this day in history

every day i have a new report of what i was doing exactly a year before then. on valentine's day i proudly told people how Adriana, Emi and i had the most tasty donuts at dunkin donuts in the center of Madrid. it was so American, so wrong. it was the only way to (un)celebrate the day.

now it is somewhere between ''i need to sleep now'' o-clock and ''holy shit i need to wake up for school'' am and there is still more studio work to be done. and while i sit here tapping away at my mouse and keyboard- pounding a design into existence, i can't help but let my mind wander into the farthest corners away from architecture. and i end up here, where i was a year ago. still running away from a career in architecture and towards something in the music industry. meanwhile, i need to finish polishing up my resume/cv to start sending out to architecture firms and hand proudly over to representatives at the career fair on Wednesday. although i'd rather be doing anything (preferably nothing to do with rhino or autocad because right now they are driving me insane) in New York, i may be applying to this firm in Madrid off Jeannette's list of good firms to work for. it would be great to look back at this day in history from my beautiful Madrid with my beautiful friends in Madrid.

so there will be no more fussing with word or editing photos until after Saturday with final review over for the first of the last 2 projects of my undergraduate career and my soon-to-be complete resumes all passed out. and then i can peel myself away from my laptop.

Stop Blogging, Sammy

The fact that I am writing this now means I survived Colorado and skiing. Currently I’m at Sky Harbor, waiting to say goodbye and go home.

The finale to my final winter break was amazing. I should have learned to ski years ago and should have gone on trips like this earlier. Gathering up a group of friends to share a cabin for a week. Enjoying the fact that we’re not quite adults yet. Not old enough to be sitting in a lodge drinking hot buttered rum in a smoking jacket after a day on the slopes, but not too old to play risk while eating horrible delivery pizza and drinking cheap beer. Every morning the wonderful Sammy woke us up with his ukulele and a song about how we needed to get up and get ready for skiing. Groggily we suited up for the –5 degree weather, ate a couple bites of scrambled eggs hastily prepared by Mike, and crammed into the car. I went to ski school in Keystone, tried to stay out of the way of the other skiers in Brekenridge while trying to keep up with my friends and not fall, and was dragged down a couple black diamond runs in Vail. I don’t think I’ll be able to walk normally for a while- but I will have to go skiing again very soon. I’m told I did very well for a first time skier. After skiing there was some trespassing, snow board ramps being constructed, wounds being super-glued shut, impromptu kung fu fights in the garage, minor snow induced car accidents, and hot tub siphoning and hot water boiling amongst other crazy antics.

The make-up of the cabin changed every night as people came and went. Friends were added, jerks subtracted, siblings popped up, and girlfriends breezed through. I say girlfriends as the staples of the cabin were 5 guys- Sammy, Mike, Damir, Dean, and Adam. The first 4 best friends growing up in Chicago and Adam the university add on and newest addition to Chicago. Leah (gf of Adam), Diega (Sammy’s dog) and I were the only females who made it to the end and had to endure solitude on Sunday while football was on. I’m not really sure how I fit into the equation and I shrugged when asked that question. “Do you go to RISD?” no “Were you in Denmark” no “Are you guys dating?” no

“Then how do you know each other?”

In any case...

I enjoyed some wonderful company, had a great trip and got to cross off something from my things to do in 2007 list- learn to ski. Now to get back to Berkeley and remember what it’s like to be a student again. I should stop blogging and get some food before my flight. Unfortunately, there won’t be a busted bronco without a back window waiting for me. On the other hand, it won’t be below zero.

On the plane

I can’t believe I left the record-breaking winter high temperatures f the central coast for 0 degree weather in Colorado. I can’t believe I left the best time I’ve had at homer in a long long time. There was never a moment to spare. I actually enjoyed being around people from Arroyo Grande and Andrew’s friends didn’t make me lonely and sad and desperately missing my own friends. Oh, plane landing now. Here goes Colorado.

where are the words

Day one into foinals week and I'm as lazy as ever. I only have one final to work on- a take home final- a creative writing take home final- a 6 page long creative writing take home final. Its due in a week.

Until then I plan on being creative in other ways. I have a couple photo projects I'd like to work on now that my photo class is over and my final project for it complete. The first projet takes the two things I'm least apt to take part in and put them together- portraiture and taking pictures in stores. I had to dabble in it a bit with the final project (comparing retail spaces in high end retail stores and low-income shopping areas. Comparing gucci to the goodwill) and learned to be sneaky when security guards are watching you and your giant camera look the the expensive clothing. So with the new project I want to photograph people trying on the expensive clothing. I plan on being kicked out of a few stores, but I think the experience will be good.

