Bird of the Week

Inspired by the geese Kyle and I saw at this random park in Irving near the taco shop we went to (which had the best bean and cheese burrito, if I may say so), this week's Bird of the Week is the goose.

-PrettyPidjun

On a Clear Day I Can See Forever

Since I've been here at this university, mozying my way throughout its campus and talking to all of Kyle's friends, I feel as though I have found a partial answer to a pressing question. What would make anyone want to come to a place like the University of Dallas? A tiny, conservative Catholic college in a less than ideal neighborhood and a population of students who prefer to stay on campus rather than venture out into the city of Dallas. Getting to know everyone here has taught me just that. They're here for the community. They're here to focus and make something better of themselves, and find others willing to do just the same. I realize now that despite the fact that I would not want to live in the heart of Texas, going to a school like this somewhere else would be quite pleasant. I've talked and hung out with the people here as much as I have with Kyle, and they are all such nice people. All of them, I haven't met one who isn't kind. They laugh and they study and help create a sense of community on campus. And though there are many student who, and as I have been told, need to escape this UD "bubble" every once in a while, it's still a nice place to be.
And thought some of why people come here perplexes me yet, I feel as thought I have a better understanding now. I feel like I've found common ground with some of the people here too, especially Denise who I have had long conversations with and a few good laughs. It's nice to have that every once in a while. And I'm getting to be a part of Kyle's life, thought he says I'm seeing a biased picture of what his life is like here. Even if that is true, which I'm sure a part of it is, I'm glad I know more about this place. I'm glad I can be a part of Kyle's life here.

I suppose in the words of Furuba, "I feel so grateful!"

-PrettyPidjun

Dallas Days

So I'm definitely in Dallas visiting Kyle, and so far it's been a pretty good trip. We've just hung out with his friends and each other and all that good stuff. It's nice to have some alone time with him, since we don't see each other too much, and he was super busy during most of his Spring Break. I find it ironic that I've left class to be on my spring break, yet I went to class with him this morning haha. He told me it was his most exciting class, and that I would probably like it(!), ahaha...oh gosh...I'm still on San Diego time(Dallas is two hours ahead), so I woke up and got ready around 6:30 0_o. 

He met me outside the dorm I'm staying in with his friend (its a nooiicccee dorm too! brand new), and we walked to his class and it ended up being this physics class (I think physics right? had something to do with astronomy?? i do not know, no se.). Alls I know is that the moment his teacher started lecturing and splattering equations all over the board, I stopped paying attention. I now officially know my boyfriend is officially (officially, officially, officially) a science nerd.

I feel like Penny.

So currently, I'm in his school's(University of Dallas) student center-ish type building. I was watching the gay filler episodes that Sony wrote for Rurouni Kenshin while Watsuki was writing the rest of the manga. I know theyre stupid, but I've made it a point to watch the series in its entirety. Oh, and I bought the manga "big book" for it finallyyy!! I was soo excited. Maybe a little too excited..I get that way about manga. I start on one, and it's all I can think about. But ya.

Now, I'm sitting in this student center-ish thing blogging and waiting for my lovely nerd to get out of his class. Recap of events so far? We went to see Josh Turner at a famous Honky Tonk called Billy Bob's in Ft. Worth(for all you hicks out there). It was my second time, and the concert was alright, but Josh Turner's voice is AMAZING. Dayum. That's all I can say. We also went to this place people around here like to go to called Cafe Brazil(it's in the city itself, and it's their little piece of city life...man if they liked that place, they would LOVE San Fran! They ain't seen nothin' yet). And it was really a cool, hip little restaurant/cafe thing with awesome breakfast food and drinks and coffee and such. Kyle, the super dork, was on a roll with his hw and wanted to stay as long as possible, but everyone else was ready to go home, so we did after spending like 2 or 3 hours there(maybe it was less? I feel like I still have terrible conception of time).

But despite how I've been enjoying myelf, hanging out with Kyle and taking time off from school and home, I feel so out of place here. This is Kyle's life, one I am unfamiliar with, and it bothers me that I'm not a part of it. All I see is what things are when he's in San Diego. And my days of wandering are taking their toll. Trying to get used to loneliness is backfiring, but this isn't the first time I've noticed. It's becoming more difficult for me to interact with a group of people, and more difficult for me to interact with people in general. I'm not sure how to correct this. It's a path of loneliness in which I am free to do as I please, or a path of attaching myself to people once again, the heartache of holding on when you may not longer be wanted.

