Happy Halloween!

This is my 365th post! WHOO! SO, Devil's Night was KINDA insane. FOR SOME REASON, Matt Benyo and I decided to have a scare-a-thon and scared each other all day. Actually, he scared me the whole time and I kept saying I was going to get him REALLY good at midnight, but he beat me to the punch by dressing up like Michael Meyers (full costume; looked IDENTICAL to him) and waited for me on the balcony. Well, I saw him through the glass and jumped like a track star over the couch and ran out the door. I finally came back in and went into the bathroom, which he broke into with impressive force I might add, and stood there like a creep and made my heart race faster than it ever has. Needless to say, I couldn't compete with him so he won. I didn't even end up doing anything which mildly bums me out, but WHATEVER. I have no idea what's going on today. Brother Chan and I may go trick or treating, but that's TBD. Here's a montage. Happy Halloween, everybody!

Devil's Night.

I'm watching 28 Days Later. I adore this movie and Cillian Murphy. I've been watching a variety of Horror films to get me ready for Halloween which is 10 1/2 hours away. I also carved my FIRST PUMPKIN EVER the other day and made Halloween cookies. The pumpkin carving turned out horribly. I was going to do Harry Potter and then I underestimated how difficult it was to carve a pumpkin so instead I just stabbed it a bunch of times and may or may not have attempted to write Taris. I have mild OCD and I HATE getting my hands dirty so reaching inside of the pumpkin to de-gut it, was terrible. I was also forced into eating my first pumpkin seed and I didn't like it, but at least I tried it. Halloween fest continues while I'm being held HOSTAGE. Who knows what dastardly deeds will ensue this eve.

The Banshee.

If you've never looked at Matt Benyo's blog, now is a good time to do so. He took a picture of me from New York City and made me into a ZOMBIE. LOVE IT!

I was idly drawing when I drew this. I was trying to figure out what she was. At first I thought Skatha, but then I came up with the banshee. A banshee: "In Irish Mythology is a female spirit, usually believed to be an omen of death or a messenger from another world." I wanted this banshee to be mean and evil. Then I did some research and found out that the red poppy would make a great hair accessory because it's associated with death during WWI and WWII. I found out that the swirls in the hair meant death in some culture that I clearly didn't write down. I was going to add things like dripping blood and a clock, but I didn't want it to get cliche. I like the sketch. I enjoy the way it turned out, but I didn't really know what to do for the finish so I just messed around with the coloring and used two different backgrounds. I figured I needed to do SOMETHING Halloween related. Tis the season, right?

Heath Ledger.

There's something about that Australian man that makes my heaRt stop. He was so phenomenal. Why didn't I go to Chicago to try to meet him when he waS there filming The Dark Knight? I don't know, but how about those saucy Aussies?I'm sad because I always look forward to the holidays and then they come and I feel like I didn't have time to prepare for them. Halloween is in 3 seconds and I'm NOT READY. Maybe I can get that Halloween feeling back this weekend. I'm hoping I can seize Christmas by the hand and appreciate it. I'm excited for Christmas music. It's one of my favorite things; as is doing Christmas time things with friends! :)

Sue Sylvester.

I am not a Glee fan. Well, not really. I've watched it 1 1/2 times with Matt Benyo. However, Glee's versions of "Don't Stop Believing" and "Toxic" are top notch and I enjoy singing those with him. The one thing about Glee that I do enjoy is Sue Sylvester played by Jane Lynch. She is mean and it's hilarious. When I watched the only whole episode I've ever watched, Coach Beast wanted to sit at Sue's table in the teacher's lounge, but Sue said the seats were taken by her GHOST FRIENDS. I haven't let it go and I use that joke whenever possible. So, I decided in honor of MB, Sue, and Glee, I made this cut out. I overworked it a bit, but I'm pleased with it.

Things I Enjoy.

Today I thought about things that I enjoy.

I enjoy Micaela Ruiz's words and thoughts. She has a way with words: "I enjoy people because I have always seen possibility in every one of them. I see their greatness and their faults, people amaze me with their memories and dreams." I must also add that I truly enjoy making connections with people; whether those connections be spoken or unspoken. However, there is nothing greater than laughing with someone. I also love seeing and understanding what makes people who they are. A friend of mine said always acknowledge people. There's nothing worse than acting as if someone isn't there.

I enjoy Tim Gunn. He's such an inspiring human being. I sat at Meijer reading his book, Gunn's Golden Rules: Life's Little Lessons for Making It Work, and it was lovely. Here's a snippet that I enjoyed: "I often say in keynote addresses to college students that I figured out what I wasn't before I figured out what I was. The struggle to find out who you are is so hard. You have to keep eliminating things that you aren't and then see what's left over. Most important, you should never pretend. There's nothing harder than living life as someone you're not, even if being what you are is very hard, which is what being gay was for me for a very long time."

