100 things about me

1. I’ve been trying to figure out what #1 should be since now everyone will know that’s the first thing I thought about myself
2. I’m a good southern girl
3. It’s Coke. Whatever it is, it’s Coke.
4. I say things like “y’all” and elongate my i's in words like “why”
5. If I concentrate on it, I can get rid my accent except for the y’alls
6. I love good peaches
7. I don’t like collard greens
8. I like THE Black Eyed Peas more than actual black eyed peas
9. I don’t like THE black eyed peas nearly as much as, say, Josh Joplin, Gin Blossoms, Guster, Vertical Horizon, Matchbox Twenty of the Yourself or Someone Like You era…
10. These are all bands on my current playlist
11. I can eat an entire container of Cool Whip in one sitting
12. I used to make jello to go with my cool whip, but then I stopped pretending
13. I can also eat an entire container of Tostitos Salsa con Queso in one sitting
14. I can also eat an entire box of Kraft macaroni and cheese in one sitting
15. And I Love brownies, especially ones with walnuts in them
16. I am probably skinnier than I deserve to be
17. I can’t run very far
18. The underside of my tongue hurts when I run
19. I know that’s strange
20. My sports bras are like miniature medieval fortresses
21. I always look at the clock when it’s 6:17 am and pm
22. In the last year and a half I have lived for at least 2.5 months in 4 different states
23. I worked at a summer camp in NW Michigan last summer
24. I’m finishing my second summer at ThemeWorks in north central Florida
25. I helped finish the installation of a big new roller coaster in Tampa for a week
26. I wore a hard hat and steel toe boots and carried heavy things around
27. I am helping to manage a big new exhibit for Jamestown
28. I want to be a dancer in music videos
29. I Love dancing
30. I want to have an art room when I grow up that I can be all artistic in
31. Perhaps a darkroom too so I can take photography back up
32. I want to have a wood shop too
33. I worked as a carpenter last year as my assistantship for grad school
34. I get excited when I see my name in the playbills under: Carpenters
35. I love the Pittsburgh Steelers
36. I chased down Jerome Bettis in the airport once
37. I was a ‘sorority girl’ in college
38. ‘Sorority girls’ are different at Georgia Tech than other schools
39. My mom is my sister
40. I’m an only child of an only child
41. My grandmother is the only other person I know of in my family with red hair
42. It turns out I had 12 different teddy bears growing up, but I thought it was only one
43. My parents split up when I was 10
44. I was star student of my elementary school
45. I was star student of my middle school
46. I was star student of my high school
47. I was valedictorian and most likely to succeed too
48. I was captain of the varsity math team and Clayton Co. math champion my senior year
49. I’m a National Merit Scholar
50. I used to mime
51. I was a clown
52. Clowning still remains my highest paying job to date
53. I was captain of the marching band color guard
54. Some might say that I was a big nerd growing up ;-)
55. Ok, I’ll remain a nerd forever
56. I cling to the fact that I played varsity tennis for 3 years in high school
57. To be honest, I wasn’t even that good
58. I’ve never watched a Star Wars movie
59. I’ve never seen any Lord of the Rings either
60. I know that I should at least watch the later
61. I lived with Elizabeth for all 4 years of undergrad
62. We were random roommates put together freshman year
63. I had the most amazing and impressive friends at Tech
64. I miss being at GT
65. Most everyone has left Atlanta now
66. I was a bridesmaid twice last summer in the span of 8 days
67. I almost got to wear the same dress for both weddings
68. I’m a bit obsessive about plucking my eyebrows sometimes
69. This is strange because you can’t even see my eyebrows
70. I won the Georgia Tech Greek Week apple bobbing contest
71. I collected 8 apples in 60 seconds
72. …blindfolded
73. …with my hands tied behind my back
74. I started college wanting to be an automotive designer
75. I finished college wanting to be a themed entertainment designer
76. Now I think it would be pretty cool to do event design
77. or bar/restaurant/nightclub design
78. I met my boyfriend on a trip to Las Vegas
79. I paid a stripper to rub her breasts on my boyfriend’s face
80. His roommates bought me a lap dance
81. The TV show Las Vegas is one of my favorites
82. Josh Duhamel is on my top 5 list
83. Greg’s moving to Knoxville very soon!
84. We haven’t even known each other a year
85. I’m very excited!
86. Over Christmas break we tried to go skiing in California but there was too much snow
87. That was the first time I’d ever heard of that being a problem
88. I love to ski
89. I ski through the trees and pretend that I’m good enough to do this
90. I prefer moguls to speedy trails
91. I love making snow angels
92. I’m allergic to the sun
93. I miss my freckles
94. I tried laying in a tanning bed to “toughen up my skin”
95. It didn’t work
96. I love beaches at sunset during the summer
97. Really, I love all water at sunset, especially during the summer
98. Guinness is my favorite beer
99. I’m Irish
100. I’m also Scottish
101. I went to Scotland three times
102. I’ve waded in Loch Ness
103. I’ve slept on the street in downtown Edinburgh… in the rain
104. I’ve been to the highland games
105. I worked in an orphanage in Saratov, Russia
106. I got to go back to Moscow on my study abroad trip.
107. We also went to Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Munich, Venice, Padova, Florence, Rome, and Paris
108. I studied at Worcester College of Oxford University
109. I just finished my scrapbook from that summer this year
110. I’m too much of a perfectionist in my scrapbooking
111. Someday I hope to be caught up
112. I’ve had three gold Saturn sedans
113. My next car should not be a gold Saturn sedan
114. I have too many shoes even though I know that’s impossible
115. I love unique jewelry
116. I love unique clothing
117. I love dressing like the designer that I am
118. I’m designing my first mainstage show right now
119. I think I’ve done a pretty good job if I do say so myself
120. Whoa, I was adding things up towards the top and didn’t even realize I was over 100.
121. I have a really lame social life down here in Florida this year
122. As you can see.

