Zeno's Paradox, UTD, and The
Mood:
incredulous
Topic: Life goes on...
(cracks knuckles -- this is the big one!)
In the vast expanses of space (and time, if
you prefer to think in such limited terms), in
all of the universes (or "The Universe", if you
still maintain your small-minded view of the
complete vastness of pi).
Into that void, after some 52 Quintillion
years (if numbers that large have *any*
meaning at all), we go.
I (the "i" that is "me" -- what ever that is) go.
So, i got accepted to UTD. (It didn't hurt that
I've been working like the "dickens" (no idea
where that curious phrase came from, perhaps
Dickens the author, but alas, I digress ;)
And that i had some 8 superbly good references.
(extract from private comm to Mr. Winters,
Also, I'm hopeing to have *some* work out at UTD
this spring (that's where all of the great
recomendations will help). I'm not sure if i listed
all of that (just to give you *some* hope that i'm
not entirely self delusional) -- they all gave me
great recomendations
Susan Mollet -- Ceramics, student advisor, and sponsor of the Art Club
Cynthia Mills -- Art History, research advisor, and
co-ordinator of visting art history lecture series.
Don Taylor -- beloved by all, and the very first
art teacher at Brookhaven (one of the first ever
when the district was formed back at El Centro --
he litterally knows "everyone" -- my main faculty
advisor in printmaking).
David Newman -- graduated under Connie Forsythe at
UT Austin -- very highly thought of, my advisor in
photography and Aesthetics studies. One smart
cookie.
Chong-Kiun Chu -- drawing instructor (a Korean-
Christian -- never hurts i suppose)
Dr. Darese Error, professor of theatre and film
studies,
Jane Quetin (pronunskiated "whee-tohn") Drama
director for Brookhaven School of the Arts.
Betsy Belcher -- my painting faculty advisor and
teacher.
Anyway, the people out there at UTD should have
almost the idea that I can do everyting but walk on
water (give me a frozen lake and I'll even give
that a try ;)
Anyway, I'm already studying in prep for the fall.
And of course it helps that i have pretty good
writing skills. Been reading literary criticsm
(aesthetics), as well as the aesthetics of SF, and
reviewing all of my philsoophy stuff, as well as
taking asiduous notes on my notebook. (Might as
well get used to the pace ;)
-- Well, that's about it for now -- pretty tired.
(I spent 4 hours this morning at UTD reading on
lingustics and such) -- the survey class that David
held helped a lot.
(end extract)
Anyway, so I *should have known*, since i got the
"$135" ticket for my car dare-ing to intrude into
the domain of the UTD CAMPUS POLICE !!! (Heaven
for-fend, the Gods Themselves were offended
[NOTE 1]!)
So, my dad comes up (as luck would have it on
my final critique in Painting with the every
lovely Chancelor Page (i mean if Vanna and
Regis can be "ever lovely", then why can't
us artist types? ;)
And again from the extracted document
[Anyway,] my Dad came over to "help" me get my car
fixed up Of course this meant taking the paint off
of it and other *control* issues. Anyway, they
arrived just as my final critique of painting was
ending, and he had all of these "wonderful" things
to say about my art -- which is v. well received by
both the faculty and staff. The funniest part that
as I was packing stuff up (I had all of my main
paintings spread out all over the floor in drama
buidling -- that way we (Chance Page (my
instructor) and the other two senior art students)
could go up on the stairs and get a better view of
them (the smallest one is 4' x 5' and the larger
ones are about 7' x 12' - 15'). So, i was rolling
up the "canvases" (actually just heavy paper with a
primer on it) and tote-ing them back to my storage
stall in the art building. So, then my parernts
arrived (guided over to where we were by Resy --
one of the art students (about 40yrs old) who is
from the Netherlands). So, she sort of kept them
occupied while I was tote-ing the first set of
things off to the art building. And my Mom was v.
impressed with her -- since she was from Europe
and "all of that culture", etc.
So, anyway, as I'm
coming back for the next load, I over-heard my
Mother saying to Resy: "Yes, but he [ie, me]
doesn't have any talent at all". To which Resy said
something like, "Oh, no. Richard works very hard
and he is very tallented." (just love her accent,
it now has a v. slight "Texas Twist" -- her relatives refuse to talk to her in Dutch swearing
that they can't understand her -- odd, ehh? ;)
So, then she proceeded
to give my mother the 20-minute version of Modern
Art history and how the older style (ie,
Renaissance) limited the artists in what they could
do, and that modern art is much more about the
artist, the time they live in, and their
interaction with the world around them in the
*now*. (I'm not sure that it helped much, but who
knows). My dad had of course wandered off -- not
wanting to be corrupted by another one of those
crazy artists.
