Xmas Eve Musings

Psalm 65:4b - We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple. 66:5 - Come and see what God has done. How awesome His works in man's behalf! 66:20 - Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me! Luke 2:9b - and the glory of the Lord shone around them. 2:16a - so they hurried off. 2:20 - The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Come and see what God has done. Jesus, here: on earth - in my heart. His glory everywhere, just as you have heard and seen!
Today I have seen Him in a family's hospitatily, candle light flickering on a child's wondering face, a timely, loving voicemail from my sister, and a calming peace in my heart.

Thought Tracks

I'm not so much writing my thoughts down in lists to give them better readability, or to look special, but rather because I can't get my mind around them any other way. Logic, vocabulary, basic vernacular: it's all out the window. Between finals being over and the reality of my very near departure to the East Coast, my brains are just a little blobby and dissipating. (But! not insignificant... like some people we know. Hehe.)

Good things for a Tuesday:

-no school.
-post-christmas fun. [new books to read, gift certs to spend, haribos to eat, clothes to wear, etc.]
-good phone convos. [so exciting.]
-chocolate.
-finding my phone in my bed. [talking to josh till I fall asleep then calling him as soon as i wake up.]
-seeing old friends, past friends, new friends.
-family time.
-long-johns and skirts.
-queuing up at the post office.

Weekend Reading NOT For Uni

[I found this amusing.]

"On every bookstall, in every magazine, you may find works telling people how to succeed. They are books showing men how to succeed in everything; they are written by men who cannot even succeed in writing books. To begin with, of course, there is no such thing as Success. Or, if you like to put it so, there is nothing that is not successful. That a thing is successful merely means that it is; a millionaire is successful in being a millionaire and a donkey in being a donkey. Any live man has succeeded in living; any dead man may have succeeded in committing suicide. But, passing over the bad logic and bad philosophy the phrase, we may take it, as these writers do, in the ordinary sense of success in obtaining money or worldly position. These writers profess to tell the ordinary man how he may succeed in this trade or speculation - how, if he is a builder, he may succeed as a builder; how, if he is a stockbrocker, he may succeed as a stockbroker. They profess to show him how, if he is a grocer, he may become a sporting yachtsman; how, if he is a tenth-rate journalist, he may become a peer; and how, if he is a German Jew, the may become an Anglo-Saxon. This is a definite and business-like proposal, and I really think that the people who buy these books (if any people do buy them) have a moral, if not a legal, right to ask for their money back."

-from "The Fallacy of Success" in All Things Considered by G. K. Chesterton

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you -

Nickel Creek. OH yeah.

Let them eat... cheese!

Here's Rosie and I at the Nickel Creek / Andrew Bird show at the Roseland Tuesday night...

Misc. Things

-Finals OVER over over over over over = ridiculous joy
-Nickel Creek AMAZING + Andrew Bird = super amazing
-A lie-in + running = no coffee (did you know it was possible)
-One week till I'm in NC with Anna Stewart (ah hahaha!!!) + 2 more days = JOSHY (eeeeee!!)
-Winter break = clean room, the New Yorker, christmas programme projects with Jacie, movies, friend time, running, guitar
-Joshy = happy
-Cold weather + wind = clear view of the mt x desire to go sbing

History of Modern Design Final

So I told some of you (okay, maybe just Daveo) that I'd post a picture of my designed final when I finished it. So here it is. I'm sorry I suck at taking pictures of my artwork. Seems to be a problem. The only way I could keep it from having nasty flash action was to stand it up but it's too flimsy and I'm too lazy to find something better to prop it on, so it's bent a bit in the middle. I'm sorry. I don't have the time or energy to do any better. Still haven't decided if this is exactly what it's supposed to be, but I thought it'd be a whole lot more fun to try than a 4 page paper.
Technically it's an Homage to Hannah Hoch, German Dadaist designer. I'll also post one of her works (circa 1930) to give you an idea of what i was attempting to emulate. I was amazed to find how hard it is for me to give up my own style. I know I can immitate her photomontage style, but ... but... I want to do it my way. I hope that doesn't sacrifice my grade.

