Alfred Printmakers

The Biggest Offender

2010-02-25T10:46:00.003-05:00

This is huge. It is a big wall project I am working on. More stuff has been added to it and I'll put up some final photos a little later.

Design Shenanagins

2010-02-25T10:41:00.001-05:00

this is what happens in Design....

2010-02-15T16:10:00.003-05:00

... when you make a stupid note to yourself at 1 in the morning to put some content into a document... and then forget to change it later.

Brutal

2010-02-14T21:08:00.006-05:00

Have you ever been so angry that you wanted to throw up? That's how I feel right now.
Here is the impression in the roller of the press:

here is the hole the lanyard cut in the blanket:

this is an image of a piece of a metal lanyard that somehow ended up being run through the Large Takkish Etching press, embedding it into the press bed.

This represents damage on a scale the I've never seen happen in the print shop. Ever.
Freshmen class of 2014 you can kiss your asses goodbye.
I only wish I could be there when you get chewed out tomorrow morning.

Occupation: Workaholic

2010-01-31T18:11:00.013-05:00

Everybody's got something.
Some people have things that they like to do, some people have things that they need to do. Movies, Showers, Cooking, Cigarettes.

I stay up late and make prints.
So much so that I often don't take time to share them with you in cyberspace.
I am making all kinds of stuff- it is a little ridiculous.
I am working in a class right now called artist's multiples where the name of the game is to make lots and lots of stuff and I am excelling.

The Series is called "Me + You".

Enjoy.

oh yeah...

2009-11-20T13:43:00.002-05:00

just in case the news didn't circulate already. I'm not going to Italy and I'm not heart broken about it either. No mushy apologies please.

Paint? or Print?

2009-11-20T13:35:00.004-05:00

So - in case I didn't tell you guys, I'm taking a class called the painterly print. so we make prints and paintings. here are some photos from my last individual crit. We're having a big final group crit after we get back from break.
Enjoy!

not a joke, I repeat, not a joke.

2009-11-17T16:18:00.002-05:00

do they even read this stuff before they mail it out?

I love the internet.

this is my day thus far...

2009-11-16T15:21:00.002-05:00

It's all about the Proccess...

2009-10-14T17:19:00.005-04:00

Hello Hello Hello.

This is the results of a few key factors in a creative equation.

Day with no classes + 4 cups of coffee + Sitting in my Ikea Armchair + My Computer +Photoshop + just the right music = just about the most productive 2 hours of my life.

I am going to print this as a suite and hang them all in order and keep a rag on hand to clean up the drool from all the grad schools I send it to in my portfolio.

ahem.

A House in Eighteen Parts.
2009

PS- blogger is stupid and reversed the order- they were supposed to go from less to more complex, but it is very interesting this way. I don't know if I like it backwards yet. I'll sit on it.

It's Baaack...

2009-09-28T21:35:00.007-04:00

seemingly back from the dead I have a new post!
Please, please- hold your applause.
I'll leave the apologies for later and just show you the pretty pictures that are the real reason any of you look at this thing in the first place.

The big news flash here is that I have been nominated as Alfred University's representative for the SACI Consortium scholarship- that is a full tuition award to the Studio Art Centers International Study Abroad Program in Florence Italy.

I found out on Friday and the application is due Oct. 1st.

It's going in the mail tomorrow at 8 AM.

here's my fancy letter expressing my need that the committee see that I have finacial need.

To the SACI- Consortium Scholarship Selection Committee:
Let me first acknowledge how grateful I am to have been nominated and considered for this award. Prior to my learning about the SACI consortium scholarship I had not considered myself as a
Candidate for any international study abroad program due to my current financial constraints. Per your
request, I have enclosed my current SAR for your review While I understand that this program is need based and is in part determined by one’s Federal SAR and EFC, I would like to respectfully ask the
selection committee to base their judgment of my financial need not solely on the SAR and EFC.
I consider myself an artist and an image-maker. I have worked diligently towards
pursing my education so that I may further develop my skills. The chance of studying abroad, and all of the opportunities that this may entail, is a priceless experience that may now be a possibility if I am chosen to receive aid. I feel extremely honored that the Alfred University School of Art and Design and the Selection Committee have considered me for possible assistance.
I have been fortunate enough to have earned merit based scholarships through my home institution. Unfortunately, Alfred University is unable to offer me work study opportunities at this time, however I am employed there as a non-work study Resident Assistant in the Office of Residence Life. I feel that I am taking advantage of all opportunities AU has to offer me in order to continue my studies there.
My family, while extremely supportive of me and my ultimate career goals, have unfortunately exhausted their financial resources in their efforts to assist with both myself and my brother’s education. I am currently borrowing substantial unsubsidized Stafford and private loans that I am responsible for in order to help pay for my tuition . I am also accountable for my present college fees, books, costly art materials and supplies, as well as other living expenses.

I fear that I it will be out of my financial reality to study abroad without additional financial assistance, therefore, it is my sincere hope that the Selection Committee will take into consideration my financial need in addition to my SAR and EFC scores.
Thank you for your time and consideration.

Respectfully,

Grace Rajnovic

and here's the 20 Slides I submitted as my portfolio.

2009-03-11T14:40:00.003-04:00

okay, so lots of stuff.
Let's start with the mac book kool aid first. I went with Dad to buy a new Apple Macintosh Mac Book lap top computer on black Friday, because they don't really get any cheaper than that. I had been thinking about it and I did have the money (sort of) to get it but I didn't want to spend all of it, and I hadn't really asked for anything for Christmas yet so I figured maybe I could slip that in. In any case they went on sale, and my other computer was acting up more and more, so Mom and Dad found some $600 dollars of change that we had rolled in a shoe box, then we rolled some more change and I paid for the rest with some extra early birthday cash and my debit card.
So we went to the Apple store in shadyside thinking it would be less crowded than the apple store in the mall. So we went and when we got there is was sort of crowded, but most of the people there were totally tech illiterate and didn't really know what they wanted. By this time I was a little stressed out because I was thinking more and more about how much money I was spending, and that my old computer hadn't crapped out entirely so, did I really need the new one and so on.
When we got there all of the color coordinated sales people kept asking me if this was my first mac and congratulating me like I'd run a marathon or something, instead of buying a computer.
In the end I escaped without buying anything else but a little adapter that I can use to connect my computer to the project we have so I can watch movies on it and such.

it's pretty awesome and I'm typing this from it right now.

other things...

It is now spring break and I know that I've been spectacularly bad at updating the blog ever, but things have been busy.
I'm taking a history course with one of the teachers I had last semester, Eaklor, she's pretty great. The only thing is that I kind of already took the upper division equivalent of this course last year so, it's been pretty easy as far as that goes. It's supposed to cover post civil war American history up to the 90s. But we haven't quite finished WWI yet and we're halfway through the course, so I doubt we'll get to the 70s, if we're lucky.
After that I'm taking that Jesus seminar class, and remember all about how I was excited about the last time we talked, way back in like December. Yeah, well...
In January I read a few of the books for the class, most of them were terrible! I literally threw one of them across the room at one point (the authors claim that all women everywhere are raped, all the time, and that they put up with in because of Jesus, so its his fault. Also, they have a bad relationship with Jesus because one of them is Japanese American and their family didn't talk about feelings so she never understood racism. I chucked it at the window when they used the term "white male predatory instinct") The other one that I read was all about for the first three chapters reestablishing the fact that Jesus was Jewish, then it became a tirade about how all Christians everywhere hate Jews, but they don't know it and that it's not their fault its the clergy's fault (that's you Matt, maybe you're the reason I hate Jews!).
So there are five of us who practice any sort of spirituality in the course, one is a sort of half-way Jewish for passover sort of person, me and three Italian Catholics. Everyone else is your average secular American teenager.
Our professor is an ordained Buddhist Priest. She also has many PHDs and that gives her the right to be rude to every one, particularly me.
See, I hate Jews, according to her. I didn't even know how much I hated Jews, and every time I try to re-iterate that I do not, did not, and probably will not hate Jews, the more that I apparently hate Jews. I hate Jews because I'm white and Christian and part of a majority group, and have no idea what it would be like to be a member of a minority group. (try being a Christian at a very hippie Art school sometime) I told her I didn't buy this line of argumentation, and that telling me I hate various groups of people and complaining about your other classes to my class, and going on about what you experienced as a minority, and being very unprofessional in general is not really appropriate and is kinda rude, was there a way we could work this out? She said "I have X number of PHD's!! I've been studying stuff since before you were born!!!!" And then I said "no number of degrees or PHDs or experience gives you the right to be rude to your students" then she said, "well okay sort of, maybe we could be nicer to each other. Will you delete that really rude and unprofessional email off your computer for me?"
If I didn't need the credits, I'd withdraw citing irreconcilable differences with the course instructor. In any case I've only got a few more weeks to go, and I never ever need to take another course with her again.
or, who knows, I could be a closet Jew-Hater. But- seeing as one of my dream jobs is to work with the National Memorial Holocaust Museum,(which I did work with them on a exhibition at the Andy Warhol Museum) I doubt it.
In other news I have Sculpture and Printmaking.
Printmaking rules, and is better than all things (including baking) for ever and ever amen. God rested on the 7th day, and then he invented Printmaking. Will Contino is my teacher, he was one of my drawing proffs in Foundations, he's very laid back and is a great teacher- full of good feedback.
I've made a bajillion monotypes, four smaller etchings, a large format etching and a large format digital print. We're doing some wood cuts and some silk screening, which this is the fist year that Alfred's had screens, and it was sort of my specialty using and cleaning and maintaining and cleaning and adjusting and cleaning that sort of equipment at AIR the printshop on the North Side I used to work for, so Will keeps asking for advice and refreshers on how to set up the vacuum/light table, so that's pretty fun.

here's that large format digital print. More when Dad takes photos of all the prints I brought home for Spring Break.

So, sculpture. I have a really great proff there too. Joe Bigley, who is probably one of the most easy going souls I've ever met. So far I have made no work. Why?
Well, it just so happens that such a dunder-head that I am I made sure that I was on call Super Bowl Sunday night, when the steelers gloriously destroyed the Cardinals. (what? you might ask does this have to do with my not ding stuff in sculpture class? Just wait, It really does relate.). So, at 9 PM as I went to do rounds with Liz my Co-RA I was in a hurry to get back to the suite to resume my football watching. As I walked back from Kenyon, the dorm below mine I slipped and fell on a nice big sheet of black ice that I couldn't see, and just so happened to catch all my weight on my left hand. (I'm left handed just in case you didn't know, see that's part of what makes me better than everyone else).
So I walked back, carefully to my suite and sat down, asked racheal to get me some drugs and an ice pack. Then I called my RD, who called rescue squad who wasn't running on the weekend. I didn't want to call an ambulance, though I knew (and mom reaffirmed when I called her) that I had to go get Xray's to see it it was broken or not. We borrowed a freinds truck and drove to St. James Mercy Hospital in Hornell, (you know, where the walmart is) and I told Racheal to call me with the outcome of the game.
We were parking when Racheal called to say we'd won.
Then I sat in a supply room with my friend Myles, who had drove us, and waited to get my X rays back.
Turns out, it wasn't broken, but very very badly sprained, with some damage to a ligament or a tendon, I can't remember which. So I was to wear a splint for a week (that turned into two weeks at my follow up appointment), and not do anything with my left hand, like take notes, or feed myself, and certainly not work metal.
that, freinds is why I have not been making anything in sculpture. We're doing casting projects coming up, so I'll start working on them after break and have something to show for being in the class.
In other news my hand is just about all better, but I do still want to go see a rhumetologist to find out if I really do have arthritis, or osteoporosis or whatever, but that won't be until July.
I'm going to stay an extra six weeks after the end of the school year to take some more classes, that way I'll be able to graduate in four years with my two degrees instead of five. I'll be back at the end of June beginning of July.
I also had my interview to be an RA again next year, it went very well and I will either be living and working in the Suites again where I live now or I will be in the Apartments (which are like the suites but they have for real kitchens with for real stoves, and ovens, and sinks, and full real refrigerators.) But instead of living with four other people I'll just be living with another RA, hopefully my friend Deanna, who lived on my hall last year. The Apartment position is also a little different, there's so much more paperwork, but you don't need to do on call hours at night, you can do office hours, and instead of getting a paycheck for around the same amount as housing you just don't get a bill for housing which would be the best for me because right now I have to take out loans to pay for my housing up front and use most of my paycheck to say down that loan to kill some of the interest, so next year if I get the Apartments I'll actually save some money too.
okay, so for the most part that's about all that's going on here. I'll try to update more but, you all know how that goes...

Best-
Grace

quit your yammerin'...

2008-12-19T10:23:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I haven't blogged in forever- mea culpa.
My not so interesting life has remained just as not so interesting as it was last time we spoke, it's just that I got really freaking busy.

Now that that's out of the way I'll try and figure out what half-way interesting things have happened since forever ago.
So, as far as school goes... I finished the semester with flying colors. I created an ad campaign for Habitat for Humanity as a project for design- it was sort of a joke as a project, we had three weeks to create a campaign for either habitat or special Olympics and a lot of people did say, a flyer or poster with super cheesy copy writing that our teacher really likes and that's about it.
I designed an event to raise money to retire mortgage debt for habitat called a Jubilee Celebration (going along with the biblical Jubilee where all the lands were returned to whoever was living on it, and wealth was redistributed across Israel.) So I made a fake pamphlet explaining what the hell a Jubilee is, along with a pass that you activate by donating to habitat and then you get discounts and special admission to free stuff for a week. And some postcards. I made postcards too.

After that there's painting, where we completed two more paintings (a still life with bones so that we could practice glazing and a naked black lady because no art class is complete without naked ladies...) but sadly I have no pictures of these because I put them into storage without taking pictures because I'm a little stupid.
After this we had about a week originally to do a final painting. We got lots of extensions. My painting was 8 feet by 3 feet, really big. Really really stupid big. It took me forever to finish it, and it didn't help that I started over like twice. Anyhow, the assignment was to create a constructed self portrait, which I thought was a prime time to bring back the mustache. My professor was down with the idea, but I felt like I wussed out on the only conceptual piece that we were allowed to do all semester. So I stated over with this sort of mountain man-esque thing. Then (mind you I'm working on this is my dorm common area in the suite because there wasn't enough space for it in the studio) everyone who I lived with had an intervention, becuase I was using oil paints and solvent and turpentine and bad shit for you in general on this painting, and even though I was totally oblivious to it's effects everyone else was getting sick. It also made the suite smell bad and made us worried about using the toaster for days after I had painted because we thought we might ignite some lingering solvent fumes... So- I switched over to acrylic paint.
I do not like acrylic paint.
However, it dries fast, I had a lot of it left over from foundations, and it didn't make the people who I live with puke. It just looks really gross in comparison to oil paint. So I started over again sort of. I kept the landscape that I had painted in for the most part but erased the mountain man part and put in some creepy faceless horsemen (who could be fox hunters or soldiers, it's hard to tell). I also collaged a lot of stuff to the canvas, including maps and blueprints, color swatches from the paint store, Christmas wrapping paper and dewey decimal cards. It looked cool when I was done.

So, other things. I had to register for classes. Registration an online system known as banner web is exceedingly stressful. It takes place at 7 AM on a certain day and if you wait any time at all to register you will not get into any classes that you want or even need- even if a class is required there is no was you know if you're getting into it. Before all this happens you're supposed to meet with an adviser. My adviser was a visiting professor from the UK who was a sculptor, who got sick the week of advising. Therefore I emailed he to get my alternate PIN number- this tiny six digit number is something that you need that proves that you met with your adviser so that you can register. The only thing is, if you don't have this PIN you cannot register at all. Or if say your PIN is the PIN from last semester you have no way of knowing that the PIN doesn't work until 7:03 the morning of Registration.
This happened to me. After lining up all my courses and being all ready to register I couldn't log in becuase my adviser had given me the PIN from last semester, being a visiting proff and not knowing how the system worked.
I called the registar's office who issues the PINs so they could look up mine. Well, they weren't really even open yet the secretary kept assuring me, and besides they didn't know my PIN my adviser had it, and besides I should have met with them a week ago. I was at this time sitting in my PJs semi-hysterical and tried to explain that it's not that I didn't meet with her, she gave me the wrong PIN- I had followed the procedure, and since they were the office that issued the PINs in the first place couldn't they look up the one they had issued me? Apparently No.
I called the foundry where my Professor worked, which is two miles away from campus, and she miraculously answered the phone but of course didn't have my PIN- it was in her office in the art building which was locked- but maybe the secretary in the Art office could let me in because she gave me permission. Well, at this point nearly an hour had elapsed and everyone I live with had already registered. I threw on some clothes and ran- literally ran- to the art building halfway across campus to the art office, where the person who I was directed to ask for help was not in that day. However, the other secretary said that she could look up my PIN no problem and just needed my ID number.
After getting the wretched number I ran to the Moka-Joka cyber cafe in the art building (the nearest computer) and rushed to register- getting into one of my academic classes on the last seat available.
After this I had some heart palpitations.
The I got a cup of coffee.
Then I wrote a very angry email to the reigstrar asking why the only people on campus who have this so very important number are ones adviser (who might be a little scatterbrained and be a visiting professor and who gave everyone who was assigned to them the wrong number) and God. Needless to say they have not responded.

So lets, see what else... I had my birthday at school the big 1-9, and there was much fun. My friends made me a birthday lunch, I turned in my final paper for my academic class and then made some prints in the digital lab.

Much of my "free" time this semester was spent making something super special for almost all of you for Christmas- it was a super big undertaking but being a surprise for Christmas I can't talk about it till the 26th. Hope you all like it anyhow.

I also finished this semester with straight A's, the first time that's happened in forever due to having straight A's and say, math or Spanish class. Well, it was all A's and an A- so my GPA was a 3.97, but damn close enough to a 4.0 for me.

What else, what else...? Oh- being an RA has been spiffy- especially the part where we had to check out everyone at 10 AM last Saturday, when I was done with classes and finals and everything on last Monday. I watched a lot of ABC family Christmas specials in my week off, ordered Christmas presents, paid my 09 bill to school, felt depressed about my 09 school bill, paid wachovia for my massive wave of loans that will only get more massive, felt depressed about my ever-growing wave of loans, took naps on the couch, and ate all of the perishable food items in our suite so we didn't have to throw out too much.
I also ordered my books for next semester- one class I have is really exciting and the books look great- it's just that they're are seven of them because it's an upper-division seminar topic class on- Jesus! So, right up my alley, but it looks like it's going to be a lot of work, and I'm taking a full 18 credits this semester.
Speaking of credits- my overload request got denied but me an the assistant dean are now super-tight, she even transferred me out of one set of sculpture and printmaking classes that I had to the other set- mostly because all my friends are in the other set and one of the teachers for sculpture I found to be very disagreeable from foundations- but that's all sorted because she transferred me lickety split.

What else- I learned to bake which is fun. I've made some sort of baked good every weekend since we got to school more or less.
I'm sure that more good stuff happened, but a lot of it is tied up in that super-secret present thing...
oh- but I can tell you this. I went to my Art History professor's office to check and see what my grade was and he was just finishing up making the list. he poked his head out the door and said that he had some bad news and that I had failed. (he was obviously joking, but he's a fun guy so I played along for as long as I could) I said really? did I fail outright or on a technicality. He said that it was a technicality, and that I had failed because I was a jerk. (you all know the story about how I'm too much of a jerk and too intimidating and that my learning and being smart is impeding my classmates from being smart and learning yes?) We both laughed and then my discussion leader showed up and figured out the joke and said that he had to give me really low marks for being nice, but he gave me a ten of ten for being a jerk, so that was something. I was pretty serious for this part and Gerar- my professor was a little worried that I thought it might not be a joke and kept reassuring me that it was a joke- and it was because I got a 96% for the course.

well- that's it for a bit, I'll try to remember other parts of this recap that i've forgotten and dig up some pictures before Christmas.

