It was definitely a weird weekend. I'm house-sitting for my brother and his wife this week so most of the day of the 4th was spent figuring out what to pack. I was fairly anxious about it because their house is such a long bus ride from mine so if I forgot something it would be a pretty big pain in the ass to retrieve it. Luckily I mentioned my anxieties to my dad later that evening and he offered to let me borrow one of their cars for a few days. Like most anxieties, this one was completely unfounded because I haven't needed to go back for anything yet.
So the afternoon/early evening of the fourth, my dad and I went to see Roman de Gare at the Living Room Theaters. I love going there for movies but it is so much more fun to go with somebody than by myself. We had dinner and drinks there too...a pretty damn good time. Afterwards I dropped him off at his house (since I was borrowing the car). I didn't have any further plans for the evening which always tends to worry me because for some reason it seems to be a worse thing to be alone on a holiday than any other random day. Luckily, T and B were up for a movie so we went to see Hancock at the Lloyd Center. Not too bad, though the plot twist was a little transparent and there were some logic problems at the end (I know, best not to think too deeply on the summer blockbuster). Jason Bateman was good in it, but he's always good.
Saturday was a nice, lazy day with no big plans. No internet at B&M's house but they are hugely into books and movies and have large libraries of both, so there was no shortage of entertainment. That night Christina and I went to a party thrown by one of the people I met at her birthday party. This meant more new folks to meet, and it seemed that the guests at this shindig were a little closer to my age, so that was cool. I had been warned ahead of time that it was going to be a dance party but I was still shocked as hell that people were actually dancing. I'm so used to the snotty above-it-all attitude some people have towards dancing that it was so refreshing to see a roomful of folks just shaking their asses and not giving a shit about how they looked doing it. Of course after a few drinks I had to join in :) I haven't danced like that since college! Woo!
Sunday was pretty relaxed as well. I missed my internet fix so I loaded the laptop into the car and went in search of a coffee shop with free wifi. I ended up at Starbucks and paid ten bucks for the internet like a sucker (not to mention how much I spent for coffee which also makes me a sucker). It didn't even occur to me until later that day that I could have just driven back to my house and used the internet for free. Sheesh. Sunday's weather was just beautiful so when I got back to B&M's I opened some doors and windows and stretched out on their sofa to read for a bit. I fell asleep a little later and had the most awesome nap, the kind you can only have when you don't have anywhere to be or any responsibilities waiting for you. T and I got together later that evening at the Kennedy School and saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which turned out to be really funny. We hung out and talked a little afterwards and then I went back to B&M's to crash.
Wow, I saw a lot of movies this weekend. And shook my groove thang. Not bad for a couple of days with no plans at all.
xo!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Thursday, July 3, 2008
On failure and spontanaiety
So yeah, I may have mentioned before how much I like to do everything perfectly the first time. Well that is apparently not going to happen with graphic design. At least it's not with letter tracing, though I suppose that's not really the most important skill for a graphic designer to have. I'd have to say that I am only okay at letter tracing...solidly mediocre. Ugh...average. I find it to be incredibly annoying to not be The! Best! Ever! at something, but I suppose Pema would say it's an opportunity to explore the gift of sucking. One cool thing: as I was leaving class last night, the question popped into my head, "what will I do if I fail miserably at graphic design?". The answer occurred to me immediately after: "something else." It made me feel a lot better to realize that something not working out doesn't mean huge fatal catastrophe, just a minor change in direction. It's a good lesson.
So last night after class I was on my way home on the bus when my friend Christina texted me and re-invited me to meet her at a pub with a bunch of her friends for her birthday. Again, a cool thing about the single life is the freedom to just get off the bus and go wherever the hell I want whenever I want to, so I went (also I figured out in my head how the buses go and how I was going to get there and how I was going to get home, so that was an excellent independent feeling). It was sufficiently awkward to be hanging out with a bunch of people I didn't know, especially before the liquor kicked in. Eventually though, an epic discussion about Star Trek began and I felt totally in my element.
