Inspiration

New in life?

1. I got in a car accident

2. I got my license

3. I am in serious need of inspiration.

So, if you're like me in one out of those three items, here's two of my favorite quotes from Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. This novel is so beautifully and creatively written that it'll make you want to devise your own artsy sayings and colorful metaphors. You'll want to taste the words as they come pouring onto the page. I swear, it's an amazing tale.

pg. 15 "The snow drifts into our zombie mouths crawling with grease and curses and tobacco flakes and cavities and boyfriend/girlfriend juice, the stain of lies. For one moment we are not failed tests and broken condoms and cheating on essays; we are crayons and lunch boxes and swinging so high our sneakers punch holes in the clouds. For one breath everything feels better."

pg. 16 "When I was a real girl, my mother fed me her glass dreams one spoonful at a time."

As the story continued the writing was just more and more inspiring, however I had a hard time tearing myself away from the novel in order to jot the quotes down. But still, these are two of my favorites.

Two of my favorite characters are named Max

What if they're wrong

What if there isn't talent tattooed

under my fingerprints?

What if inspiration doesn't lie

in my veins

but lies from their mouths instead?

What's the truth but a fabrication

with collaborating

witnesses and pictures

construed to deceive you further

and branch your mind

pushing those hopes high.

Mistakes are made when you lose yourself

in daydreams

and future plans.

Mistakes are made when you're made to believe

rather than conceive.

Make it on your own-follow your own path-walk to the beat of your own drum

yet sheep walk among us

and threaten us to fit

in. Don't dare to achieve

don't dare to succeed.

Climb that ladder

and they'll cut the rungs

and leave you at the top

with nothing but your DNA.

How's that for humanity?

I've been re-watching Dark Angel lately and it got me thinking about how DNA makes you "all you can be." Which reminds me of my favorite character from Roswell: Max Evans. Besides the fact that he's extremely hot, he also had a different genetic makeup. I wonder if there's anything special in my genes to make me all I can be in life. I wonder if this is it for me. I wonder if I'll ever accomplish my dreams, or even what they are anymore. It's gotten harder and harder to dream in the past few years. I feel like I know what life is like and I can't ever get past the initial conception. If there's more for me I hope I can motivate myself to half-dream it and half-earn it. I wouldn't want it any other way.

Stay warm; put those Artvoice paper copies in the fire and turn to www.artvoice.com for all your Buffalo information.

Buffalo, I Love You

I can't officially announce the winner here of course, but I can tell you that there was a clear winner. Why? Because hardly anyone submitted and those that did barely could follow the rules. It was sad to see and frustrating that we couldn't do much about it since the deadline had already been extended.

I've run into this problem before as President of the English Club at SUNY Brockport. Either people really just don't care, they got too busy, or the prizes weren't good enough. I'm not sure what was the case here but I think Artvoice.com did plenty of marketing for the event from one of their hard copy issues, to a link on their website, to constant mentions in their Facebook and Myspace statuses. I'm not really sure if they just weren't hitting the target audience or if those who truly wanted to submit just got lazy or busy.

I was thinking about submitting because I wanted to show my love for Buffalo from my new city of Rochester. I wanted to show that I wasn't a complete traitor and that no city makes me feel like B-Lo. There's a kind of pride there that just can't be replicated. We know Football, Baseball, Lacrosse. We know the arts. We know snow. We know how to drink and party. We know music and disappointment. We know how to fight for what we want and continue our loyalty even when someone screws it all up. We can handle loss but we're still proud to say we're from Buffalo.

So here's a few pictures of what I wanted to incorporate into my video in an attempt to show my love for Buffalo:Here's my collection of playbills and some tickets from all the shows I've seen at Shea's. Amazing performance every time.

Here's 2 of my Bisons bobbleheads. I love when they give these out at the games!

This is my 716 shirt to show my pride of my area code/hometown. :]

This is a Buffalo pin I have so I can always carry a little piece of my hometown with me.



**Shea's Playbills:
The King and I
The Nutcracker
The Wizard of Oz
Grease
Stomp
Mamma Mia
Les Miserables
The Producers
Beauty and the Beast
Phantom of the Opera
Wicked
Rent
Radio City: Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes
The Lion King
The Color Purple
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Thanks mom for taking the time and money to show me all of these wonderful productions!

Hello and Welcome Back!

