So today I went back to high school, sort of.
My good friend, Caitlin, who goes to the University of Redlands, has a mother who was our AP environmental science teacher our senior year of high school. She invited us into class today so that Caitlin could give a brief overview of her time spent in Rwanda for her May term, and so that she, I, and Rachel, also a Redlands student and Caitlin's friend, could talk to the students about what to expect from college life, socially, classes, if we're studying abroad, etc.
Caitlin's trip to Rwanda sounded facinating and she touched on issues of cultural differences, environmentalism, industry, gender equality, the genocide, etc. that she encoutnered there. She also had some wicked pictures with enormous gorillas.
But being back in the high school class environment was bizarre yet so familiar. It was a rally day at San Ramon High, and the Aloha dance is happening tonight, events that as a senior in high school were such a huge deal to me and very emotional. I'm stunned to be a junior in college now, an upper classmen. My life is moving at a frightening pace, and I want to know how I can slow it down, harness time, and live to the fullest while I'm still a "youth". Though San Ramon has gone through tremendous structural changes (old buildings torn down, new impressive facilities now built) but the students seem exactly the same. Everything about their demenor, their sense of humor, their overly make-uped faces scream of my high school days. It's both bizarre and kind of neat to see how far I've come.
And teachers apparently still say that the class of '06 was one of SRV's best ever....
Enough nostalgia.
laters blog nerds.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
tats! (etc.)
What makes an individual "edgy"? Is it a potty mouth? An American Apparel wardrobe or badass piercings? Reading Pitchfork on a regular basis?
I don't really know. Perhaps "edginess" is a state of mind.
But.....Dani King is just that much "edgier" these days because she got a tat! That's right folks, a bonafide tattoo (Pictures might come later).
Yesterday Lizzie O and I had quite the adventure in San Francisco. We woke up early to catch the Walnut Creek BART train to the Mission District where we waited around a while and in efforts to catch one MUNI bus that we believed to be the 33 Strayton, we missed the actual 33 Strayton going in the direction we needed to go. So we waited around, bought a disposible camera at the corner Walgreens, and basically looked really out of place while sketchy things were going on with the people behind us at the bus station. But alas, our MUNI bus arrived and we had one hell of a ride. The bus was delayed for a rediculous amount of time while a funneral procession fully equipted with 8 motorcyled cops paraded in front of us. Finally we moved on but the good old 33 Strayton MUNI bus took us up and up and up the hills of the city and it took a monster U-turn (quite impressive MUNI bus skills that driver did have). Eventually, we reached our stop: The infamous Haight Ashbury. By that time it was 12:04 and our tattoo appointment was at 1:00. So Lizzie O and I thought it a good idea to dink around the Haight street shops and such, maybe grab a light something to eat. So we stopped by a hippie vegan coffee shop (Coffee to the People) where we enjoyed bean and cheese wraps and lattes. I peed in a disgusting bathroom and was really grossed out. We ate nervously, sensing the impending doom of what we were about to experience (seriously, we were pretty freaked out). We thought shopping around would calm our nerves, but no. With each step our stomachs dropped six inches. We couldn't stand the anticipation any longer so we arrived for our appointment early. Mom's Body Shop on Haight was where the deed was done. "Danny Boy" was our artist.
80$ each and a nerve wraking hour or so later, Lizzie O and I had tattoos, people! I have the Greek word for peace "eirene" on my left foot, and Lizzie O has "good news" adorned on her left foot as well. Honestly, the experience was not as painful as I was expecting (though it did hurt, an acute sharp kind of hurt at some points). Overall, we are satisfied with the experience and we are enjoying our body art.
Lizzie O's visit to the Bay Area was successful/enjoyable for all parties involved. We spent a lot of money though while out shopping (that seems to be the main sorce of entertainment around here, that and eating delicious food). We played with Jack Jack, ate treats my mother prepared, watched an awesome documentary on haight ashbury/berkeley/sexual revolution/1960's on VH1 which was neato. Today we hung out on Telegraph Ave in Berekeley, went to vintage stores and each bought these awesome 1960s frocks.
