ilaxSTUDIO.com Archive November 2005 Entries

ISU STUDENT STRUCK BY BUS | NOVEMBER 30, 2005

I wondered what was going on yesterday (at 6:40 pm) when I drove to my night class - 3 cops cars were parked perpendicularly in the street with their lights on, closing a portion of the street and causing everyone to take a detour through a parking lot. It turns out a student was hit by a bus an hour earlier, at 5:30 pm. The Iowa State Daily reports that the bus was a "Midwest Transportation Services Bus." When I drove by I saw a yellow bus parked there, so I am not sure if it was a CyRide bus (the ISU and Ames bus service) or if it was a bus from somewhere else... the point is, this probably could have been avoided.

The article reports, " 'The victim darted out from between the two vehicles out into the bus that struck him,' Capt. Rob Bowers of the ISU Police Department." What exactly does that mean? The article then continues, " 'We don't know at this point in time whether he was in the crosswalk or not.' "

I have tried to refrain from talking about the Ames pedestrian problem here, but I think now I can finally say something about it. I am not implying that this student was in the wrong. He had to be airlifted to a hospital in Minnesota, and I hope that he is not in a severe condition and will be able to return to classes. It was dark at 5:30 yesterday, and it had been snowing for most of the day, so this will probably be a difficult case for the police to figure out. I hope, hope, hope that this student was not "darting" across the street and was following the pedestrian traffic laws - but this is not the case with most pedestrians on campus.

I am lucky enough to have a parking spot close to the College of Design on campus. Therefore, I drive to campus every day and walk to my classes/work after I park my car. Driving into campus is a challenge, to say the least. Pedestrians run across the middle of the street, ignoring the many crosswalks on campus. When they do use the crosswalks, it seems that they are unsure of how to use them. Today I was waiting at a red light, and when it turned green, a group of students actually choose that time to cross the street in front us. Why? I am not sure, but then only a few amount of drivers got to go through the green light because we had to unnecessarily wait for the students to cross.

I have had students run towards my car when I am driving on campus. Again, I am not sure why - were they trying to avoid getting hit by someone else in another lane? It is a frightening experience to be driving and see someone running towards your car. My initial reaction is to slam on my brakes as to not hit them, but that puts me and the driver behind me at risk. At most we have 4-lane 2-way traffic here, and it is only busy around the top of the each hour, when people are going to work/class, getting lunch, or going home from work/class. So everyone has to be more patient around these times. I never speed on campus, unless it is really late at night (past 1 am), and even then you have to be careful, because believe it or not, there are still pedestrians wandering around.

I have been on the other side of this situation as well, because I usually walk, rather than ride the bus, to class. I always use crosswalks and wait for the "walk" sign. But even then, I know to watch out for cars turning right on red, not paying attention to the pedestrian right-of-way. Sometimes I will be walking across a crosswalk that has a stop sign, rather than a stop light. I don't know if people plan on running the stop signs on campus, but I have had cars slam on their brakes and almost hit me because they were driving too fast to stop on time.

In Iowa you are required to take a Driver's Education course to get your license by age 16, otherwise you can wait until you are 18 and simply take the test without the class. Is there some sort of Pedestrian Education course? Where do people learn how to cross the street (and I didn't even get started on bike riders on campus - they are even worse!)? I feel sorry for these people who act like this here in Ames, because they will be in trouble if they are ever a pedestrian in a big city like New York City or Chicago. The drivers there will not slow down for them or slam on their brakes, they will honk until the pedestrian gets the hell out of their way.

HOORAY FOR FREE WRAPPING PAPER | NOVEMBER 29, 2005

Well, I am going to try it out. I will stay up as late as I can tonight, and see if I can sleep better. If that fails, I will just be really tired when I get up to be at work by 8am.

I am "officially" done shopping for Christmas presents. Ok, that is a total lie. I have bought something for everyone in my family that I plan on giving a present to (not including Steven's family), but I know that I will keep picking up presents between now and Christmas. It is inevitable. Every time I go shopping and walk past the aisles full of pretty ornaments and shiny wrapping paper it makes me want to buy more presents than I already have. The holiday music in my car combined with the chilly weather is definitely putting me in the Christmas spirit. I better be careful before I empty out my already deficient bank account.

