the pack leader
the rockstar.
we'll miss you buddy.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
relevance?
sorry. there is none. other than i've taken these recently and they're begging to be seen. atleast i appreciate their random beautiful humorous meaningless importance.
life is funny, huh.
life is funny, huh.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
red, white, and woo hoo!
july 3rd was potentially the longest day of my life. time at the studio had never seemed to drag on so much before. espresso made an effort to aid, but failed. we got on the road about 30 minutes late ... only to get stuck in one of the worst downpours i've ever been in a car for. lovely. but we knew there was wine, fish tacos, and jensen/nagan/lewis/sigmeth fun at the end of that long, straight, wet road.
i walked in the door and not only had the rain stopped and the wine been poured, but my future had already been planned out for me. thanks rita. i always knew i could count on you for this kind of stuff. so apparently after graduation my life goes something like this:
...get the hell out of madison
...make some serious CASH (or atleast enough for a couple months rent and some cheap food)
...move in with fuzzy in astoria, queeens.
...live the life in nyc
i could not be happier with their plans for me. now i just have to figure out how to get through this next year, get a kick ass portfolio together, find a way to make some real money, and oh, you know, convince myself that moving myself out to nyc without anything is not suicide.
one way to start solving these problems ... 'dude. we need to go to brewsters!' and so we went. first to the 'classy' cf bar for a glass of honey weis. but it was kind of crowded, not as cheap, and well, just not as entertaining. so off to brewsters we went. let the fun and night of quotes begin.
'i don't think i can do this' .. says a worried kitty.
'it's ok. trust me. it's worth it. just wait ... it gets so much better' ... i reassure the underage sis.
literally not more than three minutes after arriving at the BRIGHTLY lit (this is really an understatement) townie bar and courtney walks up to me, fuzzy, david, and kitty as we hold our ice cold $1.50 mugs of miller light ... than we get this lovely story.
'so i'm in the bathroom, and this girl looks at me and says 'stick your mouth under that' referring to the super powered hand drier. so i tell her to do it, and there she goes and sticks her mouth under it. after a few seconds she comes back up and says 'yup. dry.''
nice. quality. INAPPROPRIATE. this was going to be a good night.
i think this is supposed to mean '$1.50' ... don't ask ...
fuzzy's reaction to a woman in some seriously high pants ... and an oversized belt ...
the infamous hand dryer ... it really was powerful ...
random saliva swapping among a few locals, and some offers made by bright-blue-shirtwearing-carnies kept the ball rolling. cheap beer and amazingly horrible/great music left us in hysterics until 1am when the bar shut down. disappointing... but apparently 'chuggers' (the other quality place in town) was not abiding by the 1am on weeknights rule so we crossed the empty street and went and had one more. lower lights and less excitement, but a good end to the evening nontheless.
awakening at 10am 'prepared' (or pretending to be) to jump in the back of brent's car and ride through the cannon fourth of july parade, we were all slightly relieved when we were informed that we would be staying home instead and having a kick ass breakfast. that's ok with me. eggs with spinach, shallots, and goat cheese. yum. good bread, good meat, good oj ... good morning.
another drive back to the cities ... a quick shower ... and off to the jensen/nagan valley. pims in the yard ... some weiners ... a teasing of rain ... and of course charades. quality time with 'our people'.
here's to our independence.
i walked in the door and not only had the rain stopped and the wine been poured, but my future had already been planned out for me. thanks rita. i always knew i could count on you for this kind of stuff. so apparently after graduation my life goes something like this:
...get the hell out of madison
...make some serious CASH (or atleast enough for a couple months rent and some cheap food)
...move in with fuzzy in astoria, queeens.
...live the life in nyc
i could not be happier with their plans for me. now i just have to figure out how to get through this next year, get a kick ass portfolio together, find a way to make some real money, and oh, you know, convince myself that moving myself out to nyc without anything is not suicide.
one way to start solving these problems ... 'dude. we need to go to brewsters!' and so we went. first to the 'classy' cf bar for a glass of honey weis. but it was kind of crowded, not as cheap, and well, just not as entertaining. so off to brewsters we went. let the fun and night of quotes begin.
'i don't think i can do this' .. says a worried kitty.
'it's ok. trust me. it's worth it. just wait ... it gets so much better' ... i reassure the underage sis.
literally not more than three minutes after arriving at the BRIGHTLY lit (this is really an understatement) townie bar and courtney walks up to me, fuzzy, david, and kitty as we hold our ice cold $1.50 mugs of miller light ... than we get this lovely story.
