It's been awhile...

So I figured I'd give everyone an update on whats goin on with me lately. I feel like I never blog anymore! 

Basically I've just been really busy with school. Working on my photo project has been taking up most of my time. A lot of my negatives were underexposed so its been a lot of work trying to make them perfect. I'm really stoked about a lot of them though :) My 2D class has been horrible lately. Everyone in that class doesn't give a shit, and doesnt put any effort into anything they do, and I feel so bad for my teacher. Last class he nicely told us we suck and we need to do better. I just want that class to be over. Even though I try and put effort, he still thinks I don't give a shit. It's nerve racking. 

Other than school, I've been sick with this horrible cough and runny nose. It's really draggin me down. Makes me reaallllly tired all the time, and just kind of puting me in this funk. 

Visiting Omaha a couple weeks ago was crazy. I was so fuckin excited when I was at the airport and when we finally landed. I walked down to the baggage claim and saw my dad standing there, and I started to cry I was so happy to see him. I was so over-filled with joy just driving home and being home. It was an incredible feeling. But then I go and see literally everyone I wanted to see, (and some people I didn't really care to see), and it was mind-blowing. It felt like I never left. Everything was still the same. It's a very strange, and nostalgic feeling. I'm sure it will always feel like that from now on. Diana told me once, "You'll be so excited to come home, and then you'll just want to go back Chicago again." She was so right. 

Being here has opened my eyes to so many things. 

I truly feel like I belong here, like this is where I'm supposed to be, doing what I've always wanted to do. 

Work.....has been kind of crazy drama filled place lately. I don't like it. I've made friends with some of them, but I don't really feel like I can trust any of them with anything, because the next day the whole store will know about it. Blaaahh

It's time for me to head to class....3wks left!

Something more

I'm in search of an artist, 

for someone who actually WANTS to learn and be in school,

for someone who is creative, and different, and amusing,

who can make me take a step back and think twice,

who can INSPIRE me.

I'm in search of a dreamer,

for someone who believes that NOTHING is out of reach,

that the world is ours for the taking,

and that only we decide how it ends.

I'm in search of a musician,

for someone that can reach in and touch my soul through the rhythm of the beat,

who can make me want to dance for hours upon hours.

I'm in search of something

someone

new.

HOOORAH!

Alright kids, I know its what you've all been waiting for......

MY PRINTS!!

I realize I've been in school for almost 2 months now and haven't shown anyone back home my work. At first, I didn't want to and wanted to wait till the end, or try to find some website to put them on where people can't jack my shit, BUT I'm too excited about them I just wanna put them out there. 

You can check them out on my 

<------flickr over there on this page. 

as well as other stuff I've shot (mostly from last year). 

Note: They are very high in contrast (dark) because of the lighting in my apartment. They are better right in front of you of course, but once I get the time and start to develop a portfolio they will be 10x better. 

Enjoy, and feel free to leave me feedback (even if you totally hate them).

TODAY:

                                                        

                                               

We watched a video on Jenny Holzer. She does these bad ass text portraits, using HUGE projections onto buildings, water, stairs, windows, trees, you name it. A+

TOMORROW:

I will be seeing a lecture given by Jodi Adams and Curtis Mann

:)

<3

Bummed

I didn't think living without an ID would be this bad. 

I can't go out with anyone.

No one wants to come chill.

I can't even go see some music anywhere.

No one wants to do anything period unless it involves a club. 

He barely talks to me anymore.

I don't know if he's really busy or if he thinks I'm tryin to holler at him, but all I wanted to do was hang. 

I keep getting blown off and I don't know why.

BUT

At least I'm trying.

I just need to try harder. 

I'm just going to bury myself in school.

It's the only thing I want to do.

I miss you, Omaha. 

Smart Bar

I have found it! I have found new drum n bass, dubstep, house, industrial, and techno! 

This place is HUUUUGE! The lightning gets really wild, you can't really see in the picture but the walls light up green in the lounging areas. On Weds, Thurs, and Fri they stay open till 4, and Saturdays till 5! So nuts!

I got done with all my darkroom stuff last night, just making prints of my own stuff because I bought the wrong paper, and still have to shoot 2 rolls and make 6 prints before Wednesday. While I was walking out my teacher assistant was behind me, saying "Look at you, gettin a jump start." I told him I'd already done all of this before, and then we ended up sharing a cigarette and telling me a little about photography events at the school and then we exchanged numbers and he invited me to come out to this place. 

