Tristate Tour '07!

So Hana and I went to pick up Maddi from ye olde Iowa last Friday. It took my parents two years to finally friggin let me drive out there with their car. I mean, seriously! It's interstate for a long time and then a country road. No biggie. It's not like I had to go on any roundabouts in Paris or anything, which I am NEVER going to do because those things are scary as all hell. Anyway, I was ready to go at noon but Hana had to go to this thing where they were choosing counter tops for their house at 10 and which apparently took three hours for some reason, because she told me to get her at 1 and I got there at 1:10 and they STILL weren't even home! I waited out the hallway for them for like, five minutes. It was kind of ridic, but not really that surprising.

So anyway. Of course we all had to have turkey sandwiches before we left (that was okay, I hadn't eaten anyway and it was free) so we finally left at 1:44 pm. We get to this place at the edge of Wisconsin at about 4:30 that sells popcorn so we stopped in for that and so I could pee because I always have to pee. We were leaving when Maddi called, but my phone was dying even though I'd charged it the night before because I've had it for like a year and a half and thats when phones start to do junk like that. Also I dropped it in green tea once, but that was a while ago. Anyway, Hana told Maddi she'd call her back on her phone but then Hana realized she'd left her phone at home which was kind of ridic, but not really that surprising. And THEN there was like, two detours on the 18 which lost us about half an hour. We tried calling again from a pay phone at a gas station (I had to pee again) but the phone refused to call Maddi's number for some reason. Anyway, we rolled into her dorm's parking lot around 7 and fortunately her dorm security sucks so we were able to not only get into the building, but also get into the elevator up to her floor no problem. Oh, and also the massive mix I made for the trip ran out JUST as we pulled into the school. It was very exciting.

Anyway, after that it went quite smoothly. We hung out in Maddi's room, I got quite tipsy and we invented a list that categorizes all the different sorts of romantic relationships you can have. It's quite detailed and scientific. We spent a lot of time debating over syntax. Then the next day we stopped off in Madison to see Maddi and Hana's new cousin, Easton. I thought Easton was a fairly nice and surprisingly unique name for Maddi's uncle, but it turns out he was named after a Baseball manufacturer or something. Oh well. Also? He's got all the times of when his daughter who is about a year or two older did things like roll over and walk and he's got Easton competing with them. Evidently if Easton doesn't win at the roll over he's going to be girly because masculinity is equated with things like rolling over? I really hope that kid isn't gay for his sake 'cause home life'll be hell.

Also, Maddi and I have decided to convince Vanessa to move down to my Champaign apartment after spring semester next year for the summer. We'll have a car, we'll be twenty one, my parents will be paying rent and (hopefully) Maddi and I will have jobs at either Borders or Barnes & Noble. Oh, and also we'll be living on our own which is really the best thing.

Listening to: Nirvana--In Bloom

Disgust with the art/design world

Okay, so I know I'm late as all hell coming into this little debate about the London 2012 logo for the Olympics, but I was reading loads of stuff up on it last night and just couldn't go on without spouting my opinion. So here goes.

The first reaction of pretty much everyone save five year olds? Disgust. It's blocky, primitive, squintingly bright and really just quite ugly. It looks like it came from it's other part time job of bouncing around in the background of the credits of of old Saved by the Bell episodes without changing costume. So pretty much everyone was in agreement that it was awful save the company who designed it and the people who shelled out 400,000 pounds ($800,000) to the company who designed it. Their deal? They want to attract the youth who apparently suddenly like the garish.

But then some design people began to speak out. "It's daring!" they cried. "Innovative!" "Cutting edge!" Basically they feel that design trend is headed back in the '80's direction (God forbid) and that in 2012, this will be ultra chic. Or something. Also it's got everyone in such an uproar so it must be cutting edge, right?

Wrong. This is why I am grossed out by the design world at the moment. First off, it's a ruddy logo. How cutting edge does it really need to be? I mean, I suppose there are some instances where logos can break ground, but for the Olympics? Why? Who cares? It's the Olympics, not the resistance against the Apartheid. Secondly, this is not cutting edge. It's straight out of 1985. Yes, perhaps they took a risk when they decided that the trend was turning this way and such, but other than that this really doesn't seem like anything new to me at all. And anyway, it shouldn't matter whether or not "design" is "turning" that way. I believe that there are simple rules of aesthetics and that this design doesn't follow any of them. I believe that no matter the trends in 2012, this design is ugly now and it will be ugly then. However, this sort of thing happens in art all the time. I see it in students at my school. These days the primary is the idea behind a piece and secondary if not at all is the way it looks. This irks me beyond belief. I know that art can be both compelling mentally and aesthetically and when someone produces something that is only one of the two things it tells me that they either haven't thought it through enough or they haven't the skill to make it beautiful. The things that last are the things that do both.

