New Semester!

I've been having a blast with this GIMP photo program. I feel kind of dishonest, altering reality. Oh well, everyone else does it. Just prepare yourselves for a deluge of lies in photo form.

I just made fun of the narrator on a commercial for over-emphasizing a French word which leads me to...my first day of the Spring semester!

French was great. The professor is about half my height, really spunky and has a strong French accent. Also, she loves to pick on her students; at any other time, this would have been grounds for class droppage, but I think I'll be able to handle it. I'm feeling secure enough to make a complete fool out of myself and come out none the worse for wear.

Today, we learned, "Bonjour, j'mapelle, Ashley." It sounded more like, "Bonju. Jay mapel, Ashley." I have a horrible amazing French accent.

Digital Imaging was fine and is going to be surprisingly cheaper than I thought. Whoopee!

In other news, I have finally decided to never have kids, only dogs. I know, I know, I'm a horrible human being with no feelings and I'm going to hell. Trust me, I'm way too selfish to ever care for a screaming ball of terror. And besides, dogs are cute for their whole lives, kids are ugly in the beginning and ugly in the end with only five years of cuteness in between, tops.
(note: I love kids. I do. Just not when I'm bound to them for the rest of my life and responsible for them...eating. I like to be the kind "Aunty" type. Swoop in, have some fun, tickle, spoil a lot, send 'em back.)
(note 2: Chances are, as soon as I get married all of this will change and I'll be a baby machine.)

The Greatest Bag (that Ashely has) Ever (made)

Tum-ta-tumm! So here are the pictures of the now finished bag:

Before strap:
The strap:
Totally finished!!!!
I have class tomorrow and I should be going to bed, but I just discovered a photo editing software and now I'm in danger of being up all night long. Gah.

Interesting Fact of the Day: I think I swallowed a piece of fuzz.

Almost Done!

I'm working on a bag from some yarn I got the other day. I kind of made up the pattern/swiped some ideas from a friend's bag. It looks horrible and misshapen now, but just you wait! In reality, I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, I'm hoping some edging something-or-other will help. I have great hopes of it being the best bag in the world when I'm finished.

In other news, I was drinking perhaps the best coffee I have ever made for myself (I added coffee soy milk as creamer [!]) and when I finished it I looked down and realized half of it was on the front of me. Boo! I wanted those morsels of heavenly goodness! Oh well, I'll just have to make more. For those of you who don't know (and I say those of you like there's more than one person who occasionally reads this blog), my mother has a personal vendetta against my coffee consumption (which is extensive) so any opportunity to justify having more is truly a gift from God. (Fist pump).

For some reason, every time I listen to the song (as I am now), "Same Mistake" by James Blunt and he gets to the, "Ahoooo ooo ooo oo ooo ooo" part I think he's going to say "Arooogaa" like a submarine. It's a great song, James, but I've got to admit, a little disconcerting.

I talked to a good friend from Biola this afternoon. It had been a long time since I had talked to her and it was really nice to catch up. It made me a little sad because I miss my friends down there, but I'm happy where I am right now. A few months ago I wouldn't have been able to say that because I was pining for the loss of Biola, but now I would have to say that I wouldn't go back even if I had the opportunity. It took me quite a few months to move on and now that I have I'm actually able to be excited about the future. Anyway, I'm going to go finish The Greatest Bag Ever. Prepare yourself for its wonder...

Finally, Pictures!

So I've been trying to post some pictures lately but it takes so long! I don't know why, but I'll try again:

Success! This is our neighbor's road, very spooky, very mysterious

Same neighbor's pond. When I was younger I'd tromp through the blackberry bushes all around it and get all sorts of mosquito bites. It's amazing I never got Bird Flu.


This is the view from behind our house a summer or two ago. It's much greener now and by greener, I mean a different shade of brown. Now, there are some condos being built off to the left and a water treatment plant off to the right, but in the middle, it's all nature, baby.

And now, I have to go freak out at the Amazing Race finale on right now. Ah! RUN YOU FOOLS!

Edit: TK and Rachel won. Meh, they played the game well I suppose. To be honest, I would have been happy if any of them had one, they were all good teams this time around. Sigh, I can't wait until next season!

