An evening with friends

Tonight I attended a very pleasant post-holiday gathering. It took place at friends of my sister's, just down the street near NE 40th and Skidmore. The theme was, specifically, "Port, wine, chocolate and cheese."

The hosts supplied a hefty amount of all promised menu items. The favorites were these homemade dipped caramel-filled peppermint chocolates, with crushed candy cane garnish. We also sampled a tempting white port (more light brown than anything) directly from Portugal that our hosts, Brett and Jessica, picked up in Lisbon this past fall.

There were only four other guests at the party apart from the two hosts, my sister and myself. Two couples, both residents of the same neighborhood, provided intersting stories and commentary.

The first couple operate a high end office and accessories store on NE Alberta.....they were responsive when I asked them if they were planning to carry any of the Freitag line. They responded that this Spring was the launch date, given some delays to shipping and product line agreements....I am not particularly fond of the Freitag line, but I do recognize its current market potential. To set the record straight, I am not a fan of the line because I find it panders to a crowd of snobby status-seeking design types who pay too much for a semi-decent product line. In any case, the brand promises a lot of profits to upscale retailers and apparently it was of current interest to these guys. Perhaps it was the port?.....

The next couple was a nationally known band member and his girlfriend, who also works in the music production biz. Chris W. of Death Cab is an easygoing and relaxed dude and his girlfriend is equally or more as engaging and interested in all things ranging from academic to domestic. It was fun to hear about their on the road stories. I really like the fact that Portland breeds of an atmosphere where rock star profiles find time in their (post-holiday) schedules to fraternize with locals in their neighborhood, talk about things outside their sphere of knowledge (or interest), and do it with amazing success and clarity. I could hang out in Portland on a permanent basis with great happiness with friends of a similar caliber....

Aside from the great party, I leave for Berkeley tomorrow night. For the next several hours I am supposed to figure out how to feed 16-18 people over three days....

It's gift giving day

Concert wrap up:
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks played on Friday night. From what I did hear, it was a fine performance. However, circumstances required a rushed departure. Pre-performance we visited Ron Tom's, also on Burnside, where my sister and I met a couple of annoying dudes whose version of mingling to us seemed more like medieval torture.

Saturday I was a shopping drone.

Sunday it is very wet here. I am going to go food shopping with Sarah and then I am off to Vancouver for an annual gift exchange tradition.

Shall I return not bearing candles or themed socks.

Destination: Malkmus

Off to see Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks. Report following....

It's a holiday tradition

Shopping for the holidays is an annual rite of passage. I tend to try and do all my shopping in 1-2 days, sometimes with favorable results, sometimes the opposite. Today was a decent attempt. Several gifts were procured:

1. Pirateology - gift for nephew Everett, age 7

2. Life of Pi - gift for nephew Alex, age 15

3. Pacifica lotion - gift for exstepmother Stephanie. This particular one smells like Chai. It is amazing.

4. Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolour set - gift for sister Sarah

Fin.

The semester is over. I haven't slept since Saturday night and I am still rolling although I am about to fall asleep in my keyboard any minute. I think it is actually pretty dangerous for me to be handling graphics files in this state...my hand is likely to slip and delete a lot of fine line work.

The only chores I really must do today are 1)look busy while I am sitting outside of Peter's office (if I am in front of a computer he assumes I am working, when in reality I am reading celebrity blogs) and 2)clean off my studio desk. The janitors are rolling in tomorrow morning and have promised to take anything remaining with them, so it's up to me to clear off the altar.

Here's to tonight's sleep.

Post review sleep session

Hours of sleep consumed between Dec 7 - Dec 10: 12
Hours of sleep consumed evening of Dec 10: 14

There is something wrong about the above sleep data. Entirely wrong. However, on the bright side, today I am feeling great and looking even better. My skin no longer resembles that of a haggard 50 year old. My eyes are not (completely) blood shot. I am better hydrated, too. The long days and nights in this building literally take all the moisture and life outta ya.

Herr Bosselmann showed up at our review today. A gem of a phrase he uttered at one point was, "You know, slime is an extremely fascinating thing for 10 year-olds...think about it."

December seems like it is almost over. I will be home in a week. However, there is still much work to be done. I have an exam on science and ecology things on Friday and another design project due on Monday. Which I haven't even begun to think about yet...

