On ebay and craigslist

what ...what are these things that I've only just discovered!???!
They're magical!
i'm getting rid of some stuff.
people are getting themselves some treasures.
and i'm making a little bit of cash on the side!!!!

Win win win!


Want to know the best part?

what other people post
this one might be my favorite:

Wanted: a boyfriend with a/c needed.
I am looking for a moderately attractive man between ages 18-40 with air conditioning in the bedroom. This would be for july and august only, however an indian summer could extend the relationship...




need I say more?

On Rock Climbing

Hey!
I've been rock climbinb lately
I think its definitely one of my favorite 'cross-training' activities!
Its a freakin...amazing upperbody/core workout! Crazy!!!
And it toughens up your hands, that's for sure!

But I think that the bigger experience is in
the self-trust piece.

We usually just boulder when we're there
(which is where you climb lower, not harnessed in, and go more horizontal instead of just vertical)
and we're hanging on these ... 3" fake rocks...
while 7 feet in the air... with sweaty hands and shaking legs.
When it comes time to make another move...
you're letting go with one of those hands
and you Have to trust that
a: your hands won't slip
b: the rock won't come out of the wall
c: your hand doesn't get too tired and let go
There's the initial moment of hesitation before every challenging move
where you question your experience
your strength
your determination
your will to accomplish what you want (because you sure as hell don't Have to)
and There's that moment between letting go and grabbing on again
Where you either sigh with relief
or you gasp as you try your best to get your feet underneath you again before hitting the ground
But everytime you make it
.......wow.
And all that's left to do is... glance around for the next rock that will serve as a good hold.

Its one...great big hour long (or however long you want it to be)
self-trust exercise.
And I might just be addicted to it.

Good thing its free
(except those tuition 'activity fees' i suppose)

On painting

i painted.

On Promiscuous

dear mom,
I like this song a lot
so I thought I would post it



just so you know I'm not...promiscuous...
but I DO love the lines
"i want you on my team"
"so does everybody else"

...that's all.

love you.

On Awkward Moments

my own
"This, I believe"

I was driving in my car and having some convos with a friend
who said something like
"hahaha I bet you could
make a trip and fall scene on a date look cool.....cause you're kt"
There is certainly truth to that
but...it is the topic of my very own "This, I believe"

I believe in the power of awkward, embarrassing moments.

Getting into the wrong car
wearing pants that the seat ends up ripping out of
leting loose an uncontrollable belch (well that one's just gross)
running out of gas while driving around
forgeting to do your hair in the morning
trip/slipping
spilling your drink at dinner
forgeting your debit card/cash (that one is just smart...)
if going to a wedding or something out of town, forgetign the invitation w/ the address so you have a great reason to be 45 minutes late.
getting food stuck in your teeth while talking to someone
not cleaning out your eye crusties
singing loudly at at stop light and realizing that the people in the car next to you are watching you
finding yourself using hand gestures or phrases that you don't want to say but just keep coming out of your mouth
telling your boss that this design looks really ugly and then finding out that she ws the one who designed it. . .

These are all really ...
things deemed 'socially awkward' ...
things that if with another person, would possibly
make that other person question your...cultural stability.
Or at least add another notch to your 'dork meter'
and whether these things that happen are intentional or not,
we learn from them.
We might not learn something terribly valuable,
but it certainly ingrains the event into our memory!!
I don't think I'll Ever forget the one time I ran out of gas in my car!
It filles us with the sense of adventure and problem solving,
something that....for some, has been pushed to the wayside
with this whole...MTV generation thing.
And really, it says a TON about us as people.
How well do we take set-backs?
Plans that doesn't go perfectly?
humility?
Do we laugh it off? Turn it around to become even better?
Become tempermental and enraged?
And all in all - back to the running out of gas.....
I went up to a strangers house and they offered up
their lawn mower gasoline, enough to get me to where I needed...
Oh How I had forgotten how Good it feels to trust people!
And Oh how easy it is to forget how good-natured the general public is
-despite popular media tainted belief-

I believe that if we wouldn't be so protective of what the outside world sees in us
...we'd all know each other a little more.

So I ask you...have you done something awkward today?

On class

a message from a prof:

"Hey Campers,

I am ill today and rather than giving you all whatever I have I am staying home.

