Additional: Craig's List is great. I was looking for test prep materials for the next two sections of the MTEL, and there they were sitting on the list for substantially less than new or used prices. Makes me smile. Just got an email from the person and will be arranging to pick up the books. With studying, I may pass these tests. Tomorrow, with no studying, I may or may not. We shall see.
On a walk around my older sister's condo, I saw many flowers and much green. Heather, tulips, and other late spring blooms were everywhere. The trees had blossoms, and there were many magnolias just past full glory.
On a hill near her house, you could look across to downtown Seattle. The lump of buildings in the center-left of the image is downtown.
From the highway on the way back from one sister to the other, we passed the Space Needle. Camera phones are not really good for capturing detail, but they give the impression of the place.
Well, can't keep an old habit down. Some fractals have leaked out of the system over the last week. Here are some smaller res versions of them.
I took picts of the pinhole setup with my camera phone. Here is the cart with the cameras. Each one is a Quaker Oats container taped to an L shaped piece of wood.
Here is the drying room with all the student's pictures hanging up. The last day of shooting produced quite a few pictures in the three hours the kids worked. To the right is the paper loading and enlarger station. If we had time, we would have used the enlarger to make positives from the negative prints.
This sideways picture shows a camera close up. The lid was created from a disk of cardboard with a rim taped to it with lightproof tape. A thick foil was punctured with a pin to create the aperture, and the inside of the can was painted black with tempera paint. The L shaped block made it easy to orient pictures vertically or horizontally.
Reena and I were going to fly out to L.A. for a friend of Reena's wedding. We would arrive Friday night, do some wedding related things Saturday, and then I was going to hang with my cousin for the evening. Wedding on Sunday was to be followed by some hanging out and chill time in the balmy weather. Returning on Monday gave me a day off from school.
Jeff Goldblum was a favorite actor of an ex of mine and is one of the only positive things to come out of that relationship. His earlier and more entertaining stuff such as Buckaroo Banzai, Earth Girls Are Easy, The Tall Guy, and The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish make for entertaining viewing. The thing that grabbed me is that he shifts his eyes back and forth when perplexed, and as his roles are often that of a scientist or other smart guy trying to solve a problem, we get to see many signature Goldblum eye actions.
While at the concert last night in which Reena rocked the house in the opening number, I happened to see some graffiti in the men's room (not while Reena was singing.) I had to snap it with my phone-cam. Upon completing some internet research, it seems that this is a phenomenon that has been going on for some time and there are whole sites devoted to it. How strange, and how like Jeff Goldblum in a strange way.
My mom uncovered some work of mine when she was cleaning out a closet. I thought I had taken all of my old material quite a while ago, so it came as a surprise that there was more to see. A box arrived a few days ago, and I finally got around to opening it. It was an amazing glimpse into my life from early (at least 1st grade) to the end of high school.
My family. It looks like Gwen is dripping water or crying and Dad is wearing swimming trunks?? The house is red brick with red clay tiles. Evidently there was a green vase or bottle that I cared about. We often went to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina for vacation.
This must be Danny Koranyi. I think he was the only close white friend at that time who had brown hair, brown eyes, and glasses. I am surprised that I didn't have a picture of Sarah in here, but I really can't be held accountable for what I drew in K or 1st at this point in time.
In another piece of work, I drew this image. Some things do not change!
To the left is a story I wrote in first grade that was typed probably by my mom who volunteered many hours at Delmar-Harvard. To the right is an example from the many binders of physics, calculus and other subjects that represented the high school years. The problem on the bottom must be one of those two cars are traveling...who gets there first types of problems.
The weekend is here, and yesterday was close to 50. A nice reprieve from the cold weather we have been having. I saw people running around in shorts. Because I planned and worked so much during February break, I don't have too much work to do this weekend. I took yesterday to walk quite a bit. First I visited Million Year Picnic where I get my comics. I then visited Central Square where there are two artists shops: Pearl Paint and Artist & Craftsman Supply. I prefer the funky basement setting and relaxed atmosphere in ACS over Pearl, but sometimes Pearl has the materials needed. In this case, I bought a frame for my student's art project at ACS, took the T home and then went out by car to get the piece that I left at school and find appropriate mattes for it. I'll post a pic when I have finished matting and framing the piece.
Reena and I joined Mike and Sarah to experience Solas at the Somerville Theater on Friday night. This theater has great world and folk music shows in a beautifully restored theater and movies in a few other rooms. The only drawback to the kinetic energy and entertaining band was the space left for your legs after you sat down. The seat backs in front of us forced us to sit at strange angles. The music, however, transported one away from the setting and made me want to get up and dance.
Yes, we have been hit, and we didn't miss a day of school. Today, I helped quite a few people out of the ice, and I am a firm believer in Yax Trax. They kept me on my feet across the many sheets of ice formed by last night's melt freezing.
What fun. Gigantic forms so much bigger than life. Hollywood expressed as it wishes to be seen. IMAX theaters really let you get into a picture. I was struck by the visuals of the opening credits of Night at the Museum. They were computer graphics that took various perspective angles as if they were solid forms floating in space amongst the museum displays. In the IMAX, they were outstanding. The seat rumbling with deep bass sounds was entertaining, too. All told, seeing Stiller and Williams do their things was a wonderful reintroduction to the living world outside my apartment. The 3-D clip before the movie was mesmerizing, too. The group that went consisted of 6 people of whom 5 were teachers. It was amazing how many of the lines translated to what we often want to tell kids. At one point Robin Williams admonishes Ben Stiller who wants to hit the animated monkey, "Remember who is evolved." I know this movie got poor reviews, but I enjoyed the silliness and fantasy of it.
As I recover this Friday, I am again back on that wonderful solid food of saltines.
