SOA

Here's my guestblog post for Rhinestone Armadillo's Summer of Awesomeness. Check her blog out -- and try not to die from the cuteness that is her child :)

If you’ve read much Stephen King, you may recognize the name “Utica” from a book or two. He seems to think it’s a rather dismal area – which it kind of is. Utica’s heyday was sometime around the end of the 19^th century. However, I’m a teenager, raised during the nineties. Watch an old Britney Spears music video for proof that grunge can be cool, and so can urban decay…

Especially if you pair it with a “Marie Antoinnette” dress. Awesome. (Two guys came out from the garage this is behind to ask us what we were doing. They were fine with it, although I’m sure they both told some stories about the two crazy girls taking pictures with tires that night over dinner)

Picture taken by Marissa, behind the Utica Uptown Theater

It’s kind of a strange picture, I know. We did that on purpose – resplendent white and gold brocade dress in front of a pile of tires and rusty box springs. But isn’t it fun? Aren’t you glad that you got to see those tires as something cool, rather than just another heap of trash downtown? I am. We all need to appreciate what we have more, after all. As Mr. Fox says, “Sure, these gibblets are made from artificial squabs, and even these apples look fake – but at least they have stars on them.” (Fantastic Mr. Fox, 2010) So, this summer, I challenge you to go out and find something that you take for granted (or even downright unappreciate, like the tires), and find the hidden beauty in it.

Although I’ve been thirsting to leave Utica since about the moment we moved here, it really is a cool place. Apart from the utterly glamorous pile of tires, one of my favorite spots is the Uptown Theater. It’s an old theater that still has the cool golden molding in the lobby (and in the theaters, although we weren’t able to go in one, as there were features being shown in every theater), and in front of each screen is a little stage for the live pre-show entertainment that used to be the norm. One of the reasons it’s great is that it’s never quite as crowded as the chain theater ten minutes away – another is that the cost of the movie tickets and popcorn is actually affordable, and they sell their old movie posters for five dollars each!

Model: Marissa. Location: Utica Uptown Theater

There are also some great parks in the Utica area, and no matter where you go (assuming it’s not winter), there’s greenery. Flowers grow everywhere. You don’t have to work hard to find somewhere to skip a rock – which is another thing, I’ve realized, that I take for granted.

Photographer: me. Victim of candid shot: Rick

We wanted to go to MWPAI, the local arts museum/school, to take a look at their sidewalk art show, but it was raining a little, so most of the art was covered up. However, Marissa and I are much more water-resistant than charcoal and pastels, so we were able to take some pictures outside. It could be an archway…

Or, it could be an archway in a courtyard where a Very Intelligent Princess is having the time of her life away from her courtly duties and suitors!

Picture taken by me, of Marissa, at MWPAI

And that could be a mere door… or it might be something more. What do you think was hiding within?

Picture taken by Marissa, at MWPAI

I haven’t the slightest idea what you might uncover, were you to open that door. When I tried it, it was locked.

One thing I do know, however, is that people only lock things up if they’re worth something. Bring your lock-picks, and find some beauty, people!

Camping

This weekend, we went camping. We were in the Adirondacks, of course, and it was gorgeous. Although the last week had been very, very hot, this weekend was much cooler, and misty for most of Saturday, and rainy for today. We stayed in a cabin that had originally been built during the Great Depression as part of the job-providing efforts of the PWA (or so I gather), and which has been continually maintained since then. It was gorgeous. There were a few such cabins, and we were in a row of two (quite a row, I know), but we were on the end and the other cabin was unoccupied.

This was the room I slept in, it had the fireplace in it, which was awesome. I felt like a medieval princess, sleeping with a fire going all night. The fireplace was really nice, too, big and made of bricks. There was no heating systems in place other than the fireplace. There was one elecrical outlet in the kitchen, lighting consisting of a single lightbulb in all rooms, a refrigerator, and an oven/stove. I thought it was perfect.

On our first night there, we didn’t have time for much else other than starting a fire. The menfolk drove off to find a local gas station from which to buy firewood (you’re not allowed to transport firewood more than 50 miles from where you found it. This rule is part of an effort to prevent the spread of some noxious insect, which we don’t want here in NY, thankyouverymuch.), and I set about finding some twigs from branches that had fallen to the ground, but were raised up off it so that they weren’t too wet for me to light. I was determined to get a fire going before the boys could get back with their bundles of firewood (I was worried they would try to cheat with lighter fluid), and I did. With half of one piece of newspaper and slightly damp wood, I might add. I am the Wyoming Princess.

In Wyoming, the mountains and woods are mainly treed with pine, with a few copses of aspen per forest. In New York, though, the trees and plants vary enormously. Even the colors of green vary from plant to plant, and area to area. There were probably five bushes of these purple flowers in a clump by the side of the road within our campground. The plants were taller than I was, and the purple flowers were gorgeous.

Saturday, we went for a walk around the lake, which was small but absolutely gorgeous. I think the misty weather contributed to the fantasy feel. Look at that lake!

Also, look at this pavilion. It made me think of Heorot, the hall of Hrothgar, the king that Beowulf rids of Grendel. I just thought it was the most gorgeous little building, in the most perfect setting. I would get married there, wouldn’t you?

I had a fantastic time, and I think everyone else did, too. Plus -- we had about a zillion marshmallows each.

¿Como Hace?

I’m studying. Actually, I’m not. You see, studying vocab is where you sit in bed (or on the bus, or in the kitchen) and focus on two or three words at a time and just concentrate on the words and little else. AP studying, however, is an entirely different beast.

Doesn't my yard look like a fairy tale?

I’m studying for my AP Comparative Government and Politics test today (Mexico and Iran, today). Ironically enough, the studying was much easier to concentrate on when it was sunny outside earlier, as I just took a beach towel outside and read in the sun (always wear sunscreen, kiddies). Once it got cloudy, though, I got my camera and played with the color filters for a while, then came inside and turned on the TV so that I could multitask.

But.

One of my favorite shows was on. Studying with the noise of the TV in the background turns into watching “What The Ancients Knew” and studying during commercials. After watching “What The Ancients Knew – Egyptians,” I realized that this was really, really not economizing my time, and so I recorded Greece and India so that I could read about the voting demographics in Mexico. (In general, the uneducated poor vote for PRI, the middle-class old people who like Catholicism vote for PAN and middle-class students vote fore PRD, in case you were wondering. Riveting, I know.)

Study-time does tend to turn into study-and-take-pictures-of-flowers-time, or study-but-also-design-a-dress-time with me. These are some pictures I took of flowers when I was doing China on Friday.

I was really glad I’d gone out and taken them on Friday, because Saturday our lawn care guys came and cut our grass – and also the lawn flowers that I love. I think that when I’m ancient and own my own house, the neighbors will hate me because I will never mow my lawn because I love it when there are flowers. I’ll say, “I know that our grass is a foot tall in places, but if I cut it, I’ll kill the dandelions!”

And eventually my yard will revert to its natural state, and I’ll start having to hunt the bears that come to live on my land. That’ll teach me, I’m sure.

Oh, by the way, Zahi Hawass made an appearance on the “What The Ancients Knew” episode on Egypt because he’s awesome.

He's on shows about Egypt all the time on History Channel, Nat Geo, Science Channel, et cetera. I would have to say that he is one of my favorite television personalities.

P. S. Happy Mother's Day.