Beautiful Coffers

 

Found @ coco + kelley

http://www.cocokelley.blogspot.com/

I was browsing through my bookmarked favorites and when I came upon coco + kelley I found this armoire that I immediately thought were coffers from a ceiling!  How much they look like the beautiful coffers at the Getty Villa in Malibu.

Some Funny for your Tuesday

 

 

 

Trimming Out the Pieces

 

Photo by Jeffrey.

I think life is a constant reexamination of your environment and cutting out and putting in things that either don't matter or do.  For example, over the past few weeks I've been thinking about friendship.  When I think about what I want in a friend and how my friends have been treating me I realize that they are not the same.  I had two friends, called L & J.  L was never really my friend to begin with; in fact, he was my next door neighbor at school and I thought he was pretty cool.  He was dating J.  This is how I met Jeffrey.  We all ended up living together, in a manner of speaking, and several times L & J upset me or I witnessed them using me or Jeffrey (mostly Jeff) for their own gain.  It took almost two years but finally I cut L & J out of our lives completely.  Yes, I also cut them out of Jeff's life, because he's too nice a person and would let them continue to walk all over them.  L & J were the catalyst for this "trimming out the pieces" aesthetic that has been my life recently.  I now know full well who my friends are, who is just an acquaintance, and who pretends but isn't really anything at all.  I just went through my Facebook and deleted nearly 20 contacts of people that I only had on there because we went to high school or college together, but we never really talked and there was no point in labelling them as a "friend", even in the online world, because they just simply didn't qualify.

Inevitably there is pain that follows.  The pain of knowing that people aren't who you think you are.  It really does make you feel as if you've been wearing the rose colored glasses as of late.  That's never a particularly happy thing, the rose colored glasses, and so...  At least I know now and I think I'm able to better identify these people.  It doesn't make it any less sad, however.

I Love... Coffee!

 

Thanks to my grandma I was able to induldge in one of my favorite activities: COFFEE.  Thank you, Grandma, for giving me the $4 so I could enjoy a Venti White Chocolate Mocha.  Mmmm.

Adaptation

This week has been a difficult one for me so far. I realized it has only been literally one week since I graduated college and moved back home, but, as I explained to my grandma yesterday, a week of time is different when you live in a dorm room with your sorta fiancee and you're in 7 classes and getting ready for graduation and everything that comes along with it. To go from that - when I was busy every hour of the day - to this, where my biggest concern is which box to unpack today, it's a really big transition. A week here feels like a month.

I'm applying for jobs every day and trying to make the best of my situation, but I can't help but be bored. To go from being constantly busy to constantly boring is tough, like I said. I miss my boyfriend, I miss school a little bit and since I've been here I've made a lot of discoveries about myself. Like the fact that I have very few true friends and that none of them are close to me right now. Jeff is in Valencia, Michael is in Moorpark, Allie (who I barely speak to anyway) is also in Santa Clarita. I really do feel alone. I don't have a best girl friend and people who I thought were friends either turned out not to be at all or are merely just acquaintances after all. One friend in particular I thought would become really great friends with, but that didn't turn out either. She would make plans with me and then cancel or not show up, or always be too busy. I introduced her to my mentor and she got in tight with her and ever since things have changed. I really wish I could have been great friends with her because we're so like-minded, but she was on such a different path than me. She still is.

One thing that I have started that has brought me some unexpected joy is rewriting a trilogy that I wrote many, many years ago. I guess it is an adaptation. I wrote about things like love and friendship when I didn't really know what those two things are. Now that I have some experience and perspective I'm hoping to add some depth and dimension to these characters that I have written from my heart. It's been unexpected. I got as far as the prolouge and then I couldn't figure out how to rewrite the first chapter. I turned myself into bed last night and it suddenly dawned on me! I wipped out the laptop and began writing for a long time. I didn't get to bed until nearly 4:30. It was a great feeling, to be honest, and it made me excited for what today would bring. I don't know what will come from this experience but hopefully it will bring nothing but great things into my life.

On another note, I still have more videos I can add, and I plan on doing so. Maybe I'll try and learn some tricks in iMovie so I can fancy them up a bit!

To Write, or Not to Write?

