Posts Tagged ‘ summer ’

forgotten but not quite dead.

Listening to: Say Hello To The Angels — Interpol

Holla! I realize that I’ve been gone for quite awhile. But recently (or more-than-recently, as it would seem) my life has been Busy. Since my last post nearly a month ago, several Events occurred: Prize Night, at which I was awarded my school’s prize for excellence in photography (and a copy of Vanity Fair: The Portraits, which is mostly why this was the most notable of the three awards I received), and graduation, where a great number — maybe even a majority — of my friends gradu-danced off to that Big Boarding School in the Sky, also known as college.

More importantly, though, I squeezed through finals week with minimal injury and even got to leave campus a day early. On my first day back in the Midwest, I managed to get rearended at the grocery store/sent to the ER/saddled with whiplash, which sucks. But what doesn’t suck is my drawing class, which met for the first time last Wednesday and which is where I discovered that compressed charcoal is very, very, mess. What also doesn’t suck is the fact that my summer dance classes start this coming week, even if buying ballet shoes made me feel like an elephant (I wear a 14 women’s ballet shoe; the girl trying on shoes next to me wore a 2.5/3). And, for the first time in my life, I have an actual job, which means that I’ll be making $200 in a month or less and all without working in foodservice or manual labor.

And, of course, since I’ve gotten home, I’ve been taking photographs. Here are a bunch:

Of course, there’s far more, but the WordPress Dashboard isn’t cooperating with me uploading photos at the moment. Blé’s gone to Poland, so I’m out of my primary model for the moment, but luckily I have far more willing friends here than at boarding school. So, hopefully, I will write soon, and there will be more photos to come.

2011
06/18
CATEGORY
news.
photography
1 comment

we’re only seven miles from the sun.

Listening to: The Antlers — French Exit

dancers backstage at the concert.

So, I’m back on WordPress after whoknowshowlong, and suddenly my dashboard looks all different and I’m like, “Oh no, did the Rapture hit the interwebs?” If you couldn’t tell from that statement, I’m not a big fan of changes to my routine.

But oh oh oh, how my routine is going to change! There are only about five days until graduation, so after that the only two people left in my hallway will be me and my roommate. And speaking of roommates, tonight’s roomdraw, aka where all of the underformers line up in order of GPA/room score and pick their rooms for next year. I’ve decided I’m getting a single, because living with someone whom I never see/talk to makes me paranoid.

This past week has been rather busy. We had the spring dance concert, in which we were covered in clay and dancing in the round, which were both very different experiences for both the dancers and the audience. I still have clay in awkward places (inner lining of my ear, wtf?), and now I’m sad because yesterday was the last performance we’d ever have on that stage (it’s getting renovated) with those dancers (most are graduating) under that choreographer (she’s resigning). But I’m excited for dancing this summer (modern and ballet), especially seeing as it’s only a few days away.

There’s more that I wanted to say here, but I’m not yet quite sure to word it. Please hold.

2011
05/22
CATEGORY
news.
3 comments

beachy keen.

Listening to: Camera Obscura — Forests And Sands

_

Today was the end of my last untainted-by-school weekend, otherwise known as my last weekend of the summer. We went to the beach and were faced with the paradox that many of us beach-goers are: How can the water be so freaking cold when the sand’s burning our feet? All in all, it was fun. Other people tanned; my aunt bronzed; my cousin and I blackened. And since I decided to act like a diva and wear my ginormous sunglasses into the water, I now have a goggle tan.

I took about half a roll of film on my LC-A+ (whose strap broke and I’m pretty sure I got sand stuck in), and got another roll back from the drugstore. Two of them (the one above and another one of a red armchair) came out really well, so I’m happy. I also finished organizing my “Best of Summer 2010″ portfolio. I have 11 still lifes, 16 portraits/ semi-fashion shots, and now seven Lomo prints, distilled from the 1,000+ photos I took these past three months. I’m feeling a bit underwhelmed.

And if my French Vogue doesn’t come in tomorrow’s shipment, I am going to be one unhappy cat. At least my new camera should be here in the next two days!

2010
08/29
CATEGORY
Lomography
misc.
photography
6 comments

through the green glass door.

