Chronicles of a tired grad student

2.5 months behind. i know.

2006-02-08T00:33:00.000-05:00

I'll never catch up. But at least grad school work is fairly on schedule for a change! AND the Steelers won the Super Bowl! Be still my heart...

Christmas was a great break. I spent a week at home with my mother and grandmother... managed to see my best college girlfriends too! Then, a couple days after the old man shimmied down the chimney, Greg and I made our way (somehow) to Isla Mujeres. Crazy Mexico City tried to hold us back, but we broke through and had a great week on the island paradise. We were even so much safer on our way back because we had a hand carved Mayan medicine god from Chicken Pizza. Maybe I'll post photos someday.... or maybe I'll just get a real website someday and put them there. One day back in the city and I was off with grad school to Berlin for a week, and Munich for a week. Nothing like my undergrad study abroad, and kicked in the butt with a healthy dose of the flu, I managed to find fun here and there.... and lots of beer yummy mustard. I even found my best friend from 2nd grade Erica with her husband and newborn in Munich! okay, i didn't randomly find them, but it was a great stroke of luck that we planned a day together and it all actually worked out.

Now I am playing set designer again for a great, funny, fun Irish comedy! I am also playing scenic paint assistant for the same gig. Oh! and I get a huge backstage tour of things in DisneyWorld along with dinner and shows and meets and greets... I'm stoked!

This is all uninteresting I suppose. But I never said it would be anything otherwise.

to bed to bed. theatre calls soon. theatre theatre theatre..... less than 1.5 years!

errrrr...

2005-12-04T14:56:00.000-05:00

Right. So we did come home from Las Vegas. Bachelorette-ing, navagating the city on my own, family time, meeting more friends, seeing the Wynn, wandering the strip with my camera, rehersal dinnering, wedding-ing, wal-marting for comfy clothes, losing $5.10 at video poker while wearing my new ugly sweatpants, and sleeping on the floor of the DFW airport in my new ugly sweatpants. A great trip. Wish it could have been longer.

We got to leave again for Indiana for Thanksgiving to meet all of Greg's extended family that would put armies of small nations to shame in size. I did well even without my plan of labelled poloroids. Another fun wedding too. It was all great. Culture shock for me coming from my family of 3. The only problem was all the questions of, "So what are you going to do with your degree when you graduate?" Hmmm. I'll let you know when I think of something that doesn't sound like a pain in the arse.

Finishing up this long and painful semester here. Too bad I don't care enough to make some of the decisions I have to make. And Million Dollar Baby was not the movie to watch yesterday to cheer up my spirits :) At least I had a box of brownie mix!

Christmas Carol FINALLY opened Friday night. After the huge push to save my professor's butt, I'm not sure all my projects were worth the huge effort we had to put into them. Everything was on stage for all of, oh, say, 10 seconds! My poor little Want and Ignorance dolls. I'll have to get photos of them for the portfolio at least. Turns out I'm a great scary baby maker. My prof even showed me a little appreciation and praise!!! In between making me feel bad for leaving for Thanksgiving, for leaving for Christmas, for asking if I could leave after working a 10 hour day for him out of my own kindness (ok, I didn't really have a choice, but it still wasn't a spoken requirement). GRRRRRR. Can't wait for Christmas. and then I can't wait until summer.

So there's my update of my pathetic little life. Only a couple weeks left!

Now if only the Steelers could win and the Colts would lose!!!

And.....

2005-11-02T21:42:00.000-05:00

I'm leaving town for a few days!!!

I'm off to Vegas tomorrow afternoon to join the wedding festivities! Congratulations Claudia and Brian :-)

Hobo Excuse #2

2005-11-02T21:17:00.000-05:00

Model Building Class.

The project that's been eating my time and money since Labor Day... At least my advisor said my marble was the *best* marble he'd *ever* seen. He also told me I was crazy for cutting out my Victorian window corners and handpainting my flowers. Cheers to having an old GT friend that works at an architectural modeling firm that was my lasercutting hookup for the stair rail :-)

Photos to prove my story:

The photo I was building/guessing from:

Hobo Excuse #1

2005-11-02T20:39:00.000-05:00

Trojan Women.

What a crazy experience.

The show is closing up this weekend, and on Monday we'll throw it all in the trash. Hopefully we'll be able to use a few things though. We had the post mortem today and everyone has very nice things to say to and about me. They also apologized for putting me in that position.

