Heartless Single Ladies

I've been meaning to do this post for so long but haven't been able to convert my VOB files from the DVD to any type of file recognized by Quicktime.
But finally I have! HandBrake ftw!

So last Saturday was The Goods at TCNJ!

The Goods is an all-day arts festival hosted by ink, the creative writing organization on campus, of which I am the secretary.

This year, we brought poet Matthew Rohrer.

I had to pick him up from the train station and was super nervous. I actually read this guy's books of poetry and now I'd be driving him to my school. I felt like saying, "I love 'Credo' and 'Childhood Stories'!" (two of his poems) but instead we just talked about Fleetwood Mac most of the time.

He was great and I recommend him to any fans of contemporary poetry.

Oh, and before Mr. Rohrer took the stage, I performed with my band José Jaime and the Best Valentine's Day Ever.

Our previous performances have included "See You Again" by Miley Cyrus, "Hot In Herre" by Nelly and "Womanizer" by Britney Spears.

So here are the videos of this semester's performances (watch with volume turned off for maximum pleasure).

First, we did a cover of one of my favorite Kanye West songs, "Heartless."
(For the dedication, just know that Jenna Mae is one of my good friends who is really mean to me.)



And then we had a little more fun with "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)."



I learned the lyrics to the bridge that morning, so I forgot them. Oops!

And why do I say "Umm" so much?! I need to take a public speaking class!

PRTCNJ: Challenge 4 Results

The votes are in and one of the contestants must say goodbye.

Christie, Richard Parker, Enrico, Yaris and Delisa gathered at the runway to hear the results.

Because there are only 5 contestants remaining, results were read for all contestants.

Christie had the model Consuela. Her dress was applauded for being elegant and classic. The necklace was seen as a creative use of the q-tip. As for the cotton ball, some liked it while others said it's Jackie Kennedy style took away from the bridal feel. However, judges thought her dress didn't push any boundaries and was dull, boring, stupid, safe and plain.

Richard Parker had the model Shaquandatifah. His design was called sexy in the front and classy, and some judges thought the boa was surprisingly complementary to the dress. However, others said the back fails short, looks like an apron, and one judge called the dress gross.

Enrico had the model Zoloft. The dress was called nice and warm, chic, dramatic and one judge commented that they'd 'never seen anything so perfect.' Innovate use of materials created a nice volume and texture for some judges, while others thought the material made her look big and was not neat.

Yaris had the model Chloe. Yaris' wedding gown was compared to a giant meringue; the layers created drama, giving the dress a whipped creamy dreamy and pure fantasy appeal. The beautiful dress was created for a princess. However, many asked: "WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THE VEIL??" Judges were baffled by the length of the veil and wished a more delicate pattern was used. One judge even commented, "Without the veil, this dress would have been my favorite, but I just can't give my first place vote to a designer who draped a snowflake of toilet paper over their model."

It seemed that the judges were torn in this challenge. This indecision was reflected in the scores, which were very scattered. Every contestant got both negative and positive votes, and some of the contestants who were one judge's #1 choice were another judge's bottom choice.

Richard Parker had immunity and was safe.

Christie was also declared safe and ran backstage to discuss the results thus far with Richard Parker.

On stage, the winner was revealed.

Yaris won her second Project Runway: TCNJ challenge! (previously won for Challenge 2: Duct, Duct, Grey Goose!)

And the loser of Challenge 4: Flushing Bride was....

After crying, Delisa said goodbye to the remaining contestants and walked outside and into the woods, looking for comfort that only Mother Nature can provide.

One challenge left until we have our top 3!!!
Tune in next week for Challenge 5, the final challenge before we reach the final runway show.

Notas al Azar II

1. I've read 12 books this semester and am currently working on book 13. I think that's the most I've read in one semester so far! My favorites have been Toni Morrison's Beloved and The Bluest Eye, Louise Edrich's Love Medicine and of course William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. I probably know the most about The Bluest Eye since I wrote TWO papers on it. I actually don't have a least favorite book.... I happen to like just about everything I read.

I also really enjoyed The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Junot Diaz, the Pultizer-Prize winning author of the book, came to my campus and signed my book! And he was VERY nice and down to earth. Here's a picture of him signing my friend Kristen's book.

2. Have I mentioned here that I'm living in an off-campus house next semester? I'm excited to live in an actual house (with a kitchen and free parking!) rather than a dorm. I do like being able to walk to class, but I guess it won't be a big problem driving to campus since the house is only 6 minutes away. And I'm not excited about paying rent every month.... However, at TCNJ, living on campus comes to over $900 a month whereas off-campus rent is $350 a month. Much better deal.

3. The day before Easter, my mother and I were watching some show that mentioned Stevie Nicks. I told my mother that I always felt like I should listen to Stevie and thought I would like her. My mother agreed.