Oh- and I'm typing this from my own new 13 inch Apple Mac Book. Never thought that'd happen eh? I'll tell you about the MacBook kool-aid next time...

much-
Grace

weekend

2008-11-10T11:55:00.002-05:00

so we went to Brian's USA diner on saturday:

and we put up a Christmas tree.
It's snowing.

More to come later.

PS- the band the dodos are awesome.

just a quicky

2008-11-01T12:13:00.003-04:00

So I wrote this letter to try and get a few extra credits in....

Dean Lewis,

I am writing in concern for my schedule and class registration for the spring 2009 semester. I am seeking the School of Art and Design’s consent to overload my credit course work by two credits from 18 to 20. I am currently enrolled in the BFA program and am on course to complete a religious studies minor. Until recently I had intended to complete an Art History minor, however with the introduction of the Bachelors of Science in Art History and Theory program I have decided to take on the BS program as a double major. The intended course of study for the BFA/BS Art History and Theory is five and a half years. Because this change of course comes rather later in my studies than is preferable I find myself lacking in academic courses that I will need to complete the double degree program in five and a half years. I am seeking the credit overload in order to set my academic affairs in order so that I am better able to focus on my pursuits in the School of Art and Design. Because of financial constraints attending the University for longer than four years will already be a hardship, I do not have the finical resources to prolong my studies for an indeterminate amount of time.

I understand that asking for a credit overload because of expediency or convenience of study is not appropriate. I am asking for the overload because of the specific nature of the double degree and minor programs that I am involved in. I feel that as a student I am more than capable of keeping up with my work in the School of Art and Design as well as in challenging academics. As you can see in my record I have chosen very high level courses of study in the college of liberal arts and sciences and have done very well in them along with keeping a high standard of work and rigor in my major courses in the BFA program, carrying a 3.42 GPA.

If there is anything that I can do or provide to you in order to better facilitate your decision, such as professor recommendations or a personal dialogue I would be more than happy to do so. Please contact me at my university email address (grr1@alfred.edu) or by phone (412. 716. 5642.) so that I may discuss this matter with you.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

then Myles made some revisions.

October 28, 2008

Appeal for overload

Dean Lewis

I am writing to tell you that you are a stinky bum. Bummy bum bumface. Hugs and kisses,

Grace The master blaster of black people racist mc racisty face.

"All I asked was that she use the halftone filter and that's when she threw my clothes out the window."

2008-10-25T13:05:00.003-04:00

I will explain the title of this post rest assured.

Now then, now then, now then.
I can't believe it but it's raining right now instead of snowing (not complaining becuase the it's coming down we'd be at at least two inches right now.)
As you all know living in the great white north that is Alfred NY we get snow a lot earlier than some folks so we had about two inches come down the other night last week. It was pretty. Since then it's just been bitter cold except for yesterday and today hence the rain.
So enough about the weather you say you want to see art things- well sure I have some of those laying around somewhere.

We're working on the painting from hell in class all last week- actually we've been working on it since break. It's a still life of different colored glasses and jars and vases with different colored water inside them. When I was working on the painting after I came back from break my brain neglected to tell me that everything about the glasses would change when we put water in them and since I had already painted the fabric I should just wait to paint more. Instead my brain said nothing and I put in about seven hours that I had to essentially paint over but the upside is that I finally figured out what my problem with using the medium was (paint to medium ratio + not working it on the palette enough makes it sticky) and why I always looked like a cheap bastard when my paintings were finished. Let me explain- paint is expensive. Really expensive and since our studio fee did nor cover much of anything I use my paint sparingly but that means that my paint surfaces always look thin and sort of weak instead of luscious and creamy like you want them to. Even after I started using way more paint they still didn't look right. So I changed up my brush set to some rounds and viola! The way those brushes lay down paint is so much nicer and better controlled. The wash and shader brushes and I have ended our fling I think.
Okay so on to pictures- I don't have any really current pictures of the painting- I have when I started and from before we put the water in and then photos of how my composition changed so you can appreciate how much I had to re-work. I'm going to finish it up tomorrow just minor detail work maybe and hour or so and then I'll put up the final pictures.

okay so now about the title.
We were working in Design class and the adobe software programs were throwing a fit. I was having problems with InDesign and Eva was wrestling with Photoshop. We then began to discuss all the ways that the programs are like vindictive girlfriends with whom we are in a really bad relationship and we'd be better off without them but we can't leave them. It went like this. (E being Eva and G being me.)

E: "Oh my God Photoshop what are you doing?!"
G: "I don't know- InDesign is throwing a hissyfit- I can't line up this font ligature."
E: "Well just zoom in..."
G" "I am- I'm at 4000% It won't let me zoom in any further. Hey- what, where did this grid thing come from?!"
E: "Maybe InDesign knows you're trying to line something up and it's trying to help."
G: "It'd help better if it could just get more sensitive move commands. It's being like a very unfortunatly low intelligence dog who really wants to help and ends up knocking the vase off the table... or eating your shoes. There- I think it's sort of lined up."
E: "Zoom out-and see."
G: "No, It's not. [Explicative]. Why won't this work!?"
E: "Just draw a line over the two and extend it untill they line up."
G: "You mean make outlines and pull the font shape?"
E: "No litteraly draw a line."
G: "Oh. Okay I'm going to move it again to just see..."
Magically the ligature snapped into place.
G:"Whoa! Major freak accident! It just went into place.
E:"Save it! Save it!"
G: "Okay so what is Photoshop doing now?"
E: "I don't know it's just like taking three hours to save this file it's like 'oh, I'm so fat I can't save this file...'"
much laughing
G: "Working with Photoshop is like being in areally bad relationship-"
E: "with a really sassy bitch!"
G: "A really bad codependant relatioship where she throws your clothes out the window while you're still sleeping and then leaves and I love you note."
much lauging. and then from across the room:
George: "did you jsut say that photoshop is like having a one night stand with someone who wakes up before you and throws your stuff out the window?"
E&G: "Yes."
George: "Yeah I guess it is."
E: "Argh! [explicative]!!"
G: "What? what happend?"
E: "It just crashed. I give up- let's go to dinner."
G: " Yeah- this is the part where she throws us out of the apartment and we both go to bed angry at a freinds place."
Much laguhing.
This is what makes Design class worth it.

Speaking of this- My design teacher hasn't said that I'm a hatefull jerk in a while but she said that I decorated the page rather than designed it (a pretty hatefull-jerky thing to say) and then she said this yesterday.
Eva and I were talking about her color scheme when I heard Judy say Myles "What is it? What is it?" Eva and I both turned around and say Myles give Judy and then me a totally bewildered look and say "I don't know???" Eva and I said "What?" wanting to be clued in on the question and Judy said: "There's something really appealing and nice about Grace's voice- It's.... I don't knwo what it is but it's really really atractive." I tried not to give here a weird look while I said "Thank you??" Becuase I'm sure she meant well but it was still really creepy.

Okay- so thats about it for classes- I wrote a 5 page paper for relgious studies in 45 minuets becuase it was due at noon and I woke up at 11 by accident becuase I forgot to set my alarm- we'll see what sort of grade I get but it was a pretty good paper.
We're writting faux grant proposals for Art History I'll psot mine here when it's done.
Also I have having an Un-Thankgiving Break becuase I'm alowed to be home for Thursday and Friday only. I have to leave late on Wednesday and spend the day travelling and since I drew the short straw I have to be back by 7 PM on Saturday. So I might see you at Thanksgiving dinner and that'll be about all. Still after that it's only about three weeks and then I'll be home for a month for Christmas. So we'll all catch up then.

Best-
Grace

sorry, sorry- 'scuse me, pardon me, sorry - sorry...

2008-09-27T10:53:00.009-04:00

This is my roomate myles hiding in the lamp.

Allright.
So I'm a bum and I've been neglecting you all. This whole RA gig keeps one pretty damn busy.
Okay so I've a ton of stuff to update you guys on so I'll make a list here for myself so I don't forget to tell you all the things I've been meaning to.

So first and foremost- sophomore year is infinitely greater than freshman year in just about every way possible. First of all there's no foundations. (oh and by the way myself and some other sophomores have started a group to help the freshmen this year- we send them cards in the mail that say things like "there is life after cardboard" and "group projects aren't forever" and we send them candy too.) Also- I live in the suites wich really are awesome. I live with four other people and we lucked out so well with the dynamic. I had invited Emme and Myles last year. Sam got on board at the end of the year last year but I didn't know him well and Emee couldn't get a hold of a roomate so we got placed with someone else who happens to be Racheal an english major who is very cool and has a very similar sense of humor to all of us- which really helps- I'd feel really bad for anyone who had to live with us if they weren't funny because they would probably die. In any event the dynamic here is really great- our only problem is not doing the dishes often enough becasue we have the world's smallest sink. Seriosly. I think I should call guiness world records or something to come out and measure it- it's just that small. Dad said it looked like an airplane sink or something. We have a big faucet like a normal kitchen sink but the bowl is like 3 inches deep. We do dishes in the bathroom more often now because they're bigger. We are all pretty sure that we're going to try to live together again next year (who knows the honey-moon might be over soon but I doubt it- we all got through our first art history paper without killing eachother and if we can do that I'm pretty sure we'll keep getting along) just we want to move to the apartments on the other side of campus. The apartments are nicer, have a real kitchen- with a real sink, cost only about $500 more a year and are on the other end of campus. I don't know if I told you but the suites are on the opposite end of campus from EVERYTHING. Thats the only real big rub aout them is that they are really freaking far away from everything. But in the end it's Res Life who decides where I live next year anyway.
Speaking of Res Life- my current employer- I am surprisingly liking being an RA more than I thought I woud. We havn't had too many problems out of our residents yet- sott and I had to call in a Reefer party to APD and Public Safety but after the cops showed up it was all thier show. Being an RA is really having a lot of obscure phone numbers and knowing who to call to get more obscure phone numbers to get someone down there to deal with whats going on. And having to stay up late and do paperwork. But the Warhol certainly trained me in writting stupid paperwork crap really well so, no worries on that front.
Speaking of writing I've been doing quite a lot of that. Firstly I'm a note taker again for Art History, Paintning and Religious Studies. (The only class I don't take notes for is Design- but I should be because those kids are lost as hell- more on that later.) I have Journals due for my two discussion classes Relgious Studies (307 Myth, Ritual and the Creative Process) and Art History (211 Issues and Debates in Contemporary Art) that I kick all sorts of ass in- maybe I'll post some of them up here later. It's funny because without the headings I could pretty much turn them in for one another becuase the classes are talking about things that are so similar it's scarey. I seem to have a really good knack for picking my academic classes to dovetail with my art history and art classes. And about the religous studies courses- I like them. That's first off, they are very interesting and deal with big fancy metaphysical questions and stuff but unfortunatly it's not really what I want to study. I really want to study theology. We don't have theology anymore, and the other professor of the Religous Studies program that did all of the Christian/ Western based courses left last year, and they're still trying to replace him. In any event I think I will keep going forward with the minor (it requires less credits than the History minor) and the classes are interesting like I said. Still- it's just a tad disspointing- I guess I'll just keep hitting Matt up for books everytime I'm home.
Im my class now we had to write myths about masks that we chose or we could make one. I got a mask and modified it into this white dog. Now we have to come up with a ritualized action in groups with the masks.
And while we're on the subject of classes, my art history class is the best. I really love art history. And it shows- we have a discussion session with that class the day after the lecture and Emee Myles and I are the only ones who talk. Emee and I had a private meeting with Gerar (our prophessor, he's from Turkey) about it, and Gerar told us not to talk so much. It's a little dissapointing becuase most of the folks in out session seem to be braindead so there's a lot of silence in our discussions. Also- the Art school is going live in a week or two with their Bachelor's of Science in Art History and Theory degree (we just had a minor until now). And- if I choose to do so I can get the degree along with my BFA and Religious Studies minor in five and a half years, instead of three extra years somewhere else to get my MFA which I'm not really sure I want. Okay so here's the deal. You cant't do anything with a BFA. You really can't- it's a start but unless you got it ten years ago people in the art world still assume you know nothing. Art History on the other hand is reputable, you can do something with that degree- especially if you intend to work for musuems/galleries/non-profits like do. I haven't made my desicisions yet and I still have time to think about it- but the more I do think about it the more having that degree makes sense- besides Perry went to school for 5 years and he's making like 5 grand a month- so it seems to me it makes sense eh?
Now- on to painting I've done quite a few more since the pears. We did a still life without using any black- at least factory black from the tube- we had to mix it ourselves. And really black isn't so hard to mix I'm sure you all ended up making black with your finger paints by the end. Then we did a painting of a different still life using no white. That was a little harder- you had to use yellow as you're white and lightest value and you had to substitute some of your colors (like if you would have made light blue with blue and white you ended up making light green with blue and yellow) but they looked pretty neat by the end of it. Then we went to Foster Lake- a little property the school owns about fifteen minuets away to paint meat. That's right, Meat. Then we grilled it and ate it. It was wicked cold- and hard to paint becuase of that but otherwise a really fun project. Then three small lanscapes (that I painted from the window of my suite because it was again really cold), and now we're doing a largescale two week painting of the studio. We set up our easles and we're painting whatever's infront of us. I'm painting the flamable liquids cabinet and the recylce solvent flamable bucket and a closet and Caleb who keep wearing these awesome electric green t shirts that will work great in the paitning. We're supposed to have it like 80% done for monday- I might get to 60% done- but we're just doing in progress critiques so I'm not worried about it.

And now design. First of all- I kick all kinds of ass in design- you all know this by now. Our teacher does not like me for sure. She thinks I'm a jerk becuase I said something mean (as a Joke) to Myles, and she thinks that Myles might be too intimitated to say anything about it. (You've seen pictures of him right? He's eleven feet tall and has a scarey grizzly adams beard- and he's intimitaded of me? Right.) So, acorrding to her I'm a Jerk but I have a good intuition about design which she apparently resents becuase she thinks i've just been getting lucky with my design work. I used the words "Pottery Barn" at some point last class and she looked at me as though I had just uttered the most disgusting swear word she'd ever heard. Good thing I didn't say" I love pottery barn and I want to work for them"!
Acordding to one of my co-RA's who has her class too as a Junior and who had her last year Judy (my teacher) is being really really wierd this year and that she wasn't such a spaz last year- so maybe it's not just me. Makes for good stories though yes?
Any way- we did a project two weeks ago called Typeface where we had to make a portrait of ourselves in black and white using just text and letters. Heres Mine:

Now we're doing something called The Life of You- where we design and write out the book jacket of our autobiography -neat project right? So I did two versions and then started to rework/make different versions of the second cover so here they are:

So then I was riding the elevator up to the design lab and I saw this poster for a performance by Layla and Beyvin- two of the girls I used to work with at the Guild. And I thought- boy that looks like JFK's forehead from the super 8 home movie assasination footage. Layla was in the design lab so I asked her "Hey- is that JKF in your poster there?" And she said "Yes- Oh My God, who are you how do you know this stuff?!" And then her freind Sam gave me a nickel.

In about an hour I'm going to host my first RA event- Johnny Cash Day. I'll be playing music and giving out free rootbeer floats for two hours and then I should be free. We've got to do something like this once a month so I figgured since I would be missing out on J Cash Day back home again this year that I would bring the festivities to Alfred. Here's the poster for it.

We've been having family dinner about once a week here and I made strawberry pretzel salad last time and everyone decided that it was the best thing they'd ever had.

I'm coming home for october break on the 10-13/14th so we should visit. All of you.
I miss The Vault. There better be a new coffee shop when I get home people. Hop to!

well - that's all for now- I'll try not to neglect you so much between now and break.

Much-
Grace

PS:

Pear Dance Party

2008-08-31T16:02:00.004-04:00

And now the tale of the dancing Pears!

I never thought I was much of a fruit painting person, however that was until I saw this:

Is that not the most attractive plastic pear you've ever seen? I thought so.
So- for our first weeklong homework assignment in Painting we were to choose a Warm (yellow) and a Cool (red) color and paint an object using only those to colors and white. This we call a limited pallet painting. And here is mine- I also did three black and white paintings but they were being un-cooperatively sticky and I didn't want to move them to photograph them for the fear that they would end up on the floor (true story it happend to somebody yesterday).

And so here are photos of my limited pallet painting which I call the Pear Dance Party becuase they all look like they are at a groovey party and having a good time
this is the start of the painthing- a sort of rough sketch if you will but with paint instead of pencil.
This is about mid-way through- looks a little dull doesn't it- I thought so to so I made a more yellow yellow and finished it up.
And the final result!
and this is just a detail of my favorite section- you can see all the neat-o textures that using a pallette knife can do.

and that's all for now-

Much-
Grace

The Estates

2008-08-29T12:25:00.004-04:00

Hello Hello Hello Hello-
so- here goes-

as most of you know I have returned the great white north of Alfred New York (It's not white yet but it's been cold enough to be). I've been here for about three weeks now- one for RA training, one for orientation and this past week has been the first week of classes. So- I'll start at the beginning.

I was due in Alfred on the 11th of August to begin RA training at 9 AM sharp on the 12th of August. Therefore- Mom took some time off work and we left the 'burgh three days earlier than we needed to so that we could have a little family fun time together. We left on Friday- due to stay near Chautauqua Lake in Jamestown NY. We arrived in Chautauqua where it was threatening rain, so we drove around for a bit, saw some Amish girls with ipods and cell phones who were obviously on rumspringa, and then headed off to Jamestown. After driving around the block a few times because apparently all the streets in Jamestown are one way we found out that the Holiday Inn we were supposed to be staying in was a Raddison Hotel, and therefore did not have a reservation for us. Our reservation turned out to be in Findley Lake Holiday Inn- (this is seriously in the middle of no-where I have no idea why someone drove there got out of the car and said "this looks like the place for a hotel!" In any event this was about 40 miles in the direction back from where we had just come. Needless to say we were a little disappointed, and the attitude of the guy behind the front desk was a little weird about the whole thing- he called the Holiday Inn in Findley Lake to see if our reservations were there like this sort of thing happens all the time and that it was the most normal thing in the world. So after a little more driving than we would have liked we came to the Holiday Inn in findely Lake- this was very nice even if it was really out of the way, and was very close to a smaller lake that we drove around and looked at a speculated the property values and how one could live there (but only in the summer).
On Saturday we took the drive up to Niagra Falls, Dad and I had never been, and Mom had only been once when she was really young so it was a very cool trip for all of us. We did quite a lot of walking around and taking pictures of the falls, and eventually ate lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe there. After this we drove back toward Chautauqua and walked around the institution and looked at all of the houses and a little bit of an arts fair- where we saw the neatest wooden cars and boats and a few people we'd seen a the three rivers arts fest as well. Then we piled back into the car and headed back for Findley Lake. (all of these days ended in watching Olympics by the way).
Then the next day we drove to Letchworth State Park, I'd been here once before and I think it was my dads fourth trip. We drove through the park and took a few stops along the way to look at some of the waterfalls and then ate at our real destination Brian's USA Diner- which words cannot describe. It is really some of the best food we've ever had for amazingly cheap prices. It was a really really great day out- cool and clear with lots of sun, and relatively few bugs (we were getting eaten alive when we went last time in May). So we went to the museum, the Inn where the founder of the park had lived, saw a wedding going on with a very pregnant bride and then went down the long path to the smallest (but best) waterfalls in the park. Then we went back to the hotel- at the top of the park (not a holiday in express - and not as nice either). Where Mom could not get a diet coke- not even at the Dollar General across the street. So Dad took her on a mission so she could get a diet coke. I requested pringles and watched a movie on TV and probably fell asleep. When they returned it was from a far flung Rite Aid and they were laden with bags of goodies, including a peppermint pattie (which I actually just ate last night).
The next day was move in day so we drove down the road for a bout half an hour to Alfred and my storage locker, where we loaded many things into the backseat with me with very little room left for me.
Then I picked up my keys at the Office Of Residence Life (who I can now proudly call my employer and my co-workers) and then we went off to move myself in. I had never been to the suites building yet and had never been inside, and we were all pleasantly surprised to find out how nice they were inside. My parents helped me unload my stuff from the storage unit and then we had a shopping bonanza at Walmart and Wegmans (mom bought almost as much stuff at wegmans as I did- well, almost) and then we returned to my suite to have some lunch and then those two were on thier way again back home. They went through Warren PA and saw a bald eagle in a Wendy's Parking lot- which I think it pretty cool.

and then came the Joys that are- RA training. We had a week of do's and don'ts and fire safety and blood borne pathogen training and student code of conduct and getting to know my staff members over long-ish dinners a the Jet dinner (after three days You will never want to eat at the Jet ever again- I ate way too much roast beef and gravy for about a year)
And then came the glory of behind closed doors. This was a day long dry run of all the skills we had been learning in training where the returning RA's and RD's played out scenarios we might face including but not limited to, roudy drunks, girls yelling loudly at one another about who has more/louder sex, potheads, potential sexual assault victims, a crazed hysterically crying person closeted up (literally - she was inside the closet) with a pair of scissors, and Precious.