HOLY BALLLZZZZ 

I 

       WAS

                    SO

                               ECSTATIC! 

I saw Caspa + Timid, Whoa-B, and J Courage. Sadly, I didn't bring my camera to show pictures. I wanted to dance more! It was fucking incredible. Just what I needed! 

平和と愛

Nothin but good vibes

The past couple weeks I was feeling very blue, and out of touch from everyone and everything. I started to question my motives, my desires, my ambition, and my over all strength as a person. 

Up until a few days ago, I decided to stop.

Stop worrying.

Stop questioning.

Stop being self concious.

Stop being another student sitting in a classroom and not saying anything,

and BE someone more. 

Everyday I go to class, It gets a little better. I learn a little more, and I slowly make my mark. 

I've decided that I'm not going to post a

ny of my photographs until the end of the semester, or maybe when I make my own website. 

Today in my Photo class we t

alked a lot about light, what it does for the photograph, the mood it gives off, and the texture it creates. We looked at this photographer by the name of Elinor Carucci. We took a look at her series of photographs titled, "Closer." This series was essentially just everyday life of her family, mostly her parents, her husband, and her sister. Some of them so simple, yet they seem to make you look at the simple things in life differently. I think it's extraodinary how close she is with her parents, and how they are willing to let her photograph these nude pictures of them and portray them as how she sees him. They almost make you step back and look at your own family, how similar, or how different it may be to hers.  

You can check you her other work at http://www.elinorcarucci.com

On another note....

For my 2-D Design class we are starting on this outrageous project. Essentially we grabbed a box, and filled it with all kinds of arts and crafts, and random stuff he had for us, and we put it inside this box to create shape, and lines, and texture. WELL....this is literally a 24hr project. We are supposed to take and hour and half out of our day to sit down and draw this 3-D image, 2-dimensionally, on a 22x28 paper, WITH A PEN! This should be very interesting...

This is my totally absurd box that's going to be hard to draw. =/

Until next time kids.....

Anticipation

Photo 1

My teacher is awesome. I did some research on him and found some really great stuff. He's been in exhibits all over the world, mostly in New York, Philadelphia, The Netherlands, and of course, Chicago. He grew up in South Side Chicago and got a MFA & BA at Columbia. He really inspired me to live and breath photography. You can check out some of his work here. He's laid back, but particular about what he expects out of all of us. As most teachers do, he advised us to use the school, The Museum of Contemporary Photography (on campus), the Art Institute of Chicago, the library, and everything around us, to soak up every ounce of information that we can.  This class is going to be so awesome. It's kind of a refresher for me, but I have a feeling I am going to learn a lot. (Not to mention that it's on the 8th floor and I have an amazing view of Lake Michigan EVERYDAY!) It just blows my mind. Everyone in the class seems really cool, isn't from Chicago at all, it's crazy! 

Darkroom 1

I have the same people in this class as I do in my Photo 1, just a different teacher. My teacher seems really serious about everything, but very cool.  She's older and has been teaching at Columbia for awhile. One of the first things she told us was, "You can check out my work at karenglaserphotography.com" SERIOUS BUSINESS. She said as of recently she's been doing a lot of underwater photographs. I checked some of them out, and they are extraordinary. 

 

On the first day of class she showed us a 25 x 38 print of this. 

She also showed us the darkrooms (which are huge) and where to develop film, and then we got to see some work that was at the Museum of Contemporary Photography. Upon walking in the students working there we're talking amongst themselves and saying, "Oh Karen's here you guys..Karen's here." I felt honored to even be in her presence. I didn't know this but, you can request to see an artists work anytime during certain hours. And everything is the original prints! How crazy is that?

2-D Design

Definitely not the class I thought it was. I thought we would be doing things on the computer, and designing using shapes and patterns and what not. Completely wrong. It's mostly drawing and painting. FUCK! I don't mind it, I just can't really do either of those things very well, so it'll be interesting to see how this class works out for me. Right when we started he gave us an assignment to pick out seven images for a scale and have one side be the good, and one side be the evil, what comes in the middle, and everything else in between. The first thing that came into my head was images of rich people, images of poor people, and images of the middle class, so I just went with that. Everyone in that class is mostly Art & Design majors, or Advertising majors. AND there was only 1 person in the class that was actually from Chicago. WILD! 

