winter fun

It was snowing the other day, and it was really pretty, so I took a picture. The photo uploader thingy didn't feel like working that day, so I'm trying to post again now. Here is my street:

Those would be my tire tracks. So pretty. But look how unfestive my street is--there is only one house with xmas lights (on the right).

Here are the pumpkins my parents grew at our cabin. Cute!

Too bad they're frozen now. So much for homemade pumpkin pie...


And here are Jon, Raquel, and Dante doing the Carl dance at the ice skating rink in Clinton Square:


Unfortunately the rink closed at 8 p.m., not 10, so we couldn't actually ice skate (hence our footware of sneakers and boots instead of skates). But I'm really adoring Clinton Square lately. The buildings surrounding it are all made of brick and stone and the rink is all lit up for Christmas. So lovely. I am loving winter this year.

Christmas in November

Last night Bob, Jon, and I went to Clark's Ale House for a couple hours. When we first got there, a guy was playing the accordion in the corner. How very unexpected. Sadly, he only stayed for about half an hour after we three got there, though. Afterwards we walked around Armory Square a bit looking for this church that may or may not actually be located downtown. I was hoping to take a picture of it for part of the cross-platform assignment, but the only reference I had to go on was a purposely blurry photograph of the church, with no address or name listed, by photographer Rik Pinkcombe (that's who my project is on).

We didn't find it, but we did end up wandering over to Clinton Square, and I suggested we check out the Christmas Tree. Such a fantastic idea! It was all lit up, as Friday night was the lighting ceremony. It was also ridiculously warm out, like 50 degrees, which is highly unusual for Syracuse. Normally it's below freezing and there's a foot of snow on the ground by now. So anyways, the tree is right on the edge of the little outdoor ice skating rink, so we played on the ice in our sneakers for a while. It was such great fun! I definitely need to make ice skating in Clinton Square a regular plan this winter.

Playing under the Christmas tree's light definitely put me in the holiday spirit, which up until now I was seriously lacking. I was a regular Scrooge. (Though can you blame me, what with all the Christmas decorations and stupid carols playing at the mall starting a month ago? Yech...)

weekend

This past weekend was one of the best I've had in a while. Friday was the Tully Free Speech symposium, which was actually far more interesting than I had anticipated, so that was good. Afterwards Dave, Jon, and I got Korean food at Secret Garden, then watched "Wayne's World" and "Dodgeball" with Kathleen. Dave and I stayed up for a while more after the others left, just hanging out, which was cool because I used to stay up super late doing nothing with friends in undergrad, so it's been a while since last doing that.

Saturday Dave and I went to Highly Atomic Vintage, a vintage clothing and record store in Syracuse that turned out to be pretty damn cool. Their stuff cost a bit more than I would care to spend on used clothes and records, so I didn't buy anything. The point of going was to check out the fetish-inspired photography on display there by a local artist anyways. I really loved most of his photos, particularly the ones that used a lot of black and white contrasts. Most also had little shocks of bright color, like a model's red lips or auburn hair, or some other small detail. Really lovely stuff, and very sexy for the most part. I wrote a 300-word review about it for tomorrow's AJ class. And 300 words was tough, let me tell you. I could have spent pages describing every detail of the photos I liked best.

The weather was really, really beautiful, so we then went apple-picking in LaFayette. Of course on the way there, the clouds got more and more dark and ominous, and just as we were finishing picking apples, it started to hail like hell. But then ten minutes later, as we came back out of the apple and whatnot store, the sun was back out and the clouds were completely gone. It was crazy! So then we came back to my house, then went to Wegmans to get some stuff for my parents, and then parted ways. Later Dave, Jon, my sister, and I met up and went to the hip-hop show that Steve from high school was going to perform at. About half a dozen people I knew in high school (and actually liked) ended up being there, so that was really great. And the music was pretty damn good too. We eventually left and all went to an after-party for Jon's brother's comedy troupe, which turned out to be quite fun. It was full of nice people, including a bunch that spoke French! It's been a loooooong time since I've been to a decent house party, so I enjoyed that very, very much. Plus it was fun to go out with my sister. We will have to do so more often.

Today I woke up at noon, which was glorious, and my mother and I did a bit of shopping. I got a corduroy military-style cap, a leopard-print cardigan, and most importantly, Halloween costume supplies! I'm making a quasi-geisha outfit. I already have tabi socks and tatami sandals, so I just have to make the kimono, which I'm keeping short, because that's cuter and more fun. Cannot wait to get started, though I'm not entirely sure when I'll have the time. I finished my re-write of my last review and the review of the photography show for AJ class, and it's only 10:45! I can either go to bed now, and end up waking up at a decent hour tomorrow (and probably do more homework before heading off to school), or do more homework now and get up later tomorrow. Hmmmm...? Is there really any doubt as to which I'll choose? Bed now!

interesting day

Today I went to a talk given by George Cham, the creator of the webcomic, "Piled Higher and Deeper." He was a grad student earning his PhD (like 10 years ago) in some form of engineering, but ended up drawing this comic about how much grad school sucked and now making the comic, and doing talks and such, is his full-time job. So basically this guy spent years being miserable in grad school, only to end up with a "job" completely unrelated to his field of study. Wow, am I ever happy to be in a one-year masters program on a subject that I completely adore. Although I have to say, he was pretty damn funny. Plus he was kinda cute and there was free food afterwards.

