Xmas Eve Day

I got back from NYC on Wednesday and had a really good time. Got to see the gf for almost a week straight, which was really, really good. On Saturday night we went to a club called Crobar and saw Felix da Housecat spin, which was a really fun time, even though it cost $12 for a vodka and tonic. We didn't really do much on Tuesday and Wednesday, as the MTA was striking and couldn't go into the city, but we did some things in Astoria instead.

I got my grades back for this semester today, and I was pretty disappointed in myself. I should've done better in my classes, but once again, I lost my focus and patience at the end of the end of the semester and couldn't finish strong. I think that my goal for my final semester of school is going to be to try and finish strong and remain patient and focused on my work all throughout the semester, not for my grades but just to prove to myself that I can do it.

Well, it is Christmas Eve day and my grandpa is here, and my aunt, uncle and cousin will be here tomorrow afternoon. There are a few presents under the tree, and it surprisingly doesn't really feel like Christmas. It could be because it is raining and 46 degrees outside instead of 20 and snowing, or it could be that I have only been in KC for 3 days and will be leaving on the 26th, but I think it is because I am getting older and busier and time goes by faster and things don't seem to be as romanticized as they used to be. Ahh, loss of innocence.

Bustin Out

Leaving for KC in less than an hour. Would've been earlier, but film rendering is taking ages. Since 11:30...now 4:30. Should be done by 5. Then I can hand it in and be done. Leave for NYC at 7am tomm. I know my father will want me to get up at 4am, which is not going to happen. No one will be at KCI @ 7am on a Saturday. Currently listening to Soulwax's remixed album, Nite Versions. Rockin stuff. I will be away from Manhappiness for 10 days. NYC for 5 and KC for 5. Then back to work for an intersession class. 1-5 M-F. Boo that.

[ex]tension

Well, my film is now due on Friday, as my professor gave me an extension. It is good because now I have time to finish my film, but it is also bad becasue I have a final tomorrow, I need to do laundry, and I have several watercolors that I need to finish up by Friday. Last night my friend Gabe had a holiday party, and it was so hard to leave there and come back to studio because everyone there had finished their films and were relaxing and having a good time, but I still had/have all of this work lingering over my head. I am currently rendering and should hopefully be done with my renders by tomorrow so that I can take them into combustion on Wednesday and then into Final Cut on Thursday. Cheers to that.

Sickness is all but gone. Very small soreness in back of throat but that is all. No more mid-night cold sweats. Constant sleep. Like a baby. Excitement for NYC has not arrived yet. Too much work ahead still...

Better!!

Thank God it is almost over. My sickness that is. For the past week I've had strep throat and it has sucked big time. I felt as though I was on my death bed at times on Monday and Tuesday, and only yesterday did I start to feel any better. I would say that today I am at about 90%. I don't really have a fever anymore [I will only wake up a couple times a night w/a cold sweat now as opposed to 8-10 previous], I have energy and can focus on things, and my throat is beginning to hurt less and less. I actually think that I might have had a cold as well, because I have had drainage and according to WedMD.com, you don't have drainage with strep throat. Oh yeah, it was also 2 friggin degrees outside all week, which made things even worse. Sunday afternoon-Tuesday afternoon I didn't leave my apartment.

Our films for studio are due on Monday, but me and another guy, Todd, in my studio got extensions until Friday because we were both sick. I was glad that I got this, as there is no way in hell that I would've gotten done on time, but at the same time I would like to have been done with studio on Monday and left the rest of the week to study for my final on Wednesday, finish up my watercolor portfolio, have a good time at Gabe's Christmas party and just relax. Now, I've got one more stressful week ahead of me before I get to peace out to NYC for 5 days. Woo hoo! Anyways, everyone in studio is busting hardcore to get done, so I am not going to be able to do any rendering until the weekend's over. That's ok though, because I need to get a few more shots worked out and lined up the way that I want them. If all goes well, this film should turn out pretty good, I've got a nice little twist/show at the end which will be sure to amuse.

Sick [cough cough]

I think that I am getting sick, which is not good. Film due in a week. Paper to write. Swelling thyroid gland on my neck. Stuffiness. Tiredness. Headache. The computer monitor is looking like a nice thing to shove my head into right now.

However, I did pick up the new Electric Six album, Senor Smoke last night. It's an advanced copy, as it is not coming out in the US until sometime next year, even though it was released in Europe in like March when I was there. Listening to it right now. Sounds quite similar to their previous album, Fire, complete with songs about dancing, politics, pop culture and the devil. Enjoyable so far.

Updating

Sorry for the scarcity recently, I was out of touch w/reality as we had Thanksgiving break. It was a good break, got to see my girlfriend and the family and was nice and relaxing, which was needed because the next few weeks are going to be pretty intense as my final film is due on 12.12.05.

Struggles. Last night I was struggling w/my film, trying to get it to work. My films are too character oriented and I don't have the capabilities to do character development properly, so I have been trying to change to a more shot/scene development. Need a guerilla film by Friday. Lots of work to do until then.

I found a good blog today: Radiohead

Snow!!!

It is now snowing in Manhattan, Kansas!!!!

Mascots

Yesterday I was having a discussion with a friend regarding team/school mascots and their redundancy, or lack thereof. I was arguing that they are quite redundant, as the team name alone is quite sufficient. For instance, over in England practically none of the football clubs have mascots, they simply go by their team name, say Chelsea FC or Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur. You know what sport these teams play, so what point is there in adding a mascot? For instance, the Kansas City Royals could become the Kansas City Baseball Club, or Kansas City BC; the Kansas City Chiefs could become Kansas City FC. Now, for those of you arguing that mascots give a team personality and allow another way of relating to your team and giving you more team spirit, I counter with this: if you are a true fan, you should not need a mascot to give you motivation to root for your club, the players and the game should excite you enough. Most teams are recgonized by their team colors already, so why not just be called the Boys in Blue or Big Red (Nebraska's football team already uses this one). By not using mascots you allow your team to be taken seriously and do not marginalize them to the confines of some goofy guy running around in a wolf suit. It is about the players on the field and their actions exciting the crowd, not about some mythological creature that does chants to get your fans pumped up. Down with mascots!

