Randoms

Yesterday I cleaned my fish tank! It amazes me and my roomies every time we see it! Shocking, isn't it?

Clean Fishtank, originally uploaded by krillamy.

Needless to say, I have one extremely delighted goldfish! I only got one picture of Elvis that wasn't completed blurred, he was so excited about his clean tank.

Elvis, originally uploaded by krillamy.

I treated myself to a delicious chocolate pudding dessert last night, complete with a graham cracker crust and topped with whipped cream and raspberries! Yum yum! (don't worry - I worked out extra long today to make up for it, haha!)

chocolate pudding, originally uploaded by krillamy.

And lastly, another homemade pizza! This one had stuffed crust! This picture really makes me drool..

Luigi, originally uploaded by krillamy.

shots from the weekend

This weekend I had the pleasure of going to the Mall of America for the first time. The mall is HUGE! I spent over an hour just sitting (sipping Starbucks) and people-watching. As people would walk by me and my friend would guess their story, like if they were a group of tourists, on a first date, on their way out after working in a store at the mall, if the kids were at their grandparents for the weekend and the married couple could finally spend some time alone, or if they were there to buy their son a present because he just came home from college. Here are a few shots I took:

MallofAmerica 5, originally uploaded by krillamy.

MallofAmerica6, originally uploaded by krillamy.

MallofAmerica3, originally uploaded by krillamy.

MallofAmerica4, originally uploaded by krillamy.

If I was being honest...

(because I didn't want to post it on facebook)

1. What was the last thing you put in your mouth?
a pastry thing from Cinna-bun a the mall

2. Where was your profile picture taken?
(referring to my blog picture), in a practice room!

3. Can you play Guitar Hero?
Probably but I don't because I don't like rock music. Now if it was an electric cello..

4. Name someone who made you laugh today?
My friend Matt. He's funny.

5. How late did you stay up last night and why?
Almost 2am, because I didn't get back from the library until 11:30pm, then I had to sit at my computer for a while, then I had to lay in bed and contemplate life. Then I fell asleep amongst starlight and teddies. :)

6. If you could move somewhere else, would you?
Yes, but I will always come home again, eventually.

7. Ever been kissed under fireworks?
Questionable. But I don't think so.

8. Which of your friends lives closest to you?
I guess Stephanie, she lives on the floor below me.

9. Do you believe ex's can be friends?
Sure why not? Let's be mature for once people!

10. How do you feel about Dr Pepper?
It makes me think of Blast From The Past, because the dad likes his Dr Pepper hot.

11. When was the last time you cried really hard?
Last Wednesday, twice. I had two fits of uncontrollable tear-shedding laughter. It felt amazing and ridiculous, and were sparked by the stupidest things...haha

12. Who took your profile picture?
ME!

13. Who was the last person you took a picture of?
Mario, the home-made pizza!

14. Was yesterday better than today?
I think today was better, but yesterday had it's moments.

15. Can you live a day without TV?
Yes, I do everyday. I never watch TV (only the occasional movie, on my laptop)

16. Are you upset about anything?
Nope!

17. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it?
Yes, because everyone needs to receive and give affection. It's what we were made to do!

18. Are you a bad influence?
Depends on what you think is bad! But I'd say mostly, I am a good influence :)

19. Night out or night in?
Night in! Of course it depends on the context. And I smell cookies & want some! yum yum yum!

20. What items could you not go without during the day?
I agree with Heidi, as long as I have clothes, I think I could handle whatever came my way!

21. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital?
Erin, after having Andy! What a cutie!

22. What does the last text message in your inbox say?
"I'm done so call me when your back" (very suspicious!lol)

23. How do you feel about your life right now?
Very satisfied & content :)

24. Do you hate anyone?
Nope, I couldn't hold a grudge if I tried.

25. If we were to look in your facebook inbox, what would we find?
Messages from friends who live far away & it's the way we keep in touch.

26. Say you were given a drug test right now, would you pass?
This is a dumb question. But yes.

27. Has anyone ever called you perfect before?
I don't think so, which is OK cause that means no one is lying to me. No one is perfect.

28. What song is stuck in your head?
Actually, none at the moment. Strange.

29. Someone knocks on your window at 2:00 a.m., who do you want it to be?
One of my sisters!

30. Wanna have grandkids by the time you're 50?
Questionable.. do I want to have kids even? That's the real question.

31. Name something you have to do tomorrow?
Go to 8am Yoga class! :) hopefully I wake up on time...

32. Do you think too much or too little?
I don't think there is such a thing as thinking too much, and if there is then it depends what you are thinking about! Cause if you think a lot about a variety of things then it's fine but if you think too much about only one thing then that's probably not fine... I think I think just the right amount, for me!

33. Do you smile a lot?
Yes! Very often.

**If you haven't filled this out yet (Lilly & Katie), then this is my "tagging" you to do it! ;)

Something New

Today I did something new, I saw a sign for Free Chinese Classes every Monday evening, and I went! I learned how to count (and write #'s) in Chinese!

It was actually quite simple, there are really only 11 main numbers to remember (0-10)

Chinese -- # --> Pinyin - (Pronounciation)

零 ------ 0 --> ling - ("Ling")

一 ------ 1 --> yi - ("ee")

二 ------ 2 --> er - ("rrr")

三 ------ 3 --> san - ("sahn")

四 ------ 4 --> si - ("Ssuh")

五 ------ 5 --> wu - ("woo")

六 ------ 6 --> liu - ("le-OH")

七 ------ 7 --> qi - ("chee" [like cheese lol])

八 ------ 8 --> ba - ("bah")

九 ------ 9 --> jiu - ("g-OH")

十 ------ 10 --> shi - ("shUH")

Pronunciation can be a little tricky, but once you get the hang of it, you can say all the numbers 0-99!

It's kind of like in the French language (for those of you who have taken French), for example, the number 20 would be 2 x 10 (2 tens), so:

20 -->

二 十

er shi

(2 + 10)

for 11-19 you say ten + (#), so:

11 -->

十 一

shi yi

(ten + 1)

12 -->

十 二

shi er

(ten + 2)

13 -->

十 三

shi san

(ten + 3)

and so forth.

Pretty simple, right? :)

And also important, further on:

Hundred --> 百 bai ("bYE")

Same concept as before, 200 would be 2 x 100 (2 hundreds), so:

200 would be-->

二 百

er bai

201 would be -->

二 百 零 一

er bai ling yi

(2 hundreds, zero, 1)

315 would be -->

一 百 十 五

san bai yi shi wu

(3 hundreds, 1 ten, five)

Get it? :)

Also important,

Thousand --> 千 qian ("chee-on")

Same concept, 4000 would be

四 千

si qian

(4 + thousand)

2009 would be

二 千 零 九

er qian ling jiu

(2 + thousand + zero + nine)

(zero/"ling" is only said once, since you already specified that it is thousand)

"Er qian ling jiu" is also the current year - 2009. (now you can say the year in Chinese!)

There, now you learned something new!

TRY THESE ON YOUR OWN:

(leave your solutions (in Pinyin is fine) in a comment)

1. 16

2. 22

3. 99

4. 500

5. 5001

BONUS: 888

GOOD LUCK!

Lucas Gluesenkamp

I've never been really interested in any one artist's work - until I went to the exhibition in our campus art gallery featuring Lucas Gluesenkamp, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I read this upon entering the exhibition,

Artist's Statement:

A collage of mysterious characters caught

in that fatal moment of impending doom.

A random cosmos dealing in absolutes. 70's

idealistic scientific illustration and childhood

dreamscapes. Bleak aggregates. The first time

you rationalized death. Effigies of the living.

Hyperbolic Ennui. A coping mechanism for

dealing with life. Anthropomorphizing the

unknown. Death of the inanimate. Shadows

from the corners of the attic. Grieving the

nonexistent. Prayers for an empty sky. Places

lost behind the stars. Optimistic Failures. The

Eroded words on a gravestone.

A universal sadness. Succumbing to the void.

Plague spirits. A stars death rattle. The coffin

and the sky. Mute tango. Simulacra Mort.

Poor advice from an echo. Places for lost

teeth. Hardships of the forgotten. A nightmare

with little hope to wake up from.

Subterraneous clairy.

A few examples of his work, (picture these on bigger canvas's)

Along with paintings, he also does 3D work as well, like the following (which I think is adorable!),

(^Meet Vroom Vroom)

What I am most drawn to is the color explosion of Gluesenkamp's art - the brilliant oranges and blues in particular, which work extremely well with the texture and shapes of the paintings that in a whole really draw the viewer in to the imaginary world being depicted. I feel like I could look for hours and just let my imagination run wild. These paintings are really inspiring, I'd love to have one hanging on my wall!

The link to his seemingly-abandoned blog can be found here.

And the link to his seemingly-abandoned online portfolio: here.

What is your opinion of this art? I'd love to hear it!