I'm back!

First, a book list:

1. In Cold Blood / Truman Capote.

2. The Disapparation of James / Anne Ursu.

3. The Immortal Fire / Anne Ursu.

4. Foreign Affairs / Alison Lurie.

5. Her Fearful Symmetry / Audrey Niffenegger.

6. The Stepford Wives / Ira Levin.

7. The Count of Monte Cristo / Alexandre Dumas.

These being the books I plan to read between now and our moving date. … So much has happened in the months {and months!} that I haven't written:

acceptance into graduate school (SUNY Binghamton)

set date for move down there (June 19th-ish)

summer job (N.K.s again, hurrah!)

puppy planning (vacillating on the bulldog question)

graduation (May 14th!!!)

etc etc etc.

In other news, I now have time not only for blogging (if I can keep it up), but also for photography. I am so so glad to get back to it! There is something about that weight on my shoulder that makes me see this city with the eyes of memory. I'm not going to forget Boston - how can I, living here my entire life? - but I constantly seek out the little details that capture me so. I was tremendously pleased when my uncle commented on a shot of the Old North Church and said that I have an eye for architectural photography. Now that I'm writing it out, getting all this writing out that apparently is dying to get out, I'm starting to think that my photos of buildings, of details of the city, are a way for me to remember things differently, with more significance than I've ever attached to them before.

I've been exploring different approaches towards the commandments of "take a picture every day" and "take your camera everywhere." During Senior Week, I naturally took a camera with me to every event, and when my aunt Valerie was visiting I focused on learning to comfortably carry my Sony all over Boston. After 5 days or so, it's practically a habit, and the decision to leave my camera home was really odd for me today. It was more a matter of time than of "I'm not going to take pictures today," not to mention I was going to walk Bry partway to work on my way to my parents' house, and I've been down Boylston into the Back Bay so much lately it's getting a little boring. Plus, I still haven't figured out what I'm doing with the "Day in the Life" shots from yesterday.

I mentioned having writing that needs to get out, an absolutely bizarre sensation. There is a feeling in my limbs, a heaviness especially in my arms, a feeling as though it's thickening and coagulating with a substance that belongs outside of my body but has its source in my blood. This is something that needs to happen. The older I get, the more I discover the truth behind tired clichés like "heartbreak" and "a pounding headache" - now, having spent the hardest nine months of my life reading books and writing papers with every fiber of my being, having graduated not two weeks ago with a B.A. in English Literature, I find myself absolutely bewildered at the prospect of "writing something that wants to be written". I have no idea what this something is. I don't know whether it's a novel or nonfiction. I don't know the subject matter. I am incredibly intimidated (I just started reading Capote, for God's sake - a writer who changed the way people write!), but that does not stop me. Want another cliché? "I am going to explode if I don't" write this thing. This stuff in my blood, that starts inside but longs to be out, this is what will explode.

I keep thinking I'll have to wait until I get to my required creative writing course in graduate school to start my creative juices - but that's just more intimidation, and I don't know where it's coming from, but I don't take that anymore. I have learned to view every obstacle as insurmountable until I surmount it and prove that nothing can stop me. I have completed the entire English major in two years - confusion about subject matter and worries about creative juices are nothing. I can write a novel, I can write a short story, I can write a work of nonfiction; all I have to do is decide what it's about.

Thrifting Finds!

oh.

my.

goodness.

Goodwill in Jamaica Plain, MA =

amazing.
$25 got me 2 skirts and 3 sweaters. um, WHAT.
memo to regular stores: that is what regular clothes should cost, i think. 
memo to grocery stores: $25 should not buy me milk, bread, eggs, and a chicken for dinner.
it should buy a lot more than that.
scammers.

at some point I will figure out how to set up my camera for a

What I Wore 

so you can see my new treasures :)

until then, just a quick linkback to a couple of blogs:
Sally over at Already Pretty (one of my favorites!) posted a lovely link to
Couture Allure Vintage Fashion's article on
Fraudulent Label Switching
!!!
If it hadn't been for reading this fascinating post,
I never would have snapped these shots
as a public service announcement!
First, this 
gorgeous
winter coat:
 
real wool, real fur collar, looked amazing on me!