Weekend Update

Well, this has been a pretty fun weekend thusfar. Friday we had our studio mid-crit in which we presented our films and some drawings to accompany them, and we had two critics, Patrick Rhodes and Ray Streeter who were quite opposite in their critiques. Patrick focused more on the film and how to use that to describe our architectural ideas while Ray went about it in the more traditional method of a crit by looking more at the drawings and models than by critiquing our cinematic failures. I wouldn't necessarily say that one was better than the other, but I do know that a lot of us came out fairly confused on what to do next. Either way, a few of us went to Belly's for dinner and had a quite entertaining evening.

Yesterday was our annual Beaux Arts Ball, which was quite different than our formal ball at Exploration Place in Witchita last year, as this one took place at the Black Jack Ranch outside of Manhattan and was a techno party. The boyfriend of the girl who lives above me was the DJ and actually did a really good job. We danced around with glowsticks for a while and then came home around midnight. On the busride home we took all of our glowing necklaces and tied them together and put them out of the bus window and had a nice long glowing tail going, until a certain person [no names, but his initials are ERIC WITTMAN!] decided to tackle me, causing me to lose my grip and forcing our glowing tail to be forever lost.

So, today has been a pretty relaxing day, some light reading of the novel that I have been perpetually engrossed in, Anna Karenina, and some watching of The Empire Strikes Back. I will probably head up to studio here in a bit to do some work, but I need to get groceries first.

render, render, render

Well, I've got a mid-crit in studio on Friday, so I'm working hard this week to get all of my stuff done. We're supposed to have a guerilla film due, some renderings, a script, storyboard, plan and section, which is a lot. Here's one of my process renderings right now:




I think it's looking pretty good right now, hopefully that will continue.

First Fridays

Well, I'm leaving in a few minutes to go to KC for First Fridays down in the Crossroads district. My friends Gabe and Don have some work on display, so I'm going to check that out as well as lots of other artwork. Hopefully I can get some good pics!

Fallen Beauty

My sister, whom I haven't seen in a month or two, was in town last night, and we went over to my friends house for a party. She didn't stay long, I think her and her friends felt a little out of place considering they were all 18 and everyone else at the party was like 22 or older, but it was still good to see her. I was dressed up like a pirate and she was dressed up like a thug. We then went to the bars in costume and had an extra hour of time out because of daylight savings.

This morning I woke up and looked at my clock and was concerned when it said 1 pm, but then I remembered daylight savings and it was only noon, so I was relieved, as I have had to do quite a bit of work today. It was such a beautiful fall day today that I had to take some pictures on my way up to studio. Below are some images of what campus looks like in the fall, quite wonderful, surprisingly.

Frustruated Update...

People in this freakin town don't care about anything anymore. Below is a little exerpt from my sketchbook:

"This University is dead. No longer do we care about liberty and freedom, now all we care about is our own selfish desires; if we can get this project done in time then we can go drinking. No one cares about actually learning anything anymore, only about getting our professors off. We are a product of our society, so I cannot justifibly get too pissed off at individuals."

I have tried to get people to help me out with filming and the like, but everyone around here is all talk and no walk. They talk of all these grand ideas, but NOT ONE is ever put into action. I wanted to push this issue and expose this group and their fradulent activities, but no one CARES. All we care about is our insignificant lives and a pointless model that we have to make in a pointless class for our pointless future. No one here has a clue of what they want to do with anything once they get out of school, they are just going to go and live in the suburbs and work for a mundane firm making mundane architecture, because they DON'T CARE. Well, I care; I'm down, but I'm not out.

Babies are selfish

So for the past three days the extreme right wing pro-life group, Justice For All has been on campus with their huge, grotesque anti-abortion propaganda. I don't have a problem if they want to protest, as it is their constitutional right to do so, but this kind of stuff is over the top. Hitler and Stalin used blatant propaganda to alter their message and try to persuade people to follow them, and good old Tammy Cook is doing the same. So, later today me and a friend are going to go film a 'documentary-esque' film about these people and interview Ms. Cook and see what happens when she is put to the grinder. Updates later...

Part II

On Monday I started my second and final studio project of the semester. The last project focused on Mies Van der Rohe's courtyard house prototype, and this new project expounds on this idea. Our entire studio[14students] has been given a city block in which we broke up into 14 plots of land, each boundary being a 12' tall wall. We are to design some sort of commercial space using the courtyard house prototype as a basis for our design. This basically means that we have to design a work space for an artist, musician, architect, brewer, etc...bascially anyone who wants to work but doesn't do retail. I have decided that I am going to design a recording studio and I am going to use sound as a major element in my design. There was a guest lecturer on Monday who talked a lot about sound and showed some of his work in which he merges sound and video into one, each determining what the other does. He talked a lot about the future of music and how it will probably start to involve all of the senses, not just sound, and I found his work to be quite stimulating. Then, later that night we had a very good debate at Belly's, talking about a lot of stuff, and the lecturer/artist was one. When I got home I had a lot of ideas running through my head and I wrote a lot of them down and determined that I want to try to use sound to enhance my spaces and to relate all of my spaces to each other. I haven't quite determined exactly how I am going to do so yet, but I've got a few ideas that I am going to try out.

Yesterday I went up to the Rec and played raquetball/squash with one of my friends. Well, they were out of raquetball equipment, so we played raquetball with squash equipment because we didn't know how to play squash. It was interesting, to say the least, and it made me really tired last night. Today I am quite sore, especially my left[swingingarm].

