that’s what this past week was like.

i suppose it would help to explain a bit.

apparently this one kid in my writing class got hit by a bus the other day.  he didn’t die or anything (obviously), but he did get knocked unconscious and burn his arm on a sidewalk grate.  he’d been standing on the sidewalk, near to the curb, looking down the street, when a large septa bus came barrelling down behind him.  the back of his head was nicked by the bus mirror, and he was flung forward onto the sidewalk.  this is no small kid, either.  i’ll not name names, but his is the sort that sounds rather fitting with the word “big” in front of it.  i’m glad he’s all right, and i’m equally glad that he’ll have a fun story to tell from now on.  city living, eh?

then on thursday, we had a jumpy italian fellow come and save us from 1pm studio classes…his name was fabrizzio paladin, and he lectured us on the ins and outs of renaissance minstral theater.  in moderately broken english (it was cute), he told us the history  and importance of this art form, and he even demonstrated with fun masks and silly body movements.  observe:

just turn your head 90 degrees to the left and pretend that you’re there.  it was fun, despite being a bit confusing.  between the italian and the fact that none of us were theater majors, we weren’t entirely sure what was going on the entire time, but it was really nice to have a break in the middle of a usually jam-packed day. 

later that evening, i got a call from my father, who was wondering if was “okay” after the events of thursday.  i didn’t know what he was talking about, until he told me about the underground explosions that had occurred earlier that afternoon.  they were only a few blocks north of me, too!  i suppose uarts has become too much of a cozy bubble for me, as i don’t even know what the hell is transpiring up the street from me.  pfft.  i need television or something.

as for the staged mess, that is what my roommate and i were up to earlier this week.  we’ve been 2 in a room for 3 since the third day, after our other roommate decided that philadelphia was just not the place for her, and for this reason, jerica and i have become quite cozy as two.  we don’t want anyone imposing upon our synergy.  that is why we funked our room up during the room switch period, which ended on friday.  muwahaahahahahaha!  we put clean dishes into the sink, we threw clothes onto the floor, we blasted abba…we were so clever.  so very clever.  muwahahahahahahaha!  we beat the system. 

yeah, wow.

i don’t really have anything left to talk about.  so i’ll just save it up for later in the week, and leave you with this last thought:

i love 15 min. breaks.  and fruit roll-up tongue tattoos.

[listed in order of importance:]

1) homework.


guh. if i never drew another straight line in my life, it would be too soon. also, why do all of the assignments take so long to do? 3 hours for each class every night?! whaa?!

2) food.

there’s always food in the fridge…but how shall i assemble it into a meal? butter sandwich? string cheese dipped in strawberry jam for dessert? meh.

why am i eating so many pop tarts these days? i don’t even really like pop tarts!

3) my computer/the internet.

my macbook is my most prized possession. it sucked thousands of dollars out of me, but i love it. to death?…we’ll see.
also, i have no real internet in my room…i just sort of bum sporatic moments off of a local wireless network for free. sshhhh! don’t tell. starving artists are allowed to steal things.

4) entertainment.

i can’t even tell you how many dvds i’ve watched since i’ve been here. i’ve practically memorized every episode of seinfeld, i’ve exhausted my miyazaki film collection, the recently purchased “say anything”, two seasons of bbc’s “coupling”, “russian ark”, and a concert dvd of the divine comedy circa 1996. i’m starting to feel like i need tv back…even if i don’t have time to really watch it. i just want it to be there…a comforting presence. a link to the outside world.

it almost sucks sometimes…
don’t get me wrong, though…because i love it all.

why don’t people party like they used to? i’d like to see white gloves…waiters serving nice, warm brandy…a full orchestra in the corner…people in fancy gowns and random military uniforms dancing the mazurka…
that would be fun to me. then again, what the hell do i know?

so i’ve successfully completed my second week of classes. i really *feel* like a student now, which is nice. it’s also helpful when it comes to making journal entries. i took some photos on the first day, so here’s a bit of visual insight:


views from my room in furness hall

drawing class

found that written on the inside of a wooden box that was next to my desk…clever, eh? hoho.

look at how thrilling our first couple of 3-d classes were………..*cricket chirps*

all-in-all, the first week was decent. i love my teachers, my section is very pleasant, and while they did not hesitate to pile on the work, i found it to be quite doable (especially considering i still have no tv, and the homework consisted of drawing more straight lines than i’ve ever drawn in my entire life.) i’m really finding a rhythm now, too. studio class in anderson, run for a liberal arts class in terra, grab a hot dog whilst running back for another studio class in gershmann…it’s really busy and frenzied, but the flow is nice. i can handle it.

things might completely change in a month or so, but i’m feeling good for now.

last night was the first official late night of work i’ve had. starting immediately after my illustration class which let out at 7pm, i didn’t finish my 2-d design piece until around 12am. granted, i did take time out to eat a bit of dinner, but seriously…a good 3 hours went into one assignment for one class! i think everyone else in my section did the same thing, too…when we showed up for 3-d class at 8:30am this morning, everyone seemed to be feeling all twitchy and light-headed. the only remedy for that and a tedious in-class assignment is to pretend that every action you go through is really thrilling.

example: OMFG!!1!!11 CUTTING MATS ROCK MY WORLD!

oh well. it’s fun here. i like it. hooray.

i’ll write again when i actually have some spare time. mmm…spare time…