Photojenic

106. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

2012-03-02T07:06:00.001-08:00

Happy SPRING BREAK! Officially celebrating with Wildfox's new campaign video!!!

105. 2/28/12

2012-02-28T21:08:00.001-08:00

2/28/12

Pictures of my today:

Sounds of my today:

104. Instagram

2012-02-27T11:07:00.000-08:00

Just set up Instagram on my iPhone! I'm still figuring it out so it's kind of all over the place right now, but here are some quick pics as I was experimenting today:

And my username is _photojenic so follow me if you have one, too!

(Note, there is an underscore in front bc someone already had "photojenic" :( )

103. Julia Pott

2012-02-26T11:24:00.000-08:00

"Julia employs awkward animated characters to act out her inner confusions."

This is a strange post. I saw these illustrations by Julia Pott via the Urban Outfitters blog and had mixed, lingering feelings about them. I'm not even sure if I actually like them or not, but there's definitely something familiar and innocent about them. I do love the quote up top, too, that she has on her website. Anyways, I figured I'd share!

102. Spot in My Heart

2012-02-25T11:44:00.000-08:00

For your slow and hopefully sunny Saturday afternoon:

Spot in My Heart from Phelps Harmon on Vimeo.

101. The Thing that You Do

2012-02-23T22:50:00.000-08:00

Feeling wanderlusty. Dreaming of springtime NYC!

Some pictures from various nyc moments and memories...

Music accompaniment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3CkfvYMCWM

100. Happy One Hundred!

2012-02-19T16:12:00.000-08:00

Can't believe it, my 100th post! As a celebratory gesture, I'm posting pictures from way back when I was first figuring out what my "photojenic" logo-picture-thingy should be at the top of the page. These pictures are all from hot pavement, cherry popsicle summer afternoons I would spend exploring my house with my cam.

To this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyBuAKXe1L8

Here's to 100 more!

99. Pictures & Playlists

2012-02-16T20:34:00.000-08:00

Breathtaking inspiration pics from Stephanie Di Giusto and a song I've had on repeat all week:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YofAdsqS9rg

Happy weekend!

I want to live in these fantasy worlds she captures!!!

98. Union League Cafe

2012-02-15T13:33:00.000-08:00

As promised, pictures from my birthday dinner last night! Had the BEST time and am still recovering from my food/chocolate/cake coma right now...!

97. Valens-Birthday!

2012-02-14T16:22:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day, everyone!!! And also, happy birthday to me!

Officially 20 now, so weird but exciting too..!! Had such a great day and now I'm getting dressed to go out for a fancy-fun din with mah gurlz :D More pics to come later!

Hope everyone is giving and getting lots of love today!

96. Moonlight

2012-02-13T13:00:00.000-08:00

Now that multiple people have called my attention to this video, I can't put off posting about it any longer! "Moonlight" by Stephanie Di Giusto (<333) for Vanessa Bruno is a dreamy, pastel fantasy that is filled with magic, memory, and, of course, the moon. Here's the link and some screen shots below.

Also, some words, phrases, and adjectives from the description that I liked...

"Dreamlike nature. Pearly softness. Weightless film. Imagination reigns. Stellar girl. An illusory house. Airy and subconscious. A futuristic fairy tale."

95. Bad Girls Do it Well

2012-02-11T08:59:00.000-08:00

How is M.I.A. so cool?! Lurving her new song & video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uYs0gJD-LE

94. Friday Pastels

2012-02-11T08:56:00.000-08:00

Afternoon in the library

93. I'm Really a Mermaid

2012-02-07T12:31:00.000-08:00

New Wildfox campaign pictures for Summer 2012 came out yesterday, so obviously I am VERY happy right now..!! Such beautiful colors, great styling, and fun locations--check out their website for the full collection of pictures. Ooh, and I love the inspiration story, as always:

We all wish we were part of a fairy tale, some magical creature in some great love story. A little mermaid with pearls in her long pink hair gliding through the warm salty water, in love with some beautiful sailor who she sees on a ship, handsome brown eyes and a different world. Our lives are more similar to fairy tales than we think, and everywhere around us there is magic. White sand that glitters in the sun and gets stuck like diamonds to your skin, sugarcane fields under the clouds that taste sweet in the rain, running barefoot on the hot pavement to meet a boy in town, long days of summer where the moon comes out along with the sun.

