Goodbye Red Shoes

At a little after 7:00am this morning, Ibanez puked all over my beloved Red Chuck Taylor's. These lo-tops took me to Japan, to Portland for the first time, and generally anywhere I have been in the past three and a half years.

What's this? Simon Pegg without Nick Frost?

Back into a full swing of doing nothing. Well, that is not true. I did go outside.

Woke up, got out of bed, grabbed volume two of Scott Pilgrim, went back to bed and finished it. It was really hard to get out of bed this morning. I was so relaxed. I'm looking forward to going back into it in a few minutes. Mmmm.

Scott Pilgrim has really sucked me in. It moves so fast. Okay it introduces a lot of characters but they fit nicely in a strange way. I wish I didn't breeze through the volumes so fast, but they are cheap so it's all good.

I went to Starbucks because I had to write out some things. And read in a different, distraction free place. It was nice. Had my standard coffee shop drink (a tall caramel steamer).

It hailed lightly this morning.

Sort of killed time with the rest of the day. Lindsay and I went out to eat at West Cafe. We both had the meatloaf meal. It was a little dry. Then we went to see Run Fatboy Run, the new Simon Pegg movie. It was a cute flick. I don't think I will see it again though. Mom will probably rent it in the future. It had a nice ending, not to perfect. The kid was adorable.

There was a weird man yelling in the park when we walked back from Fox Tower.

Lindsay went out to her regular club tonight (her friend is painting live along with a light show). Just me and the cat and Project Runway.

fun times

Tuesday Night:

Llyw and I did end up going to the Roxy after he arrived. Had a nice little late snack. Nicole was there as well, the first of many people we ran into that showed just how popular I actually am. It was raining a fair amount during our walk back to my place but if we let the rain keep us in, then we would not have had any fun this weekend. We went home, dried off, set up the spare mattress, hung about and chatted and caught up. My bookshelf matched up to his in more ways than just me reading what he has suggested to me (going way back when to Neil Gaiman). We both had the Kurosagi something something manga in Japanese and The Stars My Destination (I had to read it for Politics and Literature).

Wednesday (Yesterday):

We woke up to a gray day. Or maybe it was sunny, but it later became gray and wet. Anyway, it was a day of mixed weather but we still went out. After a delicious breakfast of french toast (that Llyw made, what a guy!) we departed out into downtown Portland. There was mostly just a plan of going to Powell's and then going to PNCA and decided where to go from there once we got done with those things.

We caught the streetcar down to Powell's. Such an easy way to travel.

Powell's was Powell's. Huge but not so crowded. Decent selection in some areas, better in others. I took note of what comics to buy at Floating World instead(I get a discount there). The science fiction section had William Gibson's Neuromancer for only a couple bucks so I took the chance on the paper back. We ran into Rachel(painting class Rachel, not one of the printing Rachel's) at the store, who had lost her mother to the Powell's bookshelves (her mother was being shown around during Spring Break as well). Llyw found a few good deals on a philosophy hardcover and a comic. Departing the store we were happy to find that the rain had stopped.

The PNCA tour was short. Some of the art was off the walls due to painting. The alphabet show looked only about 1/6 of the way done. Sort of a bummer that a great deal of the gallery space did appear to be in a transition stage between shows. Robin was in the computer lab and she came out to say Hi and give me a hug.

After PNCA we went to Tea Zone for tea and scones. Quite tasty. I love that place, such a nice vibe to it. And my spot is always open. Just need to become a regular and stake it out now. For a little time, Llyw showed me his XO laptop which is quite awesome. It is one of those "buy one for charity, have the chance to buy one for yourself" laptops, where it is designed for the children of lesser developed nations. So it is small and durable, solar powered with great wifi detection, and just generally cool for hanging around in tea shops typing away and checking your email. And you know, being generous.

Next up was to show off my lovely little comic shop, Floating World Comics. No new issues were in for me but I just had to pick up the second volume of Scott Pilgrim (have to admit, I got into it in the last few chapters even though the character designs are annoying) and the sixth volume of the Invisibles (also addictive and Chris Weston is in this volume drawing so that rocks).

Oh wait, we went to Compound Gallery before Floating World Comics. Yeah. Llyw spied some prints by Kana Ohtsuki that we more than reasonably priced. He and the gallery manager got to talking about Osaka. That conversation went a little over me but Craig and his (also in town visiting) friend Avi showed up and we chatted a little. Gave Craig the "what I have been reading/watching" list and we talked about the show at Elizabeth Leech. Wandered around the gallery revisiting the Alice in Wonderland themed show. And THEN we went to Floating World Comics. Yeah, that is how it happened.

