Inside the Junk Drawer

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May
6

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Finals and the End of Term

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Drawing Structure and Expression II:

 

Monday morning we had our final crit. I was the first to present. Unfortunately, I was wigging out about both that and the English Final I hadn’t studied for much over the weekend so I was really wound up. Also, because of the boil order I couldn’t make or get any Coffee from Davio’s downstairs, so I was dragging. Luckily, our presentations are fairly relaxed. Gabe pointed out that I didn’t map out figures with structural lines as much as I did at the beginning of the year. This is because I’ve become more relaxed and confident about my drawing ability. Also, I have a better understanding of color: during our final project Gabe did not suggest any color to use. I have to figure out a way to get myself to keep drawing over the summer as not to lose the skill set I’ve achieved. I’m thinking about concentrating on architecture.

 

Advanced Painting:

Our crit is tomorrow. We need five finished paintings for it. I grabbed Katia yesterday and had her critique my work. I thought all of my pieces might need a lot of work, but was happy when she pointed out that two only needed minor corrections. I really don’t have a lot of time to correct them, so this was good news. The one I’m struggling the most is the first piece I tried automatism on. I played with that for a few hours, got to a point where actually I felt satisfied, and put it away. The plan for tonight is to go to the store for pie supplies (there’s a party going on for the Library, so I’m baking). I’m also going to buy some bagels to bring so the six of us can have breakfast while the crit is going on. Julie mentioned bringing food, so I thought I’d bring something in too as not to be a total leech.

 

Western Art II:

            We had our final yesterday morning. As usual, it included three parts, with six or ten minutes per slide, all open response. I’ve had Afshan for practically a year now: this is how she always conducts tests. It’s really not that bad, the writer’s hand cramp that forms is the worst of it. I managed to study my flash cards this time, but still couldn’t remember all of the artist’s names. I did remember all the work names though, so hopefully that will be sufficient.

            And no, I did not manage to finish my research paper for that morning. It’s due on Monday at 9am. I’m on draft three or four. I plan to put it in her mailbox with all my notes and such by tomorrow morning, so I’m in good shape.

 

English Literature II:

 

            I had my final on Monday. Again, I hadn’t studied much over the weekend. I was writing three papers and didn’t have time to review everything. However, the stuff I did manage to read and skim was the material on the test, so I lucked out a bit. However, I didn’t research everything in depth, so I’m not entirely confident about my answers. I’ll be checking blackboard for grades, but honestly there’s nothing I can really do if I did badly (at least that I’m aware of).

 

Social Ethics:

 

            I had the final paper and journals completed for the final that took place on Tuesday. I managed to read over my notes twice before hand. Also, by completing the final paper, I didn’t have to do parts 2 or 3 on the final. This was good, but part one was a bit hard to wrestle with and I ended up scribbling all over it. I’m serious; my handwriting is so big I was writing stuff in the margins. We had two questions we could mark for extra credit, but I was hazy on three. Also, my final paper was a general back and forth argument on legalizing active Euthanasia. He gave this option, but I don’t think he wanted it to be eight pages long or to ping-pong back and forth as much as I did. However, after going through five drafts, I was determined to pass the thing in. Period.

 

Chemistry 101: Again, there still aren’t any textbooks listed on the Suffolk Bookstore, so I decided to be bold and email the professor. I haven’t gotten word back yet. I’m really hoping the class is taking place.

 

Last Entry (?): Other than that, Friday is pretty much the end of Spring Term. I’m not sure if Molly will want to me continue this over the summer. I might continue posting about the Chemistry class, but make no promises. If I don’t make another post, I’d like to thank anyone that took the time to read this and hope the information it provided was useful to you.

            Have a great summer.

 

 

Apr
29

By

On the Crest of Finals

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Drawing Structure and Expression II:

 

            Our last class was yesterday. We finished our self portraits. I came in an hour early just to make sure all three of my pieces would be done. This was good considering I finished the third one just as class was ending. I would not have been able to fit it in elsewhere this week so that was fortunate. As for my portraits, I had a dilemma about what to put in the background and ended up incorporating fish. I use fish as a symbol generally. I tied both my self and the fish together by using the same color palette. The three also tell a narrative when placed from left to right. On Monday, we moved our crit an hour earlier than normal class time. Gabe also asked me to present first, so I have to make sure I’m there by 8:30 to set up.  

 

Advanced Painting:

 

            Linda told us she wants five finished paintings for our final crit. I asked her to post pone the crit until May 7th because I physically do not have enough time this week to finish those. By the end of next week, I will have decent chunks of Wednesday and Thursday to spend on them. Last Friday, I started two small paintings instead of just one and didn’t even remotely come close to finishing either. I took a look at them today and see a correction I have to make already. At the same time, I was trying to edit some of my other works. To be honest, I don’t think I’m capable of actually finishing a painting: something is always going to need work. So, I’m just going to spend tomorrow and those two days trying things out and seeing where I go. That’s all I can do. Who knows, if I push myself I might be able to do it.

 

Western Art II:

 

            Class was canceled Tuesday. This was good and bad for me. It was good because then I got a decent night’s sleep. It was bad because the paper that was due that morning was completed, but I didn’t have my presentation for social ethics done. Still, it got my last Museum trip paper out of the way, so it’s one less thing to worry about. I also got my flash cards done because I thought Perla and I would be studying after class. Both of us couldn’t keep the arrangement, but have receduled for after the drawing crit.