Wildfox Summer collection is to be pulled on over a bikini, drying off from the water on a tropical island, sunkissed shoulders and smelling of sunscreen & coconut oil. It is for little mermaids everywhere who belive in their own fairy tale coming true.

92. Gossip at the Met

2012-02-06T17:31:00.000-08:00

Soo, today I might've skipped my classes and gone into NYC...to be an extra in Gossip Girl! I was one of the Constance Prep School Girls and we had the colored tights, jeweled headbands, and bright pea coats just as you would expect! I was wearing a red coat, yellow tights, and this crazy bow-necktie thing. They were super strict about us not taking pictures on set, so I just finagled my way around google and already found some pictures that paparazzi took from across the street! I don't want to put too many up, so check out the website for more. I'm not sure when the episode comes out, but be on the lookout for it!

xoxo, GG

*Pictures from this website, NOT ME:

http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Leighton+Meester/The+Set+of+Gossip+Girl+5/UxjQ2aI81dq

91. 4 PM

2012-02-05T17:50:00.000-08:00

Late afternoon is the most magical time, and light can do the most mysterious tricks.

90. Relax My Beloved

2012-02-02T12:47:00.000-08:00

About this time last year, my friend Juliet and I teamed up to make a video submission for Alex Clare's competition on genero.tv for his single "Relax My Beloved." The song is cool, dark, and a little mysterious, so we tried to match that in the tone of the video. Here is the link to the video and some screen shots!

http://vimeo.com/19420338

(Note: that is not me smoking!! If you notice, the nail polish color changes from pink to black--the magic of film!)

Shooting this was one of the most fun (and FREEZING!) nights I've had at school. Juliet is off conquering the academic and entertainment worlds in London this semester, so our sequel will just have to wait ;) !!

89. Meet Me Down By the Soda Machine

2012-01-31T07:08:00.000-08:00

88. I Feel Like We're Grown Ups

2012-01-29T21:54:00.000-08:00

At school, I only have two movies with me: Lolita and Spirited Away.

While this was actually unintentional, it makes lol because it is SO accurate

Lolita might be my favorite movie ever. And this is **NOT** the 1962 Stanley Kubrick version, but the 1997 Adrian Lyne one...!!!! I re-watched it again tonight and took 350 screenshots (thank you, VLC!). Cutting it down to the mere 33 here was a pathetically traumatic experience. If you have not seen this movie, drop everything you are doing and see it NOW! The colors, the shots, the acting, the outfits, the braids, the score, the bobby pin, the backlighting. Even the retainer is genius. Dominique Swain is incredible as Lolita--every detail she brings to the role is illuminating, so playful and inventive. I think she is the reason I love it so much.

I feel like we're grown ups.

Me too.

We get to do whatever we want, right?

Whatever we want.

87. Crystalised

2012-01-27T22:34:00.000-08:00

A short video I made last year...

http://vimeo.com/21334068

Warning though, the quality is already low to begin with, and then somehow from iMovie to Vimeo it gets even WORSE! ughz. So anyway, if you can bear the quality, then enjoy!

86. That Magic Lake

2012-01-27T10:39:00.000-08:00

Dear Seagull Company,

   Thank you for your beautiful work this evening.
   It was rigorous, passionate, detailed, intimate,
   present, intelligent, and together you are creating
   a very unique theatre experience.

   Yours,
   Robert Woodruff

(Still waiting on pics from the dress rehearsal, so just this jumbled mix of iPhone/Canon pics for now!)

85. YDN

2012-01-25T16:04:00.000-08:00

Thank you to the wonderful and amazing Sharon Sharebear Yin for writing an article on me and my blog for the Yale Daily News online!! Very strange and exciting..! Click the link or the picture below to jump to the article and check it out:

http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2012/jan/24/eye-photojenics/

84. Opening Night

2012-01-24T16:11:00.000-08:00

Here we go....!!!