'so i'm in the bathroom, and this girl looks at me and says 'stick your mouth under that' referring to the super powered hand drier. so i tell her to do it, and there she goes and sticks her mouth under it. after a few seconds she comes back up and says 'yup. dry.''
nice. quality. INAPPROPRIATE. this was going to be a good night.
i think this is supposed to mean '$1.50' ... don't ask ...
fuzzy's reaction to a woman in some seriously high pants ... and an oversized belt ...
the infamous hand dryer ... it really was powerful ...
random saliva swapping among a few locals, and some offers made by bright-blue-shirtwearing-carnies kept the ball rolling. cheap beer and amazingly horrible/great music left us in hysterics until 1am when the bar shut down. disappointing... but apparently 'chuggers' (the other quality place in town) was not abiding by the 1am on weeknights rule so we crossed the empty street and went and had one more. lower lights and less excitement, but a good end to the evening nontheless.
awakening at 10am 'prepared' (or pretending to be) to jump in the back of brent's car and ride through the cannon fourth of july parade, we were all slightly relieved when we were informed that we would be staying home instead and having a kick ass breakfast. that's ok with me. eggs with spinach, shallots, and goat cheese. yum. good bread, good meat, good oj ... good morning.
another drive back to the cities ... a quick shower ... and off to the jensen/nagan valley. pims in the yard ... some weiners ... a teasing of rain ... and of course charades. quality time with 'our people'.
here's
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
who's ready to blow stuff up?
so apparently it's july.
since miss fuzzy jensen is home for the occassion ... i'll consult her.
are you excited for the fourth?
while we ponder ... let's review
it seems to me the family has some experience in this department.
let's do it.
p.s. are fireworks now legal in mn? whatever.
happy fourth to you all ... wherever you may be.
since miss fuzzy jensen is home for the occassion ... i'll consult her.
are you excited for the fourth?
while we ponder ... let's review
it seems to me the family has some experience in this department.
let's do it.
p.s. are fireworks now legal in mn? whatever.
happy fourth to you all ... wherever you may be.
Monday, July 2, 2007
summer in the cit-ay
i am officially once again a minneapolis girl. it's nice. i've kind of fallen in love with this city again. not in the way i loved mpls before as a kid, but in a new way. in a way cooler way. right.
i've been inhabiting the mini guest (storage) room at my dad and angies place, going to bed early yet still too late, waking up not quite early enough, slaving away with a steamer all day as a prep stylist at 8th st studio
walking the lake harriet neighborhood pretty much every night while listening to wilco over and over (and over?)
reconnecting with the local music scene
catching up with old friends, making a few new ones
hating life, loving life. it's great to be back. to be somehow so isolated and integrated all at once.
limbo really. 'where in the hell am i going anyway...?'
good question. i've been thinking about that a lot lately. whether it's what i'm going to do for lunch today, what i'm going to be doing after graduation this next spring, to where i'm going to be living when i'm fifty. who are my friends going to be? what kind of house am i going to be living in? what is my life going to look like.
cliché? a little. but i can't deny it or ignore it.
doggy paddling between fear and excitement, i'm figuring shit out. or atleast learning to deal with not being able to figure it out. coping with the idea that we have the potential, risk, opportunity of inumerable lives. not rewind/repeat/replay/redo, but the thought that i could go a million different ways from here, and no path has the same end point. that life is really not so linear.
i can't even decide whether i like the idea of living in one of the numerous overpriced, oversized but gorgeous houses on the lake or scraping by each day in a tiny studio and walking to the nice neighborhood to enjoy their well spent ( ? ) tax dollars. for now, i'll just keep 'playing' with the idea of what i could possibly 'be'. whatever that means exactly.
one thing i have managed to figure out, my yard is going to be filled with daisies. screw mowing and weeding. daisies. little white ones.
i've been inhabiting the mini guest (storage) room at my dad and angies place, going to bed early yet still too late, waking up not quite early enough, slaving away with a steamer all day as a prep stylist at 8th st studio
walking the lake harriet neighborhood pretty much every night while listening to wilco over and over (and over?)
reconnecting with the local music scene
catching up with old friends, making a few new ones
hating life, loving life. it's great to be back. to be somehow so isolated and integrated all at once.
limbo really. 'where in the hell am i going anyway...?'
good question. i've been thinking about that a lot lately. whether it's what i'm going to do for lunch today, what i'm going to be doing after graduation this next spring, to where i'm going to be living when i'm fifty. who are my friends going to be? what kind of house am i going to be living in? what is my life going to look like.
cliché? a little. but i can't deny it or ignore it.
