#1 Present

My mom got me these for Christmas (except the piping is black). I have them on right now - they totally rock. Thanks mom!

More Reading

One of the things I want to do before classes start again on January 19th is read every book on my "want to read" list which according to the list I made on Facebook is something like 57 books. Unrealistic?? I think not. So I just finished this book
It was tremendous. If you want an honest view of what it's like to be a female in the service - this is the book to read. The author doesn't pull any punches about her experiences which is refreshing. At the same time it raises alot of questions about what it is like to be a female in the military. In addition to navigating the male dominant hierarchy that is the military she has to deal with all of the sexual bullshit which includes rumors, innuendo's and outright lies from men that she thought were her friends. She was strong enough to deal with it, many women aren't. What happens to those women? That's the problem isn't it? How does a male dominated machine deal with sexual assault within it's own ranks? Usually not that well. They cover it up, keep it quiet or
basically tell the women that it was probably their fault. Nice huh?
This subject makes my blood boil.

Hung Over

yeah it was fun......more later

Christmas

I love Christmas....actually I love the stuff that happens around Christmas. I get to see all of my favorite people and then I get to drink with all of my favorite people. Tomorrow everyone comes here for breakfast, I got to my aunts for dinner and then I go to friends for the evening. I usually end up staying overnight there because we just have too much fun. Well I always have fun with this particular group of people but Christmas just makes it better.

So Merry Christmas to all who celebrate Christmas. To the rest of you enjoy your holidays.

Putting Stuff Off

So right now I'm putting off a project I should pretty much have done - I'm sure many of you are familiar with that prediciment. The project is this - a friend of mine who is a professor at Lesley University has a contract to turn her PhD dissertation into a reference book. It seems like it would be pretty easy right? Just take out anything that might sound like it was written right to the committee and update any research that may have been done since the dissertation's publication...right? Well it would be easy except the dissertation is written in APA style and for some reason the publishing house wants it in Chicago Style. They are totally different ways of writing and frankly Chicago Style is a pain in the ass.

So today I'm not getting dressed, I'm going to sit in my father's easy chair with my computer on my lap, work on this silly thing and watch the Patriots hopefully win.

Wish me luck.

Reading For Fun

One of the things I have missed dearly over the past couple of years is reading for fun. It's been a very rare occasion that I've been able to pick up a book that hasn't somehow been school related. Luckily my pleasure reading has taken on a bit of a research edge, so if I'm reading something that technically isn't for school, I'm still going to get something out of it. Take for instance the book I just finished. It's called "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien and it's about Vietnam. It's an amazing book of stories from out on patrol, life prior to the war and life after the war written by someone who was there. I made the mistake of picking this up during finals - let's just say my finals got done but it was a struggle.I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Vietnam - it gives you an interesting perspective.

There is a young adult series written by a woman who published under the name Zack Emerson (her name is Ellen Emerson White). The series is The Echo Company Series it's four books written from the perspective of one soldier from the day he lands in Vietnam until the day he goes home. There is a follow up book written under her own name called The Road Home. These books are out of print and hard to find but they are worth the read. As I mentioned they are a young adult series so they are also quick reads.

This brings us to the book I am just about to start. Band of Sisters - American Women at War in Iraq. I'll let you know how it is. I love the cover - it looks like these chicks are coming to kick your ass.

Done

Finals are in - classes are over. Break has officially begun. Now if I can just get rid of this pneumonia then I'd be in business. I can't wait to lay in bed tomorrow and watch The West Wing and then do nothing the rest of the day.......ahhhhhh.

Not losing momentum.....

I don't want to lose my momentum now that I've been posting again, but today this pneumonia is kicking my ass. I have a headache and I'm exhausted. So just for your listening pleasure is my latest favorite band.

Rediscoveries

Recently I rediscovered The West Wing. I had forgotten how much I absolutely loved this show - especially Josh Lyman. The writing was fast and smart and they talked about real things while showing us how ridiculous the people behind the real things could be at times.






This was one of the absolute best stories withing an episode I had ever seen. It's worth the 7 minutes out of your day but make sure you have tissue nearby.




Yes yes I should be writing my paper.....I know.

1996??? WTF??

I am so sick of reading articles like this about the VA. They were told in 1996 to update their computers to make sure that these people got paid and they didn't. That means that there was some tight ass bureaucrat who probably isn't a veteran sitting in an office somewhere saying "ohhhh we'll do that later" well guess what - it's later. Twelve years later jackass. The line in this article that makes me the most angry is "computer glitches often resulted in money being seized from the elderly survivors' bank accounts".

So I say again.....WTF?

That's some hell of a thank you.

The VA is so fucked up - I don't know if Barack's guy can help but let's hope he doesn't hurt. I do like the fact that he got kicked out of his job for going up against that jackass Donald Rumsfeld - so maybe that means he has a good head on his shoulders. We will soon find out.

Library Time

One more paper due - I'm at the library with my friend Laura who also has one more paper due. Somehow it makes it so much easier that someone else has work to do. Of course she is on facebook and I'm on blogspot so really how much work is getting done?? Not too much that's for sure.

Finally feeling a little better from this pneumonia although I just went up two flights of stairs and my chest doesn't feel so good. So tonight I guess I'll just rest. I think we are watching The Dark Knight. Please enjoy the photo.....

Yes I'm Alive

Ok so a couple of my friends (you know who you are) have been bugging me about updating my blog - so here I am. I am going to be better at updating - I promise. So my two faithful readers here you go.

I'm in the middle of finals week, it's been crazy. I ended up getting pneumonia which hasn't made finishing anything easy but I refuse to ask for any type of extension dammit! I just want to be done. This semester has been ridiculously stressful. The amount of work we have coupled with our placement which is three days a week make the work completely overwhelming.

