Author: approximately

WTHIB: the where-the-heck-i’ve-been edition

approximatelyLeave a comment
I went to Long Island City, incredible waterfront views of Manhattan abound…

[click to view larger]

My fantastic fellow North Dakotan friend Mitch came to visit from LA, and we enjoyed delicious crêpes at
the delightful Café Henri in Long Island City

I went to DUMBO — Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass
Mitch & Chi in DUMBO
Chi’s the best
Adam came to visit — always a welcomed visitor
I saw the hilarious David Sedaris perform a reading at BAM in Brooklyn
I went to the Project Runway-famed Mood Fabrics in the Garment district, where I was super inspired by all of the
patterns, textures, colors and kinds of fabric.
Finally — I WENT BLONDE.

• • • • •
Time for a much-needed weekend!
xo
j

the good fight

approximatelyLeave a comment
A reminder that went off on my phone today—
I set it months ago.

Today has been what feels like one of the most bittersweet days of my life. After six years of college, today was supposed to be the day that I walked across the stage at Minnesota State University Moorhead to accept the diploma that embodies all of my work. Summa Cum Laude. It has been a long time coming, and believe me, I thought about today for a long time.


There is a story why I didn’t walk across the stage today, one that has caused me much anger, sadness and frustration. It initially involved myself, one liberal arts credit short of the prerequisite, and 43 superfluous credits to bargain with. Throughout the past month and half I’ve reached out to numerous faculty members and administration to seek what should have been a simple appeal, my efforts tiring and fruitless. I went to the Dean. I went to the President. I went to the Provost with two letters of support from faculty members. Then I went back to the President. With the exception of two professors, no administrator believed in my case enough to support my plea. 
I have to hold back tears when I think of this, because I tried so hard. I tried and exhausted my heart, and still all of my fervid beliefs fell short. I think any corner of one’s mind that is filled with hatred is a corner wasted, and I have tried to file this case under “bad luck.” But I can’t deny that I am bitter, I am sad, and I am hurt by what has happened. I am jolted by the reality, that an institution could deny a hardworking, longtime student with a valid appeal and a handful of qualified courses, and that they could turn that student around to take a less-applicable 100-level class in order to graduate. I never wanted to hear myself think these words, but I feel like the system has failed me.

If there is a truth that I’ve learned from this process, it’s what I believe is worth fighting for. I don’t believe in my entire life that I’ve ever truly had to fight for something. Not “fighting” in the sense of beating your roommate to the shower in the morning, or winning a game of bowling, but really fighting. Putting your greatest efforts into something you wholeheartedly stand behind, and pressing your beliefs upon any opposing forces until the battle is won. I know this won’t be the last time in my life I’ll have to exercise these efforts, but win or lose, I have the choice to keep my head held high.
In the end I can never truly feel bad for myself, because I had the privilege of attending college in the first place, something many people never experience. Walking across the stage would have been the icing on the cake, but it didn’t happen. Instead I am forced to take an expensive summer course and graduate afterward. All things considered, I’ll be left with six years of knowledge and a piece of paper that will come in the mail, eventually—one that I didn’t receive in a cap and gown, or with a handshake, but in my mind, in an office, in New York City.

I am so thankful for how far I’ve come.

approximatelyLeave a comment

“One of the interesting things about success is that we think we know what it means. A lot of the time our ideas about what it would mean to live successfully are not our own. They’re sucked in from other people. And we also suck in messages from everything from the television to advertising to marketing, etcetera. These are hugely powerful forces that define what we want and how we view ourselves. What I want to argue for is not that we should give up on our ideas of success, but that we should make sure that they are our own. We should focus in on our ideas and make sure that we own them, that we’re truly the authors of our own ambitions. Because it’s bad enough not getting what you want, but it’s at the end of the journey that it isn’t, in fact, what you wanted even worse to have an idea of what it is you want and find out all along.”
—Alain de Botton  



approximatelyLeave a comment

Last night I went to a poetry reading at Housing Works Bookstore on Crosby Street. It wasn’t planned — I’d passed the store three times a week for the past month and a half, yet never ventured in. It just so happened I chose the right night to check it out, as the U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Philip Levine was doing a free reading along with other young, talented poets.

There is something special about the atmosphere at a poetry reading — every word is carefully selected and counted for something, sentences are well-crafted and emotions waft through a crowded room. It was invigorating to hear artists recite each verse from their soul.

Portrait of Philip Levine by Geoffrey Berliner

One of favorite lines of the night from Levine:


“I’m not really known as a love poet because I don’t write love poems; but I’m going to read a poem called ‘Of Love & Other Disasters.'”

 Hopefully I will have more of these unexpectedly wonderful encounters —

j

for my walls

approximatelyLeave a comment
Today’s prints that I want on my wall are by the Berlin-based artist Meike Nixdorf, who I have a super photo crush on and have admired since I first stumbled upon her work on 20×200. Meike was in the spotlight in 2011 when she was selected as a second edition Hot Shot, and I immediately began drooling over the release of her two latest editions of vivid landscapes. Yum.
All photographs are views from the series In the Orbit of El Teide, and can be found on Meike’s site.
approximatelyLeave a comment
It could not be a better time in my life to hear these words. Shine on, Steve —
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”