83. Hailshams & Norfolks

2012-01-22T16:01:00.001-08:00

"I half-closed my eyes and imagined this was the spot where everything I'd ever lost since my childhood had washed up, and I was now standing here in front of it, and if I waited long enough, a tiny figure would appear on the horizon across the field…"

"And when we lost something precious...we still had that last bit of comfort, thinking one day, when we were grown up, and we were free to travel the country, we could always go and find it again in Norfolk."

-Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go

82. Courtyards & Snowmen

2012-01-21T16:11:00.000-08:00

Snow! Luckily had my camera with me this morning so I could take some pictures of it while it was still pretty and untouched. 7 hours later though and I'm already taking back those adjectives...time to take action!

81. Seagull Video

2012-01-17T13:36:00.000-08:00

Promo video for The Seagull, which goes up in exactly ONE WEEK from today!!! Getting so excited!!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2805292563773&set=vb.40570365148&type=2&theater

81. I Put a Spell On You

2012-01-15T04:40:00.000-08:00

Because you're miine.

80. Horror Vacui

2012-01-12T10:58:00.000-08:00

Some pictures of the mess that is my room at school! Lots of the collage I haphazardly threw together the day before I left. Magazine clips, movie posters, unfinished drawings, printed photographs.

As my brother put it, "You have a lot of weird girls on your wall..."

79. Bang Bang

2012-01-06T19:37:00.000-08:00

Back at schoooool and already very busy and very cold! Nothing new to post for now, so I'll just go back in time and post pictures from my New Years last year, which I spent in Miami with my fam!

To this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0bS-YnLf4s

78. Midnight in Paris (But Actually)

2012-01-02T15:06:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!! Had the most magical New Years Eve--smuggled champagne glasses from Buddha Bar out to Place de la Concorde to watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle when it hit midnight. Danced around in my fur bolero, gold headdress, and red lips and even got a surprise refill of champagne from a friendly stranger! Then went back to the Buddha Bar for dancing and dessert, then finally home to finish the night with macaroons in my hotel bathrobe :)

Happy happy 2012!!!!

77. Centre Pompidou & Marais

2012-01-02T13:24:00.000-08:00

After the Diane Arbus exhibit we headed over to the Centre Pompidou to see some modern and contemporary art. Wasn't our favorite stop, but it definitely made for some interesting photo ops! Once we were museum-ed out we got lunch (where I tried escargot for the first time, eek!) and did a little shopping around the Marais.

76. Diane Arbus

2012-01-02T08:45:00.000-08:00

Went to the most amazing photography exhibit I've ever seen the other day at the Jeu de Paume in the Tuileries gardens. Diane Arbus is one of my favorite B&W film photographers and she was the aunt of my art history teacher, Alex Nemerov. While she is most known for her photographs of "freaks"--circus performers, transvestites, nudists, etc.--I'm most drawn to her photographs of more traditional subject matters and how she was able to make them still haunting and strange and "freaks" in their own beautiful, aesthetic way.

The exhibit laid out her work extremely effectively. Her (many) photographs were hung with no narrative arrangement or accompanying text in the first few rooms to let you experience them with no bias. The only information provided was the original title Diane gave each photograph, which usually revealed her deadpan sense of humor (a personal favorite of ours was "Fat girl yawning"). Then the final two rooms were dedicated to a biographical documentation of Diane's life, including photos and objects as personal as accidental self portraits, excerpts from her high school essays, and moleskin notebooks filled with lists of prospective subjects in illegible script.

(Had no idea this photo would be at the exhibit--I have LOVED this photo for so long and could not tear myself away when I was standing right in front of it.)

The whole exhibit was so moving and effective and strangely personal. We ended up staying an hour longer than we planned to and I'm so glad we did. I wish I had more photos to post to do it justice, but literally every single picture in this post was taken illegally since there was no photography allowed ;). They caught and scolded me FIVE times (each time, "Oh! Sorry! Didnt know!" O:) hehe) and finally the fifth guard threatened to throw me out! So worth it though, so so worth it.

75. Let Them Eat Cake

2012-01-01T19:33:00.000-08:00

Kelly and I got to go as our dad's dates to a wedding ceremony in Paris the other night :D It was such a treat to get all dressed up and spend the night in such a beautiful space eating yummy wedding cake!