Lizzie O has now departed to Reno, NV. Looking for things to occupy my time before leaving for Leavenworth, I am now creating Italian flashcards wth phrases such as Puo dirmi dov'e un buon ristorante? (Can you tell me where there is a good restaurant?) and Che tempo fa oggi? (What's the weather today?). My initial observation is that the italian language seems to be the perfect compromise between french and spanish. It sounds very very beautiful though and I'm excited to learn more and eventually use it!
Ciao! E stato un vero piacere! (Bye! It's been a real pleasure!)
I don't really know. Perhaps "edginess" is a state of mind.
But.....Dani King is just that much "edgier" these days because she got a tat! That's right folks, a bonafide tattoo (Pictures might come later).
Yesterday Lizzie O and I had quite the adventure in San Francisco. We woke up early to catch the Walnut Creek BART train to the Mission District where we waited around a while and in efforts to catch one MUNI bus that we believed to be the 33 Strayton, we missed the actual 33 Strayton going in the direction we needed to go. So we waited around, bought a disposible camera at the corner Walgreens, and basically looked really out of place while sketchy things were going on with the people behind us at the bus station. But alas, our MUNI bus arrived and we had one hell of a ride. The bus was delayed for a rediculous amount of time while a funneral procession fully equipted with 8 motorcyled cops paraded in front of us. Finally we moved on but the good old 33 Strayton MUNI bus took us up and up and up the hills of the city and it took a monster U-turn (quite impressive MUNI bus skills that driver did have). Eventually, we reached our stop: The infamous Haight Ashbury. By that time it was 12:04 and our tattoo appointment was at 1:00. So Lizzie O and I thought it a good idea to dink around the Haight street shops and such, maybe grab a light something to eat. So we stopped by a hippie vegan coffee shop (Coffee to the People) where we enjoyed bean and cheese wraps and lattes. I peed in a disgusting bathroom and was really grossed out. We ate nervously, sensing the impending doom of what we were about to experience (seriously, we were pretty freaked out). We thought shopping around would calm our nerves, but no. With each step our stomachs dropped six inches. We couldn't stand the anticipation any longer so we arrived for our appointment early. Mom's Body Shop on Haight was where the deed was done. "Danny Boy" was our artist.
80$ each and a nerve wraking hour or so later, Lizzie O and I had tattoos, people! I have the Greek word for peace "eirene" on my left foot, and Lizzie O has "good news" adorned on her left foot as well. Honestly, the experience was not as painful as I was expecting (though it did hurt, an acute sharp kind of hurt at some points). Overall, we are satisfied with the experience and we are enjoying our body art.
Lizzie O's visit to the Bay Area was successful/enjoyable for all parties involved. We spent a lot of money though while out shopping (that seems to be the main sorce of entertainment around here, that and eating delicious food). We played with Jack Jack, ate treats my mother prepared, watched an awesome documentary on haight ashbury/berkeley/sexual revolution/1960's on VH1 which was neato. Today we hung out on Telegraph Ave in Berekeley, went to vintage stores and each bought these awesome 1960s frocks.
Lizzie O has now departed to Reno, NV. Looking for things to occupy my time before leaving for Leavenworth, I am now creating Italian flashcards wth phrases such as Puo dirmi dov'e un buon ristorante? (Can you tell me where there is a good restaurant?) and Che tempo fa oggi? (What's the weather today?). My initial observation is that the italian language seems to be the perfect compromise between french and spanish. It sounds very very beautiful though and I'm excited to learn more and eventually use it!
Ciao! E stato un vero piacere! (Bye! It's been a real pleasure!)
Friday, May 23, 2008
stuff white people like
The full list folks....visit the website for some hilarious article reads.