Weekend

Well, the film is done and I can relax now. I had a little bit of trouble exporting the final film on Friday morning, but it all got taken care of before it was due. At 2:30pm we had our semi-critique, and had two professors come in and basically just watch our films and talk about what they thought was good and what they thought wasn't. It was pretty generic criticism, and they didn't really say much about mine, which could be good or bad, depending on how you look at it. Personally, I was disappointed with how mine turned out, I felt that the colors were too harsh, a lot of my shots felt rushed, and I didn't really develop much of a 'look' to it. I did some work on it yesterday after the crit, tuning it up and such, and I think that I am going to do some more work on it this weekend as well.

Monday we start a new project which will build upon this theme of the courtyard house that we have been dealing with all semester, and as of now I am going to be designing a music recording and production studio. I have been doing some research on studio design today, but I would like to find some case studies which I could study in more depth.

Tomorrow is going to be just as exciting as today I imagine, because for the past two weeks I haven't had any time to do my normal maintainence duties (laundry, groceries, etc), so I will be cleaning lots of stuff tomorrow, yay me!!!

the end is in sight

Hopefully by the time I come into studio tomorrow I will have all of my shots rendered and ready to throw into Combustion. I only have one 3DSMax shot left to render and I am just about done with my Poser renders. I may actually get a decent amount of sleep tonight!!! Tomorrow I have to spend most of my day editing, as Matt my studio professor wants our films by noon on Friday so that we will have them all on a DVD by our crit at 2. I am not quite sure how we are going to have a critique on these films, as we feel like first year film students with the architectural knowledge of the 5th year students that we are. We know what we want to show, but we don't have the technical knowledge on the computer and the theatrical knowledge of movie making. It will be interesting, that is for sure.

So about an hour and a half ago 4 of us from studio walked down to Radina's to get some coffee and as usual we saw my old roommate, Aaron, at the back table; I swear that he lives there. It was funny because he had actually brought up trace paper and pens and was drafting IN Radina's! We were all quite amused at the quirkiness of Aaron presenting itself to us in such a fashion.

I'm on the homestretch!!!!

Production takeover

I am currently involved in a massive take over of the CAPD computer lab. I have taken several computers hostage and I am using them to render for my film that is due on Friday. I have tried several times to have overnight renders go, but for some reason the program will never work, so I am behind a bit. Hopefully, this takeover will allow for me to get back on track. We shall see...

away she goes...

My girlfriend moved to NYC today. I was visiting her in Wichita Wedensday evening through Friday evening, skipping several classes admist that time. It's ok though, because it was worth it as I will not get to see her until probably Thanksgiving. This past month has been a blur of emotion and time, as I have looked forward to every weekend upon which I would get to see her; now this will no longer be an option, and hopefully it will allow me to focus more on my work. I am currently up in studio, and I hope that this will be a much more common occurance now that Niki is gone. It was tough to say goodbye, but suprisingly not as tough as I thought it was going to be. I know that I will see her soon, as time seems to go so fast nowadays, and that I will be able to talk to her on the phone and when I graduate I plan on moving to NYC to get a job. I know a few people here in Manhattan[littleapple] who are interested in moving there as well, so I will have several roommate options. Still, it will be tough, I am not doubting this. I told myself many times that I would not get into a LDR, but I believe that she is worth it. I have had my fair share of good times here in Manhattan[littleapple], and a lot of the stuff that used to appeal to me doesn't seem to be as big of an issue in my life anymore. Things change, people change, and I honestly think that my experiences in England had a large part in this thought/attitude transformation. Anyways, I took some pics of another beautiful Kansas sunset on Wednesday evening, so here are some roadshots.




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gorilla film time

This past weekend was fall break, and my girlfriend was in town, so I didn't get much work done in studio, obviously. I came up yesterday and began working extensively on my gorilla film that is due tomorrow, and progress is naturally slow. Currently I am trying to get all of my shots into Final Cut Pro HD [gotta <3 the Mac], while rendering on my PC. Woohoo for multi-tasking!!! Fortunately we don't have to have all of our shots rendered nicely out, as some of mine are quite pathetic looking. These [gorilla] films are supposed to help us focus on the cuts and editing, so that we can produce our film more effectively. So, I don't plan on getting much sleep tonight [again,whatelseisnew?]...cheers.

__remember me

Yesterday was my 23rd birthday. I am starting to feel[andsometimesact] like an old man it seems like. Yesterday was probably my most uneventful birthday in my university career; neither good nor bad, just different. I woke up fairly early and came in to studio to do a lot of the work that I procrastinated over the weekend, skipped lunch[timeconstraints] and then was in studio until 5:20 when I went home and ate leftover pizza and went to my wine tasting class until 9. Then, after not feeling any resembelance of the elevation that traditionally comes with consuming wine for 2+ hours, I went up to studio and studied for a geography of natural resources test that I had this morning. I did get to Belly's for a couple of Old Style's at around midnight, and went to bed around 1. Ironically, this was what I would have rather been doing than compared to what I did on my previous birthdays; you only have to live through your 21st once, and I didn't intend on repeating that. Am I getting old, or am I getting wise? Or are those two words inexplicably intertwined, which would mean that I am getting both at the same time? I think/hope so, anyways.

Oh yeah, I watched part of Requiem For A Dream yesterday evening, and it has given me an idea for my 5 second film that is due on Friday in studio. Basically, I think that the reason Matt is having us do these films is for us to learn how to use editing and cuts to tell the story instead of using dialogue and actors. I got a lot of ideas from several of the drug usage scenes, and I think that I've got a good idea about GHB/frats that will work nicely. We'll see how it comes out, and hopefully I can get it posted here.

Beauty in Kansas [x2]

Well, I just returned from a trip to Wichita to visit a [friend] of mine and had a very good weekend. That's two in a row. On the way to and from I went down Highway 177 both ways all the way to I-35 and I realized how beautiful Kansas actually is. The scenery is quite breathtaking right now, and although these pics aren't the best [I was trying to drive, gimme a break], hopefully you can get the idea. I also took a pic of some tower outside of El Dorado that was on fire, I don't know if it was purposeful or not.

