winter makes you do crazy things

like....

THIS!!


why - you ask, is a prep school girl posing like she thinks she is a thug? actually, i'm trying to show off my newest accessory, that AWESOME beanie. that multi-dimensional, stylistically superb, complex dual-stitch beanie. it is seriously the coolest beanie in the world, nevermind that it's so tight it grips my head like a vise and basically stops all blood flow to my brain.

duh, i made it.

armed with nothing

but...

THIS!!



okay, enough craziness.

i'm gonna....you know....finish my application.

afternoon delights

she likes the roasted sweet potatoes fresh off the carts, fat coals of warmth with heat trapped deep inside their mellow flesh. she likes eating them while standing on the sidewalk, scooping up soft mouthfuls of sweetness bite after greedy bite, while the rest of the root sits hot on her palms, tingling sensations percolating through the wool of her mittens. this is winter; deep, cold, with wind that cuts through any layers of clothing, sometimes bringing rain and snow.

but in the streets, haven can be purchased for three kuai.

antics

listening to interpol makes my heart ache.

little red men!

it's been getting very very chilly here in shanghai, which makes it harder to get out of bed in the mornings.

who am i kidding? i don't get of bed until i want to, ha ha ha ha ha ha!

anyway, yesterday jane and i spent a very strange yet hilarious day walking across half of shanghai. along the way we saw the suzhou river...

old, abandoned buildings...


and this little guy right here:


we saw these things because the day's excursion was meant to take place at moganshan road. it's basically shanghai's art district, a street and plaza-like space filled with galleries, that are in turn, filled with spectacularly disappointing shit. you would think that shanghai's "art street" would be a contender for trendier and more tasteful works, but most of the stuff was crap. the stuff we saw along the way was much cooler, like the graffiti:


and this old house,


which turned out to be a digital arts company that made a cool version of "pong"


-

in other news, i had a little taste of fudan student life the other night. watched a student singing competition. wow, folks here sing with no inhibitions. how shall i describe the experience?




hilarious. -ly awkward. painfully endearing? it was like a rock concert, complete with screaming fan sections, friends armed with glowsticks and posterboards. amay-sing!