so today was the first time that i have actually sold my artwork. me and emily sold our stuff at starbucks. it was a really good turn out. i made 105 dollars. i sold 3 of my photography and 2 watercolors. interesting. it was a really good experience. i was actually surprised that i sold that many because i wasnt that organized. but yea so we were sitting in there for about 4 hours and it was really busy the whole day so alot of ppl looked at our stuff. there was also another lady in there that was selling her stuff too. i really liked alot of them and i bought a small print of one of her oil paintings. so my break is almost over. boo. it was great tho. last night i got to see all the girls and we had a real fun time. we did a scavenger hunt around town taking pictures. ill probly put some of them on my picture page.

today it was great seein the whole family. well we only got to see my moms side of the family. but i still havent seen them in a long time. it was a great time all being together b/c it is rare that we are. the food ofcourse was wonderful. the following are the foods that i ate: turkey, mashed potatos, sweet potatos, green beans, apple sauce, stuffing, bread, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie cheesecake from olive garden with caramel syrup on top. k im tired. im drawing a blank. the only thing i can think of is that the redskins lost and i dont care. ha.night. i smell.

yesturday i went to my studios..had to be the longest day ever b/c i knew that as soon as i was done that i was done for the rest of the week for break. well i got out of design around 1030 then i chilled went to eat with sheree then went to class at 1 and ended up gettin out around 230. i met up w/ meaghan and we went to the skool clinic cuz she had to go and we both wanted to get flu shots..yea so i ended up gettin the last flu shot so she didnt have to go thru the intense pain that i have been goin thru...feels like i have a limp arm and my muscle really hurts...remind me to just get the flu next time! so yea we hung out..then went to get mike and we went and ate dinner. thenn i drove home. i got home around 630 or so..i was welcomed by my whole family outside..dont ask me why they were all outside..they were doin somethin. and i got to see my wonderful precious loveing favoriate dog, my puppy bella. aww she is so sweet i missed her so much. she looks like a walkin foot stool. so cute... then i went to church and then i went to marys house and hung out w/ her and angela and jeff. then i went to the farinos and sat and talked to patty for about 2 hours. it was great bein there.. i miss them so much bein in skool. it was great to be back at the house. i chilled there and spent the night on my favorite couch. woke up about 11 today and went home to an empty house ate some popcorn chicken took a shower and yea..commercial break:
63% addicted to Instant Messenger. How about you?

eek. well ya so today i hung out w/ joy..we were gonna go shopping but we ended up walkin around the outlets for awhile...goin in 2 stores one being lilian vernen...eesh and the other was sandboard cafe to see renee but she left ten minutes before we got there...then after that we wanted to do something else and we ended up goin to her uncles golf shop...yea we definately hung out there for like 2 hours. it was fun tho. mikey was there and we all putted on this mini green he had in there. it actually didnt seem like that long cuz they are just halarious to hang out w/. after that we went to joys dads house and we talked to him for bout 2 hours too. that was awesome cuz he was tellin us all these stories about the mission field. then we went to see my daddy at the bowling alley. watched him get all strikes and spares..he was doin awesome. then we took his car for a drive cuz i havent driven it yet. that thing has the best pick up...gettin onthe interstate i went from 30 to 100 in seriously 5 seconds. after that we went back to the farinos for a bit. i was excited b/c marna was home. then me and marna left and went to marks for a bit and then us three drove out to ernies...he lives so far away and all we did was basically get there and leave...we got in his new 300 dollar station wagon he just got. ha it rocked. we went to dennys and drank coffee and talked for awhile. it was really fun hangin out w/ all them. thennn we drove back out to ernies and picked up marks car and peaced out. went back to marks house to get my car then went and dropped marna off. now im home...charging my cell phone..checkin my email and goin to bed...man i havent slept in my bed in a long time. it will be weird sleepin in a queen size bed..im so used to the twin beds in my dorm. i can sleep diagonally if i want..hey. well yea i got to get up in the morning to drive to virginia beach to eat a lot of food on turkey day. night kids.

