I'm Melissa. This is where I write things down and share new things. Sometimes I even post cute pictures of cats...
if you're looking for my portfolio,
it can be found here, or by clicking any of the links across the top of this page.
I just moved back to Ohio after living in the central valley of California for almost three years. People still mention that I'm all grown up and keep asking how being an adult is going, but I really don't know what they're referring to.
I'm officially a (self-proclaimed) curator -- OF GIFS. GIF CONNOISSEUR. Check it out. My GIF blog even made it to buzzfeed once.
ONE MORE CHECK OFF MY LIFELONG INTERNET TO-DO LIST.
Albums of note UPCOMING/2011/2010/2009
A list of albums from the year that had staying power. Not a top album list, because I haven't heard every album, so that just seems a bit silly to me -- the whole "of the year" thing... although I suppose in my own mind that's what they are...
THE ARCHIVES
Nostalgia
a place where I keep things that are already memories and store things that are currently in my life that will inevitably become memories. Vague enough?
Vestiges of a Life Soon Forgotten
A photographic series devoted to images taken in and around my apartment where I lived for 3 years in college. I moved out for good in December 2009.
Photobooth Sketches
photobooth documentation of sketches i have done and/or found.
Monthly Self Portrait Series
This was a short-lived project that sometimes shows up without warning again on my feed, but definately cannot be considered an "on-going" thing.
My New California Life
What started as an essay series about my experiences living on the left coast turned into a general account of my life here -- through words, photos and other ephemera.
jef etters tips of the day
Jef Etters was a colleague of mine who gave me life tips on a daily basis via a telephone call from a rotary phone. I would then transcribe the tips and post them here for the benefit of all mankind. He didn't know what tumblr was (nor does he now), but he did want to share all his wisdom with the world. enjoy.
PLEASE NOTE: Jef did finally get free long-distance after 7pm EST and will occasionally call to give me tips to transcribe. Be on the look out, it'll change your life.
ScreenCaptureSeries
Funny and or poignant things I feel the need to share with the world via screen capture. This project carries on with the luck that the internet will continue to bring the lulz. I think the odds are in our favor.
lost in translation.
YOU’RE NOT THE ONLY ONE.
(Source: icatchfoxes)
Once a mid-western girl;
ALWAYS a mid-western girl.
(Source: icatchfoxes)
I have nothing now but praise for my life. I’m not unhappy. I cry a lot because I miss people. They die and I can’t stop them. They leave me and I love them more. … What I dread is the isolation. … There are so many beautiful things in the world which I will have to leave when I die, but I’m ready, I’m ready, I’m ready.
Maurice Sendak on Fresh Air in 2011. [all interviews with Sendak here] (via nprfreshair)
what? this is exactly everything i’ve ever meant to say and didn’t know the words. if you’re gone, i miss you. if i’ve cared about you, i still do, always will and am completely unable to stop. the more time passes, the harder it gets. it’s never easier, and that’s the honest truth. that’s something outside my control, but i’ve accepted this about myself. there are people i never stop wondering about, but they always show back up in some way and that gives me hope, even if it’s just a personality trait of someone else they’ve left behind.
In dreams, emotions are overwhelming.The Science of Sleep (2006)
This statement has been the truest thing for me since early november of last year. I can’t escape the feelings I feel, and when I think I have, they come back when I sleep. The thing that is hardest for me to realize is that most of the time I have no idea what the vaguely terrifying events of my subconscious mean. I’ve been concepting a few new pieces based on a one recurring nightmare and another that is brand new.
I wish I had my own Golden the Ponyboy.
(Source: icatchfoxes)
Know that people are doing the best they can from their level of awareness. Accept people for who they are and always be ready to forgive.
Deepak Chopra (via alexandra-angeline)
(Source: uni-tea)
A man never quits, makes excuses, or points fingers. My dad didn’t teach me any of that, by the way. Cleveland did.
Scott Raab, The Whore of Akron. (via icarntspell)
but really, i love ohio. and i mean love.
The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them — words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they’re brought out. But it’s more than that, isn’t it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. And you may make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you’ve said at all, or why you thought it was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it. That’s the worst, I think.
Stephen King (via abstractnumbers)
REAL TALK.
Good morning?
You’re probably not supposed to drink this much coffee when you’re fighting off a cold, huh?
I say this in light of a recent trip to MoMA’s Abstract Expressionist New York show, during which huge throngs of people were photographing the work, often while barely looking at it. Presumably those pictures would all soon be shared on Flickr and Facebook. There are a lot of warm, fuzzy reasons for sharing, but the most powerful may well be as a means of impressing upon others the value of our own experience. As my MoMA visit and countless other experiences demonstrate though, it’s a shame that we now often sacrifice the value of the experience itself in exchange for its transmission.
You’re Over-Sharing | Art Fag City | The L Magazine - New York City’s Local Event and Arts & Culture Guide (via photographsonthebrain)
i just recently had this kind of feeling overtake me while I was attending a show here in fresno. i want to experience what i’m doing. the problem is i have gotten so used to having something to do with my hands and for not really looking around at all the other spectators. now i don’t know what to do with my idol hands, nor how to stop having the desire to stare around at everyone else’s faces. i somehow feel like i don’t know how to be a proper audience member because I’ve had a camera glued to my face since I was 15. Anymore, I hardly even share the images and they just clog up my hard drive, but I can’t bear the thought of deleting them.
Remember to love your neighbor as you love yourself. And if you hate yourself, then please —just leave your neighbor alone.” — Jon Stewart
(via popestvictor)