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/
#100 Bumper Stickers
#99 Grammar
#98 The Ivy League
#97 Scarves
#96 New Balance Shoes
#95 Rugby
#94 Free Healthcare
#93 Music Piracy
#92 Book Deals
#91 San Francisco
#90 Dinner Parties
#89 St. Patrick’s Day
#88 Having Gay Friends
#87 Outdoor Performance Clothes
#86 Shorts
#85 The Wire
#84 T-Shirts
#83 Bad Memories of High School
#82 Hating Corporations
#81 Graduate School
#80 The Idea of Soccer
#79 Modern Furniture
#78 Multilingual Children
#77 Musical Comedy
#76 Bottles of Water
#75 Threatening to Move to Canada
#74 Oscar Parties
#73 Gentrification
#72 Study Abroad
#71 Being the only white person around
#70 Difficult Breakups
#69 Mos Def
#68 Michel Gondry
#67 Standing Still at Concerts
#66 Divorce
#65 Co-Ed Sports
#64 Recycling
#63 Expensive Sandwiches
#62 Knowing What’s Best for Poor People
#61 Bicycles
#60 Toyota Prius
#59 Natural Medicine
#58 Japan
#57 Juno
#56 Lawyers
#55 Apologies
#54 Kitchen Gadgets
#53 Dogs
#52 Sarah Silverman
#51 Living by the Water
#50 Irony
#49 Vintage
#48 Whole Foods and Grocery Co-ops
#47 Arts Degrees
#46 The Sunday New York Times
#45 Asian Fusion Food
#44 Public Radio
#43 Plays
#42 Sushi
#41 Indie Music
#40 Apple Products
#39 Netflix
#38 Arrested Development
#37 Renovations
#36 Breakfast Places
#35 The Daily Show/Colbert Report
#34 Architecture
#33 Marijuana
#32 Vegan/Vegetarianism
#31 Snowboarding
#30 Wrigley Field
#29 80s Night
#28 Not having a TV
#27 Marathons
#26 Manhattan (now Brooklyn too!)
#25 David Sedaris
#24 Wine
#23 Microbreweries
#22 Having Two Last Names
#21 Writers Workshops
#20 Being an expert on YOUR culture
#19 Traveling
#18 Awareness
#17 Hating their Parents
#16 Gifted Children
#15 Yoga
#14 Having Black Friends
#13 Tea
#12 Non-Profit Organizations
#11 Asian Girls
#10 Wes Anderson Movies
#9 Making you feel bad about not going outside
#8 Barack Obama
#7 Diversity
#6 Organic Food
#5 Farmer’s Markets
#4 Assists
#3 Film Festivals
#2 Religions their parents don’t belong to
#1 Coffee
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/
#100 Bumper Stickers
#99 Grammar
#98 The Ivy League
#97 Scarves
#96 New Balance Shoes
#95 Rugby
#94 Free Healthcare
#93 Music Piracy
#92 Book Deals
#91 San Francisco
#90 Dinner Parties
#89 St. Patrick’s Day
#88 Having Gay Friends
#87 Outdoor Performance Clothes
#86 Shorts
#85 The Wire
#84 T-Shirts
#83 Bad Memories of High School
#82 Hating Corporations
#81 Graduate School
#80 The Idea of Soccer
#79 Modern Furniture
#78 Multilingual Children
#77 Musical Comedy
#76 Bottles of Water
#75 Threatening to Move to Canada
#74 Oscar Parties
#73 Gentrification
#72 Study Abroad
#71 Being the only white person around
#70 Difficult Breakups
#69 Mos Def
#68 Michel Gondry
#67 Standing Still at Concerts
#66 Divorce
#65 Co-Ed Sports
#64 Recycling
#63 Expensive Sandwiches
#62 Knowing What’s Best for Poor People
#61 Bicycles
#60 Toyota Prius
#59 Natural Medicine
#58 Japan
#57 Juno
#56 Lawyers
#55 Apologies
#54 Kitchen Gadgets
#53 Dogs
#52 Sarah Silverman
#51 Living by the Water
#50 Irony
#49 Vintage
#48 Whole Foods and Grocery Co-ops
#47 Arts Degrees
#46 The Sunday New York Times
#45 Asian Fusion Food
#44 Public Radio
#43 Plays
#42 Sushi
#41 Indie Music
#40 Apple Products
#39 Netflix
#38 Arrested Development
#37 Renovations
#36 Breakfast Places
#35 The Daily Show/Colbert Report
#34 Architecture
#33 Marijuana
#32 Vegan/Vegetarianism
#31 Snowboarding
#30 Wrigley Field
#29 80s Night
#28 Not having a TV
#27 Marathons
#26 Manhattan (now Brooklyn too!)
