All I Want for Christmas

I've been compiling my christmas wishlist. Here are a few of the things I wish I could have!

I want this Liz Claiborne dress from JCPenneys! Tried it on in the store and it looks much better in real life than it does in this picture. It's super cute and feminine. Since the store didn't have my size I'd have to buy it online, although they've been changing the online price of it constantly. The other day it was like 49 and today its 59. So annoying.

I want these dolce vita boots! On sale from 200 down to 119. They only have size 8.5 left, whcih means if I want them I better order them now because they are selling out. Another problem is I don't really have anywhere to wear them (especially now that I no longer live in NYC). I suppose I could wear them around, although I've never been someone who wears high heels out shopping. BUT I could wear them to art shows.




I want this book! Not much to see here, yes it is a boring cover.



This little kit. Don't be fooled! It comes with a miniature anatomically correct skeleton which is useful for anatomy studies. Several artists have recommended it.



This book is sold by the Met and I got to take a peek inside of it. It has a bunch of drawings, which are amazing to look at.



This book has a ton of examples of fabric prints, which would be very useful for me.



I need a new camera! My camera is about 6-7 years old and I can't even buy the battery pack or SD cards for it anymore. This is a picture of the HD Hero 2 camera, which is actually mainly used for outdoor filming, but I wouldn't mind having it for everyday use. It's only 299.00 which is a far cry from the other camera I want, a Canon 5D which is thousands. Oh, wishful thinking!



Here is another book that would be fun to have.

All of these books are really only the tip of the iceberg. there are a ton of figure drawings and anatomy books I want, plus music CD's. If only I were rich!

Life of A Tortured Artist

I think I’m becoming a tortured artist. At least for the time being. Maybe it’s a phase that will pass, I don’t know. I’ve been trying to study art as much as possible and read books in the library about artists and techniques and the more I study and observe other artists work I have begun to question my own purpose in what I am creating.

Every artist has a vision right? Ideas pop into their heads or they are commissioned to do a piece on a certain subject. They think of an idea that has meaning, and a purpose. Some artists create pieces that may not have a purpose, and I’ve seen many other artists frown upon this. I’m not very eloquent with my words and I find it hard to express my point, but in short, there are many artists out there who create “vacuous art” where they really enjoy what they are creating, but it doesn’t seem to have a point. There’s no central idea or purpose behind the pretty picture. The picture may look great, but is it there just to look pretty and neat or is it there to convey an idea and a message? When I create something, I want people to like it, but also to feel what the piece is trying to say. If the piece doesn’t say anything, then they won’t feel anything. They will look at it and say ‘wow that’s cool,’ and then move on.

Another problem with vacuous art is that it is very comfortable for the artist to create. Thus, they get caught in a trap of making the same old pictures over and over. They think, as long as people like it and I feel comfortable making it, it should be okay. And so they never take risks or even try to change or push themselves out of the comfort zone. Look at Thomas Kinkade: He painted cute little cottages in the same old gaudy colors over and over and over. Since a lot of people liked his paintings he never bothered to do anything different or experiment in another direction. He figured that if it sells, it’s perfectly fine to create the same thing continuously. So the question is, is this okay? Or is he a “sell-out” who really has no thought or care about what he creates? Will people look at him and think: “wow, these cottages have so much meaning. The pastel blues and pinks give me a sense that while the cottage seeks to find comfort in its wooded glen, there is turmoil and a profound sense of grief in its mossy windows.” They probably won’t, because why bother to explain the meaning of a painting when there is none?

Here are a few examples of art that, while technically are very well done, do not seem to express a purpose or idea, let alone any emotion:

Vacuous girls

What I have realized, is that I’m probably guilty of this. I create “pretty pictures” and while I think they look neat, I don’t feel like any of them have a point. After comparing my work to others, I see that what I create doesn’t have a spirit, a message. I create a picture while doodling and then there it is: a beautiful person. But with no soul, and no message to the viewer. I don’t want to be a creator of vacuous girls. I want symbolism, emotion, feeling, warning, passion, purpose. Look at this work from the Slav Epic by Alphonse Mucha. Although he created many a poster of pretty women, he was quite capable of taking his art in an entirely different direction. How do you feel looking at this after you’ve examined the vacuous girls?

There is another problem that I have and that is direction. Many artists go through phases of what they like to create. Their work evolves as they explore new avenues. Much of what I have created is years old. And while I have started to produce work again, I feel as though I’m creating everything in the exact same way as I was before. My technique, work and subject hasn’t changed in about 5 years, and that is frightening to me. So I have been creating pictures of pretty people. But what is next? I have to somehow find the path that will lead me to create something I never have before in a whole new way.

I will be honest and say I really don’t like anything that I have been making recently. But the good news is that they say that if you are disgusted with your work, then they say you are making progress, getting better and it's a good thing. I really hope that’s true, and that I get better.