Bellys

Last night I met up with some mates at the ol' watering hole, Rock-A-Belly Deli. Hung out and had a few brews, enjoying some good times. I was fortunate enough to have my camera with me, and I snapped a few pics of my home-away-from-home.

n e x [t]

Well, I got my film done this morning, and I am mildly pleased with the outcome. There is a lot more that I could've done better [re-shooting my green screen for one], but overall for the amount of work I put in I was pleased. We've got a script due Friday, but I can get that done tomorrow when I do laundry. I wish that I could somehow post my films online here, but alas they are too large and would kill all of my current online storage space. I was surprised during our films today, because I always think that Matt is going to yell at us and tell us how much we suck, but somehow he always says that we are doing good work? I have always thought that he was going to be a professor who would tell us our work is crap, but so far he seems to be real cool about everything and always points out good stuff in our projects.

So, I think that I am going to be going to Wichita [far from this opera for evermore} this weekend to visit my [friend]. I will be leaving Sat morning and coming back Sunday, I hope to have a good time, I know the company will be top notch. Well, time to hit Belly's.

.Process

Took some pics of my desk today, here's to show how quickly I can accumulate crap:



Here's a pic of a watercolor I did for my rendering class tomm...I call it, 'smack.'

Lacking

Well, I had a really good weekend. I got to hang out with a friend for most of it and we both learned a lot about each other. It kinda sucks because she's going to be moving away to NYC at the beginning of October, so we won't really get to hang out for much longer. Now that Monday rolls around, things are inevitably less exciting, so I am feeling kind of bummed today. I've also got so much stuff to do, I have to have a digital film involving a Mies courtyard house that is due tomorrow, and I am currently waiting to shoot my footage. As usual, the people in front of me are running an hour late, so I have a feeling that I am going to be up in S110 for a while tonight...oh well, I've got lots of music to keep me busy. Of course everyone has waited until tonight to shoot their film [meincludedofcourse], so we're all up here together. I've also got an abstract watercolor due on Wed for my Rendering.Presentation class, and I've got to transfer an image of a John Hejduk Wall House 2 onto watercolor paper so that it will be ready for class.

[hejduk]


And here's a pic of the current state my desk is in:

Finally Friday!

Ok, so maybe this week wasn't that strenuous, but it's still nice to have the weekend ahead of me. I've been working on a various assortment of things this week in studio, ranging from the rendering that you see in the previous post, to storyboarding a short digital film that I am going to be filming and editing, to getting a feeling for a new program that we are working with, Combustion.

This morning I went on a nice 20 mile biek ride, as the weather today is quite beautiful. It's just one of those days where all you want to do is sit outside with your mates and just shoot the shit, not sit in front of a computer working on mundane renderings. One thing I did have to do today was go to the UPS store and try to deny shipment of a package that I already recieved. A few weeks ago I ordered a 1gig stick of RAM from Newegg.com, but when I tried to put it in, I realized that my motherboard only will accept pairs of RAM. So, I returned the RAM to Newegg, and in my application I stated that I ordered the wrong item. A few days later, I get an email from Newegg stating that they had recieved my shipment and were sending me a new stick of RAM, but the problem is that it was STILL A 1GIG STICK!!! So, I called them the next day and told them the deal and the operator told me that she would cancel the shipment and everything would be cool. Well, when I got home last night, I opened the screened door and out falls a package from UPS, and you guessed it, it's the 1gig stick of RAM from Newegg. I wasn't there to refuse the shipment, so they just left it. After my ride this morning, I went to the UPS Store and told the guy my situation, and he told me that I had to go to the UPS distribution center because at the UPS Store they don't deal with refused shipments. Bollocks. So, I head over to the distribution center and when I pull into the parking lot [first time I've driven my car in two weeks, btw] I notice that the place looks pretty dark. I walk up to the door and low and behold, it's locked. Upon glancing at the hours sheet on the window I see that they are open from 3-6pm M-F. WTF?!?!?! Who is open for 3 freakin hours a day!!!!! Ridiculous!!! So, now I have to go there after studio, what a pain in the ass.

.render

Well, I've been pretty busy w/studio and other random stuff recently, so I haven't gotten to post for a bit. The Interpol show was alright, the band was tight and sounded and looked good, but the show was short and the crowd wasn't really into it like they should've been. It was all ages and a bunch of feeble high schoolers were there, which explains the tameness. I am currently downloading the newest Broken Social Scene album from my bro, which upon intial listening isn't as good as their last masterpiece, You Forgot It In People. Below is a rendering for studio that I have been working on and am going to be turning in tomorrow. I am pretty pleased with it, I think that the tree could've turned out a bit better though.

Betty

I went to the library the other day to get some books on my now favourite artist, Gerhard Richter, and was browsing through one of them when I came upon the most beautiful painting that I have ever seen:



I am getting ready to leave Manhattan this weekend and head to Lawrence tonight and then on to KC on Saturday. My best friend is in the Air Force and he is in town for the weekend and I haven't seen him in 9 months, so we're gonna party and have some fun. I will try to take some good pics and get them posted up here.

A Jagged Knife to the Heart

Saw this today while browsing for new music, it seems that Alanis has run out of new material...heh

Up and Running!!!

I am finally on the network at studio! Hooray for iTunes!!!

Assemblageof Sorts

Well, I haven't really posted in a week, and I just loaded all of my pictures from my camera onto my Powerbook, so this is going to be a cumulative posting of photographs and thoughts.

I am starting to get settled in here at my new place, and I am close to being completely moved in. As you can see, my 'living room' is good:


It's my sleeping room that needs some work:


I need to get some metal shelving from my parents house in KC so that I can put all of that crap onto something instead of just throwing it in a pile on the floor.

I've been in classes for a week now, but outside of a 48 hour studio project, I haven't really done anything productive. I feel like I need to be doing more [besides going out at night], and I think that once I get into a routine things will improve.

Here is an example of what I have been doing [technically it's Fish and Tom, but you get the point]:


And here's a proper British fry-up that I cooked Fish and I the following morning [he didn't have a place to live for a few weeks, so I had a temporary roommate]:


And finally, I have some pics from my vacation in Michigan. The first one is a killer fishing trip that landed us many pounds of delicious Salmon meat, and the second one is a view of Lake Michigan from our condo. Lovely weather.




