Rachel.

I am dedicating this blog post to one of my most avid followers, and downright great friends, Rachel Glynn.

This lady has been my college roomie for two years now, but is going to be changing schools to pursue a career in missions, I believe, something that she loves dearly.

Which means I'll lose the best roommate, but we'll cry over that later.

Here are eleven Rachel-y things that come to mind:

I. She likes things nice and coordinated.

As do I. Our dorm room freshman year was decorated so very nicely. The bedding matched the wall decor matched the dishes matched the chairs matched her toothbrush, probably. It was so blissful. Being design-inclined myself, I was downright lucky to have a roommate who shared the love of a well-designed space.

II. The black mug.

There is a specific black mug that reminds me of Rachel. It is large, with a lot of room for a lot of Tetley black tea, and has a quote from Gandhi on the side. I don't remember if she got it from Dylan, or somewhere, or whatever, but whoever gave it to her did a good thing. That child ingests so much tea.

III. Talking with her hands.

I tease Rachel all the time about her mannerisms. THEY ARE SO FUNNY, and so very Rachel-y.

There is a lot of waving and patting and gesturing, and you wouldn't notice too much except if you lived with her for a long period of time. And I have lived with her for a long period of time.

IV. The stomach pillow.

Rachel has this really bizarre thing on her bed I call The Stomach Pillow. It is essentially a waterbed for bunnies.The thing is very heavy, and sloshes like a stomach after drinking 45 oz. of water. Apparently it is very comfortable, and nice on your neck, but I think I would just be awake all night, poking it to make it slosh.

V.Cornrows.

This is an absolute inside joke that I will leave unexplained, but I just had to put it in here.

VI. Cheese

I like cheese. If I could be a connoisseur of anything, I'd probably choose cheese.

But then there is Rachel, who is the biggest sucker for cheese that I know.

Cheez-its? Boom. Gone.

Lookout.

VII. Chocolate

Another thing I thought I loved more than anyone else did. Wrong.

VIII. Vacuuming.

I'll always remember how we eventually integrated weekly vacuuming into our dorm life. Rachel would set side a Monday, or whatever, just to clean, which she is very good at. And one of the stinky Middlebrook Hall vacuums would be brought up, and all the crumbs and thread and charcoal dust would be shwooshed out of the carpet.

If Rachel was a cleaning appliance, I think a vacuum would be an accurate choice.

(On a side note, Hannah would be a toaster, apparently)

IX. Surprise sleepovers.

Every once in a while, when Rachel and I haven't seen/talked to each other in a really long time, we end up talking into the wee hours of the morning, sometimes until 5 AM. I think that had something to do with the fact that she'd drunk coffee that day, which REALLY affects her tea-drinker's soul. So therefore, we blabbed way into the night, and fell asleep throughly exhausted and happy.

X. Losing things.

Keys, glasses, you name it, it's probably been lost, and eventually found, by either Rach, myself, or another keen-eyed roomie. The glasses one was the best. I don't know how they got to be in the back of her closet for 3 weeks, or whatever, but my finding them was one of the silliest moments in my college existence, I think.

IX. Pranks.

This lady is a tease, to be sure. We go about poking fun at each other quite regularly, and she is a rather ridiculous person, especially when you get her in the right mood. And sometimes, well, pranks happen. Like when she needed to write a paper, and didn't want her Facebook distracting her, she had me change the password to get in.

Bad idea.

If you know me at all, you know that giving me access to something so easily fooled with is rather...reckless. Hannah and I sat on a couch laughing away, as we were working on our "art research" together, when we were really finding dozens of stupid photos to tag Rachel in, messing up her profile, and changing her password to silly and embarrassing things. And of course, there's Rachel, across the room form us, totally oblivious and raising her eyebrows at our wild laughter. That is, until Lucie pipes up and says " Did you REALLY give them your Facebook password?"

I have never seen the color drain out of someone's face so fast.

It was brilliant.

Well, there are many more things I could say, but I these are some of the first silly things that came to mind.