So I started with her debut CD Bella Donna which I currently am loving thoroughly. I also downloaded Rumours, perhaps the most famous Fleetwood Mac CD which I am also currently loving thoroughly. I'm pretty sure "The Chain" is one of the best songs I've ever heard.

I find my newfound love for Stevie/Fleetwood kind of random since I usually don't like listening to 'old' music. But this is too good to resist. I've also just started listening to Stevie's The Wild Heart and Fleetwood Mac's Fleetwood Mac (1975).

My favorite tracks from Bella Donna are "Bella Donna," "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," "Edge of Seventeen," and "Kind of Woman."
My favorite tracks from Rumours are "The Chain," "Dreams," "Go Your Own Way," and "Gold Dust Woman."

4. I'm seeing James Morrison tomorrow!!! NEXT WEEK!

I LOVED his first CD Undiscovered when I first heard it a couple years ago. He recently released his second CD Songs For You, Truths For Me and I was surprised to find that it's even better than his first CD. I've been dying to see him but he's from the UK and doesn't tour America very often. James is my favorite male artist and I am so excited to finally see him live.

And I think it's cool that I first heard James when his song "Wonderful World" used to come on in Rite Aid where I used to work. My favorite artist EVER is Leona Naess, and I also first heard her in Rite Aid! And come to think of it, Fleetwood Mac also played in Rite Aid a lot... Wow. I guess I like adult contemporary since that's the station we had to play.

5. This is by far the creepiest video I have ever seen.

Animal City

Last Friday I hopped a train to New York City.

I was going to NYC to meet Tam, one of my faithful blog readers and kindest ladies I know and her daughter Kristen.

I walked from Penn Station to Central Park (really wasn't that bad) and texted Tam, telling her I was at the fountain. She told me she was too.

But I didn't see her..... So she said "Come to the Apple elevator." So I crossed the street and looked all around the Apple elevator.

But I still didn't see her.... Well, finally we found each other and headed into the park. We were going to visit the Central Park Zoo!

But Tam saw the long line and wasn't having any of that. So we got lunch at this cafe, where Tam and I bonded over our love of Snapple and gossiped about the other Dancing Monkeys of Puntabuland.

After lunch, we headed back to the zoo and the line was much shorter. There were so many kids going into the park! Like this cute one:

Is it creepy that I took a picture of a stranger?

So we eventually got into the zoo. First, we went to the Tropic Zone.

There were a lot of birds in this section.

There was also a tortoise

and some snakes

and some other kind of reptile

and a sleeping lemur!

and best of all, MONKEYS!

Here's a sweet shot of a monkey teleporting to the branch.

It was feeding time in the monkey cage.

It was VERY HOT in the Tropic Zone, and at first I thought that the zoo people decided to make it hot so that we could feel what it's like in the tropics. So I complained to Tam, "Why did they make this room so hot?? Who wants to sit around in a hot room? What an awful idea!!" And she was like, "Umm... I think the animals need it to be this temperature...." and wondered how I got into college.

After leaving the Tropic Zone, we walked around outside and saw some swimming birds.

and pigeons

and turtles, all lined up on a log.

We also saw a duck

and we tried to see the Red Pandas, but they were sleeping in the trees and it was hard to see them.

The snow monkeys were also sleeping

as were the polar bears.

What lazy zoo animals!!

We did see a sea lion

who was obviously a camera whore as he snuck into every picture I tried to take of this bird.

Then we went to the penguin house!

It was also feeding time here.

We also saw some puffins.

and a duck was randomly swimming with the puffins.

Outside, we saw the snow monkeys that weren't sleeping: a baby monkey and its guardian.

Tam and I sat on a bench because we were tired of walking around for a photo op.

We then went to the petting zoo!
The entrance to the petting zoo has this carving above it of a young boy being attacked by the animals.

We saw some birds again (including a peacock)

and bunnies (and some kid who was sticking his arm in their habitat, trying to touch them).

This is how I look with bunny ears.

Then we went to see the animals we could actually pet!

I don't know what kind of animal is in the above picture, but I thought it looked really cool.

I fed a cow!

And in another pen, we saw some goats.

I think this last one is pretty and wise looking. Tam doesn't.

Then we saw one of my favorite animals: pigs!!

We finished our zoo tour and sat on a rock in Central Park.

And finally, we walked around Central Park

and took pictures of strangers.... It was great!

I had a great time in NYC and I thought seeing all the animals was really cool! Tam and Kristen are wonderful and I hope I see them again soon.

And did I mention that Tam got me gifts?

She got me a shirt (in the right size and my favorite color!) and soft maple sugar. Mmmm.
(and note that I still haven't changed my Puntabulous calendar to April! OK, just did it.)

Thanks for meeting with me Tam!
Now who do I meet next....