Saying It Well...

Khrystine's favorite quotes


"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything."— Mark Twain

Modern Muse

Modern Muse
Adriana Lima in Elle Magazine

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Finals Week (and a half)

Inspired by Eli's cathartic post, I thought I would tell you how school is going. I particularly would love it if JoAnna read and responded to my issue.
In my math class, instead of taking a final exam, we are doing a final project. This includes a 5 page paper and a 5-7 minute presentation for the class. My topic is aesthetics and math; ratios, Fibonacci, Vitruvius, Pi, Da Vinci, and the like. I have been reading books about such things but I am starting to get nervous. I don't know what my point is going to be, exactly. The book I was reading is suddenly very mathematical and I don't know what concepts I am supposed to be getting from it. And I have two other tests demanding my attention.
I am not freaking out, but I am very concerned.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Me! Me! Meme!

So Eli has tagged me with a meme. The challenge is to write eight "random" things about myself. So here goes:
1) I am highly neurotic and have a hard time being random. There is always a method to my madness.
2) Sometimes, I wish I were hot. I don't think I'm unattractive, but sometimes I wish I was bowl-you-over, knock-you-out, beautiful. Like maybe make guys scared a little.
3) Sometimes I really, really, really miss playing with toys.
4)Not that this may be actually surprising (and sorry if it's TMI, but you asked), I really love kissing and think it's so fun and think about it a lot.
5) I really have no desire to drive, ever. I think about taking lessons and going slow and I want to puke.
6) I have a recurring scary but silly nightmare in which I somehow get pregnant from a bathtub.
7)I am really sad that I only officially get to be a teenager for one more year.
8) Sometimes I love people, dogs, songs, ideas so much, I actually feel pain in my chest and want to cry.

When You Were Young...

What spice girl were you when you were young?
Ginger

Back Street Boys or NSync?
Neither, yuck

Did you watch S Club 7?
No

What was your favorite, Sandlot or Little Rascals?
Little rascals-it was romantical.

What year were you born in?
1988

Did you ever have light up sneakers?
I didn't wear sneakers so much.

What was your favorite thing about recess?
kissing tag

What year was it when you were in 3rd grade?
96-97

Cinderella or Snow White?
Cinderella

Did you wake up really early just to watch cartoons on One Saturday morning?
I tried but usually didn't get up that early.

What grade were you in when you learned how to count up to 10 in Spanish?
I think I've always known that. I lived in Rose Park and half our friends/neighbors spoke Spanish.

What was your favorite holiday?
Valentines Day.

Did you ever try to stay up on Christmas just so you could see santa?
Yes

Did you leave milk and cookies or milk and carrots?
Pizza, soda and cards.

What grade did you like the best?
I pretty much enjoyed all grades while I was there. Except 7th and 8th, which I have blocked out.

Ninja Turtle or Power Rangers?
Power Rangers were more my generation, but I love the Turtles.

What Power Ranger were you?
Pink or yellow depending on the day. Pink usually, yellow when I realized every girl wanted to be pink. My elementary school boyfriend was, of course, green.

Did you ever own a chinese jump rope?
A what?

What was your favorite thing to eat?
donuts

What was your favorite color?
Pink

Barney or sesame street?
Sesame Street, though it has some creepy elements. I love Bert and Ernie!

Do you ever miss being a little kid?
I miss elements. I miss seeing magical things and not being freaked out, I miss playing soap opera Barbie with Gigi(well, to a certain extent, I miss Sergio being almost next door, I miss all that is the glorious game of kissing tag.

Do you wish you were older?
No

Were you a girlie girl or tomboy?
I was pretty girly-I never wore sneakers, I was highly flirtatious. That being said, I only hung out with boys and found girly stuff like mary mack highly boring.

What was your first pets name?
Frankie and Sarge.

Who was your best friend in kindergarten?
Gina and Sergio. But I didn't go to school with either of them. At school? I don't know. Julie?

Are you still friends with the person you were best friends with in the 3rd grade?
I had several best friends in the third grade. Sergio moved that year, so I don't know if he counts but him and Gina yeah. I've talked to Julie a couple times on here. Josh, Bradley...sadly no. I wonder if they'd remember me?

Where did you live when you were 9?
That was the year I moved from Rose Park to Sugar House.

How many times have you switched schools including preschool?
Once in elementary, from Rose Park to Hawthorne.