Like many people, sometimes I struggle with feelings of jealousy. Some artists out there seem to be more talented, prolific, smarter, cooler, and popular than me and even at a much younger age. It's hard not to feel immensely deficient when I see these kinds of people. I know that you shouldn't compare yourself to others but sometimes I think it is rather necessary so that you can see at what rate you are progressing. Most of the time I'm okay with who I am and what I do, but at other times there is an immense cloud of doubt hanging over my head and when I look at the "cool kids" I begin to wonder how I ever ended up where I'm at.

There is a girl in one of my classes who thinks it's wrong for someone to call themselves an artist. She said that the label of artist can only be applied to you by other people and that there are too many people who can't create anything yet call themselves an artist. Would others call me an artist? I don't know that they would, because I don't create enough pieces. Yet, I think I'm an artist because I have an artistic talent. (whether or not I use it all of the time.) Maybe I should only be a part-time artist, a hobbyist. But why have only a partial talent? Why not rely on it completely like so many others do every single day?

Okay, now I feel like I'm going in a million different directions, so I better stop writing! Laters!

Arkaik Clothing - A Review

So this is kind of a random off topic blog post, and it's more like a small thought. Today I went to the post office to mail a letter and I saw someone in line who had 3 large storage bins of kraft envelopes. Naturally I was slightly interested in what they could be sending with so much stuff. And I also wondered why they didn't have the postal service come directly to them to pick up the envelopes when it's so easy to do. (as well as buy shipping labels online.)

I took a peek at the envelopes as I was walking out and saw that they were being sent from Arkaik Clothing. Since I'm interested in independent clothing companies I thought I would google them and see what they are all about. I came home, looked them up and was mildly interested in what they had to offer. The owner is rather young, still in college and they operate out of Tempe. Apparently his business is doing well enough that he's got a number of employees working for him. Plus, he was mailing 3 bins of clothing!

I was pretty impressed by everything that I saw but there were a few problems. I would probably write them a letter if they had any contact info on their website. Well, if they ever happen to see this post then here are my friendly suggestions for them:

Dear Arkaik:

1. I will assume that maybe your website is brand new, because a lot of the links on your website don't work properly or are slightly confusing.

• When I click on the Careers tab it takes me to the "about" page. Whether or not you are hiring, it doesn't take long to make a seperate page just for this section.
• Clicking on the Artist Sponsorship tab at the bottom, it also takes me to the "about" page. Annoying! After some digging I found out that you have a very talented designer working for you. Why not feature him on this page? If you aren't sponsoring new artists then you may as well take off the link. The "Family>Artist Sponsorship" tab at the top shows a bunch of clothing labels, but it doesn't make sense. Are these clothing labels designed by other artists? Are those the artist's code names? I don't get it.
• The "Help" tab brings you to a "page not found." NOT good. You want to make it easy for people who need help to get help! It makes your company ethic look questionable.
• Clicking on "Shop" it brings me to a section with the different clothing categories. Very nice! I scroll down and click on "Girls" and bam, 0 products. None!? Are you sold out? Maybe you should say "new line coming soon" and when. So then I click on "shorts" and once again, "page not found."
• WHY do you have a picture of a guy (yourself?) on the Girls Tee's section? I will assume that all T-shirts in this area are mens sizes and fitting which will make me not want to buy.

2. While it's not necessary that you have the mens t-shirts modeled on guys, you should definitely have all of your female shirts modeled. Girls like to see the clothes modeled on other girls so they can understand how it will fit. For each shirt for sale you should have a picture of it on a girl, and if you so choose, another picture of it laying flat. I'm not likely going to buy a t-shirt that hasn't been modeled because I have no idea if it's actually a chick T or a mens size small. And trust me, they fit very differently!

3. Girls modeling the t-shirts should be free of tons of jewelry, piercings, and minimal tattoos. I'm aware that your apparel line is geared towards an edgier crowd, but I looked on your facebook and sometimes the girls you have modeling look....honestly a little overdone and "ew." The girls should look clean and refined with a little bit of sass.

4. It's nice that you have owned your own clothing business since 16 and yes, that is quite an accomplishment for such a young age. However, I keep seeing you blasting this information on all of your websites and it becomes a little annoying since it is rather irrelevant information to your company. On every website I visit I see stuff like:

".... and started it when I was 16!"

"20 Year old owner of Arkaik Clothing" 

"At the mere age of 16...."

"At just 20 years old..."

etc, etc...Okay so the thing is, you can really only tout your age for so long. Once you hit about 25 I would suggest you stop making a big deal of your age because at that point, there are a lot of other young people who have their own businesses by then and the cool factor has worn off.