Rachel, I am sure you are reading this, and I hope you have a very spectacular day, and I really hope to see you soon, jah.

J.S. Bean?

Much lub,

Heather

Sticky and super.

Heat = today.

Thankfully, I stayed inside and cleaned and hung out with myself, which was very nice and relaxing. But I sat outside briefly with Linus on the deck before dinner, re-reading an old favorite, The Castaways of the Flying Dutchman by Brian Jacques, and it was HOT out, let me tell you. A wave of tornado-producing storms is expected to go over the western half of the state tonight, giving us some noisy thunderstorms around 2 AM or so. But the better part of the day was sunny, in the upper 80s, windy, and HUMID.

The perfect day for listening to Miyazaki soundtrack music, and taking in all the glorious greens God gives us this time of year.

I am currently sitting in near darkness at my desk, with a little citrus and cilantro tea light to keep me company. The sunset was lovely, with lavender clouds whisking across a lemony sky, only to be overtaken by deep blue ones who murmur of the foreboding storms in the west. A weird light has set in outside, making the leaves glow a little at the edges as they sway in the wind. Small windows in the blue blanket let in swathes of peachy sky, but not for long.

And so I sit in the growing darkness, quietly typing away to my approaching storm music, waiting for Bjones to get over here for a night of Scrabble and apple pie. Our house smells of the remaining scent of steak dinner, mixed with baking pie crust. It is fabulous.

The curtain of blue has now begun to unleash rain to the north, and it is dragging its ragged self slowly, slowly to the east. I think I will go sit and watch.

Songs of the Evening:

One for the Road/Storm Clouds from the 3:10 to Yuma soundtrack

(I think this is the theme song of my summer, as it is frequently relevant and I don't seem to get sick of it)

Movement by Dam Mantle

One Summer's Day from the Spirited Away soundtrack

Jósef Tekur Fimmuna í Vinnuna by Sigur Rós

The End Is Here...The End Is Beautiful by Maylene & The Sons of Disaster

Busy busy.

Today has been a highly uneventful one. And for once, I'm okay with that, as my weekend was everything but uneventful. Saturday was one of those times I was excited, yet anxious about how everything would go down. I drove down to my aunt and uncle's house in Uptown to celebrate my cousin's graduation from college, which is pretty sweet. I filled myself up on pizza and ice cream cake, and then rushed out the door to North Minneapolis for a pre-gig rehearsal. We had a show that night, starting at 12:30 AM (no joke) in downtown St. Paul, which was fun, but very hot and tiring. By the time 1:15ish hit, most of the people there probably wouldn't even remember us the next morning, if you get my drift. A large wedding party came in at the last, making things a lil' chaotic, but we got out just fine, feeling accomplished and exhausted. Poor Holly had to work at Starbucks at 4:30ish AM, and we were driving away at 2 AM.

My lack of sleep was not that drastic, but I did arrive home shortly before 3, finished up some ice cream cake my parents had saved, and crashed.

I was then awakened at 8:15 that morning so we could drive up to Duluth and visit Carla. Now, don't get me wrong, I love Duluth and I love my sibling, but the thought of being cramped in the backseat with a huge dog kennel for 4ish hours total that day didn't sound like the MOST exciting thing.Nonetheless, we made our way oop Nort, stopping at Tobies for my favorite pastry--a nutty fried roll--and eventually rolled into Duluth, tired, but not crabby, amazingly.The day was spent in Canal Park walking Linus around on the boardwalk and beach,where we encountered many another dog, and some giant creatures pulling carriages that were for sure not dogs. I tried to explain to Linus what horses were, but to no avail.

We witnessed the 15th Annual Battle of the Jugbands in Amazing Grace Café, and it is exactly what it sounds like--a whole bunch of mountain men and former hippies come out of the woodwork withtheir ancient guitars and jugs to play some, well, Jug music, or whatever you'd call it. It was an absolute hoot. Linus made a lot of people friends as we sat outside amongst the waiting musicians, who had struck up a little jam sesh. The day was fairly still for Duluth, and altogether very nice. Carla and I did her laundry, and we got coffee with the fam, at at Grandma's like good tourists, and eventually headed home. So, even though I was lacking in the sleep department, my weekend was very full and very good.