Now I've got all my pics up to date, so enjoy.

Studio time

Well, today I found out that I got Matt Knox for studio. It will be very digitally oriented, but I think that the projects themselves will be interesting, so I am not too disappointed. Afterall, he was my second choice. Sometimes I wonder how much say the students actually have in the selection process. I know that we get to preference and everything, but I wonder if the professors get together and put the students in the studios that will be [b]best[/b] for them, or just arrange them so that there will be parity in every studio. I find it interesting that all of my friends are mainly always in two studios, not spread out through all 5 studios. It will be a different experience to be in a studio that is a year-long, because up until now I have only been in semester-long studios.

Wankered

Well, I have been back in Manhattan[ks] for two days now, and the above title pretty much describes it all. Every day someone else gets into town, so we have to go out and celebrate. Strange thing is, some of these guys I haven't seen for 9 months, and it doesn't really seem like we've been apart. And, even more surprising, we haven't really fallen into the cliche of talking about Europe. A few references here and there, but we haven't gotten all pretentious about it yet. I'm just waiting for it though, because it's bound to happen soon. I imagine when we all begin to realize how shitty this town is and how there is nothing to do here that we will then relapse into talking of 'the good old days' in Europe. Ah, only one more year before I can get out of this town.

I think that I am going to refer from here on out to this week as, 'the calm before the storm.' It is the one week during the year in which we can truly relax and hang out and not have any responsibility. This is probably why we end up drinking all day long. Classes start on Monday, and we should know tomorrow who we have for studio. None of the choices for this year were all that enticing to me, so I don't really care all that much which studio I am in. My top two choices were all year-long studios, so if I get either of those let's just hope that things go well or it's going to be a long ride.

I am anxious to get back into classes and start to get my life on a routine, as I feel that I haven't really been on a routine all summer long.

The Classics

Well, the past two nights I have watched two classic films, Rebel Without a Cause and The Hustler. Ironically, both movies have the two most badass actors ever to grace the big screen. James Dean is the epitome of an outlaw biker, and Paul Newman is as cool as the other side of the pillow. Actors aside, I love the messages that both movies give; while differing in details, both place empahsis on sticking to your guns and following your beliefs and staying true to yourself, no matter what the cost. I would have to say that I like The Hustler better, but I could just be saying that now because I just finished watching it; however, it does seem to have a more fluid plotline (the characters do not fall in love in less than 24 hours), and the death in it seems to be more tragic than in RWOC, thereby more firmly solidifiying the final triumph. The victory is never as sweet without the pain.

Kansas City City, it's where I really wanna be...

Not really, but just thought I'd throw out some Tech N9ne references.

I got back into KC last night after 14 hours of driving. It was a rather boring drive, we didn't get to see the wonderful Effingham Cross that we saw on the way out:



'Bow down before the one you serve
you're going to get what you deserve.'
-Trent Reznor, NIN

Ok, no more music quotes for the rest of the blog, I promise.

I was going to go to Manhattan today and unpack and set up my apartment, but I have an interview at Radinas on Wednesday, so I'm going down tomorrow instead. I need to get a job for next year, as I haven't made much money this summer considering how much I spent in London, so I figured that I might as well put my Starbucks experience to use. Hopefully I will get the job.

I've got a few pics from Michigan, but I haven't uploaded them on to my computer yet, so I will get that done soon.

Michigan

Right now I am chillin at the Leelanau Coffee Roasting Company, using and abusing their wi-fi connection in the heart of Leelanau County in Northern Michigan. I have been up here since Sunday afternoon, and tomorrow at the break of dawn we start our 13 hour journey back to Kansas City, hopefully arriving around 9 pm. It has been a rather interesting week, we met up with some old friends that used to vacation with us up here at a resort that is now destroyed so that a multi-millionaire can build a summer home. Such is capitalism.

We are in Glen Arbor:


I have been doing a lot of beach chilling, reading (finished Devil in the White City and started Anna Karenina), and bike riding. I have done a loop twice now with is about 30 miles long, and goes through this very hilly National Park called Pierce Stocking. There are some insane climbs, and I have climbed them all successfully.

Tom, get ready because when we get back to Manhattan, I'm coming for you.

However, I am officially sick of being with my family and I cannot wait to get back to school. When you think about it, I haven't really had things 'back to normal' since December, and I am longing for my freedom back and the chance to get back into a routine.

Kerouac: Conservative, Lawyer style

Yesterday I embarked on a 'road trip' of sorts with my family to a destination of northern Michigan. I am currently staying at a Holiday Inn in Holland, Michigan. Just down the street is a fantastic outlet mall, fashioned after the American stereotype of Dutch architecture; ie bright orange roofs made of plastic, but 'designed' to look like tiles, and walls made to look like post and lintel construction using timber with white plaster infill; sort of a Dutch meets German fusion, but hell, people in Michigan don't know much difference. I'll try and get pics of it tomorrow.

Today we drove from my grandpa's house in Columbia, Missouri and went out to dinner at a restaurant with good food, but a style of early 90's decadence. You know, fake grapes and vineyard branches, sponge painted walls, bright colors, etc. Funny enough, the customers were dressed with a similar style of tackiness. That's what you get when you let Marty pick the restaurant.

On the road today I tried to get my family to stop for lunch at a trucker diner, to experience the life of being on the road constantly, but no, we had to stop at Wendy's, of all places. I had a Spicy Chicken Sandwich with a Coke. Also, I tried to get my brother, who was driving at the time, to put the car on cruise, and then we could switch seats mid-road, but he would have none of it. My family isn't very adventurous; hopefully this week will be a bit more exciting.

The South will rise again!!!

...well, some people think so anyways.



Yesterday I went to a band concert in Roanoke, Missouri, the town that my grandpa and grandma grew up in. My grandma is no longer with us, and since is was the 99th year that the concert was taking place, I figured that I should go. I had a good time, it was good to spend some time with my grandpa. Below are some pics.