I was just thinking to myself that I'd love to rewrite a story I wrote a few years ago, polish it up and hope to maybe get it published one day. The original format of the story is floating around on the Internet somewhere and some time ago I happened to find it and save it to my computer. When I thought about whether or not I would rewrite it I went looking for it, and instead came upon the entire Twilight series in PDF format. Honestly, I thought I had deleted those. I haven't read those books in a year. Much like with the seven Harry Potter books, I haven't been able to reread them. I find it difficult to just pick up a book I've already read and to re-read it. Anyway, with my own book, I think it's something that would translate well into today's times, even though it was written about 8 years ago. We shall see.... we shall see.

Job Hunting

Despite the fact that I have a lot of customer service experience and three college degrees I am finding it very difficult to find a job. I'm browsing through Craigslist and 99% of the job postings are not applicable to me. The other 1% I'm applying for and not hearing anything back. In fact, I've never heard back from any Craigslist listing that I've replied to. Isn't that strange?

Grandma Says Hi

The End is the Beginning is the End

Well I'm back home with my mom and grandma and 2 hours away from school.  It's still taking some time for the knowledge that I'm going to be here for the foreseeable future and not just a week or a month or three months and then I'll go back to school.  I'm done with school.  It's a bit weird.  I was very blase about it and then once we began the processional to our seats I began sobbing and crying like a baby.  It just hit me.  I'm not exactly sure what "it" was but I was suddenly so overcome with emotions.  I had to start thinking of anything but what was going on i order to stop the crying.

The ceremony itself was great.  About 1/3 of the graduates left in the middle of the ceremony because they got bored.  Which I think is really disrespectful and crappy.  I never really liked most of the people at that school and looks like I had good reason not to.  So after the ceremony we worked on finishing up the dorm room, which took the next six hours, unfortunately.  We made it out though and had a nice dinner at Marie Calendar's.  Afterwards, my parents drove home and I stayed with Jeff.  We bought tickets for the late IMAX showing of Star Trek.  Before that started we walked through the new Promenade and Jeff got me some cute new Crocs (mine were busted) and he got some new cologne and me some lotion.  It was a lovely evening.  We sat on a bench and talked while watching a water fountain.  The movie was amazing.  Unfortunately I was really pretty tired when it was time to go home (just after midnight).  I drank a huge can of AMP just so I could stay awake.  Jeff and I both got gas and at the gas station is where we said our goodbyes.

Again, I started crying.  I was saying goodbye to this guy who I love more than anything in the world and I don't know when I will next spend time with him.  But I managed to only cry a little (thinking of monkeys helped).  So far the separation has been okay because there's plenty to keep me busy.  But I know there will soon come a moment where I will be overcome with emotion.  

Anyway, it's weird that it's a Monday morning (almost afternoon) and... okay it's not weird yet.  I'm okay with not having classes right now.  But what is weird is being home and feeling like I should stop messing around and do some homework.  I'll never have homework again, probably.  I don't know how I'll shake that feeling.  

My friends and family were very generous with me when it came to gifts.  The coolest gift was a Flip video camera from my uncle Clark, which came with video messages from my cousins wishing me a happy graduation.  Now that I have the camera I'm looking around for interesting things to film.  I wouldn't be surprised if some started popping up here.  We'll see.

Setup for Life

Setup of chairs, originally uploaded by crystalcierlakart.

A sea of white chairs has infiltrated the South Quad of campus. About 8,000 to be precise. There are between 600 and 700 students graduating, and an expected 7-10 guests per student. Ergo, 8,000 in total. I know these chairs look harmless enough but boy are they intimidating. The great news is that my mentor, the woman who took me under her wing and helped cultivate my love for art history and architecture, is going to be ushering me down the aisle as I bid farewell to college and enter the "real" world. Time really is a fickle thing. It goes by quickly, seems forever to progress, and yet feels either like either a moment or a lifetime ago.

A Change... Again

I decided the other layout wasn't working out for me too well.  I loved the look of it, but it would just be too difficult to change once I got tired of it, and I'm looking to customize something to my tastes while still looking fresh and chic.  And professional.  

It's 1am and I'm up studying for my final final tomorrow.  The final final of my final semester in college!  Hooray!  But then I have to move, so I'm not quite done yet, but by 3pm tomorrow I'll definitely be feeling a little lighter, and a lot more like a girl with a Bachelors of Art!

