Here comes the bridesmaid...

I received my bridesmaid dress yesterday, and I must say it was both better and worse than I imagined. This is it:

Granted, the color is digitally overlaid, but it's not too far off. The lime in my dress is only a few shades cooler than the digital approximation. However, the dress fits PERFECTLY, and I'm grateful for that (no need to spend any more on this dress than absolutely necessary). The cut is actually really flattering, and it's far less shiny than the picture indicates. Whew.

Just...the COLOR. I look like lettuce. And not even spring mix. Iceberg.

I decided I can shorten it someday and be Tinkerbell for Halloween. Or I could, you know, sell it. :P

Last night was a welcome bit of fun--John, Colin, Katie, Robin and I went to Turps (a local sports bar) for their half-price burger night, then to Rita's, then Katie and I kicked the boys out to watch Glee. :P ACTUALLY, they were just too lame to stay (although John watched it with me Tuesday night, so he's forgiven). I love having a group I can call home base, even if we only found each other in the last year of MICA. After all, I found my best friends from high school the summer after we graduated!

Not to wax too nostalgic (especially since we haven't even graduated yet!), but I'm really hopeful that we'll all stay close as we head out in our separate directions. Thankfully we all have Luke and Jessica's wedding next year, and eventually my own and maaaybe Colin and Katie's? ;)

I believe we can do it. :)

Early morning means a long day--hanging my senior show (which isn't the same as the commencement show) and watching more presentations, and just being thankful that today isn't last week. There's still a long way to go, but I'm learning how to take it better, slower.

Thank God I have so many blessings in the shape of John and my friends and family!

-A.

300! (And 'Why I Love Brian', part 24)

After two years, this isn't exactly a huge achievement, but it's nice that I've actually written about my life and things I care about here with some level of maturity, rather that what I did at my old livejournal, which consisted of whining and Quizilla. :P

My day got better--I watched LOST with Colin, Katie, Robin and Leah (who Robin's been chatting up for a few weeks...hey-oh!). They're so fun to hang out with. :D

I'm at the desk now, waiting for my shift to be DONE so I can go sleep before waking up to slap together a three-page draft for the class I am missing tomorrow night in order to attend John's opening night! Woo! John dropped by my shift after his rehearsal to assure me of how great the play will be (as if I had any doubts!).

In other news, BLAH SO MUCH WORK TO CATCH UP ON. WE GRADUATE IN 7.5 WEEKS!

Love you all...stay unstressed!

-A.

P.S. Why I love Brian--from over Spring Break:

Me: I saw Annie's boyfriend on Alex Mack--he's the reason I like the dark hair/light eyes combination.

Brian: Funny you should say that--Alex Mack was the reason I became attracted to girls who turn into goo.

Back to School again.

Feeling the heat now... :/

Before May 1st, I need to:

-Scan and color 28 pages of comic. (Wooo.)

-Order them to be bound and printed. (Not to mention earn the money to do so.)

-Do the rest of my assignments to satisfaction. (The true challenge.)

-Not have a panic attack. (Uhg.)

Wish me luck.

In other news, my last few days of Spring Break were really pleasant! John returned safe and sound, and I got to hang out with Colin and Katie a bit. :) Not to mention the GORGEOUS sunshine, which always brings my mood up (I'm looking forward to more, because sunshine also makes me feel more productive).

For a special treat, my old friend Nice!Joey (from my days at SACI--a year ago!!!) came to Baltimore with his roommate (whose girlfriend lives here) and we got to hang out and catch up for a couple hours! Yay for study abroad friends!

Today was largely uneventful as I had a grave shift last night and didn't shower until 2pm. (I'm lame.) HOWEVER, tomorrow I have my big scary ORAL SURGERY! (To be fair, it's only one tooth, and I'll probably only be given local anaesthetic, meaning I'll be awake--which I prefer!) I'm a liiiittle nervous, but John will be there to be all supportive. :)

I hope you all had a good weekend!

-A.

THE LAST MIDTERM CRIT OF MY LIFE.

Katie posted pictures of our Oscar Party on her blog! Check it out.

Heading home tomorrow morning--packing and working tonight until John's rehearsal is over (at midnight. >:|), then SLEEP, because I have to get up early to catch le bus.

Had a great day--got up EARLY for my 6-9 AM shift, and got three solid, computer-less hours of work done before my midterm critique with Rebecca and Jamison Odone. I was mixed up with a whole bunch of new people, and saw some really great stuff! I went last (probably for the best with all of the pages I had to tack up), and heard some good feedback. I've bee told to do full color from the outset, but print in greyscale. AKA Time Suck. But I suppose it's for the best.