#25 David Sedaris
#24 Wine
#23 Microbreweries
#22 Having Two Last Names
#21 Writers Workshops
#20 Being an expert on YOUR culture
#19 Traveling
#18 Awareness
#17 Hating their Parents
#16 Gifted Children
#15 Yoga
#14 Having Black Friends
#13 Tea
#12 Non-Profit Organizations
#11 Asian Girls
#10 Wes Anderson Movies
#9 Making you feel bad about not going outside
#8 Barack Obama
#7 Diversity
#6 Organic Food
#5 Farmer’s Markets
#4 Assists
#3 Film Festivals
#2 Religions their parents don’t belong to
#1 Coffee
Sunday, May 18, 2008
hello summer
My sophomore year at Whitworth has finally come to an end.
It feels wonderful to be home again except for the heat wave. Today marks my first full day home for summer vacation and this is what I did: slept in rediculously late, went for a run (which was horrid in the 104 degree heat), downloaded tons of music, listened to tons of music, showered (which felt awesome knowing that I wouldn't ever shower in a dorm ever again), played with the dog (Jack Jack is my rockstar little minpin), started my summer leisure reading, had a lovely summer meal with my mother (barbequed chicken, brocoli & cabbage salad, fresh strawberries, and topped off with a gin & tonic), and basically bummed around.
I've never done this whole blogging thing before and to be honest, it feels kinda lame. Normally I make fun of blogs though I do enjoy the occasional music/fashion/celebrity gossip blog now and then. However, the whole purpose of this particular new blog of mine is to record the adventures of my travels next semester in MILAN, ITALY. So I figured I'd get a head start and experiment with the blog. I'm out of my comfort zone here so bear with me readers. Oh and, the title of my blog in case you were wondering comes from a song title by "beirut" and I thought it was appropriate. Listen to the song if you haven't.
Okay, so I guess I'm supposed to talk about my life and feelings and crap like that, open up to the public for all to read and mock. Awesome, allow the vulnerability to begin.
I will begin with a summer timeline: I'm here dinkin' around at home in the beautiful Bay Area for 4 weeks, then I fly back up to Washington to be staff at Tall Timber Ranch (crafts/counselor) in Leavenworth until mid August, and then I come back home and prepare for Italy. My mom and my brother, Joe, will be coming over with me and we will start in Milan, then travel to Venice, Tuscany, Florence, Rome, other neighboring cities, and then fly into Athens, Greece and explore there too. My orientation begins September 9th at the Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, located in Milan Italy with 30,000 students. The Milan campus of the Cattolica is the largest (there are 4 others in Italy) making it the largest private University in Europe and the largest Catholic school in the world. I find that hilarious. From tiny Protestant Whitworth to a Catholic giant.
Okay, more Italy musings to come...
So let's talk about my exciting time bumming around the house. Specifically, let's talk about all the music I recently downloaded. No, I'm not ashamed to be a downloader. Music and art should be free. end rant.
I got the following: both Beach House albums (self-titled, and Devotion), Mirah (You Think It's Like This But It's Really Like This), MGMT (Oracular Spectacular), and DeVotchKa (A Mad and Faithful Telling). And the listening has all been wonderful.
Some honorable mentions of things currently on my playlist that I've entitled "Cool Club" since I've officially prononced these bands to be a part of Dani King's cool club that doesn't really exist are....Architecture in Helsinki (Places Like This), Death Cab (Narrow Stairs), Beirut (The Flying Cup Club...whoa a club within a club...), Deerhoof (Friend Opportunity), Explosions In the Sky (All of A Sudden I Miss Everyone), Feist (The Reminder), The Go! Team (Thunder, Lightening, Strike), Grizzly Bear (Friend, and Yellow House), Panda Bear (Person Pitch), Peter Bjorn & John (Writer's Block), Radiohead (In Rainbows), TV On the Radio (Return to Cookie Mountain), Vampire Weekend (self-titled), Sun Kil Moon (April), and various Sufjan tracks, a little Pedro, Netural Milk Hotel and others....
Okay, now that I've bored you, here's what I plan on reading this summer though I know I will not get to everything: Women In Love by D.H. Lawrence, The River Why by David James Duncan, Nine Stories/Franny and Zooey/Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters all by J.D. Salinger and all of which I've read before but feel necessary to reread, some Vonnegut, oh and my Italian language course book. I originally planned on reading War and Peace figuring that I'd love it since I loved reading Anna Karenina so much but the book was too heavy to bring home from Spokane. And I'm all Russian literatured out.
