laid-back weekend

watching: "the fountain"
this movie is such a jem! it was made by the same director as "requiem for a dream", but with a completely different feel, along with half its original budget, 2 delays, and replacement of both lead roles (and thanks goodness for that, because rachel weisz and hugh jackman do a much better job). hollywood didn't care for it, but what do they know? it was fantastic. going into the movie, my friend said it was "the most visually stunning movie he had ever seen". i thought, that's a pretty substantial claim. but over and over, his point was proved. my eyes were dazzled...the whole masterpiece was made using no CG technology- only greenscreens and inexpensive computer programs. it is, at its core, a love story, told in 3 different time periods. you may get a bit confused at times, but it all comes together, and it is definitely worth it.

diy bleached jeans and acid-washed tee. i used kirstylee's tutorial here.

been wearing super-easy, slouchy outfits, like mens baggy trousers and world's comfiest gray tee (both thrifted), seen here

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ever wished you could quit your day job and travel around the world, dancing a happy jig in each place you stopped in? this man's life because this dream come true.

so, thanksgiving.

wore this on monday:
old black boots, old black leggings, gray ae nightgown, here as a skirt, navy velvet pullover, thrifted, cream winter coat, thrifted, h&m silver/gray scarf
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most of my outfits have been boring, basic, get-me-through-this-week kind of stuff. i'm working on bringing back the creativity. but im in a very simple mood right now.

had our first real snow on monday.

went to chicago for thanksgiving day with brad. his family was so wonderful to me.

a great blog i found: 1001 rules for my unborn son. there's lessons here we all could glean from.

some engaging images of real graffiti, found by my friend jay. ponder them.

a slight pause

i like this one. i've been playing with this photo converter- try it out, it's pretty neat

i've been having better thoughts about love. the world is gray, but the sunrise is impending, threatening to burst glorious sunshine over the landscape. i'm just anticipating.

this is a lovely image, no? the sullen, bleak landscape, the wind ruffling her hem, the black and the boots, her chaotic hair? its really alive.
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ill have a short break for this long weekend, to hopefully unwind just a bit before finals
im looking foward to the 3 hour ride to chicago, just to sit, think, listen to music, and do whatever my mind pleases.
it's a delicate boundary between selling your soul to caffeine/schoolwork/the college lifestyle and actually controlling or steering the course of your own learning in your college experience. so much of the best learning is outside of academic work, but grades are important too, demanding of our time and vital to out financial standing.
im trying to figure it out.

monday weary/pressing on

had our first big snow today. wake up, and the world is white...it's been coming down steady and calm all day. peaceful, for now. i'm racking up a list of diverting things i want to do on break. hot tea, baking, reading and making Christmas gifts are just the beginning...

faith

do not work on finding the right person; instead, focus on being the right person

space cadet

i love this photo- she looks so cozy and chill in her skirt and sweatshirt, with her mug. i crave this.

cold, snowy day- thrifted thick knit skirt, h&m scarf, thrifted leather jacket.

practice room photo shoot- tights & boots- had forever, thrifted skirt, thrifted sweater, and my new amazing thrifted winter coat

elevator photo shoot- grey leopard chucks- ebay, grey skinnies- had forever, thrifted navy, red, and cream sweater, thrifted brown leather jacket

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my brain has been checked out for a few days now- everyone's in "break mode" already. i have to stay present until wednesday!! then break, then exams. yeesh.
had an awesome thrift store trip this week, in which beautiful clothes simply flew off the racks, leaping into my cart. it was beautiful. how could anyone buy new all the time, with so many superb leftovers left langushing?
also got some materials for making headbands...we'll see how that goes.

aaaeeeyah

having to pick music for this week's cultural discerner meeting led me to rediscover showbread. my first and lasting love of their is 2004's cd "no, sir, nihilism is not practical". searing, honest Christian-leaning lyrics, raw metal rock sound, southern GA natives (sounds awesome, right?) check them out here

movie half nelson: ryan gosling? incredible (and good-looking too) as the good-guy-with-faults. in trying to fight the system, he (a young white teacher in a ghetto black middle school) incurs some damage in the form of drug use and relationship abuse. he gets into a niggling relationship with one of his sudents, who has alot more going on than she voices. they meander around that how-close-is-too-close line, and offer up no clear answers, no resolve. this movie was great.

