Get Down

Jerrica and I watch old music videos on YouTube sometimes. We also usually turn them on as background music when people are over drinking before going out to the bar. For some reason we both totally forgot about this one. It is priceless! Classic Backstreet Boys with the dancing, the outfits, the singing, and some really bad rapping. Makes me laugh a little but also totally brings me back to Grade 7&8 dances, and maybe high school ones too.

Shaved

This is from an e-mail and is a Lululemon store's window in Washington, DC after Obama's inauguration. I thought it was very cute and topical. (Lululemon is also a Canadian company.) I also thought it was a great picture to go with my post about buying Lululemon pants. I bought my first pair a couple weeks ago to wear in The Vagina Monologues. They are so expensive, it actually hurt me a little physically when I bought them. Lulu hems their pants for free though which is a really cool thing. The pants need it but there wasn't time to get it done before I had to wear them in the show. However they will hem them whenever and however often you would like, and no receipt is needed since they can tell right away that it is their pant. I love them, they make my bum look so good and they are so very comfortable. I can understand now what all the fuss is about and why everyone has them.

Mini Diary

TIME: Night
I am sleeping in Taylor's bed. I normally sleep on the couch when I stay over at TKH's apartment but since Taylor was away I slept in her bed. The bed is amazing! It is the softest, most comfortable bed in the whole world, even better than my own which I have now decided is the second most comfortable bed in the world after sleeping in Taylor's.
TIME: 7:00
The alarm goes off. I want to sleep more so I set the alarm again for 8:00 and think to myself that I can be in my own bed sleeping at 2:30.
TIME: 8:00
Wake up, pack my things, and get ready to head to work. This does include brushing my teeth with toothpaste and my finger as well as sitting on the bed staring blankly and for no reason at the clock for 6 minutes. I am thankful that it is only 6 and a half hours away from 2:30 when I can sleep.
TIME: 8:45
I arrive at work and check my e-mail. I eat a Crunchie chocolate bar for breakfast that I randomly had stashed in my desk. I read the Daily, an e-mail that updates the high level activities for the different areas of the department. I reply to and send a whole bunch of e-mails to people in preparation for the three articles that I have to write over the next week. The research stage is nearly finished. I can sleep at 2:30.
TIME: 9:30
The admin assistant tells me that I need to tell her what days and hours I intend to work in April. My boss isn't going to be in until later so I discuss the issue with the acting manager and then my editor. We decide on full days Tuesdays and Thursdays. This entire process takes much longer than it should. It is either because I'm very tired or because I work for the government, one of these things will be fixed at 2:30
TIME: 10:30
While riding the bus I do some last minute studying on the way to campus. For the most part I just daydream about 2:30 and being in my bed sleeping.
TIME: 11:00
I sit outside the class room to read my study notes again. I can't wait for this 3 hour class to be over. Then I realise that the class actually ends at 2:30 so it will even later before I get to be home in bed.
TIME: 11:35
Class starts and the midterm is handed out. I recognize all the questions and am not surprised by them. I do however not know or have forgotten about half of the answers to them. I start to fill in what I know. I am happy to hear that the midterm is for the full 2 hour lecture, we can leave when we are done, and that our 1 hour discussion group that usually starts at 1:30 is cancelled. Maybe I will get home and be sleeping by 2:30.
TIME: 12:15
I finish the midterm really quickly and I will definitely fail it. I'm glad to have at least gone to class, put the effort it, and done some studying. I will have to pick it up more in this class though. I decide to take the bus home instead of the 5 minute walk. I'm just so tired and can't wait for my 2:30 bedtime
TIME: 1:00
I have settled into bed after making it home and changing into pajamas. I call Jerrica to see how she is feeling and find out that she is working the long shift today so I won't see her until much later. I check my e-mail, Facebook, and post on my blog. I intend to probably watch an episode or two of 30 Rock online before going to sleep around 2:30.
TIME: 2:30
S-L-E-E-P-I-N-G

Couscous

I have had couscous a bunch of times before but this is the first time I cooked it. It is really easy. I still don't totally understand what it is. I read the wiki article on it and I'm still not really sure I get it. It is some sort of wheat thing. It is a carb. Rarely is there a carb that I don't love.

