The Processional

I started keeping a design process blog for a class and I am going to try to keep it updated with my latest thoughts and work. It isn't that amazing at this point, but hopefully it will be in the future. The following is from my thoughts for an essay that was written. I just thought it was relavent to today and everyone should know about what is going on in the world and how they can help.


Art Final Essay Thoughts:

In choosing to pursue a career that has so much to do with aesthetics, and the idea that things that are pleasing to the eye are expensive, it is hard to feel like you, as a deisgner, are doing something for the greater good. Making things in this world look beautiful and sell well, and executing brilliant advetising campaigns aren't always enough at the end of the day. I personally struggle with feeling a lack of purpose and connection to the greater population of the world. In lecture, Luke Bertus spoke of how we design for only a small percentage of the world's population. What about everyone else?

When I was still mulling this subject over and contemplating this paper in my head, I happened to watch a man (on tv) from a small rural village of China get a partial face transplant. As I watched his long journey from the mountains in China all the way to Beijing, I realized just how big of a world it is out there, how fortunate I am that I don't have to herd cattle in a remote forest and worry about a bear slashing half of my face off. I realized how convenient my life is here, I have nothing to be worrying about.

My thoughts then turned to everyone else in the world and how I could help them. Being a poor (in American standards) student attempting to become a designer, how can I make a difference? Sometimes I want to drop everything, school, work, friends and family and go to some remote corner of the Earth and just help people. Every time I verbalize these thoughts to my friends or family, they recoil and say I should finish school first. Sure, school will give me a degree and supposedly a job... but is that what is needed in this life? I feel I should just worry about the things in life that matter, like the basic needs and lives of others. Then again, making money and having a home is nice I guess.

When I was looking at different projects, I started reading more about what a studio called Work Worth Doing, is in fact, doing. I found their idea of "Shipping Greenland's water to Africa" quite enlightening. The pictures showed a well designed approach to communicating their ideas. The large installation of a physical representation of greenland's receding ice and melting run-off was really interesting to look at and gave viewers a figure to identify with. It also just looked really cool.



The graphic representations were simple and clear, easy to understand. The project was presented in step-by-step form, steps 1 through 9. The problems of both Greenland and Africa were presented and then a solution was suggested that could perhaps help both. All of this was presented in 2004 in Toronto, Denmark, and Venice as part of the 'Too Perfect' project of the Danish Architecture Centre of Copenhagen, Denmark.

The project is presented with the thought in mind that the world's purest water is exported and sold all over to those with the money to buy it. Since when did water become a luxury? It is not fair that only those with money be able to purchase a resource that is necessary for human survival. So many die every day from lack of clean water and stupid consumers are buying all of this bottled water. The American people should just drink our tap water, it is a luxury. If Americans hate how their tap water tastes, they should consider purchasing a water filter instead of spending so much money on bottled water. I'm not even going to start talking about all of the waste that is created as a result of the bottling and shipping of this luxury; bottled water.

I want to become more involved in public awareness, because that is where graphic designers can contribute most towards global causes. We are taught how to reach people, how our brains react to images, colors, and shapes. We are sitting on a goldmine of sorts. Here we sit, atop a mound of knowledge, perfectly able to help so many causes around us, and yet we still sit. We worry about money, getting recognition, doing what we want, when we could be doing so much to help. My question is how do I get involved, being so busy as a student. I need to just take the time to find a cause and do what little I can in my free time to support it. Each of us were given a talent, and if we don't use it, I have a feeling we will eventually lose it. Whether you believe in God(s), or yourself, or in just nothing, this principal is true. Use it or lose it.

If you want more information about this project, or other projects that Work Worth Doing is working on, visit their webpage.

An Update

Hi guys! Long time no post...

Lots of things have changed. I moved, I lived in a house with six other people in far out East Portland. I met two people in the house that I love to death, one of which I just moved with to an apartment a mile from downtown on the east side. We just moved in last night. I will spare you the details of the departure from our previous dissatisfactory living arrangement and just tell you that even though we've been in our new place for 72 hours, we are much much happier here.

My new roommate's name is Danielle, she is from Illinois and she moved to Portland last June. She is really fun and sweet, she loves movies and just hanging out. She tolerates and usually enjoys my taste in music, which is important as many of you may know.

I just finished my first quarter at Portland State University (which will from now on be refferred to as PSU). It was a hard quarter, trying to adjust to a new school, all my homework, and working full time. Now that we are settled in a better place, this next quarter should be really great. I am hopefull. Not much else in the way of news. Oh, my computer died, so that is why I never post anymore. That will hopefully be changing soon.

