Goin' Great!

So, surprise, I have basically ignored this place again. I have worthy excuses, but it comes down to me wondering what I do here. I started this blog out of boredom and loneliness. I was going through some rough times and had just moved across the country to try something out. But I struggle with this format and my simultaneous desire to connect with friends and maintain my personal and professional privacy from spambots and the creeps of the world. I have been thinking I might try something new when I move, maybe something that isn't so anonymous, something I could share with my family and colleagues (once I get some of those). I wonder if I could maintain something like that any better. I sort of doubt it, but I'll mull it over. I don't want to kill my little blog, I just don't feel like I have enough time in a day for everything, and I would like to use it as well as possible. I am torn between having a blog my mom could read and being able to curse as much as I want. Cursing seemed pretty important when I started this, but I miss my mom. And I have this imagined perception of my profile as an artist, what comes up when my name is googled sort of thing, that keeps me swathed in my ninja mask of secrecy. Not that I imagine I say anything groundbreaking or of mild interest here, but I would like a gallery to represent me someday, hopefully soon, and want as little of a non-art footprint of me on the web as possible. I am sure most people think these same things, I feel like a fool for dwelling on it long, so I typically just ignore the whole topic and my blog.

Also, I am not very exciting.

In contrast to that statement, however, (I have to mix it up occasionally) I will soon be Mrs. Casual Passion! (Or more likely Ms. Casual Ninja Passion or the like) Hooray for us! We are both too busy with school to do much about it right now, but we will, and that is exciting.

The Great Cross Country Move and New City Caper becomes more of a reality as the months pass and graduation approaches. It is such a relief to see the light at the end of so many tunnels at once. It blinds me with happiness! I look for jobs, I apply for jobs, I care little for the turnout as long as I am there and not here. I would be happy to have an assortment of part time jobs: ideally there would be some variety of teaching, design, or arts admin, but hell I would be fine with almost anything. Again... not caring as long as I am there and not here. What times await! We are closing in on our living arrangements, which is one less thing to stress about and one more thing to look forward to. I love you, New Place!

And I will install my thesis exhibition in three weeks. Thrilling and nerve-wracking! Will it be completed in time? Who can say! Will the corresponding paper be written? Let's hope so! I am on spring break this week, and have already begun feeling more productive and on track than I possibly can during the normal span of the semester. It is a relief to have no obligation other than to make work, this is what I had envisioned when I pictured graduate school. No work, no classes, just time in the studio and to myself. I even have time to have some fun and be occasionally lazy without feeling guilty. I played a video game today! Girl Gone Wild! SPRING BREAK! WOOO!

I know what you're thinking. Take it easy, girlfriend. But I have my groove back! I went ice skating today with some friends. It was enjoyable and suitably clumsy. My right leg and ankle are sore from skating in the same circular direction for so long. There was this little boy whose parents basically dropped him at the rink unsupervised and sat off in the distance reading the New Yorker. He was cutting back and forth across the diameter of the rink as fast as he could with no regard for lanes or the safety of others, I called him Bullet and waited to be knocked on my ass by a baby. In regards to the other, more cautious children: there were these adorable little contraptions that looked like little walkers, but were meant to help the little ones stay upright on the ice. So there were all these cringingly cute kids wearing helmets (one little girl's had flames shooting across it) and pushing walkers across the ice. I couldn't stop pointing them out, despite there being dozens of them, yet no one seemed to find them as amazing and noteworthy as I did. Babies! With Helmets! And Walkers! On Ice!

It was something like this web photo, but the helmets and sheer number of them made it so much more painfully cute:


Speaking of helmets, I have been growing my hair out for Locks of Love. It is taking a lot longer to get 10 inches worth than I had possibly imagined. It started off with me being too poor to afford a haircut, then it turned into wondering what long hair would be like again after so many years with short hair, which evolved into thinking I should help a worthwhile cause... what's a few more months? But it is difficult. I have personal ties to alopecia and the effects of cancer treatments and it is hard on anyone to lose their hair, but especially kids. It is heartbreaking to see a little one dealing with not having eyebrows and eyelashes, let alone hair on their head. But I can sort of help with that part, just a little bit. Maybe part of one wig. So I remind myself of this when I am frustrated with this mop. I can't wait to cut it down, I miss short hair, but this thing is happening. You better appreciate this, children!

My thesis exhibition will be up from early April through mid-May, so if any of you fine folks have reason to pass through my neck of the woods during that window, drop me a line and I will give you all of the dirt. I am planning to have a solo show at the gallery I run to correspond with part of the official thesis show, so you could potentially see not one, not three, but TWO shows of my work! A true value at thrice the price!