Here's some photos to prove my story:

P.S. I also did my own photography with my snazzy new digital SLR

Sitting. but praised!

2005-10-13T21:34:00.000-05:00

So I'm sitting in rehearsal. On my ass. from 6:30-very very late every night now. Well, except for the 10 out of 12 on Saturday. Watching this weird show. (I'll post photos when we take them). Still lots of work to be done, but everyone seems to really like it so far. At least the set... but of course I have yet to see the newly added rape scene in my cage. Crazy I tell ya.

The lighting prof told me that my prof was bragging on me saying what great work I'm doing. Always nice to hear when you're busting your bootie. Can't wait til Christmas, but wish I had more time in between now and then to get everything finished.

Happy fall break to all. Even though I don't get a break, at least I didn't have classes today and could spend the day wallowing in my bed, "thinking with my eyes closed" for hours on end. Back to work tomorrow. 1.5 weeks left to figure out and finish Guys and Dolls too! Woohooooo.....

Took a break with Greg a few days ago to see 40 Year Old Virgin. Figured I'd add that in since really that was the point of this blog. Having a life and trying not to forget about that... and it was a really funny movie.

fresh

2005-10-03T23:14:00.000-05:00

Wow. Don't want to be stale. I'm too fresh to be stale ;) I know what you're thinking. And you're right. I'm not, in fact, very funny...

I'm tired, as my title implies. Model building and dealing with crazy theatre people trying to get my uber-disturbing show on stage. CRAZY! But I know how to make food that looks like pulverized human flesh now... Always key.

BUT! my model is looking hot. I hear rumors that my professor said mine was better than my cohort's... I'm not smiling ear to ear. Really, I'm not.... my facial muscles are tired like the rest of my body, but if I could I would be. Now if only I didn't have to finish it. I'll post pictures of it when it's complete to explain my absence from my ever-exciting blog and life in general.

I have done a few real activities though - in keeping with my 'keep a life' goals. Greg and I joined the rest of the grad design kids in white water rafting down the Ocoee River. A few guys from Tech came up to K-town for the game Saturday and we all got to hang out at a local bar like the old days. Greg and I have managed to grab a few dinners out-- hopefully we'll be able to find more time as Trojan Women wraps up this month. I'm also looking forward to our next trip to Vegas the beginning of November :-)

And THAT my friends, is a post :)

partay time

2005-09-14T19:03:00.000-05:00

so I knew this neglectful thing would happen. grad school. humph!

pics from this weekend's bash, themed knox-vegasly in honor of greg's arrival. tons of food, pink panty pulldown punch, theatre kids and engineers coming together in one apartment... who'da thought?

how do you call your loverboy, version 2.0

2005-09-06T13:47:00.000-05:00

I call my loverboy on EST now! No more counting hours, stupidly late nights on off-peak Pacific time, or really the need for extended use of the phone at all!

Here's hoping i can learn to be uber-productive at a quick pace so grad school doesn't completely take over.

teaching me a lesson

2005-08-31T18:48:00.000-05:00

I leave for school yesterday, gas next to my apt is $2.49.

I come home, gas next to my apt is $2.69.

I leave for work today, gas is holding steady at $2.69.

I come home, gas next to my apt is $3.10.

This, my good buddies, is trying to tell me to stop going to school! If I was a dog belonging to Pavlov, I'd have learned by now...

8.5 hours remaining!

2005-08-30T22:39:00.000-05:00

Trojan Women is due tomorrow morning finally. No more extensions. No more excuses. Nothing. I'll head to work at 7:30 to drop everything off and get a good solid day of nasty, stinky, dirty, hard work in the prop shop in - and then I can start my homework for real classes (of which I'm back down to 3!!). I'm stoked.

I was told that my presentation handwriting and arrow-drawing skills weren't really up to par, so I'm practicing everything I write first to make sure it looks artsy enough. It's like kindergarten all over again. I'm supposed to practice my alphabet over and over again just as an exercise to make me better...

As for class... I'm designing a Harlem Renaissance/Motown version of Guys and Dolls. I'm super stoked! No more depressing German plays! Yipppppeeeeee!

THE VIRGINATOR!!!!

2005-08-27T15:14:00.000-05:00

Sweet! Now I'm just waiting for my badge and my Virginator biorhythm microchip!

This is what my virginity looks like:

It's a magic eye puzzle! Anyone know what it is though? duck head? anvil? sideways butterfly?

