bedhead-ed

Introduction:
it is seven-o-clock in the morning. i went to bed sometime after 12:30 last night, which gives me enough sleep to put on a facade of cognition without actually having anyone behind the curtain. i have a test later today, and i'm not yet prepared; anxiety level is running higher than average. aside from these two things, what more introducksun do you need?
thEsis:
this should be that friends should not let friends write tired. but it's not. you're too late (or early, as the case may be)for that. real thesis: there are three different kinds of bedhead--the good, the bad, and the ugly.
bodY:
the first type of bedhead--the good--is the obviously the most mild of the three. the Mama bear, if you will. this is the i-did-my-hair-before-going-to-sleep-and-slept-in-the-most-awkward-position-ever-to-keep-it-that-way style. admittedly, i've pulled this stunt on multiple occasions, usually when i know that someone is going to "kidnap" me early in the morning, or my brothers are going to force me into family activities before i have a chance to look anything close to alive.
type numbero two: the bad. this is the average bedhead. it's generally not too messed up; a little frizzy, flat on one side, and a couple of curly roostertails for spice. this style is, in fact, increasingly becoming a socially-acceptable doo. it's usually accompanied by tight pants and heavy eye-liner. sadly.
as for the third, and final, type of bedhead, the best way to describe it is through anecdote: my brother's been growing his hair out recently, and it's gotten to the stage where there is a great variation in lengths, though all go past his ears and on a whole it looks like a hollywood science experiment gone wrong. think elephant toothpaste. it was in this circumstance that my brother retired. when we finally pried him from his bedsheets in the morning, it was evident that he'd had a hard night. his hair gave all the expression that his could not--it was as though a cottonball had been doused in alcohol and lit with a blond fire, then tied into knots by a brand new boyscout who was running around on carpet in his socks. such hair stood in blatant defiance of the laws of gravity except for a slight undulation as my brother walked.
and that is only the ugly for my brother's shaggy, overgrown mane. one can only imagine the effect with over twice the length and the stress of finals adding to the mixture. the ugly is not to be mocked. it is to be feared.
ConclUsion:
the day may come when you will encounter me, or some other helpless, psychotic undergraduate in such a state as i currently am: in my pajamas, slumped against my computer, eyes half-closed and bleary, hair half-way between the bad and the ugly, chewing on a pen and muttering to myself as an occasional tremor shakes both my head and hand. should this happen, do not walk away! please gently remove the keyboard from my flighty fingers, the pen from my mouth (there's probably one in my hair as well), ignore my senseless scholastic prattle, wrap my in a blanket, and send me to the couch.

imagery

a sequence of morning thoughts at house over breakfast:
-you know, fairytales aren't all that they're cracked up to be...
--yeah, like, do you know how much it could hurt if someone climbed your hair? plus, imagine the slip ends.
-do you know how hard it would be to climb hair?
--very true. unless you put some hairspray or something in it to give it texture.
-or you could use all that hairspray to rat it.
--that would make an awesome afro. repunzal at the disco...

there are few things better on halloween than having a friend come to visit you at work dressed as ghangis khan. mav, your cousin is my hero for the day.

f.h.e-stranged

my brother decided to go to a friend's fhe tonight, and took the car, so i couldn't go to my own fhe. it's fine, because i've just been doing homework, but my family has gotten progressively weirder as the night's gone on. they're decorating for halloween, in traditional family style, aka: dressing up stuffed animals to hang around the house. so far we have a flying, winged, devil-monkey; a bulldog dressed up as a bunny; and a skeleton with the face of strongsad. i'm not sure what to think yet, but i'm pretty sure it was a good idea on nathan's part to take his friend elsewhere instead of staying here as he originally thought.

all of the above?

the week has spawned some peculiar questions, and i really like getting answers. one funny thing though is that there are many people (okay, one in particular) who way over-analyze them. just say no. in any case, i'm still curious, and these tell more about you than most getting-to-know-you questions, so i'd appreciate answers to at least one of the following. bonus points if you make me laugh! also, feel free to ask any questions pressing on your mind (what do you do with a drunken sailor?).