Eight Bags

Out for coffee, feeling alone. Skinny Love comes on, loud and clear. Feeling even more alone than before. I start to hum along, like I do to every other song because I don't know all the words. I hear someone else singing. I look up and see the man I always see when I am here. He wears the same grey Hanes sweatshirt and dark grey jogging pants every time I see him. Irony. He is reading the "How We Live" section in the Oregonian. He carries exactly eight paper shopping bags covered with plastic shopping bags from Fred Meyer, four in each hand. Everything he owns is in those eight bags. I see him every day. We exchange polite smiles and he acknowledges my existence over his taped glasses, one lens replaced with a brown cardboard cutout. He knows all the words to all the songs. I wonder about him. Who he is behind his mid-size beard and how he knows all the words to one of my favourite songs. He doesn't seem like the typical Bon Iver loving kind. Before I got the chance to post this or further analyze this gentleman, my friend Amy and her brother came and met up with me. As we left I glanced at the man and said a polite goodbye with my eyes and a slight smile.

We were going to Portland City Fest—a christian event held on the waterfront to convert all of Portland—to hear Kutless and Chris Tomlin play. After weaving through the masses to find a place where we could stand comfortably and see the stage, Luis Palau started preaching. When I am at the conversion festivals, I always feel so confused about my faith. I am not like those around me, I've heard the message of Christ. I know what I believe, but still I never raise my hands or pray the prayers that the man on stage tells me to pray. I feel I have a rebellious nature. I will pray on my own. I don't need to raise my hands in a crowd to prove my allegiance to Christ. I like small gatherings. I hate big church. I feel such an aversion to large gatherings. Why is this?

I was at an adventist church recently, and we were studying somewhere in the Gospels where the latter rain or the holy spirit will come down on the masses or something like that. One person said that they didn't feel like they could share Christ with others, that they wouldn't until the "latter rain" came down. Others agreed. We sat in a small circle just nodding and talking about it like we were so removed and we couldn't do anything until the holy sprit rained. I felt defiant. Annoyed. Why have we become so stagnant? Who needs to sit around and wait for some outpouring? You can ask. You can go serve. You don't need to preach. Live your life in a way that tells others about Christ. I am feeling very done with the Adventist Church, or any church for that matter. Church makes people sit back and not strive anymore. Laziness.

Every so often I find that I am not where I need to be spiritually. I will never be. There is no such thing as once saved, always saved. It is a continual struggle in my daily life. I feel like it is personal, and shouldn't be dealt with in crowds of thousands at a Praise Fest or anything. I want to join some church, but at the same time I think that I will lose my edge, become lazy, turn into my parents when it comes to being spiritual. I don't want the cookie cutter relationship with my creator. I long for something more. I feel like there is more and I'm just not seeking hard enough. Anyone with me?


Music:
Anything Radiohead, especially depressing songs, heartbreak.
Newer Cold War Kids, MGMT. I <3 MGMT!!!! Seriously.
Also, I was skeptical about Vampire Weekend but I am coming around.
Really enjoying Yeasayer as well.
And Britney Spears... (slightly embarrassed)

Things Took a Turn

Life has been good. Tonight, things took a turn for the worse. I lost a dear friend of mine. My macbook's LCD screen has had a tragic accident. I wont point fingers, but I am ultimately to blame. By placing it on the floor to avoid direct sunlight, I left it wide open for damage from the tracks under my passenger seat. Normally, nobody rides with me in my car and I didn't think anything of it.

I will never forget this night. I'm afraid that life as I know it is over. I'm in mourning. I'll be wearing black for the next week. In fact, I'm wearing black as we speak. I feel like I've lost a part of myself.

The Pearl

I've successfully made my move to the Portland metro area. I live between Hillsboro and Beaverton, over a hill in the country. It is peaceful, gorgeous, trees and birds, and we have a pet cat. I love him a lot. His name is Boots but I call him Bootsie. He is a bobcat but he is grey and has a little white on his chest. He sleeps on top of the washer and dryer on one of Grandpa's (Alexa's grandfather) old sweaters. Every time I go through the washroom to the garage to go out, I always stop and pet him. He is really friendly and likes to be brushed with his cat brush. I have to be careful or he will get cat hair all over me.

Grandma Gladys died about a year ago and I had to go through my room and take some of her stuff down to the basement. She had been an Avon lady since the late 60's and had tons of cool costume jewelry. I cleaned out drawers full of random necklaces, bracelets, and really cool rings. There were cabinets full of old perfume, bath oils, skin care and men's cologne. The packaging was all so interesting to look at and so stylish. It is funny how packaging changes through the years.

