sometimes when you think you can't go any further, it takes a little reassurance from the ones you love most. and other times it comes in forms that you would least expect it.
i'm currently under the weather, and although being bedridden should equal tons of posts, my mind is elsewhere. and it's not that exciting elsewhere.
however, there are a few things that have kept me sane...
i'm taking a break from my visual analysis paper. i know i shouldn't but well i convinced myself that i would be getting my creative juices going and would sustain me from getting writer's block. well it sounded more convincing in my head...
anyway, just wanted to share the two images that i'm comparing and contrasting. fun times. i technically have yet to start my final paper. i'm still in the 'notes' part of the analysis. however, there is nothing that a little coffee and fear won't do to keep me from sleeping tonight. combined with the fact that after tomorrow, it's basically the weekend. ok, once again, it sounded more convincing in my head.
so this is Gustave Courbet, The Sleeping Spinner, 1853
and this is Jean-Francois Millet, Young Shepherdess with her Flock, 1862
and this is a little suggestion by pandora. it's A Fine Frenzy's 'What I Wouldn't Do'. i think it's adorably catchy. hope you like it.
well it's time to go back. but i hope you are having a good week. a plus tard mon amie,
Meet me halfway, right at the borderline That's where i'm gonna wait, for you I'll be lookin' out, night n' day Took my heart to the limit, and this is where I'll stay sometimes i wish that i could capture special moments with my camera. those little moments in life that feel perfect. those little moments that i know with all my heart are perfect. it's very difficult sometimes because the camera doesn't do certain moments justice. but i guess i live for those moments in life. the ones that even a camera or the most eloquent words could not describe. at times i am frustrated when i can't find the correct words for my sentiments, but in reality, sometimes those are the best. because the moment that i can describe something perfectly, it suddenly loses it's je ne sais quoi.
i haven't been taking too many shots lately. school's sort of stolen most of my time. but i have taken a few. hopefully in the next week or so, i'll take some more so that i'll have a decent amount to post. for now, i'm going to return to my studies while day dreaming about photography and perfect moments.
i hope that this week you encounter something special. until next time,
i walked by you this week after my french class and you didn't see me. you were sitting in a very relaxed position on a bench and you were reading. and it wasn't really your attitude or your comfort that was cool. it was the fact that you were wearing a grey converse shoe on one foot and an orange converse shoe on the other. i just wanted to say, you're awesome.
i'm a big believer in living life to the fullest. it's difficult sometimes because we get caught up in the little things and cry over spilled milk. which although i love me a cold glass of milk, a spill wouldn't or should i say, shouldn't make me cry. we (maybe i should say i?) get wrapped up in our hectic lives and forget to stop and smell the roses.
someone very close to me asked me, "what question would you ask yourself?" and at first i think i over analyzed the question, but then i started to wonder. and this was via computer communication, so i responded:
"are you living today? or just existing? that's what i ask myself every chance i get. i want to be living life, not just going through the motions. i want to be enjoying what i do and loving most of the things that i choose to do. i know it gets rough sometimes and it's not always perfect, but i want to make sure that i am doing all in my power to be living life to the fullest. carpe diem"
this was written on a day that i had caffeine through my vains of course. but it is what i truly believe. life is too short to be worrying. not saying that i'm not a worrier. i could take an award for anxiety and stress freak outs. however, i am happy with stress as long as i love most of what i am doing in my day to day.
you can't always get what you want
but if you try sometimes you might find
you get what you need
right now, i'm in love with this painting
in my beginnings of modernism art history class we just covered Courbet. this is his self portrait The Desperate Man (1844-1845). the course is basically European artwork in the 19th century, mostly French. i'm pretty much in love.
it's been too long. i apologize. i really have no excuses except that i was eaten by mountain lions in the backyard of my summer home in brazil while i was vacationing and conducting research on this time machine i built out of a cardboard box. it's quite the feat, it can go forward at normal speed of time. it also can function as a space ship that takes you to a different planet, such as jupiter...in south florida if that cardboard box happens to be driving along the east coast.
i'm just kidding. i wasn't really eaten alive, or else i couldn't be writing this at the moment. and i also have never been to brazil, although it sounds lovely.
and i just googled 'mountain lions' and this image came up, which i felt that i had to share. maybe it can make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside and be distracted from the fact that i haven't blogged in a bagillion years...
a warning i might add to googling 'mountain lions', not all pictures are as adorable as this one and you might actually suffer from fear from the rest of the pictures...
now that you are back from that google hit (how did you know that i would go google 'mountain lions'?) well i'm not quite sure that you did, but if i had read that i would lol
i have some music to share:
pandora introduced me to built by snow and i found this video that sort of shows them playing "science of love" live (but if you can go to pandora to listen, it would be best)
Science of Love
magnetic fields are forcing static through my brain subtracting you from me won't keep these thoughts away it's the science of our love (we are magnets) it's the science of our love (we are magnets)
it's the science of our love (we are magnets) it's the science of our love (we are magnets)
magnetic hearts are beating static through our veins attracting you and me while pulling us away is this science or our love (we are magnets) is this science or our love (we are magnets) WE ARE MAGNETS! WE ARE MAGNETS!
i'm sort of obsessed with superbus, it's unhealthy.
and firefox ak is a pandora suggestion as well. these two songs caught my ear. the first is more recent and probably less uplifting than the second, but both wonderful.
