I HATE Writer's Block!

And of course, if you decide to eat turkey and watch football all weekend and save your homework for a Sunday night, writer's block is what you will end up with. The football this weekend was exceptional though, the Seahawks tried their hardest to lose to the Giants today but finally emerged with a win leaving only a few minutes left in overtime.

I had to do a very hurried job on my drawing for this week so that I would have plenty o' time to procrastinate on writing this paper tonight. The proportions came out kinda funny because I worked so fast (his left index finger resembles a plump bratwurst) but the shadows overall are pretty striking, I think I'll call this one "weird distorted preacher guy with sausage fingers." Yeah, that's catchy....

GO BIG RED!!!

Congratulations to a Cornhuskers team whose performance under the leadership of Bill Callahan was on the national stage today on ABC. In a long-running rivalry game against the Colorado Buffaloes, the developing West coast offense ran over the buffs like the efficient machine it is supposed to be. WELL DONE!!!

Give Thanks.....

Happy Turkey Day Everyone!

It's That Wonderful Time of Year!!!

So, I was a little skeptical about the effects of S.A.D.(Seasonal Affective Disorder) until I moved to Seattle. Wow!! Every year, right on the nose, a few weeks after Daylight savings time ends people up here go nuts.

For example: Suspect in Tacoma mall shooting spree sent angry text messages before the rampage

By CURT WOODWARDASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
TACOMA, Wash. -- A man accused of a shooting spree at a crowded shopping mall and taking four people hostage pleaded not guilty Monday to first degree assault, kidnapping and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Dominick Sergio Maldonado, 20, of Tacoma, was ordered held on $2 million bail after his hearing in Pierce County Superior Court. He's been charged with eight counts of first-degree assault, four counts of kidnapping, and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm.
Maldonado was arrested Sunday afternoon after surrendering to police about four hours after he ducked into a Sam Goody store and took the hostages, all of whom were released unharmed.
During the shooting, six people were injured, one critically. Two others were shot at, but not struck, and four individuals were taken hostage, said Deputy Pierce County Prosecutor Phil Sorensen.
One person remained in critical condition Monday at Tacoma General Hospital, spokesman Todd Kelley said. No details on the others injured were immediately released.

---This happened yesterday......we Seattle veterans are callous to it now though. This time of year these events become like the traffic report to us.....naked man.........shooting.......three dead......."I just wanted a freakin' hot dog"...........yeah buddy, tell it to the judge, we've heard 'em all up here. So, I'm sorry for those of you out there with S.A.D. Since the sun sets at noon here you would all be in good company!!!! I predict, (mark my words) that there will also be an outbreak of bank robberies here in Seattle his year.......just like every winter.......last year we were treated to a great show by the likes of "The Bag-Lady Bandit," who used the city bus as her getaway car. And, the "Whispering Bandit," actually a very polite fellow by all accounts. I hope to become a full-fledged Seattle native this year by becoming "The pantsless bandit..... ...........with the red clown nose...." Cooooool, All readers must promise to not blow my cover....

In Bizarro World I'm Famous.....

I have been procrastinating all night on this Dali presentation.....I was a little bored so I typed my name into Google, it appears I share my name with a famous general from Atlanta....

Self Portrait.....Round TWO!

Another full day of homework, I'm almost finished. All I have left is to prepare a 5-7 minute presentation on my interpretation of "The Madonna of Port Lligat" by Salvador Dali.......easy enough right? I don't even know where to begin....who knows what the hell he was thinking.....

I attempted the self-portrait again with success this time, the assignment required us to distort the image so I decided to stretch mine into a Joe-conehead:
I'm happy now because it actually looks like me.....not the drunken samurai version I crapped out last night.

The Seahawks won again today. The 49ers gave them a run for their money though, it came down to the last play. That brings them to 8-2 after six straight wins. I am so excited, especially since my Cornhuskers have not been doing so great this year.......or last year......or the year before that.

The Greatest thing about art? It doesn't have to be good!!!

So I have another before-and-after for ya. I spent about eight hours doing homework today.....boooo......and noticed something.....art does not have to look nice to be art! One of my assignments this weekend involves portraits. I have to draw a portrait of Henry Fuseli and a portrait of myself. I finished the Fuseli at about nine o' clock tonight, it was almost an exact replica of the portrait I was given to copy. I'm very happy with it.