There. Done recapping.

Oh, and I finally saw V for Vendetta with Ber. Highly worthwhile.(both Ber and the movie).

Songs of the Weekend:

Fever by Peggy Lee

Calgary by Bon Iver

Treasure of the North Woods.

So my parents, Linus and I went on a pleasant walk yesterday through the neighborhood woods and marshlands, just taking in the extraordinary light the northern hemisphere gets in the evening. I was sorta run-down yesterday, and didn't really want to go at first, but I put on my comfy flannel and tromped out anyway.

As we were walking along through one particularly wooded path by a swamp, my mom and I started identifying a good slew of wildflowers, from sticky geraniums to creeping charlie, columbine and dandelions. But as I looked down at one little flowering plant, I stopped. It didn't look like a geranium, although out of the corner of your eye, it looked about the same color. I called my mom over, and we both noticed it looked rather like a wild orchid. Neither of us were sure, though, so we continued strolling and decided to look it up when we got home.

And sure enough, it was an orchid, or a "Showy Orchis", to be exact.

Orchids are definitely not the most common flowers in Minnesota marshlands, but if you go to the right places, there's a better chance of seeing one. Typically, it can take around 15 years for one to bloom and produce seeds, so seeing one is a treat indeed.

So in the end, it was a very worthwhile stroll.

City Mouse vs Country Mouse.

Alright, so I'm not REALLY living in the country, but sometimes I feel like I'm one of these characters. One day, roamin' the streets of Minneapolis and hanging out at Atlantis, the next, chillin' in my quiet bedroom, hearing only crickets outside. Yes, it's the suburbs, not the country, but action-wise, stark differences are going on.

I was noting this as I walked through Dinkytown today on my way back from work. See, outside my apartment there, you could sit yourself down and stare at a street sign across the road, and the number of people who passed that street sign within five minutes would be pretty substantial. In cars, in buses, in weird lawn care vehicles, with bicycles, longboards, on foot. You name it, it goes by within five minutes.

Here? Well, you'd be considered weird if you sat and stared at a street sign, number one. Number two: no action for you. In five minutes you might get...and ant. And you can't even see an ant from across the street. Oh, maybe a bird. Maybe. And if you're REALLY lucky, a soccer mom walking a golden retriever.

But here's the other weird thing about living out here---you say 'hi' to people you pass on walks. Seems normal enough for those of us who walk the suburbs or go on hikes in the north woods all the time, but for those who live in the inner city....why the heck would you do that? If I said 'hi' to every person I passed on the way to class, I'd have laryngitis by the time I got there. And it'd also be weird, and like every other person has their earbuds in. So it's just not practical to say hello to every person you come within a few feet of.

Another difference? Scenery. I know, I know, that seems really obvious, but it's more complex than just more cars + tall, frequent buildings = city. No no. It's about how those living there treat their neighborhood, and what the demographic is.

See, the area where I live is probably a bit of an exception, but I don't really know that it is. Yes, Dinkytown is going to have the highest percentage of broken beer bottles and bottle caps of any area around, I'm sure. But as far as houses go, besides being a lil' more run-down form partying and negligent landlords, it looks a lot like most of Minneapolis: little, similar houses smushed pretty close together,sometime looking like Queens, with steep yards, and where the greenery consists mostly of crabgrass and dandelions.

Suburbia?

One word:

Manicured.

Dandelions? Few, and soon annihilated. Trash? Also few and far between. Graffiti? Nearly unheard of. Buses? What?

So, yes, even though they are only 20ish minutes apart, my two homes have enough differing visual stimuli that it gets a bit overwhelming going back and forth. There, I see people. Here, wildlife. And that's ok, it's just...different.

Alright, well, I'm going to finish enjoying my day in suburbia.

Peas.

