tornaclo

Things I learned from Valentine's Day

2010-02-13T09:40:00.000-08:00

- Every male under the age of 40 in Los Angeles has a six pac of ab (Including 17 year olds. I guess they do crunches in between geometry and English)

- Every woman in Los Angeles has a pair of Christian Louboutins

- 10 year olds can ride bicycles around Los Angeles without getting killed

- Women are somehow attracted to Patrick Dempsey

- Patrick Dempsey will only play doctors

- Taylor Swift can't pretend she went to high school, because she didn't go to high school

- Ashton Kuchter isn't good enough for Jessica Alba (sorry I do think Ashton Kuchter is attractive)

- Jessica Biel is alone on Valentine's day (haha yeah right)

- Wait, Jamie Foxx, didn't you win an Oscar? What are you doing in this movie?

- Julia Roberts, you did too but it's not surprising you're in this movie.

- Garry Marshal should really just stop making movies

skkiiiiip it

Boston v. New York II

2010-01-27T19:35:00.000-08:00

Boston: The city that you can make your own and get what you want.

New York: The city where everyone is getting what they want and you have to struggle to get your own piece.

This was in my head more elegantly earlier tonight.

new york city fashion

2010-01-23T20:11:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to describe the style of the fashionable people in New York. I believe it is a mixture of sea captain and ivy league professor. Nerdy ugly glasses are a must, as well as brown oxford shoes, or ankle boots. A Native American print something is optional.

I see these people and they stick out to me so clearly, and I can't tell if it's just because they're wearing expensive clothes, or just different clothes than what I'm used to seeing.

Today at the Brooklyn Flea they were so many of them, it made me think that the The Satorialist has a somewhat easy job - these people are everywhere! From what I can remember, no Uggs, and definitely no Northface. Amen.

New York abundances

2010-01-19T19:56:00.001-08:00

-pickles
-ridiculous fur hats
-black and white cookies

2010-01-10T18:27:00.000-08:00

This was a huge, expensive mistake. I would give anything right now to be waking up and going to classes tomorrow. I would pay my parents for the housing here. Six months. Awesome.

This could not come soon enough

2010-01-03T07:44:00.001-08:00

Boston v. New York

2009-12-20T21:33:00.001-08:00

Things I will miss about Boston:
- mostly friends 1, 2, and 3
- the time of the place
- living so close to my brother
- my room! my lovely single room in my really nice apartment
- getting to know the city better everyday
- the South End
- meeting new people
- being a student with vacations to look forward to
- everything being so close in the city
- having 3 day weekends for the past 6 months

Things I won't miss about Boston:
- the wind
- winters that last until June
- massholes
- my prepubescent, passive aggressive, annoying housemates who happened to live in the apartment where my awesome room was
- massholes
- the T, especially the green line
- I don't care about the red sox
- or the patriots
- the freshman looking so young
- massholes

Things that I am looking forward to in New york:
- being way closer to home
- eating at all of these food places
- being in one of the best cities in the world
- having a ton of fun
- Beacon's closet
- living in Brooklyn
- possibly seeing Tina Fey or Anthony Bourdain
- even more realistically pretending that I am Liz Lemon

Things that I am worried about being in New York:
- I won't like what I'm going to do there
- not having people to hang out with to have good times
- not meeting any new people or making new friends
- having my friends in Boston forget about me
- missing out on things in Boston
- everyone lying about visiting me (I won't believe it until it happens!)

This is the first time in 3 years I don't have a residence in Boston. I don't 'live' there anymore, but it is still my second home.

2009-11-12T20:37:00.001-08:00

Realization: Thank god I would never want to get a sleeve tattoo, because if I did my INCREDIBLY HAIRY ARMS would probably cover up whatever stupid design I decided to display on my skin. Tattoos can hide skin, but they can't hide Italian and Greek ancestry.

Also, I just taught my phone how to spell "Ghirardelli."

november

2009-11-03T22:03:00.001-08:00

This is the point in the semester when I wish I was on co-op. I'm going through the process now, and I am so anxious to know what I am going to do for the first six months of 2010. I would compare the process of getting a co-op to applying to college when you were in high school.

