just because i like green

color of the day?
via cogli l'attimo

black coffee morning

Sigur Ros and free coffee (black, of course) at Overflow Coffee Bar in South Loop this morning was perfect. Here's to hoping that you had as pleasant a morning as I did- and a much more productive afternoon!

"Jim is always creating. Like any eccentric artist, he walks a fine line between the rational and irrational. I'm just here to help. With both." So many beautiful ideas and thoughts on The Anthropologist.

one of the many reasons, as far as i can tell, for some countryside living

(via progress: verb)

One of the things I remember most vividly about Taiwan is driving. Whenever we visited, our family would take us on little road trips. "Little" being enough to transform the scenery and landscape around us. The thing about Taiwan is that you can go from ocean, to mountain, to countryside, to city within several hours. I miss it.

but i got you this flower.

So everyone is familiar with this site Feminist Ryan Gosling, right? So awesome and hilarious.

dress for the elements.

So... I have a private Twitter account. What I mean by private is that you have to request to read it and I only have accepted a few close friends (like... 3), some people who used to be friends before I wrote things in it, and my favorite coffeeshop. The reason is that for me, it's just a mind dump. Things that I've encountered and don't want to forget. Words that fall together in a certain way to delight me. And recently I started keeping a running list on there.

Anyway. Every once in awhile, I'll go back and scroll through all my past twitter entries and see what I wrote. Most of the things are little phrases that don't make sense or things people said to me that struck me (usually, humorously). And I mostly don't remember these things being said, but they bring up memories of things I had thought impossible to forget.

Things like:

"You have all been told to follow your dream, but what if it's a stupid dream?"
-Stephen Colbert's Northwestern Commencement Speech 2011

"You know how in elementary school, teachers always split up the two friends who are talking all the time? We are those friends."
-Saad, Oct 4

"Overheard on the bus: When I tell you I love you in my life, you say I love you in my life back."
Sept 21

"'Ask yourself, Can I run in these shoes? How fast? Faye Dunaway never looked so chic as while taking violent turns in her getaway car. Dress for moments like that. Dress for the elements.'"
Dec 26 10

kicking off christmas?

I spent Thanksgiving with with an old friend's family. We watched Tangled and the TV show Revenge (it's addicting). We spent a lot of time laughing, cooking, and eating together. Now it's time for some studying. Two more weeks of school left! I'm very excited.

This also means it's officially the Christmas season. I painted my nails Trophy Wife by Essie in celebration. If there are a few simple things I like, it's the Christmas season (the entire season, not just the day), colorful nails (I think it may help me stay awake), and cool nail polish names. It's not something I do a lot, because I end up having to do it a few times since I inevitably don't wait long enough for it to dry and it gets chipped and dented somehow. New strategy: paint and then go to sleep. So far the only way that has worked. Plan B: Get disposable income, go to nail salon. Although I feel like that's not something I would really do anyway. Make that Plan F.

i don't know what it's like to land and not race to your door

I took this picture with my computer at Bourgeois Pig in Lincoln Park today. I worked in a clinic with some patients this afternoon and then sat in a coffeeshop and studied. For a long time. I'm wondering if the rest of my life plays out like this, I think it'd be not bad. Room for improvement maybe. But maybe it'd be a happy little life I could be content with. I'm in the strangest mood, so most of that did not entirely make sense. I feel like I need to sleep, but also think about some things. Early train out of the city tomorrow!

I also realize that I turned a really cute, 18th century-looking cafe into what sort of looks like a dungeon with a really nice selection of tea. But taking pictures with a computer is awkward. I still plan on bringing my camera around. For Chicagoans: this coffeeshop is not my favorite, but extremely cute. I need to take real pictures soon!

she is packing in slow motion

[image from here]

I woke up around 8 o'clock today and got out of bed around 8:30. I have to say, I love waking up early. It's unfortunate that it happens so rarely. I thought about my goals this morning as I knit a scarf in sunny yellow, which made me happy despite the clouds outside.