-if you were in a commercial, what product would you endorse and why?
-what was your favorite halloween costume you've had? what are you planning on being for halloween?
-what's your favorite christmas treat or smell?
-what reminds you most of home, and what do you miss most (this is best for those still under their parents' roof)?
-describe one of your elementary school teachers and your perception of him/her.
-what age do you perceive yourself to be and why?
-tell me a story.
-pick a number between yes and purple

trade me seats, anyone?

i've occasionally felt that in the play of life i'd do best as a side character. honestly, they get to watch the whole thing from the best seats in the house and just have to interact once and again as the comic relief.
most of the time i can sit back and watch the play, but for some reason i've been thrust into the main light for this section, and i am more envious than ever of those blasted side characters. truth be told (if you look at the last paragraph, we are being honest after all), my current situation would probably be Hilarious if i were not tangled up in the middle of it. it's followed me to work and my coworkers are having a field day.
what's even more frustrating is that yesterday i thought that i had come to a good conclusion. i made a decision, but then i got home and things changed again, so now i'm back at square one. Curses.
can i be changed into a cow and go home?

due to my dizzying intellect...

ever found yourself disoriented on your own front doorstep? awkward.
i had a date tonight. he's really tall, which is fine, i'm used to tall people, but as he walked me to my door a realized exactly how tall he was. normally, i don't hug people around the hips. especially on the first date. so i was going to just stand on the step for an extra half-foot, but i took a step and he took a step too. now what do i do? i take another step and he'll follow me again, stepping down won't help things at all, i'm still short, he's still tall...ummm...luckily in my confusion he took a step down again. i seized the moment and made my getaway. safe!

appropriation

i am giving a talk tomorrow at the local senior care center. i don't have a topic. my family suggested chastity.

cheese vs. yogurt--it's in the culture

alice rocked back on her heals and shifted her toes in her shoes, puzzled yet again. smoothing her frock, she tried to think of what she said that now had the caterpillar in a heated self-discussion. at least, it made more sense for him to be talking to himself; he jumped subjects so quickly that alice felt slightly dizzy from just trying to listen.

as she continued to watch the excited insect prattle on, alice slowly began to string a few of his words together like beads for a hodge-podge necklace, but his response still made very little sense in relation to what she had said. afraid to say anything else that might further agitate the life-sized bug, alice simply nodded to reassure him in his point, plopped heavily into a sitting position on the ground for which nanny would have scolded her, and sighed. the words the caterpillar spoke were familiar to her, but it was far from the same language.

3x5 -- john mayer

I'm writing you to
catch you up on places I've been
And you have this letter
you probably got excited, but there's nothing else inside it
didn't have a camera by my side this time
hoping I would see the world through both my eyes
maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm
in the mood to lose my way with words
TODAY skies are painted colors of a cowboy cliche'
And its strange how clouds that look like mountains in the sky
are next to mountains anyway
Didn't have a camera by my side this time
Hoping I would see the world through both my eyes
Maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm
in the mood to lose my way
but let me say
You should have seen that sunrise with your own eyes
it brought me back to life
You'll be with me next time I go outside
NO more 3x5's
I Guess you had to be there
I Guess you had to be with me
Today I finally overcame
tryin' to fit the world inside a picture frame
Maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm in the mood to
lose my way but let me say
You should have seen that sunrise with your own eyes
it brought me back to life
You'll be with me next time I go outside
no more 3x5's
just no more 3x5's

half way

it's more than half way through the summer. it's strange to me that it's that close until i start school again, in a different setting than i'm used to. i'm excited though--i looked and i will have met my financial goal for the new semester! and, i got a small scholarship. *do a little dance!*

i was drawing again yesterday. sending me to work without anything to do is a bad idea.

fourth flag

actually, there are five.
i didn't take as many pictures as i was planning on. things turned out a little differently than i thought they would. at any rate, at one point i decided to shoot the flag (wow, that sounds anti-patriotic) for angle-work. i really liked the sun. and the flag. America is pretty Awesome. i love her a lot. go USA. and i remembered to shrink the pictures! Happy Fourth, all!

