Okay I will put a picture monday - sorry I'm being such a slacker with this, but I've been so busy. Wednesday our Bible study met and we all went to McDonalds and had a good time sharing stories, testimonies, french fries, and spiritual matters. I bought an ice cream cone, and the lady behind the counter was really really nice. She gave Rodger a free ice cream cone because I told her he was from the area and she was impressed with how polite and friendly he was.
Thursday I carried my paper bag of paints and sculpting tools, my cat painting, my didgeridoo, and a giant rainstick to the bus stop. As I approached, the bus sped by and I chased it, calling the driver a feind for leaving me. I walked to the next stop and sat with my chin in my hands, very disgruntled when a man in a tall tall white truck with giant wheels called out to me. He said, "I'm in your sculpture class! Need a lift?" Well I figured that just some creep wouldn't know I'm in sculpture class, and to be sure I asked the guy what he was working on and a few other questions to make sure he was an authentic classmate and not a lucky guesser. He drove me and my armload to school, chatting all the way about life and work and school and being in the air infantry and skydiving. His speach was peppered with colorful language and he seemed a very volatile, flamboyant person.
Well I arrived at school in one piece where I proceeded to work on my paintings all morning then I almost missed my digital painting class because I forgot I had it on Thursdays. After that I watched about 2 hours of a fencing video for my acting and movement class. After prolonged exposure to on overload of techniques, I abandoned the last of the video because I had to get to the bank before it closed so I could get money so I could get to school the next day. It was after 5:30 when I got to Fry's (and my bank). I decided to pick up something for the bible study music rehearsal group. I grabbed some orange soda and then decided to go to the dollar store to get little debbies since they're cheaper there. I got fudge rounds and hurried back to school where I ran upstairs and fetched my didgeridoo, rainstick, painting, paints, and sculpture tools. I met Bing and Daniel and tried to force them to eat fudge rounds, then we went outside to practice without music. We found out really fast that Bing doesn't like to play the rainstick and Didgeridoos do not go well with violins, but Daniel got some good tunes going and another fellow stopped by, enthusiastic to learn the violin from Daniel (who is a year out of practice yet still pretty darn good). Bing drove me home and there I worked on my paintings and sculpture for the school art exhibit (due Friday).
Friday I wrote this:
There's paint, cardboard, books, napkins, and newspapers all over the place since I stayed up last night until 4 a.m. working on my art contest entrees. I did a gorilla in the jungle (Named "Gorilla Welfare"), ("Prince Andre' the Third" - a cat) from a photo, and a little T-rex relief ("A Peek into the Future")- like a little painting spanning three little picture frames all connected and then I sculpted a head and a tail to poke out of the end frames like he's looking out of the frame at you, hee hee. I kind of want them all back so I can decorate my blank wall. I've dedicated it to my art, but there's not a thing on it yet! I need to get busy and stick up a few things. Make it look like a real artist's studio, eh? Okay well it's 1:30 and I should probably get some sleep. I was tired when I got home at 10:30 but I got a new movie today and couldn't wait to see it.
Then Saturday I woke up at 9:30, forgetting that X-men doesn't come on now until 10:30, but Jackie Chan is on at 9:30 so I turned on the TV since I was up and like Jackie Chan alright. Unfortunately, there was no Jackie Chan. It was some LDS committee meeting with lots of preachers. I watched, seeking some explanation - like maybe one of their prophets declared a change in doctrine again or something, but then they just kept going on and on about things that would bore any child expecting his or her Saturday morning cartoons into tears. At this point I started to wonder if I was crazy and it wasn't really Saturday - because there seemed to be only sports and paid ads on other channels as well. Then when I flipped back to the WB to check and see if they would be done before X-men, the committee was still going. One of the preachers said something about how no matter how thin you make a pancake, it will never have just one side. Sounded good to me so I stood up, turned off the TV, and made pancakes. Then I went to work and had fun there setting out soapstone oil burners and showing Jen and Meg the music I got in the mail from my oldest sister (Gleeee!). Unfortunately I left it on a carved man figure chair when I was demonstrating how to put a puzzle cube together for Jen. I hope that Alex saved it for me. It would be awful if it were lost after only having it a few days. And I LOVE that CD too! *whine whine*
Oh yes - did I mention I got my wallet back? Did I mention an annonymous person sent it to my mother and she sent it to me? Probably. I took out a few of the family photos and put them in the frame that matches the one my T-rex relief sculpture is in.
So now it's Sunday. I had to get up early so I pushed snooze only once and then stumbled around and threw on some clothes before sleeping 30 more minutes. Then I got up and made toast and Bradley came to take me away to church. In Sunday school the pastor was there for a question and answer thing. I asked about divorce and physical and verbal abuse and forgiveness. I'm not sure what to think of his answer. He seemed to think that we should forgive, but not trust. But I think that even if a mother did not trust her abusive husband, if she went back to him and she brought her kids with her, that would be dumb. Especially if he hurts the kids too. Anyway, he did say it was tough because each situation is different, and I suppose the aforementioned is a specific situation that would have to be handled differently. Maybe I'll just yank the pastor off to the side next Sunday and grill him myself, heh.