Music, books, a comfortable bed, fresh healthy food to eat, cable television...home is paradise. Tomorrow I might go bum around Berkeley for a while, visit some friends, read more. Oh, and mother okayed the tattoo. Looks like I'll be going under the needle next week. More updates to come (and maybe a picture).
Peace out blog world.
It feels wonderful to be home again except for the heat wave. Today marks my first full day home for summer vacation and this is what I did: slept in rediculously late, went for a run (which was horrid in the 104 degree heat), downloaded tons of music, listened to tons of music, showered (which felt awesome knowing that I wouldn't ever shower in a dorm ever again), played with the dog (Jack Jack is my rockstar little minpin), started my summer leisure reading, had a lovely summer meal with my mother (barbequed chicken, brocoli & cabbage salad, fresh strawberries, and topped off with a gin & tonic), and basically bummed around.
I've never done this whole blogging thing before and to be honest, it feels kinda lame. Normally I make fun of blogs though I do enjoy the occasional music/fashion/celebrity gossip blog now and then. However, the whole purpose of this particular new blog of mine is to record the adventures of my travels next semester in MILAN, ITALY. So I figured I'd get a head start and experiment with the blog. I'm out of my comfort zone here so bear with me readers. Oh and, the title of my blog in case you were wondering comes from a song title by "beirut" and I thought it was appropriate. Listen to the song if you haven't.
Okay, so I guess I'm supposed to talk about my life and feelings and crap like that, open up to the public for all to read and mock. Awesome, allow the vulnerability to begin.
I will begin with a summer timeline: I'm here dinkin' around at home in the beautiful Bay Area for 4 weeks, then I fly back up to Washington to be staff at Tall Timber Ranch (crafts/counselor) in Leavenworth until mid August, and then I come back home and prepare for Italy. My mom and my brother, Joe, will be coming over with me and we will start in Milan, then travel to Venice, Tuscany, Florence, Rome, other neighboring cities, and then fly into Athens, Greece and explore there too. My orientation begins September 9th at the Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, located in Milan Italy with 30,000 students. The Milan campus of the Cattolica is the largest (there are 4 others in Italy) making it the largest private University in Europe and the largest Catholic school in the world. I find that hilarious. From tiny Protestant Whitworth to a Catholic giant.
Okay, more Italy musings to come...
So let's talk about my exciting time bumming around the house. Specifically, let's talk about all the music I recently downloaded. No, I'm not ashamed to be a downloader. Music and art should be free. end rant.
I got the following: both Beach House albums (self-titled, and Devotion), Mirah (You Think It's Like This But It's Really Like This), MGMT (Oracular Spectacular), and DeVotchKa (A Mad and Faithful Telling). And the listening has all been wonderful.
Some honorable mentions of things currently on my playlist that I've entitled "Cool Club" since I've officially prononced these bands to be a part of Dani King's cool club that doesn't really exist are....Architecture in Helsinki (Places Like This), Death Cab (Narrow Stairs), Beirut (The Flying Cup Club...whoa a club within a club...), Deerhoof (Friend Opportunity), Explosions In the Sky (All of A Sudden I Miss Everyone), Feist (The Reminder), The Go! Team (Thunder, Lightening, Strike), Grizzly Bear (Friend, and Yellow House), Panda Bear (Person Pitch), Peter Bjorn & John (Writer's Block), Radiohead (In Rainbows), TV On the Radio (Return to Cookie Mountain), Vampire Weekend (self-titled), Sun Kil Moon (April), and various Sufjan tracks, a little Pedro, Netural Milk Hotel and others....
Okay, now that I've bored you, here's what I plan on reading this summer though I know I will not get to everything: Women In Love by D.H. Lawrence, The River Why by David James Duncan, Nine Stories/Franny and Zooey/Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters all by J.D. Salinger and all of which I've read before but feel necessary to reread, some Vonnegut, oh and my Italian language course book. I originally planned on reading War and Peace figuring that I'd love it since I loved reading Anna Karenina so much but the book was too heavy to bring home from Spokane. And I'm all Russian literatured out.
Music, books, a comfortable bed, fresh healthy food to eat, cable television...home is paradise. Tomorrow I might go bum around Berkeley for a while, visit some friends, read more. Oh, and mother okayed the tattoo. Looks like I'll be going under the needle next week. More updates to come (and maybe a picture).
Peace out blog world.
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