http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:persistenceofmemory&section=today deviantART RSS for by:persistenceofmemory en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:28:26 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/28522123/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/28522123/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:13:37 PST
The weekend was good though. Had my birthday on Friday (20 on the 20th) and I figured, I'm twenty, I'm in Berlin for my birthday, why not go out? But first, I bought the German Playboy for December. It came with an advent calender! That made me a little too happy. Then I went out to a cafe with a few of my friends from the group of students here (the few that I really like), where I had my first beer! It was disgusting, so it will be my last beer.

Yesterday, there was this international bizarre/market thing at the Berlin Ethnological Museum, so I went to check that out. And I found a utility belt! Okay, actually it was a money belt, but I don't care! It was awesome! And perfect for both my Steampunk outfit and to double as the Batman's utility belt that I want! However, it was 29 euros, and that was half of what I had in my wallet. The quick and dirty way to convert euros to dollars is to take half the euro amount and add it on to the total: let's say that half of 29 is 14, so that would make the belt somewhere around 44, 45 dollars.... So, leider nicht. I didn't buy it.

And I'm sorry to everyone who has submitted deviations, but I don't really have time to look at the 40 clogging my neglected inbox. I promise, I will look at everything when I'm back in the States with hours and hours of time to kill on the Internet. Right now I'm at my internship, so I should probably get off dA now. Tschüsse!

]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/28325568/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/28325568/ Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:42:30 PST rawien and ~PokeTheWolf, could you two please start keeping me up to date on everything, because I have no way of finding out about the GSA anymore. Or NU Alliance, whatever it's called.

And I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be able to post any more photos on dA because I won't have time or Internet access. All my classes are done now and my internship starts on Monday. I'll be working 40 hours a week like it's a normal job and I will not have time to visit the one Internet cafe where I don't have to pay to get the password because I've spent the last two months flirting with the boy at the counter and he lets me into their network for free.

I could go to the nearest Starbucks for Internet, but that's a ten minute walk, a ten minute bus ride, then I'd have to buy something to even get the password. And, I don't really like the Starbucks in Europe, they're... different, yet still the same. It's hard to describe. First off: everyone in there speaks English because it's "the cool thing to do." I'm here trying to learn German and everyone distracts me by speaking English as loud as they can (because Americans are loud and we all want to be like them). And, the Starbucks here always has some crappy American rap station playing, because it's American. Then there's the large group of twelve-year-old girls that every European Starbucks seems to have, and they all scream as they drink their coffee and speak in English. They're not even old enough to drink coffee! It all distrubs my peace and quiet that I usually have at the Starbucks in my town. And now I've gone off on a tangent... where was I?

Right, so no more Internet access for the foreseeable future, no more photos on dA and no more updates on my laptop, which is already bitching at me for not updating. "You must be connected to the Internet to recieve this update." Well sorry, Zven, that's not gonna happen. I just hope he doesn't outrightly refuse to work because he hasn't been updated in so long. It's happened before....

Didn't I say something about good news? Yes, I did. I registered for classes yesterday and finally got into the photography class at NU, so that was highly exciting. And, for the previously mentioned internship, I'll be at Haus am Waldsee. It's an art gallery and I get to be there while they're switching exibits. Very cool.

Okay, I think that's pretty much it, though I am sad that the bad news was longer than the good.... 'til later, everyone!

]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/28154636/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/28154636/ Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:59:25 PST
Also, Steamy update (which probably only ~rawien will care about or read). When I was out today buying lovely warm things, I was looking for a long-sleeved shirt that I could wear under my t-shirts to make the warm more perminent. I found this shirt that looked like a turtle neck (which is even better because that means it's warmer!) and when I looked closer, it turned out that it has a high collar with buttons going up the back. Can you say vintage? And, it came in a cream color, which is very, very good as the colors I'm going with are shades of brown, cream and red. I might throw some grey in there too, but that'll be when I'm actually home and looking at the stuff to see how things fit together.