My grandpa attempting to eat a delicious burnt sugar cake:


Roanoke used to have over 100 residents; now it has about 10 and most houses that are still standing look like this:


My sister looking at my grandma's gravestone:


And here's a pic of my 'new' apartment in Manhattan:

Workin man

Today was my second day in a row off, the first time that this has happened since I've been back. For once it actually felt like a weekend[irony b/c it's midweek]; yesterday I was in Manhattan moving all of my stuff. My sister and mom came down, and it was quite interesting to move with them. We got into town around noon and hit up Belly's from some delicious grub. We sat at the front table right by the door which gave me a more than adequate seat with which to reabsorb my second[studio=1] home in Manhattan. Then we went and picked up a 14' truck from U-Haul, which I proceeded to drive to my place out by the golf course; of course this was down with a backwards cap, windows down, and hard rock blasting on the radio. When we reached my place, we all went inside to start packing, with one little problem: I forgot to bring any boxes. What we did to accomodate was to find any box, container and bag, and shoved it full of all of my stuff, and this is when I came to a very important realization that I have too much shit. So, after I get around to unpacking the big pile of stuff on the floor of my new place, I will be lightening my load[s] substantially. We got everything moved without much of a hassle, and then headed home.

Between now and next Thursday, I only have one day off, and that is Saturday. I was going to have to work then too, but I got it off as there is a band supper at my grandpa's home town of Roanoke, Missouri. It has been an ongoing tradition for many, many years, and now that the town is basically all but gone, I feel that I should go there with my grandpa because it has always meant so much to him. He is the person in my life that I respect the most, I know that our time together is growing short since he is almost 86 years old. I am looking forward to the supper and hopefully can snap some pics.

canufeelthe BEAT

So I have stopped reading Kerouac's Visions of Cody because it is boring. There is no plot, and it is just pages after pages of one run on sentance. It is basically a character study of Neil Cassidy, one of Kerouac's good friends and is not really moving anywhere in a hurry. I know that is his[Kerouac] style, but it is quite difficult to read the book and I don't really feel like having it take the rest of my summer to read. I will get around to it eventually, I just want to get to some other stuff.

My dad[conservative] has been criticizing Kerouac and the Beat authors as just being trash, yet he has never read any of their work. I have tried to get him to read On the Road, but he will not do it. He gave me a book called, The Long March: How the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s Changed America, which is basically a left-wing criticism of the right-wing counterculture from the Beats all the way up. It's interesting, I just don't agree with a lot of it. One of the reasons that I am reading it[besides b/c I want to see BOTH sides of the debate] is so that I can tell my dad that since I read his book, he has to read my book. Think it will work? I'm optimistic.

Tuesday I am going to Manhattan[little apple] to move all of my stuff to my new apartment for good[finally]. Then, Wedel can have my key[also gives me an excuse to go to Lawrence]. I will also be applying for a job at Radinas[coffeeshop].

curious thought of the day: I wonder if in the future[near/far?] people will discontinue to hang out with friends in reality and just socialize via facebook[online]? Think about it[scary], never actually going to a party or firends, just hopping on your computer[apple!] and typing something on your friends wall[OMG!!! UR sooo CUTE!!!!! luv u 4evr!!].

Change of pace

Well, I woke up early this morning and went on a bike ride, and it felt really good. I feel like I have been letting that slide the past week or so, and therefore I have decided that I am not going to drink anymore for the rest of the summer; it also costs too much money (for now) and I think that a summer without it will be good. I always like to prove to myself that I can do something, and this is no exception. So, tomorrow is my day off from work and I am going to get up again and do another bike ride, and then give my car some lovin'.

Don't know if I mentioned this or not, but the other day I tried to lower the back of my car and one of the coils had seized, so until I get enough money to buy a new one I am going to be driving around with some not-so lovely wheel gap. Ahh, such is life.

Lost in re-adaptation

Well, I thought that things were back to normal, but I was wrong. I guess it takes a little longer to readapt to being home that I thought. It isn't really any one specific event that has caused me to believe this, just a combination of small ones. Things that used to not annoy me as much (having to sit endlessly in traffic), now irritate me beyone all means. When I see the trophy wife crowd, both current and future, I am no longer excited by their looks but am now rather disgusted by their ignorance about life. I feel like I have changed, but the world around me has not, and this makes me feel akward. I have come back to a place and a life that was once me but now is not. Will I gradually filter back in, or will I feel like this forever?

The funny thing is, people in Europe are just like the people over here, they just have slightly different cultures. You had your jocks, your preps, your skaters and your nerds over there, they just dressed and talked differently. So if is all the same, then what has made me change?

Ah well, enough musing, I have to wake up early tomorrow to go on a bike ride.

OC

Well, I just finished the first season of the OC, and my was it intense. All you naysayers, don't knock it until you try it. My sister said that the second season comes out on DVD later this summer, and she's trying to get my to go in 50/50 on it, but if I do that, then everyone will know that I am actually interested in it and I won't be able to use the line that I just innocently borrowed it from my sister. Oops, too late.

I did however get a new pair of kicks in the mail today, an American classic known as the Jack Purcell - white on white of course. I plan to be rockin these sockless all summer long.

London Bombings

My mom woke me up this morning to tell me of the terrorist attacks in London. So far there are about 45 dead and over a thousand injured. My first reaction was one of shock, followed very closely by feelings of anger towards the people who did this. I know realize that while significant, this is not near the level of 9/11, and while it is important to help and be concerned about people, life must go on. People in London are still working and going about their business, and that is what they need to be doing. Terrorists must not be allowed to think that they are getting anything accomplished by their cowardly actions, and I know the resolve of Londoners; this will not sway them.