Wanted: Sven

My mom and I have both decided: we need one of these...

Poetry, How Thee Escapeth Me

Why is it that some people are really good at the poetry thing and some people (like me) are not? I am so horrible at it. I'm emotionally stunted and my rhyming skills are about as good as David Caruso's acting abilities. One time in high school English, we had to write a poem as an exercise. I don't remember the rest of it, but the last stanza went something like this:

Yes, those poets, they are hot
They can rhyme like holy snot
As for me, I cannot
So that is all the poem I've got.

Mmmm. That's the song of my soul right there.

On one last note, as an avid scone-basher I have criticized many a person for eating such things. I have, however, given them a second chance and now, I can't get enough of them. I'm picturing myself in a dark room, door closed, hair wild, madly shoving scones into my mouth before anyone comes home and finds out I'm such a hypocrite. Alas, such is life.

I'm Sick of Rhyming, How 'Bout You?

My mom and I went to a craft store down in Sacramento today. There we were, just driving, minding our own business, when I look off to the right and what do I see? Two men, in plain view of the road, peeing on the side of a Target. Geez.

At the fabric store I got 2 skeins of yarn. I'm really excited to use them but I'm forcing myself to finish the projects I'm working on now. I need a clean conscience when I knit. Speaking of knitting, I've noticed a distinct trend amongst some knitting blogs I've visited lately. 1) Pictures of random things completely unrelated to knitting, specifically, food. 2) All are in eastern, snowy areas. 3) All have cats and/or pugs.

Well, I don't have a cat, we failed at the doggage and I live on the West coast but I've decided to continue in at least one of these traditions (although I'm not a "knitting" blog) and post more pictures. I'm hoping it'll spruce up my blog and make things more interesting rather than a collection of long-winded posts, much like this one. Unfortunately, I have no pictures to post. I brought my camera with me today but I didn't take any pictures. I'm kicking myself for not snapping a picture of The Urinators.

A couple of days ago I was sitting in the living room, going about my business, when I heard a thump, thump, thump, BANG, thump, thump, BANG, thump, thump, BANG outside my door. Yes, it was our near-weekly telephone book delivery. My mom has become so fed-up with the sheer number of phone books in our house that she refuses to pick them up when they appear on our doorstep. I can't pick them up because she yells and threatens to disown me. Eventually, they just disappear and as a matter of fact, I just heard a rustle of a plastic bag which I'm sure were the sounds of it sprouting legs and walking away. I wonder where it went...

I've started wearing my retainers again after a 3 month hiatus and when I take it off I can feel my teeth going, creak! twang! boing! back to their comfortable, crooked ways. I will have none of it! I'm going to force them into submission!

Alright, I suppose that's enough for now. I really would like to post more but I risk making those "long-winded posts" I'm trying to avoid.

Interesting fact of the day: The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!

We bought a couch the other day and it was delivered today. The delivery people didn't mention until after we had paid for the delivery that they didn't "do" stairs, so we three go-get-'em women (we commandeered a neighbor) hauled it to the second floor; all very satisfying. It's a floral print and as pretentious as the Queen but, eh. It's been so long since we've even had a couch in our house that I've forgotten how fabulous it is. Great for sick, antisocial and comfort days. Oh, and knitting.

I mentioned before that I had some knitting to do, little did I know it would blossom into a full-blown maniacal obsession. First up on my knitting list: bags. Bags, galore! And as you can see here, Grandma and I can never have enough bags. I'm very excited.

So, I've been thinking quite a bit lately and I'm just ready for a change. I'm ready for a career and a place of my own. It's not that I don't like living at home, because I do, it's just that I'm getting older and feeling more independent and our little apartment is starting to feel smaller and our town more funky by the day. I'm going North, baby! You know though, it's probably the cabin fever talking. I'm really looking forward to classes starting. Tuesday's just around the corner! Life will be back to its normal rhythm and all will be well with the world.

Re-instated Interesting Fact of the Day: A hemorrhoid-relief commercial wanted to use Johnny Cash's song, "Ring of Fire." His family refused.

beannachd leat

College Bookstore, Feel My Wrath!

The Internet is a fabulous thing. I need a textbook that originally would have been $176.60 but with some conniving and some finagling have managed to get it for $12.75. Maybe I can make this into a business! I love saving money.

