oh, you know

you say goodbye, i say hello

2011-03-12T08:01:00.002-06:00

A big HELLO to all two of you that still check this blog. I have big news for you both: I've moved! You can now read allllllll my inmost thoughts on life at gatheredheart.blogspot.com so update your links and bookmarks! I promise I'll be posting there frequently. Unlike this sad little piece of the internet.

I haven't decided whether or not I'll shut this site down, but for now she stays put. I was reviewing the Stats (an amazing feature I just recently discovered) and I must say, I'm equally awed and creeped out by them. It's neat to see that people have searched "katherine ufkin wedding" and "katherine ufkin design." That makes me feel a little bit internet-famous. Then again, it's probably just my mom. Which I'm okay with. Thanks for loving me, Mom.

Apparently over 20 people from South America somehow found their way here by viewing my wisdom tooth photo... how and why? Maybe I'm a big deal there. Weird.

That concludes this meaningful final post. It's been a good run, oh, you know. I have loved you dearly. I would've revamped you and continued to use you if it weren't for my maiden name. It's not your fault, it's mine. I still love you, but I'll just be loving gathered heart even more (and you should toooo Abby/Arissa/Sarah/Sharon!)

thoughts on stopping time

2010-02-27T21:32:00.001-06:00

my it has been a few months! a few as in six... cough cough. things have been so soo busy with school lately (ugh did i mention that i'm taking 24 credit hours?!) and i will soon post all about it, but for now.... i leave you with a few stop-motion videos that have been inspiring me lately:

one of my goals before graduation is to create a stop-motion piece of my own. it will probably be a bit on the simple side, like "mykonos" (set to an equally beautiful song) but we shall see. hopefully things will settle down a bit and i'll have some free time for posting. spring break is coming up next week -- and along with it aspirations of posting, crafting, and art-making. promise.

thoughts on the third molar

2009-08-05T13:45:00.008-05:00

yesterday morning i had my wisdom teeth removed. oooooh man.

let me just recap the early events of the day.

i was definitely nervous going in to the procedure, mainly because i had never been put to sleep before. when the nurse came in and hooked me up to the heart monitor/oxygen machine/blood pressure monitor.... i teared up a little and was pretty shaky. she couldn't get the IV into my arm so had to stick me again in my hand which was a little unpleasant. but definitely worth it.

the next thing i knew, they woke me up and led me out to the parking lot, where my mom was waiting. "you are a really good doctor," i said as i gave my oral surgeon a huge hug, "and i like you. do i get to keep my teeth? okay bye!"

that was the start of my rambling. apparently the anesthesia's lasting effects made me laugh, cry, and speak in a stream of consciousness that my mom described as a combination of a 3 year old and a senile old woman....

"mom, look! there's elmo! (a bus with a PBS advertisement was in front of us.) i really like elmo. hey mom, i love you mom. you are the best mom ever. and you're pretty. and i love dad too and i love God and Jesus loves me!! hey look, there's doc pierce! chris and i ate there once. but they didn't like us because there was a dress code and chris was wearing flipflops."

apparently i was crying by this time, then i started laughing. "this medicine is good. i feel funny, but it's a good funny. now we are going to have a party for me because i got my teeth taken out. mom, midnight is a real good cat. can he sit with me when we get home? hey mom, where are we?"

"we're in mishawaka, passing over the bridge of the riverwalk."

"oh chris and i like it here! we come here a lot! but they don't have very many ducks, mom. they have a few fish, but if you want to feed the ducks you should go to the elkhart riverwalk. hey, mom, you and dad should come feed the ducks with me and chris! oh, i should call chris!"

"well, katherine, you probably should wait until after the medicine wears off."

"okay that sounds good. i'll just text him to let him know i'm okay."

"wait, what are you texting?"

"i love you and i am... d o n e." apparently i spelled it out to my mom while typing it. chris called shortly after i sent him the text. "hi chris!! i love you! i'm done with my surgery. the nurse gave me two needles but it was okay because i was asleep! (at this point i bursted into tears) chris, i love you and you are my very best friend! are you laughing at me?! i know i'm crying but it's the medicine. it's the effect of the medicine. okay, you get back to work. i love you."

then i pulled out chris' camera from my purse. "mom, i have to document this! chris wants to see my face!" "katherine, i think he means he wants to see it in a few days when you look more like a chipmunk." i disregarded this and snapped these pictures:

yeah. i was completely out of it. bahaha... sad thing was, i think i was trying to look happy, too. when we got home, mom had me stay in the car until martin was able to come out and help me move around. once i saw him i started crying and told him "i love you martin, you are the best brother ever!" then i asked to watch pocahontas. martin popped it in the dvd player as i told him "i like pocahontas. it's a good movie. but did you know, it's not historically accurate. in my history class i learned that pocahontas was 12. that's gross."

mom went to cvs to fill my prescription, and thankfully once she was back i was back as well. she then told me the details of our conversation earlier... apparently she had to bite her cheek to keep from laughing at me. martin said he wanted to record our conversation but didn't think it was right. i wish he had... i could've been the new david after the dentist.

regardless, the whole thing went well. the doctor was a afraid i might have slight nerve damage and/or sinus cavity interference but thankfully none of that happened. for the next few days i'm on a strict diet of chocolate malted milkshakes and ramen. and, whooo that vicodin! it may not be as great as the anesthesia.... but it does produce a nice floating effect. how nice.

pretty little things!