Now let me explain about that last one. Nate Kisselburg is the president of student senate and a returning RA whose name tag happened to say precious. Now- all through the week I had not know Nate's name was Nate, only Precious. So- when on the last scenario of the day I had him as a racist bigot. In the scenario I think his name was supposed to be cleatus or something but we always forgot these and called people by their real names. In any event Nate was doing a spectacular job of insulting everyone under the sun including me and Mom and well, everybody. In the scenario he was supposed to have derogatory or racist posters (which are against policy) so I had to tell him to take them down. I said that he would have to take the posters down and he replied that he wouldn't so I said "Well then Precious, we'll have to call public safety and ask them to take them down for you." At this point everyone burst into laughter and at first I wasn't sure if I was out of line calling for public safety (or threatening to). However, apparently this is just what one is supposed to do, and so that was not the funny part- the funny part is that I had called a belligerent racist bigot precious. Nate actually suggested that I use this tactic again if I ever had to confront this situation for real becuase it would probably bewilder them so much that they would stop insulting me and my mother and the sky above more or less.

Okay-so that was RA training, after which the OG's or orientation guides showed up two days before the freshman moved in and there was much rejoicing as many of the OG's are my friends. And then the freshmen moved in- and even though I'm not working in a freshman dorm I was there helping everyone move the freshman in. And then we had a few days of sort of break. or break-ish as I like to say, we still had paperwork and issues and such, and I even had to write two people up before anyone moved in, because they were trying to move in early without telling anyone. This is bad and you're not allowed to do it. End of story.
And then- my suite mates arrived- and everybody else too.
We were on duty from 8 am to 5 pm to move in and check in. I was on move in duty becuase about half our staff thought that we shouldn't help people move in and half did, and I did so I hefted boxes and microwaves and team lifted mini-fridges with two of the guys on my staff from 8 untill about 4 PM and then we collapsed from exhaustion and watched the Family Guy TV show- aparently the rest of the staff who was doing check in (getting people to sign papers- which is stupid becuase they should be smart enough to put thier name where it says name) were having a cartoons marathon while we were moving people in.
Myles- one of my best freinds from last year had moved a few of his things in the night before was already putting together these really aweseome book cases that he built for us by the time I was done and could go back to my suite and take a much much needed shower. And that was Saturday and classes started monday.Said- awseome book cases...

so about that- classes (painting, design, art history 211- Issues and Debates in Contemporary Art, and Religious Studies 307 Myth, Ritual and the Creative Process) are great. I've been to all of them so far- and all of my teachers are pretty awesome- my major gripe is that I had to pay a lot more money for painting than Ithought I would, we never got a materials list and the studio fee covers solvent, gesso, paper and plastic mixing jars. I does not cover, paint, canvas, stretcher bars, oil medium, brushes, palettes, palette knives, or anything else- so I had to buy all of that. Fortunatly I still had quite a good stock of paint left and only had to spend $80 extra dollars (did I just say "only" see that's not the right word becuase I've already paid a $250 studio fee) and in comparison one of my freinds had to order over $125 worth of supplies.
Still- I like the teacher and I've been painting a very atractive plastic Pear- pictures to come I promise (especially because the project is due on Monday).
I'll add a little more about how amazing and not so amazing all my classes are later- this has been a seriously long post to beigin with.

And now- pictures! Mosty of the suite...

And that's all the news that's fit to print. Oh- but we have a digital projector so we can watch TV and movies at like 8ft X12ft on the wall. It rules. We will be watching Kingdom of Heaven tonight becuase we never finished it last year- that's a really good story and I'll tell it- next time!

Much-
Grace

Suite, Sweet?

2008-08-15T07:51:00.004-04:00

Hey all- here are a few quick pics of the suite- more to come very soon- Just as soon as I'm done with training and have some time to share some things with you.

Kitchen: Part 3 The Finish

2008-08-06T09:59:00.002-04:00

Kitchen: Part 2 The Installation

2008-08-06T09:53:00.002-04:00

More on the kitchen saga - here the installation

Kitchen: Part 1 The Destruction

2008-08-06T09:24:00.004-04:00

Okay- so, as I had told you previously we were re-doing the kitchen. And that means we had to un-do the Kitchen first- so here is a collection of some of the photos that I took while we
(My Uncle , Dad and I took apart the old kitchen to make way for the new one.

to the tune of $113.27

2008-07-10T16:47:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago I had a passing fanciful thought that I had something like $600 in my bank account up at Alfred's Community Bank- eventually I had to figure out if my brain was obeying reality or if it was mostly wishful thinking on behalf of my account balance.
After much swearing and gnashing of teeth, trying to remember my password into the E checking system I finally got into the system to fin $123.57, now I know that $600 was sort of un-realistic but I could have sworn that I had more than that.
Turns out I did- turns out someone had been making fraudulent online accounts and purchases in my name with my debit/credit card number. They had run off with something to the tune of $113.27. and my card was snug and secure in my wallet the whole time.

I then called my bank and found out that I had to call all of the retailers that this person had bought things from with my money to try to get some of it back. (Mind you, all of these places were things like Blockbuster or Emusic- whoever this was bought unnecessary things like movies with my money- and they did it online and in small increments so that no red flags were raised.) And unfortunately due to outsourcing almost no one I talked to spoke anything like decent English, and while Lucinda and Maritza were nice- I really just wish they could have articulated a little bit better.

so far some of the money has come back my way, but not all of it and I'm not holding my breath. I've decided that I'm going to drop this bank like it's a hot steaming pile of cow dung, and I'm going over to HSBC Direct (the interest is like 9Xs higher than my account and they've got ID theft insurance).

You know, all those cheesy Identity Theft commercials look really different once you've had yours taken- it could have been so much worse- but let's say I've learned my lesson. (I actually designed a bulletin board about it today while I had nothing to do at work- it's pretty awesome, once I get back to school I'll take pictures.) Did I tell you all that as an RA I have to make up bulletin boards (sort of like a grade school teacher) and most of the RA boards do look like grade school stuff, about "respect" and over use of looney tunes clip art.
Therefore- no one really reads them. Thus, I have planned to make boards about green living, ID theft, news and world events, and things people might actually give a crap about, and they might just read them- if not, I had fun making them.
seriously- I can't wait to put them up- they rule so much.

in other news, I'm still working at Bynum's Advertising, I'm about to finish my second project soon- redesigning the logo for a Sunday school play called "The Treasure" I'll put up pictures of my designs, and their old one after we finalize it tomorrow.

The kitchen is functional again- well mostly, we still don't have a sink or running water but we do have a stove and all the electrical works so I've been able to cook diner occasionally. The countertop people came today to make a template so in something like 2 weeks we'll have everything in.
I've been reading a couple really interesting theology books that Matt lent to me, I'm also painting up a set of doors for him to decorate a prayer vigil- more on that later.

well- for that most part that's about it-
till next time-
keep those credit card numbers safe-

Grace

a report for the public good...

2008-06-30T16:03:00.008-04:00

so then- lets pretend that I haven't been sitting on my but watching TV and free movies and not reading enough non-school books, and not updating the blog for the last two months and just go right to the flurry of design activity I have for you to look at.

Ahem.

So like I said before (and I'm sure you all forgot since its been so long) I'm working for the Bynum's Ad agency again this summer, and I started today. So I went downtown for a half hour meeting and was told to go home and make some for print mock ups for the "Exzort" program.
Don't ask me if Exzort is a word. (it's not) Don't ask me if I made the logo (I didn't I don't think I could make something that bad.) Do ask if I appropriated pretty looking people from Getty Images and American Apparel. (I did) and, yes I don't like the red color scheme either, I did the originals in green. They look better. Anyway- on with the mock ups!

in other news, I have been making sort of good looking things at AIR (the non-profit artist run print shop on Pittsburgh's North Side where I am a press monkey and do studio prep and then get to use the studio for not much of this: $).
I'm working on a print right now, that will look sort of like this when its done:

circus lions behind cage bars eating large hunks of meat, yeah, seems like the sort of thing I'd do eh?

In other other news, the family is getting a new kitchen, so we have been without the old one for some time now. Apparently it's only been about a week but it seems a whole hell of a lot longer than that especially when you have to go up or down a set of steps to get to running water. In any event, the kitchen is completely empty, painted and the cabinets are being delivered/installed tomorrow. Which means we can unpack most of the pantry like items out of the sunporch and the basement into said new cabinets. We may have the floor in soon after that so we just might be able to move the stove back in the house (it's sitting on the back porch under a plastic tarp getting rained on at the moment) by Friday. Maybe. God Willing. Please?

I've been taking pictures of the whole old kitchen/un-kitchen/new kitchen process so, once it's done I'll put up a fancy slideshow (sort of).

also- I've been working with my pastor/friend/ex-barrista Matt to help make a space at the Brighton McClure Presbyterian Church suitable for a prayer vigil. He went all "Church Fathers... blah blah" on me and I went all "Renaissance/Reformation Art History blah blah" on him, so the natural outcome is that we (I) are making a triptych. Or, to be crude about it, we're getting old used doors, painting the faces of them and hinging them together in a fancy way so they'll open and close to reveal different pictures. I'll keep you updated as work starts on that and post pictures.

I have also been reading, not enough as I think I would like, but there is still time. Reading anything (including the paper) that is not about Scotland in the Medieval era is riveting. Seriously. I got the three books for my art history class in the mail, they all look really interesting but they're all HUGE. I've still got to look into getting the books for my religious studies class (that'll be a quick $200).

so thats all for just now, I'll be back at the end of the week with more pictures and such.
My uncle the plumber is here, I will go observe now and hopefully we will discover why my basement smells like raw sewage.

wish me luck.

Best-

Grace

things of Note!

2008-05-10T16:09:00.002-04:00

okay okay-
so it's been a little while but I do have things to share with you.

Since we last spoke I have returned home to Pittsburgh- and am very happy for it. However, returning home did not mean the end of school necessarily- I still had a 7-10 page paper to write about Robin Hood as an iconic figure who helps the modern world interpret the medieval world. I will tack it up at the end of the post if you are at all interested- read it it's a good paper but be warned it is 10 pages (double spaced).

aside from writing that paper, watching ridiculous amounts of prime time TV on VHS tape that my parents have been collecting for me I have been sending lots of emails and making some phone calls about getting a for real paying job this summer. So far I have secured a job free-lancing for the Bynum's add agency.
they are a little bit scary- they like falcons a whole lot. really- like a WHOLE LOT. go here- http://www.bynums.com/ and you can release the power of creativity too.
(they're probably too many O's on that To but one just didn't look right)
WARNING HISTORICAL CONTENT!
Did you know that the term "freelance" is actually a medieval term referring first to the lance (big pole type thing knights used to knock each other on their ass) and then to the group of people who worked with the Knight to prepare him for jousting events. Eventually, Knights who became part of the gentry and had no noble lord above them became known as "free-lancers" meaning they could compete for the honor of any noble who sponsored them. Thus the modern day term that implies that you work for yourself for the benefit of who ever wants to employ you.
END HISTORY CONTENT

sorry about that- but I probably will never be able to use my extensive knowledge about the "Great Consonant Shift" in middle English anywhere and that didn't seem to off the wall to share with you all.
In other news I applied for work as a Gallery Attendant at the Warhol part time and am trying to get a hold of somebody in the education department to see if they have any extra hours and such for me.
Also- I am working on getting my wisdom teeth out that was supposed to yesterday but it was all very last minuet and all of the medical folks who needed to talk to each other really didn't talk to each other they just played phone-tag.
so- hopefully no teeth on Tuesday- I let you know how all of that works out.

ok- also in the hopes (not very well founded hopes) that I will hold myself to a schedule I have planned out the art work that I've been hoping to work on this summer- when I start the first piece I will actually for the first time do lots of in progress shots, from start to finish and give you all a look at what goes in to making some work the way that I normally work and not the way that college professors say you should work.
On that note- I get my grades on Wednesday so, I'll give you all a look at those when I get them.

Okay- well that's all for now- here's that giant paper and I promise pictures next time. Look for an update on Wednesday.

BIG HUGE PAPER-Y DEAL

The story of Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men has been passed down from the medieval era to the modern age, as an enduring myth of an iconic hero figure. Robin Hood has taken upon a legendary status similar to that of King Arthur, with his exploits being retold and re-imagined for each successive generation. For better or worse the legend of Robin Hood has grown into an international arts empire, with retellings and new interpretations of the basic legend appearing in literature, theatre and film. Robin and his merry band have been featured in stories and tales for centuries.

Appearing circa 1450, Robin Hood and The Monk is the earliest manuscript in existence to feature a ballad about Robin Hood. Unlike the modern versions that we know well, Robin is here in need of rescue rather than the rescuer, and while Little John often plays second fiddle to Robin in modern interpretations, here the spotlight is shared between the two. The story begins with Robin Hood and Little John playing a skills game with bow and arrow. They gamble over who has taken the best shot. When John insists that he has won five shillings, Robin gets angry and the two have a verbal disagreement. John leaves their wooded hide out and disappears without anyone knowing where he is going.

Robin goes to Nottingham so that he might go to mass and pray in the church. Robin is cornered in the church by the Sheriff’s men and is taken prisoner. John, hearing what has happened hastens to the road to Nottingham. He and Much the miller’s son intercept a Monk going along the road from Nottingham to the King. John kills the monk, who is portrayed as suspicious and as a royal authoritarian rather

than a man of God, and takes the papers he was bearing to the King. John and Much head to the royal palace, where they meet the King who makes them regents of the crown, and gives them other letters bearing his seal.

With these papers he tricks the Sheriff into thinking they are regents, come to see him and bear a message from the King. John gets the Sheriff rather drunk and while he sleeps he sneaks down to the dungeon and frees Robin. Both of them flee, but they are in little to no danger as the King and Sheriff realize they have been scammed, and seek only to bury the memory of the event. Once back in the forest Robin Hood wants to make Little John master of his band of men in thanks for saving his life, John refuses saying he wants only to be Robin’s equal.

This first appearance of Robin Hood stresses the importance of religion and devotion in ways that modern re-interpretations of the story do not attempt to highlight. Robin is portrayed as deeply religious, he laments his absence at mass in the beginning of the ballad, and goes to Nottingham to attend mass, nothing else. He is depicted as especially devoted to the Virgin Mary, calling upon her as a Divine intercessor during his battle in the church. These deeply seated religious themes, that were immediate and important to the general public audience for these ballads, are often glossed over or not mentioned at all in retellings of the legend aimed at modern audiences.

If religion is touched upon in the modern day retelling of the story, especially in film, it is often approached with a tone of disgust. In Richard Lester’s 1967 Robin and Marian, Robin is portrayed as an aging crusader, returning to England after experiencing the horrors of religious warfare. He is shown as a man disgusted with the things done in the name of God with no room left in his heart for belief or worship. When he returns to find Marian the abbess of a small group of nuns he is both bemused and disappointed to find that she values the love of God over his own.

In the 1991 Kevin Reynolds film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves religious themes are couched within preachy overtones of tolerance. Here again Robin is back from the crusades, and has returned with the conviction that it is wrong to force one’s religion onto another group. He returns from the holy land with a Moorish companion, Azeem, and demands that his men be tolerant of Azeem’s Islamic beliefs. However, Robin himself is not portrayed as religious- he values a gold family cross because it belonged to his father rather than its importance as a Christian symbol. Also, his first and last appearance in a church in the film is to approach the Lady Marian in disguise. In the modern Robin Hood film religion is only touched upon in relation to themes found in the original ballads in a small part of Prince of Thieves. The Bishop of Hereford is portrayed as a greedy money loving, unscrupulous man. He is shown as being in league with the Sheriff of Nottingham’s plots and orders the death of Marian’s maid servant tasked to take a message to King Richard in order to protect himself and the Sheriff. Near the end of the film he also performs a farce of a marriage between Marian and the Sherriff of Nottingham, literally while the sheriff attempts to rape her, while Robin and Azeem pound on the door of the chapel to rescue her. The Bishop of Hereford meets a sticky end just as does the Monk in the original ballad. In the film the Bishop is confronted by Friar Tuck, who weighs the bishop down with his gold, jewels and worldly possessions and pushes him out of a tower window to his death- where impoverished peasants search his clothes for treasures.

The story of Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne begins again with Robin and Little John in the forest with their band of merry men. Information comes to Robin that Guy of Gisborne, whom Robin has stolen from has killed two of his men and is coming after him. The band urge him to take twelve men with him wherever he goes for his protection. He insists that just he and John will be fine.

John and Robin encounter Guy standing off in a glade. John is not so sure of who he is, and offers to go over and see who he is for Robin. Robin gets angry at the suggestion that he would send his men to go somewhere he wasn’t brave enough to go and says that if he didn’t need his bow to shoot with he would break it over John’s head. John also gets angry and runs off through the woods.

John gets intercepted by a group of the sheriff’s men and while he is about to start shooting at them his bow breaks in two. The men round him up and tie him to a tree.

Meanwhile Robin and Guy speak to each other, and decide to have a test of skill at archery, still without knowing each others name. When Robin win’s spectacularly Guy asks him his name, Robin refuses until Guy tells him his first. Upon learning that they are enemies the fight one another with swords, Robin nearly falling to Guy but he cries out to the Virgin Mary and comes up with a spectacular victory.

Robin cuts off Guy’s head and takes his cow skin clothing and dresses up to look like him. He uses Guy’s horn to signal to the Sheriff of Nottingham who assumes that Guy has killed Robin Hood. The Sheriff offers him a reward but Robin disguised as Guy says he only wants to kill Robin’s friend and servant Little John. Robin frees John and gives him Guy’s bow to replace his broken one. When the Sheriff realizes what is going on he runs for the hills but John kills him by shooting him in the back with an arrow.

This ballad may well be the beginning of the tradition of Robin Hood as a master of disguise as used later in Prince of Thieves and other modernizations of the tale. As a general telling of the Robin Hood myth, this ballad lacks little from our general impressions of Robin Hood as a heroic figure. Robin Hood fights a personal enemy, portrayed as cruel nearly diabolical, Robin is also given due cause to hate this rival, the murder of his men. After Guy of Gisborne is both humiliated and defeated Robin and his band go after the Sheriff of Nottingham with deception and trickery as the central lynchpin to their plan rather than a show of brute force or superiority in arms.

However representative of the myth as this ballad is it provides a few curiosities, the least of which is the animosity between the Sheriff of Nottingham and Little John. John is shown to have the greatest dislike of the Sheriff and his men, eventually killing him, poetically, with his cousin Guy’s bow.

This rivalry and hero-villain dynamic is often reversed in later re-imaginings of the tale; Robin’s greatest enemy is nearly always the Sheriff of Nottingham. While the interpretation of this animosity has been widely varied, it is nearly always present. The relationship between Robin and the Sheriff in Robin and Marian is nearly comradely, an understanding between aging rivals who delight in antagonizing each other and seek to avoid widespread bloodshed by facing one another personally.

Conversely the Sheriff of Prince of Thieves is portrayed with an all consuming hatred of Robin, more commonly seen in modernizations of the tale. This hatred and rivalry reaches a level of fanaticism that is nearly farcical in Prince of Thieves. In contrast with the original ballad, Guy of Gisborne is actually killed by the Sheriff after his failure to capture or kill Robin in the film. Like most modern re-tellings both films greatly exaggerate the relationship of hatred between the two characters of Robin and the Sheriff, as well they downplay Johns original role in the feud to the point of near non-existence

While many of our modern swashbuckling tales may draw from the vivid fight scenes described in Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne, the central theme of revenge is often glossed over or buried in the myths re-imagination. Revenge and bloodshed to repay bloodshed is the central theme of the ballad. The ballad sets Robin and Guy at an equal footing for justification to kill one another and lets each other’s respective righteousness decide the fight, Robin portrayed again as religious and particularly devoted to the Virgin wins the fight after calling for her aid. In modern works, particularly Prince of Thieves Guy is portrayed to have been wronged by Robin’s usurping of his authority by his sudden return from the crusades. His pettiness and cruelty is heightened by the lack of cause for his hatred of Robin.

In his original appearance in Robin Hood and the Monk, while Robin is the title character, he shares just as much of the lime light with his second in command Little John. Over the evolution of the Robin Hood myth perhaps no character’s depiction has changed so much as that of Little John. As he is portrayed in medieval ballads John is petty, bad tempered, and querulous- just as likely to get into a fight with his master as he is to fight their common enemies. Unlike his modern bumbling counterparts, this Little John is as much the brains of the operation as he is the muscle behind the clever schemes of Robin Hood.

However, in more modern reinterpretations of the tale John is portrayed a subservient to Robin to a fault. In the 1967 film Robin and Marian, Little John is described as secretly loving Marian, but denying his feelings for her because she is “Rob’s lady”. He is consistently given a second in command role, while shown as being self sufficient in defense and supremely practical he is also seen as being helpless without the friendship and guidance of his master Robin. Interestingly enough, Little John may have been entrusted with the most important task of the entire film- Robin and Marian’ s burial. On his master’s orders he buries the two together, against his own wishes and consequence, he is shown as being incapable of disobeying Robin’s orders.

In the more conventional rendering of John in Prince of Thieves everyone’s favorite bumbling idiot returns. The two characters are introduced to one another in the conventional fight at the river bridge. However, unlike the original ballad’s ending Robin is not bested in the fight- it is John who begs for mercy as he believes he is drowning in three feet of water. The medieval ballad Robin Hood and Little John printed in 1723 by Child, tells a very different story. In the classic reference Little John is the man in whom Robin Hood meets his match and is one of the few instances where our inevitable protagonist is defeated. The little John of Prince of Thieves is denied any of the redeeming qualities of the John of the medieval ballad. He is both ignorant and slow-witted, his shining moments are as the lovable oaf who provides the brawn behind Robin’s brains. Even less credit is given to his character as the rescue of Robin Hood, which he usually masterminds is conspicuously absent from the film.

As a character of the medieval ballad Little John is as diverse and multi-layered as Robin Hood himself. As a part of the Robin Hood myth, Little John as Robin’s faithful companion has been ingrained as deeply within our collecting memory as have the characters of Maid Marian and the Sheriff of Nottingham. However, while many of the regular players of the myth have had their dues through modern re-interpretation the stereotype of Little John may remain unchanged.

Along with this basic stereotype of Robin’s second in command endures, so does the myth of the world in which these two swash-bucklers live and fight. The modern view of the medieval world is often full of misconceptions and anachronisms perpetuated particularly by the film industry.

A recurring theme through many of the modern Robin Hood films is the idea of the medieval person as basely superstitious weaklings who cling to pagan witchcraft, despite the strong presence of Christianity. Conveniently, this is most often the case when it is applicable to the villains of the story. In no other film is this more evident than that of the character of the Sheriff in Prince of Thieves. Guided by a pagan witch crone who can predict the future, the Sheriff is shown to us as a superstitious and paranoid person with a lack of true belief in God or the church. While the medieval ballad is quick to show the villain as unrighteous, it may come as a surprise that the villain in question may as soon be a man of the cloth as a man of the law, as seen in Robin Hood and the Monk.

The fanciful world of superstition is also stressed in the persistence of the idea that the traditional hideout of Robin Hood and his band, Sherwood Forest, is haunted. Protected by this myth, Robin and his men are not troubled by ignorant villagers wary of evil spirits. The modern notions of Sherwood Forest are also shaped in a false notion of the forest as a place of virginal nature where our heroes can seek refuge. While the modern world has a notion that man’s inhumanity to nature is a relatively new phenomenon, the fact remains that vast tracts and areas of the landscape of the British Isles were altered or destroyed all together in the medieval era.

Robin Hood and the cast of characters that have come to accompany him in our collective imaginations, have become iconic figures. On a similar scale to that of King Arthur these larger than life persons are consistently attributed with fantastical or impossible triumphs over adversity. Like other folk heroes they inhabit a magical land far away where good always claims victory over evil. Cultures all over the globe have created such persons in times of trial or adversity, to fulfill the want of an ethnic or national champion who can unite us against some common foe.

While Robin Hood and his men may be no different in their original purpose as Paul Bunyan or Pecos Bill, his longevity of popular appeal is only matched by that of another British legendary figure- Arthur. Perhaps the modern world is so enamored by these chivalric knights of yore is the world in which they inhabit- or to be more accurate the world that we imagine them to inhabit. The modern interpretation of the medieval world is one of chivalric knights, and virtuous ladies inhabiting a fanciful world full of courtly love in an enduring Christian empire. However unrealistic this romanticized version of the medieval era, it exercises a pull of fascination on the majority of the modern public that is nearly unmatched. Robin Hood as an iconic figure may be no faster, better or stronger than any of his other mythical counterparts from antiquity to the modern age- but his staying power and the consistent interest in his character may make him the most successful iconic figure to ever have been created.

till next time-

Be well.

the problem with honesty...

2008-04-27T13:46:00.003-04:00

well- they might not like it but it's honest.
Remember that question for Foundations well,
Here's they're ultra mamby-pamby BS question- How do you think your experiences this year in Foundations will affect your future studies. Have you learned something this semester that will fuel a new way of working or be applicable out side of school or the classroom setting?

and here is my answer:

Grace Rajnovic

April 27, 2008

Foundations

Final Review Essay Question

As an academic program Foundations has provided me with a varying array of different experiences. For the sake of answering this question truly I will do my best to arrange these experiences in a meaningful manner, however, I must say that I feel that the actual impact of the Foundations program upon my work and studies will only be evident in the future.

That said, in regards to its coursework, this semester’s workshop format forced me to work within time constraints and with materials that I would not have been likely to utilize outside of the program. This is especially true within the soft-works workshop. As an overall social experience Foundations has been an interesting system of large scale group work as well as intensely individual projects and assignments. On an overall assessment, while the group projects improved skills in negotiating, delegation of tasks and overall organization and division of labor, I feel they are a poor imitation of the situations one might find oneself in if the practice of collaboration within the arts comes into play. In this respect- group work experienced this year has been more of a hoop to jump through for me, rather than valuable time spent learning or experiencing an aspect of art making that was previously unfamiliar to me.

In contrast, the individual work was by and large, I would hope, going to be useful in the long run. The individual workings, especially this semester I experienced as being much more geared to the individual rather than the class or group as a whole. While classes were completing the same individual assignment, the focus was on what the individual student produced, not held in contrast to the work created by the rest of the class. While this was not always true, I feel that it holds for the majority of workshops and assignments.

In all true honesty I feel that the thing that Foundations has done to affect my future studies is to deprive me from working in areas that I have previously. I was able to identify which courses I was most interested in taking next year in Sophomore Studios by identifying which areas of working I missed the most. If nothing else Foundations makes one re-evaluate their ideas and preferences within the world of art making not by exposing the student to many areas of art making, but rather, in my opinion, by restricting the student’s access to materials, processes and schools of art making.

As for taking lessons from Foundations into the “real” world- I feel that if nothing else the exercise in arguing the semantics of art, vs. not art, well made, poor craftsmanship, and the like will surely serve me well in the future.

thats all for now- pictures and a recap of my review late-ish tomorrow.
till then-
be well-
love and miss you all
Grace

productivity

2008-04-26T14:43:00.002-04:00

made these today-just working on getting some more prints done for my review on Monday. I've got to write up an answer for a final question for Foundations for my critique - when I finish it I'll post it up here.
So much for no more posts before I'm home- ah well.
And, I'll probably take photos at the review of all my work up on the wall- and yes I'll post them with all haste.

talk to you all soon -
Grace

reasons to like art school- part II

2008-04-24T11:14:00.005-04:00

okay folks-
so I wanted to drop you a line and give you a look at the companions prints that I've made for my Time class- I'm really happy with the one of them, I'm a little iffy with the other- I mean it's not that I don't like it- I just don't know if it is any better/on the same level as the first. Oh well- it'll probably grow on me when It's not next to the other one.
Okay okay, enough of the rambling- on to the pictures!I like this one best:

in other news I finished my History final yesterday- it was a 2- 1/2 hour final so I was a bit worried but it all worked out great in the long run- we got to take in 2 pages (typed) of notes into the exam, so we didn't need to memorize the exact dates of things. I only feel sort of bad about one of the short answer questions, and my essay about how the Cistercian Monastic Order were jerks to Scotland and led to early Calvinist reformation is totally awesome.

in other other news- I've really come into the home stretch here, and don't really have any work to do for this up coming week- Ive got to check out what we'll need for final reviews and get that all organized but other than that- thats it.

This weekend is "Hot Dog Day Weekend" which is supposed to raise money for charity- really the only thing that it raises is blood alcohol levels. Therefore I will be hiding out for most of this weekend. My friends and I have been watching movies in a glass classroom with a projector- it's awesome the screen is like 8 feet by 12 feet- so we just might be have a "The Venture Brothers" cartoon marathon this weekend.

so- for the most part that is about it
I'll be driving home with my parents next Saturday(the 3rd) and I'll be around for Sunday.
So - this may very well be my last post until I get home- I promise me and Dad will take lots of pictures at the final foundations show and I'll get you a nice long post with lots of pretty pictures after next week.

till then-
love and miss you all
and see most of you real soon!

Grace

Limbo

2008-04-20T15:11:00.007-04:00

Hey-lo all!
yes, yes, I'm sure I said I was supposed to do this sooner but hey- here it is anyhow.
I'm putting up pictures of the "deep space" color assignment (remember the troublemaker one), the one on the left is in progress (well, thats sort of obvious- whatever).
I don't know if I explained the idea of the assignment- I were supposed to create "Deep Space" using color theory- cool colors recede, warm come forward light colors go back in space dark colors move to the front, things like that. So I made mine work like this:
The left side are low intensity, cool, light value colors (green-yellow- goes way back into space)
The top is warmer and more intense hues (reds/orange- comes closer to you in spcae)
Right side- darker and warm colors come even more forward and pushes left side to the back (browns, tans and near blacks)
and the big blue things in the center- well- these shapes are superman! They're practically flying off the page! (I don't thin the photo does it justice- sometimes if you stand close that bright blue diagonal stripe might just come out and whack you on the nose.)

okay- so that was deep space on to sound paintings-
we were supposed to choose a sound word like "boom" "clang" "whizz" or "staccato" or "allegro" and the like- then we were supposed to make a painting that evoked that word with color only- no illustration- (you can't paint a bomb for boom) . These were pretty small so I made two:

I'll write what the sound words are at the bottom- of the post- see if you can figure out what's going on.

And this is sort of what happens on Friday nights during the Myles-and-Grace-we-hate-Ted's-color-class-so-lets-get-this-
homework-done-power-hour looks like:

true story.

In other news- I've finished my Final paper for Art History, Prepared for the presentation in History, and finished all of my foundations work - so I have to take two exams and write one more paper and then I'm done!

It's a really weird sort of limbo becuase I still have a lot of things going on these next two weeks or so, but I don't feel stressed out, or like I have that much work to do. It's bizarre- this happened last semester too- I'm sure it'll all even out.

Oh- and in Foundations TIME- we finished most of our video work, and I printed out the two pieces that I showed you last time. Andy out teacher said they were really nice and that I did better than some of the grad students, he also said that I wasn't really supposed to make any more prints but since those were so good I could make one more- I'll show you those when I get them printed out and hang them all up on the wall.

ok- that is mostly all for now- I'll keep you all posted as much as I can through the home stretch here.

(PS- here are the sound words "Howl" is the dark one on the left and "Glockenspiel" is the bright one on the right. If you don't know what a Glockenspiel is it's a " musical instrument in the percussion family. It is similar to the xylophone, in that it has tuned bars laid out in a fashion resembling a piano keyboard. The xylophone's bars are wooden, while the glockenspiel's are metal, thus making it a metallophone." I'm sure you played on in grade school- even if you don't remember it.

Well- till next time:
Love and Miss you all-
Grace

Papal Mancakes

2008-04-15T19:34:00.006-04:00

today was, hands down, the best normal regular day at college I have had yet.
We had a really brief review of our color pieces this morning.
A fellow student called my piece gorgeous.
One of the TA's called it amazing.
Ted called it a troublemaker. However, he added that this is not a bad thing. I think that's the greatest comment that is within Ted's power of giving.
needless to say that I feel pretty damn good about my color piece and my overall grade thus far.
but- getting a good remark from Ted is not what made today great.
what made today great was not that we got out at 10 AM and I had no other classes to go to.
Not that I finished all sorts of things that I needed to get done today (and am hoping to get even more done tonight)

What made today so excellent is: I DESIGNED THINGS!!
I got on the computer and fond some images and scanned in some stuff and hooked up my tablet and played my stereo way to loud- and COMPLETED two 11 x 17"s for print.
(Andy Deutsch our TIME instructor said we could use the plotters ((wide format printers = awesome)) if we wanted to, but not that many people seemed interested which means I can make more/bigger prints)
I feel really really good about the two prints that I got done today (i started a 3rd but I don't think I'll be able to finish it tonight- I need to work on an Art History paper). They're a little different from what I've been doing but not a radical departure. It was so nice just to make something: anything.
anyhow- here are the two designs I was working on today.
This is the first one (and yes, I did draw those hands, I just did it in the computer instead of on paper)
I'm not sure it's "done" per-say but I really like where It's at right now. it looks better with a black mat or background behind it but, oh well- you can't win 'em all.
for anyone who's interested there are about 6 layers active right now in this piece. two are scans, one is an antique map, one is a photo and the top is a digital drawing. (I have a magic tablet with a fancy pen that when I draw on said tablet it all gets translated into the computer in real time, so I can draw directly on what I'm working on instead of drawing on paper and then scanning it in and trying to re-size it and crashing the computer and getting frustrated and forcibly shutting down my machine, and losing all of my preferences in the program and getting more frustrated, and well- you get the picture).
okay on to the second:
this is the result of me finding a bunch of scans of some of the old Rajnovic family documents that Aunt Dorothy gave me and my dad, and trying to remember as many shortcut key options as I could. The end product: I found out that I remember most of the shortcut keys in Photoshop (that's the imaging program I use most often) and I even remember what most of them do! I had some happy accidents- (including the transparency of the book letting you see the girl's head through the paper- don't ask me who she is, I don't know I guess I saw the picture online and saved it some time ago becuase I found her on my hard drive when I was looking for hand references for the first piece and said "Holy Crap!! that picture is amazing I've got to use that!" so I did. I've named her Jenny.)

So, I think that I've narrowed down another one of the things that I love about working in the computer- it's intuitive for me.
I knew that I wanted to do a piece with outstretched hands - that was the first one and thats all I knew about the piece when I started working. I didn't even make a list- If it had been a foundations assignment (where half of the battle is planning and proving to somebody that you did planning even if you didn't do drawings) I would have made tons of lists and a few color schemes and maybe a couple of drawings that would have taken me longer than it took me to finish the piece in the computer (1 hour and 47 min in case you were wondering- I did three versions of the second piece so it was about 2 hours 13 min).
When I work in the computer I open a ton of images and start putting them together until something clicks and then I run with that- I don't belabor anything- I just work intuitively and trust my own judgment (and trust that the edit:undo control will make up for my momentary lapses in judgment)
okay - back to the image- there are 5 layers active (there used to be six ((of math book text, lots of tiny numbers))) but I decided it worked better without it- I left in in the original file if I want to play with this image more- which I do.
Actually I want to do variations on them both- I have tons of neat hand images to work with- I might do a series.
and no- neither of these have titles except for the hair-brained crazy elaborate file-naming system that I use when I design things like :
rajfamilymon-girlsblackFIN-unflat.PSD
or: handsnaturewhiteFINwithgridandyellow-unflat.PSD

and you wonder why no one can ever find stuff on my computer but me- now you know.
side bar-
true story:
at Governor's School in Junior year I worked with my digital arts teacher Dennis, giving everybody a run down on how to save things correctly in photoshop and the importance of saving things right and often. I remember saying something like- name your files in a way that you will know what they mean- no matter how frustrated you get with the program.
Andrea named her file "whatever.psd" after having her machine crash and losing 3 hours worth of work. The next day she went looking for "whatever", and realized she didn't remember where she put it. Ever try to search a computer for the word "whatever"? Don't.
save early, save often.

So, where are the pictures of the "amazing, gorgeous, trouble-making" color piece? you ask-
well- I don't have any final shots of it since I had to leave it in the studio today for it to get graded, I'll get it back tomorrow and put pictures up, in-progress as well as final (the in-progress ones look less than amazing or gorgeous.

in other news, I only have one more color piece to complete for the workshop- an 8 X 8 in square (tiny) abstract color representation of a sound word or onomatopoeia- and we're allowed to apply the paint however we want and are allowed to show brush strokes (before we had to make everything look like a paint chip from the store- booooooring and tedious).
and since I've just completed two (amazing, gorgeous and trouble making) print designs for TIME I am essentially done with foundations after I finish the color piece. I'll tell you more about it later when I choose a sound word.
so- bing done with foundations means that I have to:
write a 3-5 page paper about Albrecht Durer (I hate the research part but the writing is easy after that)
Take my Art History 133 Renaissance (man I seriously need to learn to spell that word- i mess it up EVERY time- true story) and Baroque final (fairly easy- I'm good at art history)
Take my History 375 British medieval isles final (not terribly easy but we get to make a two page typed cheat sheet that we can take into the exam with us)
and write a 7-9 page paper about Robin Hood. That's right- Robin Hood.
(I don't even need to tell you that this will be pretty easy but I've got to get it done and hand deliver it in two weeks along with everything else if I want to leave early. still- it's Robin Hood people!)
oh- and pack.
boy- lets not talk about that yet.

Anyway- that's mostly it for now folks- the end of the semester is starting to take off at a gallop, and I don't feel terribly stressed but I do have work to do.

also- the weather is getting nice here it was 55 with "abundant sunshine" according to the weather service, and they weren't lying. Forecast is calling for 67 and more "abundant sunshine" say a prayer for us and we might just hit 70!

till next time:
Love and Miss you all-
Grace.

