Three fall Things!

It's October! It's October!

1) A Fall Song
   composed by: me. And I'm just making this up as I go, so sorry if it's not very good... It's meant to be sung to (sortof) the tune of that one monty python song about the lumberjack.

Fall is a time where the leaves turn gold
And you put on a sweater cause your arms get cold
Appley dumpling a la mode,
It's super delicious, I've been told...
Pumpkin carving is so fun
I etched Frodo in a pumpkin once (which is true, by the way.)
You can fly kites in the nice warm sun
And mix up some cocoa once you're done!

The end.
Ps, here's my Frodo pumpkin. I made it last year for a jack-o-lantern contest at school. I didn't win :(
(But that's okay, cause the guy who won made a swine flu pumpkin which was totally awesome.)

2) Pictures!!!
They're not here yet, but they will be. Colton sent me a roll of Kodachrome in the mail! (it's a type of slide film that has been discontinued. The colors, especially skin tones, are unrivaled.) I just finished off the roll and sent it off to Kansas to be processed. Dwayne's Photo is the only place left in the world which is liscensed to process Kodachrome... and you have to send all rolls in by December 30th. After that, Kodachrome will be no more. So this is probably the only roll I'll get to shoot in a lifetime. I sure hope I used it wisely!

3) Fall drinks!
I was studying for a midterm this afternoon, and so I went into a local coffee shop and ordered a first for me: chai smoothie with a shot of espresso. I like tea and coffee both, but I've always considered them to be in very separate categories. But I asked the barista what he suggested if I was in a chai-ish mood, and he said that he wouldn't charge me extra to add espresso if I tried it and told him how it was. So that's what I did! Lemme tell you - it was delicious. The espresso really cut the sweetness in an incredible way... it was sortof like eating a toasted marshmallow from the inside out. It was sweet and mellow on the surface, but after I swallowed the smokey spices and black pepper from the chai and the earthiness of the espresso stayed on my tongue. And the espresso rounded out any acidity in the chai. I can't wait to try it hot! (It was really warm in the coffee shop and I'm wearing a wool sweater, so I just couldn't handle it hot today)

I can't wait to get my film back.
Also, I bought a pair of Italian leather Cole Haan loafers at Goodwill for $3. Yeah!

MMM.

I have made a brilliant new discovery:

Gaea Cooking Sauce!!!

All the delicious flavor of Greece,

In a Jar,

Purchased for 2 Dollars at the Food Pantry

(What can I say. I'm a starving college student, newly off the meal plan.)

Here's what I did:

I sauteed some mushrooms in butter and put some penne on the burner.

Once the mushrooms were lovely and brown, I added some leftover grilled chicken,

about 1/4 to 1/8 pint of heavy cream, and a few tablespoons of this sauce!

(I shook in a little extra sugar, basil, salt, and pepper just for good measure)

Then I just added the pasta, and voila!

Enough deliciousness to last me a few days :)

Hello, Hiawatha!!!

So. I have a confession.

I had a terrible crush on Hiawatha back in the day.
I had a Hiawatha book,
and knew this little chant about him.

So, of course, I did some light study in Native American Culture!

When I found out there was a Powwow in town,
I had to go. And Colton was even visiting!
Here's a few sweet pics...

The Silversmith. Colton bought me a lovely ring, and her husband polished it up to a gleaming shine, like her smile!

The Wolves. I'm not sure how I feel about this ethically speaking, but it was still pretty cool to see them up close.



This photo is all about the kid on the right. He was sitting on the haystack next to Colton and I, and said that he was a really good dancer, and could do indian-style dancing, as well as rap dancing on the floor. When the drums started, he just hopped right in there!



Maybe my favorite.

I think I would sortof love dressing up in this garb.



Hair wrapping!!! When I was about twelve, I bought one of those little gizmos that's supposed to make hair wraps, but it never really worked. Ps, check out the bokeh on this one! Gorgeous.



Reportedly, her dog can dance with the best of them.



So fierce :)

I love this guy! What a weird combination of Hippie and Native American. You should have seen their van.



