Heart it Races

Oh me, oh my. It is my last night in California. Honestly, I've never been so sad and so happy about one thing in my entire life. I can't believe this awesome summer is coming to an end! I have had to say goodbye to many people and places who that I've come to love and call home; it will be so hard to leave without knowing when I'll come back. Buuut at the same time, I am so excited to go home and see the rest of my family, then head off to school again in a couple weeks! Gah! So many mixed feelings about the whole thing.
I have to say, I am so glad I made the decision to come out here this summer. The internship was, well, perfect: just what I needed for the point I'm at in my education. I met some great friends. I ate some good food. I surfed. All in all, I had an excellent summer. One more early surf tomorrow should be the perfect goodbye to this faraway place I've recently called home. This is me and my friend/housemate for part of the summer Chris Comstock. He is wonderful.

Hotel California

Since I'm so good at keeping this up, here it goes again.
Where do I even start? I've been living in California for almost a month and a half now. I've been working two jobs, both wonderful in their own ways. The paper is good because it's obviously great experience. I'm writing and photographing and getting to know the town. And in a way, I'm figuring out what I want to do in the future with my life. Esteem is good because it's pretty low-stress, and I might have found my calling in folding clothes. No but really, it's good, and I've made some good friends through that job. Plus, I've been able to do some outside research. That is, I am learning to surf! I cannot believe that I have never done this before. Everything about it I love. I love the wetsuit, I love the ocean, I love my surfboard. And catching a wave is just about the best feeling in the world.
Last week I was able to make some friends with the "in-crowd" of town, the fixed-gear bike scene. I'm not going to say much about it here; you're going to have to read the story I'm working on about it.
What's sad is that I have to leave in about a month.

I Might Be Wrong

So I've made it through a full two weeks of living in the Golden State. I've been wicked busy, what with working two jobs and all.

The internship at the Independent is going very well. I've been writing and taking pictures, getting the all-around experience. It was a cool thing to see three of my photos and something I'd written in the paper this week. (The photo on the left is one of the members of Datarock, a concert I shot.) And I am working at Esteem Surf Shop. This is also a funny (and fun) experience. It is very easy and laid back compared to the paper, so it is just what I need. I've met some really cool people and my wardrobe (hopefully) will be ten times (quality, not quantity) what it is now.
So far, it's turning out to be a decent summer. Just let me know when you're coming to visit.

Fountains and Tramways

So I have officially finished my freshman year of college. It is hard to think that this time last year, I was in CLASS at Stevenson High School. Yuck!
And I am off to California in two days. I am so ready. I have no idea what this summer holds for me; I can only hope that it will one of the best of my life.

I cannot imagine that it will be too rough.

from here you can almost see the sea

Hooray. Finals week is upon me.
And I'm just going to say, I'm a little light-headed, so this post may not be the most clear thing I've ever written. (Hopefully not all my posts are like this.)
So, I had Spanish yesterday, which was good... it just consisted of a fifteen-minute conversation, or rather, two seven(ish)-minute conversations, with a partner in front of the teacher. We talked about censorship (first conversation topic) and marriage (second). So it was okay, and I'm glad it's over.
Today, however, was not so okay. I had a final for Spanish Civilization. At first thought, this class sounds alright. You know, okay, I like Spain, I like Spanish, I like civilization/history/culture/etc. This course was a joke. And the final? It kicked my butt. It was just a little ridiculously difficult, that is all.
And on Friday I've got the kicker: ECON! This class was killing me at first, then things got a bit better, and I figured out that if I get an A on the final I will get and A in the class! Which would be amazing obviously, because it is a difficult class.
So, all that said, it is officially the end of my freshman year of college. But, I am holding my wows, holy smokes, no ways, and goodness graciouses until Friday.
OH and happy belated Mothers' Day, Mother.

Random Question of the Day:

How come Catherine does not write in her blog anymore?
(answer to come in 2 months!)
Just kidding, dear reader.
First and foremost, I apologize to the (nearly) ten of you who actually read this. (Hmmm, it is in fact you whom I consider my true friends. Funny.) I do not have a good reason for not writing in a while, besides I feel like I do not have any good thoughts. I mean, I do, but none worth sharing, I suppose. How about this: a couple photos from the last couple weeks. (And a few not from the last couple weeks.)

Ok. Here is the story: as some of you know, this is from my tutoring days with Central Detroit Christian. It's funny because these kids here are kindergartners, and I was used to dealing with 4th, 5th, and 6th graders, who are much larger and MUCH sassier than these cute little kids. I was not used to being so politely asked, "Miss Catherine, will you show me what to do? Please help me, Miss Catherine." I was really thrown off.

Ok, that's it for today. Sorry to get your hopes up. I just saw this one, and it seemed like enough. Those tutoring days, by the way, were some of the best day of my life. Organizations like CDC give me a little hope for the poor poor city of Detroit.

Audience of One

I saw a great film tonight: "Audience of One."
Tonight was the opening night of True/False Film Festival here in Columbia, MO, and I got a free ticket offer from a friend. So I was like, "Hey, free ticket. Why not." And boy am I glad I did not miss out on tonight's feature.
"Audience of One" is a film by Michael Jacobs, about a Pentecostal pastor in San Fransisco who feels he was called by God to make a Sci-Fi movie. After first hearing a brief synopsis such as this, you may be thinking, as I did, "Okay what else is there to it?" But that is just it. There is not much more to the story than this. The fact is, the pastor, his family, and members of his congregation who agree to make the movie with him are just so complex and CRAZY that you do not need more to the story. I'm not kidding. The movie starts right off with the idea for the film the pastor wants to make, and immediately the audience can see that it is ridiculous. And, without giving too much of the movie away, it continues and gets more and more ridiculous as it goes along. Towards the end, there is a scene at the church where the pastor is explaining a list of eight goals of the film company that they've started. And, just to give you a taste of the insanity, one of the goals is: "Produce 27 films per year." Because that's possible.
After the showing, no other than Michael Jacobs gets on stage to do a little Q & A with the audience. It was fascinating, and even refreshing, to hear his side of the story. He seemed very down to earth and pretty chill. And even though this was his first film, he seemed to know what he was doing; it was very well made. I was impressed by the position he took when it came to the possibility of exploiting these people and their religion. As one member of the audience said, it would have been so easy to take "cheap shots" and portray these characters in such a negative way. But this was not Jacobs' purpose, and I have a lot of respect for that.
Of course, I recommend this movie, but that is kind of impossible, seeing as it's not out there yet. Here is the trailer though, and be on the lookout for it. It's quite the piece of work.