Listening to: A Fine Frenzy — Electric Twist

So I just came back from the Grand Canyon. Not only the rim, but also the actual river. I have always loved nature, as will probably become obvious through the next few-and-far-between blog posts I may or may not write (sorry about that Anwa…). Needless to say, the trip was fantastic. It was an amazing opportunity for ten youth from all over the United States (and who knows, maybe from all over the world, too) to come together to do service work on the rim of the canyon, and in it. Very fairly priced, absolutely spectacular, close to nature, educational… so what’s the catch? After spending two weeks in the backcountry, there is absolutely no catch, but looking from the outside, it appears to be the lack of showers for two weeks. When we got back to a town and civilization… let’s just say the gas station between the canyon and Flagstaff, AZ wasn’t pleased to have ten ridiculously dirty, sweaty, and smelly teenagers barreling in to exhaust the air conditioning unit.

To briefly explain the title of this particular post, we played the game “through the green glass door” on the trip. It’s actually quite amusing to watch everyone else struggle to understand the game when you’ve got it figured out. I greatly appreciate it because it’s one of the few games left in our society that actually makes you think. For those of you who know it, you know what I mean. For those of you who don’t, ask around and try playing – it’s great fun.

Since I’m not exactly the fashion blogger, I’ll comment on the art and photography opportunities in the canyon. The landscape is jaw-dropping. Unfortunately, due to water, which has a knack for squeezing into places it isn’t wanted (and, of course not being where it is wanted, but more on that another time), all I had to work with was a small, plastic-y, disposable, waterproof camera. With no flash. And an irritating habit of pumping up the color saturation, so the pastel-colored canyon looks like a neon candy land. The pictures attached are some of the few that had any potential whatsoever. Now, for the art: the canyon is and was the home of many Native American tribes. In different side canyons, the river guides pointed out art drawn many, many, many years ago by some of the tribes. Hand prints painted in inaccessible, high places, directional pictograms, etc.

Anyone who read this whole post all the way through and is still planning on following our blog, a million thanks: you get one of those invisible, evasive, and highly mysterious brownie points.

2010
08/11
CATEGORY
misc.
news.
2 comments

goodbye july.

Listening to: Tegan and Sara — Where Does The Good Go

Am I the only one insanely depressed by the fact that July is coming to an end? Even though I don’t go back to school until September, it seems like this summer’s been all too short. In fact, the only plus-side to it being the 30th today is that Ble’s coming home. Of course, that means I’m leaving for the weekend — that’s how the entire month’s been, with one of us leaving for somewhere far away the same day that the other gets back from somewhere even farther. Le sigh.

Something I haven’t done this month, though, is blog about clothes. I’ve been trying to do back-to-school shopping, because none of the clothes I bought last year fit me without some serious alterations. Since I go to a prep school, I find it funny that Forever21 Twist’s new collection (though can Forever21 ever claim originality? Just wondering) is all geek-prep, aka the type of stuff that could potentially get you looks at a place where teenage girls periodically lose their Tiffany necklaces. However, there are a few things I like, but usually I can’t find them on the website in my size or favorite color. (I mean, what’s up with only offering a jacket in firetruck red and a size small? What gives?) But maybe that’s just proof of my inability to understand how their uber-confusing website works.

Anywho:

Shoes:


I have to order shoes from wherever I can find them, because my feet are ginormous (US size 12/13 M). So far, I’ve gotten these in that middle cognac color — I got them from Jessica London because they carry my size.

Pants:

Pants are some of the hardest things to shop for, in my opinion. With dresses, skirts and shirts, you rarely have to worry about them not fitting because they’re too short (however, I will admit that dresses and skirts can simply be too short). When you have a 36/37″ inseam, though, and the “long” inseam in stores is usually 34″, pants are always too short. Thus my love of short shorts — there’s no inseam to worry about there. Gap, though, has nice pants for tall people. These are my favorite:

My only problem with Gap is their sizing, which seems to vary. Either way, I really like these pants.

Completely Aspirational Skirts and Dresses:

They’re aspirational since i doubt that I’m  buying them. This is because I have yet to find a skirt/dress that is dress code appropriate (eg. three inches from the knee, maximum). These all would be cute if I had shorter legs/ more lenient teachers.

