22

Literally, I've been celebrating my birthday for the past 3 weeks! My actual birthday was on March 10, but the weekend before, my out-of-town friends surprised me with a sweet birthday celebration. I took pictures from that night, but the only decent shot is the one above (sorry, guys -- the pains of shooting film). 

I spent my actual birthday at home with my family. My dad cooked (I love it when my dad cooks; he has a rare talent for it). We rented a bunch of movies, and stayed put on the couch watching them. Overall, an unusually sedentary birthday, but a lovely one nonetheless. (Psst: Super 8 is an engrossing watch; I recommend it).

The week following my birthday was Spring Break, which I spent in Athens because I'm newly a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children in foster care, and part of my training requires me to sit in on 10 hours of juvenile court proceedings. 

This past week, though, I celebrated with my in-town friends. We made plans to get together and watch the finale of Walking Dead (zombie flicks are second only to my obsession with bearded and mustachioed men -- chai lattes are a close third). We had pasta for dinner. And as is our MO, (surprise) cupcakes and wine put in an appearance as well. 22 is shaping up to be a good year!

Now Playing: Get It Daddy by Sleeper Agent

pentax k1000 // fujifilm superia x-tra

what i'm reading: a feast for crows

A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book took me forever to read, my goodness. I just wasn't as invested in these characters as I've been with the regulars (Bran, Jon, Dany, Tyrion, et al.). But towards the end it starts to redeem itself. What I'm about to say next is probably going to make me sound petty and vindictive. But truthfully, I don't much care because I gained such immense pleasure from observing the beginnings of Cersei's downfall that there's absolutely no way I'm not owning up to it. I suppose this is where I go into how lyrical the narrative is, and the author's artful use of literary devices, etc. (it's all of these things if you're concerned with such). But I'd rather gloat: you're done Cersei! you hear that -- DONE!!

make kony famous!

For over 20 years this man (if you can even call him that) has been perpetuating acts of such barbarity and getting away with it because he is virtually invisible to the world. He needs to be stopped, but in order for that to happen we must first make him famous. So let's make him famous!

Educate yourself on the matter. Visit Invisible Children (click please), and figure what the best way for you to get involved is. I know there's some controversy with Invisible Children, but honestly it's all just trite and peripheral in my humble opinion because regardless of what percentage of funds IC reserves to propagate their agenda, the fact still remains that Joseph Kony needs to be caught and the only way to do so is to be relentless in our spotlighting of him. So don't donate money if it makes you uneasy, but put up flyers, tell a friend, blog about it, whatever it takes really. There are so many ways you can get involved and stop that beast in his tracks. No more excuses, y'all -- let's fight war!

eats: no. 1

The last time I was here, I ordered the beer and cheddar soup with a roasted tomato sandwich half. It tasted alright.

pentax k1000 // fujifilm superia x-tra

remediation

Well, would you look at that?! I said I'd be back today to post my very first self-made video (ever!) and here I am. I love when I surprise myself!

So a little bit about this video: my midterm project for my web class required taking something I'd originally written and intended for the medium of print, and re-imagine it using some other medium such as audio, visual, or (in my case) both. I chose to work with an old prose poem I'd written many years ago, turning it into an audio-visual experience. This here is the end product. As to the content, it's pretty self-explanatory. Plus I really don't want to give anything away, so just enjoy it (and if you don't, I'd rather not hear about it -- "I fear my will may not be firm enough yet for that").

The music is by Ólafur Arnalds and it is called Raein (you can hear it here without the added distraction of my voice).

teascapades: no. 2

I'll be back tomorrow (hopefully) with the 3-minute film project I did for my web class and which I hinted at here in my last post. But for right now it's Thursday, which means it's time for "Teascapades" (and all the little children shouted: yay!!)!

This time, we went to Walker's Coffee and Pub, which incidentally is one of the locations where I shot my video (but this was before that). Walker's has an amazing atmosphere for socializing and hardcore coffee drinking or just drinking in general -- it's whatever you're most partial to. As for me, chai was my poison. And Walker's brews a commendable chai poison, I'll tell you that. It was nice and frothy. Mmmmmm, frothy! I loved it! I've been back twice more since then for that chai. Maybe I should try something else on the coffee menu...

Psst: Sorry about the yellowed photographs (if you're not into such things). Walker's has really bad lighting for film photography. Otherwise, I generally like how dim and cozy it is in there.

Now Playing: The Dreamer by The Tallest Man On Earth

(I've had the EP this song comes off of in my iTunes library for forever, but I only recently started playing it, and I haven't been able to stop. I mean how -- how -- did I gloss over such awesomeness for so long?!)

pentax k1000 // fujifilm superia x-tra