no funny business, just cuddling, I promise! :P It just felt good to be near someone). We got breakfast at XS this morning and just enjoyed our time together for a few hours before he had to go. No kiss--just a big hug and a promise to keep in touch. It went so well I was beaming!

Starting from square one is never fun, but better this outcome than anything more dramatic.

Speaking of square one, I said goodbye to Robin before Ben and I went out for breakfast. It wasn't hard, exactly, but I've barely gotten to see him, and I miss him. I don't want our progress interrupted! Last night things seemed like they were going back to normal, which made me feel so, so great! But, naturally, I'm the first person to say that they'll never be the same, and I still get this weird let's-call-it-protectiveness-instead-of-jealousy about him. But it'll pass after a while, I'm sure. :)

It's so funny how open and honest this blog sounds, when there is still so, so much I could say about this, and have said to a few of you, and to a black diary.

Ben surpassed my expectations this afternoon and texted me about seeing a baseball game next week. Not even a whole day and he's keeping the promise to stay friends! Actively! I am so, so pleased. :D

I have more to worry about--school stuff, money, jobs, etc. But I know I have good friends and a good head on my shoulders, and even when things get me panicky, I know I have a good God who gave me both, and I am so thankful. :)

Hope you're all doing well!

Love you--

-A.

So many things go on in my life--

Thankfully, they are mostly awesome things.

I am back in Baltimore, which has been great--the drive down with Lauren was largely unproblematic, Robin and I are more than fine, Betsy and Jen are both great (still bickering), and Lee, the girl who I sublet to, is pretty absent from the apartment usually. BUT, in an awesome turn of events, I came at the perfect time--she is paying two rents, and with the advent of my return, she is going to move out of my room earlier than expected! Pretty good timing.

Ben came to see me yesterday, which was also lovely. He brought me roses--two red, two yellow--and opened the car door for me and all of that gentlemanly awesomeness. We had a good day--low-key but fun--and in the evening, we got to talking. Debating, in one, about our opposing religious viewpoints. And then, discussing the possibility of a relationship.

At first, I was sort of relieved--it seemed like we were on the same page: we liked the other, enjoyed the other's company, but in the end, we aren't really what the other is looking for, mostly based on sex, politics, and religion. Sure, fine. But all of a sudden, there was this wacky deal where I figure out that he likes me a WHOLE lot more than I though he did, and that it's really hard (read: impossible) for him to just be friends with girls he likes from the outset.

This upset me more than the revelation that we aren't actually right for each other romantically. I wasn't hurt, but sort of sad. For some reason, I got this fire in me--it became essential to cultivate a lasting friendship with Ben. It is essential. Hm.

Anyway, we had that talk, and I told him I was still going to make an effort to remain friends, and he said he'd try. But, sure enough, when all of us (Jen, Betsy, Robin, Colin, Ben2, My Ben, and I) went to see Star Trek (pretty fun, I gotta say), he got all affectionate and hand-holdy again. Since the midst of a blockbuster is not the best place to talk it out, so I waited until I was walking him out to the car as he was leaving last night. When I asked what the deal was, he did what I wanted Robin to do back in February--he said 'I'm going to ignore the differences/odds against us for now."

I was surprised, and pleased, but not because I have any urgent feelings about being with Ben. In fact, as I'd said before, I was sort of relieved that we'd agreed to just try friendship. It was just nice to feel like I'm important to someone--especially someone who doesn't know me that well. But I don't want to hang this relationship on my own feelings of self-worth--that would be stupid and, doy, selfish. He deserves better than that.

He told me it was my call. Because of the above paragraph, I didn't say no. Not right away. I told him yes for now, but I still had to think about it. But, as I do, I knew as soon as I turned and watched him drive out that I should've drawn the line. He invited me to stay at his place on Friday--that probably won't happen, but again, I do want to stay in touch.

Whew. Also, darn. It was like a taste of an attentive boyfriend who is making an effort to honor me, and I've wanted that for a while.

I still haven't seen Marla--hopefully today.

School stuff is sneaking up on me a little, which is stressful, but I can take it. Now to get a job! Wheee!

