Halloween Fun!

There will be more and better photos eventually, but here we go:

My group was:

-Betsy and her little sister Mamie as Luigi and Mario, respectively.

-Robin as Robin A. Bank. (He's been a 'Robin' every year--Robin the Boy Wonder, Robin Hood, and Robin Williams as Patch Adams.)

-Jess as Quinn Fabray (from Glee!).

-Colin as Bob Ross (He even made Happy Tree stickers!).

-Katie as The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

-Ben as TinTin (I have no photos of him here yet--there was only one, and it was not flattering. :P).

-Jen as a Baltimore Cop (No photos of her yet either!).

-John as The Doctor (from Doctor Who--he is a huge Anglophile, in case you haven't noticed).

-Me as Alice (as you remember!).

Here's a better look at my costume (and incidentally John's), which I was very proud to have sewn myself out of an old thrift store dress and a dust ruffle! (Jen made my 'Drink Me' bottle at the last minute like a champ.)

It was a lot of fun--Robin was a leeetle drunk (and by a little, I mean blasted), and just did hilarious things all night. The after-MICA party came to our apartment and it was an all-around good time! I'm happy. :)

However, that means that it is now November. Let's see what that means:

Today is November 2nd.

Closer is in a week and a half.

My 21st birthday is in exactly two weeks.

My Mom's 46th birthday is in three weeks.

Thanksgiving is in three and a half weeks.

My sister's 19th birthday is in exactly four weeks.

Winter Break is three weeks after that.

BLAAAAH.

Love,

A.

Happy Halloween!

I'm sitting here at the Commons desk at 4:45 am in an Alice in Wonderland costume. I am tired and ready to wash off my heavy blush, but I still have another hour and change to go.

The last week has been busy, but I still feel so behind! This weekend is very welcome though--I love Halloween, Betsy is visiting, and it means we're another week closer to 1) the play, 2) my 21st birthday, and 3) my Thanksgiving trip to John's house! :D Yay!

The play is doing well, although we've begun to hit that in-between where everyone is tired and a little flat, so we forget little things. It will definitely pull together into something amazing, and I'm really excited for that. You should all come see it--November 13th and 14th in the BBox at MICA. 8 pm. Tickets are only $5 if you're not a MICA student! So cheap!

My Dad called me this morning and scared me: "I've got a bone to pick with you." I got nervous--I always get worried that when he calls, it's because I'm in trouble, or something bad happened. As it turns out, he only called because he found this link to some songs I recorded for a zine project sophomore year, and asked why I didn't tell him about the site before (honestly, not that many people know about it to begin with!). He liked the songs (especially 'Nice Girl', the one I wrote in high school from Letta's point of view about her idiot crush and this big mess of a love triangle that dominated those four years), and was very complimentary, which was a pleasant surprise (and relief). :)

Also, it was John's brother's 17th birthday yesterday, and he passed his driving test! (I am also officially lamer for not knowing how to drive.)

I've been in this place lately where I've been wanting to surpass all of the coming months and their stresses--thesis, deadlines, bill-paying, etc.--and just get to graduation and satisfaction and the place where it all (allegedly and clichédly) 'commences'. I know that I have to go through all of this to get to the 'good stuff', or to be ready for it at all. I'm just impatient. It's difficult knowing all of the awesome things that are waiting for me after this year and not being able to get at them! It's a very frustrating and obvious dilemma.

However, the future good stuff is WELL worth the wait. I know that for sure.

I'm such a sap. :)

Love,

A.

Fall break. RULES.

This weekend is my fall break (no classes tomorrow or Tuesday, woo!), and neither John nor I have classes on Friday either, so we've basically spent three days solid together, and it's been great. We've been hanging out, drinking tea, and watching movies and shows (Snow White! Glee!), which has been wonderful. We also hung out with Betsy, who came to visit from Rutgers (good visit, and she'll be back for Halloween!), saw Where the Wild Things Are (cool movie--SO INDIE) for one of John's friend's birthday's (Cara L., who is hastily and aggressively attaching herself to me at "best friend" status. She's nice but...I really only tolerate her for John's sake).

