Yeah. Everything.

Today was pretty eventful.
I don't think that I'm going to be writing my NaNoWriMo for the rest of this month.  Yes, this is the first year when I've just said that I was done.  Yes, I do have a good reason for doing this.  Yes, I have thought this out.  No, I have not discussed this with anyone else yet.  Yes, I do plan on continuing to write the novel.  Yes, I still like my novel.  Yes, I still want to write.  My wordcount is 13,702 right now.  This is not impossible to recover from.  I am confident in my ability to recover from this kind of a deficit.  I'm choosing not to.
I sound like a robot.
I don't feel bad about this.  I don't feel like I'm losing.  I don't feel like I'm quitting.  I think that this specific novel and this specific month were a match made in hell.

So, in other news, today was my carrer day at school.  For the furniture department.  The first person who came in was this guy who talked about finishing.  For his job, he invents new ways to finish furniture.  ALL DAY LONG.  For one of them, he painted a piece, then threw rice on the wet paint, then waited a while, then scraped the rice off, sanded it a little, then put gold leaf on, then silkscreened a design on top of the gold leaf.  WOAH SUPER EPIC AWESOME.
I took a lot of notes.

I learned a lot of things.  I learned that back in the day, Kendall basically funneled designers into Baker.  That's not so true anymore, which is probably a good thing.  I learned what you want to have in a portfolio, and that one of the guys in the furniture department is a totally amazing incredible woodworker. Like, woah.

And here's a picture from the tour of Grand Rapids Chair Company that I took.

Shiny.

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Hey

Girl.  Hey.
I really just said that to facilitate the linkage up in hurr.
I'm awkward*.  Everyone knew that, right?
Watch this video.


Faber Castell from eric yeo on Vimeo.

Mmmhmm.  VERMEEEEEER.  Vermeer.  Vermeer.

I'm thinking about things that I love right now.  I love Manhattan Nest so freeking much.  I want to move in with him and Max and so that we can hang out with Door Sixteen and party hard.  When I say "Party hard" I mean "Let's go to CB2 and then to MOMA and talk about pretty things." That would be a fantastic day.  And Brick House** can hang out with us too.
Guess who has a lot of homework?  Guess who isn't doing their homework right now!  Guess who's not writing their novel right now either!  Guess who's going to be really freeking screwed!
It's, um, me.

Watch Marcel.  Marcel.  Marshell...





Also, follow this kid if you're a tumblrer.  Or even if you're not a tumblrer.  Tumblrite.  He's pretty legit.  I know him irl.

Do you have enough links?  Are you linked up?  Are you sufficiently distracted from that, um, novel thing?

Welcome to my life.  I have no idea what I'm doing here.  I am thinking of stories and storytelling and people and the way they relate to each other.  I love this novel, still.  I love writing, I really love it.  I hope that I'll never be in a situation where I have to choose between writing and design, because whenever I ask myself, I constantly go back and forth.  As for NaNo, I'm deeply worried that it's not going to happen in November.  I feel like I can't give this the attention it deserves while I still try to do well in school, and I have to do well in school.  If I don't do well in school, I'm going to have to drop out of college and move in with my parents and flip burgers for the rest of my life and die sad and alone.  Okay, well, maybe not all of that would happen, but if I didn't do well in school this year, I would probably have to go back to that town and go to community college.

I had kind of thought "Retard" as an insult had gone the way of "Gay" as an insult, but I guess people still say that?  I'm kind of confused by this.  I don't say it, and I have my reasons, but other people do?

*I'm thinking about people and the way we consider our physical appearances and how we talk about that. I don't look awesome, and I'm totally fine with that.  I just...It's weird.  I feel like I said something that made me seem like a pompous douchebag, but I'm not, and...yeah.  Awkward.
**If your first reaction to this tumblr isn't "HOLY MOLY I NEED ALL OF THIS STUFF IN MY LIFE" then I'm pretty sure we can't be friends.  Go home.  To The Brick House.

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Today.

