Being alone.

This last week consisted a lot of me being by myself, on my own schedule. And I say this not in a depressing way. I enjoyed my alone time a lot this week. Oh sure, I hung out with my classmates, roomies, and bandmaties, but when it boiled down to the majority of my week...I spent it with me. And that was fine. Lots of studying and adventuring were had. I discovered a strange delight in the store entitled Sara Cura in Dinkytown. It's like a Global Village sort of joint, and I popped in to peek about and buy incense, which I am consuming rapidly. How delightful, to browse amongst handmade beads and candles and bangley things that one normally does not encounter on a day-to-day basis. And belly dancing...equipment? I don't even know what you'd call it. I got a kick out of that.

It was weird to me, though, as I was in there, to be able to see these little statues of Hindu gods and be able to recognize them, due to my art history class. I'm not used to knowing a lot about multiple religions, and I still really don't, but I could probably tell you more about the life of the Buddha than your average Joe. It's nice, in a way, to try and understand someone else's beliefs, even if you don't uphold them yourself. Of course, there is such thing as knowing too much, I think. But knowing the names and origins of Shiva, Ganesha and Vishnu is a bit fun. "That there is Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, who is the god of auspicious beginnings, and is fat, because he loves sweets." That sounds pretty cool and knowledgable, yes? Ha. Art History. Makes you feel smart.

So yes, I sit here bathing in the rich scent of sandalwood incense, sipping some rather strong coffee, and listening to the soundtrack from The Illusionist, which fits this rather grey and mysterious Sunday. Birdies have been gradually putting on their choir robes and tweeting up a twitterpated storm this past week, which is delightful. I have not worn my earbuds outside for many a day now, unless crabby and stressed. The world is waking up, and slowly, slowly throwing off it's snowy quilts to finally give us something green to feel glad about. It has been a looong winter. My mom told me today that this time last year, it was 81 degrees out. PAH. It's like in the 50s and 4os this week. Grrrmgmghlllph.

Anyways, back to aloneness. I took myself on a delightful day-long date on Friday, as my only class was cancelled, and I did not work. It was a day for just existing and appreciating the world, and so, after sleeping in until 11, cleaning up and packing up, I headed up to eh Bell Museum of Natural History to spend time with my best drawing subjects yet. They stand so perfectly still, even if their furry torsos and feathered limbs are all in a whirl. I sat and drew one of the lovely beings in the wolf diorama for a good hour or so, just practicing anatomy drawing. Hard stuff, that. Proportions do not come easy to me. I think I'll go back and practice on another day.

So, I bided my time, gazing into the golden eyes of gyrfalcons, talking to turtles (they have live ones in the upstairs Touch-and-See area), and imagining myself walking through the scenery presented in a Northwoods diorama. Oh, how I long to be up at the North Shore! We're going this summer, hallelujah, but I'm getting so itchy to be surrounded by monolith trees instead of buildings.

After that couple-hour escapade, I moseyed over to Coffman to by a ream of paper, a copy of Oh Comely, a favorite British magazine of mine, and a nice tall Jamba Juice for lunch. I then perched myself in front of a huge set of windows in the STSS building, a new one they just built on the river bluffs. Let me just say that getting to take in a view of the river, skyline, and Washington Ave. Bridge in one go is rather splendid.

There were other lovely encounters that day, too, but I shall leave you with those. I had a very content weekend, and now I leave you for my French homework. Insulting, I know. It really isn't work my time today....meh.

Alright. Peas.

Songs of the Week:

Section 8 City by Andrew Bird

The Illusionist Soundtrack

Façades by Philip Glass (good to read Edward Gorey to)