a day before thanxgiving break. so so thankful. last night was spent all day studying to find out a really think i didnt do very well on the quiz. this morning i was so tired and yea. so after that i went to english and found out that i dont have to come to class on wednesday. praise Jesus cuz now i can come home tuesday night. so after english i came back to my dorm and chilled until i went to lunch and chilled with dave for a bit then met kat to sell our english books. then i chilled w/ her until we went to the seminar on studying abroad and on preparing our portfolio for applying for our major next semester. then me,kat ,and meaghan hung out for a bit. and me and meaghan went over to 711 to spy on this guy for kat. and she found this turtle...a cement one. and she didnt take it so i did! ha! its fun hangin out w/ them. after that i went back home to my dorm and started workin on a drawing for drawin fundamentals. i had to draw a still life. [claire says: Lauren is so not cool. She gets all the easy teachers and she gets to leave tomorrow. I'm so frickin' jealous. but that's okay. i'm okay. really... i am.... UGGGHHHHH NOT FAIR!!!!!!!] so tonight hopefully i will get to bed early. but not likely. tomorrow morn i dont have class until 9 instead of 820. that rocks. sleep! ill be coming home tomorrow!!! yay

today was actually productive...well i mean i actually did stuff the whole day all back to back..it was great. well i got up around 11 to a singing puerto rican boy. i then got up and chilled for a bit before going to hibbs. i saw vicky there so we ate together. after this i met lillian and kent on broad street in the 1708 art gallery. there was a photography show that kent wanted to see so i met them there and we ended up goin to 3 other galleries too. after this i went to rhodes and hung out w/ kim for a bit. she sewed my shirt and my sisters shirts smaller for us. rock. thanx kim. after that i went back to my dorm for a bit and worked on my english portfolio due monday. then went to dinner at 6:05 to be exact...with kat, meaghan and mike again. and julie came too. thennnn i met vicky, alisha, and her friend...sorry i cant remember your name. and we went down to shockoe bottom to the shockoe expresso cafe. kents band 'the offering' was playing there. so we chilled there from 7 until 11. all the girls from my church. it was so much fun just chillin and talking and we were all drawing eachother and sallie,lillian and abi were knitting. it was just great. i love hanging out with those girls. i got a caramel frap too thanx to abi and i was sad to leave to come back to the good old dorm. to sum it all up...great day. thank you Lord

so today was a good day. i got up and went to english. we got out at 1035 instead of 1050 which was good and bad. good b/c each minute in that class seems like an eternity and bad b/c lunch doesnt start until 11 which means i have to go all the way back to my dorm and come back to hibbs or sit there for a half an hour and wait. so yea i went back to my dorm. i ended up just eating a hot pocket. then i studyed for art history a bit. then i went to sleep for a few hours and woke up at 3. then i chilled for a bit and then went to dinner at 4 w/ kat, meaghan, and mike. then we all went back to rhodes and hung out there for a bit. [by the way...did i tell you bout these cool oragami stars i found in my c&p class yesturday...well now ya know. and yes i looked online for directions and tryed to make one. but it didnt exactly work] at 640 we left to go see the 'frida' movie about the life of frida kahlo. that was a really good movie. kinda sketch but very good. when we got back around 930 i sat here bored out of my mind until now. i did talk to joy for a bit tho. and all day since yesturday night i have been rockin out to the 'me with out you' cd. it is so good i cant stop listening to it. what else...well me and claire decided to clean our room since we havent in a very long time. and our suitemates mom is here from puerto rico. so now its time to go to bed. good night world. i just scanned a bunch of my friend kats pictures so they will probly be on my site soon.