We backtracked a little and caught the max back. As it was the yellow line we left it in Pioneer Place and meandered back, stopping every now and then to marvel at the architecture. I knew Portland had a nice design to it but all the OOOOing and AHHHing from Llyw brought it into a new light. When we were walking to FWC I pointed out the 511 building that PNCA now has and that was the first major OOOOHHH that lead to more photo taking of the local scenery. Churches, apartments, some houses...all had their photos taken. I was in a few shots as well, so it wasn't all about the pediments and keystones.

It was nice and dry for the rest of the day after the Tea Zone (excluding a short time at night). We dropped our stuff down at home, snacked, relaxed, and unwound. The daylight and clear skies were still with us so we opted to walk around some more, but this time mostly in my neighborhood and not down town.

It was pretty much the same walk that Karen and I did about a month ago, but this time with a little more light. Revisited the great and fancy houses. Sat on the swings. Looked out on the overlook bridge at the city. It started to sprinkle so we went back. Didn't come down too much, so that was fortunate. The four story apartment complex shoved into the hillside was beautiful at night with the light inside illuminating the stained glass. Lovely!

Robin stopped by to say another brief hello. The rest of the night was spent inside. We had omelets for dinner (not made by me or Lindsay).

Part of my final for painting is a series of portraits and Llyw was very willing to sit and be painted. He held his pose extremely well(some of the PNCA models could learn something). Last night I just got the sketch done, with the intention of painting it tomorrow (instead of going out). The sketch didn't look like how I see him but it has a decent amount of resemblance and accuracy when it comes to form and fabric. Finished drawing, we put on our jammies, chatted a little, then went to sleep.

Thursday (Today):

Llyw made yet another meal, but this time it came from a can. Tasty and delicious cinnamon buns with orange icing. Mmmm. We woke a little early so that I could get a jump on painting (I wasn't about to paint him sleeping, that's creepy). After breakfast and the morning routines, the rest of his short visit was spent with him being painted. I'm not done but most of things left are parts like fabric and I can invent that easier than I can the skin tone. Right now it looks like him a lot more than the sketch did. I can't wait to finish it. I would like to say I am getting faster at painting but it still takes me a really long time. He was very good and didn't complain. The time passed all too quickly and before I knew it, it was time to go to catch a train to catch a train.

On the max were some ticket checkers but they were not talking to people. That still was very close. We arrived right as people were getting seat assignments. Excellent timing. We hugged and said our goodbyes and then he was on his way back to Seattle.

These days went by so fast and were oh so fun.

I took a leisurely stroll back to my place and about 10 minutes after I got home the fire alarm went off. The loudest noise I have ever heard! It was just horrible and painful and auuughhhh. Had to stuff Ibanez in his cat carrier and leave the building. Got down to the lobby to find that it was just a glitch with the system and the alarm would be off shortly. Still waited around downstairs, away from the brute of the noise, petting poor Ibanez.

The fire alarm, yeah oh so not fun.

Now I guess I'll go read comics. Mom, Dad, & Co. are not coming down so it is just me kicking back for the next three days. THREE DAYS! WHAT? Dang. Well, it has been a great break. Fun time with a friend and days to sleep in and rejuvenate.

visitor from the North

Yay! Soon, very soon, I am going to Union Station to see Llyw! He is visiting till Thursday.

Because of his visit I spent the day cleaning up my place and getting things in order. Didn't take that long really but it is such a big difference. My room has room. The kitchen doesn't have dished filling the sink. The bathroom doesn't have cat hair over everything. Really amazing!

Did a quick grocery and bank run. The lady at Fred Meyer's was really nice about bagging my things so they would work with my bike baskets. The people at Safeway suck at bagging. They have no clue and just stuff things together. Boooo Safeway! Go nice girl at Fred Meyer's. You rock!

Finished off my meat for dinner. It cooked up nicely and I did it all by myself.

Life on Mars is a very interesting show thus far. It is a little extreme with how bad the 70's police are but still funny.

So yeah, going to meet Llyw at the station at 9. Might take him to the Roxy after for some grub. Or come back here and watch the light show. Don't know. Don't have any real plans for what to do in the next couple days...we will just wander around and I'll pretend I know what I'm doing and where I am taking him. Ha.

