An Update

I didn't much like my last post.  For the first post I had in over a week, it wasn't much of anything good.  I don't like to be so whiny when i first come back.  It's like if you haven't seen someone in a long time and the first thing you do when you see them is get mad at them for not spending time with you in a long time.  You should reward them first for visiting you because secretly you are training all the people you like to be horribly addicted to your presence. 

Now that I have revealed my sociopath roots, it's time for a picture show of what I've been doing or seeing or experiencing or whatever in the last couple of weeks that I haven't blogged already.  And here's where the words end because I want you to experience some mystery, because a TA told me once that mystery is the spice of life, although I disagree. Ok enough is enough.

Independent Woman

When I typed that, I was reminded of this video, which I had forgotten about, and which has very very little to do with the post, but I may or may not have had the lyrics memorized at one point in my life.  But that's not my fault.  One of my sisters had printed out the lyrics and they were floating around our computer room for a couple weeks.  What was I supposed to do?

One of my favorite things to do lately is to go out by myself to somewhere I have never been before and take
pictures.  My photography class has sort of given me an excuse to do that, and it turns out  really like it.  I am a total creeper and I take photos of people I have never seen before.  One girl said to her friend, while I was within three feet and definitely still in earshot "Did that girl just take our picture?"  To which I just kept walking.   Because, it is perfectly legal, and I am perfectly fine with being the weirdo.

That was a tangent.

The main point, is how much I realized I really like to go discover things by myself.  Form my own opinions, see something new, live the high life, etc.  F'reals though, when I saw Walker Evans at our school's museum, one of my friends told me I should have taken her with me.  But the thought didn't even occur to me to ask someone to come with me.  I think it's my way of feeling connected with the world - by going out into it, while still being alone to my thoughts.  It's really awesome, and I really really recommend it.

Here are some pics (of the terrible cell phone variety) of my days discoveries:

1. 
   
2. 
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4. 

In case you were wondering: 1. some more pretty tulips (among other gorgeous plants - I love the colors!) 2. Me messing around with what I thought was a cool scene 3. It's called lawn bowling apparently?  ANd each of those is about 300 plastic shopping bags, but they are art, not regulation balls 4.  Did you make out that rainbow in the sky?  Rainbows don't photograph well

Ah, the spring, she is good, no?

Lover's Day

As one who is perpetually single, Valentine's day comes with mixed emotions.  And this year, many people I am close to seem to be having especially rough Valentine's day's.


But alas, 'tis a day of love and candy, and if you don't have love, at least you can have candy.  (I think it only fair that if you do have love, you should not be allowed to eat candy, thus ensuring me a lifetime amount of candy - jokes!)

Without further ado, some things I love:

via

and also

this (how meta) 

this

and this

Not to mention

and

Happy Lover's Day to All.  I lover you.

Le Fashions

Ok, so you, by this point, are like, "Wow, stop talking about your photography class because no one cares."  But this is me ignoring you because I care and this is my blog and don't read it if you don't want to.  (I don't cater to my audience very well, in case you couldn't tell.)

So here's the dealio, I am not a hipster.  And this is not one of those things where someone who is a hipster pretends to not be a hipster.  I am actually not a hipster.  I enjoy listening to top 40.  I read stupid celebrity gossip magazines when I'm in the grocery store because I think they're interesting and mind-numbing.  Although I sometimes shop at thrift stores, for the most part it's Forever 21 and Target for me.  And I own two scarves which I never wear.  Therefore I could never be a hipster.

Now that we've cleared that out, I think photography is super rad.  And so do a lot of hipsters.  In fact, my class, which is made of only probably 13 people, has about 9 hipsters in it (including the professor, who is actually only a grad student).  So every day when I go to the class I feel this tremendous pressure to wear cute clothes, because everyone else is wearing cute clothes that are like artistic and cool and edgy and not at all like the usual jeans + t-shirt from the company you interned at over the summer + Stanford hoodie which = the average Stanford student's wardrobe.

But not only do my clothes have to be cute, they have to send a message.  And the message that I usually try to convey through my clothes when dressing for this photo class is "the reason you don't see value in my photos is because my aesthetic is oh-so-clearly over your head as evidenced by my edgy and different taste in clothes that you think are cool but a little but ugly."  I mean, if a  pictures worth a thousand words, can an outfit be worth (...I'm counting...) 38?  I'm hoping yes.

So yes, I am posting pictures of  my outfits for the last few classes.  Which you will probably (hopefully) think are a little but ugly.  But also cool.  and edgy.  and over-your-head.  Did I really say that?  How pretentious is that?

In any case:

Bright blue pants, turquoise top, fat belly.  I was in a rush that morning.  

Oh and btw's, I made my first print, which you are welcome to think of as complete crap.  While the subject of the photo may suck, I am fairly proud of the printing.  Here is a picture of that picture:

Pictures of pictures look dumb.

Alert.