I think I'd like to start out by saying, wow, this isn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. Or maybe nanananana to all the people who told me living on your own is difficult and all that. Really? Were you just trying to scare me? Granted, it's been two months now in the apartment in Rochester, so I guess I haven't been out that long, but I would think the first two months would be the hardest, right? The first two to four weeks were actually hard, but not financially. Just emotionally. Getting used to being away from my family and pets was really upsetting. I think I cried a lot then (although don't let that mean much since I also cried a lot at home, ironic, I know). Also, the whole living-with-the-boyfriend thing took some getting used to. There's always the argument over who is going to do the dishes, or who has the ugly furniture, or why I don't have my license so he has to wake up at 6am to drive me to work. Although, if you see it from my side, I bought the car, why do I have to drive it too? I mean, seriously, that was a lot of sacrifice on my part. There was the car, the insurance, the registration, getting some work done on it, mainly doing all the gas payments, getting the oil changed and all that jazz. My work here is done!

Not really, my road test is on October 19th. There was a prior road test that I didn't get to take due to unforeseen circumstances (i.e. someone's carelessness that shall not be mentioned since he's been punished enough).

But back to the main issue: the apartment thing? Not that hard. I turn off the lights and unplug cords when I'm not using them. I wake up and go to work. I eat lunch, I nap, I knit, I go to the other job. I make dinner, do dishes, sweep, shower, do laundry, go grocery shopping, get more gas, read ... I think the biggest problem I have is deciding what to make for dinner. So no complaints. I'm trying to get back into the working out mode since I was focusing on everything else for so long. Now that I know I can do the daily stuff and make rent, I think I can get back to focusing on me. I have to write this book! Besides the fact that my mom keeps pestering me to get back to writing, I need it out of my system. I need to feel accomplished. I need the satisfaction and to finally do something with my life. I guess I feel like I'm floating through it. Or maybe it's passing me by. Either way, I feel like I could do this whole day-to-day, going through the motions forever and not ever make myself proud to have achieved something.

So I'm going to go now and try to write some of Chapter Two of Shaken, Not Stirred.

I wrote this little poem to go at the beginning of the book. I'm still not sure if I like it or not ...

This isn't Disneyland

Darling little toenails

painted Flamingo pink burn

like a candle in the dark. "Every

day is a discovery," she says as they wiggle

onto the flaming coals.

It's figurative foreshadowing to the discoveries the main character makes about herself and the major hurdle that she has to face during the climax of the novel. (Wow, look at all those English major terms I used!)

'Till next time, get out there and read!

No Internet equals No New Posts :[

So if you're like me (a recent Buffalonian who moved to Rochester to be with her boyfriend and find a new job and learn how to drive and get an apartment without the internet because she's trying desperately to save money before she hits it big like Meg Cabot) then you don't have much opportunity to check out Artvoice.com. Depressing, isn't it? Well, lucky for me (not so sure about you) that my mom still saves me the paper copies and I can take them out into this beautiful 80 degree weather and check up on the Queen City.

Besides, who wants to sit in air conditioning all day looking at a computer screen when they can enjoy the last of this dying season with some quality reading material? Not I!

Which reminds me, in case you didn't look at the last post, we're sponsoring a video contest about why Buffalonians love their city so much. So please feel free to check out the site, the rules, go film some stuff, feel patriotic ... eat a hot dog, check out a Bisons game, or just feel nostalgic, and SUBMIT SUBMIT SUBMIT! :]

In other news, I recently turned 22. Yuck. I miss the Buffalo Bisons and am thinking about displaying my bobbleheads proudly around my apartment. I miss my family like crazy, but luckily I'm coming back this weekend to check out my all-time favorite : ERIE COUNTY FAIR! We get our picture taken every year and put it on a button (so this year marks our 19th button, sweet, huh?) I also am a newly employed Target worker and am pretty stoked about everything but the khakis. Seriously, khakis? No one looks good in them. They just make your butt look all big and jiggly. Like jello. Which sounds pretty good about now since I don't have much food in the new place. Although the lack of jello could in turn decrease the jello-like quality of my booty. Ironic.

Well I'm off since I'm inside the air-conditioned library and would very much like to go outside and enjoy the sunshine before I start pulling doubles at the jobs to save on cash. Also, I just got Airhead, the newish Meg Cabot book I have been searching for, and am dying to read it.

P.S. Finished The Treasure Map of Boys by E. Lockhart today and it was just touching, endearing, sweet, funny, and pretty much all-around amazing. I am so grateful to have characters like Ruby Oliver to sneak into for a while. She's refreshing and silly and just neurotic which is really enjoyable. After all, who doesn't like a little boy-obsession from time to time? I highly recommend it (but read The Boyfriend List and The Boy Book first!)

Submit your videos!

Time to tell folks why you love Buffalo! Submit your videos at Artvoice.com : http://artvoice.com/videocontest

It's been a while ...