Wow it got dark quick.

there goes my face

A day to do nothing. What a wonderful day! Okay I've been doing a great deal of nothing but this is the 3rd day off. It isn't just a weekend any more! Yayy, whoo!

Lindsay painting on her backdrop. I slept in. I watched Project Runway and Little Children. I was vastly mistaken as to what I thought Little Children was about. I'm glad it wasn't about what I thought it was but the real plot, once I knew it wasn't that, unfolded a very little originality. Characters sought redemption, they figured out where they needed to be, found truth, stopped the lies...and so on and so forth. The only thing that really made the movie was the casting and the narration. Kate Winslet was pretty and subtle, Patrick Wilson was also pretty and subtle (so happy that he is cast as Night Owl), and everyone else did a great job. It required subtle performances and it got that, the script just wasn't worth the casts talent.

Munched on food throughout the day. Food included a salad! Wow!

Ended the night with Lindsay testing out the light show. The lights and color started to melt my face off in a very psychedelic way.

Now I am watching Life On Mars. British cop show with John Simms (the Master in the new series of Doctor Who). It has time travel.

a date? really? well, I'm not so sure myself...

When it comes to Jim and Michael, it is almost odd how I always see one and then the other within 24 hours of each other. They are just free to hang with me at the same times during the week and weekend it would seem.

Just got back from what is a long bike ride for me. Came from around SE Morrison & 20th, crossed the Hawthorne Bridge, and rode up the not so fun hill to SW Clay & 16th. But it didn't seem like that long. Half of it was downhill and it was an amazing night. Totally clear and peaceful. I love the view that happens when you come over the bridge at night. I rarely see it so fully (I am normally on the max when I cross the bridge).

When crossing the bridge I saw Modou and stopped and said hello.

So I went on a date with Jim. Well I think it counted as a date. He paid. Guy paying = date right? And I think we talked about going on a date. Hmm. Uh. Well I'm counting it as a date. My....second one in Portland? Including the blind date. Uh yeah.

Anyway, so we went out. Dinner and a movie. Pizza and In Bruges. We were going to meet at the theatre but right across Hawthorne Bridge I rode past him before he got to his bus stop and we walked the rest of the distance together. I parked my bike at Cinemagic and we grabbed some pizza and drinks at a near by place (the only place open so late on a Sunday). Chatted and nibbled on food. Only the pizza slices in that place were affordable. And not that great. I miss Seabeck Pizza. Then we went to see In Bruges.

Just as great, moving, amazing, beautiful, tragic, and perfect as the first time I saw it. If not moreso.

Then I walked Jim home, said our goodbyes, and I peddaled off into the night.

Last night as Michael's was fun. Made some more of the nest things, looked at photos and art books, chatted, and ate the nest things. It was late but we decided to still watch Serenity. We both sort of dozed off while watching it and because of that I ended up spending the night as opposed to riding home in a half awake state (I think mom would prefer I didn't do that). Michael moved to the Nob(tee hee) Hill area of Portland. Lots of cute houses and apartment complexes near to Trader Joe's and fashionable boutiques. I would love to live in that area. It looks so quiet and colorful.

Riding home was nice. A little moist but still enjoyable. I went past all the Easter church goers in their fine clothes.

Spent the rest of the day relaxing, eating a cucumber, petting Ibanez, and watching House and Project Runway. Need more House, probably should take a break from Project Runway.

I can't wait till the weather picks up. I really want to spend a day riding my bike around Portland.

meat

So yesterdays exhaustion might have been tied to a lack of iron in my diet. Well Lindsay said so. Makes sense. I have been eating lots of carbohydrates lately. Simple, filling stuff. I made a grocery run and picked up some meat, salad, and other nummies. And I made myself a little beef chunk and salad lunch! Lindsay guided me in the preparation of the meat (because I was never shown how) and it turned out fairly decent! Not as juicy as I normally like but entirely edible. Even had a salad on the side. Go me! I feel much better. In the morning I was still tired.

Spring break will be about recovery. I'll get my sleep, I'll get my vegetables, and I'll be all ready for the rest of this semester.

Watched I Am Legend. Maybe if I had seen it before I knew all about what would happen, then I would have enjoyed it more. It was good, nothing great. Decent effects. Also watched more Project Runway. I think tomorrow I will start Life On Mars.