Wish me luck--

-A.

P.S. Go Pens! Game 7! Bottle the Caps! :D

HOLY SHIT IT'S APRIL.

Wow, guys. Two weeks and I'll be home with you! Can you believe it?!!!! I can't.

Not much new here, getting more work done on my comic, for sure! It's coming along really, really well, if I do say so myself.

David and I have been bonding awesomely! We get along so, so well, and we can talk about anything! It's been a huge relief to me--it's not that I don't feel comfortable talking to Mel or my roommates, but I guess I just feel like David is more sympathetic to me. We understand why the other is frustrated--we can level with each other without offering advice about how to react to something. I'll miss him!

Other than that, I've been thinking about classes for next semester, and enjoying the warmer weather--all standard positives!

I've been chatting with John on our Facebook wall about getting a few classes together next semester, and I got a really nice reply message from Casey (Robin's friend from high school, remember him from way back over Winter Break?), detailing how his semester is going. I messaged him back in January, and I was curious to see how he was doing--Casey and I got along really well, and I have to say, I want to keep hanging out with Robin's friends!

Emily--I found out my Painting Conservation final is this coming Thursday, and I'm supposed to come out to you on Wednesday. :/ I'm going to try and talk my teacher into letting me take it Wednesday morning, which would be IDEAL, because then all my written tests/shows would be out of the way, save my Etching finals, and I'll have another week to take care of that. :) I'll let you know how it goes down. Worst comes to worst, I'll have to come in on Thursday night. :((( Is that a super-issue?

Okay, I have to go, but I love you guys, and I miss you!

-A.

hm.

I don't actually know what I wanted to write here. :/

I guess it just wanted to update that I'm alive and I'm fine, just so everyone knows. :) E-mail or Facebook me if you want to talk--I don't hear from you guys enough! :P

Love you and miss you!

-A.

Okay.

Robin broke up with me yesterday. I won't expand much here for reasons that some of you know, but I just wanted you guys to know that. A few things:

1. Robin's reasons were valid and I'm not angry with him at all.

2. I'm really sad, though.

3. I'm not unwilling to talk about it with the people that are invited to read this. You guys are my best friends and I trust you, so, if you want to ask me anything you can.

Thanks so much for the support I already know I have from you.

Love you guys,

-A.

P.S. Watchmen was great--a pretty faithful adaptation, I must say. I recommend it if you've read the graphic novel.

Pisa e Lucca!

If you guys make your way to my Facebook, you can see that I've posted some new photos! The photo uploader is a little bit of a bitch, so they might not all be there when you log in to see them, but soon enough! Promise!

Our trip was really fun, although it was SO rainy, and subsequently freezing, which wasn't great, but the churches and museums were so awesome.

Pisa was my favorite of the two--the Tower was awe-inspiring, and the Baptistry was so amazing! They did this acoustical demonstration, where one of the attendants sang up into the cone/dome structure, and it sounded like a choir of people singing softy with them. It was wonderful. I didn't climb the tower (it cost 15 euro!), but it was enough to just see how cool it is.

Lucca had it's charms too--it's churches housed two really interesting tombs--one was a well-preserved body of a 13th century saint, St. Zita (allegedly), and the other was a commemorative marble tomb built for a teenage wife who died in childbirth. It was so gorgeous. And there were some 900 year old manuscripts in the cathedral museum! Excellent calligraphy.

All in all, a very successful trip. I'm going to try to go to Rome with them in two weeks, too, if it doesn't cost too much. Wish me luck!

Melissa and I attended an American Episcopal Church a little ways down the Arno yesterday. They're choir was small but powerful (I want to join, and I'm attending a meeting on Wednesday), but the sermon and hymns were so weird. One hymn talked about how the fishermen were happy and content before Jesus called them, and how Peter and John suffered horrible endings as a result of their service to God, and how God's Peace isn't peace at all, but we should pray for it. It was so weird.