I’ve also managed to start a very, very very rough draft of my research paper. Today, I confirmed that it is due on the 10th. Afsan also said it was okay to use five artworks instead of just three to get a better understanding how my theme has fluctuated chromatically, but it can still only be seven pages max. Usually I’m verbose, so I’ll have to be more concise with what I have to say. She also said I can use the same painting that I previously used for one of my museum papers. The plan is to have the research paper completed by the day of the final so I don’t have to worry about it later. We’ll see if I can stick to this.

 

English Literature:

 

            It took me seven drafts to get my Rushdie essay completely right, and even then I forgot to put a title on it. It reads better than my Wordsworth paper, so I’m hopeful I’ll get a better grade on it. The more drafts I did, the more I understood the mechanics of the story, so I feel better off anyway. We also have our final exam on Monday, so I have to re-read about two hundred pages for that. He told us which texts will be on the test, but it ended up being about twenty different short stories. I’ll be re-reading this along with looking more my notes again. Honestly, it’s not as bad as it sounds: I remember a lot of what I read so it will probably be more like skimming.  It’s also better than going over everything we covered over the entire year. I’ve also made arrangement to study with Katia in my English class about a half hour before hand.

 

Social Ethics:

 

            I completely botched my presentation on Tuesday. Having stayed up the night before to finish my history paper and complete flash cards, I didn’t have much time to prepare for it; too many other things were going on. I failed to construct a speech and decided improve would be better. That was a bad decision.  So, yes, after reading six different articles, making a presentation, making flash cards, I got up there and suffered stage fright and stuttered through the entire stupid thing. Normally, I’d just complete an extra credit assignment to supplement, but that would mean yet another paper and I don’t the time or the energy to even attempt that right now. Out of the seven, I have three left, and the research paper is going to nuke my brain alone with six or seven drafts. On top of that, I have to at least skim all of the stories we’ve read in English and all of the homework assignments for Social Ethics to prepare for both finals on Monday and Tuesday.

 

Apartment Hunting: On top of everything else, I think my roommate and I finally found a place. Maybe. I’ve asked my parents to sanity check me today by looking at it. The building unfortunately allows cats, and that isn’t good for my roommate’s severe allergies. There were three in the room when we checked it out, so she couldn’t even walk in. I felt bad because the lay out was completely gorgeous. Even better, there’s a laundry mat in the same building, it’s not near a highway, and it’s fairly close to a supermarket. The only bad things are that it’s on the fourth floor and the elevator is incredibly small (four of us pretty much filled the thing), so moving in would be incredibly difficult, and the cats/pets issue. My roommate is under a time constraint, so I feel like she’s settling because this is the only apartment that I’ve liked. I don’t want her to settle, so the plan is to check out the layout of the apartment above it layout so she can get a feel for the space. The realtor wanted this to happen today, but my roommate couldn’t do it, so hopefully we’ll both go Monday before she leaves for home.

 

Summer classes: I’m only taking the Chem class because the English wasn’t what I needed and the Art on the Silk Road doesn’t have enough people to proceed. I haven’t taken summer classes before, so this is probably for the best. They are much shorter and more intense than the fall and spring classes because there isn’t much time. Still, I also managed to get twenty hours a week working at the library, so I’m still happy with the arrangement. I start directly after the end of finals week, but I have the weekend to go home and celebrate before I come back.

Apr
22

By

Crunch Time

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Drawing Structure and Expression II:

Due to the holiday we only had one class this week. We started our self portraits. I’ve deiced to do three smaller drawings instead of one huge one. I’m working on left over gray paper from freshman year and my pastels. Gabe said we could use photographs, but only if it was for a pose you couldn’t hold such as smiling. You don’t want to smile for nine hours. Trust me.

Anyway, I decided to take advantage of her offer and took three photographs with ridiculous facial expressions. I’ve done a number of self portraits and I was tired of the formality it entailed, so I decided it would be better to shoot for humor. It’s also introducing some new elements. For example, one of the photos has my mouth wide open, so I got to draw teeth. None of the models smile, so drawing teeth is pretty new and interesting.

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Apr
15

By

White Rabbit Syndrome

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Drawing Structure and Expression II:

We started and finished a two session drawing. Gabe allowed us to stray from pastels because the composition was so complex. Instead of drawing one model, we had two. I chose charcoal, which I hadn’t used since freshman year. It was a bit difficult to get started because we didn’t do any gesture drawing, and being a bit rusty with the charcoal didn’t help matters. I couldn’t be as methodical as usual and ended up just reacting more with the medium. While I have not yet been able to photograph my earlier drawings, I did take two shots to show process and will upload them as  soon as I can.

Note: my photography skills are pretty bad, but well, here they are…


Advanced Painting:

Last week, I complained that I wasted six hours of my life. As per usual, my peers and professor disagreed. This time, I concur. A week provided some emotional distance. When I put it up, I found out my composition wasn’t as stiff as all my other paintings. I think they were stiff because I was planning them all out and being too methodical about it. With that one, it was completely improv and I had to work with whatever accident I created. Linda liked it. She said the piece was much fresher, though she said I should hold off forcing representations.