74. D'Orsay & Luxembourg

2012-01-01T18:31:00.000-08:00

Some pictures from a trip to the Musee d'Orsay, a quick pastry stop at Laduree, a walk through the Luxembourg gardens, and a final stop at the Galleries Lafayette.

Manet, chocolate, gardens, shopping!

73. Eloise

2011-12-31T07:40:00.000-08:00

Room service dessert, hotel hide & seek, barefoot wanderlust

*p.s. - lots of overdue photo cred to my amazing bro BAB!!<3

72. Eiffel Tower

2011-12-29T16:47:00.000-08:00

After spending the morning in Versailles, we went back to the hotel to recoup, get some lunch, and do a mandatory Eiffel Tower tourist trip!

Also, we HAD to redo this ah-mazing pic:

;)

71. Fools Rush In

2011-12-29T16:05:00.000-08:00

Today, I actually had a little bit of my ultimate dream come true. We went to Versailles twenty minutes before it opened (the sun was literally still rising) and after getting pretty cold standing in line, we were the first people to go in! We sped through lots of rooms while it still wasn't very crowded to get to the Hall of Mirrors. There were a couple tour groups ahead of us as we were walking so I was getting a little nervous, but once we turned the corner we saw a COMPLETELY EMPTY Hall of Mirrors!!!!..!! Obviously FREAKED out and started frolicking around/demanding pics from bab immediately and just could not get over how we were standing in the Hall of Mirrors completely alone..! Definitely the closest I will ever get to living my Marie Antoinette fantasy<3333

Also, listened to this all day for a happy twist on the Marie Antoinette soundtrack ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWDjDL2NAQM

70. Day One

2011-12-28T15:20:00.000-08:00

Made it to PARIS! Still can't believe how lucky I am to be back here. We had a busy first day and got lots of fun things in--breakfast at Angelina's, wandered the Tuileries, toured the Louvre, pics at Palais Royal, Monets at l'Orangerie, profiteroles at dinner!

Also, I already took 563 pictures today....NOT OKAY! my computer HATES me!!!! No space left on my hard drive aahhh. Going to be a challenge getting through the next few days...but whatevz on to my favorite place in the world VERSAILLES tomorrow!!<33333333

69. She Broke the Law

2011-12-25T17:57:00.000-08:00

It really must be Christmas--I just came across the new Wildfox Spring 2012 campaign photos!!! I got a couple Wildfox sweaters/shirts for Christmas and I luuurrrvvee them they are so cool and comfy! I LOVE WILDFOX

View all the campaign pictures on their blog!

68. Silver Bells

2011-12-24T10:18:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Eve!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dY3q20F1Dg&feature=related

67. He Adored New York City

2011-12-23T19:13:00.000-08:00

Going to be channeling Woody Allen much more often in this park very soon!

66. Table Times

2011-12-21T16:45:00.000-08:00

Wouldn't be Christmas without mandatory gingerbread house making in the kitchen corner! Lots of good times, good holidays and good outfits at this table:

65. New York Gritty

2011-12-21T07:57:00.000-08:00

12-20-11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTKgC1XSwgY&ob=av2e

64. Wavering

2011-12-20T13:47:00.000-08:00

"She did end up finishing the painting, the one now hanging beside her bed. It looks much different from the photograph she started with, though. Angles skewed, features softened, made more beautiful. Colors brighter, shadows softer, lines not readily understood. I know she likes this version better, though, better than the picture itself. Sometimes we cling to things slightly out of focus."

63. Two One Two

2011-12-16T16:48:00.000-08:00

Put together a quick vid last night using old clips while "studying" for my final exam O:)

The video is only uploading in really terrible quality, so only screenshots for now!

Also, OFFICIALLY ON BREAK NOW--yay!

62. Midnight in Paris

2011-12-13T21:58:00.000-08:00

Officially going to be spending New Year's in PARIS!! I can't wait to go back and take pictures and eat macaroons and wear fun outfits and be with the fam! I've also never been to Paris in the winter so I cannot WAIT to be inspired. I'm already lost in snowy street, hotel lobby, fur coat, pastel ribboned fantasies in my head!

Dedicating this post to Ba and Schmad!

61. Grimm's

2011-12-11T16:27:00.000-08:00

"And when the full moon got up, Hansel took his little sister by the hand and followed the way where the flint stones shone like silver..."

