Mar 31, 2011

This time I actually got to the bus early and got some breakfast from Jazzman's for the ride. It seemed like most of Westby was on the bus. It was pretty quick trip; we hit some traffic and stopped at a rest stop for some reason, but we got to New York in good time.

We went to Grand Central to meet Susan and found out we had a break before anything was going on because we pushed back our meeting time.

Alex and I met up with Nathan, who just happened to be walking down the same block in Midtown.

We went to Maoz for delicious falafel and hung out in the window acting like mannequins to promote the place. We didn't have a lot of time to hang out so we had to eat quickly and then run off.

We went to Piscatello Design for a "tour" of the office. It was really just one big room with a few desks. It was really cool though. They had some really amazing pieces that they have designed. They have a signature look and they get some high end clients that ask for them. Rosco told us some stories about being in the business and designing things. He's hilarious and really good at what he does. I'd love to work there.

After the inspirational talk, Alex and I separated from the group once more and went to Whole Foods and then to Jamba Juice so I could have a delicious smoothie while she made peppery lemonade with her fresh ingredients.

We walked around Chelsea to a few paper and art supply stores looking for portfolios and to a camera shop where I almost got a lens. I might go back for it if I can't find a better deal somewhere.

We went to the Whole Foods at Union Square and got some food for the ride home and then headed up Broadway to catch our bus. It seemed like a long trip home for some reason. Maybe because everyone was sleeping.

Unfortunately we got back too late to catch Max's opening, but everything looked great. It's nice to have a jewelry show there; I don't think I've ever seen an all-jewelry show. He does really good work.

I went over to Rowan After Hours to get my free haircut for "guy's night." I had to wait a while, but I got to watch Heather get a mohawk as well. I'm not thrilled with how this guy cut my hair. He did a pretty half-ass job, but I guess you get what you pay for.

I came home after my cut and got to bed somewhat early. I was quite tired from walking around all day.

Mar 30, 2011

I didn't get a job in the AM so I went to Westby to talk to Tom about my upcoming sculpture work and then I continued shooting people working in studios. I tried to get some interesting graphic design shots in the labs. I think a few of them are good enough to put in the book.

After working on that for a while I went to get food in the Student Center and then went to GSA, where we did the longest ice breaker of all time. We played a game where one person writes a phrase, passes it to the next person who draws it as a picture and then the next person writes a phrase from the picture and so on. It went around our large circle, straying far from the original phrase. It was pretty funny though. We also got to try the cake for the wedding. Strawberry shortcake with raspberry something-or-other. Delicious.

Gallery meeting commenced right after GSA, so I had to run back to Westby. We mostly went over the inside layouts and the quotes and then got into the cover designs. I couldn't do a lot but offer some opinions at this point.

I made it over to Quizzo during the first round and got some food while we guessed through the picture round. They were all people whom colleges were named after. By the time the seventh round got there I was ready to go so I headed out after we answered the questions.

I went to Kat's for "celebrating Wednesday" and we broke out the Apples to Apples. It's always a fun game and we had enough people for it to be pretty funny.

We played some seemingly made-up-on-the-spot drinking games involving playing cards and at some point Kat suggested I try on some of her dresses so I did that. I think it looks pretty good on me. The other one did not... However, I did get a temporary Justin Bieber tramp stamp.

After I changed back into normal clothes I went over to Alex's to take my place on the couch to get as much sleep as I could before getting up early.

Mar 29, 2011

I came to class late and joined in the fun in the dark room. I didn't miss much it seemed, but I was there in time to start printing from the negatives to refresh myself in printing. It seemed that I remembered a lot more than I gave myself credit for. I made a nice print with relative ease.

I spent some time during the next class shooting people working in the studios, including the photo lab where people were seeing their 35mm film developed for the first time, which explains their expressions. I got a lot of the shots we needed during that period.

I went downstairs for the artist talk by Beverly Semmes. She showed a lot of her work on a slide show and explained her process. It was all interesting, including the woman in the front row who thought the talk was about feminism and rudely interrupted the whole thing to ask why she wasn't talking about it and then walked out.

After the talk, we got some very good finger foods and were able to view the gallery with the actors in their positions. The room was filled with fabric and two large dresses hung above a table where two women sat silently putting together a puzzle. Her concepts and visuals are really intriguing.

I worked on some Gallery things with Alex, giving her the photos I shot earlier and figuring out what else we had left to do. Christy stopped in after her class was finished and we watched some of the Mighty Boosh. That show is hilarious.

Mar 28, 2011

After having a very hard time figuring out what to do for my life/death project, I decided to go with a humorous, movie-inspired approach and shoot James Bond type death scenes. I had Max help me with this one. I should have shot it from a different angle though. Hindsight.