11.11.11.
Yep.
I went to the IIDA furniture factory tour today.  It was interesting and informative.   Yay for interesting and informative!  I expected to see a lot of Kendall students, but it was just two of us, and the chair of the furniture department, and one of the interior design professors.  The guy who gave our tour was the owner of Grand Rapids Chair Company*, and the whole thing was just...really cool.  POWDER COATING.  I WANT TO LEARN HOW TO DO IT.  ALSO, I WILL LEARN TO WELD.   Yep.  Those were really interesting.  I need to get my build on and try to make some stuff.  It can't be that hard, can it?
I know it was an IIDA thing, but I can't help but be surprised by the number of girls who were very obviously interior design students who were there.  Despite my best efforts, I will never, ever pass for one of them.
I'm thinking a lot about sustainability in design.  I like modern things, and I like Ikea, and I like the fast paced consumption of the newer greater thing.  Is that bad?  I like things that are sleek and shiny a lot of the time.
I watched Objectified the night before last (It was good.  You should watch it.  Kendall's library has a copy.) and one of the designers was talking about his father's briefcase, which he inherited, saying that it's gorgeous and gets better with time, like wine.  Basically, you want to design wine, not pop.**  That's possible with shoes, right?  And jeans, sometimes.  And cast iron anything.  Other than that though, what do you own that has gotten better with age?  Tell me, please.  In the comments.
I'm just feeling conflicted.  I like new and shiny and RTA and everything, but I'm in love with the idea of having products that you can just love and rely upon.  I want to own beautiful things.  I need to have a great purge of products and only allow things that are perfect and deserving of love into my life.
*It was great, but it would have been better if there wasn't Comic Sans involved.  Like, a lot of Comic Sans.
**The other thing I learned from this movie:  Karim Rashid looks a little bit like what would happen if Tim Burton and an alien had a child together.  In the best way possible.

I think it's the glasses.  Think of Tim Burton's glasses, then look at Karim Rashid.  See what I mean?  Also, if you tweet about Karim Rashid, some company that he's involved with will follow you.

Part Two:
You didn't know this was going to come in parts, did you?  Well, I'm happy that you were so surprised.
Did I tell all y'all that I'm writing a novel?  It's lovely!  It's amazing!  It's far shorter than it should be!  So yep, my plans for this weekend involve writing, doing an art history project with a friend, writing some more, maybe hanging out with some friends, doing my horrible 2D project of death and despair and pain, and doing my design drawing homework.  And writing.  For design drawing, we're illustrating.  We have to take text (the first few paragraphs of The Hobbit) and draw a picture.  Draw a picture about the text.  Like, take the things described in the text, and draw them.  We have to draw them in COLOUR too.  This concept is deeply stressful.  I came to school so that I could draw furniture!  I don't know how to think this way!

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Tonight

Was good for car spotting. Five Mini Coopers, one Smart Car, and one VW bus. Now, it wasn't good on other fronts, but we're trying to focus on the positive.

Contained

The reuburbia finalists are up here. You should vote for your favourite. Or you should just vote for LivaBlox. Because it's pretty awesome. Also, it promotes smaller houses, which are always a good idea.
This is a clip about somewhere they are actually being used.



Worst idea? Let them Burn. What a fail. And it uses Devil's Night as an example? Devil's Night is not about making Detroit a better place, and it doesn't help anyone.

Huh.

That's the vauge title of the day. I hope you like it.
This is where they should have filmed all burrow scenes. It's pretty much awesome.
Also, I saw a car that I want and can afford. It's as old as I am. And then I found out how much the insurance would cost. Car insurance is freekin' expensive. As in almost-twice-as-much-as-the-car-expensive. Poop.

Baby Muffins!

I made mini muffins. They have bananas. I like them. But I left them in the oven for a little too long. Like, they're not really burned. But almost. I am wondering if it would be weird to get one of these as a tramp stamp. Yes. Probably. Eames Chaise? I am finding pictures of giant windows for commercial art. I have 150 square feet of windows in the room I'm desigining. I'm writing in short sentences. I'm finally working on my bio review.

chez moi

I am going to tell you what my future house will look like. This is because a) I need to get it out of my head b) I don't know if I have documents that certify my right to work in the U.S. and c) I don't want to read anything else.