I have emailed several of my friends, but have not gotten any replies back. One of my dad's law partners, a guy who lives and works in London and whom I had lunch with several times, was located very near the blasts and I got an auto reply stating that he will be out of the office until Monday, so I know that he is at least alive.

seventeen

read 6-30 and 7-2. shake, don't stir. wal-la.

dirty|little|secret

Ok, I will admit it...I have become hooked on the OC. My sister bought the first season on DVD yesterday and I watched a few episodes with her while she was lying in bed after surgery on her gums and I have become hooked on it. I just watched 4 episodes of it after work and it is now 3 am. Go ahead, poke fun, make jokes, I don't care, I will now freely admit it.

Don't know if it is too early for this or not:

http://www.uwec.edu/counsel/pubs/TwelveStepsOfAA.htm

Lost in Translation

So after work tonight I hit up Blockbuster and rented Sophia Coppola's recent film, Lost in Translation, and 'wow!' was I blown away. It was such a poignant and truthful film that I am tempted to watch it again, even though it is already 1:30. I cannot remember the last time I saw a movie that had me so deep within it's grip. The script was fantastic, the relationship between Johansson and Murray was so tragic and even though I knew what the eventual outcome would be, I still kept on hoping that it would not end how it did. And the cinematography was top notch as well, I loved Coppola's minimal yet effective use of camera angles. She managed to capture the emotion of the characters in a rather untraditional way through the use of the screen, not the dialogue between the characters. Beautiful.

Johnson County

Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that

Now you're all gone, got your make up on and you're not coming back [can't you come back?]
Bleachin your teeth, similing flash, talking trash under your breath [under my window]

Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me

(courtesy of broken social scene)

...

Well, I've been posting daily, so I guess I will continue. Worked this morning from 10:30-5 and then went in a ride later in the day. It was really hot outside and I almost overheated several times, but I got through the ride. I did however get a cramp in my calf at the beginning of the ride that hampered me all ride long.

A new release of iTunes came out this week, and it now includes podcasting, which is a pretty cool feature. Basically, podcasting is when people create .mp3 files and do a sort of audioblog. Just goes to show how intregration is occuring.

Bad Day

This morning I was awaken at 8 am by the evil roofers going to town on our roof...RIGHT ABOVE MY BED!!! It wasn't cool at all. I knew that it was going to be a rough day from here on out.

I went to the pool to catch some rays and do some relaxin and reading of my most current read, Visions of Cody by my main man Jack Kerouac. I was there for about an hour and a half before I realized how sunburned I was getting. I now have a very red and very sensitive stomach, back, chest and legs.

After the pool (it's obviously my day off...yay!), I went to work on lowering my car to my desired ride height. Well, as one could imagine, the 5 months of sitting and lack of washing did a number on my coilovers, causing them to rust and bind. It took me several hours and half a bottle of WD-40 to get the fronts down to the optimum ride height, but I could not budge the rears, as they are too rusty. So, I am rolling around muscle car style with some massive rake going on (that's low in the front, high in the rear). Here are some pics of the current setup:





So, now I'm going to roll around all goofy looking for a bit until I can get some more energy to work on the rears and hopefully get things unbinded back there. Good luck to me.

To Thomas

Tom, I found a pretty badass pchop I did of you while I was in London, let me know if you can place where it was taken:

I'm So Emo!!!!

Har Har Har.

So I was getting bored so I decided to dye my hair. It is now black. There isn't that big of a difference from before, as my hair was pretty dark to begin with, but here's how it sits now:



Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go cry in a corner about how much my life sucks. Oh wait, I'm in school, my parents help me with money if I need it, I've got lots of good friends, and I just spent a fantastic semester in London, my life doesn't suck!!! Oh woe is me, whatever will I lament about now?...

We are spirits in a material world...

Is it possible to live a life completely devoid of hypocracy, or are we destined to continue our existence swimming in an ironic pool of it?

Today my new iPod case arrived in the mail, I think it's pretty s-e-x-x-y.



It's made by www.contourdesign.com and is both durable and elegant; I would highly recommend one.

Dinner!!

Finally got to eat my Gates BBQ, a nice short end of delicious ribs!!!!!


mmmmmmmmm!!

She's got a ticket to ride

I started my 'training' today. On the 29th of July my family is going up to Michigan for a reunion with several other families that we used to meet up with for a week every summer. There are some fantastic roads to ride your bike on up there, and there is one ride in particular in an area called Pierce Stocking which is quite brutal. I have done it once before and was quite knackered after I did it. I have been wanting to get myself back into shape, and now I have got 5 weeks of intensive riding so that I will be in shape for when we go up there. I am using this ride for my inital motivation to get myself into shape, and I am hoping that once I get into shape for my week in Michigan that I will be enjoying it enough that I will stick with it.

Tomorrow is another day off for me before working Thursday-Sunday. It looks like I am going to be averaging 35ish hours a week, which is the most that I have ever worked for Starbucks. It's fine with me, no matter how much I may complain about it, because I do need the money.

I've been meaning to post this pic, but I have been too lazy to upload it until now; so, here's my new euro-haircut!!

Manhappiness Pie

Well, today I drove to Manhattan and back. The main reason that I went there was to get my keys and the like for my new apartment, located on the corner of 12th and Vattier. It's a one bedroom that is a block from campus and a block from Aggieville, so I will never have to drive anywhere. Yay! Also, I went to Belly's and had a delicious Western sandwich and a pint of Boulevard Stout. It was good to be back. I then went to Radina's and saw my old roommate Ryan, who works there. We chatted for a bit and then I got an application for a job there, as I need to get one for next semester and I figure that since I go there often enough, and that I have many years of experience in the business that it would be good place for me to work.

My new place was quite dirty when I first opened the door. There is going to be a lot of scrubbing of the floors, walls, and kitchen, but I think that once it all gets clean then it will be a good place. I am glad to have a place of my own that is close to campus and Aggieville, as it will save me lots of money on gas, and will be better for the environment...put that in your pipe and smoke it Gary Coates!!!

Summer is boring. My friends who are in town all have 9-5s and my friends who don't work 9-5s are still in Europe. I guess I could be reading or something, but I would like to hang out with people that I haven't seen in a while.......................