 

5. Okay last thing I want to ask you: Why are you using American Apparel T-shirts? While some people don't give a hoot about American Apparel, you are losing out on the ones that do. Many people now refuse to buy american apparel because of their shady business dealings and seedy marketing tactics. The A.A. owner is pretty well known as a total scumbag. Why are you supporting him? You should take some effort into finding a more reputable clothing line that you can print your designs on. I like some of your designs and would buy but I really don't want to buy your t-shirts because I refuse to support A.A. Here are some more links about them if you aren't aware:

http://clamormagazine.org/issues/38/aa/straub.php
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_26/b3939108_mz017.htm

Anyway I guess my small thought has turned into a large entry. And I really would have liked to send this in an email to your company, but you don't have a Contact section on your website. (Add it.) Well, until we pass by in the post office again, hope this helps for now.

Sincerely,

~The post office voyeur~

Blogger is so cray!

Yikes! Blogger has changed EVERYTHING about their layout! I'm not sure what to make of this...hopefully this will be a good thing since half the time I have problems with its functionality.

Okay so I realize that I haven't posted anything in a while. Is there any point in apologizing? Because I might just disappear again. I've been very busy with school and haven't done anything to my garden except for cut all the plants down. BUT the good news is that it's getting cooler here (as in the 90's, LOL!) so I might be able to do more stuff outside eventually. The strange thing about arizona is how fast it can cool down here. One day it will be 100, and then a few storms come in and then suddenly it's 90 and it doesn't go back up. I swear last fall the temperature went down by 30 degrees in one night.

I've also gained some sort of "junior 15," and I have a new goal to try and start jogging in the mornings to stay fit. I had bought a pair of running shorts and was all set to go when all of a sudden I came down with a mysterious illness. After that went away then I bruised my heel.....and well long story short, I'm apparently a sickly child and I haven't been able to start exercising. =(  I'm sure in another week or so I will be okay and I can begin. I'd really love to go jogging over in this industrial area close to where I live, because there is little traffic and it's quiet with a bunch of large factories all in a few blocks. However, it sounds like the perfect place to get grabbed by some wierdo also, especially if I'm by myself in the wee hours of the morn. So, I think I will just stick to the residential blocks.

I've also been busy with art. I'm trying to catch up on 10 years of doing very little hard-core drawing and studying. Last night I started a figure drawing class and it was really interesting to see what kind of students showed up. I thought the drawing sessions would be really popular, but there were only like 6-8 people who came. I was rather disappointed and surprised. There's a ton of art students at my college and they should be studying this. Where are they?? Even my grad-student drawing teacher apparently has something better to do on wednesdays nights than draw. (I've seen his work, and trust me he could use some practice! heheh!) Maybe I should do another post later on the kinds of artists you see that show up to these sessions. They can really be characters!

Okay so in closing, here is a picture of my garden:

See! I wasn't joking! It's all gone. There are some remains of a pepper plant, but thats it. Okay gotta run now, ttyl!

The beginning of Fall semester

Once again, many apologies for not updating. It’s mostly due to the fact that I’m not going outside as much these days since it is at least 100 degrees every day. Pretty much the only time it is even remotely cool is at 5 am, however I hardly ever get around to waking up at that time! I also lost my battery cable to my camera so I couldn’t charge the battery. I’ve found the cable now, BUT I’ve lost my camera.

I’ve started the process of killing my plants and throwing them into our compost bin. Since they are no longer bearing acceptable fruit, I’ve cruelly started to take each of their lives. It’s mean, I know…but I don’t see much point in keeping them alive if they aren’t producing anything. My zucchinis were actually still doing great, however since it’s too hot to go outside I haven’t been able to take care of them. So one of them was covered (every square inch) in aphids and the other had become the new home of dozens of squash bugs. So I had to perform a mercy killing of both. If it was cooler outside I would have stopped the bugs, but I pretty much chose the cool house over the health of my plants. I suppose that is mean of me. I don’t feel that bad though, because my plants are going right into the compost and helping whatever future plants I may grow. So it’s not like I’m really wasting anything.

I’ve also been taking summer classes, which are over now and have left me with a gaping void. Soon this void should be filled with my fall classes that will start this week. I’m pretty excited about going back to school but there are a few things that I could do without. I also noticed a funny thing- that I’m taking 1, 2, 3, and 400 level classes this semester. That’s pretty amusing since 100 level is for freshmen and 400 is for seniors. One thing that I’m super tired of is required classes that have nothing to do with my major and I also have to take an elementary drawing class (100 level) which will likely be full of non-art majors. It’s difficult to be in these classes as a somewhat experienced artist because you get to hear a lot of the younger students complaining that they aren’t as good and how they don’t care to even try because art isn’t their major anyway.

Another class I’m not excited for is my Introduction to Digital media class. (another 100 level class) They don’t have a real instructor teaching this class, it is just grad student. Actually…I wonder if my drawing class will be taught by a grad student too….hmmm. Not good. I’m not a fan of grad student teachers. I almost took this class last year and I remember that the guy who was teaching it was a California surfer/skate bum who really didn’t have much of an agenda. He told us to just “play around” with photoshop and create our first assignment. In my opinion, I can “just play around” in photoshop any time. But I would actually appreciate some instruction on how to use it too. Plus the computer lab we were in had nothing but mac computers, which I usually despise.