Lindsay is working on her massive light show painting. It is insanely bright. The only problem with it is that she can't step back and look at it. At most, she can only get six feet away from it and considering it is as big as her wall, well six feet doesn't mean much.

I made Egg's Nests today. Well I'm going to make them again later, I just wanted to do a test run. Pretty much they are shredded wheat, melted chocolate, and malt balls shaped like eggs combined and style into nests. You mix the chocolate and shredded wheat and form it into nests and let them set up with the eggs placed in them. I couldn't find any malt eggs to go with them but as is they were a delicious, crunchy, and really easy treat!

Tonight I am going to hang out with Michael. Going to help him unpack and all that jazz. Have to return the DVD's he loaned to me months ago as well. I'll be making another Nest's batch over there.

slow motion

I dozed off a little in my last 30 minutes of work and due to that occurrence I was operating in slow motion all the way home. I checked out some library books so I have some reading for the break. Sure I have plenty of reading from my own shelves but this is library reading. Its nice, its not mine, its McSweeney's. Yeah. I got home, turned on my computer, and decided to lay back in bed a little and nap. Ibanez crawled over my face and neck. I ended up laying with my head cocked to one side to accommodate Ibanez sleeping on my other shoulder and over my chest. His stomach warmed my face.

Then I fell asleep.

For almost three hours.

Now I am in slow motion again. I think I'll make some popcorn and watch I Am Legend. Or just put on proper pajamas and go back to sleep. I am far more exhausted than I originally thought.

Mum just called me. She found my old copics! Wheee, now I have two sets. How spoiled am I?

Comic class was half a discussion of Zombies and what they are metaphors for. The other half was Diana Schutz and Brett Warnock talking about Dark Horse, Top Shelf, comics, anthologies, and how to show them portfolios. It was a great discussion, I was just unfortunately out of it and could barely stay awake. They seem like awesome open people. Some day, I will show them what I can do.

Work was work. Got my job done. Had a long lunch and still had time after. The MFA are back. Tricia gave me some advice on which Yoga poses I should be doing. So excited to leave, I am done! SPRING BREAK!

SPRING BREAK IS HERE! SPRING BREAK IS-zzzzzzzz.....

speedy art removal, at your service

My thighs ache so much. Yoga and the double bike ride ended up being not such a great combination. It was also pouring rain on my second return so my pants got nice and soaked. It was blue skies when I road to school so I didn't think to bring my rain pants. Silly silly me.

But I am amazingly on top of things! I got my letter in, and it is on display now along with about six others. Some are amazing and some are...decent. I have my readers response done for comic lit class. And then I just had a long chat with Lindsay and now it looks like I will be in bed an hour later than I intended. But it isn't 2am so that is great.

My critique went well. It was more about me showing my process that got to my final product than just the final thing. They liked my explanation and I think I delivered it well and convincingly. It was a really mild and even critique, it wasn't negative or positive. I think people just got a better idea of my thoughts and how I work. Maybe. I had some technical difficulty with my presentation but I got it working. I had to speed it up near the end but I think people liked it. Modou cut Lindsay off in her presentation. I don't know why, very peculiar.

Rode home and arrived nice and dry. Finished up season three of Project Runway. Gobbled some food. Cuddled Ibanez. Left early and wrote up my proposal for my painting final. Another critique day. Jason's portrait or yours truly was widely admired (as was his self portrait). Annie said I looked a bit stalker-esque, and someone else said I resemble an evil genius. People dig me, I guess.

The critique enlisted much help from the classmates in removing and putting up the pieces. When people put tacks around the pieces to hold them up, it made it very easy to bend them ever so slightly and remove them. I amazed people with my mad art removing skills.

Raining raining raining as I went home. More Project Runway. Read the rest of The Walking Dead. Wrote it up. Put it on my drive. Now all I have to do is turn it in and then I am free for 10 days!

U, G, and the devil makes three

Uh oh. I'm up late. This doesn't bode well for tomorrow! Another helping of all class critique (actually, the one for Modou will only be about four people but I'm up so it should be...an experience).

Karen lured me up at around 9 to work on our letters together. We both finished ours up and they look really amazing. Hers is such an illustrator work and mine is uhm. I dunno, an interesting composition and play with light? Yeah but ours look cool. I hope when we put them up that ours are not the only two that go beyond a unique typeface(I saw Carlos' C and it was pretty much a geometric C with some line work). I finished mine before hers so I read The Walking Dead for my class. It starts the same as 28 Days Later and has a great deal of cliche within it. However, I like where it is going and might buy more (when I get around to depositing my paycheck).

