Summertime!

It's been so hot lately! But it's nice and cool in my apartment, and kind of spooky... weird stuff been going on lately.

In any case, I've started Art History I and World Geography. Today I was assigned to do a paragraph on Germany to present at the end of the week. I'm sort of excited about this, because I just had the opportunity to hear a great speech on the Berlin Wall (Before & After) a couple weeks ago. Also, I'll have to visit at least six museums for my art class.

Timothy and I are really looking forward to revisiting the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, which currently has an exhibit by this fabulous Torsten Slama. Tim is very enchanted by his works, and I'd like to get him a print of one of them, but have yet to find much about him online. Here are some of his paintings, for your enjoyment.











Due to some dental expenses coming up, my quest to purchase a bike this summer has yet again been delayed. However, I am beginning to shop for my pop-up shop in August. Timothy had never been to the resale shops in the Heights... don't know if I can make that magic happen again. (Four shops in two days. WOW!)

Also, thanks to a visit to my neighbors' apartment, I now desire only one thing: A CARD CATALOG.



And she has all the drawers labeled with her crafting supplies! Immensely covetous was I. One day perhaps I'll come across my own! (And the time to sort it out and make it so nice and NEAT.) In the meantime, I still have my records to alphabetically sort and my stock for the pop-up shop to catalogue and price. Bah.

Very truly yours,
Sarah

The Zombies

I was driving to work today, listening to the Zombies, and I realized how awesome that band is.



I have a CD of their singles, and I was noticing a formula they seem to have for their B-sides.

1. Start out sort of mellow
2. Get a little out of control
3. Begin shrieking, usually "Whoa, whoa WHOA!"
4. Uncontrollable organ solo
5. Organ solo gets a little awkward
6. Go back to mellow, pretend solo didn't happen
7. Repeat as needed until song stops happening

Let's face it.



These guys are geniuses.

I would highly recommend you pick up an album at your earliest convenience.

Summer Times!

Back from a long weekend, and boy is it apparent. Three days is good for a weekend, and I got enough done to feel like it was worth it. Sorta. Ha.

I found this great picture of a fashion show, and was thinking 'Man... red is such a spiffy color on guys.' It's true you know. Timothy said he'd try some red, but not some sweaters. Boo!



Here is the new Chubby's Cruisers bike that I am about to order! Isn't it MAGNIFICENT? It's a little steep for my budget, but since I'm like 4 blocks or less from everything (except work) now, I think I'll save big by biking around the Montrose instead of driving (or making Tim pick me up, har har).



It was Zazie's birthday on July 4th! She is one year old. The girl she is staying with, Kaitlynn, snapped this shot of her next to a lovely birthday cake. Adorable.



The summer is flying by! Very hectic! And only a month and a half away from my Pop-up Vintage Shop at Sew Crafty, by the grace of the wonderful Sarah Gabbart. More on that later.

Good-by, darlings!
Sarah

Best Quote Ever

"The secret of being a bore is to tell everything." - Voltaire

Wrapping Things UP

One vacation down, one to go! Last week, Timothy and I flew to Colorado for a week, where we did everything you can do there in 7 days. (In short, we conquered the state.) Next week, my mom and I will fly to Nashville and see my sister and brother-in-law, the fabulous Rebecca and Robert.

Speaking of Robert, yesterday I read Robert's first novel from last year, Noisome Beasts. I highly recommend it! It's a quick read and is HILARIOUS. Makes me miss his old short stories, what for Rebecca and I read and discovered Young Master Chatham. (Is he a Mister now that he's married? I think the title "Master" is for young men.)

I am selling my cello and its professional case! If you know anyone who would like to purchase it, TELL ME NOW. It's $700, which is outrageous and reasonable at the same time. I put it on craigslist, and got a few responses but nothing realistic. I also put my school books on there, which is where I got most of them in the first place. Actually, my apartment is also on there right now, and a couple other apartments down the hall from me that I put up as a favor to my landlady. Craigslist is a cool tool, baby. I just wish people would BUY things. Come on, Houston!