Today I went to Border's to pick up some more gifts (bet you can't guess what I bought there!). I ended up buying seven gifts, and then found out that Border's will wrap your presents for free! I was excited beyond imagination when I heard this. Not only am I awful at wrapping presents, but I left all my wrapping supplies with Steven in Chicago (I thought if I did that it would help me not buy any more presents - oops). So I got to chat with a nice Border's employee while she wrapped the presents in wonderful silver, blue and red papers. The wrapping paper was nice and thick, not like the cheap stuff that a college student has to buy! I was only going to have her wrap two of my presents, but she insisted on doing all of them. What a nice experience!

I picked up a present for myself while at Borders - a book called French Cats Don't Get Fat by Henry Beard. It is an adorable little book that teaches fat patate de divan (couch potato) american kitties how to be slim and svelte like a French cat. The cat telling the story explains how all five senses must be engaged during a meal -

"Select, if possible, a small, young, unblemished specimen, with bright eyes, a firm tail, and good coloring. Partake of your prey with tous les sens - sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Observe the qualité de la présentation... Listen to the appealing little squeals and squeaks... Sniff the musty, earthy odeurs and the parfum of fear... Sample the exquisite mélange of subtle flavors. Relish the crunchy, grainy texture, and the delicate 'mouth feel'..."

All of the text is accompanied by hilarious drawings of the cat doing what it is talking about - running around the house like crazy, spilling untasty cat food all over the floor, etc. My favorite part of the book is the recommended "Healthy Habits" - all 5 of them are taking naps! This author has done a few other humor books with similar topics. I may have to check them out!

And finally, a few random photos (Exeter photos requested by Steven) - Louis I. Kahn Exeter Library photos, 1:100 scale Mediatheque model photos, Data's "I not fat, I'm fluffy" photo, and misbehaving nephew photos.

BAD DREAMS PART 2 | NOVEMBER 28, 2005

After another week full of bad dreams (people attacking me, loved ones leaving me, etc.), I have developed a theory - I am getting too much sleep. Tada! That is it! I usually don't remember what I dream about because I don't sleep long enough to get into the intense REM cycle (or whatever it is called) or because I wake up long after that cycle. So, I need to go back to my earlier, more ambitious, sleeping schedule from the beginning of the semester and sleep for only 4 or 5 hours a night.

But maybe my theory is incorrect. Because sometimes the dreams are so bad that I wake up in the middle of the night, and find that I am all twisted around in my blankets and that Minou is thrown half way across my bedroom. So even if I sleep less I still risk the chance of waking up. Maybe I should try Steven's method - falling asleep to the television so nothing is on my mind. Of course, that would require a television, which I do not have. Maybe it will work with a movie on the laptop?

DRIVING BACK TO AMES | NOVEMBER 27, 2005

Why is it that people don't want to drive fast on the highway until they realized they are being passed? Then they make their best effort to stay in front of you as you try to pass them. And if you are like me and drive with your cruise control on (set at precisely 5mph above the speed limit), you get extremely irritated because you know they are speeding up just so you can't pass them.

Of course, I am not referring to the Chicago tollways here. Everyone drives fast on the tolls, because if they don't they will get run over. Even the cops speed. The speed limit is usually 55 mph, and I don't think anyone follows it unless they are having car problems or the weather is really bad.

So I am back in Ames for a few weeks (only 3!!!). I am not happy to be back in school, because I know these next two weeks are going to be hell - my final studio review is on Friday the 9th, I have a major group paper due on Friday the 2nd, I have to present my Con E paper some time next week, and I have a bunch of random little assignments I need to do for my Dance class. But I am happy to start packing up things in my apartment to move into Steven's house, and to start thinking about what to take on my trip to Rome ( I made a fleece kitty blanket this weekend to take with me!). And the holidays are just around the corner... so I will keep that in mind to help me get through the end of the semester!