I enjoy singing so much. I get a real joy out of trying to sing like I can. The people that have LEGITIMATELY heard me sing: Brother Chan, Shelby, Alex, and Matt Benyo (and Nathan, but I thought for some reason he was sleeping each time). I never sing for real because my family has told me I can't. I sing when I'm home alone a lot.

I enjoy the senses; specifically smell. I recently read The Culture Code by this great french cultural anthropologist, Clotaire Rapaille, and he speaks about imprints. He says that 'there's a connection between learning and emotion and that without the latter the former is impossible. The stronger the emotion, the more clearly an experience is learned. The combination of the experience and its accompanying emotion creates something known widely as an imprint. Once an imprint occurs, it strongly conditions our thought processes and shapes our future actions. Each imprint helps make us more of who we are. The combination of imprints defines us and that every imprint influences us on an unconscious level.' I love the imprints we make with scents. For instance, I can't smell the Abercrombie men's cologne, Fierce, without instantly seizing up and remembering Taris hugging me and I can't smell pumpkin spice without thinking of our house. Sometimes, I will forget I was around a scent and I will faintly smell it on my clothing and I will instantly think back to a moment or person and a wave of emotion will sweep over me. This happened to me the other day when I put on my blue hoodie and smelled Hollister's room spray on me. Our senses are so powerful and they're something we don't think about. Any smell that we smell instantly becomes associated with something else and an imprint is made. I think that's amazing. I love that my first contact with something or the more powerful the contact is, will leave a memory in my mind of that particular thing. It'll momentarily paralyze me and make me nostalgic. I enjoy taking a moment to remember things like that because they are important to me.

I enjoy spending hours with a friend and losing track of time and not even caring that it's 4 am and you've been together for 10-12 hours. There aren't enough times like this in our lives. Make time for the people that matter to you. They're worth it.

I enjoy dreaming and the power of the imagination.

What do YOU enjoy?

Froggy.

I've decided I'm not going to update on weekends anymore. Well, for now at least. I'm taking a break. I need to get things together. However, I will post for today because I feel like this post isn't good enough to take up one of my weekdays. I'm going to do a series of portraits on these raffle tickets Brother Chan brought home after a laser tag lock in. Here's the trial head of Froggy. Froggy was this guy from Real Steel that talked like a frog and claimed he was a director. Tiny drawings on tiny tickets.

NYC: Part 3 of 3.