So, for last week, I used the acrylic to do an under painting. As I mentioned before, the Water Mixables I had weren’t doing what I wanted them to. I wanted to be able to drip and splatter my paint. The Acrylics mixed with mate medium, retarder, and the occasional use of water did. I sort of imitated Pollock a bit, just playing with the paint. I used a lot of red and water at first, picked up the entire board, and let the excess drip off the board. I let myself play with the paint and made an absolute mess. Starting thinking about fire and added a lot of yellow and orange. Then I strayed from fire and ended up imitating the pattern on one of the fluorescent lights above my head. Eventually, it turned into yet another cave interior. This one is much more dynamic than the last, though, and progress is progress, even if I’m not allowed to really have any control of it. As per usual, the right side of my brain just won’t conform to the desires of the left.

Ideas of Western Art II:

We had a museum trip this week. I was late (I hate being late) and missed the Rococo part of the lecture because I didn’t leave my English class early enough. I ended up choosing Courbet’s “The Quarry” and pumped the rough draft out the same day I took notes (this is unusual for me). However, I have seven papers total hanging over my head (the museum paper for this week, the museum paper for next week, rewriting the research paper statement, the research paper itself, my English essay, and my social ethics paper) before the end of the semester. So it’s pretty much Alice in Wonderland White Rabbit Syndrome.

English Literature II:

My English Professor was irritated I had to miss his class. I can’t blame him: I wanted to be there for the analysis of The Prophet’s Hair (it was really really cool; read like Arabian Nights and the ending is fantastic)-and now I’m stuck with second hand notes. Worse, with my luck, it will be on the final. Anyway, I fortunately have the luxury of going on the next museum trip on either Tuesday or Thursday of next week. Tuesday in English we’re going over outlines, and both of us agreed that would be the best day, attendance wise, so I (hopefully) won’t miss anything else important.

Social Ethics:

We discussed Capital Punishment a bit more and finished Nicomachean Ethics. I still have to use the text in my Aristotle Lab, but now I’m free to write about anything that strikes me instead of answering certain questions. As for the Presentation, I just barely managed to squeak mine into the 27th. If I hadn’t, I would have been presenting this coming Tuesday, and that would have meant trying to write three papers during the same weekend as my brother’s birthday (which is impossible, I never get work done when I go home to my family). I’m going to focus on Euthanasia as a topic. After discussing Capital Punishment, discussing mercy killings shouldn’t be too difficult and everyone will be in the right mind set for it. Plus, I’m honestly curious. Also, Professor Fried told us to treat the presentation like a work shop because the class will be discussing it and the paper should come after. Anyway, I’ve printed out about eight or nine articles to read over in preparation. I should have plenty of time if I’m careful.

Apartment Hunting:

After looking at one expensive apartment on Boylston, I finally had enough. I picked up the phone and finally called a realtor. I told him what I was looking for and asked to see everything they had to offer that fit that description. On Monday we spent most of the day on Beacon Hill. My roommate liked this; she’s not a Nesad student and would prefer to stay close to campus. I found it a complete waste of time. It was the same exact street I lived on during freshman year and I had no desire to go back to it. I left because the commute was too long and towards the end I had to start dealing with mice. Clearly, the mice were still an issue because I found a loaded mouse trap in one of the apartments we were looking at. Considering my roommates severe allergies, I doubt she’d want to live there either. Also, we only looked at one apartment in Back Bay; that one seemed nice but I wasn’t sold. The Saturday after next we’re going to head up to North end. Before that, I should call and ask if they had anything else in Back Bay. Things aren’t looking good from a time stand point. My roommate has to fly back to New York, so she needs to find something by the beginning of May before the term ends. So far, I haven’t seen anything I want and I don’t want to be pressured to settle.

Summer Classes:

I tried to order books for both my Chemistry class and the Art on the Silk Road (?). I found neither in the Suffolk Book store. This was extremely unusual. Luckily, I happen to have Afsan for the latter class. According to her, the books aren’t up because not enough people are enrolled in the class, meaning that it might get canceled. Which is bad. Very bad. I want to get these classes done with. I have to in order to obtain my creative writing minor. And I still have not set up an appointment to discuss it with an English advisor. Crap. I guess I should go talk to Audrey, see if she can do anything…

Apr
8

By

Switching Strategies

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Drawing Structure and Expression II:

 

            We finished the three session drawing. Gabe saved me again-my drawing needed more contrast. She also pointed out this dark purple which really brought my vase to life. On Monday we have two models coming in and we had a vote on doing self portraits or having the models pose together. Considering our final piece is going to be a self portrait, a lot of people are leaning towards the latter. Personally, I don’t mind either way.

 

Advanced Painting:

 

            I pretty much wasted six hours of my life last Friday. My cave painting wasn’t that great compositionally. Normally, I’d do some sketches and then pick something. This appears not to be effective anymore. I’ve also become envious of Julia’s paintings. She’s using oil paint and thinner to drip and create these atmospheric pieces. They come out so gorgeous, it’s not even funny. Also, it appears so much more relaxed than my own strict scripting.