Art History 

My teacher is wild about art history, let me tell you. It's your typical lecture class, but he's so scatter-brained it's hard to keep up with him. It's almost as if he has too much information and he just wants to get it all out at once. I met a couple new people in the class, so hopefully that should make it better. 

School is amazing. It feels good to be back. 

31st Annual Chicago Jazz Festival

Fareed Haque & The Flat Earth Ensemble

Crazy Masks!

 

St Charles High School 

Such a nice day.

Columbia College!

Esperanza Spalding.

So many people...GODDAMN!

These dude's were just jammin. That guy's playing 2 saxophones at once! There was a good 10-15 people standing listening to them, and then they stopped and started preaching about God and throwing Jesus in our faces and only 5 people, (including myself) were left standing. After awhile it just became repetitive and I had to walk away. 

Sadly because of work, I was only able to attend on Friday, but it was incredible. I felt so at peace. I met a photographer there who took some pictures of me. His name was Jerry Goldner and he's a wildlife photographer. He just kept telling me about how he was really stoned and that he's just been going around freelancing and said he basically gives his photographs away for free. He said to me, "It's such a reward to not get paid to do what you love, but to simply just love what you do." You can check out his work here.

Until next time....

School supplies, Hobo's, and Bomb Bakeries

Here it is! My first actual blog about my whereabouts and happenings in this crazy, random, totally off the wall city that I now call home. 

First off, I can't even begin to describe how in love I am. I wake up everyday and sometimes I still can't believe I am here. There's so much to do, and so much to explore. Everyday is an adventure waiting to unfold. 

I started work last Monday, and it is extremely wild. Unfortunetely their back to school started that week, and will continue through the 2nd week in September. THUMBS DOWN. Back to school was rough in Omaha, and here it is just as busy and I am running everywhere constantly. The way they run this store is outrageous, and totally not efficient in anyway. Instead of restocking in the morning, they restock at night. 

This 

means 

staying 

later.

On my first day we stayed an extra 2hrs later, and didn't get out until 11. This week we close at 10.....I can't even imagine how much that's going to suck. I don't really mind this because when I go to work I feel like I have friends, and generally have people to talk to about the city. Everyone I work with is crazy. 

No, I'm dead serious. 

My General Manager, John (heavy Chicago accent, somewhat hispanic looking) seems like he doesn't really do anything but is constantly stressed out asking what's going on with everything. This assumption was confirmed by Phil (who I'll get to later) saying, "He basically sits in his office all day, and we can do whatever we want on the floor."

Fuck.

Yeah.

My Assistant Manager, Patrick (big black dude), is hilarious. He generally likes to have a good time at work, and crack jokes, but still gets work done. One of the first days I worked with him I told him I had a "cash-on-hand-warning" and he kept forgetting about it. Later when we closed he said to me, "I don't do those, I used to work in the projects before I came here ok...if we needed to pick up cash from the register, we had to close the whole store." Fair enough. 

My other manager, Jodi (really short white guy) is off the wall nuts. He's the kind of guy that will tell it to you like it is, and won't really care either way how it makes you feel. But he is overally nice to customers, and talks in a quiet old woman's voice. Upon closing one night with him he found a labeler in the office and ran out screaming at all of us. "WHY IS THIS HERE?!"....."It's not on planogram, we can't find a place for it." We all kind of said at the same time. "WELL LETS MAKE A FUCKIN PLANOGRAM FOR IT! COME ON YOU GUYS!" I was so terrified. His face got so angry, and then turned straight and said, "I'm just kidding, I'll take care of this tomorrow." When he checked my bag after the first night I worked he saw my pills and asked, "Oooooo what pills you got?" and I couldn't help but laugh and say, "It's Ibuprofen."

My Logistics Manager, Helen (short big black lady) I've only worked with twice. From what I have seen so far, she works her ass off and is constantly moving. She also likes to fuckin yell in the headset, which hurts my ears.

