a preview

I've been working on a short film that stars my friends, Elvin and Sarah, for my Web class, which I can't wait to share here. So much so that I decided a sneak peek of sorts was in order, hence the tantalizing photo above. I feel very mischievous right now.

Now Playing: Coaxed by Avi Buffalo

(You guys, one more day till I see Blind Pilot in concert! I'm bursting with excitement!!)

where's morton?

I've been meaning to blog about last saturday all week, but school's been relentless lately. Still, better late than never, right?! Anyway, Bennie, Sarah, and I made plans to hang out last saturday and bake cupcakes while watching Night of the Living Dead (we're obsessed with zombie flicks; heck! it's how we all became friends in the first place -- bonding over Walking Dead while at work). We bought a bottle of bubbly and some plastic martini glasses (tipsy at 3 pm -- real classy), and went to work on those cupcakes. In the middle of mixing up the batter we realized we didn't have any salt. And that's when the search for Morton begun.

We went around Bennie's cul de sac looking for salt. It was very funny, actually. 'Cause pretty much everyone Bennie and Sarah knew in the neighborhood either didn't have salt (who ever heard of such a thing?!) or wasn't at home.

We finally moseyed on over to the house of Bennie's roommate from freshman year. She wasn't there, but her friend was, and thankfully she had some sea salt that she didn't mind loaning to us.

Here's Sarah and Bennie looking mighty pleased for having finally located Morton.

The cupcakes fresh out of the oven. Once they were frosted (with cream cheese), I was too busy eating to remember to photograph them.

Bennie and Sarah enjoying the cupcakes, which were delicious by the way. I have a gift for such things (I'm also very modest).

We stopped eating long enough to bring back Morton and a gratitude cupcake for Bennie's old roommate's friend.

Then returned to our zombie movie viewing (isn't Duane Jones about the manliest man ever!).

Night of the Living Dead is hysterical...

... and awful? horrifying? silly? all of these things? I don't know. It's something, though.

We didn't even finish watching the movie, because we were all so hungry and the champagne high had significantly worn off. I coaxed Bennie and Sarah into having dinner at Big City Bread, 'cause there's this really cute waiter there who I really wanted to see again, plus they have really good soups. But we had to duck out within minutes of being seated, because their dinner menu was a bit too pricey for our poor-college-student pockets. It was super embarrassing. 

We ended up at Trappeze instead, and although it wasn't nearly as great, it was definitely more affordable. Thriftiness is the move, y'all!

We went for some chai latte after dinner (well, I got chai; the others got other things), and decided on impulse to have a party. It was such a blast (that's an understatement)! And I was out of film so I couldn't document it via photographs. But take my word for it -- we know how to throw down! Very classy and respectful-like too.

Now Playing: Brothersport by Animal Collective

pentax k1000 // fujifilm superia x-tra

teascapades: no. 1

So I drink quite a lot of tea. Like a whole lot. I especially like chai. A whole lot. And I was at a coffee shop recently with Bennie (pictured above; I really should just label this post "gratuitous photos of Bennie") when a brilliant thought occurred to me: what if I went to every coffee spot in Athens specifically to try their chai tea and to document my experience -- I could call the whole venture "Teascapades" (very inspired, I know), and it would be a right proper homage to my obsession with chai. I'm so full of surprises!

Anyway, I thought it would be fitting to start the series with the place that gave birth to and fostered my chai fixation -- Two Story Coffeehouse. I wasn't truly living until I tried the chai latte at Two Story (no joke you guys; I'm deadpan right now). It's so good -- no, it's divine! I don't know what they put in there, but oh-my-goodness it's so good! If you're ever in Athens, Georgia, do yourself a favor and get a chai latte from Two Story. Thank me later.

Now Playing: History's Door by Husky

pentax k1000 // fujifilm superia x-tra

tanja

I developed a roll of film this afternoon that turned out to be mostly useless. But I was strangely fascinated by this one photo. It's completely off the mark in the lighting department (the pub we were in was very dimly lit, and my trusty Pentax just doesn't do all that well in extreme low light settings), but it has a certain... "je-ne-sais-quoi" quality to it. Maybe it's just me, but I think it's lovely (can you say that about your own photos?). And if you pull back far enough from your computer screen, you should be able to see it too. Ideally.

P.S. You're gorgeous, Tanja!

Now Playing: Just One by Blind Pilot 

(You guys, I get to see them in concert in about 3 weeks! I'm beyond stoked! Blind Pilot is one of my favorite bands. Ever.)

pentax k1000 // fujifilm superia x-tra

is this the real life? is this just fantasy?

My friends and I have this tradition of surprising each other on our respective birthdays. And it's funny 'cause even though we've been up to this for quite some time now, we still manage to take the one we happen to be celebrating by surprise every time. Yesterday was no exception. We surprised Bincy in a major way (I can still hear her big, astonished squeal when she turned and saw us) by showing up at what she thought would be a simple movie date with her sister, and it was the best! After the movie (we saw Big Miracle; I recommend it) we went to a pet store and spent a good 2 hours heavily petting just about all the cute puppies there. Dinner was at a pub called Meehan's; they have the best salmon (on a bed of haricot verts and spinach) I've ever tasted! We're not very extravagant, my friends and me, but we have the best times together. Always. I love you guys!!

