Spooktacular

I've been so preoccupied lately that I've almost forgotten that Halloween is just a week away.

I might dig up the "Shirlylock Holmes" costume that I made last year (nobody even saw me in it because I got into a fight with Jack Daniels that night before I even left the house...needless to say, Jack won. He always does).

Check out Nicole Lindner's designs for some Halloween costume inspiration! She is only 22-years-old and she taught herself how to sew! She reminds me of lot of one of my favorite designers, Jeremy Scott. I am in love with her 3D glasses dress. In fact, I would wear that anytime of the year!







It's time to finish up my paper!

I am really looking forward to a relaxing, work-free weekend. Here are some things that are on my agenda:

1) LAUNDRY (you know it's time when you have run out of underwear).
2) Arts & Crafts. I have a few projects in mind.
3) Shopping (because the Forever 21 at the Flatirons Mall is one of the biggest in the country...)
4) Sleeping.
5) Watching some Netflix. I got Adventureland and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past in the mail.
6) Playing music.
7) Thrifting.

Have a lovely day!



Sp

Just because we use cheats doesn't mean we're not smart

I've been so busy the past couple weeks with mid-terms and papers that I've hardly had a spare moment to catch my breath. Fortunately, it will all be over tomorrow (well, technically it won't be over until I graduate this upcoming spring, but hey, at least I'll get a little break).

It's 10 minutes to 2:00 AM and I've spent the last 5 hours or so working on a paper for my History of Dance class that was assigned weeks ago. I decided to write it on synchronized swimming in terms of the African aesthetic. You heard me. I analyzed a clip from the 1944 movie, Bathing Beauty, staring Esther Williams. What a babe!





I am almost done with my paper but it's not due until 2 pm tomorrow so I think I should get some sleep and then work on it some more tomorrow morning...

The most valuable tip I've learned thus far when it comes to writing papers (LISTEN UP!): When your paper needs to be 5 pages and you've only written 4.5, highlight all text, go to "Edit", select "Find all" from the drag-down menu, find all commas and periods, then ENLARGE FONT TO SIZE 14. Voila! Makes your paper *at least* half a page longer.

So now you know!

Stay tuned for a Halloween blog!

Unfortunately, closing your eyes does not make you disappear

When in doubt, be clever.

Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines

It's snowing outside, for the first day of the season. I took most of the day off, declaring it a "mental health" day. Surprisingly, I don't mind this weather so much. In fact, it feels comforting to a certain extent, relieving almost. I've been feeling caught between the seasons for the past couple of weeks now, in denial that denim cut-offs are not appropriate for this cooler, crisper, Colorado air (there I go with my alliterations again... it's really becoming a habit). In my mind, it's summer all the time, so when the weather starts to take a turn, it throws me off, especially my sleeping patterns. I have recently been suffering from spontaneous bouts of insomnia every few days or so. It's nothing a sleeping pill and a dose of "spatial disorientation" (as my cousin, Molly puts it) can't fix though. Try sleeping backwards sometime (rest your head where you normally rest your feet).

Yesterday evening, I received a surge of creativity from the great Greek God, Hephaestus himself, only to be violently thwarted by the imposing regime that many of us like to call academia. Why is it that in matters of the machine and subjects of the soul, the machine generally triumphs? I'm ready for a break from monotonous school life. Lucky for me, I am going home next weekend. I can't wait to see my boy and my family.

Speaking of San Diego, check out Julia Claire's myspace music page. She hails from Encinitas, CA and produces a "natural sound... buried deep in the smoky hideaways of prohibition cocktails". Her tone reminds me of daisy-chains, night-stand drawers, and sparkling rubies. A good friend, she also happens to be the cutest thing you will ever see! If you live in the San Diego area, also make sure to check out the open mic nights she hosts at the 1st Street Bar (in Encinitas) on Wednesday nights. You will always be guaranteed an entertaining night!

I leave you with a picture of my favorite corner in my apartment:



Love to you (and you, and you!)

First Original Song!

Hey guys!

Many of you might know that I am a self-professed youtube whore. To date, I have watched 2,638 videos. I have had 7,278 channel views, and I currently have 190 subscribers! In my 2-3 year relationship with youtube, I have posted 40 videos, all of which have been covers of songs that I love. A couple days ago, I made some history of my own on youtube - Cawlikesparrow's first original song, simply titled, "Rainy Day Song", was released to the online databank of fat people falling and funny cats. The video is now available for public scrutiny:



Today's mission? Appear in the same photo, multiple times:



Have a lovely day!

Freak-show

It's true: nature shows on Animal Planet and Discovery Channel always ensure an aesthetically pleasing, educational viewing experience. However, if there is ever a choice between engaging in Shark Week or watching a TLC documentary, TLC takes the cake - hands down. This blog is dedicated to mind-boggling, medical marvels of the world. You're about to be blown away.