what an amazing night. might have actually been better then last night. well tonight me, shannon, chris, and tony headed over to mary washington to see the juliana theory show. well i got there and it hadnt started yet and there were two bands before them. we met up w/ erik which was awesome cuz i miss him a lot. but anyways..the first band was just this band from mary washington...they were ok i guess. i didnt really like their sound that much. now the second band was amazing. i had never heard of them before...they are called 'me with out you' and erik was talkin about how everyone was really goin to see them play and not juliana theory so i was excited cuz i knew they had to be good. well yea...really really good. and it turned out that they were a christian band. they had an awesome show. like the lead singer was singing like with flowers...and they were everywhere..i duno you had to be there to really know what i was talkin about. but yea so after their show i went over to talk to them and buy their cd. i ended up gettin their cd and a poster, 2 stickers, and a button. i really just wanted to suport them as much as i could. they had some sweet shirts too but i didnt get one cuz i just got two last night at the saves the day show. but anyways....the guys from 'me with out you' they were the most humble guys i think ive ever met in a band. they were so sweet and just awesome guys. i got them all to sign my cd cover. so next was juliana theory. they played a good set but not as good as the last time i saw them live. they played alot of their new stuff which is good but i dont know if it compares w/ their old stuff that well. they were still amazing and it was really good seeing them again. i got a juliana theory poster too. so the show was over around 1030 and shannon wanted to hang out w/ his friend thomas and the other guys wanted to hang out w/ their friends...so me and erik went to 'the underground' which is like this hangout on campus and we sat and talked and drank coffee. it was great seeing erik again. he is so precious. but yea...awesome awesome night. and to all a farewell.

saves the day show was tonight. it was awesome. the opening bands were 'circle and square', 'something like spitting', 'ash', and then 'saves the day'. we left to go to the show at 330 b/c we were gonna meet ernie at doumars for dinner b/c he is movin to florida...but guess what. he didnt show up. which doesnt suprise me at all. so yea we ordered the normal- 2 barbeque sandwichs and a limeaide. then we drove to the show. it was around 630 and i got the best spot. i was up on the balcony straight infront of the stage....so i watched the whole entire show... every band and every set change. it was interesting watchin them set up and break down each band. so the first band was pretty good but their guitarist was really annoying. 'something like spitting' was very very good. i really liked them alot. i hadnt heard them before tonight. i got a shirt and kim got the cd. and we got free stickers. 'ash' i dont really like at all. but they do have a girl guitarist which is cool and they are from ireland which is cool too. but i dont like their style of music. so yea...saves the day was amazing. i had never seen them before in concert so i was so pumped. everyone up on the balcony was just standin there the whole time and i was the only one rockin out. it was cool bein up there and watchin the crowd too tho b/c it was like a moving ocean and i saw all the pits form and all the crowd surfers and the bouncers grabbin the crowd surfers out of the crowd. it was just great. so i think saves the day is one of my favorite bands live. i would definately love to see them again. i like them b/c they play songs all back to back so they play more songs instead of messin around and talkin inbetween each. and i was pumped b/c they played my favorite song..'nightingale'. so anyways. yea i got to sleep on the way home..i was excited about that. oh yea did i mention i got a saves the day shirt too? eee

new look for the site as you can tell. well anyways. this week has been so great. it has just been really relaxing. i didnt have any homework in any of my classes except one. so i have been able to do nothing and not worry about anything. i have been slowly finishing my portfolio for english that is due on friday. im not really worrying bout not passin it. i think that i will do good. and to top off this week is two of my favorite bands concerts. wednesday night [tomorrow] is the 'saves the day' show. im really pumped about that b/c i have never seen them live before and they are amazing. i have been listenin to them for a few years but this year was actually when i really started likin them alot. and then thursday is the 'juliana theory' show. now i have seen them before live last year. and they were so awesome. i cant wait! so basically these next 2 days are goin to rock my face. besides the total of 6 hours of drivin we are goin to be doin between the two days...it will be so worth it. kim is drivin tomorrow to norfolk so i get a break. cuz i have been drivin to the past 3 shows in norfolk then we went to. k so there is my update. get back at ya lata. back to my paper and chillin to some fleetwood mac. peace

