okay. i lied. i want to write more now. even though my body wants to sleep. maybe i'll just write a quick summary of the last week of last semester and then a 200 word essay about my christmas vacation. (ummm?probably longer. did much. had fun. smiled lots.)

here it goes. please bare with me. my brain doesn't remember much.

monday, dec. 8- worked on book project for warren.

tuesday, dec. 9 - had party in guarnaccia's class. went over to lauren's house and cooked a kaluha cake. araba showed up later and made a pasta dish. fun to hang out and talk and laugh. went to the party. it was a little slow starting, but it finally got rockin. we had fun dancing like wild people. a small group of us left and decided to go karokee. the first karokee place was too expensive so we went over to a place on ave. A called Sing Sing. then that place was just as expensive. we decided to sit at the bar and if you ordered a drink over $4, you got to sing one song for free. Araba and I got free songs as everyone else decided to get a room no matter how much it cost. Araba and I stayed at the bar and sang Lauren Hill and some other songs. We were pretty bad, but everyone at the bar was nice and clapped for us. The singing wasn't too bad, but our knowledge of the lyrics SUCKED!! went to the room where everyone else was. it wsa super loud and scary fun. we had kidnapped one of the MFA illustration students and he looked a bit scared of us. Sang for a while and then we all left. Or did we go to another bar. I can't remember. (and that is not because of the alcohol. it is because too much time has passed.)

wednesday, dec. 10 - wrote my assisgnment for milton's class. we had to write what our perfect work day would be in 5 years. i wrote that i would be doing motion graphics at a studio that i shared with natalie and be also doing some work with lauren at her studio. milton was lovely that night. he said wise and kind things to us. it's sad. i miss him this semester. he was good.

thursday, dec. 11 - went to see worldstudio: a graphic design studio that is also a non-profit. good stuff. really nice guy. second to last sagmeister class. we went through people's reactions to the touching project. i haven't gotten any back yet so i will present on our last class.

friday, dec. 12 - worked on web project.

saturday, dec. 13 - worked on web and book project.

sunday, dec. 14 - worked on book project more. was at the studio until 3:30 am in the morning. got the book and most of the boxes done. just need to cover it with bookcloth.

monday, dec. 15 - went into where i have my internship next semester. stayed and learned what i needed to do. it was good to be back in a work environment. nice. went back to school and finished up my book. presented it and finished yet another class.

tuesday, dec. 16 - had last sagmeister class. presented my reactions to my project. and then stefan talked for a couple of hours. it was wonderful. completely loved it!! worked the rest of the day on my web final.

wednesday, dec. 17 - finished flash project and presented it. looked good. i like it. went out with lauren, araba, cecillia and julia to celebrate the end of the first semester. didn't think much of what had just happened until araba said, "we just finished our first semester of graduate school." then it struck me, that is a pretty damn cool and important thing that we just all did. pretty amazing.pretty fucking adult. how weird. later went to mudd and got tea and pie with lauren. good stuff. had fun listening to a really gay indie rock guy talk about his dating problems.

thursday, dec. 18 - worked on freelance. went out to see lord of the rings with julia and natalie and claudio. natalie was super sick. the evil flu had gotten her. the movie was wonderful.

friday, dec. 19 - shot slides for a bunch of people. worked in the library. finished up my freelance stuff. went to lauren's house and made another kaluha cake and helped them get ready for their party. many people came. i got to meet lauren's and davidson's friends. everyone was super smart and nice. people from the program came.

saturday, dec. 20 - went to the airport early to meet becky for lunch. saw jeff tweedy from wilco. fucking crazy!!! he was wandering around like a normal person. no security or anything. guess most people don't know him. the funny thing is that i was on the phone with my friend val in chicago when he walked by the first time. "val, the guy that just walked by me looked just like jeff tweedy. how weird." "dude, that guy just walked by again and it was jeff tweedy!!" (val is a big uncle tupelo and wilco fan.) becky finally got there and i told her about it. she started jumping up and down and ran outside to see him. it made our day. we saw him again at our gate and freaked out more. we spent ten minutes trying to figure out if we should go bug him for an autograph. we never did. his flight came and he left. becky and i got seats together on the plane and i sat right next to a young single mother and her three month old. he screamed a lot at first and his mother at one point gave him to me to hold for 10 minutes or so as she looked for something. strange to be holding such a tiny person. he settled down and just stared at me. cute and weird. got home to chicago and met up with val. we had dinner and went to the bar. tons of people showed up and i had fun being back. it kinda was like i never left. conversations were the same, people were the same, the bar was the same and i felt no different. it was good. slept over at val's house.

christmas break summary:

time spent in chicago and it's suburbs. hung out in elgin with my parents a bit. i got sick on christmas eve with the flu and didn't get well until two days after christmas. went into northwestern and did research for one of my professors books. hung out a lot with val. we went drinking one night at double door. spent another night with chris eating birthday cake. also went up to milwaukee for a night to see the cafe that she is working on. we moved her bed and huge entertainment center up two flights of stairs and a hill in our high-heeled boots. (much funny laughter and craziness was had.) milwaukee was great. i could see myself moving there in five years or so if val and other friends are still there. tons of cool people and little tiny businesses. i could get a house pretty cheap and open a letterpressing business. we'll see. went out to berwyn for NYE and hung out with lisa and robbie. it was a chill evening drinking fun mixed drinks, watching land of the lost and bettie page and playing family feud. saw tim and his wife and their new house. went into my old work and saw a ton of people. got hamburgers and old style at the billy goat tavern. saw chuck, micah and maggie. maggie is almost one and she is talking!! she almost crawled while i was there. i loved hanging out with them for a night. it was one of the highlights of the trip. we had thai food and watched finding nemo. maggie called the fish dogs the entire time. had lunch with val and josh and headed downtown to have tea with the girls from my last job. good stuff. finally, it was time to head back to NY.

it's strange. i didn't feel homesick or miss chicago the entire first semester, but after i got back, i missed it. i realize that the midwest is just part of me and being on the east coast is great, but it isn't the same. i miss small things. the way people enteract and the pace of the midwest. someday i'll be back there.

i am tired. my sinus hurt for some reason. lack of sleep and a dusty library maybe. who knows? this isn't going to be a long entry. i know that i have lots of catching up in the world of this blog. (still need to cover the last week of last semester and the first three weeks of this semester. eeeeekkkk!!!) anyways, just wanted to enter this lovely horoscope that i got on jan. 6th. me like.

pisces (that's me!!)
"Thinking outside of the box presupposes you were able to think in it." (hmmmmm…i had a box about classes) This gem is from automotive executive Bob Lutz sets the tone for your new plan of action, Pisces. In the coming week, you should concentrate on understanding your life's long-term trends from an inside-the box perspective. Stick closely to what you actually know, as opposed to what you might speculate or fantasize. Confine your analysis to the data you can definitely confirm. (okay. sounds like i can do this. i like boundaries. i am a dog that likes it's fence.) Starting next week, it'll be time to think outside the box. Having prepared a strong foundation, you will have ensured that your imagination will provide useful visions when you finally unleash it. (okay. now there is no fence. maybe i would like this. who knows? freedom to run around with strange dogs might be good. will i like stranges sniffing my butt?)