doggy paddling between fear and excitement, i'm figuring shit out. or atleast learning to deal with not being able to figure it out. coping with the idea that we have the potential, risk, opportunity of inumerable lives. not rewind/repeat/replay/redo, but the thought that i could go a million different ways from here, and no path has the same end point. that life is really not so linear.
i can't even decide whether i like the idea of living in one of the numerous overpriced, oversized but gorgeous houses on the lake or scraping by each day in a tiny studio and walking to the nice neighborhood to enjoy their well spent ( ? ) tax dollars. for now, i'll just keep 'playing' with the idea of what i could possibly 'be'. whatever that means exactly.
one thing i have managed to figure out, my yard is going to be filled with daisies. screw mowing and weeding. daisies. little white ones.
Monday, June 4, 2007
bad! bad blogger!
do i even attempt to do this? it's been, what ... almost TWO months since my last post? one whole month since i landed back on american soil? yikes.
instead of trying to recap each day of the last two months, how about i answer the most commonly asked questions for you.
Q: so. india. what was that like?
A: ha. um. well. let's see. absolutely crazy terrible beautiful exhausting amazing. yeah. oh, and my boyfriend was there. that was cool.
Q: so. helsinki. what was that like?
A: they have a nice airport.
Q: so. london. i bet that was cool. (i guess that's not a question)
A: um, totally.
Q: so. jet lag after returning from the other side of the world. what was that like?
A: did you say something?
Q: so. are you glad to be home?
A: ............................................. yeah.
but really. it's good to be home. talk about one hell of a ride. even now after two months i'm still trying to 'process' the whole thing. that sounds really cheesy. it's true though. sometimes it's almost like i never left at all. it's very strange to go somewhere, be there for a while, and leave no mark behind. it makes you feel small.
it's cool though. it's realistic. it's just how it goes. it makes me feel even more insignificant than i did before i left, but that in itself is truly enlightening. not that i'm enlightenend. i'm just sayin. yeah.
Q: so. what have you been doing since you got home?
A: um. sucking at life.
ok, i'm being hard on myself. it went a something like this:
get home. pouring rain. kiss kiss hug hug talk talk eat eat. 'huh? yeah i'm awake.' sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep. eat. 'huh?' 21st birthday. 'woohoo. now i can legally do what i've been doing illegally for years.' hammock. sleep. sleep. hammock. mom's cooking. porch times. computer. porch. computer. music. sleep. movie. movie. movie. sleep. allergies. benedryl. sleep.
and then i woke up. it was a new world. the sun was shining. the birds were chirping. and i had nothing to do.
so since then i've been following my mom around like a puppy dog, trying to line up prep-stying work for myself at various minneapolis photo studios, making plans to move into my daddio's place, eating more of mom's cooking, going out for the occasional legal adult beverage, and well ... getting back into the swing of this grand country that we know as 'home'. or something.
instead of trying to recap each day of the last two months, how about i answer the most commonly asked questions for you.
Q: so. india. what was that like?
A: ha. um. well. let's see. absolutely crazy terrible beautiful exhausting amazing. yeah. oh, and my boyfriend was there. that was cool.
Q: so. helsinki. what was that like?
A: they have a nice airport.
Q: so. london. i bet that was cool. (i guess that's not a question)
A: um, totally.
Q: so. jet lag after returning from the other side of the world. what was that like?
A: did you say something?
Q: so. are you glad to be home?
A: ............................................. yeah.
but really. it's good to be home. talk about one hell of a ride. even now after two months i'm still trying to 'process' the whole thing. that sounds really cheesy. it's true though. sometimes it's almost like i never left at all. it's very strange to go somewhere, be there for a while, and leave no mark behind. it makes you feel small.
it's cool though. it's realistic. it's just how it goes. it makes me feel even more insignificant than i did before i left, but that in itself is truly enlightening. not that i'm enlightenend. i'm just sayin. yeah.
Q: so. what have you been doing since you got home?
A: um. sucking at life.
ok, i'm being hard on myself. it went a something like this:
get home. pouring rain. kiss kiss hug hug talk talk eat eat. 'huh? yeah i'm awake.' sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep. eat. 'huh?' 21st birthday. 'woohoo. now i can legally do what i've been doing illegally for years.' hammock. sleep. sleep. hammock. mom's cooking. porch times. computer. porch. computer. music. sleep. movie. movie. movie. sleep. allergies. benedryl. sleep.
and then i woke up. it was a new world. the sun was shining. the birds were chirping. and i had nothing to do.
so since then i've been following my mom around like a puppy dog, trying to line up prep-stying work for myself at various minneapolis photo studios, making plans to move into my daddio's place, eating more of mom's cooking, going out for the occasional legal adult beverage, and well ... getting back into the swing of this grand country that we know as 'home'. or something.