I've spent the last couple of weeks looking for a job and exploring Portland. I'm happy to say I have a decent sense of direction and where everything is at now, and I don't get lost anymore. Lex has class at PSU in the morning so I have been riding the Max downtown with her. While she is in class, I go explore downtown. I usually end up in the Pearl District. It is one of my favourite places to be. Everything here is to my liking. I just come down here and find a coffee shop and internet. There are so many cool boutiques and restaurants. I really like going to this place called Sippen Krantz. It is a coffee bar and it is really nicely designed. The coffee is also great, and the people are friendly. My kind of place. There is cool lighting, as you can see below... and my hair is kind of wild... I've discovered that no one really minds that here. I am really loving it here.



Besides exploring, I have been looking for work. I applied at a million different places, but I ended up getting a job working at Noah's Bagels yesterday. I'm going to be a little shift manager, so I get paid more. After my training I will get even more, so that is nice. Also I get to wear jeans to work every day, I get free espresso, bagels, and I will never work past 5:30 pm. I'm really glad, because there are a lot of cool things that go on in Portland at night. I wouldn't want to get stuck working and have to miss out on a social life, or more importantly, amazing concerts. It is a blessing. I was really down the day before yesterday, I didn't think I would get a job. I prayed about it, I really wanted a couple of the other jobs I had applied for but it had been a week and a half and I hadn't heard anything. I applied at the last minute that night for Noah's, and then I got a call at 8 am about it. I figured I'd go. In the car driving there I was thinking to myself and God, I need a job, and if this is the right one for me right now, impress me in that direction. If not, and there is something else He has planned for me now, help me see that this job isn't for me. Well, turns out it is for me, so I took it. I will probably keep it for a year while I go to school and until I find a good starting place more in my line of work. I'm really thankful though.

I'm Packing

It's been a while... I've been busy. I'm just packing up my life here in Walla Walla, and getting ready to move out and clean my house tomorrow. I hate packing... but I love the things I find and the memories that go with them.

White vintage clutch - I lost it a couple weeks ago going out one night in the heat of dead week. I found it in my room in a green plastic bag with half a cookie and a copy of Dwell, sitting under my Ikea table. A friend and I went out to grab coffee and read magazines at Starbucks. They closed, and then I had to go to the bathroom. So I went to Coffee Perk next door, thinking that I would just sneak in and use their bathroom. No such luck. The bathroom was closed and I got guilted into buying a cookie, which I threw in a bag, with my wallet and Dwell, and forgot about. I've been looking for my wallet for like 2 weeks now. I'm really glad I found it.

Bubble Wrap – I was emptying out a Crate and Barrel box that my friends' wedding gift came in when I came across some bubble wrap. I tossed it in the trash, but then decided to keep it for packing. I remembered how excited I was at their wedding and how fun it was to shop for their present.

A Birthday Card – In the miscellaneous drawer (Everyone, no matter how neat, has to have one of these. It contains just the stuff that you can't bring yourself to toss because it has a shred of sentimental value... or you just don't have a category for it) I came across a card from all of my friends for my birthday last year. That birthday was by far the best I have ever had. My friends threw me a surprise garden party for my birthday. Everyone was wearing white except for me, and we played bocce ball and croquet (which Jessica and I cheated at when no one was looking). That was the only party I have ever really had, aside from the one with the neighbor kids when I was 4. It meant a lot to me, and the card has little notes from everyone in it. It is one card I will probably keep for a long time. I am so thankful for the friendships I have had while being here.

Starbucks gift card – While clearing my desk to disassemble it, I came across a gift card. I tossed it in the trash but then I couldn't remember if I had emptied it or not so I went to Starbucks with Phil. It actually had $20, untouched on it. Pleasant surprise.

I went to graduation this morning and both of my roommates graduated. Our house was full of family, and our house isn't that big to start with... When we got back from graduation, the front yard had about twenty people milling around and two grills were fired up. Lunch was great and it was good to see everyone that was visiting for the weekend. Good times.

The Replacements

I am going insane. It is like there isn't enough time in a 24 hour day. I could finish everything I needed to if I could stay up all night. I wish I didn't need to sleep. I'm just trying to get through the next week, and then all of this insanity will be over. Then I will just be looking for a job. A new kind of insanity.

I haven't been up to much except for homework lately. I spent a lot of time in the library, doing extensive research on the cold war, and Stalin's imperialistic planning for Europe, and how those plans changed towards the end of the WWII. Lots of reading. I found an amazing book full of primary sources, it is like 500 pages long, and is comprised of letters, selections from speeches, records, and eye-witness accounts of what went on behind the iron curtain between 1945 and 1965. So interesting to get inside these people's heads and try to wrap my mind around what they were doing/planning. People are crazy!

