john lennon.

there are no words for how i feel about john lennon. i can't describe the respect that i have for him, his music, and what he stood for. i admire him. i wish i could have been alive during his lifetime.
today is the 30th anniversary of his death.
rest in peace mr. lennon, you will never be forgotten.
stand by me.

as finals draw nearer, i begin to panic. we'll see how life pans out...

shameless self-promotion

this guy makes me want to travel: ultraclay website
he is such a getter. i have no motivation to advertise myself. that's why i probably won't be able to survive as a free-lancer. oh well.

getting restless at school, cold weather makes me hate nature, procrastination makes me frustrated.

check out the Ratatat remix of Kanye's song Get 'Em High: get em high
it's sooo good. music keeps me going.

my photographs of my mother + mr. toledano (check his stuff out. for real.)

New work:

These are two pictures that i took recently while i was still photographing my mother. I looked at the work of Mr. Toledano, specifically his Days With My Father series: days with my father. The small, unfinished series that i did of my mom seemed to have almost the same direction as his series, in terms of recording the time spent with the subject, our parents. It's hard to photograph her because we live in different cities, so when i went home for the weekend i would literally follow her around with my camera and take as many pictures as i could.

My mom and i have only just begun to get along and enjoy spending time together. Photographing her was new for me. It was interesting to see my mom's daily activities, since i felt that i didn't know her very well anymore at the beginning of this semester. I realized, sometimes with horror, that we have a lot of the same mannerisms, the same reactions, and the same feeling of being desperately out of time. 

Erik Aeder

Erik Aeder is a photographer based in Hawaii, but he travels all over the world for assignments and  personal photo shoots. He has been published in many magazines, including Playboy, National Geographic, and Time. He takes a lot of pictures of people in the ocean, especially surfers. 

Here's some of his stuff:

Both of these images are from his website: erikaederphotography. The image on the top is from his "Bodies of Water" series, which is of women underwater. Some of them are a bit cheesy, but I think the colors and lighting are beautiful. The bottom image is from his travel section. I think it's a great shot, with nice composition and strong colors. Also, elephants are awesome.

randomness & quotes, and theopolis london! plus living next to a dj.

i like random facts. i like wondering if they're true. here are some weird ones: random facts
and here are some quotes: quotes! i really like some of them but a lot of them are just dumb.

theophilus london makes some pretty awesome sounds. the first song i heard from him is grey x sage (misty night). listen to it on youtube: theophilus london - gray x sage (misty night)
other songs i like by him are i want you, humdrum town, and enjoy the sun. i think his music is similar to kid cudi's music, except a little more musical and all his songs sound like fog was one of his inspirations.

sooo across the hall from me in my apartment building are three guys. one of them in a dj. they like loud music... a lot. and listen to it constantly. all the time. almost 24/7. i met them last night, and they seem really nice. just very... into their music.

blackalicious, and the difficulties of public transportation.

blackalicious is really cool. just trust me on this one.
my favorite blackalicious song is called "day one". listen to it on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOUoDxj0HmE
this song reminds me of last winter when my boyfriend (of the time) spent a week in florida with his friends. we went to universal studios every day to ride roller coasters and stopped on the way home to get beer and stuff to make dinner... but mostly a lot of beer. i usually cooked dinner while the guys watched tv (sounds sexist, but after living in a dorm for a few months i was grateful to have a kitchen). we then spent the evenings chilling out in the hot tub and heated pool. it was one of the best vacations i've ever been on. when i hear this song i think of when we drove all night through snow & wind to get to florida, and when i woke up in the backseat at 6am when the sun was rising over the skyline of orlando, the (almost) warm wind whipping past us as we sleepily neared our destination. good times.

okay so i have this fear of public transportation. mostly buses. i think this stems from an incident that occurred when i was in high school: i only needed to ride the bus home a few times a month, so i didn't know the system very well. my bus driver took off work for a few weeks because her (9th grader) daughter had a baby (EW) and she needed to care for it during the day. so we had a substitute, and everything was fine for a few weeks until one day he turned the wrong way out of school... the wrong way for me, at least. he must have been substituting for someone else and i hadn't noticed. i was mortified when i had to tell him i was on the wrong bus, and even more so when he announced to the whole bus that he had to drive 15 minutes out of his way to take me home. humiliating.
anyway the point of this is that i am almost out of groceries. so i either need to suck it up and get on the bus with my arms full of grocery bags (awkward with the potential for dropping disasters), or i should just starve... starving would be cheaper....