Musica

Here is my Most awesome sister playing the piano in her Most amazing recital last friday night. If you weren't there, you seriously missed out. What were you thinking? No excuses. Well, if you beg and grovel perhaps she'll play a little somethin' for you sometime. Or, if you claim you live too far away, you can beg me to play you a little of her c.d. I will soon have in my possession. 

Hair

This is my attempt at a mirror self-portrait rather than the standard point-the-camera-at-yourself that I usually do. (Though obviously I'm not any better at this version.)
But the point is - I finally got a haircut: no more grouchy morning Allison! Everyone says "yaaay!". 

Little Things

Thanks, God, for the little things today:

-My classmates creating hilarious amateur theatre.
-The freedom that comes with not taking yourself seriously.
-Last minute hospitality.
-A middle-aged, Middle-eastern man's smile over the prospect of snow.
-Having to cut down my essay rather than draw it out.
-Hearing my jr hi-ers get their parts down for their Christmas song.
-Rosie being most wonderfully benevolent. (:D)
-Finding out that my saturday job is nearby.

Yessss. Good stuff.

I Think I Will Die for Lack of Snowboarding

Ohhh how I want to be there in that beautiful whiteness... flying down the slopes, through the trees and over the rollers.
I was driving on I-84W tonight and thought my senses had been decieved - Snow? blowing accross the road? No... but... that's what it looked like. Lo and behold, in the next lane and up a few cars was a caravan of vehicles bearing racks and boxes of snow equpment and the residual piles of snow piled up over the duration of a day snowboarding and being stuck in traffic on Hwy26. The snow was falling to the ground in chunks and pow, blowing across the lanes as naturally as if it were a freshly groomed Green run, only to disappear between speeding tires and hard cement. Alas, so dies my first snow of the season. So taunting, so tempting are the $7 night ski tickets for Meadows this wednesday and thursday. If only I didn't care so much about writing a decent essay! Perhaps I will grit my teeth and fork over the $48 in desperation for the preservance of my sanity.
Such is the life of a student in winter.

Speaking of Thankfulness

Look at who I got to hang out with tonight!! Ahh hahahaa.
These four crazies are my wonderful Capers friends: Danny, Caleb, Pamela and Jelly.
Caleb came down from Bellingham to be with Danny thanksgiving and I doubted it would work out for me to see him. Amazingly, my job tonight was cancelled and Pamela called me and convinced me to come out of my house and go out to pizza and then coffee with the kids. Haaaaaa good times. Pamela lives with me, Danny goes to school with me, I've seen Janell off and on since June, and Caleb I haven't seen for 8 months (Plus Josh, Kyle and J via phone)- and yet, it was still as if we had all never left the Hall and there hadn't been time in between. Sort of like family. T'was a good feeling. (As was all the laughter.)

 

Thanksgiving Day... Ahhh...

Too much fun... Cherie had a new camera so of course we played with that. Stephanie, Julie and I played the cup game... endless fun. And of course, the chatting and catching up is always good.  

Somehow I didn't manage to remember to take a picture of all the amazing food... I think I was too hungry. So here's a couple left-over appetizers and dessert.  

Cherie looks at pictures, Julie poses while Libby watches me taking pictures like a madwoman, Grandpa watches the family, Grandma drinks coffee.. 

Not Thankful Enough

Thanksgiving doesn't actually make anyone thankful, but it does cause well-needed pondering and hopefully gratefulness. For me it usually means that I sit and think about how ungrateful I've been all year. I think really hard about the things I am, or should be, thankful for and support this fantasy that if I think hard enough on it one day that the rest of the year's thanks will fall into place. But no. We are quite a narcissistic society, I find. But this one day, if we do spend it in an attitude of thankfulness we find how much peace and enjoyment can be found in a day and a family gathering. Amazing, hey? Yes... Hans Peter Royer, director of Tauernhof in Austria, encouraged us to be thankful always and tried to impress upon us what a difference it can make in daily life.
I've realized that the last few months I've done my share of being ungrateful (a lot of my friends can attest to this). I would much rather be one of those people who is encouraging others to be thankful, rather than sitting around having a pity party. Or, as is often the case with me, I find myself being thankful with a cynical twist.
Today is an excuse for a new start...
So I'm going to start with the obvious:
I'm thankful for my
-faith (in God, in others).
-freedom (that comes out of that faith and can't be taken away).
-family.
-friends (this means you).
-education.
-opportunities (to do what I like and use what I have to help others).
-health.
-peace.
-reason for living.
-snow.
-mountains (not just for the snow that's on them, but for the cliffs and rock, too).
-airplanes (for enabling me to see the world, change my perspectives, and visit my wonderful boyfriend so far away).
-Stuart (for connecting me to the world. sometimes).
-pineapple juice (it keeps me alive).
... Yaay I can be thankful all day!
Have a wonderful thanksgiving, my lovelies.