My placement is at a hospital that has locked psychiatric units. These people are referred to as the "worst of the worst" and "the bottom of the barrel" (these are nursing and mental health worker terms not mine). They are difficult to discharge and almost impossible to place in the community because once they get out of the hospital they stop taking their meds and when that happens all bets are off. Overall though its a great learning experience. I have some interesting patients that I deal with, it's a place that really builds up my skill.

I've been totally stressed out this semester - and now I realize that blogging can probably help that.

Stess #1 - Living In A Dorm- Honestly I'm too old for this shit but it was/is the most cost effective way to do the whole grad school thing. All I can say is I hope I wasn't as annoying as some of the people in this dorm when I was their age. We also have a whole population of people who are majoring in Library Science...do I need to say more? Anyway that being said I have met some great people and have had a lot of fun.

Stess #2:The Amount of Work- Now I am no stranger to hard work, I just spent the last two years working full time and finishing my degree full time. But this is ridiculous. There is absolutely no way you can do this program and have any type of a job. The weekly reading list for each class is HUGE - most Professors will tell you what you have to read to be ready but some want you to read everything. Thank GOD I took two classes this summer or I would really be under water.

Stress #3: Feeling Disconnected- It's strange to hear about other people's lives going on while you feel like you are in a holding pattern. Although I don't miss my condo - I miss living in North Attleboro. I was having a lot of fun there and everyone was close. Even if I didn't have time to see them I knew they were close by.

OK that's enough bitching for now. There are a lot of really cool great things about Grad School too, but that's for tomorrow post.

Important

Hot stuff

And I don't mean that in a good way. I miss my AC - I didn't sleep well. It doesn't bode well for the rest of the day. It's hot and sticky and yucky already. I'm ready for it to be Fall dammit.


Frankly I prefer this kind of hot.












Say it with me now...YUMMMMMMMY!

Day 2

OK so I'm not going to count the days of the semester just this week - I promise! So I've slept here two nights had two of my classes already and decided that I pretty much like it here. The only thing that is very different is the fact the you hear ambulances 24/7. But for those of you familiar with Boston this would make sense because Simmons is right near the Longwood Medical area.

There are some things I definitely like about this experience so far: my bed is super comfy (I was worried about that), food is good and included in my dorm fees, people on my floor are nice, reading so far is very interesting and right up my alley, there are great lectures available right in the next hall, we are right in the area next to Fenway Park so there are a ton of stores (Bed Bath and Beyond/Staples/Shaws etc) and there is a movie theater close by. The biggest thing is that I really like my professors so far - for me that's huge.

A few things I don't like - being on the fourth floor (I'm getting good exercise though!), rooms that aren't air conditioned but our hallways are (???), my floor is very very quiet(lots of reading to be done) and well...I guess that's it. So all in all not bad!

Hope you are all well.

The Social Expirement Begins

So last night was my first night sleeping at "college". This is so hysterical - I can't believe I'm in a dorm room. Do you know what it's like to try to shove your 40 old year life into one room? Not easy I tell ya. The room is a decent size - if I was an undergrad there would be two of us in here (shudder). I desperately need my friend Kim to come and help me rearrange stuff. Until then here is what the room looks like semi-put together.



I've eaten in the dining hall twice - it's pretty decent food. Today is my first day of classes and of course with everything going on I haven't finished my reading (which is why I'm up and showered so damn early). Oh yeah, the showers. I just took my first of what will be hundreds of showers in a gym like stand up shower with that little space in before it to dress....now that's fun.

The people on my floor are nice I've met some other social work students so that's good. I've spoken to several second year students and then told me how much work the first year is.....yippeee!

The good news is car is sold - dropped it off yesterday
Condo is rented - signing lease on Saturday.

Now that I am here and moved in I should be able to update more frequently - kind of like I used to.

Big Countdown

Just 5 days 'til the big move. I packed some tonight but not nearly enough.....I used to love packing, going through everything and throwing shit away. Now I just want to be done with it!!!

Orientation tomorrow - we'll see how that goes.

Dexter

Season 2 released yesterday!!! Yayyyyy! Downloading it as we speak!!!

Ok so a couple of cool things. First of all my friend Kim's art work was in Yankee Magazine. Stop over there and say congratulations - it's a pretty big deal.

Secondly Kim also works at the gallery where my stuff is she took some cool shots of both the show and me doing "live painting" - those are here on the store blog.Just scroll down one entry.

Have a good night everyone.

Ninjalympics

And It's Over....For Two Weeks

I passed in my last final tonight at 10:15pm which was a whole hour and forty-five minutes earlier than it was actually due. That in itself is a miracle! So now I have the next two weeks "off" but really I have a long list of things to do~

1. Pack to move to school
2. Get my condo rented
3. See friends before I move
4. Find a storage unit
5. Get my license changed (still says Rhode Island two years later)
6. Get my financial aid in order

Uggghhh just looking at the list makes me want to climb into bed....think I will.

night all!

Here's a great song by the Stereophonics.....

Study Break!!!!

I needed something to jostle my brain...



Saul Williams - pay attention - he's going to be big

Art Update

Well hello everyone. I wanted to provide a quick update on things that aren't school related. In the middle of midterms and finals I had my first "solo" show at a real live gallery. It was a blast. The feeling of walking into the room and seeing only your work hanging up just cannot be described. The work is all framed professionally (or looks like it is). It's just amazing.

Here is the link on the gallery page for me

Just having a "bio" is pretty wild.

Here are some photo's from the show. They aren't great photo's because that's not my thing but I think you get the point. They are mostly just to give you a feel for the space and how things looked hanging there.

Ok Guys...

Graduate school is hard. REALLY hard. I keep telling myself that I'm getting a semester's worth of work done in a six week period and that's why it seems so overwhelming. So instead of two classes it's really like having four. Well that's what I keep telling myself anyway.