Long story short, much of the classes I’m taking I have already taken before since I’m a transfer student. So I’m very impatient to get to the good stuff- classes that I’ve never had before. One class that I’m excited about is my Greek art class which is bound to be lots of fun. Over the summer I took an art history course that I really enjoyed and I learned about a lot of incredible artists. I love Greek sculpture so this should be great!

Okay well that’s enough writing for now. Later I’ll have to do a review on Project Runway or something, but when I'm in a better mood. ;)

The TMB project- A review

I should be studying right now but I need a little literary break. I must write about something! So that something will be the Mormon Bachelorette. Yes! I simply must blog about it. At first when I heard about The Mormon Bachelorette it was just starting out and I thought the whole idea was hilarious, but at the same time I knew that it could work since someone I know carried out a successful similar experiment. (see 31 dates in 31 days)

When I started reading "TMB," Aubrey was their first test subject. I found it kind of puzzling that Aubrey hadn't found true love yet. She was gorgeous, outgoing, smart, spiritual, and in all ways everything that I thought a man would be looking for in a wife. 'How is she still single?,' I thought....but quickly I remembered that I've known many other women similar to her in personality and looks that have found themselves in the same singlehood conundrum. I don't know what is is about some of the girls I know. They are attractive, have great jobs and goals in life, just all around really awesome women. BUT they haven't been able to snag a husband. I've kind of thought that maybe men are just afraid of women like these. Like maybe they just don't believe they can stand up to the measure of the woman. What is that word I'm always looking for? Oh yeah- intimidated. Are guys really intimidated by these women or is there some other problem going on here? I just can't figure it out.

Anyway, so I spent pretty much the whole first season of TMB ogling over Aubrey’s wardrobe and nonstop cute dates. In fact I was a little frustrated that I didn't know where she bought her clothes and I was kind of wishing that they would post that information. Something like, as seen on Aubrey: top by H&M $25, swimsuit by billabong, $79.....you get the drift. Pretty much every single outfit that she wore I too wanted. The next season was a bachelor, and I don't really care much for mens clothes and now the new bachelorette doesn't appear to have a very thrilling wardrobe. Yes, quite boring.

I felt bad when Aubrey went out on a date with the cute-crowd-favorite camera man and then later chose someone else, and pretty envious when she finally chose her now *spoiler!!!* husband. Although I have to say I knew it would happen, because she and Matt have similar facial features, and they say that you are attracted to and marry people who look like yourself. Oh and in saying that I think that the current bachelorette Ashley will probably hit it off well with her date #5 Derrick, because he resembles her.

Okay anyway so I never really watched much of season two. I guess I felt like the bachelor wasn't really ready to get tied down. He seemed to just be having fun & enjoying the plethora of girls rather than taking it very seriously. On the TMB they say that he's still dating his chosen winner, but I have a feeling like they won't make it to the altar. Some guys just don't want to make a commitment and I have a feeling he's a commitment-phobe. BUT I could be wrong.

I was sad when Larry the camera guy announced that he had gotten married. (because I may have wanted to marry him- he's pretty cute.)

And with the new season with Ashley I really miss the editing of the first two seasons. Pretty much all the videos of the dates now consist of 75% camera shots of strange things like: a fork, a set of chairs, chandelier, or video of some other random stranger sitting in the grass while they are in the park. I wouldn't say that it's pretentious hipster editing, but it comes pretty close. I would like to see more interaction between her and her dates and more talking. On some dates you just hear them saying a few things to each other and that’s it. BORING!! And how do I know if they had any connection or not while all I'm seeing on the screen is still clips of food on their plates at the restaurant??

AND that goes for some of the guys application videos as well. Some of the videos were like 7 minute long photo slideshows showing the male applicant in different places and settings, but that was it...there was no "hi, I'm John and I work at a computer store, I like to snowboard, go for walks on the beach and skydive." Ya know, an oral introduction! Guys let me tell you if you make a video about yourself with just pictures, it doesn't tell us anything about where you are from, what you do for a living, or if your voice sounds like michael jackson's. There are lots of things that we cannot figure out just by seeing a bunch of your mission photos from ten years ago, okay? Thanks.

So today I visited TMB to see the latest date. I was a little surprised to see this:

__________
If you are interested in being the next Mormon Bachelor or Bachelorette apply through our website today! Temple marriage is only 22 first dates, 8 second dates and 1 final date away!

Here's to finding True Mormon Love!