I then went out to the pub for a few hours and came home a bit fuhrschnickahd(drunk spelling) and decided to give my self-portrait a stab. I went after it and actually stabbed myself with a #2, 2B and 4B pencil all in the same drawing. I ended up with this:

SO, the greatest thing about this? I know a few people in the "art world" and they would criticize my first drawing for the lack of talent, imagination, crativity, whatever....

The self-portrait they would look at in awe and say " wow man, it's so expressive"......I don't know....crazy people.....

All I have to say, kids, is don't drink and draw. And remember.....don't smoke crack...... Oh yeah, don't blog drunk either!

Movie Villain for Hire

So I'm single again.....and in the tradition of break-ups I promptly gave myself a haircut(maybe just my tradition) for a new look. I was actually just a little bored on Saturday and homework had lost its luster so I went crazy with the clippers. It sounds like my poor mother is very concerned after I jokingly sent the picture to my dad and she saw it. You have to admit though, I DEFINITELY could be a bad guy in an action movie. I don't have any cool villain catch phrases though so would probably be the guy who never says anything and dies five minutes into the picture just to increase the body count for the hero. My battle cry? "SPOOOOooooon!"

Here's a before and after for ya, and I will be shaving off the top........as soon as the shock value wears off......what? I'm in college!

Happy Veteran's Day

It is official buy-a-veteran a beer day! Thank you to all those currently serving and to those who have served in the past. The sacrifices you make/made every day deserve so much more than one day of recognition per year. I salute you.

Strong Bad the English Tutor

My English professor recently introduced our class to the magic of Mr. Strong Bad's world. He used this cartoon to illustrate paper writing techniques. I think it fits nicely. The prof is a pretty cool guy, the first day of school I thought he was just some crazy student, he showed up to class in a kilt, then he started teaching. Anyways, check out this site, it gets a rating of five artichokes(my highest rating for a website). The sun sets here in Seattle at about two in the afternoon every day and it pours rain all the time so I've had ample time to surf the web.

Take that Joe Camel!!

Last night's elections here in Seattle went as planned for the most part, no monorail, Nickels is mayor.......again. We were all a little surprised that what is now the nation's strictest anti-smoking law actually passed. The law bans smoking indoors (a la California) everywhere except for inside people's private residences. It will also be illegal to smoke within twenty-five feet of ventilation ducts and entrances and exits of buildings which basically means you can't smoke anywhere downtown. Smokers will be hunted down and trapped in nets and we will have a big smoky bonfire of cigarettes to celebrate this victory over second-hand smoke. I voted FOR the smoking policy and I am technically still a smoker(I've been quitting for about two years). Almost all of my smoker friends voted for the ban, allowing the initiative to pass with a 65% approval....WOW! The most common answer smokers gave for voting for the ban was an almost desperate plea for help "Anything that makes it harder for me to smoke." Those of you saying "why don't you just quit already," have obviously never felt the effects of a lack of vitamin N.

Happy Hallowe....dammit, I'm so busy

I'm still trying to find that perfect balance that college students seek. The great part of it is that I am not even working right now! The Halloween party at Rach's was great, I decorated with gusto, got my smoky, spooky fireplace running and then promptly fell asleep halfway through the party(my job was to make smoke and drink whiskey). Here are some pictures from the party...
My parents came to visit me last weekend, I have now seen them three times this year. I think that is some kind of record since I have left home. We had a lot of fun, they came over to my new pad and checked out the neighborhood. This time was a new experience for them because every other time they have come to Seattle it has been gorgeous outside. Well, the 7 months of rain are upon us and they were glad to have packed their bumbershoots. We visited the Hiram N. Chittenden Locks in Ballard which are always incredible to me. If you are ever in Seattle, this is one of my must-sees, they have a fish ladder there with an underwater viewing area where you can watch the salmon returning to spawn. Unfortunately there were only a few gimpy, "reject" salmon as my dad called them since they are between runs right now.
Today was the first day of registration for the next quarter of school. I am facing a bit of a dilemma right now as I cannot decide whether I would like to be a biologist or an artist or a train conductor, or a writer, or an oceanographer, or an architect, or an astronaut, or a secret agent........you get the gist. I suppose most college students go through the same dilemma so I have decided to take very general classes like underwater basket-weaving to buy myself a little time.