Nat The Bat

I can't say that life is slowing down at all. I can't say that I'm not as busy this week as I was last week, and I can't say that it looks as if things are going to come a full stop any time soon. I'm hardly in my own room since I spend a lot of time with Zelda and Prince Charming. Or I'm at work. Or I'm print making. Or I'm out buying art supplies for print making. Or I'm with Prince Charming at his friend's apartment.

I've been so busy, I feel like I should post more, but just taking time to sit and read all the blogs I have to catch up on after not being at my computer for a couple days, and checking email - I just get tired, and then I have nothing to write about because my brain is on sleep mode.

I don't even update my facebook status that much anymore.

Le sigh.

What I have been doing though, besides math homework, printmaking and sleeping, is colored my hair. Instead of my delicious blonde locks, I've gone brunette for the winter. Prince wasn't so keen on this idea at first and I had to bribe him with a chocolate milkshake and French fries before he finally consented. But now he doesn't hate my dark hair anymore, so it's a win/win for me.

Also, today I bought my Halloween costume. For eight dollars. It's just bat wings, a headband with bat ears and these weird arm glovette thingymabobbers. I was originally going to pick up a similar package, but with ladybug designs because my nickname forever and ever before I was even all the way born was NatBug. My oma calls me Bug, some of my friends call me Bug, my parents, although rarely now, still call me NatBug.

But the sad part is, when I went to the store to retrieve the kit, they were all sold out! I rummaged around the store crossing my fingers and hoping that something else would strike my fancy. I marveled at the spider headbands, and the spider earrings. The skull hair clips. The necklaces. They were all very wonderful and Halloween-y, but they just weren't me, you know?

So after being fed up with the masses of inconsiderate mothers (yes, mothers. I was so mad! You'd think grown women would behave like grown women but I find that is not case), I booked it down the mall to a different store.

Hot Topic. If you don't know what Hot Topic is, then let me explain a little about it. I hardly go in there because they always play death metal screaming music that gives me the utmost of headaches, and also because they have a lot of goth-y vampire trend items that I don't really care for. But whenever I do decide to venture in amongst the hipster emo wannabes, it's usually because I'm looking for some more nose studs. Or in this instance, a costume.

There in the front of the store was a rack of little simple costume kits - just what I was looking for. I didn't figure they would have a cute little girlish one that I had been after because of the type of store I was in, but I figured they would have something. And they did. There was a panda one that looked absolutely nothing like a panda but was still cute, a raccoon, the stereotypical 'dead bride' ensemble, and a bat one.

Strategically placed in other locations were costumes of more expensive get ups like princesses, nurses, and Alice in Wonderland variations, but none of those interested me. Some were too slutty, some were too expensive, some were just too....weird.

So back to the simple kits I went. Raccoon? No thanks. Panda? Doesn't even resemble the cute fuzzy animal, so that's a no. The dead bride? Just wasn't feeling it.

And then it hit me. You see, I was going for the "NatBug" look with the idea of the other costume, but then, admiring the purple sequined stripes on the black bat wings inside the clear plastic bag, I remembered another nickname that was given to me.

NatBat.

The only person who calls me that is Prince Charming. We are on, and have been on, much better terms for the amount of time that I want to say equates to a month, give or take. We've had one little upset in the entire month of October and it was only for a less than a day, so yes, I would say things are in a much better place than they have been in months.

And also today, at 11:34 in the morning, while I was work I received a test message from dear Prince-y Poo that made me smile to my core, so in the end, I just had to go with the bat costume. For sentimental reasons as well as the fact that the costume was A) not too expensive, B) not too overdone since I'm only buying it because I'm working Halloween night and I have to dress up, and C) I was quickly running out of other options.

So, costume in hand, I waded through the massive amounts of college students to the back of line, where I stood for a good fifteen minutes before making it up to the counter to pay.

Now if you'll so kindly excuse me, it's getting late and I still need to do laundry. I've been wearing this same pair of socks for days and it's driving me crazy.

Natalie Does Nerdy

So I was going to write about my practicum today and about how I finally decided on a lesson plan to teach to the high school drawing class that I'm semi-student teaching in. (I'm going to teach them about drawing a still life with charcoal - one of my FAVORITE things to do.)

But then I talked to Prince Charming and he was all like, "Noooooooo, write about Monster Hunter!"

And I told him, "But games are your thing. And you do it so much better than I do."

And he was like, "Fiiiiiine. Don't do something DIFFERENT!"

And then well really, what could I do? He made a clearly logical point.

So, without further adieu, let me clue you in to just how nerdy this future art teacher can be.