2009-07-22T18:42:00.007-05:00

lately i've been doing a lot of blog reading. and i mean TONS. i've always had a few favorites that i check up on occasionally, but with all my free time this summer, i have developed a habit of having afternoon tea/coffee and reading through my list of 20 or so blogs that have accumulated in these months. it has been wonderful! i have been so very inspired... not to mention introduced to the wonderful world of blog freebies and giveaways. i'm actually planning a post soon to share all the inspirational bits i've been finding.

but until then, i suggest you make your way on over to oh, hello friend and sign up for the lovely package exchange. i just did and i am so excited! who doesn't love mail and pretty little things!?

oh, and let me know if you sign up too!

post-it love

2009-07-20T08:42:00.003-05:00

i know i haven't had a legitimate blog post in a very long time now, but i just had to share this adorable video. the ending is boarder line creepy... but i can deal, mainly because the music is fantastically happy and reminds me of boy least likely to. my favorite fluffy animal country disco band ever.

hotlinks!

2009-06-11T21:10:00.004-05:00

today i did the whole download and update dealio. included in the seven updates was the new version of safari! (oooh, aaaah) there isn't much change to the program but they have added a snazzy new feature. behold:

my most visited sites

it's a very handy opening page, complete with clickable, recent images of the sites' frontpages. as you can see, google is a top hit - for all my internet findings. arissa, sharon, sarah.... i check your blogs almost everyday. it's true. as you can see.

i was proud to discover that facebook isn't my most checked site. i like to keep it real. and this is proof to christopher that i don't spend allll my time on there.

oh the joys of the internet. 2.oh.

2009-05-07T23:23:00.001-05:00

tonight is the last night i spend at olivet as a college junior.

i ate chocolate, watched a sappy movie, and am going to bed before midnight.

cheers to being a senior.... oh how i hope it will be a better year.

wetter is not better. but a cheap thrill is.

2009-04-06T20:58:00.007-05:00

ohhhh my word this weather!

sun, rain, sun, rain, sleet, snow?! one can only blame global warming....

nevertheless, spring is here. something about this time of year (aside from these crazy snow showers) always makes me DIY antsy. sorta like spring cleaning, only for art majors.

last saturday i woke up bright and early (aka 11:00) and went thrift shopping with arissa and amy. i'm on the constant lookout for awesome/cheap apartment stuff for next year... this year my roommates furnished the apartment completely. they've been living together for 4 years and have accumulated pretty much everything you'd ever need for collegiate life. and even stuff you wouldn't need, like a juicer. and a shamwow. yeesh.

next year, however, i won't be as well supplied. keitha has a loveseat. i have a coffee table and a tv stand. rachel has a couch? really, we have quite the hodgepodge collection. so we're all on the lookout. plus i have life in the real world after that... which needs furnishing as well.

well, i didn't find anything major, like an awesome modular bookshelf for under $20 (which is my ultimate goal... one that will probably never be reached.) i did buy a lovely white flower-shaped porcelain dish for 40 cents. i promise it's not a crazy daisy or anything cheesy that automatically comes to mind. i'll have to ask my mother, but i believe it's from the 60s. my camera battery died so i haven't gotten a photo of it yet, but i've found a very similar bowl via google... it doesn't look like it's anything expensive but i love it nonetheless.

i also found this great little white vase for 30 cents. i filled it with a dollar stem of flowers from kroger... not bad for $1.37:

(oh yeah, and that's mackie, my lovely imac. soooooo beautiful.) i've decided the vase alone is reason enough to have fresh flowers on a weekly basis. and for $1.00, why not?! i've had these pink ones on my desk for over a week now and, though a bit wilty, they're still beautiful and smell like summer. totally worth it.

on eating ants and crickets....

2009-03-23T15:10:00.007-05:00

today i stumbled upon a truly wonderful blog: the lovely package. i've always been a sucker for well-designed product packaging and this will be added to my blogroll to supply a daily fix.

this post isn't about packaging in general, however.... it's about the design of UK gourmet food shop "edible." they specialize in very unique snacks. specifically those of the arthropod kind.

really? i want a peppermint ant lollipop. it's just so beautiful. i don't know if i would try the salted and crispy worms, but the toasted ants don't sound so bad. and thai curry crickets? delish. toffee scorpion candy? yes please.

all of the creepy crawlies are completely safe to eat (or so they say. the "detoxified" squorpians seem a little risky, though) and have been farm-raised on a special diet of grains and cereals. it creeps me out a little, thanks to my western ways, but i would still try it. i actually looked up the GBP conversion to USD ($5.77 isn't so bad for chocolate covered giant ants, if you think about it...) and even checked out government regulations on border control.

the black and white packaging really gets me, though. it creates such a straight forward, clean presentation, don't you think?

like it would be almost okay to eat a handful of salted scorpions at the next movie night with the girls.....

back in the game

2009-03-17T18:03:00.003-05:00

oh man life is gooooooood. it's hard to find things to be negative about when it's 75 at 6:00 and the sun is still shining all warm and happy like.

plus, i skipped my afternoon class to get dairy queen with arissa.

i needed it after yesterday... i had a bit of a panic attack around 9pm when i realized i had absolutely nothing for the department of academics image aside from a few sketches. mhmm. after i stopped hyperventilating... i made a cup of earl grey and got down to business. actually... once i had my idea, i could've gone to bed but i knew i wouldn't have been able to sleep thinking about the project. so i stayed up till 3 working. phew.

i met with dr. chenoweth and he really liked the image/concept/symbolism throughout the piece. i need to tweak a few things like font placement and color palette to make it specific to olivet, but other than that it's done!

i'm not sure if i'm allowed to post the final image, so i'll leave you with a sneak peek:

ta da!