            So I tried to do something improv. I put my canvas on the floor and threw paint on it. Made this huge swirling mess of lines. During the crit, Linda suggested that I really look at the shapes after doing this-see what my imagination could come up with. In the end, it ended up being a really weird underwater environment or maybe the habitat from an alien planet (the creatures were weird).

            Or that’s what I thought. Then Braden came into the room about five hours after I started working, looked at it, and asked what it was.

            Like I said. Six hours of my life wasted.

            I still plan on trying to get this improv thing to work (planning out my compositions makes them very flat and dull-plus all my ideas are generally very bad). My next bright idea is to bring in the acrylic paint I bought for color in freshman year and throw that around a bit. I’ve got tons of mat medium, so it’ll be more fluid than the Winsor and Newton Water Mixables I’m currently working with. They’re great because they remain the same color, dry or wet, but take more than a week to dry. Acrylics, on the other hand, turn darker when they dry, but also dry really fast. I’m hoping this will help speed up my under painting. Also it might produce an opportunity for more glazing, which might my give my work the push it needs.

 

Western Art II:

 

            My museum trip will be taking place on Tuesday instead of today because Afsan is taking another class on a field trip. This was fine by me. I didn’t have class this morning and I still need to gobble down the rest of our chapter reading. I’m falling into this procrastination stage which really isn’t good. I plan on finishing the reading either during the weekend. Hopefully I’ll read ahead on Saturday at some point: I’m expecting a peapod delivery (groceries) and also looking at an extremely expensive apartment which I’ve mentally already discarded, but the realtor might have something cheaper. Realtors always show the expensive stuff first.  Also, Sunday I’m headed to the ICA with Perl for our last trip, so after that I can start writing my research paper. Hopefully during the remainder of the weekend I won’t get too side-tracked.

 

English Literature:

 

            We went over two of H. D. Lawrence’s short stories and a few students gave presentations. Rushdie is next and our final paper before the final. I’m trying to read ahead because, again, I feel like I won’t have much time during the weekend. I also just read Prophet’s Hair and found it completely entertaining.

 

Social Ethics:

 

            Professor Fried wasn’t there on Tuesday and we had a sub instead. She was very good and pretty much treated the material the same way he does. We were focused on Capital Punishment-being for or against-and probing the issue. I decided I’m against it. Death is just a bit too final, even if there are some extremely vicious people in the world. It’s also just too easy to miss use. Next week, we’re finishing Nicomachean Ethics (yes!) and discussing presentations (NO!). I’m dreading presentations. Also, I have to go back and pay more attention to my Lab journal.

 

Library: It looks like I might have summer work hours!!! I’m so excited it’s not even funny. Last year I was too chicken and failed to get a job. I really need to boost my finances, so this is really good news for me.

 

Summer I: I’m taking Chem 101, the lab, and Art on the Silk Road (?). Audrey told me it was called something else, yet it’s still labeled as that on my class schedule. Also Afsan teaches it, so there won’t be any surprises. It will be nice to explore some eastern work after a year of western.

 

Photographs:

               I really need to take some time out and make sure I grab my camera for Monday. Or, if I can convince myself, I’ll take pictures after painting tomorrow. My drawing drawer is located in the same room. I’m just being really lazy about it because it takes forever to uncover everything and get good photos. Also, after discovering people actually read this, I’m a bit nervous throwing my work out there to be judged. Which is probably stupid: I’m pursuing a BFA in fine arts-having other people look at my work is going to be my future. Now’s the time to get over it while I’m not in the field. Alright, alright-I’ll get photos. Promise.

Apr
1

By

No This is Not an April Fool’s Joke

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Drawing Structure and Expression II:

Finished the two-session drawing and started a three-session piece. For that, I’ve continued change my compositions. Before, I focused on head and torso. Now I’m trying out extreme cropping and paying more attention to the still life. Right now, I’m focused on a right leg and a weirdly shaped vase. Also continued to pick my own color palettes. Gabe’s been pretty respectful and has left me alone to muddle through it.

Also, one of you commented about there being a lack of pictures. You’re right, so I’ll try my best to get some in the next two weeks.

Advanced Painting:
Had out midterm. As expected, it was like a crit. Linda had us present five of our paintings and talk about them, where you thought you were going, what you accomplished, what you need to work on, etc. Also, you get feed back from the professor and you’re peers, so then you start to see stuff that you weren’t conscious of doing and give you suggestions on who to look at or how to improve your work.
For instance, Linda concluded all my pieces were night pieces, dream-like, and seemed to have something to do with the apocalypse (which I still think is really funny). I was so focused on trying to create the illusion of space that I didn’t consciously think of anything else.
After the midterm we started another piece. That one was pretty much cave like. Yesterday, Katia had me come upstairs to give her some feedback about our current painting. She also looked at mine and confirmed the suspicion that, yes, it’s too dark. Hopefully, I can get my butt out of bed early tomorrow morning and paint before lecture starts at ten. I have to leave at five tomorrow anyway, so I’m really constrained with time (friends are coming to stay for Anime Boston this weekend ^________^).