Read Matt & Nate's blogs to get all of the details I missed! MATT POSTED A VIDEO OF SWATCH! Their blogs are so funny. This picture is from the first night, but for some reason I didn't post it. It's a nice picture with Nate!So, the night before, Matt and I were up til 4:30 and Nate tried to wake me up at 10:00 am and I was a MONSTER. I was screaming and probably hissing and spitting fire and I told both of them I wasn't going to go out. It was probably Matt's calm demeanor that got me to finally get up. We got ready and headed out and went to this little cafe for brunch. Matt and Nate got sandwiches (barf) and I got a fruit salad, french fries, and pop. PICKY EATER FOR LIFE. Breakfast of champions.This cafe had halloween decorations cleverly placed so that when you walked in the bathroom and shut the door, you went to the bathroom on yourself from the shock of seeing such things in the bathroom. After brunch, we headed to some stores. By this time, I was feeling the real PAIN of having a BUM FOOT from playing soccer. I don't know what the hell I did, but I felt like I had a zombie foot and each step I took was the pain equivalent of having a sledgehammer dropped on my foot. MIZ! Sidenote; Matt was wearing everything that I love so I was in love with him this day.Then we headed towards Times Square because that's where Mood was and our goal was to see Swatch the dog! However, Christopher Columbus aka Nathan the all-star navigator made us walk for at least 20 minutes in the WRONG DIRECTION and then I had a meltdown and started crying because my foot hurt so badly and I didn't want to move; I wanted to die. I was all about taking a cab, but these babies wouldn't let me. So I hobbled on. Finally, we got to Mood and I FOUND SWATCH! Matt and I were giggling and petting him and we went to lay down on the ground, right by the register, where there was a huge line, so we could get a picture next to Swatch, but he got up and ran away so I put my face in the carpet and laughed on the ground like a fool. We got up, found him again, laid down and I tried to take a polaroid, but the whirring from the camera made him run away. One more try and it was a MAJOR SUCCESS. WE WERE SO HAPPY!I finished up my Vitamin Water and we were about to leave when Matt saw a sign that said Swatch loves water bottles and he told me I should give him mine. I threw it down and Swatch loved it! His little ears shot up and he started running around the store with it. Isn't he the cutest little dog?!After Mood, we went to China Town and had the scariest encounter ever. Well, at least in my life. People sit there and say, "OH! DETROIT IS SO SCARY! DETROIT IS BAD NEWS!" Wrong, people. You are SO wrong. NATHAN was looking for a wallet and this place was shady central. Thank GOD it wasn't dark out. There were a bunch of scary characters asking us if we wanted various things. I don't think I've ever been happier to have Matt Benyo by me. This one guy was like, "You wan' some WEED?" "NO WEED! NO THANKS! BYE!" My little feet were scampering. Finally, we get by this Popeye's Chicken and this guy tells us to go WAIT INSIDE while he goes to find wallets. We get inside and it's like the black mafia just posted up shop. All sorts of deals going down. I looked wide-eyed and terrified. I wanted to reach across the table and punch Nathan in the nose, but we kept it cool and after awhile, they both got wallets and we left. Another guy tried to sell us weed and I basically ran around the corner because I noticed he was following us. I told Matt and Nate I didn't want to go back that way and that I'd rather go around the block, but Matt suggested we just go across the street. Okay. That seems better. So we cross the street and we're walking and I had my head down as Matt guided us along the street. I looked up for a split second and made eye contact with a husky man on a stoop. He had 4 teeth. FOUR. And he went NUTS. He started screaming, but he couldn't talk so it was basically barking and guttural sounds. I DIDN'T REALIZE FEMALES AREN'T ALLOWED TO MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH A HOLES. He didn't leave the stoop. I hope it's because there were lasers around it. This caused me to basically run to the subway. My foot was KILLING ME, but I'd rather be in pain than dead in China Town. In the midst of this, Nathan was like, "Take a picture of me!" Clearly HE blacked out while all of this was happening.We then went to Central Park and a bunch of other places that I'm blacking out on and we decided to jump on the subway only we realized we were on the wrong side so we had to go up all the stairs and down the OTHER side, but our passes wouldn't work for 18 minutes because they were just used and this was when we had a big fight. Nathan and I were yelling at each other and people were staring and I was like, "THIS IS NEW YORK, NATHAN!" He walked away. I walked away. I didn't care; I was in NYC. Then I started singing impromptu songs about being stuck and also telling people not to come out of the Subway and other fun things. Matt and I were just laughing as always because I think in order to be in the subway laughter is necessary though it does let people know you're not from there because New Yorkers don't laugh or smile they are just mean. After 18 minutes, we got on the subway and walked around. We found this really incredible place called Prime Burger. It was this throwback 70's decor style restaurant, kind of a hole in the wall, and totally affordable. I got a hamburger for $6! AND it was black as a hockey puck! The waiters were sassy and the best part of all, YOUR SEAT WAS LIKE A BIG HIGH CHAIR! So cool!After this, we decided to head out, but before we started towards home, we were going to make a detour to the town of SLEEPY HOLLOW. You know, where the whole Headless Horseman thing went down? We arrived at 9 pm and the town was small, quaint, and mildly spooky. We parked the car and walked around. We found this path in the park that we walked down and at one point, I swear there was a girl standing a ways off. Matt and I were just standing there TERRIFIED and trying to yell at 'her', but she didn't move. Nate was just walking around like it was NOTHING. After a bit, we came to the cemetery and we hopped on this stone wall and just ran into the cemetery like maniacs. We were dodging graves and going towards the center. It was pretty spooky and my adrenaline was off the charts. Then we started hearing noises so we trekked back. While on our way back, we stopped at a gas station and got SLUSH PUPPIES and of course I got blue raz because that's my flavor. We noticed the town was FULL OF PUMPKINS which I'm guessing is sort of like a sacrificial thing; if you don't put a pumpkin outside, you're gonna get your head chopped off. Well, unfortunately for the auto shop, we took their pumpkin which I put into my satchel which resulted in my satchel dragging the ground, basically. Matt helped me carry it back to the car. We then drove/kind of walked to the sign so we could get a picture with it, but not before Matt stole a pumpkin which we took back with us because we are two rebels and don't believe in curses (like Nathan).It was 10:00 pm and we decided to head back. Nate went into the back of the van to sleep and Matt and I set out on the open road. It wasn't long before we stopped and I decided to buy a 5 Hour Energy drink. I got into the car and I said, "Matt, we're gonna both drink half of this. It's the worst thing you're ever gonna drink, but we're doing it." Good thing he didn't decline. It's disgusting. We did our 5 Hour Energy shots and I chased mine with Strawberry milk. It was comparable to doing some sort of drug I think because we were WILD and WIRED. We also basically sang songs THE ENTIRE WAY HOME. I lost my voice from singing so much and so loud. We sang Glee's version of "Don't Stop Believing" at least 30 times and we sang it GOOD. We also sang some High School Musical and at first, Matt pretended like he didn't know it, but he did and that made me the happiest person in the world because I'm all about duets and he's a real good singer. We also sang Rocky Horror and Repo and came up with this great idea to pitch to the Jackman's called The Rocky Horror Repo Show and it's going to be the best thing to ever be put into motion. We stopped awhile later and I got ANOTHER 5 hour energy and we did shots of that too and then we were refueled and good to go. It was SO FOGGY that at times I was terrified, but Matt drove like a champion. He drove the entire way home! I was so impressed! I was the co-pilot the entire time too. We talked, we sang, my legs kept getting cold, but it was one of the best parts of the trip. I'm really glad I know Matt. Nate is great too despite the fact that sometimes we fight. He woke up at one point and we watched some funny youtube videos and sang some songs together. Sing alongs are the best. We arrived at my house around 9:45 am. A successful 24 hours of being awake! We told Janine some of our stories and then my two dear friends left my house. New York had come to an end. This was my 5th time being there and it was an amazing time. I still can't stop thinking about it! So many memories and laughs and inside jokes. I'm excited for my next adventure with these two!