If you don't want to be the next Mormon Bachelor/ette but are still 1. Mormon 2. Single 3. Ready to get married - get in Tristen's database here (link removed)
__________

Uhhhhh......yeah. I'm sure they are only joking when they say that your temple marriage is only 22 first dates away (I think but I'm not sure). But I think they need to just calm down a little bit because I feel like they are giving some kind of sales pitch. Even if you go on the show then it doesn't mean you absolutely will get married and find the one guy for you. They've only had one person out of two get married and that's hardly a well established history of 100% guaranteed temple marriage. Also, their new dating advisor/matchmaker is single herself which is good in that she knows what we are going through, but also could be viewed as negative in that she hasn't even found her own true love (and that makes me feel a bit skeptical). But hey, at least she's concerned for us. I was reading another LDS dating advice blog for a while which was run by a freshly married girl, and eventually I think she kind of ran out of ideas on what to blog about. Because let’s face the truth: once you find your own true love then you stop thinking about the single persons marriage plight. You are married, free of the constraint of having to find 'the one' and now the only thing that is probably on your mind is how you and your new husband are going to start your new life together. Just the facts.

I now feel relieved of my urge to talk about this subject and I might even confess that I ... sort of want to be the next mormon bachelorette. After all, 31 dates is all that it should take, right?

Sorry for lack of posts again. I've moved into my big room and I'm adjusting to it and my new classes. Summer classes are crazy busy, and I'm taking a math class which could mean certain death. I hate math! But, I'm telling myself over and over right now that I love it in hopes that I'll convince myself. Besides, if I pass this class then I will never have to take math again! That should be incentive enough to plow through it.

So the only thing I'd like to post about right now is the dust storm that happened a few days ago. It was about 8:00 or so when all of a sudden it got really windy and the chairs in our backyard were blowing away. It sounded crazy, so I looked outside and the sky was dark and full of dust everywhere in the air! As soon as I opened the door then dust blew in everywhere (my roommate later made the same mistake). It got everything dirty and I had even forgotten to turn off the AC unit in my new room, so it blew dust and dirt into my room after I had just mopped the entire thing. It was pretty gross. Afterwards there was a layer of dirt on everything outside, and my car looked horrible! It turns out that this was the worst dust storm in a long time according to the natives here. My roommate said that the last time she experienced a storm like that was in like 1996 or something. Here is a youtube video of a person driving into the storm (time lapse):

Another from farther away:



I really wish I had been able to see it approaching. It looks pretty cool when you look at it from far away. I heard that afterwards everyones pool were pretty gross and it took them a few days to clean up the huge layer of dirt at the bottom. But anyway thats all the news I can write about now. I have to get back to studying! (Yes, even on a friday night. =(  )

P.S. The dust storms are called "haboobs." You learn something new everyday!

And school begins!

I've been working for the past year trying to get my state residency changed so that I can go back to school and not have to pay 10k a semester as an out of state student. I had originally thought I would only live in Arizona for two years at most and then finish my degree, but my eyes were soon opened to the fact that it would be more like 4 years. I wasn't sure if I would get residency for this fall. After all, I had a lot of difficulty finding a job after I quit school and was unemployed for two months. I wasn't sure if that would count against me. However, I finally got the letter in the mail and I'm happy enough to say (for tuition purposes) I'm an Arizona resident now.

This is a huge deal. I love school and it broke my heart that I had to leave- but to pay that much per semester for a state school would have been crazy. I feel like my life is now beginning again. The past year has felt rather uneventful and I feel like much of my time and energy was wasted on a job that wore me out and almost ruined my ability to draw and paint ever again. Did I accomplish anything? Not really. I have lived here for two years now. I lived in New York City for two years and when I compare what has happened here in that amount of time, in all honesty New York was much more of a life changer. Two years here have been a difficult learning experience. Two years in New York was like a dream. But then they always say that you just remember the good things about the past and the grass is always greener on the other side. Anyway I'm excited to start living again and this summer I will try to take classes at the local community college (I'm able to take 4 classes there before I max out on transferrable credit/requirements) and then in the fall I will continue with classes at ASU. I will also need to get a part time job.

This year I will also be turning the big 3-0. A major milestone...I've lived pretty much a third of my life! Hopefully... Unless I die earlier, lol.  The idea of turning thirty is rather scary. I guess I don't really want to talk about it much. Let me just say that this is the year that I need to evaluate my life and what I've been doing and where I plan to go. It's time to start thinking seriously about the future and how I will be supporting myself (making a career out of what I do). I can't continue to work lame jobs forever, I need to grow up. So I'm going to be paying more attention to my goals. And that means being much more productive as an artist, and focusing on my own talents and the things that *I* should be doing.

This little boy is my model of motivation this year:

The sunflowers, and what became of them

My sunflowers did a few things I was never expecting, such as blooming multiple flowers on one stem. They looked great and I really wanted to cut them and put them in a vase and paint them. But I only had a few and felt that cutting them would be too mean for my first sunflowers ever. So I let them be and eventually they died of old age.

I thought that the birds would be attracted to them (especially the largest one) but I was wrong. A few times I saw a bird perched on the biggest one, but I never saw any missing seeds from any of the old blooms. Maybe the birds knew something that I did not- that most of the seeds were empty! It's true...after they died I took all the seeds off of them to inspect them. They looked terrific from the outside, but on the inside there was nothing to be found. Out of every 20 seeds or so, 1-2 of them actually had seeds in them. The rest were hollow, and if you pressed each one hard enough, you could "pop" it with your thumb and index finger. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but it was kind of disappointing. Oh well.

