Panic Attacks are Not a Good Way to Start College

Yesterday was lovely. I am so incredibly excited for my two psychology classes, and even ceramics should be okay. I had some really good conversations with two awesome friends, and I met some of the other girls in my new hall too. So naturally the day had to end poorly, right? After our hall meeting, I checked my emails to see that this kid (who I had thought I had traded shifts with) was asking someone else to take his shift. That means he probably didn't remember that we had traded, meaning he probably didn't show up for my shift that night. I know that would honestly be his own fault, but I still feel guilty about it. Problem #2: Art classes have a LOT of supplies you need to purchase. I knew I had some at home, but my mom's phone wasn't working. Apparently it decided that ringing was too last year, because I was calling her for about an hour before she happened to glance at it while it was going off. She was able to come up and help me get some supplies, which was nice. BUT, while all this was going on it snowed 2 inches, and I got ticketed for parking on the street during a "snow emergency" (come on, Minnesota, 2 inches! That's not a snow emergency...) The only reasons I was on the street was because my school hadn't gotten my new parking permit. When I went to the office to get it, the lady was a crab too, which certainly didn't help things.

But to end on a positive note: I had tea with my sister, and I won a parking space in the garage under my apartment building.

*sigh* Artists

I read this today in my design textbook:

"Lucian Berhard was fifteen years old when he visited the Munich Flaspalast Exhibition of Interior Design. So moved by the forms and colors that he witnessed, he returned to his parent's house while his father was away on a business trip, and painted every wall and piece of furniture in these bold new colors" (Brower).

I can't help but wonder what my parents would think if I did this.

Sorry Comic Sans, I couldn't resist

Today's post was brought to you be the letter M

This week project for Intro to Layout involved yarn, cardboard, a camera, and a walk. (Yes, I am a college student.) I had to make a letterform – from any typeface, from any material. If that wasn't enough fun already, I also had to take pictures of it. My mom was gracious enough to come with me as I took my carefully crafted M to the park.

It played in a tunnel...

...on a swing...                      

                                           ...on a bridge...










 

...and with my cat.












The photos I submitted for the assignment can be seen here.

A (Brief) Rant from a Design Major

To begin with, here are a few facts about me:

        1. I like writing 

      2. I like editing

So, when I saw this poster on Pinterest, I was immediately intrigued.

 

But there is another rather important fact about me.

         3. I am a graphic design major

My inner designer would like to point out that while the top of the poster clearly puts the writer on the left and the editor on the right, the list of characteristics are opposite! This is visually confusing.  However, I didn’t pick up on this at first because there was a little something I couldn’t get over: the use of Comic Sans. Don’t get me wrong, Comic Sans is a sweet little font, but these posters sum it up quite well.

Orientation Week

Well, I survived. After five days of orientation activities, I was ready for school to start. But there were a couple special events sprinkled among games like Ninja, Cat and Mouse, and Human Knot. One of those was the service project. My orientation group of four guys and fifteen girls was assigned to Urban Homeworks, an organization based in North Minneapolis that purchases foreclosed homes, fixes them up, and rents them back to families in the area. We got to help with the demolition process. The particular house we were at needed the chimneys removed, backyard raked for glass, and bathroom pulled out. It was hard work, and the hot, humid weather certainly didn’t help. We all survived though, albeit rather dirty.

But at least we got free T-shirts.

I Move in on Friday!

On Friday, August 23, 2013, I will be officially moved in to University of Northwestern St. Paul. Even as I write that, I have a hard time believing it’s finally happening. Sure, I’ve already been at the school for a year doing PSEO, but actually living on campus is a whole other story. All in all, I am pretty excited, but I am honestly more terrified than anything else.

But first, some of the good things:

1. I will see this lovely lady again.

This is Heather, my good friend and one of my roommates. I met her last fall at orientation and together we braved Math for the Liberal Arts and Economics.  She is super artsy and probably one of the sweetest people I know

 

2. I will see this other lovely lady.

Because she’s been away to England, piano camp, and now Germany, I haven’t really had a chance to catch up with my wonderful sister all summer. Fortunately, neither of us have morning classes, and I have a huge meal plan to spend. I predict a smattering of breakfast dates over the course of this semester.

3. And this one, too.

This is Kelsey, my dear friend and accountability partner. She just celebrated her 20^th birthday on Sunday! I still can’t believe how awesome it is that we have ended up at the same school.

4. Because I have already been to Northwestern, I know where everything is – like the tunnels, the good places to study (the library), and the good places to scare people (basement of Naz).  And thanks to my classes last semester, I have almost figured out how to not get lost in Nazareth hall.

5. Other than philosophy, I have all of my generals done, so I can focus in on the “fun” classes that have to do with my major. I’m actually rather excited about Honors Old Testament, Drawing, Intro to Layout, Intro to Design, and Honors Art Appreciation. I’m also planning to take violin lessons and participate in orchestra.