~rawien and ~PokeTheWolf : as soon as I can, I'm going to post a photo of the hat I got in Munich. It's a traditional Bavarian hat and I want to make it a bit more Steampunk; since you two are so good at fabrication of cosplay/other wearable items, I would like suggestions. Please and thank you. Danke schöne und bitte schöne.

Oh, unrelated bit of sad news: apparently, I have lost the ability to spell because. Everytime I type it, the computer yells at me with the little red line of death and I realize that I've´switched the U and the S. No matter what I do, this always happens now... very saddening.

]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/28040002/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/28040002/ Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:37:36 PDT
So, the point of all this? My host family's Internet sucks so badly that sometimes, it won't let me do anything on Facebook! I can go for days at a time looking at Facebook, seeing that I have three messages in my inbox (three sets of directions to get somewhere important) and know that I can't read them because the page loads with a massive amount of errors. And I can see people's comments to me, but it won't let me reply; I can't even update my status! It's all very frustraiting and I feel cut off from the world, both here and at NU.

I know this sounds very stupid, but it still makes me mad.

]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/27990014/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/27990014/ Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:54:55 PDT
First, I went down to Munich. I didn't really know what was there, but I was going to find out. What I did find there was wonderful; a statue of Bavaria (the patroness of, you guessed it, Bavaria) that was so big, I could hardly get all of her in the frame. And there was the Royal Residence--basically the buildings that made up the palace--and the treasury museum. So I have photos of old statues, shiny crown and clocks. How could I go anywhere and not find cool clocks? And lots and lots of old, beautiful German doors. You'd think I'd be sick of them by now; no such luck.

Next stop was Freiburg to go into the Black Forest, but there was so much in Frieburg to see too. And, as I found out, one can't just walk into the Black Forest. I had to go up a mountain. So I brought back pictures of the Black Forest and mountains; sounds good, right?

The last town I went to was Trier, an old German town that still has Roman ruins (which was the big draw for me). But Trier is also a Renaissance town, so I have photos of Roman ruins right next to Renaissance architecture! So cool!

There were a few snags on my trip, crappy weather and some periods of extreme boredom while I waited for my train to get in, but overall, everything was fun. Photos will go up very soon! Some today, but others later.

]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/27738582/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/27738582/ Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:27:05 PDT
Just giving everyone a little update, saying that I'm still alive. Despite my incredibly bad, bad luck, and horrid sense of direction, I've managed not to get lost and end up dead in a ditch. Yay! Though the group of students that I'm with is driving me steadily mad, and that's not good at all.

Thus far in my travels, I've been to Potsdam, Dresden, Weimar, Erfurt and Prague. I have more pictures from everywhere that I want to post, and I'm pretty sure that I'll put myself over three hundred deviations very soon.

I have break coming up in a week, and guess what I'm doing: taking pictures! I'm doing a little photo tour through the South of Germany and I expect to come back with over two thousand photos. I'm going to buy an 8gig memory card, so we'll see if I can fill it up.

I'm going to start in Munich, then go to Freiburg to see the Black Forrest. After that, up to Trier, one of the few German cities that's still playing host to Roman ruins. It always fascinates me to think that the Romans got that far to the North.

I'll post another update journal after my break (along with a hundred new photos). 'Til then!

]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/27369094/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/27369094/ Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:32:56 PDT
After a month, I've finally found it! Sweet, sugar-filled, twenty-three flavors of goodness, at last we are reunited. I'm pretty sure that's the longest I've ever gone without the Dr. at my side. Okay, on to my point:

As it turns out, my computer cord is not as broken as I thought it was. Zven just decided to switch himself from power saver to optimal power mode, which made my cord/converter box overheat, and everything was kaputt. Now that he is back in power saver mode, everything works just fine again. So now that that's all taken care of, I can get back to business as usual.

That was pretty much the reason for this journal entry, besides the fact that I HAVE DR. PEPPER!

]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/27204673/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/27204673/ Mon, 14 Sep 2009 07:17:30 PDT
I know that this isn't the best news, but it needed to be said.