What annoys me about these two, both from Forever21, is that they come in one color and all of two sizes. I mean, isn’t your online store supposed to be better stocked than your physical ones?

A.k.a. why I can’t wait to get back to Montréal and shop at Dynamite, whose clothes are actually classy and wearable and not completely shoot-your-wallet-with-a-harpoon.

_

Eh. My wardrobe still has a ways to go if it wants to survive the school year.

2010
07/30
CATEGORY
fashion
1 comment

and it’s the summer solstice, too.

Listening to: Beach House — Norway

OMG, BLÉ!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Luvs, ya, fo’. Pretty awesome day to be born, if you ask me, even if it’s the rainiest summer solstice evah.

2010
06/21
CATEGORY
misc.
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short summer days.

Listening to: The Killers — Dustland Fairytale

Meh. They say that summer days are supposed to be longer, but since June 2nd I’ve barely had time to sit down and think. Or, at least, I haven’t when I really needed it. There’s too much to do and so little time. Again, so many photos and so much editing that I don’t want to d0 — in a weird, photographic way, I feel like Midas. But I should probably stop wasting time writing this and start cropping.

2010
06/16
CATEGORY
misc.
3 comments

roadtripping.

Listening to: Florence + The Machine — Dog Days Are Over

Home at last!

I… am… tired. Over the last two days, I think that I’ve had about eight hours of real sleep. On Wednesday, the last day of school, I and a bunch of my friends woke up at 4:30 to watch the sunrise. On the bright side, I have an entire roll of film from that outing; on the downside, I crashed right before my exam and forgot the names of the authors of all the books we read this semester. Whoops.

The 18-hour roadtrip only managed to take up 13 hours and 13 LC-A+ photos. Which I guess you could divide into a photo per hour, but it was more like 3 photos every 15 minutes I was awake and not eating crackers. I’m getting both rolls developed tomorrow morning — yay for having a photo processing center down the street!

2010
06/03
CATEGORY
misc.
news.
1 comment

remembering days off.

Listening to: Freelance Whales — Hannah

2 days left!

Happy Memorial Day, everyone (well, every-American-one). I hope you spent today doing something outdoorsy and American-like, like having a barbecue. Not sitting inside taking your finals, like I was. Instead of remembering fallen soldiers, I tried to remember the steps in meiosis. And I packed. All but one of my cameras have been packed into a shoebox (they only fit because my feet, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, are insane). In two days, my dad, my Lomo and I will head across the country. This is one of the reasons why you have no photo-of-the day — I am too busy and disorganized to dredge up an old photo, ‘cuz I don’t have any new ones, retouch it, and attach it. My sincerest apologies.

some numbers for you instead:

2 days until I leave campus

3 tests I have left to take

1 day until the Sims 3 Ambitions comes out

788 songs on my iPod

7 dollars the bookstore gave me back for returning my $50 dollar biology book

5 days until Ble’s and my photo shoot

6 rolls of film I have left

300+ photos I need to take for my photography portfolio

2010
05/31
CATEGORY
misc.
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moments captured like flags.

Listening to: Vampire Weekend — White Sky

Only nine days left!

It’s officially the end of the school year, so things are getting both really fun and really hectic. For example, today we had an all-school game of capture-the-flag. It was sophomores and seniors versus juniors and freshmen, and it was pretty epic. The J/F team (my team) won the first two games, and the S2 team won the last one. It was really funny, though, when senior boys whose names I didn’t know kept threatening me, by name, that they would hug/tackle me to get to my flag. Ah, seniors. It’s hard to believe that they’ll be gone in only four days.

Since I have nothing more to say, here’s some quasi-random stuff to keep you entertained!

Music: Coeur de pirate by Coeur de pirate (I’m still ranting over this! And if you don’t know French, learn it at least enough to sing along with the choruses — c’est que je fais, parce que je suis une mauvaise Montrealer)

Lit: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (I love this book. I dunno why, but I do.)

Food: Go bake yourself some brownies!

é

2010
05/24
CATEGORY
misc.
1 comment
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