My associates are generally all around my age, which is awesome. There's Phil (half Mexican, half white), who's really fuckin cute, but is 18, just starting college, and just talks to me about all the wild shit he does when he's drunk. He definitely likes to P.A.R.T.Y. Amir (middle eastern lookin dude who goes to Depaul), who I thought was real fine when I first saw him, turned out to be a total bro when I heard him listening to Lil Wayne videos on youtube on his break. Not a fine dude anymore. Ana (22yr old who's from Guatemala) is a super nice, friendly, and fun girl.  She reminds me a lot of Rosie in a lot of ways, so I think we could potentially be good friends in the future. Stephanie (white girl from Milwaukee), goes to some fancy smart school (that I can't remember the name of, but she said it was similar to M.I.T.) and majors in physics. She's the kind of girl that automatically assumes you're dumb and don't know anything, and will try to teach you in a nice way, but it just comes out all wrong. So I'm not particularly a a huge fan of her. Nancy (29yr old from Mexico City who could pass for being Russian any day with her accent) literally lives in the building next to mine, so I have someone to ride the bus and the train with. Nick (25yr old tall dark haired white dude) basically thinks he's the shit and knows everything. Every time I ask him a question I feel like he's talking down to me, and I HATE THAT. But he gave me his number on Saturday and said, "We should go out sometime, I'll show you the hot spots." I don't really like his vibes, but I figure I'll give him a chance anyways because I don't have any friends here yet. 

All of these people are so different, and so unique in their own ways, (and I haven't even met everyone I work with yet!). I love coming into work just because of that. It's crazy because I feel like the minority, there's not many people white people that work there, and it's awesome. 

On my walk to the beach, I waited for the walking symbol to cross the street and an African guy ran across and turned back looking at me and said, "Afraid to die?" I just said, "Uh....yeah..." and he walked with me to the beach telling me his story of how he came to Chicago. He said he came from Africa, and that he used to be a teacher at Berkley and decided one day that he was going to leave and take nothing but his backpack and just go to Chicago for the hell of it. He said he didn't know anyone and that now he knows me. And then of course that was followed by a series of "You got a husband? Serious boyfriend? If I was your husband I would treat you right, honor you, cherish you. How does one get to know you better?" "Uh..I don't really know, do you live around here?" "Oh no no I go to the shelter, do you have a phone number of some sort, so that I could see you again sometime?" "Um...I don't really give it out..." We had come to the bike trail and it was made obvious that I was going to keep walking, and he said "Oh ok, I see you again sometime Christine, we shall meet again!" and I just smiled, said "See ya," and went to read my book. Hobo's are crazy. I get asked for change probably 5-10 times a day everywhere I go. Some of them only ask you once, but some of them sit there and give you a whole speech about how everyone should help the homeless. I've noticed there's one on my street that literally walks up and down Bryn Mawr 24/7 fidgeting with his hands and talking to himself at times. I guess it's not too appealing that there's an institution for mental illness people across from my building either. They have this fenced in patio where they're able to get fresh air, but all they do is pull their chairs up to the fence and stare at you as you walk by. 

Basically the past week I have just been getting familiar with my neighborhood, walking around the block every which way, or riding the train and getting off at each stop exploring. On Thursday I was determined to find a good bakery close by. 

I walked into this place and its filled with everything you can think of and everyday they put out new things. Muffins, cookies, loafs of bread, pastries, donuts, and cream filled cakes. You grab a tray and pick out whatever you want and bring it up to the register when you're done. I grabbed a muffin, a cookie, a donut, and an apple pastry and had no idea what the price was going to be, but didn't even care. It was literally, $2.50 for everything. I was in heaven. I ate the donut on my way to the train, and I about had a party in my mouth it was so good.  MMMMM

I'll be blogging soon, there's a lot of Jazz happening at Millenium Park this week, and weekend that I am really looking forward to. And the best part of it is, IT'S FREE! 

I can't wait for school to start.

I can't wait for tomorrow, and every other day that follows. 

Decorated

This is my door, (obviously) I put the smile that Jake painted there so that everytime I leave I'll remember to smile =) And then there's turntables, a signed Crystal Method poster (thanks to Ali), a picture I took of Chicago when I first visited, and a Marilyn Monroe little poster that Keith didn't want. 

My dresser has random stuff on it right now, as you can see....

This is mostly where I keep my cameras, camera supplies, shoes, pants, and school shit.

I have too many clothes. The closet actually goes to the right pretty far back also. 

