Good things have been happening for the past two weeks. These things include but are not limited to:

1. School ended/installed all the final pages in my portfolio today. All done. Ready for a jorb.
2. Finally got over the end of the semester sickness a couple days ago.
3. Best smoothie ever at Crucial Coffee.
4. Best food ever at Present Moment.
5. Best movie watching experience ever at Pot Belly's.
6. Walked over the Bridge of Lions.
7. Made music with Travis.
8. Starting to drink a moderate amount of coffee each day.
9. Seeing lots of friends everywhere all the time.
10. Very nice weather. Mentioning weather is usually a cliche in lists of good things, but the weather has been exceptional and deserves recognition.
11. Finally obtained mug status at Fusion (received a 12 ounce iced glass mug versus a plastic 8 ounce cup. It's not something you ask for, the bartender decides if you're worthy and fills up the appropriate vessel when you order your $1 beer).

A couple good quotes from this afternoon. Amadeus, Dylan and I ran errands around town for an hour or so.

"To work on a car you have to not be an idiot." -Dylan
"They're like magnets, only the kind of magnets that repel and hate each other." -Deus

All and all a good end to St. Augustine, and it's not even over yet.

Accumulative GPA of 3.322. Not too bad.

So on Sunday Travis and I drove to Miami to see a screening of Animal Collective's "Oddsac". The whole experience was interesting, to say the least. The drive was easy, but the venue was in a pretty dangerous part of town. We had a couple run-ins with local "residents" while we were trying to find parking and eat our PB&Js. We paid $5 to park in this lot "guarded" by a man with very few teeth who said he would be there until we returned. There were all these sky scrapers with marvelous lawns with terrains like some kind of MC Etcher drawings that apparently no one is allowed to touch. At all.
We decided it would be in our best interest to just go wait at the venue, so we did and were first in a line of a few hundred people. The venue itself was an industrial modern club with a huge dance floor filled with plastic chairs set up in front of a large screen. Naturally Travis and I sat front row center, the best seats in the venue hands down. The sound was incredible, the visuals were mind-blowing, and the experience as a whole was nearly indescribable. Because of where we were seated we were pretty much engulfed in this film entirely, which made everything so much more intense. It was so good though. So good.
We walked back to the car, drove for a few seconds, then pulled over on the street to find out how to get to my aunt's condo. All the sudden the guy who we paid to park stumbled up, under some kind of influence, and started telling us how we had to pay another $5 since we stayed after 7. There were no other cars in the lot, we were the only one the whole night, and apparently he had gone upstairs for a minute when we got our car and left. He didn't get violent, but he kept talking like he was about to pull out a gun and demand the rest of the money. There came a point where he pretty much stopped talking, so Travis and I took that opportunity to say "bye" and GETDAFUCK OUT OF THERE. We just left him standing on the corner.
We stayed at My aunt and Uncle's condo which was so wonderful. My aunt treated us like royalty: made us a full dinner, offered anything we could have wanted, let us shower and clean up, and everything. It was so great. We woke up the next morning, it was rainy and cloudy out, and had a quick breakfast before my aunt armed us with 8 double shots. We drove back to St. Augustine and got back around 5 or so.

"Oh ho ho now it's time for you to enter the real world!"

Oh, yeah, because everything I've ever experienced up until this point has been some kind of easy-crusin' joy ride with no serious responsibilities or consequences. If you think getting hired for a regular 9-5 job and going to bed at 10PM every night makes my life more "real" then I'm not so sure you're milking your existence for all it's worth.

All done. Education can suck it.

YAHTZEE.

I've been looking for different notebooks to fill up, this site has an incredible selection of them.

97% done with my portfolio. Just need to print it.

"Design, in its many forms, is the grease between the bearings on which the world glides so effortlessly. Underestimating the power of well-resolved design is to underestimate the potential of people to change and improve the world around them. When good design is implemented, order, functionality, and understanding all work as an amalgamous force to facilitate interactions between everyone and everything. I consider Graphic Design to be one of the most direct and effective ways to aid in the progressing and maturing of a culture, and to be a part of that, I believe, is the most rewarding aspect of the profession."

So far this semester I've drank at least 21.5 gallons of coffee/expresso. A little excessive but at the same time a little bit necessary. If coffee were gas I'd be able to drive 645 miles. I'd be able to drive to Memphis. Never been to Memphis but I've heard it's nice.

SHOW YOUR WORK FER FREE.
Learn here. Now. (Right now)




Step 1: Find a good, reasonably-sized frame in good view of the public. The more mediocre the original artwork, the more justifiable your revamp is.
Step 2: Create a piece which will fit in the confines of the matting.
Step 3: Carefully take down the frame, and inconspicuously disassemble it, putting your artwork in the matting and the original artwork behind it but still in the frame.
Step 4: Hang frame back on wall and walk away quickly (but not too quickly).

Tip 1: If questioned by security, simply tell them the piece was crooked inside the frame and you were just trying to straighten it. They'll have no choice but to believe you. This happened to me.
Tip 2: Make sure your piece is believable in the space, anything too crass or abrasive may call attention from the security guard who may or may not be questioning you. If there's reason to suspect the piece in the frame is not the original art work, they might call you out.

Eventually someone may spot your handily placed artwork. And if they do, they'll find the original artwork in the frame. No harm no foul, right? Right. Happy framing, friends.

So Liza and I just hid in the tiny tiny studio cabinets for a few minutes while security came through and cleared the building. Students have to leave by 1AM, but sometimes that's just when I hit my stride. Right now all the lights are out and we're in stealth mode, trying not to be too loud. I feel like I'm 7 and am trying to sneak into the kitchen after my bedtime for some cookies. That's the exact feeling I have, and I haven't felt it since I was little. Very nostalgic. Well, if I hid in cabinets to get some more design time in, I better get off the internet. L8R.

Sometimes I think the only thing that can keep me conscious is listening to "No Sleep till Brookyln" on repeat and even then it's not easy.

The Jesus table almost got me with their full-sized Hershey bars this afternoon. They're getting more tricky everyday.