summ summ summertime

honestly, i had more fun this year than i have before, and i didn't spend a dime.

i love summerfest. and the parade is one of my favorites. i mean, how often is it that traffic is completely stopped, crazy people drive (and walk) the streets, and everybody cheers? the town loves it. and the whole town is there. people were claiming patches of grass for days before the parade.


even people (or mascots) from other towns come. i love cosmo, and on a segue, he's prime. if i could do one of those "sexy cat" meows, this would be the place for it.





i like this one because it's a good overall shot of the carnaval. and i love the way the ticket booth in the middle glows. that's pretty awesome.



and the fireworks are just plain cool. you have to realize though, that the folder of my favorites, has fifty pictures in it. these aren't even the best, they just are the first ones that caught my eye. i might put some more up sometime, but these will do for now. have a great summer, all.



p.s.- i remembered to make them all small!

the living dead!

i need to write something right because i don't know how long this will last; my keyboard has come back to life! a joyful noise is issuing from my hay-fevered throat. i love hernandez at the moment. he gets to stay for another term.

End of part one. Intermission

too early, too late

reading poetry and taking naps does thinks to a person. this is definitely not finished, but if it's not down somewhere, it'll go away too.


s c a t te r e d
like the rainbow in a summer sprinkler
i'm sure it was fanTastic
i remember Colors, Sounds and Laughter
it felt Good, i think
now i'm just aWake and mildly conFused
if only i could remember what it was

finished

it's really close. i don't necessarily know how i feel about it. part of me is super excited, and another part is still holding on to the security blanket that has been my existence for the past fourteen years. i realize now that i'm pretty much finished for the year though. tests are over, and there are only a few assignments to clean up before packing up and heading out. i'm a little scared to move to a new scene. plus, i wish i had the guts to put out a few more lines before the curtain is drawn on this one. i really need to grow some guts.

iSolated

it's interesting to me that the more technology works to make communication and entertainment easier, the more it isolates the individual. think about it--how much do you really talk when you're watching tv? listening to your iPod? working on the computer? do you call or text more often? how frequently do you email or call when you could just walk over and see a person?

one of my pet peeves is going to a movie on a date, especially a first date. how much do you learn about a person when you're both just watching a screen? it doesn't seem like you're building much of a relationship with that. playing games in the park or going hiking gives you a lot more information about the person.

another example i see a lot of is the antisocial iPod. so many students plug in and tune out. instead of talking to people around them, they stuff their ears, forsaking all kinds of social opportunities and lessons.

i have a lot to say about cell phones, but i don't want the soap box to explode while i'm on it.

it seems like human interaction and interpersonal relations are growing less and less frequent. it bothers me that the more advanced communication becomes, the more we willingly isolate ourselves.

rain rain...

it rained today. there are times when i like the rain, but today all i wanted was the sunshine. unfortunately, i also procrastinated the weekend away and i have a photo assignment due tomorrow, so i had to take it today. the topic is "meaning".

stuck in the middle?

i occasionally find myself in a rather humorous position. to explain what i mean, allow me to expound on my current situation:
person a (female) and person c (also female) are good friends, as well as both being friends of mine. they consort one with another and decide that they would like to go to prom. to do this, they will find each other dates, (only one per customer per visit, you know) and go in a group. person a discuses their plan with me one day, and later that same day rushes up to me in the hallway, red-faced and looking like she could make good use of an inhaler. she asks me to ask another friend of mine, b (male), if he would kindly take c to prom. she's slightly intimidated. well, i suggest the idea, which takes hold in his chivalrous mind, and he agrees. in the meantime, a tells c that she's found her a date, and c, as most girls do, goes crazy with anticipation. she does not know yet that i am involved on other end, but i have a class with her, and hear her entire perspective as she relates it to another girl...for two hours. it's really hard to hold in laughter for two hours, by the way.
anyway, b shows up on my porch a few days later, looking for help in asking c. somehow i turn into the orchestrator, and watch the asking unfold from the driver's seat of the car.
next day, and for subsequent days after, i hear a talking to c with c, all giggly and telling the girl version of the story. tonight i watched the two girls plan out how to answer, suggested ideas, and nearly went along for the ride, except that it was late and i want to sleep so that i can do nothing tomorrow--i need to be well-rested.
the funny thing is, i've found myself in this place before. i still have no idea why.
do you ever feel sometimes that you really are watching a movie, only you get to throw in your two cents every once in a while? interactive tv? it's an odd sensation. i feel the compulsion to be a main character sometimes, but usually that goes away if i take a nap. it begs the question though: if i'm a side character, who's the protagonist? what's the real storyline? i think that i need to go rent rosincran and gildinstern are dead. but not right now. it's rather late.

