just breathe, just believe

if there is ever something that can either bring all your emotions into the present, it's taking a deep breath. maybe you think this is cliche, but try it. take a slow deep breath. take five deep, meaningful breaths.

sometimes we let our stress take over our emotions, take over our actions, take over our thoughts. i feel horrible when i let this happen. it's usually around the times of finals if i've barely slept and i'm not eating well. but last night before i went to sleep, i did some yoga breathing and although a bunch of emotions flood you at once (especially if you're overwhelmed with thoughts), it felt better. it felt like i was getting rid of my negative energy and going to enjoy my rest.

so if you're feeling stressed out or just tired. stop. take a breath or a few. and it can help you keep going.



i hope you have a wonderful rest of the week, and i hope things are less stressful on your end.

namaste,

-Genevieve

the joys of people knowing your interests

this completes me. i really have no other words to say. i am eternally grateful to the individual who came across this and sent it to me. and i would really like to meet the individual who made this. so i could give them a high five.

- Genevieve

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

back in the day mommy and me

as promised, i did find some time to procrastinate. i'm studying for linguistics and although it can be interesting, it's not the easy elective i was hoping for lol anyway, here are some of the images i'm using for my paper. i couldn't find the other couple on google, so these will have to do...

Berthe Morisot, The Mother and Sister of the Artist (Reading), c.1869-70

Morisot, The Cradle, 1872

Morisot, Butterfly Hunt, 1874

Morisot, Young Woman and Child Sitting in the Grass, 1875

depending on the comments that my prof gives me for the first two pages and outline that i submitted to her will depend my topic mostly and well where ever my references take me. i want to look at why she painted mothers and children, why she had to paint what she painted, how she incorporated landscapes into them. women in 19th century weren't supposed to paint outside or well be outside and get their hair messy. at least not of her social class. i'm just mostly intrigued by the fact that she had a decently successful run as a female artist and how impressionism allowed for female artists. it's neat, but we'll see what happens.

"Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength."

ok, i think my studies really need me back. be back soon. and don't stop believin',

-Genevieve

you're not a baby if you feel the world

hmm. it seems that my calendar went from february to april. i am terribly sorry.

school has been very busy this semester. for some reason i felt compelled to be super-woman and take on a lot of credits, but it will all be over soon.

life is funny. people are funny. i've noticed that a lot this semester. i've also learned that things have a weird way of working out. sometimes there's something that you really want, but you don't get it. and at first you go through the sadness that you didn't get it, but eventually there comes a point (if you're really paying attention) that you realize why it wasn't meant for at that moment. maybe, it was never meant to be.

i volunteer at the art museum and it's strange how people come specifically to see one piece of artwork. granted, it is a Monet, but it's not one of his best. it's simply the name that they came to see. and i'm not saying that i don't do that but i give the rest of the artwork a chance. i don't ignore and skip over the rest to go see that one name. it makes me laugh. i secretly wish that i could tell them what i consider to be more interesting in the museum and show them that instead. and the best part of the whole thing is that the Monet has an alarm, so if you get too close to it, it will go off. never fails that after you show the person where it is, about five seconds later you hear the thing go off. gets me every time.

here's what i've been pretty into lately...

i think that should get you pumped lol. it certainly gets me pumped. i'm taking french this semester (well i guess i should start saying i took french this semester), finals start this week. it was a lot of fun, my t.a. was hilarious and really kept the class interesting. we had it monday through friday at 9:30, but it think that was the first morning class i've ever really enjoyed. i'm going to miss it. j'aime le cours de françias!

i'm (trying to) write a term paper on Berthe Morisot. i would tell you the topic, but i don't think i'll know until it's finished lol but i shall come back and put up all the her paintings i'm using for my illustrations. and this time i will be back. there's going to be a lot of free time to procrastinate studying the next two weeks.

i will try to be back as soon as possible, i have to get back into the swing of blogging again. it feels like it's been ages. but i won't let my little minute square of the interwebz die so easily. we made a year this past february, this is pretty incredible for me. so i won't disappear, promise.

leave you with a happy image:

incidently, if you're ever having a bad day, just google image 'kittens i love you' or 'puppies i love you'. for some reason, you forget your worries for a bit. i have a weakness. it's a problem.

meow,

-Genevieve

finding someone to play the game with

i can't believe that i completely forgot to blog about The Young Victoria. i went to see it a few weeks ago in theaters and fell in love. Emily Blunt is quite convincing and the romance and passion between her and Rupert Friend feels very genuine. the movie combines the historical with the romantic love story in a way that feels honest and not cliche. if you like a political spin on the glam of royalty, and not just pretty dresses, i would definately recommend it. and if you like pretty dresses and an endearing love story, you will surely enjoy it as well. although, i do not encourage many people to look for movies online, i did find it on megavideo. but if it's still showing in theaters near you, it's worth the expensive ticket price.

if i haven't convinced you already, check out the trailer:

happy belated heart day, hope you were able to share it with the people you love most in your life. i know many people say that it is a hallmark holiday, but it's nice to hear that someone cares, from a family member or significant other. and the chocolate never hurts.

cheers,

-Genevieve

wishing you were here

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...

this made me smile.

i find this adorable.

and this fits my mood to the tee.

hope things are better on your front. til next time,

-Genevieve

like a bomb in a birdcage

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,

-Genevieve

trying and flying to capture perfection

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,

-Genevieve

the curve that sets things straight

"Smile, what's the use of crying?

you'll find that life is still worthwhile

if you just smile"

dear random stranger,

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.

thank you for being you,

- Genevieve