Western Art II:

Our midterm results came back. I didn’t fail (I saved myself by being an attendance junkie. I’m a visual and tactile learner, so taking notes really helps). Nor will I have to write an extra credit paper to raise my grade. Still, I’m rather pleased- I went to the Durer exhibit taking place in the MFA currently. It’s impressive. If you live nearby you should definitely check it out, especially if you like fine details. During the same trip (I went to both the MFA and Gardner on Sunday) I found about six different pieces I can use for my research paper. I think I still have to retype my thesis statement, but I’d rather make my last museum trip and pick the pieces before I do that.

Social Ethics:
On Tuesday, I noticed we had one section left in the Aristotle book we’re reading. So, to get ahead, I read half the chapter. Then I walked into class and found that isn’t next week’s homework. Instead, we’re reading four different essays on capital punishment and perhaps giving a presentation…? That will freak me out-my rhetorical skills are pretty terrible. See, I have the luxury of actually seeing what I’m writing and making revisions before I post (I do about two or three drafts before posting). Speaking, you can’t do that. Nor can you erase your mistakes. Instead, you have to focus on keeping your language completely fluid and trying not to ramble. Unfortunately, ramble is pretty much all I do, so this should be an interesting experience…

English Literature II:
I had a doctor’s appointment today in between Western Art II and this class. I was frantic to get to English, not because I was worried about my attendance, but being I really wanted to discuss the S.T. Eliot poem we read “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”. I went over it in high school and pretty much dismissed it. However, I re-read it and my jaw dropped. I found it more likable than Virginia Wolf’s rambling anyway. I’ve also been listening to the Crash Test Dummies song “Afternoons and Coffeespoons” which was inspired by the poem, so that might be effecting my judgment too…
Katia also suggested some reading material for me based off of it: Crime and Punishment and Diary of a Madman. I’m most excited about checking out the latter, but currently I’m on a ten book series. Hopefully I’ll get them all read before my summer classes start. Or maybe not. I keep thinking I have a month, but it might only be a week between spring and summer term. I’ll have to go check again…

Apartment Hunting:

My potential roommate seems to have her heart set on an apartment in East Boston. Yes, it looks like a dream come true: it’s a short commute to the main campus (and she goes there primarily), the bedrooms are huge, there’s laundry in the unit, plenty of storage space, fully furnished, it has separate leases.
However, the area is really bad. I checked the crime statistics-there’s been tons of assaults and at least one shooting in the last three months. The realtor said it was safe at night, but I’m really starting to think it was sweet talk. They were renovating apartments too (the last two apartments were basically construction sites)-She also wants us to tell our friends-so I think she’s trying to get people in there fast.
But, my roommate seems totally snowed. She doesn’t have furniture, so the place seems ideal. This is also her first apartment-she’s a freshman moving out of the dorms-so she’s new at this. I’ve done it for two years already-this will be my third time. During my freshman year, I saw an apartment in Southie-beautiful inside-but it was in an extremely scary part of town. Personally, I’d rather live in a safe area.
I’ve contacted two more realtors to look at other places and I’ve asked her when she’s available about three days ago. I haven’t heard back. If I don’t hear back by tomorrow, I think I’ll be asking them to show me studio apartments instead of two bedrooms. Honestly, I’m really starting to believe dealing with roommates isn’t worth it. Only do it if you’re certain to get along with the person.

(And please excuse spelling mistakes. I’m trying to write this and scan slides at the same time. There isn’t enough time in the day to do everything, I swear…)

(EDIT: And then again, I just talked to Tim who happens to live in East Boston. He says its pretty safe, so maybe I’m just paranoid…)

Mar
25

By

Creative Writing Minor?

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Drawing Expression and Structure:

Monday’s class was an exploration day. Gabe decided it would be best to do something that wasn’t too taxing. This was good for me because I spent the previous night at a concert (Voltaire was in town, how could I resist?). I had debated coming in. When I woke up and found I plenty of time to get ready for class, I thought “what the heck” and came in. Completed a small pencil drawing and focused on changing my composition from my previous drawings. On Wednesday, when we set up for a two class session, it influenced the drawing I started. I also forced myself to pick my color palette. This had slightly disastrous results-I sketched in a very light color and couldn’t find a dark to compliment it. Gabe had me use black ink which salvaged it.

Advanced Painting:

                My midterm is tomorrow. Last Friday I tried to fix my five paintings. Susan Nitcher came in and tried to help me since Linda was sick. It was one of those brick wall days and I couldn’t summon the energy to take any chances. Needless to say, I’m not enthusiastic about the midterm. I feel like I can’t paint.

Western Art II:

 I thought our midterm was going to be today, so I had the shock of my life on Tuesday when I found I was mistaken. I took the thing without studying and didn’t do well. See? This is what I get for procrastinating. Luckily, I can raise my grade with an extra credit paper, so I plan on heading to the MFA (Museum of Fine Arts) and picking one of the Durer pieces that is currently being shown.

                Also, we presented our themes and thesis statements for our research papers. Mine’s on violence, it honors or condemns, and if this changes chronologically. Perla and I are going to make a day trip on Sunday and visit both the MFA and the Gardner museum nearby.