When I walked home from the bus stop later, I was listening to the Talking Heads song, "Don't Worry About the Government," and I definitely danced the entire four blocks to my house. It was great. I seriously couldn't help myself. It's SUCH a good song. I think it's going to have to be my new favorite by them.

I made a very fattening quiche (mmm, creme fraiche) for dinner tonight after eating a couple of those mini-quiches at the George Cham thing. Then on Project Runway, the contestants were in Paris. It was a French-filled evening. I miss France so much. I can't even begin to explain how jealous I am that my parents are there right now and I'm not, especially since they're currently in Veules-les-Roses (it's in Normandy), which is my favorite place to be in the entire world. Even more than New York City. It is the most charming, most French town you could possibly see. There are houses with thatched roofs and cows everywhere. And the ocean is spectacular. The water is pretty cold (though I always go swimming anyways-how could you not??), but low tide is incredible. The beach at high tide is all big rocks, which are not so comfortable to lie or walk on, but at low tide sand stretches for hundreds of feet. The beach is also encapsulated by these incredible white chalk cliffs, so you can hike along the edge of the cliff in one direction and come back along the beach during low tide.

Oh and one more thing before I quit procrastinating and do some real work: When I was walking my dog this afternoon, a middle-aged couple passed by me, and the man had a big red and green parrot perched on his shoulder-like a pirate! It was like, "Well, there's my dose of surrealism for the day."

busy, busy, busy...

I have somehow been keeping myself exceedingly busy during my two free weeks. Who would have thought? I volunteered at the art park's pottery fair last weekend, for one thing. Granted, all I did was cook hot dogs, but they were super tasty, especially since it was chilly and rainy most of the time. I bought a ceramic fish for my parents to put in the cabin and couldn't resist buying myself this really pretty vase. It's about eight inches high, more narrow at the base, and flairs out a bit at the top. It's a light teal color with vaguely Japanese-esque scribbly leaves on it. I'm very pleased with the purchase, I must say.

Then what did I do for the rest of this week? A lot of puttering around, I guess, and preparing for classes. I attempted to buy books online, but the used prices were no cheaper than the bookstore's used prices, so I opted for the store, since I would get them much sooner that way. Alas, the store did not have a single of my books. Some of them they apparently got in the day after I tried to buy, but the store didn't even have a section for Magazine classes, even though I know there are required books for the class. This was very confusing.

I went to Binghamton for the night Wednesday, and hung out there a bit on Thursday. I saw Johanna, Meghan, Coworker Dan, and Teht. I expected to feel all nostalgiac about Bingo since I just graduated, but instead I felt decidedly disconnected. After living in Binghamton for four years, I've developed a newfound respect for Syracuse (there is way more to do here, and there are actual jobs). So my return to Bingo really solidified my opinion that it's a horribly depressing city. There are so few oppurtunities there. Lockheed Martin is getting a bigger presence there as we speak, though, so assuming they don't outsource everything, hopefully it will help. Of course, it may also follow IBM's shitty example, and after helping the economy recover, just up and leave for cheaper labor, etc. elsewhere.

I watched the movie "Scotland, Pa." with Jon and Dave Thursday night. At first we tried to rent this random John Cusack movie, but it was so obscure that Blockbuster didn't actually carry it, which I find rather amusing. The DVD case was on the shelf by mistake. "Scotland" was an interpretation of "Macbeth" set in the 1970s. I have yet to read "Macbeth," but Dave claimed the movie was genius, so apparently it was pretty faithful to the original motifs and such. Then I made them watch the anime movie "Millenium Actress," which is one of my absolute favorite anime films. It's about an aging actress whose films paralleled parts of her life. So you get scenes of her life interspersed with scenes from her movies. Sometimes it's hard to tell the two apart, which I REALLY like. Plus it's by one of my favorite directors, Satoshi Kon. It's a really beautiful film.

Let's see... Yesterday I took my dog to the vet and on the way home he shit on the seat and then sat in it, so I spent the better part of the day cleaning it. Gross. In the evening Bec and I went to Dinosaur BBQ since this is her last week before leaving for grad school at Dartmouth. It was super delicious, as always. I wish they would quit trying to put Dinosaur in other cities, though. The one in Rochester is hardly the same. It's more like a family restaurant. It's supposed to be a dirty biker bar-type place. And Bec said the one in Harlem got bad reviews. Now, how many aging, fat bikers with long beards and ponytails in leather do you see riding around on their Harleys in Harlem? Not too many, I would wager. I just don't think it works.

