Favorite Moment

As I crossed over the Hawthorne Bridge last night, returning this time from Portland's "Filmed by Bike," it finally occurred to me to document the moment. Until this point, I had merely taken mental pictures as I biked over the bridge hundreds of times.


This is what serenity looks like to me, at least in urban surroundings.

Daumenlutscher Translation

Thought I'd share the translation of a famous German poem, Die Geschichte vom Daumenlutscher from Der Struwwelpeter, that I did for my art and theory of translation course. Creepy stuff.

The Story of the Thumb Sucker

“Conrad!” said his mother dear,

“I’ll go out and you’ll stay here.”

You behave and don’t complain,

‘Til I come on home again.

But most of all, listen up!

Your thumb is not a thing to suck;

For the cutter with his shears,

Who so rapidly appears,

He’ll slice your thumbs right off

As if they’re but paper stuff.

When mother then did go away,

Thumb in mouth, he did not obey.

Whoosh! The doors burst opened wide,

And dashing in with sudden stride,

The Cutter in such zealous joy

Sprang upon the thumb-sucking boy.

Such pain! Shears that snip and snap,

Oh! Those sharp, enormous shears

Sliced off his thumbs with a clap!

“Ow!” yelled Conrad through the tears.

When mother came home once more,

There stood sad Conrad by the door.

Without thumbs he looked so glum;

Thumbless, but less troublesome.

Spring in Seattle

Life is charming at the moment, full of love, art and enjoyable escapades in the Pacific Northwest. I meant to do a great deal of reading for pleasure over Spring Break, but instead Matthew and I ogled books in libraries and bookshops all around Seattle. The sun shone brilliantly until today, when I drove him to the airport in the pouring rain. It was fitting in that heartbreaking and cinematic way.
Tomorrow I return to university life and begin to trudge through the remaining five weeks of my time as an undergrad. Being a pseudo adult all these years was rather spectacular, though.

Learning Inside and Outside the Classroom

This is a short reflection on overlap between psychological academic v. field experience done for my Psychology Internship capstone course:

The Psychology Internship certainly serves to provide the opportunity for seniors to integrate classroom and field experience and finally make use of textbook knowledge. Initial praise aside, however, I must underscore the fact that this course is only what students choose to make it. This ideal integration is dependent on two factors: 1) that the student absorbed, to some extent, the material presented to him/her in classes and 2) that the student actually possesses some semblance of interest in and passion regarding his or her internship. When both previous knowledge and current interest are present, they can fuse together to create a very effective and rewarding internship experience.

I strongly feel that the psychology major along with my active interest in it have lent me the proper tools to function somewhat successfully in the “real world.” What is particularly interesting, however, is that my experiences and passions developed outside the classroom have generally had a greater impact on what I choose to study than vice versa. I was informed at a basic level about Autism Spectrum Disorders, for example, n my Introduction to Psychology course freshman year, but it was not until I began working with children on the Autism Spectrum that following summer that became something meaningful to me on a profoundly personal level. Similarly, my enthusiasm for early childhood education, the role of imaginative play and the importance of art in school were supported by theories dissected in Developmental Psychology sophomore year, but actually blossomed during my time as a Montessori assistant teacher and an art education volunteer.

This pattern leads me to believe that the significant overlap between on and off-campus learning experiences is no coincidence, as each area lends to, develops and exists concurrently with the other. Yet abstracting issues and phenomena from their context in order to properly mentally digest them did less to sufficiently prepare me for the real world than actually working in the real world ever did.

Internal Dialogue of the Most Intimate Sort

I finally completed the painting started some time back. Now only the mural version remains left unfinished. I titled it "Internal Dialogue of the Most Intimate Sort," and submitted it for consideration to the Gender Studies Symposium's art show.


With this piece, I aimed to simplify the highly complex inner workings of the autonomic nervous system, namely how the brain and heart interact. In this context, the heart should be seen in terms of its symbolic worth and the associations made with love, emotion and heartache. The brain and the heart then interact in an abstract sort of dialogue, communicating notions rather than words or concrete facts. For this reason, the content of the word bubbles are stylized designs, as they convey that which is intangible.