Keep working on the project and I will see you on thurs.

Sorry about this..

If you want I can bring a note from my wife saying I really am ill."

so that's today...where my 12:40-3:30 class would have been. Neat.
Last week...my 9:30-11am class was cancelled both Tuesday and Thursday
because the prof was sick.
....*siiigh* gotta love winter.

But really, we still have to do the work, and catch up
there's just something about the 'boss' being away
that sense of...'oblication'
OR the fact that I can go and work those 3 hours at Any time I please
so it doesn't have to be ...after an awkward 1:40minute break,
instead it can be from 3-6, then I can go to my night class 6-9
and hit everything in a row...
I think that That's what makes not having class nice.

Study time!
Test on thursday.
i'm surprisingly kind of liking 19th Century Art....

On Rising Above

why do we have to "rise above"?

I remember a Grey's Anatomy episode where miranda
had to remind herself over and over that she is
"rising above"



It was something like
"A person can only rise so high. Now I'm rising above, but there's a ceiling and I'm about to hit it"
and
"I'm rising above. I'm rising above and do not want to be crossed while I'm busy rising."

They were some of the most memorable quotes I think from Grey's
and...today......

Today I was rising above

Group projects are hard.
Its rare that you get a group where everyone
wants to pull the same weight but its pretty fantastic when that happens.

When that doesn't happen, all one can do is....rise above.

But why?
Why the hell not call the group members out on it?
The mature and "grown-up" thing to do is to understand that it was a group effort
and fingers can't/shouldn't be pointed because it was everyone's duty to get things done
and done well.

Today we had another group presentation for the grad program campaign
I put the files together, compiled the MoodBoards, sent them to the group





the group was to send me their done files by 7:30pm last night.
So I could print the final board of our designs that night.
I got one at 11:30pm and one at 8:30am....... this morning.
With our presentation at 9am.
The group member who sent his at 8:30...was supposed to print the boards
(which I had sent out at 3pm yesterday)
He didn't print them. (he worked last night, HE [FUCKING] WORKS FOR PRINTING...)
My assumption that this wouldn't get done was correct
so that I showed up at 8:15 instead of 8:50 as usual...was lucky.
However no one had compressed their files they sent me
And file compression + print spooling + lines = ....we were late.
We ended up hooking my computer up to a big-ass TV to give our presentation.
And at the end a grin from troy of "yeah, and if you had compressed the files before sending to print"


......And that was my moment to......rise above?

Gah
its not even that big of a deal
people need to just...be as dedicated as I am and it would all be fine.

;)
I'm kidding.



in other news...
and for your entertainment
I feature for you
betty the cat:

On process process process

Design...
design is like... life.

Its this big neverending process
and when you start off
one of the most detrimental things that can happen to a design
is...
assuming that you know what you want it to look like before its finished

For a most recent project of mine,
a storytelling project,
I began with simple pencil sketches...to get the ideas out there
then said "okay, I will illustrate this pop-up book with colored pencils!"
...After an 14"x17" half-colored spread was finished...
I went out and picked up some water colors...
another spread later...
Still not quite right
In fact...i downright am awful with water color when
trying to make things that look...realistic...
I'll save it for texturing.

But pulling everything I had learned together (especially the mistakes...)
I'm finding that... my little illustrated story book is coming along quite nicely.



Sure, our little friend Arlo on the bike still needs some help
and nah, the shading isn't there Yet...
and I haven't even begun to tackle the mechanics of it becoming an actual 'pop-up' book.
Oh, aaand excuse the color/detail lost with the low rez jpg in RGB mode....

But I think that, like life,
the process is really the most exciting part.
I honestly ...don't have much of any idea
what the next few spreads of the book will look like
but I know what I want within them
I know the characters I need
I somewhat have my color scheme and style

...I think I'm set. no?


Stay tuned for more!!


-------------------

In other design practices of the past week

my proposal for propoganda class...
the cords should look familiar from my banner...
It was originally a concept for a Youth & Energy thing
but...the enginerds fell short
So I made it my banner
and...am taking it even further to this idea.
However...with 7 of us bringing ideas to the table
I'm sure the end result will look absolutely
nothing like this,
but ......process is fun.


----------------

I'm hungry.

On toughness

nolo esse dura

literally, "I don't want to be tough"

tastey.