Words that Should NOT Exist

words that i hate the sound of. they make me cringe.
*condone
*mucus
*reverberate
*pianist
*flautist
*moist
*juror
*panties
*damp
*crotch
*tits
*rural
*orifice

My Favorite Words

words i like the sound of... a lot. they make my mouth happy

*sperlunking
*degradation
*reiterate
*erroding
*voluptuous
*bastard
*elongate
*serendipity
*thespian
*macademia
*tintinabulation
*tutelage
*somnambalism
*bulbous
*marshmellow
*morose
*muffin
*jovial
*convoluted
*bamboozle
*trabajabamos
*flap
*spring
*persnickety
*fasicious
*dollop
*superfluous
*masticate
*meander
*frolic
*euphonious

Thing I Want To Do In My Lifetime

not "Things I want to do before I die" cause i don't want to have to wait until i'm dying to do them. but same idea.... when preceded by #, i have completed the dream that follows

*go skydiving

*go hot air ballooning
*eat a chocolate covered scorpion
*spend the night in a haunted house
*blow something up
#visit London
*kiss in the rain
*sit and ponder in some ancient Greek ruins
*run a long the Great Wall of China
*ask a Sphinx a riddle in Egypt
*spend the night in the catwalks of a theatre
#slumber party on a stage
*visit India

*visit Prague

*visit Dubai
#see Wicked on stage
#see Les Miserables on stage
#see Phantom of the Opera on stage

*see Metamorphases by Mary Zimmerman onstage
*have art in a gallery that is not at school
*study art in Italy
#nap under the Eiffel Tower
*New Year's Eve in New York
#live on a mountain
*road trip across the country with friends
*swim with dolphins
*backpack Europe for more than a week
*go sperlunking
*go to New Zealand to find Middle Earth
#visit King's Cross Station
*sell a piece of art for an outrageous amount of money
*find love
*attend a service in a Buddhist Temple
*read all the classics
*develop a super power
*change someone's life drastically
*see David Letterman's show live
*see Craig Ferguson's show live
*punch Hilary Duff in the face
#eat cajun food
*shave my head
*learn how to blow glass

*learn how to work with encaustic

*visit San Fransisco
*go to Oman and study the culture
*visit a mosque
*be friends with Jon Stewart
*drink coffee from every country (# on Turkish and Omani and Costa Rican)

#stand in the Sky Deck at the Sears Tower

#go to a gay bar

*go on a national geographic cruise

*get a hot stones massage

My Favorite Phobias

Peladophobia--> fear of bald people
Bolshephobia--> fear of Bolsheviks
Geiophobia--> fear of chins
Porphyrophobia--> fear of the color purple
Oneirogmophobia--> fear of wet dreams
Aulophobia--> fear of flutes
Hellenologophobia--? fear of Greek terms
Gunuphobia--> fear of knees
Arachibutyrophobia--> fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth
Phobophobia--> fear of phobias
Ephebiphobia--> fear of teenagers
Lachanophobia--? fear of vegetables
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia--> fear of long words

Why My Apartment in Chicago Sucked

*small
*expensive
*drafty windows
*yellow colored bathroom
*only a half fridge
*no counter space in the kitchen or bathroom
*broken electrical outlets installed at an angle
*ugly
*small beds
*no light in "kitchen"
*gas stove that sets off the smoke alarm whenever i use the oven
*located right next to the alleyway where drunk people fight and smoke and play loud music
*located right next to same alleyway where hundreds of dumpsters need to be emptied weekly
*located right next to same alleyway where all the bars' delivery trucks stop
*construction on the apartment across the way
*hot and cold faucets in sink are exactly the same- barely cold unless you let them run forever, then they get lukewarm
*hottest and coldest water is in the shower
*sink doesn't drain very well
*sticky tack doesn't stick to the walls
*no one told us we had to turn the heater on, even though they turned the heat on
*have to have the light in the bathroom on to use that outlet, and it doesn't always work
*light in the main room spazzes and flickers every time you turn it on
*windows get stuck open or shut- require force to move them
*no shelf in closet
*dresser drawers stick
*crappily constructed
*microwave doesn't always work unless you hold the cord just right
*rusty cabinets
*cabinets right above stove get really hot and melty
*no drawers in "kitchen"
*only one comfy chair
*no view
*other rooms aren't as bad as ours
and the biggest problem, which would make all the other problems less horrific:
*it's a room made for one person and they shove 2 in for chicago semester students!

Little Things That Make My Day

*the handicapped homeless man who always says 'good morning angels' to everyone but never asks for money
*lunch with my boss Beate
*cleanslate workers with a smiling face as they clean each neighborhood
*the man who runs the snack bar at the clark/division red line stop and always tells me good morning
*the holiday decorations
*getting phone calls from friends at home unexpectedly
*zulfiya's laugh
*good conversations about art with stephen snyder
*saturday night live parties
*heather hubers' brownies
*reading on the trains, and in the train stations
*getting weird looks because of how i'm dressed/what i'm reading/i'm sitting on the floor of the train station
*nerdy conversations with jessica lundgren
*having time to make art