WOW- almost forgot to explain the title of the post "Papal Mancakes" Late at night around 2 AM last week when my friend Myles and I were finally done painting we were cleaning up and talking about breakfast food (why I don't know it was 2 AM). Myles tried to say "Maple Syrup with pancakes" and it came out as "Papal Mancakes" instead. We laughed for ten minuets, then came up with lots of (terribly blasphemous I'm sure) slogans for a Vatican approved pancake mix. things like : "Papal Mancakes- part of this complete and devotional breakfast!"
and "Papal Mancakes- Kid tested, St. Peter approved!"
"Papal Mancakes- transubstantiationally good!
and my personal favorite: "Papal Mancakes- just add Holy Water!"
I hope you think it's funny, I really hope that wasn't a "you had to be there kind of thing".
ok- thats it.

ps- tell me what you think of the prints!

pps- it snowed on Sunday (yes, the 13th of April).

pps- no, just kidding, I'm all done - look for an update Thursday.

FEAST

2008-04-11T16:19:00.002-04:00

Been meaning to do this all week and kept forgetting.
I had the most excellent Saturday last week (hopefully we'll repeat it this saturday or sunday)
I wanted to cook dinner but hadn't been able to go to the store and my dorm's kitchen got closed so to cook I had to go over to another building to do so.
Food at the dining halls has been getting steadily worse as they year gets closer to being over.
So- I had to cook with what I already had and what I could steal from the dining halls and buy at the local market and uni-mart. The market is called kinfolk and the only thing they stock regularly is yogurt. They get produce from local organic farms, so whatever they get from the farmers is whatever is out, so no fruit in the winter.
So here's what I had in my room
1 jar pasta sauce
2 boxes spaghetti
1 box cake mix
1 (as we affectionately like to call it) Bucket 'O Frosting
fresh garlic
olive oil
seasonings
Dijon Mustard
and pepperoni

here's what I bought-
3 large gorgeous portabella mushrooms
a big handful of shallots (they're a sort of onion) from France

and 3 ice cream sandwiches (they were 3 for a dollar and I ate them on the way home- very good, very tiny)

here's what I stole-
1 Bag onion bagels
5-6 slices of swiss mozzarella and provolone cheese from the sandwich station

can you see where this is going?

So, we had Italian night. Pasta with sauce, and two kinds of personal pizzas- one with the leftover pasta sauce cheese and pepperoni and the other one I made with caramelized shallots and mushrooms, I put a little of the mustard on the bagels, and loaded them with cheese and stuffed the mushrooms and onions on top.
The whole thing went into the oven next to the cupcakes.
After we ate we all played speed scrabble (to 500 points with a few cheaters using fake words or making things connect that are not in fact words, so they had to have no points at all)
we ate around 7 and played speed scrabble until around 10 but no one was tired, it had been really really nice out that day so we wanted to go and do something. we thought about playing catch but we couldn't find anything but a frisbee and it was totally dark by then.
Then we hit on an Idea- Hide and Seek.
that's right- we played Hide and Seek in Harder hall with about 8 of us (harder is where all the arts classes are- there's 5 floors and it connects to two other giant buildings- full of more hiding spots than you could imagine)
If you weren't caught after half an hour you were called on your phone and invariably once we all met up someone would say- "You have to come see where I was hiding I didn't even know you could get to this part of the building." we all learned a little bit more about harder, even though my friend Keaton got lost in Ceramics and had to call Eva to help him find his way out.

I am hoping to cook at least one more time while I'm here (only here for 22 more days, it'll be over before I know it) so I'm making a what I have, what can I steal from the dining hall and what might I find at Kinfolk list.
hoping for Chicken. Roast Chicken. Just need the Chicken- that's all.

In other news I made a totally Hairbrained goof on my midterm for my Art History class (mixed up Jan Van Eyck and Roiger Vander Wieden) but thats the only mistake.

I also registered for classes (that's a saga that needs its own post- besides I need to tell you about this week still).
But I'm hosting a student overnight tonight- actually I need to go pick them up soon So if I can I'll write you tomorrow night but more likely Sunday afternoon.

take care-
Love and Miss you All-
Grace

PS I voted!

conversations, heatless showever and shivery BBQ's

2008-04-07T14:00:00.008-04:00

Hello again all -
so I've got some really interesting things to talk to all of you about today including (finally) a halfway decent explanation of what out Time class is all about, an update on what's been happening in color (with pictures) a sort of outline of what I'm doing next year and recounting some strange conversations and more complainings about my heater being broken and the building not having any hot water. But we'll get to that later.

And so- we will begin with TIME. Time the fourth and final foundations workshop is with Andrew Deutsch, the time media instructor (time media is a politically correct new age hippie way to say: video, sound, film and lots of other odd-ball nonsense that we couldn't make into a real class if we didn't use a fancy sounding name.
essentially the class consists of a 50/50 relationship. Andrew thinks that artists work on a 50% input= 50% output basis. Therefore we spend almost all of our time (80% not 50%) being exposed to new and exciting things. Well, new for most people. I had a really great digital media (same thing as time media) teacher in High School Dennis who showed my class and the Gov's School kids about 2/3ds of what Andrew has been showing us.
I enjoy the class, it's very stress free and the assignments for over the week are what Andrew calls being sensitively lazy. It's okay to be lazy about your work, he'd rather you make one really good thing and not spend forever on it than split up your time and make a bunch of mediocre things.
this being said- I'm really good at being sensitively lazy, that was mostly how I got through all of my High School assignments so I could do something I wanted to do. Therefore I have quite a lot of time on my hands (well relatively- I mean in comparison to last block and last semester I have all the time in the world) But now, instead of just having the good intentions of reworking a piece I actually have the time to do so- this is helping out a lot in color - about which I will get to next.

One of my instructors Ted and I are harboring not so silent and not so subtle hate for one another since right before Christmas break. See, I had Ted for my final review and he came in drunk. at 11 AM. really drunk.
He told me that most of what I had done that semester was not worth having been made particularly my self portrait (which he had raved about the week before)
Naturally I politely disagreed.
So Ted told me told me I wasn't going to be an artist and that the best I could hope for was to be an art critic.
Naturally I politely pointed out that this suggestion was something similar to "if you can't do- teach." before I knew that I had said anything.
Ted giggled and that was the end of my review.
I don't think Ted likes me very much and tends to take it out on the grading.

For most of our assignments in Color we have Ted and 3 TA's work out the grading. Mostly Ted lets the TA 's grade everyone's work and trusts them to make good and fair judgments. But not for my work, because whatever it is- he invariably lowers it my a grade or a grade and a half from what the TA or TA 's had decided.
this is not the end of the world- but more or less I am putting in the time for a B+ to end up with a C+ at best.

thus- all of those good intentions about re-doing work are a lot more than intentions for this class. Ted decided that one of my pieces was a C+ and that if I fixed them I would have an A. But, I really didn't even like the pieces enough to fix them, I went back and redid all of them. After doing twice the amount of work required to bring my grade up Ted decided that my grade for the a assignment should be a B- .
You know, there's really not that big of a difference between C+ and B-. Luckily for me one of the TA 's made a big deal about how much extra work I had taken on by re-doing the whole project not just fixing a few minor issues on the first set. So Ted changed my grade to a B+.
Myself and the TA' s agree that I should get two people to grade my work, Ted and someone who's not crazy, so that I don't end up with a B- for a course that I am producing A quality work for.
In any case-
here's an assignment about bending space which got an A from a TA and a "solid B" from Ted and some in progress shots of another (got to try to get a good grade for this course anyhow)

here is one of the assignments- the re-do I was speaking of. Maybe I'll put up pictures of the first set when I get over being embarrassed by how badly they suck. these aren't totally done I guess- Ted said that if I were to work on them more which he wouldn't expect-(which means if I don't he'll change my grade back of a B-) I would break up the orange circle into a couple orange circles with varying degrees of orange-ness.
In other news- I had a very interesting conversation last night. Someone wanted to talk to be about how I came to consider myself a Christian and I tried my best to explain myself to him, and for a good 45 minuets he seemed genuinely interested in understanding my position on doctrine and "church rules" as he called them among other things. Eventually the conversation ended with said person saying "I mean, I guess I get what you're saying but it's just that you know, I consider you an intelligent person and I'm just like confused about how you can believe something blindly and be so intelligent."
awesome- so now religion- but more specifically Jesus is off limits to smart people.
this is/was an isolated incident that also involved the other party in the conversation complaining about how lazy he is and that generally when he's been too lazy to get something done he has hope and faith that you know, teachers will take into account his individual situation.
to which I replied that that was not faith, or at least not faith on a similar plane as holding a sacred belief in an omnipresent divine figure that you are the direct creation of.
he said- "whatever".

In any case- Isolated event or not- I miss church and people who are smart enough to know that no one is too smart for God.
But on the bright side I had a real conversation about faith and the biblical concept of Grace with another friend of mine who was party to the aforementioned conversation who burst out laughing when the other guy decided to have the last word of "whatever" and left the room.

In other other news-
I will be taking the following studios next semester I hope:
Design
Print Media (traditional and Digital
Introduction to Sculpture (interdisciplinary mediums) and
Black and White Photo

now- if anybody gives me crap for not taking ceramics or glass:
Glass and Sculpture are in the same discipline and so are Print and Design- I can only double up in one area- and practically it is more likely that I'll have a design station in my home than a glass furnace.
I really really like Glass and Ceramics. They are cool and fun.
I am not I LOVE with them like I am in love with Design and Print

and besides all that- I think my dad would kill me if I didn't take photo course
(I'm only half joking)

It has been glorious here for the the past three days or so- in the 50s and sunny.
A friend and I had a BBQ that also involved making smores.
however- it is still in the 20s and 30s for the night. and my heater is apparently broken.
no wait scratch that- everyone on this floor's heater is broken.
No wait- update no one's heater works and there's no hot water.
I really just want to take a shower a this point- I have lots of blankets for a night- but really- a shower would be awesome.

I hate the heating plant.

Well- I think that's about everything for now-
got my absentee ballot in the mail today. Now I really have to figure out who I'm going to vote for.
more on that later.
hope you like the pictures.

oh- and I might just not update this for a while if the indication stands that my mom is the only one reading- I tell her all this on the phone anyway and typing is slower than talking.

okay- going to relax for 10 minuets before history and then MORE PAINTING.
wooo, hoo-ray I am excited for that!
not really , not so much.

till next time-
Love and Miss you all-
Grace

many many many things...

2008-03-30T11:37:00.004-04:00

Museums, foreign cabbies, hippie glasses, overpriced food stuffs, spring for a day,then winter returns, missing glasses, free meal passes, prospective students, and yes- blue is a color.

okay- this is totally going to be a marathon post so, grab your meal replacement shakes and ultra-nutritious granola bars and hang on for the ride.

SO!- I guess the first big thing to talk to you all about since the last time I was last posting was the Foundations Group's epic tour of New York City- from here on referred to as NYC-.
What happens when you get a group of first year college students together, put them on a bus at 3:30 AM Friday night and tell them they're in for a 7+ hour ride? The first two and a half hours are populated by varying incarnations of both "tiny dancer" and "god bless america" naturally- neither sung well.
I was seat partners with my friend Zach (you know- my brother's clone)- both of us talked loudly for an hour about how we didn't intend to sleep because we wanted to be courteous to one another. After that we were promptly down for the count and apparently slept all the way to New Jersey.

once arriving in the big city- we chose groups to tour the city with, one faculty member leading the group. Ted took kids on an architecture tour, Angie went to the MoMA and the Whitney, my group with Jeannine in the lead went to the Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Art and Design(MAD) (mostly a craft museum think Society for Contemporary Craft or Manchester Craftmen's guild in Pittsburgh) as well as the Metropolitan Museum of art - I have much more to say about that one.
After Jeannine (who is a rather TALL woman ((6'4")) with a HUGE Stride) realized that she had left our group a block and a half behind her at all times, the group got to the museum district before any group. We went to the MAD first where I said "Hi there- I'm staff at the Carnegie institutes... so ... " and flashed my Warhol ID and the receptionist asked me how many free tickets to the museum I wanted.
Boy, I like working for museums.
Therefore- the first 5 people who lined up behind me when I got my tickets to any Museum in the city also got in for free. Some one even bought me a hot dog in thanks (tasty).
So- I quite enjoyed the MAD and the MoMA- even though the MoMA especially was SO crowed that even though I was not under time constraints I sort of rushed through the museum just to get away from that volume of people in such a small space. I mean, there were WAY too many people in each gallery next to priceless things that for whatever hair-brained reason were not under glass - I was just being an overprotective fellow museum employee who found it really hard not to say things like "Don't touch that you dolt!!"
I also found it had not to correct the "professor" of each group of friends who walked by me spewing such obviously blasphemous art history goof- ups I've ever heard.
things like - "You know Warhol was secretly married right?" and "Did Morton ever tell you that Matisse was in love with Aunt Meredeth? Offered to sell her everything..." (no- I jest not I really heard that one) and my favorite, a group who was in a room dedicated to Marcel Duchamp full of his painting and sculpture as a testament to his importance in Art History (I mean God- the man has his own ROOM!) "You know, I think they make too much of that Duchamp guy, I mean all he ever did was that urinal thing right?"
disclaimer- yes, I know you are all not getting a minor in art history so in 30 seconds or less- (deep breath) Duchamp entered a "readymade" hardware store bought urinal into a "democratic exhibition" so they couldn't turn him down under a fake name and then came to the "artists" aid when the urinal was displayed behind a curtain.

next- the MET- Imagine if you're from Pittsburgh or have vistited the Carnegie Museum of Art, and Natural History and the main Library in Okaland- okay so you know that all of these buildings are connected right? That's the size of the MET only it's ALL art. They had an amazing print library and byzantine art and Victorian section- I spent 5 hours in the MET and didn't get to see it all becuase parts of it were closed off for re-installation and also my feet felt like they were going to fall off.

I rode a taxi with a friend back to the bus station so we could get back on the buses and head home to AU. While waiting for the buses in the station one of my friends played harmonica for change and I bought a pair of white mirrored trooper sun glasses. They rule.

The ride home was mostly uneventful- except for the part where I slept in a really bad awkward position and had a pretty bad back spasm once we got back the next day. I also think I picked up a little bug from the crowds of old ladies who coughed on me a lot in NYC - I had a low fever earlier this week but I think it's worked itself out.

So after that we came home and started our Time workshop- this deserves it's own entry later when I can pay more attention to it so I'll tell you about it later.

On thursday it was very wet all day- and then it snowed this ensued:

go here for more pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/sovietdog/NYCSnow

then, without remembering that I had signed up to be an overnight host- I got an email saying that I would be hosting a prospective arts student Friday night.
her name was Hannah, from Binghamton NY and was very sweet. Very quiet. Very.
we talked for a bit, went to dinner, hung out with Zach Myles and their three prospective students, watched a movie, went to see a comedian and then took a leisurely tour of the arts building. Then I got up at 8 to get her off to her presentations and planned events for the day, came home went back to bed. Got up, ate, talked to my mom, tried to read, fell asleep, finished the chapter, took a nap, went to dinner, painted and talked with Myles till about 1:30 AM. Came home, found out my heater was not working again and it was freezing in my room, and used my heating pad to warm up by bed so I could sleep.

Now, after having an excellent brunch, I'm off to paint more with Myles.

oh, heres a good story. So when I paint I wear my glasses, and I normally take them off when I got to clean my brushes out in the bathroom so they don't get dirty.
on Wednesday I forgot that I had taken them off and they were on the ledge above the sinks. I came back to my room and realized my glasses weren't there about a half an hour later. I went back to the bathroom and they were gone. Just gone.
I asked my friend Meghan if she'd seen them, she said no but offered to look in the bath room again while I checked my room in case I'd brought them back.
she found them.
In the garbage.
yes that's right. Garbage.
I don't have anything else to say about that.

okay well-
thats about it for now- I should have more for you Tuesday. Till then-

Be Well-
Take Care-
Love and Miss you All-

Grace

it's always sunny in Lower Pine

2008-03-19T12:15:00.004-04:00

I worked on re-decorating my door last night after I decided I didn't want to paint anymore. This is what it looks like now.
So friends what to tell you.
Seems like a while since we last spoke, and though I saw many of you over my short and badly scheduled spring break (that's right it was last week. The week BEFORE Easter. Boo.)
sorry to any of you who I wasn't able to get in touch with while I was on break and sorry to all of you who I won't see over Easter.
Speaking of Easter I'm probably going to be sleeping through it.
See- the Foundations class is going to NYC on Saturday. We're leaving at 3:30 AM. We're getting back to AU at 1 AM Sunday.
I signed up to visit the MoMA (museum of modern art) and the Museum of Art and Design and some assorted galleries in the Chelsea area with my drawing instructor from last block Jennine.
There will be much sleeping and little working on Sunday. Although, there are a group of folks here who would like to get together and have an Easter dinner. Or should I say a group of folks approached me and said "if we pay for groceries will you cook an Easter dinner for us?" and I said-"Yes."
What else- in a little less than an hour here I'm going to start my final Art History course for the year- Renaissance to Baroque survey. Quite a few people I know took the course last semester, they hated it because it was "all about Jesus!" Needless to say I think I will enjoy myself. Immensely.

Oh, man. I am such a dork.

in other news.... I will be living in the Lower Pine Hill Suites next year as one of the Davis Suite's Resident Assistants. That's right everybody- I got the RA position for next year, a guaranteed single, living in a suite with only four other people and a handsome salary of $5,656 - before taxes sadly.
The Pine hill suites look like this:
and have 3 double rooms (one of which I will be occupying by myself) a Kitchen, living room and a bathroom. We're moving up in the world.
Just about the only problem that I have with living in the suite is that all of the folks who I wanted to stack it with and live with next year- are all RA's too. So I'm on the look out for 4 good room mates who want to live in a substance-free suite.
I'll let you know how that works out.
I start the "TIME" workshop tomorrow- so I'll give you guys an update by friday to tell you what all that is about. If I do anything interesting for Color-I'll take photos and get them out to you. Till then-

Love and Miss You All
Be Well-
Grace

Psycho Beach Party Meets Silence of the Lambs...

2008-03-06T18:52:00.006-05:00

this is what happens when it's the last day of drawing class and the ice storm prevents the model from coming to class.

Softworks- Hard Critique

2008-03-04T21:45:00.004-05:00

Hey all-
had my critique for my final project in softworks yesterday- it was a sort of bizzare experience with an even more bizarre woman. I have concluded that she just didn't get it- when our discussion diverged on the tangent about how she was Jewish and that Crucifixes made her uncomfortable I knew she had really lost it.
Any how- here are some photos of the piece- I'll write an entry for what everything is about later- for now you can ponder it- besides I've got an art history final to study for.

Be Well all- and I'll see you all real soon.
Love
Grace

PS- the glasses were just for fun.

less blady-blah and more ooh- and ahhh...

2008-02-29T15:52:00.004-05:00

I'm not feeling very textual today- more visual. I've taken lots of pictures of my drawing work from the last two weeks and they're on the photobucket. Here's a taste and go check out the bucket for more.
see you all soon (be home this time next week!)
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc11/sovietdog/?albumview=link

love and miss you all-

Grace

Helvetica is the best

2008-02-20T12:50:00.007-05:00

Holy Crap a mid-week entry!?
you bet!
So- Wednesdays are grab bag days as you all might remember the football field incident. Today we were sure something equally oddball and in the end useless except for a great anecdote- HOWEVER: we were all presently suprised.
There was a movie to be had- and an excellent one at that.
Helvetica.
go here to be amazed: http://www.helveticafilm.com/
Helvetica is a certain kind of typeface that has become the standard or the design industry- everything is Helvetica-
crate&barrel? Helvetica
Gap? Helvetica
The EPA? Helvetica
NY subway signs? Helvetica
do not enter signs? you guessed it- Helvetica.

For those of you who have never worked design with me or have been to the print shop or have tried to convince me not to buy something just because it has good design (thanks for trying mom!)- I am a "typeomaniac" as one designer put it he also said "typeface and letters are my friends, I just get a such a kick out of looking at them- you know like how some people get a kick out of eating chocolate or looking at girls bottoms or whatever."
I for one could not agree more (besides, debating serif vs. sans serif doesn't make your cholesterol go up or hit in the face or sued for sexual harassment)

The film-which catalogs the most popular typeface in the world from it's inception to its 50th birthday- was one of the best made documentaries I have ever seen (and trust me I've certainly seen my fair share at this point) I suggest you all go out and watch it. Right now. No I mean it. Now- I command you! Okay well, I can't make anybody watch this film but everybody should. really.