But on a lighter note, Kyle is getting out of class soon! And we're gonna eat lunch together! And oh yes, btw, yesterday before church, we went to get bean and cheese burritos(at a mexican place with no Jamaica!! Psh, figures.), and on the way back to school, I spotted geese at a park nearby, and he swung into the parking lot so we could get out and eat in front of the pond. It was soo much fun! I love seeing birds with Kyle, I suppose because it's something I am very fond of doing with him!

-PrettyPidjun

Bird of the Week

The Roseate Spoonbill! So pink, so spoon-like:

-PrettyPidjun

Bird of the Week

The American Avocet! (image from allaboutbirds.org)

-PrettyPidjun

What Inspires Me

What I love about art is its power to passionately intrigue a viewer. That doesn't mean every work has the same effect on every individual, but one be closer to the artwork than another. Every so often I have these manias where I develop a fetish or liking for something, and I see myself as a passionate person in this respect. What inspires me is a number of different things, usually whimsical and out of the ordinary, and occasionally things that make society shudder. Two people who inspire me are Todd Oldham, a designer, and Charley Harper, a modernist artist. 

It's no coincidence that I fell in love with the interior design of Todd Oldham and eventually the art of Charley Harper, after discovering an article I was cutting out of a magazine in my art class last year, that showed the design of Todd Oldham's home and Harper's art within. It was full of framed images of these seemingly simple bird paintings, the birds formed out of simple shapes. Oldham's house is so colorful and full of bird decorations! It's also complete with Gama-Go pillows that look like a campfire and a club, and retro looking couches with similar birds. There are also colorful velvet pillows in the living room and bedroom, with a bedspread covered in horses. It is absolutely my inspiration for what I want my room and house to look like someday!

And while wondering how I could transform my room into such a neat living space, I also wondered where I could buy such lovely bird paintings. I didn't realize it at the time, but those painting were by Charley Harper, an artist who created many works based on nature (and birds!). He was a modernist artist who apparently derived some of his techniques from cubism. He used very simple shapes arranged in a complicated manner to create his animal artworks. I had unknowingly discovered Harper's work in the images of Todd Oldham's house, and rediscovered him this past weekend when I bought a blank card at Blick's with an image of birds on it for Kyle (and one for myself) and saw the stationary sets of his artwork. It brought back the feeling I had while looking at Oldham's house, and I until now discovered that Oldham was a huge fan of his and wrote a book about him! Which will soon be on the bookshelf in my room.

And speaking of artworks, it is definitely worth mentioning my newfound love of an anime I have rediscovered. Rurouni Kenshin, an anime series I had watched when it came to the United States around the time I was 13, has inspired an anime "renaissance" within me. The series is so sweet and such a delight to watch. It is a historical fiction about a wandering swordsman during the Meiji era of Japan who has vowed to help protect people with his sword as atonement for killing people during the war. It truly is a romance, in the sense of action and adventure, with an almost love story within.

-PrettyPidjun

Filler Entry

La La La La

-PrettyPidjun

Bird of the Week

Alright folks! So I've decided that every week I'm going to post a "bird of the week". For each week, there will be an image posted and some info on a bird that suits my fancy. and hopefully yours as well. So this week's Bird of the Week is: The Black-Necked Stilt

This bird lives and hunts for insects and such in shallow waters, such as lagoons and marshes. I was so taken by this cute little bird that I HAD to create Bird of the Week, and this had to be the first. I saw them this morning while I was observing birds at the San Elijo Lagoon for a marine bio project. I'm in love!

-PrettyPidjun

Anime Relapse

So I am definitely riding this Japanese Animation train again, wandering through the world of anime. I thought that since I would rather not work on my art history homework, that I would list the different series I have watched, whether the whole series or part of it.

Here goes:

Yami no Matsuei
Full Metal Alchemist
Cowboy Bebop
Android Kikaider
Blue Gender
Rurouni Kenshin
Tsubasa Resevoir Chronicle
Eureka 7
Gundam Wing
G gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam
Gundam Seed
Gundam See Destiny
Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz
Scryed
Big O
Boogiepop Phantom
Naruto
Bleach
FLCL
Ghost in the Shell
Ghost in the Shell S.A.C.
Paranoia Agent
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Inuyasha
Detective Conan
Blue Seed
Lupin the Third
Outlaw Star
Digimon
Pokemon
Monster Rancher
Pilot Candidate
Samurai Champloo
Samurai X
Shin-chan
The Super Milk-chan Show
Trinity Blood
Wolfs Rain
Trigun
Witch Hunter Robin
Yu Yu Hakusho
The Animatrix
My Neighbor Totoro
Howl's Moving Castle
Kiki's Delivery Service
Spirited Away
Ponyo
Read or Die
Read or Die: The T.V.
Ouran High School Host Club
Fruits Basket
Love Hina
Azumanga Daioh
Excel Saga
Full Metal Panic
Akira
X
Tokyo Babylon
Gravitation
Cardcaptor Sakura
Sailor Moon
Dot Hack Sign
.hack//sign
Final Fantasy IIV: Advent Children
Sonic X
Speed Racer
Gungrave
His and Her Circumstances
Last Exile
Silent Mobius
Tenchi Muyo!
Laputa: Castle in the Sky

...and many I am forgetting or forgetting the names of.

-PrettyPidjun

The Lake

I keep my guard up most of my day. Most of my week. I sleep with one eye open. I carry my key like a dagger in my hand, hidden, but exposed, as it should be. I plan ahead. I often think of my journals. Who I would entrust them to, should it be revealed that my time is limited.

I look over my shoulder a lot.

So many times have I wandered alone, through alleys, and parks, and through rows of parked cars. Much of my routine is one large moment of wandering and exploring on my own, a moment, the only moment, where I choose to put one foot forward, or one foot in my grave. And nobody knows it but me.

As with any human being, my instinct tells me to run when danger is close. I have dreams that I cannot run fast enough, or even muster a scream. I stay alert, I do not take the silence around me for granted.

But despite the fears I have of wandering alone through the streets of the county, through the alleyways and parking lots…I seldom set foot in the openness of a forest or field on my own. It is a shame that past perpetrators have destroyed the sanctity of rural areas and nature by staining the grass, and the earth, and the water with blood.

I have often walked and explored with friends and family on the trails and valleys near my house. I have ridden my bike with Kyle and his family along the bike bridge in Rancho Bernardo. I have picnicked with him and enjoyed the sun and good food beside the marshes of Lake Hodges, where hardly another human being can be found. I have sat at the edge of a dock with him and felt so calm and content, and I have looked forward to the prospect of kayaking in the lake. I’ve spent time on the water with my family, in earlier days. The sun shines brightly whenever I am there, and I was joyful the afternoon the lake flooded in the rain and the water rushed over the dam.

This afternoon, it became clear that a young girl, hardly younger than myself, became a part of the Lake’s memory forever. And a part of the memories of countless residents who saw that openness…that sun shining overhead and the peaceful waters of the lake…as a still place. Now there is an aura of struggle and fear about the lake and the surrounding area. Parents and children alike, hold each other tightly tonight, knowing that tomorrow is never promised. The residents of Rancho Bernardo lock their doors and shut their windows, filled with anxiety and hurt over the events of the past 6 days since one of their own disappeared.

It’s sort of strange how one moment, a girl, who also wandered, could suddenly be taken and forced into the darkness. How such a strong, quick human being could succumb to the lurking evils of the park. It is a shame and a tragedy, and a fate that no one deserves, especially the young. She left a footprint on my heart, and I will walk quickly now, wherever I go. I will continue to look over my shoulder. I’m sure her footprint will forever be on her parent’s hearts, and on those of her friends and the rest of the community.

My heart, thoughts, and prayers are with the King family and her friends. And with her. 

-PrettyPidjun

St. Patrick's Day College Hour

My newest College Hour poster for ASG. It's more simple than the others. I'm trying to make them more about type than the graphics. 

-PrettyPidjun