Travel Ideas?

Alright, well the Europe travel plans are coming along nicely. Here is what I've come across so far...

Reference Sites:

• lonelyplanet.com
• Thorn Tree Forem
• Travel on a Shoestring
• Thedromomaniac.com

Lodging Options:

• Couch Surfing (couchsurfing.com)
• Help Exchange (helpx.net)
• Anywork Anywhere (anyworkanywhere.com)
• WWOOF (different websites for each country)
• Au Pair/Babysitter (aupair.com)
• Workaway (workaway.com)
• Other things I'm forgetting...

Transportation:

• Rideshare (looks promising...)
• Bike (short distance)
• Train (long distance)
• Air (possible... but not so sure)

Country/City Wishlist:

• London, England
• Edinburgh, Scotland
• Glasgow, Scotland
• Torino, Italy
• Venice, Italy
• Florence, Italy
• Rome, Italy
• Milan, Italy
• Paris, France
• Thonon les Bains, France (I'll explain later...)
• Barcelona, Spain
• Madrid, Spain
• Andalucia, Spain
• Brussels, Belgium
• Lisbon, Portugal
• Berlin, Germany
• Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Stockholm,Sweden
• Prague, Czech Republic

So, that's my current progress. Sorta. I'm exhausted from all my excitement and must rest. No work tomorrow -- yay.

Ciao.
-A

Living in an Ice Cube

        One place I really didn't plan on visiting on my 6 month vagabonding trip to Europe is Sweden, but after stumbling across this article, I may have changed my mind.

The World's Strangest Hotels

1. UFO Capsule Hotel -- Tokyo, Japan
2. ICEHOTEL -- Sweden
3. Hotel Fox -- Denmark
4. StayOrange Hotel -- Malaysia
5. Propeller Island City Lodge -- Berlin, Germany

Link: www.vagobond.com/worlds-strangest-hotels

Ice Room

        I wanted to focus on what I personally thought was the coolest hotel ever, The ICEHOTEL in Sweden. It is, literally, the first and largest hotel built entirely of ice, but it is much more than that. ICEHOTEL is a piece of art that artists from around the globe build once a year -- a constantly changing inspiration factory!

The Rooms:
        As well as warm lodging, the ICEHOTEL has its unique "cold accommodations" in the form of three different types of rooms -- the Art Suite, the Ice Room, and the Snow Room.

Snow Room

Art Suite

What do they offer?
        ICEHOTEL offers all sorts of activities for guests, both summer and winter activities, but for now I will only mention winter activities. All information can be found at the link to their website on the bottom of the page.

        Winter Activities (include but not limited to):

• Snowmobile Tours
• Dog Sledding
• Skiing and Snow Shoe-ing
• Arctic Trail Safari
• Ice Sculpting
• Northern Lights Tour

        What I have decided on is that at some point, I must visit this magnificent hotel, but I'm not sure if this visit will be the time to do it. Check out the other hotels on the Strangest Hotel list and if you have any strange hotels of your own, let me know!

Link: http://www.icehotel.com/

Wishing you all the best until I see you again,
-A

European Adventure

        I have neglected to mention that I am planning a very lengthy trip to Europe starting around January or February of 2013 and stretching to right before school (probably somewhere around August). Now that my man is alright with the plan, I would like to share with the rest of the world my travel plans.

        Firstly, I expect to bunk with my older sister in London, England for a little while before going off on my own adventures. There I will have friends, family, food and safety -- but what about everywhere else I go? I can't expect a life of luxury in hotels with room service, so I looked into a couple of volunteer programs.

Check out my sister/her husband's home improvement blog at: palisca.wordpress.com

1. WWOOF -- You may or may not have heard of the WWOOF program, which stands for Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms. It is a fantastic program that allows people to travel and work on organic farms all around to world in exchange for housing and food. The Plan: I am hoping to WWOOF somewhere on the west coast before I move overseas so that I can get a feel for the program. As you all know, I'm learning German and thought it would be appropriate for me to travel and WWOOF in Germany. I already have my eye on a few farms and will post about them in the near future.

Link: http://wwoofusa.org/

2. WorkAway -- This is another program to "work abroad, integrate in local cultures, learn a language, acquire new skills, make new friends" and more. Could this fill in the gap between London and Germany? This isn't just farming, you can work in fields such as animal care, cooking, and house sitting, tourism, art and more. (Need to do more research)

Link: http://workaway.info

3. Aupair -- Aupair is exactly what it sounds like it is -- a database that connects au pairs and nannys with families in need of one. Again, its a worldwide program that I have experience in and can give references for. Another possibility, the only problem is that I wouldn't be long term. (Need to do more research)

Link: http://aupair.com

Current Country Wishlist:

• England
• Germany
• France
• Italy
• Croatia?
• Iceland
• Morocco
• Ireland
• Switzerland
• Scotland

Any suggestions? Send me a message or comment. Have any hole-in-the-wall places you suggest? Let me know and I'll add it in!