Clean the bathroom
Do some laundry
Download lectures for today
Organize clothes
Listen to 5 Lectures
Review notes
Turn in exam
Get chili
Write a letter
Download lectures for tomorrow

I think that's it. My oven is on and I can smell that it is almost ready for the pizza that is about to be put in it.

i go places i never would have gone

My friend just introduced me to this website, 1x. These images are the kind of pictures I would love to take one day. The photographer's name is Robert. I also like what he has to say in his biography, "Just at one day I purchased a camera to start a hobby which took me a way from typical habits my job in foreign countries comes along with. So it starts and did grow. Analogue and digital now and still it is a lot of fun! Since that time I do not sleep long and stopped watching TV, I go places before I never would have gone."

it's the woman who pays

I found this letter the other day online. Apparently, Marianne Brown wrote the following to Kurt Vonnegut:

"In 1989 my husband passed on; I was 36-years-old and left with 3 small children. For some reason I wrote to Kurt Vonnegut and thanked him for his books and his compassion. I did not expect a reply. He must have been a kind man, as he sent this to me within a month of writing to him. I have always wanted to share his kind words. It meant, and still means, so much to me."


And here is what he wrote:

Nov. 30 '90

Dearest Marianne Brown --

It can't be said often enough, "It is the woman who pays." The miracle is that so many can and do somehow. I was in love (still am) with a widow with four kids (two not her own). She somehow raised them all on a teeny weeny salary. I told her one time, "I worry about women." She said, "Don't."

Cheers --

(Signed)

Kurt Vonnegut

indian summer

Yesterday, in the Anatomy locker right before our lab exam, I heard someone say, "I think this has been the worst three weeks." I think we're lucky that the "worst weeks" were only awful because they were sleep-deprived and centered around cramming as many things into our brains as possible (both of which are incredibly painful). All the same, I'm excited that our last exam is tomorrow and then we have two weeks without exams. And it seemed like it might be a we should just look at cute animals kind of day. These were kittens that caught my eye at the Anti-Cruelty Society, a humane society downtown. Alex said that it always surprises him when I do intensely girly things like look at kittens and puppies. Kittens always get adopted right away, but I really liked these two. I have decided that I'm going to adopt a cat in a year when things are less hectic with school.

map again

Mapping out social networking- Flickr and Twitter- in the United States. Orange is Twitter and blue is Flickr. The white is both. Chicago is lit up! So are the coasts.

summer in the city, i start to miss you sometimes

I noticed that I don't really like stuff anymore. As in, having stuff. I don't really buy things except for coffee and food. And textbooks. So many textbooks. But today I started looking at this Etsy shop and love so much of what she does. Especially the bottom ring. I like the black and white and also the idea to customize it with your birthstone and that of someone you love. I would totally do it with my non-existent husband. Or you know, my mom. My birthstone is amethyst. I think it's a sweet sentiment. or maybe I'm a sucker.

possibly the cutest thing ever

i feel this

best friends

(via fiend)

primary reason for needing a pet

(i can't find the link to where i originally found this image, please let me know if you can!)

the riddle was: why couldn't we live in the mind? the answer was: the barrier of the earth intervened.

This image and the one from the previous post are taken by sebmontaz. It seems like they are from this documentary. I watched the trailer for it today and I think it looks awesome. I tried several times to post the video of the trailer here, but it's not working, so here's the link. I'm so amazed by both the images and the actual jumping/tightwiring, etc.

I think I like things like this because it reminds me of the big picture of life when caught up in the midst of (inevitable) details.

for women who are "difficult" to love by warson shire

[image from here]


you are a horse running alone

and he tries to tame you
compares you to an impossible highway
to a burning house
says you are blinding him
that he could never leave you
forget you

want anything but you
you dizzy him, you are unbearable
every woman before or after you
is doused in your name
you fill his mouth
his teeth ache with memory of taste
his body just a long shadow seeking yours
but you are always too intense
frightening in the way you want him
unashamed and sacrificial
he tells you that no man can live up to the one who
lives in your head
and you tried to change didn’t you?
closed your mouth more
tried to be softer
prettier
less volatile, less awake
but even when sleeping you could feel
him traveling away from you in his dreams
so what did you want to do love
split his head open?
you can’t make homes out of human beings
someone should have already told you that
and if he wants to leave
then let him leave
you are terrifyingand strange and beautiful

don't write, don't call, i'll see you in the fall

Because I totally missed it. The beginning of November has been a struggle. It's been the Histology exam, and Biochemistry tomorrow, and Physiology Tuesday, and two Anatomy exams next week. It's been bright yellow yarn for a scarf. It's been feeling happy for letters sealed with tape in a cloud envelope. It's been good coffee and weird coffee from my coffeemaker. It's been my warm apartment. It's been cozy coffeeshops and sterile 24-hour-Starbucks-but-we-need somewhere we can study at 4 AM. It's been grateful for the extra hour. It's been enchanting and terrible simultaneously. Hello, November.