Today I went to the first annual Clinton art and music festival (in Clinton, N.Y.). It was pretty good, actually. There were tons of bands of all different styles. I watched a sort of folksy rock band for a while that had an upright bass, drums, and a ukelele. Now there's something you don't see every day. Most of the art was pretty amateur other than the potters and this one painter. But even that one painter had really sweet, country style. Why is that the only painting style you ever see at things like this? Don't people have any different tastes? Oh well. I discovered the festival through Mike's band's (Sinister Yu) website, because they were among the bands playing. But then he wasn't even there with the rest of the band. Maybe he quit? At that point I'd been there by myself for almost three hours anyways, so I decided I was bored and came back home.

Tomorrow night there is an opening at the art park, but I don't know if I'm going to go. I want to, but I've been driving so much lately that I don't really feel like going anywhere for a while. Plus the Emmys are tomorrow and I want to see if "Arrested Development" will win again. I certainly hope so.

My parents left for France this morning, so I have the house to myself for the next two weeks. But since classes start Monday, I'm sure schoolwork will keep me pretty occupied and I won't feel lonely in the big house. Plus I have the dog.

Whew. That is enough writing for tonight.

oops

When I was writing in here yesterday, I totally forgot to include the fact that I watched a performance of "The Taming of the Shrew" in Thornden Park last night with Bec. I hadn't read the play, and I have to say, I don't like it very much. I actually prefer the movie version "10 Things I Hate About You." Katarina's speech at the end pisses me off. She turns herself into her husband's slave after he spent the entire play practically raping her. Yeah. Okay.

So last night when I was trying to fall asleep, it occured to me how weird Thornden Park is. There is a huge public pool and there has been football practice for really little kids there for the past few weeks. Then there's a playground and you also get the ice cream truck driving through the park all day long. So it seems like a family-type place. There is also the amphitheatre, where they have Shakespeare being performed. And there is a gorgeous rose garden with little paths going through it. So it has a cultured edge to it as well, I guess. And then you have seriously frightening instances of crime, like the murdered body being found there last year. I would never walk through that park after dark.

So you end up with family-friendliness, culture, and crime all in one place. How does that kind of dynamic even happen? Syracuse is a weird place. It's like a bad neighborhood every few square blocks, and then every other OTHER few square blocks is upscale, relatively crime-free neighborhoods.

it's been a while...

So I really need to update this thing more often. I'm supposed to be writing in an official "blog" because apparently you have to do that if you want to be a journalist these days. So jeez, what have I been doing lately? Last Friday was the last day of "boot camp" and we spent it going to Cooperstown to see the opera at Glimmerglass. We saw "Jenufa," which turned out to be so much better than I was anticipating. We watched this awful dvd of a performance prior to the real opera, and then I was told that the real opera was set in the old west. Turns out it was actually set in what appeared to be depression-era midwest. Plus the singer at the real opera was way better than the dvd girl. The actress in the dvd made this horrific expression throughout the entire thing-even when she was supposed to be happy. It was like she was being tortured or something.

Anyways, then Saturday I watched "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" with some AJ kids. The whole movie made no sense whatsoever. It was 60s psychedelic nonsense. With lots of unneccessary boobies. Though funnily enough, it was written by Roger Ebert.

For the rest of this past week I haven't been doing much of anything. Yesterday was my 22nd birthday, so my family went to dinner at Secret Garden and had yummy Vietnamese and Japanese food. That place has the best shrimp tempura ever.

Tomorrow I'm volunteering at my beloved art park during the pottery/ceramics fair, though all I'll be doing is making and serving hot dogs. But I figure I'll at least get a couple free hot dogs out of it and some fresh air.

i heart art

Yesterday I went to the art park for something like the fifth time in the past two weeks. Jon and Raquel joined me at artist Al Zaruba's discussion. He showed slides of his work and some videos of his dancing in these massive costumes he makes that look like dumpy, mutated Big Birds. It was pretty impressive. A lot of the time when I listen to artists speak, their explanations seem kind of like bs. But Al seemed pretty genuine. Or maybe I'm just getting better at understanding art through this program. I'm going back to the park again tomorrow for music and then a mini film fest. The last film night I attended there was amazing. The films were all fantastic.

The most fun thing about yesterday's trip, though, wasn't actually the artist's talk. When we were leaving, Raquel, Jon and I noticed a cornfield on the side of the driveway. So I go "Do you want to pick some??" And we pulled over and actually tried to pick corn. Then not only was the corn not ripe yet, but there were mosquitoes everywhere. So we pretty much just waved our arms around for a while trying to avoid them and then got back in the car. It was pretty ridiculous.