Songs of the Day:

Cars Trucks Buses by Phish

No Cars Go by Maxence Cyrin

(haha. I'm funny.)

Refresh and renew.

This past week or so, I have gotten to spend a lot of time with people, but also a lot of time on my own. This is something I am routinely afraid of, as I get weird when I'm alone too long. I start to feel a little stagnant, and get all loopy in my head. I'm not even sure what goes on, but I know I don't particularly like it.

But not so this time. Only for a few moments have I felt a little cooped up. I am really actually enjoying my time at home in my old room so far. It feels like me castle, up here in my chamber. I like the word 'chamber' better than bedroom, unless you put the word 'pot' after it. Then it gets silly. It makes me feel more awesome and free to do what I want when I pretend I'm living in a magical, snug corner of my castle. I mean, when you read about living in castles as a kid, and you hear about a 'royal so-and-so retiring to their chambers', doesn't that sound magical? I like to think of myself that way, sometimes. It's better than being like "I'm going to hang out with myself in my room." Then it gets sorta emo.

Anyways, I guess the reasoning behind that explanation is that this alone time has been, for one of the first times in my life, highly beneficial. I think it's partially because I'd been preparing myself for this time for a while before finals ended, so now I'm ready to embrace it and be productive. That is one of my biggest goals this summer = be productive. In what way? Well, creatively, sure, but I'm leaving the space blank to see what shows up. This past weekend, Bonk and I got together and talked a great deal about arts, did some arts, and are plotting out our art blog, of which I will post a link to later (It's so under construction right now that it's laughable). We both decided it was time to sorta wake up and smell the creative bacon. Both of us wished for more accountability in being creative over the summer, and this was our solution. You're welcome to follow along and join the fray. It begins soon.

As of this moment, I have cleaned my chamber and organized my art supplies a little, and plunked down to read the book that sorta set off the blaze: The Artist's Way. I will speak to you more about it once I get further in it and digest more, but believe me---it's worth your time.

Anyways, enough about me and my thoughts. I've just been alone enough so that I've sorted through things and am ready to talk about them. I don't want to burden anyone with my "this is how I want to be, blah blah blah" all the time. In fact, I want to hear YOUR story. Really! As an aspiring teacher, one thing I literally crave is to hear what others want to do with themselves, and get all excited with them, and help if I can. Supporting one another is one of the best ways to get to know a person.

Well, I actually need to scram now. Dinner calls.

Audios!

Songs of the Week:

Mischief Managed by Oliver Boyd and the Rememberalls

Orono Park by Wilderness of Manitoba

Wet by Sean Rowe

Banshees.

Tonight my parents, Linus, and I went to a nearby park with a lot of woods and marshlands to take an evening walk. And let me tell you, I felt like a little Native American out of a storybook. Linus and I ran through the woods, up on a hill where the sunlight shot through the trees horizontally, and made all the trunks gold and the leaves glow. We ran and ran, with me in my moccasins and dark hair flying, and him, looking as wolfish as ever, gliding alongside me.

Banshees.

(our self-portrait, obviously)

Song of the Night:

Lovesick Teenagers by Bear in Heaven

Dreams coming true.

While at home, I finally saw Tangled, which was very charming, and classically Disney-esque.

(via)

There's a while undertone about dreams coming true, yadda yadda, like most fairy tales. And then I realized that a couple of my (minor) dreams came true this week, too.

These dreams mostly consist of experiences I have while being at home.

I. My Bedroom: I'd been waking up in the morning at school for about a week, expecting that each morning I would wake up in my bed at home. Well, I'm finally getting to do that.

II. Walks in the Woods: Lucie had a good point the other day, as we sat outside in the sweltering evening, watching a storm go over, that the only thing that makes living in a city bearable is if you can escape it sometimes. I'd been feeling a little trapped recently, so to take a walk through the woods and fields and marshes near my house is just a dream. Instead of cars and buses and people and bikes, I saw birds and bugs and dogs and snakes and flowers and trees upon trees. The sun shone through the leaves, making the woods just glow, and I couldn't have been more happier on my solitary walk.