Meet Brooke Greenberg from Reisterstown, Maryland. Brooke weighs 16 pounds, and is 30 inches tall. Believe it or not, Brooke is 16 years old. Frozen in time, Brooke's condition is identified as "Syndrome X". She has an estimated mental age of 9 months to a year.


21-year-old Aditya "Romeo" Dev, the world's smallest bodybuilder, hails from Punjab, India. The bodybuilding star from India
weighs about 19 pounds and is 2 feet, 9 inches tall. Dev told "Good Morning America" that the most he has ever lifted is 10 pounds : about half his weight. He is currently pursuing another passion in addition to weightlifting : singing and dancing.


Radhakant Bajpai's record ear hair measures nearly 10 inches long, which may be the longest ear hair in the world. Bajpai held the record in 2003, according to Guinness.


Christopher Sands, 25, suffers from chronic hiccups. He has not been able to get rid of his hiccups for more than two years.


For nearly four decades, Sanju Bhagat carried the body of his own twin inside him. Doctors discovered Bhagat had one of the world's most bizarre medical conditions — fetus in fetu, an extremely rare abnormality that occurs when a fetus gets trapped inside its twin.


Dede Koswara, 35, with gnarled growths sprouting from his hands and feet, sits in front of his house in the village of Tanjung Jaya, West Java province, Nov. 21, 2007. According to reports from the U.K. paper The Telegraph, Dr. Anthony Gaspari, a dermatologist from the United States, recently cut about 4 pounds of the hornlike growths from Koswara's limbs. The growths started appearing on his body when he was a teenager and earned him the "tree man"


James O'Neal, a grocery store cashier in Redmond, Wash., suffers from a genetic condition called neurofibromatosis that left his face disfigured; he compares his appearance to that of the "Elephant Man." Now, his customers and friends are raising money to help him have reconstructive facial surgery that will offer him a more normal appearance.


Persistent Sexual Arousal Syndrome (aka, PSAS), results in unrelenting, persistent genital arousal. Women that suffer from this syndrome explain that they feel like they are on the brink of an orgasm ... all the time.


Eighty-seven reports of patients with seizures induced by listening and/or playing music and one personal observation are reviewed. Music-induced (or musicogenic) seizures are currently classified among the reflex seizures precipitated by complex stimuli. According to the available information, they are defined as focal seizures due to a discharge involving lateral and mesial temporal and orbitofrontal areas. The specific musical component responsible for seizure precipitation is still undetermined.

Pictures and captions courtesy of ABC News.

Gettin' brained in the library, cuz I love knowledge

Good morning!

This past weekend was unfortunately overcast, chilly, boring, and lonely. I found myself staying in on Saturday night with a bottle of wine and Netflix on demand. Started watching a movie called Dreamland, but apparently 2 movies with the same name came out in 2006 and this Dreamland was actually not an indie dramedy at all, but a sci-fi thriller. I wasn't in the mood for a scary movie so I started to watch a movie called Dakota Skye, but couldn't hang in there with the horrible casting and acting. Finally, I found a movie that I could stick with : A Little Princess (even though I've seen it 17 times, it still makes me cry!)

Yesterday, Molly and I drove to Flatirons Mall. She was looking for a birthday dress and I was looking for some retail therapy. A new Forever 21 opened up there and is apparently the largest XXI in the country at 55,257 square feet!! I'm not really sure if Molly found a birthday dress, but I guess you can put it this way: we both did not leave empty-handed. I got a blazer (I've been looking for one forever), a dress for a wedding I'm going to in SD in a couple weeks (which might, or might not be too short), a headband with a giant black rose, a white tank top, and a tank top with a unicorn print on it. After we got back, I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening trying to lighten up my work-load for the next week.

I found some good music this weekend. Here are some songs I have had on repeat for the past couple of days:


The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition

White Hinterland - My Love

Lake Heartbeat - Blue Planet


Kid Cudi - Make Her Say (feat. Kanye West & Common)

Have a lovely day!

Creature Fear

If you haven't seen Earth, a Disneynature film, I highly recommend it. I netflix'ed it and I've already watched it 3 times! This movie makes me wish that I had a big screen TV and surround sound. It has also sparked my interest in the following specimens:


Scientific name: Theridion grallator, fondly known as the "happy face spider" (for obvious reasons). Its Hawaiian name is nananana makaki'i. The happy-face spider is endemic to the Hawaiian archipelago. The face pattern camouflages the spider from its predators. The spiders blend in with the underside of leaves, which is where they build their webs.


The glass wing butterfly is indigenous to South America. Scientific research has shown that the butterfly is the only living being capable of entirely changing its genetic structure during the process of transformation: the caterpillar's DNA is totally different from the butterfly's. Isn't it prettttttty?


The Coolest Bird on the Planet.