lately i have become disgusted with the amount of things i have consumed over the last couple years. so much stuff, and no room to place it, so what do i do with it? discard it? have a garage sale? donate it? if i didn’t consume quit as much in the first place i wouldn’t have this problem.

in papanek’s book, design for the real world he makes this statement, and it has stuck with me.

“Advertising design, in persuading people to buy things they don’t need, with money they don’t have, in order to impress people who don’t care, is probably the phoniest field in existence today. Industrial design,  by concocting the tawdry idiocies hawked by advertisers, comes a close second.”

he’s got some pretty radical thinking, but also some very justified opinions.

check out this flow chart from his book.

he wrote this book in the early seventies i think, so about 40 yrs ago, and his ideas are still totally right on. im glad to have discovered him this semester.

cheers

kel

his leathered face and gray whiskers seem to be a sign of a man who has worked hard all his life. he would be a good candidate for some portrait photography. the lines in his face look as though they have a lot to tell about his life.

one of my favorite things about portraits in what they can say about a person. i especially enjoy the sort of documentary they provide when taken of a subject in natural surroundings.  one photographer i enjoy is dorothea lange. i am sure you have all seen her portrait entitled, migrant mother, from 1936.

 if you are unaware of who she is, i would suggest you look her up. quite a remarkable woman for her time. she has some very interesting work documenting the japenese internment in america. these photos have sparked in interest in the history of this forcible relocation of minority groups, like the japanese and also the native americans. i feel that americans have sort of swept these issues under the rug. i am curious to learn more about them. perhaps my knowledgeable friends can give me the titles some documentaries or good books to read.

walking down to the basement has become a pleasant experience, as we keep our bikes down there. its nice to see  all of our bikes lined up. and my roommate is looking to acquire a new mountain bike. our love for bicycles is only just beginning. we have drunk the kool-aid, and i am supposing it only gets worse from here.

in other news, tonite i broke out into hives from medicine. my sniffles have progressed to a full on cold. i took a prescription med, and broke out into hives. i have never itched so much in my entire life. my friend from my epfe class and i were supposed to be each others date to a valentines party tonite, but i had to cancel due to the fact that i am currently dying. he was super nice and brought me some flowers and an anti itch skin relieving bath powder. i thought it to be a funny combination for a valentine’s day gift. flowers and anti-itch. but incredibly nice of him to drop these things off.  it was sort of embarrassing since i am covered in red splotches and bumps with a runny nose and coughing up a lung. i am certainly a sight. i am thinking about taking an antihistamine or some sort of allergy med, but i am leery of medication. 

unfortunately i will be missing baby fiona’s baptism at church tomorrow. i wasn’t sure what kind of gift to get an infant for such an occasion. perhaps cash? sock full of quarters? cocaine? haha just kidding.

well i hope you are all having a wonderful valentines day. i personally don’t usually celebrate the made-up holiday, but the one year i do decide to take part, i break out into hives and am a hot mess. i think its proof that this day is completely over rated, and it’s not because im jaded or anything. im just realistic. ha.

cheers

the weather will proved a good excuse for me to stay in tonite and finish organizing the den. my workspace has been cluttered for weeks. for anyone who knows me and my love for tidyness, clutter is not something i do well with. its fine, as long as i cannot see it. the problem is that i cannot seem to avoid it lately. instead of finding homes for my things i have created nice and neat little stacks here and there. i feel like a rebel.

speaking of rebellion, i have been reading an interesting book by bell hooks. i highly suggest you check her out. she is feminist who engages in a rebellious spirit of speaking her mind. she has some interesting theories on pedagogy. it has certainly made the copious amounts of reading i have ben doing this semester, much more enjoyable.

i suppose i should throw on some boots and head out into the snow. drive safe everyone. and bring a shovel.

cheers.

it’s been quite a busy couple of weeks. i was swamped with writing my first paper of the semester. 

i have also been quite busy trying to plan a trip to the UK this may. my roommate and i have decided to go to edinburgh and to york for 10 days. we are pretty excited. i am looking foward to visiting my dear friends dave, karen and lauren.  for you world travelers out there, is there anything i should visit or see while i am there?

i have been spending most of my times indoor lately, mostly due to homework, and a little to do with the weather. but the last couple days have been like a tropical heat wave. the 30 degree weather is treating me nicely, but making me yearn for fresh spring breezes. spring, get here soon! 

this weekend there will be an art opening held at the cyclery. the works of kara ginther will be featured. i’ve been told she is a leather artisan who will be displaying the work she has created on brook saddles. sounds fun and interesting. should you be in the dekalb area, think about stopping by the shop on saturday at 6:30pm. you can read more about kara ginther here:

http://www.karaginther.com/

cheers.

