Hello, all! This morning I read the good news about Henry's mission call, wunderbar! He is following in the Davis family tradition of serving missions in German-speaking countries, and it's a good thing, too, because he's already so familiar with the language!
I am writing not only to congratulate Henry, but also because Grandma and Grandpa asked that we all give an update. So here is my update:
I turned 21 on May 24th, which was very exciting! Apparently it made people really nostalgic, and everyone was sending me great photos from my childhood. Grandma and Grandpa made a beautiful scrapbook for me, which included some great letters and drawings I had sent them. Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!
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Here's a musical young Annika, from the scrapbook.
My mom also found these old photos:
I named this the "Old Stump Bear", for reasons still unknown.
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Clearly, I've had an interest in fashion since I was very little.
To return to the present, I have been traveling since I got out of school, right now I am visiting some friends in Los Angeles. LA is really cool, but really huge and really crowded. It takes so long to drive anywhere in this town! I've had some really great food, including the sandwich that changed my life: the cheesy mac n' rib from the grilled cheese truck! It was actually a grilled cheese sandwich with macaroni and cheese, smoked rib meat, and carmelized onions. So delicious. Food trucks and really popular in Los Angeles, you can basically get any food from a truck! Grilled cheese, tacos, even thai!
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yummm.....
We also went to the Renaissance Fair, (or I guess it would be "faire", with an e):
Chris and me with giant turkey legs!
Besides eating food and exploring the city, I have also been hard at work on preliminary research for my senior thesis paper, which will be due at the end of this upcoming school year, my final year of college. I can't believe that I'm already so close to graduating! Luckily Los Angeles has a huge, beautiful public library, which has been a great resource. My paper is going to be about Aubrey Beardsley, a turn-of-the-century British artist. He made black and white ink drawings, often illustrations for plays and novels. He illustrated many works by Oscar Wilde, including his play Salome. I'll be studying how Beardsley's work was grotesque and shocking to his Victorian audience, and the ways in which it was influenced by 17th century Japanese woodblock prints. Those of you in Provo might remember that the BYU art museum had a wonderful show about Japanese woodblock prints a couple of years ago, which I was lucky enough to be in town to see!
The rest of my summer remains kind of up in the air, but I will probably be on Martha's Vineyard next month with my family. I am also really looking forward to Camp Cousins, which I hope to be able to attend! I miss and love all of you, and congratulations again to Henry!
--Annika
I am writing not only to congratulate Henry, but also because Grandma and Grandpa asked that we all give an update. So here is my update:
I turned 21 on May 24th, which was very exciting! Apparently it made people really nostalgic, and everyone was sending me great photos from my childhood. Grandma and Grandpa made a beautiful scrapbook for me, which included some great letters and drawings I had sent them. Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!
.JPG)
Here's a musical young Annika, from the scrapbook.
My mom also found these old photos:
I named this the "Old Stump Bear", for reasons still unknown.
.JPG)
Clearly, I've had an interest in fashion since I was very little.
To return to the present, I have been traveling since I got out of school, right now I am visiting some friends in Los Angeles. LA is really cool, but really huge and really crowded. It takes so long to drive anywhere in this town! I've had some really great food, including the sandwich that changed my life: the cheesy mac n' rib from the grilled cheese truck! It was actually a grilled cheese sandwich with macaroni and cheese, smoked rib meat, and carmelized onions. So delicious. Food trucks and really popular in Los Angeles, you can basically get any food from a truck! Grilled cheese, tacos, even thai!
.JPG)
yummm.....
We also went to the Renaissance Fair, (or I guess it would be "faire", with an e):
Chris and me with giant turkey legs!
Besides eating food and exploring the city, I have also been hard at work on preliminary research for my senior thesis paper, which will be due at the end of this upcoming school year, my final year of college. I can't believe that I'm already so close to graduating! Luckily Los Angeles has a huge, beautiful public library, which has been a great resource. My paper is going to be about Aubrey Beardsley, a turn-of-the-century British artist. He made black and white ink drawings, often illustrations for plays and novels. He illustrated many works by Oscar Wilde, including his play Salome. I'll be studying how Beardsley's work was grotesque and shocking to his Victorian audience, and the ways in which it was influenced by 17th century Japanese woodblock prints. Those of you in Provo might remember that the BYU art museum had a wonderful show about Japanese woodblock prints a couple of years ago, which I was lucky enough to be in town to see!
The rest of my summer remains kind of up in the air, but I will probably be on Martha's Vineyard next month with my family. I am also really looking forward to Camp Cousins, which I hope to be able to attend! I miss and love all of you, and congratulations again to Henry!
--Annika
It was wonderful to hear from you, Annika. What was it got you interested in A. Beardsley? What has been the focus of your art history studies? We are really happy to hear you are planning to Camp Cousins. Love you much, Grandma (and also Grandpa, who is at this moment watching the PGA tournament.)
ReplyDeleteWe are working on the same time period for our theses! I think Beardsley is still grotesque and shocking. :) We should collaborate--The Wiener Werstaette also had a lot of Japanese influence, which is something I need to explore. Can't wait to see you at Camp Cousins!
ReplyDeleteJust a note on the "Old Stump Bear." It is a stuffed black bear that was killed by a car, accidentally, and was then stuffed and placed in the visitor's center at Bear Creek Park in Colo Spgs. On a hike there with Annika and her best friend in those days, Gabriel Dorfsman (whose family later moved to New Hampshire), I asked if Annika and Gabriel wanted to see a "stuffed" bear. Gabriel turned this into the the "old stump bear," not really grasping the word "stuffed." I'm not sure why he decided it was "old."
ReplyDeleteLike many boys his age, he was fearless physically (as in climbing and jumping) but terrified of things like basements, the dark, as well as of a general concept he called "the Globolinks" (or something like that), who threatened to appear to terrorize him at anytime. Just the mention of the "old stump bear" terrified him, even though I assured him it could never come back to life.