ok, so the worst part of february? THE SNOW and super rude people on public transit.

best part of february? my birthday (28th) and that when it's all over on march 1, we will be living in a home of our own!!!!!

i think i'm depressed people. it's valentine's day and i'd love to say that my husband and i are doing something romantic and lovely. my parents went out for dinner and i was hoping we'd have the house to ourselves for the night, but it turns out they'll probably be home before 9. on top of that loads of stress and shit going on (there is so much i want to write about, but am just the teeniest leery about publishing on the internet - sigh) that the most romantic thing we can manage is holing up in our room with a bottle of wine, cheese fondue and a movie.

Happy New Year!

Yeah! So 2008 already, hunh? Yep. I've been mostly avoiding my usual EVERYTHING in order to eat, drink, and be lazy for 3 weeks. Anyway, I started a new semester at school today.

Class #1 :History of New Media Art

Course Description: This survey course offers a history of the relationship of art and media from the beginnings of photography and avant-garde cinema to contemporary digital and video art practices. The course examines technological developments that have affected and transformed perception and representation including time-motion studies, industrialization (Taylorism), mass culture, and global electronic networks (Internet). The influence of new media on various avant-garde movements including cubism, constructivism, surrealism, dada, and on the stylistic innovations of collage and montage will be explored. Selected writings on art and technology by key thinkers of the twentieth century will complement a visual and intellectual survey of artworks.

The first video we watched was of economist and communications smarty pants Herb Schiller. He's so cute I want to carry him around in my pocket all day.



And we finally bought a house. Closing date is mid-February and living with my parents is not as bad as I thought it would be, but still pretty meh.

it's all grist for the mill

So, I'm kinda freaking out right about now.

I have less than a month left for school and have so much homework, that I'm a little worried about getting it all done. I've been so distracted 'cause for the last 4 weeks we've been looking at houses, bidding on houses, walking away from bidding deals gone wrong, then doing it all over again.

I'm also finishing packing for our move to my parents' place, which is happening this weekend. I mean, packing what was left after we moved stuff out in August. We're about 70% done.

I'm also kinda sad about leaving this place we've been in for the last 7 years. Walking everywhere, 100 restaurants within a 3-minute radius, being a 15 minute bike ride to school, lovely old victorian houses, sigh, I'll even miss some of the panhandlers and crackheads. OK, I won't rally miss them, but my point is that living here has been a rich, textured experience. This is the first home Kirk and I made together.



I know in the grand scheme of things, these are trivialities compared to the reality that many people in the world have to live with, but hey, they're not trivial to me.

Sigh.

Now I'm getting all defensive and weepy. It's prolly just the PMS or maybe it's the rain making my broken toe (yes broken) ache. I'm driving Kirk and others crazy with my emotional bi-polar-like outbursts over all this shit, but I can't help it.

there's a lot going on - and none of it meth lab-related, contrary to what yesterday's picture post might lead you to believe

for the last 4 days i've been working on one of the panels for my contrast diptych using plaster to smooth it out. well i didn't sand enough of it away and tried painting on it. as soon as it dried, the paint just started peeling off. last night i spent an hour trying to hand-sand it off. because it had cured, it was so hard that i just plain gave up.



dejected, i ended up going over to a friends' place for dinner, then came home and watching Dnevnoy dozor, which was pretty good. i was supposed to go to a birthday party (sorry tina!!!), but we didn't end up eating until pretty late.

anyway, the film is the sequel to Nochnoy dozor and second in Timur Bekmambetov's trilogy. It is all over though in 2009 with the Fox produced Twilight Watch in 2009. i actually enjoy watching movies in their original languages with subtitles - it adds a little more flavour when you can hear the actor's real voice/words/intonations. this last one is being filmed in english. oh well.



today kirk and i rented a storage unit for all our stuff while we stay at my parents' place.



we also went by their house to pick up our palm sander. kirk was wonderful enough to volunteer to sand all the shit off of my panel.



so i could basically start from scratch.

sigh. seriously, you guys, i wanted to cry. he's so lovely.



anyway, here's where I am so far:

the first day of the rest of my life

Day 1 of NaBloPoMo...ahem...

Hai!!!

So anyway, the loft is sold! What a relief.

Except for fact that as of November 27th, we are moving in with my parents.

Sigh. I know.

I said I'd never do it. But we ARE doing it.

I mean, how hard could it be to find the perfect balance of price, size and location for a live/work space in the city? It's fucking impossible is what it is. At least, it's beginning to feel that way. The only real good house we've seen, and tried to bid on, sold for 70K over it's asking price. I guess that's why they call it a seller's market.

We're basically putting our stuff in storage and moving there until we can find a new place, buy it and move into it.

Anyway, let's forget about all that for a few moments. Let's contemplate some artwork completed for my 2nd-year painting studio course.


acrylic mediums and techniques study.
acrylic paint on canvas
4'x4'


collage study
7"x9"
old magazines, japanese papers and acrylic paint on canvas board


collage study
7"x9"
old magazines, japanese papers and acrylic paint on canvas board


collage study
7"x9"
old magazines, japanese papers and acrylic paint on canvas board


20"x26"
acrylic paint on braced wood panel


study in observation and transfer of a scaled up image onto a solid ground.


So....whatchu think?

nablopomo is coming...

things are really crazy right now. so i know this blog sucks doney balls.

but that's about to change.

well. not just yet.

i'm doing nablopomo in november. that means as of november 1st, i will be posting every day in accordance with the National Blog Posting Month challenge!

for reals.

i know you're quivering with excitement.

now enjoy this.


and my loft is still for sale. i know you want it.