III. Snuggling something furry: Yup. That came true.

VI. Drinking tap water: Sound weird? Well, it isn't. See, our tap water at the apartment isn't that good, so drinking my home tap water is like a dream. It doesn't have that slight metallic taste...

V. Not having noisy neighbors: Not to rub it in for my roomies still in Mpls, but being able to walk as loud as I want, and not having to be perturbed by noisy neighbors in other apartments is delightful. Sorry, guys. I'll have you over, and you can enjoy it, too.

VI. Frogs, not drunks: Or trains.Going to sleep to peeping sounds from the surrounding marshes is the best lullaby ever. There I go, rubbing it in again. Sorry.

VII. Reading outside: By the garden. On the patio. In the sunshine. Drinking coffee. Listening to birds. With the dog. Getting a tan.

Treasure Island is the book of choice right now, I guess.

VIII. Cleaning my closet: This is not really a 'dream', but just a need that is throbbing in the back of my head. I'll feel much better when it's done.

blargh!

IX. Apple blossoms: There is a white crabapple tree right outside my window. I can't even describe how beautiful it is to wake up, open your curtains, and the smell of flowers hits you smack in the face.

X. No more school: This is obvious, but I had to say it.

So there you have it. I hope your summer is starting out as nice.

Songs for Summer (so far):

Mellan Oss Två by Basshunter

Apollo by Danger Beach

Grown Ocean by Fleet Foxes

Finir.

Well, as you can see, it's been two weeks since I posted, which shows that life has been a bit crazy. I got through finals week, which was almost a little anticlimactic, surprisingly. It felt crazy when it was going on, but after it was done, I sorta just upped and left, which made me a little sad, even though it feels great to be home. Here's a summary of what went down.

Finals weeks was spent mostly at The Purple Onion Café and in the Knoll, which is one of the most beautiful places on campus, if I do say so myself.

Lucie and I parked ourselves on that bench for a while one day, just soaking up the sun that peeked through the clouds. People strolled past eating frozen yogurt from the new shop in Dinkytown, a flamboyant modern dancer twirled as he talked to his friend, and people were genuinely happy. We're all weather-reflectors up here, I guess, just like the Weisman Museum. It was the first real spring day this year, I think, and ended with a big storm that evening, which we all sat outside and watched.

I think one of the highlights of my week, though, was that morning. And I have been teased about this a few times now, but whatever, it's still the greatest. I had a final that Tuesday morning at 8 AM, and so, for the first time that semester, I was out of bed and awake at 6:45. Now that may even sound late to some of you, but for a person who planned their school schedule to start later...it's early.

I padded out into our living room, only to be pleasantly surprised by the most ancient of things: the sun. See, I was under the impression that our apartment faced due north, which would mean we never see the actual orb of the sun grace our windows. Well, surprise. It makes an appeared around 6 AM. Rachel and Lucie laughed at me, since they've had to get up at 5 AM for the past semester most days. Whatever, people, it was the best surprise ever. I just sat in that weird morning glow, watching the crows fly through the hazy sky, and perch on the slowly budding branches silhouetted by the light. To top it all off, I put on my favorite 3:10 to Yuma soundtrack song, and it fit the moment just perfectly. All in all, it was like magic. There is nothing like starting out your day slowly and in the sunshine.

Just listen to that song and stare at this picture, and you'll kinda understand that magical feeling I'm talking about. (and this isn't the view from our window, sadly. Remember, I live in Dinkytown...)

So, yes, finals is over. Ta da.

After returning home Wednesday night, we all conked out, only to get up the next day, and have my dad and I drive up to Duluth to pick up Carla for the weekend. We made the traditional stop at Tobies, for all you northerners, and got some pastries and coffee to keep us going. Once in Duluth, Carla wasn't ready to be picked up, so we strolled about the Lake Superior Maritime Center, looking at old boating stuff. Then we made the walk to the lighthouse, looked around, etc. Eventually, we picked up Carla and all her stuff, ate at Amazing Grace Café, and rolled on out. Carla become a BFA Acting major that day, which is huge, as you have to work all year to audition for that position, and only 15 out of 23 or so get in. So it was a pretty big day for all of us, and we were pooped once we got back.

