Entries from September 2004 ↓

I’ve been watching all of the available seasons of “Sex and the City” again lately and, I’ll tell ya, I’m a little overloaded. I’m starting to believe that I am Carrie Bradshaw. I’m starting to believe that my life is one long television show.

I love it so much. I seriously need a laptop just so I can continue the delusion.

I’m working furiously on the Fulbright application again. My ultimate due date is less than three weeks away and I need to get reference letters and transcripts and what-not. I wrote my essay today and it’s decent so far. I feel like it needs something more, though.

I need to go to Germany.

I also need more time to work on this website. I’m trying, I promise!

This is the oddest, most fun artist’s site. The statement on the first page reads:

“We are still within the narrow circle of knowledge covered by out sense-experience. Space and time do not widen that circle; neither do the categories. The knowledge, therefore, which we acquire by the understanding is confined to the appearances of things, and does not extend to the noumenal reality, the Ding an sich.

mnartists.org / Celeste Nelms / Buffalo

This morning in my photography class, we took a “field trip” to the other art building (across the street) in order to look at the show of photography from the 2003–04 McKnight Fellowship winners. One of the artists is Celeste Nelms. She used a lot of found objects with her photography. One that I especially enjoyed was titled “Gallery” (I think). It was a little girl’s dollhouse, renovated and then filled with wallet-sized and smaller photographs. They were hung on the walls, they were stored in tiny crates, they were displayed on miniature easels—it was fantastic! The title card is on the outside of the house, which faces the rest of the gallery. In order to look inside the house, one has to walk behind the doll house, which is a very small corner. It was so secluded—and I could smell the wood of the doll house (perhaps Nelms also constructed the doll house?). It was such a good feeling. I want my own doll gallery/house.

Anyway, the above link will take you to her online portfolio. If you live in the Twin Cities area, try to stop by the Nash Gallery on the West Bank of the UMN campus. It is a very impressive photo show!

Tonight I had my first Italian class. It is so very much not German. I feel like I’m going to be a very confused multi-lingual girl this semester. I am so excited!

I had a very excellent day today. Next week I am doing two “trial runs” of being the Bell Museum’s staff photographer. I will be at one of the new programs, Cafe Scientifique, and at the opening for the next exhibit, the Lion’s Mane. On Monday I am meeting with the museum’s publications coordinator, Jennifer Amie, to discuss things related to University policy and photo usage guidelines and standards (digital and print). I hope this works out—it would be really excellent to get more of this experience in a professional setting.

Jen’s mom gave us a very large and impressive housewarming gift: the South Dakota flag. Jen, Kristi and I all grew up in Vermillion, South Dakota—and, of course, my first roommate for two months in this house, Jon, also grew up with us. We hung it on our wall. It’s a stunning decoration!

Thanks for visiting the new site. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Fall Semester 2004 courses at the University of Minnesota have begun again! This semester I am enrolled in my second photography course and (tentatively) beginning Italian—just for fun. I’m excited to have oodles of time to be fabulous and Euro-snooty. I’m not excited for when I forget I’m in Italian and start speaking German (but maybe that’ll be fun for everyone else).

I’m still working on my Fulbright application for next school year. Send me motivational thoughts!