its official.

in my life.... there is no time for blogging.
which is a cryin shame, since i love it so.

when i do get the chance to blog it is either a link or an image or something silly and quick.
i am going the way of convenience and giving you the links to my tumblr and my twitter
(both of which I use consistently for quick updates)

blogspot, you have been lovely. there are so many great things about you. you rock, never change. see ya soon, let's hang out, call me this summer, here's my number [insert other typical yearbook cliche's here], love ya!
hah.

so, as promised, let's hang out here:

http://twitter.com/#!/rachelmc_cord

and here:

http://rachelceleste.tumblr.com/

don't you worry, all of you not on tumblr, you will rest safely on my google reader :)

farewell,
XO.

blog slacker

dang. i haven't posted since APRIL.... its June.

proof that my life is outta control.

since then i have:

had my senior show
finished my last semester of college
GRADUATED & celebrated
moved out of my apartment & studio
bid farewell to all my dear friends
moved into a house with 6 other girls (where i live on a couch, on what used to be a back porch)
started summer school
tried to be a big girl, even though i don't want to.

so many things.
more updates to come!

time doesn't fly, it rockets.

apparently now i just blog monthly. sad.

since my last update i have:

-not passed my biology class....depressing.
-enrolled in summer school for, you guessed it, more biology... slightly more depressing
-by said passing and enrolling discovered that i WILL graduate and WILL walk at graduation.. not at all depressing.
-finished the biolan, the yearbook, my pride and joy - which is now on the presses & comes out in early may.
-am currently at h o m e for spring break: enjoying my family, jesus, and finishing up my senior show.

so many hard things, mixed with so many good things. it's hard too keep up, even with my own life.
but i'm glad for the challenge and the diversity. spending my last few nights in my bed as an oregon resident and college student. so weird. so so weird, but good.

only a few more days at home before its show weekend.
those of you located in lovely southern california check out my show!
VERSO: towards | reverse.
a fine art photographic exhibition (speaking to the concept of time & misplaced memories)

May 2nd-6th in the Biola Univeristy Gallery (13800 Biola Ave. La Mirada, CA 90639)
Opening reception is Monday May 2nd 6-9pm - I'd love to see ya!

take care dear friends.

w o a h

haven't blogged for like a month. crayzay.

since then i have been:

-conquering biology (and hopefully passing it)
-working like a madwoman on (school/ the biolan/my show, etc)
-enjoying friends
-not really sleeping
-not really eating regularly
-not really ever knowing what day or time it is
-having a very closeknit relationship with starbucks or really anything caffinated in a cup
-wishing the days towards graduation weren't ticking away so quickly.

my show is in TWENTY - FOUR days.
yikes.
can't wait for it to arrive // can't wait for it to be over.
such is life. bittersweet.

tomorrow.

i am singing in public.
where people will hear me... and clap.
its gonna be real weird.
but hopefully real fun.

we shall see.
(but im real nervz)

In Waves

it comes in waves.
the unbearable pinch
in the chest
due to the wincing of the heart
once reminded how
it truly feels.

it comes in waves.
the loss of breath
in the lungs
due to lack of speech
pulsing through the mouth grasping for
what to say.

it comes in waves.
the plummeting weight
in the stomach
due to the misplacement of love
which was once known in full but
now has fled.

it comes in waves.

aa is a champ.

can't seem to get enough of this song this weekend.
aa bondy - black rain




Black rain, black rain
Don't fall on me
Can't you see I'm doin' my best
Black rain, black rain
Don't fall on me
When I lay to take my rest

And love, it don't die
It just goes from girl to girl
Town to town, rose to rose
All around the world
Like a ghost upon a breeze
In a land of elegies

Black rain, black rain
Don't catch me low
And cover the sinner sun
Black rain, black rain
Where can I go
When you leave me nowhere to run

And love, it don't die
It just goes from girl to girl
Town to town, rose to rose
All around the world
Like a ghost upon a breeze
In a land of elegies

happy mind, happy eyes.

im f i n a l l y making progress towards my show! ptl.

for one of my classes we had to take 1,000 photos and do something interesting with them. dang.

all the while i was trying to brainstorm for my show, so i combined the two projects together.

below are a few sketches of ideas i would like to play out in my show.. really vague ideas at this point, but still ideas.

for these images i took a picture of my photo slideshow on my computer. as each image changed, they overlapped and i captured that overlap.

the interactions are so interesting and completely spontaneous, i had no control over their relationship, just over when i documented their interaction.

this was such a rich experience for me, i enjoyed every second.

i shot 500 of these interactions and printed 45 of them on vellum (an opaque paper substance) creating a book so you are able to see through both images to the images on the  next page.

this is just a teaser of a few, but i thought i'd keep you posted on what i've been working on/thinking about.

since this project i've made significant progress towards my show and it's changed quite a bit, which is great. not ready to post those yet though... you'll just have to see them MAY 2ND!

