Academically yours,

Denise

I thought it was really funny that the California Adventure park really didn’t have much going on besides a Christmas tree up. It was also really hot, very true to a Southern California holiday.

The Haunted Mansion became the Nightmare Before Christmas Mansion.

Everyone’s favorite boy.

I’m not entirely sure who won.

I think I already gave this one away to anyone who has had any type of contact with me in the past week or so because Lana del Rey is all I want to listen to lately. This is what I call really wonderful pop music. Some of Lana del Rey’s tracks are upbeat and a little silly, and others are incredibly heartbreaking and moving. She has excellent control over her voice, jumping all over the place from low and soulful to the higher pitched, pop style, and throwing in little trills here and there as if that were super easy. You can’t listen to one of Lana del Rey’s songs without reacting, whether it’s dancing, singing along, or getting watery eyes, and that is why I love her.

Here you will find my reminiscences on our dearest, two thousand eleven. I didn’t think I did much really, but then I realized this was because so much had happened that my brain just shoved the beginning half of the year into the section of memory that needs dusting. This year I:

• Grew to like Los Angeles! Of course initially I was like, “hmmm I think I hate Los Angeles less”. This city is kind of a long list of things I don’t like: crowds, traffic, heat, lack of public transportation, drivers that don’t believe in the existence of pedestrians, being in the bottom half of California, blah blah blah. I spent much of my first few months here crying my eyes out, calling my parents, contemplating the consequences of dropping out of school, being an idiot in general. But for whatever reason, when I came back from last year’s winter break I was like “I am going to make this work! RARRRRRR!!!” It just got progressively easier to be here as I figured things out.
• Took a jazz dance class at school & had crazy amounts of fun
• Saw Hello Seahorse! (that explanation point is really part of their name, so here is another one to express how excited I was !)
• Saw Yann Tiersen live again. So much love for his music, really really really
• Hit a major low point when the stolen wallet incident was followed by a minor romantic disappointment. Life went on, I mostly just miss the photographs in my old wallet
• Dealt with more unwanted male attention than I’d like, but at least had funny stories to tell my friends (remember Brain?). Learned never to date a user of a library in which you are employed (obvious yes, but come on, the only boyfriend I had in college went to a different school entirely, give me a break!)
• Went to Disneyland!
• Turned twenty four years old. Ate nice food. & ICE CREAM!
• Saw Man Man
• Got another ear piercing, freaked out because I snagged it on a sweater & it swelled up & became painful after I came home from Man Man.
• Completed my first year of grad school!
• Got contact lenses!
• Lost yet another pair of sunglasses to the Pacific Ocean on the fourth of July
• Was terrified by haunted Olive Court, but acquired a free, haunted shoe rack that same night
• Moved apartments & in with the bestest roommate everrrrrrrrr. Sure this is only the second roommate I’ve ever had, but I like my living situation despite the obvious incompetency of the management. Trust me, when I’m an old lady, I’ll be like, “Oh that gal (when I’m old, I’ll call girls, gals) I lived with in L.A. was so nice. She was probably the best roommate ever.” & then I’ll be like, “Get off my lawn!”
• Began my first archival internship & seriously had the best experience possible as far as location & supervisor go, I am so so so lucky!
• Became a member of two art museums. So fancy!
• I think I went to Las Vegas twice. I think I smuggled dessert out of a buffet in a souvenir cup.
• Went to Griffith Park & Observatory for the first time (whoo!). Unfortunately I did learn at work recently that Griffith J. Griffith was not just a repetitively named man who might have liked the outdoors & science, but also a murdering man who killed his wife in a fancy Arcadia hotel.
• Awkwardly quit my job. Seriously, this was not smooth
• Said goodbye & meant it really, even went the extra step to get a phone number blocked
• Took lots of walks
• Experienced the often unseen (for me anyway) bottom half of PCH. Got to see bits of Big Sur again which was fantastic as it had been a year or two or whenever that time I cut off all my hair was.
• Said goodbye & didn’t want to, moped for days
• Went to the midnight showing of the last Harry Potter movie. Cried & laughed so hard!
• Saw The National!
• & the L.A. Phil!
• & Beirut!
• Started new job/internship
• Batman Halloween
• Finalized portfolio topic
• Christmas apartment

It’s been such a full, wonderful year! I don’t really make resolutions for the new year as I prefer constant, continuous personal growth over fits & starts, but I am hoping 2012 brings me more change, more obstacles to overcome, more time with the people I care for so much. I’m very excited for the mysteries of “what happens after June?” to unravel!

Winter mornings & nights. I miss it actually. Fog provides a sense of drama that sunny Southern California “winters” can’t match.