of all products to endorse and sell for charity… leggings? haha. ok. i think i’ll just stick to texting a number, and having them charge my phone bill to send funds to haiti.

speaking of lindsay lohan, i went on a lohan-esque bender saturday night, minus the cocaine.

i met up with some friends saturday night to paint the town red. it was a great time. we closed down the bar, which i hadnt done it quite some time, and continued to a friends house to have a dance party in his basement. we had a dance party for 4 hours. what a bunch of drunk fucks we are. haha. 4 hours?! goodness. it was a great time, but i won’t be pulling all nighters for quite some time. i am more of a cocktail at home, and crawl into bed by 10pm kind of girl. i passed out around 6:30am, and then woke up to josh whisper shouting at rachel to wake up some time around 8:30. thats when i decided to get in my car to go home and sleep in my own bed. except once i got in my car and drove down 7th street, i realized i was still hammered, so i pulled over, and parked my car. i got out, and walked the rest of the way home. and let me tell you, i cannot stress how much i want winter to be over. this will be so much easier in warm weather and i am on a bicycle all summer.

speaking of bikes, i have decided to use my tax refund to purchase a bike this year. im pretty excited about it. more on that to come.

well i suppose i should get back to my homework.

cheers.

ahhhh arrested development, how i have missed you. i spent my winter break watching all 3 seasons. such refreshing humor. i’ve been hard pressed to find anything i enjoy as much as this show. but something new has caught my eye. it has the undertones of AD. just a hint of their humor, and to make it better, there are two cast members from AD voicing this new glimmering beacon of hope. the show i am referring to is Archer. the women who play kitty, and lucille bluth voice two of the animated characters in Archer. and funny, because kitty plays a secretary, as she did in AD, and lucille voices the cold hearted mother, again just like AD. so far i have been sastisfied with the episodes. i can’t wait to see what the rest of the season cranks out. catch it thursdays on fx.

i am fairly selective of the television i watch. i used to be one of those people who said they didnt really watch tv. which i only watch a few things, but i thought it made me sound like an asshole. everyone watches tv. we all have our shows. i just try to avoid all the trash [all reality tv, minus cops]. but there are a few things that suck me in.  my tv watching has indeed worsened over the last year, as we have a dvr. stupid dvr. i can record anything that looks interesting. i actually sort of missed the old days when i only had basic cable. good ol channels 2-11. i was much more productive in those days.

speaking of being productive, i should probably get back to work. tra-la!

cheers.

i have taken some time away from my academic readings to peruse this little beauty.

the websters pictoral dictionary is fascinating. it has all these engravings that they used to use in the dictionary. you know what i mean, all those little pictures that were next to words and such. 

it’s a great way to sort of rest my eyes. i mean to look at something and not have to intensely focus on meaning or understanding. i suppose it is more of a way to rest my brain rather than my eyes, though.   i had wanted this book for quite some time, and dear friends tina, nick and their beautiful baby fiona purchased it for me for christmas. not to play favorites, but this was definitely up there on my list of “totally rad stuff i got for christmas.”  quite funny tho, i actually received 8, yes 8, books for christmas. all very neat books to read and look at. mostly art related, which is right up my alley, and mostly awesome. too bad i will probably never want to read another bit of written word after next week’s reading assignments.

also happening around campus, aside from the grumbling complaints of students like myself, there is a pretty neat little exhibition going on at the niu art museum, located in altgeld hall [the castle building]  here is a link with the information:

http://www.niu.edu/artmuseum/exhibitions/index.shtml

one thing i am particularly excited for are the visiting artists, cannonball press. yesterday they had an artist lecture, which unfortunately i had to miss.

the reception is tomorrow, thursday, january 21st from 4:30p-7p. 

i really wouldn’t miss it. they printmakers make very large woodcut prints. i mean grandiose in size. and woodcutting is extremely labor intensive. i watched dear friend curtis work on some of his woodcuts for months. but the outcome is phenomenal. to get a better idea of just how big, visit dear friend ann’s blog.

http://abeautifulparty.blogspot.com/

 she has some pretty neat photos of the exhibit being set up. i also read on her blog that the artists will be performing together in a performance piece. everyone loves a good performance piece, right?

well i hope your wednesday is stupendous and hope to see you at the reception.

cheers

i made it through my first week of classes without being able to use my concocted story. dang! we participated in greeting games in only 2 classes, neither asked about personal interests or facts. just your name, major and year. bor-ring! my sculpture teacher did ask us to name our favorite reality show, and we had a small argument on whether or not cops is reality television. if you did not get that, cops is my favorite reality show. everyone in the class loves the show, jersey shore. i loathe that show.