Monday, April 9, 2007
HEL to DEL
well. this is long overdue. i'm not even quite sure where to begin.
so ... after returning from greece and spending some quality time with grandma joyce and ginny and bob exploring londontown together, i prepared for my trip to idia. packed up all of my things, moved them with the help of csm friend jen to her place, and waited for the time to arrive. took a cab to the airport. got my ticket, went through security, ate a crappy sandwich and and overpriced orange juice, and then boarded the plane. smooth sailing to helsinki, finland where i was scheduled for a 2 hour layover. from there it would be a short 6 1/2 hours to delhi.
as most of you already know, things did not go quite as planned.
helsinki finland. approximately 14:00. quite. uneventful. boarding begins.
'passport and visa please.'
'here's my passport.'
'visa?'
'no. i'm only a tourist.'
'visa?'
'no ... i'm only a tourist.'
'no. you need visa. can't let you on.'
'what? ... umm ... is there any way ... umm ...'
shit. yeah. a 'slight' miscalculation. and so it began.
the women at the airport were incredibly helpful ... rescheduling my flight for free ... getting my luggage off the plane before it took off ... finding me a 'relatively' inexpensive hostel ... getting me into a cab. they pretty much held my hand. they didn't have to ... but i wasn't about to turn away free help. a couple nights in the hostel (hostile? ... haha) a can of nuts, and some fancy work with the indian embassy to finland ... and i was back on track. i guess that is the slightly simplified version. aside from the mental freakout inside my little head ... everything was under control. if you are ever flying across the world and have to get stranded somewhere i recommend helsinki. clean. quiet. safe. even a few things to do. great photo booths as well.
and so i was off yet again. a little hesitant, but ready to get to delhi. really ready. it had been almost three months since i had seen franz, and at that point making me wait three more days was just not cool. after giving me a bit of a hassle at the desk because my bag was a little too heavy i made my way to yet again through security ... another crappy sandwich ... a little light reading ... and an hour of waiting for something to go wrong.
nothing did. the flight was smooth. the food was surprisingly good. and then i was there. it was hot. and i couldn't find the guy that franz had sent to pick me up (he was in ranchi for the weekend ... of course i was supposed to be with him) i decided at 2am that it was time to just get a hotel room and sleep. finally sleep. so i did. it was overpriced, but safe. and there was a phone. it was beyond weird to be laying in a 'swanky' hotel in delhi ... and have franz be somewhere else. but this is how franz and i travel. the highs and the lows. there's a history.
since then it has been blissfully uneventful ... aside from the whole 'being in india' thing. it has been greater than great to be here with franz ... over 2 months into his stay here he has things figured out which takes an immense amount of stress out of the simplest situations. from mosquitos to bollywood films, cows and rickshaws, good food and bad food, gurgaon to jaipur, hot as hell to ac, 5 1/2 hour bus rides to historic forts ... this is only the beginning.
so ... after returning from greece and spending some quality time with grandma joyce and ginny and bob exploring londontown together, i prepared for my trip to idia. packed up all of my things, moved them with the help of csm friend jen to her place, and waited for the time to arrive. took a cab to the airport. got my ticket, went through security, ate a crappy sandwich and and overpriced orange juice, and then boarded the plane. smooth sailing to helsinki, finland where i was scheduled for a 2 hour layover. from there it would be a short 6 1/2 hours to delhi.
as most of you already know, things did not go quite as planned.
helsinki finland. approximately 14:00. quite. uneventful. boarding begins.
'passport and visa please.'
'here's my passport.'
'visa?'
'no. i'm only a tourist.'
'visa?'
'no ... i'm only a tourist.'
'no. you need visa. can't let you on.'
'what? ... umm ... is there any way ... umm ...'
shit. yeah. a 'slight' miscalculation. and so it began.
the women at the airport were incredibly helpful ... rescheduling my flight for free ... getting my luggage off the plane before it took off ... finding me a 'relatively' inexpensive hostel ... getting me into a cab. they pretty much held my hand. they didn't have to ... but i wasn't about to turn away free help. a couple nights in the hostel (hostile? ... haha) a can of nuts, and some fancy work with the indian embassy to finland ... and i was back on track. i guess that is the slightly simplified version. aside from the mental freakout inside my little head ... everything was under control. if you are ever flying across the world and have to get stranded somewhere i recommend helsinki. clean. quiet. safe. even a few things to do. great photo booths as well.