My roommate Sophie got engaged a couple days ago to her boyfriend (now fiancé) Tyler. Congrats to them! He gave her a rock on a ring, and she gave him an x-box 360 that she had been hiding since the end of last summer. Funny what people do. And congrats to everyone that I love that is graduating... (that would be almost everyone that I still know at Walla Walla). So sad. I cleaned out my drawer in the maclab, and my drawer in the FAC with all my art projects. It's setting in. I'm really leaving this place. I'm so scared I'm going to forget something important that I've carelessly lent to someone or left around campus. People are starting to come look at my house to see if they want to move into my room and take my place. Replacements. It is a strange feeling.

As far as music, I am still really enjoying the Watson Twins new album, Fire Songs. Also, French Kicks' song 'abandon'. Good stuff.

A Privilege

New Watson Twins album is coming in June! I really love them. When they sing with Jenny lewis, it is good, but I like them by themselves the best. I found out where I'm going to be living this summer... Hillsboro! I am excited. Now I just need to find a job. There are a ton of really cool internships that I wish I could do. Too bad they don't pay actual money!

I've been reading a lot about communism during WWII and the aftermath in Eastern Germany. Quite interesting stuff, I had no idea what went on behind the scenes in the making of the German Democratic Republic (actually communist) and how the introduction of communism into Germany was being planned in the Soviet Union even before WWII was lost by the Nazis. I find communism quite interesting, not that I'm interested in becoming a communist, but it just seems like the history of communism has been so hush-hush here in the United States, for fear of it taking hold here. If Americans had been able to see what communism was really like in Soviet Russia, they probably wouldn't have thought of it so highly after WWII.

I'm very curious what went on behind the "iron curtain" and in Soviet Russia. Some things really shocked me. I didn't really realize what Stalin did, his influences on the common people, and all of the propaganda romanticizing communism. His policies caused a famine in Ukraine, that nowadays is referred to as a genocide of the Ukrainian people. Over 20 countries recognize it as a genocide, but I've never heard of this until now. Stalin killed more people than the Nazis did in the holocaust. It seems like everyone keeps quiet on this topic. Oh history, so interesting.

Side note: I'm so thankful I live in America. We like to complain a lot about our country, but it is a really great country to live in. When looking at history, I am once again reminded of what a privilege it is to live here. A lot of people made sacrifices so we could live the way we do today.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

I love this film. I picked it up at the store, but then set it down to look at magazines. I'm one of those people who looks for different films, ones I've never heard of, hoping to find a gem. I get some pretty strange films at times, but once in a while I get lucky. For some reason I remembered this film's title and looked up the trailer when I got home. It looked like it could be good, so I went back and got it right then. I sat down all alone and watched it.



Perfectly depressing and beautiful at the same time. It's not a film that I'd watch in a group. The cinematography was pretty powerful. I've never seen anything quite like it. Reading a review later, I found that the director's father died about a week before filming started. He said, "What I tried to show was what my father was seeing when he was dying, not what I was seeing when I was looking at him." I also really enjoyed the soundtrack.

I get so tired of happy movies. Why does everybody want a happy movie? It's not true to life. We want to live in a fantasy world. I guess that isn't a bad thing—I just prefer realism. If you think there wont be a happy ending, and then there just happens to be one, it is even that much sweeter. That's life.

New favorite song: Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle, 'Don't Kiss Me Goodbye'

Print

We've come a long way in the past ten years. Heck, I didn't even know about Print mag, or that there was such a thing as a career in graphic design. It's nice to have a look back at things I never knew about. Here's a look at a few ancient Print magazines that I discovered in my empty basement office.



November/December 1996
Topics included The Legacy of Cranbrook's former design directors, Skateboard Art, Lawrence of Arabia: Designer and Printer, and Print's 33rd Annual Student Cover Design. Apparently distressed type was cutting edge.



November/December 1997
Film posters by Moscow's Stenberg brothers (1923-1933), Flesh and Bloods: Body art from the Texas Penitentiary, and the disturbing topic of ugly Online Newspapers graced the pages of this issue. The cover was another student cover design winner.



May/June 1998
Wow, exactly 10 years ago this was on newsstands everywhere... A whole cover with a rambling stream of consciousness. Somewhat entertaining, some of it is applicable for today, some not so much. The line, "first I'll blow up the logo huge to fit across the whole page, and put a drop shadow on it" makes me feel a little uncomfortable. Welcome to the 90s. And inside, The Californication of American (guessing that is RHCP related), The Harlem Renaissance Artists, Kids Magazines, Arabic Typography, and last but not least, Gill Sans.



