the love of caffeine runs through my veins

"cheer up and dry your damp eyes and tell me when it rains

and i'll blend up that rainbow above you and shoot it through your veins

your nerves gather with the altitude...

exhale the stress so you don't come unglued

somewhere there is a happy affair, a ghost of a good mood"

it's getting there. i'm almost at the point where lack of sleep and too much caffeine and a never ending to-do list is finally kicking in.

but it's ok. why? because when you listen to lyrics so eloquent like Owl City, things don't seem so impossible. music, especially happy things, help me sit down, take a breath and mentally focus. reggae always puts me back into a calm that i can't formulate into words.

i have been looking at Morisot images like crazy and guess what i found. you'll never guess. ok, maybe you will. a painting with a cat lol you can't even imagine how much i wanted to write my paper on it. but sadly it's in a private collection. these are the moments that i wish i was part of a group of thieves like ocean's eleven so that i could get this dream of a painting.

Young girl with a cat, 1892

the colors are amazing. they are so vibrant, that i feel infused with youth and i feel invigorated.

anyway, i'm sitting around the fine arts building waiting for my central African art class to start. i shall come and put up some images of things that i've fallen in love with this semester, sometime this week. i never thought that i would enjoy that class so much. if i can fit it in, i definitely want to take another class in African arts or at least take non-western art with the same professor.

this time, i will resist with not putting any music. but i wanted to share something that i feel combines the best of both worlds. coffee and art. yep, i am the nerd that watches youtube latte art vids. and i am pretty much in love with this one artist in the video below. i plan on going to NYC to have one of his lattes lol enjoy

very addicted to caffeine,

-Genevieve

we are magnets

happy 2010 :)

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,

-Genevieve

drifting to a new way of thinking

we watched the Seasonal Seas episode of the film The Blue Planet by BBC in my wildlife issues course. it had beautiful shots and it was incredible how they captured all the underwater creatures. when i was little, i hated jellyfish, well maybe not jellyfish themselves but the jellyfish bites or attacks. they stung pretty bad and one time i had one get me all over my legs. in spanish jellyfish are "aguamalas", a compound word of "water" and "bad". so, throughout my life i haven't really been a big fan. but after watching the film, all i wanted to do was sketch a jellyfish or paint a watercolor. that's on my mini creative to-do list. sometimes we associate something with an emotion, and it's incredible to look at it in a new light. we sometimes take things for granted from experiences we've had or how we've been brought up. but it's really intriguing to have that concept challenged. jellyfish are beautiful creatures, and although i still don't want to have a physical encounter, i have a new found appreciation for them. they float so peacefully and almost seem angelic in their tranquility. i put together the above jellyfish mosaic with pics from flickr and the youtube vid below is jellyfish in Hong Kong Ocean Park that i just found kinda cool. they apparently have lights in the tanks that change colors and makes the jellyfish look amazing.
i'm gonna go try to draw some jellyfish, but i hope you have a sweet holiday weekend. be back soon,

-Genevieve

back to school and back to blogging

time. it tends to flash before my eyes at times. i'm very disappointed that i didn't come back sooner, mostly because i missed it so much but also since my friend said something to me today.

friend: "hey, do you remember this thing called 'blogging'?"

did i mention that my sarcastic friend happens to be lise from "head in the clouds" ?

well, here i am interwebz, we meet again.

my summer went pretty well. i worked a lot and took summer courses, but was able to have some creative things in them. i finally finished 'Into the Wild' and watched the movie. let's just say, i fell in love with the screenplay and the artistic direction they took. a watched a couple other films, which i definately recommend: Junebug, Rocket Science, Paris, je t'aime, Volver, (500) Days of Summer, Away We Go, Harry Potter & HBP to name a few. i also finally tie dyed, i'll take some pics this weekend to show you. i sewed a simple cloth purse with the sewing machine and managed to not break the sewing machine. i finally got the hang of it. i usually just sew by hand, but i must say that being able to use the machine is a quicker process.

oh, i forgot to almost mention the reason i have been away so long. i was getting ready to move back to college. i moved in the 21st of august and started classes this week, so i will soon have plenty of time to procrastinate lol. i'm also taking very interesting courses which will probably inspire me with a few blog posts. but until then, i just want to wish everyone a happy welcome back to school or last few days of summer. hope everything is going well, i shall be back soon (very soon) to share something a bit more interesting. i am currently listening to Animal Collective, so here's a little sampling. the vid is super cool in a creepy sort of way.

until we meet again,

-Genevieve

music is what feelings sound like

i have been coming across some really cool bands lately through blogs and youtube channels. so i thought i would share them with you. i have recently been super into electronic pop progressive experimental type stuff that doesn't sound like anything you've heard before. it completely fits my mood and has become my new addiction. the three bands that i'm going to show you are either unsigned or part of an indie label so they don't really have music videos. but there is a lot of fans that make vids with their songs or people who record them at concerts, so that's what i found.

so first off is Owl City with "Rainbow veins". i'm pretty much in love with Adam Young. i plan to try to meet him one day to tell him how awesome he is.

second is Unwed Sailor with "Copper Islands". i actually discovered them because of Adam Young.

and last but not least is 100Monkeys with "Sweet Face". i wasn't aware of this when i first looked them up and started jamming to them, but Jackson Rathbone is part of the band. he plays Jasper (Edward's bro) in Twilight.