It Had To Be Tonight

Bell Sympatico finally let me down. We got it new for Die Höhle when we moved in May 2008. There were so many screw-ups and problems with the phone line here that it was a while before we got it set it up. I had anticipated massive problems with it too. I was really impressed when they delivered this pretty shiny modem that is also a wireless network router, unlike previously when you had to link a separate modem to a router, both of which would crash regularly. We had Rogers Internet at Le Manoir and Glen and it was always going down. I remember at Glen sometimes it wouldn't work for days. We were always on the phone with them trying to find out how to fix it, when it would be back up, and whether we could get a refund on our next bill for all the trouble. All those headaches, and the price difference, led me to switch providers on this most recent move. It has almost been a year, a perfect flawless year. And then the Internet went down tonight. I was so unused to this that I scrambled to remember what to do. I looked up stuff in the book, tried the whole resetting and power off thing. Finally I called (310-Surf) and got an automatic message telling me my area was experiencing technical difficulties. I called a few friends to whine and complain, finding them in the same situation. Finally I tried Bell back and waited to speak to someone to get an estimate for how long it might be down. I was on hold for 25 minutes when I noticed the red internet light turn back to green. Friends called, everyone's internet was working. Mine wasn't! I could connect fine if I plugged The Little Pet in through an ethernet cable but the wireless was not working, much to Jerrica's dismay in the other room. I finally realised that with all the resetting it had restored factory settings and turned the network name from DIEHOLE back to BELL120 which I hadn't recognized. I followed the instructions in our little book, renamed the network DIE HOHLE spelt correctly, and actually gave us a good password this time instead of a 35 number long webkey. All is peaceful now. But of course all of this had to happen on the night that I'm writing an essay last minute!!!

The Oscars

The Academy Awards were last night. This is the first year in a long time that I didn't get all dressed up to watch them. I did however still get to do an Oscar pool. I lost though, big time. I only got 11 of the 24 right. I hope to do better next year, maybe I need to dress up to do well.

Oh, They're For Me

Alberta Erin sent me flowers to work on Friday. Partly because of my play this weekend but also because I had been having a bad week which she knew all about from the myriad of e-mails I send her everyday. They were such a surprise and so sweet. I ended up carrying them straight to the theatre after work and then after that to the bar. People were quite confused as to why I had a little box with a bunch of yellow roses sticking out at The Royal Oak. The play went really well and I had a great time doing it. I'm was so happy that so many of my friends were able to make it out to see me.

Media Photography - #6

Salad In The Caf

(PR Shot for Carleton - Food Areas)

Heather and Taylor

By Christine Sweeton

Are You Ready?