The big news is I'm moving. Yup, taking advantage of that graduate housing that Simmons offers. I met with the real estate agent today so she can list my condo as a rental. I wish the market was better I would just sell the damn thing. I probably won't be able to do that for a couple of years - but that's ok because I'll have somewhere to come back to. As long as I can keep it rented.

I've also had a bit of an emotional upheaval that I'm not going to get into here for a variety of reasons - I'm just going to say the last 2 weeks have been rough.

All of my friends know I have an unhealthy obsession with the dark side. This is the thing that's been going through my head and has been on repeat on my iPod. I so totally dig this car. You only have to watch the first minute to get the point. If you are offended or grossed out don't go past that. The last minute get VERY strange.

These so would have been my friends in high school...in fact these were my friends by 20 years ago we looked very different....

It's official

I'm a graduate student. I had my first class tonight. The amount of work is going to be pretty intense. I have my research class on Tuesday and Thursday nights and my Realities of Racism and Oppression on Wednesdays. The syllabi for both looks pretty hefty - say bye bye to summer vacation.

The other news is I may be moving. They have graduate housing here at Simmons and I'm waiting to find out if I got in. It would make my life so much easier to not have to commute every day into Boston for class or into Jamaica Plain for my placement.

Talk to you all later!

My Charge

This is who I've been watching all week. She's the sweetest little thing named "Roxy". I almost wish I wasn't going to grad school so I could go out and get a dog. Like I said almost.......

Happy 4th Everyone!!!

Now you know another secret about me..... I like certain bits of country music.

New Music

I think the state of the music industry is pretty interesting these days. Big acts like Nine Inch Nails are pretty much telling the big labels to go f%$# themselves (which I love) and acts like Madonna and Shakira are signing with Live Nation for millions of dollars (Shakira= 70 million) to break the monopoly of Ticketmaster. I think all of these things are great. I don't think people really know how musicians are shackled by the business with recoupable costs, back end points etc etc. All which comes out of these already low per unit sale. It's nice to see people fighting back. If the big guys fight back the road will be paved for the little guy.

That all being said I think it's important to support any new music that's out there. So ladies and gentleman I give you Jubilee. With Aaron North at the helm (one of my FAVORITES) these guys are fantastic. I hope they do a North American tour because when they come to Boston I'm going to get my 40 year old ass out to the club.
They've put out an EP and are working on a full length album. Here is the video - if you like the song you can go to their myspace and purchase the tracks. The money goes directly to them and I'm sure every single little bit helps. While you are exploring head over to Buddyhead (co-owned by Travis Keller and Aaron North) and check it out - it's a great music site.

Here you go....

Shocking!

This is hysterical and will not be a surprise to anyone who knows me. Thanks to Daisy for the test.

-29 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Poor (Failure) Take the test!

This is Important

Thoughts On The Conference

So I just spent three days at a conference out at Smith College that was titled "Combat Stress: Understanding the Challenges, Preparing for the Return". It was amazing - they covered just about every area that you could think of. Instead of running down the whole thing I thought that maybe I would just give you some highlights. Before I do that though I want to talk about the book "Final Salute" that I read during the conference. The book is by a reporter who turned a bunch of newspaper articles into this story with the subject being mostly Major Steve Beck. Really though the subject is what Major Beck does which is notify the families of the men and women who have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is an amazing book but incredibly sad and when I say sad I mean I had to stop reading the book in public because I was close to sobbing every time I picked it up. Why would I want to put myself through that? Because this is an important part of what is going on and everyone should see how it is handled. If you've seen any of those pictures that have gone around the Internet of the coffin being loaded off of a commercial jet while people look through the windows or the picture of the woman laying next to her husbands casket so she can spend one more night with him - those are from this book.
Read it - please.

Here are my highlights:

* They spent a ton of time on self care and secondary trauma. This is especially important to the therapists and social workers who are going to be working directly one and one with veterans (from any war). You can't help them if you are mired down in their stuff and can't process it properly.

*Jonathan Shay was one of the keynote speakers and he was fabulous. He has written two groundbreaking books: Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character and Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming. He was hysterically funny and spoke to us about his work in a way that we could all understand. I highly recommend his books an going to see him speak if you are interested in this subject matter.

* A World War II vet who is a Pearl Harbor survivor gently reminded us that 2,350 men were killed on December 7th 1941. He wasn't downplaying the number of deaths in Korea, Vietnam, The Gulf War, Afghanistan or Iraq - as I said he was just gently reminding us that Iraq isn't the whole war that have caused suffering.

* Tons and tons of speakers that have published and are completely accessible if you need to follow up with them. One of them is the head of the social work school at the University of Georgia - I'm going to look at that school for a possible transfer my second year.

* The best part of this whole conference is that it wasn't political. Everyone was there with the same goal - which was treating veterans. At one point someone tried to get political but was quickly shut down and I was glad. This was not the place to talk about who you were going to vote for, what you thought of the war or whether you thought the war was illegal or legal. There was a higher purpose - and pretty much everyone stuck to it.

* The conference was free if you are active military so we got to hear a lot from them and from their perspective. It was fascinating.

* Lt. Col Carl Castro. He was the first speaker. He was funny, down to earth and brutally honest about the military's shortcomings. He is in the military obviously and is working within the system to help make changes. It was a great way to start off the conference.

OK that's it for now - more on regular life later. I'm off to watch the rest of the race.

Off Again

Hey everyone - I'm headed out for a few days to this conference out in Western MA and I'm not bringing my laptop (gasp!!).

I'll be back later in the weekend - have a good one!

** Oh and for those of you paying attention that time stamp is correct. Ugghhh!**

Oh My....

When did tennis start to look like this?? I hope to GOD that my tv has the channel that shows Wimbledon.

