made it through first week of school...

everybody breath with me.... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. nice to be through with the first week of school. wasn't as bad as i thought it would be. i found myself worrying just a little that i'd be in for some trouble, but i think i'll make it through the semester in one piece. it will be challenging, that's for sure, but do-able. i think what had me worried for a while was that i was having trouble figuring out a schedule that would be easy to work my job at the same time. it looks like i have it all situated. in class t-fri mornings, and i work friday after class and saturday all day. its perfect. i also have the opprotunity to work for my dad for his buisiness if i find some extra time during the week. i'm going to be taking 16 credits of all upper division design classes, one of which is a graduate level class (yikes). each one will require a lot more writing and reading than i'm used to, and i still am anxious to find out what the tests are like, but i'm still excited. i have a lot of great minded teachers. i am lucky enough to have wil heywood again, whom i adore tremendously. of all people i have met in my life, he has got to be one of my favorites. i admire him so much as an intellectual, a teacher, and a human being. i have morton for aph 313, and i love that he will jump up and down during lecture, evening running over and literally HUGGING a support column to define how passionate he is about architecture. i have tom witt for Design Methodologies (grad class), whom i like a lot already as well. the class touches on understanding how to analyze design using a is philosophical approach. its very theory based, and makes you think a lot. (in the ways that i like to think... i feel like this class was almost made for me.) there's only 9 people in the little room, so we have long discussions the entire class period. its a lot of hard work, but worth it i think. i definetely need to drop my argentinian tango dance class, which makes me sad, but getting out at 10pm at night when i have to be back on campus at 9:15 the next morning is a little tough, especailly with where i live.

some interesting finds for the week:

-having class at 9:15 is the most difficult commute of my life. it takes me 1 full hour to get from my apartment to the parking garage near the centerpoint theater...and then 10 min to walk to class. this will take an adjustment, because traffic around campus has increased considereably, especially that time of day.
-i actually have classes with friends. it glorious, since i spent the entirety of last year alone with a bunch of interior design freshman girls (for the most part...)
-TEMPE=HUGE! its amazing to see all the development thats going on, some of which i don't necessarily agree on. its the most condensed space in AZ, which is good on some levels, but the fact that most of the people are still driving makes the traffic horrendous, and i think driving in it takes a year off my life daily.
-i love upper division classes.
-landscape arch classes are very different from architecture ones...
-i hate having food poisoning. PERIOD.

k, that's it for now. i'm trying to go camping for mi compleano (i don't think i spelled that right...i miss italian), next week. waiting to hear if my co-worker is able to work for me next saturday. if so, i'm off to make smores and do some fishing! (that was a sidenote).

i'm signing off.

my tummy hurts...

well, i really wanted to continue discussing some of the amazing things i did in california, but i'm a little wiped out today. i either have a stomach flu or food poisoning, and i was up all last night. blah. it amazes me how much i have to slow down my life when i get sick to that extreme. i had to miss a class this morning, and it would've been the first time attending it this semester. luckily, since it was the first day, i didn't miss much. but i like to be there the first day to meet the teacher and prepare myself for what's to come. i'll have to track down his email somewhere...

anyways, i'm not gonna go into details about my day because it may gross a lot of you out. and my tummy hurts and i'm extremely sleepy so i'm off to bed. if i'm feeling better tomorrow, i'll explore my writing a little more than i have tonight.

ciao.

i am dumb...

can't believe its been 2 weeks since my last post. i promised myself that i would keep this up, and i went on vacation and got all lax. though half of it wasn't my fault. i wasn't near internet for half of the time, even though i brought my computer. oh well, onward ho.

california was awesome, as always. i had such an amazing time with everyone. it was a very relaxing trip. my whole summer has kind of been that way. quiet and calm. its interesting not having crazy stuff happening all the time to keep me on my toes. i've actually found myself bored most days. i'm really anxious for school to start so i can start tapping into myself a bit again. i feel i remained, um, "neutral" for the last 2 months. like i was more existing than living. california helped jump start me a bit again.

i spent the first couple of days in walnut creek with my old roomate Marhanda. we had an amazing time. her place was unbelieveable. i actually found out that she has the studio and a wonderful back yard and garden, complete with a pool, for only 600 is a month. Fantastic! the first day we went for a 2 mile walk around the neighborhood. it was so nice being outside in the green and cool weather. then we had a good healthy oatmeal applesauce pancake breakfast (get all that?). she had a long interview at a firm that afternoon, and i spent the day outside writing in my journal. it was amazing.

the next day she went into work, and i just worked on booking train tickets for Sacramento and such. when she got back in the afternoon we got ready and went into the city. (San Fran). went to pier 39 and the fishermans warf, then to ghiradelli square. we ate fish and chips at chowders and i bought the most amazing yellow peach the size of a fist at the fruit market. it was the best peach i had eaten in over 10 years. by the time i was done with it i had peach juice all over my face. couldn't help it really...

i pretty much did the same thing i do every time i go there. a lot of the touristy stuff. we also went up to lombard street and drove around union square. next time i go i'm taking an architectural tour of the city, shopping at the stores on powell, riding a trolly car (still haven't done that), and well, pretty much buying an apartment complete with georgian windows overlooking the bay. yep, that's what i said. i can dream...

travel exaustion

Well, I didn't have a chance to post anything yesterday because I've been busier than...a bee? That one actually makes sense. So yes, I've been busy.