2009-03-11T21:16:00.001-05:00

new colors and header... whoop whoop! i didn't change the layout because i'm a fan of how everything is situated, but the new palette is a nice change.

for some reason the quality of the header design doesn't seem very sharp, but when i try to upload a higher res image it doesn't mount. blahohwell. and what is with that little box around 3 sides but not the 4th? i know enough about technology to be frustrated when it doesn't work the way i want it to.... but not enough to know how to fix it. sigh. web design here i come... next semester.

and that is all the designing i've done for the day. unfortunately, it holds no importance in the real world. i've done a few sketches for my senior show stuff, but again, not as important...... as... designing a corporate logo for olivet. mhmm.

last week i had a meeting with dr. gregg chenoweth, the university vice president, where he asked my to design a new image for the office of academic development. it will be used for the next 5 years, and potentially the next 20 if i do my job right. yeah... HUGE deal. i'm actually not at liberty to discuss the project because it will be revealed to olivet's staff and faculty in two weeks so i'm kind of pulling some secret agent stunts. um... yeah.

sad (terribleawfulhorrible) thing is i have nothing. nothing at all for the biggest project of my life thus far. annddd i think that's my problem. the magnitude of this design is scaring the ideas straight out of my head. i mean this is no poster hung in the student center or some radio station banner. this is a corporate logo! hopefully i'll get a rough comp done within the next 24 hours.

i can't decide if i want to do a happy dance or keel over from fright.

spring fling

2009-03-09T15:47:00.003-05:00

aaah spring break.

although majority of my campus co-eds are basking in the sun rays of cabo, i'm just fine spending the week in indiana. it is going to be a very relaxed-yet-productive week, i think.

relaductive if you will.

aside from the standard dental checkup/haircut/binge view of all the episodes of the soup and chelsea lately i've missed, my main plan for this week is to create. i'll probably start by painting the face of my lovely blog. kiss the green, blue and gray goodbye because i'm feeling something a little more festive.... possibly my new favorite hues marigold and coral. mhmm.

from there, i need to brainstorm big time. after break there's a meeting for all junior art majors "to discuss preparations for your senior show" as the email i received friday states. the ominous senior show is a senior thesis of sorts for art majors at olivet. simply put, it's a two week showing of a senior's work, with a thursday night gallery opening/reception/party. if only it was that simple.

there are three venues for the show: brandenburg gallery, strickler gallery, and higher grounds coffee shop. shows also range from solo, double, or triple artist. and although there is no official ranking system, a solo show in brandenburg is the best. a triple in higher grounds means you're not so good.

i really, really want a solo show in brandenburg. this preliminary meeting starts the process for determining that. we have to come to the meeting with a portfolio of current/show concept work, a one page paper describing our show concept, and an artist statement relating to current themes in our work.

at this moment in time, i have nothing. rumor has it that those with the most planned out info typically get the gallery spot they want. let the brainstorming begin.

(feel free to pass on any ideas. mhmm.)

heartswelling.

2009-02-04T22:00:00.004-06:00

sometimes i get this strange sensation in my chest.

i think the best way to describe it is half way between a panic attack and a heart swelling. only... it's usually more on the side of heart swelling. this is one of those times.

it happens whenever i hear christopher's voice. or when i think of the future. or the past. it happens when i hear the love story of another. when i hear whistling or handclaps in a song. when i feel the love of my savior.

today it happened when i finished writing a paper i was truly proud of. it happened as i wrote a letter to my mother. when i opened my journal and used the pencil holder that sharon made out of french fabrics. when i saw the sun, even though it was after 5 o'clock.

sometimes it comes out of the blue, for no apparent reason at all.

what is this strange heart swelling?

love, pride, nostalgia, content?

all of those things or none of them at all?

has anticipation ever killed anyone?

2009-01-15T10:32:00.006-06:00

i was doing so well at the posting regularly thing. it's not my fault though. sadly, i am computer-less. it's true. i've been so for about 3 weeks.... the day after my last post, actually.

my sweet little not even 3 year old macbook pro laptop bit the dust. extensive internal damage, the apple genius said. i'm not sure how that happened since i've only dropped it once and everything was still working fine and dandy for the most part. at $13oo to repair, i figured i might as well buy a new computer. so i did.... behold my new iMac: 20-inch screen, 1 inch thick, 4 gigs of RAM, 500 gb hard drive, sleek, shiny design goodness for only $1700. i know i'm sounding incredibly materialistic right about now and i apologize, but my heart is palpitating just thinking about it. my parents wanted me to get another macbook pro... but at $3000 i don't think so (especially since they're not helping me out with the purchase this time around.) i was planning on buying a desktop after college anyway and after crunching some numbers i found that if i need a laptop, after a month or so i'll buy a cute little white macbook for right around $1100. a desktop and a laptop for the price of a macbook pro. mhmm.

and now, i wait. fedex tracking tells me that the package is in transit from reno. google maps tells me that reno is approximately a 27 hour drive. the way things are looking... i probably won't have it until sometime next week, tuesday at the latest.

the anticipation.... the agony......

i really should be sleeping... but santa has already come.

2008-12-26T00:17:00.002-06:00

my. christmas has come and gone with one fell swoop, it seems.

how incredibly sad it was this year... a time usually filled with celebration and happiness.

perhaps that is why i find myself awake at 1:30 in the morning.

it was the first ufkin christmas without grandma ufkin. most of us were okay, even mirthful as the evening went on... but the beginning was hard. with hardly two feet in the door, grandpa couldn't even say "merry christmas" without a shaky voice backed by tears. which spurred more tears. and more tears. it's hard for me to even look at him... a shell of the man he once was, slowly wasting away without her. it absolutely breaks my heart. maybe i'm just being overly emotional, but it's so hard. i've always heard that the holidays are some of the bitterest times of the year... but i've never felt that until now. thankfully, as the evening went on i think everyone forgot the need to be sad, and cale and ellie, my 3-year-old second cousins, definitely lifted our spirits with their antics, laughter, and snuggles.

the exchanging of gifts was also depressing, to be frank. usually we gather in a big circle around the tree, and as one or two gifts are presented we all watch happily. this year, it was done in clusters, people scattered here and there, everyone opening gifts at the same time. or should i say envelopes... cale and ellie were the only ones to have actual presents. the rest of us got cold, hard cash. which i'm very grateful for, especially in this economy, but i would've much preferred a book picked our especially for me. a new scarf. a fun dvd or board game. i guess i'm not a kid anymore.