the ideal

i took a test in my health class today and decided to do some figuring after i finished. according to the "ideal" formulas, am the ideal weight for a person of my stature: 105 lbs. according to the same sources, i should be consuming 1600 calories every day to support my weight and activity level. well, this of course leads me to question how much food equals how many calories. i checked the backs of a couple things when i got home and mostly just debunked my faith in the fda.
a single serving of plain (as in no sauce, dressing, or salt) cooked pasta is 1 cup. this cup of noodles contains 210 calories; a serving of 2% milk is 8 ounces (half a soda can) and contains 180 calories; 1 cup of chili has 270 calories; 1/2 cup of peaches contains 80 calories; 3 pickles contain 5 calories (the same as a stick of gum); i couldn't find the calories for the carrot sticks and celery. now according to the fda, i'm supposed to have at least 6 servings of bread/pasta (1260 calories), 3 servings of milk (540), 2 servings of fruits (160), 2 servings of meat (340), plus 3 servings veggies (we'll be kind and count the 15 from the pickles), and enough water to cook the 6 servings of pasta. all of this comes to a grand total of 2315 calories. with this many calories in my diet, i would supposedly gain 2 lbs a week, even without the pasta sauce. i would also be extremely bloated, and i didn't even get pasta sauce.
there's something wrong with this. obviously, the "ideal diet" has not gotten me to my ideal weight and consumption level. on the flip side, however, were i to only eat the 1600 calories prescribed to me, i would be left with 3 cups of pasta, a cup of pasta sauce, a single 6 oz yogurt, 1/2 cup of peaches, and a tall glass (24 oz) of milk. this still leaves me hungry at the end of the day.
perhaps this helps explain the staggeringly high--and rising-- numbers of both anorexic and obese people in the united states. these are not words of great wisdom. problem.

#42

art classes are a funny thing. by nature, art is very personal. yet, it is meant to be shared. i think that it is the concentration of the individuality in a classroom that is so interesting. the students that are so self-contained in other classes are exposed through their artwork. they can't not be. it's interesting to see who these people i have known for so long really are. is it as much of a surprise for them to see me?

i love the piano. i know some people who are amazing with their hands on the ivory. i wish that i could play.

i live in the best place. i am incredibly lucky. it astounds me to know what that piece of cloth means to me. i could not say enough for it, flawed though it may be. i love the promised land.

it's still trying to follow the sun. as much as they try though, sunflowers have down-time too. i suppose that it's best that way, though it does not always make me happy. there is a purpose to it, i am sure, and the time for sun will return soon. i like the broken trampoline in the background. it adds a nice touch.

night falling. why does the night fall? where does that expression come from? that's a discussion to be elaborated on later,i think. for now, those mountains are beautiful, and as much a part of "home" to me as walls and a roof.

a warm home in winter. i think that people living in warmer climates would have a harder time understanding that sentiment. i love having a warm home, water, clothes, bed, and machines that heat things. plus, within all that, is my family, which is really what home is.

bollywood

it's late and i haven't re-written my essay for school. instead i watched a video with my sister. well, the last half of it. it was very interesting. it was a hindi movie by bollywood. there was a heavy american influence in what they did, even though some of it didn't make any sense. most of it was syntax or other cultural nuances. like, when they would randomly burst out with "come on, charlie!" and continuity was shaky. i liked it though. it was a good movie. it made me think of rauf and his comintated pictures. it's a different life. i wish that i were more cultured.
hmmm, time for that essay.