I like video games. It's true. I enjoy wasting a couple hours advancing my hand eye coordination with the best of them. And that's part of why Prince Charming likes me so much. I can be very nerdy. I can make obscure game references in every day conversation.

Like during summer camp when we had the kids participate in a water balloon fight. We had to put a rope on the ground around the huge bucket where the water balloons were so that the kids would stop "spawn killing" each other.

Yeah, I'm awesome. I know.

Anyway, back to where I was going with this whole I'm a huge nerdy video game lover thing. When I first met Prince Charming and started hanging out with him, it was mostly in context of being surrounded by the lot of his friends in a basement while they all played Monster Hunter on their PSPs.

It was a ritual for them. Slay a giant monster that wants to eat your guts and smash your brains, break for food/bathroom, repeat. A beautiful process that they had narrowed down to a science. It all happened so smoothly. Transitioning from one quest to another, to eventually a real life quest towards the kitchen for noms.

It didn't take long for me to be sucked into Prince's world of Monster Hunting. He bought me my own PSP and copy of the game. Soon I was dodging electric bolts from Khezus and trying not be paralyzed by Vespoids. And I was so proud of myself the first time I killed and Yian Kut Ku without any help from my G ranked boy buddies.

Unfortunately, Prince's PSP decided that it didn't want to read the disc anymore, so he could no longer play Monster Hunter with me while we were away at school. And then, inevitably, my own PSP committed video game suicide. The solution was to mod the PSP and I'm not all fancy shmancy in terms of telling you basically what that entails, but it puts the PSP to an older setting. It puts you back to an older update setting, so you can't play games that require the new update, but Prince could still play Monster Hunter, so that was really all that mattered. Oh. And it also involves something with a Pandora battery or something of some such things with which I am not familiar. But it sounds cool, so...yeah.

We're still waiting for my PSP to received the gift of being modded, but that has yet to happen.

In the mean time, Prince Charming has commandeered Jack's Wii so that we may feast upon the beauty that is Monster Hunter Tri. This has given me this question - do I now buy my own Wii so that I may too play Monster Hunter?

The thing about this is that Monster Hunter Tri allows two players to enter a monster slaying arena and play together on the same console - hence I don't need my own to play with Princey. Also, it doesn't play DVDs or Blu-rays like the PS3 does. The PS3 lives in Prince's room, so therefore no DVD watching for me in my room unless it's on my laptop. And not to mention that it doesn't even come with an Ethernet port. It's about 16 dollars I think to buy the USB Ethernet port for the Wii. Which is stupid.

But my nerdy inner soul is going through Monster Hunter withdrawals, and so this purchase could be potentially exciting. And I do love me some Wii sports. I just don't know if I love it all 120 dollars worth, plus whatever Monster Hunter costs.

And also, I don't want to lose all my progress from my PSP and start completely over in this new version of Monster Hunter. Mostly, I don't like change and I want my familiar monster slaying abilities back.

Thus concludes my rant of video gaming nerdiness. Secretly you know you liked it.

Musical Memories

There are songs that no matter where I am, they will always take me to a memory. The first few melodic bars hit my eardrums and all of sudden I'm not longer in the present, but back far off somewhere with a people from the past.

Take Collide by Howie Day for example. Whenever I hear that song it makes me think of the Big T and I have to change the song in slight disgust. The same for Daniel Bedingfield, though that makes me think of a different boy it still gets the same reaction. I can't listen to it anymore.

When Heartland by George Strait blares over the radio I'm in the front seat of our '93 GMC Sierra. I'm in elementary school on a family vacation. Sneaky Snake and I like Beer by Tom T Hall, Redneck Girl by the Bellamy Brothers, and Toby Keith's Who's Your Daddy all do this to me.

Complicated by Carolyn Dawn Johnson sends me straight back to high school. I wanna hold you close, I wanna push you away, I wanna make you go, I wanna make you stay. Such teenage angsty lyrics to sooth my soul.

Switchfoot puts me in a car with the windows down on a hot summer night headed to the lake with friends. It makes me think of Aly & AJ when Ariel and I would sing to their songs at the top of our lungs. We thought we were so cool in high school.

Most of my music on my iPod now makes me think of Prince Charming because he feeds my musical hunger like it's nobody's business.

Songs can speak words that you're too scared to admit, they can put lyrics to feelings that you didn't even know you felt. Melodies and harmonies find their ways into your brains, into your feelings. You can go from sad to happy or vice versa just by turning on the radio. The mood of a room is set by the type of lyricals rhythms you choose to send out on the waves.