(copyright rachel mccord photography 2011... stealing is wrong)

i get paid to do this

just somethin for the yearbook.
even though i get paid to do this...i would still do it, even if i didn't get paid.
im making a divider for one of the spreads for the Biolan spelling out the word "academics" through books, by actually cutting through each word to spell it out.
it looks pretty rad, i'm really happy with it so far. even though i only have 3 letters, with like 2 hours spent on each... but nbd, i can never get enough of working with my hands and my headphones.
i love that this is my job. and that i get to do things that i love everyday, and get paid for it.
let's just hope that trend continues after my undergraduate career is over. [fingers crossed]

flu blues

may or may not have lost like 5 pounds after having the stomach flu yesterday...
forget dieting, im just gonna start getting the flu!
kidding, but really...all my clothes fit better today/ although that could just be since all i was wearing yesterday was my down comforter and pepto bismol, but still.

happy health my friends,
please don't get the flu - its ze worst.

don't judge

im obsessed with this song right now. stuck in my head a l l day.

struggs.

im a sad girl today.
and will be for a while from what i can tell.
can't wait till i'm not not sad anymore.
but i just don't know when that will be.

bits of things

first week of school. check.
after a a few classes, lots of emailing, meetings, shoots, projects, brainstortming, wandering about, best friend visits, quick disneyland nights, some old friend catch-ups over dinner and viewing of star trek 4... thus ends the first week, with heaps of sentimentality.

huge news. got a job offer this weekend (!!!) a real life big-girl job where i would be payed to do what i love to do. still praying, we'll see what God's got goin on. but real real exciting to seriously consider a viable option such as this so early in the semester before the final stages of "what the hell am i going to do with my life" panic ensues.

in other news, i realize i have posted z e r o proof of my visit overseas... so here you are. its a tease, with only one but let's be honest... there's no way you want to sift through over 2,000 that i took. forreal.

venice. only one of the most delightful/photogenic cities in ze world.

i move into my studio this week and will get to work on my show/life/work/humanity, ha.

last.

today is the first day of my last semester at biola.
sitting in spring convo chapel this morning when they had all the new students stand up and welcomed them into the community, i had instant flashbacks to when that was me.

17, shorter hair, undeclared, living with 2 new roommates in a crackerbox of a dorm room, completely figured myself out, so elated to be starting college away from home.
and now 4 years later i'm in the same girl just 21, longer hair, art major, living with 3 lovely housemates, still learning new things about myself everyday - no where near figured out, so elated to be in my last semester of college away from home.

so i guess it seems as though not much has changed, although i feel like a completely different person now than i did before i came.
i don't even want to think about how much i'm going to miss this place.
it has been the center of so much of my life and development over these past few years that i may just completely fall apart when i leave it because it has been my home and been so familiar for so long.

but im beyond excited for what God has for me this semester and all the seasons of my life that follow my days at Biola. i can't start getting sentimental yet, its only january.
but still... this place is great.

back from Italia.

wow wow wow.
just got back yesterday from my interterm trip to Italy.
my soul is still swimming with all that my eyes saw, all that my mind learned, and all that my heart felt. (photographic proof soon to come)

now i'm sleepily resetting my brain to school mode this next coming week and am preparing to look through all of the images i took while i was over in that beautiful country. i might have an art-attack while looking over them. and then may also have the sudden impulse to run back to the airport and catch the first flight to Florence that I can find/sell organs to afford.
but i'll probably refrain. probably.

my heart is so full, even though my mind and body are so weary.
that right there, is a feeling of great accomplishment.
ciao ciao.

tomorrow.

tomorrow marks the last time i will drive back to school for spring semester.
this may seem like a silly thing to get sentimental about, but here i go.

this is the last time i'll drive sleepily after a blissful christmas holiday back to california - rested and ready.
except this time i get to have an italian hiatus before embarking on the semester. which still hasn't fully digested in my mind yet, but im starting to pull my head out of the clouds a bit and realize that on sunday i will be getting another stamp on my passport. (!) i think my camera may be more aware of what's happening at this point than i am.

this is the last week that ill complete final registration, scour amazon for cheap textbooks, move back into my apartment and say hello again to my dear friends.

this is the beginning of the last familiar cycle in my life.
after this semester is over nothing is certain.

makes my fingers tingle a little just typing it.
but God is good, im a tough cookie and ive got some great experience under my belt.
i should probably be more worried than i am, but taking things in stride is my specialty.

now its time to pack up my life, crank up my jeep and say farewell to my beloved hometown, until next time. crazy.

so fascinating.

the story of a nanny who was an undiscovered photographer. her work was just found last year and had never previously been seen. its up to par with all the greats of 20th century photography. i just watched this twice. so obsessed. her work is beautiful and so interesting.
...the host of the show is a loser, but its worth it. i pinky swear.

ching ching.

hope you had a very merry new year.

in the spirit of making commitments to improve my life... 

this is what i hope to do these next 12 months.

Love God better.

Love people better.

Make art better.

Spend my time better.

Forgive better.

Adventure better.

Help better.

Have passion for things better.

Care better.

Take pictures better.

Enjoy better.

Accomplish projects better.

Serve better.

Not stress out better.

Relax better.

Play better.

Exercise & eat better.

Hope better.

Support my family better.

Encourage better.

Communicate better.

Lead better.

Let go of things better.

Pursue my future better.

Sleep (more often) better.

Plan better.

Be a big girl better.

Have faith better.

Express my thankfulness better.

Rely on other people better.

Be a woman/daughter/sister/aunt/friend/girlfriend/student/employee better.

All in all... try my best to be better than I am. 

To live freely, to love deeply and to never forget even for a second how fortunate I am to have been given the life I call my own.

Cheers to a new year, my friends. It'll be great.