Damn Interesting Entities! Plus, the Absence of CNN?!

Being the flamboyantly curious nerd that I am, when I came across this website I felt as though I found exactly what I need: my daily dorky fix, inspiration for my blog, and the comfort that comes from knowing that other people get as excited about random scientific/historical facts as I do. Finally, I'm not the only one who loves reading totally random clips, that are interesting but have no effect on my daily life, that are read for pure enjoyment! I hope you are as appreciative of this website as I am! Join me in embracing our inner nerds.
http://www.damninteresting.com/

Okay, so today is really nerdy, I know. But I'm so annoyed that at my college they changed the channel in the break room in the student commons from CNN (my favorite news channel) to stupid game shows... I hate reading newspapers because I don't like the feeling of newsprint, and I love CNN's segments. Rick's List (early afternoon) is really entertaining, and when I watch between 10 and 11 am they are usually covering national news stories, so I get to hear what's going on throughout the whole country. At my apartment i only get local news and FOX (which is conservative and boring). I need CNN! I think I'm the only student who actually goes to that room to watch the news. Most of the people in the at the same time as me are sleeping, talking loudly to friends, eating, or checking facebook. But I love the news (I am truly my father's daughter) and I'm not quite sure I'll be able to not crave it between classes.

beginning of awesome ENTITIES posts :) plus... maybe study abroad?

sooo school is painfully boring. i know that college is supposed to be fun, and i know that it would be wise of me to stay at my current university because of the supposedly awesome art program (which in my opinion is bs and even amateur, but it's ranked really highly so i guess it's impressive to graduate from... or something like that). anyway, since i don't think i should transfer and i hate my school, my solution is to study abroad! for an entire year! im hoping that this isn't the worst decision of my life. italy is my destination :) i want a small town with a few hidden away bars & clubs, a lot of beautiful sights, and kind locals. basically, the opposite of where i live now.
okay so to make my blog more interesting (who am i kidding, it's so boring right now - so to make it interesting period) i am going to post things (which i am going to call entities to make them more distinct than just boring "things") that will enthrall you! you will be so amused and captivated that you will be utterly thankful that you stumbled across this page. maybe.
so here's the first entity that i think is worth knowing about:
http://atribecalledquest.com/html/
awesome band with awesome sounds. they started in the early 90s and were together for 8 years before breaking up. when they got back together in 2006 they started a u.s. tour and received a bunch of awards for their contributions to hip-hop. i like bugging out, can i kick it?, and electric relaxation. although a lot of their other songs are really cool too. i like the beats and the interesting lyrics... and the lack of naughty words. not that curse words offend me, but it's nice to know that rap can be popular without them.
enjoy!

books > internet, and where has my summer gone?

http://www.collegehumor.com/ isn't that funny. im disappointed. the book is much better.
anyway autumn is almost here, which is excited for some reason, even though i hate cold weather & long pants & christmas music & coats & frizzy hair & chapped lips. and everything else that comes with winter. but i like the crisp air (i hate when people say "crisp air", even though i know what they mean. it just sounds dumb) and the colors of the leaves, which i will be able to see in our 1 shitty park.
i feel like i wasted my summer because i didn't spend days on end sitting at home with nothing to do, and the 1 beach trip that i did go on included my family and did not result in a tan.
i need to travel more to get this out of my system. im thinking florida over winter break, and europe next summer. exciting!! now i just have to get through this school thing... what a damper...

return of the (me)

helloo little abandoned blog. it's lame that i don't write anymore.
im back at school, almost enjoying my classes, and gettting restless. i want to travel. i want to be lazy in a new place. i want to cook. i want to meet people. i want to make something. i want to eat a fresh pineapple on a beach. im terribly bored of school. i know i need to be here but i can't focus anymore!
on to more interesting things... here is a cool picture that i found online:

photographed for a magazine, i think it's by nan goldin. she's amazing, and if this is her image then she becomes even more awesome. i love fashion photography is a really shallow, annoying way.

