pink crocodile post

while i was in venice over the summer, i noticed the pink crocodiles. hanging delicately over balconies, on top of roofs, and dangling over the canals, they beckoned everyone with their colorful optimism.

besides being a perfect example of how people should live their lives (metaphorically, being bright pink and not caring who the fuck notices or points and laughs), the pink crocodiles are something that we need to bring into our own culture. yes... they do seem like just tourist attractions ("come to venice! we have pink crocodiles!"), but i feel that if people start to do random, almost schizophrenic, things like hanging inflatable pink crocodiles outside their bedroom window, we could be more accepting of things like graffiti and huge chalk parties on the streets.

okay, i know this is starting to ramble and not make any sense, but i just feel that the pink crocodiles represent something more than just a tourist attraction or whatever. if we all incorporated the freedom of the pink crocodiles, maybe this society wouldn't be so restrictive and we wouldn't have to worry so much.

year post

(thanks for the idea, laura.)

one day before the end of the year. shit, it's gone by really fast. and i've accomplished a lot (for me) in 2007:

been one of the first-picked people in ultimate frisbee
gone to bali for a month
carved a piece of wood into a flower
gone on a ten-day canoe trip
gone to italy
gone to shakespeare camp for the third time
wrote a 50k novel in a month
got back into the habit of sketching everyday
picked up bouldering
wrote a couple poems
started a couple paintings
became an aunt
got the lead role in a musical

my new year's resolutions/goals for 2008/unreachable hopes and dreams:
return to realms
edit my novel and send it out
bake my own bread
start sewing my own clothes
work more on the zine with kate
do more work with like-minded people
cook and/or bake more
do nanowrimo again
start actually journaling
get and practice a guitar
work on a farm over the summer
make some music
change my room around for more room for "STUFF"
expose myself to new music/architecture/"art"
grow some of my own food
go on some sort of fast
regularly practice:
- yoga
-meditation
- "art"
- music
- blogging

yep. pretty much.

paint post

i don't assume to know anything. really. at all. so when i hear things about what art is, i get upset. who am i to say, "that cigarette lying in the middle of the gutter isn't art, but a black and white photograph of it is"?

well, danya, there are universal codes of what constitutes as art. there are the basic forms: photography, painting, drawing, dance, sculpture, etc., etc. and to say that every moment of your life has aspects of art in it is... well, a little pretentious.

but what if that's not it at all and nothing is not art? when my friends and i stripped down to our bras, covered ourselves in primary colors and ran around the art gallery in the middle of the night, taking pictures, we weren't thinking of 'art' but we weren't thinking of not making 'art' either.

so, you're saying that it just kind of turned out to be art?

no. that's not it either.

then what is it?

it just is. it is not not art, but it is also not art.

danya, not everything can be shades of gray.

yes, everything can be if we just stop caring about labeling things, you know?

whatever you need to tell yourself.

ping-pong post

brought out my old ping-pong table a couple days ago and been playing like mad. i think i've challenged everyone in my family at least three times just today and have played over twenty games since ten in the morning.

just thought i would share that with the world.

anyways, i have a problem with this whole 'thanksgiving' thing. i mean, really. most people i know don't actually use thanksgiving as a day to give thanks, but just over-indulge in turkey and pumpkin pie.

as a way to show my thanks during thanksgiving, i'd like to make a list of thanksgiving resolutions but for the health of everyone on the planet, i won't share them, but one of them is to use thanksgiving as a one-day fast because i don't believe that one can be truly thankful unless they experience the other side of the spectrum.

save a turkey, eat a hunter. (that was a joke, people.)

every feel like you are so sucked down in the torment of what life is and what society is and wonder why humans are the only animals on earth that have concepts of money and material possessions?

danya, this is an improvment in technology and quality of life. you should be thankful for it.

but i'm not. and i know that seems like an awful thing to say, but god. i don't like how almost everything i touch is just something that i bought with something (dollar bills, credit card, etc.) that is only a representation of wealth, whatever that means.

we are consumers, danya. that's what we do.

but i don't want it to be that way, where our lives are considered sucessful when we become millionaires or whatever. shouldn't sucess be happiness, or enlightenment, or something that actually gives meaning to your life?

many people strive for financial sucess all their lives, and that is also considered sucess, danya.

when everything is done and gone, i think that most people realize that their life wasn't worth wasting for some paper.

book post

although slightly tacky and cliche, this is my list of fiction books that have inspired me, changed me deeply, and was exactly the right book i needed for that moment in my life.

st. lucy's home for girls raised by wolves by karen russel
beautiful book of bizarre and phenomenally-written short stories.

the phantom tollbooth by norton juster
a classic on a child's reading list. beautiful tale of fantastical characters, epic quests, and a boy named milo.

the book thief by markus zusak
narrated by death and about a girl growing up in the world war two-era. beautifully written in a darkly humorous tone.

water for elephants by sarah gruen
a tale of forbidden romance and a bizarre and crazy circus.

the catcher in the rye by j.d. salinger
after my english teacher assigning this book, i can admit that i read it in an hour. no beautiful writing, no real 'plot' (whatever that means), not a really lovable main character, but a story of trauma.

okay, people. i would suggest everyone reading these books once because i suggest reading every book in the world once, but i remind you, just because i liked them once doesn't mean they'll be exactly what i need in a month or what you need right now.

enjoy!

a rant on hannah montana

so i'm listening to this 'teen pop sensation' right now, some song called 'nobody's perfect' and am wondering why people listen to this shit. nasally voice, simple electric guitar chords, and the drums sounds like a three-year old banging on some pots, and repetitive lyrics. repetitive lyrics. repetitive lyrics.

i don't understand. i bring up the concept of classic rock to the people in my 'group': the beatles, queen, rolling stones, the shins, etc., etc. and i am shunned. and meanwhile, they are listening to hannah montana who i swear is the next britteny spears.

oh danya, you should respect people's music choices.

i know, but jesus christ. i stopped listening to musicians from the disney channel when i was in fifth grade.

you know, i think you're just upset because people don't respect your music choices.

hannah montana will last for a few years. the beatles and queen and the like will last forever because they make incredible music, while she makes bullshit.

danya, you can't know what the future holds.

trust me on this one.

cake post

so it's my birthday today and i was wondering why we eat cake.

well, danya, it's because cake is delicious and is decorated in such a bright manner to make people happy. which is a good thing when remembering a joyous event such as a birth.

but mei goreng (a balinese dish) is also quite delicious and can be laid out in such a fashion to make people happy. but i don't see most people eating mei goreng for their birthdays.

i'm sure that most people would love to do that, but cakes are enjoyed by everyone while i'm sure that mei goreng is directed towards a specific group that likes the taste of balinese noodles.

i'm not saying i don't like cake. i love it, but does everyone actually enjoy cake? i don't think diabetics are much interested in the fluffy, chocolate-y goodness.

danya, go back to bed. you're too tired.

person inside my mind, would you like some german chocolate cake made for my birthday? it uses the toasted coconut you see above.

but of course. does it have sprinkles?

no.

then no.

a blog for my thoughts, your thoughts, random art, rants, and things of that nature. it's more of an established experiment after my failed attempts to start up a consistent blog so bear with me. at some point i'd like to make it known that i'm not that interesting so i'm going to have some shitty posts that make no sense at all.

deal with it.