1) Are you really ready for 125 questions
Yup, but who ever is reading this probably isn't
2) Was your last real relationship a mistake?
Yes
3) Do you believe in God?
Everyday but I rarely pray
4) Who did you last say "I love you" to?
Jerrica
35) Do you regret it?
Of course not
6) Have you ever been depressed?
Since OAC, and there have been some very bad moments
7) Have a best friend?
I do
8) Are you a boy or girl?
Gender is a construct (Girl)
9) What is your relationship status?
Sadly single
10) How do you want to die?
In my sleep
11) What did you last eat?
Pizza last night
12) Play any sports?
Not really anymore
13) Do you bite your nails ?
NO (suck my thumb though)
14) When was your last physical fight?
Can't remember, pre-high school though
15) Do you have an attitude?
I can
16) Do you like someone?
Yes and I know his name now
17) Whats your real name?
Christine Laura Sweeton
19) Are you gonna get high later?
I have the stuff but not the time
20) Do you hate anyone at the moment?
No one comes to mind
21) Do you miss someone?
My parents, My brother, Teri
22) Twirl or cut your spaghetti?
Twirl it
23) Do you tan a lot?
I try to in the summer
24) Have any pets?
Oh yes, a lot of pets
25) How exactly are you feeling?
Tired
26) Ever eaten food in a car while someone or yourself is driving?
Yes but never when I was driving
27) Ever made out in the bathroom?
Yes, but not a public bathroom
28) Would you take any of your exes back?
Probably not
29) Are you scared of spiders?
Not really
30) Would you go back in time if you were given the chance?
Yes, but only 100's of years back
31) Do you regret anything from your past?
Only one thing, from Grade 8 and it is tiny and insignificant
32) What are your plans for this weekend?
Weekend is almost over, photo shoot this afternoon, Oscars tonight
33) Do you want to have kids?
No, but I'm hoping that changes
34) Did you ever kiss someone whose name starts with an M?
Yes
35) Do you type fast?
Very, but with bad accuracy ratings
36) Do you have piercings? How many?
Ears and belly button
37) Want any more?
No, I can't think of another place I would want one
38) Can you spell well?
As well as someone in Grade 5, so no
39) Do you miss anyone from your past?
Sometimes
40) What are you craving right now?
Steak and potatoes
41) Ever been to a bonfire party?
Yes, I have a cottage and I'm from Paris
43) Have you ever been on a horse?
A number of times
44) Kissed someone in a pick up truck?
I don't think so
45) Have you ever broken someone's heart?
I hope so, but I'm not sure
46) Have you ever been cheated on?
Not that I know of
47) Have you made a boyfriend/girlfriend cry?
Yes, all of them
49) Would you live with someone without marrying them?
Sure
50) What should you be doing?
Writing an essay, watching lectures, typing notes, getting out of bed
51) What's irritating you right now?
My slightly upset stomach
52) Have you ever liked someone?
I like everyone
53) Does somebody love you?
My family and many of my friends
54) What is your favorite color?
Black and Red
55) Have you ever changed clothes in a vehicle?
Yes, but not while driving
57) Do you have trust issues?
No, I let people in
59) Have you ever shaved in the kitchen sink?
Bathroom sink but not kitchen
60) Do you have a good relationship with your parents?
Definitely and pretty much always have
62) Do you believe your most recent ex thinks about you?
He had better
63) Who was the last person you cried in front of?
My mom on the phone after throwing up from the flu
64) Do you give out second chances too easily?
I don't really believe in second chances
66) Was 2008 the best year of your life?
It was a good year
67) What was your childhood nickname?
Chris
68) Have you ever walked outside completely naked?
A lot, there are photos
69) Do you think you're a good person?
For the most part
70) Do you believe everything happens for a reason?
No, a lot is unexplainable and horrible
71) What is the last thing you did before you went to bed last night?
Watched Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice on my laptop in bed
73) What is bothering you?
School
74) Have you ever been out of Canada?
I try to at least once a year
75) Do you play the Wii?
I have but I don't own one
76) Are you listening to music right now?
Haha, no, I never listen to music
77) Do you like Chinese food?
Love it
78) Do you know your fathers birthday?
First day of summer, always forget the date
79) Are you afraid of the dark?
Yes, especially if I'm alone
81) Are you mean?
Occasionally
82) Can you keep white shoes clean?
For a little while
83) Have you noticed this survey stopped getting personal?
I hadn't
84) Do you believe in true love?
Yes and love at first sight but people are often wrong
85) Are you proud of the person you've become?
Not yet
86) Do you like the outside?
To a certain extent
89) Are you currently bored?
No, I love these things
90) Do you wanna get married?
If the mood strikes me maybe
91) Is it cute when a boy/girl calls you baby?
No, but babe is ok and I love bird
92) Are you hungry?
Yes, starving
93) Do you have a bank account?
A couple of them
94) What makes you happy?
Happy?
95) Would you change your name?
Last name perhaps in marriage
96) Ever been to Alaska?
No but want to
98) Do you watch the news?
I read cbc.ca news
99) What' s your zodiac sign?
Gemini and I truly am
100) Do you like Subway?
Hell yes, have worked at two of them
101) Would it be hard to kiss the last person you kissed?
Ummm, let us not think about it
102) Your best friend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do?
Depends on so many things
103) Do you talk like your friends?
Yes and they talk like me, sad
105) Have you ever seen someone you knew & purposely avoided them?
Probably but I can't think of an instance right now
106) Do you have a friend of the opposite sex who you can act your complete self?
I am always my complete self
107) Who is the last guy you talked to?
Justain and Dave
108) Does it matter if your boyfriend/girlfriend smokes?
A total deal breaker
109) Do you go to church?
No, I can't even remember the last time
110) What's going on between you and your best friend?
Something is going on? No one told me
111) Who's the last person you had a deep conversation with?
Teri on the phone yesterday
113) Do you enjoy piercings & tattoos?
I'm indifferent for the most part
114) What do you wear more: jeans, sweats, pants, or shorts?
Shorts are rare and it is an even spread between the rest
115) You're a Sharpie marker, what color are you?
Black and thin tip, the best kind
116) Where do you go if you are butt naked and locked out of your house?
Wait by the door for one of the roommates
117) Do you prefer to shower at night or in the morning?
Either or but I prefer to bath
118) Have you ever said you'd never love again?
No but I have said I'd never drink again though it was a lie
119) Do you want to please everyone?
I want everyone to like me, I hate being hated
120) Have you heard a song that reminds you of someone today?
I haven't heard any songs today
121) Has someone ever made you a promise & broken it?
Only small ones
122) Are you alone?
In every way
123) Do you have any older siblings?
I am the older sibling
124) Did you speak to your father today?
He is in France but he e-mailed yesterday
125) How many months until your birthday?
A few
--OH YEAH 125 BABY! Read them all?

