...because I can't figure out how to post more than 5 at a time. Whatev.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Engagement Photos
So far, the highlights of our wedding planning experience have been:
1. "Trying out" the playlist in the living room in our jammies,
2. Baking cakes with my mom to "sample" everything,
3. Running around San Francisco for our engagement photos.
Now, I don't know if y'all have heard of the incredibly talented Emily Perello of Emily Takes Photos. But lemme tell ya, she's amazing. A-MA-zing. Neither E or myself is particularly photogenic (before this, most of our photos involved tongues sticking out and/ or crossed eyes) but Emily somehow worked with it. She captured our goofy side. Our sentimental side. Our wannabe-cool side. Our classic, sappy, "Let's-show-this-one-to-the-future-kids" side.
Words, obviously, fail me here. But for those of you who DON'T know me, and thought maybe we were some super-camera-friendly couple, let me assure you, that is not the case. I myself have a hard time "trusting" photo shoots because I just think, "Well, yeah, they're a gorgeous couple, and they're comfortable with a camera in their face."
But then I saw ours. We are NOT that couple. We are both significantly more comfortable BEHIND the lens than in front of it.
So, that's the disclaimer. But here's Emily, convincing you otherwise, proving that (somehow!) she can pull out the best of what's in us, while still letting the photos reflect who we really, truly are. *Sigh*
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Weddings and Stories
Okay, this might be a little English-major-y, but let me give you some background on the "workshop."
If you attend a graduate writing program (whether it be MA, MFA, whatever) you will inevitably come across a class called the "Workshop." What that means is, each of the 12 or so students will write stories, swap copies (so everyone reads everyone else's work), and then come to class prepared to discuss the stories. The weird part is that (in most of my workshops, anyway) the author of the piece being critiqued can't talk until the end. No questions, no explanations, no nothing. The idea is that it provides the writer the opportunity to see how the work will be received by a broad audience (even though "broad" still refers to a graduate English program, whatever), and that since you can't respond to readers' questions or commments once something is published, this process is a simulation of "what's to come."
So, anyway. That's the background. The other thing you do in graduate work that's different from undergrad is you get to ask the BIG questions. Like, "Why do we write." "Why do we read." You also get to completely disregard rules of punctuation, if you like. Which makes questions like, "What makes writing good" really fun to ask.
Occasionally, we get in these philosophical/ theoretical discussions (like, debating over happy vs. sad endings, likeable vs. unlikeable characters) and we'll go around in circles for a while, until the professor steps in. The professor I'm referring to (in this particular episode) had her work published in "The Best Short Stories of the Century," so, yeah, she knows her stuff.
Last week, we read a story written by one of the girls in the class. And there was something about it that we couldn't put our fingers on, I mean it was beautiful and the characters were there and the premise was good, but for some reason, it just BORED us ALL. We couldn't figure it out. Everything we'd been taught to pay attention to (character, plot, tension, etc) was there, but the "spark" was missing. And we had no idea why.
Finally Pam (the professor) stepped in. She said,
"Right now, the problem is that everything is too perfect. Everything fits too nicely together, too cleanly stacked in little boxes. Every other page, the image repeats, so perfectly that we're bored by it. Good stories are messy. Good stories don't fit in little rows or boxes. The best fiction comes from the inexplicable, the dirty details, because that's what makes us HUMAN. Characters are not simply nice or mean or smart or dumb. They are all those things at once, maybe some traits are more prominent than others, but they're not clean and simple. They're messy and complicated. Because that's life, and that's what we love to read about. Life."
Dun da da DUN!!
And, because this is how I think lately, I applied this little bit of wisdom to the wedding. Because, after the first typo on our "wedding website," I learned that we were NOT going to have a perfect wedding. We'll have an amazing one, but it's not going to be perfect. My manicure will chip, his bout will wilt, we might knock the cake over with some characteristically energetic dancing.
But you know what? I don't WANT a perfect wedding. I don't believe they exist, anyway. Unless, like Pam's theory, they exist, but they're boring. Who wants that?
If you attend a graduate writing program (whether it be MA, MFA, whatever) you will inevitably come across a class called the "Workshop." What that means is, each of the 12 or so students will write stories, swap copies (so everyone reads everyone else's work), and then come to class prepared to discuss the stories. The weird part is that (in most of my workshops, anyway) the author of the piece being critiqued can't talk until the end. No questions, no explanations, no nothing. The idea is that it provides the writer the opportunity to see how the work will be received by a broad audience (even though "broad" still refers to a graduate English program, whatever), and that since you can't respond to readers' questions or commments once something is published, this process is a simulation of "what's to come."
