hello/sunshine

Stacks and stacks of teeny tiny books in the making.

don't be afraid, etc.

Last night I began a painting. The weekend was quiet for me, but long; I think I'm getting a little irritated by drunks of the loud/obnoxious/non-gracious/anti-classy/embarrassingly-irresponsible variety at this point in my life, which maybe is natural toward the end of college. Not that I was ever a huge fan of that variety of drunk to begin with. But anyway. I began some artistic projects tonight at work, which felt great. On the way to work I found a limping raccoon (...really), so I fed him cookies. His left back leg was just rolled up and he was hopping around :(, so I actually bent to the ground and fed him cookies from my bag. It was so awesome > . <

Sadly, though, I did not get to watch the Super Bowl game, which I would have really liked to do. (However- speaking of things that irritate me :/- I could pretty well figure out the score, play-by-plays, and whether or not the halftime show was good via Facebook statuses. Oh, social media in real time...). But anyway. I finished my painting, and now I'm off to work.

xoxo

i love... my job.

Yesterday for the paper I wrote an article about three apparel merchandising students here at IU who were awarded fashion scholarships at a beautiful awards dinner ($1,000/plate, $850/ticket!) at Cirpriani Restaurant in NYC. Magnificent, no? It's a funny thing- I began my freshman year concentrating in fashion design; now I'm a science journalist. Or that's what my major says I am. But I love this so much.

Today I wrote an article about a Brazilian percussion ensemble who will be performing at IU tonight, which hopefully I will see! And this coming Superbowl weekend I'm covering Jip Jop at my favorite bar in Bloomington, the Bluebird. They have a really awesome vibe. If being a journalist means getting to talk to amazing people and see lots of shows all the time (which I know it doesn't but hey, I can look on the bright side :)), then yeah, I love my job.

the things we carried.

I finished these cards for the salon that requested them. I continue to be motivated by, inspired by, and hopeful about a lot of things each day. Some kind of something is happening now that has not happened to me before. I am coming to terms with so many things. I do not feel sad or afraid to go home, because I am starting to see what home really is. It is not only being in the place where people love you, but being in the place where people allow you to grow, and they motivate you to grow, they help you grow. I am receiving that ten fold from my parents lately, and from my whole family, and also from others. Growing, while I was at home, when I was young, was hard for me to do. So hard in fact that after a while, I stopped, and just sort of hovered there in time for a while, coming into contact with nothing. The distance between my parents and I now is a healthy thing. I used to believe that their doing things for me, that their always being right there to give me what I should be giving myself, was the real indication that they loved me. But that isn't true. This is how we show love to children- we give them simple, need-based, non-complex things that they just can't give themselves. Real love, real respect for someone, is letting them do for themself. It is letting growth and creation occur. It is setting someone free. I've never felt anything like it, and it's the best feeling in the world.

xoxo

fini.

I finished this last night.
And I found this quote, which I like:

The principal thing in this world is to keep one's soul aloft.

From French writer Gustave Flaubert. Rather simple and rather true.

a family of trees.

I bought this book (God knows where) a while ago- its paper is all vintage-y and newspaper-like, and it's illustrated and printed very simply. I plan to make some flag garland of it. Speaking of doing things that are in no way functional or GPA-advancing, another thing I do a lot is play the guitar. It's getting so much better, much more natural and therefore much more enjoyable. I try to teach myself something, or at least part of something, everyday. Last night it was the riff from Smoke on the Water. This morning it was Joey by Concrete Blonde, which was one of the first songs I remember falling in love with. I've also found out that in April I will be doing a solo show at Boxcar Books, so that is nice. I have an absurd amount to do in the coming weeks, but it's good.