I already told you about my photography class and how I need to take one billion thousand photos before this quarter runs up, but I don't think I clearly listed all the implications of this.

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls,  I have an announcement to make.  I am a creeper.  I creep on people and take their pictures when they aren't paying attention.  But wait!  There's more! I live in a neighborhood full of little kids.  It's part of what I love about it.  On my walk to school there is an elementary school and a pre-school.  Little kids abounding!  And little kids make the best pictures (evidence:

)

THe other day a cute little girl rode by on her bike and I just took the picture.  And then as I told a friend later, "It was totally ok because her mom didn't even see me do it."  Which just sounds like I am the creepiest person in the world.  

Maybe I am, but hey, little kids are rad.  And there are a lot worse people who could be taking pictures of random little kids.  

Home for the Holidays

So what did I do in the 3 weeks I was home and apparently too busy to blog, you ask?

Well, largely nothing.  Seriously, I watched a lot of tv, played a surprising amount of video games, and was happy with the day if I ended up leaving home.  (helpful hint if you are me (which is another way of saying note to self): if you don't leave the house in a day, you will end up feeling bad about yourself).

For realzors though, not a lot going on.  Which is how any good vacation should be right?  Then again, normal vacations do not last three weeks.

So without further ado, pictures of some of the schtuffs I saw at home:

I call this sequence, "So did they give you a name along with all those rippling pectorals?"  which is a Hercules quote and a reference to the fact that while shirtless you can be....

An Accountant,

A creeper,

A chef,

A good uncle, 

and a model, but I don't know if I will share that picture (it's a bit embarrassing)

This sequence is called, "Only at Home"

I wake up next to a penguin wearing what appears to be actually functioning headphones.

We actually go through this amount of flour.

Fridge Tetris

And these guys don't have a group:

And there, you have it, folks.  

Photos and Giveaway Info

Dudes.

Remember when I told you that I was hosting a giveaway when I reached 10,000 pageviews and that I would give a hint every time I passed another 1,000 mile marker?

Well, I have since had about another 1,000 pageviews, and you, my dear audience, are clearly needing to be rewarded with a hint as to what my giveaway will be!

And here is that hint:

There is not one giveaway item, but instead of compilation a few pretty cool things, and one truly terrific item.

And with that very vague clue, here are some photos that I have taken lately from my cellular device.  Here we go dudes.

From the random category:

Apparently someone at work has the nasty habit of pulling about 7 toilet protectors out and then just leaving them on the counter by the sink.  Sign says, "Who is doing this?  Please Stop!"

 Just because I go to a world-renown university doesn't mean our TA's don't get lazy.  This is literally the only comment on the whole paper.  

 The fountains this week are blood red in honor of the upcoming rivalry game vs. Cal.  All this fountain does is make me want kool-aid

As I poured my third glass in one hour, I thought, "I probably shouldn't drink alone."

And these are the "I like what I see" photos:

I like this photo, but let's pretend it was taken 100 years ago:

Much better.

 I love these fall colors.  They're pretty much a new discovery for me here.  Because of the whole lack of colors in SoCal thing here.  And anyone who is from New England is scoffing at me right now.  

If I had an architectural obsession on campus what do you think it would be?  Oh yes, it's the most Stanford building there is, Hoover Tower (named after our only presidential alum, not the vacuum).

Happy Weekend, all!  Wish me luck on the drive back to Southern California this weekend!  I have company this time!

I Wanna Get Witcha & Take Yo Pitcha

Some pictures and their explanations:

 I laugh at this as much as I laugh at my name actually being Gigi G.  Which is to say, me and Chin-Chin are homeslices.

 I'm trying out this new thing called closed-toed shoes.  It's weird that so far I really, really like it.  Mostly because these shoes have no sole so it seems like I have flip-flops on still.

 I get tired of packing up all my stuff just to go to the bathroom when I'm in the library studying for a few hours.  To solve this problem I left this message: "If you steal my laptop, I will haunt you til the day this laptop dies.  Furthermore, this laptop is two years old, and there are much nicer laptops in this library. (although you shouldn't be stealing things in the first place."  So far, it works!

 The effects of 2.5 years of methamphetamine use.  No matter how many times I see this picture, I still think it's hilarious.  Is that terrible?

 I had to tear at the fabric of our nation at work the other day.  And by the fabric of our nation, I mean the butcher paper that this map was made of.

I love my school.  

 This from from back when I was at home.  A snail made of green beans.  I felt kind of weird eating it.

And the housewarming present that my sister got me.  It's a small baking pan in the shape of an elephant.  Yet to be used, but VERY cool.  

That's about it.  I realize this is sort of a cop out of a post, but these pictures have been sitting in my phone waiting to be enjoyed by the outside world.  And I needed to make my last post not the first thing that you see on my blog.  In retrospect, it's a little embarrassing, but I'm not really one to be embarrassed.  Oh, and the song?  Missy Elliott's, "Work It"  Because I think at least two people were genuinely curious.  

Fin.