and so i was off yet again. a little hesitant, but ready to get to delhi. really ready. it had been almost three months since i had seen franz, and at that point making me wait three more days was just not cool. after giving me a bit of a hassle at the desk because my bag was a little too heavy i made my way to yet again through security ... another crappy sandwich ... a little light reading ... and an hour of waiting for something to go wrong.
nothing did. the flight was smooth. the food was surprisingly good. and then i was there. it was hot. and i couldn't find the guy that franz had sent to pick me up (he was in ranchi for the weekend ... of course i was supposed to be with him) i decided at 2am that it was time to just get a hotel room and sleep. finally sleep. so i did. it was overpriced, but safe. and there was a phone. it was beyond weird to be laying in a 'swanky' hotel in delhi ... and have franz be somewhere else. but this is how franz and i travel. the highs and the lows. there's a history.
since then it has been blissfully uneventful ... aside from the whole 'being in india' thing. it has been greater than great to be here with franz ... over 2 months into his stay here he has things figured out which takes an immense amount of stress out of the simplest situations. from mosquitos to bollywood films, cows and rickshaws, good food and bad food, gurgaon to jaipur, hot as hell to ac, 5 1/2 hour bus rides to historic forts ... this is only the beginning.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
in the beginning ...
my last day of class seems like a month ago already. how can this be? i just got here? i just started? this is only the beginning! well... the end my term at central saint martins was hectic, stressful, and a blast all at once. projects due ... trip plans to be made ... parties to attend ... friends to say goodbye to ... rooms to pack up ... places to go one more time. a beginning and an end at the same time ... and all the contradictions that accompany each.
so it was off to greece with kp, jen, and kori. big plans ... but not much planned. the usual college student excursion. our flight left at 6:30 am ... meaning we would have to be at the airport approximately 2 hours prior departure. seeing as it was the end of the term and their were social functions to attend, we decided the perfect solution would be to bring our luggage to the party ... have a little fun ... say goodbye to everyone ... take a cab to the airport from the party ... and go to greece. great plan. great. and it was. celebrated miss piepers 21st birthday with a couple bottles of wine and a few brightly colored roller suitcases (turquoise, cobalt, lime green, and lilac ... no joke). perfect.
we landed in athens early in the afternoon. gorgeous. sunny. warm. nice breeze. smelly hostel (roughly salami and wet dog). good food. great sights. off to a good start.
two nights in athens and then it was off to santorini. an 8 hour ferry (cheaper than the 3 hour super duper fast speedy something or other) and we were there. again... beautiful. warmer. not the usual tourist season ... but that's a good thing, right? for the most part it was ... minus the fact that it got cold ... and then it rained (1 out of supposed 3 days out of the year that it does) ... and then the island shut down. in the end we had an amazing time. random. but amazing. we definitely saw a santorini that the usual visitor does not. from donkeys to a sketchy local bar to the 4 of us squeezing into the tiny rental car of 2 girls we met from jersey and driving then entire length of the island.
black sand beaches ... red sand beaches. santorini boasts a gorgeous coast.
but this was not the end.
so it was off to greece with kp, jen, and kori. big plans ... but not much planned. the usual college student excursion. our flight left at 6:30 am ... meaning we would have to be at the airport approximately 2 hours prior departure. seeing as it was the end of the term and their were social functions to attend, we decided the perfect solution would be to bring our luggage to the party ... have a little fun ... say goodbye to everyone ... take a cab to the airport from the party ... and go to greece. great plan. great. and it was. celebrated miss piepers 21st birthday with a couple bottles of wine and a few brightly colored roller suitcases (turquoise, cobalt, lime green, and lilac ... no joke). perfect.
we landed in athens early in the afternoon. gorgeous. sunny. warm. nice breeze. smelly hostel (roughly salami and wet dog). good food. great sights. off to a good start.
two nights in athens and then it was off to santorini. an 8 hour ferry (cheaper than the 3 hour super duper fast speedy something or other) and we were there. again... beautiful. warmer. not the usual tourist season ... but that's a good thing, right? for the most part it was ... minus the fact that it got cold ... and then it rained (1 out of supposed 3 days out of the year that it does) ... and then the island shut down. in the end we had an amazing time. random. but amazing. we definitely saw a santorini that the usual visitor does not. from donkeys to a sketchy local bar to the 4 of us squeezing into the tiny rental car of 2 girls we met from jersey and driving then entire length of the island.
black sand beaches ... red sand beaches. santorini boasts a gorgeous coast.
but this was not the end.
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