how i feel today:

 

I am spending a lot of time working on a new site. Am now sort of a fail whale.

best. book. ever.

Read this book immediately.

Summer Reading List

I'm currently taking suggestions for new books to read. I have a few I plan to read soonish but I am always looking for more.

Here are some books currently on my list:

• Blood, Bones, & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton- I just started reading this book. I really like reading memoirs by chefs and this is actually the first one I have read that was written by a woman.
• Annabel by Kathleen Winter - I bought this book with a Barnes & Noble gift card that Garrett's mom gave me for my birthday.
• Bird Cloud by Annie Proulx - Annie Proulx is one of my favorite authors and I was interested to read this book which is a non fiction work.
• The Seamstress  by Frances de Pontes Peebles - I picked this book up when our local Borders was selling all of their remaining stock for something like 90% off.

Happy Birthday to me!

So excited for Mobile TechXpo!

Here is information on an event that I am helping to organize. I am so excited and it is for a great cause so if you are in Gainesville, please try and make it!

Re-Tech Smartphone Centers and Gainesville Area Innovation Network (GAIN)  are hosting an event that will highlight Gainesville's mobile technology community.

The 1st Annual Mobile TechXpo will take place from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 4 at Gainesville Technology Enterprise Center and will include:

●    How to Take Your App to Market, a panel discussion with local businesses New Charity Era, Grooveshark,  and Trendy Entertainment
●    Grooveshark University's App Camp Commencement and Showcase
●    Mobile app exhibits and demos by local developers
●    Music powered by Grooveshark
●    TechQuila and Mexican beer bar featuring Mexican snacks
●    Charity phone drive to fund technology purchases for Boys & Girls Club of Alachua County programs

Admission is:
$5 for GAIN members and students
$10 for non-members
FREE with donation of a mobile device

Fantasy Birthday Wish List

My 26th birthday is on May 5th. Please plan accordingly! Seriously, I do not really want anything for my birthday except to spend time with my friends.

Free People - Sassy Pintuck Cami

Bernardo - Milly Sandal

Michael Kors - Wallet Clutch iPhone

 

 

Kimchi Blue - Lace Button Front Cami

Inspiration

I am currently pulling together a sort of mood board for the redesign of Ophelia's Swim Team. It's funny I have an easy time working on things for other people but find it impossible to design myself a custom header. I love this blog but it does not look the way I want it to.
The problem is, I'm not sure how I want this blog to look! I want this blog to really reflect me as a person. But, I have a lot of diverse interests and I worry that it is impossible to capture them all. Also, I am hopeless at choosing typefaces. The choices are endless and I have a deep respect for professional graphic designers. I know it is not easy.

sigh, so perfect

Color is something I think about a lot. Even if I try to stick to a monochromatic color I end up putting more color. I am attracted to the artwork of Jim Houser, someone who I think has a very unique sense of color.

I'm sort of obsessed with the stacked amps and boxes...

I love the composition!

Website/blog design I love:

• anthropologie I like things that are vintage-inspired but have a very clean look. Anthropologie has a romantic, sweet aesthetic that makes me want their stuff even more. 
• stefanie storm Feminine with muted tones, I love this blog design! 
• a beautiful mess I love the handwritten script and the fact that the header is a photograph of the author cutting out letters to spell the name of the blog. So sweet! 
• from me to you  My friend Jeanna sent me this link. I love how dimensional everything on the page is.

Sites of general inspiration:

from HonestlyWTF

• HonestlyWTF I love this blog! Every day I look at it I am inspired. This blog always has really awesome DIYs, brilliant photos, and just stuff I like. 
• fashiontoast I have an unhealthy obsession with Rumi Neely's outfit posts. She has effortless style - really bohemian yet elegant at the same time. Also, she is so pretty it is ridiculous - mixed race people of the world represent!
• designsponge Another blog I check every day. So many beautiful homes and objects to admire.
• free people Sigh. I want everything free people makes. 

in love...

I am so in love with Stefanie Storm's blog. She was my TA for the only photography class I have ever taken and I just am infatuated by her whole aesthetic. All of her photographs have this cool bleached-out Virgin Suicides look. Check out her cool headband to necklace re-purposing.

NEW WORK by Francesca Lyn

I put some of my new work in one place: http://opheliasswimteam.tumblr.com/
check it out!

Multi-User Experience Synthesizer

work and creativity

Did you ever have a job that is such a sinecure that it actually bothered you? Sometimes I like having such a stress-free job. Other times it gets incredibly tedious. I know everybody has elements of tedium in their work, I mean even creative acts have their boring parts. I mean, painting a painting has it's active parts - when you are composing the painting and making decisions. But I think people that do not make art sometimes fail to realize that a lot of the actual work that goes into making something creative can be quite boring. Filling in an area of a large canvas with one color can be about as boring as repainting your house. Taking photographs can be fun, developing the prints in a darkroom is often slow hard work.

going for it

I'm looking around for places that might want to display some of my artwork around town. I have been making more paintings again recently. It is a good break from doing my other work which is mostly on the computer. I do a lot of reading and a lot of writing - painting/drawing seems to stimulate a completely different area of my brain. It keeps me from burning out.