Now, I'm Not One for Bashing the French...

But this I couldn't pass up:

"WEEKEND UPDATE" CO-ANCHOR TINA FEY -- "Le Roof! Le Roof! Le Roof is on fire! We don't need no Perrier, let the little cars burn. The Prime Minister of France told Parliament on Tuesday that because of 14 days of rioting by disaffected Arab and African youth, "The French Republic faces a moment of truth when we must ask ourselves how to only keep the ones that are good at soccer."

 

This is how I experience life [with Sister Maria]: On the phone with Josh, trying to take a picture of something.

I Swear I Watch the Road

5 Points to any Portlander who can identify this intersection:

Ahhhh!!!

I get to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire todaaaayyyy!!!! Eeeee!!!

Battle Scars

So, nannying poses more of a danger to my health than I thought.
Last night I was playing footy in the street with Evan, 10, and Graham, 6. Graham and I were kicking the ball around and we ran into each other. I, of course, was concerned with him and making sure he didn't fall, and in the process totally just splatted myself on the asphalt, splitting my jeans and scraping up my knee. So funny. So painful, actually. It made me feel old because as I was driving home 5 hours later my knees were still aching.
I remember the days when I scraped myself up like that on a weekly basis and I was fine.
Or the months of snowboarding when I was sore everytime I went from all the crashing and biffing. Oh wait - maybe that's why it is that now I am sore for so long.

The Daveo Photo Smile

I was talking with this boy on Skype this afternoon, when I should have been working on my essay, and he brought me not only joy, but amusement and laughter as well. My dear brother Daveo has this "photosmile" he does. If you check out his blog, you too can get the directions and perhaps perfect your own photo smile!
Here is my attempt. One might describe it as, "She fails miserably." What can I say - I had fun.

:Glares at Stuart:

Is it bad for an English major to hate writing?
I cannot do it anymore. No more words. No more sentences. No more thesaurus.com.
I have spent at least 30 hours since Thursday attempting to write three papers. Are they complete? Are they worth reading? No. One is in draft form, which is okay... doesn't have to be finished till Friday. One is in some hideous state of incompletion and is due Wednesday. The other is a re-write and I fear it is worse than the first.
It's 10:30pm and I'm excited I can take a break (since the writing portion of my brain is shut down). But what is there to do? I don't even remember anymore.
Oh yeah - there's Candide and Shadowed Lives to read for tomorrow and Tuesday, perspectively.
Sigh.

Too Much Fun

I thought these pictures were perfect to combine: eyes wide over the advertisments of Picadilly Circus. I remember the feeling of coming up out of the Tube to be instantly swallowed into the swirling maddness of noise, lights, images, autos, people.

 

Cards Without Homes

Yet another example of what happens to Allison's imagination when her brain becomes too full of Soviet Cinema artwork and stories of cannibals:
 

Picasa: Isn't It Cool?

This is what happens when Allison has too much homework..
 

