All posts by wertle

Personal Blog

CD Player Woes

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My CD player is shot, which I discovered late last night after tearing apart my entire room to figure out what that obnoxious buzzing noise was.

I got my first portable CD player for my birthday when I was in the 6th grade. It was a Sony, and it lasted me until my sophomore year in college. I think that…(does some finger-toe math)..8 years is quite a respectable lifespan for a cd player. Granted, by that time it was a clunky old warhorse, had to be held closed with a rubberband, and needed extra encouragement to get the buttons to work, but it still did its job.

Sophomore year of college, after Christmas and before my England trip, I decided to treat myself to a new cd player, and retire the warhorse. The wretched new thing barely lasted 6 months before it broke. I tried going up on price a bit with the next one, an Aiwa that was working wonderfully until last night. I had so much faith in it!

Now, I do put my cd players through some abuse. I fall asleep on them, drop them, smash them in my backpack, expose them to dangerous chemicals (oil paints), and the like. I might need to break down and buy a “really nice” one next. I don’t know if I can find one that I can squeeze another 8 years out of, but one that would last at *least* a year would be nice.

Anyone have any recommendations?

Personal Blog

Last Day

Today was awfully busy for being the last day of classes, especially since I only had one class! I was running all around to go to meetings and picnics and blowslots and stuff. The last glass slot of the year is always a bit bittersweet…good because by this point I’m exhausted of the studio in general, bad because I know it won’t be until the fall until I get back in the hot shop. I bought my closers some cookies tonight, because they’ve done such a good job helping me close all year. Last time to close the studio, my hands are free of art barn responsibilities! (Except for finishing my final project, of course).

So, technically, I suppose I should be out frolicking since there are no classes tomorrow, but I’m terribly tired from the day. Plus, everyone seems a bit busy tonight, too busy for fun. I did get on my universal AIM settings today for the first time in like FOREVER. It was nice to have some time to just sit and chat.

I don’t know when I intend on getting out of bed tomorrow. I considered setting the whole day aside for rest, since my first final isn’t until Friday, but I think I have too much work to do. I have a lot of coldworking to do in the studio, and I need to get my materials from classes all organized in preparation for studying. I also need to start packing things…things to go home and things to go to Massachusetts with me this summer. I suppose tomorrow (well…today, technically) will be a work day, and Thursday will be reserved for such fun things as the Matrix and lunar eclipses.

Personal Blog

Ramble

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I tend to think about a lot of things under the delirium of being sick. I got a nasty cold-thing earlier in the week, and I’m just starting to get better. However, under my icky daze, I found time to ponder great questions in life. Who am I? What am I going to do with my future? Why do I have “4 dimensional Mandelbrot set” written on my hand? Being sick induces strange things.

I think I may have found a solution to my art focus problem. On a glass trip to Louisville the other day, I saw some work by Lisabeth Sterling, and was absolutely astounded. She does very detailed and elaborate engravings on glass, and it struck me that if I should try this, it may very well be the perfect combination of 2D and 3D that I’ve been looking for. I’m going to give some engravings a shot for my final project this year, and see how I feel about it.

Needless to say, that is a big relief to me. Consequently, it made room for some other worrisome bits. May is flying out from underneath me, my last classes are this week, and before I know it, graduation will fling my friends out into the real world and punt me into Massachusetts for the summer. I get really clingy at this time of year. My very close friends are going away, and I would like nothing more than to spend time with them before they vanish. However, this time of year is so very busy, it’s hard to do. Excessive clinginess, therefore, is frowned upon.

I spend too much time at Rodes. Brendan assures me otherwise, but would he really come out and tell me if he thought I did? Becoming a near default regular at the place does have its comforts and advantages, but it also means I’m not a guest anymore, so no one’s really obligated to treat me like one. It’s very understandable, everyone is so busy. I feel invasive and in the way a lot of times, but every time I resolve to stay away and in my own space, I have the need to not be alone. I do need to round up all my things from there at some point, and pack them to be sent home. Bleh, I don’t like the end of the year, it’s too exhausting and heavy.

Personal Blog

Honors

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I got to have an extremely brief visit with and yesterday as I ventured to UK to see their Beowulf Cluster for a presentation. I was sad that the stay was so short, but I had to get back to Centre for the Honors Convocation, because I’d received a cryptic note in campus mail informing me that I would receive an honor.

