My thesis topic got approved! That's a huge weight off my shoulders.
My Simon Bookish CD I bought on eBay arrived today! It's AWESOME.
I have hay fever for the first time in ages! It's not very bad, but it bothers my nose...
I know there was some other stuff, but I've forgotten what! Um...

Oh, oh, last weekend I discovered the pure joy / cheesy awfulness that is Eurovision! It was very exciting. I feel heavily indoctrinated in the ways of Europe now.
My favourite was Bosnia & Herzegovina. Then France, then Spain.
The ONLY good thing about Russia was that I got to see Evgeny Plushenko.

I've just been looking at Imelda App's website. She's Patrick Wolf's mom, and I never realized it was her who did the paintings of him in uniforms. I really like her stuff... especially the stuff linked from the top of the page, of her latest show. It's like a strange and beautiful narrative... a strange narrative featuring Patrick and his huge white cat.

Oooooh something else. In other art news, Ryan McGinley has reappeared in my life yet again. My pseudo-step-brother posted a link to Sigur Ros's new video a few days ago, which I went and looked at... and who should it be "inspired by and in collaboration with" than Mr. McGinley himself? And who should have taken the photograph used on their new album cover, but... yes, him, again. I was thrilled! I love him so much, and I like Sigur Ros, and I'm not terribly surprised that they've collaborated, and... it's just so nice! You can see the video Here, but be warned - there's plenty of nudity, though all very nice and, very McGinley. Nothing like some naked people in the woods! Yay!


It's not hot here, per se, but it's sticky. Very humid. It's been raining. The warmth is nice, but the stickiness is kind of ugh.

Today I went to Fountains Abbey again today, with my class! Hooray for that! We visited two churches near there, and got our admission to the Abbey paid for so we could wander around and have our lunch on the grounds. I wandered off by myself, which was nice - it's so pretty there, and it was nice to just be out on my own. It was a fun trip, generally... mostly because we all got punchy by the end, and we were laughing pretty hard. Oh, exhaustion and too many Gothic-revival churches... I'm so tired now. I really like my seminar group, they're generally fun, friendly people.

That's a lot of update. I'm done now.

Oh! Oh! Also. Yesterday I bought a tea cosy (for my non-existent teapot, which I will own in the future) and a hot water bottle. The hot water bottle came with a sweater... hot water bottle cosy... that has a Union Jack on it. I am officially more English than the English.

May I point out yet again how much I love Ryan McGinley?

Yes I may. And I shall.

He did some photographs for the new New York Times Magazine - the breakthrough performances 2007 portfolio. And they are so nice... I think I like his portraits more than anything else, these days, though the joy contained in some of his half candid, half composed shots is always arresting for me.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/magazine/10Oscars-t.html

Check out the Audio Slide Show - possibly on mute, just to see the pictures - and the "Shooting Stars" video, which was directed by Ryan and shows some of his methods (though, unfortunately, not him. I've always wanted to see what camera he uses, and how he works).



Today I had what was possibly the most exciting charter bus ride ever. I had no idea one could drive on that fast down a hill without... chaos.
I also had a very nice walk. I am tired now, and sore.

And hungry. Also hungry. Dinner time.

1. I am such a Facebook stalker.
2. My professor is so cool. And I win for knowing about the Moravians.
3. Contemporary art is actually kind of cool. Sometimes.
4. I just turned in my first paper of the year.
5. I reaaaaally need to finish my study abroad application. And go to New Haven to look at art. and write another paper.
6. ( This just appeared on one of my favorite blog-things (ha, yeah, StuffOnMyCat, I love it), and I'll be damned if it is not on the creepiest things I have seen in a loooooonnnngggg time. )
7. I've been posting a lot of icons at dewey_decimator. Posting all the icons I've made in about the last year (yeah, I'm behind) is becoming a wonderful procrastination tool, so I'll hopefully be updating there more.
8. I'm hungry.
9. Last night I accidentally listened to of Montreal's "Voltaic Crusher / Undrum To Muted Da" 16 times in a row.


Omg it is 12:55? I have to go to class. Now. EDIT: I'm back! It's now 8:25.

To add to 9. For half that time I was up walking around the apartment, etc., but still. I was really out of it last night. I thought the song was like 10 minutes long, and maybe the second long of Montreal song my WinAmp had oddly played together, despite being on shuffle. And then I sat there and listened to the song for like 15 minutes and started getting really overwhelmed by how upbeat and yet totally depressing it is. THEN I started talking to my roommate about it... and finally realized it had been going for almost 40 minutes. I mean, really. WTF.

I am so hot for these shoes... ( OMG Shoes )

I will be taking a field trip to Atlanta this summer to see the ridiculously awesome collection of shows the High Museum of Art has right now. I mean, come on. I'd go just for this:
Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, 1990 – 2005 encompasses 175 images Leibovitz created on assignment as a professional photographer, as well as personal photographs of her family and close friends.
But there's other cool stuff on, too.
Just earlier today I was having raptures over the beauty of Leibovitz's new portraits of Queen Elizabeth II. She's an absolutely amazing photographer.


P.S.
Patrick Wolf is all I need to get by. Patrick Wolf and beauty and a strong cup of tea.