Megatron

Photo by Stephanie Beach

Deign

I thought that I invented a word. I have been using it for a long time but never knew how to spell it, like so many words. I have no idea how I learnt this word. I only ran into trouble because I was looking for the correct spelling of it to use in the post below (Was going to say: The only pun I ever deign to make.) I thought it might be either 'dain' or 'dane' since it is pronounced like it rhymes with 'pain' or 'lane'. Turns out the correct spelling is 'deign' but it took me forever to find it. Ottawa Erin even had me convinced that I had made it up and there was no such word. I was trying to tell her that I had been saying it for years, in the same context every time, and that I wasn't some kind of insane person who makes up words. "I swear it is a word, it means to lower oneself to do something and not like doing it," I told her. Well I have finally proven to myself and her that I'm not crazy since I found the definition on Merriam-Webster Dictionary online.

DEIGN - verb - to condescend reluctantly and with a strong sense of the affront to one's superiority that is involved - "would not even deign to talk to him" - to condescend to give or offer

The Little Black Book

I don't have a cell phone. I won't get into the reasons now, but I don't. Everyone tends to keep important phone numbers in their cell phones so the days of little address books has past. I still have one though, but I lost it. It has all the phone numbers and most of the addresses for all my friends, family, past lovers, workplaces, etc. As guys tend to call this book their Chicktionary, I have always called my Little Black Book, well either that, or my Dicktionary. (The only pun I ever allow myself to make.) I have bought a new one but the loss of all those numbers was very sad. I have been begging people over Facebook to resend me their information and trying to look some of it up but it has been slow going.

Once A Year

I tend to have Kentucky Fried Chicken about once a year. I found out that Heather does too so we decided to join together and have a little Mid-Reading-Week celebration. One Variety Bucket Family Meal later and we remember why we only have it once a year. Feeling a little down? It doesn't make you feel any better emotionally, or if it does it is very short lived. Afterwards? It physically hits you like a ton of bricks and all you can do is lie in bed wallowing in post-KFC nausea. I thought that maybe Heather and I would make this an annual Reading Week tradition but she doesn't know where she will be next year and I don't know if I will be ready for The Colonel again so soon. Maybe once a year is too often.