with all this said.... i don't mean to sound like a broken, bitter gal in need of a visit from the ghosts of christmas past. i love my family terribly. i just wish we weren't in so much pain.

home, sugar-cookie sweet home

2008-12-18T15:50:00.009-06:00

yet another successful semester under the belt (i'm not even going to think about the fact that i only have 3 more left before i have to join the jobless, economically distraught real world...) ahem. hooray it's christmas break and i'm home!

unfortunately, i still have some homework to finish up. a lot, actually. to make a long story short, about two weeks ago my car had a little spill on the ice... aptly retold by sharon. for the past week and a half dora (my lovely ford explorer) has been sitting in a collision shop in manteno, my drawing seminar projects held hostage in the back seat. 6 drawings total, in various stages (by the way, nappy headed is apparently a racial slur... didn't know! the series is now renamed "tangled folk".)

thankfully prof thomas was very understanding and gave me an extension over break. the 6 finished pieces are due january 10th, right before i go back to school. he's given me plenty of time to complete everything... pre-new year's resolution: no procrastinating on this.

with that said, so far i've done absolutely nothing drawing related. yesterday i woke up at 10, hung out with my cat on the couch, helped my mom decorate 75 sugar cookies for her kids at school, and put up the christmas tree. today i unpacked some stuff and watched an E! special on the downfall of lindsay lohan. that's about it.

however, i did think of a possible theme for my senior show... inspired by anthropologie's holiday catalogue. absolutely beautiful.... their creative team can do no wrong. i like the wire/linear shape idea... it would translate very nicely into a graphic series of illustrations. more on that later. in the works.

to end this post on a side note... moments like this make me so glad for photobooth:

if you can't tell... midnight just crawled up onto my bed and made himself comfortable on my derriere. even if you're not a cat person... so cute.

mint and pine

2008-12-03T23:05:00.004-06:00

holly jolly,
all is calm all is bright.
do you hear what i hear?
snowflakes that melt on your nose and eyelashes.

i'm so ready for christmas break.

today in advanced drawing seminar, i snapped.
we had a surprise progress critique and for some reason as i was explaining that i unknowingly purchased 5 sheets of the wrong paper to finish up my drawings, i felt pinpricks at the back of my eyeballs. i tried to hide it but the floodgates opened. a sob escaped. i don't know where it came from but as hard as i tried i could not stop the onslaught of tears and had to excuse myself. gosh. and wow so awkward.

maybe it had to do with the fact that i had stayed in the studio until 4 am working on a stupid drawing which everyone loved but made no difference to me. or that the due date for our final was pushed up a week to next wednesday. or maybe because i have 38 pieces to glaze for ceramics by monday. and a video to edit for a lit presentation tuesday. or maybe it's because i just want to be done with this so-called education, get a real design job, and marry my best friend who is also the man of my dreams. just maybe.

fortunately i just finished my final paper/presentation for ceramics... one less thing to worry about. did you know the navajo indians poured hot liquid pine sap on their pottery for a dark brown, pine-scented resin finish? it's true.

2008-11-27T18:13:00.002-06:00

okay then.... nearly 6 months since my last post. no lame-o "i forgot my password" excuse this time. i'm just not doing a very good job at keeping this up. at all. whatsoever. i was all about blogging in high school. i don't know what happened. i still read numerous blogs weekly... somehow i forget to update mine. i'm pretty sure not even darling sharon reads this thing anymore, but it's time for an major update regardless.

...a month-by-month update of what you've been missing in my life. just what everyone needs, i'm sure, complete with pictures and tons of clickable links.

MAY/JUNE

(i realize my last post was in june, but metra animal shapes hardly count as an update.)

i spent these two months at olivet; i took a few classes and had a part-time graphic design job for shine.fm. it honestly wasn't much of a summer... i didn't have a car so i couldn't go anywhere and spent most of my time pining for christopher and the care free summer we shared together last year.

still, i knocked out three gen ed courses, refinished a vintage schwinn, and spent two months with the best roommate i've ever had, arissa beck. i realize this picture is from christmas, but it's the only one i have of us really.

pretty much we spent the summer being awesome. we made our own bagel chips, walked to dairy queen on a weekly basis for mr. mistys, and found 100+ ways to cook chicken for dinner. (not exaggerating.)

i also spent may-august as a freelance designer for the student development office - which was an incredible opportunity. that job gave me a foot in the door as professional designer and TONS of resume experience... i created the designs for our "first week" mailer - a schedule of back-to-school events sent to the entire student body, helped out with our student discount card and yearly planner designs, and designed all the ollies follies tshirts for the freshmen, sophomore, junior, and senior classes. it's pretty interesting slash awesome for me around campus now... i usually see at least one person wearing my work every week. considering all the work i did for the school, 3,000 people at the least have seen on of my designs. that may not be a big deal in the grand scheme of things.... but for a student designer who still knows nearly nothing it's pretty exciting.

may and june were sometimes lonely because i only saw christopher maybe 3 times total, but they certainly were good months for accomplishing things. (may side note: on the 7th christopher and i celebrated our year anniversary with a trip to warren dunes. all mush aside that man is absolutely fantastic!)

