hw for intro to art

puddle angel

i like raindrops and their seeming non-impact on anything. they're made of the same stuff as snowflakes except they always travel alone. there are big snowflakes but there are no big drops. they clean it up though, one at a time. they taste as good as snowflakes. but people don't tilt their head up for the rain because raindrops don't rest on your eyelashes, they just go straight into your eyeballs and make you furiously blink them away, as if water was something that had never been in your eyes before. and no one is sticking their tongues out to taste the rain, even though it is the same flavor as the snowflakes. because people are hungry, not thirsty i guess. and people do this: lower their heads and raise the collar on their specifically purchased rain resistant jacket. then they walk quickly to get out of the rain, as if the longer they were subjected to it, the more the poison would infiltrate their weakening barriers. and they skip over the puddles left. no attempt for puddle angels here.

but i'm thirsty. and i'm 70% made of water. and snow is pretty but it's also 32 degrees at the most and i am 98.6 degrees at the most. so come on rain get into my eyes.

a man, a plan, a canal - a palindrome!

bismarck

As far as I can tell, there are two different types of birthmarks. There is the kind that our parents see when they are first inspecting us after we come out of the birth canal. They count our fingers and then our toes—one, two, three, four, five—and there between the third and fourth toe of the left foot is a little strawberry discoloration that suddenly becomes the most beautiful non-flaw that has ever existed. When our parents show us off as new babies, strangers ask, “Did she get any birthmarks anywhere?” And our parents beam and say, “Oh yes, look right here just between her third and fourth toe, have you ever seen anything more beautiful?” And the strangers Oo and Aw about the beautiful little difference that is the first sign of a baby that has never existed before.

And we grow up a little bit and during recess in elementary school we show each other our birthmarks. Most of the kid’s are brown and in funny shapes. They are over the knees or behind the ears but all the kids show their birthmarks like a badge of honor, like a badge that has never been given to anyone else.

The sad thing about this birthmark is how it usually fades away by the time we get to junior high, and it only shows up from time to time at events like jumping into a freezing cold pool. And now I am leaning over and pulling my toes apart but there is nothing there, not the slightest remnant of my little strawberry birthmark badge.

And then there is the second kind of birthmark. The funny thing about this kind, is that it’s not really a birthmark. It’s just a mark that shows up and it still gets called a birthmark, because it usually looks the same. No one really knows why it shows up: maybe sun damage, or just general aging, or maybe for the same reason we get real birthmarks. That reason being, of course, that no one knows why and there is no reason. But it definitely has something to do with what we do to ourselves as our lives go on, whether that be intense sun exposure or simply just allowing the years to pass. So all the sudden I have a birthmark that I wasn’t marked at birth with and it is on the right side of my right leg.

And so here I am with life, fighting to hang on to the badges I was born with, and dealing with those that have been placed on me. Trying to combine the past with the present, and label it all “me.”

But in actuality, I don’t have anything to do with my own birthmarks, they’re just something I was given. They’re just there! Something I claim as my own and my own distinguishing features, but I am not distinguished by their existence, they are distinguished in and of themselves. I work with them and I make them mine, I make them part of me. With both the birthmarks that I started with but have since faded and the birthmarks that have since appeared.

birthday food

The weekend trip to California for my 21st birthday was a much needed break after four months of continual snow and below-tolerable temperatures. We drove directly to Huntington Beach, changed into our swimsuits, walked out to the beach and realized, some level of winter does actually exist even at Huntington Beach. Sure, the weather was significantly warmer and the sun was more than some distant fixture in the sky, but we were perhaps a bit optimistic to start with. We huddled up in our beach towels on the eve of my birthday and couldn’t add much more than our feet to the water. So we retired to the city. There were some cute shops and restaurants, and my roommate from California insisted we eat fish tacos at Wahoo’s. Now fish tacos did not sound like an appetizing combination, but I went along with it anyway.

The restaurant’s beachy atmosphere of surf videos and surfboards was the first thing to welcome us. The line went quickly and after fighting for a table and receiving our food I understood the popularity. The fish taco was one of the most delicious things I’d ever eaten. It was simple: good fish, tortilla, cabbage, salsa, rice and beans. It was perfect. The next day was my birthday and all I wanted was fish tacos. I was afraid to leave Huntington Beach because I knew I was also distancing myself from the likelihood of that great fish taco.