And his wife. They have a facebook page for their crafts, apparently... If I find it, I'll be sure to post a link.



A Gem of a Family.



Sisters.

Whirlwind Weekend, Part 2

Let me tell you a little more about my saturday.

I have passed this lawn mower track every time I drive home from school, and vice versa. I've always wanted to go to a race. So I did!
Partly because some of my friends are making a documentary,
but partly because I just wanted to experience some southern entertainment with Colton and Bryce.
I am truly a southern girl. Not in music preference, accent, or bar frequenting, but in nearly everything else.
I love fried foods. I love southern literature (excuse me, Flannery OConner. How are you such a genius.). I love lazy days on the dock across the street. I love the characters you meet at Lawn Mower Races, or Powwows (soon to be featured on my blog). I love the warm nature of the people. I love the hospitality. I love how beautiful my surroundings are. Let me just say, Tennessee is the loveliest country. Actually, anywhere in the Deep South. Have any of you seen the documentary Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus? I highly, highly reccommend it. It really does capture the strange side of the spirit of the South, especially in regard to the intersection of the violent and spiritual.

As for the actual race, it's apparently a much bigger deal than I originally thought. This particular race is, I think, the one before the semi-finals, before the nationals in November. Which I am most certainly attending.
These racers have travelled all over the country. I thought that it was strictly a southern sport, but there are tracks in all 50 states. There were even some racers from Canada.

This one guy, Delaney, (pictured below) has raced all over for years, and has won 19 majors. The New York Times even covered his story once. When the guys interveiwed him for the documentary, he asked them if they wanted to meet his rival. "That guy over there," he said, "is Superman." They're best friends. There's such a familial aspect to these races. Everyone knows each other. The lady that let us in told us who was racing by their states, not their names. "The Alabama crew's here all the time. The North Carolina's are here too... we're not gonna go there. We've got Kentucky, Georgia, and I think Mississippi. In November Canada'll come, and all the Northerners. Oh yeah, they come from all over."

Delaney Smokes 'Em.

A Faithful Observer.



Happy to Be Here.



Tommy Daniels Himself.

Tommy asked to take this picture of me on his mower (which, by the way, can go up to 75 mph.) How could I refuse?

Whirlwind Weekend! Part 1.

Hey!!!
So. Colton came to visit (and teach some film workshops) from wednesday to monday morning! My goodness, how excited I was. We had the best weekend. I have a ton of pictures, but I'm going to try and post them a little bit at a time so I won't have super long posts.

At the workshop, I worked under Glen, who I've worked with a few times on other sets. He's the most excellent gaffer/electrician. One of the hardest workers I've ever met! And he's lightning fast. He taught me how to put up an HMI, and change lenses and scrims. I also learned a little more about how to work C-stands (they have a million knobs!) and learned the color bands of different levels of diffusion. Maybe I'll be a lighting guy when I grow up :)

(just kidding, I think.)


Later that afternoon, Colton and I (and Bryce, too. Of the Grecian Urns, check them out on itunes!) (ps, sorry I always advertise, but they really are phenomenal, and are trying to finish paying for college.) went to a lawnmower race! I pass the track everytime I drive from my house to the school, but I've never actually seen a race. We stayed for quite a few hours, and met the coolest people. I had TONS of fun. Here's a sneak peek at some photos to come!

The super mod twin division tearing up the track!

Engine Trouble.

Little Spectators

And big ones :)

Moments Past - #1

Howdy.

I am putting off my History of Doctrines reading for tonight, so I thought I'd do a little blog post in the meantime...

side note: I usually love to read, but this is one of the hardest textbooks I've encountered so far... "The Genesis of Doctrine: A Study in the Foundation of Doctrinal Criticism" by Alister McGrath. I usually love his writing, but this particular book is terribly theoretical and dense, and has some pretty dang hard vocabulary. I am fishing for sympathy, so I'm going to type a small section of the last reading so you understand and can properly sympathize...