Have you ever stayed back
No

What grade are you in now?
Sophomore in college

What was your all time favorite movie?
At the time? The Little Mermaid and Benny and Joon.

Which did you like Are You Afraid Of The Dark or AHH! Real Monsters?
Neither

Did you watch Rocko’s Modern Life?
No

Who was your favorite character in Doug?
The snotty guy who tried to be a ladies man.

Did this quiz make you think about how good it was back then?
Yes. I wonder how guys my age would feel if I initiated kissing tag...

Saturday, July 21, 2007

So Many Books...

I am currently reading two books at once. I hate doing this, not because I get confused, but because I don't know what book to pick up on my way to the bus stop. Anyway, here they are.
The first book is The Talisman by Sir Walter Scott. I picked it up because I caught the name of Richard I of England, who is actually on my family tree and therefore super-interesting to me. It is the story (thus far) of Scottish knight Kenneth (played in my head by Ewan McGregor) who is in the Middle East during the crusades. He's on some sort of special mission, but I'm not totally sure what it is yet. None the less, it's had some cool little elements of middle age knight tales and early Catholicism. Kenneth stays with a possibly mad prophet, stumbles into a hidden chapel, and falls in love with/gets the hots for a nun-in-training who I think may be his ex-girlfriend (if I am understanding this correctly). There's also been some thought provoking social elements. Kenneth and a Middle Eastern soldier have a conversation where the soldier cannot understand why Kenneth is deprived of sex until marriage, and Kenneth doesn't understand why the soldier won't drink alcohol. It asks questions like what is the link between mental instability and the supernatural, do sexless societies create confusion between romantic love and worship, is courage synonymous with violence, etc.
The other book I'm reading is at my math professor's suggestion. It is entitled Geometry and the Visual Arts by Dan Pedoe. It has been a little out of my league mathematically-I understand it, but only very slowly-but wicked interesting. (Hmm I sound like a British schoolgirl.) I recently read the chapter on Albrecht Durer. I liked Durer's work anyway, particularly Melancholy, but this book has given me a new appreciation for it. I recommend it if you are into math or art.
I will probably give the priority to Pedoe, even if Scott is due back first at the library. Either way I'll have something to do at the train station!

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Independence Day

This is one of my favorite holidays-I believe in civil liberties and freedom. I love what the US potentially could be, what it should be. The whole family is coming over for a barbecue. I love that too. I love the contrast of red white and blue and sparkly lights and the BIGness of fireworks and the lighting that makes everyone look good and kind of ethereal, like fairies or nymphs. I love that everyone uses the exact same word (like "ahhh") at the exact same time in the exact same intonation when they're impressed by the lights. I love that everyone sort of believes in magic for a minute. I love how we all openly admit we can be fascinated by shiny things. I love how we all are celebrating passion. I love that we all light firecrackers and teach our four-year-olds that it is okay to play with fire, sometimes, maybe, that sure we need to be careful, but not if it means never seeing sparks at all.
Today I did something really summery-I washed my hair with the hose. It worked very well actually, except that I got some water in my ear and will be shouting all day. Oh well. After fireworks, so will everyone else.
July proves to be a busy month. I have had two friends with birthdays this month and there are 3 more to go. I love getting presents for people. I love having an excuse to shamelessly heap praise upon them and be as mushy as I want and they can't be embarrassed, they just get to sit there and blush.
Todays mini-play-list includes
-The Star-Spangled Banner by Jimi Hendrix
Because it's patriotic in a way that shows how desperately one should fight for the oppressed and dying.
-American Music by Violent Femmes
Because it celebrates the good old American party-makes me think of tailgating, barbeques, summer concerts, arcades, drive-in movies and cruising down the coastline blasting the radio.
-Pink Houses by John Cougar Mellencamp
I love the image of "an interstate runnin through his front yard", something that seems purely US. Also, I grew up on a street coming right off an overpass and have craved living on busy streets ever since.
-America by Simon and Garfunkel
Perfect road trip song for obvious reasons, but also gives a slightly melancholy tone of trying to define who we are and where we're going. It is something universal, yet seems to show up more in American (and not just US) art, music, film and literature.
-In A Big Country by Big Country
Okay so they're Scottish but this song seems to fit the US better in my opinion-Scotland doesn't have deserts one would not expect to grow flowers in for example. Besides the US is a big country that has largely been built on other nations' influences and people and I like it for it's hopeful pioneer spirit. And this is my blog. So there.