Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Graduation

Last Monday, May 18th, I graduated from Emerson College Magna Cum Laude, Gold Key Honors Society, Honors Student, with a BA in Film Production. My mom, dad, sister, and SURPRISE GUEST my brother Mike (who flew in from the Ukraine) all were there to celebrate with me! It was a great great weekend, even though we were all sick and the weather was COLD the day of graduation. So much wonderful food and friends and family. Great great great.







Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Movies I Can't Wait For This Summer

I love movies. So much. And there are some I am just so excited for I could pee my pants.
Here are a few in release date order:



"Away We Go." Directed by Sam Mendes. Release dates throughout June.





"Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince." Most anticipated movie of the year. July 15th.






"(500) Days Of Summer." I can't wait I can't wait I can't wait. July 17th.






"Where The Wild Things Are." I wish this was sooner! October 16th.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY-dXsR_ZFg

Monday, May 4, 2009

Road Trip Part Deux, a brief recap

We did indeed wake up to go look at the Great Salt Lake but it was far from great: about a half mile of salty muck and garbage filled the marshy banks and we could see the choppy water a ways out. It smelled preeeetty disgusting. So broken umbrella in hand we raced back to the car.

And it proceeded to rain. All. fucking. day.

We actually couldn't stop anywhere to explore (not that there was much in Utah, Wyoming, and Nebraska) but we love nature preserves and state parks. And we didn't want to get out in the rain, mud, and cold. So we drove drove drove through the disappointing Cheyenne onwards to stay in Grand Island, Nebraska while listening the whole way to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on CD.

Side note about HP on CD: I was really looking forward to listening and overall would give the series a three star rating. I liked the narrators voice and was impressed that he did voices for each character -- but he often got their inflections and meanings incorrect. I don't know if that's too nitpicky, but when you're listening and he just says everything Hermionie says in the same whiny voice no matter what her inflection is... it is a tad disappointing.

We were surprised by the small town quaintness of Lincoln, Nebraska on our third day of driving, when the sun was bright and shining. I slept most of Nebraska and didn't even see Omaha and woke up about 50 miles west of Des Moines. We had a great late lunch with my friends Loc and Robbie in Iowa City where they both attend school - it was awesome to see them and stretch our legs.

My favorite part of the road trip (with the exception of the Redwoods) surprisingly was our drive up Route 2 in Illinois, the last fifty minute drive up to my house. You pass through several small tiny towns (Dixon, Byron, the Blackhawk statue) and really get to see the hidden countryside of northern Illinois along the river. It was beautiful to end the trip with and it just flooded me with all of the reasons I miss Illinois when I leave. When I think of Illinois in the summer I think of strawberries and fresh cut grass and so far there has been a lot of that.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

The Way Home

Perhaps I'll find more time to post and recap my last few weeks and thoughts in Los Angeles soon - but just thought I would quickly update that I have officially LEFT the West Coast ... for now.

My dad flew into LA on tuesday night to pack my stuff up and have a fantastic dinner at his favorite restaurant Las Brisas in Laguna with my charming cousin Lin and my uncle Rich before we skipped town.

Thursday we headed up to Santa Cruz for my poetry feature there and it was great to be out of the city and to see some smiling familiar faces. The show went well and I was especially pleased to discover my favorite SC poet Jack has a chapbook and was eager to trade product. Success!

This morning my dad and I hugged some incredible Redwood trees at the forest preserve before setting out on our cross country journey. We just hauled it and stopped for a quick break at CIRCUS CIRCUSSSSS in Reno. Video games and crab cakes transpired (I am forever scared of buffets and refused to allow any consumption of the multiple casino buffets to occur). The drive was really beautiful and we went through all sorts of weather and landscapes -- purple mountains, red mountains, black skies, rolling greens hills! It was great. We're in Salt Lake City for the night and will hopefully see the Great Salt Lake tomorrow.