and this one of "its" label:

if you look closely, you can see how sloppily it was handstitched into the coat.
it was partially ripped out, so i had to hold it on to take the picture.

but when i tried the coat on,i found another label on the side seam! a big one!
(i think) the original label!
(i'm so annoyed... my phone was almost out of battery,
so i couldn't risk taking another picture)

well, anyway, to cut a long story short,
i took the coat up to the front desk and told them that i thought they'd been 
scammed!!!
and they agreed…
but they also pointed out that it seemed like it was 
good quality
and even if it wasn't from saks,
certainly the wool and fur were real,
so it probably was worth $35.99...

anyway.
Moral:

check the labels! all over the coat! 
Second Moral:

lots of people are scammers. especially

grocery stores

and people that decide how much clothes should cost

and people that want to trick people into buying vintage when it's not really. 
Third Moral:

lots more people are nice.

especially

Sally 

and

Couture Allure Vintage Fashion.

also me. i'm pretty nice too.

the end.

By the way,
What are your tips for beginning thrifters?
Do you go for quantity or quality when you thrift?
 Have you encountered fake labels before?

Friday Favorites

… I need a better title than that! anybody find good weekday alternatives to "Things I Love Thursday," for those of us who can't make it to the blog on Thursdays?

this week I love:

my family

this is my Mamãe.

 she was born in Brazil, but her father was German 

and

her mother was American.

so she has a

{beautiful}

Brazilian accent tinted with German.

she is a

social worker

and she works with the Brazilian immigrant community!

she loves reading.

she has lots of freckles.

in our family, we assign Pooh characters.

Mamãe is

  because she likes to write poems

(not because she is a Bear of Very Little Brain.)

next…

this is my Balou.

he is from everywhere because he was a

Navy brat.

  he started growing his hair and beard out when he was in college at MIT

(1 million years ago!)

so even if he did have any freckles 

he has probably forgotten where they are.

he works in computer security and helped to design

Kerberos

which everybody uses for password protection - like Hotmail and stuff!

he is

because he knows a lot of things and is always ready to tell you them.

also, he has many friends and relations.

Next...

this is my Thaïs.

a.k.a. "That Girl" and "Me-Too."

she is rather grown-up compared to here:

she wants to be a 

shoe designer

when she grows up!

she loves 

{Shakespeare}

 she looks just like our Mamãe!

…but with fewer freckles.

and she is

because she is rather small

and worries about things

and we have a picture*

*(lost in the sands of time in the closet behind her chair)

of her as a toddler

with a

BIG BUNCH OF BALLOONS!

she also appreciates Expotitions. 

Then…

 

here is my Tycho.

he is rather grown up too.

he likes reading

and animals

and recreating battle scenes with Playmobil:

he looks like me when i was little…

but he is growing into himself rather nicely.

i don't think he has many freckles. 

he and Thaïs have the same birthday! 3 years apart!

i would argue that he is 

because he has lots of Interesting Anecdotes

and if you ask him a question, you're sure to get an answer.

but Mamãe and Thaïs insist that he is

because he spends an inordinate amount of time saying

look at me!!!

to which i must sigh and agree.

however, until he got his hair cut,

he looked much more like

than anyone else in the 100-Acre Wood.

Finally…

this is me.

I am studying 

{English literature!}

because

I lovelovelove reading.

I also love writing complicated things about what I read.

I love romantic dates

and sparkles

and pink things

and toddlers

and someday I will have a beautiful

{bakery}

image courtesy flickr

where I will sell cookies.cupcakes.baguettes.cakes.croissants

and all kinds of other delicious things.

I am also

because I talk very fast

and I'm rather bouncy

and I am unendingly cheerful

and sometimes I say "worraworra."

The End.

(Fear not, future Favorite Days will not be nearly this long!)

My New Year's Resolution…

…stop procrastinating.

Not really. That's a little too much to ask, I think. Hence the {irony} of the post title.

Here's another {irony}: One of my actual New Year's Resolutions is to

* break my Internet / computer addiction!

