I'm just a curbside prophet

So they say… or at least that’s what my teachers keep telling me.

I think this is the first time Ive deliberately done so. For my packaging class I decided I wanted to do a cosmetic line. My favorite cosmetic line is MAC. Probably because their advertisements reflect more of an artistic style of doing make up. In alot of their Ads you think who is ever going to do their make up like that. I think people get this feeling looking at runways pictures as well. No one really is the answer, but MAC allows you to be able to go from extreme to subtle. Its sophisticated, its powerful, its chic, its sexy, its posh…its whatever you want it to be. So thats the kind of thought proses I am having with my product. When I think of these things I think of the typical femal icons like Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, I love Lucy, Aretha Franklin…etc. Ive decided I would use their faces/styles as what I want my make up line to reflect.

This past Saturday I noticed something for the second time In Braunschweig. The first time I passed it I thought omg that is so great I love it. It was graffiti on the wall and it said “onlyou” combining only and you into one. It stopped me in my tracks the first time. The second time (also in a different location so its a sign right??) it clicked cause I was trying to brainstorm more about this line and packaging. I decided this is it! I’m naming my make up onlyou! Im very much in love with it and I think I can make it work. So far this is intro idea…

Onlyou is a new brand of cosmetics  with classic iconic women as its muse.
Its portrays that fresh new feeling of being in love. Its about helping women feel that leading lady confidence and getting that leading man and career. It is targeted towards women from the ages of 21-32. Which is why Ive choosen certain
iconic classical women to represent that sophisticated, confident and independent look the line wants to portray.

WOOT WOOT

Yesterday I went to Braunschweig to visit Sarah and Sarah haha. Sarah goes to HAWK and the other Sarah is German who went to stout but is from the western part of Germany visiting. We walked around downtown looking for winter boots. Then went back to Sarah’s house had hot chocolate and cookies hehe. I love going to peoples homes, its nice having a homily feeling. We sat on Sarah’s HUGE bed I swear its bigger than a king size. We were going to watch a Disney movie but got distracted by a tv show. Its like America’s got talent only the German version called Das Supertalent. I’m basically obsessed with it now and extremely sad my apartment doesn’t have a TV. I must investigate online now I think to watch the show.

Its funny because it reminds me alot of American Idol with the judges. They have the black guy on the left, the girl in the middle and the mean white guy on the right. I found a video of this girl who I just love. So I will post that now hehe. Then I work on my projects for Packaging :-D

My roommate Frieda is probably biggest fan of this song I know. For those who don’t know the Time Warp its from The Rocky Horror Show. A few days ago when we were both getting up early to go to school. She came running out of her room yelling “CHARLINDA ITS THE TIME WARP!” first running to the kitchen to turn on the radio for us to dance in there. Then she quick runs into my room and turns on the radio (which I had no idea was a radio but just a cd player so good to know). So plays this song and we continue to dance to it in my room. This is one of the many reasons I love my roommate Frieda. She’s pretty much a big goofball like me only not as shy about it. However her breaking out of her shell makes it easier for me to do the same around her.

Well that is a long introduction for what I really wanted to announce. I’m throwing my first party and Halloween party!!! It is so awesome we have been decorating all afternoon. Im so proud of it cause I think its so cute haha. I bought cotton to make the spiderwebs which is all over our flat currently. We have made Jack-o-lanterns out of orange paper (Germans dont believe in pumpkins ;-)). Also just a bunch of random pictures and tombstones we made from paper. Also we bought these religious looking candles that normally you find in churches to add to the atmosphere. I will upload pictures later on. I also found some american candy so I bought that and put that in a bowl.

My costume is my first attempt at making a toga from a bed sheet. However I’m Greek or Roman Goddess :-) Only the one I bought I thought would have the elastic band but it does. However it kind of works out where it makes the dress look more tailored. 

Well I best be off to get ready :-)

I really LOVE my photography class. Something about it reminds me more about Stout. I think there is probably 12 of us in the actual class. Only maybe 6 of us show up on a weekly basis. The way he gives back feedback about your work is far more helpful than what most teachers have done so far here. However for me its always a nice way to wide up the weekend. It leaves me feeling better about all this school stuff than worse. I’m actually feeling better about my other classes too now. Not as lost maybe I think the ball is finally rolling. I’m still not the biggest fan of my packaging course. Not sure why just get that feeling your just another number.