I have more sunflower seeds which I'll probably grow and then cut & paint the flowers...however I learned that it's pretty hard to grow them here because I'll have to keep them protected from the evil mystery insect that likes to eat them. I can do that well enough with tulle baggies that I've sewn.

All of the dead sunflowers. Ready for harvest!

Big fat husks- too bad they don't contain anything!

The empty sunflower bloom looks so cool with its strange geometric pattern.

Regular Cherry Tomatoes

It looks like my once flourishing cherry tomatoes have now lived their life. With the coming of the burgeoning heat and the limitations of their pots, I think they are rather overwhelmed and no longer have the strength to churn out pounds of fruit. They are all clearly dying. They still have been producing quite a bit, although the tomatoes aren't getting as ripe as they were before. The ones that I've been picking are still a little tart and yellow, no matter how long I wait for them to become more ripe.

I've learned a lot from my cherry tomatoes. Next time I grow them I should probably provide them with more support than just cages, and it wouldn't hurt to place them next to a wall. They grew much more than I expected them to, and because of this it became much more of a puzzle of how to get them to stay up and not fall over.

I had about 4 pounds in the refridgerator that I was planning to take to church, but I forgot to take them and after a few days I decided I would just throw them into the compost. I know it's a huge waste, but nobody wanted to eat them and I didn't think they would last another week. I also cut off a lot of my big tomatoes, some eggplants, small peppers, eggplants and zucchini in as well. My peppers have not been doing well and of course once again I tried spraying them with soapy water- but this killed half the leaves on them. I can never get the soapy water trick to work. They have been producing peppers, but either the sun is scorching them, or they have blossom end rot and I need to get them some fertilizer.

Anyway, sorry no pictures for this post... but yeah...I'm a little tired of tomatoes right now! hah.

Dreaming about my new room! and...drama?

At the beginning of July I will be trading rooms in the house I live in. Currently I'm in the smallest bedroom, but will be moving on up to the largest which used to be the garage but has been converted. I do feel pretty bad for my roommate who is moving out of it and into my room though...but she was told that I would be moving in in July by my landlady- so it's not like I'm forcing her out against her will. She's known about it all along. However, my moving into the largest room isn't completely unnoticed by the others. I think one of my roommates was pretty jealous when she heard about it. She has what is considered to be the master bedroom, but every now and then she expresses dissatisfaction with it. Such as the bathroom is too small, she has an ant problem, the room gets too hot, etc. And so anyway, I could tell she wanted the largest room because she told her sister who is moving in that they could possibly share it (Even while she KNEW that I would be moving in there). Well, she then decided that she didn't want to share with her sister and talked about having the room to herself, etc. etc.... The story goes on from there but there's not much need in talking about it. The only way I'm giving up that room is if I decide to move to Utah or some other state.

I can fit in my present room, however the closet doesn't fit all of my clothes and I REALLY want to paint, and I'm afraid to paint in a room with carpet (the big room has a fake wood laminate) and I really want to unpack my drawing desk which I haven't been able to use for a few years. I still haven't unpacked it from when I shipped it from New York City. I could probably fit everything in my little room if I had a loft bed, but it would still be very cramped and not a comfortable work environment.

Anyway, so my landlady is updating the bathroom and closet because the closet is pretty much useless and the bathroom is a tad....strange. There is a door that leads out from the room to the outside, and it needs to be replaced as well.

I'm already thinking of ways to decorate. My current plan is to split the room into two parts. One section will have my bed, dresser and nightstand and then the other will have my computer desk, drawing table, and possibly even another desk for painting on. (Or an easel? Although I really don't like using them for some reason.) My reason for splitting the room is that :

1. It's big enough, so why not?
2. I like to keep my work environment separate from my 'home' environment.
3. The room echoes and dividing it would dampen that effect.

I just don't like to be doing homework, or drawing and then look over and see my bed. Sometimes I draw on my bed, which I don't do for pleasure but for the lack of sitting space. And that's not good because it just makes you tired. With two areas, I can clearly define the function for each space: One is work, the other sleep and relaxing.

So my new task is to find a good way of dividing the room. At first I thought maybe a curtain would do, but would that be too cheesy and teenager-ish? I saw a terrific tablecloth and bought it thinking I could use that- and I could, but it still lacks some sophistication. Plus, it's only one sided. So I went to ikea's website (oh ikea, you solve everything in my life!) and they have a GREAT idea. They have room dividing panel curtains!

Here are some examples:

These are just a few. This panels can be mounted on a sliding metal bracket and attached to the ceiling so that they can move. But I could probably hang them with a few thumbtacks just as well. They are super long, too- which is good because the ceilings are about 100 inches tall. AND they are cheap, priced as little as 3.99 each. Woohoo!

