You can't have the sacred without the profane

i am so inspired by chris burden.

he spent a large part of the 1970's committing acts of violence and torture upon himself so as to portray the meaning of art through pushing the boundaries far past what is comfortable.

"His works are violence about violence. But more directly, his work forces viewers to question their passivity in response to violence. By confronting viewers with his life threatening and sensational performances Burden suggested that the public was becoming increasingly desensitized to violence. The exceedingly high-risk body works crafted by Chris Burden are a means of working through ideas, while attracting attention to the violence in our culture and the media, which seems to be in command of all it delivers."

Polar bears on american bandstand

so.. i have a newfound obsession with completely useless trivia. it's amazing. these are the most interesting i've come across

• The first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin in WW2 killed the only Elephant in the Berlin Zoo.
  
• Pablo Picasso was born dead. His midwife left him on a table. Picasso's uncle brought him to life with a lung full of cigar smoke.
  
• Dr. Seuss wrote "Green Eggs and Ham" after his editor dared him to write a book using fewer than 50 different words.
  
• 'Stewardesses' is the longest word that can be typed with only the left hand
  
• By federal law, for a noodle to actually be a noodle it must have 5.5 percent egg solids in it, otherwise it cannot be called a noodle.
  
• Bananas contain a natural chemical which can make a person happy. This same chemical is also found in Prozac.
  
• Antarctica is a desert.
  
• Until the 1960s men with long hair were not allowed to enter Disneyland.
  
• More than 2500 left handed people are killed every year from using right handed products.
  
• Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants.
  
• The chances of you dying on the way to get your lottery ticket is greater than your chances of winning.
  
• In New York City, approximately 1,600 people are bitten by other humans annually.
  
• In Natoma, Kansas, it's illegal to throw knives at men wearing striped suits.
  
• In Alaska it is illegal to look at a moose from the window of an aeroplane or any other flying vehicle
  
• Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.
  
• Adolf Hitler was voted TIME magazine's Man of the Year, for 1938
  

...As we follow the lights

i'm so obsessed with this song right now. i completely found it by accident on youtube when i was looking for another song. i'm really not a lights fan ever since i saw her this summer at warped tour... but this song won't get out of my head.

Your beautiful bones

in the infinite list that is my favourite musical artists, this band definitely holds a high spot. not only are they Canadian, but their lyrics are some of the best i've heard, ever. also, their album Welcome to the Night Sky is one of those very few discs that i can listen to from start to finish on repeat and love every second of it.

ladies and gentlemen, i present to you, Wintersleep. i highly suggest you listen to their music.

'Cause i mean it right now, let me see your insides

dear lush,
i love you.. and the fact that you are now located within a 15 minute walking distance from my place of residence. Please note that you will be seeing quite a lot of me during the next 4 years.

love always,
steph

By morning, you'll be gone

SO OLD.
these photos date back to december 2007. they were taken for a comm tech assignment in grade 11 where we had to design our own photography portfolio website. though i haven't the slightest idea as to what happened to my website, these photos resurfaced after almost 2 years. that class is what really got me into photography. it's weird that i now miss that class when i hated it with every fibre of my being when i was in it. i wish i had taken advantage of that studio while i was pretty much living in that room for the past 2 years. haha almeida would be proud.

i don't even remember which camera i used for these.





model: Antionette






model: Nicole

But if you could just write me out

i don't know why i still haven't seen this movie. it has probably one of the best trailers i've ever seen. seriously, any movie that is produced by tim burton, has coheed and cambria on its soundtrack, and has something to do with post-apocalypse is a film that will definitely be damn close to perfection.

this post is dedicated to the great lina tran. C:

I've been waiting for this silence all night long

this year, specifically this summer, was definitely one of the best as far as live music is concerned. luckily i was able to snag tickets to see a bunch of artists this summer including metric, the stills, the arkells, no doubt, billy talent, afi, alexisonfire (x2), blink 182, ill scarlett, bedouin soundclash, thunderheist, britney spears and wayy too many more to mention.

the only thing that could have made this year better for music (apart from me somehow miraculously winning tickets to see pearl jam or the tragically hip) would be for the Silversun Pickups to finally quit doing shows in the fucking praries and move to Toronto, or better yet, Ottawa.

and then it happened.

yes, that's right. the silversun pickups are coming to Ottawa... October 14. It will be incredible. In fact, it will probably surpass the realms of incredibility. i am literally more excited for this concert than any other show i've been to or will go to all year.

if you haven't heard them yet, you're really missing out. their unique brand of shoe-gazed rock paired with eclectic lyrics is honestly amazing.

kick off your shoes and relax your socks

fuck second language teaching. i should probably become a chef haha.

Don't tell me what the poets are doing, those Himalayas of the mind

messing around
just some photos from a bored day. i <3 my rebel xsi.

For every speck of tile there's a thousand more

plaaaylist.
i've been pretty obsessed with these songs lately. you should definitely listen to all of them if you haven't already.