John and I had a double-date with a newlywed couple from our new church, Becky and Mark. It was SO WONDERFUL, and it basically confirmed everything I'm feeling about my relationship with John, which was a relief and a wonder.

Then we had a Target run today, and grabbed dinner--the drive home was a little scary: John was feeling sick and lost feeling in his hands, so we pulled over and stood out in the chill air, waiting for him to feel well enough to drive again. But he's fine now (thank God). He's sitting up with me at my grave shift now, the dear.

Bought some new shoes this week--practical black slip-ons (Keds mixed with vans--for $5!), real Keds in navy blue, and a pair of adorable black quilted/cap-toed flats with ankle strap (Alice would approve). I also bought two pairs of thigh-high socks (one grey with a cream top, one black with a grey top). We'll see if I can pull them off.

I think my Egypt midterm this past Wednesday went okay--better than I thought it would.

My thesis midterm critique went exceptionally well--I got some good feedback, and a lot of much-needed encouragement from my professors. It was really uplifting, and I felt like a proper artist. Speaking of which, I've also been hired by a recent grad to design some Baltimore-sports-themed tee shirts for him to sell. We'll see how that goes over, as he has no real clue what he's doing--but he did say he doesn't want to "stifle my creativity"--I had to laugh.

I intend to put my Alice costume together this week--tomorrow feels like a good thrifting day. Wish me luck!

In other news, John is perfect. Oh, wait. NOT NEWS AT ALL.

Love you all,

-A.

P.S. Pumpkin Patch Photos!

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.

PICSPAM!

FYI, you're about to get slammed with awesome photos. Be warned. :P


Me, seeing how convincing my costume (now more doll than marionette) is on Betsy's bed:


RIDICULOUS EYELASHES.


A better picture of my makeup:


The full costume, bloomers and all:


Robin and Betsy (Put faces to the names)!


Mah roomies, Betsy and Jen!


Me and Robin--guess what his costume is. If you get it, you get a cookie.


Awwww, we love each other. :)


Me and Betsy (as Mickey Mouse)!


Hot!Ryan as Steve Jobs, and Betsy. Isn't he hot? Am I right? :P


Me and my best buds at MICA (minus Marla): Me (and my boobs, which have their own zip code in this picture), Betsy, Jen (who made that Belle dress from scratch), Robin, Paul (as the most hilarious Pokemon trainer of all time), and Tiff (as a Battle Royale kickass chick):




Thoughts? Comments? Love you guys!

-Alyssa

P.S. Oh, by the way--Dan Wolf has a new squeeze. I'm sure those of you friends with him on Facebook saw the pictures of them smooching. Tasteful.:P

Halloweeeeeeeeen!

Well, unfortunately, no pictures yet. :(

But I CAN assure you that I looked AWESOME. Both Robin and Marla were actually creeped out by my marionette makeup (tiny mouth, huge eyes, LONG eyelashes), and I kept doing this wooden stare at Robin, making him be like "*look away* Alyssa, stop it!"

:)

My costume came together really, really well, and I'm super-bummed that I have to work during the Halloween party tonight. :((((( Well, I'll see some cool costumes going in and out of the Commons, I'm sure. There were some good ones last night--a group went as colors, another as the seasons. a lot of concepts, but no Concept, Em, sorry. :P

Last night, before my grave shift, me, Hot!Ryan Betsy, Jen, Robin, Paul, Marla, and new friend Colin watched "Midnight Meat Train", which those of you with Digital Cable may recognize as "the FearNet movie with the guy from Wedding Crashers". It was fun--pretty silly, but had a surprisingly awesome ending.

