It’s feeling like spring, and I have some project ideas I want to make happen! So stay tuned for that.
Right now I’m just sitting in the library at WCC because my philosophy professor decided to be sick and not email us to tell us that he cancelled class, for the second day this week. Lovely!
One more month and I’m done with high school forever, and on to a summer of dishwashing, and then UW.
…but I’m back! The sunny weather, combined with a healthy dose of caffeine (the WCC cafe lady makes the best mochas), has encouraged me to start writing again.
First off, about my modern dance class at Whatcom: I’d like you all to know that it is the most joyful class I have ever taken. I am not a person who likes to exercise, because it hurts, and I don’t like pain, but dance feels good.
If you are at WCC, I seriously recommend you take this class. No matter who you are. Hannah, the teacher, is as intense as her bright orange hair, and so most of the class period is totally focused, but she’s funny, too, so it’s not all work.
I have to go to class now, but I’d like to leave you with one last thing: if you know me at all, you’ll know I love nail art, and cutepolish (a Youtuber) is one of my favorite nail tutorial people. So, here you go:
After being home sick for a week and a half, I began to get bored. I acquired some pink polka dot duct tape from Michael’s craft store, as well as some small charms that look like keys.
Then I found this Youtube tutorial:
And I made a wallet of my very own!
The girl in the tutorial gave hers a few card pockets on the left side and a clear ID pocket on the right side, but I decided to just make card pockets on both sides. Cause I have so many credit cards. And am exceedingly rich.
The mini teeny pocket on the right side is for my Rite Aid Wellness Plus card, which always used to get lost in my old wallet.
Here’s what it looks like on the inside:
There is a main pocket for money, and a little pocket for punch cards.
I used the key charm to invent a little latch type thing, since the wallet doesn’t like to stay shut. I probably should have made the outer layer slightly longer than the inner one, so it would fold better… perhaps another day.
Hi, sorry if I’m boring you with all my nail polish posts… well. The only person who regularly reads these is my mom anyway. So hi mommy! But anyway, here is the design I did on my nails tonight:
Shown below, the 2 colors I used are “Boozy Bruch,” whatever the heck that means, by L’Oreal (it’s #102), and I striped it with Sinful Colors Nail Art in the color “Pot O Gold” (#1658 I think).
The color in these pictures is pretty true to life, although the orange is a bit more bright and neon-y. I think the lighting in my house is sort of yellow.
Found this Cutepolish Youtube tutorial on making newspaper nail art, and tried it on my mother!
Here are the results:
She wanted pink nails, so instead of using gray like the tutorial asked for, we used Sally Hansen Hard as Nails polish in the color Ice. The topcoat is Sally Hansen Hard As Nails in Clear. Just telling you, in case you want to, you know, be a copycat.
If you want to try this out on your own, it’s quite simple:
1. Paint your nails a solid light color.
2. Let them dry. This is an important step so that the newspaper doesn’t stick to the polish.
3. Cut out a small piece of newspaper, slightly wider and longer than your nail. (Doesn’t have to be precise.)
4. Dip the newspaper in rubbing alcohol and lay it flat on your fingernail in the direction you want the writing to show up. It will show up backward, and there’s nothing you can really do about that, but if you want you can arrange it upside-down or sideways or whatever.
5. Hold for about 10 seconds, then add a small drop of rubbing alcohol to the newspaper on your nail.
6. Wait a couple more seconds, then peel off the newspaper and add a clear top coat.
And you’re done!
I’ll keep you updated with the next time I decide to nail her. Wink.
There’s nothing like being in a terrible English class to temporarily kill my writing creativity. Apologies for not posting recently.
I got to miss class all day due to a violin award ceremony. I tied for 3rd place with 3 other kids, and thus had to sit through all their performances, as well as 3 vocalists, a french horn, and the 2 first place strings winners. It was the bomb. Not. Really, it would have been cool, except that half of them I’d heard before, and I hadn’t had enough sleep, and really I just wanted to take my money and get out of there!
No, it was very sweet. It was funded by the town’s music club, which consists of a bunch of old people, and they all donated money (10′s and 20′s!) to this big fat basket right after the performances. Which was cool. Someday I want to be rich (or at least, not dirt poor) and be able to give away my money to all the causes I like. Saving sea lions? Feeding starving children? Curing cancer? Fuck yes. Take all my money!
So anyway, all I had to do today was go to preschool. A little girl there today was like, “You’re in preschool? That’s silly.” I had to explain, no, I’m not in the class…I volunteer as a teacher. But I guess theoretically I could have been held back for oh, twelve years. That’s normal, right?
The best thing about preschoolers is that they think everything is either fascinating or hilarious. They’re just so goddamn excited about life. I have never seen anyone get so excited about an I Spy book, or concentrate so hard on writing their name that their little tongue sticks out. I want to put them in a box and make them stay young and joyful forever.
I am in the library at Reed College this very minute, typing away on my guest wifi account.
It is very quiet here. There are only about 1,400 students here, in a school that could probably fit 12,000. It’s a lot of grass and trees, and there’s a river flowing through the middle of campus. It feels and looks like home, only a few degrees warmer year round.
**
Okay, I had to stop writing there, because I realized I needed to head over to the American Autobiography class I was visiting.
I’m home now, and happy about it. But Reed was really cool. I hope I get in–I think I could be a very happy person there, even though it’s possibly rainier than where I currently live… At least the rain is warmer. I think.
The highlight of the trip: in the hotel where my dad and I stayed, the wallpaper was covered with birds. And we were both like, “They put a bird on it!” (Watch Portlandia and you’ll understand.)
I found this apple nail painting tutorial on YouTube and tried it out, and they look spectacular! I’m very excited. Maybe for art class next quarter I can do all my assignments on my fingernails.
Here is the photo documentation, so that when I apply for a nail salon job in the mall after getting my Ph.D., I can refer the manager to my blog as a portfolio.
If there’s one thing I know about myself, it’s that I’m not an idiot. I’m actually quite smart.
At the very least, I’m smart when it comes to writing. In fact, I’m fairly certain I’m one of the best writers, if not the best damn writer in my high school class.
So it bothers me that my children’s literature teacher gives me confusing directions, which I try to follow, and then while grading my paper, tells me I was supposed to do the opposite of what she previously said.
And then implies that I failed to understand key things about the literature we’ve been reading.
The confusing part is that she gives really great advice–I can tell she knows her shit when it comes to writing–but she seems to have it in her head that I’m an awful writer with no idea what I’m doing.
Which is simply not true.
I went to the Writing Center last week, for god’s sakes, to get help with my essay. I’ve never done a thing like that in my entire life. But I did it because she wanted me to come in and get help, seeing as I got a D on my first essay: another thing I’ve never had happen to me in my entire life.
I’m really starting to wish I hadn’t taken this class. I’m getting really sick of being told I’m writing these papers wrong, when I try to follow her exact directions.
Week 1: “Don’t make it so much like a five-paragraph essay with supporting elements. Just follow your thought process, show me what you’re thinking. You shouldn’t have a thesis statement.”
Week 2: “You need to make this more organized. I can’t tell what your main idea is. I’d like you to lay it out point by point. You need a thread tying all these ideas together, you can’t just jump around.”
Well, which one is it?
Oh well, after this quarter’s over, I can relax with my modern dance and drawing classes.
I respect this woman so much right now. All you can ask from someone is that they follow their own heart, and do what they know is right. And she’s totally doing it.
I, too, hope she gets to throw a wedding for her lesbian daughter someday.
Excuse me while I go bawl my eyes out.