And Release Deep Breath......

So I delivered the commission this morning and guess what? HE LIKED IT! I think he actually more than liked it. It looked really good on the wall in the room that he is putting it in. I'm going to let him live with it over the next few days and then go over there Monday morning and sign them and paint the top/bottom edges. I'm sooo relieved! Here is a picture of them. They are leaning on the mantel which is not of course where they will be. The ceilings are HUGE so they will be hanging above the mantel.



I don't know enough about iPhoto yet to make the picture look fabulous. Suffice it to say they look great in the room.

New NIN!

Yeah I know I said I was going to bed but this is so worth staying up for! Watch Josh the drummer - I'm not even sure he's human and the bass player from Beck is fucking fantastic. Trent's right, this could be the best line up yet. (Yes I know the video's go over into the other column, but I don't CARE!!)

1,000,000



Letting You

Stormy Weather

We had some unbelievable thunder storms today. One minute the sky was all sunny and blue and the next minute the wind was blowing and it was looking like it was 8pm. It rained and hailed really really hard for about 20 minutes and then stopped got sunny and then started up again a few hours later. It was really pretty cool. I love bad weather - it kind of reminds you that you aren't really in charge. I also start to think about people who don't have anywhere to go in a storm like that - that makes me a bit sad.

So I am working on this commission and like a fool I told him I could deliver it tomorrow. I just needed to put a deadline on it or it wouldn't get done. So I brought it to my art teacher for critique and well - let's just say neither of us was really happy with it. So I came home and have been reworking it. I think I'm going to pack it in for the night and go to bed. That was I can get up really early and make use of the morning light. Right now the only light I have is artificial and color is never right in that light.

I'm really stressed about this commission. I'm am completely grateful for the opportunity and of course can use the cash but the pressure of creating something along the lines of "can you do something like this?" is too much. Blah!

Anyway, I'm off to bed (wicked early). Have a good night everyone.

**Oh yeah - Maine was freaking amazing and I've spent the last three days wondering why I ever moved out of that state.

Tuesday Fun

Hi guys
I'm going away to Maine for the next few days and wanted to update before I went. Let's see where should I begin?

Let's start with the most important thing shall we. JUNIOR WON THE RACE ON SUNDAY! Yes it was a fuel mileage win - but I don't care it was a WIN. He hasn't won since May of 2006 but now that he's on a decent team and has great equiptment (Thank you Mr. Hendrix!) he's having a great season. He's third in the points and I'm predicting he'll finish either 1st or 2nd before the chase. Someone needs to get that punk Kyle Bush out of the top 13.

As I mentioned I've been reading like a madwoman - I just finished another fabulous book. It's called He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not by Trish Ryan. It was recommended to me by EX in this post. Since she wrote such a great review I'm not going to repeat it. Safe to say this book gave me a lot to think about...ALOT.

I'm so happy to be going to Maine. I lived there for 8 years and miss it all the time. I don't doubt that at some point I'll move back there - I just love it. I stay in Kittery in the house I used to live it and it's fun...lots of fun.

Tom Petty was just in town and I didn't get to see him...it's ok really I've seen him live about 10 times but still. The reviews were fabulous and I wouldn't expect anything less.
'
OK enough with the niceties:

I live in a 30 unit building things have been really good here lately. We have a new plow person for the winter - the last remaining "problem" people moved out at the beginning of the month - I have a new parking spot which isn't next to the dumpster and doesn't suck and no one has been parking in it but me (that's a total switch). But I just had a smallishly disturbing thing happen. There is a young woman who lives down the hall from me - I think she's around my age (40). I like her but she's a bit of a know it all. She's a good "building friend" you know what I mean? So instead of asking the post office to stop my mail for the next three days I asked her to pick it up. That's not the problem. She lives in one of the biggest units - it has two bedrooms and a huge living room. Our condo docs state that you can only have as many cats as you have bedrooms and absolutely no dogs. Well this woman has cats - like four of them. Frankly, I don't care because it gives me an excuse to not go into her place. The problem is you can smell them from the hallway when the door is closed. I had noticed it before but had kind of chalked it up to it being a bad day for her or something. But today when I knocked on her door and she opened it I was almost KNOCKED DOWN by the smell of cat. And then I see not only two or three adult cats but SEVEN kittens - yes I said SEVEN. Now they are cute but they are smelly little cats. I don't see how she doesn't smell it. To top it off her house seems to be that kind of dirty that's not messy but dirty. Floor needs to be swept and mopped dirty. Do you know what I mean? She has to smell like that all day?

Oh I know what else - to top it off she has allergies.
NO SHIT. I have severe asthma and allergies. I'm highly allergic to most animals but mostly cats and horses. I don't ever put myself in a situation where I would come into contact with either. My poor nieces who own a horse know that if I'm coming over and they've been at the barn they have to change clothes and probably shower. It's a pain in the ass but it's better than a trip to the hospital - for me. So when this woman tell me that her allergies and asthma are killing her excuse me if I don't have a ton of sympathy. I mean where is the common sense? I know people get attached to their pets but if you are allergic to something why would you get it as a pet to begin with?

Ok I was going to post about my ideas regarding testing people before they are allowed to have children - but I'm going to let that slide. I will however show you this - which disturbs me greatly. I am all about cute things on babies - I really am. I buy things for my friends Kim's baby Lucy all the time and they are cutie cutie things but there is something about this that feels wrong. I'd be happy to hear other opinons.

Classic

I'm in heaven - I didn't even know this song had a video. I absolutely LOVED these guys and think that they were one of the most underrated bands of the 80's. This song brings back great memories - sadly the hair does not!!

