Life, love, & design.

Listening to: "Waking Up" by Olin & the Moon

(I love websites like NoiseTrade and Brite Revolution. So much great, free music to be discovered. I've found some of my now-favorite songs through them. Definitely something to check out! This song in particular is one of those chill, rainy day-type songs. For whatever reason, songs like that tend to be my favorites. Anyway. Get it on Brite Revolution.)

Hello again! I think it's time for a real update. There are so many things spinning around in my head at the moment, but I think most of them can be classified under one of three things, hence the title of this post.

Life
First: A quick breakdown on what's going on with me. Overall, life is good. However, I've decided that spring semesters just aren't as good as fall semesters (though much less dramatic, which I am perfectly okay with). Oh well. Currently...

• Spring break! Yay! After changing plans 85 times, I decided to come home until Wednesday night. Mike's going to pick me up in Atlanta and after he gets off work on Thursday, we're heading to Kentucky to see his parents for a day. I'm actually kinda excited about that.
• Ridiculous reviews on Amazon. Today, I discovered this gem of a review for Mae's (a)fternoon EP:

"This is music. If you like music, buy this. This is not a box of croutons. If you want croutons you are looking in the wrong place. In Pieces is a good song. Better than Prince, or anything from the 80's. If you are from the 90's you would probably rather listen to croutons shaking around than 80's music. If that's the case, buy this Mae album or a box of croutons, but not 80's songs."

Ummm...what?! Hahaha! People are so ridiculous.

• Advance Class Selection. Oh my gosh. To think that I'm registering for classes for my senior year of college is mind-boggling. How on EARTH am I this old?* 27 hours to go, and only 9 of those consist of required classes. Hello, fun electives!

Love
Two things: 1) relationships are hard and 2) I don't love other people anywhere near as much as I should. Both have been bothering me lately.

First of all, relationships. The give-and-take side of love can be a hard thing, I'm finding, but at the same time, I wouldn't give it up for anything. My biggest problem right now? Dealing with all the petty criticism from other people. I never thought I'd say this, but it's making graduation look sweeter every day.

Photo Cred: Julian Bialowas

Second, I've been reading this book called Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol for my Child Development class, and I can't stop thinking about it. It focuses on the lives of children growing up in the South Bronx district of NYC, and while I do think the book has a bit of a political agenda and possibly overstates a few things, I also think it contains a good deal of truth. And that truth is slightly heartbreaking. I guess I just don't understand why we (myself included) feel that we have the right to treat certain people worse than others, simply based on social standing, be it economic status or popularity. We're all human. We all have hearts that can love and hurt with equal depth. We all have hopes and fears for the future. It's cliché to say, but underneath all of our differences, we're so similar. So some of us make bad decisions. Who doesn't? It's like no one cares to look a little deeper to try and understand the reasons behind the undesirable things we see in others, yet we're so resentful of those who judge us on a surface level. Why do we expect something from others that we aren't even willing to live up to ourselves? The book also has me thinking a lot about what I want to do with my life--and what I'm currently doing. I'm not completely sure what, specifically, I'm planning to do, but I do know that I want to make it a point in both my career and my everyday life to love the people that the rest of the world seems to deem "unlovable," no matter what. That I am sure of.

Design

Anyway, switching gears: I have been so obsessed with design-related stuff lately. Not that this is anything new, really--I'm always up for some good design. But I'll also go through phases where I seriously cannot get enough of it and now is one of those times. Blogs, magazines, anything. I love it.

Pro: It gets me thinking about creative ideas to implement later (i.e. future home, designs for my future freelance design business--or maybe just design classes, but hey, I can dream--or, you know, just whatever).
Con: I have to wait to implement them.

Anyway, here are a few things I've been liking lately:

Julian Bialowas' 365Q Photos
Seriously gorgeous-yet-simple photography/typography, and I like the quotes, too. After seeing these pictures, I kinda want to visit Alberta, Canada. You'll probably be seeing some of these show up in future posts (one of which can be seen above).

Rue Magazine

It's a fairly new online magazine devoted to design of all types (especially interior). There's some really great stuff to be found! I mean, seriously, I even like the ads. Since it's an online magazine, if you see something you like, you can usually click on it for a direct link to buy. Pretty cool! As far as particular favorites, I'm kinda liking the modern-rustic design in the Brooke Giannetti article on page 37 of the latest issue. Seems like a good combination for me.

Random Collaborations of Other Cool Stuff**

I just like things. Like these:

1. Firefly wedding invitations 2. "Me & You" engraved pencils 3. Ventricle vase 4. "Things To Do When Bored" poster 5. Chalkboard paint

So! That's my life lately. Hopefully, I won't go so long between "real" updates next time, but with me, you never can tell. Until then, I hope things are going awesomely for the rest of you!

*No, I don't actually think 20 is "old," but I do think that it's old for me. How can I possibly already be an "adult"?! What the heck, life? Stop going by so fast!
**Ahem. In case you didn't pick up on this, every word in that subtitle is a link to a different design-related blog. Enjoy!