we saw the inside of our house! the one we are livin in next year. we were drivin by it and i was like lets go see the house and emily was like no i dont feel right its late and it is a house of guys...and me and abi were like ok drop us off we want to see it...so emily turned around and there was a parkin spot open right in front of the house so she changed her mind. abi was prayin...God give us an opportunity..and this guy walked by and i said...he lives in the house i bet...and what doya know...he does! so i said" scuseme this might sound weird but this house rocks and we have always wanted to see the inside...so he was like sure. and he gave us a full tour. it was awesome how the Lord did that. and the house is so amazing. im so excited about livin there next year. i cant wait

question: walking in your neighborhood, you find yourself directly in the path of a falling leaf. what do you do?

answer:
1. remain calm.
2. make no sudden movements.
3. do not swat at the leaf, blow, or make aggressive gestures.
4. walk at a brisk pace in the OPPOSITE direction of the leaf, without making eye contact.
5. do not make any cell phone calls until you have rounded at least one city block.
6. report the incident IMMEDIATELY.

*generally speaking, leaves are more afraid of you than you are of them.

what a great a story to tell....personally i think its halarious...claire on the other hand is depressed and bumbed out. ok well tonight claire [my roomate] went to walmart and she discovered a sponge bob fish tank. which rocks by the way. so she got it and just went ahead and bout some fish too. she got a black puppy fish with big eyes..this albino/goldfish and a algue fish. they were named in that order: ashes, burnt, and grosso. so anyways...we set the tank up and plugged it in w/ the oxygen bubbles blowin for awhile. then we put the fish in their bags in the tank to get used to the water. then we put them in the water. they were bein blown around my the bubbles but were chillin and swimin around...after awhile we realized that they were chillin too much....yea so they were barely moving and we didnt know what was up. so grosso is definately dead, burnt is basically dead and ashes is still swimin around but strugglin. we unplugged the oxygen bubbles and we are gonna see what happened by the morning. we lucked out cuz there is a 78 hour warenty on the fish. so yea tomorrow walmart will have a visit and im sure will laugh at us. to sum it all up....our fished died within 6 hours. that is a record! yea i dont have good luck w/ fish at all. salute the dead [ashes, burnt, grosso....rest iin peace...in the sewage system] ...if you want to see these fish. there are pix on my pic page under the ppl category.

THE JULIANA THEORY NEWS...very exciting

*2003 US TOUR ANNOUNCED
The Juliana Theory have just announced that they'll be doing a full-US
co-headline tour with Something Corporate in January and February! Both bands will be playing full 60-minute sets and will be bringing along a
couple of very cool opening acts on the tour as well. Dates and ticket
information will be announced in the next week or so. It's going to be an
amazing tour- don't miss it! Following the tour with Something Corporate,
look for the band to return to Canada and Europe.

*NEW JULIANA THEORY ALBUM IN STORES FEB 4, 2003 w/BONUS TRACKS, VIDEOS
The band is currently in Los Angeles putting the finishing touches on a
couple of songs left over from the LOVE album sessions. They're also
editing live concert footage that was shot at the secret street team show
back in September. You'll be able to get the bonus tracks and videos when you buy the new album LOVE - in stores February 4. Stay tuned for more details..

so yea ive been pretty lazy bout writin in a few days...mostly because if have been working very hardly and for long diligent hours on my argumentative research paper for english. yea not fun. so ive been pretty much stearing myself away from even thinking about writing. to condtradict what i just said. here is a poem that i wrote the other day>>

[here i be]
by lauren dauria

im lost in a world of mindless minds.
im stuck in a system of rhetorical questions.
my life leaves me facing my knees.
the worth and hope is so far from what i see.
confused, hard hearted, with no reason.
it must be because of myself
and how i preceive.
i go to get encouraged
and leave discouraged and upset
the point where i want to be
i can no longer see.