60. Reading Week...

2011-12-11T11:15:00.000-08:00

...or, in my case, critiques/auditions/formals/essays/rehearsals week! The week we have "off" to study for exams always turns out to be much more chaotic than expected. So, on that note, this post will be equally chaotic. Lots of miscellaneous things I have neglected to report!

1. Thing one is a dream. come. true.....I got cast as PIKACHU in a Pokemon musical going up in the spring!!!! Going to be an insane cast and crew and the show is going to be SO FUN. I can't wait to go on break and have the best excuse ever to watch all the old episodes again. Pika pi!

2. Thing two is also super exciting, I am going to be in the first English-translated version of Machiavelli's Italian play, "The Girl from Andros"! Don't know much about the play itself since we haven't gotten the translated script yet, but I like it already from the audition sides!

3. Number three: As I was writing my final essay for my film class, I came across these old pictures of Jodie Foster. I love how she looks at this age, so pretty!

4. Number four. Discovered the song "Islands" by the great great band Young the Giant and been listening to it nonnnstopppp all week. Make sure to listen to all of their other open session songs on youtube (especially "Strings" and "Cough Syrup") because they are sooo good, so much better live!

5. Five is for formal, yay!

6. Six is for The Seagull--rehearsals so far have been soso exciting, I can't get over how nice and welcoming everyone is. At the first meet & greet we got to see the design concepts for the show and I couldn't help sneaking a few pictures of the beautiful costume designs with my phone. You might not be able to tell from the picture, but my character ("The Cook") was labeled "Cooky" for some awesome unknown reason, so now my nickname at rehearsals has become Cooky :D

7. Aaannnd lucky seven is for this lol pic. Cheerz to the end of reading week!!

59. Been an Awful Good Girl

2011-12-03T23:59:00.000-08:00

58. The Seagull

2011-12-02T17:41:00.000-08:00

Soo, after some spontaneous e-mailing and a quick audition, I found out today that I am going to play the Cook in the Yale School of Drama's production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull..!!!! I am so so so excited and feel so lucky for the opportunity to learn from some really talented people! The play itself sounds incredible, here are two quick descriptions of it that I've found and liked:

What is art? What is celebrity? And what does it mean to be a genuinely successful artist? In The Seagull, Anton Chekhov grapples with these crucial questions with both biting wit and genuine pathos. On a seemingly idyllic country estate, the famous actress Irina Arkadina and her idiosyncratic group of family and friends struggle to dissect the true nature of artistic creation but fail to find easy answers.

Nina wants to be an actress. Aspiring playwright Konstantin wants to revolutionize theatre. As they put on their first play by a Russian lake, the audience is unreceptive, to say the least: Konstantin's mother, the famous actress Arkadina, laughs. Her lover, a celebrated writer, falls asleep. Indeed, in Chekhov's profound comedy, years of petty squabbles and thwarted love affairs breed miserable hilarity in the countryside: lovers and artists alike struggle with memory, forgetting, and moving on.

Artistry! Idyllic estates! Love affairs! Memory! So many great things!!

The main characters are obvi going to be all grad students, but another undergrad and I are joining in for the minor roles of the Cook and the Workman. And the director Alexandru Mihail, has some really fun and unique ideas for our parts!

Also, as I was researching more about The Seagull, I found out that Carey Mulligan (<333333) played Nina, the ingenue and aspiring actress, a few years ago and was so enamored with the part that it helped her land her a challenging role in the upcoming movie Shame by discussing it with the movie's director and even tattooing a small seagull on her wrist to always remind her of Nina. Here's the article that will definitely explain the situation much more clearly than I just did haha

So that's that! Rehearsals start next week and the show goes up Jan 24-28, you can buy tickets now if you'll be in the New Haven area then and want to come! :D

57. You're my Funky Love

2011-11-29T07:55:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOucougginY

(photo via Wildfox)

56. Movie Inspirations

2011-11-26T19:25:00.000-08:00

- The Virgin Suicides -

My cliche Sofia Coppola favorite. The shots, the colors, the girls, the soundtrack.

- Lolita -

My EVERYTHING movie. The acting, the score, the outfits, the bobby pin.