Just a Trim and an Interim

Hhh. So I tried to make this blog cooler, I really did, but all I did was change the font. Then I realized I didn't like it, so I changed it back. I'm in a rut I tell you! A rut!

Today, guess what I did. Guess. No, not that. I trimmed my hair!! Now, it's just about long enough to itch my neck. Don't tell my mom though, because she said she'd give me 10 bucks if I let my hair grow...and I'm unemployed.

This vacation is so long!! I don't go back to school until the 22nd and let me tell you, it seems like 3 months from now. I need some homework! Just watch, the last week will fly by and soon I'll be begging for a break. Hey wait a second. I have some things I still want to do. I gotta go. I have to knit some scarves and crochet a shawl and read some books and...

An Afterthought Post

Here is a drawing I started a little over a year ago and just finished last month. I used black and white Conté Crayon on tannish drawing paper. It took me all that time to get up the courage to finish it. I put on my "art" music, sipped my faux glass of wine and finished something for a change. I'm a great starter, a horrible finisher.

In a burst of ambition, I have decided to re-vamp the old blog. It'll be cooler, more awesome, and better. Or, I'll loose the enthusiasm, give up and it'll look exactly the same tomorrow. But I'll give it a good try! [cheesy grin]

See ya!

A Dingy Nurse and that Hadley Curse

So last night, I Googled my name. To be specific, I Google Imaged my name and really didn't come up with anything except a guy in Britan who plays soccer. But I did stumble across a website called ashley-young.com and decided to check it out. First of all, I'm already a bit ticked cause the girl stole my web address that I will have in the future when I'm rich and famous (yeah right.) and then when I got there, I discovered...she's an artist too! Oh, the brutality of it all! My thunder has been stolen! Before I even got the lightning! Do you know what this means? I'm going to actually have to embrace my God-given name...Ashely. [painfully dramatic music.] Well, to be specific, it was the illiterate nurse who wrote my name on my birth certificate. Maybe she/he had a lot on her/his mind, or maybe she/he hadn't had her/his coffee that morning or maybe she/he hadn't graduated from high school. Whatever the case, it's done and I'm not going to spend a couple hundred to change a mistake that wasn't our fault. Besides, it sets me apart I guess. There are so many "Ashley's" in this world that now instead of being the "other Ashley that blends in with everyone else" I'll be the "Ashely with the name whose nurse must have been drunk." You know what? That's okay with me.

Speaking of art, I signed up for classes for Spring semester and I'm excited! I'm in an Adobe Illustrator class and maybe a Photoshop class. I'm also taking French, Portrait Drawing and Art History. Whoopee! I happened to see though, that the Illustrator class requires a field trip. Now, this would be cool but I'm not really...thrilled. Ever since 4th grade I've had a bit of bad luck with field trips. Mrs. Hadley was my teacher and without fail, every time we went on a field trip, it would rain. Pouring, soggy rain. I live in California, it doesn't rain that much, but for some reason, the skies would open up, bent on destroying our fun. I seem to have carried on this curse, and spread it around. Well, it'll be in the spring/summer so maybe this will be an end. Please! PLEASE!

au revoir! (I'm pre-practicing for my French class. haha!)

An Accidental Rant and some Uprooted Plants

Ah, hello, home of my favorite blog, for I have many. Too many as a matter of fact. I think when I get a few minutes I’m going to go through and delete all the ones that aren’t worth keeping. Oh, and if I sound a little funny today, it's because I've been reading like a crazed maniac. I think my reading skills have regressed a bit in recent years, it's been a while since I've had time to actually sit down a read. It's taking me a couple days to get through these books. Then again, I'm finding it difficult to read and watch TV at the same time. Sigh, what's my brain coming to?

So I was watching Dr. Phil today and I admit it was a little more than sheer boredom that brought me past his show. This Christmas break has lowered my standards quite a bit. His guest was the doctor from the Bachelor a season or two ago (another show I admittedly watch with a passion, Christmas break or not) who recently wrote a book about women and men and dating, etc. called, Don’t be that Girl. It was kinda funny and a bit enlightening and he was pretty careful not to over-stereotype women. But this led me to start thinking about female stereotypes which led me to start thinking about my high school, freshman, beginning drama class which I mostly hated.