January/February 1999
This issue is all about innovation... hence the cover. Apparently there are endless illustrating possibilities when toast and a toaster are involved. Who knew? I love the flexible illustration—I like my toast bendy... not really. It just looks really funny. In this issue, Freshman Class: Twenty established designers reflect on their early work with hardly a wince, Religious Advertising, The New Visual Artist Review, and The X-Phile: Using industrial strength x-ray technology to view the hidden inner lives of everyday objects.

Seven Eleven

After working feverishly on putting the mt. ash together tonight with a couple friends, we decided to go get slurpee's from the 7-11 in eastgate. While we had been working, we had some great conversation and Lafe said something to the effect that these are the times that we will look back on, because nothing stays the same. I didn't think much of it, but as we drove the familiar route down Rose street, singing at the top of our lungs and pretty much having a wild dance party in the car, I thought to myself, these are good times.

We got to 7-11 and ran inside, but the slurpee machines were closed for the night. Determined to purchase an icy cold, artificially flavored, blended beverage, I persevered and drove on to Isaacs to the Shell station. They had blue and red. Rach and I got half red, half blue in our cups. We later decided that red is the best. Case closed. As we were purchasing the drinks, somehow weddings came up and the lady who was helping us asked if any of us were getting married. We all said no way. Not for a long while. She laughed and said that we were smart.

Driving home in the dark, I kept thinking about how I always focus on the future. I plan it out, and while planning is valuable, I deprive myself of the pleasure of living in the moment. I'm not sure where life will take me, or the people in this world that I love the most. Tonight I was just happy to be one of the girls—not a care in the world.

Here's some songs I've liked lately in no particular order:
Nicole Atkins, 'The Way It Is'
The Little Penguins, 'Say It Once'
Republic Tigers, 'Buildings & Mountains'
Architecture in Helsinki, 'Heart it Races'
Air, 'Mer du Japon' (Teenagers Remix)
French Kicks, 'Abandon'

Les Couges

Yay Tegan and Sara were amazing! This is them... believe it or not. They had this huge picture of tree stumps behind them which they explained later as being symbolic with the fact that they were playing in a theatre and the seats get in the way. When Sara was introcuing the band members, she had really great stories about them. She said that Tegan was "just some whore that I grew up with and we decided to tell everyone that we are sisters so our records would sell better." When she introduced the bassist, she said that he had put gum in her hair as a child, and that she was friends with his gf, who in turn threatened him that if he did it again, she'd beat him up. The drummer was the guy who lived in their apartment before they moved in. Sara said she kept on getting his mail so they would meet at the coffee shop on the corner for the exchange. This went on for so long that one day, she was like "what do you even do?" He said, "I'm a drummer..." to which Sara replied, "hey, we need a drummer." Sara said the bassist wasn't that important, that you could pick up bassists anywhere and that he was from Salem, that they had just hired him that night. At this point I began to question the validity of the introductions. Then she said that she had lied to us, and she told us what they who everyone really was... but she lied about how she met all of them again. It was entertaining, they were quite funny on stage and treated us to some great music. There were a lot of lesbians at the show... who knew!? A couple were sitting in front of us. They were like 50, one of my friends described them as "trailer trash les cougars." Hence forth, I will always remember them as "les couges"... pretty sure that isn't french for "lesbian cougars" but oh well. What are you going to do?

Overall, quite a fun night. I went with a couple of my friends and we went out for some food afterwards and had a fun night. Good times. It was really great to get away from CP for the weekend. Now I'm back, I organized my room, unpacked (the worst part about going anywhere and coming back), and now I am attending to several mountains of home work. Good times... Classic.

My New BFF

This little guy is pretty tricky. I recently encountered him in my step class. Pretty fun to play with, but I woke up this morning and almost couldn't sit up! I still think it is a possibility that we could become BFF.

Yesterday I was really hoping that my new coat would come in the mail, and that it would rain so that I could wear it before summer weather set it. It rained... buy my coat didn't show up until mid afternoon. At which point, I put it on and walked outside where it promptly started raining. Exactly what I wanted.

I skipped class to do math this morning. I am liking it more and more. I like the rules, the structure, and the fact that there is usually an exact answer—unlike life where there are almost no absolutes.

My friend joined a women's soccer league and convinced me to join as well. I'm pretty excited. I haven't played much since mid high school though. I definitely need practice and to do some conditioning. I like this sport—it allows me to buy yet another pair of shoes for my collection.

Consciousness

It's a glorious day here. Warm, sunny, and not a cloud in the sky. It's a shame I slept in as late as i did. I figured it's been a while since I've written and organized my thoughts. The following is just a few things that have been on my mind for one reason or another and it's time to get them out of my head. I should really get out and enjoy the great weather, but it's so great to be home. The past month has been very taxing and I haven't really been able to just stay at home and be left alone with nothing more than my wandering thoughts, a book, and a good cup of french press. I often forget what a luxury it is to be completely alone with one's self.