 

English Literature II:

Just finished Robert Browning and moved onto Forester. The Victorian era segment is over and we’re moved into modern era. Forester was a satisfying read. Now I’ve got to deal with Virginia Wolf (her writing isn’t agreeing with me; too windy so far). Also-that paper I failed-I aced it. It’s a relief yet a curse. I won’t argue with a good grade, but seriously, I want to grab the man and shake him. I thought I contradicted everything he said! Gah!

 

Social Ethics:

Fun times with Aristotle. Turns out our labs aren’t due until next week. This good considering that gives me time to consider the feedback on the proposals he passed back. We also attended a lecture on political forgiveness. I was annoyed because there seemed to be way too many exceptions for the concept to work. Seems like it should also be apart of Justice:  like a subcategory or something. Right now, I’m reading book eight which is on friendship. Interesting, though I’m sure he’s going to assign more than that. He still hasn’t sent us our homework yet. Getting homework via email two days after class is still ticking off, but hey what can you do?

Apartment Hunting:

                I’ve acquired a roommate and she’s pretty much calling all the realtors. This makes me feel bad, but this has also been the worst week back ever. I keep trying to get ahead on assignments and end up falling backward. “We lay waste our powers”-it’s this line by one of the poems I read this year-I think Wordsworth-and I can’t get it out of my head. Anyway, it’s her first time looking (the girl I’m rooming with is a freshman trying to escape the dorms). I don’t like the fact that I’m not doing anything. I suggested we take a look at a place in Symphony but I’m not sure if she’ll bite. It might be too far away.

Minor:

Um-yeah, I’ve decided to declare a creative writing minor officially. I’ve decided to do this despite the fact that it might make me take an extra semester. I’m also going to take an art history class and Chem 101 in the summer (I’ve talked about this right?). I forgot to register for the Lab though and did it this morning. Worried for nothing. Piece of cake. Anyway, headed to Fenton and talked to Andrew in the English Department. He’s given me contact information, so I’ve got to shoot an email and see if this guy (Whitman? Something like that) will set up an appointment with me.

Part of me can’t believe this and thinks it’s a bonehead move (This is the same part that things going for an art major wasn’t a good idea. Yet here I am). I can’t agree with it. This feels like a necessary risk, and if I’m going to progress with my writing I need some training. However, I keep thinking I’m not going to be able to find a job. I mean, how much need does society have for a fine artist? Or a writer? Have you seen Barnes and Noble? We’re like a dime a dozen, and Oscar Wilde even states that “All art is useless”.

But do I need to be useful?  Bread money would be fantastic and I’m freaking out thinking there won’t be any, yet, if I turn my back on this I feel like I’m going to be miserable. I’m terrible at math and proficient at science… I’d like to be useful.  It would have been awesome if I had the potential to be a doctor or lawyer, but I don’t have that kind of ability. Nor does it entice me. This is what I’ve got, so I’ll run with it. If it turns out to be a mistake, it will have been a necessary one.

 

Edit: I just looked at my spam folder and found about fourteen comments that I didn’t even know existed. 0_o Holy crap! Um-sorry about that guys. Also, thanks for your feed back.

 

Mar
11

By

Tired

Category: Uncategorized Tags: , , 24 Comments

 

Drawing Structure and Expression II:

We had our midterm crit. Gabe said my work had made a jump since the beginning of the year. It was much better than the fall, partly because being idle in the summer put me out of practice and I was too nervous to do any real good drawings. Fear pretty much destroys every project I work on. This term, I just decided that I can’t draw and to have fun with it. By doing that, I wasn’t afraid of screwing up my drawing and could focus more on the task at hand. Sometimes you have to throw the screaming voice into a box and do what you gotta do.

When we get back, I’ll be focusing more on choosing my color palette. Gabe’s been holding my hand since the fall and picking out my colors. I really need to learn to do this for myself. No, I didn’t realize until Gabe stated that, with paint, you mix all of your colors before starting your piece: then it clicked. I did that automatically in Advanced Painting: for some reason I didn’t think of applying the concept to a drawing. No idea why, but I should have. I’ll also be doing color studies over the break if I don’t become a victim to laziness.

Advanced Painting:

We finished our second painting based on our collages. Tomorrow we will review them. Based on the feedback from my first painting, my second ended up being more symbolic. Now, after knowing that for a week, I wondered yesterday if that was okay considering our paintings were suppose to be abstract and I had some clearly identifiable objects. Then again, Katia introduced some figures into her work and Linda didn’t mind. I guess I’ll just wait and see.

Western Art II: We just finished Baroque. The week after we come back, our outline for our research paper is due. Pearla wants to finish the other three trips during the break. There’s merit in picking our pieces before writing the outline, so I’ll probably end up doing it if things don’t get too busy. It will also leave ample time to do additional research, write the paper, and revise five hundred times before the end of the year. Our Midterm is also taking place after the break, so I’ve made flash cards in advance. Again, laziness permitting, I hopefully will study them.

Social Ethics:

We got our midterms back. I passed and I’m glad it’s over. We touched upon the concept of Justice. Professor Fried also assigned two more books and some reading to be done over the break. Also, our lab journals will be under scrutiny, so I have to relate my blurbs more to the text.