Tuesday Already

Reading week is slipping by. I have not done any school work yet. There isn't an insane amount due when I get back next week but there is some. Time flies by so fast.

Headshot And Bio

This is my bio and headshot for next weekends production for The Vagina Monologues. I don't think that they are going in the program but they are on the website and going up on a big board in the lobby at the show. I'm happy with the bio, I wrote it, but not as keen on the photograph. I couldn't figure out why I didn't like it, except that maybe my face seems a little more round than usual. Heather was able to figure it out for me though, my eyes are not looking at the same location, one is focused on the camera and the other past it, making me look a little dopey.

CHRISTINE SWEETON

A passion for theatre and a strong desire to help end violence against women has led Christine to The Vagina Monologues for the second time. Christine acted in the 2006 production and is happy to be back on stage working with such a talented cast and crew. She is currently working for the Department of Justice as a Communications Assistant and finishing her degree in English at Carleton University. She is the sole writer for her blog – Always Standing. Christine lives to travel and loves to dance. She procrastinates too much and hates cooking. Christine would like to thank all of her friends in Ottawa for their support and encouragement.

V-Day

V-Day Ottawa 2009 presents: The Vagina Monologues
A play by Eve Ensler, part of the 2009 V-Day Campaign

YES I AM IN IT THIS YEAR (SATURDAY SHOW)

Friday, February 20 and Saturday, February 21, 2009
7:30pm (doors open at 6:30pm)
The Bronson Centre (211 Bronson Ave)

Tickets are available in advance for $20 at:
Venus Envy - 320 Lisgar Street (Bank)
Ottawa Women's Credit Union - 271 Bank Street (Somerset)

Collected Works - 1242 Wellington Street West (Holland)

Mother Tongue Books - 1067 Bank Street (Sunnyside)

Sophia Esthetic - 190 Maclaren St., 2nd floor
Get your tickets soon - the show sells out every year

***

V-Day Ottawa is part of the global V-Day Campaign to raise awareness to end violence against women. Money raised from the benefit production will go to the Ottawa Sexual Assault Support Centre (SASC) and charities that aid women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. V-Day is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM) and sexual slavery. The 2009 V-Day spotlight campaign calls attention to the wide-scale atrocities committed against women and girls in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and demands that women and girls in the DRC are safe.

Oh Audrey

I saw the recent Sabrina a long time ago, Harrison Ford was in it and I love him. (It was also Greg Kinnear's first film.) I just got to see the original one tonight and it is classic! Just before she returns from Paris, Sabrina writes to her father about how the trip has changed her. At one point in the letter she says; "To do everything and see everything, sense everything; to know that life is an enormous experience and must be used. I have learnt how to live. How to be in the world and of the world, and not just to stand aside and watch. And I will never, never again run away from life. Or from love, either."
- From Sabrina (1954) starring Audrey Hepburn

My Mommy Loves Me

And my Daddy does too! I just got a care package from my parents in the mail. They are in France right now so not only am I jealous but I'm also missing talking on the phone with them. It was a Valentine's Day package with chocolates and rose stickers. They usually give me little things most Valentine's, it started on a road trip to Florida when I was 7. The trip included Valentine's Day, not that I was even paying attention to that fact, and I guess they felt bad that we would be missing out on the festivities at school so they gave my brother and I a present. We obviously hadn't even noticed the day or felt like we missed out at all, but the gift was still very nice. I think I got pencil crayons or sketching stuff or something. I'm glad that they still remember the little tradition.

What Does That Comma Mean?

