My Brain. Needs. Rest.

I wish I wasn't at work and that I was sleeping.  Or that I was at the beach.  Like this.

The Blue Man Group Starts a School!

Pretty cool:

http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,2270490001_1859357,00.html

for whatever reason the link won't load, so copy/paste if you're interested!

Some Art Related Events this Saturday

Just wanted to share some events taking place Saturday, which I will be attending before I go to the MAAE, etc. Potluck.  Hooray!

This is at DePaul:  Nomadic Studio at DePaul University Museum: Extraneous Education Conference 2010

It involves exploration of education as an art form, and also a discussion by CVAE Club's paper "The Condition of Art Education".  John Ploof will be there!

Also, later in the day there is the PechaKucha event (where I heard there will be cocktails, but that may be a lie) and it sounds really interesting because the presenters only have 20 seconds to talk about each of 20 slides.  PechaKucha

Super Tired and blaaaahhhh

Kind of wish I was home today.  Not sure why, not sad, but I've been feeling this way since I woke up.  Oh well.

Here's a photo of a swimming hole that I sometimes frequent.  It is in Huntington, VT, and is a long river that flows down a hill.  There are tons of different places to swim, and even one notorious spot (the gorge) where many people die each year from jumping in.  Eeeek!  I actually never had much respect for river swimming til this summer (mostly because the tall trees at Huntington Gorge block out all the sun and the river is FREEZING) but I my goal this summer was to be as outdoorsy and adventurous as possible, since I knew I was moving to Chicago, where there is a lack of forests and swimming holes.  So even though it was freezing, I at least got into the river, and one time even trekked upstream over beautifully carved out rocks to explore a small cave and sit under a waterfall.  It was probably one of the coolest experiences of my life.

Anyways, here's the photo:

Repercussions of a Fantastic Adventure

I have never quite understood Columbus Day.  Maybe because I have never gone to a school or worked anywhere that has actually recognized the holiday with a long weekend.  I pretty much always forget about it each year until my sister throws it in my face that she has Monday off for Columbus Day.  She works at a bank.  Banks recognize most of the random holidays.  Luckily I do not have class on Monday, so I was able to catch up with my good friend Esau for some Chicago adventuring!

We started at the Columbus Day Parade, since it was local to SAIC, and we wanted to see what it was all about.  It was lame.  We soon moved on, attempting to take a water taxi to Chinatown, but learned it had shut down JUST the week before.  Oh well, to the El we walked, and arrived in Chinatown for my very first Dim Sum meal!  I guess I never knew that Dim Sum meant small appetizer-like dishes i.e. potstickers, shrimp rolls, dumplings, etc.  We were starving, so we scarfed our fare, and continued to meander through the neighborhood all the way over to Pilsen.  We stopped for drinks at Simone's, a bar that reminded me of many Vermont bars rolled into one eclectic wonderful place, then continued up 18th street to the Nuevo Leon bakery.  Three different pastries for $1.75? Um, yes please.  I had to indulge my sweet tooth, and there were so many pastries to choose from!  

We were only about halfway through our adventure at this point, and our next stop was Little Italy.  No eating here, as I was still full from Dim Sum, beer and had begun snacking on one of my pastries, but we did find a lovely bar.  And a bartender who went to high school with Esau (my previously mentioned partner in crime) who ended up giving us a great drink discount.  I love surprise discounts.  

We walked even further to Greek Town, initially with the idea of baklava in mind, but we were too full at this point.  Another bar with an outrageous bartender, who Esau said was the example of a quintessential Chicagoan.  He was very loud, and open, and was smoking in his bar, which he claimed he'd pay the fine for if he was caught.  Interesting character.
Our last stop to bring us full circle back to the Loop was Printer's Row.  I didn't get to see too much, since it was dark by then and nothing was open, but the area was quaint and clean.  I will certainly return in the daylight sometime to explore the bookstores, and go sit on the raised grass mound I found which had one carved pumpkin sitting in the middle of it.  So odd.  I love odd things.

And today?  I am TIRED.  Thank goodness for the scone/stone I bought in Pilsen because it was a perfect pairing with my morning coffee from Sunny's.  But reading about class consciousness?  Not happening.  Editing my podcast for class tomorrow?......maybe happening because it doesn't require quite as much eye strain.  Thinking about my social theory paper that's due next week?  Makes me want to fall asleep.  The only reason I am awake right now is because I'm at work.  And so I decided to blog.  And I will stop rambling now.    

A Wonderful Day for a Cold Beer in the Shower

We have been having some lovely weather in Chicago!  So surprisingly hot, I have actually found myself drenched in sweat these past two days as I have been traipsing about for my various projects/shopping excursions/general moving about outside.  I attempted to do homework in Lincoln Park today.  It was certainly lovely to feel the sun on my back, but reading about sociologically constructed views of art was a struggle, so not much work was accomplished.  I shot a roll of film, did some grocery shopping, and arrived back home a stinky mess.  I found a deliciously cold pumpkin beer in my fridge and thought, "Ah, bliss."  Then, I made the decision to follow in the footsteps of many a male I know and bring the beer into the shower with me.  Truly wonderful.  I thought this was some weird man-tradition, as I have seen many a male roommate or friend take a cold one into the shower with them, and honestly, I could never quite understand this action.  Today I did, in my thoroughly parched state the cold beverage was a fantastic comfort in the hot shower.  Not quite the same hot-cold feeling of a warm brownie with ice cream, but somewhere in the same category.  I would recommend everyone tries this after a particularly long day. 

Some Recent(ish) Work

Some photos I took over the last winter, spring, summer that I thought I would share.....new ones will come eventually I just procrastinate in editing.....

 Just a smattering of some work...not all necessarily "art" but a few of the images I really liked.  The first 3 are from a trip to Colorado to visit my best friend, Haley, who is pictured.  The last 4 are of one of the girls I nannied for the past year.

They Turned the Heat on. Wow.

I woke up especially stuffed up yesterday morning and spent the day printing block prints for a project.  All while desperately trying to hold my brain together as my sinuses were thoroughly paining me.  My mistake?  Buying just claritin instead of claritin D.  The good stuff.  The decongestant to rival all decongestants!  I was struggling to breathe for all 6 hours of work with one of my group partners (who is a perfectionist and was starting to drive me completely nuts as we printed print after print after print and she over analyzed EVERY. SINGLE. MISTAKE. I had to explain to her that art isn't always perfect) and when I returned to my dorm room, I realized it had been transformed into a tropical sauna.  Oh life. 

Luckily today my body must be used to this new HOT ROOM because my sinuses are better, and I can breathe, but I also will be booking it to Target to go buy my Claritin-D just to be safe for the next time my allergies severely flare up.  I am also countering the HOT ROOM by turning the air conditioning on and opening a window to let in the "fresh", cold Sunday air.  You'd think I'd be able to regulate the temperature of my room....?  I may need to speak with someone about this.