We will have polished concrete floorshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/th2005/2471794368/

Or wood. Can't decide.
I like this bedroom, but it feels too...warm or something. My house will feel kind of cold. Think grey and white.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/caribb/1415206174/
I think that there will have to be a window by the stairway. The only picture I have of what I'm visualizing is on my phone, and it's not great quality. Someone was moving in front of it.
I will have a lot of books, and there is no way in hell they will be arranged in rainbow order, like some people on flickr seem to feel the need to do.http://www.flickr.com/photos/ozyman/443545349/
I'm debating between something really old and something really new.
I'm going to have stuff on the walls, not like my current house. Old pictures, new pictures, art, whatever. My plates will match.
I will also have a hallway with a curved ceiling. Don't ask why.

Want.

Someone else used a rolley map thing in their house. On AT, of course.

Lists make me happy.

I am going to live in a place like this. Because it is cute.
I am going to spend all day imagining things.
I am going to be someone who has motivation.
I am going to be funny but serious sometimes.
I am going to paint the walls grey. And I will have a pedestal sink.
I am going to be good at speaking.
I am going to prove that none of this matters.
I am going to stand with the world swirling around me, a little island in the middle of nowhere.

Look! Shiny!

My grandma just asked me "How I got to be such a fucking smart ass." She did use those words. People wonder where I get it from.

Also, this is super awesome.

Jack the Dripper

His family reads some letters here.
Am I the only one who's a little annoyed when everyone starts comparing this recession to the great depression? I feel like that's going to make it worse. That's probably an irrational idea, but.
Also, AT's smallest coolest contest has started. Squeee. Also, I don't think the bathroom here, the one with the white walls and the black shower is a real bathroom. No one has that cool of a bathroom.

On my mind

• Maps. I have this idea, vintage maps either used as wallpaper or hung up on a wire system like this
• This song. I've heard it several times today.
• Forgiveness. That was the topic of the Nooma video in Sunday school this week, and the big idea was that when you seek revenge, you're telling God that you don't think it can do a sufficent job of getting back. This could be because God isn't going to get back at them, but... whatever. I see forgiveness not so much as letting someone else go, but letting yourself go, coming to peace with whatever they did. Just getting over it, really. It's freeing.
• Procrastination and me. This should be obvious to you by now, but I'm a horrible procrastinator. I need to do Bio. I'm not very fond of that class. It's not that I hate it or something, I just don't care about it enough. This is the real problem.
• I totally love these! I just thought you'd like to know.

Freaky

When two things that you like, but seem completely unrelated intersect.
You know about the tiny houses? I love tiny houses! They're all cute and efficient and awesome. I blogged about this a while ago.
You know about architecture and design and my growing obsession with them.
You know that I'm in Euro, right? And I think it's super interesting and everything?
Check this out.
I think this is going to be my connection to present. Yay!

The Tip of the Iceberg

Everyone knows about my Apartment Therapy obsession, right? Here are just a few things that I thought were awesome. More than average awesome. New heights of awesome.I love these stairs. Same black floors look, only so glossy. So, so glossy.Is it weird that the first thing I thought when I saw these stairs was "That's the same wallpaper as in Door Sixteen's bathroom"?I love these stairs. I love these stairs so much.This is sort of the same concept as the stairs above, only more realistic. This is a pretty good floating shelf thing. Me like.Same room, different view.I wish I had that many books. And I lived there.We all know how amazing the Seattle Public Library is, right? That is a library. Love.We're not going to discuss how giddy I was when I saw that faucet. Isn't is so awesome?
And this room. It's calm and empty and blue. I like calm and empty and blue quite a bit.