JULY

the weekend in between june and july i packed up the contents of my apartment, moved back home, did quite a few loads of laundry, and packed it all back up again... in two large suitcases bound for australia.

i don't know if i can ever begin to describe the time i spent there with my mother. i am so glad we were able to take a month and spend it together wandering around the places she grew up in. i took so many pictures and yet looking back at them it seems as if there is so much i didn't capture.... this hardly describes my trip:

1. typical city skyline... beautiful. 2. one day mom, grandma and i went to the camellia gardens... a huge national park/flower garden. the camellias were in bloom so we walked around, had afternoon tea, and grandma fed the ducks. 3. mom! this was taken at the oriental gardens in the heart of sydney. 4. we saw various natural inhabitants of the outback, such as a crocodile 5. a spider the size of my fist, not kidding 6. kangaroos, of course and 7. precious the koala! yes, her name is precious, and mom and i had a mini-photoshoot with her and got to pet her (holding a koala is illegal) in the sydney wildlife center. (centre?) that was a major highlight of my trip. 8. classic shot of the opera house and bridge. i have 50 shots of this, from varying angles and times of day, but i had to include it. 9. view from the hotel at sunrise. mom and i were able to stay 6 days in the sydney hilton (for free thanks to dad's accumulated points) and were upgraded to the special "relaxation suite" aka $$$$$. ironically, this picture is of the shipping yard my grandpa worked at for most of his life, and i had no idea when i took it. 10. aside from the week spent in the heart of sydney, we stayed at my grandparents house. drinking tea in the sun was their morning ritual. 11. mom and i enjoyed a lot of fancy-pants coffees... places in australia seem to make them better than the states. this one was taken at sappho books... an amazing used bookstore/coffee shop in glebe. the two story building was busting at the seams with books on everything from jazz to macramé. in the back of the shop was a little coffee/desert bar that opened up to a beautiful courtyard, stretching on for ever with trees springing up from the cobblestone and walls filled with a local artist's paintings. 12. classic "oh man i'm in australia" shot. everyone has one, right?

{+} a side project i put together for christopher... be warned, it's mushy.

AUGUST

by august 3rd mom and i were back home in good old nappanee. it took about 18 hours of straight sleep to recover from the jet lag, but the whole month was still a fuzzy whirlwind for me.

while mom and i were in australia, we found out that my grandma ufkin had cancer. it was pretty severe and was throughout her body, so grandma made the decision to ride it out. no chemo, no operations. by the time mom and i were able to visit, everything had taken a toll on her body. she was put on a morphine drip to help with the pain.

it was difficult, but when we all heard that she had passed away, we all had a certain sense of peace. i think most families of cancer victims would agree... the mourning process starts when the cancer is first discovered and from there you pick up the pieces, enjoy every last moment of life, and pray for comfort and peace for the family member.

sadly, the world doesn't wait for you to feel better. after spending the weekend with family and friends in illinois, i packed up everything yet again and moved back to olivet. as an executive member of student council, i had to be at school early to help with freshmen and to prepare for the upcoming year.

hardly a week passed, saturday evening. i was at a birthday party for a friend... i got several voice mails from my mom and both brothers telling me to call home as soon as i could. there was an urgency in their voices... i expected the worst. was dad in an accident on the toll road? did something happen to grandpa ufkin? no, no. it was grandma cook. she had a stroke in the middle of the night. collapsed on the neighbor's porch, trying to get help for grandpa who had fallen out of bed. that was it. she was gone.

i can't explain the grief and shock i went through after hearing that. i never thought it possible. i had just spent a whole month in her house, eating breakfast with her, drinking orange juice she squeezed for me from the tree in her backyard.

what was even worse was the fact that i couldn't go home. my roommate annie and friend amanda drove me halfway to nappanee, but my parents made us turn around... mom was leaving in the morning and needed time to pack and rest without having to worry about my safety to and fro campus. completely understandable but still utterly awful. i spent the rest of the month on the verge of tears, sometimes breaking.

SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER

things gradually improved. school life took over.

i can't believe it's almost christmas... i think i have something like 11 days of school left. aannndddd i just ate a big slice of dread pie.

then again, thinking about all my classwork, i have all my projects for ceramics finished (thanks to a 10 hour day spent in the studio neveragainohman) and i'm on track with my watercolor stuff. i finished my huge lit term paper last week-ish and i'm getting a 126% in graphic advertising. holla back at that extra credit.

the main ingredient in my dread pie would be professor gary thomas. oh my geeeooosh that man is tough. last semester i decided to drop my english major and add another art concentration - illustration. bad decision? possibly. his daily homework assignments.... shootmeintheface. 5-10 of those per day. bah!

i'm doing well enough in the class, but because of the amount of homework sketches he's assigned over time (oh yeah, and because i have other classes, a job and a social life) i'm probably a little behind in my series, "nappy headed folks." i'm not sure if that's what i want to call it, but so far it's sticking. we need to create roughly 6 pieces, and i only have two finished. here's my favorite so far:

since you can't really see the hair detail, here's a close-up...

detail-wise it's a pretty pathetic photo (but i still love you, photobooth.) oh well. you can see why the series is entitled "nappy headed folks." i'm really please with how things are turning out... but if it's taken majority of the semester to make two, and i have 4ish more to go... i've got a lot of work cut out for me.

other than that, things are wrapping up nicely. i'm starting to get the warm fuzzies about christmas. now that thanksgiving has reached us, it's time to break out my favorite holiday album, "maybe this christmas tree." it's been on repeat all day.

aaannnnndddd now that i've written a small novel, it's time to end this post... with promises more (shorter) posts to come.

what's this?

2008-06-11T16:50:00.003-05:00

an update? weird.

feel free to laugh at me... i forgot my email/password combo. i was automatically signed in for the longest time, which was fine and dandy. and easy. once i restarted my computer, however, my browser settings reset and for some reason i couldn't get the combo right. now i have it.

a real update will come soon, but for now i'll leave you with this: animals found on the map of the london underground. random. i'm a fan of the whale, snail, and puppy.

she works hard for her money...