DIGITAL DILEMMAS | NOVEMBER 26, 2005

Digital cameras are a blessing and a burden. They are wonderful for instantly viewing the photo taken. You can usually tell if the photo is what you want from the LCD on the back, then re-shoot until you get it right. I can also easily load photos on to my computer and manipulate them in Photoshop if I am not satisfied with the initial result. They are a lot cheaper to use (no film and most come with an internal battery charger) and have many functions that a traditional camera does not (video, night photos, motion photos, etc.). They can be very compact (have you seen the SONY DSC-T5 5.1 MP Digital Camera?) and lightweight, enough that you can slip them in your pocket and carry them everywhere. They have different quality and size settings, and depending on the size of your memory card, you can store a lot more than the standard 24 roll of 36mm film. Digital photos are just as easy to get printed, and the orignal digital information takes up less physical space than 35mm negatives.

So what is so bad about them? Nothing inherently, it is more of a personal issue. Since I started using a digital camera, I have noticed a slow decline in my ability to take a decent photo. Not that my skills were anything spectacular before, but I used to know something about shutter speeds and aperture settings, and I was careful to take a good photo - with the right framing and lighting. Now I just take as many as I can, and edit them later. Maybe if I stopped to take a more careful photo, I would enjoy the event more as well, and save myself from "fixing" the photo later.

I AM THANKFUL FOR YOU | NOVEMBER 23, 2005

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I am going to name a few things I am thankful for, so I don't sound as self-centered as I feel in this blog (ahem):

1. My family - my immediate family (Mom, Dad, Nick, Ant, Chris), my extended family (Courtney, Nick Jr., my great-grandmother, all 4 of my grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, all the people my mom and dad are related to that I can never remember their names but are always really nice to me [especially my pretend Aunt Kim Nicholas]), my in-law family (David, Linda, Andrew, Misty, Grandma, Joe, Diana, etc....), Courtney's family and... sorry if I forgot anyone else, but I don't think I did. Oh yeah, and my fiance, Steven, and my evil sidekick, Data. Ha ha. Oops.

I am very lucky to have a large family, especially one that isn't spread all over the country. I usually get to see all of my family members at least once a year (if not more for my closer family). And before I get all sappy and talk about this more, I will just say that I will be thinking about all of you tomorrow, and wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.

2. Animals - especially cats - Oh, to live the life of a cat. Even though Data is lonely (we need another cat, Steven!), you can tell he is really happy nonetheless. He is very optimistic. Every time you get up (off the couch, bed, a chair, etc.), he assumes you are going to feed him. He happily follows you around the house, purring and climbing on your leg until you pick him up to cuddle. He is waiting by the door when you come home, again, wanting to be held and cuddled. And the best part about being a cat is that he gets to sleep all day, curled up in a warm little ball (I have been home for 3 days and that has all he has done... but that is all I have done as well, so I can't say much about that).

Something about animals. They calm me down. They entertain me. They give me comfort. They make me feel happy. A million things. And it doesn't have to be a cat, I am thankful for all the animals on this planet.

3. Friends - All my friends from school (Kelsey, Ashley, Cristina, Alejandra, Rachael, Justin, Linda & Kyle, my coworkers at EH&S, and the list goes on...) and especially my new friends from the Blogosphere. I need my daily dose of Blogography, kapgar, and Chronic Listaholic. These are intelligent, interesting, and witty people. Reading their blogs makes me smile and laugh throughout the day, and is a great opportunity to discover new interests through what other people show you. That sounds kind of vague, but if you are into reading blogs, you will know what I mean. So check them out. If you remotely like this blog, you will probably like these, because they have been blogging for a lot longer than I have.

4.Five Year Architecture Programs - I am in year four of school. I am almost done. So close to being done, I can almost taste it. Now, I hope that when I am done, I find out that I do want to be an architect.

I am grateful for school and for my education. I have learned a lot these past three years, and had many wonderful opportunities. Being in college (at least Iowa State) is not about being taught, but about discovering how to teach yourself. You learn how to use your resources and skills to accomplish tasks. I have taught myself how to build models, how to draw, how to use the International Building Codes book, and use numerous computer programs. Professors and classmates acts as guides, but in the end, the extent of your education completely depends on your drive and motivation.