How do you call your loverboy?

2005-08-19T20:47:00.000-05:00

Baaaaby... ohhhh baaaaby..... my sweet baaaaby.... you're the one...

So how many times do you think a girl (we'll leave out her name to protect the nutty) can watch Dirty Dancing? It always turns out the same, but I, errr, I mean she can't help it!

nobody puts Alli in a corner... errrrr, I mean.... oh forget it. I love Dirty Dancing!

I rock!

2005-08-18T02:28:00.000-05:00

And I'm not as funny as I find myself at 3:30am!

At least it's nice when I make something that I like, even if others (who shall remain nameless) find bones to pick...

My rock wall paint sample!

Gaaaaaaaaaa!

2005-08-17T15:25:00.000-05:00

Went to bed last night before 5am so that I could wake up before 8am for a meeting about technical issues with my set. The meeting with everyone where they tell me again what all I've done wrong so far is tomorrow. Spent 2 hours polishing brass fireplace tools in a hot, unventilated basement room (my new workspace for the semester). Left for a world in Hobby Lobby where the overweight woman buying $160 in cake baking/decorating supplies (who kept exclaiming how her husband was going to KILL her!) in front of me in line had THREE unpriced items that they found SEPARATELY and had to send someone to go check prices....for a world in Home Depot where I have to park out in BFE only to not find what I want... for a world where the bank's line is OUT the door... oh, and I got a parking ticket.

Nothing a little bacardi and vanilla coke can't ease... bacardi and precision x-acto work.....hmmmmmm....

So much to do, so many revisions to make... at least I dropped my figure drawing class so I'm down to a mere full time 9 hours of spirit-squelching fun. No looking at naked people for me.... at least not in class...

Deep in the Heart of Dixie

2005-08-15T23:01:00.000-05:00

Watching Dharma and Greg...

So they were pretending to be southern in a NY store just for kicks when Greg (the lawyer) met a judge that takes a liking to them for bringing back great memories of when he lived in Knoxville! They keep pretending and then include both sets of parents when the judge brings over Al Gore...

They have to learn phrases like 'mom-n-em' and the pronunciation of 'NawLens'...

They walk around barefoot to be 'authentic' and talk about speaking with poor diction so as to sound more 'ignorant' (I think I should be offended)...

They stand in the kitchen frantically trying to figure out what exactly 'sweet tea' (should it be hot or cold?? what kind of sweetener??) 'hush puppies,' and 'grits' are...

They have to learn songs to sing while fishing for catfish...

Then they close the show like the Beverly Hillbillies with a 'y'all come back now, ya hear?'

Sure makes me proud to be a GRITS!

Where's my Terrible Towel!?!

2005-08-15T22:59:00.000-05:00

Steelers kick some Eagle Ass! Whooooooo! Bring on the regular season...

Two touchdowns in the first 2:05... the Offense wasn't even involved! Whoooooooo!

$4.48

2005-08-14T14:19:00.000-05:00

Some nice person bought 25 cards with my little margarita painting on them for a total of $44.75! That means I earned a whopping $4.48 in royalties!! I'm so excited!

Somebody likes me! Somebody really, really likes me!

Rocky Top II

2005-08-12T00:58:00.000-05:00

For all of you that have perhaps grown up with me in The South, or if you're curious about where a dear friend of yours is moving in The South, or if you are about to become a new resident of The South --- I've put together a few links that will help. Now, I'm not proud of all of them, but I'll do my best to be impartial. Some of the stories really made laugh because I know how true they are... Good reads either way

Not all about the serpents - very funny, and true, stories in the beginning

J. Pigg's Stink Bait

Only a Southerner...

Things you'd never hear a Southerner say...

Nickname: Knox Vegas

Hope y'all all enjoyed this!

Calling for photography opinions

2005-08-11T22:10:00.000-05:00

Any one have opinions on cameras? I need one for my photography class this fall, but wow, this is going to be expensive. Gripes, must haves, or rants of your own?

This is what has been recommended for me to buy... with a 50mm lens with a f1.8 of course... and a couple 512MB cards... and a nice monopod... and all the other accessories that you need like a UV filter...

ack!

will make you laugh out loud!

2005-08-11T20:17:00.000-05:00

Seriously :-)

T6nt5e

2005-08-11T20:08:00.000-05:00

That's what the word Tontie looks like if you forget to change your keyboard back to the letter version...