It is strange that with so many different types of communication technologies we still have issues understanding each other. When writing on someone’s wall on Facebook or sending a text, communication is broken down to short, and often cryptic, messages. In the days of the telegraph it was the same thing, short and cryptic messages. With cell phones and the ability to actually talk to someone anywhere in the world it is sad that communication is not clearer. In the book I'm reading for my third year British Literature course, The Portrait of a Lady, there is a passage about understanding a telegraph from a female character. The men discuss the different meanings the messages may have. At one point they actually go over the options as to what “quite independent” means as, it could be financially or morally independent and it is hard to figure out who the phrase is referring to. Telegraphs were paid for by the word so in an effort to make them affordable they were always shortened and strange. However, one male character claims that the sender is purposely confusing and that it is not just a symptom of the expensive or faulted technology. Today our tools for communication are far more advanced but these annoying debates rage on. I cannot even count the number of times that I have sat with friends pouring over some two sentence text or online message trying to decipher the meaning. We are able to create infinite options and rationalize all kinds of meaning. There have been times when the very punctuation is called into question. “Now here he used an explanation mark but over here there is just a period and he put a period there but that actually appears to be a question, not a statement.” While grammar rules exist the question of how well the sender knows or follows them is also usually pondered. Over one hundred years ago Henry James, author of The Portrait of a Lady, wrote about something that I would like to pass off as a dated phenomenon connected to a technology no longer widely used. But, I look at the conversation described and realise that this lack of clarity has nothing to do with the medium through which the message is sent but human nature itself. I don't know if I believe that the character is purposefully sending unclear telegraphs. I'd like to think that then, and still today, most people try to communicate with good and pure intentions. We don't want to confuse or send others into hours of analyses. I think that that James is commenting more on the human need to over think and obsess over communication received. We need to all be clearer in our messages and more importantly receive them at face value without worrying over the multitude of options in meaning.

Sexy Hands

Photo By Stephanie Beach

Can You See It?

Standing at the bus stop, barely awake, early morning. Hearing the easily recognizable sound of a quick staccato. Haze, smile, hear the wind through the trees and think of waves lapping against a dock or crashing onto a beach. Slowly realize I'm in the city, peering down the street I look at the trees and telephone poles. Look away and just listen as the sweet sound continues. A man approaches and I wonder if he will stop and wait for the bus as well, he passes. He stops a few feet ahead. He almost turns the corner but then he hears it. Peering down the street he turns back to smile at me. I smile, "Can you see it?" No, neither can I, but we smile anyway, we can hear it. He tells me that is it probably small, a little one, "Probably a Downy," gestures size with his hands. I nod, they make a faster sound, we are both smiling. He continues on. Birders in the city, nature pushing through our streets and suits and sound.

On The Road Again

I took my first bus ride today after over two months of cabs, carpooling, and walking. It was great, everyone was in good spirits and you could see people greeting each other who obviously only ever see each other on the bus commute. I'm also really lucky because I get on the bus near the start of its route since it usually fills up pretty quickly. All transit on Ottawa is free this week, but there were not as many people as usual on the bus this morning.

Media Photography - #5

Cooking In The Kitchen
Dave and Steph
By Christine Sweeton

This week the assignment was related to stereotyping. We had to take a picture that was not a cliche and did not stereotype and then find one online that did stereotype. I am attempting to show equality in this photo of Steph and Dave and contrasted it by picking the photo on the right for my Web Photo. Oh the 1950's - this image was in Life in a profile about the man in photo who is a German artist. I'm glad I live in the 21st century where men don't just put on an apron and supervise their wives cooking. Gender roles are evolving!

Binx

cxxsadnjhk,lrwwwopkkkkk,dasj hnnnqwsxzzzzzzzzygnjikewfoiyhbunbwdxjn kkkkkkkkkkkmSDLP,WQSIHNUEDWNKJnjik ecqdoine39p1klreijnremokerlkfrstik3qfrkmrfkjnrlrfonif3qjkreq

--- Cat, get off my damn keyboard!! God, I love you.

New York Pics

I have been meaning to post some pictures from New York. I tend to blog about a trip before I go, quickly once or twice while I'm there, do a long highlight post after, and then much later put up what I think are my best pictures. Hard to say what my best pictures were because it was a short trip and I didn't really get a lot of great shots. I wasn't awake or outside during good light for photos, it was winter but not really white, and I wasn't focused on photography. I have picked these two because I think they look really gritty and they make me feel like New York. I love the grainy black and white style, it isn't clean, it isn't clear, and it isn't perfect but they remind me of the trip. First is from the top of Rockefeller Centre at night, looking south over New York with the Empire State Building in the centre. The other is of the large pond in central park with big beautiful Upper East Side apartment buildings.