NYC: Part 2 of 3.

Matt Benyo is blowing me away with his recollection of the trip. Nice job, MB.

Nathan tried to wake me up at 8:45 am. He was real sweet about it, "Chelsea? It's 8:45..." and all I said, while still covered and mean as hell, was: "AND..? I said 9:15!" We got up and got ready and off we went to visit our friends, The Jackman's. We arrived at 11:30. I was so excited to see everyone! Nadine was there and Nadine is great! We got a tour of the house. Here's the VERTICAL COUCH:We went to the play room to draw. I was SO THIRSTY. Deb said drinks would be provided and I drank an entire vitamin water (only providing Matt with a little) and some Mango Juice. After that, we drew. I could smell SOMETHING being cooked and Deb came down and said, "Come upstairs in 4 minutes." Clearly, we would be fed. This mostly meant bad news for me because I am the pickiest eater IN THE WORLD. I had this look of horror on my face and started kicking Matt's feet under the table, but I didn't wait 4 minutes. I instantly went up to scour the kitchen and find out what we'd be eating. Turns out, I'd survive. Nadine made a great spread. We had chicken, arugula salad, some weird potatoes, and bread. I took a piece of chicken, a little serving of potatoes, a portion of arugula, and a piece of bread. I started with the potatoes, but they weren't bad so I ate those. The chicken was good and I ate that, but then I got to the arugula. I thought for some reason that arugula would taste like lettuce. When I put it in my mouth, my mouth instantly registered that it was a foreign food that had never touched my taste buds prior. My instant reflex was to gag and puke and it honestly took everything in my body to not make a gagging sound, but my face was HORRIBLE. I'm almost positive Matt saw my face as this was happening and I don't know how he didn't bust out laughing. I quickly gulped down my vitamin water to get the taste and vegetable out of my mouth. Then I got down on the bread like it was no one's business (and had like 5 slices). The lunch was great. We sat around, shared stories, and laughs and it was a great time. Near the end of lunch, Hugh came home and made himself lunch. Matt and Nate tricked me into thinking the Jackman's had a talking microwave and Nadine went along with it. That video is on Matt's blog. I stood there yelling at the microwave for about 2 minutes before I realized what they were doing. After a bit, Hugh suggested we go to the park across the street to play Cricket and Football (soccer). This seemed like a great idea despite not having the proper shoes or attire. It was a beautiful 70 degree day so a handful of us went to the park.

At the park, I was shocked to find several paparazzi photographing us. Cricket was played first and we sat out for that one as Hugh and Oscar played along with Oscar's best friend, Trystan, and his best friend's dad, Paul. Here is a picture of Matt and I sitting behind Oscar as he played cricket (as taken by paparazzi):After cricket, Hugh asked us if we were going to play football and of course we were! So Trystan was a team captain and Hugh was. Trystan picked first and of course he picked Oscar. Then Hugh got to pick and he picked ME FIRST. GOOD CHOICE, HUGH! Trystan picked Matt (but I think he was picked last) and after me, Hugh picked Nate. We had an all star line up. I decided to be goalie because I had on my pointy witch shoes and I didn't want Hugh to kick me in the shins or something while engaging on the field. Here's a picture of Matt, Trystan, and Hugh playing while I'm in the back defending the goal with obviously a monster calf:It was all fun and games until disaster struck. The ball was headed right for me and I did an omega kick and the ball impaled Oscar's arm. Tears instantly started falling and so did my jaw. Oscar sat down on a picnic table, real sad, and Hugh was sitting next to him. I looked at Hugh and mouthed that I was sorry and he said it was okay, but it actually wasn't okay. Oscar was claiming his arm was broken and at that point I realized the games were over and I felt horrible. We stood around, mostly awkwardly, for a good 15 minutes and finally everyone got their stuff together and we started walking back to the apartment. Here's our walk back. Matt is on the left.We got back and Hugh gave us hugs and kisses goodbye and I apologized to Oscar. Matt found a few sites where the paparazzi referred to us as "life long friends". After that, we headed off to Highline Park up on a railroad track.I acted like a creep and stood behind Matt for all of those pictures except for this one where we're laughing together because that's what we always do:We headed to the Apple Store and ran into Nadine! We hung out with her for a bit and she took us to this rad place called Chelsea Market which reminded me of Quincy Market in Boston. There were shops and restaurants inside. It was so neat.While leaving there, we crossed the street. Nate and Nadine were paying attention. I was not. Matt was right next to me, but as we were walking in the street, he got in front of me. I didn't look and this car was coming and WAS NOT SLOWING DOWN. Matt told me to watch it and grabbed my arm and yanked me across the street. I was really thrown off by the fact that I almost died; no exaggeration. As I was coming down from that adrenaline rush, we crossed the street again, but THIS TIME, Matt and I ended up behind a BUS that was IN REVERSE and almost ran us over. TWO BRUSHES WITH DEATH! I'm the unluckiest person ever. Good thing I had Matt!

