Quarters of an Argonaut

Once upon a Tuesday afternoon, I had the room all to myself, no roommates. So naturally, I pulled out the camera, and took some shots of my little corner of the room. Some highlights of my corner include my spider plant Quentin, my not-so-portable record player, and a pimped out closet door. 

Quentin was obtained at a Welcome Week event on the St. Paul campus. Good thing he's virtually indestructible, because I always forget to water him. He really is a cute thing. 

Two Renoir paintings, a free poster from the Electric Fetus, and some New York postcards Dalena gave me.

Nowadays the only record I ever really listen to is my Lena, Sarah, Billie, and Ella record. It's perfect any time of day. 

A Monet painting, a NASA picture from an old National Geographic magazine, and some posters I got from a poster book.

Summer Reading List (thus far)

1. Animal Farm by George Orwell

     I read this book in eighth grade, and I distinctly remember wanting to jump off a bridge (figuratively) when I finished it. That's just how messed up this book is. But I loved it. So when I stumbled upon a used copy in a bookstore in Perham, MN, I couldn't resist. Right now I'm halfway through, and I can hear my guts squelching inside of my stomach with every chapter. Long live Snowball and Boxer, forreal though.

2. Eastern Europe! Everything You Need to Know About the History (And More) of a Region That Shaped Our World and Still Does by Tomek Jankowski

     I don't even know if I capitalized that subtitle correctly. One can only ask why someone would want to read a nearly 600 page long book on East European history, but hey, I dig it. I was looking at the book's sheer mass and thought to myself, shucks, this could go very badly, but I checked it out anyway. And much to my surprise, I absolutely love it so far (I'm 83 pages in). This guy is hilarious. I don't know if it's just dork humor that losers like me could only find funny, if it's just because he kind of sounds kind of like me (or rather I sound like him), or a combination of both, but believe me when I say this book is actually pretty entertaining. Fun fact: Santa Claus was born in what is now western Turkey and destroyed pagan shrines before he got a gig as a Christmas mascot. Also, the first blue-eyed humans ever were from what is now Ukraine.

3. Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire by Judith Herrin

     I've been fascinated with Byzantium since the 9th grade. I decided to find a pretty looking book about Byzantium from the library and this is what I got. Also, I didn't want a book that just straight up summarized the history of the Byzantine Empire, but rather analyzed its history and culture. Cause nothing is cooler than Byzantine culture, am I right?

4. Reading Women: How the Great Books of Feminism Changed My Life by Stephanie Staal

     Being the feminist I am, and being the thrifty person I am, I grabbed this the moment I saw it in the $3.99 section at Barnes & Noble. And since I couldn't remember the last time I bought a brand new, unused book, it just looked all the more appealing. 

5. Zaatar Days, Henna Nights by Maliha Masood

     Another find in the $3.99 section at Barnes & Noble. I read the description and thought, this is definitely my kind of thing! The author, Maliha Masood, basically goes on a soul searching journey in the Middle East. And it sounds like a blast.  Who wouldn't want to camp out in the Sahara?

6. Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche 

     Good looking cover, good looking description, and it's Nietzsche. I got a beautiful hardcover copy from Barnes & Noble for like 7 bucks. It just feels nice. Anyway, I kind of see it as a Zoroastrian version of Siddhartha (I hope that didn't offend anyone for whatever reason). In other words, I hope to get a real kick/epiphany out of this.

Best Purchases in New York

I ended up doing a lot less shopping in New York than I thought I would, most likely because 1) insufficient funds to splurge, 2) lack of willpower to splurge, and 3) there's a Forever 21 and H&M at home. However, I did make some valuable purchases and discoveries.

1. Magma Sketchbook 

     I had no idea these even existed. I first encountered one at a bookstore at Chelsea Market. They don't have these where I'm from. Probably the world's most convenient series of sketchbooks. They have very useful informational sheets. The one I purchased, the Design & Art Direction sketchbook, has handy information including typography lingo and paper sizes. That makes me so happy. I will be sure to purchase more of these in the future.