And the female rector gave the sermon, which started out talking about Jesus calling the fishermen to follow him, and then she had this theory that they'd all known each other for years, and that the following was the culmination of a decades-long argument about 'vocation' and misunderstanding Jesus. THEN it was about a Holocaust survivor who stayed alive in Auschwitz because he was a tailor and could sew German uniforms. He came to the US, remarried, and had a daughter and a son. He taught the daughter to sew (his 'vocation'), and somehow his transferring of his suffering to her via sewing caused her to become anorexic, or something? I have no idea. It was so random. Then it was like "There is no fate or destiny, we all have a choice in our vocation." And I'm like, "Yes, we have a choice, but there's GOD'S PLAN, remember?" I don't know. I can't judge the whole place by one sermon.

ANYWAY, I guess I'll go back one or two times and see if it's for me. Mel and I are going to visit a home church next Sunday night and see what that's like as well. :)

I made a mix back for Robin. I hope he likes it! :D I miss him a lot.

I miss all of you! Florence would be so much more amazing if you were all here with me. Muah!

I have to go grab a quick snack and head back to class. I love and miss you all dearly. Have a great day!

-A.

Buon Giorno!

Morning! It's about twenty-to-twelve here right now, and I had some time to update you on my life, so here we go!

Robin made me a wonderful little "I Miss You" mix. I just wanted to brag about that. :D

Anyway, I've basically been attending class, eating, and hanging out with my main peeps! David got food poisoning (perhaps from falafel that was cooked in the same pan as meat--David is vegetarian). :( But he's doing better now. I'm going to try and download Gossip Girl for us to watch soon to get him back to 100% health!

I met with my MICA advisor/professor for independent, Kevin Labadie. Why do I always end up talking about faith with practical strangers? About intimate things? I swear, I could tell you a few sex stories ALREADY about some people here. It's crazy.

ANYWAY, I mentioned that Melissa and I are Christians (he asked how we got so close), and he took that and ran with it. It wasn't a personal thing, though. We discussed the differences between philosophy and faith, and he told me a story about this comparative religion teach he attended a party with once, and she said that all religion is philosophy, because religion is the "search for God". I about had a stroke when I heard that. I seriously put my hands over my face and had to keep myself from screaming in frustration! Thankfully, Kevin agreed with me, and defended our point to that teacher. Kevin is an agnostic (who went to Catholic military school--YIKES!), but he understands faith and understands that faith isn't a search for God, but a relationship WITH God.

Either way, it was nice to delve into that side of a teacher, and to be able to have those personal connections. I made a few simple observations about Kevin to him--mismatched socks, jittery, always in motion. Kevin noted that I seem very perceptive--detective-like, and with my sense of justice and passion, it could border on blackmail/vigilantism! I liked that. :P I've never thought of myself as having those scary tendencies, but it's reassuring to know that I have some capacity for bad-assery. :D

I think I might base my independent body of work on the concept of secrecy, told in cut paper, selective silhouette--pulling out important details on the paper with a blade. Secrecy has been a big part of my life in general--well, I should say, having the power to release the secrets has been. I like that power, and it's exciting to think about translating it into something visual and illustrative.

I'll catch up with you guys very soon. I'm going to Pisa and Lucca this weekend (have I mentioned that?), so I hope to bring home some pretty pictures!

Love and miss you guys. I hope you're all well! Update, update!

-A.

My sexiness is complete.

I've been having a lovely day!

This morning, Mel and I got up and Emma met us at our place, and we went out to shop the January saldi! (Sales.)

Mel and Emma were on the hunt for boots, and I was just tagging along really, and if I found something cheap, great! Now, my feet are far too big to find boots here in the EU (a 41 [the largest size I saw] was about the right length, but my feet are WAY too wide), BUT, I did stop into this shop called Goldenpoint, where I knew I could find some cheap tights. So, I was looking at the wall of tights, and I saw a particular package of sheer black, lace-topped thigh-highs. I was, naturally, smitten. They weren't in my size, so I had to dig around a little to find the right pair.