- Confessions of a Shopaholic -

My shameless guilty pleasure and go-to happy movie. OMG, BEX!

55. PepsiCo Gardens

2011-11-26T17:52:00.000-08:00

On my mission to catch up in my film photography class, I adventured to PepsiCo sculpture gardens to crank out a few rolls. I hadn't been there since a 3rd grade field trip, so it was very fun to rediscover! Lots of beautiful open land and strange and interesting sculptures. I took most pictures on my film camera, but obvz made sure to sneak in a few with my digital!

54. Boston

2011-11-24T19:40:00.000-08:00

Grandfather's sweater, unfinished puzzles, backlit football & cold root beer.

Happy Thanksgiving!

53. Remember when...

2011-11-23T14:52:00.000-08:00

...I went into NYC to be "college type #47" in CSI:NY? Well the episode finally came out on iTunes! so I skipped to the part of the episode I recognized and intensely focused on the background and actually found myself! There are a couple SPLIT second shots where only I would know that the blurry head in the background is my blurry head, but there is one shot where I am recognizable for a good couple seconds:

See me?! Woo! Nothing too fancy, but still, so fun!!

52. Room with a View

2011-11-21T14:41:00.000-08:00

HOOMEE for break! Spent the entire day in bed doing nothing and not feeling guilty about it O:) Raspberries, sketchpad, guitar, pictures, movies!

51. Go

2011-11-19T03:55:00.000-08:00

50. Attend the Tale

2011-11-15T08:30:00.000-08:00

It's here!!! I've been assistant stage managing "Sweeney Todd" since the end of September and the opening show is finally tomorrow at 8! It is going to be INCREDIBLE. I get chills every time we do a run though, everyone is so unreasonably talented. Some teaser pics I took...

YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS IT!!!!!!!!!

48. Only the Bad Die Young

2011-11-04T12:57:00.000-07:00

More life in black & white...

(NEED to start taking more rolls of film... I. am. so. behind.)

47. Dreamers

2011-11-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

Just came across a GR888 new song by the guy/girl duo Savoir Adore...

It's called "Dreamers" and the band has even made a (really well done!) trailer for it. I love the chorus when the girl comes in. Don't know how to put a direct music player on here so here is a link to it:

http://www.newdust.com/audio/savoir_adore-dreamers.mp3

46. Graveyard Smash

2011-10-30T13:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

45. Images à la sauvette (Images on the run)

2011-10-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

Some pictures so far from my B&W film photography class this semester...

"Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on Earth which can make them come back again. We cannot develop and print a memory."

-Henri Cartier-Bresson

44. By the Moon at the Silvery Lake

2011-10-25T17:46:00.000-07:00

Thinking about French Navy and the things I think of when I think about it.

43. Curiouser and Curiouser

2011-10-24T12:25:00.000-07:00

"'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat.`We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.'"

Just cast as the Cheshire Cat in YCT's production of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland! Goes up in December, first read-through tonight!

42. Playground Love

2011-10-23T11:59:00.000-07:00

Rusty stop signs, muddy baseball parks, big sweaters, blue railings & brick walls.

41. It's Witchcraft

2011-10-19T14:29:00.000-07:00

Ouija boards, loose braids, bunny rabbits & pastel love potions.

Wildfox literally never ceases to inspire me. They come up with the BEST stories for each collection and always have in mind a very specific, alluring, mysterious "girl" to embody the collection's aura. This video (it's an old one) is my all-time favorite from Wildfox so far. It sets the perfect darkly-enchanted and magically-desirous mood for Halloween!

Click here for the full story on this campaign and for more pictures of the GORGY RACHEL BALLINGER<333

40. And I'll be down

2011-10-13T20:23:00.000-07:00

in two shakes of a lamb's tail

39. NYC Trips

2011-10-09T17:47:00.000-07:00

Probably stating the obvious here, but there are many, many reasons why I love Yale. Lately, I have been taking happy advantage of how close it is to New York, hittin' up the Metro-Noth train ride that goes right to Grand Central. I've been twice just this week!