Robin and Kristen (Kirsten, shoot I forgot again) were also in our company today and we laughed it up and teased each other and produced work and critiqued it. I am going to do portraits for my painting final project, I think I have enough interest that I won't be short on models (I'll bribe them with food). Robin worked on her beautiful book and K. worked on her math homework.

Yoga is getting much more difficult for me to do. Which doesn't make sense as I have been doing it more and more. I can't lock my legs in straight (I probably shouldn't consider it locking either) and I have poor balance. I can back bend like nobodies business though. Hmmn. I'll have a chat with Tricia one of these classes.

I folded some more cranes and talked about stuff with Chelsey while waiting for yoga to begin.

In my printing class, if people seem to feel they can get away with leaving early they do. I was there for the full class and I think I might be the only person with the design on their stone right now. That is good though, I can get my prints off early and go to work on my plates once again. From 11 to 12:30 and 2 to 3:30, it was all Intaglio demonstration and lecture. Such a complicated process but it is worth it for how much prints you can do. I'm excited to start work on mine. I have a clear idea for how I want to take it. Intaglio has such cute words for the chemicals and materials it uses. Pymtim, touche (tOOsh), uhm. There are others and maybe it isn't pymtim but yeah. It is complicated but if it works out I might return to it, if possible.

During lunch was the most awesome official lunchtime in the commons Comic Club presents an open for all Comic Jam. It went better than I expected. We had a crowd, we had new people, we had seasoned pros, we had pizza, we had a large number of jams produced and a fair number of them were magnificent! Such a good group. There were Vietnam flashbacks, killer bunnies, more bunnies, sandworms and the cowboys who rode them, dreams, and time travelling spectacles.

It was a long day but oh so good. Tomorrow I have some reading and writing to do but I am done on the required art front! Well, the immediately due art front. Huzzah! I might have some visitors during Spring Break. Some of the family sort and some of the friend sort. I'm not coming home. I need to unwind here.

crush you into a diamond

After scrapping my first few ideas, I have a sketch for my intaglio! Actually, if it comes across well enough I think this image has real potential. It is all composed and stuff!

Today was a double dipping of critique.

Experiments in Drawing has some really great critique, I'm just getting tired of how Sarah dislikes every single piece but her own. I won't get started on her piece (lest I get another email from mom) but blimey! All I can say is hearts, bunnies, and kittens oh my! Some of the work was admittedly done just because Modou said to do it, some had happy accidents, some were stunning, some were daring feats, some were the Mormon view of Heaven, some had color and line that were reminiscent of a meniscus, and some were coloring book cut outs.

I went home and pretty much put on Project Runway and painted my self portrait. Correction: my horrifically ghastly self portrait. The smile is more a sneer (intentionally drawn so), the skin is gray and lifeless, the hair is dull, and the contrast is not punched enough. The eyes are also massively uneven. Not really all that great. When I got to class I had fun disturbing my classmates with it. Karen in particular.

Painting was 10 minute critiques for every classmate. It was all the work we have done thus far and basically an overview of what is going right and wrong. Very general and nice critique. What is going right for me: attention to certain detail in landscapes and facial hair. What I need to work on: speed of painting, saturation of color on figures, not making my figures so assembled, and making my eyes less wibbly. It is a very nice class. I feel a little left out because this is my first semester and the majority of my classmates are second semester and are already used to each other. But I'm making nice.

Drawing critique is more in depth about meaning, painting has a focus on technique. That suits the classes.

Afterwards I went home, watched MORE Project Runway, drew, watched the second half of Casino Royale while drawing, ate (frozen)stir fry, and sort of looked at my G a little.

How amazing does Robert Downey Jr. look in Tropic Thunder?

the camel goes Moo

I keep wasting time, that's no good! I'm lacking motivation. Spring break can't come around soon enough. Need a break to refresh.

Art History got into Rembrandt and the like. Short class today. I forgot a knife so I had to prepare my peanut butter sandwiches with just my finger. Diana utilized my laser during one of the slides.

Melanie had her dogs during our Yoga class. During my stomach rolls one dog, Moo, came and lay down on me. Really sweet doggie but I can't do Yoga with it on me. We did a new pose, the camel, and I am slowly getting the Chaturanga Dandasana.