And for now the things I’m less than thrilled about.

1.  I have been feeling sicker this summer.  Particularly during the month of July, I was having days where I wouldn’t feel awake until 7:00 in the evening. Sometimes I’d even fall asleep once or twice during the day, which usually only happens if I have a fever or stayed up for over 24 hours. And then there’s the stomach pain and headaches and joint pain that all but drive me insane.

 

2. This lovely lady leaving me for Pennsylvania.

Granted, she will be having the time of her life studying English and theatre, but I shall thoroughly miss our quarterly meetings. Thank goodness for the Internet and texting because I highly doubt I could survive without her sweet encouragement. She is probably the best friend a girl could ask for.

 

3. And this one is leaving me for Crookston.

Anna is also one of my best friends. Coincidently, she went to Pennsylvania for school last year. Fortunately, she’s closer now, so I might even be able to see her on some weekends.

4. I am dreading orientation activities. For some reason, there are five whole days of them. I already know people. I don’t feel good. I have no desire to purposefully embarrass myself. Unfortunately, it’s all required. Heather and I joked that we could just be hipsters and consider orientation activities too mainstream to participate in them.

5. I will have to buy my own gas for my car. Enough said.

Note to Self: God is God and You are Not

I am very much a planner, and while I do enjoy the benefits of relatively few all-nighters due to unfinished homework projects, I’m also predisposed to anxiety when things don’t go as planned. See, as much as I’d like to be control, I’m not. God is, and I am unfortunately quite talented at forgetting this rather important fact. So, with some help from InDesign, my printer, and a couple pieces of tape, I decided to make this sign and stick it to my door:

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some knitting to do…

If I were a Superhero…

It is very fortunate for Marvel that superheroes are now (apparently) cool.  Now, I would not consider myself to be a particularly big fan of this genre, but I’ve actually seen the most superhero movies out of all my family members.

First, there was Spiderman.

Or at least the first fifteen minutes. Brie and I got coupons for the IMAX at the Minnesota Zoo and decided we might as well go. Unfortunately, we went in July. Even though it wasn’t particularly hot, we were left in the dark after a loud pop. Apparently, the the movie projector had overheated. Fortunately, we got a refund.

I ended up finishing the movie in November at a friend’s surprise birthday party. I liked it, but had a hard time taking it seriously. Spiderman does spend most of the movie in patriotic spandex. It didn’t help either, that one of the other girls was in love with Andrew Garfield, who (at least in this movie) has the exact same hair as my brother.

Next, came Thor.

We got this movie from Redbox. It was good, but I was more excited to show my family Inception, which I had purchased a few days before. After we had seen both movies, I asked my dad what he thought. A quick fact about my dad: he is of the opinion that amusement is aptly named. When broken down into the Greek, you get a and muse, which literally means “to not think.” The word amusement, however, does not come from ancient Greek. Rather, it originates from the Old French word amuser, which means “entertain” or “deceive.” But my dad prefers to look to the Greeks, and because of this I thought he would be a big fan of Inception. Nope. When I asked him what he thought, his immediate reaction was “I liked Thor better.” I guess we’re all full of surprised. I, myself, would choose Inception any day, but that has a lot to do with the fact that I love pretty much everything but Christopher Nolan, which bring me to my next superhero movie.

Batman Begins.

I’ve seen this movie twice and loved it both times. I like the music. I like the plot. I like the acting. I liked that Christian Bale can pull off wearing tights and a helmet with ears. I think it helps that it’s all in black.

If there were a contest on the superhero movie I’ve seen the most, though, the grand prize would have to go to Captain America.

This was one of the movies the hospital had on queue, so I had the most access to it. I watched it by myself. I watched it with Chris. I watched it with Chris, my mom, and my dad. Later that summer, I watched it again with my sister. Fortunately, I at least like it, primarily because it takes place during WWII, a time period that I have been rather obsessed with since junior high.

Captain America also starred in The Avengers, which I have to say is probably my least favorite.

Yes, Tom Hiddleston is awesome. Yes, Robert Downey Jr. is funny. But, my reaction to watching this still goes something along the lines of “meh.”

That saves the best for last.

The Dark Knight                                                               

             And The Dark Knight Rises.

                                                                  

The Joker is probably one of the best villains I have ever seen, mostly because he is terribly unpredictable, but he’s only in one of the movies. I think the reason why I like this superhero is because I can relate to him. It helps that we have the same Meyers-Briggs personality type:

I think it mostly has to do with the whole theme of people’s pasts. Granted, my parents weren’t shot in front of me, but I understand the internal struggle that comes from facing a traumatic situation. It’s really, really hard to not define yourself by what has happened to you. I’m not saying that the past has no influence over the present; it just doesn’t have to become the domineering power. When something bad happens, I don’t have to follow Harvey Dent and turn evil from bitterness. Bad memories are like fire. If you keep them inside you, you’ll get burned. But they can also be the fuel for change.