2. Photo Journal PJ 128 

     This super cute photo journal includes radical drawings by Christine Berry. It was love at first sight. I bought it at the MoMA gift shop.

3. 'Zine: How I Spent Six Years of My Life in the Underground and Finally... Found Myself... I Think by Pagan Kennedy 

     I stumbled upon this book at the MoMA gift shop. It's an autobiographical bit about a woman that gets bored and decides to invent herself by creating her own homemade magazine (apparently they were all the rage in the '90s). It had a cool looking cover and enticing back description, and I figured this woman was probably just as whacko as I am, therefore I could probably spiritually connect with the book, so I bought it.

4. MetroCard

     I got nervous every time I had to fish around my pockets for this thing. But it was handy, nonetheless. It gets you places. And much to my delight, they work on buses too.

5. Cherry Cheesecake Strudel from the Hungarian Pastry Shop

     That's what the lady at the counter said it was. Unfortunately, my mouth was too busy watering for me to take a picture of it. Basically, it was a big slab of cherry cheesecake wrapped in a pastry blanket. It was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful food items I had ever laid eyes on. I'm so very jealous of all the Columbia campus dwellers that get to live with this thing.

6. Postcards

     I love postcards, especially pretty postcards. None of that cheesy, bad photography postcard stuff. I bought a bunch at the Chelsea Market (not a single ugly postcard was to be seen). It convinced me that New Yorkers have impeccable taste in postcards. 

7. Empire State Building ticket 

     Although I had a relatively rough time getting through security at the Empire State Building (I couldn't understand what the thick foreign-accented guy was saying; apparently tripods are not allowed-- and why aren't they? Especially 6-inch tripods. Are tripods a hip item to beat people to death with nowadays? I'm sure there's good reason for it, but I haven't Googled the answer yet), the night view was amazing. It's good stuff, it really is. 

8. Poland Spring 1.5 Liter water bottle

     It was getting to be a pain in the neck buying water bottles and not being able to refill them, due to the lack of water bottle refillers and fountains. Although these last no longer than a day, it's better than buying 2-3 regular size bottles. 

9. Columbia sweater

     There was slight anxiety that went into buying this sweater, but not enough to not make me buy it. I could only imagine the conversations:

"Cool sweater! Are you going to Columbi--" 

"No." 

"Did your parents go ther--" 

"No." 

"Do you have any association whatsoever with--" 

"No." 

 But hey, doesn't having your school publication earn Gold Medalist status by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association mean something? And so I bought it. And you know what? It's pretty damn comfy-- and I just so happen to look great in Columbia blue (yeah, apparently they get their own shade of blue).

Hip Items

1. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

     I recently embarked on my third reading of Catcher in the Rye. It's such a great piece of work. And strangely enough, after reading Salinger stories I tend to start talking like his characters. 

2. Life of Pi by Yann Martel

     We're reading Pi in my Humanities class. I saw the movie first and really enjoyed it, so I didn't expect less of the book. Martel has quite the talent for imagery. It's a great read so far.

3. The Stranger by Albert Camus

     A friend and I were on our routine coffee run last week and he pulled out a gorgeous copy of The Stranger and insisted that I borrow it. It's a 1946 edition. Very nice to touch.

4. Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger

     I just finished this book last weekend. Very great. My favorite story is the Eskimo one. 

5. Vanilla Candle from Walmart 

     There was a blizzard last week and my power went out multiple times throughout the night. The candle was very helpful. My brother and I sat in front of it and played our guitars together that night. Candles do good for human relations.

6. Morning Star Patchouli incense

     Smells good. 

7. Salinger: A Film by Shane Solerno

     I learned quite a few things about Salinger. Turns out the guy is kinda nutty, but he's a genius, let's be real.

8. Frozen Official Soundtrack

     You know how many times I sang "Let it Go" in the last few days? 

9. Icons: 200 Men and Women Who Made a Difference

     Stumbled upon this in the public library's used book store. I pretty much bought it for the beautiful gigantic pictures of my idols (including Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn).

10. A Medicine for Melancholy by Ray Bradbury

     Found this at my school's library. You can't really turn down a Bradbury book when you see one.