and finally, SPRING!

Even if I don't get internet at home, Spring means easier transportation and more of a willingness to leave the house. We have had a very cold winter here and it makes you want to stay in your warm, heat paid apartment, let me tell you!

OK, let me just say, that in comparison, I guess this winter wasn't so bad. But we had a couple of stretches where it was in the -20's with even colder wind chills, which is hard weather for a walker!

Notice how I am putting all this winter talk in past tense? Well, even though it snowed again yesterday, I refuse to commit to much more of this. Next week I have spring break, which will fly by, then Lydia is home, and this will go too quickly as well, as it always does. Then it will be April! It will be chilly, still jacket weather, and maybe still some snow, but by the end of April we will have seen the last of this Winter Business! I know it!

The other upshot of me having a computer will be the pictures of spring I plan on taking with my camera and posting on my blog! I am also going to try and find a way to post my Ellipsis project for Film and Video 1!

loan money!!

Here is more on why I hope to be a better blogger.

In January, I applied for another loan from the Minnesota Higher Education Board. This is and was to make up for the fact that when I applied for my loan last fall, I was not yet in the film making program, and it is more then $600 more expensive in tuition alone, not to mention the supplies and software you have to get. So, I put the request in on January 17th (the school has a record of this). They said to allow three weeks.

After three and a half weeks I called The MHEB to see if they had sent it to the lender for disbursement yet, and they said that they had no record of it. SO! I called the school and they said, give it till Friday.

On Friday I checked and still no luck. So the woman at the financial aid desk gave the number of the woman handling it. I called that woman three times on three different days and left messages which were never returned. I then called her supervisor who informed me that she was working through a pile of a different kind of loan before my kind of loan. It should ONLY take another week. Six weeks had gone by before the loan was certified and sent to the lender. I received my loan in the mail yesterday. In case you weren't keeping track, we are heading in to week 8 of my ordeal. I cannot imagine what I would have done if I did not have an outside job, something many of my classmates don't.

So, how does this affect blogging? One of the things I hope to get with my loan money is a computer and some sort of internet connection at home. When I can't sleep in the middle of the night, I can blog!! Woohoo (for you!)!!

procrastination, lazyness...

...call it what you will. I have been a very bad blogger. However, with a recession looming, loan money in my mailbox, and spring on the way, I hope to be better, truly!

So, let me explain a little of what is going on. First the recession. I work two shifts a week at an expensive children's clothing store. Yes, I said "expensive" and "children" in the same sentence. Now, I love the clothing. Much of it is organic cotton and it is all Oke-Tex certified, which means that it is put through rigorous tests to make sure it has no chemicals in it that could harm your child. Chemicals like pesticides, lead, mercury and over 100 others! The company is also Swedish inspired, and our motto is that "we believe in letting kids be kids", so you won't be finding any hoochie clothes for five year olds in our store!

But, even with these wonderful attributes, we are suffering greatly from the money woes of our fellow Americans. We have been 30-40 hours over payroll every week for the past few MONTHS! Our manager is now asking that we each see if there are sacrifices we can make in our hours. Seeing as how my "regular" job recently added two hours a week on to my time there and I just received another loan disbursement, I told my mang. that if she wants to cut me to one shift a week or even one shift every few weeks I would be fine with that. I can manage. There is even a possibility that I will take a short leave of absence at some point.

So, all this will begin taking effect the week after Easter (when our sales and number of customers will dwindle again after the spring break/Easter outfits rush). This works well for me as that is the week that Lydia will be home for spring break and I will be back from mine with mid-terms and big projects to prepare for. Unfortunately, my coworkers are not in the position I am in and will now be scrambling to make ends meet.

So, please, next time you are looking for something at a retail store, even a giant one, and they tell you something is unavailable, be nice to the sales clerk and don't make a big fuss about how it should be on back order. They can't afford it. None of us can.

Something different to look at!

>>



Which of Henry VIII's wives are you?


this quiz was made by Lori Fury

In case you ever check this blog and are sick of seeing something from November, here's a little treat! I really will start trying to post something more often!

Why you should never trust a school computer and Mugs continued

Well, I look like an idiot. I just rushed all the way up to the 5th floor for my geography class which starts at 6...but no one was there. That is because the computer lab clocks are all 1 hour ahead of schedule! What the heck!

OK,so now I am back, and here is mug #3: Another big blue mug, but even bigger then my Edgecomb one. This is a more classically shaped mug and has a flora silhouette design. I got this form Target on my annual trip to stock up for Fest (this is not to say that I only make one trip to target a year, quite the contrary, but This one is devoted solely to camping gear and things I think will make me look cool or feel good while spending three weeks in the woods) I thought I would lose it or brake it, but since I kept forgetting it in my tent, it was pretty safe.