For a couple weeks there, I was using Facebook. But then, upon telling a classmate that I'd had a piano recital that morning, he replied, "I know; I saw it on Facebook." Too much weird. I've gone off Facebook since then. I may write what I'm doing on here, but at least I know no one reads it but like two people. Ha. One. Hi, Rebecca.

I'm getting excited about putting up a website. I'd really like it to be a sort of community page, and hope to ask some of my favorite people to write articles and things for it. We'll see. Kind of a like a friends- and admired-people-only collaboration/contribution site. Who knows. I'm going to plan it out on paper, then try to stuff HTML and CSS back into my head (it fell out years ago; I used to be able to whip up a web page in 15 minutes on any idea I had that day). RADIANT BRAINS!

I guess that's all I can ask you to read for now. Except this: I saw Star Trek last night and I LIKED IT! (That's my cue to run away squealing.)

Very truly yours,
Sarah

Boiled Eggs are Delicious!

Hello everyone!

I just finished my English lit final, and am home eating a lunch of boiled eggs and pickles. Isn't that disgusting? It's delicious. I'm also listening to Cat Stevens... my record player hasn't been getting a lot of use lately, as I've been flitting around from school to work to Timothy's to Spring to wherever!

Finally found a place on Graustark, about five blocks away from St. Thomas. I'll be living by myself, unless I find someone to live in my living room. Ha. But really. It's not too bad for the price, and it's only a six-month lease, so I'll reassess at the end of the semester. But that means I'll be moving in a month, and in that time I'll also be out of town for a week in Colorado and three days in Nashville! When am I going to pack? If anyone in town wants to help organize, pack, move, or just has boxes, I ACCEPT. And I love you. I will pay you in hugs and possibly Pink's Pizza.

I also found out that I may have the opportunity to take on a second minor in English literature. I'm really stoked about this, and plan to ditch the Catholic Teachings class this fall for a class on Tolkien instead. (I can have a Summer of Religion next year and take both required theology classes back to back. Maybe.) Goody daisies!

For the rest of the day, I have a piano jury and then a history final, and two more finals on Wednesday. Whew... I thought this semester would never end. That's OK... and it seems like this summer is going to be educationally easy enough. As always, we'll see.

Hope you guys are having a great Monday!

Very truly yours,
Sarah

Congratulations to me!

My work just gave me a surprise mini-party with a chocolate cake and ice cream in congratulations to my being accepted to St. Thomas. They're all so nice. It's hard to find a really nice group of ladies to work with, as I'm sure some of you know.

In other news, my schedule is set up for this summer and this fall! I'm taking the following classes at HCC this summer:

Session I:
Public Speaking
Government II
Piano

Session II:
Art History I
Local and World Geography
Piano

And these are the classes I'm taking this fall at St. Thomas:

Teachings of the Catholic Church
Ancient World History
Ancient Philosophy
Medieval and Imperial Russia

Hooray! I'm majoring in History, and minoring in Russian Studies. I need a whole lot more electives than I thought, so I will most likely be there five semesters, plus maybe a summer. This is OK, as long as I'm allowed to learn about History I will be happy.

As far as apartments go, I'm moving away from the idea of a roommate... I have been looking at one bedrooms again, and have another scheduled to look at tomorrow. I'd really like to be able to walk to school! Is this so much to ask for? To help finance this extravagance, I'm considering giving myself a loan. What do I mean by this? I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED.

I started considering taking out an additional private loan to help with living expenses this fall, and then I slapped myself in the face and was like, "Hey, remember how you have thousands of dollars in savings? What is wrong with you?" (OK, I didn't really slap myself in the face, and I only have a few thousand.) So I am taking into consideration the concept of giving myself a grant from my savings and only using that set amount over the course of the school year. It sounds logical; can anyone think of any drawbacks besides touching savings money that doesn't want me to touch it like that? Ha ha ha. Hm.

I have a sushi dinner planned tonight with my knitting buddy, Jill. We're celebrating her finished-in-thirty-days, one-hundred page script for Script Frenzy! It's a pretty big accomplishment. I will then possibly see this play for free, entitled "Gold", at Miller Outdoor Theatre. I think it's going to be hilarious. Take care of yourselves!


Yours very truly,
Sarah