I have officially decided that, while I LOVE traveling, and do so at any given opprotunity, I hate preparing to travel. Packing makes me sick. It takes so long, and I am far from being an expert packer: meaning I don't pack light. I do my darndest, but it never seems to work out right. I know that I need to work on this, especially if I'm going to be BACKPACKING through Europe next year. I need to get it down to an art between now and then, otherwise I'm not going to be able to lift my pack.
I ride a lot of it off to being a girl, and the fact that I'm not gonna have much of a chance to do laundry. I'm also bringing my 17 inch laptop, (I know I'm crazy), but I need to work on ASU stuff while I'm gone, and I think my friend needs a computer temporarily, so I'm gonna share it with her while I'm there. Anyways, that's enough on packing. It just seems ridiculous when you look at me and the suitcase and carry on bags that I'm bringing. The size proportion doesn't add up.
I like airplanes (sort of), and people watching in airports is always fun. But its tiring and uncomfortable. I look forward to being safe and sound in California, and feeling 60 degrees F on my skin again. :) I get to wear a jacket and don't have to worry about melting away for a whole week.

I'm not going to complain anymore. That was my travel rant.

I get to see my old roomate Marhanda when I get up there, and hopefully we're going to spend a day in San Fran. Out of all of the cities I have visited, this is one of my favorites. It's so beautiful, and you can't look in a direction without seeing something different or interesting. (Well, different from here at least.) The architecture, people, and the amount of culture within such a small amount of space is thrilling, especially for the U.S. I can't wait for that. I'm also taking a train (my first time doing this too, btw) up to Sacramento on Saturday, where I'm going to be seeing my Uncle Paul and Aunt Jean, as well as some really close family friends. Then i'm heading back down to Berkeley to visit Jeremy, Rachel and Kolbein (their adorable little one). They just got a new place out there and they are so excited. Jeremy is going to be attending Berkeley for architecture this semester, and he worked so hard to get there. It's awesome.
Well, I'll keep you posted on the trip as much as I can. I look forward to some new photos and great stories.

and so they bloom

Today was actually a very unproductive day, though I spent the entirety of it trying my darndest to get things done. The first half of the day consisted of me attempting, yet again, to figure out my schedule for this upcoming semester. Its proving to be more and more difficult every time I make I do this, so I'm ready to throw in the towel and just live with whatever I get. No other choice really. I then went to Border's and bought myself a very nice leather journal. It's probably the nicest journal I've ever owned, and I can't wait to fill it up. My last one was huge and had graph paper in it. I actually really like writing on graph paper. It seems to encourage me to write on it. Though the paper in this new journal is beautiful, so I feel just as inclined to put my pen to it.

Purple flowers are blooming everywhere right now. I think the plant is called Desert Ruellia, but the ones around my apartment are trimed and shaped, so its hard for me to tell from a distance. But everytime I walk outside I smell flowers, and am pleased by the drops of color that are everywhere. Driving down the road, out in the desert. I love seeing the plants around here come to life during the summer. Everything always looks so dead around here that when things bloom I feel more comforted by it.

Basically gonna be working over the next few days, and paking and getting ready to leave for California Wed. night. I can't wait. Cultured cities, sandy beaches, and cooler weather...here I come.

fat dogs and gloomy clouds

Slept in way too late this morning. I hate how I always allow myself to sleep late whenever I can. It doesn’t matter that most of the summer I’ve been getting up at the butt crack of dawn, whether or not it be for school or for work. I still stay up late and wake up late whenever I get the chance. I’ve been trying to program myself into being a morning person forever now, but with no success. Oh well, I am forever doomed to be a night hawk I guess.

I think I slept a little later than I had planned cause my dog woke me up at 6am to take him out. (I had been up till one the night before…watching V for Vendetta and the first ever recorded image of a live giant squid…on the Discovery Channel. Those things are scary as shit.) He and my brother both stayed over last night because my dad is in Michigan with his girlfriend and her family. I love having Max around. (David ain’t so bad either). He makes me smile a lot more than I do when he isn’t around. I can’t help but melt a little whenever I look at his grayed puppy face. He turned ten last month, and it amazes me that he’s still doing so well. A little chubby…ok a lotta chubby, but he’s still Max.

I really spent the majority of the day being lazy. Its my one day off a week right now, so it seems I like to spend it being unproductive. I did spend some time shopping for a new journal online, but to no prevail. The only one I found that I like was a soft bound leather one; just about perfect except for the fact that it cost about $60. A little out of the budget, I’d say. I do have a birthday coming up… maybe the kin folk wouldn’t mind helping me out with that one. I need to find a new journal soon, cause the one I have has one page left in it, and that isn’t gonna work for too long. I have a feeling I’ll be on here a lot more.

I’m going to Oregano’s with Daniel tonight. Haven’t seen him in a while so it should be a lot of fun. Doesn’t hurt that I’m gonna get to eat a Pizookie as well. J

About two days ago I was walking up the stairs to my apartment and I looked at the sun. There was this large cloud, gloomy looking cloud right in front of it. It wasn’t a particularly intimidating cloud, but it did stand alone, and the fact that it was right in front of the sun allowed these light rays to come sparking out from behind it. I found myself just standing there staring at it for the longest time. It reminded me of Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. I rarely make Winnie the Pooh references, and I’m not really sure why that’s the first thing I thought of. Grey and alone, always with the sun to his back. And yet I found it beautiful. I ended up taking a picture of it, because I wanted to remember it.

Enjoy.

testing 1 2 3...

i wonder how many people put that in their first blog posting title? probably everyone and their mothers...

oh well. i'll have time for originality later. right now, lets just see how this all works. i uploaded a picture of a wombat. it actually proved to be more difficult than i though, since it disappeared on me twice. but i think i have it all worked out now.

enjoy the creature!