Small Blessings

It's easy to forget how very blessed one is when facing a horrific onslaught of finals and other (to quote a friend) "first world" woes. So having reevaluated my current stressors and determined them to be outside the realm of "kingdom issues," I feel relief enough to reward myself with a bowl of hot rice and a sip of cold sweet tea before getting down to business. Calm and "kiai" (spirit)  for fellow exam takers! Cute picture to motivate you.

Exam-mouse is going DOWN! 

Doodles from Japan

Found old stuff recently!! When I was in Japan two (or three?) years back, I went to Daiso (a 100 yen store chain) and bought a blank journal and some markers to draw with while riding the Shinkansen (high speed train). These are the drawings that I made while on the train from Tokyo to Kyoto and back.

The first and second doodles

The red is a correction marker (?) from Daiso.

Drew this after visiting Ohara and soaking in the Goemon-buro there.

Tree branches and small blossoms

A close up since I put such hard work into the bark

After finding these, I felt nostalgic and began to draw something similar in the very back of the same journal.
So far I have this. Contemplating whether or not to continue. Opinions?

Until later then!

Current Playlist-Get Stuff Done

Looks like it's going to be another busy day today! Here is my current "get stuff done" playlist for your enjoyment:

1.618 - BT
Akikaze no Uta - Akeboshi
Chameleon Boy - Blue October
Crying Lightning - The Arctic Monkeys
Dancing with the Devil - Wolf Gang
Du Hast - Rammstein
Dust Bowl Dance - Mumford & Sons
Go to Rakuen - Yoko Kanno
Hot Air Balloon - Owl City
Kids - MGMT
Matryoshka - Ubyk
Moonchild - Electric Universe
Porcelain - Moby
Rabbit Heart (Raise it up) - Florence + the Machine
Right Thing to Do - Sbtrkt
Soon We'll Be Found - Sia
Spyglass - Rodney Miller
The Recluse - Cursive
Where Dream and Day Collide - Madder Mortem
Wood - Second Person
Check them out if you have time!

One Small Step for...

Hit the ground running this morning (obviously not in the literal sense) knowing that my afternoon would be devoted to writing all manners of essays for the coming finals. However, noodles and vegan alfredo sauce is a poor source of energy as it turns out. Currently sitting in the largest library on campus, laptop equipped, casually chewing on raw oats and enjoying the view. (Pictured above)
I've been letting my mind wander lately, as I find the resulting sequences to be amusing. Just earlier, as I was eating noodles, a rather twangy rendition of a vaguely familiar Christmas tune began to play, putting me in mind of (Lord only knows why) Kung Fu fighting Christmas elves. It was such an unwanted and grossly inappropriate image to have come from a Southern tinged Christmas ditty that I fairly choked on my meal.
So much of what I have seen on television advertisements regarding the coming of Christmas as of late, is beautifully and meticulously gift-wrapped to appeal to people's sense of "duty" and their inner giver. I keep hearing things akin to "give a gift worth giving" spoken in a number of very similar ways by a myriad of businesses: from charity organizations (which makes more sense than), spas (I can see this being nice for some sorely overworked mothers but not..), European based trinket manufacturers (just take my word for it and try giving a rock you find to be particularly attractive to your eco-swinging friends as a creative paper weight or door stopper instead), to any number of companies pledging to help you get the best bang-for-your-buck this holiday season.
Blatant commercialization of my favorite holidays has finally disturbed me to the point that I am having trouble enjoying myself during them.
Is this a step forwards for me...?

The Future?

It's been awhile! I've been swamped with work as finals week approaches and the semester comes to a close. I am currently fever ridden, enjoying a short break in essay writing to post this. Since my last post, I have relished in the coming of fall, the blessings of family and friends, and eaten copious amounts of Thanksgiving turkey. Then came an epiphany. I will major in drawing and painting! I am still not sure what sort of job I want to aim for in the future, but for now I will work with things that I love! I feel that if I pursue my interests and love what I do, everything else will fall into place. I will do my best in this regard!!!

The Definition of Busy

This past week was spent burdened with a nasty cold of sorts. It still has me in its evil clutches, and I am contemplating a visit to the health center for stronger stuff to fight it off. A curious plus to being ill is having time to contemplate mundane and pressing issues alike ; my definition of a soul, ideas of Christmas gifts for friends, the benefits of steam, and my weirdly fascinating dreams (most recently featuring Mary Poppins..!!!). I feel that after such malaise and haziness, this week should be almost relaxing..! In any case, I will put my best foot forward and hope for a wonderful week. Best of luck to those reading this!~

Fall Leaves, Bribery, Facial Hair's Anarchistic Tendencies, and Coming to a Close

The weather as of late has been nice; so nice in fact, that I want to do little but laze about with my latest Agatha Christie book. But alas, life calls! All my classes are becoming hectic as the semester comes to a close. It is at times like these that I must either bribe myself or structure my days so as to promote progress in my studies. Most likely, I will utilize both of these in the coming weeks as I register for my classes, review for finals, and get a head start on lengthy papers to cap off my grade. All this progress calls for candy! It works wonderfully as a personal motivator, dietary supplement, and mental processing stimulant. (Most importantly, it abounds after the passage of Halloween..!)

I have been worried about the leaves lately. It quite dominates my thoughts during idle moments of the day. I fear that, as last year, the leaves will not turn; I get no satisfaction from watching the trees green-brown leaves endure lowering temperatures, clinging stubbornly as if they were not leaves, but natural supernumerary appendages of the trees before finally falling as brown skeletal flakes to litter the ground in rotting heaps. My dream of fall imagery goes out the window right there!