Addendum: The bottoms of my feet peel sometimes.

an even wilder night

Saturday has proven to be even more wild and crazy than I could have anticipated. I painted miniature tile for several hours after my tire rotation. In between coats I took some artistic liberties in recreating some prints I saw for sale at Bed Bath & Beyond this morning. I miss doing things like this. It makes me more excited about the idea of taking next summer off and painting, visiting friends, getting a head start on my thesis, sleeping, exercising perhaps....

Speaking of exercise. Drum roll. I did some today! Our apartment gym is now open after massive renovation/updating. It was so nice that I was inspired to cardio. 30 minutes of eliptical told me I went 6.0. It didnt' say what units though. I know it can't be miles so I'm going to go with kilometers.... and that is approximately 3.7282271534240037 miles (I just did that in my head so pardon my rounding to only the 16th decimal place). And then I was thinking that if I'm going to be taking my bike back to TN with me in the fall I need to start toughening up my crotch so I biked for 20 minutes more. My lungs and heart are confused and my crotch is mad! ;-)

Why I make the big bucks

All that talk yesterday about gambling while bored at work led me to think a thought in my head that was really quite humorous. at least to me. So to go along with my girls weekend shirt that no one wants, I made another shirt with my clever image...

I also had such an exhilirating Friday night with no internet access that I played with the hues and made several different color variations! wooooo! You can catch them all on my zazzle gallery.... in high resolution and big enough to actually see. Don't worry, I know how cool I am.

I also bought funky new shoes today, but it didn't feel like I bought them because the cashier gave me $8.75 to take them out of the store. I love store credits. They're very artsy and fun.

Wrong again.

I should really never gamble. Turns out I'm not phased out yet. Turns out I'm going to stay on as a part-time employee from a distance. I'm going to help finish up this props mess as we get answers - in all my free time these next few months. I won't have to source anything though, just keep up the relationships I have built with Jamestown and the vendors... not a bad gig as far as I can predict, but I'm certainly not going to put money on it. Plus, it pays more than babysitting in Knoxville, and I won't even have to leave my apartment. And I got invited to the installations in November and March-ish. It's nice to feel so needed.

why I only play $2 blackjack and $1 craps

A couple days ago when I put my money on only 4 more days of work, I was wrong. Turns out my last day will be Wednesday...