Books and Commission Update

In addition to having time to catch up on my movie watching I've also had plenty of time to read. I love to read and miss it dearly when I'm school. I'm sure in grad school reading is going to take on a whole new meaning. So anyway - I'm reading tons. About 15 minutes ago I finished a book which will probably be in my top five books forever. The book is called "Lottery" and it's by Patricia Wood. There is no description that I could give here that would do it justice. The book is about Perry L. Crandall who has an IQ score of 76 (he reminds us often that 75 is considered "retarded" and he is NOT retarded). Perry wins the Washington State lottery which is worth 12 million. Its a fabulous story that is at times really heartbreaking and at other times will make you laugh completely out loud. I absolutely loved loved loved this book. Go and read it - yes I mean now! Go Go Go!!

I met with my commission person today. It went much better than expected. Commissions are tough, but it's my opinion that they are tougher for an abstract artist. When you have people point at something you've done and they say "Can you do that but in blue"? You aren't sure if you should be happy they asked or insulted because they think your work is the kind that just can be reproduced that easily. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt and I like to believe that they don't always know that they are being insulting.

So take all of the pressure that comes with a commission and then add in the fact that the person that is asking you do something is someone you've known for a long time. I had actually put off doing this - he had hinted around that he wanted me to do something but I never took the bait. I made him ask me directly. Basically what happened was he saw something he liked, bid on it on eBay and didn't win. So he sent me the link and wanted to know if I could do something similar with some color changes and also canvas size changes.

My answer was "well, I can try"

And that's what I'm doing. I brought two of the three panels up to him today for him to see. They are both very different on purpose so that he could make decisions on color. He seemed happy, but that's the other thing about doing something for someone you know. No matter how many times you tell them that it's not going to hurt your feelings if they don't like it, I'm not sure if they believe it. The fact is, abstract art isn't for everyone and giving someone and "idea" of what you want isn't always successful. I understand why people try to be nice - but the last thing I want is something hanging on their walls that they don't like or that they feel like they have to hang because I did it.

That being said - I trust this person. I think he'd speak up, I hope he would anyway. We'll see. I'm going to take some pictures later and post them you guys can give me your comments.

Body Clock

Being out of work has sent my body clock back to the time frame that it is most comfortable in. I'm up until 2 or 3 in the am and then not waking up until 10am or so. I feel like a freaking teenager. This morning I was supposed to bring my car into get fixed and of course slept right through it.

I'm trying to get back into a normal rhythm but as you can see by the time stamp it's not working. I have to meet someone tomorrow at 10am about a commission I'm working on. I absolutely have to be on time because this person only has 1/2 hour for me. I'm not really looking forward to the meeting but I'll write about that tomorrow.

Off to try to go to sleep (this would actually be EARLY for me, pretty bad huh??)

HOT

Sorry guys...I got nothin' today. It's freakin hot on the east coast - way too hot for the beginning of June. I haven't even bought my air conditioner yet! Bummer.
I hope you all had a great weekend.
Go CELTICS!

Netflix

So now that I have all this time before I start school I've been watching movies like a crazy person. I upped my netflix to getting three movies at one time and guess what? I'm keeping up with watching them - hey no one is more surprised than me! Some of the movies I've seen are:
Oceans 12 (cutie Brad Pitt and George Clooney)
Oceans 13 (same as above)
Hairspray (Christopher Walken singing and dancing - John Travolta as a woman - very funny)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (hysterically funny with yummy Robert Downey Jr.)
Dexter Season 1 (can't wait for season two!!)
Waitress (SEE THIS MOVIE - it's FABULOUS)
Knocked UP (cute and funny, score one for the goofy guys)
Stranger Than Fiction (Probably my favorite Will Farrell movie- great concept)
3:10 to Yuma (should have been 3:10 to YUMMY Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. Great story, great movie)
Velvet Goldmine (fabulous)
Gone Baby Gone (fabulous)

But it hasn't all been good
Into The Wild (BIG disappointment- the lead actor simply wasn't good)
I tried to watch The Tudors but it was like watchin soft porn and frankly I'm just not into that period of history enough to want to figure out what the hell is going on. I mostly got it to look at Jonathan Rhys Myer.
Lastly and probably the biggest disappointment was Nine Inch Nails All That Could Have Been. Now you all know how I feel about Trent - but the Trent at that period of time was just sad. High on whatever and acting like as asshole. Seen enough of that in person, I don't need to see it on DVD.

My next three movies that are coming are:
Rescue Dawn (I like war movies and westerns and it's Christian Bale again!)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (supposed to be good)
Bend It Like Beckham (I've seen this a million times and I just love it)

OK well it's getting late and I was up until 3am last night so I've off to bed. I'll leave you with a little more Big Head Todd.

Yes Yes I Know...

I know I just changed it but I realized I didn't really care for it and when my friend Kim over at Breton Bleu mentioned it was hard to read it suddenly became hard for me to read also (power of suggestion maybe?). But anyway, I found this on the regular blogger templates and liked it so here it is. I noticed I can see my videos again so we are back in business.

I Could Never Figure Out....

Why these guys never really hit it big. I've seen them a bunch of times live and they are tremendous. Todd Park Mohr is a kick ass guitar player. They had the album Sister Sweetly which is where this song comes from - then they had a few radio hits but they have been mostly relegated to Adult Contemporary Radio. C'mon people this is a Rock and Roll band!!
This is my absolute favorite song by them....

Slinger - I know you like these guys too - just further proof you are my actual long lost brother.

**I've sent an email to the people who made my template - until I hear back I'm only going to post links**

New Look!

Hey Everyone - I figured it out! Of course I can't figure out why my video's aren't showing up and my widgets all got deleted but that's ok. Today was a rough day and it feels good to have to build something from the ground up again.

Help!

Ok guys I am SICK TO DEATH of this template. I've looked online but have no idea how to use those free templates out there. Can anyone help???