Anyhow - sorry guys - couldn't get past level 9 on Tontie, but I still blame my lack of a keypad ;) There were just too many little tellitubbies dancing and swinging things around.

I do know who has the Walleye pike though!

Rocky Top

2005-08-11T19:38:00.000-05:00

All moved back into my apartment in TN, though I'm using the term "moved in" loosely since my stuff is EVERYWHERE. Put my clothes and shoes away - even began a bag of things to take to the Salvation Army or Goodwill or whatever place we have nearby. Scrubbed the kitchen along with my bathtub which had grown the nastiest mold ever. But it's all better now. I even took my first bubble bath of the year late last night after hearing my neighbors either have a very violent argument or wildly passionate sex.

Peered in the window of the empty apartment soon to inhabit Greg. I'll make the walk up the hill another day when I don't lock myself out of the apartment. Grocery shopped like a champ and saved over $45 with my Kroger Plus Card! Broke down and bought the cheese dip in a moment of weakness - but at least it's half gone, so I'll only have to worry about it one more day :-)

Heading into the shop tomorrow--- yikes! Gotta get working!

kinda sad

2005-08-04T22:37:00.000-05:00

All dressed up again, but this time I got to go out! Met Scott, Ryan, Justin, and Derek for beers and then a very nice dinner. It's been a hell of a summer, and I was often given strange jobs in my role of Jill-of-all-trades...digging up plants along side a highway, hiking through the woods looking for cypress trees around a lake, picking ticks off of me one by one in the Jamestown woods, organizing and sorting the entire project budget, finding a taxidermist that would freeze dry silkworms... but I'm going to miss this place and these people. Ryan said that I'm the only one that ever gets "going away dinners." I figured I should just come and go more often because those are the fancy nights :-)

I just can't believe this could be it for me and this city. Not that I'm so attached, but still. This was my first real job last time I worked here - my first real time functioning fully on my own. Lonely, but it's a great feeling to know you can take care of yourself.

Speaking of taking care of myself, mom's coming down tomorrow to help me move my apartment back up to Georgia. Then it's back to Tennessee in about a week.

Even hotter!

2005-08-04T12:00:00.000-05:00

fortune

2005-08-03T15:46:00.000-05:00

You gotta love thai fortunes:

It's not even a fortune!!!

pj's already

2005-08-03T15:29:00.000-05:00

Stood up again.

Tomorrow, Stubby's, with all the project managers and the boss. I'll believe it at 6:30pm when I'm not sitting in a bar alone.

For now, I'm finishing the mudslides.

go josie go

2005-08-03T11:22:00.000-05:00

Struggled this morning getting out of bed until The Outfield came on and kicked my butt into gear. Gave me the wiggles all the way to the shower.

Josie's so lucky, being on a vacation far away.

Last day at work... probably my last day officially AT themeworks ever, though the blow is softened by the fact that I get to stay on for the run of this Jamestown gig. I'm the official Tennessee ThemeWorks Consultant. But I had to turn in my hard hat...

not drunk but feeling hungover

2005-08-02T19:24:00.000-05:00

So dinner w/ TWI peeps did in fact get moved to tomorrow, but Ryan took me to eat thai food. I just got a 3 hour lecture on how I should not take next summer off.... on how I should just pick a city and find all the places I want to work there.... on how I need to start building informal relationships with all these companies, starting with the secretaries...on how I should just go to said city where I can stay with a friend for a couple weeks and just show up at the places I've been talking to offering to just help out here and there.... for free. He even told me it'd be more fun than painting, building furniture, and working on my own portfolio. Why, oh why, did I decide to go into such an illusive field where I have to strategize, struggle, and beg my way in? So much for starting in the middle.

T-1.5 days

2005-08-02T10:15:00.000-05:00

Semi-premeditatively overslept. I've even been semi-intentionally productive today too. All dressed up because we're all allegedly going out to say goodbye to me tonight, but so far no one has mentioned it. Hopefully I won't be all dressed up with no where to go. I'm supposed to get drunk and be fed for free damn it! Justin did bring me a beer that he brewed himself. A refreshing summer stout. mmmmm.

Dragon Zapper!

2005-08-01T10:45:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah. I'm hot.