Now Playing: A Million Years by Alexander 

pentax k1000 // fujifilm superia x-tra

sunday

Some very unimaginative photos I took while out walking today (it happened of a sudden, hence the ill-equiped shoes I have on), just to test out my new camera. It works. Yay! (psst, never mind my ashy feet; the weather was a tad surly).

Now Playing: Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space by Spiritualized

pentax k100 // fujifilm superia x-tra

what i'm watching: submarine

Submarine is a gem of a movie. I stumbled upon it on one of Monique's Film Friday features and knew right away that I needed to see it. It's quirky, and precious, and delicate. And it's dark -- at times claustrophobic. Twice I got really hysterical watching it, and I don't mean that it was funny -- although it was that too -- I mean hysterical in the sense that it elicited this strange, sort of frenzied consideration of myself. I don't know yet how to articulate the feeling... Anyway, watch it if you get a chance. It is incredibly subliminal.

Now Playing: My Favorite Work of Art by Amatorski

***Photos are screenshots I took while watching the movie.

what i'm reading : inkheart

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think I would've liked this book a whole lot more if I hadn't watched the movie first. It has all the ingredients I generally like in books -- magic, whimsy, good-conquering-evil, believable characters, a knack for eliciting laughter, stuff like that -- so I'm a little annoyed that I allowed the movie to take away from my reading experience. Still, I like it well enough to want to read the next book in the series. Hopefully, I'll enjoy all the subsequent books in the serial for not having watched them beforehand.

goodreads 2012

My love affair with reading is no secret to those who know me in real life. I've been reading coherently since I was about 3 (granted, at that time my reading was very rudimentary, but whatever), and even now I'd rather be reading in my down time than doing any number of other potentially just as delicious and rewarding things. That's the truth.

Anyway, I'm doing the Goodreads reading challenge again this year. And I thought it'd be fun to record my progress here, and share reviews on the books I read as well (you will find my challenge badge on the right sidebar). The goal is to read 50 books; last year, I only managed 22 because I got preoccupied with a lot of other things that were happening around me and within me. This year I'm going to tear through those 50 books like it's nobody's business (read that in a really deep mental voice). That's the truth.

In other news, I received my new film camera this week (yay!). I'm taking it out for a test spin tomorrow, but so far everything looks good. I also got on the tumblr bandwagon (shaking my head 'cause I told myself I wouldn't; this blog is already a shaky commitment -- still, tumblr is fun!). Visit me there as well, if you get a chance. I know I'd like that very much, and you might too (who's to say?).

Now Playing: Pretty Face by Sóley.

*photo is a screenshot of my 2012 reading challenge badge taken from my Goodreads homepage.

happy new year!

I'm still a little bewildered by how fast 2011 came and went. On the one hand, so much occurred this year, but (to be honest) I was a bit numb to most of it that it feels as if not much happened at all. Still -- for the parts that I was sensitive to -- it was a nice, solid year. Taught me much about myself -- about my character; what I'm capable of, and consequently not capable of; where I want to go, and what I want to be up to... It was a good year for self-actualizing. And I hope to do some more of that next year too.

A few of my resolutions (because keeping them to myself is a sure guarantee that I won't get any of them done):

1. Make my relationship with God my number one priority. I hope that before this new year ends I'm able to actively share my faith in a sensible, reasonable, logical way with someone else. And the only way I can accomplish this is by growing in my relationship with Him.
2. Be a bit more frugal; it's exhausting stressing about money constantly, because I pretty much squander it (albeit on two very enriching things: books and music) when I have it -- tsk tsk.
3. Procrastinate a little less each day. Seriously, my brand of procrastination is completely out of hand and just awful. It's got to a point where unless I'm being constrained by a really near deadline every time, the job will not get done.
4. Take delicate care of myself -- that means working out consistently. I also plan on participating in some kind of charity run before the year is over.
5. Lastly, foster my creativity. This involves completing at least one knitted project each month (because with the exception of the hat I knitted for my brother for Christmas, I have yet to complete any of the 99 -- slight exaggeration -- projects I have begun since taking up knitting about a year ago); enhancing my painting skills; and finally, finally learning to play the guitar.

Happy New Year, everyone!! I wish you every warm wish, and pray that you're infinitely blessed this year. And thanks so much for reading.

Now Playing: Something Good Can Work by Two Door Cinema Club.

friday

I'm completely camera-less for the first time in a very long time -- ever since I broke my canon and sold my nikon (to pay rent -- ah, desperation and stubbornness). So this is as festive as it'll get on here. In real life -- that's another issue (smirks). I draped my roommates in christmas lights and took some night shots -- again for my portfolio. The second photo is just Sam holding a lighter. I handheld the camera for this shot, so if it looks a little wobbly...

Sam and Victoria (if you guys ever read this): y'all are fantastic for helping me set up and modeling for me!

Now Playing: Somebody That I Used To Know (Gotye cover) by Ingrid Michaelson 

*** I really like the original (I played it a total of about 68 times the very first night I downloaded it); still I'm quite in love with this cover too (but then again, I like most everything Ingrid does).

Merry Christmas!

pentax k1000 // kodak tri-x

this karen

Some self portraits I made for my photography class. There's no real concept really. I just had some books, and I was at my favorite park, and it seemed as good a time as any to work on the assignment. So this is what I ended up with. My professor liked it well enough; she gave me an 'A' in her class (can you tell that I'm not nearly as nonchalant as I'm making myself sound).

Now Playing: Snowfall by Ingrid Michaelson

pentax k1000 // kodak tri-x