I mostly hated it because it was almost completely made up of improv exercises which I grew to loathe like a body hates pleather. The only way to be liked in that class was to be funny on cue, a skill I do not have now and especially not as an insecure, just-out-of-junior-higher. But I digress.

There was an exercise in this class where the girls had to somehow, en mass, attract the men to somehow cross the stage and over to our group. Now that I look back on it, I really don’t know what the point was, but at any rate, it was nauseating. As if all the girls had been programmed, each simultaneously developed swinging hips, a bigger chest and winking eyes. I suddenly felt very out of place and moved to the back of the group with a few other girls who looked just as uncertain as I did and waited it out.

Now, I know that high school girls aren’t exactly the best gauge of normal female behavior but why, in this day in age, are women often seen as brainless bimbos? We’re human beings with intelligence and feelings and personalities, not just pieces of meat for guys to use as ego boosters.

Aaaaand that turned into more of a rant than I had intended and I’m sorry. I know that not everyone sees things this way, and there are large amounts of exceptions to this…stereotype. But since coming back home, away from the constant Christian environment of Biola, I’ve been noticing this sort of thing happening more and more, guys taking advantage of girls or seeing them just as a way to get sex. I’m sorry if I sound jaded. I’m not, really.

At the expense of making this post way too long, I have to say something about the crazy weather we’ve been having here on the West Coast. Wind, rain, downed trees, power outages, debris, flooding, blizzards. Since I don’t actually have to go out in it (Christmas break) it’s exciting!! But during the worst of it, there wasn’t a road in California that didn’t have a few accidents on it.

My best friend, Anneliése, has a quote of the day on her blog, so I’m going to do a variation (Considering I tend towards antisocial-only-childness and don’t have the kind of exposure to society needed to hear conversations from actual people.)

Interesting and/or pointless fact of the day: I accidentally used my mom’s toothbrush last night. I gagged.

Grandmama

HaHAaaa! I'm back. Here's Grandma:


It's just graphite on canvas, 11x14. Hmmm...now that I see in online, there are some things I want to change. Sometimes seeing things in a more objective environment makes you see things that you didn't notice before.

Anyway, AH! I have to go, my internet is dwindling more than I thought it was. It's a thorn I tell you! A thorn in my side!

Success!

Ah! I'm always suprised when I remember my login information for this blog. I don't have to type it in very often, so it's especially satisfying when I don't get an error message.

Hello, it's been quite a few days since my last post. "Why, Ashely," you say, "where have you been?! My favorite part of the day was cruelly ripped from my life!" "Ha ha!" I laugh regally as I look down my nose, "I simply didn't have time, my subjects."

So then, after I pull my head out of my tokhes, I tell you the truth: I have no internet at home! Well, not even that's really the truth. My mother has decided we don't need to pay for internet when there's a "perfectly good" free internet already installed on our computers. The only drawback to this saintly internet is that there are only 10 hours available per month, per household. A distinct problem when considering my internet addiction and the fact that it's dial-up. It takes about a minute and a half just to load one page, so I have given up on the life of luxury, and have decided to use the library internet. Less convenient? Why, yes! Freezing cold under the air conditioner in 30 degree winter weather? How did you know?! Everyone looking at your browser and judging you for your scifi addiction? Yes.

I suppose it's a matter of attitude. I should just pull up my socks and take it, but unfortunately my fallen nature is preventing me from willingly giving up my sole source of entertainment, especially during the Winter vacation when really, who has anything to do but look up useless knowledge? I feel totally disconnected; helpless and friendless.

I'm balling up my fists in frustration, a pathetic, defeated sound ready to escape my lips when suddenly I realize I'm in the library and the only sounds allowed are breathing and the occasional sneeze. I swallow it.

On another note: today, I bought a new purse. It's adorable and I'm thoroughly excited. I am my grandmother's granddaughter; she buys a new purse every other day in a new color and size, feeding a raging addiction. Oh, and speaking of grandmothers, I finished a portrait of my grandma last night. When I save up some internet minutes at home I'll post it.

I should be off, there's a huge storm blowing in for the next few days, and I don't want to get caught in it.

gutn tog