English Literature II:

I save this for last because it’s been bugging me the most. Currently, we’re working on Oscar Wilde’s play, “The Importance of Being Earnest”. Today, I had to give a presentation on my assigned character, Miss Prism, and hand in a two page paper. Considering I didn’t like my last grade, I went through six different drafts trying to make sure it was perfect. Instead, my confidence was completely destroyed when he started referring to all of these characteristics I hadn’t noticed, and then pretty much concluded the exact opposite of what my paper had to say. So, with that, I’m pretty sure the assignment was a complete flop and will be writing it over if he even lets me. I’m entirely frustrated. Yes, I may have aced my midterm and done well on his pop quizzes, but that is only because I’ve regurgitated what he’s said. Instead, I find I cannot come up with the right answers for myself, and my first thoughts are always completely wrong or not even close to what he’s looking for.

Am I some kind of idiot? I can’t think of what he’s thinking, or even remotely come close. Then again, the man has a doctorate in English literature and I’m just an undergraduate. Though, its problematic that my brain seems not to be able to even find the stupid box. All my thoughts are too shallow, but for some reason I can’t get into the material. Everything’s about what the poet must have thought when he completed each work and what society had to do about it. I read the history, and I read both the poems and the plays, but I’m still not making the right connections.

I wouldn’t care so much if it weren’t for the fact that I want to minor in creative writing. If I can’t consider the message behind any of these works-or come even remotely close-then is deciding to write a completely bonehead move? This small little doubtful voice is coming back whispering, “You can’t write. You can’t be a writer. You’re stupid if you can’t figure this out”. Except this is stupid. It’s just one little two page paper-I shouldn’t be freaking out about this.

But still, I am. I’m so frustrated it’s not even funny and I hate the thought of being considered stupid. Either way, all I know is I can’t do anything about it now. I’ll have to wait until he gives it back, which won’t be until after break. By then, hopefully, it won’t be bothering me as much.

 

Mar
4

By

Before Spring Break Rush

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Drawing Structure and Expression II:
Finished my dark-sketch drawing. I’ve also noticed all of my work has similar compositions. I should change this. Our Midterm is on next Wednesday, so on Monday I’ll have to make my drawings presentable (straight borders, cropping, etc). Also found out towards the end of class that I really missed sketching still lives. This is pretty funny considering how much I was sick of them by the end of freshman year.

Advanced Painting:
We looked at our collages last week. Apparently, I have an interest in cave-like spaces, drama, and camouflage. The cave-like space really bugged me. I’m currently focused on creating space and depth. I didn’t want it to be shallow-I want to be able to move around. I didn’t end up using any of Linda’s suggestions and tried to radically change my composition. I kept the same colors, but made the space really vast. It turned into a landscape-I put something like mountains and water in it.
When I stopped, I hated it. I snuck a glance at it on Monday and went from hate to dislike. I always hate my paintings right after I finish them, but by the time next Friday comes around, I find them less horrible. Having said that, I still don’t like my painting. Linda will critique them Friday, so that should help. I also have two other paintings in which to correct my errors. I think that’s why I love painting: if the first painting is crap, simply do another. That’s it. You’re always learning.

Western Art II:
Handed in my Renaissance paper this morning. I only had time to do three drafts. Then, Afshan, our professor, started listing Renaissance principles I hadn’t even thought of. The material isn’t as clear-cut as Western Art I: it’s all bleeding together in my brain. It also doesn’t help that High Renaissance, Mannerism, and Baroque over lap each other. Or that I was reading two chapters ahead in an attempt to get all my work done in time: that can’t have helped either. I really have to make my flash cards and try to get all this information straight in my head.

Literature II:
We had our Midterm on Tuesday. It consisted of three essay questions. The first confused me, but I felt like I knew more about the other two. Too bad the first was more points the others. I also got my Wordsworth paper back and my grade wasn’t what I hoped it to be. This is after he pretty much freaked me out with a long speech about getting work done on time, and blah blah blah on the writing center, and he was disappointed in us. Then he didn’t pass the essays until the end of class, so I had fun trying not to brood on it and pay attention to the rest of the lesson.  I still have another two-page paper and a five-page paper left, so that gives me room to recover. Also, they’re not being composed on poetry, so I think I have a better shot.

He also said my writing was stiff. This makes sense-I felt stiff when I was writing it. I couldn’t get anything to flow right because I really couldn’t figure out what I was saying-or it all sounded wrong. I probably should have done another draft or two, but really didn’t have the time.

Social Ethics:
Our midterm has also been completed for this class (he also let us prepare part three ahead of time, so I got to leave forty minutes early. I just hope it was done correctly. I always doubt myself when teachers say ‘if you think its good enough’. I mean come on.) The homework for this week is related to justice. It also and  seems like he wants us to re-read chapters. Professor Fried already assigned the chapters from politics and gave out the exact same questions, so I’m a bit confused. On the other hand, he also never assigns two book assignments, which he did this week, so I’m not really sure what to think. I read everything, so I guess it will be fine either way. I also have to start my electronic journal to keep my process on my lab experiment. I made some progress today and have to remember to write it down.

Library:
Yesterday, I put away some books and did some shelf reading. Shelf reading is when you make sure all the call numbers are in the correct order, a.k.a all the books are in the right place. I also talked to Ellen about a couple of Stephen King novels. (Dark Tower is still the best).