Two days on the job and you kill someone

Breaking news from Berkeley's big box neighbor....the irony of the situation is ludicrous.

Emeryville Mayor Kills Pedestrian

It's official. Countdown begins.

Mental state: apprehensive & aware, not shaking

Dehydration scale (1-10): 7.8

Coffee intake in past 24 hours: <10 oz.

Beer, wine & spirits intake in past 24 hours: >12 oz.

Hand residue factor: ink and wash stains

Craving status: New York strip steak

Current desk display: 2 bananas, 1 Blue Moon Lager, 8 pieces of battered trace, laptop, desk brush, Elmer's glue, ipod, engineer scale, 1 eflute 100 scale topography model, drafting tape, various pencils and pens

Most recent sleep period: 230am-830am (sleeping in!!!)

He performed card tricks, too

The male model tonight had a vast array of talents. One, he wasn't half bad at the job we hired him for. He started off the night with a pose that was a crowd stunner. He got on his knees and proceeded to lean back, all the way so I couldn't even see his head. He was spread eagle in front of Sara and I, who had a hard time collecting ourselves and begin the drawing. I only have a skeletal outline of it, but from what I do have you can imagine the situation.



After the first set of 10 one-minute poses, he took a break. He read a bit from a book, some kind of "how-to" manual of card tricks and related magical maneuvers. At the next break, he broke out a formidable wad of 100 bills and special gold coins to demonstrate a sleight of hand trick.


3 min pose


5 min pose


5 min pose

I felt a lot better about this week's drawing results. Men are supposed to be more difficult than women to draw. Perhaps I do not share this sentiment due to the fact that the woman we drew last week more resembled a 13 year old girl than a mature woman. I feel bad for saying that, but that is the kind of harsh criticism folks ought to anticipate in the modeling universe.


10 min pose

I rather like this one below.


10 min pose

And no, he isn't sitting in a puddle of poo in this last one. It just looks that way.


15 min pose

Music notes

Not that I have the time to be doing this, but I was browsing the concert circuit and I came across a notable gem or two.

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone w/ the Papercuts, Bottom of the Hill
December 5, 2007 (Wed)

St. Vincent, Great American Music Hall
February 17, 2008 (Sunday)

Explosions in the Sky, GAMH
March 21 & 22, 2008 (Fri & Sat)

Dozing in the library

There are few places in Wurster Hall where a person can get any privacy. There are also few places where you can comfortably take a nap. Naps are seriously mandatory at school these days, as final projects are coming to a close in the next two or so weeks.



I've taken to napping in the library along the south facing windows where there are a series of small tables (they fit one comfortably). It is very pleasant. You don't get the noise from studio (people slamming drawers, nailing, power tools, music, etc.) and it has a favorable microclimate that induces a quick 45 min nap. The tables are not oversized so you aren't uncomfortable haunched over with your head in your arms. And if you need a makeshift pillow, just pull a nice hefty book from the shelves and begin improvising immediately! Plus, people rarely venture along this wall. It seems that napping is one of the preferred activities in this part of the library environs.

Your only risk of napping in the library is one of your classmates coming across you as they get to the end of the stacks. It is important that this napping zone not become too widely known in our class for risk of overcrowding.

Other updates: A male nude model is the main event in my Wed. night drawing class.

Holiday muse-ic

This shall prove to be a grand show featuring both a well established and an up-and-coming Portland music act.

Stephen Malkmus has been residing in Portland for several years now. He recently had a kid, I guess. I saw Blitzen Trapper over the summer at Holocene. They were a little loud and anxious, I thought. I hope that the last several months on the road have polished their act and things will be more interesting this time around.

Too cute

This is from my favorite otter. Happy Thanksgiving y'all.



P.S. Tonight on the way back from my parents' house, we got pulled over for speeding and an obstructed front license plate. Tickets were about $400. However, we were spared the breathalizer.

P.P.S. I wasn't driving.

A car went into the corner store

On Monday night, as I was biking home south on Shattuck, a police car busted past me going 60. Other official vehicles followed seconds thereafter. I didn't think much about it, shit like that happens a lot on the border of Berkland.