The {irony} being that I also want to

* blog more!

and

* read for pleasure!

and

* be more tidy!

So the combination of all of this really adds up to an 

Umbrella

{via flickr}

Resolution:

Use the time I am given wisely.

see, the problem I have is that really, 

I have the 

{via flickr}

for all the things that need doing (playing with nannybaby E., going to class, writing papers, eating, yoga, dating my husband, reading, etc.) but I waste it all online.

For example, I just wasted 2 hours of my Life trying to find out 

how to change the fonts in my Blogger template...

when it turns out (I think?) that I can just write my post

in Word {yuckies}

and then copy/paste.

Meanwhile, my grad school application essays still aren't done.
Neither is the laundry.

See what I mean?

It would be a much smaller deal to declare my intention to blog more

if the rest of my life weren't spent trying to

GET OFF THE COMPUTER

Hence my recent trip…

{my picture}

to the Boston Public Library.

I've decided that it is an absolutely atrocious

state of affairs when an English major, of all things,

should spend her free time doing anything but reading!

So far I have brought home 12 books*

*and yes, classes start next Friday

and have yet to hook up my Goodreads account** so that you can see what I'm reading!

**the {irony} of course being that even to read a paper-in-my-hands book
I still need the computer... pathetic...

What are you procrastinating on?

What were your New Year's Resolutions?

How do you get yourself off the interwebz when real life calls?

Now, about that personal statement…

If You Give A Girl A Paper…

(all due respect to Laura Joffe Numeroff)

If you give a girl too many papers to write,


she's going to want something else to do instead.

So you'll find her a camera.

She'll take lots of silly pictures of herself in the mirror.


Then she'll want some props.
So you'll find her grandmother's vintage sunglasses.

Seeing them will remind her of her mother,

whom she hasn't talked to in several days. But her phone's battery is dead.
So she'll ask to use yours.
Then she'll use up all your battery talking to her mother.


Talking to her mother will remind her that she hasn't updated her Goodreads "currently-reading" list in a while.

So she'll have to use your computer to update it.
Seeing her list of currently-reading books will remind her of school.

That will make her remember that she has too many papers to write.

And chances are,
if you give a girl too many papers to write,
she's going to want something else
to do
instead.

You Are a Doris!

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz ...

You are a Doris -- "I must help others."

Dorises are warm, concerned, nurturing, and sensitive to other people's needs.

How to Get Along with Me

• * Tell me that you appreciate me. Be specific.
• * Share fun times with me.
• * Take an interest in my problems, though I will probably try to focus on yours.
• * Let me know that I am important and special to you.
• * Be gentle if you decide to criticize me.

In Intimate Relationships

• * Reassure me that I am interesting to you.
• * Reassure me often that you love me.
• * Tell me I'm attractive and that you're glad to be seen with me.

What I Like About Being a Doris

• * being able to relate easily to people and to make friends
• * knowing what people need and being able to make their lives better
• * being generous, caring, and warm
• * being sensitive to and perceptive about others' feelings
• * being enthusiastic and fun-loving, and having a good sense of humor

What's Hard About Being a Doris

• * not being able to say no
• * having low self-esteem
• * feeling drained from overdoing for others
• * not doing things I really like to do for myself for fear of being selfish
• * criticizing myself for not feeling as loving as I think I should
• * being upset that others don't tune in to me as much as I tume in to them
• * working so hard to be tactful and considerate that I suppress my real feelings

Dorises as Children Often

• * are very sensitive to disapproval and criticism
• * try hard to please their parents by being helpful and understanding
• * are outwardly compliant
• * are popular or try to be popular with other children
• * act coy, precocious, or dramatic in order to get attention
• * are clowns and jokers (the more extroverted Dorises), or quiet and shy (the more introverted Dorises)

Dorises as Parents

• * are good listeners, love their children unconditionally, and are warm and encouraging (or suffer guilt if they aren't)
• * are often playful with their children
• * wonder: "Am I doing it right?" "Am I giving enough?" "Have I caused irreparable damage?"
• * can become fiercely protective

Haiku

Spider eyes brush cheek
Leaving mascara footprints
Baby monarch's kiss