Wednesday Day-mare

I sit in the back of the number 8 bus, face to the window, eyes vacantly staring through the passing offices, department stores and starbuckses. The heater whirrs, the brakes screetch, fellow passengers fidget with their bags and coats. The red bricks of the 5th ave busmall pass in inoffensive consistency until they are harshly interrupted 3 vertical, chrome columns toped with boulders, designer unknown. And then she appears: hair frozen in an ever blowing wind, trident poised to strike. I shudder under the shadow of the 36 foot high hammered copper statue, second in size only to the Statue of Liberty, as I ponder the effects of her rage on my traffic and environment friendly bus. Will she smash us to a fine powder to be ground into the pavement, mixed with the pidgeon droppings and spilt coffee? Will she swipe us off the road into the modern highrise opposite that holds my stock broker's office? Or will she today let us pass on our way to PSU, OHSU and the Veteran's Hospital? Today she spares us. We take a right, heading toward Broadway. I no longer can see her, peering over the third floor platform of the Portland Building, down through the nearly naked trees, at the flood of Portlanders in transit, but there she will sit, uncontested, till tomorrow's journey brings me again beneath her reign.

Me and My Sis

I just downloaded Picasa.
As it was searching Stuart for picture files, I was taking a lovely stroll down memory lane (if I may use the cliche).
Look what I found from this summer at Lincoln City:


Aww...

Whilst We Are Bringing Recommendations to Light

I would like to recommend the Pina Colada yogurt from Safeway. It's delicious. It makes me happy. And it's not even Americocentric* - England has Safeway, too. Oh wait... they have different yogurt, though. Mullers. Mmmm. And better for them, for they don't know what they're missing, worse for me, because I do.

Also, I would like to recommend ...not: taking things out of the oven with your bare fingers or hands.



*Hey look guys - I think I made up a word!

Results of Getting Lost [on the internet]

His [Flaubert] maxim was:
"Be regular and orderly in your life like a bourgeois, so that you may be violent and original in your work."


"If I go on long enough calling that my life I'll end up by believing it. It's the principle of advertising."
Molloy (by Beckett)

[Much Ado About Nothing]
Beatrice: I wonder that you will still be talking, Signior Benedick: nobody marks you.
Benedick: What, my dear Lady Disdain! are you yet living?
Beatrice: Is it possible disdain should die while she hath such meet food to feed it as Signior Benedick? Courtesy itself must convert to disdain, if you come in her presence.
Benedick: Then is courtesy a turncoat. But it is certain I am loved of all ladies, only you excepted: and I would I could find in my heart that I had not a hard heart; for, truly, I love none.
Beatrice: A dear happiness to women: they would else have been troubled with a pernicious suitor. I thank God and my cold blood, I am of your humour for that: I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.
Benedick: God keep your ladyship still in that mind! so some gentleman or other shall 'scape a predestinate scratched face.
Beatrice: Scratching could not make it worse, an 'twere such a face as yours were.
Benedick: Well, you are a rare parrot-teacher.
Beatrice: A bird of my tongue is better than a beast of yours.
Benedick: I would my horse had the speed of your tongue, and so good a continuer. But keep your way, i' God's name; I have done.

[From the Umberto Eco website]
Hello, and welcome to Porta Ludovica! And a special congratulations to any visitors from Milan who have managed to break free from “Milanese Space,” but I regret to inform you that this Porta Ludovica exists only in cyberspace, and will not help you in triangulating your way back to Piazza Napoli. Sorry!

I Need a Nap

Maybe it's this time of year that makes me a little crazy.

-I had a dream last night about SkiBowl.
Albeit a weird one - we never acutally got to snowboard (notice I called it a skibowl dream, not a snowboarding dream). We rode lifts and rope toes and hiked, but never picked a run. Strange, too, because it was all around the outback area that has never been open when I've been there, in all the years I've ridden there.
-I somehow thought that I could leave my house at 9:10 and catch the bus on 7th and Multnomah at 9:28.
9 o'clock, Maybe. Never 9:10. I did only miss it by about 3 minutes. Sigh. Now I have wet shoes.
-I thought I would be warm enough in a 3/4 sleeve shirt and coat, no sweater.
It works okay... I just have to keep my coat on at all times.
-I just sat here, unfazed, and watched a guy walk by with a pink, ruffled umbrella.
Then I saw the girl with him.

Or maybe it's just that I'm surrounded by crazy people.
Crazy jr hi-ers, crazy fun, that's what...
Here's some pics from the All-nighter: