Nothing Creative Today

So I just added some links in the "inspiration" section. You should check that shit out.

(The new links are RedTown Photography and The Ghosts of Silence in case you weren't paying attention...)

I think I accidentally killed Billy Mays

June 25, 2009
Me: so I'm watching the news, and Michael Jackson died, and people are
FREAKING out. its insane.
Alonzo: yeah i read something that said the real michael jackson died in 1984
Me: literally or metaphorically?
Me: I'm going to become freakishly obsessed with a celebrity, like figure out
where they live and follow them around.
Me: Maybe that guy who does the oxy clean commercials...

I'm really sorry.

I just finished watching Revolutionary Road (sorry Maac...) and I'm pretty sure that Kate Winslet's character, April, is based on me if something in my life doesn't change soon.

I wish I were exaggerating.

I am SO sick of being awkward

Me: oh man REMEMBER THE BORG?

Maria: Borg Andersen?

To whom it may concern,

If I haven't talked to you since high school, please don't invite me to your wedding. I don't care about your wedding blog, your youtube wedding account, and your facebook "ohmygod so and so are getting married!" group. We may have been friends back in the day, and I'm probably glad we were... but honestly. If I haven't talked to you since then, I'm not buying you a wedding present.

Thanks,
Mallory

Dear Dad,

Happy Memorial Day! I visited your grave today for the first time in probably 2 years. I'm sorry that I don't visit more often, I don't really have any excuse. I'm pretty sure that the act of visiting cemeteries is more for the living than the dead anyway. The point is, if you're wondering how I'm doing you should either a) check out this site or b) read over my shoulder while I'm writing in my journal. But don't follow me around all creepily. A girl needs her privacy, it's better for both of us that way if you know what I mean.

Anyway. I know I typically write this post on the anniversary of your death, but I figured there was no harm in writing you twice in one year. A lot of stuff has done down over the past few months and I thought I'd give you an update.

Probably the biggest thing on my mind is that I graduated a few weeks ago. It's crazy Dad, and I wish you could have been there. I worked and worked and now I'm done and I'm not sure what to do with all my time. I am proud of my accomplishments though. I'm gonna jot them down (in list form) for when I'm feeling blue and decide I need to look at all my posts labeled "dad" because I do that quite frequently.

During my 5 years at the University of Utah I:

• Decided to devote my life to art.
• Never discovered what it means to be an "artist"
• Received a Departmental Scholarship
• Created and ran the UPAC for 2 years
• Met Jill Dawsey, she said my work was interesting
• Without hesitation, Elizabeth Peterson agreed to be one of my references
• Filled the pages of something like 10 journals
• Wrote almost every entry on this website
• Went to Crown Tuesday (For almost 3 years now)
• Becoming the Machine
• Mirrors and Windows
• Equinox
• Building 38
• The 2008 BFA Show
• I was awarded Best in show in the 2009 BFA Senior Show
• I successfully created 6 Ciabachrome (or Ilfochrome if you want to get all technical) prints
• I was interviewed by a blog, who looked me up.
• Discovered Radiohead, Modest Mouse, and Tool
• Saw many bands and art exhibitions that at the time felt life altering.
• Met tons of artists who inspire me
• Those same artists are now my friends, and I don't know what I'd do without them.
  

Obviously the experiences I received while earning my BFA can't be summed up in a list, but I know you were there with me every step of the way. Just like you will be wherever I end up next.

I'm taking a trip to Chicago in a couple of months to check out the SAIC. I decided a long time ago that if I go to grad school, I'm going to go big, Which probably means I won't get accepted, but I'm still going to try.

I feel lost not having a definitive deadline on the horizon. If I wanted, I could just work at my current job for the rest of my life and never really amount to anything. That possibility terrifies me. But I guess Whatever Happens, Happens. Right?

Anyway. I drove past our old house this afternoon and the people who live there now cut down all of the trees in the front yard. I nearly drove past the house, not recognizing it. Mom's Mimosa, and the huge trees with the helicopter seeds are gone. My secret hideout is gone, and so is the tire swing you made me. I don't know if I will ever get used to the fact that time moves on whether or not I'm there to witness it. Life Huh?

Hope things are going well on the other side,
Mal