Ah, and so life begins.

-A

My Inner Artist is Showing...

My greatest apologies are extended to those who may or may not have been checking in on a regular basis. Life has expanded and clouded my vision.

So, here is an update:

Current Location: Columbus, MS
States visited in the last week: California, Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee
Money received from graduation: $1,600 and 50 Euros
Sitting Next To: My little sister and older brother, watching a "Downtown Columbus" commercial
Current Time: 10:18m pm

Today I visited a few of my aunts "artist friends" -- Ms. Margaret Smith (a wonderful teacher, painter and doll house constructor) and Mrs. Elane Goodman (incredible folk artist and RN surgical nurse).

While looking through Elane's studio, I fell in love with one particular piece. She calls these beauties her "books," which are essentially cloth pieces with beautiful hand-stitching. This one was done in flower form (each set of petals folds up individually, as shown on the right).

New Additions to the On-Going To Do list:

• Learn to sew anything without a pattern (inspired by my Aunt Wilma)
• Learn how to frame my own artwork
• Become a wonderful cook/baker (gotta work on that...)
• Write thank you cards (a general rule)
• Try my hand at watercolor embroidery
• more to come...

 Again, I promise not to stay away to long next time. Vacation is over on Sunday, and I will get back into my routine.

Ta Ta for now,
-A

Art, Philosophy and Intestines

        So, I know I have been absent for a while, but working three jobs, going to school full time, and attempting to get accepted into art school has been consuming most of my time.

Please forgive me.

Art:
        So, I will be applying to RISD in the near future, and I would like to make a shout out to the admissions office: Please accept me! I am worth the investment I promise. I want more than anything to be in an environment where I am infatuated with my school, peers, and studies, and I feel very strongly that RISD and the Duel Degree Program can fulfill this. If accepted, I will provide just as much a benefit to the school as the school does to me. Cross your fingers for me.

        Also, I won first place in my schools art competition! I beat out all the AP Studio Art students.

My new Art Tote! In love....

Philosophy:
        Additionally, I have picked up a few new books:

• The Book of Secrets - Deepak Chopra
• The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment - Thaddeus Golas
• Many Lives, Many Masters - Brian L. Weiss

Intestines:
        Okay, I know this is a little strange, but as I was reading I came across this passage and just have to share it with you all.

• "Ten years ago it would have seemed absurd to speak of intestines being intelligent. The lining of the digestive tract was known to posses thousands of nerve endings, but these were just remote outputs of the nervous system -- a way for it to keep in touch with the lowly business of extracting nutrition from food. Now it turns out that the intestines are not so lowly after all. Their scattered nerve cells form a finely tuned system for reacting to outside events -- an upsetting remark at work, the threat of danger, a death in the family. The stomach's reactions are just as reliable as the brain's thoughts, and just as intricate. Your colon, your liver, and your stomach cells also think, only not in the brain's verbal language. What people had been calling a "gut reaction" turned out to be a mere hint of the complex intelligence at work in a hundred thousand billion cells."

Additional Tid Bits:

• Going to San Fran this weekend
• Graduating next Thursday
• Still need a new car...
• Mississippi in a few weeks! Time to get some artwork done!
• Learning German... Well not yet

        A special shout out to Bob, a customer I helped at Sweet XO. He has offered to give me a significant amount of publicity (hopefully jump starting my art career!). Also, another shout out to my twin Leah G. and her incredible family.

Your good thoughts are appreciated, Ta Ta for now.

-A

Fun Facts

Nothing like relaxing after a long day at work with some random, silly facts...

1. Sea Otters hold hands in their sleep so they don't drift away from each other.
2. Only 55% of Americans know that the sun is a star.
3. Silly Putty was discovered as the residue left behind after the first latex condoms were produced. It's not widely publicized for obvious reasons.
4. A study finds that people aren't meant to have more than 150 friends.
5. Squidward from Spongebob Squarepants is an octopus, not a squid.
6. Spanking can lower IQ. Children who were spanked for punishment grow up to have lower IQ.
7. People who complain of boredom are 2.5 times more likely to die from a heart attack or stroke than those who don't.
8. Rats can't throw up, that's why rat poison works.
9. A woman jumped off the Eiffel Tower and landed on a car. She later married the car's owner.
10. A strawberry is not an actual berry, but a banana is.

