Oh so busy...

Hi everyone... sorry it's been so long. I do my best to keep my updates regular but this past couple of weeks has been really fast and busy. Time is flying by and it seems I have twice as much to do as time to do it in. I'm keeping up okay so far but I think I may have to pull my first all-nighter Sunday to get a couple drawings done for Monday. So it goes... it was coming eventually anyway.

School is interesting this year. Studio is very demanding and I'm having to work very hard to keep pace but I'm alright so far. I'm also taking a theory seminar that I think I will enjoy and a technology seminar that is nothing short of a joke. We learn good, useful information in there but it's information they should be teaching 2nd years. I mean c'mon... it's called Advanced Building Systems and on the sixth week we're going to be talking about caulking and sealants. It's painful. I've sat through this exact class at OU 3 or 4 times, at least. Now here I am again. Well, as long as he doesn't make his tests difficult it will be a nice space-filler and let me concentrate more on studio.

We finally found out about our Switzerland trip and it looks like I may go. I can't know for sure until my loans come through (US screwed my paperwork up again... imagine that) but I think I'll be able to borrow enough to go. It's going to be a spectacular trip. You can see pictures of the place I'm going here. It's a place called Bern, Switzerland and it's in the middle of the Alps. I'm excited (amongst many other reasons) because it's only 35 miles up the road from the most beautiful place I've ever seen, Interlaken, Switzerland. We're leasing space in the Bern Culture Production Center, an old building the Swiss government leases out to artists and such. We'll spend 3 months studying philosophy and theory and drawing. We'll travel to a handful of places around Europe and towards the end our Italian director is going to come over and tour us through Italy for a week. It promises to be an excellent trip. It's not cheap but it's worth it. Like I said, I won't know for sure for a few more weeks but it looks highly possible. This opens up excellent opportunities for Christmas (and early birthday) gifts if anyone would like to help me gear up for that trip. I'm going to need to buy things like a camera, a good backpack, a Eurorail pass, monthly bus passes, etc. If you'd like to help out, please get ahold of me and I can help you help me.

It's getting cold here already. The trees are changing and it's ranging from 40 at night to 60-70 during the day. The Canadians tell me the trees are about a month early... they usually don't change until next month. It's going to be a bad winter, I think. It's raining today. I'm supposed to go help Thomas move the last load of stuff from his apartment to his house today and then we're supposed to play an architecture soccer tournament. I don't know if the tourney is going to happen. I really hope not. I'm not any good, I am going just to be social... but I really have no desire to play soccer in the cold rain. If it were one or the other, sure... I can do rain or I can do cold. But I really don't like soccer enough to go out in the cold and rain. We'll see. If not soccer, I have plenty to do at studio for the day... heck, for the entire weekend.

Hm... what else...? Nothing worth mentioning I guess. I'm going to finish this cup of coffee and head out to meet Thomas and go move stuff. Fun. Hope everyone is well...

peace

Round 6...

Hard to believe I've been in school for 5 years... as long as I was in the Army. I've never thought of that until just now. So I guess that means that starting this year I will be more civilian student than soldier. I don't know how I feel about that. I've changed a whole lot since I left active duty, though... alot. April 1st, 2001... I packed my civic beyond what I could have imagined (they could've made a car commercial out of me) and left Ft. Polk for the last time... it was an odd feeling, being a civilian again. Suddenly it felt like no one could touch me anymore... I felt free... I felt alone. I remember leaving post with my windows down... it was a nice day... I don't remember what was on the radio... I pulled into the gas station and bought smokes, said goodbye to a friend on the way out of town and then hit the interstate and never looked back. I miss the Army sometimes but literally can't imagine the person I would be today had I not left the Army. Strange to think...

So anyway, the whole point to my posting tonight was to say it's 7:45 at night on the first day of studio and I'm still here. I've been drawing on and off since 10 this morning. I want to get as much as I can done tonight because there's a party later tonight, I have to help move Thomas all day tomorrow, and I don't want to be here too late Sunday night. I've gotten maybe a third to half of my drawing done. We're doing a short one-week competition to get warmed up. It's supposed to be a meditation garden between the architecture building and the next building over. This is what I've been doing today:


If it looks like there's nothing really there it's because there's really not. I'm getting there... this is the foundation for the drawing. The interesting part about this one is that it's being designed completely on that one piece of paper. I started with a single sketch somewhere in the middle of all that and I just keep drawing and changing it. I'll let you know how that goes. Also, I got settled into my new studio space. Look how clean it is!


Note the important parts; the coffee pot at the lower left of the picture, my Mac in the center of the desk (with internet signal), and the large space I managed to get. Lots of storage. It'll be a wreck by the end of the semester. I'll keep this picture around for comparison later.

Alright, need to draw more. I'll work for one more hour and then go home. Hope everyone is well. Goodnight...

Wow... today's useless trivia...

The leading cause of death for Chinese ages 15-34 is suicide.

Good morning...

Well it's Monday morning and school gets going tomorrow. I've spent the majority of my time since I've been home at Thomas' place I think. He bought a new house so I've been back and forth to there helping them paint the kids' rooms and clean the place up and whatnot. Nicholas asked me to paint the solar system on his ceiling so I spent all day yesterday painting his ceiling. It's not quite done... one more touch left but I have to find someplace that sells paint open today. Crap... that probably means Wal Mart. Oh well... sometimes you have to dance with the devil. Anyway, I'll let you know how that mural turns out. It has potential but I also have plenty of time left to screw it up. This is what I'm trying...



I'm getting settled back in alright. Suzy's been feeding me alot so I really haven't cooked since getting home. I take that back, I made a wok of fried rice and took it over there for lunch. Tonight, though... ahhh, tonight we cook! Tonight I'm going to stir fry fresh green beans in sesame oil with almonds, garlic and onion... add steamed mushrooms and serv on a bed of lomein... dine righteously. I'll let you know how that goes too, if anyone'e interested.

Weather has been blah and rainy for 3 days now. I can't see outside from my apartment though so it doesn't bother me as much as it could. It's cool enough for a jacket during the day... winter she's a-comin. Time to put away the linen and pull out the wool. This weather is very refreshing though after 3 months in hot, dry weather. I don't mind a little rain.

Well I was just having my morning coffee and thought I'd say hello. I hope to finish nicholas' ceiling today and get my laundry put away. Wish me luck... that's alot more work than it sounds like.

Grammy, these really are fantastic sheets you gave me. Thanks again.