Realisticly speaking, the project will probably be put on the back burner until I'm super busy and have a million required things to do. Or just until I cash my checks from the last month and have some money to burn a hole in my bank account and draw me across the bay. So really, it will be like the rest of the semester. Leisurely making trips to the cityto go shopping/window shopping, take pictures, and read/sketch on the BART.

On the side, I've been working through my movie list of "movies I should have seen but haven't yet" pretty efficiently. I've watched 9 of the original list of 13. Outside of that, I've watch 3 others I should have had on the list and addded 3 more. I'm doing pretty well and looking forward to winter break for more film watching.

I'm trying to keep myself distracted from somethings. I was thinking about biking around Oakland again or going to the gym, but the weather isn;t quite right for biking and my #1 gym buddy moved to LA and my replacement one has a sprained ankle (from enjoying too many distractions at once).

So please distract me and send distractions my way.

Which brings me to this...


...I finally have piece of writing to work on for a magazine and a deadline!

Great! Just what I’ve been looking for!

Not so much.

I’ll be working on a restaurant/date guide for Valentine’s Day in the Bay Area. Which sounds good until you consider the fact that I’ve never been on a real date date. Sure I know great places to eat drink and have fun, but date has never entered the vocabulary of the evening’s events. Furthermore- its not even my own piece. I’m just writing a couple 3-step dates in a larger whole of a date piece. 50 words per segment of the date plus an intro.

While I should be happy for even that much, I can’t help but be a greedy word monster and want the whole article. I had a great intro to the piece worked out- sarcastic yet funny while still being endearing and gently mocking people who actually go on dates for Valentine’s Day.

In any case, it’s an assignment and my 50 words per dating-venue will be the best 50 words ever written. There is the hope of getting better pieces if I stick with the magazine and do the bit parts. For now, I’ll just have to leave some of the Megan behind and enjoy the fact that people will be enjoying my expertly constructed dates.

The CITY

My 5-night long tryst with the city confirmed my feelings that I have to move there. I don’t know if it was the Sunday morning walk through the park, the afternoons spent walking through the village, snacking on cupcakes on a bench, or the fantastic nights sent in tiny bars and venues hat did it, but I’m sold. If I can’t move out to Madrid, New York is the next best thing and half the distance.

I made sure to do some of the quintessential New York things for a 21 year old- shopping in union square, getting hit on my a fire fighter, using the metro to save money and hailing cabs to save my aching feet from walking more in heels. I bought into the consumer culture and admired Prada as both Carrie Bradshaw and an architecture student.

Lets just say that its very dangerous to take a break mid semester to the other coast and think that you’ll be able to return home to the same routines.

And in order to keep my feet on the ground and head out of the skyscrapers, I’ll leave my trip at that. Some people leave their heart in San Francisco, but I’m over that. Mine’s in Manhattan.

And because they took such good care of us, check out Vice magazine and Fader magazine for their coverage and involvement in CMJ and to see what I may or may not have been up to at the Cake Shop and 88 Delancy.

The City

Ten months ago I chronicled my life weekly. There I was in another country discovering things and exploring the world around me. I never did the exploring in Berkeley or San Francisco. I’ve lived here for so long but I still know a city I only lived in for 5 months better. I spent the week missing Spain. Catching up with the Carlos III kids over our weekly meetings turned into rewalking every step we took in Spain.

And so now I’m trying to catch up for lost time. With the semester half way over and my time left as a student here nearing the 5-month mark, I’m starting to see this place the same way I saw Europe. This weekend was Germany weekend and Cindy, Chris, Sean and I found a way to celebrate Octoberfest.

It all started with a photo gallery field trip. Cindy, my new surrogate roommate, and I pedaled over to Chris’ galley for latte and a quick rest before biking onto Janet, our teachers house for breakfast. We zigzagged and pedaled down the streets, past houses and cottages with gardens of hydrangeas and picket fences. We were the first to her house where we were greeted with a “how cute” that we arrived together with bikes and bagels and smoked salmon. Janet’s house was beautiful and her husband and daughter were lovely. It was the picture of a perfect family and made the morning seem like something out of a movie.

It turned from a family values after school special to a Woody Allen march through galleries and museums. I pined over Dianne Arbus original prints, imagining how great they’d look in my imaginary apartment overlooking Central Park where I’d drink ages whisky and talk about literature.

