I recently graduated from the University of Chicago, after three very long years and an even longer 8 hour ceremony. Like any typical recent college graduate, I had a pre-midlife crisis and decided to throw all of my training and background aside and become a fashion designer. Because I like making clothes and people look pretty or something like that.
Anyway, you can follow the results of my crisis here at kq exclusive. It will be updated every time I create something new. And will have multiple blog posts from today since I just created it but I already have some creations to share. So that will be the rest of my day. Maybe start on my new project. You'll have to follow my fashion blog to find out what that is though.
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Friday, September 13, 2013
The Introduction
Well now that you've probably gotten a feel for what the vineyard is like, I think it's time for a proper introduction. I'll start with the best of the best (the people who actually live or have lived in Boyer's Vineyard).
Harriett from Rochester, New York is a self-proclaimed rebel. She doesn't really proclaim that, but I think she should start. She enjoys dancing to songs such as "Bohemian Like You" and "It's Raining Men", and hates people who wear buffalo checkered flannel. You'll usually find her in a piano room practicing the Romeo and Juliet theme song or in the vineyard binge watching Scandal.
Hannah from Louisville, Ohio hates mushrooms and olives but loves the smell of freshly opened reddit pages. When she was little she wanted to be a horse but her passion now lies in writing although she was eliminated from the 3rd grade spelling bee on the word afternoon. She bruises easily, so please don't punch. Currently she is attempting to build a scale model toothpick of a toothpick.
Elysia [uh-lee-shuh] from Hillsdale, New Jersey doesn't like watermelon because it's gross. She is an avid fan of Sherlock and Mad Men and has considered becoming a detective with a knack for catchy slogans. She once wrote a 50,000 word novel and killed a cockroach with a bottle of vinegar. On certain days, you can find her in the Stuart Reading room discussing the implications of Iranian folk art.
Emily from Minooka, Illinois is the one responsible for the cozy décor in Boyer's Vineyard. Currently studying social work, she hopes to rid the world of the "problem child" along with gluten. You know you've made a good joke when the number of her snorts reach inhuman proportions. On sunny days, Emily can usually be found practicing jazz flute and Magic....at the same time.
Kathleen from San Diego, California is a soon-to-be-discovered fashion designer who specializes in art deco couture. When not standing on top of a twenty person pyramid, she can be seen giving withering looks. One of her most prized possessions is her hand made bean bag chair, voted most comfortable furniture by Reader's Digest.
Payton from Bellingham, Washington is what some might call a starving street performer. For the past summer the game in Boyer's Vineyard was to make him juggle things. Items have included: raw chickens, potted plants, and freedom. Unfortunately, for the next year he will be enjoying high tea with the Queen and James Bond but he might take a celeb shot on the blog, since he is undefeated at beer pong since 1942.
And finally, yours truly, Beka from New Lenox, Illinois but in dangerous situations I call myself "Slayer Moon". I am really what brings the Boyer's Vineyard together, with my sense of humor and ability to make puns. Usually you can find me turning pintrocities into pinchievements or slurping a mexicana shake while debating the semantic relationship between FIDLAR and YOLO. All my favorite things are miniature.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
War of the Flies
Last night, we had an absolute catastrophe at Boyer's Vineyard, in which we were surrounded by flies. We could not walk anywhere without having to swat at least one away. They crowded the windows, flew all around the lights, and constantly landed on our food. The moment we chased one away, another two came to replace it, like chopping off the Hydra's head. There were probably a total of 75-100 flies in our living room/kitchen and Hannah's bedroom. In her room, they were quite relaxed while chilling on the pull chains to her lights. They were neatly lined up all in a row, occasionally launching off to make a lap around her ceiling light before returning to their spot in line. They looked like they were lining up to receive unemployment benefits.
The heat was also unbearable. The apartment was absolutely stifling and after dinner, we all stepped outside to cool off. Meanwhile, the flies began terrorizing the bread that we left on the counter as well as the ceiling lights in all the rooms. When we returned inside, the flies were everywhere. There was nothing in sight that didn't have a fly crawling over it. Earlier in the day, Elysia had killed a bunch of flies on on the windows by spraying them with Windex. Now, she pulled the Windex back out in preparation to kill more flies. Hannah came up with the brilliant idea of using a hand vacuum to vacuum up all the flies, dead or alive. Beka used the Internet to search for fly traps, while Harriett called her mom for best proven methods. This was just the beginning of our war with the flies.
Within ten minutes, we had four fly traps set up on our counter, one of honey, one of cider vinegar and dish soap, one of ice, hot sauce and bread, and one of wine and dish soap. These ultimately proved to be fairly ineffective, but it did make us feel a little bit better about our chances. Using the vacuum, Hannah sucked up flies that Elysia had killed earlier along the walls and windows before moving onto the infestation in her own room. Balancing precariously on the edge of her bed, she alternated between vacuuming the flies on her pull chains and ducking out of the way of swooping flies who had scuttled out of of the way of the deadly vacuum. Soon, the vacuum was filled with flies, still hopelessly trying to escape their trap.
It was then that Hannah decided that she couldn't suck up any more flies. The flies in the vacuum were still alive and massively creeping her out. So she emptied the vacuum outside. It was a good thing that the screen door was shut or all the flies would just have flown back into the apartment. I quickly sprayed the flies on the screen with an ammonia formula Windex to make sure they were taken down before slipping the Windex out to Hannah, who went crazy with the flies on the glass part of the door. Not a single one was left to fly back in after the assault.
As soon as Hannah came back inside, the war truly began. We noticed the flies were congregating around the lights and avoiding our fly traps. It was like they knew the traps meant death and that their time was coming and they were secretly planning an assault on us. I hopped on a chair and sprayed the lights until they dripped with ammonia and the flies were dropping out of the sky. They fell onto the floor, the counters, the sink. The vacuum was put into use to suck up all the casualties of the War of the Flies. The method of spraying the flies with Windex proved to work fairly well, although I have to say that we definitely went a little bit overboard with it.
It was when our good friend and comrade Luke arrived that the flies really fled for their lives. Luke hopped around our kitchen like a grasshopper, swatting the flies from the ceiling to the floor with a rolled up UChicago magazine. It's a good thing he's so tall or this would not have worked out so well. Inspired, Beka rolled up a newspaper and joined in the fun, although she shrieked consistently about fly guts. Elysia took up the Windex and started spraying flies on the other lights until they dripped with the liquid. Soon, our living room was down to only a few flies. We then continued onto Hannah's room, where the flies were quickly decimated as well.
Thus, the War of the Flies was declared over and a victorious game of Pictionary ensued. Although the fly traps were for the most part unsuccessful, they did manage to lure a few flies over night and through today, so I suppose they can't be deemed entirely useless.
The heat was also unbearable. The apartment was absolutely stifling and after dinner, we all stepped outside to cool off. Meanwhile, the flies began terrorizing the bread that we left on the counter as well as the ceiling lights in all the rooms. When we returned inside, the flies were everywhere. There was nothing in sight that didn't have a fly crawling over it. Earlier in the day, Elysia had killed a bunch of flies on on the windows by spraying them with Windex. Now, she pulled the Windex back out in preparation to kill more flies. Hannah came up with the brilliant idea of using a hand vacuum to vacuum up all the flies, dead or alive. Beka used the Internet to search for fly traps, while Harriett called her mom for best proven methods. This was just the beginning of our war with the flies.
Within ten minutes, we had four fly traps set up on our counter, one of honey, one of cider vinegar and dish soap, one of ice, hot sauce and bread, and one of wine and dish soap. These ultimately proved to be fairly ineffective, but it did make us feel a little bit better about our chances. Using the vacuum, Hannah sucked up flies that Elysia had killed earlier along the walls and windows before moving onto the infestation in her own room. Balancing precariously on the edge of her bed, she alternated between vacuuming the flies on her pull chains and ducking out of the way of swooping flies who had scuttled out of of the way of the deadly vacuum. Soon, the vacuum was filled with flies, still hopelessly trying to escape their trap.
It was then that Hannah decided that she couldn't suck up any more flies. The flies in the vacuum were still alive and massively creeping her out. So she emptied the vacuum outside. It was a good thing that the screen door was shut or all the flies would just have flown back into the apartment. I quickly sprayed the flies on the screen with an ammonia formula Windex to make sure they were taken down before slipping the Windex out to Hannah, who went crazy with the flies on the glass part of the door. Not a single one was left to fly back in after the assault.
As soon as Hannah came back inside, the war truly began. We noticed the flies were congregating around the lights and avoiding our fly traps. It was like they knew the traps meant death and that their time was coming and they were secretly planning an assault on us. I hopped on a chair and sprayed the lights until they dripped with ammonia and the flies were dropping out of the sky. They fell onto the floor, the counters, the sink. The vacuum was put into use to suck up all the casualties of the War of the Flies. The method of spraying the flies with Windex proved to work fairly well, although I have to say that we definitely went a little bit overboard with it.
It was when our good friend and comrade Luke arrived that the flies really fled for their lives. Luke hopped around our kitchen like a grasshopper, swatting the flies from the ceiling to the floor with a rolled up UChicago magazine. It's a good thing he's so tall or this would not have worked out so well. Inspired, Beka rolled up a newspaper and joined in the fun, although she shrieked consistently about fly guts. Elysia took up the Windex and started spraying flies on the other lights until they dripped with the liquid. Soon, our living room was down to only a few flies. We then continued onto Hannah's room, where the flies were quickly decimated as well.
Thus, the War of the Flies was declared over and a victorious game of Pictionary ensued. Although the fly traps were for the most part unsuccessful, they did manage to lure a few flies over night and through today, so I suppose they can't be deemed entirely useless.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Food Blogging Is Still Cool, Right?
At the insistence of Harriett, I am now writing my first post for this blog. And, I also bring good news for you, dear reader. If one blog doesn't bring enough sparkle to your life, you're in luck because I'm also starting a food blog to catalog all of the delightful and strange things we eat in our daily lives. There are recipes, and like my posts on this blog, it's part scrapbook, part me talking to myself, and part (potentially) useful information.
So if you click here, you'll see that there is exactly one post. After drafting a couple of them, I've realized that someone needs to invent a camera that can wirelessly upload pictures to my computer. I'm ready to hit "Publish" on my carrot cake recipe, but I'm too lazy to import the pictures. I also don't like taking pictures of food. (Don't look at me like that. I know you're thinking, "Wow, this girl definitely has all to be an awesome food blogger.")
In all seriousness though, I will make the best effort to keep it updated. I'll probably muster up the energy to upload pictures sometime today. My day is gloriously unplanned. I'm getting dollar milkshakes later with Harriett. I'll read a couple of chapters of Lolita. Maybe do a load of laundry.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Welcome
Why hello there. I'm glad you're reading Boyer's Vineyard. It could change your life. As my roommate and co-author Beka would say, there's a non-zero probability that reading this will change your life. So, theoretically possible. Statistically impossible. Something like that.
My name is Harriett and as you can see from the above intro, I like to pretend that I am smart and that I know things. I'm a class-A charlatan, so get used to it. But this blog isn't about me. It's about Boyer's Vineyard.
I'm not sure where the title Boyer's Vineyard came from. All I know is that's what it says on a sign on the door to our apartment. I assume the Boyer part comes from Dean John W. Boyer, the dean of the College at the University of Chicago, where we are all students. Our apartment is Hannah, Emily, Beka, Elysia, and me (Harriett, because you already forgot.) All of us are 4th-years (seniors) except Emily, because she's in a dual-degree program for social work (I hope I got that right.)
We started this blog because, well, I don't know. It might be a good way to remember senior year of college. Also, I think we all like to write. I (sort of) had a blog going last year while I was studying abroad, and Elysia and Hannah both study English so...one would hope. None of us seems to have the "time" (will, desire, drive, what have you) to keep up individual blogs, so we're doing one together in the hope that it will be easier.
I don't have any good ideas for what to write about in this post, so I'll tell you what's going on right now in this very moment right here at Boyer's Vineyard.
Three of us are in the kitchen/living room. All of us are on our (basically) identical macbooks. Is this sounding like college yet? I don't know what Hannah's doing. Beka was just on Turkish Wikipedia. Emily is on vacation. Elysia gets back from her summer internship in New York tomorrow. Since I studied abroad, I haven't seen her in over a year so I'm pretty pumped for her return. Hannah and I spent the afternoon at Cafe 53, where we were supposed to be working on applications for the Fulbright scholarship, but I don't think either of us made much progress. Classes don't start for another 3 weeks so it's still summer.
So, welcome to the incredibly exciting life at Boyer's Vineyard. Stay tuned to see if anyone else posts. Hopefully they do or I'll seem like a fool.
My name is Harriett and as you can see from the above intro, I like to pretend that I am smart and that I know things. I'm a class-A charlatan, so get used to it. But this blog isn't about me. It's about Boyer's Vineyard.
I'm not sure where the title Boyer's Vineyard came from. All I know is that's what it says on a sign on the door to our apartment. I assume the Boyer part comes from Dean John W. Boyer, the dean of the College at the University of Chicago, where we are all students. Our apartment is Hannah, Emily, Beka, Elysia, and me (Harriett, because you already forgot.) All of us are 4th-years (seniors) except Emily, because she's in a dual-degree program for social work (I hope I got that right.)
We started this blog because, well, I don't know. It might be a good way to remember senior year of college. Also, I think we all like to write. I (sort of) had a blog going last year while I was studying abroad, and Elysia and Hannah both study English so...one would hope. None of us seems to have the "time" (will, desire, drive, what have you) to keep up individual blogs, so we're doing one together in the hope that it will be easier.
I don't have any good ideas for what to write about in this post, so I'll tell you what's going on right now in this very moment right here at Boyer's Vineyard.
Three of us are in the kitchen/living room. All of us are on our (basically) identical macbooks. Is this sounding like college yet? I don't know what Hannah's doing. Beka was just on Turkish Wikipedia. Emily is on vacation. Elysia gets back from her summer internship in New York tomorrow. Since I studied abroad, I haven't seen her in over a year so I'm pretty pumped for her return. Hannah and I spent the afternoon at Cafe 53, where we were supposed to be working on applications for the Fulbright scholarship, but I don't think either of us made much progress. Classes don't start for another 3 weeks so it's still summer.
So, welcome to the incredibly exciting life at Boyer's Vineyard. Stay tuned to see if anyone else posts. Hopefully they do or I'll seem like a fool.
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