Huh. So I Made a Blog a While Back?

Well, things have certainly changed since my last post. For one, the name of this blog should probably be "For a Fine Arts Major, I Should Have a Better Site Design Than This". And I'm no longer going to apologize for bad grammar. After all, I is are be doing the arts now. Who has time for things like proper sentence structure?

On another note, I'm glad to see I was at least a pretty positive person in all of my other posts. Usually when I return to a journal I haven't written in for a while, I find it filled to the brim with angsty, self-pitying entries. So it's good to see I'm no longer like that since entering college.

I probably won't have as many GRE words in here either. Though I read the word "prelapsarian" in "The Economist" recently, and have been wanting to bring it up in conversation ever since. However, I don't talk about the pre-fall days of Adam and Eve too much, so this is turning out to be a rather difficult task.

So. I guess the real question now is, "Why exactly am I updating this now?" For one thing, my memory is selectively awful, and I only just remembered I had this thing. For another, I have to say my life is going pretty darn well right now, and it would be nice to look back on this thing a year or more from now and remember that. While I was in BU, I did enjoy what I was doing, but thinking about the future always left me feeling sort of lost and panicky. Probably because only 10 or so people make it in the creative writing business, and all those rejection letters piling up made it pretty clear that I wasn't going to be one of them. (On another note, I still write poetry from time to time, and am thinking about sending more poems off. This time, however, I plan to see which lit mags are best for emerging poets. Since, you know, sending poems off to AGNI when you're brand spankin' new to the industry is a little cocky. So if anything comes from that, I guess I'll mention it.)

I have a drawing series I'm working on just for kicks and giggles, and yes, I do think it's stupid to take on extra work when I'm already barely sleeping. But I really want to get a good portfolio together, so I think sacrificing a few extra hours is fine.

Which brings me to my next new piece of news, which is this: I'm on eHarmony. How is this dating website linked to having a very busy schedule? It means I have no idea why I actually signed up for this thing. After being on there for two months, I've made absolutely zero progress, and remembered that I don't even think I can fit a boyfriend into the mix. So yeah, no luck. It doesn't help that eHarmony is convinced that I want to be with active people (particularly salsa dancers?) who love baseball.

All right. I'm actually in the middle of drawing now. I'm finished writing this entry that no one's going to check out anyway (aside from me, maybe a year or so down the line.)

Signing off,

Kenny B.

GRE-Angst

Okay, this is probably going to be a short post, but I figure I should update-- mostly because I keep telling other people to post. So yes, as you might have guessed from the title to this post, I'm studying for the GREs. Thank you, Ana, for telling me I should start! I feel productive, and while I figure I'll never use half these words (like "adumbrate"), I figure like these are words I should be familiar with. You know, as an English major. It's also nice, I guess, since there are plenty of words I know that I can't really define. But if you were to ask me right now what "ameliorate" meant, I would let you know that it means "to make better or more tolerable." I'm a walking dictionary at the moment, provided you only want to know the definition for words beginning with the letter "A". My poor family members-- my books suggests that I try to fit these words into daily conversation. I try, but when I can't, I just tell my mother or father the definitions for various words whenever there's a lull in the conversation. 

So other than that, I've been trying to work a little on college apps. I've contacted a few professors and asked them to write recommendations for me. One already agreed, so that's one down. I need to get one or two more to agree to help me out. It's not really an onerous task-- only one page they need to fill out, so I don't think they'll mind. I hate the fact that I have to fill out college apps again, but what can you do? Emerson wants me to write a short essay with the following prompt: if my life were a story, what would I title it and why? I want to say "Great Expectations," but I think that's been taken already. If I come up with a good explanation, I wonder if they'd care. However, since I want to study creative writing, they might want me to be, you know, creative.

Speaking of creative writing, I've had a bit of writer's block recently. I mean, I've been writing - I force myself to - but I've been writing crap. I need to find some good poetry to read, a new author. Which means I need to buy books, but I am also poor. Not that 4 dollars is a lot or anything, but it adds up. 

I may have mentioned in my previous posts that I was reading a German novel. I'm putting that on hold for a while, since I don't want to confuse myself - I mean, I'm studying all these English words for the GRE, so why throw German into the mix? Besides, I'm in the middle of reading Proust at the moment, which is wonderful, so I'd prefer to just focus on that.

