Shanina!

shannonjanaina, originally uploaded by Juxtaposedface.

A little history lesson. Janina V. and I first met when we were fifteen years old. We were on a Study Abroad program in Australia. I was placed in Melbourne and she in Adelaide. On an official USAC safarri we traveled by bus and tent through the great continent of Australia with other kids in the program who were stationed in Tasmania as well. (That would be my twin's group including the great Robin and Jake-a-rooni.) Janina and I bonded over Tim-Tams and cried in the outback about the pains of adolescence as Dreamtime settled all around us. She and I only knew each other for two and a half weeks.

We kept in touch through the years via e-mail, letters and phone calls. She knew my deep dark secrets and I knew hers. We were a distant, objective ear.

Fast forward to 2004 and I am on another Study Abroad program in the Czech Republic. I took a side trip to Rotterdam, Holland to see Janaina. We had not seen each other since Australia. Much to our delight we got along better than well. We bonded over the pains of post-adolescence and Dutch cookies as our Mushroom induced dreaming settled all around us.

Janina is in America. So far we have seen Jeff Wall prints, had romantic strolls through the park, ridden our bikes drunkenly through the city, seen a petting zoo of rats with Robin at Happy Village, set up a video rental for both of us, fought trolls with umbrellas, disgusted and surprised each other with how sick we both are, ran through the rain and subsequently danced in our underwear to Kate Bush (ok it was just me - I like what God gave me- sue me), and we have eatten a lot of cupcakes.

And we are also heart-breakingly photogenic.

Yay for seeing the world!

Hungarian Wine and Bread Dumplings

It was the summer of 2004. Ashley Simpson came out with her first single. I studied in Prague.

I watched Daisies to prepare myself and I guess it was spot on. At one point we did stop in a field and made wreaths of flowers. Those that know me also know that besides reading Kafka and Kundera I cried a lot. I missed my then boyfriend.

Crying fits aside, I got to have a lot of madcap adventures gallavanting throughout Europe. I even saw the Queen of England. And what.

I also befriended two particular people while studying. One being a 4'11" blonde version of my twin sister. Way to go Shannon. And the other was the only other person besides myself in a committed relationship who stayed that way while in Europa. The three of us had lots of drunken adventures involving such props as knives, castles, and absinthe.



For the first time since this trip, we will all be meeting up. This holy reunion will take place in Madison, Wisconsin. I think cheese and booze will play a large part in whatever happens.

PS - I just watched Scoop and it was awesome. Scarlett's character in it was hillarious.