This quarter I'm taking a painting class and I'm really excited. I thought about painting in my garage, but it was too dark and scary. The chances of meeting numerous small animals—namely spiders—didn't really appeal to me. After scouting around the house, I found a space that is not really being used to it's full potential. I went on a mad cleaning/putting-stuff-back-where-it-belongs spree and might have ensued the wrath of my fellow house-mates. A stern lecture from one of them soon followed as I was eating lunch and watching Sex in the City. It put a slight dent in my somewhat perfect day, but oh well. These things happen.

I forged my way through an army of empty canning jars and quilting supplies and was victorious in clearing a countertop. I found a small space in the cupboard in which to store my art supplies so they wouldn't be out, cluttering up the pristine countertop. Everything was perfect last night when I went to bed. I awoke to my cell ringing "Music is my boyfriend... music is my girlfriend.." Somewhat annoying to me nowdays, I need a new ringtone. It was a friend wondering if we were still on for Awakening. We weren't, considering the fact that I was still half asleep and would refuse anything pre-coffee. I slept more. Woke up and made french press. While walking around my house, reveling in the extreme cleanliness that I had earlier produced, I decided that it would be a perfect time to make an attempt at painting.

Attempt was the correct word. I definitely need to brush up. No pun intended. This is bad. I'm turning into my father who has a one-pun-per-minute ratio in his conversations, casual or professional. Slightly Embarrassing. Note to self—no more puns. I love my dad. I can call him when I want to talk about music or anything. Or if I just want to forget reality. Calling my dad is like a little bit of a mind trip at times. He is somewhat bipolar, but he is brilliant. He is always up to something new. Last month it was skiing and re-building a bum cello he purchased online. Now he is buying bad violins, taking them apart, and experimenting on improving their acoustics. He makes all his tools that he uses for his projects. He improvises and builds presses and moulds. I think he could build anything. As a child, I can remember us sitting at a restaurant waiting for our "just desserts" and he was sketching some machine on napkins and explaining all the facts and figures to me. Socially, the man is not so refined in common sense, but wow. He is so smart in math, music, engineering, and he can paint. I'm just now realizing how great he is. I called him yesterday to tell him that I'm going to see Radiohead (WOO! No need to tell you how excited I am!) and he was excited for me. I told him I had an extra ticket and he said, "I'll be on the next plane..." Silly dad. I can always tell him about that stuff. He follows bands and I am always surprised when he drops a name that I wouldn't expect.

It's tough when parents get a divorce and you never see the other side of your family. Then you turn 18 and you find out a lot of things. I'm just glad that I got to know my dad's mom before she died. I really loved her. She even looks liked like me. It's like her looks/personality skipped a generation and I inherited them. I remember when we were shopping and we went to Starbucks. She had never been there and I bought her a frappucino. She loved it and we went back a couple days later because she really wanted another. Grandpa was remodeling the shower so instead of washing our hair that day, we went to the salon and got our hair washed. She had long snow white hair that she always wore in a bun on the top of her head. Kind of like a ballet teacher would. I wonder if I'll look like her even when I am old. Kind of strange to think about that. Most of the time I have the mindset that I'll never get old. Then I realize that in seven years and four months, I will be 30. Whoa. I guess it's not that bad.

I went shopping at my favorite grocery store Super 1 at 1 a.m. a couple mornings ago. I bought strange things. I wandered the health foods section and found recycled paper towels, biodegradable dishwashing detergent, and other random organic stuff. I've been thinking about the environment a little more lately. I hate it when people have those big totes that say "green is gorgeous" and then they jump in their hummer and go to Walmart for some underpriced shirt that some child in malaysia died while making. Buying a bag isn't going to make you green. Recycling isn't going to do much good if people don't purchase recycled goods. I realized this while browsing through that section of the store. There are recycled kitchen garbage bags, sandwich bags, saran wrap, and all manner of goods. The price was maybe 10¢ more than the un-recycled alternatives.