That night, we went to Brooklyn and walked back across the Brooklyn Bridge. I hadn't done that before. I also haven't seen the Statue of Liberty before, but I saw that from the Jackman's balcony. Exciting. After the bridge, we headed to John's Pizza on Bleecker Street. This place has THE BEST PIZZA IN THE WORLD. I swear by it. I'll die by it. I'll probably eat it right before I die. I got down on this pizza like a ravenous lion. NO SHAME. Matt and Nate really enjoyed it too so that made me happy. While in there nommin, I heard SOMEONE say "JONAS BROTHERS" so I freaked out and thought they were there, but they weren't. Afterwards, we ended up in Times Square because that's the best place to go in the middle of the night. We got drinks from McDonald's and hung out on the steps. Here's a nice photo:After awhile, Nate was OBVIOUSLY tired and wanted to go to bed, but Matt and I kept stalling. After about an hour, we headed to the Subway and that was one of the most memorable moments of the trip. Matt and Nate were sitting down and we were waiting for the train. I was at the tip of the platform rat watching and Matt Benyo got up to join me. I told him, "Last one to see a rat has to jump down on the track and touch it." At that moment, I was going to pretend to see a rat, but then I ACTUALLY SAW ONE and Matt Benyo saw it at EXACTLY the same time! So we hit each other and screamed and we started laughing SO HARD. It was like, 1:45 or 2:00 am, and we were just DYING on the platform and we turn around and some guy took Matt's seat and sat right next to Nate (when there were two open seats not next to Nate) and that just made us laugh harder. Through our laughter, we told Nate he had to jump down and touch it, but he just stared at us, emotionless, and acted like he didn't know us. I completely lost it at this point. Matt and I were falling all over each other trying to compose ourselves, but it was a fail. Then the other seats around Nate were taken up and Matt tried to take photos of the people in the seats so he pretended to take a picture of me, but didn't point the camera at me at all and the people got up because they were creeped out. This doesn't sound funny, but it was SO HYSTERICAL. Everyone probably thought we were wasted, but prior to this, we went to Jamba Juice (best place ever) and got free energy boosts. We clearly didn't need it. Here's a picture of us on camera (I look like Janine; gross):The train showed up and we got on and the laughter spell continued. I think everyone on the subway was high because their eyes were bloodshot and this one guy had skittles and he dropped one and it was like he dropped his heart on the ground. SO SAD. Another guy was falling asleep standing up and that made me laugh. People kept looking at us. Most of them hated us. I think two people smiled at us.

When we got back, Matt and I were beyond exhausted, but we stayed up until 4:30 am watching X Factor together. This was a horrible idea considering we were waking up at like 10 the next day to prepare for our last day/night in NYC as well as drive back, but we didn't care! After some of X Factor, we fell asleep. The next morning I was way meaner than the previous. TO BE CONTINUED.

NYC: Part 1 of 3.