Stopped by Trader Joe's. I'm not really short on food or juice I just needed some variety. Pasta, eggs, and sandwiches grow thin fast. I bought some frozen stir fry, some different pasta (it is so cheap, I can't resist!), granola bars, and some other munchies. I just don't know what is cheap and gets prepared quick but doesn't expire that quickly.

And now to work on my self portrait! Oh, gotta call mom first.

there go my arteries

I just got back from a late night trek to the Roxie. Or is it the Roxy? Anyway, whatever it is called, is a 24 hours place with lots of fun fried and covered in cheese food. I had deep fried shrimp with fries, Jim had cheese fries, and Karen had a grilled cheese sandwich and fries. The service was slow but just the experience of going out to an all night place at eleven o'clock on a Sunday night, that is pretty damn sweet.

I had a very extremely slow start to the day. I just sort of munched on food and watched Project Runway, some documentaries about magic, and some other stuff. I dunno. I didn't sleep in but still I got a late start.

Went to Karen's at about 7ish and drew my self portrait. I'm smiling but not actually smiling in it. I didn't start painting it because I knew once I started I couldn't stop, what with the lighting changes and all that. The sketch looks pretty badass. I'm looking a little deranged and whatnot. We watched Hot Fuzz while being productive on our paintings. And then Jim came over and we started watching O Brother Where Art Thou. The night was dominated by movie conversation and class talk. Jim promised to see In Bruges with me and since I am writing it here for all the world to see he BETTER GO!

Fun night, lazy day. Last week till spring break, finally!

sadly, it is not raining men

Amazingly, I stayed up way late last night. But that four hours and a long day combination worked together to keep me in bed for about 10-11 hours. But it was so worth it. I haven't had a full and deep rest in weeks. I had to kick Ibanez out of my room when he woke me up at 7 with his puking noises. Bleh, lame kitty.

We were planning on seeing In Bruges today but the rain came down suddenly and with a passion so we decided to stay in. Maybe tomorrow. We, Lindsay and I, watched a few episodes of Project Runway(Bradley is so cute! And I'm glad that guy broke the rules and was asked to leave) and then we finally buckled down on our school work. I watched 12 Monkeys while finished up my landscape painting. I still don't feel done with it but I just had to say enough is enough. Didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it to but oh well, had to say I was done with it.

I forgot how great a movie 12 Monkeys is. What a wonderful plot and how the time travelling is handled is absolutely perfect. Gilliam needs to have some more big budgets thrown at him so he can make more movies like this and Brazil.

I made some popcorn earlier, I didn't burn a single piece this time! Tomorrow I have to do a self portrait and I think that is about it. Oh and work on my piece for the alphabet show (I'm part of a show. 26 artists doing the 26 letters, I am doing G).

X_X

I'm trying to watch Coffee and Cigarettes but it just isn't holding my interest. Jim Jarmusch just isn't my thing.

Last night I was up till 2am. At about 1:20 my paper suddenly acquired an error and didn't allow me to edit it anymore. I could view it so I screencaptured the paper and moved it into microsoft paint and added a few more paragraphs. I was dreaming up until I rolled out of bed this morning. I hated that women's comic anthology with a big passion. So many stereotypical lady comics, what the hell!?

Diana Schutz, the editor for the anthology, had to postpone her guest appearance in her class so instead we had Joelle Jones, who is a magnificent artist and didn't write a single piece of dribble in the anthology. She was a very good speaker and I liked having her there. I think it freed us up to express our immense and mostly felt distaste for the comics. The usual batch of talkative people were dead silent in class today. I didn't even drift off once, even with four hours of sleep.

I started work at 11 instead of 12 so I could get home and relax earlier. I took an accidental nap when I sat down to read on the MFA couch during my break. To make up for my slackness I mopped their floors upstairs (they are gone for the week so I knew no one would step on it). Actually I scrubbed a few places with a sponge first and the difference was so great between clean and filthy so I knew I had to mop the whole thing. I didn't have the stamina to scrub the floor. Oh how I wanted to.

Read more Raw Shark Texts. Soooo awesome of a novel!

When I got home, Lindsay was preparing for a costume party at work (they have lots of parties) She is going as a crime scene victim. She made me promise that, when she dies, I will paint large cartoon X's over her eyes. I swore it would be done.

