High Contrast Grey.

My little holiday gift for myself, taken with shitty camera phone. Amongst all the $3 silverware was this little tea strainer for the price of only $5. I rarely just have a mug of loose leaf tea (it is usually a pot or three instead) which would make this handy, but now if I do just require a mug I can have the option. I am thinking that this will be more so for my tea parties and perhaps a means of offering some of my more odd teas that perhaps not everyone would enjoy, like my twig tea or the strong pu-erh.

I am once again back in Billings. I have yet to outright let people here know this because… hell, its cold out and I usually don’t end up doing anything but seeing them at their place of work. I did find a frame for the painting that I did for Amy though, so I might pop on over to BodyWorks once I get a wire for the back. [insert numbing experience at Hobby Lobby, or Michaels arts and crafts]. I went to a few thrift stores and antique stores with my mum yesterday to look for gifts for the family. I found a hat for H16. I am terrible at this shopping thing.

I went to the apartment of the cute girl from French class last night for a going away party for some Japanese students that she knows. We made little sushi rolls and drank plum wine. I provided some oolong tea. As the opening of presents was going on with adorable expressions of ‘kawaii’ and the Japanese students finding love for the word ‘badonkadonk’ by way of a gift of slang flash cards, Jessye gave me a gift of this book of collected poetry by Byron from 1879. Complete with a pressed flower in the middle from an unknown time/owner. I am not sure where this is going at the moment, but I think I have found an educated lady to whisper French in my ear. Although, sadly, I won’t be seeing her again until sometime in January, when I plan to return from Seattle.

I have been feeling the itching desires to stretch my lobes larger, tattoo my inner wrist, and shave my head. I enjoy my little exercises in self control because it makes that moment when it happens only sweeter.

Feeling homesick and going through old photos… I am looking forward to making it home for the New Year’s and my birthday. Fingers crossed that the weather won’t prevent me from making it over, again.

I have finally just about made it through the all hundreds of photos that I took for the Bellatrix show a few weeks ago. Choosing random ones that I like and editing so them so that the performers have photos to represent them on the facebooks. I got a message from Anita around a week ago asking to use one of the images to promote people auditioning to join the show, but I am not sure which one she chose. Although I talked to her again today and she was looking to have me take a photo to use to promote their next show sometime soon. Good times.

Cute girls from French class coming over to my apartment to study for the final tomorrow followed by lots of talking, wine, brie, and a small glass of absinthe while Nouvelle Vague plays on in the background and not a single moment of studying = win, but probably not for the fact that the final is tomorrow. Meh. Sometimes moments should be judged not for the long term benefit, but the enjoyment at the time. For a moment in our conversations I felt my mind wander off as I attempted to figure out how I convinced the cute girls from French class, that I only became acquainted with at the beginning of the semester and didn’t begin talking to until a few weeks ago, to come over and hang out at my apartment, which of course was left at an enjoyable blank. Hopefully this marks the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

It has been too long since a pretty girl has left me bitting my lip like this..

Four layer relief woodblock destruction print. I am now done with all my art classes. Insert great sigh of relief. Because they are art classes and everyone involved would rather ‘fuck off’ for the final time we used the last class time before finals to clean up the art rooms. Now all that I have are two finals left, French and Architectural Art History, thankfully far enough from one another that studying won’t be an issue. Sadly part of that is because the Architectural Art History final is on Saturday, but amongst all the groaning about it, it isn’t like I was planning to do anything, or needed to go anywhere. My mum is in the process of trying to convince me to come to Billings for the holidays because I can then go to Seattle for New Years. The only thing that is making me really not lean towards doing that is that I have a feeling that I will get stuck in Billings due to the weather, which has happened way too often. Meh.

Work in progress. I should actually be working on school work and not my own personal art, but over the weekends as I get stuck in my apartment and not wanting to brave the freezing weather the large acrylic painting calls to me. Now if only I could work faster and not get caught up in all the little details, but then it wouldn’t be my work. I am rather curious as to what the final mood it will put off as it is the largest piece I have painted and I am able to get it much closer to the darker that I am searching for that my watercolors seem to subdue slightly. Huzah. There is a tickle of sore throat beginning that I hope I am able to stave off… But finals are coming up quickly so knowing Murphy and his law, this is going to suck.

I like black and white stripes and I like noodles. It has been too long since I have made my renowned noodles with red sauce..

ps. Chris is an amazing performer.

Bellatrix. I was thinking that I was not going to be able to make the show because it was on the Sunday marking the end of Thanksgiving break and I was planning to be in Seattle at that point, but the weather forced me to stay in Missoula. Originally Anita (the woman who put together the event and is pictured with the umbrella) had wanted me to be the photographer for the event, but I had to decline on the ground that I didn’t think that I would be in town. It was one of the few good things to come out of me being stuck in Missoula. Tonight I have been invited to the cast party to show the photos that I took of the performance. I am not too sure what to expect, but it seems like it will be pretty amazing.