5. George Lucas - the man who created Star Wars, Lucasfilm, THX, Industrial Light & Magic, LucasArts, Skywalker Sound... I can't imagine how different the movie industry would be without this visionary man. Now, if he would only complete Star Wars with Episodes 7, 8, and 9!

6. And now a few silly things - high-speed internet, hair straighteners. H&M, McDonald's custard pies, pumpkin pie with equal parts whipped cream, Adobe Photoshop, Konfabulator, musicals, finally being 21, veggie burgers, Build-A-Bear (and the like), Hallmark cards, digital cameras, chocolate truffles, DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink, Tom Collins, warm vanilla sugar wallflowers from Bath & Body Works, student discounts, my favorite forum, snooze buttons, Natalie Portman, parades, gift-giving, projectors, whole house audio (wink, wink Steven), laptops, scholarships, free pizza (from Papa John's), Chipotle and Flying Burrito, ad-free websites, e-cards, Christmas music, "Pink" perfume from the Gap, Mozilla Firefox... and... that is all for now!

Steven and I are flying to Kansas City to see his family tonight (without my beloved laptop). Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

MY HEAD HURTS | NOVEMBER 22, 2005

Here are five things that give me headaches (in no particular order) - 1. stress, 2. loud noises, 3. potent smells, 4. sugar, and 5. cold weather. If I am not careful when I get a headache, it will turn into a migraine. I think it must be hereditary, because my mom gets migraines as well. But why I am getting headaches now, on my break?! Do I need to add Steven as the sixth thing to my list? It is so frustrating to lose all your focus to a silly headache, but that is what happens to me. It is awful when I get them at school, but even worse when I get them at work, because sometimes I have to go home and rest. Is this normal?

I picked up some more presents today and got a new Christmas shirt for Minou. I decided to put Minou's old shirt on Data, but he didn't like that too much! Guess I should have learned from the Darth Data experience.

WORK... IN ROME? | NOVEMBER 21, 2005

I received an email today from the director of the Rome program, informing me that I am eligible for work-study next semester in Rome (work study is when the university helps you find a job, then theoretically, you use that money to pay for tuition). Her first question - am I even interested? By impulse I responded with a yes, but am I really? I wouldn't even know when or how many hours I would work (she said no more than 8 hours), or what my tasks would be until I got there. I would probably have to work in some Penn State office (that is who leases the apartments and studios to us). It probably wouldn't be very much fun, and it would take out of my travel time. And would I get paid in euros? Would I still have to pay american taxes on my work there? I suppose I will just tell her I am interested now and then find out if I am really interested or not when I get there. Any extra money will be helpful, especially if I don't have to work on the weekends.

The lazy part of me says "NO COMMITMENTS!" And the ambitious part says, "Maybe you will meet some interesting people and learn some italian and more about the language?" Hmm, there needs to be a realistic part of me saying, "you have no money - work you fool!"

SO I SHOULDN'T DRIVE A RACECAR | NOVEMBER 20, 2005

Hooray for being in Chicago... and out of Ames! Today Steven and I went to Chicago Indoor Racing, an indoor go-cart racetrack. We met up with some guys from his new office there. We had to wear helmets, neck braces and full body suits to race. The go-carts go up to about 40mph, unless you are a pansy like me and can't figure out how to drive one that fast without spinning out (then you just go really slow and try to stay out of every body's way). Going there made me miss my brothers. They would have had a lot of fun doing something like that, although they probably wouldn't follow the rules and would get kicked out. But that could be fun too. It seems I can always have fun being reckless with my brothers.

Muah ha ha. Today I checked the ads in the newspaper and found the present I bought for Steven online is selling for $125 more than I paid for it. You gotta love buying presents over the internet - you almost always get a better deal (and you don't have too drive to the store)!