"The facility with which such declarations are made has frequently engendered the suspicion that those engaging in ecumenical theology employ language to conceal differences, rather than bring them into the open. Indeed, it is possible to suggest that the explicandum (if not necessarily the explicatum) of Lindbeck's book is the apparent anomaly which arises when doctrines remain unchanged, and yet cease to be regarded as conflicting."

Dr. Charles, I love you dearly, but I am not sure that I will be able to adequately summarize and respond to the reading.
And let noone ever tell me that Christian liberal art schools have low academic standards.


Now for the actual post...
Sometimes I don't blog because I feel like I don't have anything to blog about. I do alot of homework these days, I'm working on my thesis, and going grocery shopping. I don't think you would like to hear about my exegesis and textual criticism of biblical passages, so I usually wait to blog until I've done something outside of school. Instead of being absent from the blogging world in these in between times, I'm going to pick a special moment from the past and tell you about it!

Moment -
The South Pittsburgh National Cornbread Festival.
I dearly love cornbread, and meeting interesting characters. South Pittsburgh (Tenessee, mind you) is full of both, especially at the cornbread festival. We saw an advertisement in a booklet of events around the south, and knew we had to go. So one sunday afternoon, we drove on down!

Here's some of what we saw:

We were delighted to take advantage of the kettle corn samples. Best I've ever had!

A friend is someone you can confide in.

This cool cat was hanging out near the gourds.

Just to add a little perspective, Jordan, pictured to the left of Maggie, is approximately six foot eight.

There were alot of bikers. There was almost a fight in the grocery store parking lot as we were walking towards the festival.

Digging that Gospel Music.

Phillip is also digging his turkey leg.

We all loved this lady, who worked on the Cornbread Alley. (Ten kinds of cornbread for Two dollars!)
Hers was the clear winner... the "Whoo! Corndog Pups"

Cornbread Kids

I dubbed them "the Chicken-on-a-stick family"

This little one had some pretty fierce dance moves.

We had a whole week's worth of fun in that afternoon.
Plus, we stopped at Dairy Queen on the way back for Dip Cones.
What could be better?

Found objects

Hello there!
I rarely share links, as there are few websites that I frequent...

But I can't resist this one. It is my latest obsession.
These are all things that people find on the pavement, in the laudromat, on a post, in an abandoned house...
Given my penchant for all things preowned, I just can't help but fall in love with these little lost bits of people's lives. They're shopping lists, forgotten letters, old photographs and negatives, and diary entries. They're each like little archaeological digs, telling something about the people that came before.

Here are some of my favorites today.

Poor kid. Just because you wonder what would happen if you shot a cop doesn't mean you're a snot... you're just curious about how these worldly systems work :)

I can't describe how much I love this kid.

I'm not sure about ramen being tasty, but it's charming nonetheless.

I love when people make ordinary things, like shopping lists, personal.

Stretchy Pants.

This sortof makes me sad, but I also think it's hilarious. I hope cousin Tommy and friend got their candies.

Mmm, lollies!

It's okay, bud. Popcorn does that to the best of us.

I think the teacher should have given them at least ten points for style.

The caption on this find was as follows: (I think it's neccesary for the full impact)
While driving in early December, I hit a duck. It was either hit the duck or cause a multiple-car accident. The duck was flying one foot above the ground, looking disoriented. Plus, I think it was selling drugs to kids. But usually when you hit an animal, the animal does not attach itself to the vehicle. So I didn't think anything of it. And when I got back to my car, there was this attached note. But, there was no duck. So, in the course of 3 hours: -I hit a duck with my car. -I didn't notice the duck when I left my car. -Somebody else did notice, tried to claim it for themselves, and when they couldn't, they left a note. -A third party (human or not) also noticed the duck, and was able to successfully remove it. Also notice in the upper left hand corner of the note, what looks like 'PL2' I believe is actually 'PLZ'. For a while, I was worried that these two guys carry around a collection of template lunch bags and the one they use for stuck ducks is 'PL2'. And, before you ask, the duck was not (to the best of my knowledge) selling quack.

For more finds of the day, go to http://www.foundmagazine.com/