I got this couch for free. Neil stole it from Creighton and had another one exactly the same so he let me have it. 

My tv doesn't work for my dvd player. I didn't find this out till a couple days after I moved in, so I mostly just listen to music, or watch movies on my macbook. 

I LOVE THIS CHAIR! I also got this chair for free too. My counselor that I used to see was going to throw it away, so I said I'd take it. It's way comfortable. I also scored the hanging picture thing at Urban Outfitters for like $10. I was just going to put Omaha pictures on it, and right now I just have Lightning Bug, a picture of the Zoo, and a polaroid of Steph, Emily, and I. 

This wall is dedicated to SAM EVANS!

And this one is dedicated to Erykah Badu. Mhmmm

This is my kitchen. My stove didn't get turned on till about 2 days ago, and my microwave currently doesn't work. I don't know why, but it just doesn't heat up so I've been calling everywhere to try to get it fixed. I don't want to return it because its from Nebraska Furniture Mart and that'd just be a hassle. 

You can't really see it very well, but I have a drawing/writing that Nic drew/wrote while we were all really stoned one night at my old house. Then I have a senior picture of Rosie. I have lot's of other pictures, but I just think she looks gorgeous in that one, so I put it up. And then there's a Film Festival, and Free Yoga coming up in Sept that I'm going to check out. And then Jeff and an awesome Thai restaurant within walking distance from my apartment that delivers! (Even though I don't really need them to.) I also have all those words from my old house that I haven't messed with at all yet. My mom was trying to write me a sentence and could only find "love you man" that was appropriate. 

You can't really see, but the trains over there.

This is my view, another apartment complex WOOOO!! lol

I did actually make a video of this, but it was too long for youtube, and it wasn't uploading on here, so I just took pictures instead. I'll have to fill you in on what I've been doing since I've been here in a different blog. I've just kinda been busy taking care of shit, and trying to get familiar with my surroundings. 

I MISS ALL OF YOU SO MUCH!

Hmmm..

I don't know why I try to make things work at the most inconvenient times.

I'm sorry I never gave you a chance earlier.
I hope we can enjoy this time together while we can.


9 more days till I leave....crazy. It still hasn't hit me yet. So much to do, and so little time. I just can't wait till I'm in my apartment. My OWN apartment, full of my OWN SHIT!! I feel so accomplished.

Also, I'm feeling a lot better about who I am, what I want, and the people I don't need in my life anymore. I've realized I can't help someone who doesn't want to help themselves. If that makes me a shady bitch....so be it.


I'll be back for my trial and everything, and my manager is nice enough to let me come home for Christmas. =)

(This is one big random blog, cuz I'm on break at work and I have no money for food so I'm just sitting back here.)

I've run out of things to say.....
PEACE

I dont know why

But lately, everyday has been filled with laughter. Non-stop, crying, make-your-stomache-hurt laughter. It's mind blowing.


You have no idea how much I'm going to miss all of you in my life everyday.


On another note, I feel horrible for my friends hurting and going through some stupid shit. (it's funny how karma works and how ironic this is) I promise you, it is not the end of the world. You will get through this, just like I did.

I couldn't ask for more.

Chicago was amazing. Everything has worked out, and happened all so fast it's crazy. It was like one thing after the other just fell right into place.

Tuesday, after much walking and going in all different directions, we finally came to an Office Max on Fullerton Ave in a shopping center called "Riverfront Mall." I spoke to the general manager there about a transfer and he said he would call my boss and get back to me. The rest of the day consisted of nothing but walking around downtown, enjoying the scenery, and great food. Grant Park had festivities going on all summer, and that day they had a rehearsal for a show they were going to put on later in the week. It was awesome!

These kids were havin a blast. 

LOOK AT THIS GODDAMN BLOODY MARY!  

Wednesday, we walked around neighborhoods Bucktown, Wicker Park, and Wriggleyville. All of these neighborhoods are extroardinary. They're a lot like Midtown and downtown Omaha, (only way cooler of course).They're filled with bars, clubs, music venues, and a lot of shopping. I found this store called "Vintage Underground," where I found a gold capricorn ring. No one ever has capricorn stuff, EVER.....they're always out. I had to buy it. This store was pretty similar to Joe's Collectibles downtown, (only smaller and full of jewelry).  