Now, to sleep. Goodnight world. Project Learn German starts tomorrow!

-A

Rhode Island School of Design

Alright, I am going to let my excitement leak all over the page now...

RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) is my new motivator. I have decided today that I will be applying to art school next year, and among those I will be applying to RISD! I am officially obsessed with the school and want so badly to attend their "Dual Degree Program."

RISD's Dual Degree Program is a program they have where a student is allowed to double major -- one Fine Arts degree at RISD (in my case Illustration), and one other degree at Brown University (in my case Environmental Science). As you all probably do not know, I applied for Brown University (my absolute, hands-down dream school) this past year and was deferred and then rejected... but could this be my chance to not only attend Brown, but the #2 ranked art school in the country?!

My heart has literally leaped out of my chest, packed a suitcase, and moved to Providence, Rhode Island.

I could not be more elated that a program as magnificent as this exists and is available to me (well sort of... I have to get in first.). The only catch is that I:

1. Have to be accepted to RISD. A very difficult and competitive art institution. And...
2. Also have to be accepted to Brown. A very elite, unique Ivy League University.

Details...

I will be starting a portfolio this summer and as soon as admissions open up in September, I will begin working on my application (they have criteria that must be met in an applicants art portfolio).

Please let the odds be in my favor this time. I am worthwhile I promise. To all you followers out there (if any), here are the links to RISD's and Brown University's websites.

Link: http://www.risd.edu/

          http://www.brown.edu/

Let's leave it to fate... I will post my artwork when I get it photographed in the next few weeks.

-A

Pineapple Planting

Did you know you can plant and grow a pineapple? I DIDN'T.

HOW COOL IS THAT.



How to plant a pineapple:



1. Cut off the top of the pineapple
2. Place top in a dish of water and move (what I call) pineapple hair into sunlight. Leave for three days.
3. Plant the top in a pot with well fertilized soil and wait. Wait for 24-36 months.
4. You're done! Enjoy your delicious, mouthwatering home-grown pineapple!

Like this....

Then this...

And you get this!

Link: http://www.tickledred.com/planting-a-pineapple/

What's Amanda Watching?

        Crew Training videos for Beanscene Espresso... I now know how to make every kind of coffee drink known to mankind.

Check it out on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/BeansceneEspresso?ob=0

        Alright world, I did owe you a cool post, and if growing a pineapple isn't cool enough for you... well, I don't know what I will do.

Gutenacht,
-A



First Day of Work

On a personal note,

I would like to share with all of you that I am now an official employee of Sweet XO, a candy/treats company in Agoura Hills.

Today was my first official day of work -- I closed and god off at 11:00 pm.

Didn't break anything, didn't kill anyone, rang up a lot of customers...

Success.

Here is a picture that I like; I was going to paint it for my acrylic painting "final," but my art teacher is making me paint a portrait to "challenge myself":

The End.
-A

P.S. I promise to post another interesting article tomorrow...

18 Rules

Though I would share my latest inspiration...

The Dalai Lama's 18 Rules for Living

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs:
       Respect for self
       Respect for others
       Responsibility for all your actions
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

Goal: Relate 5 of these rules to my day, everyday.

Best of luck to you all in doing the same...

-A

Watercolor Magic

Hello all,

Firstly, I would like to apologize for my absence. I believe I owe a bit of an explanation. Here is where I have been the last few days:

Mon. 16 - Fri. 20: 6,000 point Advanced Anatomy Final Exam -- 5 days, 3 hrs/day plus 2 hrs of work

Fri. 20: My boyfriend, Taylor, came in from Arizona (where he is residing) for the weekend

Sun. 22: My boyfriend and I got into a car accident -- T-boned a cab. Not pretty.

Mon. 23 - Tues. 24: Recovering from accident/ drove Taylor to LAX (lame excuse... I know)

       Anyway, let's get back on track here... in the midst of these crazy adventures here in Southern California, I also became slightly obsessed with watercolor (not that I wasn't already). I am currently planning on purchasing a set of Prismacolor Watercolor Pencils (set of 36) and getting started myself -- much thanks to this incredible artist:

Her devianart: http://agnes-cecile.deviantart.com/

        I was completely blown away by her style and expertise. One day I will be as talented as she... right after I master violin and climb Mt. Everest.

Personal Note -- Bucket List:

• Ride down the Grand Canyon on a donkey
• Go on a meditation retreat in Indonesia

Thank you for your patience and ever-so-loyal love...