So good job London. I officially do not want to go to grad school there now. I heard some rather negative things to this effect from my friend Vivian who went to Chelsea School of Art for a semester (they didn't even have easels!) but this just confirms it. Stupid blowhards.

Quiz Time!

Full analysis here.

Okay, so the bored/procrastinator's best friend is the online quiz. Especially kind of long ones. This one is cool because you get to answer q's on sliders and quadrant set ups so its a lot more in depth. I would say over all that it's pretty accurate, but it does think I'm a lot more extroverted than I thought I had indicated. Oh well.

listening to: Maddi a la radio

Am I the Only One

who doesn't give a shite about The Sopranos? Why does everyone go gaga over every single mob movie/tv show? I really don't get it.

Aren't I Cool?

Your Inner European is Dutch!

Open minded and tolerant. You're up for just about anything.

Who's Your Inner European?

The Mastery of Miyazaki Hayao

I've spent the last few days watching Miyazaki films late at night and there is one overarching theme in them all: after watching I feel both incredibly happy and creative. Miyazaki is the artist's animator. Though he is labeled Japan's Walt Disney, I must say that he is a helluva lot cooler than Disney. While his films can mostly be viewed by children (save Princess Mononoke) they defy convention and have female heroes who are bright, resourceful and full of life. I would say the best film for children is My Neighbor Totoro, which features a simple storyline about two young girls who meet strange and awesome creatures by their new house. I normally complain about people who are SO hardcore that they feel it is a sin to watch anime in any form other than the original Japanese with subtitles (or if you're super hardcore, without) but in the case of My Neighbor Totoro you pretty much have to watch it in Japanese if you don't want to have your eardrums assailed with the irritating voiceover of the youngest daughter.

My favorites are Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. Princess Mononoke is epic and spectacular. Word has it that Miyazaki did 80% of the artwork himself, which is SO kickass. The storyline really resonates with me now upon taking my Asian Mythology class. The source of animal gods is from Shintoism, but the Deer God, the Golden Deer, is the Banyan Deer, or a form of Buddha. It also has hints of Hinduism in the idea of rebirth, a new age. It does not, however, go all the way with this and have some Shiva-esque character destroy the universe. It's really funny how differently time is viewed on either side of the world. The west views it chronologically while the east views it circularly.

Spirited Away is pretty much based on Shintoism. It's a really funky version of Alice in Wonderland. A lot of people think that going to the hot spring of the spirits is pretty freaking weird, but I loved every moment. I do remember watching it with friend several years ago and having her freak out over the spirits. I think they seemed demonesque to her, which is very sad because she missed out on and entire beautiful culture. I mean, I can see how it would happen but I just think its sad to be so ingrained in one culture that you can't see the beauty in others.

Anyway. Miyazaki is awesome. C'est tout.

listening to--Teddy Thompson: Up Front and Down Low

My Daemon

Memory, all alone in the moonlight . . .

It’s been about a year. I’m sitting outside on the back steps of the house at 5:29 am on the 4th of June, 2007 and this memory sidles up on me. It was last year and it was evening and I was waiting for a call from Maddi. The sky was that perfect shade of blue, that stunning ultramarine between dusk and dark and the the pale yellow green of the leaves, front lit by the porch light, contrasted brightly against the horizon. I was scrawling ideas out in my sketchbook. I think I was working on the Douchebags of America series which--quel suprise--still hasn't gotten of the ground. Then I wrote a diary entry about the beauty of the sky and the whether or not France would beat Brazil in the World Cup game that was due to happen the next day. That was the summer after my first year at college. The summer that the cat who I named Nastassya Filippovna after the main female character in The Idiot. She was such a sweet cat and she came everyday for awhile and didn't even take food when we offered it. That was when I decided that I am both a dog and cat person.

And now I'm back here. But this summer no one else is home except for Karlene and Agnes and Agnes barely qualifies as at home seeing as she hardly ever answers her phone and when she does she has to work or study for her MCAT class. I love Karlene and we can talk, but really we are quite different. Mostly it feels as though everyone else has grown up and I'm still here--at home--barely cleaning my room when my mother asks and trying not to make too much noise when I stay up until 3 am. I'm considering getting a job at Martha's Vineyard next year. I've got a place to live and if I can convince a friend or two to get a job out there too it could be a blast.

Yesterday was totally insane. Poor Gramp in the hospital! At least he's all right. I was kind of worried for a bit that this family reunion would turn tragic. It's funny thinking about getting old. It seems so far off now . . . but when I was young so did twenty.

listening to--Rilo Kiley: Take Offs and Landings