the enemy crouches at my door waiting
for me to open and fall
the tempation always remains
but by the Lords grace i will sustain
this life of embracing suffering
there are two powers that both seek to kill
satan doesnt want you to inherit and walk
God wants you to get out of his way.
the second will leave you with life

here i am
married to Christ
but still deny that i am a loved wife
my insecurity overwhelms me
so much to drown me in deceit

the darkness torments but comforts
for i dont see what the light brings
my real self will be exposed
to the world it cant be shown.
lonliness has held the place
in my life where i only see his face
my hand is held by emptiness
procrastination holds the other.
lazniness follows and whispers
to sleep your life away
then you wont have to worry
about the eyes that stare you down
day and night encompased in a frown

the chance of a close friend
results in a pushing away.
my heart's pieces scream
too much hurt
what can i handle anymore?
is it worth the risk or the chore?

what to do i dont want it to be an option
i want God to be the only option
i want him to sign these papers
and take me as his adoption

i no longer want to be fueled by hatred
i want to be told,
"you are sacred
and precious before me.
my creation that i long to be with and hold
your tears have been caught and kept
and your preception was naught
in the eyes of me for all i see is Jesus."

last night was the further seems forever, something corporate, finch, new found glory show in norfolk at the boathouse. ive been lookin forward to this show for awhile but it didnt turn out as good as i thought. well we left around 430 for a two hour drive and we went to dumours for dinner..this barbeque place that we are gonna go to every show from now on hopefully. its just like go in...sit at the stools....barbeque sandwiches...lime aide....and leave....it is an old rollar skate to your car kind of restaurant . i really like it. so yea we left there and we tryed to figure out our way to the boathouse. when we got there it was a long wait to get in and we parked and by the time we got in 'further seems forever' had already played so that was really depressin cuz i really wanted to see them again. next was something corporate. they were really awesome, i have been wanting to see them live for a long time and they played my favorite some 'cavanaugh park'. next was finch. i didnt really like them at all..i duno i dont like screamin bands like that i guess..so i was just walkin around the boathouse looking at ppl, noticing how the place was filled w/ middleskoolers...or so it seemed...then new found glory played. i was thinkin they were gonna be better then they were for some reason. but eh they played for way too long. the whole time they played i was hangin out w/ my sister and her boyfriend nik. it was great hangin out and talkin to them cuz i dont get the chance that often anymore since skool started. so yea i got the guitarist from further seems forevers autograph and i got the lead singer of something corporates autograph. so that was cool . i also got a futher seems forever shirt for 10 bones...its really huge but my friend kim can make it smaller for me. so last night we got home around 1 and i was so tired but ididnt end up goin to bed until around 2 and i had to be up the next morn at 830. today i went to a seminar on 'purpose, passion, and vision' it was really good...lots of good things she spoke on. that got out around 4 and i came back here and slept until 530. and i just got some hibbage and im really full...which means i might go sleep it off...i need to be workin on skool stuff tho..boo.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIMBURKE!

the sound of silence
[paul simon]

hello darkness my old friend
ive come to talk with you again
because a vision softly creeping
left its seed while i was sleeping
and the vision that was planted in my brain
still remains with in the sound of silence

in restless dreams i walked alone
norrow streets of cobble stone
'neath the halo of a street lamp
i turned my collar to the cold and damp
when my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
they split the night and touched the sound of silence

and int he naked light i saw
then thousand people maybe more
people talking with out speaking
people hearing with out listening
people writing sonds that voices never share
and no one dares disturb the sound of silence

"fools!" said i, "you do not know
silence like a cancer grows
hear my words that i might teach you
take my arms that i might reach you."
but my words like silent raindrops fell
and echoed in the wells of silence

and the people bowed and prayed
to the neon god then made
and the sign flashed out its warning
in the words that it was forming.
and the sign said:
the words of the prophets are written
on the subway walls and tenement halls"
and whispered inthe sound of silence

i have a little ladybug made out of a shell. he watches me when i type, his eyes stare at my hands. he is cute. i found him in my c&p studio. he sat on my shoulder for a bit.