The weekend was spent at home, watching movies, eating out at Good Earth in the Galleria (and watching obnoxious prom-goers take pictures int he mall), visiting grandparents, and just being together. I had a critique in my painting class on Friday, which was so much fun. Everyone brought food, and we just sat and talked about life and our art, laughed and cried, munched and moseyed. I am going to miss that class so much.

On Sunday, mom and I drove Carla back to Duluth, as she is going to be in a little play up there in June, which is pretty sweet. She's living in a castle-like mansion with some other girls. You can read about her adventures here, as she captures her castle experience.

Anyways, I will spare you unnecessary details, but just know it was a week of great change and whirlwind activity, and so now I am recouping.

I'll continue on in the next post, as this is getting rather long-winded....

Audios.

Songs of the (finals) week:

Apache by Danger Beach

New Low by Middle Class Rut

One for the Road/Storm Clouds from 3:10 to Yuma

DADstep by OmegaDubstep

Afternoons.

I was contemplating this mysterious occurrence with Hannah yesterday--how we perceive time.

In college, one perceives time in relation to their classes. "Oh, I have two hours before my next class, I have 30 minutes to get ready, blah blah blah."

In all honesty, I drive myself crazy. When was the last time I just thought "It's 2 in the afternoon," and not "It's two in the afternoon on a Tuesday which mean I have four hours until my next class, and with getting dinner and getting ready that really means three hours, and I should probably fit some homework in as well..." Blah.

My brain is so tired with living my life in a little orbit around school. Thankfully, school is about to be finished, so I have little to worry about.

The main point I want to get to in this post it the idea of little things. I came across [this blog] recently, and it's totally one of the better things I know of. It totally spoke to my live-in-the-moment side, which doesn't get a lot of attention these days, except when I am living minute by minutes, trying to get things done. Actually being AWARE of nice little things that make you happy in your day-to-day life is a little treat we don't remember to give ourselves, oftentimes.

So, in response to this idea, I thought I'd write down a few of the little things I have personally delighted in recently. I think this would be a good practice to do every day--just write down 5 small things that made your day better. It keeps things in perspective.

Here's my go at it.

LITTLE THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY RECENTLY:

1. Bushes filled with chattering birds.

2. Finding shiny things on the sidewalk

3. Seeing the sunlight filter through leaves, highlighting all the veins.

4. When your jean hems aren't as wet as you thought they'd be after walking through the rain.

5. Sharpening your pencil to a ridiculously tiny point, and not breaking it.

6. Whistling people.

7. The feeling of touching a tree, and knowing it's alive.

8. Getting to the bus stop right before the bus does.

9. Drawing a straight line without a straightedge.

10. Not burning your baked goods.

11. Finding money on the bus.

12. People laughing together outside cafés.

13. Symmetrical architecture.

14. Blooming trees.

15. The stickers people leave on roadsigns.

16. Watching a car slow down to let a rabbit cross the road.

17. The warm glow of people's window's at night.

18. Not stepping in poop.

19. The smell of fresh pine wood chips.

20. People who stand there and smile about nothing in particular.

21. Walking through a sunny neighborhood with a cup of coffee.

22. Toy Story clouds in the sky.

23. Thriving house plants.

24. Snuggling under an ocean of blankets.

25. Sunsets behind skylines.

26. Releasing your feet from constricting socks.

27. Fancy grocery stores with carpet.

28. Getting mental math right before someone else.

29. Realizing your iPod wasn't actually dead.

30. The temporary, unspoken comradery that forms at bus stops.

There. That put me in a good mood. Try it for yourself.

Now I go to the class where I learn about rocks.

Audios.

Songs of the Week:

When I Go by Emancipator

When I Grow Up by Fever Ray