T-3 days

2005-08-01T10:09:00.000-05:00

I've been at work for over 3 hours already. Let's see, I've redesigned my website, but so far it's just on paper. Perhaps I'll get some images ready this week while I'm sitting here. Too bad I can't bring my painting work in :) I showed Justin my miniature blood stained tile and explained my plans of having bloody hand prints smeared around doorways like people had tried not to go through the door, but were forced... and he said it was scary, and that I was starting to worry him.... perfect...

To be honest though, this morning when I woke up and realized that I had been in my pj's for 32 straight hours, I was worried a little myself.

100 things about me

2005-07-30T20:39:00.000-05:00

1. I’ve been trying to figure out what #1 should be since now everyone will know that’s the first thing I thought about myself
2. I’m a good southern girl
3. It’s Coke. Whatever it is, it’s Coke.
4. I say things like “y’all” and elongate my i's in words like “why”
5. If I concentrate on it, I can get rid my accent except for the y’alls
6. I love good peaches
7. I don’t like collard greens
8. I like THE Black Eyed Peas more than actual black eyed peas
9. I don’t like THE black eyed peas nearly as much as, say, Josh Joplin, Gin Blossoms, Guster, Vertical Horizon, Matchbox Twenty of the Yourself or Someone Like You era…
10. These are all bands on my current playlist
11. I can eat an entire container of Cool Whip in one sitting
12. I used to make jello to go with my cool whip, but then I stopped pretending
13. I can also eat an entire container of Tostitos Salsa con Queso in one sitting
14. I can also eat an entire box of Kraft macaroni and cheese in one sitting
15. And I Love brownies, especially ones with walnuts in them
16. I am probably skinnier than I deserve to be
17. I can’t run very far
18. The underside of my tongue hurts when I run
19. I know that’s strange
20. My sports bras are like miniature medieval fortresses
21. I always look at the clock when it’s 6:17 am and pm
22. In the last year and a half I have lived for at least 2.5 months in 4 different states
23. I worked at a summer camp in NW Michigan last summer
24. I’m finishing my second summer at ThemeWorks in north central Florida
25. I helped finish the installation of a big new roller coaster in Tampa for a week
26. I wore a hard hat and steel toe boots and carried heavy things around
27. I am helping to manage a big new exhibit for Jamestown
28. I want to be a dancer in music videos
29. I Love dancing
30. I want to have an art room when I grow up that I can be all artistic in
31. Perhaps a darkroom too so I can take photography back up
32. I want to have a wood shop too
33. I worked as a carpenter last year as my assistantship for grad school
34. I get excited when I see my name in the playbills under: Carpenters
35. I love the Pittsburgh Steelers
36. I chased down Jerome Bettis in the airport once
37. I was a ‘sorority girl’ in college
38. ‘Sorority girls’ are different at Georgia Tech than other schools
39. My mom is my sister
40. I’m an only child of an only child
41. My grandmother is the only other person I know of in my family with red hair
42. It turns out I had 12 different teddy bears growing up, but I thought it was only one
43. My parents split up when I was 10
44. I was star student of my elementary school
45. I was star student of my middle school
46. I was star student of my high school
47. I was valedictorian and most likely to succeed too
48. I was captain of the varsity math team and Clayton Co. math champion my senior year
49. I’m a National Merit Scholar
50. I used to mime
51. I was a clown
52. Clowning still remains my highest paying job to date
53. I was captain of the marching band color guard
54. Some might say that I was a big nerd growing up ;-)
55. Ok, I’ll remain a nerd forever
56. I cling to the fact that I played varsity tennis for 3 years in high school
57. To be honest, I wasn’t even that good
58. I’ve never watched a Star Wars movie
59. I’ve never seen any Lord of the Rings either
60. I know that I should at least watch the later
61. I lived with Elizabeth for all 4 years of undergrad
62. We were random roommates put together freshman year
63. I had the most amazing and impressive friends at Tech
64. I miss being at GT
65. Most everyone has left Atlanta now
66. I was a bridesmaid twice last summer in the span of 8 days
67. I almost got to wear the same dress for both weddings
68. I’m a bit obsessive about plucking my eyebrows sometimes
69. This is strange because you can’t even see my eyebrows
70. I won the Georgia Tech Greek Week apple bobbing contest
71. I collected 8 apples in 60 seconds
72. …blindfolded
73. …with my hands tied behind my back
74. I started college wanting to be an automotive designer
75. I finished college wanting to be a themed entertainment designer
76. Now I think it would be pretty cool to do event design
77. or bar/restaurant/nightclub design
78. I met my boyfriend on a trip to Las Vegas
79. I paid a stripper to rub her breasts on my boyfriend’s face
80. His roommates bought me a lap dance
81. The TV show Las Vegas is one of my favorites
82. Josh Duhamel is on my top 5 list
83. Greg’s moving to Knoxville very soon!
84. We haven’t even known each other a year
85. I’m very excited!
86. Over Christmas break we tried to go skiing in California but there was too much snow
87. That was the first time I’d ever heard of that being a problem
88. I love to ski
89. I ski through the trees and pretend that I’m good enough to do this
90. I prefer moguls to speedy trails
91. I love making snow angels
92. I’m allergic to the sun
93. I miss my freckles
94. I tried laying in a tanning bed to “toughen up my skin”
95. It didn’t work
96. I love beaches at sunset during the summer
97. Really, I love all water at sunset, especially during the summer
98. Guinness is my favorite beer
99. I’m Irish
100. I’m also Scottish
101. I went to Scotland three times
102. I’ve waded in Loch Ness
103. I’ve slept on the street in downtown Edinburgh… in the rain
104. I’ve been to the highland games
105. I worked in an orphanage in Saratov, Russia
106. I got to go back to Moscow on my study abroad trip.
107. We also went to Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Munich, Venice, Padova, Florence, Rome, and Paris
108. I studied at Worcester College of Oxford University
109. I just finished my scrapbook from that summer this year
110. I’m too much of a perfectionist in my scrapbooking
111. Someday I hope to be caught up
112. I’ve had three gold Saturn sedans
113. My next car should not be a gold Saturn sedan
114. I have too many shoes even though I know that’s impossible
115. I love unique jewelry
116. I love unique clothing
117. I love dressing like the designer that I am
118. I’m designing my first mainstage show right now
119. I think I’ve done a pretty good job if I do say so myself
120. Whoa, I was adding things up towards the top and didn’t even realize I was over 100.
121. I have a really lame social life down here in Florida this year
122. As you can see.

