Don't Read This Post

Today I have decided to be a hipster. 

I am wearing a second hand and oversized plaid shirt with my hair un-styled for style's sake. I'm drinking an expresso-based beverage (can you really call this coffee?) in a local café while blogging on my Mac laptop about how dreadfully ironic life can be sometimes.

I guess the big irony is that we are all going on living like anything actually means anything when the zinger in the end is that when we reach the finish line nothing means anything.

Now that sounds pretty dark, but I don't think it has to be that way. Its like a pass. If it all means nothing, then we are restricted by nothing. We are limitless.

Unless we let ourselves be limited. 

So there's some existentialism for ya; love it or leave it bitches. 

Now I'll go buy some vinyl and listen to music that I alone uniquely relate to yet everyone loves.

...and if you read the title and still read this post then good. I was being ironic.



irony ¹ |ˈīrənē, ˈiərnē|
noun ( pl. ironies )
the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect: “Don't go overboard with the gratitude,” he rejoined with heavy irony.
• a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result: [ with clause ] : the irony is that I thought he could help me.
• (also dramatic or tragic irony )a literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character.

What I've Made and Where I've Been

Why hello there Blogosphere,

It has been a bit since I've talked to you. I have been a busy girl!

Over the past week I have been all over the map. I saw TWO new movies- Dispicable Me 2, which was ok, and The Loan Ranger, which I thought was really good-  I am now obsessed with the "William Tell Overture". I made curry with sweet potatoes, spinach and peas in replication of a delicious dish my friend Amanda made for me when I visited her and Kate at Smith (It was not nearly as tasty as hers, but considering I still can't make grilled cheese, I'm definitely getting there.)  I went to the beach with my friend Melissa, got asked out by a guy in a bar, and had drinks with some friends at Venetian Shores (a local beach bar with live music). Today I even went to the city, where I spent the morning writing in Bryant Park, snooping around the library (the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights exhibit was gone :-[  ), walking to Chelsea Market to get tea and spices, meeting Emily on her break and meeting up with my friend Brad and his friend Conor, my writing partners.

"Writing partners for what?" you may ask. For our book, of course! Together the three of us are writing a fantasy book-- Mages, warfare, a king and all of that. It has been a really fun process so far-- we (mostly them, I joined in late) have been spending weeks setting the background for the world our story will take place in. Geography, currencies, histories, lineages, magic systems-- the list goes on and on. I love writing, and this creative outlet has been a really good way for me to focus my attentions.

Being creative in general has really been helping me this summer. The awful month of May found me in a dark place... a very dark place. With the help of friends and family who have endless compassion and the patience of saints, I've gotten out of my funk. One of the ways I was able to help myself, though, (which sometimes is not so easy) was by channeling my energy into  making things. For instance, I've started this blog. I built a tray out of wood, picked up embroidery, and even started cooking a little. Now, along with Brad and Conor, I am writing a book. Though I am still working through all my feels, I can say with complete certainty that the experience of making things has been healing my spirit and my heart.

I think that this summer has taught me that the human spirit can regenerate after being shot down. When we are broken we can build ourselves back up again.

In closing I have also downloaded pic stitch. Below are photos of what I've made and where I've been.

Cheers, Blog!

Blogging is like cleaning my room, but not.

Today I am cleaning my room.

(And blogging, and watching the Cosby Show, and continuing on my new quest to become an awesome embroiderer.) 

But mainly I am cleaning my room.  I have my pandora radio set on a Steve Miller Band station,  I put an extra tea bag in my tea, and I'm ready to go. 

This is a task I have been putting off for a long time, and to be honest, the thought of it has given me some anxiety. Its not because my room is so utterly messy that I don't know where to start. Its just that room cleaning is not only physically draining- it is emotionally draining too.

Everything I have holds a different memory. Most of them are wonderful happy stories. All of them leave me reflective about where I am right now and where I have been. My old diaries filled with heartwarming (and evidently highly important and top secret) nonsense; pictures of quality shenanigans and adventures; expired love notes. They make me love and long for the past like an old friend. 

To me cleaning my room is not just a chore, its a time to take stock of the things that have caused me to collect all of this crap!! 

I have chosen a selection of some really good memories to share with you. Take a look for yourself! 

Tickets that I was supposed to sell or at least return to be sold for the production of Bye Bye Birdie I stage managed for in 2006. I guess I missed the boat on that task! 

My room key for the Atlantis Resort and Spa on Paradise Island in the Bahamas!! My parents took my brother and me there back in 1999, and it was definitely a memorable trip. Will and I made friends with a girl from South Africa, I accidentally (and clumsily) sabotaged someone in a hula-hooping competition, and we essentially spent a straight week floating down the lazy river and going on water slides. We were lucky kids.

Heh-- this is my first fake ID given to me by a friend at college (whose identity I have chosen to protect by flipping this card over). The first drink I bought with it? PBR!! Rookie move, I know, but appropriate for a hipster town like Northampton, I think.

My coaster collection-- whenever I'm out somewhere having a great time, I try to remember to save a coaster and label it just as a cheap little momento. The coasters in the picture are from:

-The night of my cousin Kelly's wedding 

-Dinner with my family in Disney 

-Jack's Bar in Montana from my friend Mary's wedding 

-Trivia night in the city with one of my friends from college 

-Drinks with a friend after DOMA was struck down

A Norwegian Krone given to me by a random customer at Stop & Shop. The coin is really pretty and very awesome! It was such a nice way to brighten my day. I feel like it must be magic. I'll keep you posted on any developments. 

Well there you have it! I should probably pick up with where I left off picking things up now, I am sure there are 1,000 more memories waiting to be dusted off.

Cheers!