walking next to you...

i am bringing big red:)

we should all be breeders of love... perhaps the world would change if we were...

my little brothers:)

me

thank you, mr. president.

me and zack!

robishka and i:)

ish

dear dorothy:)

and freddie!

I won!...thank you, ish:)

big red:)

this last one was probably one of the best i have experienced in a really long time. so many amazing memories...hopefully i will be able to remember them:) i spent all of last week feeling like a crazed person because i had to prepare for the weekend... on saturday, i graduated from claremont graduate university...i finished my ma. it was the longest graduation ever...really. three whole hours. it was really hot and not only did i have a black gown, i also had my hood this time around which added to the already uncomfortable situation. with that aside, the ceremony was really nice, so all was well. after the ceremony, we had a little picnic in the park. it was super fun. we played croquet, cricket, and bocce ball, and had lots of food. umm...the only not fun thing about the entire afternoon was probably the fact that i was dropped on tree times, not once or twice but three times. it was as if the birds were following me to release. someone told me it was good luck...psh... thank goodness dorothy came to the rescue with a spare shirt:) i received some of the most thoughtful gifts ever. a travel kit, an indian cookbook, a cool bicycle basket, movie and dinner, cards with you know what inside, jewelry, journals, all sorts of cool stuff:) after a few hours of fun, we headed home to get ready for fun at the movies. just before we left, my dear friend zack handed me a card for graduation, i thought it went with the pretty yellow flowers he gave me, but i was wrong. after i read the card, he told me there was one more thing outside so we got up and headed to the back door. when i stepped outside, there it was, big red! i was completely shocked to see the beautiful schwinn just sitting there!!! yes, the coolest bicycle in the whole world.
after i admired it for a while, we got ready and went to watch prince caspian...i highly recommend it. and i had the best pineapple whip ever. saturday was so wonderful. on sunday, i went to guitar center and bought the cutest guitar ever and she plays really well too:)
it was seriously such a beautiful weekend. i stole these photos from zack's blog. when he gives me others, i will post. thank you dear friends, for your encouragement, love, and support. it has been crazy and will continue to get crazier:)

it is not true...you don't always feel better after a nap...

...so last night, i got excited about romania. not to say i have not been because i have, but in a different way. i went to church with a dear friend and they did this game...who was born the furthest type of game and i went up and said romania and won a gas card...but that isn't really the good part. after the service i met this really nice girl. she went to romania last summer and actually worked in the city where i was born:) and she wants to go back. and she applied for  a job at the school in romania where my big sister works. it was such a terrific little chat and on my way home i just felt happy. i do not believe in coincidences so what an amazing thing, eh?

i was thinking about people today. people. about people who have nothing. people who live all alone. people who know they are dying of aids. people who cannot break their addictions to drugs. people who are homeless. people who have to deal with physical/verbal abuse on a daily basis. people who live in depression. people who are sad all the time. people who have to beg for food. people who can't even beg for food because they live in countries where all the neighbors are just as poor or poorer. people who cry because they are so hungry. people who cry because they are suffering, real suffering. people who are so amazing but few know because they are not given the chance to prove themselves.  i have just been thinking about people. i love people.

i really like the stuff. i like all types of paper. i like tearing it so that i can look at the length of the fibers, the longer the fibers, the stronger the paper. i know if you are reading this, you probably think i have lost my mind just a tad. if you know me, perhaps you just think this is normal roxi jibber jabber:) anyhow, i had my last class on saturday at the huntington where my prof is a full-time curator. we got to spend a few hours in the conservation lab with one of the top conservators in the country. no joke, she worked on the regan diaries. we learned simple mending processes for paper tears and it was terrific. for these past few month, i have been trying to decide what exactly to pursue within the archival field. what is it that i enjoy? that i want to do forever? well, i think i know now. i want to go into book and paper conservation! yes, i realize this makes me sound ridiculous...and perhaps i have just humiliated myself by saying so but who cares. i like paper and i love books so why not do my best to learn the necessary skills to be able to participate in the conservation of these two things? i am going to post photos of my mended paper real soon:) yes, paper and book conservation it is. thank you holly moore and dan lewis:)
so, i graduate on saturday! i just can't believe it. i don't even know what else to say about it. it's been a tough process, but an amazing one. i have had such great support from all around during these past three years and wow wee, the saturday is almost here. unbelievable.
this is a scatterbrained blog because it has been so long since the last one and i have much to share:) i am on a quest for a new guitar. i have been chatting it up with a couple close friends and i think i am getting really close to making a decision. zack and i are going to check some out on friday. they are a bit, a lot, pricey, but this is going to be a great investment and it will last a long time, hopefully. i have to put my bicycle on hold for now because this guitar has much more importance to me.
i have seen two out of three of the performances showing at the redlands bowl. it is all shakespeare and it is amazing. dr. marler's son is in two of them and he has been doing a pretty stellar job. marler would have been super proud. robyn has been going with me and let me just say, she is one cool cat.
i started working on a paper. i am focusing on holocaust survivor narratives. more specifically, i am looking at how survivor's guilt shows up in so many of these narratives. mostly, it is focusing on the guilt. how those who came out alive have a hard time being alive because of the guilt.
the myanmar government is making me crazy...

like i said earlier, this is a scatterbrained post...

... these past two weeks have been really overwhelming for me. if it wasn't one thing, it was another, but all these things added up and made for two pretty eh weeks. we did have an art show though and we did make 1,000 dollars to support isp. i have this paper and i still have a great deal of work to do on it before it will be ready for submission. i am tired and i don't want to do it anymore. but i have to...  all will be well.