#4: this is the tea cup-like mug which I acquired in Michigan, but is not of Michigan. It is a Starbucks mug that Cordeliaknits' roommate sent with her to give to me. This is a good mug for anything in the morning since I usually don't have time for much, so it keeps me in check. It also says 'inspire' on the inside, just under the lip. This way you see it once you have taken your first sip, and instantly remember to inspire people!

Travel mug (#5): Oddly enough, I also acquired this in Michigan from my sister and our friend chnacat. Chnacat had brought the mug for Cordelia, who ended up not needing it, so they past it on to me. This is a good mug, but unfortunately it does not close all the way on top (there is a little drinking hole), so it is bad for the bus and walking and sticking in my bag. Do they make an easy to clean, hot liquid-friendly closeable travel mug? That would be good for me.

I also remembered two more real mugs-

My starbucks mug (#6): this one actually says starbucks and is also from Gayle, cordeliaknits roomie. She forced me to take it home with me from Berkley when I was visiting last spring. This is because they have lots and lots of mugs and needed to get rid of some. I also think Gayle just likes to give people useful things. She also gave me some regifted coffee. How long does ground coffee last? I still have some left...anyway, I keep the starbucks mug at work, which is why I didn't think of it right away.

and lastly, my 'A' mug (#7): This is a very special one to me which I also keep at work. A friend I had in high school, Siri, gave it to me for my 18th birthday. Although I have not been in touch with Siri since I graduated, I will always remember thinking what a great gift it was. It was the first birthday party I had in years (see a future post to find out why celebrating b-days with friends is hard for me) and I had invited friends from school and from my youth group, maybe about 15 people in all. Most of them had never met before and it was pretty weird for everyone. But what I remember most was that I only got about three gifts where I thought, "Wow, they really know me." That mug, handmade by a Vis Kid at Arts High, was one of them.

So, there you have it. I will try to be better about posting during Advent, I promise!

Mug Meme

Well, my mother has chastised me, as she is want to do, and also tagged me to post about 7 mugs in my kitchen. Here's the thing: my kitchen is about the size of most peoples coat closet. So, I have 4 mugs, 1 travel cup and 1 tea cup (actually, one of the 'mugs' is more like a tea cup, but not as dainty, so I call it a mug)

Mug number 1: My big blue mug which I used this morning for hot cocoa. This is a wonderful Edgecomb Pottery mug which I purchsed on one of my summer trips to Maine, previous to me parents moving there. This mug came from Maine to Minnesota, then out to New York with me, then back home to Minnesota where it has survived 3 moves! It's a trooper and I love it!

#2: also from edgecomb, it is pink and is tall and skinny and curvy. This one is really good for warm apple cider, but only if I finish it- it is very hard to clean!

#3: Another big blue mug...

yikes!! You will have to wait for the rest because I just saw the time, I have class in 2 minutes!!

30 Days of Night Review
or The first movie I Didn’t Want Josh Hartnett to Die In

Last Thursday while working at the mall, my coworker mentioned that she was going to the midnight showing of 30 Days of Night, the new vampire film set in Barrow, Alaska based on a graphic novel by Steve Niles. And starring Josh Hartnett.
Let me start by saying that I have nothing personal against Mr. Hartnett, he seems like a decent enough fellow, still hangs out with buds from high school at the local video store, says nice things about his former high school and the teachers there. It’s really more of an artist thing I have (had?) against him - that he was set up for a very long and successful career in acting, interning at the Jungle under famed artists… and then he went and became a teen heart throb. And, in my opinion, he isn’t even very good looking. And he was definitely not ready for film.
Now, the personal connection I have with him is that we went to the same high school (not at the same time). He was just getting famous when I entered high school and I was immediately disgusted by the way everyone oohhed and ahhhed over him and the fact he had gone to South. I got over that sort of thing in elementary school, telling everyone how Rachel Lee Cook braided my sister’s hair in 4th grade. But I don’t hold his fans against him, really I don’t.
I was disgusted by the Faculty, and a little angry at how he brought down Sin City with his mediocre performance. Keep in mind, in many ways I feel he is representing Minnesota, and Minneapolis specifically, every time he is in a film. That’s just the way my directors raised me-to be an ambassador for your home whenever performing.
So, needless to say I was shocked (pleasantly) when I decided to go with my friends to the see 30 days of night, and liked what I saw. When we first meet him, he automatically did something that my conservatory acting teacher would have been shocked by, but what any northerner knows is the truth (something you constantly search for as an actor). He hid his chin in his parka while standing outside. Brilliant! Right off the bat I thought, “wow! Maybe he has turned a new leaf”
This is the only example of brilliance I can recall, but I grew to like his character more and more and by the end I was hoping he wouldn’t die, which is a lot more then I can say for any other movie I have seen him in.
I recommend this film, but don’t expect to be scared or awed by special effects (they take a lot of short cuts, which makes it a lot less bloody, but also a lot less artistic).