Thursday, December 29, 2011

Twenty What?

Okay, we're all about to start a fresh, new calendar. We're reading & listening & watching a host of "best ___ of 2011" lists & thinking about what we did, what we would like to do better, & whoa whoa whoa, I'm sorry, but where did the time go?

Here you will find my reminiscences on our dearest, two thousand eleven. I didn't think I did much really, but then I realized this was because so much had happened that my brain just shoved the beginning half of the year into the section of memory that needs dusting. This year I:

  • Grew to like Los Angeles! Of course initially I was like, "hmmm I think I hate Los Angeles less". This city is kind of a long list of things I don't like: crowds, traffic, heat, lack of public transportation, drivers that don't believe in the existence of pedestrians, being in the bottom half of California, blah blah blah. I spent much of my first few months here crying my eyes out, calling my parents, contemplating the consequences of dropping out of school, being an idiot in general. But for whatever reason, when I came back from last year's winter break I was like "I am going to make this work! RARRRRRR!!!" It just got progressively easier to be here as I figured things out.

  • Took a jazz dance class at school & had crazy amounts of fun

  • Saw Hello Seahorse! (that explanation point is really part of their name, so here is another one to express how excited I was !)

  • Saw Yann Tiersen live again. So much love for his music, really really really

  • Hit a major low point when the stolen wallet incident was followed by a minor romantic disappointment. Life went on, I mostly just miss the photographs in my old wallet

  • Dealt with more unwanted male attention than I'd like, but at least had funny stories to tell my friends (remember Brain?). Learned never to date a user of a library in which you are employed (obvious yes, but come on, the only boyfriend I had in college went to a different school entirely, give me a break!)

  • Went to Disneyland!

  • Turned twenty four years old. Ate nice food. & ICE CREAM!

  • Saw Man Man

  • Got another ear piercing, freaked out because I snagged it on a sweater & it swelled up & became painful after I came home from Man Man.

  • Completed my first year of grad school!

  • Got contact lenses!

  • Lost yet another pair of sunglasses to the Pacific Ocean on the fourth of July

  • Was terrified by haunted Olive Court, but acquired a free, haunted shoe rack that same night

  • Moved apartments & in with the bestest roommate everrrrrrrrr. Sure this is only the second roommate I've ever had, but I like my living situation despite the obvious incompetency of the management. Trust me, when I'm an old lady, I'll be like, "Oh that gal (when I'm old, I'll call girls, gals) I lived with in L.A. was so nice. She was probably the best roommate ever." & then I'll be like, "Get off my lawn!"

  • Began my first archival internship & seriously had the best experience possible as far as location & supervisor go, I am so so so lucky!

  • Became a member of two art museums. So fancy!

  • I think I went to Las Vegas twice. I think I smuggled dessert out of a buffet in a souvenir cup.

  • Went to Griffith Park & Observatory for the first time (whoo!). Unfortunately I did learn at work recently that Griffith J. Griffith was not just a repetitively named man who might have liked the outdoors & science, but also a murdering man who killed his wife in a fancy Arcadia hotel.

  • Awkwardly quit my job. Seriously, this was not smooth

  • Said goodbye & meant it really, even went the extra step to get a phone number blocked

  • Took lots of walks

  • Experienced the often unseen (for me anyway) bottom half of PCH. Got to see bits of Big Sur again which was fantastic as it had been a year or two or whenever that time I cut off all my hair was.

  • Said goodbye & didn't want to, moped for days

  • Went to the midnight showing of the last Harry Potter movie. Cried & laughed so hard!

  • Saw The National!

  • & the L.A. Phil!

  • & Beirut!

  • Started new job/internship

  • Batman Halloween

  • Finalized portfolio topic

  • Christmas apartment


It's been such a full, wonderful year! I don't really make resolutions for the new year as I prefer constant, continuous personal growth over fits & starts, but I am hoping 2012 brings me more change, more obstacles to overcome, more time with the people I care for so much. I'm very excited for the mysteries of "what happens after June?" to unravel!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Valley Fog



Winter mornings & nights. I miss it actually. Fog provides a sense of drama that sunny Southern California "winters" can't match.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Music Monday: yMusic






I had the great luck of purchasing this album on the same day that a very tiny rainstorm came into town. It's beautiful, transporting music. I got out of the subway, greeted by lots of wind and a show of pigeons heading for drier places. I was also lucky enough to get a window seat fairly early on the bus portion of my trip. With yMusic, every tiny detail outside that window became absolutely fascinating. The way asphalt slowly becomes darker and darker as the rain starts picking up. I saw a man biking in the same direction as the wind, leaves were kicking up past him, it made me wish I were on a bike, but I still had a cold so that wouldn't have been a good idea. Even things that generally annoy me about this city became wonderful. No, this traffic isn't keeping you from home, it's giving you a twinkling light show, white & red in the rain, something to watch while we wait for the rain to stop.