Matt, Nate, and I went to NYC Friday. We stopped at Niagara falls on the way, but to my dismay, the falls were not lit at 4:30 am. We went to a casino and I lost $5 within 5 seconds so I threw in the towel on leaving a winner. While at the falls, a nice asian man jogged by and he took this timely photo. I missed the memo on black zip ups.We headed back to the car, but everyone got into a fight. No one would let me drive and while Nathan was being a jerk, we realized we couldn't find TOM (the GPS) so I asked, "Where's TOM?" It was a dead serious question. Matt laughed. Nate did not. We found Tom and rolled outta the casino. The stars were BEAUTIFUL. I didn't sleep at all because the co-pilot isn't allowed, but Nate said I didn't drive so I basically didn't do any work. Wrong. Being the co-pilot is a task. Co-pilots stay awake and they don't leave the Captain hanging. I am the best co-pilot. We got to NYC around 12:30 pm and went to the subway. The subway is my favorite. It's so much fun to me. Maybe I loved it this time especially because: instead of holding onto the metal poles, I held onto Matt Benyo or I was always laughing or because it's like a carnival ride. Hmm...Times Square is the best. Yeah, it's touristy, but I love the lights, energy, and tables. At one point, there was a group of people posing and I kept telling Matt that I should go re-pose as them, but have a really horrible, exaggerated face. This one girl kept making POUTY LIPS so I was copying her. Matt and I probably laughed 5 million times during this excursion. Here's an adorable picture of us in Times Square.We kept looking at the subway tracks for rats because that's fun. I'll elaborate on RAT WATCHING later. We ended up doing a bunch of stuff once we got there. We went to Mood Fabrics (off of Project Runway) to see the store's mascot, Swatch the dog, but SWATCH WASN'T THERE. I was so miz. We went to Subway because everyone was hungry and I hate Subway, but I said I'd get a pizza. "Oh, sorry, we're out of pizzas." Of course you are, Subway, because it'd be way too convenient for you to actually have what you advertise. I went to Cosi and had a piece of bread and a root beer. Afterwards, we went to FAO Schwarz (the toy store).We also went to Toys R Us and shenanigans ensued. We went up into the Barbie look out area and looked for OMBRES. Ombres are girls that let their roots grow in instead of maintaining their color. Matt says it's "in". I say it's not. We found like 1. We pointed out celebrity look-a-likes. I also probably said, "Why so serious?" 43 times during this trip. Afterwards, we went back to Times Square.I wanted Jamba Juice. We found it, but it was closed. OF COURSE IT WAS. It closed at 7:30 pm. WHAT? I thought New York was the city that never sleeps? We were walking around and I made eye contact with some guy and he said hi so I said hi back and then he asked me if he could talk to me and I said NOPE and walked away really fast. That sounds rude, but he was being a creep. I had another eye contact situation that got me into a predicament, but I'll save that for the 3rd post. I also saw a guy do cocaine, but at first I thought he was playing the harmonica. [I'm forgetting things, but you can check Matt and Nate's blogs for the rest. I'm waiting for Matt to post his pictures because he was the photographer of the trip. [POST THEM, MATT BENYO.] Then sleep came and the next morning I was a real a hole.

To be continued.

New York: HERE I COME!

When this posts, I will be in Canada; headed to New York City. I will update when I return about my adventures! I AM SO EXCITED. Listen to this song and imagine NYC with me. I put purple and pink in my hair, but this doesn't really look like me.

Feeling Sketchy.

My Lady Gaga Binge.

I am on an omega Lady Gaga binge. I sang Paparazzi today for 4+ hours. Versions included: the original, instrumental, Greyson Chance, and 2009 VMA performance. I've got this song DOWN. I keep staring at my pictures from the concert. Well, pictures that may or may not include Taris and/or Matt Benyo (I'm kidding about staring at you MB, but you know I keep looking at the one of Taris. I mean, it's TARIS). I'm brainwashed. This montage has all things GAGA. Some faces look like her. Some don't. Some are blind contours. I just had a lot of fun with this. Before I drew this, I wasn't having fun doing art. Gaga helped me get my moxie back.

Carpe Diem.

Zack asked me, "Have you seen the movie One Week?" I hadn't, but now that I have, it is my favorite movie. Joshua Jackson plays Ben Tyler who finds out he has stage 4 cancer. Upon finding this info out, he decides he won't waste another second of his life and buys a motorcycle and goes on an adventure west. This movie pulled at my heartstrings. It revolves around the question: what would you do? What would you do if you had one day to live? One week? One month? The soundtrack moves along with Ben as he cruises on his motorcycle on the road, searching for meaning, and making moments happen. Fate has a huge part in this movie that I especially enjoy because I'm a firm believer in it. When Ben was little, his father told him about the Grumps which are these rare creatures in the world that are hard to find. That part got me because he wonders why he abandoned imagination for reasoning and you see this glimmer of light and hope in him that he's trying to hold onto as he treks across Canada. I want to do what Ben Tyler did, except I'd buy a Vespa (with a little flag on the back) and I would wear my blue hoodie [that doesn't zip], my white shoes, and I would ride off into the sunset. Maybe that's why adventures mean so much to me; because I'm also searching for something; some sort of meaning. Something is out there and with a new vigor for life's adventures, I intend to find it. Seize the day.

Learning To Love You More.