I Love Her... Sunnies!

 

Heidi Montag.  Photo courtesy ONTD.

As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I keep a collection of photos on my comptuer of things I find interesting, whether it's flowers or home decoration or just a color I like.  I also save photos of random people and some celebrities (not all, but a few) who's style I admire.  Normally I would never pick someone like Heidi Montag, simply because I could care less about "celebrities" who basically whore themselves out for fame and attention.  But this photo caught my eye because I love her sunglasses!  Combined with her perfectly coiffed hair she looks like quite the perfect LA "it" girl.  Paparazzi-crazed antics aside, she does have nice taste in fashion once in a while.

Happy Mother's Day!

 

Photo by me, Goleta Nursery, CA

Happy Mother's Day to all Mothers, whether biological, adopted, unofficial or otherwise.  

I Have No Clever Title For This One

 

Working on a paper for my library class right now, in which I am examining statistical informaiton about the libraries within the 23 campuses of the California State University system.  It's actually pretty amazing so far, especially the average salaries of librarians per campus.  Some are much higher than others.  The numbers are practically writing the paper for me, which is helping a great deal.  So far all of my data is being collected and compiled into one giant spreadsheet and from there I'll be able to write my paper.  Gotta love computers!

Happy Weekend!

 

Another weekend is upon us once again.  Finals are this week and by this time next Saturday I will an official college graduate with a Bachelor's of Art in Art with an exmphasis in Art History.  But before that happens I have to get through finals.  First I must finish a 20 page paper that I am co-authoring with another classmate, and then I must finish my glossary of architectural terms for undergradaute art historians.  In the meantime, I hope you have a nice weekend!  I will be glued to the laptop and entrenched at the library.

Naps are Underrated

I seriously wish I could take a nap right now. I'm on my nth load of laundry and I've been going back and forth on multiple papers that are due tomorrow/this week. I'd like nothing more than to lay down on my bed (which has no sheets on it because they're being washed) and take a nice break. Maybe after I'm done with my second paper?

Laundry Day

Today is the day I look forward to most in the entire year. No, I don't do my laundry just once a year. Today happens to be FREE LAUNDRY DAY at the dorms!!! Normally it costs $1 for a wash and 50 cents for a dry, which is cheap compared to some places. It just so happens that right now Jeff and I are both depressingly broke and the laundry piles have grown. So today we're going to take advantage of FREE LAUNDRY DAY and wash everything. Towels, sheets, clothes, undergraments, everything! (Unfortunately Jeff is at work so this mean I have to do it all by myself). But, nevertheless, it's FREE!

New Layout

It's been a very long time since I've worked on a website on a regular basis, so I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. To do this, I'm first playing around with layouts. I love colors and I would consider myself to be artistic, but when it comes to picking colors that work together, well I'm not so talented at that. So here's one layout that I'm going to stick with for a while. I'm going to try it on, so to speak, and see how it fits.

Meanwhile, my trip home has come to an and end it's time for me to go back to school to finish up the last two weeks of college.

I Call Her Penelope

Two weeks ago I was fortunate enough to trade in my beat up 1992 Thunderbird (you can see it in the background of the last photo!) for a 2007 Hyundai Eleantra. It's the middle-line version, so it's bette than basic but without all the bells and whistles of the top line version. To me, however, it's bells and whistles accomodate me quite well. I see the car as great transitional transportation. It's not a hand-me-down like the Thunderbird was and it's just nice enough so that I feel like I am in an age-appropirate vehicle.

In the last two weeks I've put around 700 miles on the car (300 of which have been long-distance driving) and I'll find any excuse to drive it. It used to be that if Jeff and I had errands to run we would take his car, as his Nissan Sentra SE R Spec V was much more safe than my Thunderbird. But now I often ask to drive and lately he's been having to ask if he can drive. Oh how the tables have turned.

About the name... Penelope. It's one of those names that I love and I'd be so happy to name a future daughter Penelope, but Jeff dislikes the name. More so than any person should. And since Penelope is Greek and I've had a lot of study in Ancient Greece these past two years I felt the name was quite fitting (though I secretly call her Illyria, as well). Needless to say I'm over the moon about this new car and all the places she will take me!