The group planned to move to another bar but I wasn't going to go with them because I had to catch the bus before it was too late and plus, 31 year olds don't really go to bars on weeknights and CERTAINLY don't go to more than one in one night. So I said my goodbyes, left the pub and headed for the bus stop. Here's where it got weird. There was a dude sitting on the little bench in the bus stop shelter so I just stood nearby. He got up and walked away and my feet were tired, so I sat down on the bench. A few minutes later, he came back, sat right next to me and asked me my name. I'm pretty used to getting hit on by creeps on the bus, and I wasn't feeling particularly chatty, so I just asked him why he wanted to know. He chuckled and touched my arm (woop! woop! woop! perimeter has been breached!) and repeated that he wanted to know my name. I told him no thank you, I didn't feel like talking and I would appreciate it if he would stop touching me and he started stroking my arm and saying "you no like?" (not a native english speaker). No, I did not like, and I was done hanging around while a strange man touches me without permission, so I left the bus stop and headed back for the pub. I met Christina and her friends outside and, since I felt pretty skeevy after my encounter at the bus stop, I went with them to the next bar.
I'm really glad I went because it ended up being a smaller, more manageable group of folks. We sat in the back corner with our fancy drinks and talked about all sorts of things, from Barbra Streisand to marijuana to Alaska. I stayed until almost 12:30 AM and managed to snag a ride home with one of Christina's friends in exchange for a little gas money (times are tough, you know). It was a good experience and I got a chance to talk to some people I really got along with that I would never have known existed if I hadn't gotten off of that bus (also if the gentleman at the bus stop hadn't taken liberties). Sure, I'm a little sleepier than usual this morning but it was still totally worth it. I love it when that happens :)
So last night after class I was on my way home on the bus when my friend Christina texted me and re-invited me to meet her at a pub with a bunch of her friends for her birthday. Again, a cool thing about the single life is the freedom to just get off the bus and go wherever the hell I want whenever I want to, so I went (also I figured out in my head how the buses go and how I was going to get there and how I was going to get home, so that was an excellent independent feeling). It was sufficiently awkward to be hanging out with a bunch of people I didn't know, especially before the liquor kicked in. Eventually though, an epic discussion about Star Trek began and I felt totally in my element.
The group planned to move to another bar but I wasn't going to go with them because I had to catch the bus before it was too late and plus, 31 year olds don't really go to bars on weeknights and CERTAINLY don't go to more than one in one night. So I said my goodbyes, left the pub and headed for the bus stop. Here's where it got weird. There was a dude sitting on the little bench in the bus stop shelter so I just stood nearby. He got up and walked away and my feet were tired, so I sat down on the bench. A few minutes later, he came back, sat right next to me and asked me my name. I'm pretty used to getting hit on by creeps on the bus, and I wasn't feeling particularly chatty, so I just asked him why he wanted to know. He chuckled and touched my arm (woop! woop! woop! perimeter has been breached!) and repeated that he wanted to know my name. I told him no thank you, I didn't feel like talking and I would appreciate it if he would stop touching me and he started stroking my arm and saying "you no like?" (not a native english speaker). No, I did not like, and I was done hanging around while a strange man touches me without permission, so I left the bus stop and headed back for the pub. I met Christina and her friends outside and, since I felt pretty skeevy after my encounter at the bus stop, I went with them to the next bar.
I'm really glad I went because it ended up being a smaller, more manageable group of folks. We sat in the back corner with our fancy drinks and talked about all sorts of things, from Barbra Streisand to marijuana to Alaska. I stayed until almost 12:30 AM and managed to snag a ride home with one of Christina's friends in exchange for a little gas money (times are tough, you know). It was a good experience and I got a chance to talk to some people I really got along with that I would never have known existed if I hadn't gotten off of that bus (also if the gentleman at the bus stop hadn't taken liberties). Sure, I'm a little sleepier than usual this morning but it was still totally worth it. I love it when that happens :)
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
A little bit about school
We had our first actual project in grapic design class yesterday. It was so exciting! The actual project is pretty mundane...we're just making a nameplate for ourselves and there's hardly any actual designing involved but still, it was exciting to finally use my t-square and utility knife and fancy pen and tracing paper and...well, all of it! As the prof was explaining the project and demonstrating the tools I was, frankly, a little terrified that I was going to screw up (I don't like doing things less than perfectly, especially in school. Yes, I am THAT person). I realized just now why taking this class scares me so much...in nearly every other class I've ever taken in my life, I have been able to get by on basic cleverness. But in this situation, it doesn't matter how quickly I can think on my feet or how easily I can pick up the material. If I can't sit down and actually trace the letters so they come out cleanly or make the right cuts with my xacto knife, I am going to be unsuccessful in this class. Anyway, once I finally got started on my project I was able to see which areas I might need more work on (the letter tracing is really hard for me...tiny, precision stuff) and which would be no problem at all (apparently I am a whiz with a utility knife..who knew?). So there is still plenty of possibility for me to succeed...I just need to work a little harder than I'm used to, I think.
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