A New Year, A New Determination

Ok, so. . . for anyone that hasn't given up on the Nautilus Shell: I am determined to update my blog on a more regular basis this year.

The semester ended well, and although I'm not ready for another semester of classes quite yet, I feel a little more confident going into the new year and excited for different subjects. In particular, I am looking forward to an introduction to anthropology class. I've always had an interest in history but more so in the way people lived and interacted than the actual names and dates.

During this Christmas break, my dad and I took a road trip to Florida. We spent time in St. Agustine, Miami, the Everglades, New Smyrna, and the National Seashore. We also spent a day in the Bahamas before heading north to St. Simon Island and Savannah, Georgia. On the way up to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, we also stopped by Look-out Mountain in Tennessee where a Civil War battle took place. With 3,600 miles of driving and a lot of walking, hiking, sight-seeing, and climbing through tight, dark, cavernous spaces, we packed a lot in during 10 days. The ocean was a little cool, but for two pasty, northerners, it wasn't really an issue.

I have one more week before school starts again, and I plan on spending it painting, reading, and working on puzzles with my mom so I can get re-charged for the new year. I hope all of you are having a great start to year 2010. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail at rcramer641@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you.

Below are three pieces of art work from one of my BPMI class. We drew a lot of food in this class which is fine by me. I consumed a lot of vitamin C during the orange illustration which probably saved me from getting sick when everyone around me was hacking up a storm of phloem.

Ode to the Artichoke

This is a translation of a poem written by Pablo Neruda from my Spanish class, Intro. to Hispanic Texts. It made me smile, and I hope it does the same for you.

Ode to the Artichoke

The artichoke
With a tender heart
Dressed up like a warrior,
Standing at attention, it built
A small helmet
Under its scales
It remained
Unshakeable,
By its side
The crazy vegetables
Uncurled
Their tendrills and leaf-crowns,
Throbbing bulbs,
In the sub-soil
The carrot
With its red mustaches
Was sleeping,
The grapevine
Hung out to dry its branches
Through which the wine will rise,
The cabbage
Dedicated itself
To trying on skirts,
The oregano
To perfuming the world,
And the sweet
Artichoke
There in the garden,
Dressed like a warrior,
Burnished
Like a proud
Pomegrante.

And one day
Side by side
In big wicker baskets
Walking through the market
To realize their dream
The artichoke army
In formation.
Never was it so military
Like on parade.
The men
In their white shirts
Among the vegetables
Were
The Marshals
Of the artichokes
Lines in close order
Command voices,
And the bang
Of a falling box.

But
Then
Maria
Comes
With her basket
She chooses
An artichoke,
She's not afraid of it.
She examines it, she observes it
Up against the light like it was an egg,
She buys it,
She mixes it up
In her handbag
With a pair of shoes
With a cabbage head and a
Bottle
Of vinegar
Until
She enters the kitchen
And submerges it in a pot.

Thus ends
In peace
This career
Of the armed vegetable
Which is called an artichoke,
Then
Scale by scale,
We strip off
The delicacy
And eat
The peaceful mush
Of its green heart.

Halloween!

To celebrate Halloween and a chance for pumpkin pie, I, along with the help of my fellow social chair, hosted a Halloween party for the Barton Residence Hall. We served homemade pumpkin pie and cider, played some Halloween games, and watched Hitchcock's classic, Psycho. I have to say, my favorite part of the evening was seeing the costumes people came up with! Most people created their own and were really creative.

I went as Nancy Drew- classy, smart, intuitive. . .
It was Halloween, so I could pretend to be whatever I wanted, ok?

Argh!

Pirates, DNA Translation, and Space Crunch

Last weekend, I organized a dual, surprise, pirate-themed birthday party for two of my friends from Anders. We had newspaper pirate hats, Capn' Crunch, pirate decorations and games like pin the eye patch on the pirate, a pirate ship cake, and music from Pirates of the Caribbean. The two friends were really surprised- especially Robert who we surprised as he was coming out of the shower. Don't worry- he was in a towel!

This has definitely been a stressful semester for me with at least one, usually two, tests each week and projects and papers scattered here and there. I guess that is college. Unfortunately, I am now sick. Last night we had our honors retreat so with four hours of sleep after a week of not much sleep, I'm a little worn out. We had dinner at the campground, fun and games (I learned how to do the Thriller dance), geam olympics where I was in charge of space crunch (teams have to fit inside a very small space that is taped off and hold the position for 60 seconds), and late night (a dance, bon fire, bingo, rock band. . . ) Lucky for me, I am able to now rest on my lovely futon, wrapped up in a blanket and watching Gilmore Girls with a kleenix box on my left, a bottle of water on my right, and the chance to just be a bum for one sweet night. Reading about DNA translation? That can wait until tomorrow.