BAD DREAMS | NOVEMBER 17, 2005

I keep having these awful nightmares. Last week I dreamt that me and my sister were being executed. Then last night I dreamt that one of my classmates threw my laptop into a lake, and it didn't work anymore (I know that doesn't seem like a nightmare but it had me seriously freaked out). Is stress was causes unpleasant dreams? Do I need to think about something else before I go to bed? I usually have a hard time falling asleep at night, which is funny, because I have no problem falling asleep in the middle of the day (especially during class). I really need to start sleeping like a normal person - between the hours of 10pm and 6am. I am so accustomed to staying up late working on projects that my body has become used to it, but I think it is messing with my head. I am completely incoherent in the morning (just ask Steven). I can't form a complete sentence until after 10am on my better days. I suppose this is typical for college students? I hope so, because if not, I need some help!

Alejandra and I had the brilliant idea that we would call ourselves "Team Calico" for our studio project, because only female cats can be calico, and because we both like cats so much. So, as a joke, I was going to make us some Team Calico t-shirts, but I can't decide which design I like the best, or if I like any of them at all (Option 1, 2, 3, 4). I should just save my money. I have already spent so much money on Christmas presents (more), but what can I say, I love to give!

BREAK IS ALMOST HERE | NOVEMBER 16, 2005

All hail Thanksgiving Break! It is just around the corner. My body and mind can sense it, and have stopped functioning in anticipation of a week of no school. I have high goals for Thanksgiving Break - learning Macromedia Flash, creating a PowerPoint presentation for my Con E class, planning Europe trips, but I don't really care if I get anything accomplished. I am going to spend the week sleeping, eating lots of pumpkin pie (I will substitute pie for turkey since I am a vegetarian), and being lazy with Steven. If I do any school work, all the better, if I don't, oh well! I must enjoy this week of no responsibility, since I will only have it for two more years. Oh, the horror of working a full time job - no Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring or Summer breaks!

THE FIRST SNOW | NOVEMBER 15, 2005

It finally snowed in Ames. For almost a week my weather widget told me it was going to snow today, but I never believed it. I thought it was going to be warm for the rest of the month and we wouldn't see any snow until after Christmas! But it snowed all day here, and is still snowing right now. It was so cold outside that the keyhole in my car door was frozen shut. The streets are already slippery, and my car was sliding all over the place. It is amazing how fast the weather changes in Iowa. And I don't think the snow is going to go away anytime soon.

The Rome Housing Committee got together last night to divvy up the apartments. The available housing had changed since our last class meeting because someone staying in Rome now (from our school) fell 50 ft. out of one of the apartments and had to be put in intensive care. So the leaser there decided not to have a 32 person dorm, but to only allow 17 people in the dorm, then offer (to us) a 4 person and 11 person apartments instead. It actually worked out nicely with the two extra apartments. The committee was able to put almost everyone with the people they requested to be with, and the leftover decisions we had to make were easy because our school is so cliquey. Almost everyone can be placed in a clique with a few other people, because everyone tends to hang out with the same people all the time. There are a few loners here and there, but that is pretty much how it works. Anyway, I will be staying in the four bedroom apartment with Ashley, Kelsey and Janna. The apartment seems ok - it has two bedrooms and a giant living space and a kitchen (I think). The only weird thing is that the bathroom is accessed through one of the bedrooms. But I think we will handle it just fine, and I am super excited to live with those 3 girls (they were definitely my top choice).

I picked up some more Christmas gifts today, and I already ordered Steven's Christmas/Birthday present this past weekend. Poor Steven - his birthday is the 22nd of December so he always gets combo gifts. I try not to buy him one big gift, but usually I do and then just get him some small crappy things. Not this year though! The little gifts will be good too. Muah ha ha.

BLAH BLAH BLAH | NOVEMBER 13, 2005

Today has been one of the most chaotic days of my college career. I started off my morning by waking up way too late, even though my human alarm clock called me (I guess that is what happens when you go to bed past 5 am). When I finally got to the College of Design, I had to spend the rest of my day running back and forth between two projects - the Mediatheque for tomorrow's review, and a model of the Louis Kahn Exeter Library that is due on Tuesday for my night class. Granted, my partners have been doing a lot of work on the Exeter model because I have a review tomorrow, but it is so hard for me to pull away from studio work when I am in the middle of something to work on a model for another class. I felt frustrated and guilty about the whole situation.