high school friends: if i've done all i can to try and keep in touch, and they still don;t find it worthy of their time to respond, it is a waste of energy for me to sit here and be upset over it. a shame, but if they aren't fazed, why should i be? it hurts no one but me.

movie religulous: well, first of all, it was really a mockumentary. he was not attempting to be unbiased at all, and clearly had an agenda to try and make as many religious (Christain and otherwise) figures look as stupid and laughable as possible. and he did get some chuckles- he is a comedian, after all. but the stories of Christianity aren't as simple as he tries to make them. and he was downright rude and purposefully provocative at times. but ultimately, he advocated abandoning religion and embracing an all-encompassing doubt of any beliefs who claim anything close to absolutes. but that really is his own religion, that he just made up- a belief in adhering to doubt, religiously. i haven't gotten a chance to discuss this film with many people, but i am glad i saw it, and was given provocation to sort though why i believe what i believe.

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my leopard chucks finally came today!! so excited! though they are way too clean and new-looking. i'll have to fix that.

eating way too much peanut butter and trail mix recently, but what's new?
also, i made a delightful cup of soy cocoa today

my posting may be erratic, but i am determined to keep it up
till next time...

this week is going to zap me

i could spend a paragraph whining about how much this week is going to be awful for me (starting yesterday afternoon, with no end in sight), but in the effort to conserve time, i offer you this peace offering of delightful images instead.

coming soon (ok, eventually)
post on "half nelson"
outfits
my revelation about friends

weekend half over

WEARING:

we've had a few crazy warm days here in grand rapids, but today it was back to the regular program with cold chill and rain/snow. these pictures are from thursday, when it was warmer. wearing skinny jeans, h&m mens scarf, and the gray tee i bought at a thrift store and customized, a la camille, of childhood flames blog fame- see here!

WATCHING:

"the science of sleep", with gael garcia bernal and charlotte gainsbourg. performances were all-around genius, and after seeing charlotte in "i'm not there", and now this, she is officially my new favorite actress. at first she appears homely, and then she grows on you and you see how she owns her beauty- fragile and distinctive. this movie was directed and written by michel gondry, the same man who did "eternal sunshine...", and it is an artful abstract playful masterpiece. in a nutshell, the main character cannot always tell the difference between his dreams and reality. and he falls in love. riveting, whimsical, delightful- i definitely recommend it. see trailer here.

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this weekend is eluding me- i can't believe it's saturday night already! took a lazy evening yesterday, and i don;t even need to look at my schedule to know that it is go go go until christmas (which is 6 weeks away, just if you were wondering)
one of my profs used a really good analogy this week. originally speaking about a student who wanted to major in everything, he said that the purpose of college is not to accumulate knowledge about things. it's to build bookshelves, which will be filled through life with whatever we choose to put in them. it's not about the body of facts we assimilate (and not likely retain), btu about building the infrastructure that will serve us for the rest of our learning lives. i liked that.

letdown

this week has been pretty crazy. yeah, i know, everyone says that, right? point is, i've up and down and all around. this afternoon/evening was lookin pretty laidback till i got on the phone with my mother...news from the home front is grim. i've gotta find time and place to write about it. other things i did this week...
had coffee with a friend i hadn't talked to in quite some time
worked out 3 times so far!
started not craving coffee so much- an afteraffect of going back to being vegan
tried going to bed early and couldn't fall asleep for 2 hours
wore a few nice new outfits, but did not get them photographed
watched this week's greys anatomy
bought a rare pair of grey leopard chuck taylor hightops on ebay

i'll leave you with this:
good music-
patrick wolf "paris" (1st photo) (find the cd recording, if you can-its better)
fleet foxes "he doesn't know why" (2nd photo)

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love like a child