I went into NYC on Wednesday to be a background extra in CSI:NY, or "college type #47" as my check-in identification put it. Here are some quick, sneaky Blackberry pics since I figured my big cam wouldn't be so subtle O:)

It was a long day from 7AM-6:30PM, but so. much. fun...and I even got paid for it! My job was to walk back and forth a few times in the background while the main actors did their thang. We started on a street corner near Astor Place then relocated to Washington Square Park after a quick lunch and an outfit change. I met a bunch of really interesting people and it was just the most exciting feeling to be on a real set! I think I heard someone say we were filming episode 7 of the current season, to come out in early November. Not 100% sure, but if you're a CSI:NY watcher, then look out for meee!!!

38. Alfa Romeo Young Designer Competition

2011-10-06T08:50:00.000-07:00

Exciting things! So my friend Jacque who goes to the University of St. Andrews in Scotland just told me about this really incredible opportunity for young fashion designers called the Alfa Romeo Young Designer Competition. Jacque is the Press Officer for the St. Andrews Charity Fashion Show 2012, an annual event that is teaming up with Alfa Romeo to create the competition.

The winners of the competition will get their designs on the catwalk of Britain's largest student-run fashion show, £1000 in prize money, a feature and spread in The FS Magazine, and the opportunity to design a line worth £500 for this year's chosen charity, The Muir Maxwell Trust.

Applications close on OCTOBER 15, so if this sounds exciting to you (which it should!!) APPLY ASAP! More details on their website.

http://vimeo.com/26196419

And here's a quick video to learn more about the St. Andrews Charity Fashion Show itself. I got goosebumps while watching it just because it seems like such an inspiring project to be a part of. It's so exciting to see the huge impact a student-run event can create!

36. Single Scoop Delight

2011-09-30T12:20:00.000-07:00

SoOo...if you're not going to Tiger at the Gates tonight, you should definitely go to the opening of the HappyHap "Perspectives of Happiness" Photo Exhibition instead!

HappyHap is a Yale student organization founded by Sunnie Tölle in 2008. The organization created HappyHap.com, a website where you can post a few lines, photos, or videos of a happy moment to share it with others based on the idea that happiness is contagious. The HappyHap team put together a photography contest this fall to collect photographs that captured different perspectives of happiness. I submitted a few photos and ended up winning first place(!) for my picture of a little boy eating (and wearing) vanilla ice cream.

I took the photo in Paris during a 4-week black & white film photography course through Parsons a few summers ago. I'm so thrilled that my photo was selected, and now it will be shown in small exhibitions at Yale residential colleges until April when it will be in a 5-day outdoor exhibition on Cross Campus!

So the opening of the exhibition is tonight at 7 in Silliman, and I unfortunately can't go since I am in "Tiger at the Gates" at the same time :( but if anyone is free and on campus, go and tell me how it was!!!

35. Tiger at the Gates

2011-09-29T08:20:00.000-07:00

TONIGHT is the opening night for the Yale Dramat play we've been relentlessly preparing for the past month, "Tiger at the Gates" !!!!! The play is adapted from french playwright Jean Giradoux's "La guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu" or "The Trojan War Will Not Take Place." Here is a brief description of the play from the Dramat website:

Cassandra is a cranky cynic. Paris, a spoiled prince. Helen is a dumb blonde, and, according to Queen Hecuba, "they don't last very long." Jean Giraudoux called "Tiger at the Gates," his witty 1935 play about this dysfunctional but lovable Trojan family, a "farce." And indeed at first it seems a far cry from the somber tale on which it is based, Homer's Iliad. But lurking behind this timeless play's sarcasm and humor, ready to pounce is a tragic story with an ending we assume is inevitable. But is it? While the poets and politicians push him to "fight for a woman," the heroic Hector begs them--and us--to instead imagine a world where, as the French title "La guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu" suggests, the Trojan War will not take place.

I play Polyxene, the nine-year-old daughter of Hecuba and Priam who draws in her coloring book, fiddles with sea glass, and asks a lot of questions. I feel so lucky to be performing at the Yale Repetory Theater where actors like Meryl Streep and Jodie Foster have performed. This past month has been so much fun for me, especially since I haven't been in a theater production since the 6th grade! Cannot wait to finally see it all come together tonight, wish us luck!

34. Half Mast

2011-09-25T19:49:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z8R38QrBhM&ob=av3e

Dreamy.