Apotheosis - deification, glorification to godliness, the perfect example. (Just thought I'd practice a little. Or give you a taste of what it's like to be around me at the moment. If you missed me before, I'm guessing you don't now. :)

My gmail account is convinced I love spam. As in, the food, not junk email (though it thinks I like that too, I guess.) It keeps sending me recipes such as "spam and french fry casserole." Would anyone eat that? Seriously.

Well, that's it for this post. Not like I have to go off and do something else, I just don't have that much going on for me to report.

-Kenny B.

It Will Not Stop Snowing

Well, as the title of this post states, it has been snowing almost constantly over here. The table out in the backyard has about a foot and a half of snow piled up on it-- I almost took a picture, but then remembered that my camera was out of batteries. I didn't really feel like charging it, so some other time, I suppose. I think it's supposed to snow for a few more days, so it's not as if it's really going anywhere.

The snow has also made me a bit homesick, seeing as Boston is usually covered in the stuff (well, not so much this year, but it was almost always storming the year before last.) It's not that I really miss having to walk a mile or so through slush and over ice patches, but Boston equals bad weather in my mind, and it's hard to think of one without thinking of the other. Things are slow here. Not to say that things are bad, they're not, but I don't really feel like I'm getting anything done or doing anything worthwhile. Sure, I read, embroider, write, etc, but still-- I don't know, I'm babbling. Haha, perhaps it's the lack of social interaction that's getting to me.

Speaking of social interaction, my dad might get a job in the NY/NJ area, and if he does, my mother said that I might be able to fly out with him sometime and visit friends. Ana, if you aren't dead next semester from stress, I'd like to stay with you at some point! You, Hil, and I need to spend some time together. How'd your storyboard go, by the way? Do you have a plot for your piece yet?

Now for some not-so-good news: my rabbit seems sick, and I'm not sure exactly what's wrong. She has had quite a bit of diarrhea as of late, and she doesn't seem terribly lively. I've been taking good car of her (at least, I feel as if I am) so I'm not really sure what's causing the problem. I know she's getting up there in years-- she's five, and while rabbits can live up to ten years, she's been sick for a while. The vet always says she's fine when we bring her, so I guess that means I'm overreacting. Hopefully she'll be all right.

On to less serious matters, then. My phone is dead right now, so if you try to call me, I won't pick up (since it's sort of, you know, impossible.) Email me instead, or send me a message through Facebook. Believe me, I will be delighted if you do. I'll read your message, I don't know, four times? Let's say four. I'm a little lonely. :)

Strange occurrence today: I woke up, but was still dreaming, and thought I saw a spider the size of my fist on my bed. This, for some reason, did not frighten me terribly. I just tried to kick at it, ended up kicking off my sheets, and then went back to sleep. Needless to say, I woke up cold and confused.

Anyway, that's it for now, I suppose. I'll update sometime in the future.

-Kendall

P.S. I didn't check the grammar in this post either, just the spelling. I'm lazy, I guess.

I Don't Have Much To Say, But That's Not Stopping Me

Okay, I was reading some reviews for new German and French books (I'm on the lookout for a German poet whose work I can translate. I figure if I finish it sometime in the near future, I can try to get it published, which would make my resume look better. At this point, I'm thinking either Marcel Beyer or Gerhard Falkner.) when I ran across this: "To those who enjoy reading French poetry, who take pleasure in being miserable, and who do not have troubles of their own, Mme. G. de Montgomery's "Immortalite" will be heartily welcome... [T]here is no attempt made to express Weltschmerz, but merely Selbstschmerz" (nytimes.com). Sounds like a fun read! I sincerely hope no one ever describes my work like this.

While I'm quoting stuff, here's another fun quote: "As soon as I left, / my friends had an orgy. / ... / I'm not a very naked person." (Dauer ln. 1-5). Strange stuff. I thought that was an odd way to start off a poem, but hey, what do I know. She's published and I'm not. No really, some of her other stuff is nice, I'm just not huge on the lemurs and orgies poem.