And besides that, I don't think we have enough material prepared for our review tomorrow. Everything we had planned to do only got half finished. Every time Alejandra and I began to work on things, we discovered more problems we had to fix. So that was fun. Not. But we have improved a lot from our last review. I think we have made a lot of good changes to our design. So even though we don't have as much as we could, I like our building design and am pleased with its outcome thus far. Hopefully the reviewers will be as well.

FREAKY WEATHER | NOVEMBER 12, 2005

What is with the freaky November weather? It has been in the lower 70s a few times in the past two weeks and today we had stormy weather and tornados! Since we have a review on Monday, I was in studio all day with a few of my classmates. Someone's mom called to warn them about the bad weather, and we all began to watch the storm from our windows. The clouds were really dark, strange colors and moving very fast. One in particular was beginning to spiral and rotate close to the ground, and sure enough, we all watched in turn into a tornado. It was strange because I had just told someone that we didn't have to worry about anything, then we all watched a tornado form. It was not very big, and it kept breaking up and reforming, but it was still eerie.

GUILTY PLEASURES | NOVEMBER 10, 2005

I have two little guilty pleasures to divulge. The first one is more of a routine pleasure of mine. Every Tuesday and Thursday, on my walk to Dance class, I stop at the horse barn on our campus. Not to see the horses, but to visit the cats that live there. I don't know why these cats are so friendly, but every time I stop over there to see them, they are purring in an instant. I also visited them last year, and once Alejandra and I brought them sardines. Boy, did they ever like those! I haven't seen as many cats around this year, but there is usually a tiger striped cat there that loves to be held and petted. I don't know why being around cats make me feel so happy, but I love to just stop there and see if the cats are around. It makes going to class/being on campus feel a lot better.

Guilty Pleasure #2 - I absolutely had to buy toothpaste today, so I decided to do a bit of Christmas shopping as well. Oh, how I love to buy Christmas gifts! I love the challenge of finding something the receiver will need/enjoy, then watching the expression on their face as they open it. I feel so guilty buying presents and gift boxes this early, but it made me feel good to know that I will be able to buy a few presents this year. Usually, I am so broke by the time December rolls around that I can't buy anything decent for anyone. I generally end up using Steven's money, but then he always gets a crappy present from me because I am not going to borrow money from him to buy his own present. But alas, this year I have devised the perfect plan of what I will get for him, and it will not suck like the last 3 years we have been together. And I am really excited about the presents I got today! Now I only have to wait 45 days to give them away!

HOUSING IN ROME | NOVEMBER 8, 2005

Last week in my Rome Prep class we found out some information about where we will be living. There are 3 different places for us to live - a 6 person apartment, a 9 person apartment, and a 32 person dorm. Our professor didn't tell us much about the apartments, so I am not sure if they are single room apartments with a shared living/kitchen/bath, or if it is a bunch of beds in one room. But he did tell us that the 32 person dorm has 2 and 3 bedroom units in it, and that all of the rooms share 2 kitchens, 5 bathrooms and one phone. It is also connected to a church with a bell tower so everyday at noon and 7 the church bells go off. And I guess that people from the church live on the floor below the student floor... so that should be interesting.

Basically, this is going to suck. I know the rooms are super small, they are not lying to us about that. Our professor said, "Imagine you are living in New York City in a really small apartment with a bunch of random people because you can't afford anything better" (very reassuring, I know). It is true that living in central Rome is very expensive. Our rent will be about 650 euro a month, what is that - about 750 US dollars? I don't know, but it is going to be small and cramped and I am probably going to get to know people a lot better than I want. But, it is probably less expensive than anything we could find on our own.

