Shots from Newport

Concerts Coming Up

Though I'm pretty bummed that most of my summer vacations have come and gone so quickly, one of my favorite times of the year is still to come: The Newport Folk Festival! Last year I went it was absolutely amazing and I loved every second of it.

A couple of my friends are coming this year, too, which should be fun! I have only ever been with my family so I can't wait for my friends to experience the magic that is Newport Folk Fest.

This morning, while wallowing in my misery about the fact that I have already been to Bahamas, Italy, and the Jersey Shore, and having all of it behind me, I I realized I am actually going to A LOT of concerts in the next couple months:

Sunday: free Trevor Hall show in Central Park
Tuesday: Jack Johnson and GLove at PNC
last weeked in August: Newport Folk Fest
August 13: Ben Kweller and Barenaked Ladies
September 30th: Fun at Bell House in Brooklyn.

I went to zero concerts during the year (very weird for me) so I am happy to make all of it up now. Time to leave work now! More later :)

Positano

I can safely say that Positano is the most beautiful place I have ever been to my whole life. It was really surreal being somewhere that gorgeous. While I was there, though, I had the worst ear infection ever. I even got to meet with an Italian doctor who prescribed me Italian medications. So while I was on this beach trip for 2 days in the middle of my stay in Italy, I was told no swimming and no alcohol. I listened to the swimming thing, but after a while I had to ignore the no alcohol rule. After all, I was in Italy. I was going to drink wine.

I tried not to ask myself why I had to get sick on my once-in-a-lifetime vacation with something that I hadn't experienced since I was about 7 or 8 years old, but I guess if I had to be anywhere when I was sick it might as well be somewhere awesome. I remember saying to my mom, "I don't even feel like I'm here right now," which probably can be chalked up to the fact that my messed up ears were really screwing with my equilibrium and I was in the steepest, hilliest place I've ever been to. Not exactly a good combination, but I am happy I went, and I would like to go back someday when I can feel at my best.

If you ever go, make sure you go to this restaurance called La Tagliata. It's way way up in the hills, and it's a family run restaurant with no menu. They just feed you and feed you all the delicious things they make that day and its the best meal I've ever had.
The hotel we stayed at, Eden Roc, was really nice, too, and the best things about it was the location (most of the pictures I took were from my balcony) and the hotel staff who were so nice and kept asking me if I was feeling better! The picture on their main page was actually from my balcony too. I think next time, if I have the financial freedom, I will definitely stay at Le Sirenuse. It's super nice but also super expensive. We went there a couple times for snacks and drinks and dessert.

My Friends Are Models

A few of my friends visited from New Jersey this weekend. We somehow wandered over to the College of Fine Arts building, so I decided to take them inside and show them my drawing classroom. They had a lot of fun. Here is proof:

It's so sunny in these pictures, it makes me sad to look outside and see all of the disgusting rain. It's so rainy that I actually can't see outside my window. I get to carry my cardboard dinosaur to class in this monsoon later. But for now, I must draw Gregory and start a variety of other assignments. I have five hours to be productive, I need to make the best of it!

Hooray it's Spring Break!

So it's Spring Break! I'm out of class until the 15th and am in New Jersey. Though I'm not in class it doesn't mean that I don't have lots to do. For a couple days, however, I'm just trying to chill out, and I'm pacing myself for all the things I must get accomplished, such as:

1) Writing my 6 page magazine anaylsis (No biggie)

2) Create a replica of my dino skeleton that is MY HEIGHT: (5'4" ish) out of cardboard, string, wire and tape, and it must fit in an 18X24X16 box, and it must be reassembled in class in under 3 minutes and it must stand for 3 hours. BIGGIE. I have no freaking clue how I'm going to accomplish this.

3) Also, I have various yearly doctors appointments that I must go to, and get poked and prodded in many lovely places,

4) As well as cleaning out an ENTIRE room of various knick knacks and pieces of crap that I've collected throughout my life.

5) Also, I am going to try to work out/do yoga most days, if not every day. I don't know how feasible/realistic this is

6) I also want to finish reading the Wild Things

And through all this, I must also make time for some activities! Just writing this has exhausted me. I think I'll make myself some tea.

Ps. It's getting prettier outside!

PPs. I'm sorry I don't remember where I found this picture. But it's really lovely.

Vermont

I just spent the last 2 days in Killington, VT.

I only had one full day there, and I decided to spend it relaxing, napping, and playing in the snow with my friends.

The drive home today was gorgeous, but of course since I was driving I couldn't really get awesome pictures using my iPhone, but I'll show you some of the better ones, plus a couple others.

it was a lovely trip, but I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight.

red wine and a fire.

friends by the fire

on the drive up, some guy had a bunch of these life-size cow statues attached to the back of his truck.

in the mountains!

apparently the highest elevation point- those are clouds, touching trees.

It's the weekend! & Newport Folk Festival

Hey all, sorry to have been so MIA this week. I went to the Newport Folk Festival last weekend, and then this week got a little jumbled so I haven't really had an opportunity to post something substantial.

This is one of the first mornings I haven't been exhausted or in a rush so I am watching one of my favorite movies, I am Sam. I am sure most of you have seen it. This movie has one of my favorite soundtracks of all time, and I've been a fan of it since the movie came out in 2001. I haven't watched it in so long. And of course every perfect morning involves a cup of coffee, so of course I am enjoying one.

I also decided to pick up a book that I haven't read in a few years, I think since before senior year of high school, that I still consider one of my favorites. It's called Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls, written by Mary Pipher, Ph.D. It is a psychological discussion of the difficult period of female adolescence. It discusses how adolescence has evolved throughout the years to become a more trying time due to the influence of the media. As Pipher has pointed out, female adolescence in particular had not been thoroughly discussed by anyone at the time of the book's publication in 1994. The title refers to the Ophelia in Hamlet whose adolescence is the cause of her demise. It sounds pretty depressing I know, but it's rather insightful, and I believe the first step towards solving the problem is to realize it. I first read the book when I was fresh out of my rebellious adolescent phase and it comforted me to know that I wasn't the only one who went through a difficult phase, and that it ultimately was beyond my control. If this is the sort of thing that interests you, give it a read. I think it's a pretty important book for anyone to read, especially important for women.

well then! On a lighter note, the Newport Folk Festival was great! I got to see some incredible artists and incredible things. Instead of continuing to be so wordy, I'll provide some pictures!

Ben Kweller


Brett Dennen


The Cliffside B&B


Tie-Dye


Newport Water


The Cliff Walk


Mumsy and the Ocean


Happiest Family Alive, but I don't know who they are.


These people I know, Mom and Aunt Jenn dancing to Pete Seeger in the rain


I hope you like these. You can check out all of them on my Flickr page. It was an incredible festival and an incredible weekend.