I also shot some of my other ideas with Christy, using flowers and a fire extinguisher and a gas can. I'm not completely sure of the meaning behind these ones, but it's an idea I had when I read the assignment.

I took a break for food and then came back to work on my midterm some more. I spent a lot of time finishing it up, but overall it went pretty smoothly. I was happy to be finished.

I spent some time working with Alex, editing photos and going over things for the publication, while taking some breaks to help film a sculpture video with Heather and Leah.

I was at Westby late with Alex, as usual. So many long nights.

Mar 27, 2011

We were almost the last people on the bus, but we made it in time. The bus trip wasn't so bad once I got my calzone at the rest stop since I didn't have time to eat breakfast.

We got dropped off on the Mall and the weather was really nice for walking around.

We went down to the basin and walked along the water where the cherry blossoms were growing. The Cherry Blossom Festival had been mostly canceled because the forecast was for snow. They messed up.

We spent a lot of time among the trees, taking pictures of them and in them. That's when the hunt for a place to sit down began. We walked through the city around the places that I knew had restaurants but ended up near Union Station.

The Billy Goat Tavern sign drew me in and we went in to see what it was like. It was a weird little place with a cafe on one side and a bar on the other.

We all got grilled cheese and fries. And it was good. We sat there for an hour talking, drinking and eating our fries. Someone played one ridiculous, loud song on the jukebox and then it went back to being quiet. I'd go back.

We headed back to the Mall and went to the Hirshhorn Museum, where I took a lap around the top floor and saw some interesting things before going to the basement to see the ColorForms exhibition, including Olafur Eliasson's "Round Rainbow." I love the simplicity of it and how it changes so frequently with a really amazing result.

We headed back toward the bus but stopped in the Sculpture Garden to check out some cool art and a cute child. This is Roy Lichtenstein's "House I." The illusion is really cool when you stand in front of it. I want a sculpture garden.

When we got back I tried to work on my midterm for a while with poor results. Alex and Cait picked up Popeye's from some shady location and brought it back to eat while we drank wine. We watched some movies, but were more interested in taking photos of ourselves on the webcam.

The night was fun and the wine I got from Heritage's was really good. Alex's boxed wine did not quite live up to the quality of the bottle I had, but it was good in its own way, if not a little too sweet. 'Twas a fun day.

Mar 26, 2011

Chuck, Jeff and I met at the movies to see The Adjustment Bureau early. I thought it was a really good flick. It makes me want to see Matt Damon in more things.

We were supposed to have band practice, but the drummer couldn't make it so we went to Moe's for lunch. I got spicy nachos, which was a good choice for taste (it was really spicy! For once..) but maybe not a good idea before going to the gym..

I met Ryan at the gym to jump a lot. We did a circuit of twenty kettle bell lifts while jumping rope in between them. We did some more unpleasant ab exercises after that. It was a good workout. We took a walk around the hospital before we parted ways for the day.

I went up to Westby after getting ready and gathering my things. I spent a few hours working on my midterm for History of Photo. The questions were surprisingly hard. It was hard to focus on it for too long. I got about half of it done by the time I stopped.

Alex came and we went through some things that we still need to get finished for the books then headed back to her place to get some sleep.

Mar 25, 2011

After being out late I didn't take an early job, but I got a call for a half day at the Senior High. It was for an Industrial Arts class, which I thought would be a shop class or auto. It turned out to be a CAD class. The students were not the best, but they could have been much worse and I got some reading done.

I came home and went for a run by the river. I had to take advantage of the nice weather a little bit. Chuck and I went up to The Abbaye a little later. Not much going on there, but we saw some people we haven't seen in a while and got some decent beers. The selection wasn't really to my liking this time.

I got The Burger for the first time in quite a while. It was still delicious. We had a few more beers and then decided to go hang out at Alex's.

We got some beers and hung out trying to get some work done but not doing a very good job of that. We talked about some work-related things and then drifted off onto more interesting topics. Such as Alex enjoying good beers now!

We were over there for quite a while. Bryant stopped by and hung out while we listened to music and went through pictures. Good night.

Mar 24, 2011

Not much to speak of in the early part of the day, but I came up to Rowan and worked on things for a while and then went to Nick's with Christy. I had an eggplant parm as usual. I really didn't have much of a reason to be at school since my classes were canceled, but I just hung around at Westby getting some work done for the Gallery.

Alex and I went into the studio later and started shooting glasses of water to try some things out.

She brought food coloring so we could attempt some fun shots. A lot of them came out nicely. We tried several different methods and glasses and had some fun pouring colored water.

We had some bubbles that we tried shooting without much success. We decided that it might be better to shoot them outside when it's warmer.

We packed up at the studio and went over to Rowan After Hours for some free mac and cheese and hanging out. I hung out for a while and eventually headed home to get some sleep.