How My Semester in Chicago Changed Me

*i love the city, and i never thought i would
*i wear make up almost daily
*i'm more comfortable being myself in front of friends and strangers
*i wear dressier clothes than i used to. still sort of uniquified, but.... i hardly wear t-shirts anymore!
*i like borscht
*i feel like, if i had to, i could become a vegetarian
*i go out to bars and dance clubs--- and sometimes dance!
*i like James Bond
*i procrastinate a lot more
*i don't mind not knowing where i am or where i'm going
*more uncertain about my future than ever
*i talk to people i have nothing in common with and try to be their friend
*i can (sort of) talk in front of small groups of people
*i don't have as much time for my art
*more independent
*i'm more talkative
*little things get to me more easily
*i look more like a professional than an artist when i'm going to work so-
*when i'm on my own i am even more unusually dressed
*starting to almost like airports (but not flying)
*weirdly, writing more often
*more leader-like
*more comfortable talking to strangers
*more comfortable asking for help
*more liberal
*talking on the phone way more often
*give more easily to homeless
*care more about feminist issues
*i like outsider art!
*can more easily (and more willingly) express my opinions

Reasons why a unicorn would never want to vacation in Irun

*No frollicing space
*Only beer and coffee to drink
*Nothing magical about this place
*No smiling...ever!
*Only grumpy gnomes visit Irun
*No color
*No laughter
*No love

Ways a 6 hour layover can seem so much longer than what it really is

*No English...anywhere
*The infomation lady is rude and unhelpful
*The cafe lady hates us for no apparent reason
*The magazine man only sells porn
*The benches are made out of rail road ties
*The ticker that says trains are coming doesn't work.

Reasons Train Rides Suck

*Babies
*Seats that don't recline
*Babies
*Messages in French
*Babies
*Cell phones
*Annoying Spanish girls who laugh and talk the entire train ride

Good Things About Lisbon

*The moon
*Fabio the shark
*Corvo the ship
*Bertha the ship
*Jimbob the ship in love with Bertha
*Skippy the ship
*Janet the ship who almost collided with Skippy in an attempt to flirt
*Glen the loner ship
*The large obnoxious disco ball on a billboard by the highway
*The random Native American band playing in the plaza, and the very white guy dancing to their music
*The fountain

(you have to understand that we had a less than stellar time in lisbon and were hard-pressed to find good things about i)

Some Beautiful Moments on Our Way to and in Paris

*meeting molly and peter
*when all the people in Aloha Hostel lobby sang along with American Pie
*Winged Victory
*sketching Tucker while he sleeps- it's really adorable
*napping under the eiffel tower
*talking to random americans or people who know english on the trains, outside the louvre, in the stations
*playing 80s music in the otherwise silent/dead Irun train station
*using towels as blankets on the train
*being happy with our decision to go back to london
*taking a shower after being sweaty on a train all day*watching the clouds go by outside our window
*watching small children who aren't screaming

(in case you haven't figured it out, a lot of these lists will make no real sense [at least not completely] to outsiders... but what the hell. i still like them, and maybe they will still deliver inspiration to some random weirdo who reads this)

Things I Learned During My One Week Backpacking Trip in Europe

*plan well before hand!
*people are generally helpful, but you have to be patient
*know the language! at least a little
*pop hostel (madrid) is awesome!
*when in lisbon, know where the beach is first, or find people who do. don't assume it's right there. there may be a train in the way.
*never ever ever go to irun train station for 6 hours. (only grumpy gnomes go to irun)
*eurail passes require reservations that need to be paid for on each train. they don't tell you that part.
*you don't have to do touristy things to have fun
*bread is good
*don't accept anything from anyone in paris if they claim it is free
*talk to people you don't know- other travelers, people in the train stations, planes, etc. you might make a new friend.
*don't forget to drink water!
*don't forget to eat!
*make sure you have a little cash on you cause atms aren't always reliable...
*it is possible to walk everywhere in france, even if it looks confusing and long. the metro is dirty anyway
*the metro in madrid, though, rocks
*marlboro reds smell terrible (and according to tucker taste even worse)
*sign language!
*keep a supply of cookies on hand for stressful moments.
*stay longer than 2 nights in each place.
*20 kilograms equals 50 lbs.
*be flexible
*keep a journal
*everything is better at 4 am
*nothing is better than a friend when you are in a strange place

Why I Like Lists

so i had a crazy random idea for blog that's probably already been done before but what they hey i'm starting it anyway. my idea is a blog of lists. all kinds of lists. why? cause once upon a time, i went on a trip with a friend of mine, and he had a book. and that book was filled with lists. sorry i don't remember what the book was called, but.... anyway, we read lists from there regularly, and made some of our own. and i realized recently that i like lists more than i ever realized. they are everywhere. so to celebrate this new blog that probably no one will ever follow, here is my list of why lists are great. more lists will follow!

Why I Like Lists:
*they are easy
*they are concise
*they help me organize
*they help me remember
*they can be fun/funny
*they remind me of tucker and his book
*unicorns write lists
*they are easy to understand
*they are fast
*they help me think clearly
*anyone can make them
*to fill up time by creating a blog based on lists
*to find interesting and usually useless facts

so there's my first list! any ideas for what you'd like to see a list of, leave a comment! otherwise you'll probably see my grocery list or to do lists. those might end up on here anyways... :)