Future US Travel Idea

I imagine it would be incredibly fun to view the large amount of botanical gardens in the US some day. For now, I will collect friends and explore those in Portland:

1. Hoyt Arboretum (requires revisiting)
2. The Berry Botanic Garden
3. Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden
4. Leach Botanical Garden

Adventures shall be had and horticulture undertaken... or perhaps just inspected.

Kinesthetic Care

I'm currently under the weather, and have taken the illness as an opportunity to really listen to my body once again. Like many others, while I am rarely very sick, in the Spring I have terribly annoying allergies as if to compensate for this fact. That being so, when an illness crops up, I typically neglect my body in a state of denial, opting instead to live just as I would otherwise. This is probably not the wisest decision, but it allowed me to perform in dance shows and explore Berlin rather than sniffle in bed, swimming in Kleenex and self pity.

Yet today, rather than working, going on the first annual "Tweed Ride" (bikes, beer, baked goods and fashion!), and meeting up with a friend, I stayed home listening to music, making potato gratin provencal and braiding my hair. Homebody points earned, please? The fact that I need to keep a 3 ft. radius between myself and others definitely forced staying home upon me, but maybe it's good to take a time out this early in the semester, so that I don't overstrech and overcommit too quickly.

On that note, I am eager to share some incredibly imaginative dance exercises I learned in my improv and composition course. Some of them, mind you, may seem a bit bizarre or too alternative, but the amazing thing about them is that people across the entire spectrum of dance - from novices to classically trained ballerinas - can enjoy the activities if they let themselves.

Sound-based movement

• Working in partners, one person makes a sound in the way a child or animal might - in a free and expressive rather than self-conscious way. That sound then causes the other person to move, responding kinesthetically to auditory cues. The first partner pursues the second, making a variety of sounds until it is time to switch, and partner two has a chance to direct the movement.
• This same exercise can be reworked to fit the group. Around seven people (in large classes, split up into subgroups) form a diagonal line in the room and an individual at one end instigates sound together with a specific movement. The next person in the line faces her/him, repeats the gesture and noise, then turns around to the next dancer with a new combination. Eventually, this reaches a rapid-fire state where various sounds are being made at an alarming rate and what results feels like a domino effect.

Partner Work: Joint Movement and Mutual Trust

• Two people sit back to back, as straight and seemingly connected as possible (i.e. spine to spine, shoulder blade to shoulder blade). One person begins leading and the other follows, not necessarily mirroring, but always responding and filling empty space. Partners switch roles and ultimately come to a point where it is no longer clear who is following whom. The two people are simply listening to one another with their bodies.

Improvised Choreography: Directives

• In groups of four, one person steps out and improvises several phrases as the rest of the group watches intently. That is to say that he or she merely dances spontaneously while remaining aware of the variety of shapes being made. This segment lasts perhaps four slower eight counts or just under a minute. The dancer then stops, and individuals of the group take certain movements they have just witnessed, reworking and recreating them. The creator watches them and gives directives (e.g. unify, interact, slower, faster, level change or something more specific and plot driven, like "A and B dancers interact, C encircles them").

Individual Dances done within the Framework of the Group

• Starting in child's pose (the fetal position where one's knees and shins touch the ground while the torso and head rest on the thighs, arms at sides), imagine that you are rooted to the earth by sprigs of alfalfa sprouts. Gently rip limbs and fingers away from the 'earth,' only to realize that you are pulled back downward, whereupon your body immediately reroots. Move continuously upward, sometimes sinking back down, and eventually reach the standing position. Now walk as if the soles of your feet are still connected. The end effect is rather zombie-like and the focus is intense. Finally, return to a normal walk but retain the feeling of being grounded.
• Respond to the architecture and objects in the room with movement. For example, a swimming motion paired with alternating rigid lines could suggest the stereo speakers. This is very interpretative and could potentially make people feel awkward or at a loss for ideas, but when everyone in the room is wrapped up in his/her own thing, it's very manageable. The exercise is especially effective when paired with African drumming.
• Lie on your back on the floor and imagine that you are being layered with paint. Try to cover every part of your body with the color, contorting yourself into many interesting, differently leveled positions.

*Exercises described based on experience through instruction by Susan Davis of Lewis & Clark College, Spring 2010.

Also, before I forget, next time you are ill, take a bubble bath and drink some peppermint tea with a bit of Anisette. The foam in your bath will start to resemble melting icebergs and you will feel deliriously happy from the warmth and luxury.