my laptop is still not here!!! argh...dumb, stoopid computer geeks.

bubbles make people happy.

tick tock tick tock. is it midnite yet? is it time to go home and rest these weary eyes before another day begins again tomorrow? i am rather tired so i'll just jot down whatever first comes to my fingers:

-i want to eat cake.

-my aunt is pregnant. and she is not married. and her boyfriend is extremely non-committal.

-i love meeting new people, but it takes so much effort. the last 4 weeks has just being meeting after meeting. and i am exhausted from the effort it takes to be "nice" to everyone. it is so much better to just hurry up and get to the stage where you are comfortable being "mean"---you know what i mean?

-i need to figure out the whole switzerland program thing but it is hard seeing as i just barely am trying to get back into this first semester.

-i am happy because now that my brother is in college, it seems that he and i talk much more. perhaps it is just the link that we are both waiting impatiently for out new laptops to arrive that binds us together in common unity.

-my mom has a new cell phone, and i can now talk to her for free whenever i please. my dad no longer needs to hog the weekend minutes of my phone as he too switched to verizon. yeah!

-i must draw a 1/4" scale section of my building by monday. this means that the drawing will be approximately 5 and a half feet long. yes, that's right, the drawing will be longer than i am taller.

-it is different now that i am school again. i am doing things much differently and have a greater understanding of "the big picture." life is not about school, nor does my everything revolve around architecture itself. there is a force much greater than ourselves and the condition of our hearts is what truly matters.

-brigita is getting braces. her tolerance for persistant and constant pain will surely be put to the test.

-i want new glasses. i am tiring of my purple tri-layered glasses. but for now since there is no money, then i cannot embellish my life with any honey.

-sometimes there are days when i remember things. (pause) i don't know why, but i remembered today. and for a brief moment i dwelled on the idea of two completely distanced lives yet still separated by only a small string. it doesn't matter how far one travels or how long the time passes, the connection remains. i often wonder why this wonder continues. i shed a tear or two this morning. not from any type of sadness, but more from a kind of melancholy happiness...knowing that i am a truly blessed girl to ever had such a connection. for this i am happy to have shed the tear.

-did i say i want cake? well, i really do.

-i went all day without having any caffeine. i'm going to collapse into my fluffy comforter and pillows so easily.

pictures that were sent to me from someone in california...

woo hoo! well, although it's not as good as the $400 of first prize, i was one of the lucky team members who got honorable mention at the competition charette that was had all day at the building museum last labor day. i guess my mad design skills are coming back from the dead and rejuvenating themselves in completely new ways.

brigita's birthday is today. happye birthday, my lovely! i know we had convinced you to go out tomorrow night instead of today. well you are the one whostipulated that it was "crucial" that i invite my friends, right? well, tomorrow is the night then...perhaps you would like to get your nails done today instead? let me know...

on another note---can i tell you how happy i am it is friday!? it is a sigh of relief. the last two weeks have seemed like nonstop work. anyhow, have a good day all, and once again, happy birthday my latvian princess!

not only did we win the competition, but jai jai sent me the most amazing compliment. receiving this email was ten times better than actually winning the competition. thank you jai. thank you for your encouragement and support and the smiles you have always showered upon me. and for your loyalty, i will now give you a free advertising plug for your new adventure. everyone go visit hairy dog studios!

So I am amazed. I looked at the competition entry for school nice work. You have a unique ability and view, one that others like myself can't obtain ( mind you i feel quite creative). I do feel like I need a bit more background to fully understand its purpose/ its goal. But your descriptions of the layers, the actions and moments that are experienced. It is comforting to me to see this. Hope you don't sigh as much as I think you do. I love reading your thoughts it reminds me to attempt to be better at what I do and to look beyond the superficial....although I am having a difficult time at that right now.....in fact most things seem unattainable at the moment.

Trudge forward......keep lookin' up and bounce on to the next wall right?

jp

p.s.- this is one long compliment that never really sounds like it is (I reread what I wrote) smile that is the purpose I like the entry wishing you well.....

wow...how this past weekend just disappeared into thin air. but anyhow, the news was competition was turned in, and within the hour we had discovered the lucky news that we had won and were now going to have to go represent vt at the national building museum in another all day charrette! not sure if the incentive to spend all day on a holiday working and designing was the most appealing aspect to win the first competition but whatever. with the small hierarchy at school, it is not a bad thing. anyhow, so we spent all day yesterday at the building museum meeting new people and designing. my energy is getting spent putting all this effort into being sociable, and whatever is left over must be used for the evening design hours. so from 9 till 5, laymen onlookers and children overlooked our shoulders as we sketched and spewed forth ideas thru our hands onto paper. it was interesting and fun, but extremely hard to get motivated to spend 7 till 10 in class...then another midnite shift of design and collage. it is actually not so bad, after having worked for the last 3 years, i feel my time management is much better than when i was say in my third year of school. but we all have to go thru the worst to learn that that is the point of furthest extreme and to never push it that far again, right?

on other notes, erik so-lame came to visit and we had a blast. it's nice to see him after 4 years and to know that friends forever will always be friends forever. it is wonderful how 4 years of separation between friends is meaningless and really no obstacle to conversation or joking. thank you for coming to visit. it was a breath of freshness that i need every now and then to help me remember that there is some constancy in friendship in this temporal world we live in. the great test really is how does such constancy last without ever having to really try. ok, i'm putting off my pHD paper, gotta go.

competition entry just finished...pin-ups tomorrow, er, i mean today at 3pm. sigh... two weeks of school down---so far surviving ok. want to look at the entry? for personal pdf viewing, click on me, me, me!