Then, as we stumbled down he stairs of the gallery, weak from hunger, we made plans to recharge with some shopping. Levi’s, Macy’s, Cody’s, Body Shop. Goodbye money. I bought my own copy of Yes Man and decided to take the yoath again. Life’s been odd recently, and saying yes more will do something for that. My first yes, yes to a free make-over at Macy’s next weekend. Cindy and I were not sure whether we should be flattered or insulted. Either way, noon next Saturday some lady behind the Lnacome counter will be telling em what red looks best on my lips and trying to get me to buy that mascara which really brings out my eyes.

We picked up another member of the party in H&M. Sean leaving with the most awesome bling. The perfect accessory for viennerschnitzel and German beer in the Hayes Valley. I’m still digesting the pork. We all decided that being single lacks the fun of dates at nice restaurants. And so we al had the best first date 4 friends and acquaintances could ever have. Followed by more beer at Zeitgeist- for continued German fun. As we left, Ramstein came on the jukebox.

We walked out of German to south of the border for chips and salsa with Evan and Beth before calling it a night and catching the train home.

Homemade cookies, milk, and Sex and the City. What more could a girl want?

so long

Life in Berkeley is nothing like it was before. Life is nothing like it was in Madrid either. I’m still not sure where I fit into the equation of my life or what my life will be like tomorrow or the next day. Familiar people and places don’t feel the same anymore. I keep searching for ways to return to the past, but it fails.

I keep digging myself out of traps that I lay for myself to keep me busy. Having time on my hands is great, but its pressurized situations that keep me on my toes and feel as though I’m accomplishing something. And now that the comnpuslary studios are done and I have spare time, I’ve discovered how much of life I’ve missed out on. Its no wonder I had no social life to speak of outside of architecture and the radio station.

But getting back to the point, the fact that I’ve been setting traps for myself lately. What kind of traps you ask? The kind of traps that could snag a bear in the blink of an eye or lure dozens of delectable crabs into a cage to be scooped up, boiled and devoured by yours truly. And as I know my weaknesses better than anyone else, the traps are even better.

There’s always the procrastinate as much as possible and then spend 6 hours straight writing a paper until 3 in the morning only to get up at 7 to open the library because a friend asked you to cover their shift. Or the accepting another job that could have you up at 6 any day of the week, depending on the flakiness of your volunteers. Or giving yourself 30 minutes or less to program 3 hours of music. These are the easy traps. Adrenaline and coffee take care of them. And what a rush it is and a feeling of accomplishment there is!

The more cunning traps are the ones that a lack of sleep can’t fix. They’re the ones that coffee can’t help. The kind of traps that require irish coffee. And I willingly wander directly into them. Its like the time I had a crush on my instructor. Nothing was ever going to happen, and yet I pined. Silly Megan. It kept me distracted though. I could keep my head in the clouds, working on a problem that could never be solved rather than dipping into the real world. Or the time I crushed on someone way out of my league (see a trend?). The fantasy and inexistent chase was way more fun than everything else that was going on around me.

My new favorite trap is keeping me from thinking about the beginning of the rest of my life. Opposed to the beastie boy’s suggestion of going west- I’m looking east. Forget looking for a job or looking into grad schools, or paying back loans. The only thing I want to think about is looking for an apartment in New York. Like the dream of Madrid last winter, the dream of moving to New York keeps me moving- albeit, in place, but at least I’m going through the motions.

Which brings me to this: in 3 weeks and 2 days I will be in New York for CMJ. The day after I return is the day I turn in the final paper for Anaya Roy’s class. The 8-week seminar I still haven’t bought the reader for. It’s a tocho for sure (colloquial Spanish for a heavy textbook- very vulgar and one of the least useful words I learned there) I smell a trap!

So what have I been up to these days (other than laying traps)? I was a vegetarian for a month, just to test myself. I’ve been sleeping a lot when I don’t have to wake up early. Drinking more than I should. I know all the specials around town. Pining for things beyond my reach. Getting nostalgic about my past life- craving mojitos from Underwood and guiness from Molly Malone’s with Marco. Losing my bag and phone and going to concerts. Spending money I don’t have on things I don’t need. Swimming on beautiful autumn days and cleaning.

(keith of we are scientist at the filmore- trap? maybe. distraction? quite possibly. goodtimes? most definitely)

It’s a nice existence and would be even better if I could remember where I hid my ipod and my sanity. They’re most likely the bait in a trap I’ve laid somewhere in San Francisco.