Jenny Holzer projects words and sentences onto landscapes. It’s as simple as that. Sometimes they make sense and sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they’re not even in the language of the city they are present in.
I swear you’ll find one that stands out to you. And even if you don’t, you can marvel at how epic it would be to choose what these buildings are telling entire populations of cities.
Interestingly, “I lie” would probably be my choice, though Florence not my location.
Just got back, and I’m out the door again.
My summer has been a blur of islands and babies and coloring books and palm trees. Eventually, I plan on having a wonderfully Valerie-esque post from my vacation complete with pictures and videos and sound clips. Maybe I’ll even include some daycare art. Until then, I only have time for this quick update before I re-pack my weekend bag with 21st birthday worthy clothing and head off to the green mountain state.
I went to New York with my friends last night because I realized it was one of my last chances to get back there before August.
I also had this weird realization that I… am a grown up and I can just do what I want. (Valerie has previously had some interesting thoughts on adulthood and just.. choosing what you do for a whole Saturday, but that’s an entirely different story).
But really, I am an adult with a lease on an apartment and in that apartment I can do whatever I choose to do with no RA interference or quiet hours. I can even go on my own fire escape! This bizarre awareness presented itself when two of my friends got me a housewarming card that I could not read the signatures on and I asked them which one of their parents had sent it. They told me it was obviously from them, to which I so eloquently replied “oh yeah, we can just… do things like this.”
And we can. I don’t have anyone telling me what to do or what I should do or what I can’t do. I can make all of these decisions on my own, and that will only become more obvious.
Clearly, I still choose to wear my monkey footie pajamas, but growing out of that is just asking too much.
So that I never forget this moment…
In college classes versus in Cosmopolitan magazine…
Biology– Butterflies eat tears and taste with their feet.
Cosmopolitan– 1/5 of men have tasted their own semen.
Perception– When you drink Diet Coke, your body expects to ingest sugar because of the sweet taste your brain perceives. Consequently, when you don’t ingest sugar, you end up significantly hungrier because your brain registers that your body is lacking something.
Cosmopolitan–Full-fat gelato is “in” whereas fancy frozen yogurt is “out”, so I don’t have to worry about tricking my body into thinking it is eating something sugary without being out of style!
Developmental– Humans are naturally attracted to smells present in their mothers’ amniotic fluids.
Cosmopolitan– Apparently, the combined smell of pumpkin pie and lavender increases the blood flow to the penis by 40%.
Cosmopolitan facts also useful for Jim Gallagher:
From Cosmo’s “Guide to Meeting More Guys!”… The lunch line at Chipotle is teeming with men midday, go to one located in a busy area where a lot of men work!
Today was my last day of classes. Consequently, I hung out for a while mindlessly watching Six Feet Under episodes before I met my friends at Pizza Pub for some drinks (and of course… pizza that I put garlic on that I thought was parmesan cheese but I’m sure you’ve all heard various forms of that story).
But anyways, that wasn’t the point. The point was, I got home late and sat in the hallway on my phone so as not to wake up my peaceful little roommates. While in the hallway, a boy on my floor walked toward the elevator. There’s a little backstory to this boy… he is my boyfriend’s best friend at college’s best friend from home.
Think about that for a second.
It was a really ridiculous coincidence. While visiting my boyfriend at UVM last April, I was gleaming with the news of landing the new, luxury dorm that filled up unbelievably quickly during lottery. Pat’s friend, Kassie, was asking me about it and we somehow came to the realization that her best friend from home may also be living in that dorm. She called him, he confirmed, and squeals commenced on my part at the ridiculousness of the coincidence.
Fast forward to exactly one year later, the very last day of this current April: this boy and I have yet to really hang out. Despite some minimal socializing and hellos in the hallway, our interactions have been limited. And so, when I saw him walking by today while I was on the phone, I did not expect much more than that same passing hello. Instead, he sat down and we had a really good conversation. It was simple, classes and studying abroad and roommate anecdotes and drinking stories, but it was good. And now after a nearly hour and half conversation in the hallway at 5AM, we really do have the intentions of hanging out in the last week before summer.
You have to take advantage of these bizarre coincidences that life throws at you. Otherwise, what are they worth?
My roommate just told me that there is literally nothing embarrassing or ridiculous enough that I could do to shock her at this point in knowing me.
Mission: shock her.
ACCOMPLISHMENT UPDATE: Being told twice that something I was doing/talking about/wearing was a recent “stuff white people like” entry.
Accomplishments of the Week:
…Finding out words that I never knew existed as a result of my new obsession with online Scrabble. Also, realizing that the word ‘greatening’ spans TWO triple word boxes.
…Signing a lease on a wonderful 3BR apartment in Gramercy that somehow puts me even closer to campus than my dorm this year did. Well done, NYU.
…Acquiring flip flop blisters and shaving my legs, which are the surest signs of an approaching summer.
…Starting a blog.
……Follow-up: convincing Jordan Pryor to start a blog.
…Discovering podcasts with the help of Valerie Burchby, consequently becoming obsessed with podcasts.
…Barely going to class for the last week, with the only internal excuse that it is too nice to not just play outside all day.
…Ordering just one watery beer at the bar we went to last night. Fails as a result of this include eating three Taco Bell burritos on the way home to make up for it. (I hope you’re proud, Patrick.)
Dis-accomplishments of the Week
…Not having more than a combined $5 in my checking and saving account.
I creep people on facebook with an alarming frequency.
(Especially if you do something that will wind up on my newsfeed during the idle hours of 2-6 AM, thus prompting me to remember your existence of someone I went to high school with or someone who randomly friended me after approximately one night of interaction.)