2008-01-19T12:04:00.000-06:00

so.
this is my second week at my new job in the communication department.
i'm a receptionist and a monitor for the graphics labs on tuesdays, fridays, and saturdays. on mondays i also work as teaching assistant for professor kirk and professor dombrowski (head professors of graphics and photography, respectively.) it's a pretty cushy desk job, and they allow us to do our homework while we're sitting desk.

basically, i greet people as they enter the building, answer the phone, make sure no one's making out in the graphics labs, and check out photography equipment to students. that's during the week, when people are actually in the buildings.

this is what i do on saturday afternoons when no one is in the building.....

thank you apple and the makers of photobooth. i love you.

thin as an index finger.

2008-01-15T18:24:00.000-06:00

oh my goodness.
click.

.... i would be afraid that the pressure of my hands would crush the thing.

tidings of comfort and joy. and chocolate.

2007-12-27T21:03:00.000-06:00

this christmas takes the cake for the largest amount of chocolate i have ever had in my possession. it even tops halloween of '93, hands down...

don't get me wrong - i certainly enjoy chocolate... but it's as if everyone came bearing gifts of cacao this year (along with some other sweet stuff such as a plaid pair of rainboots, a fancy-pants starbucks gift set, and ferngully on dvd.)

chocolate from the roommates. chocolate from the brothers. chocolate from the boyfriend and chocolate from his parents. i'm pretty much set for life.

come and get it, Y3K.

i blame it on tryptophan.

2007-11-24T00:06:00.000-06:00

after being scolded over coffee and chastised over chinese, i've decided it's time to update.

what?!
yes, an update.

not because i have anything to update you all on, but more because my sleeping schedule is incredibly messed up and i have the time to type aimlessly into the wee hours of the morning. oh the beauty of thankfulness.

two words: black friday.
i've never experienced the chaos before, mainly because i've never really had anyone to tag along with... christopher came over for thanksgiving dinner and spent the night with the ufkin family. nice, right? sure. until i made him get up at 4:30 to brave the masses and the bitter cold in mishawaka. no shower, cold pop tarts for breakfast.

it was worth it. we waited in a line that stretched around the outer edges of super target's parking lot. it was actually a lot of fun, and so incredibly beautiful. the full moon illuminated the early morning sky and it was SNOWING! my first snow, actually, since bourbonnais has been unusually warm lately. the big fluffy flakes fell from the sky and it was absolutely breathtaking. one of those "thank you Lord for revealing yourself in this beautiful creation!" moments. plus, i didn't even need gloves or mittens since i had a hoodie pocket and christopher's hand to hold. awesome.

the best first black friday experience one could have, i'd say.

plus, i got what we came for. a 500 gb portable hard drive, for ony $80. cha-ching. not to mention a 1 gig jump drive for free (!!!) thanks to coupon clipping. and 4 dvds for only $3.99, presents for brothers and roommates. a sucessful trip, i'd say.

on the way home we stopped by mcdonalds for second breakfast.
i wonder if hobbits eat hashbrowns.

then we took a "nap" from 9-2 and bummed around in our pjs the rest of the day.
oh yes.

with that being said, i have a mix for you, jacki/sharon/stacy. (or who ever else is reading.)
you know, the one i made in october but haven't been able to burn/send?

yeah, well, here it is:

a mix for my loves.

it includes gems from our favorites... tegan and sara, boy least likely to, and eisley, with some new favorites of mine... tv on radio, starlight mints, and moonbabies. checka-yeah. let me know whatcha think!

more updates (and mixes) to follow!

le sigh.

2007-07-19T14:59:00.000-05:00

oh summer. i love it.

sadly, however, i'm sorta sick of it at the same time. i'm ready to be back at school. my brain is mushy. i miss textbooks and powerpoints. i want to be sitting in on a lecture on art history or creative writing, scrawling notes with the occasional doodle. i need it. plus, i miss everyone. i changed my desktop yesterday to this....

it's a nice little trishot montage of sarah, kate and i from our weekend adventure (to see more of that very special time, here's the photo album on facebook. hooray!) basically, it fills me with joy.

they'll be back at school for band camp (haha, nerds) in less than a month... and i'll be joining them to help move stuff into/around in our apartment (have any furniture you'd like to get rid of? we need it. and i have ten dollars for you.)

soooo..... until then, i need stuff to do. for about a month. any ideas?

chinese and t-shirts.

2007-06-14T13:21:00.000-05:00

today little6'2''brotherbrian took me out to lunch at food star, the chinese buffet downtown. until this afternoon, i had never been there. oh man.

one plate of general tso chicken, crab rangoons, fried rice, a ginger veggie something egg roll. egg drop soup. dr pepper.
that's all. brian had twice as much food as i did, if not three times as much.

then we came home. i sprawled out on the couch, he chilled in the recliner, and we watched E! for about an hour.
i felt awful.

he told me "usually your first time you have to throw up. then you feel better, and will be begging for more. that's what i did, at least." then he got up and went to work. i don't know how he does it.... i'm still practically motionless, an hour and a half later, and he's doing who knows what at the church.

well, i refuse to throw up for the sake of chinese food.
at least this is better than the questionable wasabi-soy-seaweed chinese snacks chris and i tried the other day..... (click on the picture for the full effect...)

also, i stumbled across this just now, and i think it's brilliant.

i fought the law and the law... laughed at me.

