the golden compass

I absolutely loved this trilogy growing up. I first read The Golden Compass in middle school when it came out and after that I anxiously awaited each book's release. In the books, there are daemons, which are like companions, a separate being attached to the soul of the person and which takes on different animal shapes before settling on a permanent shape. I always wondered what form my daemon would take, a snow leopard?, an owl?, a tiger? I no longer have to wonder.

This is my daemon, but I might not have answered the questionnaire accurately. That is where you come in, you can visit my daemon page, alter the answers and give my daemon his true shape.

first snow storm

actually the forecaster called it a mixed winter storm, which I gathered means that we will have all sorts of freezing precipitation. For now, its a blizzard, okay, maybe I don't know what that word really means, but it is snowing a ton out there right now. I check the weather religiously and there is a warning that the freezing rain that is supposedly coming tonight might cut off our electricity (you would think Chicago would have precautions to prevent this), so I went out today to get batteries for my flashlight. It was flurrying when I was in the store, but 5 minutes later, when I came back out, the entire ground was covered and the snow was coming down and sideways, and, I swear, up. I got home and took a few pictures from my windows. Here you go:

paying attention

I can't. So I doodle during class and luckily my notebook paper has a large margin. Here are my most recent doodles:












This is not a doodle, it is the cover of a collaborative art book some of my friends are doing. My theme is myth.

schoolyard fun

this is where I go to school:

It is full of beautiful buildings and churches and has a myriad of hidden little nooks like this one:

the building are covered in ivy which compliments the faux-oxford style of architecture:

and campus is replete with awesome details like this little reading bust on the outside wall of one of the libraries:

Every time I walk on campus I get an awed and excited feeling. It is a beautiful place to be every day. However, in the classroom I feel wholly unprepared, swamped, and unintelligent. Hopefully that will change. For now, I'll just enjoy the surroundings.

What?

Last night I fell asleep while reading Lacan. This is not that surprising since I understand probably every other paragraph if I'm lucky. The weird thing was that this morning I woke up to find that while falling asleep last night I felt the need to write some notes to myself, on my arm. There was an F X S and then some space and then another F and what looked like a capital gamma that trails down my arm. I have no idea what I was trying to say about Lacan but apparently it was important.

my alleyway

The coolest part of living in this apartment is the alleyway that I walk through on the way to school. This alley is covered in graffiti and not the spray-paint-my-name-and-obscenities graffiti, but really interesting artwork. I actually can see it from my apartment and I watched some of the guys repainting the wall the other night. I think it will be repainted continually and I will keep you updated. Here is the alley:

my new life, well different at least (with pics!)

I've been meaning to write this post for about three weeks and its not that I haven't had time, I have, its that I've been busy moping when I'm alone and trying to make friends when I'm not. Lets just say that being apart from the person you love is much harder than I expected. Here I am, exactly where I want to be, doing exactly what I wanted to do, and I am not completely happy. Part of it, I think, is that I'm terrified that I won't be able to live up the my, the program's, and other people's expectations. The other part of it is that I live alone and miss Yarjka and Skylark a ton. But you didn't come here to hear me whine, so I'll move on.

So, Yarjka and I drove cross-country to "the city" to move me into my new home, but I'll write a separate post about our journey later.the city

When I signed up for graduate student housing I was scared I would be stuck in a tiny hole in an old, ugly building that was small, dark, and in all ways uninhabitable. Therefore I was pleasantly surprised when I found this:

The outside of the building is really beautiful.

My living room has 5 windows in it and it is light and spacious.

The bedroom is the smallest part of the apartment, except maybe the bathroom which has no counter space. The bedroom is fine for just me, but I'm a bit worried since I will be sharing it come December. Not that I'm not excited about that :)



I am on the 6th floor of my building which means I get a lot of cross-breezes that are really nice when its hot, but it is already getting cold. However, the height has another advantage: good views. I have a pretty good city view and a good view of my pretty tree-lined street.

Join me next time as I explore beyond my apartment and onto campus. For now, look at my awesome old-school elevator.

what do you do at church?

Often I find it easier to pay attention while my hands are busy. That's why I sew during movies and draw during church. This is my draying from church this past sunday. When someone asked me what I was drawing I told them I was drawing plumbing, but fun. So, here it is, my fun plumbing:

sure, okay, fine, have it your way

it has been brought to my attention that I don't write anymore. Many blame this on my engaged status (see below), but to tell the truth it is most likely from the cyclical nature of my, um, nature. I go through cycles of writing, reading, meditation, randomness, and void, which sometimes end up being mutually exclusive to each other. For instances there are months when I write everyday and others when I can't write a word nor want to but will consume a book a day, and others when I do not want to write or read much but wish to think and interact with people. And there are other times when my mind is firing off in so many directions I can not think cohesively enough to write, nor pay attention long enough to read anything seriously. I have most recently been in the latter cycle, but since I have been told to write and post my randomness anyway, here is a blip (the only semi-coherent thought I could record in the last day or so):

Sleepily I sip water straight from the pitcher until it flows down my chin onto the table, then into the cave in the floor; the stream flows on not merrily as the rhyme would say but thunderously--crashing lightning white waves on budding rocks; it deposits me on the red earth of an olive grove where I stretch under the stenciled shade of olive trees and grow dull from the sun's torrid rays.

It's Official

I'm pregnant!!
Just kidding, but I am engaged.

Here are some pictures of my ring and my beau.