- Beautiful random wild things happen to me. I think "send me a message" or "it's been a long time since I saw you" and the person, sometimes, responds.
- People keep asking me if I've said something before I say it.
- I am full of raspberry fudge-stuff.
- I need to do all my laundry from the trip, it will fill so many washers...
- Yesterday I lay in the sun, protected from the last few days' naughty cool wind, pulled my sweatshirt over my face and "blissed out," as some people I know would say. It was beautiful. I could feel the presence of spring and of the crocuses blooming and the daffodils almost bursting from their buds and the other bulb-plants just beginning their precipitous rise to blooming. At first I listened to the wind in the trees and then I listened to the second half of "The Magic Position" and both were equally pleasant and pleasurable. I should thank my professor for letting us out of class so early (almost 2 hours), because it meant I got to have that experience.
- I went to two art exhibits today; senior theses (part 1 of 4) and a photography exhibit my professor curated. At the theses I admired photographs, mused over ex-fresh fruit I wanted so desperately to touch in my exploration of how the artist created art from perishable objects, was overwhelmed by the beauty of a million pieces of yarn strung vertically down windows and by the pulsating noises in an empty dark space that made me feel like I would pass out, was reminded of my own attachment to tattered cloth and digital words, and, unfortunately, strangely unimpressed by one installation. Then I tried to move through a room full of elderly people and many, many wonderful professors and was shocked to find Great Photograph after Great Photograph, so much of the heights of 20th century American photography - Evans, Adams, Ray, Stieglitz, and so many more; the men and women whose works filled Life and The Family of Man, who have become icons and inspirations.
- Earlier today I felt like my head was trying to give birth to a kitten or some similarly incorrectly-sized animal that had somehow managed to gestate in my sinus cavities.
- Erm. Yes. That is all. Back to watching silliness.

OMG.

Most exciting day of NME.com news in just about ever. Jarvis Cocker announces North American tour. New York - Webster Theater - April 23rd. (!!!!!!!!!!)

Morrissey exhibition opens in New York.
A new photo exhibition documenting the legendary devotion of Morrissey fans has opened in New York.
'Irregular Regulars' has been devised by American photographer RYAN MCGINLEY, who spent almost two years trailing the ex-Smiths star during his tours of the US, UK and Mexico, collecting thousands of photos from hundreds of gigs in the process.
(Emphasis my own. OMFG-Ryan-McGinley-new-show-Morrissey-hyperventalate! It closes next Saturday, but guess who's gonna be in NY next Saturday? Yes. Me. That is right.)

Reading to dooooo. Laundry to pick up. Food to eat. Doooooooooooooom. Bison!

(P.S. "Top Designer" is cool, Johnathan Adler is awesome, and Todd Oldham is also cool but his talking is very, very forced.)

Today I made good points in class. In French. And I may or may not have fallen asleep in the library.

My friend Nic is cool. He helps me carry things. And is tall. And sleeps on my floor with little complaining. We saw a hawk. I love hawks. Good times. My brain is wandering!
(Hi Nic!)

Crap. I didn't know that daylight savings time started today, and I missed brunch at the dining hall. Now I'm hungry and kinda time confused.

Yesterday I went to New York City on our school's "Arts Bus." You pay $29 (if you're a student) and then ride in a charter bus for 2 hours each way... get in about 10AM and leave at 8PM. It was fun, but super tiring. The day went like this:
7:10 AM: Wake up, kinda.
7:50ish: Leave the dorm with my friend Max (I would've left earlier, but he woke up late).
8ish: Get to the bus. No breakfast; no time.
8-10: My stomach eats itself in frusteration.
10-ish: Get to NYC. Walk tyo my favorite breakfast place only to discover it has closed. Sad. Eat at the new place nextdoor which is exactly the same except nicer looking inside.
After breakfast: Lose track of time.
Go to H&M, buy nothing, but have much fun shopping with Max anyway. Go to a gallery where my school's professor of painting is having a show. Very nice.
Ride the subway to the Met, walk there, eat a snack. Then art eats my soul. We are there until about 7:30 PM, me looking at art and Max doing work for his drawing class. I rush through some galleries (German art? No thanks), and linger in some. It is massively crowded, I have little chance to really study many works (why do they never put those benches in front of works I want to look at?), but I do see more of the building than I ever have before. It is craziness. I also sit with Max a lot as he works, because I am very tired and my legs hurt like hell.
At the end, go to the gift shop and buy two books from the "special-price books" area: a huge hardback Taschen (yay Taschen!) book about Symbolism and a book of essay things about ruins and their influence upon art, literature, and human thought. And some postcards. I love postcards of art, I have a massive collection.
7:35ish PM: Head back to the subway.
exactly 8: Get to the bus. No time for dinner.
8-10: My stomach eats itself in frusteration. I watch King Kong (yay Jamie Bell!!! Boo the script, the cineamatography, and the rest!) and read In Ruins.

Then Andrew picked us up, then I had to take care of some stuff because I was gone all day, then Max and I got back together, then we sat around some, THEN we ate dinner. I thought I was going to pass out.
Then I spent over 80 dollars on TowerRecords.com, taking advantage of a sale and my huge tax refund.
Then I slept.
Then I woke up, missed that it was daylight savings, took a shower, and didn't eat breakfast, and we're back where we were at the begining. Excpet now I'm really hungry.