Here is the weird thing - each student does not get to select which building they will live in. They make roommate requests to a committee, and then the committee decides who will live with whom, and where. When I first heard about this, I was appalled. I thought it was ridiculous that I would have to let some committee (made of my classmates) decide where I was going to live. I imagined that the most awful, "popular" students would be elected to the committee and they would screw me over. But miraculously, my classmates nominated and voted me onto the committee. So now I am on a committee of five students, with the responsibility of assigning housing to everyone. It should be interesting. I have already had a few friends talk to me about where they want to stay, but it is not entirely up to me, and I will work with the committee to make the most fair and logical living arrangements. But now I know if I hate where I live in room, it will be my own fault instead of someone else's. It is nice when you have only yourself to blame. It makes forgiveness much easier.

MY SECRET RELATIONSHIP WITH GLUE | NOVEMBER 7, 2005

I think I am going to spend the next week with my fingers covered in glue, but you know what that means - I definitely will NOT be chewing on my fingernails! (I know, gross habit. I have almost quit a few times - now it just happens on and off). My studio has a review next Monday, the 14th, and we all have to build complete 1:100 scale models of our buildings. So, our roughly 50m x 50m wide building ends up being 18" x 18" in plan when we build it. I don't even want to think about how tall it will be. The room I have my studio in actually houses another studio of the same year of students, and they have already built their 1:100 models - THEY ARE GINORMOUS!!! They take up almost all the space on a 5' x 3' desk, so I guess this means that if I have no space left to work, I am done for the semester. Ha ha, I wish. It is times like this that I am lucky I have a partner to help me out, because there is no way I would be able to get this model done and have plans, sections and elevations as well. Oh, the joys of studio.

A BUM DAY | NOVEMBER 6, 2005

What does it mean when you leave the house consciously dressed like a bum (sweat pants and some random red ISU t-shirt)? And it's not that I didn't have the time to put effort into my appearance today, I just wanted to be comfortable! I slept on my couch until 6:30am, which is when my mom and sister got up to leave. After I made them breakfast and they left, I crashed in my bed. The only reason I ever woke up is because Steven called me, probably to make sure I was still alive. Steven is my personal alarm clock. He calls me every morning when he is either off to work or waking up, and his timing is always perfect to get me out of bed. He must have a sixth sense for knowing when I am sleeping later than I should. What a wonderful talent to have, ha ha.

I am so sick of all the silly little assignments and quizzes I have in my elective (non-studio) classes. We have a quiz every day in my Construction Engineering class and we have a quiz every week in my Professional Practice class. It doesn't seem so annoying when I talk about it now, but I usually do not have the time to study/prepare for them. I wonder what it would be like if architecture students were on some sort of modified block scheduling instead of semesters. We could divide the 16 week semester into 4-week time periods and spend each four week period intensely studying an elective, while simultaneously doing studio throughout the whole 16 weeks. That way, we wouldn't have the chance to get as bored with it, or have to do measly little assignments. Hmmm... it seems like a good idea now, but I don't really care since I am almost done with school anyway. My final academic year should be a breeze, allowing me to focus on developing my portfolio and getting a decent job. So the truth is, I would be sick of school at this point in the semester no matter what sort of schedule I was on. I developed the term "three week slump" to define the 3 week period devoid of motivation to do ANYTHING that I typically experience at the end of each semester. Well, it seems my three week slump has turned into a 6 week slump. Makes sense to me. I'll know I should be worried when I start wearing my bum outfit on a regular basis.

MY FEET HURT | NOVEMBER 5, 2005

I am so happy to be home and out of that skirt! It wasn't too uncomfortable, but it is just nice to be sitting at home with sweat pants and a t-shirt on. My mom brought me some really nice dresses to try on from Courtney, but they didn't fit quite as planned, so I had to stick with last night's last minute purchase. The Beaux Arts Ball was actually a lot of fun. I got there at 8:00 and my sister wasn't there yet, but my dance teacher showed up to give lessons so I danced with her. Christina arrived around 9:00 but she didn't really want to dance so that was kind of a bummer. Ever since I began taking dance class this semester I have felt a lot more comfortable dancing, and I wish I had more opportunities to use what I have learned. So I danced even though Christina didn't want to, and had a lot of fun. I am not sure if she did, but I really hope so, since she had to drive all the way out here and has to be at work tomorrow by 9:00 am. I am happy she came.

