Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Take What You Need, window gardens, moving, and secrets.

    I recently found a really cool social project on Facebook called the Take What You Need Project. I had seen a few of the signs before, but I didn't know what it was about. Basically, people make signs with those little tabs at the bottom with needs like love, patience, courage, etc, and put them up in public places like schools, student centers, coffee shops, work places, churches, dorms, power poles, or anywhere else that people will see it. It's a really neat way to encourage people in a subtle way. To be a part of the project, all you do is take a picture of the sign and post it to Facebook. Boom, done. Signs can be whatever you want them to be, here are some examples:




    In other news, I've finally started my window garden. I have 2 basil and 4 cilantro plants. I can't wait until they sprout! I always enjoy having live plants in my room as well as the aquatic pets we're allowed to have in dorms. I have a turtle named Jude and my new roommate has a salamander. Yes, new roommate. I'll be moving down stairs to the first floor of the same dorm later this week. I'll be sad to leave my room, but I'm excited to have a roommate again. I'm a really social person, so I live well with other people.

    Speaking of people I love, have you ever heard of The Piano Guys? A few weeks ago, I found a mash up they did of Beethoven's 5th and OneRepublic's "Secrets" that's absolutely phenominal. You can just feel how much the cellist loves what he does. There's also a gorgeous, deep red electric cello featured in the video. I seriously encourage you to check it out:

    Well, that's about all I've got for you. Thanks for hanging with me while I get the whole blogging schedule down. Have an excellent week and an even better weekend!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Twitter hashtags, Ronnie Radke, and other things that are more interesting than my homework.

    Anyone who has ever been in college or high school or middle school or any other place that requires you to do things you don't want to do can tell you that, the second you sit down to do your homework, everything you own suddenly becomes fascinating. Your fingernails obviously need painted! How could you have neglected them for so long? And now seems like the perfect time to finish up the 3 projects you've started in the last week. Your floor is obviously filthy! You really should take a quick break to sweep. By this point you could really use a snack, so you stop to make yourself some Easy Mac, and now that you think of it, you told your Sculpture classmates that you would make a mix CD to listen to during class. You glance down at Industrialization, Activism, and Ideologies of Progress, 1780-1930, and think, "I still have so much time. It's only 8:30." Suddenly you realize that your clean laundry has been laying on your bed for the better part of a week and that's driving you nuts, so you have to fold it. 
    By the time your closet has been reorganized, you've run to Subway with your friends, sorted your recycling, filled out some paperwork, drawn a teeshirt for a design contest, glued your shoe where the sole was peeling off, sewn a pocket on your tank top, taken a shower, cleaned your George Foreman, re-hung two posters, vacuumed your microscopic throw rug, fed your turtle twice, filled in a few events in your day planner, texted your sister, alphabetized your DVDs, cleaned out your desk, checked on your Etsy store, checked your email, checked your Facebook, checked your Pinterest, checked your Twitter, realized you have far too many internet accounts, played with your Sims, broken your Wite-Out container, and blogged about your procrastination, it's 12:30 and you have the sudden, painful realization that you might as well take 5 minutes to make yourself some coffee, because you're not sleeping tonight. 

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Things I could complain about, but won't and why.

  1. I don't have a car. But I do have legs that work, a functional bicycle, and everything I need on a daily basis withing walking and/or biking distance.
  2. I don't have everything I want. But I am blessed that I have never know true want or hunger. While I don't always have everything I desire, I can never remember a time when I didn't have everything I needed.
  3. I get frustrated and anxious because of a demanding schedule. But I am so lucky to be able to pursue something I am passionate about, and I'm lucky enough to have teachers and peers that will push me beyond what I'm comfortable with.
  4. I don't have time or money to pursue all of my interests. But I have never been discouraged from trying something new. When I wanted to be a ballerina, my parents encouraged me to practice hard. When I wanted to be a cowgirl, they encouraged me to learn how to ride. When I wanted to be a poet, they gave me endless feedback on my work. When I finally landed on being an Artist, they encouraged my progress and help me find ways to make money with my talents.
  5. My sister sometimes takes my stuff without asking. But she always supports me, loves me, thinks I'm cool, asks my advice, and is my best friend.
  6. My laptop occasionally malfunctions. But I have a laptop, and my dad and my friends always know how to fix it.
  7. I can't always buy new clothes when I want to. But I'm blessed with a gift for bargain shopping and the ability to alter clothes to look awesome, different, and unique.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Five things for your dorm room that you'll use more than you expected.

Surprise! Bonus post today!
  1. Baby wipes. Possible uses include: Removing makeup, cleaning sticky hands in a hurry, wiping up spills, cleaning up art supplies, quick fix for spills on clothes and shoes.
  2. Coffee maker. Sure, you expected to use this, but did you think it would be to cook ramen noodles, re-heat mac and cheese, melt butter for rice krispies, or heat water for a hot water bottle?
  3. First aid kit. It makes you feel like a goober to even have one, but your mom made you take it. But then you scrape your knee falling on the stairs: band-aid. You have a wicked migraine: Tylenol. You sprain your wrist: Ace bandage. 
  4. Broom. Dorms are, more often than not, older buildings which means they collect dust fast. You'll be sweeping your floor way more than you did at home. We hope.
  5. Hat/Earmuffs/Scarf. If you go to school above the Mason-Dixon, chance are you get some snow or at least some cold weather. While that may not have been a problem in high school, you now have to walk across campus in it.

On being severely right-brained.

    Do you know what it means to be right-brained? Most of you will know the text book answer: Right brained people are more impulsive and passionate. They tend to be good in the arts: music, art, dance, and creative writing. Right brained people struggle with subjects that involve intense focus, like math or science. They are usually less organized.
    Here's the parts nobody tells you: You'll pay a price for creativity. Your feelings come bigger than other people think they should. You'll cry when you make art that hits a place in your soul that even you didn't know existed. When you fall in love, you fall hard and fast. You feel everything with passion and exuberance and a deepness that rivals the sea and the innermost depths of the earth. When you're creating and things begin to spill out, they don't stop and you'll have to keep going or you might lose your mind. You'll be very anxious about very little with pretty much no warning. Setbacks seem tragic, but you'll bounce back quickly. When you get hyper it's not because you can't think, but because you're thinking about so much all at once that you can't articulate it all. You're a free spirit. Often freer than most people consider "socially acceptable." "Grown ups" consider you unrealistic and they think your art degree will inevitably turn out to be useless.
    But they also don't tell you that you get to see the world in a way nobody else does. You notice colors, shapes, and lines that other people never look twice at. You get to know the pleasure of creating. You get tough from critiques, impervious to insult, seeing all feedback as a way to improve yourself. You get to be yourself, no matter who thinks you shouldn't.

There you have it. Also, for my loyal readers, I've set up a blog schedule, so you can start expecting new posts Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Look forward to "How to: Turn a masquerade mask from blah to ooh la la" or maybe a less fruity title, same content.

Have an excellent Wednesday!