Art Inspiration Mondays-Monet's La Cathédrale de Rouen

Mondays are typically the worst day of the week.  Besides having to get up early and be reminded of all the commitments you have during the week, it often seems like the whole world has Mondayitis, which results in a collective funk.  

I usually try to combat Mondayitis with a detailed to-do list and plan for the week, plus a long afternoon spent in Lindy or in our Scholarship room doing work while waiting for my laundry to finish

As an extra tactic to combat the dreariness, I am going to start doing "Art Inspiration Mondays."  Every Monday, I will post a new work of art and explain some of the background and importance of it.  

For some personal background on my art history knowledge, I took AP Art History in high school and it was absolutely my favorite course.  I applied to college as an Art History major, but have since decided that it is more of an interest rather than a career.  I am taking my first college art history class next semester ("Art History: Renaissance to Present") and hope to add an art history minor.  

Today's piece is Claude Monet's "LA CATHÉDRALE DE ROUEN: PLEIN SOLEIL, HARMONIE BLEUE ET" (ROUEN CATHEDRAL, FULL SUN, BLUE HARMONY AND GOLD)

It is an impressionist piece and one of my favorite works of art.  Monet created over thirty paintings of the Rouen Cathedral, all with different perspectives and at different times of day. (Geographically, the city of Rouen is northwest of Paris)

Impressionism emphasizes the importance of light and it's effect on the subject.  It is also not overly realistic, so it allows for more philosophical meaning than the concurrent Realism period, which featured artists like Millet.

I think my favorite aspect of this piece is the ethereal quality  and placement of the cathedral in the foreground, allowing the viewer to feel as if they are standing right beside the cathedral.  

Happy Monday!

Crayon Art [Pinterest]

Crayon art, or melting crayons over a canvas to create patterns and cool designs, is one of the more popular crafts repinned on Pinterest.  Two of my friends did heart designs for display in their room and it's been something I have wanted to try for awhile.  


I saw this pin on Pinterest right before Thanksgiving break, so I decided to try an Alpha Gam version while I was home.  

I used red, yellow, and green crayons instead of rainbow because those are Alpha Gam's colors (the yellow is really buff, but it was close enough).  I bought two packs of Crayola 24 pack crayons and a small canvas and was set.  

The directions online did not offer any suggestions for anticipated problems, and I had a few.  I did not want to glue the crayons to the canvas because of space, so I taped them together and held them over the canvas as I held the hair dryer over them.  The coordination wasn't too hard, but the wax spurted out rather than dripped down the canvas.  

I used electrical tape because I liked the thickness, but it did not stick well to the canvas and the melted wax dripped where it wasn't intended to.  Also, the plastic from the electrical tape partially melted onto the canvas, so I was left with black letters instead of white.  I filled in the space that didn't have the electrical tape residue with black marker to make it neater.  

Here's the finished product!

It was a fun project that didn't require much artistic skill, but if I did it again I would use a different kind of tape and glue the crayons down.  

The LEHIGH Lafayette Rivalry

If you are lucky enough to be a member of the Lehigh family or are unfortunate enough to attend or graduate from Laugh-ayette, you live and breathe the Lehigh-Lafayette rivalry.  

While this rivalry comes to a head the Saturday before Thanksgiving each year at the annual football game, the rivalry is deeper than that.  Both schools hold a deep hatred for each other that begins at move in day (or before) and continues after graduation.  

Since my dad went to Lehigh, I have grown up with stories of the rivalry, games at Taylor Field, tearing down the goalposts, and the occasional fight with Lafayette students.  

While the days of stealing each other's mascots and tearing down the goal posts are gone (for the most part), the rivalry and Lehigh Laf week in particular are still the best part of going to Lehigh.  

Bed races, students singing Goblet (audio), the Marching 97 interrupting class, alumni walking around campus, and just a few intoxicated students are all staples of the week. 

The Marching 97 entertained me while I caught up on emails on Friday morning.  They were joined by Burt and Ernie, who were two of the many characters walking around campus.

My bed race team this year, which was with Student Senate.  We won by forfeit the first round then lost to Club Baseball.  

As a proud Lehigh student, this is by far my favorite week to be on campus.  There is no other time of the year that has so much pride, fun, and traditions packed into one week.  

Other, newer Lehigh traditions are the Kickoff Carnival on the front lawn and Lafapalooza, which is a concert on Thursday.  I helped plan the kickoff and had to pie our Senate President Sarah Thomson at the pep rally before the concert (if you're reading this, I'm sorry Sarah!).  

On the day of the game, it is much better to skip out or not drink too much at mocos and tailgates so that you can actually enjoy the game.  Alumni and student tailgates were not as big this year as they were at Lehigh because of stricter rules and space restrictions, but the game was still amazing.  (also because of the fact that WE WON, won the Lehigh Lafayette Giving Challenge, and won the Green Challenge) While neither school has released stats yet, the Express-Times reported that arrests were not as bad as previous years.  

Storming the field after the game

Also, before the game it was announced that the 150th game will be played at Yankee Stadium in two years.  I'll be a senior then and am very excited to not only have the game in my teams stadium but to have it nationally televised.  

Finally, some pictures of my family after the game (plus my brother's friend Nick)

Crispy Edamame [Pinterest]

Like a lot of my 18-22 year old female friends, I am addicted to Pinterest.  For those who are not familiar, Pinterest is a social media website that has pictures ("pins") of clothing, hair styles, home decorating ideas, recipes...pretty much anything you would be interested in or want to browse.  If you find something that you like, you pin it to one of your "pin boards", which are virtual cork boards.  Some of my boards are of clothes, food, things related to college life, and craft ideas.  

My favorite pins on Pinterest are ones with craft ideas or recipes.  So, as I attempt the projects I find on Pinterest, I will post the pin, my result, and comments on how easy or hard the project was.  

PROJECT 1: Crispy Edamame

Our cook does not cook dinner on Friday, so girls tend to go out to eat or pick up food at Panera or the like.  Last night I decided to save money and stay in to eat.  I didn't feel like leftovers, so I looked over my "nom" pin board and found an easy recipe I pinned two weeks ago, crispy edamame.  

We had edamame in the salad bar and the recipe looked easy and relatively healthy, so I decided to try it.  I mixed the ingredients (plus chili pepper at the suggestion of my friend) in a bowl and through it on the pan and in the oven.  I didn't set a timer, but just took it out of the oven when the edamame started to look a bit crispy.  

Here's the finished product:

It was delicious and easy to make, so I will definitely be eating it again when I make myself dinner on the weekends.  

The Election

Last night, our nation reelected President Obama.  [FUN FACT: this is the first time we've had three two term presidents since Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe]

Before writing this post, I thought a lot about how I wanted to comment on the election, and decided to make a wish list of things I hope President Obama accomplishes during his second term. There has been a lot of negativity and polarization in the media, my Facebook and Twitter feeds, and in conversations with my friends lately, so I want to take a more forward looking approach.  

At the end of Obama's second term, in 2016, I hope...

-I will have graduated from Lehigh and had many job offers because the economy is robust and companies are hiring again.  

-that "Obamacare" has not been put into place, but that a solution to the problems that currently exist in healthcare is found.  

-that our troops are safely out of Iraq and Afghanistan and that the nations have stable, safe, and fair governments established.  

-that gay marriage is legal and there is a significant culture change that is accepting of those who are gay.  

-America is on it's way to becoming energy independent and generating more environmentally friendly forms of energy. 

-that politicians, especially ones on the national level, recognize that they are serving the American people, not just looking out for themselves and their campaign contributors.  

-that government regulations do not cripple businesses. 

-that Americans move away from the partisanship and divisiveness perpetuated by the media. 

I know that these are not realistic goals, nor are they all ones that will be priorities for our leaders.  However, this is my wish list for America, and I hope that more progress can be made in the next four years than in the past four.  

