I have a degree! I'm a certified college educated woman!
Got up at 8, showered. Had a small breakfast. Got my clothes on. I went back and forth between pants and a skirt but settled on the pants. The skirt just threw the ensemble off. Put my hair up into heidi braids. Did my makeup. Kristen was looking adorable too. At PNCA, we don't wear cap and gowns. It is as formal as you wish. Some wear tee shirts, others take it as the chance to go all out.
There was a pre-Grad shindig at Mel's, so Kristen and I swung by Fred Meyers and got a bottle of Champagne and some scones and chilled out there with Mel, her family, Melissa, Leah, Leah, Tabitha, BT, Karen, Karen's family... Mel lives a few blocks from the Tiffany Center, where our graduation is being held, so it was convenient. And then 3pm rolled around and the grads strutted their way over to the center.
We all met on the 2nd floor. Damn everyone looked so good! So much fabulous in one room. A few went all out and had on gowns. Many guys were in various suits. Time passed by so quick. Before we knew it, it was time to struggle to get into alphabetical order. 4pm came. And then 4:15. And THEN the line moved and we slowly progressed up to the 4th floor. The Tiffany Center is a great place to graduate. There are seats close in and all around. It isn't a stadium by a long shot. And since my class is like, 120 people strong, with the MFA's, it doesn't need to be big. I got my seat and then the commencement...commenced.
Tom Manly spoke pausingly. The first MFA speech was good and memorable. She talked briefly about her 12 classmates and told the school that it was a fine relationship but they were breaking up. The second MFA speech...I can't even remember it. Some MFA awards were handed out as well. Then the BFA speech. Sohkun had some lovely sentiments about art making and how we seek it. Some BFA awards were handed out. Dominic got the Illustration prize and Liberal Arts prize, Robin GFA, Mel Design. Well deserved. Then came the alumni speech from hell. It was long and rambling and she just read from her artist diary and it went on and on and on and was so pretentious sounding. I mumbled some jokes to Will and Chloe, because there was nothing else to do! Her speech took more time than it did for us to get our diplomas.
One by one we crossed the stage. About 10 names were mispronounced. Which sucks. It just wizzed by. Before I knew it, I was waiting to get my college degree. And then Will went. And then I walked. I waved to the audience a bit and got my degree from Tom Manly. "shake and take" shake his hand and get your degree. When I came off the stage, Dad came out of nowhere and handed me some flowers. Fantastic!
Four years. So much work. And it is over so fast. There have been so many monumental projects that the weight of any one event becomes minimized.
I sat and then the ceremony was over. Several people on drums played us out. The teachers left and slowly but surely, we filed out. High fived Daniel Duford. Hugged Christy, Yoshi, Martin, Annie, Kristin, Morgan. And headed to the second floor. Pa and Ma and Nathan showed up pretty soon. Got pictures and all was good.
We didn't stick around long. First up we went to their hotel room, because it was small and stylish but it had no bathroom and..well it was pretty much just a sink, bed, and lamp. Small, but painted. Then we headed to the Thesis Show, which was having its opening. Walked around and looked at all the wonderful art. So much art. Such great variety. Dad took lots of pictures. We lost Mom for a bit in the studio gallery set ups. Afterwards we walked back to my place, I dropped some stuff off, and we went to Muu Muu for dinner. I got the chicken and brie sandwich, mom got the thai soup, dad and Nate got the Muu Muu burger. And a good time was had.
At 9pm we parted ways. At 10ish Rollyn came over and we hung out and watched the new Game of Thrones episode (he hadn't watched any prior). It was a nice little mini hang out. Just relaxing after a long day with good company.
And now I sleep. For I get up and spend the morning and afternoon packing.
You know that secret errand that I ran yesterday? It was to get a tattoo! Using my Rock n Roll Girls Camp money, I commissioned Olivia Britz of Fortune Tattoo to produce a little "don't panic" tattoo for my footsies. I emailed her late Thursday, and within five total emails I got a time slot at 1pm Saturday. I hopped on the bus over to 17th and Burnside and she presented me several FABULOUS text mock ups. I picked the less flourished one and picked out a filler color. And off we went! She made a little stencil and positioned them on my feet. It hurt, but it felt exactly like what tattooing is: needles stabbing your flesh repeatedly. But it happens so fast you don't have time to say "ouch". The shading hurt the worst. I made sure to keep my flinches in the body parts that were not being inked. And before I knew it, I had something permanent on my body! And man do I love it. In so many ways it is perfect and it represents this brilliant culmination. It was wrapped up, as tattoos have to be for a half day, and off I went. I kept it a bit of a secret because I wanted to show it to the parents in person. They seemed to dig it, as it is nerdy and not, like, on my neck or something. And it is, of course, extremely well done. Olivia, can't sing high enough praises of her.
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