But things are getting Better (Besser)

Its funny to see a movie about being abroad when you are broad. What is even funnier is seeing it in language you haven’t really quiet mastered yet. Ive learned a few things about this advance attempt to see a movie in German at a movie theater.

1. I’m gonna stick to disney movies for a bit

2. I’d like to see another movie again

3. I wish life came with subtitles. However not like English subtitles but in German so I could perhaps see and hear it would be more beneficial.

I bought another movie auf deutsch that I’m really excited about…Pride and Prejudice. It was just 5 euros at a bookstore. I’m very proud of this purchase and I’ll be even prouder when I brave in up to attempt to watch it.

Things are still moving slowly at school it seems. I feel a bit helpless and miss the late nighters and chaotic feeling you get at stout trying to finish a project. I remember back in the day when I was in dreaded Apparel Design my least favorite professor made a valid point. You do your best work when you haven’t slept for 24hrs and have been up all night working on getting an idea down. A combination of caffeine and all nighters make you crazy enough to be a bit brilliant. More than ever I think she might be on to something. Only trouble is I need my brain to be rested if I’m gonna try and understand anything that is being said to me. I guess I just need to find that happy medium. In class everyone goes around sharing their idea here and once that is over with you go on your way. You don’t really stick around doodle go up to the teacher talk and sit back down and make more doodles. Even though I get feedback when its my turn to speak mainly just from the teacher. I still feel a bit hopeless. I have ideas but nothing I have really fallen in love with. So far I have to admit I find packaging the most frustrating. I imagined it to be a bit more hands on and so far its nothing but talk talk talk.

I’m going to try and stay positive…possibly just eat pray and love.

Yesterday I broke away from my normal fellow crew I’m with and went with the Russians to a city Ive already been to before. However that’s the great thing about cities there is always something new to see each time you go. It was a really interesting experience too just seeing the mannerisms of Russians. They are pretty calm and peaceful people.

Also side note sometimes studying abroad can feel like camp. Making friends that are becoming more like family. Doing activities together and getting letters or care packages from family and friends. I get I tend to go travel alot but I can’t help but notice how everyone else’s family keeps sending letters and packages of peanut butter cookies (Germans dont believe in peanut butter cookies). I mean I know you all love me and I would of sent stuff by now too if I knew how to buy stamps. Its something I plan to do by the end of October.

So just throwing it out there my address is wallstrasse 10A 31134 Hildesheim, Germany

I’m not really sure where to begin with this blog because it involves a few different situations I have encountered already. However I guess I want to start with I don’t expect people outside of the U.S. to understand all of our history. If anything it makes me happy I can enlighten them with a fact or two. Mainly regarding race in America. The first situation I want to express was with Romain (our Swiss French).

One evening as we were walking back to our homes we got on the topic of Politics. He said along the lines he didn’t understand why the fact Obama was black was such a big deal. He made a valid question of shouldn’t it be about what he stands for and what he wants to do rather than what he is. I said I agree with him 100% with that statement and I said that is why I voted for him. However the fact he is someone of color even if it is just half is a big step for our country. I said I really don’t know how much you know about American history and especially African American history. Cause honestly I said to him I know basically nothing about Swiss history. However I feel that I can safely assume its completely different. I said that what his country has experienced is probably a completely different experience to what our country has experienced. Which he nodded in agreement to. I told him slavery existed for over 200 years and the civil rights really wasn’t that long ago. Its been along road for people of color to be seen as human. Not only have people of color struggled but women have had to fight too for rights as well (added that in there for you Janet haha) I brought up the Scottsboro Boys case which started to make me emotional. However I said this case was occurring when my grandparents and parents were growing up. Which just makes you realize how close all of these events are to our generation.