Here is a little piece of artwork I like to call my own:

Medium: Sketch and Wash (painted graphite)

Year: 2011

Ta Ta for Now,

-A



Something Beautiful

In memory of the British White Star liner Titanic, I shall share with all of you pulchritudinous people a poem I read today in English. Note: pul-chri-tud-in-ous (adj.): physically beautiful; comely

Also...
Food for Thought: Why do I always feel it necessary to spill to the world all my feelings of joy when I am having a good day or something exciting happens? Explain that, Universe.
Thought of Food: My mom made brownies tonight... and I just ate 4 oreos (filling first, then cookie -- of course)

On the night of April 14, 1912, the Titanic, the largest ship afloat, collided with an iceberg. 1,500 of the 2,206 passengers lost their lives.

The Convergence of the Twain

In a solitude of the sea

Deep from human vanity,

And the Pride of Life that planned her, stilly couches she.

Steel chambers, late the pyres

Of her salamandrine fires

Cold currents thrid, and turn to rhythmic tidal lyres.

Over the mirrors meant

To glass the opulent

The sea-worm crawls -- grotesque, slimed, dumb, indifferent.

Jewels in joy designed

To ravish the sensuous mind

Lie lightless, all their sparkles bleared and black and blind.

Dim moon-eyed fishes near

Gaze at the gilded gear

And query: "What does this vaingloriousness down here?"...

Well: while fashioning

This creature of cleaving wing,

The Immanent Will the stirs and urges everything

Prepared a sinister mate

For her -- so gaily great --

A Shape of Ice, for the time far and dissociate.

And as the smart ship grew

In stature, grace and hue,

In shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too.

Alien they seemed to be:

No mortal eye could see

The intimate welding of their later history,

Or sign that they were bent

By paths coincident

On being anon twin halves of one august event,

Till the Spinner of the Years

Said "Now!" And each one hears,

And consummation comes, and jars two hemispheres.

-- Thomas Hardy



Personal Note

Happy Sunday lovely humans!

        Just wanted to let everyone know that there is a new addition to my family here in California... A beautiful vintage Stradivarius replica violin.

         Isn't she spectacular? I'm so excited... even though I don't know how to play violin (yet).

         Officially, she is a 4/4 Full Size Violin from the 70s... the best birthday present ever -- props to my mother and her boyfriend. It was purchased from Johnny Vintage on www.etsy.com. The link to the shop will be posted below.

        I suppose this magnificant instrument should have some goals associated with it right? Here are some off the top of my head:

   - By August 2012, be somewhat competant at playing and be able to handle the instument with poise.

   - Within 5 years, master the art of the violin and/or fiddle (they say you can master anything in 5 years... I will be 23 years old)

   - Be completely dedicated to the violin and practice at least one hour everyday, following the steps to success outlined in Take the Stairs.

        And that's all for now, folks! I appoligize ahead of time if I slack on posting this coming week. The great and horrible Neuro Anatomy Exam is to be completed -- all 6,000 points, 2,400 questions, and 15 hours worth of it. I am so looking forward to it.

Link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/johnnyvintage?ref=seller_info

Ta Ta,

-A

 

The Happy Post Project

The Happy Post Project: a social experiment to spread happiness

       Happiness is contagous, and the founders of The Happy Post Project -- Catalina Garcia and Mario Chamorro -- strongly believe that "the power of happiness can change everything -- companies, governments, and especially people." The Happy Post Project encompases an "ever-growing group of people that are dissatisfied with the path that humanity has taken and the consequences it is having on our planet," and now there is one more supporter of this cause.

        So, you may be asking, how does a stupid post-it note change anything? Why should I be a part of it? Well, personally, I am in support of their objectives (and you should to):

Objectives:

• Create a dynamic social experience
• Develop a viral online platform
• Engage traditional media in the conversation
• Inspire and be inspired

What makes me happy?

• chocolate
• making other people happy
• traveling
• living and loving
• adventures and experiments
• learning and reading
• more to come later!

Find out more at:
     www.myhappypost.com
     http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/12/happiness-serious-business/

What makes you happy? What inspires you to do more?

Forever's Not So Long

Incredible... foreversnotsolong.com



Written & Directed by Shawn Morrison. Produced by Garrett Murray. Starring Garrett Murray and Marielena Logsdon. With Debbie Friedman and Matt Urban as The Anchor. Original music by Robert Andersen.

Grand Jury Prize Winner: 1 Reel Film Festival
Audience Choice Award Winner: DC Shorts Film Festival
Best Short Nominee: Hoboken International Film Festival
Official Selection: Flickerings Film Showcase, Great Oak Film Festival, Tumblr Reblog This Film Festival