Afterwards we went back downtown and saw this restaurant they used to have in Lincoln called "The Reagle Beagle." My mom was freakin about it, and said her brother used to go there and hang out all the time. So needless to say, we had to take a picture. They played nothin but 70's and 80's music, and had "Three's Company" playing on the tv's. (I used to LOVE that show!)

The city all lit up!

On Thursday, I had an appointment with a company called "Chicago Apartment Finders." Basically what they do is drive you around and show you different apartments in your price range, and match you up with everything you're looking for. We had an agent named Louie. He was a really cool dude who knew a lot about Chicago and traveled all over the world. (Even to Egypt and Jerusalem!) After a lot of driving around, and being locked out of several apartments, the last one I saw I fell in love with. It's kind of small, but its livable. 

I will be in a neighborhood called "Edgewater." It's pretty far north, but is a half hour from school and work, and 5 miles from North Avenue Beach. PERFECTOOOO! The lease starts Aug 15th, but I won't be able to officially move in until the weekend of the 21st. Kind of shitty paying for rent when you won't even be there, but hey....I got a place to live. 

Friday consisted of nothing but taking care of school business. We had an appointment with the photography advisor at 10am, and were running late. The lady at the desk told us if we were more than 15mins late, we'd have to reschedule. We got off the blue line at 10:10 and literally ran 4 blocks to the wrong building. HA! When we made it there she was with another student and said she would see us in between appointments. THANK GOD! She went over all of the classes I need to start out, and also informed me that I had about 4 core classes I still needed to take. 78 credit hours at Metro, and only 48 of them transfered. I was upset. I still have to take more Math, Science, and History. FML. My photography classes didn't transfer so I had to go see one of the photography administers to see if I could convince him to transfer them. I showed him my portfolio, he said it was "not bad," gave me a quiz, and asked me general questions. Finally he said he was able to transfer one of them as an elective for my major.

Later on, my mom had a convention for work and I wasn't about to sit at the hotel all night so I decided to go to a place called "The Kinetic Playground." I saw online that they were having a hip hop/trance/experimental show going on that night, but when I actually got there, no one was in there except 3 people. Apparently, there was not a show at all. I decided to walk around the area and went into a bar called "The Crew." I was super hungry so I decided to eat and have a couple drinks. All of a sudden the place started getting packed....FULL OF DUDES! At first I was confused, and then realized I was the only girl in the bar, and knew why. I found out later I was in a part of town called, "Boystown," aka Gay central.....nothing like the one in Omaha. I decided to ride the train back to Bucktown and ended up at another bar. I met some guys there from Ohio. The only thing we had in common was the band, "The Black Keys," and they invited me to go to an irish bar with them down the street. I went and met some of their other friends that were actually from Chicago, and just asked them questions about the city. It got to be around 11 and I figured I should probably head back. The train was PACKED. As soon as I got on I put on my head phones and zoned out. The next thing I saw was 2 girls yelling at some dude, throwing shit at him and hitting him. I have no idea what they were saying, but when we came to the next stop the CTA guys kicked the girls off and the guy being harassed handed some other guy $20 and told him thanks and got off the train. The guy handed out $2 to me and everyone around him. People are nuts. 

Saturday, my mom had a convention again all day. I decided to find my way to the beach, and relax. 

It was super crowded. They had volleyball courts, a bar, gift shops, places to eat, and even a dodgeball court. The water was extremely cold, but the sand was just right. I got a call from Office Max while I was layin out saying they would transfer me to their store. =)

The rest of the night I had really bad cramps. So bad, that I couldn't even walk or stand up. Such a bummer.

Sunday, I saw a flyer for the Wicker Park Festival and we decided to go check it out. 

It was very similar to the Summer Arts Festival in Omaha, only better. They had a lot of sidewalk sales and incredible stores. 

Before we headed back to the hotel, I had to see the beach one last time as the sun went down. 

LOOK AT THOSE CLOUDS! 

I'm in love with this city. I'm terrifyingly excited. There's a new chapter in my life ahead...and I can't wait to watch it all unfold. 

I'll be having a going away party August 14 or 16th. I don't have details yet, but it will most likely be a BBQ at my parents house during the day. I'll make a facebook event for it sometime this week. 

MUAH!