Then I saw a pair that were seamed, and my heart skipped, so I grabbed those in my size too. THEN, at the counter, I saw a small box with a picture on it. A picture of a gorgeous lace garter belt and matching stockings. And I think I died a little with excitement. (I was inspired by you, Em! :P) SO, I bought the seamed stockings and the garter belt set for about 25 euro, which isn't bad at all. AND, to satisfy my little girl side, I found a pair of bright red tights practically next door for 4,75! IT WAS AMAZING. And now, I am sexy.

So, the three of us crossed the Ponte Vecchio, still looking for boots (we were unsuccessful, as they were A. Very expensive or B. Not our taste), and we stumbled onto this awesome, cheap mini-supermarket. I bought 1,5 liters of Sprite for 1,60! (Very cheap, let me tell you.) And cereal! And butter! It was exciting. :D

Anyway, tonight, #10 is coming over to our place to make a yummy, communal dinner, and then me, Morgan, Emily and Christine are going to find this bar that's broadcasting the AFC championship between the Steelers and the Ravens! Hopefully we kick butt! Go Steelers!

I love you and miss you all. Hope you're all having a great day! Let's talk soon!

-A.

The Marcato.

Let me briefly describe a trip to the Marcato Centrale.

You walk past hundreds of street vendors, selling t-shirts and leather goods, and telling women that they'll give them a "deal for [their] pretty smile".

Then you get to the warehouse, and you walk up the steps and into a wall of raw meat smell, which isn't pleasant, but somehow amazing to see all of the butchers with their aprons stained with pinkish blood carving up chickens and pigs and cows. I even saw a whole rabbit carcass today, frozen in mid-leap, but on it's back, skinned and tasty-looking.

The first floor is all meat, cheese and bread (there's a cute bread stand with yummy baguettes where the workers wear straw hats with sunflowers on them). There's a candy stand and a few produce stands, but the good produce is on the second floor. You can get almost anything there. Dried fruit, nuts, blood oranges, delicious apples. God, so GOOD!

It's hard to order what you want initially, especially if you don't know the numbers. So you do a lot of pointing and holding up the right number of fingers, until you learn to say "Una uva moscotello" (a scoop of black raisins), et cetera. It's actually really rewarding once you get through a transaction by yourself, even if you use a little English. :P

It's always a bustle, and I like going, even if it is a walk to get there. :) And, bonus! There's a Bank that ACTUALLY changes money nearby! Pretty amazing.

I got to talk to my mom and Robin yesterday. Mom is doing fine, and KJ (for the brief time we spoke) seems just as silent on the phone as usual. :P I'm sorry I missed you Em! When I got off with Robin you had signed off! I'll catch you soon.

Me, Mel and #10 (what I call Noel, Emma, Morgan, and David's apartment) watched Hook and ate half-price gelato, which was TRES tasty. (Or MOLTO, my bad.) ALSO, I found out that David watches Gossip Girl! We totally bonded, and we have a date to watch the new episode tonight (Obviously not a real date, just a nerdy GG one)! He is the BEST. EVER. :P

I love and miss you guys! How are all of you? Update!

Muah!

-A.

Spending money=SUCK.

I just spend 50 euro on Student Medical Insurance, after putting it off as long as I possibly could. :( Boo on spending money. I didn't want to spend half my money in the first month.

BUT, despite any trouble with money, I'm getting adjusted more and more. I think I've been a bit of a burden on Mel, which I didn't want. Now that she's succumbing to being overwhelmed, I'm starting to see that she wasn't as peaceful and ready as I first thought. But I am glad she's here--I know she was placed here alongside me for a reason. I jsut hope I can be as supportive of her as she's been of me.

Anyway, I got to talk to Robin yesterday for almost two hours, which was AWESOME. It brightened my day, and while it made me miss him more, I felt better afterwards.

Then I went out with Mel and David and Sarah and Emma to this little restaurant next door where they had incredibly tasty pizze.

I miss you guys a lot, but I know I'll at least see Em over Spring Break, so I'm holding out for that! March, here we come! A month and a half to go! :P

I have a day off today, and I'm going to the Marcato Centrale to get some food for the next few days. I love you guys and I'll talk to you soon!

-A.