I may end up in New York for co-op which will be simultaneously amazing and terrifying. It's funny because I've been wanting to leave Boston for a while after living here year round for the past couple of years, and now that I have the possible opportunity to leave I'm hesitant.

Our school is interesting because it's possible not to see people for six months because you are on opposite co-op schedules. I'm not talking about people I know, but just people who I see around and recognize. It doesn't hit me until I'm crossing Huntington Ave, and look up and BAM, "Whoa, there's that kid!...Haven't seen them in a while..." I won't even know it was a person I recognized until I see them. Writing it out, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but I seem to recognize people and remember them for a longer period of time than others. It's a flaw of mine. I say it's a flaw because it has never really benefited me in anyway, it just makes me seem creepy. Yes, I remember your face if you lived in my hall freshman year. Yes, I remember you if we had that class together that one time. YES, I even remember you if we talked once during the first week of college when everyone was walking around and talking to each other because we were trying to make friends with anyone. Yeah, I know you don't know who I am. Yes, I told you I was creepy.

Advanced Writing is the worst class of my semester. It should be my bag -I like to write! If I put effort in and care, I'm sometimes good at it. Not for this class. It has been a struggle every step of the way. Every assignment, extremely annoying. This class should be easy for me, but I honestly don't care.

In the past month I have been spending a lot of time in the South End because of different, random events. I hope to continue visiting there. An ideal situation would be to take walks in the neighborhood on either Saturday or Sunday mornings, but we both know I'll just be sleeping late anyway.

Song of the Moment

2009-10-16T14:34:00.000-07:00

Cheer up!

2009-10-14T21:29:00.001-07:00

To watch when you are not in the best of moods and you just need to laugh:

More to be added later

Snoop

2009-10-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

I am a snoop.

I am currently on the bus and I looked over at this girl's computer and she is writing an email to 'David.' In her email she said, "I thought of you wistfully today sitting at your desk and I wished I could kiss the corners of your mouth so you could smile harder."

A love email! How sweet! How 21st century! I once read a co-worker's text messages from his girlfriend and they were not quite as elegant as the prose that bus girl is writing. I wish I could have read more (the email seemed quite long), but as a snoop you have to be discreet.

I wonder why she and her beloved are apart? Is she currently traveling apart to where he is? I wish I had a studio audience from a mid-nineties sitcom next to me to go "Oohhhhh!! Oooooooooh!" or whatever ridiculous sound they sounds they would make.

We are heading deep into New England and of course it is raining. We are legitimately driving into a black cloud. Don't worry Connecticut, I missed traveling through you too!

Childhood vs. Quarterlife Crisis

2009-10-12T11:11:00.000-07:00

With the opening of Where the Wild Things Are movie quickly approaching, I have been reading a lot of interviews with Spike Lee and Maurice Sendak. The main theme of their interviews seems to be how scary and difficult it is to be a child.

Direct quotes from Sendak:
"There is a toughness to being a child. Childhood is a very tough time. I always had a deep respect for children and how they solve complex problems by themselves."

and Jonze:
"Emotions that other people have are unpredictable and confusing; emotions you have that are unpredictable and confusing. That’s scary, and so I wanted to make a movie that felt like that—that felt like being in the head of somebody at that age of their life. Things feel out of control."

This may be a reflection on my carefree childhood, but I really couldn't disagree more about what they are saying about being a kid. Maybe I was spoiled as a child - I don't remember feeling scared. I remember feeling happy and safe. I knew what was coming next - elementary school, middle school, high school, and then college. There was spontaneity, but for the most part things were predictable, and it was comforting.

The quotes about child that Sendak and Jonze say fit more closely to how I am feeling now as a young adult in my early twenties. I don't have a family with me at all times, and for the most part I solve all of my complex problems by myself. Right now, emotions that other people have are predictable and confusing - so confusing! It is very scary and often things feel out of control.