I also learned an important lesson about Centre’s Honors Convocation. It is very different from the honors assemblies in high school. The college superiors must have done research into how little one really cares about a fancy certificate that you’ll just throw in a box as soon as you return home, and decided to give students something worthwhile for their honors.

Now, we all know that there are two fundamental worthwhile prizes: food and money. Having missed dinner, I would have been thrilled to receive a cookie for my outstanding achievement in art, but when I discovered that the little envelope I got did NOT contain a dinky certificate, but a check, I was equally enthusiastic.

If they’d given us money in high school honors assemblies, I would have been much more spirited about going! So that was my pleasant surprise for the week, I’ll use it to buy art supplies…or maybe a playstation 2 ¬_¬

Personal Blog

Carnival

I always forget about Carnival until it is right upon me, even this year when little ooze-shaped paper advertisements showed up everywhere from dorm doors to the back pockets of unexpecting launderers returning to fold their clothes from the dryer.

Carnival is awesome. It’s a big festival with live music, endless supplies of free cotton candy, snocones, and popcorn, and large inflatable play devices. You know, the kind of big bouncy things you played in as a kid, only they’re more awesome because they’re college-student-sized (and even MORE awesome for little kids, since they’re twice as gigantic).

Anyway, I thought this year’s Carnival was getting off to a bad start, as my stomach was upset all day. However, I decided to have fun in spite of this. I challenged Strother to a race in the Safari Challenge (a large, inflatable obstacle course with a plastic palm tree for setting). In my frantic scramble to win the race, my back bent in a way it was not supposed to. It was one of those injuries that didn’t hurt right away, but you FELT it, and you knew it would hurt like nothing else in a matter of time.

As all people are entitled to make ridiculously poor decisions every now and again, I thought to myself “Well, my back’s going to stop working here in a bit, I’d better use it as much as I can before that happens,” and proceeded to play on the inflato-bungee course (on which I promptly injured my head and neck).

In spite of the fact that today I can barely hobble without some sort of pain, I had a fun time at Carnival. Chalk Circle was also awesome. David Flora is a musical genius. That is all.

Personal Blog

Frickin decisions

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I have a dilemma.

I’m almost certain I’ve brought this up several times in several different places, but it has come down to crunch time. I have to pick a focus for my art major.

Up until now, I’d been leaning almost 100% towards glass. The reasoning, since I listed out everything I could and realized I love glass and painting EXACTLY the same, was because Nick and Augustine (my fellow art majors) are doing painting, so I figured I’d throw in some variety. However, I talked to Sheldon about it, and a number of issues have brought themselves up.

1. Steve is going on sabbatical in the fall term. Now, I could still do an independent study, and I’m sure Bohack could still help me, but Sheldon was concerned that I wouldn’t get the proper critique I needed to develop work for my show. This is indeed a serious concern, for while my glass is improving, it’s nowhere near where I’d like it to be and I have a long way to go.

2. I explained to Sheldon that another reason I was leaning towards glass was that I felt it was an easier outlet for my cartoony nature than painting. My oil paintings always seem to turn out darker and more serious, and I think I want to do something lighter for my show. However, Sheldon then said, “Well, you have a solid enough foundation in painting that if you’d like to pursue a more humorous route, we could arrange that. I mean, you could bring in a portfolio of your outside work and we could look over it and set something up, I’ve seen your website and the comics you do for The Cento, but I’m sure you have other things.” Basically, that’s Sheldon-speak for “you can do cartoons for your senior show if you want to.” My response..

O.o

This changes EVERYTHING. I’d dismissed the possibility of doing my more illustrative stuff for my senior show in the very beginning, because I didn’t think it’d be appropriate, or thought Sheldon would dismiss the idea. This opens up a whoooooooole new realm of possibilities.

So this swings me right back to dead center regarding the choice between glass and painting. Now, let it be known, that this is not an issue of doing both. A lot of people have noted that “it’s not fair” that I have to pick, or say “why can’t you do mixed media?” That’s not an issue at all. Even if I *had* the option of doing both, I would NOT do it, because…simply enough…I would die. Explode even.

It’s a troubling decision for me. All my glass buddies want me to do glass, and Emil hovers over me when I’m not looking to say I should do painting. I’m hesitant to ask advice from acquaintances, because glass is usually the default answer (because it’s cool). If I had some idea of what I was going to be doing with my art in the future, it could help me decide, but as of yet I have no idea.