The job market is not great, so who knows whether I'll get a job or not. Most of the places around here aren't hiring, according to their websites, so we'll see. I'm hoping that I can sell my embroidery in town, but I have to go around to the local galleries and see if anyone will take it.  Meh, we'll see. It'd be nice if I could do something like that, since I could keep working on the pieces at school. That would be nice, since I don't plan on getting a job when I'm back at school.

Well, that's all for right now. I'm sorry, but I didn't bother to proofread, so if there are any glaring grammatical errors, then that's why.

Hello, Folks.

Not a whole lot to report aside from the fact that I've been less stressed, my sleep is better, and I feel pretty good overall. I need to find a job soon though, so we'll see how long my life remains stress-free. Maybe I can get a job at the library? At the very least, they let you have a seat there. More than Starbucks gave me!

I promise to do the picture tour of my house (complete with pics of the bookshelf!) sometime in the near future. I need to get my room put together first (I still have some unpacking to do, things I need to straighten up, etc.), so it might be a little while. Maybe a week or so, since I keep forgetting to take the pictures.

By the way, Hil, when do you get back to NJ? Ana and I were Skype-ing the other day and wanted you to talk too, but we didn't think you'd gotten back yet. Speaking of Skype, thank you all for keeping in touch with me. You're keeping me sane. :-)

Okay, sorry folks, but this is going to be a very short blog entry. I'm extraordinarily tired, which is strange, since it's a.) only 10.40 at the moment and b.) I didn't really do anything today. I've started working out every day, but since I was at my sister's place all day, I didn't even have a chance to do that. Oh well. Enjoy pictures of my rabbit and Domo-Cube. For those interested, it was made with syrup and a napkin from the dining hall. Brian and Nicholas created this lovely piece, so send your compliments to them. 

Oh My God, Eight Months.

So, I haven't even been home a week yet, and already I feel like I'm going a bit crazy. Not to say that it's boring or anything (well, a little I suppose)-- I'm seeing my family members and everything. Under normal circumstances, I'd be fine. I was here for four months during the summer and that went well. It's just that things are a lot slower here and that gives me a lot of time to think about everything. And with all this thinking, I can't exactly avoid getting stressed/anxious/somewhat unhappy. Which makes it somewhat (near impossible) to get to sleep. If this keeps up, it will take a toll on my health. Blech.

Anyway, I think I promised in some of my earlier entries that I would keep my blog somewhat happy, and that I wouldn't bitch that much. So enough of that. I should work on staying happy anyway so my family members don't find me unbearable. :-) Even I'm getting a bit irritated with myself.

So what's been going on here? Haha, things are so boring here! I organized my bookshelf yesterday and I got so excited/proud I almost took a picture and posted it on here. I refrained, but seriously, it's awesome. Everything's in its proper section. I considered alphabetizing it, but decided not to in the end. I'll probably save that for a later date -- I've got to keep myself entertained for the next eight months somehow, after all.

I've been sending my poetry off to different literary magazines, which is a good way to pass the time. My parents think I'm a bit crazy, I guess since I seem so obsessed with getting everything out as soon as possible. My mother encourages me, but regularly reminds me that "no one reads poetry anyway." Fair enough. If people don't want to read my work, okay, but I still want it published. People can skip over it if it does not please them.

On another note, has anyone ever heard of clamato juice? (Brian, if you are reading this, I'm pretty sure that we mentioned it to you at one point.) If not, it's clam juice mixed with tomato juice. Yum. I was under the impression that we did not have this in the States, but apparently it is not uncommon. In fact, we decided to take it one step further. Budweiser thought that it could improve clamato by adding beer, salt, and lime to it. Fair enough. I'd have to be plenty drunk before I could enjoy that stuff. And to be fair, drunk people will consume anything. I had a roommate once who would eat cheese-flavored Sunchips with this vinegar/Tabasco sauce when she got hammered (or "got crunk." I am so lame that I only figured out what that meant a month ago. I need to use that Urban Dictionary you got me more often, Ana! The hip-hop instructional video, however, is a lost cause.)

Christmas was somewhat uneventful. We stayed home and had a very traditional meal, which meant I had my usual dinner of bread and olives that came from a can. Delicious. The bread would have been okay, but our oven was acting up, and it wasn't fully cooked. Haha, it almost made me miss dining hall food.