Adventures in Pittsburgh

As I said in my last post, I spent the last week staying at my sorority sister's house in Pittsburgh after being evacuated from Lehigh.  

I have always loved cities and it was a lot of fun to explore Pittsburgh, which I have never visited before.  

While I am used to living on a hill, I was very surprised that Pittsburgh is full of hills.  The city feels like it is nestled between lots of hills, with the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, which form the Ohio River, flowing through.  

We spent two of the days in Pittsburgh catching up on homework, but we explored the Strip and Southside of the city on Wednesday.  

For reference, here's a map of Pittsburgh: 

A view of the Strip, which has lots of cultural shops. 

We ate lunch at Roland's, a restaurant in the Strip.  They had amazing lobster rolls!

The Strip is full of beautiful and vibrant murals.  

 We went to Pennsylvania Macaroni Company, which sells a huge selection of cheese, bread, and other speciality items.  I found this brand of butter with my name on it, so of course it was worthy of a picture.  Below is my friend Liz picking out what cheese to buy for dinner.  

 

These are two pictures of the Pittsburgh Popcorn Company.  It was a really cool, old shop that sold speciality popcorn.  I bought a bag of candy corn popcorn and it was amazing. 

The pictures to the right and below are shots of the skyline of Pittsburgh.  The tall building in the picture to the right is the Cathedral of Learning in University of Pittsburgh. 

This is an instagrammed picture of our dinner, which was lots of delicious cheeses from Penn Mac, some fruit, and crackers. 

Surviving Sandy

No words can accurately portray the amount of destruction and loss that Hurricane Sandy brought.  Over thirty people died in New York City and four in the Lehigh Valley.  The Jersey Shore, Long Island, and countless other places along the East Coast are decimated.  

My heart goes out to all those affected by the storm.  I was lucky enough to not suffer any major damage from the storm, and my family in NJ was without power for a few days, but safe.  

Having Twitter (and cell service) was a great asset during the storm, as I was not only able to keep updated with tweets from Lehigh offices like OFSA and the Dean of Students, but keep updated on the weather conditions and damage around NJ and the East coast.  

Two interactive features that I found on Twitter show before and after satellite images of Seaside Heights and a time lapse of the storm from the New York Times building in New York.  

Wall Street Journal-Seaside Heights satellite images

New York Times time lapse of storm

After Lehigh canceled classes for Monday and Tuesday at 5 p.m. on Sunday, I decided to stay at Lehigh for the storm because most of the girls in my house were and the conditions could be pretty bad while driving home.  It was fun and relaxing to catch up on work and hang out with each other without class and other commitments.  

We were one of the last Greek houses on the Hill to lose power (lost power around 9 p.m. on Monday) but with the emergency generator we were able to stay until Tuesday afternoon, when we were evacuated.  

I was lucky enough to be able to go home with one of my sisters who lives in Pittsburgh.  A lot of girls in our house live in Pittsburgh, so there's almost twenty of us who took road-tripped and took refuge here.  

Here are some pictures from the road trip from Bethlehem to Pittsburgh: 

 Crews hold up the wire that fell on the Hill so that students can evacuate from campus. 

 Hard to tell from the picture (taken while driving by) but lots of trees fell in the Sacred Grove.  

 Temporary stop sign at the intersection of Brodhead and 4th because the light was out.  

 Pumped gas for the first time during our stop at Sheetz (#jerseygirlproblems)

 A view of Newville, PA.  After missing an exit (and not realizing until 5 exits later) we had to take a detour through this farm town.  

 When we thought we had already received the brunt of Mother Nature's wrath, then there was snow.

 A picture I instagrammed of the Pennsylvania landscape.  

And we've arrived! 

The skyline of Pittsburgh, with the famous PPG building on the right. 

I'll be in Pittsburgh until Saturday or Sunday, and my next post will be about our adventures in the city.  

Hope everyone is safe and has power!