My friend introduced me to, Learning To Love You More. LTLYM promotes creativity through art, writing, and music. It has a variety of assignments listed on the left hand side. I did #16: Make A Paper Replica of your Bed. Others that I'd like to do:
-Photograph 27 significant or important people in your life.
-Draw a scene from a movie that made you cry.
-Say Goodbye.
-Make a LOST poster.
-Ask your family to describe what you do.
The in depth descriptions are on the website under the assignments section. It was difficult constructing my bed. I used construction paper and I stuffed a piece of cotton ball in between two white sheets of paper to make my little pillow. It took me about an hour. The first photo is my REAL BED. The other photos are of the mini model. Enlarge to enjoy my bed its miniature glory.

Fun Things.

My dear friend from England, Stephen Donald, showed me this. It's a cut paper Star Wars extravaganza. I LOVE the song! Watch it and enjoy the art and music.Since it's officially 20 days until Halloween, a Halloween game is in order. My friend, Andy McCarthy, posted this season-inspired game. I sat there and played it for about 45 minutes before I had to cheat to figure out the final 15 or so. It's rad. Check it out by clicking HERE. Good luck because it's hard and I don't even know if it's possible to win without cheating (I feel like you'll enjoy this game, Matt Benyo).

H4LL0W33N.

21 days until Halloween. I changed my LAYOUT. Tis the season.

Fun Facts.

I'm taking a break from the visual for the evening and posting some facts.

1. I have a hard time with foreign showers aka any shower other than the one in my house. The knobs are so confusing. I stood in my friend's shower for ten minutes trying to figure out how to get it to work. In another friend's shower, their shower head was so powerful, I felt like I was showering under a machine gun. I just enjoy knowing what's going to happen when I shower.

2. I may or may not be adopted.

3. I hate the back of my hair and that is why it is forever tied back.

4. I like it when people give me bracelets. Not actual jewelry, I'm talking silly bands or friendship bracelets. If I receive a bracelet from a friend, I'll wear it until it falls apart.

5. Anyone looks tan next to me.

6. I have mild OCD.

7. I still get carded for Rated R movies at the movie theatre.

8. I hate using metal silverware. I don't want metal anything in or around my mouth.

9. THIS video most accurately describes my life.

10. I have a problem staying the night at people's houses, but I'm working on it.

11. I can't dance and my family makes fun of me for not having rhythm.

12. In 6th grade, I won the DARE essay contest. I read my paper in front of the school, I received a gold medal, and a shirt that went down to my shins. Drugs kill.

13. Acceptable pizza: cheese, pineapple, or pepperoni (preferably w/light sauce & well done). Unacceptable: everything else.

Spice Girls & U of M.

I, like many people, loved the Spice Girls growing up. I still enjoy them, but not like I did prior to their break up. I started a Spice Girls club; well two actually. The first one was for my siblings (we forced Brother Chan to be Ginger) and the second one was for my school friends. The school one was cool, but anyone that wanted to be Baby Spice was automatically kicked out because I was Baby Spice. One time we had a photo shoot at my cousin's. I don't remember how old I was here; I'm guessing between 11 and 13. I have temporary Spice Girls tattoos on my cheeks. Those shoes were the closest I could find to "platforms". This was also one of the first times I wore makeup because Janine wouldn't let me wear makeup until I was 16 (HAHA). I had straight across 90's bangs and notice my hair was long. EMBARRASSING.In unrelated Spice Girls news, the University of Michigan put on a frozen event just like Improv Everywhere's Frozen Grand Central event; except this one took place on The Diag. At exactly 1:03 pm to 1:08 pm, everyone froze in place. The faces of the people walking around that didn't know what was going on were priceless. One girl asked if it was real life (who is she? ME?) and another girl asked if it was a joke being pulled on her (is she dead?). I'll post videos once someone puts them up. I participated with Matt, Nate, & Proma. I think the reason I liked this so much was because of how spontaneous it was. Here were A TON of people gathered for the same cause; to break free of their routine to participate in this random event for the fun of it. That's what life is all about. Alex later picked me up and on the way home, I kept screaming things like, "STATE RULES!" and "MICHIGAN STATE!" out of the window while driving around the U of M campus. It's Michigan VS Michigan State game Saturday and both teams are undefeated. I think if Alex had stopped, my head would be served on a maize and blue platter because these Wolverines had their claws out and they were raring to go.

Richard & The Shark.