2007-05-23T17:48:00.000-05:00

my oh my.
i've been waiting for an exciting summer story to re-enter the blog world (many apologies to those who faithfully check every day, holding on to that small glimmer of hope that i may just update. all two of you. i'm sorry.) so far my summer has been filled with job searches, swinging, and reruns of what not to wear. nothing very blog-worthy, i suppose, until today.

this evening chris is going back to olivet to watch the finale of lost with everyone that stuck around bourbonnais for the summer. since we weren't really going to be able to see each other until friday, he decided to swing by nappanee before heading over to school. since we didn't have all that much time, we thought it was best to stick around nappanee, which meant there really wasn't anything exciting to do.

we took a short walk, grabbed dairy queen, and decided to venture over to woodview elementary for some playground fun (this being about an hour after school was out, of course, so we wouldn't bother any kids.) we had this kite that we've been attempting to fly, and mom suggested woodview since it always seems to be windy when she has recess duty. long story short, we flew the kite for a bit (and it went as high as the string would go. yes!)

sadly, it crashed and broke, so we ventured over to the playground to continue our fun. while on the monkey bars, i noticed that two sprinklers were running in an area closed off with an orange snow fence - obviously the school was trying to keep the kids off the wet grass. well, we decided to run through it, and did so, once, then stood on the concrete sidewalk where the water still hit. we didn't want to damage the grass too much. it was all very cute and a lot of fun, but it just so happened that as we snuck a kiss, one very angry janitor greeted us.

roger.
the night janitor.
as he told us, several times.

or should i say as he yelled at us? man, he was one grumpy old man. the conversation (chastisation perhaps?) went something like this:

R: "what are you two doing?!"
C: "oh, we're sorry sir, we were just running through the sprinkler. we're sorry if we disrupted anything."
R: (this is where the yelling began in one very long-winded speech)"disrupted anything?! are you kidding!? can't you see this area is blocked off?!? it is a dangerous construction area that we've been working on. what are you doing here anyway? i should call the cops!"
C: "we're very sorry sir, we were just having some fun and didn't realize it was a problem. we can leave if you'd like."
R: "no, no! you aren't leaving yet. i'm going to call the cops. can't you see this area is barricaded? that means you are trespassing. and have plenty of eyewitnesses - teachers and children - in there. you have been behaving inappropriately on school grounds and that is a felony. where are you from?"
Me: "i live just down the street." (apparently he didn't hear me.)
C: "sturgis, michigan."
R: "MICHIGAN?! what on earth are you doing down here?"
M: "he's my boyfriend and he's visiting me, sir." (again, he didn't hear this. or care to hear it.)
R: "michigan?! this is just absurd! did you drive here?"
C: "yes sir."
R: "i'm calling the cops to deal with you two. meet me around out front. i need your license number."

so roger goes back inside and chris and i walk out of the "barricaded construction area" to the car. roger returns, phone in hand, yells at us more, then calls the police, right in front of us.... "yes, i'm the night janitor here at woodview and i need you to come down to the west side of the parking lot. i have two adults here that were caught behaving inappropriately... yes, well i think you should have someone come down here. yes... no... yes... well i think you should deal with this. i'll just hold them here. the license number is ---, just so you have it incase they try to run. okay, thank you. goodbye." then he glared at us and told us to wait. we sat on the curb and he returned the phone, then stood watch at the door.

half an hour later or so two cop cars pulled into the parking lot, chatted with dear old roger, then pulled around to talk with chris and me. we told the police about the kite-flying, the swinging, and the sprinkler-running, and explained that although we hugged and kissed a little, we didn't do anything "inappropriate" by any means, and had we realized there were still children in the school at 5:00, we wouldn't have come at all.

then the cops laughed at us. one actually apologized for the fuss roger had made, and told us it was probably best that we avoided woodview for a bit. as we were leaving, the younger cop recommended we try holding hands at the park next time. ha. not too bad of an idea.

oh, sweet procrastination!

2007-03-27T18:11:00.000-05:00

the days are getting warmer. and longer.
which means i am never ever in the mood for studying.

today after classes i sprawled out in the grass, fully intending to work on my american lit reading, and ended up looking at clouds with sarah and talking about life. then kate joined us, and keitha, and elyse and carly too. it was quite the party.

for some reason, this weather always makes me want to do "crafty stuff" for lack of better words. i guess it takes me back to the summer camp days of felt bracelets and paper mache masks. today i wore a shirt i altered last night when i should have been reading the communist manifesto. i chopped the neck and added buttons that i found in the bottom drawer of the cabinet that holds my art supplies. i didn't know i had buttons here. i was quite pleased.

i only had enough to make a cluster, which i like, but i may do the entire neckline later. what say you? (and by you i mean sharstacki, my fellow button lovers.)

i also decided to redecorate my room, aka change out the posters. sadly, capt jack sparrow is no more. in his place is a crazyawesomephotomontage poster i got in the mail from veer, and a yet-to-be-finished montage of images i hold near and dear to my heart. i enjoy looking at it. yet another distraction.

with that said, i am slowly compiling a summer to-do list. it's basically whole a lot of nothing, but consists of things i've always wanted to do and never have, or things i don't do as often as i like. for example, i want to sew more. possibly make a skirt and a few simple bags, alter more t-shirts, etc. i also want to learn how to screen print. i know you can buy kits at hobby lobby or michael's, but readymade has an article on making your own screens. or perhaps sharon knows how to? also on the list: read 25 novels known as "classics." have an extended TAWG once a week. write letters more often to my grandparents. finish redecorating my room, and help mom paint the family room wall burgundy. brush up on my limited knowledge of jazz music (with martin's help, of course.) devour an entire watermelon by myself. keep a sketch journal and draw in it at least an hour a day.

that's pretty much all i've thought of so far... any suggestions?

larsen en fuego!

2007-03-12T08:05:00.000-05:00

it's eight o'clock.
thanks to daylight savings, it's still pretty dark.
eight o'clock. not quite an ungodly hour, but it's pretty close.

and i am awake. with no classes until 2. granted, i should be in drawing II right now, till 9:10. and after that is 3D design. both, at the moment, are cancelled. why? well, because larsen, our lovely fine arts building, is ablaze. i don't know the extent of the damage, but apparently 15 or so minutes ago there was some sort of electrical fire. they just sent over a few fire trucks... i can hear the siren now, actually.

everyone is out of the building and no one was hurt, thankfully, but.... need i mention the stuff? theatre costumes, band instruments and music, art students' work... not pretty.
i alone have about $100 in art supplies sitting in the studio.
not to mention my coat. phone. keys. frappichino.

dang. i hope, for the school's sake that there isn't much damage done to the building. or my stuff. i mean, i really want that frappichino.

this takes the charcoal portrait i worked on last night to entirely different levels.

the blizzard of SB2K7?

