let's get some shoes

Yaaawn. Woke up at noon. Mmm. Beautiful day. Oatmeal. Book reading.

Katie and I are about two visits away from being able to order "the usual" at Leaky Roof. All we need to learn is the servers name. We are pretty sure it is Shelly. When we ordered, she remarked about it being a rerun. We also have our regular booth. Five buck lunch that is very filling. I only munched on bread a little for dinner.

Afterwards we walked up to William Temple House. Katie is doing the Halloween rounds and is collecting materials to make her costume. WTH is a thrift store with slightly more variety than Goodwill. I want to be a Red Shirt but I don't quite know. I can wait a little longer. At WTH I found a pair of very hot leather boots. I've been eyeing similar styles for years but never found a pair that I liked. They fit and were not tight. I just whipped my foot onto the counter to show them the price and wore them out of the store.

On the way to Goodwill some people said they were art students and were hungry and asked us for change. We said we were also art students and couldn't spare any ourselves. Afterwards we thought of other things we should have said. Like "Oh what school do you go to?" and "Yeah we are actual art students". But the last one would have been too rude. Still, this isn't the first time someone has said they are an art student and begged for money.

Wandered back home and just hung around. The Internet went down so I watched Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel (FAQ About Time Travel for short). It was quite clever and the characters were charming. It was short, but I couldn't imagine it having more story that wouldn't be excess. The Internet went down and up and down and up and down. In 30 second breaks and sometimes minutes. Not fun.

I think Issmi was performing tonight and I just realized I totally missed it. Dang! Need to support Robin, Natalie, and the dude that is in the band.

without your golden parachute

It was one of those mornings where at first you have 20 minutes and then you have 2. Still I got to school right on time.

The whole class was devoted to working on the three portraits. We met Martin in private for our first stage reviews. I almost preferred it like that. Just solid critique and direction. My first Warhol was black and white only, my second was marker, and my third was watercolor. I had to buy a bristol pad for the assignment, and since they had one in stock, I treated myself to a water brush. It's a brush with a plastic handle that you squeeze and makes the brush wet. No dipping into water. Better for painting on the go.

Everyone in the class had really top notch portraits. Only two people doubled over with their subject choice (Beth and Cassie both picked Sylvia Plath). I peeked at the other classes pile. I was the only one to pick Warhol from both classes. Danny's Noguchi was brilliant. Madeline's Kafka was endearing. I think Danny said it best when he remarked how all this assignment proves is just to do a lot of work. 5 hours and we produced three wonderful portraits. The day before? Nada.

My meeting with Martin went well. He complimented the amount of thought that I had about the Trobriander imagery. The Amish didn't really apply, but that's okay. I like the Trobriander imagery.

Finished the other half of my burrito for lunch. Talked to the Robopocalypse crew a little bit (well the remaining PNCA members).

After class I went to Trader Joe's to pick up some microwave meals for next week. I forgot my thermos in my bike cup holder. I didn't notice it was gone till I got home. Oh well. It came from Ikea, not like I was really attached to it. Now I have to do the mug + hot water from school's dispenser + tea thing, if I want pep anyway. Adding thermos to Christmas/Birthday list. It's not too early to think about it? Naaah.

Had to wait to be let in by some hapless stranger. Didn't have to wait all that long. Some AI kids let me in. Had some udon and egg for dinner. The Internet went down so Katie and I watched Showgirls. That movie is weird. All the dialogue is bizarre, the character interaction doesn't make sense, the dancing is so jerky, and through no matter what ever girl had a full cake of makeup on. It was fun but weird. The net was back when it was done.

nap in lap, what a sap!

Uhg bleg. Another late night. Thankfully I get out of bed in 8 hours instead of 5.

History of Laughter: we talked about how to read Chaucer in Olde English. Watched a little stand up segment of Zach Galifinakis. Looked at one of the MFA's installations. She had it specially set up as by invite only. And only women were allowed in the room to view the installation. Which was a compilation of Youtube videos of women laughing.

We gave our little performances about Durer's The Sea Monster. We had to write something creatively that analyzed the piece. I went first with my short rhyme about a man with a shell with a belle under a spell and towers that over power dour flowers. Eva wrote a song and performed with her piano. Antonia had a great myth about Lazlo. Robin's longer poem about sea merchants was nice. Daniel had a short play about being glad your wife was taken by a sea monster. It was fun.

Diana and I went to Cha Cha Cha for lunch. I ate half my burrito and that burrito half will be consumed tomorrow for lunch. We both were so happy to find that neither of us liked Lost in Translation. We spent some time naming directors and trying to think of other female directors. Ones that are actually good. Ravenous was directed by a lady, there is Mary Harron, and Kathryn Bigelow. I'm sure it is the type of thing that we don't realize there are so many female directors as we don't pay attention to directors of movies we are seeing for reasons other than the director.

Rest of class covered the art of Durer's contemporaries. I started to nod off. I didn't have any tea in me. I never fully fell asleep but I nodded and nodded. I felt bad about it because I really love this class. Afterwards I took a nap in the library. A two hour nap. I woke up disoriented and really confused and rambled to some poor guy about having to go somewhere. I was almost out of the library when I finally got it together and knew that it was 5:30 and yoga wasn't for a while.