Addendum: The bottoms of my feet peel sometimes.

an even wilder night

2005-07-30T20:22:00.000-05:00

Saturday has proven to be even more wild and crazy than I could have anticipated. I painted miniature tile for several hours after my tire rotation. In between coats I took some artistic liberties in recreating some prints I saw for sale at Bed Bath & Beyond this morning. I miss doing things like this. It makes me more excited about the idea of taking next summer off and painting, visiting friends, getting a head start on my thesis, sleeping, exercising perhaps....

Speaking of exercise. Drum roll. I did some today! Our apartment gym is now open after massive renovation/updating. It was so nice that I was inspired to cardio. 30 minutes of eliptical told me I went 6.0. It didnt' say what units though. I know it can't be miles so I'm going to go with kilometers.... and that is approximately 3.7282271534240037 miles (I just did that in my head so pardon my rounding to only the 16th decimal place). And then I was thinking that if I'm going to be taking my bike back to TN with me in the fall I need to start toughening up my crotch so I biked for 20 minutes more. My lungs and heart are confused and my crotch is mad! ;-)

Why I make the big bucks

2005-07-30T16:01:00.000-05:00

All that talk yesterday about gambling while bored at work led me to think a thought in my head that was really quite humorous. at least to me. So to go along with my girls weekend shirt that no one wants, I made another shirt with my clever image...

I also had such an exhilirating Friday night with no internet access that I played with the hues and made several different color variations! wooooo! You can catch them all on my zazzle gallery.... in high resolution and big enough to actually see. Don't worry, I know how cool I am.

I also bought funky new shoes today, but it didn't feel like I bought them because the cashier gave me $8.75 to take them out of the store. I love store credits. They're very artsy and fun.

Wrong again.

2005-07-29T14:16:00.000-05:00

I should really never gamble. Turns out I'm not phased out yet. Turns out I'm going to stay on as a part-time employee from a distance. I'm going to help finish up this props mess as we get answers - in all my free time these next few months. I won't have to source anything though, just keep up the relationships I have built with Jamestown and the vendors... not a bad gig as far as I can predict, but I'm certainly not going to put money on it. Plus, it pays more than babysitting in Knoxville, and I won't even have to leave my apartment. And I got invited to the installations in November and March-ish. It's nice to feel so needed.

why I only play $2 blackjack and $1 craps

2005-07-29T09:52:00.000-05:00

A couple days ago when I put my money on only 4 more days of work, I was wrong. Turns out my last day will be Wednesday...