I know, I know! It's been almost forever since I've updated. Which just goes to show you how many events and interesting "real life" things have been going on! (And if you still don't think there's anything to do after all of my shameful plugging of artvoice.com then you are just not willing to put in the effort).

For instance ... A few years ago I traveled to Germany to visit some of my old exchange students that I had hosted. Before I left I saw an exhibit in a museum which was truly fascinating. There were displays of human anatomy doing various types of activities. You could see the muscles, the tendons, the veins, pretty much everything but the skin. It was art, it was science, it was pretty much educational and mind-bending. So to my surprise, this is going to be at the Buffalo Museum of Science starting July 9th! That's just a few days away, so I encourage whoever is reading this to check it out if you're in the area. It's definitely worth it. Cue the Artvoice link : http://artvoice.com/issues/v8n27/syt

If you're wondering what I've been up to personally, I've been dying a slow death due to the endless pursuit of an apartment. It is really taking a toll since the price, the allowance of pets, the neighborhood, and the size all have to match up. I wish it wasn't this hard to find a decent place to live in Rochester. It's getting pretty ridiculous. Especially since I finally found a job! Strike that, TWO jobs! Ha! That's right, not only did I find two, but I plan on hoarding them from anyone else. If I get another offer, hell yeah I'll take it. I want them all!

Okay, I agree, that's greedy. Especially since I have to juggle the apartment with the boyfriend and the dogs, the jobs, the internship with Artvoice, and ... I'm still learning how to drive. Yep, it's taking some time. However, I don't think it's fair to judge me on this. I never wanted to drive. I fully intended to go the rest of my life without learning. I wanted to live in NYC and take the subway to beautiful restaurants and work on writing in small cafes and Central Park. So in all actuality, I should be praised for taking this giant leap and doing something wild and dangerous that I never wanted to do. So yeah, go me!

Now can we just lower those gas prices ...

{Interesting column on the economy and our new views on saving money: http://artvoice.com/issues/v8n11/getting_a_grip }

Weekend at Allentown

Every summer I look forward to Allentown Art Festival and this summer was no different. As usual, it didn't disappoint; I got my fried dough, I spent quality time with my family, I got some exercise and time out of the house, and I was able to purchase new art!

This year I went pretty early on Saturday so it didn't seem as crowded when I was there, always better to see the art, and it wasn't too hot. My friend, Alison, said that she sold a lot that day, which has been unusual in the recent years due to the stressful economy. I noticed that she, as well as many other artists, have been focusing on Buffalo a lot more lately. Wherever you turned there were Buffalos on t-shirts, hand-embroidered, painted, sculpted, drawn, and carved. There was Buffalo scenery (usually at the Buffalography booth) along with the actual Buffalo animals and a cool new booth full of shirts with such phrases as : "My city smells like Cheerios," "McKinley's Last Stop," and "Born in Buffalo." Website here: http://borninbuffalo.net/shop/

The other big seller was garden accessories (I would know because my mother bought two custom-designed signs since she is obsessed with her garden this summer):

On Sunday I spent the whole day there. It was harder to find something healthy to eat when all you smell is the sizzling philly cheesesteaks, the sweet sugar-topped fried dough, and the savory Sahlen's hot dogs. I was surrounded by pastries, cookies, onion rings, fries and pretty much every other caloriefied junk food. But the pedometer on my phone kept me in check, needless to say, I went way over the daily 10,000 miles that day.

There was also a marching band! I didn't get to hear them play, but

when we stopped to rest in the nearby park the band also came to take a breather.

I liked the work at this booth: http://www.cehullphotography.com/vegetables2.html

Mainly because I want to decorate my kitchen with canvases like these of vegetables.

I think the best part about Allentown is that it lets Buffalonians get together to appreciate the finer things in life: music, art, crafts, food, and the company of others. Despite the high heat everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. They were even partying on the rooftops.

There was some pretty glassware that was painted with flowers:

And Alison's booth was full of a mix of paintings and 3-D media. I liked the painting with the martinis and the olives were 3-D with their own little attitudes. I bought the smaller Buffalo print with the three different Buffalos for my sister for Christmas. Here is a look at her booth:

Haha, the other highlight of my Allentown adventure was mentioning www.artvoice.com in my normal conversations with my sister:

"Hey, I was online looking at something ..." -me

"On artvoice.com?" -my sister

"Yes, artvoice.com has a lot of interesting things!" -me.

Next up, my review of Pano's, since it was my first time there after Allentown.

My favorite genre

Young Adult Lit. I love it. I read it. I write it. I devour it. I live it. I just adore it.