Christmas in a Small Town



Lots of people know I'm not originally from a big city, but fewer know that even before then, I lived in a tiny tiny tiny town.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

The World on Two Wheels













I couldn't have possibly made a trip home without visiting my favorite bike trail.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Music Monday: tUnE-yArDs






I've been so so so so absent! I visited home & then had school madness & I just could not keep up with things! I had never really heard of tune-yards until I saw them live some time ago in San Francisco. Love at first listen obviously, I still adore them!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

From Up Here





I'm pretty sure I take the exact same pictures every time I go to the Getty Center. The things they have up right now for Pacific Standard Time are amazing. Check it out if you haven't!

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Lanterns



These are much harder to put together than you would ever imagine. Trust me.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

A Silly Doodle



I've mentioned before that my spacing out is often due to imagining things I am too embarrassed to share before. One of these things (that I did confess to my roommate!) is imagining articulated buses as accordions. Sometimes when I'm on a bus, I like to try imagining what kind of music it would be making. Which is silly yes, but I also began to imagine what kind of people would be able to play a bus accordion, they're so big! So while watching a movie I made a drawing of a very long armed, bus accordionist.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Time to Ruin a Surprise!



I told my friend I would make her a penguin, but that I couldn't guarantee that it would be cute or even remotely resemble a penguin. It's finally all done & I'll be bringing it with me the next time I visit her!

Monday, November 7, 2011

Music Monday: Wild Beasts






For some reason, I just get really obsessed with this band in the cooler months.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Music Monday: Happy Halloween!








Happy Halloween! I was Poison Ivy on Saturday night, hanging out with my bff Harley Quinn, fellow criminal Catwoman, my foe Batman, Dr. Who, Indiana Jones, & a cop! What did you do?

Glimpses from my Home: Over There, by the Window





Friday, October 28, 2011

Make Me Stay

This quarter I am enrolled in a course that leaves me incredibly stressed out. It leaves me up all night worrying, not just because of the workload, but because this course focuses on something I never like thinking too hard about, the future. Every session there has been talk about graduating, about the possibility of not graduating, about starting professional careers.

In some ways, I know I'm panicking more than I should. Throughout life, I have trusted that things will work themselves out for no reason other than they always do, and I know this to be true now. But I know this type of worry very well, it was with me about a year and a half ago.

Los Angeles wasn't in my plans. Mostly because I hate planning long term & avoid it when possible. Also because Southern California never sounded very appealing. I believed every negative stereotype about this city. That it was a place where people went to pursue entertainment careers and often failed, it was much too big and much too traffic congested, it was a place where people don't care about each other. But I moved. & I was wrong for the most part about the negative stereotypes, I have a much more positive view of Los Angeles (which I refuse to refer to as the city because everyone knows "The City" is San Francisco). Yes, I have had my heart broken, my wallet stolen, & have become closer to being roadkill than ever before. But I did find things that I love, I found places that felt like home in my heart and have become familiar, I've met some really amazing people that I care very much about.

What worried me most about moving here wasn't confronting those stereotypes. It was the fact that I felt I could just leave. I put off the decision as long as possible because I was waiting for something to make me stay. It wasn't even a particular something, it could have been anything. A job offer, a friend who really needed me to be there, a pickle in the shape of a saint (not really on that last one). Just some kind of sign that I wasn't meant to leave. But it never happened so I signed a housing contract and on September 1, 2010, I suddenly found myself in a strange apartment with every familiar item I'd be seeing for a while in boxes around me.

