Absorbed.

I know it's been a while and there's no way I can apologize.  I have been immersing myself in college, and as a result, ostensibly learning how to live life more removed from the Internet.  As much as I miss scrolling through Tumblr daily, I feel better when I don't.  I am more productive, even if that productivity just equates to making efforts to hang out with people and thus have a social life.

This set of photos are from my disposable camera I had developed and feature the Minnesota State Fair that friends and I went to one of the last days of Orientation.

Orientation was clearly just the beginning.  Now that classes have started (someone told me we are already 20% into the semester, which is nuts) I am habitually busy.  I get a secret joy from finding an individually study room in the library to tackle all the reading I'm doing for all my classes.  Unlike the majority of my friends, I haven't had a proper paper or test yet.  My first formal written assignment is due Tuesday, but is only 200 words summarizing one of Nietzsche's arguments in his essay On Truth and Lying in a Non-Moral Sense.  Even though the professor is going to grade it harshly -- so it better be good -- I'm not that worried.  I've come to the conclusion that confidence is half the battle.  Also, I won't be silly and will take advantage of the resources available for me to proof and critique my writing.

I love the people here.  Everyone I've met here has been awesome and genuine.  Yes, there are some jerks I've already heard stories about, I've just fortunately never had to interact with them.  Yes, sometimes I feel people in my art class are pretentious, I've just realized that's just what art does to people.  I haven't had an awful, mean-spirited experience and that is incredibly powerful.  Positivity is part of the battle, too.

I saw this on campus the other day.  

I have a new appreciation for the meme after my Visual Culture class.

I created this out of slips of paper for my work study job at the Career Development Center.

The slips were answers to questions posed to sophomores, hence the '15.

Classes consume my weekdays so I've loved getting off campus and exploring The Twin Cities on the weekends.  Last Friday I walked to a nearby boutique with my friend Lauren.  I bought two postcards to send to IRL friends (sorry Blogger Family...good thing I can always go back) and otherwise refrained from spending money.  I took pictures of a few things that would make good future purchases or were just plain funny.  Either way, I'll probably be back again.

We also perused the art supplies store, aptly titled Wet Paint, and again I had to restrain myself from making any purchases.  Once I have a better idea of the time I'll have for art projects (not to mention get paid), maybe I'll treat myself.  My birthday is coming up soon!  Less than a month!

We didn't go inside The Tea Garden, sadly.  

One of these days I will get their legendary bubble tea, though.

That was only my Friday early evening.  Saturday I caught a bus leaving campus to visit the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  I am incredibly happy I went.  No one in the group of friends I went with seemed as interested in it as I was.  And that's okay.  I snapped quite a few pictures with my iPhone because it's ultra convenient.  Sometimes I hate lugging around my DSLR.  The last picture below is a of an incredibly real painting.

The adventure didn't stop there.  Saturday evening, friends and I walked to a local movie theater and saw Beasts of the Southern Wild.  I thought it was fantastic!  If it's playing near you, I highly recommend it.  I can't wait for The Perks of Being a Wallflower.  Apparently it's not playing in Florida at all and I just had to laugh because it is playing in Minneapolis.  Yay!  I'm so excited!

Alright, my hands are freezing now.  I take this as a sign I should go eat dinner/get warm.

I hope everyone has been well!  My plan is to write again in a few days.  That's right, I have even more things to talk about.

Days until my birthday: 18
Days until Fall Break: 33