Don't knock it until you've tried it. Sometimes the best thing to get back your inner child is to live their life for a couple hundred pages. Or it's the best way to live vicariously through a rebel, the opposite gender, someone more charming than you, someone with a different passion than you, or just a different culture or sex drive. How else can you experience life as someone else? That's truly the best thing about literature.

When I was younger I would read a book or two a day (another good thing about young adult lit is that it's quick to read, even though the themes and plot can be as emotional and struggling as many adult texts). I remember a reading log I had to keep in 5th or 6th grade and I read over 100 books that year. I think my teacher thought I was making some of them up but I promise I read them all cover to cover.

Just recently I got rid of hundreds of books I had kept from my childhood. We tried to sell them at a garage sale but I suppose no one wants children's/young adult books from 10 years ago. That's sad. I ended up donating many of them to the Goodwill. However, there were many that had emotional significance for me and had to be kept. Such as the Sweet Valley High: Senior Year books from Francine Pascal, the Fearless Series from Francine Pascal, and many of my more recent young adult picks, such as Meg Cabot, E. Lockhart, and the classics like Catcher in the Rye and Weetzie Bat. Speaking of which, Weetzie Bat's author, Francesca Lia Block, has written a new book of poems, the cover of which I simply adore!

How cute is that?! Plus the excerpts I have read from it seem emotionally captivating. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post an excerpt here due to the copyright, but I am taken aback by "thirteen: the little oven ..." so if you have a chance to read it, go for it! If that's an example of what's to come, I definitely will need a copy of this book.

My recommendations for the moment are on the left of my page. There are so many books I want to read at the moment, however my unemployed status has significantly limited the amount of books I can buy, and my lack of mobility due to my learner's permit and my mom's constant double shifts have limited the amount of libraries I can visit.

However, if you have a chance to pick up any young adult books at the moment, I recommend Audrey, Wait! if you want to know how one girl's life can change due to an ex's song about their break up, Cathy's Book if you want to know about a teenage female artist and her encounter with an interesting group of individuals who don't appear to age, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower if you want the perspective of someone who feels like they're on the outside looking in.

Of course I have a million more recommendations, so as soon as I have a new place and a bookshelf with all of my books proudly displayed, I'll let you know some more wonderful finds. I can't wait to rediscover them with you.

P.S. Until then, lit city events in Buffalo courtesy of Artvoice: http://artvoice.com/issues/v8n24/literary_buffalo/lit_city .

The Queen City

Did you know that Samuel L. Clemens (aka. Mark Twain) helped found the Buffalo and Erie County Library before he left the Queen City? It's true! Just check out www.buffalofilmfestival.com.That could be why there is a special exhibit in the library dedicated just to him. Plus the fact that he left the library with a handwritten manuscript of Huckleberry Finn. If you've never been to the downtown library it's worth it to go just to see this room full of history. 

Did you know that Millard Fillmore (1800-1874), the 13th President of the United States, is buried in the Forest Lawn Cemetery? He is buried in Section F. "Today, there are more than 10,000 trees in Forest Lawn, representing 200 different species and varieties and making the cemetery an important arboretum. One tree, an American beech, became Buffalo’s winning tree in the country’s bicentennial, when it was confirmed to have been standing in 1776" (http://www.forest-lawn.com/?select=about&data=history). 

Did you know that Artvoice Newspaper is Buffalo's oldest and largest weekly newspaper? It was founded in 1990. It has been holding the Artie Awards for 19 years now. It has a circulation of 65,000. And if you're Artvoice Newspaper's friend on Facebook now you can get 3 of the "How Well do you know Artvoice Newspaper" questions right! Become it's friend here: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1782521299&ref=ts. If you check out the website there are plenty of pretty still life pictures like this one: 

                                                                              

Which reminds me of a Buffalo photographer who is ALWAYS at the Allentown Art Festival (which is this weekend!) and has wonderful images of the historical locations in Buffalo. I can't wait to see if he has any new pictures this year. Also, my mom's friend, Alison Kurek, has a booth every year which features a ton of clay and print pieces focusing on cats. I have a bunch of her stuff and she is really talented. Find some of it here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5219717  if you don't have time to visit any of the art festivals in Buffalo this summer. There are adorable ornaments, magnets, little knick knacks, powerful photographs (not of cats), and some jewelry. 

                                        

It's always nice to support not only local spots (like the culural locations such as the museums, library, zoo and so on) but also local artists, local newspapers, and just take advantage of the freebies that are around your area. Which reminds me that I am still pissed at my boyfriend for not knowing about the Teen Lit Festival in Rochester in April! You can bet your booty that I am going next year!