You can relate a song to a person, to a feeling, to a memory, a time, a place, a scent, a sound. It can speak volumes or it can be fun loving and fancy free. Sometimes it can be twisted around into something that it's not. Sometimes you can apply it in a way it wasn't written for but fits perfectly.

I ponder the songs I want played at my wedding when I have one, songs that I wish played during my life a real life soundtrack. We all do this. I wonder what it would be like to be completely deaf and never hear a song in your life? Would I miss this? Could I concoct my own music in my head?

What do you think?

They convey love. For people, for things, for places. Lost love, changed relationships. Love for the Holy Father, love for your earthly father, love for the guy that's not your dad but he might as well be. Love for everyone, love for no one. Is there a song that's not about some form of love?

That question was posed to me a few years ago and not a song came to mind that wasn't somehow about love.

So why is it, exactly, that that's all we sing about?

A Poem For Princey

she loves him
she knows when he's angry
sometimes he needs a shoulder massage
and sometimes it's better not to touch him
she knows when he's happy
his eyes light up his face
and his smile takes over
she knows when he's sad or upset
sometimes he just needs her company
sometimes he just needs to know it will all be okay
she loves him
she spoils him rotten
she takes good care of him
sometimes she brings him chocolate milk
sometimes she brings him food
Sundays she brings him to church
she loves him

he loves her
he plays with her hair
he hates to see her upset
and he likes it when she's happy
he laughs at her stupid jokes
he makes her play video games
sometimes he rubs her shoulders
sometimes he holds her against his chest
his hand placed flat on her back
and the other cupping the back of her head
because he knows she loves this
he loves her
he loves her company
when she's in the room even if she's not doing what he's doing
sometimes he just wants her around
because he loves her

she loves him
but sometimes he's confusing
there's been a lot of back and forth
and flip flopping
and this and that-ing
sometimes she wants to cry and pull out all her hair
because she just doesn't understand
sometimes she wants to just crawl into his embrace and stay there forever and ever
because he knows exactly how to make her feel better
because he loves her

they've been together for a long time
and while he's making up his mind
she's decided to support him
but she wants him to know that sometimes
sometimes it's just so very hard
and sometimes she wonders if it's worth it
and sometimes she's certain that it is
but mostly she's just trying to be herself
while waiting for this boy
to find himself
because she loves him

Sleep is Optional

Life is getting pretty chaotic around here. And with the onset of winter, the days are getting shorter and darker and colder. 

Personally, I'm okay with this. I'm the type of person who likes to be cuddled up in my warm blanket holed up in my room. If only hibernation was something that humans practiced... But honestly, I'm in my sweatpants, in my room, the lights are on low, it's dark outside, I'm good. Candles would make it better, but in the dorms we're not supposed to have them lit. 

Lame, I know. But what can you do? I don't make the rules. Although most times I wish I did. 

My wall is becoming covered with the fruits of my labors in Printmaking class. There are a couple that I still need to put up, but I have five already hanging. I've been spending an unhealthy amount of time in the printing lab. First my poogie project, and then my edition.

My edition is themed "motion/commotion" so I used a photograph and printed out on a transparency. This was my result:

I had been working for a couple hours when all of a sudden there's a person standing next to me. At first all I noticed was the dark color of the jacket and then I realized that it was sweet Prince Charming come to bring me applesauce because I hadn't really had dinner yet. And I didn't even ask him to bring me it! He did it all on his own! 

You don't understand how out of character this is. 

What Prince didn't know was that I had already brought my own applesauce with me for snacking purposes, but I didn't tell him that until afterwards because I wanted him to feel important, because he is. 

(By the way, we aren't officially dating yet for those of you keeping tabs. This is going to be fixed on Prince's timing. I'm not going to rush anything and I want him to be totally okay with getting back together. So I'll let you know when the big moment happens so you're not holding your breath and dying of suffocation!) 

Anyway, if you're wondering what the blue plus sign above one of the figure's heads is, let me tell you. It was supposed to be a "+50" but in my hurry to complete the project, I exposed my images backwards and therefore I was only able to print the "+" because it would have looked sillier otherwise. 

Okay, so Natalie, why in the world would you print a "+50" above the head of your figure?? That seems so random!  Well, let me just tell you that in case you didn't already catch this fact, I am, indeed, a nerd. Gasp! I know! It's really hard to picture me being nerdy, but alas, it's true. 

And "+50" represents the amount of experience points to be gained if the one figure (which is actually LadiesMan) manages to push the other figure (which is actually dear Princey-Poo) off the cliff they are standing on. Nerdy right? It's a video game thing. 

(I think it's hilarious.)

(Probably because I don't get much sleep.)