Now as I do weekly perusing of job postings, it seems much easier to find things that happen to be "somewhere else". & while I have filled out those forms, sent them off with cover letters, and copies of my resume, I have been secretly wishing (& not wanting to admit, of course) that I had a reason to fight to stay here, that there was something to make me stay. To be honest, I feel like Los Angeles takes an especially long time to appreciate & that it is much easier to love when you aren't spending so many days indoors doing research so yes, spending a few more years here would be nice. I wish I felt more like I belonged. I wish that someone here knew me well enough to know I was spending entire nights worrying & wasn't easily fooled by my secret weapon. Although the time I've spent here as made me grow as a person, I wonder if I affected anyone at all or if our crossing paths was just that, a brief interaction. I selfishly want to be missed if/when I leave. I think I will always be excited for a new adventure and content with moving around. But I will forever be wishing for a reason to stay in one place.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Music Monday: Beirut






I figured the first song I ever heard from them (him) would be appropriate.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Sketchbook Project 2012

I think I won't be able to get much done in my sketchbook until winter break because this quarter has been so crazy! At any rate, here are a few pages!







Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Links! Links! My Kingdom for Your Links!

Hello hello hello! I am in need of updating my blog roll you see on the side bar over there. I am going to remove blogs which are no longer active (where did you go?), update links to those that have moved (oh there you are!), & adding yours in if you would like me to do so (nice to meet you!). Thanks for your assistance!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Music Monday: Air






I almost got to see them live once upon a time & I am still so so so disappointment it never worked out.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Music Monday: Feist






Not much on YouTube regarding her brilliant new album, so here's an old favorite.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

One Chord Love Song






Well this is a bit old & a little embarrassing (content & being in lounge mode on the inernet now). But I am writing a paper about YouTube which involved me snooping through my own account. My former guitar teacher used to always recommend recording the times I spent practicing in order to look back, critique, and improve. This results in me finding odd things much later.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Why I Hate to Hear You Say, "I'm Sorry".





I so wanted to write about this & everything that led up to it, but I also didn't want to make anyone feel like I was taking a jab at them. But I think everyone that I'd feel good about discussing things with already knows anyway.

I'll just say I'm glad to be coming out of the melancholy mood I've been in for the past or month or so!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Glimpses of my Home

I have begun the process of very slowly dissembling my Los Angeles apartment. Regardless of where I end up (even if I stay in this city, but a different part of town), I moved here taking only what would fit in my stepmom's car & that's exactly what I need to have when I move out because renting things is pricey! I've kind of been bringing things home & sending things back with my parents on our visits so it's a gradual change, but my belongings are definitely thinning out. I actually am shocked at how much I've acquired since moving down! I have a tendency to feel like I need to fill a space & make it cozy immediately upon settling in so the rooms I occupy seem to end up looking a bit granny.

Anyway, I wanted to document what my living space was like here before my living space became another place! Because I love my organizing cubes so much, I am dedicating this first "home" post to them!



This thing was so simple & easy to put together, the only con is that it's so heavy when it's all one piece! I used to keep this in my bathroom in my first apartment, but I was better able to utilize the space in this bedroom so I'm keeping it there, but it still kind of serves batthroom-y services. The bottom two bins are full of crafting/art supplies. One of them has painting stuff & the other has fabric stuff. In the middle cubes, I keep extra fabric & my bathroom towels.



The top cubes keep makeup stuff on one side & hair stuff on the other. I honestly need to go through & throw away a lot of stuff! Much of what's in those makeup bags are samples that I didn't like & honestly of those hair things I only recommend & use the Redken curl cream & the Tresemme dry shampoo.



This is the top! Basically I just keep my girly fluff stuff there.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Stay Mobile



No one talks of reading on a Kindle with all the passion they do for a book. But let me tell you, books are no fun to carry, they are often too thick, too heavy. I am less concerned about owning things as long as I have access. I am trying to simplify, to travel light. I'm trying to prepare myself to be prepared for anything.

Favorite Face



No matter how many weird makeup purchases I make (mostly based on packaging, I admit), my favorite look is always forever a simple, fresh face with a bold lip. Lately my very favorite lipstick has been MAC's, "Diva". It looks scary dark in the tube, a little bit goth-y/vamp-y when first applied, & fades over the day into an almost raspberry shade.

Do you have a go-to makeup look?

Friday, September 23, 2011

Journal: September 16th, 2011



Chilly this morning, but I don't mind because I have a perfect sweater. The one that feels a little too itchy & maybe a half size too small unless the weather's just right. The weather is changing, even here in Los Angeles where the weather never changes. The sun comes home early & sleeps in late.

I thought about getting a second coffee to have on my walk, but decided against it. I don't want to have an open cup on the subway & when I drink anything, I like to take my time. Coffee. Wine. One for the morning, one for the night.

I've inquired about a job in San Francisco nine months too soon. Did you leave your heart in San Francisco? I've left mine in so many places, I'm not sure I can still claim it as my own.