In any event- other than getting to drool over the work over other designers and look at amazingly expensive apple computer set-ups- this move made me miss designing SO MUCH. I really haven't designed anything (barring the Missio Dei website) in almost 7 months. Thats a really long time considering I used to make something every day for the museum! I'm really getting excited for this summer
well A. because there is no -14 wind chill (that's what it is here right now by the way)
and B. because I'll be working at the museum and freelancing as well- I miss using my design brain.

other than just this summer I might be doing a bit more design in a few weeks when we change over classes. Next month we're really going to start talking about registration for next year, (when we get to start choosing what art classes to take and what areas we want to concentrate in) so I'm really excited to start thinking about that. As well I'll be declaring two minors (one in art history and one in religious studies) so next month should be pretty exciting.

allright so- since its still going to be a little bit before I have anything substantial to show you as to what I'm doing for my Softworks project here's a few photos of the project we finished last week- here's the run down-
here are eight strangely shaped pieces of felt
sew them together
make a 2 or 3-D shape with them
now use some embroidery floss and add color.
You have two days.
GO!

I made these- I used each of the eight pieces separately to make these "blobs" by running a stitch all the way around one end and gathering the fabric together really tightly. Then I ran around a lot of the edges and contours using two colors of embroidery floss. here are a few photos of the group and some close ups of individual blobs.
Hope you enjoy them!
Love And Miss You All-
expect another update this weekend-

Grace

Nothing says I love you quite like...

2008-02-15T16:40:00.014-05:00

... surprise pants in the mail.
Well, they weren't exactly a surprise- Mom sent me a medical care package (yesterday) that came today that contained this pair of my favorite beat up shop pants. (they must be like 7 years old by now)
So! I've decided to start adding more pictures to my posts, and not links to invisible pictures on a different website but real pictures right here.
Today they're mostly going to be from my figure drawing class (WARNING: naked folks to follow)
So, to tell you a little bit about what we've been working on in that class we start off by doing really quick (30 seconds) gestures to get the gist of the pose, then we move onto 1 minuets, 3, 5 ,7 10 a half hour and then a long pose (about an hour and twenty minuets- which really isn't that much considering we're used to spending WEEKS on a single drawing from the previous classes).
along with that we do smaller (about 2 pages or an hour's worth of work) in our sketchbooks Thursday nights- due Friday morning. Then we've got longer assignments to do over the week (these are still not as terrifying as what we're used to- all together it's a very different experience from what we're used to.
here are a few drawings that I've done in class, I'll put the number of minuets we had to give you an idea of how fast I can work at this point.
this is a longer hour+ drawing-the first long pose from the class.
this is one of the longer hour+ drawings - my professor Hong-wei keeps telling me that my drawings are all about "expressionism" and that they are "good- very good work!" (and being that he has really bad English and couldn't come up with the word thigh today- is saying a lot - I don't think he can really call anything great because he doesn't know the word! - but he still gets his point across our drawing teacher actually draws for us as an example- what a concept!
about 10 min- just long enough to mess up the arm and then fix it! (note the atrophied stuby arm and better bigger one)

this one is about 7-10 min. I really like the line quality in it (ps if you click on these they get bigger!)
other than drawing class we've got the softworks body-covering project(I don't feel like re-explaining it so if you've forgotten scroll down to my last post to refresh your memories)
which I am going to start working on this weekend after I forage at Wal-mart and the Alfred Station knitting store and the hardware store.

in non-arts related things, I have had my first of two interviews for my application to be an RA (resident assistant) Which according to my current RA went "awesomely- excellent"
I'm sure you all expected nothing less... : )

I got a second note-taking position for my art-history class (it's only a half- semester class so It's only about $30 but hey, its 30 bucks for something I'm doing anyhow.

And for my history class (where I'm learning about the British Isles) We've finished one of the Isles (England) and moved on to another(Scotland)
Did you know the Scots are from Ireland and they didn't like the Picts much (maybe it had something to do with painting themselves blue...)

In other news- the saga that is now the better part of a semester and a half old has finally come to a close- the story of the elusive typewriter is finished and I have emerged VICTORIOUS!

Okay, so- early last semester one of the grad students brought in a typewriter for me to use on my book project (but it had funny old lady script-y handwriting font on it that didn't fit with the book so I decided not to use it). I distinctly remember her saying she would take it back to her studio later and to leave the typewriter since I wasn't using it. She apparently heard something different, and never took it back to the studio.
Funny thing is that vintage typewriters that happen to still have the note saying "FREE!" on the inside from the garage sale that you got it from- tend to go missing in an arts school. So, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth I spent the better part of $20 making posters, and flyer's and phone-calls and eventually offering to pay for extra ribbons for another typewriter- but to no avail- the typewriter never showed up.

UNTIL- Monday, while on our break I was wondering about the studio and happened to notice a large suitcase like box sitting in the corner. And there it was, the typewriter (there is no way that it had been there all along, I searched the building on numerous occasions). Thus- seeing as said grad-student has since graduated and since I spent so much on trying to get the typewriter back for her- I've decided to take it back. I think my logic is okay for this one.

and here it is in all of its powder-blue glory:

Well, that's all for now, I meant to post this after dinner but ended up staying with Zach and Jackie to watch a movie. Oh well- it will be a weekend surprise for most of you.

Love and Miss You All-
Be Well-
Grace

oh and P.S.- we're doing portraits for our drawing homework this week so expect a revival of the mustache!

P.P.S.- putting these pictures in are a serious pain in the neck- I expect glowing comments. :)

Brunch and a Hunch

2008-02-05T20:55:00.000-05:00

My Favorite Creation This Year!
Hello Friends!

Yes, yes, I know this is a long time in coming but it's worth it I promise.

Since I've got a ton of ground to cover here Ill try and get to the meaty stuff thats been happening but it's still going to be a long post. So...

Since I last spoke with you I had yet to move back into the dorms at Alfred U. So far I've been back about three weeks and have been enjoying myself greatly.
I'm enrolled in 4 six week workshops this semester, the two I have now are Figure Drawing (with our Chinese MFA student Hong-Wei who rules) and Softworks- a collection of sewing, knitting, crocheting and other similar crafts culminating in a "body covering" project- more on that later.
Aside from foundations I've got my Modern series art history course Art and Social Ideas with the French professor Gerar- he is quite possibly the best teacher I have ever had. The first time I met Gerar he ran up and down the length of a lecture hall's front row of seats, standing on the arm rests. He proceeded to give the lecture from that position.
Yesterday he re-enacted most of the fight scene from West side Story. His class is terribly interesting, about the development of modern art and the changes in society that made us shift our perceptions of what art is/was. It's great.
After that I've got a class on the British Isles in the Medieval Era- where we will watch count em 4 Robin Hood films and write our final essay/exam on Robin Hood. What more could you want?

Outside of classes I've watched quite a few movies since returning (the $2 Friday Night show is irresistible) including The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - it's worth it go see it because aside from being a good story, having a great cast it is one of the most beautifully shot / designed films I've ever seen.
Other than movies there has been much cooking including a spaghetti dinner (complete with chocolate cupcakes for dessert courtesy of our new $7 hand mixer from wal-mart) and a MAGNIFICENT brunch-
The Menu:
A souffléd apple raisin blueberry pancake with cinnamon and honey
Scrambled eggs with bacon cheese and corn
Italian Seasoned Home Fries
English Style Crumpets with blueberry jam
milk, tea, orange juice and Syrian Coffee (Courtesy of my favorite Greek down the hall- Ana)
BEHOLD:AND- it was all made from scratch! For those of you who know about my baking impaired-ness you know how impressive that is.

So far we've only got one large project coming up- to make a "body covering" for our softworks class. I've been playing around with the idea since they told us body covering, but we only really got the parameters of the assignment today. The major stumbling block to my previous plans/ideas for the project is that it must be worn by us- so no materials that could hurt/cut you or making a concrete sweater. (that wasn't my idea, a friend of mines)
So for those of you who embarked upon that crazy questionare I sent out by e-mail- it was for this class. Our body covering has to have something to do with what we think about ourselves and what others think about/ perceive of us.
I've got a few really good ideas on the books for this project, I still need to re-tool them to make sure they can fit into the assignment but once I've done that and made some drawings/notes (that are legible) I'll scan them and put them up here.

Sorry it's been so long since an update- and this one wasn't exactly the next great american novel either I know- but hey It's got pictures! I'll try and be better about getting this updated more regularly (I'm on a new laundry schedule, but I think I've got it down. I normally write my entries while my clothes are in the wash and then change them over to the dryer once I'm done)

Well folks- thats about it for now. If you know my mom, don't forget that Thursday's her Birthday- I'll tell you about her present this weekend so I don't spoil the surprise.

Be Well,
Love and Miss You All-
Grace

The Year in Review

2008-01-08T21:01:00.000-05:00

Sure, Sure I know it's kind of late but here it is.

So I'm sure that 2007 went out with a bang and much merriment by people who were awake- I was however not. I like sleeping and going to bed before 11:30. So what?
Anyway, the year was full of goodness especially these last three weeks I've been able to spend in Pittsburgh. Christmas was excellent- I went to my first Hot Metal Christmas Eve service, which in the words of Matt was like a Christmas pageant gone wrong but it was wonderful nonetheless. For those of you who aren't familiar- I've been attending a contemporary Union Church in the South Side called Hot Metal Faith Community since early in the summer- it's become a home for me surprisingly fast, and I'm really at a loss without it or any other adequate worship up at Alfred, more on that later. Anyhow the community is losing their space at the goodwill building and is currently without a home, things will settle down once I'm away at school again but still, I'll try to keep them in my thoughts.

So the lack of adequate worship in Alfred... Alfred was founded by Seventh Day Adventists- a radically liberal form of Christianity that valued things like education for non-persons like women, blacks and native americans- in the early 1820s- (for you non history majors- before the civil war). Even with this rich heritage, and a few local Churches in the area Alfred seems to be in the habit of not believing in much, the Union University Church, which is not a union church (I don't know I guess they though alliteration was cool) is actually a wishy washy "non-denominational " church that doesn't proclaim Jesus as Lord but a great moral teacher- not THE way, but A way. But they're a Christian Church- they swear.
I don't get it.

Other than that there's only Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, which for me is just sort of freighting, especially that it's part of a giant cross-country conglomerate that check up on your chapter to make sure you're proclaiming the right doctrine. (anybody else see my point??)

SO... with my options for worship, not for going to church because you're mom says you should, so slim I haven't been active or practicing for most of my time at Alfred- We will see what happens this semester, I'll give Intervarsity a try, and go from there.

But with my un-worshiping, I've been doing most of my focusing this semester on my school work. I'm really good at school. So far I've taken a 16 credit load my last semester and am scheduled for 18 this semester. I got my grades for this past semester as a B+ in foundations an A- in my art history and an A in my junior level history class, so grade wise I've really got nothing to worry about.
My work load should be pretty similar this semester, I'm taking two art history's and another junior level history, so I'm on my way.

In other news I've decided not to go out for the education certification at AU- doing it would require me to not take any other classes from now on other than education classes, and I like lots of stuff (like History and Religious Studies) too much to not take other courses. I'm also thinking that I might be better off going our for my MA in curatorial arts after my undergrad work here, i could come back to Pittsburgh and shop around for grad schools ( sure sure, I know it's a long way off but there it is). But being that I don't have to fill up my schedule with education courses I'll have plenty of credits open to graduate with my BFA (Bachelors of Fine Arts) an Art History Minor (it's only one extra class than the requirement) a Religious Studies Minor (20 credits here I come) and depending on my electives a possible History Minor. Even with my scholarships I'm still paying about 14,000 a year, so I'm going to take 16-18 credits every semester and wring every last penny out of it.

So lets see what else, We've received our class lists for the next semseter, we're still on the same schedule (did you know I cannot spell the word schedule? I've messed it up every single time this entry-including just that last one.) as last semester, but in groups of 33 which is about half the size we're used too, I've been put with quite a few friends of mine including my college brother Zach (have I told you this story? I don't think so, Zach Grosser from Corning NY is my brother Perry's twin. He looks, dresses, sounds and acts like my brother to the extent that it's scary. We hang out and watch movies often.)

I also received my materials list for this term (half semester- just checking that we're on the same page) Boy-o that was a quick $100... many sewing supplies, knitting needles and my favorites, 3-5 old stuffed animals and 2-3 large bulky natural fibers sweaters. God only knows...

Well, thats about all the news thats fit to print (ten points to everybody who gets the reference) for now... I'm in town for a little while yet, I'll drop you all a line once I've returned to the great white north. Wish me luck.

Till then folks-
Be Well.

(oh and PS- if you read this consistently leave me a comment every now and then - I like getting comments.)

Coincidence?

2007-12-06T10:24:00.000-05:00

Something to think about...

Coincidence? I think not!

Long Time...No Update

2007-11-30T11:06:00.000-05:00

okay okay, I know It's been awhile so here we go...
When I last spoke with most of you was when I returned to the 'burgh for thanksgiving break. I had a great time, did a lot of relaxing, sleeping, reading, eating, reading, and working on a few things for school. (it looks like instructors really don't have a grasp on the meaning of "break")
Even still... it was nice to get out of Alfred for a bit and spend some time at home.
Since coming back we've really hit the home stretch as far as foundation goes. We've only got a week and one day left- and no classes are atually schedualed for this next week for foundations- so that means we determine when as a group you get together to work on your puppet thing.
Have I told you all about the puppet thing? Probably not in as much detail as I should... Ok so the whole foundations group split into smaller groups of 10- we made teams and then had to write a story or narrative to perform for the whole school and the public. So, the team that I am in decided to go with the story I wrote (about bears, and guns and stuff) and use my idea for the performance (to make big transformation masks that open up inside- but they we're stupid when they built them and they don't really open now...) for the performance.
Then the group decided that they were okay with being on stage so long as they didn't have to talk. Ever.
So... that means that you need sound design / the mashing up of stolen copyrighted music for the sake of education. Of this process only I was familiar- so in other words the entire "narrative" part of our narrative is riding on the fact that I don't screw up.
meh.

So that's the puppet plays in a nut shell and right now we've been working on the masks ( I painted most of the bear mask yesterday) and I've been working on the sound. So, since it's 11 why aren't I at class?? Well to tell the truth I decided not to set my alarm and get up whenever I got up and I got up at 10:45- so my plans are for (blogging) a shower, reading my foodie magazine and then going to lunch- after whichI will make an appearance at the studio.

In other news- I turned in my final paper for my Art History class, and it seems like I'm the only one who didn't do it a half and hour before class. I also have been asked to tutor and do a study session for the final by most of the kids in the class. I also found out that I can tutor this class next semester, and get paid for it.

um... what else to tell you... I've had a request for breakfast for dinner tonight so we're headed to the store later this afternoon for food so I can cook tonight and tomorrow night. (there's a holiday orchestra concert tomorrow so I think I'll go- I really want to go to the PGH Symphony over break because I'm realizing that I never have)
Lets see, lets see- last night instead of reading or studying or whatever, I watched bad Keanu Reeves movies with friends. A good time was had by all.

And now for the pictures!!!
I had my final review for drawing yesterday- It went well, Richard my professor used the words "good" "pretty good" and "smart" about my drawings. He also shook my hand- which is a big deal for him becuase he doesn't shake hands with most students so here is a shot of my five drawings up on the wall and the rest are on the bucket heres a link:
just click and it'll take you there. http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc11/sovietdog/

Oh and PS- this is Paddington Bear who is our team mascot and keeps the thugs out of my room. Grrrrrrrr...

Love and Miss You All-
Grace

Snidley Whipslash meets Norman Rockwell

2007-11-15T21:35:00.001-05:00

Hey All!
Wanted to drop you all a line and let you look at what those goofy mustache photos turned into. Here's my final self portrait for first semester drawing class, with a few in progress shots as well:
and finally- the end result:
It's due tomorrow at 9 AM so I'll tell you all how the critique goes... I think they'll enjoy it as much as everyone in my hall has been- someone told me yesterday that it was Snidley Whiplash meets Norman Rockwell- I think that's a pretty accurate description.

Well, thats all for now...
Love and Miss you All-
Grace

Today At Dinner....

2007-11-09T18:37:00.001-05:00

I wore a Snidely Whiplash Mustache... and a soul patch and side burns for added effect.
More amazing photos on the bucket.
Expect a good update about things other than mustaches tomorrow.

Love and Miss You All-
Grace

Update

2007-11-07T21:44:00.000-05:00

just wanted to let you all know that I've put more photos on the Photobucket- some in progress shots of my cup drawing and some pictures of the snow (it's not as impressive as it was last night- it was kind of melty and slushy this morning). I've still got to take more pictures of the puppets and the show so as soon as I do that I'll load those as well- probably before the weekend.

Love you all-
Grace

Silent Snow Secret Snow

2007-11-06T14:38:00.000-05:00

First snow here today. It's lovely.

I'm Mr. November...

2007-11-03T12:12:00.000-04:00

Played that twice today on the radio show by accident... ah well at least it really is November.
So, what to tell you my friends....
In foundations we've been slowly moving out of the mamby-pamby-ness of my drawing class, slowly...
Our last assignment was a tough one I'll give you that- draw a clear transparent plastic cup half full of water sitting on a piece of white copy paper.
I'll post pictures of mine it turned out pretty well.
This new group does critiques a bit differently than we normally do, they "curate" the drawings, more or less they move good ones to one side and not so good ones to another. This time they put about six drawings in the middle that were the best and then they got worse as you go out to the edges of the walls. My drawing wasn't put in the center but right next to the best ones, so I and a few friends solidly took second place. We had individual critiques about our cup drawings, the group said that mine was "smart drawing" and our classically trained MFA student from Beijing said I knew where I was going but tripped getting there. We makes some of the best comments I've ever heard.
um... what else, the puppet show went well, even if we had some failures to communicate with one member of our group. We'd made all of our puppets very realistically and to a certain scale and only using paint. One of our members was supposed to make a hawk and decided to make it with feathers. Bright electric pink, blue and magenta feathers. I'm sure you can all see the problem here. After the group told her she'd have to change it my friend Jess and I went to Wal-Mart to get her spray paint with which she made things worse with the bird because she'd never used spray paint before but was too proud to ask anybody for help. In any case Jess and I had a stroke of genius and returned from Wal-Mart with donuts from D&D and most in our group were extremely appreciative of our peace offering.
Now we've got to have a few meetings this weekend to discuss stories and why we like them, and eventually next week write our own story and put on another puppet show- we don't know this for sure but we're getting pretty good at reading our instructors diabolical minds.
Speaking of diabolical- wednesdays are our lecture days, and you never know what they might make you do- you could watch a movie or you might have to run around on the foot ball field, like I said you never know.
Last Wednesday was a presentation about time from professors in just about every department of the university- Photography, Sound Arts, Video, Physics, Philosophy, Religion, Dance, Psychology, and last but not least Astronomy.
In other news my friends and I have created a new tradition- Viral Tag. We started playing "tag" at dinner last night when someone said "Hey Myles- go tag somebody else we know sitting in the other room"- He did and after that there was tag going on in the whole cafeteria with people we knew playing and quite a few people we didn't know getting tagged and actually playing along. There was much hilarity.
I went to the Friday night movie last night- Sicko by Micheal Moore- If you haven't seen it you've really got to, but I'm sure most of you have because unlike me you probably go to the movie regularly. Everybody I went to see it with decided that we all needed to move to Canada, or the UK or maybe France where they have government paid Dulas come into the house twice a week. Unbelievable.
What else- I'll be researching a lot this weekend but I should find some time to write some e-mails to you folks that I've been meaning to, and update the bucket.
Well that mostly it for now folks
(PS 17 Days till Thanksgiving break! Be seeing you soon!)