Since she left I've just been sitting back, like usual, watching the movie and Lost (Zoe Bell jumped ship, bummer. Saw the Michael thing coming from a mile away. Jin probably stays behind for some reason). Homework to do this weekend. And hopefully some sleeping in (for once).

model for a day

Blogging now so I won't be blogging at 1am.

Critique was...interesting. Karen's glass on her frame broke when she was putting it up. I left my piece behind in my tube so I didn't put my thing up, but that was okay as we only had time to talk about a few peoples work. Some were agreed that they were good, some were okay and needed work, some were purely transitional. I folded cranes through it all. Karen checked out a couple books on advertisements, like the ones I have been checking out. I am corrupting her. Bwahaha! I had to stay behind at school a little bit to give Karen a hug for reason's I won't go into here. Hugs and Karen are rare things.

I boiled some eggs and sat about doing mostly nothing, like normal, during my break. Watched another Project Runway episode. I don't like the people in season 3 that much. Outside was a rather miserable day. I wore my rainpants through my commute and so I was nice and cozy arriving at school. I wore my mint green cropped jumpsuit with leggings and legwarmers and looked quite fab all day long.

Today in painting I was the model so I sat facing Jason and Karen was at my side doing my portrait. Jason gave me the preliminary sketch and his finished result is awesome. I have a really intense stare and he really captured how badass I look. And multicolored! I managed to sit still fairly well. Karen got my nose down nicely. I think he is going to hang onto the painting, so I get to hang onto the one I did of him. Well. I might just give it to him anyway. I don't know yet. This weekend I have to finish my paintings and do a self portrait. Midterm critique is here already, where did the semester go?

Now to do some reading responses!

not so much romancing the stone as grinding it

I've put in about two extra hours on my painting of Jason. We might trade them (mine for his) so I want it to look finished. One eye is unfortunately higher than the other and it is noticeable from a distance. All in all though I really like the painting. It looks enough like him.

Printmaking moved on to Intaglio and we spent the majority of class in demonstration. Blimey is it ever time consuming. Hefting the stone. Grinding the stone. Grinding the stone. Grinding the stone. Grinding the stone. Grinding the stone. Laying out your images. Applying the image using a range of chemicals. Etching it with a further range of chemicals which may or may not burn a hole in the ground and are more than likely highly flammable. We aren't even onto the part about inking yet. I managed to smooth my stone out so I'm on top of things. I didn't have time to apply hard ground to any of my plates though. Soon, soon I will. On my prints I received an A and two B's. I have the chance to make them better for an improved grade and I will. I like that option. Yoshi wants us to really learn and not stop here just because we had a deadline.

I went to Whole Foods for lunch with a couple people from my class (the ones I have trouble remembering their names because they are not Rachel). That was a mistake because I bought heavy food and it cost way more than it should have. Damn! Tasty stuff though.

After folding some more cranes in the commons and requesting a note be put in the weekly announcements, I rode home. It started to rain but not so badly. I made it home in one piece. At around 8:00 I headed up to Karen's and we worked on our projects that are due tomorrow. My mixed media looks messy and mostly unfocused. It has a few cool parts but ehhh. I'll have a large amount of stuff up on the wall so it should balance out. Worked on my painting as well. Last night I watched Hot Fuzz while working on it and tonight we watched the good bits of Chicago.

Tomorrow is just critique and sitting around while people paint me. How fun!

comrade from Japan

Awesome, random, and way way cool thing happened today.

I was lazing about on my break and I noticed on Facebook that Jonathan, who I went to Japan with in 2005 and haven't seen and barely talked to since we parted ways in Los Angeles(but we kept tabs on each other via things like Facebook), had a note saying he was being given the stare by a homeless man in Portland. I quickly texted him which Portland and he replied Oregon. I texted where he was and he said Pioneer Place Mall. I said I was 10 blocks away and asked if he wanted to hang out. He said sure so I rode quickly down and found him in the Apple store. We talked and caught up as we made our way to school. He even sat in for an hour in my painting class. He didn't want to be painted and opted to hover over my piece as I started it. He was meeting up with a friend so he left. But wow, what a small odd little happening? Suddenly here he is in Portland. I think we didn't get along that well but any disputes were forgotten when faced with the chance to meet up with someone from such a distinct time in the past. He is around till Saturday so I hope we can have a real sit down and catch up. Just wild.