Scott just came it my office to ask me, and he said that they'll all have to take me out, get me drunk, and have at least another day in the office with me to tease me. Apparently Monday night isn't convenient for everyone, so we're all going out Tuesday night, which means I have to come to work on Wednesday. Still though, I ran out of things to do about a week ago. My candy stash is running low too, since I was rationing with Tuesday in mind.

Perhaps I'll design more shirts. I entered my gallery under the category "dabblers" unsure of what that was really, but I knew I didn't fit in any other category entirely. I figured: "I'm just dabbling in this shirt design thing." But then, it made me chose what age group of dabblers I wanted to be in. So now, I'm an "adult dabbler" and that just makes me feel a little dirty.

candy stash

2005-07-28T09:08:00.000-05:00

To preface: TWI asked tootsie roll to print old labels for us for an exhibit. They did this for free. Then, they sent us a HUGE box of candy. How great are they?!

But now, all the candy is gone except for the neon pink hard bubble gum that no one really likes anyway.... except for my secret stash! I was teased when I walked out of Ryan's office with a shirt-full of goodies (Tootsie Roll actually makes a lot of candy you wouldn't expect), but now, I'M the one laughing. HAHAHA!

It's hiding on my desk behind my binder of English street scene references. I'm so sneaky!

Backwards day

2005-07-27T21:42:00.000-05:00

Did my Trojan Women research/drafting at TWI out of lack of real work to do. Cut out flying for good. And got an extension on when I have to get my drawings done since I no longer have to get them printed and sent myself! Oh! and decided I want to be a fancy event planner when I grow up for the free fun stuff.

Actually did some crunches and stretches while watching t.v.... though those just tried to counteract the massive quantity of egg noodles I consumed. Maybe I'll even get to be sore tomorrow - not in the "I am getting old and breaking down" kind of way too!

4-5 more days at work.... though since I've officially lost access to the server, I'm no longer on the Jamestown email list, and I'm not being given new projects to work on, I'd put money on the 4.

Sides

2005-07-25T22:29:00.000-05:00

Upside: My slow cooker chicken thighs, shredded and stuffed into tortillas with pinto beans, black olives, and sour cream were SO good. I even just now realized that I should have added cheese. Anyhow they look promising for the next day or two - and if they fail, I have buns and BBQ sauce!

Downside: I was so looking forward ALL DAY to seeing an episode of Las Vegas tonight that I had never seen. NBC, however, forgot to turn on their sound all night, so I couldn't watch it (you know how muted TV makes me nervous).

Upside: Showing on TBS opposite the muted Las Vegas was an episode of Friends that, believe it or not folks, I had never seen before! The 3rd episode ever - The One with the Thumb...

And THAT my good buddies is what I call my silver lining...

Oh Oh! Another Upside! My yahoo radio station has this album called "Motown Remixed" that I rated a 4 immediately... the songs on it are so FUN and I keep hearing new ones! Jackson 5 is jammin' right now w/ I Want You Back to a funky beat....funky enough that I want to get up and dance more than usual, but not too funky that it's all DJ and scratchy like late night Saturday night radio stations (though those can be fun too sometimes)...

Leftovers

2005-07-24T17:02:00.000-05:00

Cooking for one really sucks since you want to make enough to make the recipe work/worth it, but then you're stuck with the same meal for days on end. Usually, day one, I think the meal is stellar and I'm proud of myself. My excitement usually declines steadily until day 3 when I'm not excited at all (pretty quick, I know). But I push through. Day 4 is painful, and I usually throw away the last serving because it makes me ill to think about eating it again.

I've managed, however, to make it through an entire dish... I think the solution, and I hope it applies across the board, is adding lots of ground pepper, garlic salt, and melted cheese! :-) I actually think my doctored version was better than the original! I'm so happy!

Now I'm starting to try and figure out how to use what food I already own to make my meals for the next 2 weeks... looks like I'll be eating some interesting concoctions - unless anyone has a great idea of what to do with 2 jars of pickles... ;)

Deja vu 2003

2005-07-24T16:51:00.000-05:00

Christyn is living in G'ville for at least a few days, which means I have a friend! We went out grand last night shelling out the dough for incredible sushi (the Godzilla roll had cream cheese eyes!), pineapple sake, and service worthy of the 'young and trendy' crowd of which we were now a part.