On a better note: I started my language class at the beginning of last week. By some reason unknown to even the gods themselves, I ended up in a class that was higher than the absolute beginner level, but it isn't all bad. I actually understand a good portion of what's going on and I am learning new things, so I guess I'd be bored in the beginner class. I'm also happy to say that for the first time, I understand what the automated voice on the U-Bahn has been saying to us for the past three weeks, so that's good.

All-in-all, no major problems yet. I know the cord thing seems dire, but it's not. Only minor inconvieniences that need to be solved. Oh, and one of the other students in my group found an ''American Diner'' owned by two Americans. And guess what? They have Dr. Pepper! I still need to go see for myself, but things are looking up.

Hopefully, I'll find a new cord sometime this week and be up and running again.

]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/26989242/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/26989242/ Thu, 03 Sep 2009 02:38:11 PDT
The only sort of bad things I have encountered thus far are no one knowing what the hell Dr. Pepper is, everyone being too paranoid about their wireless internet connections and having them so secure I can't steal WiFi, when I do get internet, Zven decides to use the German Google, and finally: the German keyboard really screwing me up. Since the Dr. Pepper problem is the largest one thus far, I'm pretty confident when I say that everything is highly awesome.

There are some people in the group that I'd rather be without, but I don't want to put that on the cons list, because that would just kill my buzz of finally being in Germany.

We're going to Dresden this weekend, which should be very fun.

Sorry this journal isn't very in-depth, but I'm just popping on quickly to assure everyone that I'm not dead. I made it safely and I'm loving it!

That's all for now, auf Weidersehn!

]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/26741609/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/26741609/ Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:37:41 PDT

Don't know when I'll have a chance to post photos, but be sure that I will be putting up some great photos as soon as I can.

So, just going to say fare-well! I'll be back in December... try not to have a civil war while I'm gone.

]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/26431509/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/26431509/ Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:07:19 PDT
I've always loved the Victorian era of fashion and saw the only draw back as a lack of technology, but Steampunk takes that into account! So I found a community on LiveJournal and asked around a bit; before I went to bed, I checked out clothing I already owned and found quite a few things that can be easily molded to fit the style, like my favorite pair of buckle boots.

Someone on the LJ community suggested thrift stores, and my friend and I went to Good Will and Salvation Army today and totally scored. I found a great pair of shoes that look straight out of the 1890's, an awesome vintage shirt, a bronze hair clip, a brown leather bag with bronze buttons and fastenings, and this great, old suit jacket. I still need to find tips on how to make the outfit more Steamy, but I think I'm off to a good start. I was also looking for a brown vest and maybe a top hat, but I got some pretty good stuff; still on the look out for a good pair of goggles, too. All in all, I'm very happy.

]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/26298173/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/26298173/ Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:05:57 PDT
I only want three file folders: documents, pictures and music. I could even live without the music because I have the majority of that backed up somewhere, but my documents and my photos... losing those would be the worst thing ever.

So what am I doing now? (Besides fighting complete and total panic.) I am thinking negativly. This isn't just because I'm a pessimist and I will be less heart broken when they can't save anything, it's because I'm really banking on these new super powers I've found. When ever I think that something won't happen, it does, usually just a few minutes after I proclaim that it won't. I've only seen this work a hand full of times, so it's not tested as throughly as I'd like, but I have to go with it.

And to those who think I'm delusional: I'm a photographer and a writer, losing my entire life's body of work would pretty much kill my soul forever, so just let me have my delusion. It's much better than what I'm facing.

]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/24691196/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/24691196/ Sun, 10 May 2009 17:29:27 PDT

Now I have Viktor, my Cube; Roger and Hunter, my mp3 players; Zven, my laptop; John, my printer; Bruce, my camera; Clifton, my cell phone; and Violet, my mouse. Coincidentally, my mouse is my only female and she's the only one that hates me. As soon as I get a new mouse, I'm making damn sure he's a guy.

So I just wanted to welcome Viktor to my family of electronics. I'm sure I'll love him just like I love the rest... except Violet.