I suppose, all in all, it’s a better situation to be in than others. I mean, I love them both, so no matter which I choose, I will be happy doing it. I will just miss not being able to do the other one. This is the first term I haven’t been able to take both glass and painting, and while I miss painting terribly. I know that if the roles were reversed, I would be dying to get into the hot shop. I’m getting no gut feeling about which of these is the better choice, but this matter is too big to let the Coin of Fate decide. Graaaaaaaaaaah!!!

…on a less important, more aesthetic note, I also have to decide whether I want to get a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree. Sheldon says to pick whichever looks best behind my name, and Dr. Shannon recommends I pick the one corresponding to my preferred color for the hoods. It’s nice to have a less pressing decision to make in addition to the bigger one. What do you think?

Regarding the bigger decision, I just don’t know. I keep hoping I will talk to someone and they will give me the perfect advice, and I’ll be able to decide without hesitation. Maybe I’ll go talk to Judith.

Personal Blog

Easter stuff

As my third year as the official family Easter-egg hider, I once again took careful count of the total number of eggs (there were 18, just 18, seems like a manageable amount), and once again there were two missing by the end of the hunt. I carefully checked all my hiding spaces, and at last had to tell my cousins that it was the work of the mischievous Easter Weasel, who’d come in and stolen them for himself. Next year, I plan on creating an accurate map of the yard, and plot all egg locations. Maybe I could employ some GPS, just for good measure.

On another note, I’ve discovered that the limit for who my grandma gives candy to is not based on age. It must be based on when you get married, for this year my brother did not get a huge bag of Easter candy, and I did. Unfortunately, I’ve found that I am no longer able to metabolize the huge amounts of candy I receive like I used to, so I’ll be doing a lot of sharing this week.

I have gripes with Easter candy anyway. It’s too shape-driven, and I’m particularly upset with those speckled, bubble gum eggs and the similar looking malted milk ball eggs. They’re like frickin identical! They’re both tasty in their own right, but biting into one while expecting the other is not a pleasant experience. Bleh!

As far as candy-holidays go, I’m still with Halloween. It seems to cater to general, commercial candy much better. Just look at M&M’s. You have red and green for Christmas, pink, red and white for Valentine’s, pastels for Easter, but for Halloween it’s like they relax. No pressure.

Back to school with me..

Personal Blog

Updates!

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Brendan made a wallpaper out of me!! Go check it out!!

The picture is from SETC, and no, I’m not singing. In fact, I have no idea what I’m doing. Maybe I’m yawning, or about to sneeze. Or maybe I really did let out a lion roar, and just forgot about it.

Also, I updated my website! Go and see! Special thanks to Strother for writing my first guest rant.

About Me

Personal Blog

SMASH

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It’s one of those pacing, puzzling, agitated days. I’m frustrated because the sun is shining, the weather is pleasant, and I am completely out of good or even logical reasons to be down about anything. I have this internal festering that I’ve only had twice before, which makes me want to do nothing more than skip down to the art barn, collect every piece of glass I’ve made, and SMASH them against the concrete. SMASH SMASH SMASH!!!!!!!!

The first time I felt it, I had Andrew with me, and he deterred the mood a bit to where I only smashed things in my “broken box,” so there was no real loss. The second time, I had friends about to hide among, so I would stay safely away from the art barn. Today, however, everyone’s in the usual busy state, and I can’t find anyone. I fear that if I can not find anything to prevent me, the aforementioned SMASHing will ensue (hence the reason for the journal entry, it should delay me a bit before dinner).

This would cause quite a predicament, as the student show is next week, and if I smashed all my stuff, I wouldn’t have anything to put in there. It is strange, this art-destructo feeling isn’t normal for me, not with anything 2-D, and I’m one of those people who is horrified when others tear up their drawings. Of course, the glass smashing isn’t really about my feelings on the quality of my art. I love all my pieces, like little children, which makes it even more disturbing how much I want to hurl them to the ground and watch them explode.

I’m sure there’s some deep, internal metaphor in there somewhere, but I’m tired and grumpy and don’t wish to find it, only the smashing. I think they should be safe, I’ll go to run some errands then go to dinner, maybe some food will make me not want to smash when I go to my glass slot tonight (maybe I’ll fling a wonky cup into the wall, just for good measure).