twloha day!!

hey!! today is To Write Love On Her Arms day, which means that if you're cool you will write LOVE on your arms and proudly strut around showing off your support for the awesome organization. you all know from a previous post that i admire the cause. i know that the day is almost over... but if you're going out tonight, or you wanna pretend tomorrow that you took part in the celebration of love, go ahead and grab a sharpie. i did :)
im finishing up a lengthy reading for my history class (i wish i could claim that im being productive but the reading was for a paper that was due yesterday... ooops). in a few hours i'll be passing out. goodnight!!

washington d.c. & dreaming of summertime!

well. since i wrote last, i got into my major of choice (photography), visited home a few times (the incredible city of Charlottesville, Virginia - everyone should go there at least once in their life, it's amazing), and have been to the gym a countless number of times. i've been working so hard to get in shape but i never seem to have any energy. which makes me so annoyed. im not sick, im just always sleepy. and school takes so much time & energy that it's hard to make getting in shape one of my top priorities. but summer is coming up (THANK GOODNESS) which means fewer clothes and more skin... ha.
yesterday 2 of my best friends and i drove a few hours north to just outside of washington dc, one of my favorite places, where we took the metro into the city and then met up with another lovely lady, one of my good friends who i haven't seen in over a year! i missed her so much and i had a great time spending the day wandering around georgetown with the three of them. but the wind was incredibly intense, so most of my focus was aimed at holding my skirt down, as to not flash half of the city.
it's a beautiful day today, and although im very sleepy im thinking of working out later. i should make the most out of the last few weeks of the semester, instead of lying in bed avoiding homework most of the time.
i cannot wait for summer. it's like my oxygen, it's how i make it through the rest of the year. and im running out!!

abandoned?

my poor little blog, left alone for so long by itself. i apologize. I was, err, busy? sort of. my portfolio is due tomorrow, i need to submit it to apply to an art major. so i guess i have been busy. i was also just lazy over spring break. and sick. always tired, too. i spent spring break with my boyfriend, which was a lot of fun, and very chill. 

damn i need a nap. time for history reading, then class, then maybe apartment hunting with my best friend? we shall see. 

find that song

hello!! so i found an awesome website where you can find the songs in commercials with title and artist - i think it's pretty cool because i often see a commercial and want to know what the song is. after all, the songs are usually decent because they're picked to help set a certain mood in the consumer. check it out http://findthatsong.net/

early to bed, early to rise, and to the gym!! i hope.
goodnight!

twloha

hello!!! i had a very lovely birthday lunch with my dad. he brought me a cupcake from starbucks (yum). the weather here is still awful though! can't i have some nice weather for my birthday? that would be a great gift. there has to be an end to the cold!

anyway i was puttering (great word) around on youtube and i came across a video about the organization called "to write love on her arms". i've known about twloha for a few years, and i think it's really great. it's basically a support group for people with depression and addictions. if you go to their website, http://www.twloha.com/index.php, you can find links to help service websites and numbers of hotlines to call in emergencies, or if you just want to talk to someone. a lot of people don't realize how many people in america, and around the world, are effected by depression every year. suicide is a huge issue in the world right now and organizations like twloha are helping to spread information about the causes and results of depression, and they're trying to help spread some love. which i think is something we should all strive to do every day. so check out the website if you or someone you know might need help, or if you're just interested in the cause. they also have some great merchandise which provides financial support for twloha and also helps spread awareness.
here's a picture of me wearing my twloha shirt. a friend gave it to me last summer and i love it! it says "alive" in really bright letters, and the small text says "wake up, you're alive, we're on your side". it's really soft which is a bonus.