*** Oh and I added some new things to my blogroll - check them out!!***

Wingaling Dragon

Watch this - you won't be sorry. If it doesn't make you laugh you are dead inside!!

3 In A Row

I'm trying to get back into the habit of posting every day of so. I don't really have much to report today so I thought I'd just pay tribute to one of my favorite bands....

This is one of my favorite songs - the video is just a bit strange but it's directed by the fabulous Anton Corbijn and his visuals although sometimes a little left of center are pretty lush.



This one showcases the tremendous harmonies especially after the three minute mark



Just love the whole "King Without A Country" thing



The woman in this video had the best job in the world that day.



Another one directed by Anton. An oldie but a goody



And then of course the yummy cowboys need to be shown.

Dad Turns 70

My dad turned 70 on Friday. Tonight (Sunday) we had a nice sit down dinner for 16 - my sister and I hired a personal chef to come in and cook. He brought servers with him so our work was minimal (I mean really minimal) and the food was great.

I love my dad but our relationship is sometimes complicated. He grew up in a shitty shitty home and even at 70 has no self confidence. He often doesn't know how to react to things - so he says the wrong thing and usually it hurts your feelings. I've gotten much better at realizing what he is doing and why he is doing it. I try really really hard to not take it personally but sometimes it's hard not to.

Tonight in the course of harassing me (which means he's happy) he mentioned my college degree several times. Kind of in the vein of "well now that you have a degree you must be able to do that". I can't figure out if he is saying these things because he doesn't know how to say that he's proud of me or if he's feeling insecure about his own education (high school, not unusual for blue collar families then). I wish for our relationship's sake that he could just come right out and say what he means. I'm 40 and he's never said he loves me. I know he does but sometimes the words are nice to hear.

About eight months ago I had a dream that included my dad's death and funeral. It was so real that I woke up sobbing with tears streaming down my face. I know that as your parents get older you have to face the reality that we are not immortal. I just don't want to thing about it...not at all.

Back On Track

Well after taking an unscheduled but apparently much needed hiatus I'm back on track. The past month has been interesting. Lots going on...lots going on...

First of all I'm unemployed. My job ended a week ago Friday. Since I didn't take any time off in between my last two jobs I'm looking at this time as vacation. I should be more worried than I am but I just can't seem to bring myself to stress about it.

I'm starting school in the summer as opposed to the Fall. I can take 6 credits starting in July and get those out of the way. I'm not sure that it will help me finish my degree any sooner but it may help me finish my coursework sooner and that's always good.

I'm still not sure where I'm living in the Fall and hope to have that figured out in the next week or two. If I'm not living at Simmons I need to get on that and come up with a suitable alternative.

Things have been fabulous artwise - I have a bunch of my stuff up a gallery about 1/2 hour away and my stuff is being bought by people I don't know. What a concept! What I mean is that when you have a show and invite all of your friends your work tends to be bought by people you know....makes sense right? It's a whole different thing to have your stuff bought by strangers. I quite exciting actually. It's even more exciting when the gallery wants more of your stuff and they are handing you a check. It makes you feel like a real artist.

Another thing that makes you feel like a real artist is a commission. That's when someone pays you in advance to create something for them. Usually it's something that have specifically in mind. In my case being an abstract painter this can be very very stressful. Usually the directions are usually something like. I like green - can you do this one in green? (as they are pointing to something I've already done). Or I get a picture with a request to recreate something.

The latest commission that I am working on is a three panel (18x36) abstract which is based on something that this person saw on ebay and didn't win. He wants enough changes that I feel confident in saying it's not a copy of the piece it's more of a replica of the artist's style. That's something that is done all the time. How many people use Pollock's spatter style. Exactly - ton's.

The hardest part of a commission is that even though you tell the person paying over and over "My feelings won't be hurt if you don't like it" you can't be sure that they believe you. In my case it's totally true. Abstract art is not for everyone and just because you like one thing doesn't mean you are going to like another piece. And as I told this person - I can probably sell these at the gallery if they don't work for him.

So now I have to get this done - my plan is to get it done this week. With no job I shouldn't be driving around too much (the price of gas is ridiculous) so should just settle in and get it done.

When it's done and hung I'll post a picture for you all to see. In the meantime this is one the pieces that sold at the gallery. Apparently it sold to a therapist.


I'm also working on some abstract pastel's. As soon as I have some pictures of this I'll post them.

Mystery Solved

Well thank GOD they solved this mystery. It was keeping me up at night - that's for sure.

Good Morning

Let's see what is going on in the world these days?

If you head over to NIN you can download the whole new album for free. This is the second free album that Trent has put out since his contract ran out and he's still making shitloads of money. Pay attention people this is how it's going to work from now on!

Can someone please explain to me how both the Bush Administration and Sen. John McCain can oppose the new GI Bill? It seems pretty simple to me - you put your life on the line - we pay for you to get an education when you get home. It's not like it hasn't been done. We had great success with this after World War II. So what's the problem? I have no idea. Oh wait yes I do Bush is a dumbass.

The head of the US Institute for Mental Health (who knew we had such a place?) has warned that left untreated mental scars will outpace the battlefield as a cause of death. This is something that is not being addressed by the Dept. of Defense or the Veterans Administration. Once again we are asking people to put their lives on the line but not taking care of them upon their return. It's disgusting - oh yeah and Bush is a dumbass.

If you watch NASCAR (like me) you know how Kyle Bush took out Jr during the last few laps of the race on Saturday night in Richmond. I'm mature enough to know it wasn't intentional but that doesn't mean I have to like it. You gotta have bad guys in a sport to have good guys. Kyle Bush is a punk and look it works here too - Bush is a dumbass.

Christ - this woman was given a "mom of the year" award? Her daughter's been to rehab at least three times and her other teenage daughter is going to star in a reality show. Way to go mom.