(end extract)
So, of course the loan money is "in the mail",
-- nice on-line system they have out there. (hanging
in there, borrowed $250 from Zek to pay for my
Hindi class & 2 of the books at BHC -- my language
this year, as I will be concentrating on the
"Art of India" (ah, such beauties! -- teers, at
the corners of my bright bleu eyes).
So, I wander in the other evening (v. tired,
about 6-7pm -- the HEAT is *really* getting me
-- also, all of the extra work; [2], and
Corinth is there and sure enough someone is
leaving her company and she can get me a job.
"Yes", sez i, "But, you need .net for that kind
of stuff". And she blurbles, "yes, but you can
take it at UTD".
So, i explain my plan: UTD, 2 years, hard work,
MA in ATEC (Arts & Technology), then possibly
teach (majik piece of parchment), 2-3 more years
MFA -- the golden ticket to the entire world
(i omit that info, they'd just judge me to be
even more LUNEd that I aleady appear).
So, some-how (discussed with Professor Mills)
here I am with 3-years out of the industry
(and they don't even hire you if you're more
than 3 MONTHS out of industry), I take ONE
course (.net) and "somehow" they are just
going to fall all over me!
Alternatively (and here is the good news, or is
it only speculation?) here I am with v. strong
studio skills (working 2 to 3 times harder than
any other students here, well perhaps not quite
so hard as a "ahem" *certain* student, maybe i
should (like mahler) convert? nahh!
22 years in industry (and *still* a master
c programmer -- esp in real-time and systems
programming), management skills, ff'fine shence
of huumer (soh), I think its a good match.
And add to this my verbal and written skills
as a poet (several public readings, always
well received), my short story writing, my
character development, and....
(big drum role here!)
I *am* Pizo Eccentric!
(the cartoon becomes the cartoonist!)
-- there's even a possibility that I might
teach a CE class in "The Theory and Practice
of Cartooning" next summer!
And I even like the climate!
-- more later,
got to the lib before they close,
-- well, gotta go. Need to print and POST BILLS
-- er, about the Amnesty Meeting changing to
Room S204 on August 25.
-- Frank.
erk! Editing errors and stuff, and thunder,
hope we don't have a power outage like we
did last nighjfdldsfj 0ifwekflkf
fkjsfsfl;ksjfo;sfoiwoifjwoifjwf
sfjsdofjosfjoisdjf'lk[fsdlsfljs
.......................................................
======================
NOTES
[1] "The Gods Themselves", by Isaac Aimov, has
been refered to in Michael Rose's superb
"Alien Encounters" -- prob one of the *best*
intro's to SF literature.
[2] Oddly enough much of the work that I do now
is pure intellection -- reading, writing, research,
and such. Also, still working on paintings: Two
major works (still can not quite bring my self
to even put any paint to "Joy" (the "horses's
collar" as my dad called it (seying to Resi
"We can put this one in the barn" -- sheehs)
Anyway, very powerful two pieces "Silent Spring"
-- whih Chance and everyone liked, "Not a happy
scene", most just my "suspended" sculpture
style (tips towel to Anselem Kiefer ?sp? and
of course to Maholli Nagi (and Don Taylor without
whom I would still be blind and stumbling,
praise be to St. Anthony -- odd for an atheist
(however spiritual) as me to feel such a debt
of gratitude to those of Catholicism who see
and understand and do NO harm in the name of
any-one.
And the "other one" -- came out of a dicussion
on the www.DouglasAdams.se/forum on politics
and the green house.
"The Triumph of Creationism" -- damn these
visions, damn these dreams, damn a world
that can be so blind. It is more than i can
bear, i tipple, i dream and often so harsh
and symbolic that i come away from the
experience (i would say that dreams are
*the* most personal experience that any
sentient creature can have. And when they
are nightmares, come un-bidden, can Hamlet's
indecision be less understood? Death, death.
they all died (even the humans, but they are
surrounded by a "halo"'s. Shit, I wish i were
drunk! And my lovely little volvoxes and
bryophytes and the foxes and .... shit, i hate
these people they destroy OUR world (the world
of ALL who inhabit it, and all becasue they
can't distinguish between myth and ozone!