NO.

a. this just completely baffles me.

b. i do not understand how this is an acceptable piece of clothing.

c. $44.00... REALLY?

d. NO.

lunch

i finally found hooters style fried pickles in searcy. dixie cafe has fried pickle spears, but there's something about the fried chips that is so much better.

i've waited a long time for this

i know it's a little hard to see, but this is 'the glass case' where all posters for upcoming and running shows go for the galleries here on campus. and LOOK. my poster is FINALLY in there. FINALLY.

hut

last night was my first session of africa training at HUT(harding university training).
HUT is made up of what is called the 'global village.' is it about 10 square miles of land, with roads/trails cut through to make up the huge village. there is a market on the main road, which has side roads that branch off to go to simulation places such as africa, rural china, latin america, among others. in 'africa', there is a well, a "bathroom facility" (i used trees instead), the beginnings of a church building, and 2 huts, both made out of wooden poles and mud (for lack of a better descriptor) with tin roofs. one hut is the cooking hut- which is round, and contains 2 small stoves, a pile of cooking wear, and a place for the cook to sit. the other hut (about 10 feet away) is a small rectangle, only large enough to squeeze in 20 people uncomfortably... yes. 20 people. in one room. mr. barryman did such an excellent job helping us learn what it would/will be like if we have to go to a village where we don't speak the native language, they speak no english, and there is no translator. mr. barryman lived in kenya for 10 years, so he spoke only kowengen last night, giving us hints with the tones in his voice when we guessed something correctly. after feeding us a traditional african meal (which was pretty good) we were sent to sleep- 10 girls in the tiny hut and the 7 boys in a huge tent. go figure. some where around 3am it began to rain... and i laid awake listening to the rain on the tin roof. it was pretty amazing.
this morning, mr. barryman came back up to 'africa' and woke us up with the horn of his truck, and drove us back down to the main building to have breakfast and church. both were amazing. so was brushing my teeth. : )
what a wonderful experience i've had.

i am eternally grateful to mom and dad for buying me these vasque boots and smartwool socks for africa. i'm pretty sure if i had not had them last night i would have been miserable and my feet would probably have fallen off. the smartwool retains heat up to a certain degree and then begins releasing the heat so my feet never get too warm. and my boots kept my feet dry and comfortable through the rain and the mud. good investments. need more smartwool socks.

first day of the season & relay for tie-dye

today was the first day of scarf season. to open the season, i decided to wear the first scarf i bought in florence.

tonight was relay for life, i walked my part of the relay from 845-930, then tie-dyed a shirt for myself... which turned into "lyn! make me one!!!" SO... 3 hours later, and 20 shirts later, i got to leave. claire and i are sitting and watching some tv before hopping in bed. i have africa training tomorrow. and i am very excited. might just wear one of my new tie-dyed t's.

breakfast & stress relief

today was the first day this semester (keep in mind that we are 2 months in) that i woke up early enough  (on time) to actually fix breakfast and sit down to eat it, rather than my usual grab-and-go (fruit snacks/granola bar/cheese toast&pb crackers).
i made myself 2 scrambled eggs, plopped them onto a piece of dry toast, and gave them a toast friend who had on strawberry jelly, poured a glass of milk, sat down at the table and ate breakfast. amazing.

after spending 2 hours painting and catching odd ends in the studio tonight, i found this huge piece of extra big bubbles bubble wrap... and WENT TO TOWN. i am beyond stressed about my show, so i needed a little relief. that bubble wrap was just the ticket... for about 4 minutes i was completely happy with just plastic, air, and fingers.

YES.

"lyn"

oil on canvas

jessica kimbler smith

florence ring

when my eyes landed on this ring in the san lorenzo market, in the summer of 2008, i thought i would die if i left italy without it... so, i talked the vendor down from the original price of 40 euro, to a lovely 15.

this is the result of buying a ring in the summer... it's huge. and it falls off. constantly. so i have to be aware of my fingers!

story of my life...

upper respiratory, sinus, and bronchial infections. cool.

tuesday night

just hangin out with one of my best ones.