I got to my apt., at Grove Street and Adeline, and found my roommate Garrett outside, looking down the street. He said he'd heard a loud crash 5 minutes earlier. We walked down a half block and at the corner a Saturn had apparently veered off the street, hit a tree, and continued its journey into the side of a building with a corner store. The tree was on the ground, a victim of this crime, which appeared to be a case of grand auto theft. The doors of the vehicle were wide open and there were no signs of any driver or passenger. Police were swarming around on the streets, perhaps responding to reports of sightings of the alleged suspect. We didn't stick around to find out.

Based on this incident, the reaction time of the police in Berkeley is pretty good. By the time Garrett and I got to the crash, the crime scene van was already there and they had roped off the immediate area. I am sure the suspect easily escaped. God knows he could have been hiding in our carport. There's a lot of hiding places off of Grove Street.

Strike a pose

1 min poses


10 min pose #1


10 min pose #2


20 min pose

Pie n' Wine

There is a pie and wine party tonight that I probably should not go to given the fact I am really behind on my studio design proposal. We have a preliminary pin up on Monday. But I will nonetheless venture forth toward fruit-studded baked confections and the sacred libation of Dionysus.

Today I spent most of the day completing a draft of an unrelated drawing assignment. It was beautiful outside and I should have been outside running, biking, or shopping.

Light at the end of the tunnel - Wednesday all I have planned to do is pack for my pending 2 night journey up north...and worry about what I have to get done for studio when I return on Saturday night.

I may try a vegan Japanese restaurant with Christina tonight. Not sure if I will end up full after that one, but then again, there is a pie n' wine party calling my name.

Naked people. Six hours of naked people.

Graduate school provides the opportunity to do things you haven't done before. You learn and grow from these experiences, thus enriching your educational experience. I myself have traveled three times overseas on the dime of the Beatrix Farrand fund, among countless parties, receptions, conferences, sponsored field and professional office visits.

Graduate school will also pay for nude models.

For the next two weeks, a nude model will visit my landscape drawing class and we will utilize her/him for three hours. There will be breaks. Apparently, nude models are traditionally given a five minute break for every 20 minutes of work performed. That means, collectively over two weeks, almost 70-80 minutes of breaks for the nekkid one while we gawk, stare and try to pretend we are only mildly amused.

Monday will begin with a female model. Our professor Chip claims that women are "easier to draw." I wonder what that means. He claims men are "difficult." I would like to know more details about that one.



Having never been in a class with a nude model, I have many questions about procedure, proximity, and expectations. I do hope this person is relatively in shape. Otherwise, I might as well just go hang out in the locker room of the Y with a tablet and charcoal. I am concerned about being too close that I may feel like I am staring.

My classmate Sara, who has taken figure drawing classes before, assured me that while it IS weird, you quickly acclimate to the environment. However, she told me that she's seen it all in terms of models, including a man who appeared to have visible STD symptoms. Ouch.

Oh, we were told that all cell phones will be collected into a box when we enter the classroom as a safeguard against unauthorized photos being taken. Also, there will not be drinking allowed that night in class (which goes against normal operating procedures). Wish us luck. And above all, wish us virile, attractive models!

In memoriam

Dale William Edmonds
October 28, 1946 - November 14, 2003

Next semseter

We've already signed up for classes for Spring semester 2008. Oh, how I wish it were my LAST spring here. Sadly, it is NOT.

Anyway, it appears as though I will not be required to take LA 202: Neighborhood Landscape Design. Under normal circumstances, this course is taught by my adviser Louise and I would jump to take it. However, this year she is on sabbatical and will not teach next term. The course this term is apparently going to be split between two fill in faculty members, one of which I am uncertain I like very much.

The other options are to take either Peter's Advanced Urban Design studio (CP 248) or Randy Hester's Environmental Planning studio (LA 205). I decided to enroll in Randy's studio. I haven't had Randy as a professor since Spring 2006. He's a big reason I came to the department, so perhaps this will reignite my enthusiasm for studio. Lately, I just feel pooped because we've had to crank out obscene amounts of work the last three weeks.

That stuff is pretty mundane, though.

Things to look forward to are Thanksgiving. I will be a basket case trying to get out of here. The good news is that Chip cancelled class on Wednesday night, so I will be able to meander on home before midnight to pack for the mad dash home. I will spend two nights at home and there are already plans in the making to see the Chuck Close exhibit at the Portland Art Museum.

Night Falls on Kortedala

This is Jens Lekman at Bimbo's in San Francisco on Friday,
November 9. Photo credit to Jason.