Here are some ideas for floorplans (Large pics so you can see) :

As you can tell, I'm super excited to move in. I'm nervous and I'm afraid once I get in there I won't know what to do with myself. But I've been waiting for this room for a year, so I just don't know what to do with myself!

The giant zucchini attacks!

My zucchini has been doing well- although since it was crowding out my eggplants, I had to cut off a bunch of leaves and even a small stalk (or vine, rather) that was not budding anything. Also, the leaves of the zucchini have become the home of hundreds if not thousands of whiteflies. I'm not sure how to kill them. When I move the leaves to spray then they just fly out and land somewhere else. I've also discovered hoards of aphids living on the bottom leaves that touch the ground. I tried my best to spray all the leaves with soapy water- but I think that all these insects are leading to other problems. I found some dark sooty spots both on my zucchini leaves and eggplant leaves and I'm not sure what it is, but I think it was caused by the aphids and whiteflies. I'm trying to correct everything, but it's hard. And frankly if everything were to die at this point, I think I'd be okay because I've got tons of produce from all my plants and they have definitely lived up to expectations. (Well beyond that, actually.)

While I was gone, behold by some miracle my zucchini got smart and started to pollinate itself...or some kind of mystery insect did the job, because I got a few of them while I was gone, and there was even a giant one that popped out of nowhere. Behold, pictures of the royal majesty:

Those were my first eggplant and pepper. My roommate cut them off, however she didn't bother to refridgerate either of them, so by the time I got home I had to recycle them into the compost.

I measured it and trust me....it was huge!

It ended up being 18 inches long and 13 inches around at it's widest point.

I cut it open thinking that the seeds would be really large and thus the zucchini would be difficult to eat, however....I was wrong! The seeds were small and I probably could have easily eaten it still.

However, I have tons and tons of zucchini in the freezer, so I had no choice but to put it into the compost. =(  Oh well. I wonder how big it would have gotten if it hadn't have been cut!

If I have lots more zucchini, I think I'll take it to church and put a free sign on it! I just don't know if I can take any more!

My TALL cherry tomatoes

I've now discovered the difference between indeterminate tomatoes and determinate ones. These are clearly indeterminate because they are growing up to the sky. When I came back from vacay, then I had them on a six foot pole which was sagging backwards due to the weight and length of the plants. I went to Lowes and bought an 8 or 9 foot? pole...whatever was the tallest they had and then came back and tried to prop it up with the help of another wooden stake.

Poor thing was toppling over when I got back.

Staked up and looking much better.

I really didn't want them to grow any taller. I mean, while it's amazing that they have even reached this height, I haven't planted them in a good area, nor do I have the ability to allow it to keep growing so tall. So while I do wish I could let them keep growing, I had no choice but to cut off the tops to stop them. If they grow any higher then it will be too difficult to take care of them. They are truly interesting-looking though, and sometimes I wonder if they came out of the jack and the giant beanstalk fairytale.
Here are some of the tomatoes on them:

Before I left, I cut off two bunches of their tomatoes and put them in my closet. According to my mom, you can take tomatoes that are green, wrap them up in newspaper (usually individually) and then put them in your closet where they will get ripe over a longer period of time. And it's true! It really worked.

Before unwrapping. I was so nervous opening them!

 When I unwrapped the tomatoes, I was afraid that they would be moldy- but they weren't! In fact, they were all perfectly ripe! The experiment was a success! However, on a major low note......they didn't taste so good. Unfortunately they had pretty much no flavor at all. If they tasted like anything, it was a cardboardy-dusty taste. NOT appetizing. So while I saved these tomatoes and was able to eat them myself, they didn't taste so great and maybe it wasn't worth the bother since they ended up tasting so poorly.

They look great! But taste? Not so much.

But anyway, overall I like the way these tall indeterminates look, because they are definitely interesting (a little out of the ordinary) and their height is impressive. Since I've been back I've been able to taste the ones that come off directly from the vine and they taste great! I've been eating them in salads every day. My plan to eat more vegetables by having my garden is definitely working.

On to the Garden! - My regular tomatoes

Okay what I'm going to do for a few posts is have a different post for each plant in my garden so that I won't have to do one big whopping post for the whole entire thing. This post will focus on my regular tomatoes.

My regular tomatoes are doing great, however I've noticed that many of them have large cracks in them where it looks as though they have burst open. This might be because they got too much water- and they probably split when they started to be watered by timer rather than me doing it by hand. It's okay though. While they don't look very visually pleasing, it doesn't really affect the inside of the tomato unless ants or some other bug tries to eat it. Each tomato plant has lots of fruit on it, maybe about 15 tomatoes each. Two of my plants are starting to grow tall, and another two aren't growing tall at all because I accidently cut off the tops of them thinking they were suckers. (oops!) But that's okay, I probably don't need more tomatoes at this point.

When I came back from my trip, one of the tomatoes was falling over in its cage and was being supported by my old big sunflower. I went to Lowes and bought some more wooden stakes which have become lifesavers. Tomato cages can only help so much.