Love and Miss You All-
Grace

Lunch and Judy

2007-10-26T16:38:00.000-04:00

Puppets. Very many puppets.
Foundations has made it's switch- the instructors that we've had the past six weeks are now teaching the other group and visa versa. It's official- A group (my group) has had the harder teachers first, especially in drawing. We spent the last two days "getting to know each other"
in a very mamby-pamby sort of way (contour line drawings- see 6th grade) we didn't even have homework last night, whereas our first drawing class with John and Will and Cathy was a baptism by fire that involved quite a bit of yelling.
But, back to the puppets. We have also got new teachers for the studio end of the course- and now we are making puppets. When we got to class Monday morning we were promptly instructed to go back home and retrieve an object that you were willing to share with anyone else in the class. I returned home and grabbed a black cat ornament made out of sleigh bells I bought at Wegmans (the super-market up here)
We split up into groups of 10 and traded objects with another group. Here's what we got:
1- a very ritzy gold end page edition of Karl Marx's theories
2-a very large rifle shaped lead pipe
3- a large plastic "crystal"
4- a can of hair spray the "Big Sexy Hair" brand (that was just too good not to share :)
5-a very old and beat up chemistry notebook
6- Jumper Cables
7- a travel sewing kit
8-a clear glass tree pendant
9-a combination lock
10- and my personal favorite an opened packet of sugar in the raw. (at least it wasn't splenda)

we were then directed to use all ten objects and all ten members of the group to put on a ten minuet play the following morning.
I'll see if I can get the video our instructor Brett took of all the groups but, suffice it to say that our group was the only one to include the fates, an axe murderer, and a blasphemous priest.

after this we were told to choose one of the ten fairy tales from our group of ten people and to have a puppet show ready for Tuesday morning.
we've picked a Louisiana themed telling of the French fairytale "why lapin's ears are long"
I get to make an angry bear puppet.
I'm okay with that.

Lets see... what else.
I've also started my Art History class, on native American arts, I like the material and the professor is pretty good so we'll see how that continues to pan out. I've only has two classes with him so far- he was in London for the first week of classes.
Um... next week is advising for next semester's classes so I have to look at what I might want to take this weekend.
I'm going to see the movies tonight, I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry, which I've heard good things about. Oh, and I got a flu shot yesterday- so no flu for me this season hopefully!

there are rumors that I might be able to go get my permit this weekend and possibly have my first driving lesson with a few of my friends, so wish me luck with that!

Well, thats all for now folks....
Love and Miss You All,
Grace

The Student, the Homework and the Angry Proffessor

2007-10-21T10:44:00.000-04:00

Did you ever notice that all fairy tales have the same sort of title?
For my foundations course- due tomorrow we have to pick a fairy tale, myth legend or something of the like that we are going to be using as our jumping off point for the rest of the semester. I have been reading quite a lot of Russian fairy tales (don't read them, everybody dies in the end, except for things like bears because they eat all the people) and a few Serbian epic poems ( oh, yeah everybody dies in these too, only it's always a murder suicide thing- someone kills thier long lost brother by mistake and then finds out who it is and kills then self, but they both go to heaven. Am I missing something?)
Anyhoo- I'm sure I'll find something good by tomorrow morning.
So then.... what to tell you... since returning to school after my very nice and much needed October mini-break I completed that giant cardboard project I was telling you about earlier. Where I last left off I was going to make toys, then I changed to a fork and then at the very last second I changed my object again- to a metal wishbone tied to a piece of light green raw-hide with two large knots in it. When was the last time you made raw-hide knots out of cardboard? thats what I thought... NEVER. In retrospect, making the fork or even the toy may have produced a better looking and certainly more recognizable final product, but I think that I did kind of take the high road with picking a really hard object to make out of cardboard. At my final review I was told that I got an A- instead of an A on my book because it was too nice and that I should try to make projects that I might not get an A on in order to get an A (yes, yes I know it doesn't make any sense to me either) But if they ask me I'll tell them that I took more risks with this project and that it probably deserves a high C so they should give me an A. Ken?

In other news I have been reading like mad for my history class- the one that has six books to read- I've got to finish one for Thursday- I'm about half way through it. I think I read about 200+ pages of books yesterday- not counting the fairy tales either. It's a good thing mom liked Dr. Seuss so much.

umm... Oh! on Friday the gang and I went to the late night showing of Ratatouille. It was amazing and I liked it very much even though I am now being called "little chef" by everyone who went. If you've seen the movie you'll understand. Next Friday's movie is I now pronounce you chuck and larry, which is pretty exciting seeing as I have heard good things about it.

Else where things have been good, I got my latest issue of the gourmet foodie magazine a few days back and am really really excited for thanksgiving now. I think that my group of friends up here are going to have an AU thanksgiving before we go on break, so that will be a good excuse to cook lots and lots of good food. It was massively cold here last night, almost but not quite cold enough to snow though. I used two blankets last night because the dorm has a policy against turning on the heat before November first. (In western NY!?)
So then, I believe that's all- my plans for today are to read, read... uh read and maybe read some more! And cook dinner hopefully (cider glazed pork loin with roasted potatoes mmmmm)

Oh and I found out my midterm grades- an A for The Creation of American Culture 375 ( a junior level course mind you)
AND a B+ in foundations where the average best grade you can hope for is a C or a C+ if you're lucky.

Okay kids, Its about lunch time- I'm going to go eat and then you guessed it- read!

Be Well,
Love you all,
Grace

Lazy Monday?

2007-10-08T11:37:00.000-04:00

Well, I didn't have a lazy Sunday so I' making up for it today. This is the last week of the quarter for us here so in Foundations we've got midterm reviews. You have a review in drawing and another for the studio class. So, since my drawing review is tomorrow I don't have any classes today. I've just got to work on my drawings and make sure they're better than the last time the teachers saw them so I don't flunk. My other review is at 11:30 on Thursday but I'll be in class from nine until then so that I can work on a big cardboard sculpture.
Our next assignment is to take something small like a toy or a clock or an action figure and scale it up by ten times. So if your toy is 7 inches long, you have to re-make it 70 inches long with corrugated cardboard and a hot glue gun. I bought lion and tiger action figures at Wal-Mart. Its either one of those or this metal wishbone i have... I'm still not sure which one I'll do but I've got to figure it out soon because its due the day we come back from break, and I have to leave for Rochester and the bus station Thursday night because my bus leaves at 8 am. So... I'll need to work on that.
Well folks, I'm going to go eat lunch and finish the last of my drawings and maybe make giant lions out of cardboard.
oh and PS- I got an A- on my book project!
See you all on Saturday!
Love and Miss You All-
Grace

...in a box with a fox.

2007-10-02T18:59:00.000-04:00

Okay- so it wasn't a fox. It was a coyote. On a motorcycle.

I went to check my mail during our break in History and found this:
A care package full of wonderment.
Contents:
3 notes- one from brad one from carrie via brad and this one:

Reason 481 why I ~~hate~~ i mean love Nurse Erin.

That's right- it's all in Japanese. I'll have to get Nygumi from my history class to translate it for me. Stupid Erin and her bi-lingual-ness.
Anyway on with the list!
1 Spongebob Squarepants wallet
2 tins simpson's mints (one Minty and one Sour)
1 egg of silly putty
1 green voo-doo doll
1 beanbag monsters inc. toy (it cost Brad 2 box tops)
2 Kid robot toys (Pink smoking poo and a red demon Ice Skating robot)
1 Simpson's talking figure. (Yee-haw)
1 plastic purple spring-y toy
1 terrible nickel plated harmonica (with amazing graphics on the box)
1 coyote on a motorcycle toy
3 tiny toys in plastic bubbles- an elephant a turtle and a cash money sign
1 Chicken keychain that poops candy
1 grow your own rubber ducky (it gets 600 times bigger!)
1 8 oz bag of Black tea with orange
many vitamin C packets
and many colored capsules that turn into treasure when you put them in water... we will see.

and last but very certainly not least this:an amazing red and white hand knit scarf from Carrie with a note that says: Carrie made it for you. Apparently it gets cold in western New York. Go Figure.

It's awesome. I'm wearing it right now.

So as for the rest of the day- I'm getting sick again but hopefully those vitamin C packets will help. Anyway I didn't sleep well last night until like 7 AM. I think I turned off my alarm and went back to sleep because i woke up at ten to nine. My first class is at nine. I wasn't late but very poorly dressed in a t-shirt. It was 52 here for the high today. I made it all the way through my last drawing class with this group of teachers (we switch after mid term). Then I came home and read until my history class where i got my first college paper back.

ready? Drum roll....
A- !!!!!

hoo-ray!

okay well-
I believe that's all for today folks.
Thanks very much to brad and carrie and Nurse Erin and everybody at the Vault for my super-mega-awesome care package. You rule.

Love and Miss you all-
Grace

planes trains and automobiles

2007-09-30T18:45:00.000-04:00

My head is spinning with Amtrak schedules. Still working on getting home for October break (which begins on the 12) and it sure looks like the train is the way to go. It's really dirt cheap -$13 from Rochester to Erie and then perhaps $26 for a Greyhound from Erie to Pittsburgh. We'll see the train station and the bus station are 1.2 miles or 5 minuets from each other- but the train only gets in 14 minuets before the bus leaves- it might be a close shave, I'll give you more of an update on it as we get closer to the break.
In other news- after having a long conversation with mom last night about how the fun things I've been doing the last few weeks involve watching the news, laundry, showers, more news and work- we decided that I had to do something fun.
Naturally we went to Wal-Mart and bought stupid things like cookies and DVDs. I bought The Illusionist and Children of Men. Megan and Dave (from Long Island who live in my dorm) and I watched The Illusionist last night. I was very very impressed.
Then I got up- watched Sunday Morning and Face the Nation -because Bill Richardson was on for like 10 minuets ( Go Diplomacy!) and then I did laundry which I am happy to say did not involve the dryer catching fire (I spilled some rubber cement on one of my sheets).

Then I took a walk to my mailbox, around the village and to the studio with my camera.
see the photobucket.

And then I made that video about the books that I was telling you about-
Here it is on the photo bucket:
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc11/sovietdog/
Oh and PS- I but pictures of those fliers that were in the dorm into that post.

um... I'm making spaghetti for dinner tonight so- hopefully I'll remember to take pictures of that. I think that's about it.

Love and Miss You All-
Grace

Books and Looks

2007-09-28T19:45:00.000-04:00

So then-
since we last spoke my second big assignment(s) have been due for my studio class. 3- count 'em 3 identical books that have to relate in some way vaguely to the pilgrimage we took. so we first needed to make a fourth finished fully bound proposal book for last week- and work off of the criticisms we got from the proposal. I am happy to say that i was done with everything for my books (which included changing my sheets again because I spilled rubber cement on them) before 1 AM. Which- considering that the hot glue was still hot on many of the books I looked at this morning is pretty impressive. Speaking of impressive- I wish I could have taken pictures of everyone's book. They were so amazing! we only had 2-3 books that just fell short in every way- the rest of them were great in every aspect- workmanship, technique, content, execution, all of that- they were just really great to look at. We spent the morning looking at all of those and giving everybody crit on their work. I got a lot of really good feedback- most of the negative stuff was nitpicky and they even said that on their sheets, they talked about that stuff because they couldn't find anything else to fix in the book.
Even though we get to keep one of the books and I'm going to bring it home for you to look at over mid semester break I'm going to make a little video and talk about it some and put it on the photo bucket for you. (thanks for the idea mom). In other news I got my hair cut- and the obligatory before and after photos-

it looks pretty good i think- not as good as my aunt does it- it's doing that super sonic hedgehog thing right now- eh... it's better than it was.

Okay- radio show tomorrow- wish me luck people!

Love and Miss you all-
Grace

Greetings!

2007-09-24T16:27:00.000-04:00

Hey-lo everyone- !
I just received my card from my Vault family. It was much appreciated and well received. Thanks very much to everybody who wrote me a note on it and for whoever bought and mailed it
A) because those star wars stamps are amazing and
B) because I know that card probably ended up costing like $11- the singing cards with weird extra potage are not cheap.

Thanks Again Everybody!

Love and Miss you-
Grace

I hate...

2007-09-22T12:07:00.000-04:00

weekends. It's official I hate the weekend at college. Doesn't that just seem wrong?
Aside from specific things happening this weekend there a quite a few things that I hate in general about the weekends here at AU.

1- Everybody goes home.
Everyone at AU who is a freshmen is almost always from Rochester or Buffalo or somewhere else less that three hours away so they leave before 1 on Friday afternoons. I hate the kids who get to go home.

2- If they aren't at home they're out drinking. And when you don't drink it's kinda lonely.

3- Foundations is slightly less terrifying in the workload over the weekend so I have some time to myself.

1+2+3= me being really homesick and lonely on the weekends, thus I hate them.

Aside from these my normally redeeming highlight of weekends is the Radio show which I did not get to have because we were locked out of the studios with nobody at the front desk to get us the key to let us in. So there was no radio show for anybody who tried to tune in- hopefully we'll have better luck next time.

So I guess thats it- I'll continue my being bored and loneliness until Monday then.

Love and Miss you all-
Grace

Whoops

2007-09-21T17:06:00.000-04:00

Okay Okay- I know i forgot about the fliers and pliers part of that last post so here it is.

Every month the RAs of the building have to host some kind of event. We had a drinking event that involved a game to see how fast you could kill yourself drinking and root beer floats.

On Wednesday we had a safe sex talk- we pulled STDs or "safes" out of a hat. Guess who got all safes? It was awesome. Anyhow- the reason i telling you about this is because of the fliers that have been up in the halls bout this meeting with things like:
"Itchin' Burnin' and Squirmin'
Not the dance you requested?
Come to "Happy Endings"!

as well as-
SAFE SEX- and a picture of two safes humping each other
all good things. Pictures of these:

In other news I'm not going to fail my history course!!
I wrote out a draft of my paper for history and had my Prof look it over.
She said I had excellent content and that it was nice work.
I'm so stoked.
Being that this class only has 5 grades- I really cant afford to write a bad paper- besides like I said this is my first college paper.
What else should I tell you?
um.... Still working hard on the books for foundations... Oh yeah! I've got a job as a note taker for foundations- I get $75 a semester for basically sending a re-cap of each day in an email. Easy easy stuff.
And I'm still going to maybe apply for that Barista job.

Okay everybody I think that's it.

Love and miss you all-
Grace

Liars, Flyers and Pliers

2007-09-20T21:09:00.000-04:00

John Gill says that we should cut off our hands instead of lying. He calls us liars when we don't get it right in our drawings. He's right- we lie alot.

So anyhow- I guess this is going to be kind of a mega update- sorry for the absence much has been happening.
My first college paper is due next week.
My first college paper is a 5-6 page Junior level history paper. I was freaking out majorly- but I wrote a rough draft and the Prof agreed to look at it for me. I am freaking out less.

In my other classes- In foundation we took a pilgrimage. I was assigned to take a two hour walk changing direction every 20 minuets by flipping a coin. (heads is right tails is left) I got lost. Really really lost in the woods. I walked up a hill to the rubble heap behind campus and flipped the coin wich was left into the woods. The woods turned into the steepest muddiest part of the trail that leads off of campus. Eventually I followed the trail down and come out almost exactly where I started at the rubble heap only 45 minuets later. Bleh.
Now we are making books.
I love books.
We've got to make 3 identical books based off of the walk we took - one for us- one for the school's collection and one for someone else. (i think I'm going to mail it to my friend Marla in Baltimore)
Uh..... what else. My first radio show was good. I didn't talk much- but i played quite a good bit of music that I like so that was good.
After the show my parents came up for family day and we went to Stony Brook park- we went way further into the park than I got when I was on the trip with Foundations. The park is rally amazing and it started off being really cold and drizzling before we left but it cleared up and turned really nice for walking around.
Then we ate out (real food!)
On Sunday after they left I worked on my book and drawings and went shopping to cook on Wednesday.
I made a roast chicken dinner with stuffing and mashed potatoes on Wednesday. 6 of us ended up eating it. All were very appreciative.

Um... in other news I might apply to work part time as a barrista at the library cafe- you only need to work 4 hours as week which I think I can handle. We'll see how that works out.

Okay- I think that's it. I've got some reading to do and I'm going to keep working on the books. When I get them done I'll take pictures and send them your way.

Oh yeah I'm still working on getting home for October break so wish me luck on that so I can come visit and come to the Missio Dei block party.

Much love as always
Be well everybody
Miss you-
Grace

Friendly's is not so friendly

2007-09-08T15:26:00.000-04:00

So then-
Mark your calenders people- I've got a Radio Show! Every Saturday from 10 AM- 12 PM I will be hosting a theme show on WALF Radio 98.7 (the station broadcasts with a massive 200 watts of power! ((about 500 less watts than my microwave)) so you'll need to listen via the web if you all want to check it out)
My first show will be next week on the 15th. ( I know it's Johnny Cash day... but I won't be able to play all Cash all the time- I already asked.)

Walf's online streaming radio can be found here: http://walfradio.org

and if you can't figgure out the streaming bit they've put up a nifty tutorial here (its a PDF so you'll need acrobat. )
http://people.alfred.edu/~walf/files/Streaming%20Help.pdf

anyhow- I went for my radio DJ training session today at 1 o'clock. It seems like being a radio DJ is going to be a pretty low stress level job. We're only required to station identify once every hour and not swear. or play songs that swear. or talk about swearing. so... barring that nothing else is really mandatory.

So, before the news about the radio show 5 friends and I sojourned to Friendly's restaurant in the booming city of Hornell NY. (Its about 15-20 minuets from AU) Where we waited patiently for a table for a good 45 minuets- towards the end realizing that there had been three tables open but we weren't seated until a table in the very back corner of the store opened up. Coincidence? I think not. For being six teenagers out on a Friday night- we were really well behaved- little to no swearing (for there were small children about) and we weren't obnoxiously loud- unlike the drunken party sitting on our left- who also had to wait for a table in the corner. Not so friendly I must say.

After this we went to the shining example of commerce that is Wal-Mart. I bought a lime green cutting board and cooking pan- slowly I am accumulating the necessary items to begin cooking for myself and a few select others. My friends bought fish.
When we returned I went to the late night showing of Knocked Up at 11 and returned to get rained on during my walk back to the dorms.

And now even further back in the week- My group has been split into two sections of about 70 people. We take drawing half the week and studio (everything but drawing) the other half. Thursday was my first day of studio where we brought important objects to class (I brought my Prayer Ropes). My table's objects were all generally given to them by someone who died directly afterward/symbolized the death of someone/were the last surviving objects of dead friends/relatives. There was much crying and laughing at my table while we all shared stories about our objects. Then we had 45 minuets to write out our life story. No, no I wish I was but I'm not kidding. After making many lists that I'm sure make absolutely no sense to anyone other than me - we were instructed to make a 3-D representation of our life's story. I made a book making each section a letter of the alphabet (A is for Apple ect.) Guess what V was?
I had to leave it in the studio to get documented last night, when I get it back I promise I will take pictures and put them on the photobucket.