I had a flashback to sophomore year of college and I thought of this painting. I searched in the garage for AN HOUR trying to find it. This is, without a doubt, one of the best paintings I have ever done [not technically speaking because it's not very well painted and it's missing hands]. Figure 2 met on Wednesdays from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm and I hated every minute of it. I would take breaks every ten minutes, which involved lingering in the hall, or going to the cafeteria to purchase a drink that would take me an hour to finish. Thank GOD I had that class with Nikki DeSautelle. One day, we were painting Richard, and Erik added these fun props. When I first laid eyes on that shark, I knew it had to be a focal point. It was stuffed, its eyes did not look like that, and it did not have those teeth, but I saw OPPORTUNITY. Erik came up to me at one point and said, "You're gonna add eyelids, right?" OF COURSE, ERIK. Except once I painted Richard like this, I had no intention of adding them. After one of my extended breaks, I came back to find a few classmates and Erik crowded around my painting, laughing at it. Mission accomplished; great success.Another day in Figure 2, Nikki and I were talking about how excited we were for lunch because every wednesday, we would go to Domino's and buy three pizzas. It was HIGHLY unnecessary. We would never even finish one pizza each so I don't know why we did that, but whatever, we did. There was this guy in the class (let's call him JOHN) and he overheard us talking and basically invited himself to the pizza party. No, John, we don't want to have a pizza party with you. So we sat there all morning trying to think about how we could get out of this, but we had no options. We tried to draw a door on the wall with chalk like in Pan's Labyrinth; fail. Lunch arrived and I waited outside of the door and Nikki came out. Then we both just SNUCK AWAY LIKE NINJAS down the spiral staircase. I remember this so vividly because we were giggling the entire way down and not breathing so that when we reached the bottom, we almost passed out. John never caught us. Looking back, that was actually really mean, but back then I was a lot meaner than I am now. Kind of.

Miscellaneous Musings.

My friend, Kirby, posted THIS. Read and laugh!

I just watched Being John Malkovich. I think my mind is going to explode. I also think that this may be John Cusack's best role ever because he was a creep, intriguing and I was also mildly repulsed by him. It's a far cry from heart-throb Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything.

I'm currently reading The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. My friend, Micaela Ruiz, told me about it. There's one particular passage that I wanted to share:

"And then a scholar said, Speak of Talking. And he answered, saying: You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts; And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart you live in your lips, and sound is a diversion and a pastime. And in much of your talking, thinking is half murdered. For thought is a bird of space, that in a cage of words may indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly. There are those among you who seek the talkative through fear of being alone. The silence of aloneness reveals to their eyes their naked selves and they would escape. And there are those who talk, and without knowledge of forethought reveal a truth which they themselves do not understand. And there are those who have the truth within them, but they tell it not in words."

I am melancholy. I think it's because it's my favorite time of year, but it doesn't feel like it. I'm trying to psych myself into it though.

My itunes is on shuffle and my favorite Christmas song just came on. It's Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee. I can tell you that with absolute certainty (you too, Matt Benyo! I don't know how I didn't remember that when we were discussing Christmas songs). Now it's onto the Jonas Brothers.

I just completed one of my most ambitious works to date and I will be posting it [eventually]. I am so excited to share it with everyone!

I am a HUGE Project Runway fan. It's the only TV show I watch religiously (I'm not a TV nut like SOMEONE I know *MB/NB*). I must say, I love Mondo! The last episode made me want to hug him! He's a very unique designer and he's quirky and wonderful. This is a tribute to Mondo, but I must say I was impressed with Valerie's words before she left. That was also a tearjerker. I don't cry as much as this seems; just saying. Final 3: Gretchen, April, & Mondo! CALLING IT!

Project Pat Day!

I'm going to bet that most of you don't know who Pat is. I didn't know until fairly recently. Pat is an andryognous character from SNL, but Matt Benyo and I (we did coordinating Pat posts so check his out for the back story) didn't find out that Pat was from SNL until after we watched the movie, It's Pat. The movie got horrible reviews, but I don't see how that's possible unless you lack a sense of humor. I could not stop laughing. I was wheezing at one point (Matt Benyo; confirm or deny this). I can't find any other clips except for this one with a Ween cameo. When Pat says, "What's a WEEN?" I laugh for a good 20 seconds. Point being, Pat's great.

"This Is An Adventure."

Here's my Bill Murray as Steve Zissou over on The Hallway Show. This is the first cut out I've done in ages. Twas kind of a challenge. I'm sad because I returned The Life Aquatic and I want to watch it NOW. It has slowly made its way into my top favorites, but it's okay that I don't have it. I'm jamming Lady Gaga. I'm listening to BOYS, BOYS, BOYS. It's my second favorite song by her. Side note; I went to Apple Charlie's today and I found that the anticipation leading up to it was more exciting than actually being there. I wonder if that's how it is with everything. It may also depend on who you do things with. Anyway, click the image for bigger action.

Bill Murray.

I've been working diligently on drawing Bill Murray; specifically as Steve Zissou. I wonder if I blacked out when I drew half of these. I don't know, but I worked on them for a long time yesterday. I like the pencil one the best followed swiftly by the first one and the pen shaded one. I also enjoy the little one with the suit at the bottom. I can't stop watching The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Why? Because it's awesome.