Then we turned geeky like only GT girls can do - played with the awesome ringers on her new phone until I picked out one for me.... NFL on NBC came in a close second to the winner: Under the Sea.

We met up with Ryan, Mike, Zach, etc. at 8 Seconds - the redneck bar which despite its name and theme (and the fact that it's painted like a giant cow on the outside) has no mechanical bull. Kinda crazy that this was my first time out all summer since 2 years ago that was all I did. I also worked out ALL the time before, so I guess I'm going for opposite all around. It was fun, but we got tired before closing so headed home - most everyone else was drunk beyond function too. Taking off my shoes and crawling in bed felt so nice.

Titus

2005-07-22T08:06:00.000-05:00

So I’m still working my way through Titus – it’s just so good! And listening to Julie Taymor just makes me want to keep it longer and watch it normally again… too bad Greg might want his 3rd movie back.

The first night I turned it on it was so nice, I fell asleep watching it around 9:30pm so I just headed straight to bed. I needed the sleep anyway. The next evening I was to hear from my director finally, but alas, still no word. So there I was, uninspired to work, so I watched more movie. I had forgotten it was 3 hours long! The NEXT evening I DID hear from Veronika and she loved all the work that I had done. It was so great – she agreed with all my changes and cuts that I made. The rest is easy right? So now I’m plugging away at CAD, but happily now. Taking my time, not stressing out, eating coolwhip because it tastes good, not because I need a fix. Life is good. I’m going to finish this beast.

Now if only I had something interesting to do at work for the next 7.5 hours… maybe a transformer will blow up again like yesterday. That was different.

2005-07-19T12:12:00.000-05:00

At the end of the trip outside our hotel

2005-07-19T12:11:00.000-05:00

Dancing at Wet Willies - I got a brain freeze in the middle of the shot...

What I've been missing

2005-07-19T10:41:00.000-05:00

Our girls' weekend at the beach was a HUGE success. I left work early, and Christyn came to pick me up with the intention of leaving for Tybee right away... Distractions ensued and we left a few hours later. There was celebrating, drinking, eating, sunning, ice cream and praline eating, beach walking, Irish pubs, Wet Willies (of the bar/dance club variety!), dancing, and tons of laughter. I love those girls. Makes me miss GT times so much. (see photos to be posted separately...)

Greg said we should have a girls' weekend once a month, but perhaps once or twice a year will have to suffice. Back to work and work - though it looks like Trojan Women might be finding some resolution in the near future. At least I got an extension for my final deadline since I've been playing by the rules. I'm happy about that. In celebration of this good fortune - tonight I'm watching the director's cut of Titus!

Starting plans

2005-07-15T09:08:00.000-05:00

So I’m a grad student in set design at the University of Tenn. I already have a degree from Georgia Tech in Industrial Design. I’m a glutton for punishment. I knew from undergrad that this would be very time intensive adventure, but I have to say it’s more than I expected. One year down, two to go –

Now I’m in Florida working an 8-5 job doing design/fabrication management work. In all my spare time I am designing my first mainstage show ever for UT – designs are due in less than 2 weeks…

After a wonderful, yet design-distracted 2 week visit from my ever-patient boyfriend Greg, I realize that I don’t want to spend the next two years knowing that I’m constantly being neglectful of my friends, my loved ones, and myself. He’s moving across the country to end this 3-time zone separation ordeal and I want to learn how to enjoy my time now that I won’t have the excuse, “well, I have nothing better to do…”

I’m starting fresh this weekend: me and 8 of my closest girlfriends from GT are taking a trip to Tybee Island. We are taking 2 cars, have rented 2 hotel rooms (like there’ll be any sleeping!), and are bringing 2 blenders. These girls are coming from around the country – D.C., Texas, Wisconsin, Florida, Atlanta, England sort of…. It’s great how everyone is making such an effort to spend time with each other. I haven’t seen some of these girls in over a year. I can’t wait! In short, I have TONS of work to get done and a fast approaching deadline, but I made a commitment a long time ago to meet my girlfriends, and I am not going to give up this chance to see them. I will do my best to forget about Trojan Women and concentrate on these wonderful girls who love me just like I love them.

Statement of Purpose

2005-07-14T17:58:00.000-05:00

To prevent my professional/scholastic life from squashing my spirit, my relationships, my happiness, and my wellbeing. Hopefully in the process I can reconcile my worlds into one life that can live in peace and harmony.