]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/24610122/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/24610122/ Tue, 05 May 2009 21:46:28 PDT
One of my non-friends posted one of those pictures were you tag your friends with each label; the cute one, the funny one, the loud one, things like that. She tagged me as "the attention hog." First off, it made me mad because I'm not even friends with her (a very lame statement, I know, but I have a point). Don't get me wrong, whenever I see her, I'm remotely civil, sometimes not so much, but generally.

Secondly, it made me mad because I know she did it to be bitchy because that's just the kind of person she is. My other friend tagged me in one of those things as "the arrogant one" but he was doing it to be funny, so that didn't make me mad. This girl was just being rude.

Thirdly, it made me mad because when I contested it (which I never should've done in the first place) everyone else chimed in and agreed with her. These were people that, though they are my friends, I haven't seen them much this year because of our class schedules, so I thought that was a bit out of line. Then, the girl who posted the picture in the first place said something along the lines of: "you don't understand sarcasm. If there was "the stupid one," we know who that would be." And then she added: "and I don't mean the stupid one would be (name), or (name)." Who were the other two people in the conversation, leaving only me that she was calling stupid.

So, based on this, I have a question: how exactly does one discern sarcasm from type on a screen that has no inflection or conversation markers to denote that it is indeed sarcasm? If anyone has an answer, I'd love to hear it.

Now, this event is just the latest in a line of annoyances of the same nature, and these annoyances led me to my epiphany.

As I can tell, the first in this line of annoyances was when one of my sort-of friends insisted that if I did not get the "humor" of Demetri Martin, I was not a true nerd. There were a few more arguments of this same nature, questioning whether I was a nerd or a dork or a geek or whatever. Over Easter break, my best friend called me a non-girl because I don't like wearing dresses. Last Friday, that same sort-of friend said that I wasn't a real gamer. Finally, these annoyances culminated in tonight's event. What do all these items have in common? They were all attempts to give me, or take away, a label. So, looking back at all of this, I have decided: I'm DONE with labels.

I'm tired of people trying to force me into whatever shape makes them comfortable, or whatever makes me less threatening. I admit, I label others quite frequently, but I'm done with that too; I'm even done labeling myself. I don't think I can properly express how done I am with people who try to tell me who or what I am, because last time I checked, I'm the one who knows me the best.

That was my epiphany: I'm not going to label people anymore. It puts people into a mold and no one should be forced into a mold. I'm sorry for my past trespasses when I did commit this offense, and I'm turning over a new leaf.

And to those of you who got through this journal, congrats and goodnight.

]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/22614044/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/22614044/ Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:39:04 PST
When I was at lunch, I was talking with my friends about study abroad and asking where the office was because I was thinking of going to England. My friend Shannon told me where it was and said I could really go anywhere, even Germany (she said this because she knows that I'm eventually hoping to immigrate to Germany).

So I made a mental note to stop by the study abroad office on Monday and went back to my room. I was very set on going to England because I don't have enough confidence in my German at this point to trust my ability to get around. I sat down at my computer and went to facebook, and what happens? The log in page loaded in German. No lie. I looked up and checked the address and saw that it was complete with the .de ending.

At first I thought nothing of it, just a glitch. But then as I sat there listening to my music, I realized what song had been playing when the log in page came up: Coldplay's Warning Sign. When the Universe sends me a sign, I listen to it, and right now, the Universe is sounding sirens and setting off fireworks to get my attention.

So now it's settled: when I talk to the study abroad coordinator, I'm going to ask her about going to Germany.

]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/18712757/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/18712757/ Sat, 07 Jun 2008 11:10:28 PDT
I went to Best Buy to get a new one, this one has two gigs of space so he's twice the size of Roger. Also, this new one is red, which makes me happy, but I still feel bad. As I was waiting in line to pay, I had this overwhelming feeling that I was cheating on my mp3 player; it was a strange feeling. Anyways, my new mp3 player is named Hunter, a name which he did not give up willingly. I remember when I first got Roger, I opened the package and looked at him and the first thing that popped into my mind was Roger. This one, I had to sit there for about an hour before his name came to me. People say that change is good, but I still feel like I'm cheating on Roger, like I need a scarlet letter 'A' on my shirt. Oh well, hopefully it'll pass.