I checked out Aesterios Polyp and read a few more chapters.

I didn't have as great as focus for this yoga session. I do feel my strength returning though. I'm getting better and more bendy. We did the grab-each-other's-ankles thing again.

I got home. Ate some pasta. Wrote out some stuff about Trobrianders, Amish Youth Subculture, and Yanomami. I settled on the Amish and the Trobrianders and created some thumbnails. Actually, several of the ideas and concepts I am digging. Which ever way it goes, I think I'll have fun. I'm coming to class with research and I am ready to go.

quick as

I'm behind in this essay, so I am going to make this quick.

My bike was safe in the printlab.

It was cold. We went to Froelick Gallery to check out Tom's show. Only five of us went, the rest chickened out and stayed dry.

Ate my last noodle box. I like the Pad Thai flavor the best. Chatted with Kristen and Madeline during lunch. Whoo!

Monotype was a disappointment today. We were introduced to color but I didn't know what to do (and later thought up how I should have done it). Not satisfied with what I did. Oh well.

Slacked around for far too long when I got back. Finished my short rhyme thing about the painting. Writing about comedy now. I don't want to get up in just 6 hours. Boo!

the long haul (up the stairs)

Bike was safe from 11 to 8:20. Tomorrow will be the printmaking room test. I think it should be fine. I won't be leaving the studio really.

Narrative image. First hour and a half was a critique of our thumbnails for our comic pages. It was nice how many people really loosely took the concept of sequential narrative. Natalie (not Nathalie) and Kristen both had no border between word and image. Rachel and Amanda had very solid borders. I decided to go with four vingettes concerning the aquirment of our Christmas trees. Dad and I getting a tree from the property, Dad and I sneaking one from a conservatory area, and going to Kunie's. Also a few panels of me thinking about Mum and Dad getting one on their own. It should be neat.

Lunch was a Pad Thai microwaveable noodle box from Trader Joe's. My favorite thus far (favorite of two). Crunchy mysterious things delicious noodles, good sauce. Lots of sodium but I don't give a bibble about that.

Finished up the critique and then it was time to meet Dame Darcy! I've liked her work since I was 16 (haven't actively pursued it but I always like seeing it around, it's very distinct). She gave us a pretty known already rundown of the history of art and icons. Talked about her own work. The thing that was really important was about how to get published, finding an agent, and all that. All the lectures really boil down to "work hard for a decade promoting yourself, get success in your 30's." I'm cool with that. Work hard and get good at your passion. She signed my copy of Gasoline even. It wasn't a meet and greet, so much as a little lecture. Hopefully she will return to school. She lives in Portland so she isn't all that far away.

After the break we discussed panels and gutters and transitions and things I've already learned three times over. Still, good to keep learning.

I read the reading assignment during the wait for yoga. Well I read it, and then I read three more chapters. We are reading a chunk out of Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli. It has a beautiful ease about it. Pure art in every panel. Mum. Buy it, read it, and give it to me for Christmas!

Yoga was full of delightful people. At least 8 other members. One girl looked like Vampire Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. During one balance pose, where you hold onto your toe and stick your leg out, we grabbed each others ankles with our free hand and formed one long awesome chain. So cool. After class, Fawn asked if I wanted to design an ad for her. Is it to be placed in the back of a comic for this thing coming up. I said yes before she even mentioned she would pay me. I'll check out the specs tomorrow and get right on it (it needs to be drawn before the week is out, but I'm not all that worried).

Went to Safeway to buy some girly things that a girl needs sometime. And a box of mini Charleston Chews. I only got to enjoy half of it. It fell when I was riding my bike and became a victim of the pavement. This is like, the worst thing ever! Boo!

Getting the bike down the stairs was considerably simpler when I set my bags at the bottom and devoted all my energy and limbs to hoisting the thing. It rained a little during my return, but it was a nice break from the random 80 degree days.

Watched House, Lie To Me, and Heroes. In that order. Sketched some ideas for tomorrow's monotype. I have two concepts I am digging. House was a pretty good follow up to the season premier. Lie To Me was neat. Robert Knepper is the only reason Heroes is keeping my interest (oh and Sylar, he is always fun to watch).

posters: part three

Bleh.

More sleep.

More reading.

More nothing.

My back tire has been creaking. I need to loosen the brake pads. Dangnabbit.

Not sure what I want to do for my graphic chapter. I don't like to do comics about myself.

Here are some more movie posters.

lists

Well, today was a waste. Three day weekends are lame for productivity.
Slept in.
Read a little of Gasoline.
Resorted my back issues of Esquire so that they were once again in chronological order.
Watched some TV.
Miranda came over and she and Katie worked on a photo album for Tom.
Went to the store and bought dish soap, detergent, laundry soap, Febreeze, and udon. Why do cleaning supplies cost so much?
Wore my red loose printed shirt that Celia gave me oh so many years ago.

Tomorrow must dos:
Finish chapters of Gasoline and respond to them in writing and in art.
Edit my memoir.
Pick part of memoir to turn into comic.
Create sketches for said comic.

Tomorrow maybe dos:
Research more Anthropology.
Start writing for History of Laughter.
Start writing for History of Printmaking.
Think about monotype.