I got some good ideas as far as marketing myself, which is a good thing. (Phew.) I also got Jamison's email (I'm usually so good at talking to people, but his awesomeness made me into a bashful, stuttering MESS), so I'll be begging him for guidance at some point soon. :P

After the crit, I had lunch with John out in Cohen Plaza and watched other MICA students lounging out on the grass, in the sun. I watched one professor play with his adorable babies and WISHED I'd had my sketchbook so I could've drawn his adorably chubby baby son. :D Aw, bbs.

After lunch I had seminar, and I watched Jamison and three other artists present, and they were all very successful, which was encouraging. I got to work AND bond with some fellow illustrators in the senior studio after seminar, which was really refreshing, as I usually feel like I'm a completely separate entity from the department (sometimes I still did, even today).

Now I'm home, procrastinating both artwork and packing and waiting for John still.

Looking forward to heading home, but I'm not looking forward to being without John for a week. Boo. :/

Love,

A.

Oscar Night!

Well, admittedly the Oscars weren't at their most thrilling in 2010. But I did pretty well a far as my picks for the winners--fourteen correct out of 24 categories, including Best Picture, and both Supporting actors, and second in my fourteen-person Oscar pool!

Katie and Colin were very gracious to host the Oscar party (since only Robin and I--and eventually John--attended), and Katie (adorable thing that she is) made delicious Oscar-themed food with adorably punny names:

-A Serious Man-wiches (pulled pork finger sandwiches on rolls)

-A Single Man-go Salsa

-Pretzels: based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire (LOL) (and chocolate covered! :D)

-Inglourious Bon-Bons (these AMAZING chocolate cookie/vanilla ice cream bonbons dipped in chocolate.)

-The Hurt Guacker

Am I missing an Avatar-themed one? (Oh well--I'm so glad they got everything they DESERVED--visual effects and the like, not to mention a nice ex-wife burn from Kathryn to James.)

A cool fun-fact--the winning short subject documentary, Music by Prudence, was co-produced by Patrick Wright, the chair of the MICA film/video department, and, Errol, the guy who shot Good Thing (the play I stage-managed sophomore year) and showed up randomly at my birthday party in 2009 (or was it 2008?) shot some of the footage, which makes him the youngest cinematographer to shoot an Oscar-winning film in history! Pretty cool (although he's a little creepy)! Check it out here.

Did you watch? Did you enter an Oscar pool? How did you guys do?

Love,

-A.

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.

A Frustrating Day.

This morning, John and I were supposed to drive back to my hometown of Sewickley so I could see my little brother KJ in a musical for the first time. He had a supporting lead in The Sound of Music--one of my personal favorite shows--and I was SO EXCITED to go and support him.

Unfortunately, last night it decided to snow--not much in Baltimore or Pittsburgh, but the snow decided to plop itself right in our path--6 to 10 inches, apparently, although I have no idea what the weather was ACTUALLY like on the Turnpike, as we never left. Both of my parents warned me about the danger of driving on the Turnpike in snow (the travel speed was reduced to 45mph there), and if we were only going to be there for one day it wasn't worth it. Of course, Mom left the decision entirely up to me (Dad basically told me not to come), which (of course) means that I knew I had to stay home. I was furious. I cried for a few hours, had John call Mom to tell her--because I didn't want to talk--and had John tell Mom to tell Dad, and tell him not to call me.

Maybe I was overreacting (John insisted I wasn't), but I was SO disappointed. I've never seen KJ perform, especially a role like Max Detweiler, and I had my heart set on it. I hated having to surrender to something as stupid and changeable as the weather--especially when I couldn't see it myself. I'm still now sure if it was worth it to stay--if we'd have been in any REAL danger to drive down. Either way, it's done now. :/

John was instrumental in getting me through the day--apart from putting up with my tears, he was all too willing to stick around and make me lunch (after we fell asleep for three hours--crying always tires me out) and snuggle me up if I needed it. And, of course, offer me delicious Chinese food for dinner. Seriously, he knows how to show me love. :P

I also cut myself some bangs today--John initially brought it up--citing photos of me from Fall 2008. He thinks I'd look great in bangs again, and Robin quickly seconded this when I brought up cutting my bangs to Katie on Wednesday night when we all went out for burgers (and to watch Canada cream Russia--woo!). So, I decided 'What the hell?', and cut my bangs in the bathroom this afternoon. They need to grow in a little bit, but I'm happy--I just need to pay a bit more attention to my eye makeup now. :P

The senior party--entitiled 'Gala Obscura'--is tomorrow night. It's a cocktail party, and I have to decide what on Earth to WEAR. I don't want to go too formal, but I would hate to be overdressed. What to do?!

Hope you're all doing well. Stay warm!

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.

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.

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.