As a poor college student, it is hard to be all green and environmentally responsible. I was thinking about the things that I could do without spending too much money. Walking more. Buying green clothing is slightly out of the question at this point. I'm not willing to spend $75 for an organic cotton t-shirt. I am willing to spend an extra 10¢ on recycled products. Buying items with the least packaging, using less shopping bags or just bringing my own... I don't want to be a bag lady though. Haha! I can purchase fair trade coffee. I can make more stuff from scratch. Buying more fruit/veggies/less processed foods cuts down on packaging and also you aren't contributing to the pollution that is created from the refinement of the product. I also recently read that if you store foods in glass containers in the fridge, it makes your fridge not have to work as hard to keep things cold as when you use plastic containers. In the end I still have questions. What is the benefit of all of this? Just one person making small changes isn't going to make that big of a difference if the whole of America makes no changes. I guess I can just sleep better at night. I just think that most people would be happier if they simplified their lives—but not turn into one of the yuppie environmentalists that are out walking the streets, searching for other's approval of what they look like they look like they are doing for the environment.

I ended up getting these flowers from my back yard and tried to paint them. I thought the pink ones would be easiest and most attractive, but I was surprised at how cool the tiny twisted petals of the yellow flowers tuned out. I was also surprised that turnips aren't as bad tasting as everyone makes them out to be. Random fact. I bought them as a cooking experiment and they were tasty. I forgot what they were when I was buying them and the check out guy did too. It was pretty funny at the time.

Lately I've been listening to the latest Cat Power album called Jukebox. It is a bit more upbeat that her other album, The Greatest. Enjoyable. I like 'New York', 'metal heart' and 'Lord, help the poor and needy'. This album almost reminds me of a female version of the Black Keys and Feist mixed with a slightly more meaningful message and lyrics. I've definitely overplayed 'The Greatest' and it was time for a new set of songs.

I Fell Asleep Writing This

Finals. Been going to bed at 2 am, getting up at 5 am to study... all day... So tired. I want sleep. L and I bought Tegan and Sara tickets and we're really doing it... we're 8 rows back! :D Can't wait for break.

Wrote a paper... dealt with Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" and how repression leads to the opposite extreme in the coming generations. Lots of interesting themes. Very interesting book to read and ponder. Made me think. It was nice for a change.

Am falling in love with the black keys.

Just a Little Update

Things that happened this week...

skipped class
slept late
cooked every day
laundered clothing... and money
spent my tax return
laughed a lot
realized i hate my job
chopped off all my hair
met new people
downloaded the black keys... again.
took two tests without studying
found the best coffee i've ever had
stayed up late in the art dept. making prints
found out cold war kids are playing at sasquatch
read The Death of Ivan Ilych
almost bought a beautiful yellow coat
was not passive
watched The Darjeeling Limited

Whew. What a week.

My Stats

Most recently, I have been leaning towards art nouveau, post victorian/art deco feel. Not overly extravagant, more simplistic with slight elements. Conservative, clean, classic, and somewhat femme.

Type - It may sound strange, but I don't have one favorite that I'm stuck on. I have slight crushes on a few though... fling and Perla—type with ball terminals, really. I enjoy serifs, especially type with long, thin, elegant lines. For numbering, I have been drawn to Filosofia (for more normal looking numbers), and Falstaff for more of a bold, art deco feel. I am as guilty of overusing certain sans serifs as the next guy, but have started to mix them in with more stylistic type to create a more learned feel. I will agree with Ben that Kursivschrift is quite attractive. I am not afraid of large type, but it must be contrasted with much smaller type. I love contrast in type, bold/light, etc.

Color – I enjoy very bright colors in moderation, mixed in with more subtle hues, less saturated. I will always be fascinated with black and white, and I tend to like just one color thrown in with them, provided it isn't a bright, primary color like red (ie. black, white, very light teal). Other recent favorites include the following: a) Maroon, mustard seed yellow, and black on dark cream. b) Light blue, and brown or black on white paper. c) Varying shades of teal and green, paired with browns. d) light blue and yellow on white. And finally, e) Maroon, teal, and tan on white. Just to name a few...

Composition – Minimal over complex, clean, classic, straight to the point. I like to pay attention to how a specific composition leads the viewer through it. I detest static points, places where the viewer's mind can get trapped, thus I enjoy negative space. I prefer open composition, some element needs to lead the viewer into the piece. When design is stripped down so much, each element's importance becomes higher, and must communicate even better the message of the design. I've never been extremely extravagant, but take pleasure in the beauty of simplicity. Less is so much more.

Themes – Re-discovering my voice as a designer. I work in a basement making stuff for very conservative people in the age range of 50–100. Adventists live forever unfortunately. This has really matured my style from crazy grunge, but I need to get back to something more modern in-between the two, and more my own. My theme = rediscovery.

