spring has almost sprung!

These past two weeks have been nothing short of exciting! Where to begin?!
As I already ranted about, two weeks ago my school was shut down because of some dumb sewer system problem... long story short, I went on a four day shopping spree that's wiped me out for a couple of months. Also in the beginning of the month I accepted an award/scholarship for my hours of community service- Special Olympics, Princess Project, etc. and the dinner/ceremony banquet I was dreading actually turned out to be pretty swell! I had no idea it was such a big deal, but the banquet dinner was held in a Sofitel Hotel, I was allowed to bring my family and one guest from my school, and I was seated at problably the best table in the house! I networked, met new people, smiled, etc. etc. and even met Congresswoman Anna Eshoo. Oh the perks.

Anyhow. This past week i only had classes for Monday-Tuesday. So Wednesday-Thursday I went on a fantastic little surf trip down in Santa Cruz! Weatherwise, we definitely got lucky. It had been raining the whole week, but for Wednesday-Thursday it stopped for some beautiful, sunny, 70 degree weather! The waves were prime for surfing too! It really couldn't have been any better. Unfortunately though, since the beautiful weather caught me off guard I got a little bit of a sun burn... which only got worse this weekend.

So I guess my thumbs up wasn't such a good idea? Hence, the leaning tower.

As you may or may not know, I'm an obnoxiously huge San Francisco Giants fan. So this weekend was my 3rd Spring Training out in Arizona! Again, weatherwise, I got SUPER lucky, as it was raining in Arizona, but was beautifully sunny this weekend! Either way, rain or shine, I would've been a happy camper... I was at Giants Spring Training! We stayed at a lovely Kimpton Hotel (my favorites) called the FireSky, in Scottsdale. One night we went to this fabulous restaurant called the Old Tortilla Factory, even though we were told it'd be an hour an a half wait, we ended up waiting only 45 mins, but it was definitely worth it! I watched 2 games, met many players, got tons of autographs, and even saw 4 Hall of Famers- Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Gaylord Perry, and Will Clark. Let me just say, I'm in love with a couple of rookies. Cuuuuties!

Last night I returned home, sunburnt... again, tired, but absolutely ecstatic for the 2010 SF Giants baseball season. We pick our season ticket games tomorrowww! Alright, that's enough ranting. Happy Monday! Am I being facetious? I can't even tell at this point.

What fantastic things did you do this weekend?

stay classy,
madeleine

little secrets.

Today I took a midterm for my AP art history class... A midterm in February? I know right? A bit outrageous, if you ask me. Anyways, despite the fact that I absolutely love the era we're studying, Renaissance painting/sculpture/architecture, I have this terrible feeling that I bombed the test. Not much I can do now though, I suppose.

Anyways, I thought I'd post a picture of my recently completed collage:
(currently) Untitled - 12x12"


So funny story... This project, along with my other painting which is in progress, was selected for my art class and teacher to critique this week. All I could think was, "Shit, now I have to make up some ridiculous reasoning explaining my thought process behind this"... and that's what precisely what I did.

I constructed this multimedia collage/project to signify the importance of independence. I started this project during Valentines day, and essentially, this is supposed to represent a almost satire-like commentary on the holiday. On the borders are bits from the Commitments section of the newspaper... the ripped up, separated bits, symbolizing the superficiality of some marriages. I added pink flowers, butterflies, angels, etc. to cause an emotional overload on viewers, overwhelming them with Valentines nostalgia. Does it seem overly sentimental? Yes- and that is my intention, because that is precisely what I believe Valentines Day is...overly sentimental and superficial-at least in the way our culture portrays it. The central image of the piece is the single woman, almost liberated from the picture. Who says Valentines Day requires a significant other?

I pulled out something along those lines when giving my little artist commentary. Honestly, when I was working on this, I was just having fun! Was that meaning what I intended from the very beginning? Nope. But now that I created a fabulous story behind it, it's quite believable.... right? However, I'm not that much of a critic of Valentines Day.... afterall, no one likes a Debbie Downer.

In other news, my trip to Arizona for a weekend in March for Giants spring training, is all planned out! Everything except the hotel. Anyone know any fabulous hotels in the Scottsdale, AZ area? Hmmm. Nonetheless, I can't wait! I'm planning on getting a nice tan (I'm hoping no sunburns like last year!), watching some good baseball, and meeting some of the amazing players. I love spring training! I'm an avid, no, diehard, no, EXTREME SF Giants fan... it's my little secret!

What's your little secret? ;]

P.S. Follow me on TWITTER! please and thank you.

stay classy,
madeleine