So since that I've been doing reading for my American Culture History class and listening to my playlist for next Saturday- it still needs some work. And I still have more reading to do- so I will try to update before the end of next week (It's family weekend so I wont be around)

Till next time-
Love to all
Be Well

Grace

ping and jing...goism

2007-09-04T19:33:00.000-04:00

Alrighty gang- so where was I. Ah yes- Sunday. Church again- less gloomy but still feeling very empty and un-hot metal ish. What can you do?
So after church I came back to the dorm, cleaned a bit and also had my bed lowered. For those of you who are not my mom who had been hearing last week all about how my bed is six feet tall and I needed to stand on my trunk or get a running pole vault to get onto the bed- there it is. Having a bed that litterally comes up to your collar bones is a bit rough. Now I can actually sit on the bed- and by sit I mean sit down not jump and squirm to get onto the bed and then sit- i mean sit. It rules.
And yesterday, Monday, we had our first day of drawing. Great class- great teachers including John Gill- who since I didn't tell you can recite the alphabet in commercial jingles from the 1950s- he did so for us at the meet and greet. We drew a giant pile of boxes yesterday- 4 drawings in class and then one larger one for homework- a 22X30 on good paper that was $2.50 a sheet- so nice- so expensive. I'll post some pictures of my drawing once I get it out of there and spray fix it. Today we had a critique of all of the drawings we did last night. I really like critiques - especially here because I am not the only person who talks during crits. However, directly before we started talking about our drawings John Gill read us a story. Well, he paraphrased it wich I'm sure tok longer than reading it. It was a children's story called "The Story of Ping The Duck" Ping is a yellow duck who lives on the yangtze river in China. He lives on a boat with wise eyes with all of his aunts and uncles and brothers and sisters. Everyday the man who owns the boat calls out and Ping has to swim as fast as he can to get to the boat. If you are the last one on the boat you get smacked. One day Ping is about to be the last one on the boat so he decides to stay away so he doesn't get smacked. He falls asleep and misses the boat- he wanders around the river all day and finally finds the boat. OR DOES HE? The boat Ping finds is not the wise eyed boat- and on it is a little boy who captures Ping and intends to make him dinner. Suddenly- the boy gets a heart or PETA swoops down upon him and he lets Ping go. Ping finds the wise eyed boat and swims as fast as he can but is still the last one on the boat- so he gets smacked twice- but is now home on the wise eyed boat with all his brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles. Moral of the story being- don't be late or John Gill will hit you- don't miss class or John Gill will hit you twice.
I had my history class again today- and it was a mix of discussion and lecture- much to my liking, as much as I love art I really am preferring US HIST 375 to foundations.
Any how- my friend keeper (yes really his name is keeper- he's from Alaska) has written you a message and here it is.. KEEPER IS HERE BIUTCHS!! YEAH! Well, peace out homeslice coldcuts.

I concur.

Till later friends- remeber Ping and don't miss the boat.

weekend plans...

2007-09-01T10:20:00.000-04:00

...of which I have none. Today is Saturday- its about 10:30- I've been up for an hour and a half or so now and the campus is absolutely dead. I suppose this is expectable, what with being college students, liking sleep and the fact that most of the campus (myself included) went to the 11 pm showing of Pirates III- which let out at about two am. Even after all that I couldn't sleep past nine. Bleh.
Anyhow I haven't spoken with you all since Monday so this is going to be a bit of a big update, but here goes. Tuesday after tacking up my drawings (the three big assignment ones from stony brook) on the way to breakfast I went to a lecture section of foundation in the theater of the powell campus center- (this is where to book store is by the way if you've been to AU with me). This was a massive meet and greet, where once paired up with strangers we were to interview our partners and introduce them on stage via a microphone to the rest of the group.
My partner (Alex Harmon- a lovely girl from buffalo NY, whose favorite band is the String Cheese Incident) was too busy play footsie with her neighbor to really interview me so she said my name, and I can't recall what else but I do recall that she did not use any pronouns throughout her entire introduction of me. I suppose it could have been worse.
On our way out of the meet and greet we got more homework (a 2 ft large minimum paper sculpture based on our drawings- again due at 9 am the next day.)

After this I had lunch and a nap and the Creation of American culture. The thing I hate most about this class are the chairs we sit in. We meet in the picturesque Kanakadea hall (a Seneca Indian word meaning "where the earth meets the sky") with the most awful (but very good looking) desk chairs known to mankind.
The class itself is great. Our Professor is Vicky Eaklor- a very animated and interesting lecturer. The notes we took the first day were really interesting (I'm sure at least Matt will know what I'm talking about here) We spoke about the rift between the New England Seperatists vs the Puritan's and their different views upon the use of singing in worship. We went on for about an hour about psalm 100 and the Bay Psalm Book (the first book ever published in British New England) to make a point about shapenotes. A way of teaching folks to sing by using shapes for the notes on the staff (square is fa and so on) however as good as this worked we junked it so we could use the European version which is harder to learn and eventually lent to the coming of professional choirs who could read the music (something pastors never wanted). Again I say very interesting. Another note about this class is that the Special Academic services is willing to pay a note taker for the two exchange students in the class, so I'm going to type my notes back out and better organize them to see if they will work for the students (everyone else says they take lousy notes).

Okay so after class I spent around five hours making a pile of rocks and water spurts- only to cannibalize it the following day. Here's how it went.

The 145 student foundations group was told to split into 10 groups of 14 and make a collaborative version of the sculptures that we had done the previous night. Oh and by the way It's got to be made of nothing but white paper, tape, glue and maybe some staples if you're lucky. And... there's almost no paper left with which to make said sculptures. So the vast majority of my group took apart their sculptures (sadly I have to say we needed to get things done before I or anyone else could take photos of our mini projects. Any how my group of 14 staked claim to corner of the studio with a large round pillar and decided to make a tree. And a waterfall- spiderweb- rainbow- pony ect ect ect.

Eventually we all sat down and really started to think and decided on making a tree/ scene that showed the cyclical pattern of life and death in nature. ( I know, pretty good eh?) This was a big project so we had two days to work on it and we all were there at least five hours extra both days. Plus I had my second history class that Thursday where I answered questions about Audubon- Hoo-ray the Aviary. I'm going to put up photos of our and everyone else's projects on my photobucket and throw you a link at the end of the post.

Eventually yesterday morning rolled around and it was critique time. We were paired with the group adjacent to ours and the foundation chair Ted and a recent MFA grad from China Hwong Lei (or at least thats as close to his name as I can get). The crit was really good, both groups had quite a few nice things to say about each other's work and Ted said that he was really impressed with the way we all really attacked the project. The only rough part of the project is that it's all got to come down by six pm tomorrow. And we've got to get all the tape and glue and everything separate from the paper if we want to recycle any of it- once you see the pictures you'll understand what a big job this is. After this was lunch, a shower nap and a run to my mailbox where I found a Williams Sonoma Catalog and a letter from school saying that they had the money from my loan.
Then we (my friends Justin, Zhenia (said Jenya) , Liz and I) went to the tiny (but really packed with stuff) family market in the village so Zhenia could buy fruit and Justin bought a gallon jug of yogurt. On the way back to the dorms and dinner we stopped at a book stand- a free discard pile sort of like the book thing where I got a popular mechanic's Handy Man Handbook from 1957 its so awesome and a special present for Brad as soon as I figure out how to mail it. After dinner we all hung out in the common room of my dorm playing speed scrabble where Team Win ( Justin and I) crushed the competition. What can I say he's an English major. Then we went to the movie at 11.

So after many hours of swashbuckling adventure what do I have dreams about? Houses. Houses burning down. Mainly my house back home. This is the second time I've had a dream about the house burning down- I wonder what Freud would have to say about that. This time the dream also involved a bus trip to Baltimore that I went on to get home from school and ended up at Brad and Carrie's new house (by the way how is all of that working out you two?) only to find that 1843 Kleber St, is burning down.
It was all very weird and bad and troubling and I hope that two times is enough, I can really do without dreaming about stuff like that.

So anyhoo- it's now about eleven and I';m going to sign off so go look at my pictures of paper things and some cool video I took at the park- http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc11/sovietdog/

Love to all-
Miss Everyone-
Grace

Monday in Review

2007-08-30T21:20:00.000-04:00

So kids, here's Monday for you. At our required dean's meeting on Sunday we were told that we'd be going on a field trip to a local park monday morning, the buses left at 8:45 so after breakfast I headed down to the foot ball field parking lot to get on some of the most obnoxiously purple tour buses I've ever seen in my entire life. We were heading to Stony Brook State Forest/Park.
Stony Brook is only about 15-20 minutes away from AU so we weren't on the bus very long (it seemed like forever because the climate control was set to 61 degrees)
Anyhow we got to the park and were instructed to "gather information" about the environment. That meant draw, photograph, take notes, audio recordings- whatever we wanted.
I took over 200 photos while we were there.
The park was a state forest created by the Works Progress Administration during the depression, they cut trails into the woods to get to a spectacular gorge and waterfalls. There were three really amazing hand worked stone arch bridges to get across the falls and gorge water.

the group spent about three hours at the park and then hopped on the buses where we got homework (3 massive drawings due at 9 am the next day) and sped back to AU.

I've grabbed the best of the photos and put them on a photobucket account
here's the link- http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc11/sovietdog/

much love to all-
be well-
Grace

Schedual Woes and Ice Cream Cones

2007-08-28T13:14:00.000-04:00

alright, so I guess my issues might not really be considered "woes" per say but, the it sounded good with the ice cream cone bit. So I was was registered for two art history classes this next semester block, but because half of the class didn't register at all before coming to AU they have no history classes. Thus I have to drop one of them and take two next semester. This is really not a big deal and I already dropped the class via the web.
Since last speaking with everyone I had yet to begin my freshmen foundations course. (By the by, for anybody I didn't tell yet foundations are you arts courses freshmen year, you do what they tell you to and don't ask questions.) Anyhow, today was my second day of foundations so let me rewind and start from the beginning which would actually be Sunday.
Sunday was a strange sort of day, all of out events for orientation were optional and all after 1 pm so I went to church. The Union University Church's name is deceiving. It is not in fact a union church. It is a church without any denomination at all. The service was fine, slow and a bit old fashioned. What most at Hot Metal would joking-ly call "Real Church".
After this the New Student Olympics were to be had.
A dorm vs. dorm smack-down of epic proportions- began at one and went all the way through dinner. Dorms were judged on spirit, theme, costume, sportsmanship, and their ability at life skills such as tug-o-war, musical chairs and the ever useful; limbo.
My dorm, Cannon Hall, in all of our creativity and ingenuity chose to reenact the film "300" for our theme. Interesting? No. Successful? You bet.
The hall got together around noon and wrapped sheets about each other (I wore my sheep skin ikea rug- don't worry about the anachronism) and beat upon cardboard shields with hockey sticks.
A Chant was struck up about Spartans and the demise of hippies (Barresi, our rival neighbor dorm came as rock stars- therefore to we brave and noble Spartans- hippies) And the mustered hall marched to the football field where we annihilated the competition in all things but dancing and dizzy izzy.
Much Hilarity was had by all, not the least of which came when the troops re-enacted a battle sequence with stirring narration by our fearless leader (the 3rd floor RA Scotty).
Needless to say, the Mighty Cannon Spartans won the new student Oylmpics.

Monday's recap to follow- I can't hear any water running so I'm going to take advantage of the free shower.
Be Well All,
(and send me things!)
1384 PCC
Alfred NY, 14802

Till then friends...

conferences... the pool and... a magic show

2007-08-25T16:43:00.000-04:00

August 25, 2007

The Lord be praised! I am now internets equipped in my room. So I’ve got a few days to recap here. By the by, the schedule here for orientation is so intense that I feel like I’ve been here two weeks when in reality I left on Tuesday. Alright so as I last left off my Ethernet port had broken off, well I am pleased to report that it is now fixed and I am getting a good signal from said port. So on Thursday after breakfast was the opening convocation- full of much pomp and circumstance and funny robes. The incoming class signed the charter with stated : “We do hereby solemnly swear not to screw up too bad.” Opening and closing the convocation with a prayer and benediction was one of the religious studies professors who just so happens to be the Union University Church in town. She reminded me very strongly of things I like about Hot Metal and I will be going to services tomorrow there.

After the ceremony there was a presentation by a motivational speaker Maura Cullen which, for as bad as it sounds was quite excellent. Dinner, however was not. But to rectify that was a showing of Shrek the third which I had not yet seen and thoroughly enjoyed. There was a “Casino Night” the wagering of monopoly monies in order to win more things that are purple and gold. (Our School colors by the way). I won enough money for two raffle tickets, and called it quits.

Yesterday was far less hectic in schedule and felt way less stressful than the rest of Orientation. We had mini conferences and a drama presentation about.. gasp – Sex!

However the vast highlight of the night was a magic show. Now, now I know- don’t laugh. This magic show was totally unlike anything I had ever seen as far as illusions go, not to mention that the guy was very funny.

Apparently there was late night at the pool which judging by the drastically low numbers of the breakfast going population of the freshmen class (which is not much to begin with, let me tell you) many people were in attendance. In any case it’s getting close to dinner time and we’ve only got one hall open on campus right now so I’ve got to be going. Talk to you all about today later.

Love to all and Be Well-

Grace

internets?

2007-08-25T16:26:00.000-04:00

August 23, 2007

So, the lack of interweb saga is continuing after breakfast today I walked over to the Herrick Memorial Library and picked up an Ethernet cord from the IT guys. According to them since I don’t get a signal in the room I wont have wireless until they install more routers in my building. In the mean time I figured that I would use the Ethernet cord and port on my wall but…. When I tried to plug the cord into the port the port fell back into the box on the wall. After much swearing and fiddling with the box to try to shift the port inside I figured that was a really good way to electrocute myself so I walked down the hall to my RA’s room and told her about it. In two days she’s had to call maintenance about something in my room. (first the chair- now the Ethernet port). So apparently someone should be by to fix that at some point today. I’ve got the dean’s meeting at ten and some other lectures to go to today, but I do have a lot of free time so I might walk about with my camera and take more pictures for you folks. I’m thinking about getting a photo-bucket or flicker account so I can upload lots of pictures there for you all.

And because I need the interweb for you all to be reading this hopefully we’ll get it fixed soon so I can give everybody an update. Till then-

Love to all and Be Well-

Grace

2007-08-25T16:13:00.000-04:00

August 22, 2007

Move- In Day

Well folks, this would be getting to you tonight, however my wireless is giving me trouble- I’ll have to visit IT services tomorrow. (I’ll let you know how that all shakes out).

So anyhow- here I am at nine thirty pm on the first day of AU new student orientation. Right now I am one of the vast majority of people who are skipping “Play-Fair”. After having a run in with an old MCG co-hort (tell you all more about that later) I was informed that Play-Fair was a long and tedious selection of the worst ice-breakers imaginable. And from my years at MCG I have done more than double of anyone’s share of trust falls and name games. Besides- it’s the only un-regulated non-mandatory activity going on today. So I decided to leave it to those less experienced than myself in the virtues of team-building games to have their fun. Instead I’m writing my first blog entry.

So that clears up what I’m doing now- rewind 12 ½ hours and I’ll get back to the beginning. 8 AM is check-in at the McClane recreation center, so I promptly walk to Powell Campus Center instead. I was just passing the statue of King Alfred when I realized my mistake. With a few choice words I also realized I had no idea where McClane was. Thankfully once in Powell someone gave me a map. (that someone happened to be Dan the director of Student Activities, but I digress).

After consulting said map I walked down main street to McClane and though I had delusions of being first in line if not near to it- I was approximately the two hundredth person into the building. However I received my schedule without incident and proceeded to wait in one of the longest lines I’ve ever seen for my room ID. This experience was expedited when I found another Fine Arts family who adopted me- giving me a spot more that halfway up the line. After taking the customary mug shot photo for my ID I then got my room and mail box keys. I found Barb Condrate- the admissions counselor who I first met in my junior year who informed me that all was well and I did not need to visit any other stations in the registration center (also known as the gym) Thus my parents showed up quite conveniently and we proceeded to walk up a very dicey set of sets known to the students as “The Big Green Monster” to get back to the van and Cannon Hall.

After checking in with my RD – a very proper African American women (not one to cross by the by) we set out to take small light items on our first trip to the room. My parents and I had carried perhaps a box each up to the room when half of the AU Saxon football team descended on our van and took almost all of my crap out of the van and right to the doorway of my room. Outstanding! I was the easiest move any of us have encountered. Since the foot ball team had expedited the hefting process so much with my parent’s help I was almost completely unpacked in two hours. I will include photos of the room.

Oh yeah- my room doesn’t have a chair. That’s right desk, dresser, closet, four foot tall bed but no chair. Luckily after our hall meetings earlier tonight I got the chair (I’m sitting in it right now) my RD was using until my real and apparently nicer chair arrives.

So after getting the bulk of my things unpacked we took a short walking tour of the village. We perused the wares of a few apparel stores and a very neat gift shop that reminded me of Pulled out a Plum (for everyone from Bellevue/the burgh) and don drumm studios (its in Akron OH if you don’t know and you should so google it.)

Following this we ate barbeque on the curb behind the gym- good food let me tell you. From here we proceeded to the bookstore where mom bought another AU hoodie. The store was absolutely slammed so I decided to venture fourth to get my text books at a later time.

After this the parental units got on the road and I returned to my room and finished unpacking. There was a scheduled meeting at Harder Hall- the main art building. I guess it isn’t fair to call it a building it so gargantuan its more like a complex although it is in one building. There as a class the freshmen foundation group met our chairs and the dean of the school of art and design. We all also received quite a shock- we had been hearing up until this point that our classes would begin in a week- on next Wednesday- LIES!!!! They start Monday. There was much wailing and Gnashing of teeth.

I only stayed for the first forty five minuets I didn’t need advising about my schedule – that Christian Traditions class I wanted never happened, not enough demand for a second session. Therefore I went back to the room kept un packing things and putting things away until I decided it was safe to try and get my books because everyone else would be at meetings. It indeed was a good time to go – except for the part where I forgot my sheet that has my course numbers on in and had to walk all the way back to Cannon Hall. Anyhow I got all of the books I needed (6 two of which I found used) Five of them are for my History class. That’s right all but one book is for my elective. However I’ve had a bit of time to look them over and I think that I’ll really enjoy this class (the creation of American culture 375 by the by). I remembered that I needed to find a USB cable at the book store for my printer because even though the box said there was one included the creeps- the left it out. While I was looking I heard someone call my name and Lo and Behold there stands Layla (I don’t know her last name) now a senior who was my fellow student at MCG. We both studied under Dave Dialy (and AU alum and propaganda master) We had been on both the Penland and Touchstone residency trips so we had really gotten to be good friends by the time that she was graduating high school and I was leaving the guild for the Warhol.

She shared a few pearls of wisdom about freshmen foundation and told me not to worry about not having a car. When I said I wasn’t worried she told me more vigorously that I really didn’t need to worry about it. Hmmmm…

Anyhow I helped a girl carry her art kit up to Reiner Hall behind my hall and up a fairly steep hill. I am really starting to appreciate how well located/designed my hall is.

Then there was dinner. There are two dinning halls on campus. Only one was open tonight and there was only a two hour window in which to eat. I’ve been in worse lines however and once compared to the DMV the wait really wasn’t that bad- however for most students (who were apparently wasting away of hunger having gone a entire 6 hours without food) there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

I followed my RA Jenny, or is it Jessica- damn I don’t remember- in her dining strategy “the shortest line is the best line- doesn’t matter what kind of food the line is serving” The shortest line was the “Fusion grill” which turned out to be a veggie stir fry. I coupled this with salad and was fine- until I heard the

GASP SCANDAL!!!

Turns out the really pretty good food I had along with mom and dad at visit day was really good because it was visit day. Apparently the normal fare is far less nice. There cereal and a salad/soup bar constantly so I don’t think I will perish. In no way does the food compare the grossness of Mercy Hurst- I’ll have to remember I said this in two weeks when I write the family demanding shipments of food.

After dinner I made a new sign to go on my door instead of the happy pink starfish that was there. It’s a map of Alaska and a reference to Moby Dick- how can that be bad right? I’ll add in a picture. Following that we had hall meetings that laid out the vast list of things we’re not allowed to do/have, thankfully my Swiss card multi tool isn’t one of them- I’ve been using that thing like crazy here. Well folks- it’s getting late so I’m going to hit the sack.

Love to all and be well-

Grace