So, anyway. That's the background. The other thing you do in graduate work that's different from undergrad is you get to ask the BIG questions. Like, "Why do we write." "Why do we read." You also get to completely disregard rules of punctuation, if you like. Which makes questions like, "What makes writing good" really fun to ask.
Occasionally, we get in these philosophical/ theoretical discussions (like, debating over happy vs. sad endings, likeable vs. unlikeable characters) and we'll go around in circles for a while, until the professor steps in. The professor I'm referring to (in this particular episode) had her work published in "The Best Short Stories of the Century," so, yeah, she knows her stuff.
Last week, we read a story written by one of the girls in the class. And there was something about it that we couldn't put our fingers on, I mean it was beautiful and the characters were there and the premise was good, but for some reason, it just BORED us ALL. We couldn't figure it out. Everything we'd been taught to pay attention to (character, plot, tension, etc) was there, but the "spark" was missing. And we had no idea why.
Finally Pam (the professor) stepped in. She said,
"Right now, the problem is that everything is too perfect. Everything fits too nicely together, too cleanly stacked in little boxes. Every other page, the image repeats, so perfectly that we're bored by it. Good stories are messy. Good stories don't fit in little rows or boxes. The best fiction comes from the inexplicable, the dirty details, because that's what makes us HUMAN. Characters are not simply nice or mean or smart or dumb. They are all those things at once, maybe some traits are more prominent than others, but they're not clean and simple. They're messy and complicated. Because that's life, and that's what we love to read about. Life."
Dun da da DUN!!
And, because this is how I think lately, I applied this little bit of wisdom to the wedding. Because, after the first typo on our "wedding website," I learned that we were NOT going to have a perfect wedding. We'll have an amazing one, but it's not going to be perfect. My manicure will chip, his bout will wilt, we might knock the cake over with some characteristically energetic dancing.
But you know what? I don't WANT a perfect wedding. I don't believe they exist, anyway. Unless, like Pam's theory, they exist, but they're boring. Who wants that?
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Cred
I should probably say where my images come from. Those last two were of Eileen and Matthew's wedding today, as shot by Heather Glison of One Love Photo.
'Tis all.
Oh, except Mom and I will probably be getting a dress today. Which will be a huge relief. But other than that, nothing too wedding-y going on today. My story is being workshopped today in class, so I am, of course, nervous to the point of stupidity. I just sit there and sweat the whole time.
So that's why I'm just saying, "Oh, by the way, I'll probably get my dress today, and last night I wrote my vows."
After class, maybe I'll gush a little. Grad school + engagement don't always mix.
But happy Thursday! Tomorrow I get to go home and see my booooooooy!!!
'Tis all.
Oh, except Mom and I will probably be getting a dress today. Which will be a huge relief. But other than that, nothing too wedding-y going on today. My story is being workshopped today in class, so I am, of course, nervous to the point of stupidity. I just sit there and sweat the whole time.
So that's why I'm just saying, "Oh, by the way, I'll probably get my dress today, and last night I wrote my vows."
After class, maybe I'll gush a little. Grad school + engagement don't always mix.
But happy Thursday! Tomorrow I get to go home and see my booooooooy!!!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Wednesday Thoughts
Wednesdays are my lazy days. No work, usually no class, it's a day for errands, for taking my niece to Jamba Juice, meeting my sister for coffee, for catching up on the reading that I need to do, but with my mom, in the backyard.
Aaaaah, Wednesdays.
It seems too luxurious to have a day like this in grad school. And 3.5 months away from a wedding. So I'd like to turn this into wedding-project day, too. The latest project: making a flower tree.
Like those up there.
Unfortunately, Wednesdays always make me feel like I should be working out. I mean, seriously working out. I hate to ask, but how many of you work/ worked/ will work out more before your wedding. I am very anti-crazy-bride-crash-diets, but what about the 30-90 day running/ yoga stint. What do you guys think?
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Still Playing
Okay, I think I've figured out how to post multiple images. And I've illustrated our "progress" to date: the STD madness, the bookmarks (that will serve as escort cards, and possibly favors, though E is quite fed up with punching all those little holes. I told him he is welcome to learn calligraphy if he would prefer to finish the 80 other name-doily-things... he passed).
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