33. Time Away

2011-09-18T20:03:00.000-07:00

http://vimeo.com/groups/nouvellevague/videos/10560007

So this video... I'm gonna go ahead and say is my all-time favorite on Vimeo. It. Is. So. Incredible. I first came across it two years ago and was happily reminded of it yesterday (thanks Eliza!). Surprisingly enough, it is a JEWELRY commercial for the Norwegian brand "Bjorg," and it so beautifully considers the wonders, deceits, and uncertainty of memory. And how the distance (or "time away") from an experience can make it all the more intriguing...

The images, music, and narration all work together perfectly to evoke memory's mysteries. The ache, the excitement, the disillusionment, the desire. I love how the entire film is made up of the same scenes just revisited from different angles or perspectives, or maybe just different moments of remembering them. The more times I watch it the more details I discover, too. I just wish that it was the trailer for a movie or something because I want more!!!

32. Summer School

2011-09-13T20:18:00.000-07:00

Dusty libraries, heart-shaped branches, mythical climbing trees, fish-eye lomography.

Looking through old pictures and came across these from a trip to Hawaii I took a few summers ago to visit my friend Andie--a week filled with beaches, photos, and raspberry shave ice! Photo credit goes to Andie and her guru photography skills on these ones. Missing you andiepants!

Crazy moment though was when MONTHS later we come across this picture...

....

..!!!>*??...

31. You're a Stone Fox

2011-09-12T00:20:00.000-07:00

"Lux lost it over Kevin Haynes, the garbageman. She'd wake up at 5 in the morning and lay about on the front porch like it wasn't completely obvious. She wrote his name in marker in all her bras and underwear and mum found them and bleached out all the Kevins. Lux has been crying on her bed all day."

*Most not my pictures. Via weheartit, tumblr, google, etc.

30. Swim Caps

2011-09-04T00:59:00.000-07:00

Hi hello!

I've been so busy back at school that my posts have been suriously slacking...but anyway! I just saw the video that I roped a bunch of my friends into last spring (again, YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST) that Victoria Hely-Hutchinson of Yale's Graduate Photography program put together. Her effortlessly cool aesthetic is inspired by her experience at an English boarding school. I think the "About" section on her website proves her cool-factor way better than I can:

So this video was inspired by a game she and her friends used to play with their swim caps in the pool. I had NO idea that a swim cap could stretch out like that and definitely never thought it could get big enough for a person to jump into! After many torn swim caps and hours in the (fReeEzing) water, here's the final outcome! Some screen shots...

There's something very effective about the gentle atmosphere in the video. And I love the moment at the end when the cap breaks because it is our 100% natural reactions, it was the very first take we did!

29. To Pack or...

2011-08-24T19:45:00.000-07:00

Make posters!

SCHOOL TOMORROW

INFINITE YAYYYYYYYS

28. Capri in Motion

2011-08-23T19:20:00.000-07:00

So even though I still have pictures to put up from Capri, I decided to put together my video for it first because that sounded more fun! I don't have a good name for it like my last video (the song title is "Surgeon" and that just didn't go with the whole vibe...) so it's just boring and called "Capri." Blah. But anyways, here it is!

(Here is the link to the vimeo version of it for better quality)

27. Summer Daydreams

2011-08-21T14:15:00.000-07:00

"But that mimosa grove--the haze of stars, the tingle, the flame, the honey-dew, and the ache remained with me and that little girl with her seaside limbs and ardent tongue haunted me ever since."

-Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov

*NOT MY PHOTOS! Via weheartit.com, tumblr, blogs, etc.

26. Where to Think and to Dream

2011-08-20T19:31:00.000-07:00

I don't think any words or pictures could do Capri justice...the only way I can describe it is as Earth's Mount Olympus. A total fantasy. So incredible to wander, dine, and take pics there!

25. Pompeii

2011-08-19T09:51:00.000-07:00

Okay! So now that I have internet and some free time I can finally get to catch-up posts. Spent a few days in Rome/Tivoli (where the pictures from the previous post are from) and then did a quick stop at Pompeii before taking the ferry to Capri...

The ruins were so fun to explore and it was exciting to imagine what the city would have been like before Mt. Vesuvius erupted. Brought me back to my Latin days... Ecce Romani!