Wonder Boy
A wonderous boy Just wonders around Just wonders around
He writes his own songs And bought his first guitar When he was only nine years old He lives in a small town Collect cars and dimes I guess he just wonders around
A wonderous boy Just wonders around Just wonders around
i think it is time to go back to my school work, but it's been fun. i shall be back soon. this time it will be within the next week, if not sooner. this whole month later blogging is not so great. until next time, hope all is well and that this new year is treating you wonderfully. stay warm,
hmm. november seems to have slipped through my fingers. it was a good month though. ate a lot of food. hope it was good for you too.
now it's december...finals and end of semester scramble. lots of fun times...in the library.
i was introduced to stars this year and i'm kind of addicted. take a listen, it might become your new study/chill mix. pandora radio station is worth a listen of them.
i'm working hard the last couple of weeks, to see if i can pull through. i finish next week on thursday and heading home on friday. my home and tons of books await me. i've never read any jane austen, shocking i know, so i shall read some works. throw some cecelia ahern in the mix and some old favorites. it will be a grand old time. can't wait.
and i'll be heading to the movies to catch up on all the films i haven't seen.
oh, speaking of which. i saw Amelie finally. it was incredible. so is the soundtrack. definitely go check out both. i'm in love with Jean-Pierre Jeunet and his genius.
i shall be back during one of my next study breaks. especially when i'll be studying for art history. i'll put up some of my favorites. lots to choose from since my last exam is going to cover rococo to pop art. it's a bit crazy, but i can't wait to study for it.
hope your week is starting off well. good luck to those in finals or approaching finals. it's almost over. be back soon...i promise lol
since i'm kind of obsessed with female artists, and we're now starting to see female artists in my art history class, i'm super stoked. my t.a. recommended the French film, Artemisia about Artemisia Gentileschi's early artistic career. it's very romanticized and much of the story is not true to real life, but the plot they created is interesting and the acting is pretty great. it's a super lovely time period and i'll warn you that it is a but scandalous. however, worth watching.
i spent a couple of hours at the library this afternoon finding books for my cultural diversity paper. i tend to get side-tracked in buildings with many books and films. time seems to stop and all that i can think about is i wish i could sit down and just read til i fall asleep. for my paper, i have chosen to write about the diverse population that is Native Americans. and i'm supposed to choose government policies that have affected them positively or negatively. i'm quite excited. i enjoy writing papers when i get to choose a topic. even though i took out 7 books for my paper, i also took out 3 films. i wanted to take out 4, but wasn't allowed. i think i'm going to forgo sleep this weekend. i took out Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Le scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) and La Prise de Pouvoir Par Louis XIV (The Taking of Power by Louis XIV). parlez-vous français?
this weekend is the downtown festival and art show, so i'll try to go and take some cool pics. this weekend should be pretty interesting on the creativity front.
last night was an event night at the museum of art where i volunteer and we had some craft stations. i kept walking around and trying out the different ones, but one that i found so interesting was making rings out of colorful wire. so simple but yet so pretty. jewelry design is something that has always fascinated me. i'd love to meet someone that makes jewelry out of metals and different materials. here's the swirly, rose ring i made (at least that's what i'm calling it)
i'm definitely going to make more rings. just need to get some wire and the tools. anyway, i'm off to go to a fine arts event, where all the different schools are going to display their recent work. should be pretty cool. hope all is well in your world. i'll be back soon, au revoir,
happy halloween...a little late. i wasn't prepared for november, but it's here so i guess i'm just going to roll with it. the weather's getting nice, i'm excited.
so i took my art history exam yesterday and it went well. i got a bit confused with dates, as per usual. but all in all it wasn't too terrible. i know a lot of times the century, just can't quite remember if it was early or mid years of that century. names and artists are the easy part, especially when you come up with funny ways of remembering it. i chose to answer the essay question of comparing & contrasting high renaissance and mannerism. these are the works i used to argue my case:
Raphael's Madonna of the Meadow (1505)
Giorgione's Sleeping Venus (c. 1510)
Parmigianino's Madonna of the Long Neck (1535-1540)
Bronzino's Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time (c. 1545)
and i've now become obsessed with learning about women artists like Sofonisba Anguissola and Artemisia Gentileschi. i'm in the process of reading about some other women artists, but here's my favorites:
Sofonisba Anguissola's The Artist's Sister Minerva (c. 1564)
Artemisia Gentileschi's Self Portrait as the Allegory of Painting (1630s)
well that's some of my loves. i think there's too many to...oh wait. one more. this one i'm really obsessed with. mostly because it reminds me of a camera lens:
Parmigianino's Self Portrait in a Convex Mirror (c. 1524)
ok, i'm done. i think. if i think of more, i'll come on and put them up. we're almost done with baroque and now moving into rococo. can't wait.
well, i hope your week is going well. half way done. be back soon,
it's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not -anonymous
i'm in somewhat shock that october has flashed before my eyes. it's been a good month. not too terrible, i've survived some crazy days and all nighters.
it's 3 am and i'm heading to bed, but i'm somewhat wide awake. i've been super anxious the last couple of days. in a good way though. i'm very aware of the present and what needs to get done, but i just want to keep planning things that i can't really plan. thinking about the future is so strange. but intriguing at the same time. the future is a big question mark within a question mark staring me in the face. it's as if i know that i can plan something, but it's not ever going to be something set in stone. and it's confusing, but oddly wonderful at the same time.
i've been studying for art history. like hardcore studying. well maybe not completely, but it feels like i can put so much effort into art history and it doesn't bother me. it's my passion. if i could marry a subject, it would be art history. he has that spontaneous and romantic flair that i can't get enough of. enough said.
when i come back (after some sleep) and i promise it will be soon, i shall share some favorites from what i'm studying. hope you are well. remember, "don't worry about a thing, cause every little thing gonna be alright". good night,
Bronzino's Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time (c. 1545)