Workin 9 to 5

Well, more like 2:15-10:30, but still, works sucks. I've worked the past about 25 hours in the past 4 days, and after only being home for about 5 days, it has been quite tiring. I am looking forward to my day off tomorrow, even if I am going to Manhattan to deal with my rent for next year and all that good stuff. I am disappointed though, as tomorrow is Monday and Belly's is going to be closed, so I won't be able to grab a sandwich there. I hate it when you get excited for something, such as going back to a place with such great memories, and then you are let down by the realities of life.

Tonight I watched the moive Sideways with my brother, and I was throughly entertained by it. It was a great balance of comedy and drama, Paul Giamatti was fantastic as Miles. I felt weird drinking beer while watching it though, I think that wine would have obviously been much more suitable for the occasion.

Ok, well I have to get up early and go to Manhappiness tomorrow, hopefully it will bring me much happiness.

jet.lag

Ugh.

Jetlag is not cool.

I have been back a few days now, and this morning I have felt like complete rubbish. I can go to bed at a normal hour, but I seem to be waking up early (9 yesterday, 7:45 today) and cannot go back to sleep. Last night I hung out with some of my old mates that I hadn't seen since Xmas, and one of my friends has a Wrangler, so we drove around and did some offroading last night with the top and doors off, and now this morning my throat is quite sore, I hope only from all the dust I was breathing. I also have a headache (nothing new, I've had one since I got on the aeroplane), my legs hurt, and I feel groggy. Bollocks.

I was going to go to Manhappiness today and get my keys and stuff taken care off at my new place that I'm renting, but I don't feel good enough to drive 4 hours as well as work later today.

That's right, work. I am about to regret what I am going to type, but I am back at Starbucks. After being in Europe trying many different varieties of coffee and tea, I have found that Starbucks is not quite up to par like I had once thought. Also, the atmosphere in the place blows, to be completely honest. It's always a bunch of young professionals, or yuppies, buzzing in and out, and not taking time to actually enjoy their coffee. I love sitting in a cafe and relaxing while drinking coffee, maybe chatting to some friends, maybe reading a book or newspaper, and it seems to me like Starbucks has become too mechanicized to allow the freedom that you get in individual chains. So, I'm off to work 6 more weeks for the man, only b/c it's the only place I can get a job for that short of a time, and then I will go back to Manhattan where I will look for a job for this fall, hopefully at Radinas, a real coffee shop. Cheerio.

Stateside

Well, I am now back in the good ol' US of A, and I am quite knackered. Only got about 5 hours of sleep last night after going out for one last shebang in London, arriving home at 4 am before having to wake up a 9 and endure many, many hours of traveling. Goodnight.

Big Day Coming

Well, today is my last full day in England. Tomorrow at this time I will be boarding my flight to Atlanta, and then on to Kansas City. It's been a good trip. It has gone by fast, I have learned and seen a lot, and I consider myself a much more insightful and well rounded person after being over here. I think that the year in which I came was not the best as far as making quailty relationships with the English students, as they were in their final semester of school and were really loaded down with work, but I still managed to make some quality and hopefully lasting relationships. One of my friends may be coming Stateside in September, so I may see him.

Tonight I am going into London to celebrate a friend's birthday/my going away, and I am looking forward to that. I am basically packed, I still need to send off a package and turn in my cell phone and receive £10 cash for it, but other than that, I have nothing else to do. So, until I return to America, cheerio.

Back to the Beat

Well, I just returned to Kingston after roughly two weeks of touring England with my rents and sister. It was a good time, but I was ready to have my own space by the end of it. Afterall, there is only so much time you can spend with your family before you go insane. Anyways, we spent 3 nights in a hotel in central London, 3 nights in a B&B in Ripon, Yorkshire, and 4 nights in a B&B in Winchcombe, Gloustershire in the Cotswolds. I enjoyed being in London, but towards the end of the trip out in the country I was ready to return to city life.



It's hard to believe, but I head back to the States this coming Tuesday, which leaves me only 4 days left (including today) in which to rape, pillage and otherwise utterly destroy myself in this crazy city called London. Last night I met up with some of my mates and we went out for some pints to the local pub (my favorite) called the Cocoanut (they spell everything wrong here, btw). I think that we are going to try to go to a rather infamous club called Oceania on Monday night for my last hurrah!; I'm sure that I will feel fantastic for the 13 hour plane ride home the next day.



Well, below are some pics from my travels in England with the fam (in reverse order for some reason). Enjoy.



Cows blocking the road in Yorkshire:


The Coney Island of England, Whiteby:



An old abbey in Yorkshire, Rivelaux (sp?) Abbey:


Me and a Beefeater (will make a great photoshop later on):


Me, sis, and mom outside of Westminster Abbey:


View of London from the London Eye:

I have to return some videotapes

I'm plotting off my final drawing as we speak...here are some pictures of Canterbury to keep you all busy:

Entry to cathedral:


Outside of cathedral:


Inside of cathedral:


Old Norman castle:


(edit)
Well, I'm sitting here waiting (surprise, surprise) for my drawing to plot off. There are people who are printing off banner pages, and since only the lab technician can print them off, he has put all of them at the front of the line so that he can get out of here by 5 o'clock. So, I am sitting here wasting time, as usual, waiting for the plotters. Tomorrow I have an 'interview' with my tutors/professors in which I will show them my portfolio and we will talk for about 15 minutes about it and then I will be done. I cannot wait for that time to come becuase I am really sick of hanging around this lame-o computer lab.

However, I am looking forward to tonight, as it is the finale of a tv show I have been watching over here called 'The Farm,' in which a handful of celebrities all live on a farm for 3 weeks and do chores and then the public votes them off. I know, I know, it's reality tv, but it seems to be not as trashy over here. Some of the people on the show are Ron Jeremy (he got voted off :( ), Flava Flav, and a whole bunch of British people. There are only 4 left out of 10 original, and all of them are British.

The waiting continues...