Most of my new stuff is abstract, mostly centered around repetition. I mostly work as a meditative process - it really helps me relax. I have been trying not to plan out these paintings very much. Sometimes it is really fun to try and solve the problems that arise as you are working on the piece. I have always been attracted to combining colors that do not necessarily look harmonious. I like saturated, bright colors.

So hopefully by writing this I will be putting it out there to the universe that I would like more people to see my artwork. These pieces need good homes to go to!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM

Almost the end of the semester....

It is almost the end of the semester and I am so excited. Garrett has been working incredibly hard on his thesis project, he is making so many cool things. His presentation will be on April 8th at Digital Worlds Institute. More news on that very soon.
I am really enjoying my internship with Gather! Marketing & Communications. The companies we are working with are incredibly cool. I am really lucky to have found it. It is sort of funny, I was not really aware of marketing/communications as a career while I was in undergrad. I really like the field. I still think my ultimate dream job is to one day be a professor and teach Media Studies. But, I want to work before I go into academia-  I think the best professors I have had are those who have a wealth of professional experience to draw from.
So far my summer plans seem to be shaping up. I take the GRE at the end of May. Summer graduation is held on August 6th - I'm not sure if I am actually going to walk. I am not sure who else is graduating in my department and I sort of don't want to be there with no one I know.

style sites i like

• http://luxirare.com/ - I love the minivests. I think I have a secret biker thing going on that I need to indulge someday. Plus I love the concept of not having to have to carry a purse. 
• http://stylelikeu.com/  - Personal style at its best.
• http://www.garbagedress.com/ - I am currently saving up for a Zana Bayne 'Orion' harness.

Happy Saturday

I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far. I am working on the thesis, I am really lucky to get such great feedback from my thesis chair. My literature review is almost done, I've found a lot of great stuff on mashups.
In other news - I finally got a haircut! My hair was getting totally crazy. I wanted to get a lot of layers but still keep the length. People have been saying how much they like the result. I really like it but Garrett says it looks sort of like a mullet.  Oh well, I will just make mullets cool again. I had a really great experience with my new hairdresser though, if you live in Gainesville and are looking for one try calling The Tease. I went to Amber but I actually have a friend that goes to Courtney so I can say both are great.

fashion obsession

I love the fashion blog Into the Gloss so much. Very inspiring to read about so many successful women!

The Good Life

Smith lives the good life.

What is the good life to you? For me, the good life is being healthy and happy. It is something I have been thinking about a lot lately. I got sick about a week ago with what turned out to be a kidney infection.  I am slowly feeling better but the antibiotics have been honestly knocking me over. I have been feeling pretty tired and out of it. This has been probably the worst I have felt in a long time and I will be glad when all of these antibiotics are done.

Health is one thing that I try to be grateful for every day. Recently, I have had friends and family members with chronic problems or sudden illness and it is hard to express how difficult it is to know that people you love are suffering. I have been pretty lucky. I have never had to be hospitalized for anything and the only surgery I have had has been my wisdom teeth removed.

Happiness is harder to measure than health. Everyone has their own definition. For me, happiness is having people around me that I love, working towards my personal goals, and not having to worry too much about finances.

I would call myself a happy person. I am lucky to be able to talk to my parents whenever I want to. I do wish I had more close friends around me in Gainesville - all of my buddies are spread out around the country. I am so glad I got to see Katy fairly recently. Texas was awesome and I would love to go back. I think people have this idea that Texas is going to be all cowboy boots and like, country stuff. I did go to a stock show and rodeo in Fort Worth but Dallas is another story. Dallas is so upscale and fancy in parts, definitely got more of a country club, preppy vibe from some areas. I'm surprised they have not done a "Real Housewives of Dallas" yet.

My Texas fantasy vacation would be to go to Austin with Katy. That town sounds so fun and I would love to see more of the state. Plus Katy and I have the most random adventures. I can't explain what happens, suddenly we will be performing at a subway stop in NYC with a kazoo or having an impromptu fashion shoot. I also would love for her boyfriend to meet my boyfriend because I think they would get along well - both are easygoing and would probably want to compare crazy girlfriend stories.

I'm just asking them questions...

I am filling out papers to study humans... never thought this day would come.

GRE revisited

I am taking the GRE again on May 28, 201l. I really do not think I did as well as I possibly could the first time. I really think it sucks that a test that has very little to do with how well you are going to do in grad school has any weight on your academic future. But since I want to eventually get my Phd and become a pretty big deal, I have to try and be as competitive as possible.