These are the moments

That just hit you.
I went to the DIA today. Apart from causing me to miss the majority of the school day, this means that I saw a lot of paintings today. I've blogged about my love for the dia before, and this exhibit didn't change anything about that. Part of the reason that art is art is the way that it impacts you and the response it ilicits. I'm not usually a person who feels connected. Connected to paintings and everything else, it just doesn't happen much. There was this painting, Self Portrait with Hat and Coat, that I really liked.
It's not really that exciting, but the combonation of that and Conversations With God, and just the stuff I've been thinking about lately, it sort of made me realize something. I want my writing to feel like that painting. That painting looks like everyone has felt at one point or another. If you peel back the outside, I think more people feel like that than would care to admit. If I can capture that, I'm good.
Also, this is embarassing

Shiny and Wonderful.

I feel like that anyways. See the new layout? Like it? Andrea made it. She used to have websites, but now she has no web presence, not even a Facebook. Sigh. I think it's very cool.
Current wordcount-8550. So behind, right? Need more words. Anybody want to donate some?
Apart from the wordcount woes, I'm doing okay with my NaNo right now. One of my friends thinks that it feels like a Twilight rip off. I really don't think it does, because Eia's cynical and has a fabulous friend who may or may not be based off of the individual who pointed out the Twilight thing. Existing near me? It comes back to bite you.

Eia walked until the sun started to turn beautiful shades of red and pink and purple and orange with the sunset. She turned around and headed home, cutting through a few backyards of people who wouldn’t mind so that she could get home before it was pitch black outside.

Also, officially six months until I can get my license!!!

No, the topics aren't supposed to be relevant

First, design. I've been thinking a lot more about design and houses and such lately. I really have no idea why this is happening, but I've been frequenting a few new websites/blogs on the topic.

Chez Larsson- Her house is unnaturally organized. It's sort of scary, sort of inspiring. The latest entries are about...uhh...scones, but check the archives.
Design*Sponge- You get to look at people's pretty houses and DIY projects. I want this desk, but have nowhere to put it. Tragic.
Door Sixteen- Making house pretty and sometimes random pictures.
Decor8- Random cool stuff, mostly interior designey.
Living Small- Focuses on how living a smaller, more sustainable lifestyle.
The Cool Hunter- Okay, this is just one page, but OHMIGAWD, I LOVE THE SECOND ATTIC!!!!!!!
White Furniture- Awesome furniture, but I think my grandparents have the originals in their basement. It's a little too retro.

Second, making the world a better place to be. What would happen if we all went outside and talked to each other for an hour (all at the same time) every week? What would happen if we all decided to change the world? What would happen if we stopped worrying about what other people thought of us?
I'm not really great at anything. I have accepted this. I'm never going to be in the Olympics, or be the President, or whatever. What I can do is change the world in a few small ways and make it a better place to be.
No Impact Man blogged about this once. He's pretty awesome.

Yowza. Or designey things.

Sooo much has been happening lately. I had MAGIC camp this past week, which was super fun, but really tiring, espically because I had to be there at 9:00 every day. MAGIC and this piece on NPR (<3) style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 118px; height: 89px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVOUxksOfVznckZnTA4qtv78B9Zpej-r4X53uaMbLwyYVHxLn3e_Hk73GEEpPLXUKg9uLNO8rtkSlSruBox0m44G_KL7pAqqDtnRSMEIHlbWu4fNYD7eolnIpb6dj1pHMmNaSn8iRinFo/s400/weebee_thumb.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225354097759375714" border="0">That's a Weebee, by Tumbleweed Tiny Houses. It's 102 square feet.

This is a V2. The website is remarkably cryptic, so they won't tell you how many square feet it is.
I really want to live in something like this one day. The average american house measures about 2,500 square feet. Three or four people don't really need that much space, and I sort of think that it makes you disconnected from nature. I spent all of today inside, in the car, in the theatre, or going to and from the car. What kind of life is that? I haven't felt the grass at all today. I haven't really lived.
Back to my small house dreams. I think that I could handle living in about 400 square feet. My family room is 425 square feet, and I think that I could put all my stuff in there, along with a kitchen and bathroom. I could get solar pannels for the roof and maybe another one to sit outside. I really want to live like this, and I don't really know why. Huh.