As I mentioned earlier, I have been a bit mopey, and my parents have been trying to cheer me up. My father, he tries, he does, but geez, I am glad he decided to be a consultant and not a therapist. Mostly, he thinks I will feel better if he lists every single thing that is not going right. Including the fact that I must have lost my sense of purpose, and that I lost the one place that feels like home -- two things I was not thinking about until he mentioned them. He also thinks it is a good idea to mentioned other events that have at one point made me upset -- like the time I went to the zoo when I was four, and the monkeys went wild, which made me cry. Seriously, if he were a therapist, I bet it'd go something like this: "That is tough. However, you neglected to mention your recent divorce, which must also make you want to die. If you'd like to try offing yourself again, might I suggest you try poison? It is relatively mess free!" Oh geez, I love my parents, those crazy cats.

Ah, what else? I've been embroidering. I guess I'll get a lot of that done during the next few months. I need to get a new hobby of some sort to pass the time. One that's relatively easy, since I feel I will react strongly if I fail. Perhaps knitting, since people tell me it is easy? Any suggestions? Nothing that involves a lot of physical activity. I've been very sore recently. I know my body will never be the same after all the medication after the misdiagnosis, but the stress/ lack of sleep has definitely exacerbated the problem. I'd prefer activities that involve little to no movement, thank you very much. :-)

I realized no one's really seen my house before. Let me know if you guys are interested in seeing what it looks like. If you are, I'll do a picture-tour in an upcoming entry.

Anyway, it is 5:30 in the morning and I am exhausted, so I'm sorry that this entry is not terribly eloquent. I'll try and write more in the future.

Hearts, puppies, etc.,

Kendall (I spelled my name incorrectly the first time. Fail!)

This Post Involves Pictures!

Okay, so Ana complained about me not posting a blog entry for a while, so here we go. I got a camera a little while ago, so now we have pictures to go along with my stories! Most excellent!

To the left are my good friends Nicholas and Brian. Nicholas is on the left and Brian's the one on the right. Looking at the picture, they seem as if they are greeting you in an excited manner.

I often make them do stupid poses like this. I'm not sure why they put up with me.

So three of us, plus my friend Josh decided to head to North End, which is the Italian district of Boston. Quite a nice area, if I do say so myself. I had an excellent mocha, which was also quite lovely, and while I'd like to show you a picture, it didn't turn out well.

Here are the three of us in the cafe though. I like this picture, since it's one of the few pictures from this adventure where everyone looks relatively normal. Our friend Josh wasn't in the picture because he apparently has difficulty reading and had no idea when to show up. Which is all right, since you'll see him in later pictures.

We went to Boston Commons soon after, since I've never really been there before, and while it's quite lovely there, I thought it would be a lot bigger. Oh well! I did get to see the statue mentioned in Lowell's "For the Union Dead," however, and that was nice. The picture below is of the statue. For some reason, I expected it to be a lot smaller, since Lowell spends so much time describing the good general in the poem. His statue is about a story off the ground. Either Lowell has superior eyesight (which is possible-- I'm practically blind without my glasses) or he just made up a lot of details. I personally believe it was the latter.

Since I'd like you to believe that something crazy happened, here are some pictures that will lead you to believe that a brawl broke out. Apparently, Brian died. This is quite distressing!

Back to statuary, then. Here we are resting under a statue of Thomas Cass, who, from what I can tell, is only famous for having died during wartime. Poor Thomas Cass. The next statue is better though. Just wait for Wendall.

Okay. Wendall's back at the top. For some reason, Blogger put him there and won't let me move him. Fair enough.

That's it for the pictures. There are plenty more, but it's not that fun putting them all in, so that's enough for today.

Let's move on to other matters, shall we? I've been trying to get out and enjoy myself more, since my dad just lost his job and it's likely that I'll be transferring to Michigan. So I'm more adventurous than ever now. I went to the North End/Boston Commons/China Town the other, and while I saw the first and last before, they're not places I go often, so it was nice to revisit. I'll be going to NYC this upcoming weekend most likely, so I'm also excited for that.

I can't believe it's only a month and a week and then it's finals time. And then the semester's over. Eek!