Scott just came it my office to ask me, and he said that they'll all have to take me out, get me drunk, and have at least another day in the office with me to tease me. Apparently Monday night isn't convenient for everyone, so we're all going out Tuesday night, which means I have to come to work on Wednesday. Still though, I ran out of things to do about a week ago. My candy stash is running low too, since I was rationing with Tuesday in mind.

Perhaps I'll design more shirts. I entered my gallery under the category "dabblers" unsure of what that was really, but I knew I didn't fit in any other category entirely. I figured: "I'm just dabbling in this shirt design thing." But then, it made me chose what age group of dabblers I wanted to be in. So now, I'm an "adult dabbler" and that just makes me feel a little dirty.

candy stash

To preface: TWI asked tootsie roll to print old labels for us for an exhibit. They did this for free. Then, they sent us a HUGE box of candy. How great are they?!

But now, all the candy is gone except for the neon pink hard bubble gum that no one really likes anyway.... except for my secret stash! I was teased when I walked out of Ryan's office with a shirt-full of goodies (Tootsie Roll actually makes a lot of candy you wouldn't expect), but now, I'M the one laughing. HAHAHA!

It's hiding on my desk behind my binder of English street scene references. I'm so sneaky!

Backwards day

Did my Trojan Women research/drafting at TWI out of lack of real work to do. Cut out flying for good. And got an extension on when I have to get my drawings done since I no longer have to get them printed and sent myself! Oh! and decided I want to be a fancy event planner when I grow up for the free fun stuff.

Actually did some crunches and stretches while watching t.v.... though those just tried to counteract the massive quantity of egg noodles I consumed. Maybe I'll even get to be sore tomorrow - not in the "I am getting old and breaking down" kind of way too!

4-5 more days at work.... though since I've officially lost access to the server, I'm no longer on the Jamestown email list, and I'm not being given new projects to work on, I'd put money on the 4.

Sides

Upside: My slow cooker chicken thighs, shredded and stuffed into tortillas with pinto beans, black olives, and sour cream were SO good. I even just now realized that I should have added cheese. Anyhow they look promising for the next day or two - and if they fail, I have buns and BBQ sauce!

Downside: I was so looking forward ALL DAY to seeing an episode of Las Vegas tonight that I had never seen. NBC, however, forgot to turn on their sound all night, so I couldn't watch it (you know how muted TV makes me nervous).

Upside: Showing on TBS opposite the muted Las Vegas was an episode of Friends that, believe it or not folks, I had never seen before! The 3rd episode ever - The One with the Thumb...

And THAT my good buddies is what I call my silver lining...

Oh Oh! Another Upside! My yahoo radio station has this album called "Motown Remixed" that I rated a 4 immediately... the songs on it are so FUN and I keep hearing new ones! Jackson 5 is jammin' right now w/ I Want You Back to a funky beat....funky enough that I want to get up and dance more than usual, but not too funky that it's all DJ and scratchy like late night Saturday night radio stations (though those can be fun too sometimes)...

Leftovers

Cooking for one really sucks since you want to make enough to make the recipe work/worth it, but then you're stuck with the same meal for days on end. Usually, day one, I think the meal is stellar and I'm proud of myself. My excitement usually declines steadily until day 3 when I'm not excited at all (pretty quick, I know). But I push through. Day 4 is painful, and I usually throw away the last serving because it makes me ill to think about eating it again.

I've managed, however, to make it through an entire dish... I think the solution, and I hope it applies across the board, is adding lots of ground pepper, garlic salt, and melted cheese! :-) I actually think my doctored version was better than the original! I'm so happy!

Now I'm starting to try and figure out how to use what food I already own to make my meals for the next 2 weeks... looks like I'll be eating some interesting concoctions - unless anyone has a great idea of what to do with 2 jars of pickles... ;)

Deja vu 2003

Christyn is living in G'ville for at least a few days, which means I have a friend! We went out grand last night shelling out the dough for incredible sushi (the Godzilla roll had cream cheese eyes!), pineapple sake, and service worthy of the 'young and trendy' crowd of which we were now a part.

Then we turned geeky like only GT girls can do - played with the awesome ringers on her new phone until I picked out one for me.... NFL on NBC came in a close second to the winner: Under the Sea.

We met up with Ryan, Mike, Zach, etc. at 8 Seconds - the redneck bar which despite its name and theme (and the fact that it's painted like a giant cow on the outside) has no mechanical bull. Kinda crazy that this was my first time out all summer since 2 years ago that was all I did. I also worked out ALL the time before, so I guess I'm going for opposite all around. It was fun, but we got tired before closing so headed home - most everyone else was drunk beyond function too. Taking off my shoes and crawling in bed felt so nice.

Titus

So I’m still working my way through Titus – it’s just so good! And listening to Julie Taymor just makes me want to keep it longer and watch it normally again… too bad Greg might want his 3rd movie back.

The first night I turned it on it was so nice, I fell asleep watching it around 9:30pm so I just headed straight to bed. I needed the sleep anyway. The next evening I was to hear from my director finally, but alas, still no word. So there I was, uninspired to work, so I watched more movie. I had forgotten it was 3 hours long! The NEXT evening I DID hear from Veronika and she loved all the work that I had done. It was so great – she agreed with all my changes and cuts that I made. The rest is easy right? So now I’m plugging away at CAD, but happily now. Taking my time, not stressing out, eating coolwhip because it tastes good, not because I need a fix. Life is good. I’m going to finish this beast.

Now if only I had something interesting to do at work for the next 7.5 hours… maybe a transformer will blow up again like yesterday. That was different.

At the end of the trip outside our hotel

Dancing at Wet Willies - I got a brain freeze in the middle of the shot...

What I've been missing

Our girls' weekend at the beach was a HUGE success. I left work early, and Christyn came to pick me up with the intention of leaving for Tybee right away... Distractions ensued and we left a few hours later. There was celebrating, drinking, eating, sunning, ice cream and praline eating, beach walking, Irish pubs, Wet Willies (of the bar/dance club variety!), dancing, and tons of laughter. I love those girls. Makes me miss GT times so much. (see photos to be posted separately...)

Greg said we should have a girls' weekend once a month, but perhaps once or twice a year will have to suffice. Back to work and work - though it looks like Trojan Women might be finding some resolution in the near future. At least I got an extension for my final deadline since I've been playing by the rules. I'm happy about that. In celebration of this good fortune - tonight I'm watching the director's cut of Titus!

Starting plans

So I’m a grad student in set design at the University of Tenn. I already have a degree from Georgia Tech in Industrial Design. I’m a glutton for punishment. I knew from undergrad that this would be very time intensive adventure, but I have to say it’s more than I expected. One year down, two to go –

Now I’m in Florida working an 8-5 job doing design/fabrication management work. In all my spare time I am designing my first mainstage show ever for UT – designs are due in less than 2 weeks…

After a wonderful, yet design-distracted 2 week visit from my ever-patient boyfriend Greg, I realize that I don’t want to spend the next two years knowing that I’m constantly being neglectful of my friends, my loved ones, and myself. He’s moving across the country to end this 3-time zone separation ordeal and I want to learn how to enjoy my time now that I won’t have the excuse, “well, I have nothing better to do…”

I’m starting fresh this weekend: me and 8 of my closest girlfriends from GT are taking a trip to Tybee Island. We are taking 2 cars, have rented 2 hotel rooms (like there’ll be any sleeping!), and are bringing 2 blenders. These girls are coming from around the country – D.C., Texas, Wisconsin, Florida, Atlanta, England sort of…. It’s great how everyone is making such an effort to spend time with each other. I haven’t seen some of these girls in over a year. I can’t wait! In short, I have TONS of work to get done and a fast approaching deadline, but I made a commitment a long time ago to meet my girlfriends, and I am not going to give up this chance to see them. I will do my best to forget about Trojan Women and concentrate on these wonderful girls who love me just like I love them.

Statement of Purpose

To prevent my professional/scholastic life from squashing my spirit, my relationships, my happiness, and my wellbeing. Hopefully in the process I can reconcile my worlds into one life that can live in peace and harmony.