(Which is due to the fact that I have a lot homework.)

(Which is lame.)

(I'm using a lot of parenthesis. Bare with me.)

So as you can tell by serious lack of post-age that I have been super busy. But hopefully after this week is over I may have a little less work until dead week rolls around in December and I'll want to kill myself again. (Not that I actually want to do that, but sometimes I get so overwhelmed that I just wish everything would complete itself while I napped.) 

But good things that have happened so far:

-Prince Charming is being himself again - so we are back on good terms and I'm not wanting to beat him up anymore because he was being retarded. 

-Prince Charming got a good phone not a go-phone

-My sister turned 13!! (she's OLD!) (I'm OLD!) (Prince Charming is old too because HE just had a birthday TOO!)

-I got new boots!

-My prints turned out awesome.

-Glee is on tonight

-And maybe I'll get to go to bed early tonight? What do you think? 

(I think no.)

Anyway, I need to do some homework and some laundry and try to figure out the universe and the meaning of life, and other stuff like that. 

Just A Quickie

Life has been crazy lately, and as a result my writing time has suffered. I still read blog posts, but I haven't really commented or had time to write one of my own posts in a while! Even now I feel like I should be studying for my test tomorrow, but my brain needs a break!

I have spent the past two nights in the printmaking lab producing these lovlies:

Aren't they beautiful?

I created a lot of them using a silk screen. I think silk screening is one of my new found loves. It can be time consuming, but also go by really fast at the same time. And it allows you to be creative will all sorts of colors. The only thing I wish I could do would be to put these adorable piggies on a T-shirt, but the ink I use doesn't translate well and would only be good for a couple washes before it faded. Lame sauce, I know.

These are the original colors of my "poogies." A "memorial stripe" suit, and a "watermelon" suit. Their tails curl in opposite directions to fit our theme "opposites attract."

The other part of the assignment was to create ten different color combinations. I spent a lot of time picking out different colors of ink to use and which combinations I wanted to create. I just let the juices flow and came up with so many different ones that I love!

In the process of creating my ten different color combinations, I created a plethora of prints that will never see the critique, but I believe they still need some love. So I brought some home with me to hang on my wall and I made one for Prince Charming because today is his 21st birthday!

It's so crazy to think that I've known him for two years now. This month, two years ago, is when I met him at a Halloween party at Belle's house. We've come a long way since then.

Anyways, in addition to the print that I made for him I also got him a nice jacket from Buckle that he loves! :)

I hope your weeks are all flying by like mine is! I promise I will post something when I'm not in a hurry to run here and there and everywhere!!

TheKeeper's Yearbook Photo

Today is a day made for sitting in front of a fire place with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book/movie/insert item of choice here wrapped in a blanket.

I plan on doing that minus the fireplace and substitute applesauce for hot chocolate after my last class gets out.

And the picture? That's the one TheKeeper chose for the yearbook. Definitely one of my very favorites from his photoshoot. So glad I got to be his photographer!

Monday, Monday, Monday

Monday is probably my least favorite day of the week. We've had an ongoing battle since I started attending public school on a regular basis. I'm not much for mornings either, and Monday morning is just that much harder to tolerate. 

But today started out with rain. Which was okay, except that the first sweatshirt I grabbed happened to have a pizza sauce stain right on the pocket and I'm supposed to appear professional for my practicum and pizza sauce just doesn't mesh well with professionalism. 

And the shoes I put on this morning apparently have a hole in the soul - some Grinchy shoes I must have picked! And so the ball of my right foot became a tad soaked walking to and and from the art classroom at little Moscow High. 

But this weekend was fun and I wasn't ready for it to be over, which made it all the more difficult to drag my butt out of bed this morning. Although, I feel compelled to admit that I was an itty bitty bit excited that this morning was sweater weather after all the hot we've been having. 

Except then it reminded me that I needed jeans. My two favorite pairs have holes in the crotchal area that are not seam attached and can't be sewn. Humph. So that leaves me with one pair of good jeans and it's only a matter of time before they become Swiss Cheese Jeans too. 

Oh but back to Monday, because it starts the week. This week is "mid-terms." I have a test on Thursday AND Friday. Thursday is education, and Friday is art history death test that scares me to pieces. And I still need to get the images memorized and review all the information. 

For the first art history exam we had a class discussion for the review, but this professor only does that once and the rest of the tests it's up to you. Last year I was able to study with Prince Charming (who has a birthday on Thursday!) but this year he's not taking the art history death class with me. 

Oh well. 

The only good thing about Monday is that House is on tonight, and if I love anything it's Gregory House, MD.