Young adults are very volatile people. It's hard to count on us because often times we don't know what we want and when we do know that we want it can change in a moment's notice.

So what is going on here? Was I just a privileged child with no real worries? Am I a spoiled young adult now crying, "Boo hoo being a young adult with my whole life ahead of me is just sooo hard!" Is the reason why Where the Wild Things Are is getting so heavily marketed because they know that all of us quarter-life crisis shoppers feel like little confused children inside?

What do you think??

Fall

2009-10-12T10:41:00.000-07:00

Fall is much more enjoyable in the suburbs. In the city, you just feel the warm weather gone and the wind becomes chilly. Fall showers are especially miserable. The pathetic city trees shed their brown leaves quickly. (There doesn't seem to be a color transition. Green to brown, then gone).

Being home this weekend has reminded me that people actually celebrate fall. Haystacks, pumpkins and scarecrows decorate lawns. Orange candle lights appear in windows. My lawn is filled with colorful leaves. My town's Autumn Festival was on Saturday. Fond memories from this festival include making scarecrows and drinking fresh apple cider.

I will try very hard to remember these things as Boston begins its decent into a eight month winter.

2009-10-08T22:53:00.001-07:00

Okay THIS is why "Help, I'm Alive" needs a music video...because it would be THIS GOOD.

Help, I'm Alive

2009-10-08T22:38:00.000-07:00

This song needs a music video so bad.

I could attempt to make this blog more than me posting youtube videos, but I'm not. Blame my parents for never giving me MTV.

Tee pees

2009-09-04T18:19:00.000-07:00

Next to my house there is a private school that hosts a summer camp. I don't know why, but every year the camp sets up about ten tee-pees. Every summer it looks like there is a little Indian village in the field next to our house. It makes me happy to see it when I walk out of our back door. Two years ago, I took some Polaroids of the tee-pee camp. On Monday I noticed that they took down the tee-pees. Camp is over and school has started. I wish I had gone over again to take some more pictures. Next year I definitely will.

I was trying to be cutesy with this one.

Sailor dresses

2009-08-13T11:49:00.000-07:00

I love to search on etsy for sailor dresses. However overdone, I love nautical inspired clothing. The key for nautical inspired clothing to work is the details of the garment to be subdued, not too obnoxious or the sea-inspired fashion choice will quickly turn into a fashion 'don't.'

Here are two favorites that I found today:

from Blooming Leopold Vintage

I am totally in love with this gingham dress. It has the sailor collar, but again, not too obnoxious. It reminds me a bit of some of the pieces from Built By Wendy's Spring 2009 collection. Too bad it's xxxxxxx-small or I totally would buy this!

from Redemption Vintage

Although this may not be the most flattering cut (it definitely would look terrible on me), this sailor dress works because of the coral color, instead of the predictable red, white or blue. The coral color tones down the details and makes it look extra feminine and delicate.

Back to writing my paper!

google maps street view

2009-08-12T22:42:00.000-07:00

I just realized I can now see the house I grew up on on googlemaps street view. I find this simultaneously weird and cool. It's weird because in a way I feel it violates a sense of privacy, but then again anyone can drive down any street and see any location they want. Also it's weird because for the longest time you couldn't see it, and now you can. It seems so sudden, but I don't remember the last time I checked. I guess googlemaps has expanded their horizons.

It is also good news because sometimes when I am homesick I will look at my hometown on google maps from above, to remember the street names and places. Now I can actually look at a picture of my house. (If I am that homesick I should just take a picture of my house and tack it on my wall).

One fun little game to play is to drop the little yellow google maps man somewhere randomly in the United States (or Japan! or Austrailia! Or the UK!) and see a street that you will probably never go down. Another fun game is drop him down in famous location that you yearn to visit.

I just wonder sbout the googlemaps car that drove into my neighborhood, silently taking pictures for the whole world to see.