Front Desk:
I’ve been running around all day. I watched the desk for a while, put up some signs dealing with Spring break hours, wrote two drafts for this, and helped Linda clean up after the Green Design show finished up downstairs. Green Design is a show the Interior Design department runs in the Atrium downstairs once a year. I don’t know that much about it, but we have stuff up on the website if you’re curious. It was a lot of fun getting the moving walls into the elevator (I’m not being sarcastic when I’m writing this: seriously-talking to the people that shared the elevator with me was entertaining.)
Also, I just found out from Josh that I can’t scan any slides tonight because there’s still a class in the conference room. Oh boy…

Other Note:
Now I’m waking up before my alarm is going off. Like an hour before. No idea why. Might be anxiety related-I hate being late-but it could also be because my roommate and I were close to having a disagreement about my coffee pot. My brain is the per-verbal junk drawer, so all this stuff gets mixed together-who knows.
My hunter socks are also falling apart. I’ve lost three now. I keep ripping through the heel. I’m wondering if it’s because they’re old or because of my black shoes (they only have given out while I was wearing those). The Plan right now is to go get some at the Army Barrack-like place (I think its called something else-like Army Store-my memory is crap) and pick up some more. There’s also a Borders there, so I want to check if they have books 4, 5, and 6 of a series I’m reading. I went through six hundred pages in two days and have been trying to make the third book last the rest of the week. So far, I’ve pretty much succeeded.

Feb
25

By

Piece of Cake

Category: Uncategorized Tags: , , 3 Comments

Drawing: I have no idea what’s gotten into me this week. The drawing I finished on Monday, I sketched with a neutral gray. I thought I was playing it safe because it was neutral; instead I pretty much made picking my color palette much, much harder. Gabe thought this was extremely unusual and helped me through it by pretty much picking my colors. I figured out what color to use on the model’s hair by myself, but Gabe really held my hand through it.
Then, yesterday, we did two studies before proceeding with the long pose. We did studies because this is the first time we’ve had a model with this kind of chocolate skin tone. Usually, we get a lot of Caucasian models, so we end up using a lot of red, pale pinks, and tans. This time, we were using two reddish browns to sketch with, which was really cool.
But it took us forever to warm up. We spent most of the class sketching, so when we had to do more sketching for the long pose, I was already tired and really messed up my paper. This is where I get strange again. I started sketching in the dark brown, which was extremely stupid, and really smudged up everything on my sheet. Gabe came over, looked it, and then had me smudge the entire sheet so it would at least be uniform. I started my under drawing, using orange, yellow of the highlights, and this dark pink for the shadows.

Social Ethics: I have a midterm I have to study for. I also have to write a paper on what moral virtue I’m going to work on. Aristotle writes that moral virtues are created out of habit: basically courageous people are courageous because they have decided to be in the past. So, our lab experiment consists of picking a virtue we feel need to work on and how we’re going to change our habits to conform to it. Needlessly to say, I picked courage for my experiment.

Literature II: I also have a midterm for this as well that’s on the same day as my Social Ethics. So, this weekend I will be studying for the both of them (after my sister and her boyfriend visit on Saturday, lol). Class was canceled today, so this should give me extra time to study.

Western Art II: I was also relieved that my literature class was canceled today because now I’m free to go to the assigned museum trip without having to leave twenty minutes early. I hate missing class. I forgot about it when I was registering for classes in the fall that my art history class was going to have to do that because the museum doesn’t open at 8:30. Last semester it wasn’t as much as a problem because it was social ethics.
Now it’s worse because my English teacher is pretty zealous and doesn’t like it when his students leave in the middle of class. He said I could, but was a bit grumpy about it. Also, I was thinking about minoring in creative writing, so now my major requirements are messing with my minor’s, lol. Obviously, I’m going to go to the lecture-I don’t really have a choice-but I won’t deny that it’s stressful.

Anyway, the trip went without a hitch. Now all I have to do is write the two page paper. Piece of cake.

Advanced Painting: I’ve completed my collages. The ones I liked the most were the bits that used some of my scraps from printmaking. I also tried dripping paint, but these felt weak in comparison. We’ll be looking at them Friday, so I should get some feedback. I also primed three canvases, so I’m ready to go.

Library Work Study: I’m surprised at how comfortable I’m with it. I think its because I’ve already worked for the front desk for a year and the skills are pretty much the same when it comes to customer service and answering the phone. Checking in the books and the equipment is different, that still trips me up a bit, but I feel very at home with Ellen and my other coworkers.

Front Desk: Still scanning Brus’ slides. Also helped Josh out with midterm evaluations.

Weekend: The plan is to go see the Harry Potter Exhibit before it closes on Saturday with my sister and her boyfriend, then study my brains out in preparation for Tuesday. The latter will be difficult because I don’t want to go back to poetry and Aristotle’s virtues, but such is life.

Side note: I also have to figure out what is going on with my alarm clock. This is the second time it hasn’t woken me up. It’ll ring for fifteen minutes before I wake up and shut it off. I sleep with earplugs but I haven’t had this problem before. I’m wondering if the ringer in the alarm has become softer or something? Or maybe I just need to turn the ringer on my phone as well…? I’m hoping that I don’t need to find another alarm clock. I’m a bit strapped for cash as of late.

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