(i know it looks like im in a creepy asylum-type place, but it's actually my dorm room. which i guess is kind of the same thing....)

it's really important to be a source of hope for people in need. if you think someone you know is upset or depressed or just really stressed out, make sure you reach out to them in case they want to share what's going on. if they don't seem to want help, don't push them to talk about it since that could make matters worse. but suggest that they take advantage of free help resources for them, such as suicide hotlines. the people who work for these hotlines are trained to be helpful, good listeners, and never judgmental. there's no shame in needing someone to talk to. no one should ever be alone.

birthday!!

it's my birthday!!! im gonna go ahead and let everyone know that i love birthdays. i love them!!
happy birthday to me!!!! ha.

im very hungry, and very tired (what else is new??). time for a nap, then food.
have a great march 3rd everyone!! i know i will :)

exhaustion, part deux

how am i so tired??? because i don't sleep. i MUST sleep more. i will sleep tonight, in between going to chili's with friends (not that impressive, i know, but when it's a choice of chili's or dining hall food, chili's is amazing) and hitting the GYM in the morning!! what better way to begin my birthday then to run run run? no better way, is my answer.
i keep trying to become a work-out-aholic but i keep failing. someday it will happen.

i hope someone, somewhere, is having better weather than we are here. it's miserably cold and rainy. ughhh.

my dad is coming to visit me tomorrow!! birthday lunch and no presents... i can never decide what i want until wayy after  my birthday, so i told him to wait until i pick something instead of getting me something i won't want/use. YAY for birthdays!!!

exhaustion

i am SO tired!!! damn. i had a good weekend visiting my boyfriend, but woke up early this morning to drive 6 hours back to school for my 6pm class. i passed at least 8 police in less than 20 miles. i really thought i was going to get pulled over (chronic speeder) but thankfully i didn't. especially since i have no idea where the registration for my car is. oh dear.
i have so much drawing homework to do tonight (im an art student) which means very little sleep for me. it's awful!
anyway i hope everyone had a nice weekend... everyone who reads this... which may be no one. which makes me feel like im talking to myself, in public. although maybe all bloggers feel this way. i hope im not the only one.
alrighty time to start working, maybe i'll clean my room first though. i clearly have no motivation when it comes to schoolwork. im distracted by everything and anything.
goodnight!

here's a picture i find amusing. and truthful. in my opinion, some things shouldn't even be open to debate anymore. aren't the solutions to most problems obvious? (same-sex marriages, environmental issues, war). i don't understand why the world can't be a peaceful place.

photography & italian accents

so im sitting in my 2-315pm class, cultural texts and contexts. it's about the italian philosopher dante and his "divine comedies". there are several reasons im not paying attention: this class gets more and more boring each day. my teacher is italian and although he is totally adorable in an extremely naive way, he is very difficult to understand and often mixes his native language with english and therefore confuses everyone. it is also very unfortunate that this the time of day when i am the sleepiest. for real, im about to pass out. so i decided to post something in order to stay awake.
here are some photographs that i love:

this guy is living my dream. this is what i want to do with my life - travel the world and take ridiculously cool pictures of people, animals, and nature. the photographer, scott stulberg, seems like a pretty cool guy. there's a blog on his website which i read a bit of - here's the link:
http://asa100.com/blog/

hope everyone's having a great day - as soon as im done with this classes i will be! i get to see my mommy in a few hours, and my boyfriend later tonight :) i love weekends (no friday classes hahahhaa)

happy birthday!

(february 24th) is my boyfriend's birthday. i love him. and i feel bad that i was annoyed at him all day, since im obsessed with birthdays and i really wanted him to have a good day. i hope he did.
happy birthday cayce <3

10 last photographs of celebrities

i think these are pretty cool. some are gross, some are sad.
http://www.toptenz.net/10-famous-final-photographs.php

tea partayy

OH one of my favorite commercials of all time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTU2He2BIc0

my first blog (aka homework can wait)

oh heyy

so i enter the world of blogging. i always thought it would be cool to have an online persona but never thought that I, little technology-challenged victoria, could actually create a blog. well, i did. i guess the maintenance of it will be the difficult part. hopefully it'll be fun though.

anyway i hope to turn this blog into a dictionary of me. ok that might not sound exciting to you, the reader, but bear with me. i think it will be interesting. if it's not, please let me know and i'll make improvements as needed. im planning on sharing photographs (if i can, im still figuring out how to use this blog), cool websites, articles, news, random facts, etc.

so check back here sometime soon! i can't promise constant updates (i like to think that im a busy person) but i'll try to make it worth everyone's while.

alright have a nice night everyone!