My favorite athlete

The Dancer in Black

"...But the dancer in black twirls on.
Tears like diamonds splash upon the dance floor.
Still, she twirls and spins and leaps and flies..."

Shhh....

Inside, the house is quiet.
Outside the wind beats against the house. A small chime rings out in the night. Tree branches slap the roof.

My thoughts have long since turned mushy. I have an oral presentation in poli sci tomorrow that, yes, I'll admit, I'm rather dreading. It's strange after all those years debating and speaking, to still be a little nervous about going up in front of the class. It'll be fine - and actually, it'll probably be quite fun in the end. I chose to speak about the gang violence sweeping across Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), the new winner of the 2016 Olympic bid. Just two weeks after being chosen as Olympic host, the city was wracked with warring gangs and drug-cartels, and in just six short days 33 were killed, 8 buses were set on fire and high-caliber weapons were used to shoot down a police helicopter. It's been interesting researching it and come tomorrow, I'll probably have a blast telling the class all about it. I just feel rather....passive right now. Or maybe it's just laziness. :)

On a very different and incredibly awesome note, I discovered these today and sat watching them in fascination. Ohmygoodness, I'd love to be able to do that.

Random Thoughts from a Bedridden ADD Mind...

Sick.
In bed for second day in a row.
Kleenex. Airborne. Statistics homework. English paper (5 pages on the word "identity"). Research paper on Cartier-Bresson. Extemp-ish preparation for oral presentation on Wednesday. No worries, I have plenty to do.
My new Death Cab for Cutie cd came in the mail...so I'm sipping Breathe Easy tea and happily listening to "What Sarah Said", among others. It's nice listening.

I'm not sure what I wanted to write here. It's another one of those "think-best-in-bullets" days.
--> I'm loving Ships of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea. L-o-v-i-n-g
--> Tonight's gonna be a late night. I'm going downtown around 10ish to finish some photography homework.
--> Sara's in SF for the day...and I'm going crazy with the spastic rat she left behind in my charge.
--> Blueberry shakes are divine.
--> As are the mothers who prepare them.
--> Being sick and bedridden gives you plenty of time to think. About life. About my future. About decisions and choices and roads being traveled. I guess being bedridden can be a wierd sort of blessing inandofitself.
--> Can.not.wait for thanksgiving break. can.not.wait.
--> Am going to go sit in the sunshine now. Ta ta!

Night Lights

Girly Math

For some reason, I've always thought of statistics as a "manly" branch of mathematics. It's always seemed very tough and matter-of-fact and just, well...very manly.

And yet, here I am doing stats homework with a pink gel pen.

Hmmm....

Painting with light

I spent the evening painting with light.
Standing in the pitch-black dark, dancing with a pulsing flashlight. Twirling. Spelling. Spinning. Jumping.
"click" goes the camera...and thus begins your 30 seconds of invisible glory. 30 seconds to wave, spiral, spin, twirl that flashlight in a hundred directions. 30 seconds of happiness in the dark.
"click" goes the camera. Your time is up. But each little ray of light has been captured, recorded in the camera's memory, and when you view your picture, there's a strange, magical masterpiece staring back at you.

I spent the evening painting with light.
Standing in the pitch-black dark, dancing with a pulsing flashlight.
Twirling.
Spinning.
Jumping.

Late night gurgles

Ooof. Time flies once it's past 11:00pm. F-l-i-e-s.
I'm sitting here writing my spanish paper, listening happily to owl city and munching on a shortbread cookie, when suddenly I look down and holy cow! It's nearly 1:00am!

*sigh*

I need to be awake and alert in six hours...and counting.

It feels like a tournament or something. What's with this thriving-on-no-sleep deal?

I decided I'm ready to retire. *raises hand* pick me! pick me!

Goodnight Freddy

Listened to a powerful sermon on the beauty of The Church.
Went on a date with my mom.
Listened to flamenco "guitarradas" on a CD a friend made for me.
Texted with Mark from the other room.
Read a little bit more from Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea.
Sat and thought about the meaning of life.
Got ready for a long school day tomorrow.
Listened to this charming song. Go ahead. Click it. Share in the peaceful melody.

Goodnight Freddy - The Sounds

The Charleston Gum Poles

Downtown Charleston, South Caroline is a beautiful little town. A quietly bustling market runs down the center of town while antebellum mansions and deep southern flats line the streets. Cafes, restaurants, tattoo parlors, shops, vendors selling day-trips to Ft. Sumpter, and the Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant are just a few of the Charleston delights. But perhaps strangest attraction to be found are the Gum Poles.

Yes! Poles of gum. Three telephone poles near the center of downtown Charleston (close to the market entrance and hub of Charleston life) have been transformed into sticky, colorful works of gummy art. Locals and tourists alike quietly saunter past and plaster the poles with their chewing gum...creating rainbowed pillars of stickiness. Some consider it a nuisance and "destruction of public property." Some find the budding tradition rather exciting. Some call it modern art.

When I was in Charleston this past June, I personally got to see these semi-famous Gum Poles...and well, my gum is on one of those poles too. See that pink piece of gum right there? Maybe that's mine.

Well, heh, I stumbled upon this article from the local Charleston news station tonight and discovered that not only has this "gum-sticking" been banned, but the city plans to install surveillance cameras and place hefty fines (and possible jail sentences) on any poor person who happens to participate in this sticky "art."

Oops.

"click"

The bet is on!

Sara gets me big bowl of popcorn.
Said popcorn will directly affect my performance in intense exam tomorrow morning.
Said popcorn will determine whether exam grade is an "A" or "B".
If "B", I must treat Sara to three scoops of ice-cream at Rite-Aid.
If "A", then I don't.

And thus, it begins. Bring in the popcorn!

Statistical technology

"28% of college students say they use credit cards because of the rewards program. You randomly select 10 college students and ask each to name the reason he or she uses credit cards. Find the probability that the number of college students who say they use credit cards because of the rewards program is (a) exactly two, (b) more than two, and (c) between two and five inclusive. If convenient, use technology to find the probabilities."

HA! "If convenient, use technology to find the probabilities."

Yeah, and "if not convenient to use technology, please proceed in spending enormous amounts of time wracking your brain for abstract mathematical concepts and formulas. Once those formulas have been produced, use entire sheets of paper to complete ridiculously long problems and hope that you didn't make a stupid mistake somewhere in the process. But again, only if you find technology inconvenient."

When the formula looks like this: you can be SURE I'll be using technology thankyouverymuch.

...

::goes off to continue using technology in desperate attempt to preserve brain-cells and defend against grey hair::