2007-03-03T20:46:00.000-06:00

usually, when one imagines spring break, visions of icicles and scarves don't exactly come to mind. or anything sugarplum related, for that matter. yeesh. it has been snowing all day. it's pretty, but it's cold. my weather.com widget tells me that, though it's a whopping 21 degrees out, it actually feels like 9. aha.

that's what i get for living in indiana, i suppose.
snow, snow, and more snow.
in march.

and with that comes the beauty of being a spring break shut-in. i've been home since thursday evening, and have only ventured out once, yesterday, to meet jacki and jordan for coffee. which was a lovely time. we chatted, sipped our chai, and wasted time on youtube. (the educational sloth documentary that brad had shown me a while ago was of particular interest.) jacki is on break this week too, so i'm sure we will have plenty of time for more documentaries and coffee outings.

granted, since the coffee shop is next to the library, a trip was inevitable. which means reading material and movies. which means i am finally going to read the catcher in the rye and - ha - watch the matrix trilogy. i've been told many times to read the former, and as far as the latter... i've only seen the first movie, sophomore year. and it was all in spanish, with no subtitles. oh the fiestas of seniorita mrak. i'm not exactly sure why i feel the need to watch all three movies, but i have the time, i have the place, and now i have the dvds... why not?

i also found the theatrical translation of beowulf. beowulf and grendel: the hero, the monster, the myth. it's the thoroughly updated version of the seminal anglo saxon poem, or so the back cover tells me, which powerfully entwines themes of vengeance, loyalty and mercy, stripping away the mask of the hero myth, leaving a raw and tangled tale that rings true today. yes. it's AP english all over again.

granted, i do have about a hundred pages of early american literature to read. and two papers to write. and a charcoal portrait to draw. and a wood sculpture to carve. and my lectio divina for the week. oh yeah, and job applications to fill out for the summer. (oh, the summer! how i miss it.)

but all of that can wait... i've a whole week!
and, in case you couldn't hear, beowulf is calling.

jig jiggity jig

2007-02-16T13:41:00.000-06:00

to begin this post, a haiku.

oh, to spend time here
winter break in nappanee
there's not much to do

i believe that accurately sums up my break so far. and i don't mind it. one bit. i haven't accomplished anything. at all. well, unless you count watching hgtv with mom and eating her cookies an accomplishment.

it's nice to be home again, even for only a few days. i've missed my family... even brian.
i don't have to wear flip flops to and in the bathroom. i don't need my ipod to cancel out the muffled sounds of some generic chick flick playing next door when i'm trying to fall asleep. i don't have to wait in line for a shower. i can eat fresh produce!! i can drive places, and not be afraid that kate will run us off the road. i can watch as many decorating shows as i want.
and do i even need to mention this?

one of the material objects i've missed most. warm. fluffy. amazing, yea, heavenly. not raised to the ceiling for maximum floor space.
it's good to be home.

and it will only get better. tonight we're meeting martin for dinner. which hopefully means the taj, naan, and tandori chicken. then, after a quick shopping trip, i'm going to see my beloved stacy lane!!! oh how i've missed her. i don't know what we'll do, but i don't care. i just want to hug her. sadly, tonight's the only evening she'll be here... she's going to iwu to stay with jacki tomorrow. i guess i'll give her an extra hug for jacks. if only sharon was here as well. sigh. she has to be all cultured in france, though. summer seems sooooo far off.

as much as i love college, it's almost as if i'm living in two separate worlds that rarely, if ever, mix. college life, home life. college friends, home friends. college food (ick), home food (yay). even the time zones are different. i think after this transitional year things will improve. aka i'll be out of the dorms and into an apartment. hopefully. i think that will give me more of the independence i've been waiting for. having my car on campus will help, too. and since this post has no direction, i suppose i'll end it now and go make a shopping list or something constructive like that... .

improvised dining utensils

2007-02-11T02:20:00.000-06:00

today was a good day.
an intense day, but a good one.
today was my spoons 4 forks debut.

for you clueless non olivetians, spoons 4 forks is our improv comedy troupe. it's pretty popular here on campus, even though it's really just a handful of glorified drama nerds playing theatre games. we had a pretty full house tonight, probably 100+.... which i'd say is quite a bit for a group of random kids running around and speaking in odd accents.

it's still pretty strange to think that i'm a member of the troupe and not the audience. this performance came so quickly... auditions were only two weeks ago, and we've been practicing twice a week since then, with an extra one earlier today. basically, we "newbs" had 5 practices before the show. not that you can really practice for an improv show. that fact didn't help my nerves at all. regardless, i feel like we all did a pretty good job. lots of laughs. our president/leader/groupmommy of sorts, matt, said that this show had the most consistent audience reaction ever - we didn't really have any dead games and the energy remained pretty high throughout.

good to know.
looking forward to next month's performance.

that, and sleep.
especially after 6 hours of improv.
like i said, intense.

an ode to the bandwagon

2007-02-06T16:42:00.000-06:00

everybody's doing it...
church friends, school friends, those i have come to know and love.
blogger, eh?

i've departed with my 868 day old xanga and made the switch.
i'll admit, i have considered switching before, but xanga and i have had a pretty long relationship.
stacy lane was really the only one keeping us together (eventhough recently my updates have been sparse) and now that she's on blogger, there's nothing holding me back. and now i can subscribe to her's and sharon's and others. hooray.

plus, anyone can comment on my site, not just fellow bloggers, like it was in the xanga world.
and that's just plain neat.

so....
be prepared. for a blogging revolution. with REGULAR updates, mind you.
friends, romans, countrymen - lend me your ears!