I had a midterm critique with my Illustration Concepts teacher, the illustrious (and illustrative) José Villarrubia. It was everything I expected regarding my technique, but as an added bonus, he was very complimentary about my demeanor and intelligence. He told me I was incredibly professional, which made it easy and pleasant to work with me, and that my concepts were great, and very smart. AND he thinks I have a great sense of color (coming from a colorist for DC comics, that's pretty cool). So, yeah, pretty good.

Not much else to report, except to reinforce that, yes Emily, Gossip Girl was amazing this week. I can't wait to see Jenny get hers. :)

Okay, love you all, miss you. Muah, muah, muah!

-Alyssa

ETA: Okay, two pics of me and Robin (as CatDoctor)--here's my makeup! You can't see it as well--PhotoBooth isn't the best quality, but here's mah face!

Also, because I am an IDIOT, and didn't mention this is my initial Patriot speech.

I voted for the first time! :D

It feels so good to do it, and I don't know why I didn't post about it when I sent the ballot out last week. I mailed it alongside a letter to Letta (and for Robin, a 'letta' to Letta. :P), because she's finishing up boot camp soon (she graduates on Halloween, appropriately). :)

As most of you can probably guess, I voted for McCain (duhr, because all of you have known me for more than two hours). I spend the bulk of yesterday morning watching Fox and MSNBC and the rallies going on around the US. Watching it more than reenforced my vote, especially that Biden interview in Florida. 2:18 is the climax, but you can watch it all and have a pretty good idea of the situations.



While the anchor was (VERY) blunt in her questioning (and a little less polite than I would prefer, but this is politics), it's very interesting that Obama's camp has subsequently cut off all interviews with that station until the election is over. Really guys? Are the questions all that surprising? Maybe it's because the media has been kissing your ass this whole time, glossing over the crap.

The bulk of Obama's presentation in Denver was making snide comments and it was just sort of sickening to see that meanness there. Don't get me wrong, there's been negativity from both campaigns, but Obama wasn't just pointing out an inconsistent record or misstep, he was just being petty and condescending.

Another interesting point brought up over the course of the morning was the likelihood of a Democratic Executive, Legislative, AND Judicial branch. No checks, no balance. Very, very scary thought.

Anyway, have to get to the Ceramics studio--love you guys, talk to you soon. Muah!

-Alyssa

"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." -Thomas Jefferson

"O, say can you see?"

First of all: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AB-FAB! Hope it's amazing. Be safe. :)

(I originally wrote 'Be sage'. So, yeah, get on that, too.)

I got my passport today! It's kind of amazing, because they said it would take three weeks, and it's only been a little over a week. :) Maybe because I'm so close to DC.

My picture is fairly dreadful (the whites of my eyes blend into my skin), but it made me feel this weird surge of patriotism to receive the passport. Sort of an odd reaction--feeling patriotic when you receive a document that allows you passage OUT of your home country. :P

My visa application goes next, and the quick receipt of my passport is a lovely relief--the visa is supposed to take FOREVS. Em, any insight?

The passport's quick delivery is just another nice reminder that God is looking out for me. :)

The rest of today will be spent eating, thrift-shopping for my Halloween costume (I'm copying one of my Mom's ideas and being a Marionette), then curling up at home and rereading the rest of Watchmen. Did you ever finish that, Ab?

What are all of you doing for Halloween? Costumes, parties, pumpkin-carving?

It's so gray and rainy here--it was surprising humid this morning, but it's cooled down a bit since then. Strong winds, too. I want to hear some thunder and see some lightning! (But only after I get home and curl up--my living room has four windows with an awesome view of the sky.)

In other news, the drama has settled between my roommates, but unfortunately for Ryan, he suffered a very, VERY painful--erm--personal injury and has been out-of-commission for a couple of days, knocked out on painkillers. (Rotated testicle. WTF.) He's doing better, but is, naturally, a little embarrassed. Poor guy.

ANYWAY. Not much else to report, but I hope you're all staying warm and happy and healthy. :)

Love you!

-Alyssa