It was a nice, sunny day when they drove down my street. There is sun shining through the trees, casting shadows on the lawn. It's the early morning, one of the prettiest times of the day. I can see the puddle in the street where the puddle always forms. The trashcans are still at the end of our driveway, but no one else's trashcans are out. I wonder if this is because no one brought in the cans yet from the day before, or they were out prematurely.

The puddle.

stream of consciousness

2009-08-12T12:14:00.001-07:00

How gross is it to borrow headphones from the library? Actually pretty gross, but I don't feel like going home and getting my shitty ear buds.

I have drunk too much coffee and it is making me jittery and dehydrated.

I am writing a paper about my beloved show Lost and how although it has a diverse cast, it still enforces stereotypes of femininity, masculinity, and race. In this case I think my deep love for something allows me to tear it to shreds. I still love you, Lost. You will always be the One.

Redbull is gross

2009-08-11T13:44:00.000-07:00

You know finals have started when...the scent of Redbull wafts through the library.

the future

2009-08-07T08:07:00.000-07:00

My upcoming vacation (I’ll be home August 15th woo hoo!), and then the upcoming school year have gotten me excited about the future.
I’m excited to have more friends back in Boston in the fall.
I’m excited to reunite with the kids from TV Studio Production in our TV Field Production class.
I’m excited about possibly living somewhere else for six months for my last co-op (L.A. and New York, I’m looking at you).
I’m excited for NEXT summer when I will have two months to possibly travel!

I have written a rough draft of an entry that says “Boston, I’m not totally in love with you anymore…” but I’m afraid of sounding too bitter. I do love Boston, but I feel ready to move on.
Also, I need to remind myself of regardless of how I feel, I still have two years here!

I just want to live somewhere in the sun. I can’t take the cold or the wind or the dark winters anymore. I want year-long summers. We’ve had a somewhat mild summer here, but even on the bad days with really bad humidity haven’t bothered me – and I don’t even have air-conditioning! Bring on the heat. I know I can handle it!

So much to do before Thursday, and then I will be home! Two mini papers, one big paper, one quiz and one final exam…and moving!
At home I plan to make friendship bracelets, brush up on mi espanol, go to the beach, and sew with my mom.
Yeah!

A Time-Line for Summer Vacation Length

2009-08-05T16:48:00.001-07:00

Preschool-12th grade = Approx. 10 weeks
Summer after freshman year of college = 4 months
Summers from sophomore-middler year of college = 3 weeks
Summer after junior year of college = 2 months
Life after college = Summer is purely a season, no vacation time guaranteed

Other observations:
- last days of school pre-college: very enjoyable, many parties, days filled with year book signings, disposable cameras
- last days of school during college: extremely stressful, mind in finals mentality, all-nighters

Next Thursday the 13th I will be done with my Summester. I do not think I have ever been so excited to go home. I have 6 things to get through before then. This will be the longest period of time I have spent home in two years. It will be the second to last summer vacation I will ever have - a sign of my dwindling adolescence. I plan to relish every moment of this worry-free freedom.

I cannot wait!

Childhood dream come true

2009-08-03T13:38:00.000-07:00

When I saw this the inner 8 year-old in me said, "Mommm, can I get one, please please PLEASE?" Then I realized I was 21. I realized I was 21 and I lived in a city. My dream shattered. I used to pretend to be a mermaid in the pool by wearing flippers. Having an actual fin is a 100x better. Nevertheless, I think this is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.
If I had a private pool, I would definitely get one of these. So, so awesome.

Apartments

2009-07-30T18:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Malery and I went apartment hunting for Natalie. I was not trying to take 'quality shots,' just snap a few photos so Nat could see what the place looked like.

It's very weird going into someone's apartment while they're not there, but also very fun. I love to snoop!

Summer Music

2009-07-22T12:35:00.000-07:00

Music I have been listening to a lot this summer:

Beach House - "Master of None"

She & Him - "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here"

Jenny Lewis "See Fernando" from Team G on Vimeo.

Jenny Lewis "See Fernando"

The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition

The Temper Trap "Sweet Disposition"

Two of these songs may or may not have been influenced by seeing 500 Days of Summer...