moving on. so i am planning a trip to scotland and england come may. my roommate and i are going to travel together and are still peicing together our trip. will be booking flights this weekend probably, then i will be spending 12 hours in a plane. 12 hours. i cant sit still for a movie. how am i going to last 12 hours? i am very excited to visit dear friends dave and joanne and dear friend karen and dear friend lauren. hopefully the world hasn’t ended by then.

this morning i decided to try cuban coffee. it is essentially a strong esspresso. er, stronger i should say. i decided to have two of these baby cups of coffee, and my heart is beating out of my chest. i could only hope to go into cardiac arrest. it feels like a tiny man inside of my ribcage pounding away with a hammer at rapid speed. what is going on in there? make it stop. i am so wired that i can’t get anything accomplished. i cant concentrate. this is the opposite of the effect i thought it would have on me. normally my morning coffee helps put me on track and accomplish my tasks for the day. today i feel like i am tweaking.

and now i have to continue to try and do things, then realize i can’t do them and begin another task i am not going to finish. gah.  its like ADD on steroids

hope your day moves as fast as my beating heart.

cheers!

last night i carefully calculated my 8 hours of sleep, but once i hit the pillow, i did not fade to black as per usual. i have an uncanny ability to fall asleep almost immediately after resting me head upon the fluff of down feathers, but last night i could not catch a wink of sleep. i fear that planning my beauty rest jinxed myself. it has taken me almost 25 years of my life to realize that a full 8 hours of sleep is amazing, and truly necessary. on most occasions i get about 7, which is close enough for me. little under a year ago, i was managing on about 4-6 hours of rest, but once i committed to the idea of getting more sleep, i could never go back to a measly 5 hours. i have learned to leave things undone, so that i may make it to an appropriate bedtime. i used to not be able to fall asleep until everything was in place: dishes done, laundry put away, homework finished, work organized, etc. etc…  then i realized i will be here the next day to wake up and put it away, or finish whatever wasn’t deemed urgent.

without my prerequisite of sleep, i have been unable to be bright eyed and bushy tailed as i planned. i am back to the daily grind of work and school. working full time and attending school full time is a rough day. but i have done if for the last couple years, and i am almost done! huzzah! 3 semesters left. [i hope].  i never knew the meaning of hard work until i had to do both school and work to support myself. i am really sort of glad that i do both. it will make me appreciate when i have a job, in which it is the only main thing to occupy my day. even on break, i was sort of excited to have time away from class because i was able to get other things accomplished, without feeling rushed every day.  my days are usually 12 hours long, so any free time i have is usually well after 7pm. it makes it very hard to be as social as i would like to be, or to engage in other affairs i enjoy, like knitting/crocheting or reading or painting. those activities are left for breaks.  sundays are my days to revel in my idleness. i sleep in, make breakfast, do my crosswords and can take my time doing household chores.  no rush to do anything. i love sundays. i live for sundays.

but today is monday, and now sunday is so far away. i will say that i am sort of excited for this monday. i have always been secretly excited about school starting. i say that i am not, because i do not want to commit myself to long hours of work and school, but i am always really excited for the first day of class. the introductory class period is always fun, and usually you can expect to not have any homework. we go over the syllabus, and participate in some sort of “introduce yourself” activity. i always like when people have to tell us something interesting about themselves. most people say things like, my favorite color is purple, or i enjoy playing soccer. how un-imaginative. i like to tell absurd lies, just to see who is really that gullible. i think this year i will state that i am a cage fighter in an obscure women’s league. i think my favorite lie was telling people i am related to kim jong-il in my life drawing class. not a single person doubted me. ha. fools. i am not sure why i enjoy these elaborate lies, as i hate liars in general. i mean i cannot stand it when people are constantly lying, but i find big mythical lies to be quite humorous. i do think its a wee bit naughty to play my fellow students like fools, but usually the classmates i like are the ones who can detect the bullshit.

if anyone knows me well enough they can usually spot my lie. i have many tells. for instance, i stop breathing. i sort of hold my breath a bit right before i expel an untruth. i wont tell you my other signals, but there are many. i am not usually good at lying to friends and family, but have no problem telling strangers tall tales. [ not that this is something i do alot. just to get a kick every now and again. my usual instance occurs on the first day of the semester]

funny that i enjoy this, because i am quite the gullible person myself. i have a friend who has the ability to make me and several other friends believe every word that tumbles from his lips. usually invoking a response of, “really?!” or, “no way! crazy.”  i should probably resist the urge to believe anything dear friend alan says.  he is not a pathological liar or a bad liar in any way. he is just poking fun. but he gets us every time.  and every time we sigh and say, “oh man, i cant believe i believed you.” jokes on us. today the joke will be on a classroom of about 30 students.

here’s hoping i get the chance to use this concocted “interesting fact” this semester.

and here’s hoping your monday is also full of fun and hijinks.

cheers, my lovelies! have a grand day.