The next few stories came from yesterday. Tiffany and I were talking to Sarah (German who went to Stout last semester) and it started off about our hair. Sarah was saying she wanted me to wear my hair curly again or something. She was asking Tiffany about hers and Tiffany is like my hair is curly too but its different her curls aren’t as tight as mine. So Sarah innocently asks looking at me “So where are your parents from” thinking maybe that had to do with why the texture is different. I reply “My dad is from Chicago and and my mom from Minnesota.”. She begins to look slightly puzzled and I could tell I wasnt giving her the answer she was looking for but I ask Tiffany “hey where is your dad from she responds Louisiana.”. Sarah still looking like she’s not really getting the answer she wants goes “So then where are your Grandparents from?” “My grandma is from Georgia and my grandpa is from the south too not sure where.” Sarah looking puzzled looks at Tiffany for a response and Tiffany says “Same south”. Finally Sarah says “Yeah but they came from Africa no? so what part.”. This is when Tiffany and I look at each other because we realize it’s time to enlighten Sarah on a fact or two. We looked at each other then back at Sarah and respond “Yeah our ancestors are from Africa originally.” “So where?” “Africa.” “But where in Africa?” We look at each other again and shrug. I decided to get more detailed with the facts for Sarah. “As my dad says Black people didn’t come over to America by choice. We weren’t documented. We were brought as Slaves as Property.” Sarah nods like yeah I know but thinking it wasn’t for that long of a time. So I continue to say “Slavery existed for a few hundreds of years.” “Tiffany goes yeah 200 years.” “None of us can be really sure where we came from we just know Africa.”. Sarah still seeming a bit confused yet I could tell it wasn’t that she hadn’t known this, but maybe she didn’t have her time line straight. I forget what she exactly said but she started saying something about the 1950s and we go yeah that’s when we were fighting for equal rights. Sarah was looking a bit terrified by this factor. I said yeah its been a long road or perhaps I just thought it. I could tell what we had just told Sarah had rattled her a bit. She even said she was a bit shocked or surprised. This moment only made me love her more. I liked the innocence to her question and glad we could give her just peak of understanding to where Tiffany and I come from.

Last but not least we were all over at Cristina (Spain) , Peet (Went to Stout-Thailand) and Lolo’s (Spain) place hanging out. When Cristina came home she had our friend Elina (Letland) with her and some guy we had never seen before. I’m not sure how you would write his name but he was Russian and it was something like Gladimer. He came around introducing himself to everyone and shaking everyone’s hand. Elina is fluent in Russian and they were speaking. After he left Cristina was like I don’t like that guy he is a creep. Tiffany and I were like yeah he did seem a bit creepy but I mean was he really that bad? She says “He says very bad things.” “Like what??” Tiffany and I both ask. “I don’t want to say.” “You have to!”. Cristina leans in and tells us “He told Elina he doesn’t like black people.”. I don’t really know how to explain how I felt however I was kind of amused. He shook my hand and everything not really giving off that vibe. If anything I was curious to know why you would say that. Elina said to me him “So you are racist?” he said “No but I will explain when we go to your place.” (her roommate was having a Russian party) However she didnt wasn’t going back to her place because there was someone there she was trying avoid. So I was talking to Elina about it and she was like I don’t like people who think like that. I said well in away it feels like home to me, It’s not anything unfamiliar to me. Elina extremely shocked goes “You mean there is still racism in your country but you have a black president!” I smiled at her just remembering my conversation with Sarah earlier. I go yeah I know and its kind of a scary thought but the KKK still exist today. Her eyes got even bigger with shock and so I said don’t get me wrong its not as bad as it used to be but its still a problem our country will struggle with for a very long time.

I guess that’s all I really wanted to express. I just have had an interesting first month here. Although what I’ve said to them probably hasn’t been the most heart warming statement of our country. Its still something I’m glad got addressed because its things that are very important to me as a person. I’m proud to be someone who is mixed. My existence is proof of a better tomorrow. Reme

This Saturday will be my first trial run for my Photography theme “timeless women”. Ive decided I’m going to use the same 4 girls but dress them up in decades. However 30s and 40s will be combined into one and same for 50s and 60’s and so on. This Saturday will be 50s and 60s. I’m really looking forward to this and hope it turns out pretty well. I’m also going to try and capture the roles of women during that time. That being said time to do some research!

These are the girls who will be my models

Cristina also known as Lola (from Spain)

Gabby (From America - half costa rican)

Elina (Latvian from Lettland)

Tiffany (sister from another mister - usa)