I've added stakes into the ground to support my plants. This is my before picture where I stuck the stakes in but haven't tied anything to them yet.

Here you can see where I started to tie up the tomatoes.

I've already had a few of the large tomatoes ripen, however one I threw away due to pesky insects, and the other is in the fridge and I confess I haven't tried to eat it yet, but maybe I will tonight. Here are some pictures of the tomatoes I have on the vines:

One of my (new) roommates mentioned she tried to grow tomatoes once but apparently the birds kept taking bites out of them. I haven't had any problems with the birds eating my tomatoes at all- which has kind of surprised me.

Words I misspell

Did I spell misspell right?

Without the aid of microsoft words spellcheck, I would be a horrible speller. In fact I'm probably making dozens of mistakes right now because I'm not using it to type this out. But I've noticed that I continue to misspell the same words continually no matter how many times I see them written out. Finally I decided that I would make a list of all these words just for fun. Here are the words in their misspelt fashion:

1. recomended

2. dissappear

3. proffessor

4. liscence / lisence

5. milennium

6. wierd (I mean I always thought it was I before E except after C, you know??)

7. neccessarily

8. dissappointed

9. moniter

10. docter

11. seperates / seperate

12. definately / definitly

13. recognise (now that I google this, it appears to be spelled okay? I'm not sure now.)

14. occasionaly

*I should also note that for some reason when I was younger, I used to spell catalog as catalogue. I don't think that wore off until the end of highschool.

When I look at that list, half of those words look right to me. I have problems with using multiple letters in succesion.....succsession...wait........succession. ARGH! like cc's, epe's, ff's, and ss's. I don't expect to ever start spelling these correctly. But I just wonder if anyone else has the same problem with them like me. Don't worry though, I NEVER spell 'lose' as 'loose' and I'm proud of at least that accomplishment. I also say the proper 'anyway' instead of 'anyways,' due to my friend teasing me about it in highschool. However, do make the grammatical mistake of saying 'on accident' rather than the correct 'by accident.'

After researching the on/by accident issue, I found an interesting website that lists a lot of spelling and grammatical errors.

I'M BACK!

I'm back from the lovely NC where I had a terrific time with friends and family. The weather there was a tad hot, but after living in super HOT Arizona, I was fine with it and I even welcomed the humidity. When I first moved to the East Coast, I really hated humidity and it took me many years to appreciate its positives. I hate humidity for messing up my hair when I try to keep it straight, but I love it for keeping my skin soft and smooth. Arizona dryness gives me lots of wrinkles and I felt like I shed off a few years in my face when I went home. Humidity also makes it easier to breathe. But anyway....on to the good stuff!

Yes, the garden is still alive. However, since I have been gone it has become a jungle out there. It will take me a long time to blog about it- and probably many posts, because there is so much to say. While I compile everything, first I will spend tonight writing about something that I wasn't expecting when I came to North Carolina this summer. That is. . . .

THIS.

It looks creepy right? It's a cicada. BUT not just any cicada. Of course I'm used to the cicadas that pop out every summer and leave their shells on tree branches, but those are different. They are common and typical. However this particular cicada has been waiting underground for 13 years before emerging.

Here's the story: I went home and when I got out of the car I heard this odd, extremely loud sound. Honestly it sounded like a UFO was about to land. The sound was high pitched and didn't sound at all like cicadas. I asked my dad what it was and he told me that it is the sound of the 13 year cicadas and I was completely astonished. Can you believe that insects will live underground for 13 whopping years only to finally emerge, mate and die? All within a few days and weeks? It's wild to think that their entire existence revolves around them mating and dying and then waiting another 13 years. From what I've heard, there are 17 year cicadas as well. That's so crazy!! My dad told me that earlier the sound was much louder- even deafening and at first they had no idea what it was. (My family has only lived in NC since 1999- so we narrowly missed the last time they were there which was in 1998.)

I just couldn't get over it. As I walked around outside there were holes everywhere in the ground where the cicadas had popped out (my moms friend said she was walking her dog when she happened to see a patch of ground where the cicadas were practically pouring out of!), there were many dead ones lying on the ground, others flying weakly away from me as I walked about. On the trees were many empty shells they had shed, still stuck in place on leaves and twigs.

Although I was only in NC for a week and a half, already towards the end of my trip the sound they were filling the air with had cut in half and it wasn't as loud. Most of them had died and in another week or so they will probably be all gone. It will be another long 13 years.

Now for the pictures:

An empty shell.

Lots of empty shells.

Holes in the ground where the Cicadas have emerged.

Okay now brace yourself, because you might find these pictures gross and/or disturbing. But I went to the backyard where I saw a bunch of grubs feasting on a plant. A closer look reveal that they are probably the cicada larvae that have hatched already. I guess they need to eat a lot before they go into the ground!

GROSSS! haha!

Here are some youtube videos where you can hear the sound they make: