MERGER ALERT!

Hey all, I got sick of keeping up with two blogs so I did the sensible thing and merged them. In other words, I relocated. Visit my new blog here: http://midwest-argonaut.blogspot.com.

Old Mixtapes and Striking Iron

I spent this Sunday early afternoon listening to old mixtapes that I made friends and doodling. I also read some W.B. Yeats poems. Not that I understand much of them right off the bat. I have to reread lines and look up references and things like that. But Mr. Swegarden really likes him.

Spring Fever & Royal Bicycles

Here in the homeland (Minnesota) it snowed a ton the other day. And now it's nice and sunny and 59 degrees outside. I like Minnesota and all, but it's quite ridiculous how we only average 1.5 months of actual spring in a year (mid-April to end of May). Also, I have a bad case of spring fever. I want sweater weather and green grass and blossoming trees. I've been yearning for a new bicycle, especially. 

Signazon Scholarship Contest -- Vote for me and I will worship you

So there's a scholarship contest going on, and me being the broke college-bound gal I am, decided to try. The challenge is to create a graduation sign. That sounds easy enough right? No. Problem is, the only way to win this contest is by vote. And me being the socially awkward, reluctant-to-come-off-as-needy-or-obnoxious person I am, I have a hard time asking for votes. This blog post is some kind of plea for help-- so whoever you are, if you're out there, please vote for me. Cherry on top and things like that. You don't even have to like the friggin' sign. Just vote for it. And if you're feeling like a saint, spread the word. Tell yo brothas, tell yo hood where it's at. 

Vote here.

Many thanks in advance!

Spring Break Dwindles Away

There are currently 3 days left of Spring Break. I'm not sure how to handle this-- maybe I should be writing my Humanities essay, doing math homework, or reading over that Bio lab-- but for now, I'm just going to doodle.

St. Paul + Urban Castles

Today I visited a friend, currently residing in St. Paul. On the way back to his apartment, we drove past a bunch of gorgeous looking apartments, urban castles that I could only hope to reside in one day. God they're so beautiful.

Best Purchases in New York

I ended up doing a lot less shopping in New York than I thought I would, most likely because 1) insufficient funds to splurge, 2) lack of willpower to splurge, and 3) there's a Forever 21 and H&M at home. However, I did make some valuable purchases and discoveries.

1. Magma Sketchbook 

     I had no idea these even existed. I first encountered one at a bookstore at Chelsea Market. They don't have these where I'm from. Probably the world's most convenient series of sketchbooks. They have very useful informational sheets. The one I purchased, the Design & Art Direction sketchbook, has handy information including typography lingo and paper sizes. That makes me so happy. I will be sure to purchase more of these in the future.

2. Photo Journal PJ 128 

     This super cute photo journal includes radical drawings by Christine Berry. It was love at first sight. I bought it at the MoMA gift shop.

3. 'Zine: How I Spent Six Years of My Life in the Underground and Finally... Found Myself... I Think by Pagan Kennedy 

     I stumbled upon this book at the MoMA gift shop. It's an autobiographical bit about a woman that gets bored and decides to invent herself by creating her own homemade magazine (apparently they were all the rage in the '90s). It had a cool looking cover and enticing back description, and I figured this woman was probably just as whacko as I am, therefore I could probably spiritually connect with the book, so I bought it.

4. MetroCard

     I got nervous every time I had to fish around my pockets for this thing. But it was handy, nonetheless. It gets you places. And much to my delight, they work on buses too.

5. Cherry Cheesecake Strudel from the Hungarian Pastry Shop

     That's what the lady at the counter said it was. Unfortunately, my mouth was too busy watering for me to take a picture of it. Basically, it was a big slab of cherry cheesecake wrapped in a pastry blanket. It was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful food items I had ever laid eyes on. I'm so very jealous of all the Columbia campus dwellers that get to live with this thing.

6. Postcards

     I love postcards, especially pretty postcards. None of that cheesy, bad photography postcard stuff. I bought a bunch at the Chelsea Market (not a single ugly postcard was to be seen). It convinced me that New Yorkers have impeccable taste in postcards. 

7. Empire State Building ticket 

     Although I had a relatively rough time getting through security at the Empire State Building (I couldn't understand what the thick foreign-accented guy was saying; apparently tripods are not allowed-- and why aren't they? Especially 6-inch tripods. Are tripods a hip item to beat people to death with nowadays? I'm sure there's good reason for it, but I haven't Googled the answer yet), the night view was amazing. It's good stuff, it really is. 

8. Poland Spring 1.5 Liter water bottle

     It was getting to be a pain in the neck buying water bottles and not being able to refill them, due to the lack of water bottle refillers and fountains. Although these last no longer than a day, it's better than buying 2-3 regular size bottles. 

9. Columbia sweater

     There was slight anxiety that went into buying this sweater, but not enough to not make me buy it. I could only imagine the conversations:

"Cool sweater! Are you going to Columbi--" 

"No." 

"Did your parents go ther--" 

"No." 

"Do you have any association whatsoever with--" 

"No." 

 But hey, doesn't having your school publication earn Gold Medalist status by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association mean something? And so I bought it. And you know what? It's pretty damn comfy-- and I just so happen to look great in Columbia blue (yeah, apparently they get their own shade of blue).