The Quad conference for all of the neighboring architecture schools of the midwest was being held at ISU this weekend, so all of those kids were at the dance. I only knew a few people there. Sadly, no one from our own school participated in this major conference (the dance or the lectures involved) except for the members directly involved with AIAS. That says a lot about how much our students care.

I LOVE YOU FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 4, 2005

Woo hoo! I think I am officially done with the Clovis (CA) remodeling project. I haven't been talking about it much here because the frustration of working on the project has been overwhelming. Let's just say there were some communication issues between me and the engineer. But alas, I think I am done. I have drawn four different layout schemes in Illustrator, along with the existing building condition. Now the engineer will take my drawings and the other student's CAD plans to Clovis over Thanksgiving break, and come back with a final decision on which scheme they will use. There is a possibility that I may do some 3D modeling work of the selected scheme, but I am not sure yet. At least I know I have a free weeks free of working on that.

I invited my sister to the AIAS Beaux Arts Ball this weekend. I knew the only way I would have fun is if she was my date. So after I finally convinced her to go (I think she has to work at 9 am the next morning), I decided it was time to start looking for a dress to wear. I have plenty of formal dresses, but that doesn't mean that any of them fit me and don't make me look like I am pregnant (read - I got fat).So I went to the mall - no luck there. Everything that was cheap looked awful, and everything that was expensive... well, was too expensive. I went over to Walmart on a whim (ha ha, I know) and left in disappointment. I finally went to Target and settled on a long black skirt and black/white tank top. Probably not dressy enough, but what can I do? Overall, I am pretty disappointed in the clothing selection of Ames and also in myself. This is the heaviest I have been in my life. I feel like I fit into nothing, and I am super out of shape. How I am supposed to start looking for wedding dresses if I look like this? I can't be fat at my wedding! Steven will wonder why he is even marrying me (if he hasn't already)!

Yeah, so the stress of school and awful eating habits (no time to cook a decent meal) are making me fatter and fatter everyday. Pretty soon my gut will consume my whole body. Ok, that is pretty gross, and will probably never happen, but that is what I feel like. I need to get on a healthier eating plan asap, and do some sort of exercise. Maybe all the walking in Rome and lack of car will help? I hope so...

IS THE WEEK OVER YET? | NOVEMBER 3, 2005

Check out Steven's sweet setup at his new job. I am so jealous! I wish I had three monitors to use! I would have AutoCAD open on one monitor, Photoshop on another, and Dreamweaver on the third one... wait, that doesn't leave a monitor for Firefox. Ok, I guess I would need more than three monitors. I can't wait until I graduate and have a real job so I can start buying all the computer things I want - a sweet Windows desktop with multiple monitors and a HUGE hard drive, a Macintosh laptop, etc. And I know Steven will encourage me to do it because he is the source of all my technology nerd-dom. "Yes, I love technology..."

I feel like I have more obligations than normal this semester. I have been doing a lot for AIAS, besides the weekend workshops. I am helping with the AIAS website (not designing, but administrating) and also helping run a QUAD conference this weekend for architecture students from all over the midwest (hosted at ISU). I am still involved with CORE... I think. I wrote my crappy little article and am waiting for feedback on it. The point is, where did all my free time go?! I need more sleep! I love to sleep! I am deprived and cranky!

Two months from today I will be departing the O'Hare airport for Rome with Kelsey. (Well, actually Toronto, then Rome, but you get the idea). Still haven't learned much Italian, but I sure can count to one million! As the day of departure gets closer and closer, I get more nervous - about not speaking Italian, not knowing where I will live, not knowing if they have a lot of vegetarian food there, etc. I have already decided that I am going to be a slacker all semester, so I am not worried about that (hey, I deserve at least one easy semester, right?), but I am feeling kind of nervous. I am not the type of person who gets homesick or shy in a foreign place, but I will feel uneasy if I feel unsafe/unprepared. Two months is enough time to prepare, right?