so i hope you enjoy the music, they are all worth checking out. i'm working on editing a vid with footage from the nature hike, so i hope to share it with you soon. in the meantime, i'm going to go listen to my finds, be back soon,

-Genevieve

solving the cube of time and tranquility

this past week has been very long to say the least. my studies attacked me and left me quite defenseless. but after a good night's sleep and a peaceful saturday, i return to my little corner in cyberspace. i have so many things i want to do to enjoy this weekend, that i feel there isn't going to be enough time. but so far, so good. i'm going to edit some time-lapse footage i took during the nature hike and make something creative. i might play around with some photos on sumo paint. i haven't edited too much with it, but it's uber awesome. in case you've never heard of such an amazing wonder, sumo paint is a free online image editor. you can also just 'paint' and draw something. but it's like paint on steriods. i don't have photoshop and the facebook picnik doesn't have this much stuff. i stumbled upon this site and it was love at first sight. happy sumo painting.

i youtubed stop motion because i've sort of become addicted to the idea of making vids with it. this vid is golden. probably because they used The Postal Service as their song and they actually solved the rubik's cube. i'm always amazed when someone can do it. i've spent tons of times trying and can only get one side, and parts of others. before i die, i want to solve it.

well, i hope that i can return soon. maybe with a vid that i make or some pics i played around with. hope your weekend is going good,

-Genevieve

it's in the air and it's all around

i just had a little random burst of inspiration. the idea for this pic started when i saw the 'stretch' tag and then it grew from there. and i love the texture that a piece of paper gets after you crumble it multiple times. it becomes really soft and fragile. it looks like it's been through a lot and has a story to tell. maybe it does.

and this song has been stuck in my head all day. i subscribed to Strawburry17 on youtube originally and she was part of putting together a 'punk goes pop 2' contest to pick a video for A Static Lullaby. they did a cover on Britney's "Toxic" which is really catchy and i definitely like it more than the original. anyways, on top of jamming to the song, check out kennychiwa147 's submission. really creative and love the card board box. totally subscribing to him as we speak.

so i hope you enjoy the pic, song and vid. i recommend checking out the youtube channels, i love watching people's mini creations. they're pretty inspiring. hope your week is going good,

-Genevieve

perfectly intertwined scheme

have you ever had an occurence in your life be so perfectly in tune with something else? like it's pure coincidence? i kind of like to think that it's not. that things are sometimes happening in a perfectly intertwined scheme, and all we can do is sit back and watch. well today, i went to go see an interview of Zach Braff here on campus. it was pretty much perfect. he was hilarious, very witty and random, and he seemed like he was about to explode everytime he spoke. i have been a fan since i saw Garden State sophomore year in high school. not only is the movie awesome, but so is the soundtrack. both are a must. he wrote, directed and acted in the movie, and chose the soundtrack (which he won a Grammy for). on top of the fact that he's hilarious in scrubs and directed the last couple of seasons. he has a great taste in music and directs music videos, too. basically, i would convert to Judaism for him. and the perfect coincidence of it all is that i've been wanting to make a movie. to write out a story, film and my favorite part: edit.

since about friday night, with a few friends, we've decided to make a movie. we've created characters whose story, at this point, must be told. and the idea of making a few shorts has also been thought up. and tonight, the first question that was asked by the audience was about advice to film writers. his answer was simple, but from experience. i hadn't thought of it, but he made perfect sense. i usually see occurences as things that are meant to be, and i believe that experiences are always beneficial. if they are good experiences in life, you can celebrate them; and if they are bad experiences in life, you can learn from them.

tonight, this one was good. it was the perfect boost to my creative juices and he inspired me more than he will ever know. i can't wait to shoot and edit some shorts and especially the movie. and if you haven't seen Garden State or heard the soundtrack, i really hope that you do go out and experience them. here is "New Slang" by The Shins and clips of the movie. 'You gotta hear this one song. It'll change your life. I swear'.

hopefully next time i'll have something to show you that i created, but until then, i must go back to studying for midterms. be back soon,

-Genevieve.

for the sake of creativity

have you ever looked at something and just become completely curious as to how it was made or how it was done? story of my life. minus i never seemed too interested in mechanics or how electronics were made. but when it comes to art, film, photography or music, it's a curiousity i can't satiate at times. i began making videos for school projects a few years ago, and ever since the moment that i opened Windows Movie Maker, i can't get enough of it. i love editing, filming, creating. sometimes certain movie edits are simple to do, but other times it takes planning and much trial and error. after a few months of editing, Windows Movie Maker couldn't do everything i wanted, but editing software is pretty pricy. so one day i hope to get to play around with a more intense editing software. lately, i have had an urge to film something and edit it. i don't exactly know what yet lol, but for creativity's sake, just have fun with it. i was searching on youtube the other day for The Postal Service music and i came across this video. the two people who made this used a lot of interesting techniques, and especially their use of lighting and the sped up parts. the whole set up is interesting, and they had the video match the song really well. makes you want to go out and make an indie music video.

i found out a little random info out by being a creeper and reading some of the comment responses. debohrah and neil used iMovie and took pictures of the drawings and made the time really short for each pic, so that it could be the movement that they wanted. i think they did an excellent job. i hope to one day do something with similar intricacies. i hope you enjoy this youtube video, and if you've never listened to The Postal Service, i also hope you go out and listen to some of their stuff. it makes for great chillin or studying playlists. there truly is nothing better and i must now say goodbye...

-Genevieve