Though leaves worry me, I suppose I can bring myself to consider other pressing issues such as the relocation of the Occupy Dentonites (Is this a correct demonym for a resident of Denton?). They moved seemingly overnight to the green out front the art building, as if a living creature migrating on pseudo-pods of cardboard and canvas. I am intrigued by their evolution; just today I saw additional signs had been displayed by them, touting anarchistic such and so's with pictures of the founding fathers laminated among them. I wonder how long they will remain camped outside...

Lastly, on the hotly debated subject of No Shave November: no words. I will not participate. If I was capable of growing a mustache I would, but legs MUST remain somewhat shaven and my face rejects the possibility of a beard, goatee, or even conservative handlebar as an adornment. Must get back to schoolwork now...

Fandangled Phones and the Relativity of Productivity

Just picked out my new phone today! It is so high tech that I am fearing my ignorance will bring about its untimely demise. (Thus I am keeping it inside a thick sock in my purse for safe keeping) For you technically inclined people, it runs on a Windows OS and is called the Samsung Focus. (more info here: http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones/SGH-I917ZKAATT-features ) I feel so spoiled with it; I am just pulling out the manual to educate myself on how not to kill it. In other news, I had a great yesterday at home doing laundry and watching old home movies on the VCR; I finally located footage of my great aunt dancing tango!!! So much (or comparatively little) was accomplished during my stay that I am inclined to stay up late doing nothing in particular. Long baths with ambient candles, bringing everything but the kitchen sink to my dorm,  and doodling on the wall in our soon to be complete remodeling of the upstairs bathroom. Yes: Life is good.

Priorities

This past week has felt a bit of a strain. It feels as though I have made enough small mistakes to fill a relatively large pitcher with ill-preparedness and numerous relatively harmless bungles. At times like these, I find myself compelled to re-evaluate my outlook and reorder my priorities. I would like to move towards focusing on:
1) God
2) School
3) Relationships
(Though I suppose I could put mental or emotional health as the first, I find that both can be managed through nurturing and enhancing my relationship with God.)
To help, I plan to write "A stitch in time saves nine" on my message board and focus on not overloading myself. I have already gotten excited (?) about making my to-do list and ordering it (thankfully I finished cleaning my room and doing my laundry today) for efficiency. Wish me luck!
Here is a fun link for you: breadartproject.com

Ramen and Rainy Days

Thank goodness for all the rain we have been blessed with as of late! This drizzly grayness makes for perfect ramen-eating and attempted "r" rolling (like "rr" in Spanish) fun with my lovely friends from the sixth floor. Experiencing Texas weather really puts into mind the various colors of life. Tango is passionate; boldly and elegantly draped in red and black. Libraries are green (not literally green, like my outfit today, but "green") and smell like curiosity (in my opinion). Japanese is pink and gyms are orange. I wonder what color tomorrow will be? If you haven't, read Dr. Seuss' "My Many Colored Days" (cover art pictured below).

The Fragile Transition from Summer to Autumn

The weather has been so nice as of late that I have little desire to do anything inside and find myself sprawling lazily on shaded benches reading Diana Wynne Jones and watching leaves fall in dizzying spirals from the trees overhead. This time of change is nostalgic, and it is all too easy to fall into a daze of golden memories and put forget the present. Of course, the present also edges in; parties in black-lit rooms, dancing on neon tempera paint and sliding across the floor in shiny rain boots. Loud music and quiet afternoons spent painting and studying for classes. For these feelings I would like to give you a poem I like, from Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O'Neill (This is from my memory, so it may not be entirely accurate)

The colors live between black and white
In a land that we know best by sight
But knowing best isn't everything,
For colors dance and colors sing
And colors laugh and colors cry
Turn off the lights and the colors die
And they make you feel every feeling there is
From the grumpiest grump, to the fizziest fizz
And you, and you, and I know well,
That each has a taste,
And each has a smell,
And each has a wonderful story to tell.

The Butterflies! Danaus....

Sorry it is a bit sloppy! I was on a bench and only had pens and notebook paper with me. :)

Monarchs in Migration

I've spent quite a while looking at monarchs these past few days! They are beautiful and currently traveling en-masse (sometimes as far as from Canada to Mexico!!) on their annual migration. I have drawn one (in a notebook) that I will post once I scan the image.

No Complaints

So, life has been great lately! I finally got around to making a tumblr account, it is entechnoi.tumblr.com . It is still in the early stages of life, but I fully expect to make full use of it for my artistic ventures, etc. Please check it out if you get the chance~!

Lately

Many good things at once! I found someone to help me with math, I had tango lessons yesterday, after the tango lessons I went to hear Gustavo Romero play Liszt (he ended with an electrifying performance of Mephisto's Waltz), I bought a 1912 Celestaphone (think early version of Marxophone) and my room mate gave me chocolate! Sounds like a perfect yesterday and today to me! I am planning to restore the Celestaphone to something near its former glory (hopefully) and have high hopes for the project to go well. Here is a photo of what a Celestaphone looks like for those of you who have not seen one before:  .

The Beginning

Once upon a time, I was asked to start a blog. That was then. This is now. Entechnoi (translating roughly to "embodied in the arts") is where I, Clarissa, the author of this blog, record my day to day happenings, musings, and revelations. I hope you (and/or me) will take pleasure in the reading of consequent posts and will support me as I continue through Life.