So now it's time to update my devious info: mp3 player of choice, Roger... and his brother, Hunter.

]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/16949062/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/16949062/ Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:04:03 PST
I recently had a small four-day break from school and I decided to go home. The instant I get home, to a place without math class, I start writing this absolutely amazing story, which I think is one of my best pieces since I left high school. I pumped out twenty-three pages in three days; not my personal record, but still great. I get back to school, go to math class and then the wheels come to a grinding halt. I opened the document almost an hour ago and just stared at it... I have no idea what to write next and it's all math class' fault! I can't write anything! If you look at the beginning of the journal entry, you will see that is a very true statement.

So, when asked why I don't like math, I will no longer use that standard, clichéd responce of "I'm an artist: I don't do math." No, my new answer will be: "Math forces me to use the wrong side of my brain and all but shuts down my creative processes."

Now, this is not me looking for suggestions on my story; I already know what I'm going to do, I just need to get my head away from numbers and back into something creative. This whole rant is just that- a rant. I think I feel better now, so I'll try to write again. Thank you and good night.

]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/15679644/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/15679644/ Mon, 26 Nov 2007 13:31:48 PST Tattotte and apparently I've been featured! Please check it out; it's two over and three down.

[link]

One of the best birthday presents ever.

]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/15581857/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/15581857/ Mon, 19 Nov 2007 19:20:01 PST
Moral of the story: Yay, I'm legal!

Thank you and good night.

]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/14309333/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/14309333/ Thu, 23 Aug 2007 19:25:19 PDT I will miss everyone soooo much! Not my parents, but everyone else. I'll try to come back regularly enough, but it'll be on weekends, so I won't see my friends that are still in high school.

Keys! You have to tell me what block and day French IV is on, so I can come visit. I have a whole month for Winter break, so I can stop into school a few times. And Ryan, you have to tell me when you, Keys, Alysia, Cait and Kim have lunch, so I can stop in and see you.

To my high school friends: I hope I see you again, and I will miss you very much.

To my karate friends: Although you will never read this, I'll miss you guys too. But I'll try to come back very regularly, or else the Keisers will be very sad.

To my cat: I love you so much. I made my mother promise not to give you away in my absence, and I promise to visit. And I will bring Drake, your favorite toy.

To all: Now that I've finished typing out what sounds kind of like a suicide note, I will say good night, because I have to go to bed and get up early tomorrow. Remember me...



]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/11694728/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/11694728/ Mon, 05 Feb 2007 09:02:41 PST
1. My photo teacher didn't like half of the pictures in my portfolio, and she usually knows what the Scholastic people like.

and

2. Because I've been taking pictures for the sake of art since September, and I got a Gold Key!

My teacher told me about all of this like a week ago, but the awards ceremony was yesterday, so that's why I'm posting it. But then again, it's also because I'm bored.



]]> ~persistenceofmemory http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/10497372/ http://persistenceofmemory.deviantart.com/journal/10497372/ Tue, 24 Oct 2006 13:04:48 PDT
I went to see the plastic surgeon yesterday. He was nice and his office was in this really old antique house. But I digress. When he started looking at my scar, he said, "Hum, you said this was an auto accident? Well, I think you might have some glass in your scar." Then he felt around that side of my head a bit more, and said that I have another piece of glass in a scar up by my temple. And there's a bump in my cheek, there's another one there too, but that one's too deep for him to get right now.

So this story ends like this, I have to get minor surgery two days after Christmas so I don't miss any school. Sucks, I know, but my boyfriend gets to come over and stay with me the day after. So yay!

That's all I have to say, and I made this a journal entry because it was such a weird thing. According to the plastic surgeon, this is very common in car accidents, but it's still really weird. Okay, I'm done.



]]> ~persistenceofmemory