The Misdaventures Of A Lesser-Known German Scientist's Assistant

This story was created today out of boredom at work. While my friends and I were pretty busy today at our different offices, we still looked for some small distraction. (5 of us in 3 different cities, each in an unique building in our own small cubicles, stretching across the country from Ontario to Alberta.) We decided to build a story together, one fragmented sentence at a time. The e-mail was passed from girl to girl, each finishing half a sentence from the girl before and then starting another before passing it along. It looped through the bunch of us a few times and finally grew to this by the end of the day. Behold, our tale...

Ten years ago in a small German town there was a man whose limbs were of unequal sizes. This made it very difficult for him to talk to Fräuleins as he was embarrassed of his unequal limbs. The man decided to create a machine that would, through optical illusion, make his limbs appear to be equal sizes to the outside observer. Unfortunately his calculations were off and on the first trial of his invention the machine began to overheat. Noticing this, the man called to his assistant, "Christoph, die machine itz smoking and vill probably blow!" Christoph ran over with a bucket of oil to grease the gears of the machine so that it would stop smoking and the trial could be completed. Unfortunately the machine quit working before the trial could be fully completed, therefore leaving the optical illusion of one of his arms being the size of his leg and the other being the size of his foot.

Having briefly dabbled in the art of soapstone sculpture in his youth, he decided that the way to get the Fräuleins was through art. He quickly signed up for an art class, however he only realized after devoting much time and energy to it that it was for abstract art only. All of his very expensive soapstone sculptures came out looking like exact replicas of David Hasselhoff's face. Devastated, the man whose limbs were of unequal sizes began to hack away at the David Hasselhoff face replicas until there was nothing left but shavings of soapstone.

For a long time after, on frosty winter mornings, Christoph can still hear screams of, "Itz smoking and vill probably blow" eerily drift across the British Moors where he now lives. England was the chosen refuge for Christoph after his master's Hasselhoff replicas occupied his entire workspace, metres high, and eventually crashed down upon him breaking most of his bones. During his recovery time in England, Christoph became obsessed with the need to rebuild the optical illusion machine so as to fulfill his master's wishes. Christoph worked tirelessly and then, one dark and stormy night on the British Moors, he had a flash of genius and devised a plan to begin rebuilding the machine using an electro-magnetic flightsimulator. And so, like every great scientist, standing before his greatest success, Christoph felt a sense of pride and that all the time, pain, and broken bones were worth this one great fleeting moment as all of his already proportionate limbs adjusted to appear perfectly equal in size.
-Anne, Erin, Erin, Teri, and I

Simile - Not A Metaphor

Barney: You don't bring a date to a wedding. That's like bringing a deer carcass on a hunting trip. Oh Ted. Oh Ted. No, No, No date.
Ted: Deer carcass? Really? That's the metaphor you're going with here?
Barney: Ted, it's a simile.
--From How I Met Your Mother

I love this. I love this show. I love this quote. Teri has been on my case for months to get me to start watching it and now I finally am. It is smart, it is funny, and it seriously represents life right now for me and my peers. Also, the simile/metaphor mix up is one of my pet peeves, so I love that they made a joke on it. (Oh, and Barney is played by Neil Patrick Harris, who everyone loves. NPH!!)

Media Photography - #4

Homework In A Power Outage

Jerrica

By Christine Sweeton

This week the assignment was a Night Photograph. They can be really cool. On a drive to the cottage one year, Steph took a whole bunch of really cool ones of car lights on the highway in front of us. In general, low light shots are difficult to get without a tripod or a good camera. Also, it is hard to think of subject matter. I remembered seeing a shot in the Cottage Life photo contest one year that was a women reading surrounded by candles and loved it. I decided at 2am one night this past week to try to recreate that with Jerrica.