Is it me or is Oprah EVERYWHERE these day? I don't know how much more I can take.

No matter what he's been through I love and will continue to love Robert Downey Jr and although this movie isn't my thing- I'm thrilled to see him doing so well.

In the spirit of "Hey man, we're getting the band back together" Tom Petty has reformed his orginal band Mudcrutch. These were the guys who originally went to California with him but the record label made him get rid of the drummer and guitar player because they were "weak". The other two (Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell) went on to become two of the Heartbreakers. You can download the album at iTunes and highly recommend that you do its fantastic. In fact here is a track from the album that I love love love



I love this list of the 25 best hairbands. This was so my sisters scene.

Oh and Bush is a DUMBASS.

Busy...Busy...Busy

Lots going on these past couple of weeks but the biggest news I have is this. I am very excited about the opportunity to show in a place with other artists and even more excited about the exposure this gets me. As it says in the other blog I sold something pretty quick to complete strangers. I can't even describe the feeling of having someone admire your work enough to want to purchase it - its' crazy.

I have to say a special thank you to Kim and Julie for putting my work up and for making it look so beautiful. Thank you guys!

I went to see Eddie Izzard last night and he was fantastic. So freakin funny. He's not dressing as a transvestite this time around and he looked extremely handsome. Here is some old stuff

Work is crazy due to the fact that I work at a university and it's "final grade" time. So every problem student comes crawling out of the woodwork.

More soon...

Signs

I was brought up Catholic - made my first communion, confession and confirmation right on schedule. After that it was pretty much downhill. My parents tried to make me go to church but since they never really followed through on any punishments, I never really felt the need to go.

Now that I'm older I find myself picking and choosing things from various religions and quite possibly superstition. I've always been one of those people who have asked (prayed) for signs when I was trying to make a big decision. Sometimes I felt like a got them - sometimes I was pretty sure that I had made them up to fit what I wanted. Either way I do know when I've gotten a clear sign and I've ignored it - it's never been pretty.

So Friday I was waiting for the train at South Station I was chatting with my friend Kim and I was telling her how I ran into a friend of my mom's on the red line. The chances of that happening are slim to none. The more interesting thing is that she is a licensed social worker. So I quickly gave her the rundown of what was going one (while we stopped in the tunnel) and she just looked at me and said - Although it's a good program the Smith program is odd - you should go to Simmons. I just said hmmmmmm ok maybe. Then it was my stop so I got off the train.

So as I was talking to Kim I said to her - you know we are always asking for signs for things we are trying to figure out. How much bigger of a sign do I need than an offer of $20,000 toward my education. Kim who had been pretty pro-Smith just kind of stopped and said you know, you are right. She then said and just in case you weren't paying attention he sent a messenger to the red line to talk to you about Simmons. Hmmmmm.

So the bottom line really is how much more of a freakin sign do I need? I sat down on Saturday and did the numbers - Simmons is at least $35K less over the life of the program. I will have to move - but that's ok. I have the whole summer to do that.

So decision remade - Simmons it is.

Tomorrow I have to write Smith a polite letter that says "if you want me, you need to pony up". I did already call them and they said they had no more money. So that seems to be that.

My New Phone

Or should I say my new iPhone? I can't remember if I mentioned this or not but I got an iPhone for graduation and I love it. It's the 16 gig and it does EVERYTHING. Well almost everything. Anyway right now I'm on the train and able to post this. Who the hell needs twitter?

Fly In The Ointment

So I am all set right? I have decided to go to Smith. Right?? Well today I got this email:

Dear JENNIFER,

Congratulations on you admission to the Simmons M.S.W! I would like to inform you that you have been awarded a SSW Merit Scholarship totaling $ 20,000 for the duration of your full-time M.S.W. program (a total of $ 10,000 per academic year). As you will start your program in September of 2008, you will receive $5,000 that semester and $ 5,000 in the Spring of 2009. This award is only given for your full-time M.S.W. program for two years.


The award will be renewed for the academic year 2009/2010 assuming that you maintain satisfactory grades and adherence to the ethical and professional standards expected of a professional social worker.


In order for you to receive this award, please mail us, the attached scholarship response form, by May 4 to acknowledge your acceptance of this merit scholarship award. You would also need to mail us your $ 200 tuition deposit as well as your admission response letter that was included with your original admission letter. If we do not hear from you by May 4, this award offer will be withdrawn


Congratulations! We look forward to welcoming you to Simmons in the Fall of 2008.

So here I sit frantically doing the numbers. Here is one thing I had tried to avoid the complete cost of my degree. It's going to be freakin expensive - that's for sure. So now I'm kind of back in decision making mode.

I'll let you know what I come up with.

Decision Time.....

Smith College it is. Program starts May 30th - so much for a restful summer!!

Wish You Were Here

3 for 3

So I found out today that I got accepted at BU School of Social Work. I found out via a phone call from the Dean which is unusual but I'll tell you why I got such personal service.

BU is a huge school - everything about the application process is online. It was a little tough at times to figure out, they had these things called "radio buttons" that I was confused about, but I figured it out. So the only piece of paper that you had to fill in and mail was a signature page. Oh and they had the most expensive application fee of $70.

Per the urging of my advisor I called BU two weeks ago to check on the progress of my "folder" and the woman (or girl) who answered the phone barely could open her mouth to say BU School of Social Work and when I asked her about my folder she said really nonchalontely "Oh yeah we are missing your signature page" You mean the page I sent in 5 WEEKS ago? So I asked her to send me the document again and I printed it out and mailed it to her again.