Upon our return to Provo, I knew what I needed to do. I was to find the best fish taco in Utah. We began by making a professional spreadsheet: complete with complex formulas and a color-coded labeling system. Categories were placed in columns with which we used to judge each individual taco. We used twelve categories including condiments, mess factor, price, and atmosphere. They were all placed on a weighted scale, the category of “overall taste” getting the highest weight. After we entering the criteria, the tacos would be ranked against each other, for an overall scale. When we ate out, we would find a place with fish tacos. Then when we would hurry home with fresh memories and rate the tacos. After we ate one in every known Mexican restaurant in Utah Valley, we extended our boundaries to Salt Lake.

After about a year of research, we had formulated an impressive list. We knew the best of Provo, of Salt Lake, the best deals, the best kept secrets, the best of everything. So you probably have two questions at this point. Did you ever find anything as good as Wahoo’s? No. I don’t think it’s actually possible 800 miles from the ocean. Also it’s been so long that the memory of the fish taco has become elevated and untouchable in my mind. Second: So where is the best fish taco in Utah? And that, my friend, is something you must find out for yourself.

foolish

I built three sandcastles
One for me and two for you
One next to the ocean so you could hear every wave
--Smell the breeze
--Have visitors
--Have that ocean-front view
And one on a hill so you could see for miles
--Get fresh air
--Watch people from a distance
--Watch the sun rise and set
And mine in the middle
--Close enough to the ocean
--And close enough to you
--Wherever you are

From the castle on the hill we looked around
--A perfect view
--Of the waves washing away
--The castle by the sea
From the empty plot where the sea castle stood we looked
--To the beautiful mountains
--And saw the wind eroding
--The castle on the hill
And mine in the middle
--It’s not big enough for the both of us
--But you can have it
--It will be safe from the elements
--Be careful to not knock down the walls
There’s enough sand to build you another castle
But now I’m too tired.

this is hallow

Costumes
It’s Halloween
I cannot see your face
Nor can the police: smashing their
pumpkins

Princess
Small silver crown
Holding a big mushroom
And here’s your partner, Mario
One up!

Let’s see
You are…a robot?
No wait, you are changing
To a car! Oh, Optimus Prime.
Transform.

Red, pink,
Yellow, purple
Fanta—do you drink it?
Or you just like wearing less clothes.
Doncha?

Bats, ghosts,
Witches, goblins
All a little scary.
Other things are more frightening
Clowns, you.

the end of japan

I like going through train tunnels and feeling like my head is about to implode
I have dined in palaces and kingdoms
All of life is just passing time
It is raining in Hakone. I cannot see Fuji-san today.
I liked our Yukatas best in the Kyoto Ryokan.
I think we are going to Tokyo tomorrow!
It is so foggy. First and last time to Japan.
This is my 25^th and final place to sleep.
I finally was having a good dream but I woke up for no reason.
I hate wallpaper.
Room service, unicorns, I don’t want to squat shower, I don’t want gross breakfast.
Bless you, 9:28 am, eleven hours of sleep, three days until God knows what.
I just read about Buddha’s enlightenment, it sounded kind of cheesy.
Why can’t they just have some internet for me somewhere.
Someone has taken our robes and replaced them with new ones
This is unsettling.
Today we took many many modes of transportation
And even made it home before dark. And saw Fuji-san again.
I am going to Tokyo. Where I’d rather be.
I had a funny dream and you were wearing funny shoes.
I don’t want you to be any different than before. I’m just so worried.
We are going to watch Firewall and not Syria.
I am hungry for gorgonzola cheese spaghetti.
I bought a beautiful little dolls
You’re still the only one who feels like home.
Hopefully only two more days with this huge pit in my stomach
I can’t sleep anymore
Time to pack one more time.

and not all who are lost wander

dumpster

to my sister and to bjork

their bottoms are made out of springs

sometimes i like to consider groups of people in terms of:

if each individual person is a molecule, what would the substance of the group be? a solid, a liquid, or a gas? a solid being a tight mass of molecules that barely moves except to quickly be put back in place by a neighboring molecule. a liquid being with a little more space where individual molecules bounce off walls and each other and the substance doesn't hold its shape unless in a container. and a gas being very difficult to contain and molecules bounce extremely quickly from great distances at great speed and has a lot of space to itself.

my ideal substance for human molecule behavior oscillates somewhere between a liquid and a gas. going to school during summer term is a gas. going to school during the normal school year is a liquid or solid depending on the time of day. driving in utah is too often a solid. riding my bike is usually a gas. being at the beach is a gas. a great gas. but tonight was definitely a night of solids. solids make me uncomfortable and stuck. but it's ok bc i am a hyperactive molecule and quickly can free myself from those types of situations. but sometimes i think how great it would be to be a part of a solid! nope, wrong. i am just much happier to be bouncing at high energy in large amounts of space. bam