DEMODEX

So yesterday I found out that I received a research grant to continue my project, which is great. I immediately felt that I should clue you in on my research.



Meet the Demodex folliculorum, a friendly little chelicerate that lives on your face and eats god knows what. I caught this little guy somewhere between my nose and my ear and slapped him onto a slide for his big close-up and your viewing pleasure.

On another note I watched Fired Up today with Yellow Fever, possibly the worst movie anyone has ever seen or made...

The Cope

Your post made me feel so nostalgic that I had to pull out the journal I kept during our time abroad and read a few select exerpts. I'll include what I wrote through tear-filled eyes as I rode the plane away from the best semester ever (dramatic, much?):

"I'll miss so much about these four months, as I don't think my life will ever be so exciting, independent, or responsibility-free again. What will I miss most? Tuesdays and Fridays with Erik and Jane. Marcella's and my head-to-toe sleepovers, Christiania, the Fakta downstairs, the ease of public transport, Wednesdays off, cigarettes out the window, and the generally ridiculous adventures we've had..."

A little over a month later, I write again:

"Being back at school is horribly depressing...I'm questioning friendships I previously held so much store by and wonder if I've always settled. I feel right now as if I'm a poorly executed composite of the people I like to surround myself with..."

It goes on and on into the oblivion that is self indulgence, but seriously, what a bummer it was to come back from the fall we had. Luckily, I'm happy now. haha. Being a senior really is all it's cracked up to be, and the cliches I'm conforming to lately are much more agreeable.

Stealing Denmark

Anders came and brought back all my memories of Copenhagen. I was going to wear my DIS shirt, but I thought that would be too much. Considering I didn't pay, he might have made me take the shirt off my back. I couldn't be angry at Anders though I wanted to because he refused to stow me away. He had that Danish accent + that Danish innocence that gets me every time.

I wish i could show you the Danish vocabulary cards I put up in my bathroom, but my camera mysteriously broke. There are three card in a row, one of tighty whiteys, frilly underwear only a 5 year old could pull off, and boxers posted above the toilet. Just by coincidence they match the rest of my decor. Once I find a permanent home, I'm putting them all over my house. The ones of food are going into the kitchen, naturally. The odds and ends will end up in a huge photo frame one day...

I also sized up a vending machine today. American vending machines are much more massive. Expected. No way I'll be able to tip it over to get some snacks.

Getting old

This isn't about us getting old (though with the way people are throwing around words like "career" and "networking" we may be) it's about getting really really old.

This weekend I went to my gramma's house for a visit, and she informed me that it was my great-grandmother's 92nd birthday. Being the patient granddaughter I am, I agreed to go to the little birthday lunch. This is where getting old comes in. This 92-year-old woman is a mere shell of the woman I knew to be my grandmother. She doesn't really know who we are, why we're there, or where she is. She can't believe it's her birthday, can't believe we're her family, and can't believe we knew that she loves almond joy candy bars. Having a conversation with her is what I imagine having a conversation with a goldfish would be like and the afternoon, though exciting for her, makes me feel that I should really cherish being 21.

Are we getting what we should out of youth? Or is it as they say it is, and "wasted on the young?"

Boredom

Fancy a T-Shirt?

Frequent Trips

So I've just been moved in to my final Bowdoin dorm. It's rather a tragedy and I don't think I'm coping well. The seniors were welcomed back with a presentation on GETTING A JOB (fuck) and other words such as "career" and "interview" that made me want to vomit. To deal, I've been making lots of trips to Target and Christiania. Erik even stopped by the other day with his surprisingly hot girlfriend, Olivia. We spoke of you, science, and other important things. Olivia told me that once, a boy jumped off a dock and went through a dead manatee. Needless to say, my mind was blown and Olivia is no longer welcome in my room. The story of Sam shitting on the floor may or may not have been mentioned.

For now I'm searching for some hip shit to stick on my walls, as I am officially too mature for posters. Speaking of HIP (smooth segue, I know) Williamsburg was just fucking shocking on my last trip there. There was a free grizzly bear concert in a park and the hipsters were out in a finer form than any outsider such as myself could have ever imagined. I didn't think this possible, but they actually got HIPPER. strange.

So I'm off to walmart and to listen to some Joni Mitchell because I'm so sophisticated. I hate everything.

I will soon include some of the new art I have produced. Prepare yourself. Keep reading the scrabbler (i finally fixed the link I posted months ago) and send me the next comic strip ASAP so I can put it on my wall.

Its Dove Season

I went to Brandon's house to go hunting in his field. He technically doesn't live in a town, but for the purposes of mail carriage its in China Grove. First of all, I'd like to ask who came up with that name. Not only does the town NOT have any Chinese people, there are lots of fields and some trees, but by no means would I consider it a grove.

Brandon said the sky was unusually sparse that day. Normally, there would be flocks of doves. The limit for doves allowed to be killed by each person was 15. Between 10 people, we shot a total of 8 birds (two got lost in some bean fields). Six birds were to be defeathered and eaten that evening. Who knew you could eat doves? I sure didn't. Anyways, I shot two shots. One for practice, one to miss a dove. By the end of the day, all I had caught was some sun.

Afterwards, I headed down to Gary's BBQ with Gary - not THE Gary of Gary's BBQ, but this guy from school. Gary's BBQ was decked out with old posters/panels advertising Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Cigarettes. These had to be from the time when the recipe for Coke had actual yayo in them, yet they were strangely bright. All that non-exposure to the sun had done them good. Inside the restaurant were also three classic cars. Through a glass window they were on display. Pretty bizarre if you ask me. Next up was the Porky ride, a half pig-half bull riding machine that only cost a quarter. I would have taken a ride, if only it weren't in the middle of the restuarant and fit for the behind of a 5-year-old. Oh, and ask me where Santa Clause was dining that evening. At Gary's.

Sure glad I missed the opening football game for this experience. Definitely one for the books. If we had remembered to bring that thing we do in Christiania, it would have been better than straight dope.

Abandoned Cities

http://weburbanist.com/2009/08/13/8_cities_abandonment_deserted_modern/





One of these cities is bound to be the next up and coming city after some renovation and gentrification. Also, we should go to Venice before it disappears.



You must read this when you get the chance.