hey kids. so what have i been up to the past few days? wednesday i was suposed to go the relient k show in norfolk but i ended up not goin b/c i had too much work to do and i didnt want to be rushed. i duno i felt like the Lord didnt want me to go either. so i gave my ticket to lilian, she really wanted to go but she didnt have the money..so it went for a good cause at least. well halloween i got outta class around 430. it was fun tho b/c we have been doin assemblage these past few weeks. we did a little one and now we are startin a bigger one. im excited bout it. and i especially love seeing everyone elses.there are so many creative minds in my class...and then some are just crap. so yea i went out to eat and then went to kims place. her and all the girls were gettin dressed up for halloween in their costumes. kim was a pirate, she made her costume and it was really sweet. durin this time mike was puttin wax in my hair and fixin my dreds up for me. that was fun. i was just chillin and my dreds looked awesome after he was done. that was awesome for him to do that for me. so he had to leave at 7 cuz he had a class. after that we watched the halloween episode of sponge bob. it was so cute and the kids who trick or treated at sponge bobs house made fun of him and said he was a haunted mattress. we were also dyin my bangs. we bleached them twice and on the 2nd time :BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP: and that beep didnt stop for like 45 minutes. the fire alarm went off! and we were on the 18th floor. that means we had to walk down the stairs the whole way. and yea since i was a guest i couldnt get back in until everyone else in the whole building did. but me and kat got in line first and were the first of the guests to get back in so that was good cuz there was a whole room of them. also it was cool cuz i got to hear kat speak in russian cuz she used my cell phone. so yea we finally got back upstairs and rinsed my bleach out and put the red in. we didnt leave it in that long cuz kim had to leave so when we washed it out it was like kind of like orange w/ blonde roots. pretty cool. so i walked back to grc. and i was bored to i walked over to my friend beckys. she lives in the apartment side of grc. so i went there and we chilled and talked for awhile. then we thought we would go bother our other friend sheree so we went to her apartment and chilled there for awhile too. around 12 i went back to my place. i just sat on my comp and or worked on my sketchbook for c&p. yesturday, friday, after class i chilled until me and and shannon went to see jacka$$ the movie. it was really funny. and it was cool cuz me and shannon were the only ones in the whole theater. i laughed my face off...tho some parts were gross. last night i went to first friday w/ kat and rob. it wasnt really good this month tho there was a few good things. i really only wanted to see the wearable art show but it was only up last week so i missed it :arg: after that i went back home and bud from govskool was gonna come down but she ended up gettin in a fight w/ her mom and couldnt come...so that stunk. so then i just stayed in and talked to mike online and worked on my sketchbook more. it is really fun workin on this sketchbook. like we have 15 weeks to work on it and i wanted to make sure that i didnt wait until the last minute to just throw stuff in there so it has been a lasting process from the beginning. but in the beginning like i would just glue random things in there not really anything "artistic" so now i am goin back and layering stuff and addin paint and i duno ..other stuff. youd have to see it. so saturday i didnt get to sleep in....especially cuz the fire alarm went off at 7 oclock in the morning. man that stunk cuz i had to be up at 830 to be at church at 9. i took the spiritual family course today. to become a member of my church here in richmond. it was until 1. i learned alot bout the church and stuff. it was good. after that i went to emilys and then abi came over and us three went down to the brunswick stew festival. we got some stew and looked around...there were alot of stands sellin random stuff. but the cool thing was i got a rubber chicken and i shirt. so we were there for a bit. thennnn i went back to my place after droppin emily and abi off and then i went to hibbs w/ kim and now im sittin in kims room watchin a movie. i need to be workin on my research paper...but eh im not. oh yea i dyed my hair again red. its darker now. rock.