Latest Influences – Martha Stewart. Embarrassing, but true. I'm in enamored with one of her more recent publications... Blueprint. If you see it, you will know. Other publications I enjoy include dwell, metropolis, nylon (for fun), and I've come to like men's interest magazines, so clean-cut. Buildings and the outdoors never cease to inspire me. I really like the type of work that Seattle based Turnstyle does. I am really more inspired by things I see in real life on a daily basis, or more industrial sort of items that make me push my thinking and let me make my own interpretations in my work later, i.e.. a lace fence, or an unruly stack of magazines on my bookshelf making interesting negative shapes. Influences sit in my brain and come out in unexpected forms later. I love flickr and tend to look at the following when I have time. Alki1's Flickr, russian typography, the list could go on forever... and music, my constant muse.

I tag... Dallas and Alan.

For People Who Love Bad News

Just a quick note... one of my very favorite Portland bands has a new record coming out. The Helio Sequence is pretty amazing. I've seen them not once, not twice, but three times live and they have never disappointed me. Their new album titled Keep Your Eyes Ahead comes out January 29. Be sure to have a listen. These two guys always amaze me. The drummer toured with Modest Mouse after the release of their album Good News For People Who Love Bad News. My Helio Sequence favorites include 'let it fall apart' (my most favorite favorite), 'hallelujah', 'lately', and 'the harmonic song'.

It's been a crazy week. Two oral presentations in one class, a paper, a math test... I blinked and the week had passed me by. It is a relief to have a bit of a break over the weekend. Going out for chinese at The Golden Horse with friends, and then visiting the Colville St. Patisserie afterwards made for a great end to a hard week. Nico and I went thrift store shopping and to a boutique which we barely got out of without going broke. It's been decided that seva boutique is a dangerous place for either of us when we have money, whether it be for spending or bills... very cute clothes though.

I've been making some prints in my printmaking class and I might post some of the better ones if I ever get the time to do so. Happy Sabbath!

Urnes Portal

Whoa. Two weeks flew by and I didn't even notice. School has started once again, and the struggle to balance my personal life, school, and work has begun yet once more. I am spending most of my free time alone studying, buried under pre-calc and world literature books, trying to understand yet another ancient foreign culture... most of the time it's greek to me. Literally. I am shocked at times how modern some works sound. There are these ancient egyptian poems that sound just like something one of my friends would say to me. I wish I knew who wrote the poems. They are so old that no one knows. I usually hate poetry, but this I liked. It wasn't cliché and sappy like most things I am forced to endure.

Of all my classes, I would have to say that I am enjoying Printmaking with Martha Mason, and History of World Art with Tom Emmerson. I really like learning about the origins of art and seeing different styles repeat themselves throughout the ages with different artists' interpretations. Right now we are looking at the period in Post-Roman Europe, the beginning of medieval times. There are a lot of animals used in very intricate carvings, the lettering in the Book of Kells from Ireland, everything is very ornate and seem to have lots long twisting vines and whorls. My favourite piece right now is part of a church door, called a portal. It is from the stave church in Urnes, Norway. I see it's influence in pieces from the victorian/art deco periods. I love the dog that is biting something that looks like a snake or a vine. I haven't decided. I like the joints of the dog, how they are curled lines. This is a stamp with the Urnes stave church portal. I just love the dog's eyes too. So big!



I think I may have come up with the perfect 5-year plan. I'm pretty psyched! Hopefully it will work out, seeing as I make plans all the time and they don't pan out.

Lately I have been listening to a lot of Nelly Furtado. Embarassing, but true. To make up for it, I've been listening to a lot of Royksopp, Arcade Fire, Seabear, and Electralane. Song I'm currently in love with is 'The Story' by Brandi Carlile. (thanks t!)

A Single Hand Writing Several Stories

"We seem to find comfort in categories and peace in placement. The world moves quickly around us. There are so many variables, and unanswered questions. Who? What? When? And more importantly why? We feel like we constantly need to pick a side and stick with it... whether it be politically, socially, or artistically. Despite the fact that our outlooks and philosophies are ever changing with each passing day. I have struggled with this often through the years, taking one facet of myself—both personally and creatively—and holding onto it so tightly, until there was nothing but ash in my hand. Who would i be without a definite description? A tangible tag line? The weight of one question can be enough to make a back break."

-taken from 'a single hand' by Her Space Holiday

I'm tired of limiting myself, ignore all my other creative options. I keep putting myself in a box, when all my ideas don't just fit into one category. I'm tired of forcing creativity in on category, and repressing any ideas that come up in other areas. Creativity is fleeting, even though some would disagree that there is a definite science to it. Unless I change something soon, I fear I will be left with nothing.

I'm tired of limitations, and limiting myself because of what I think others think that i can or can't do. Just a thought, inspired by an amazing song/monologue. Her Space Holiday is amazing. Go to their Myspace profile to hear how the above selection ends. Thought provoking. I am intrigued.