Everybody, everybody just wanna fall in love

yes, i realize these quizes are incredibly pathetic and rather childish. but, i guess the myspace in me will never die haha
and i'm so bored i'll do anything to procrastinate reading in French.

What is the nearest red object to you?
textbook: Principles of Language Learning and Teaching

What is the title of the nearest book to you?
Introduction à la linguistique contemporaine

What were you doing 3 hours ago?
went to the library in the attempt to find my french books which, apparently, do not exist

Have you ever had a pet goldfish?
yes, several times

What year did you graduate 8th grade?
2005

Where was your facebook display photo taken?
in my new room. brooks residence at ottawa u

Were you single six months ago?
indeed

What were you doing at 10 this morning?
dead asleep

Who were the last three people to call you and what did they want?
anna- to meet up
george- to say that he got home alive
mel, em, and adge- because they were eating sushi without me in Toronto

Have you ever been on a basketball team?
surprisingly, yes. LMFAO, fail.

Where was the last place you went that was more than 30 minutes away?
oh, i don't know.. ottawa?

What is your dad's middle name?
he doesn't have one

What was the last movie you saw in theaters?
don't even remember. i think it was my sister's keeper. horrible movie.

What was the last thing that made you really excited?
talking to my best friend adriana nicole rizzi on skype

Who was the last person to make you really angry?
kanye west, ASSHOLE.

Something you wear all the time that you'd feel naked without?
necklace. "S.A.M.E"

Do you speak any other language other than English?
oui. french and italian

How old will you be in 3 months?
almost 19

How's 2009 treating you so far?
it's the best year of my life, so far.

Where is your mother?
in Woodbridge. at home, i'm assuming

Do you have a good relationship with your parents?
only with my dad. we're pretty much the same person.

What's a song that descirbes your current relationship status?
sick muse- metric

What's your favorite time of year?
i pretty much like the whole year. all of the holidays are fun though. and i miss summer because swimming and pool parties and bonfires are incredible.

Most memorable moment of the summer?
prom after party & staying up to watch the sunrise with karl and eric, random parties and bonfires at aarons, downtown days with my besties, and, of course, Wasaga 2009

Do you wear contacts?
no... but i should be wearing glasses occasionally

Do you like school?
love school. hate the school work

Do you live with your parents?
NO! haha it feels so good to finally say that

What do you think about smoking?
it's pretty dirty but i don't mind it as much as i should.
smoking hookah, however= favourite

You just drank 15 shots, what would you be doing?
hugging everyone in the room and asking them for a sip of their drink

Is there one person in your life that can always make you smile?
yes, Melissa Rose Leone
because she's the only person i know that can actually convince me she's a dolphin

What's something you miss about being a kid?
not having to worry, ever.

Do you think you'll have the same best friend a year from now?
best friends. yes, i most definitely will.

Are you wasting your time on someone?
very much so.

photo credit: officer pham :)

How I miss your ranting, do you miss my all time lows?

this is mel (and her friend shelly). our friendship is fate and was definitely set out in the stars or something. i LOVE her... and skype.

Sanity is not statistical

so..
MELISSA ROSE LEONE, ADRIANA NICOLE RIZZI, AND EMILIE BSBNJIFDANIKFK(i'm sorry i can't spell it) POULSEN COMPLETE MY LIFE.

that is all.

If i did have a tumour, i'd name it Marla

first week of university: COMPLETE
conclusions for the week: school is amazing and i want to stay here forever.

seriously, i finally understand those exceptionally old people who are still in university for no particular reason even though they have like a masters in 4 different programs.
i looove all my classes, they're surprisingly interesting.. even though they don't sound like it.
Introduction to Second Language Teaching
Workshop in Essay Writing
Philosophy: Reasoning and Critical Thinking
Introduction à la Linguistique: Mots Énoncés
The Twentieth Century World from 1945




yeah.. me + the university of ottawa is pretty much love right now

so.. boat cruise tonight with the artsies and fedstock tomorrow with ill scarlett and talib kweli. should be pretty epic


this was from last night.. when me and alyssa attempted to go to the value village prom.

Like you never lost a war

whyy is this song so incredible?
actually, not incredible (apparently it's on the list of banned words in my english class haha).. its spectacularly amazing.
seriously, it's been on repeat for the past 4 days

Been torn apart by the world

Alas, my first pictures of Ottawa.

Walking around today made me realize what a gorgeous city Ottawa truly is.. honestly it's probably amongst my favourites in the world. everything here has a story and i love it.

anywho, take a look at the photos. pics from frosh coming soon.

BROOKS! my home

ma chambre.

still isn't quite finished

I'd give anything up for your touch

..<3

I send this smile over to you

i went to help adriana move in a few days ago. take a look at the pics.

i still can't believe that i'm living 5 hours away from everyone. honestly, i'm having an AWESOME time. i love it here. and i'm pretty sure the faculty of arts at ottawa u has the greatest frosh week in existence. seriously, half of our events are in quebec where the drinks flow freely. haha i love life.

but i LOVE them

hi, bestfriend