And oh boy, was I wrong! I spent that hour in the National Gallery watching one of the most artistic, imaginative films I’d ever seen. The integration of two-dimensional art with live actors was seamless, and the movie somehow bridged that gap between the limitless world of storybook illustration and the realism of live-action cinema. As the actors wandered through the extraordinary, ornate sets, I had to remind myself that it was all just made of magazines, cut out and glued in place. I had the surreal feeling of experiencing the story both on paper and on the screen.

Take a look at two of the sets:

Unfortunately, the DVD isn’t available in the US, so the only way you can see what I’m raving about is by watching the (very beautiful) trailer:

And in case you’re not already thinking of running away to Denmark to catch a screening of this film, here are even more gorgeous images:

1. I wish the National Gallery were actually on my doorstep. That would be fantastic.
2. Read it here!
3. The crown prince and princess, who happened to be in town, were there to introduce the film. Only in DC, right?

When I was in elementary school, I used to complain about stomach aches all the time to get out of math class.¹ And when I say all the time, I mean all the time. The school nurse knew me. She could even recognize my footsteps and my knock. Anyway, being an extremely patient and sympathetic woman (perhaps she didn’t like math either), she always let me stay. I would hop up onto the spare cot with a Where’s Waldo book and spend the next half hour searching through the pages.

So after stumbling across downtown Silver Spring with a vicious zombie horde,² I found myself seated next to undead Waldo for a special screening of Shaun of the Dead! It was like a dream (nightmare?) come true!³ Here he is at the bar before the walk:⁴

The great thing that I discovered about Halloween in the city (versus good ol’ Fredericksburg) is that festivities go on for at least a week preceding the actual day! This meant that after the zombie walk on October 24th, I still had a whole week of events to look forward to! Highlights included a screening of Nosferatu at AFI with a live orchestra providing the soundtrack, trick-or-treating as Charlie Chaplin, and a Halloween in Paris party at Bistro Napoleon, where I spotted one of my favorite costumed pairs of all time:

Fantastic, right? Happy Halloween, and don’t forget to mail me your leftover candy!

1. What can I say? Math gives me a stomach ache ;)
2. Yes, I dressed as a zombie too, complete with slashed throat and blood-smeared face.
3. I think I alarmed him with my enthusiasm.
4. If you love Waldo as much as I do, you’ll be thrilled to know that the DC Defenestrators staged live-action Waldo searches in the city recently. The fun never ends!

As promised, here are my four most recent paintings. They’re actually finished, which is more than I can usually say! We’ll see about continuing this trend.

Everyone should have blue skin.

spring

summer

fall

Voila! I’m going to save up for a couple of canvases² so next time I don’t have to paint on paper.

1. Have I lost you yet?
2. Did you know: en française, ‘canvas’ is ‘toile’. Not to be confused with etoile or toilette.

"I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each"

"I do not think that they will sing to me"

My sunburn notebook from two years ago:

And one extra this year because I had so many leftover magazine clippings:

1. I fell asleep on the beach for four hours or so…
2. I hope my mother didn’t need those magazines.

1. The songs used are, in order: “7 pm” and “La Vie Quotidienne” by Yann Tiersen

I could go on for days about the fantastic presentations, creative faculty, and stimulating atmosphere at Faculty Academy, but instead I’m going to give a little love to my DTLT family, who put in an enormous amount of work and effort to make this event as spectacular as it was. My last day as a DTLT student aide was 17 days ago, but I still wake up every morning ready to head back to the office in Dupont. And then I realize that I’m not at UMW anymore. Graduation was easy; leaving my professors and co-workers behind was not.

I won’t get to walk into the office today and see Patrick waving from behind his desk, or Andy gushing over the latest Apple product.³ I won’t see Jim‘s feet next to the plastic bobblehead dolls on his desk as he reclines, eating chips and blogging his fifteenth daily post on the Bava. I won’t be able to make contentious statements about 80′s music to Jerry just to get into another debate, hear Martha nagging us about blog posts on Stuff for Starving Students, or plotting planning projects with Shannon.

Working at DTLT has been one of the most important experiences of my life. Looking forward to work, I’m told, is a pretty rare thing. I also know that a group of people as creative and brilliant as Jerry, Martha, Andy, Patrick, and Jim is hard to come by. I know the professors value them, and I sure hope the university does too. If UMW is smart, it’ll keep them forever.⁴ I wish I could keep them forever.

And, of course, no mention of DTLT would be complete without a shout-out to Gardner Campbell, who taught me about obsession and flow, invited me to all-night Milton readings, sang Beatles songs with me, introduced me to Errol Morris, and continues to inspire me all the way from Texas. I hope I’ll always be your student.

In conclusion, I really miss you all.

1. Front page photo courtesy of the amazing George Brett.
2. My new hero
3. I’m not making this up. Our ex-PC fanboy is completely reformed.
4. Perhaps even beyond the grave! Zombie DTLT could run Faculty Academy, right?

–

On a page of story ideas:

A toad’s eye:

A cartoon man with an oversized tie standing on someone’s closed eyelid:

Brainstorming page for a poem:

Random face:

Linguistics notes:

More linguistics notes, and a Very Hairy Man:

Mermaid, and other observations:

An imagined doll outfit:

Someone you may recognize, but–as observed–not the correct age. And eye with arrows:

Feathery Tuesday:

Almost November:

A Halloween skull hat:

Shocked that it’s Saturday:

Random mermaid:

The evil elderly:³

More eyes:

1. Sometimes even accompanied by equally strange text!
2. From “Mr. Fox“, in case you didn’t get the reference.
3. Extra credit: “Scapegoats“

Patrick has a much more in-depth post on this, including helpful comparisons between this New Zealand law and related U.S. ones.