Feeling energized today despite lack of sleep. The presentations went really well. Some people had great little slide shows (especially the ones from Germany). Modou had a meeting so we were just left to present to one another. Karen's defiance of his assignment went by unheeded. I folded some cranes during it all and then we got out early. Checked out some awesome books on advertisements from the 20's and 70's and pedaled home. I wore my leather shoes again, couples with baggy pants and a thick almost lacey but not lacey, I don't know the term for it, top over a black thermal piece. I looked quite hip and put together. Relaxed and made some cookies and only overcooked half of them! Played some Scrabble on Facebook.

In painting class we are doing portraits. I am sitting next class. During this one I painted Jason. I need to work on it more from memory because it looks disturbing unfinished (its the eyes mostly). He really liked it and asked if we could trade when he paints me. Jon seemed impressed (he had no idea I was even going to art school, let alone living in Portland). It was a fun class. Just chatting up each other and drawing. I'm getting better at working faster.

Madison ate an entire apple during break. Core, seeds, everything. Well not the stem. I didn't know you could do that (Nathan asks if it was performance art).

More relaxing at home. Very little homework to be done nowadays. Played some more scrabble, ate some cookies and other very healthy dinner items.

But jeeze, meeting up with Jon. What a funny little occurrence.

feeling Crumby

My stomach doesn't feel too good. I don't feel too good all around actually. It isn't a sick sort of feeling. Just sort of...exhaustion. And it is only Monday.

Art History was very interesting. I didn't know that grisly painting of Judith slicing off Holofernes' head was painted by a woman! I love that painting. We are into the Baroque. Some of the paintings offended my eyes with how garish they were. But I guess that was the point. I received a 84 1/2% on my test. If it wasn't for me totally bombing one of the vocabulary words(manera greca) I would have had a high 90 percentile. But I'm okay with what I got, I did fab on the essay and only flubbed a few dates and names (mixed up one of the Ninja Turtles).

Melanie, the yoga teacher from last semester, was hired on to do Monday lunchtime yoga so Diana and I took part. I'm all yogafied! The teacher even pointed to me as an example of how to do a pose. Unfortunately the pose was happy baby and I did not want people...looking at me in that pose. Yeah. It was fun.

I checked out the Terry Zwigoff film Crumb to view (I actually wanted the movie Artemisia but they didn't seem to have it). That man is so screwed up. I found it interesting how he said that only white liberals called him racist. Hmmn. Didn't hold my interest too well but it did give a great insight to him and where he is coming from. Poor R. Crumb.

Chatted a bit with Andy, Michael and Jim in the library. Andy was not aware of the Seattle trip and was a little bummed about missing out on the Crumb exhibit. He also remarked about how nice we all were dressed. Must say he had a point. Michael had a nice button up with a classy zip up sweater of sorts, Jim had a blazer, I had my vintage green skirt with leather shoes and nice black top. We were a nice trio, but Tall Andy looked good in his own regards.

I folded some cranes with Diana in the commons and then rode home. Passed Lindsay and Sully on the way back. I just kicked back and watched Crumb. Went shopping. And felt worser and worser.

Less than two weeks till break. Then I have a solid two months of work left. I'm only half way done? Crap.

Cimabue is a pretty name

As I am still on daylight savings time I finished my Art History essay and am blogging at an almost decent hour. As it is daylight savings I am up late and not tired. At least I get to sleep in till 9:30 tomorrow (though my body will tell me it is 8:30).

I met up with Diana at the museum today and we discussed Renaissance art and I showed her my paintings in the museum (and by mine I mean my favorites). Pretty nice little visit. I need to make more outings to the museum. Specially when the cute boy is working the desk. He liked my helmet much.

After the museum we walked down to Pioneer Place and wandered around and grabbed lunch. Both of our meals were decent. We ran into Karen in the food court. She looked FABULOUS! That girl can dress.

We parted ways after the mall and I went home and watched the new Lost episode. Not the greatest but it is setting up for something pretty cool. I think Michael is the man on the boat. There was a makeup Yoga session tonight. I'm slowly becoming more bendy and capable of holding certain positions longer. My shoulders still hurt.

I dressed up a little today. It was leggings and a skirt weather today so I indulged it with a red embroidered skirt Celia gave me and took a risk combining it with my checkered jacket. Diana says I pulled it off and I believe her. I looked fabulous, not FABULOUS like Karen but still pretty damn good.

Spring break is only two weeks away! Huz-ZAH!