So imagine my surprise when I got an email from her on Monday saying they were still missing my page and could I resend it. So I picked up the phone and called - got the same barely understandable greeting from the same woman who apparently is the one sending me the emails. When I explain who I am and that I've sent this page twice she says to me "Did you send it in a plain envelope?" Ummmm yes - what do you think I did? Send it via carrier pigeon? She said "Did you put grad admissions on it?" I said No I didn't because I thought this address WAS grad admissions. Oh no she says it's probably upstairs - I could go look for it but I'd have to find someone to watch the desk. I politely asked her if this one page was holding up my folder being reviewed and she said "Oh yes". Nice - so my fucking future is on hold because you can't get someone to watch the desk. You have got to be shitting me.

So I hung up and needless to say I was PISSED. At first I wasn't going to do anything because honestly BU has been a distant 3rd in my choices. But then I started to think about it and realized it was the principal. I remembered an admissions counselor that I had been trading emails with back in Dec/Jan when I was first looking at programs. So I fired off this email to her:

Hello ******
I am not sure if you are the right person to receive this email but I feel I need to let someone know about my disappointing experience with the admissions office at the BU School of Social Work. I applied to the program back on Feb 27, 2008 and at that time sent in my signature form to the address provided. It was 5 weeks later when I called to check on the progress of my folder that I was told that this form had not been received. She resent me the form and I sent it immediately to the 264 Bay State Road address. Today I received another email stating that they haven't received the form.

I have been accepted to both Smith and Simmons and was hoping to hear from BU today or tomorrow because I have to make a decision by Wednesday. Obviously there is no way I will receive a decision in time. Unfortunately I will not be able to consider BU for graduate school due to the fact that my folder hasn't even begun to be reviewed and it's my understanding that they will not review it without the signature page.

I find it surprising and disappointing that the graduate school that has the most complicated application, the most involved essay and the highest application fees treats the application process so casually. I'd like to request a refund on my application fee -although I know it's probably not in your realm to ok a request.

I'm sorry to sound emotional. I was really looking forward to having BU be a part of my graduate school process but it doesn't look like that will happen.

Thank you,

Anyway after an email back full of apologies (but no offer of a refund) she got the Dean on it who personally pulled my file and called me to let me know I was accepted into the program. I do feel a little bad because I probably won't go there but I figured it was important that they knew how they were being represented.

Don't you think?

I Can't Believe I Forgot To Tell You...

I got accepted to Simmons College of Social Work. YAYYYYYY ME! Now I just have to decide between that school at Smith. I went out and visited Smith on Thursday and it was beautiful. They have a trauma track and a military track (families etc). Which of course is right up my alley.

Arrggghhh I hate these decisions.

Can someone please tell me what to do? I'd really appreciate it!

Movies, Movies, Movies

With school over for the time being I have this thing called time. Time do whatever I want, time to sit and do nothing if I want. I've never been that great at having unstructured time. What I mean by that is I can literally waste away an afternoon not doing anything. I guess that's not too bad these days but when I had stuff to get done for school it was not a good "talent" to have.

So with all of this time I've been catching up on my movie watching. In the past week or so I've seen The Darjeeling Limited (I loved it, I know a lot of people who didn't). I rewatched Talladega Nights with my niece Friday night which is always hysterical. I watched Gone Baby Gone which I commented on in my last post but I have to say again was so good I'd watch it again tomorrow - Casey Affleck was tremendous. Yesterday I watched Velvet Goldmine with Jonathan Rhys-Myers, Christian Bale and Ewan McGregor. It's movie I've always wanted to see and it did not disappoint. There is a a David Bowie like "character"(Rhys-Meyers) and an Iggy Pop like "character" (McGregor). Everyone is bi-sexual and I don't think McGregor wears a shirt for the entire movie. In the end it's a love story but a sad one. Eddie Izzard plays the manager and he of course is fantastic. I highly recommend this to anyone who is into the whole glam rock thing of the 70's.

Last night I watch Runnin Down a Dream: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. 4 HOURS of uninterrupted Tom Petty that starts way back in the Mudcrutch days. For a complete fanatic like me this is like heaven. They didn't get into any personal stuff that didn't directly have to do with the band - if it effected the band they talked about it. It was FABULOUS. No narration just interview after interview. It walks you through every step of his career, shows the progression of who he worked with (The Willbury's, Cash etc) and sadly shows the untimely death of bass played Howie Epstein (heroin).


Even if you are just a casual fan - I think this is a movie you will enjoy. And I have to say it was a nice break from all of the Iraq War movies I have been watching for my research. I'll continue to watch those too, just not in large blocks as I was doing before.

Remember Me????

Hello Everyone!

I feel like I've been gone ages and ages. I'm trying to catch up on my blog reading and commenting and hope to get up to date this weekend. I've missed you all (no really) and just in case you have forgotten me I thought we'd go over the basics once again.

I love this man...I turn into Slutrina Queen of Slutville in my head when I think about him. Especially when this picture shows up yeah he's all skinny and stuff but C'MON.














I'm a huge NASCAR fan - and I love this time of year. Races every Sunday!! whooo hooooo!






The next best thing about this time of year? BASEBALL. Yes the Red Sox are back in ACTION.







I think FUR is a movie that everyone should see. I also saw "Gone Baby Gone" the other night and it was fanfuckingtastic. Casey Affleck was amazing.

Ok other important things: I am totally OK with the Patriots losing the Super Bowl. The better team won. I do believe however that they did not cheat.

I am sick to death of Bush's bullshit and Dick Cheney's bullshit for that matter. These two fucking assholes have sent our men and women off to war and then left them with next to nothing when they have come home. I'd like to see what would happen if either of these shitheads or their families had to go over to Iraq....things would be different then.

If this war is still going on after I get my MSW I am giving serious thought to being a civilian therapist in Iraq. It's two years away and I hope beyond hope that we are out of there but I'm not sure we will be and instead of wondering what I can do to make a difference - I'm going to go where the need is the highest. (Don't tell my mom, she doesn't know yet).

I've missed you all - it's good to be back!