After that I went to go watch the 2 year olds. I had a blast, but there were SO many of them! Like 20 or something - and all mad mad fireballs of screaming gleeful energy. I think that I can harness this energy if I use an attractive strategy (i.e. make games out of everything). I had fun carrying the clingy shy girls, chasing the trouble-maker like I was a monster, and helping kids cross the monkeybars. It was all good until the end when the parents came back. Usually this is the best part of the job because the kids are so insatiably overjoyed to see their parents again - it makes you giddy yourself to see them so happy. But the first time the door opened Thomas escaped without any of us realizing it. Apparently one of the parents caught him making a mad dash for the parking lot and brought him back. Oh man, I felt like there was lead in my stomach or something. No one even realized he had escaped! So much for letting the more experienced girls run things. I stood at the door like a sentinel after that. One parent even had to ask me to let his child go I was so intent on keeping her from walking out on her own. It should never have happened. What if something terrible had happened to that little boy? I feel so awful about it. From now on, I'm keeping an eagle eye on things - especially that door. I will commandeer those high school girls into action if need be because these kids are too precious and accident-prone to guard lightly...
(This is a picture of my nephew again! Hasn't he grown since the last picture? ) Monday was a crowded day. I never really got around to posting a picture, but I did post one Tuesday. Monday Bing, Rodger and I went to McDonalds for lunch. I got a big and tastey and we took the food back to school where we met up with Daniel. I started reading the latest creationist theory on the formation of the universe (involving an event horizon, gravity and time distortion) and we got into a deep discussion on evolution and such things. It was very interesting except that Daniel got angry with the book I had (I think because one chapter philosophically contradicted another). I suggested that it probably had to do with the fact that it was by multiple authors, and he agreed, and we all decided that the idea of creation needed more looking into. So this is to be our topic for next time as well.
After that I went to digital painting and tried out my new tablet. I have to get used to it - it's kind of funky the way it works. Work at the mall was right after that and it went well until an evil seawitch screamed at me. Okay so maybe she didn't scream. In fact, her voice was quite low, but it was so enfused with spite and viciousness that it made my stomach sick. She said I was rude for "ignoring" her (I didn't even know she was there) and when I asked if she wanted to talk to my manager right over there she said no, that the manager had trained me poorly and she had no time. Fett has always told me to grow a backbone, and I think that perhaps one is beginning to form because I was only a nervous wreck for maybe ten minutes after that rather than the whole day. I kept telling myself that it was the lady who had the problem, not me and that my boss and coworkers did not think me rude or poorly trained. So then I pushed the incident from my mind for the rest of the day and played my CD (thankyou, Jen, for saving it!) at the end while we were closing. I had the Moldy Peaches song stuck in my head all the day.
Tuesday I got to school early by chance and so I ran to Frys to deposit my checks and get bus money and food, then to Hollywood video to return the Marx Brothers "Animal Crackers" movie Rob and I were going to pick a scene from to perform. He said I could choose the scene because I knew the Marx Bro's better than him, so I chose the contract bit from "At the Opera". Once I was across the highway I realized that I didn't have my water container - that I'd left it at Fry's when I'd been filling out my deposit envelope. I was running out of time so I had to quickly decide whether to go get my water and be late for acting and movement class or lose it forever and be thirsty all day and be on time. So I ended up going all the way back to Fry's for the water, and walked up to my school to find my entire class outside, swordfighting. My teacher handed me a skinny stick and I joined in the fun. It was nice to fence again, but I was very out of practice and since I was never good in the first place, I was pretty much at the same level as everyone else skill-wise. I glimpsed Jared for a moment, smoking and watching everyone fence with a look of amusement, but I didn't see him again after that to ask why he didn't make it to the bible study the day before.
I met Bing at 11:30 after class and we decided to take part in the 3D Studio Max modeling contest even though we were pretty sure we'd lose. We thought "What the heck, why not give it a try?" So we did. We were all handed a complicated plastic man who bore similarities to the classic G.I. Joes. Everyone groaned because we only had one hour and the amount of detail on the guy was very difficult. At the end of an hour both Bing and I had half a man. Mine was in parts and pieces and Bing's was like a noodle. Needless to say, we did not win. I really need to learn that program more thoroughly.
I went straight to work after that and priced immitation dream catchers and a bead pyramid all day. No wicked women tormented me thankfully, but I almost freaked out when my drawer came up missing almost ten dollars. Jen found my mistake, though and then it was all good. We closed everything and Jen turned off the lights. Jen asked, "Are we forgetting anything?" and I said, "Of course. We're always forgetting something." because we both always feel like that when we leave. So we left and as I walked through the long empty building, listening to the security alarm beeping, I realized that I really had forgotten something:
Yes. It was a tragedy of the worst kind. My pudding was locked behind a high-tech security system beyond my grasp. My milk was on the verge of going bad at home, and time was running out to use it up. I had Wednesday and Thursday off so my pudding would sit there for days. The dilemma still exists, but I think that if I have to ride the bus home today, I will get off at the mall and go get my pudding and then catch the next bus home. Yeah. So as I was walking past the Rainforest Cafe with its stilled rubber crocodile animatron, I lamented to a random guard, "I forgot my pudding!" He was speechless with shock.
At home I called Bradley to tell him about the Tech forum going on at my school this week and then I watched M*A*S*H. It was the one about Honeycut's anniversary away from home. He cried quietly when his friends showed him a projected film of his wife and child she had sent in the mail. It made me feel kinda sad, yet kind of happy. It's good that some people care that much about their wives and family. I hope I find someone who cares that much about me one day.
The Sad Lady
This morning on the bus a woman got on, toting a baby. She held the baby in one arm and sat down near the front where she commenced folding the stroller with one hand (with some difficulty). She held up a little outfit and smiled, talking to the baby, "Look what mommy got for you!" The baby had nothing on but a diaper, so after her struggle with the stroller, she began to clothe the baby in the new outfit (I'm guessing from K-mart, since that seemed to be the direction she came from). As she was dressing the baby, the stroller, diaper bag, and bottom part of the outfit were spread across the seat. Then I noticed something drip onto the lady's shoulder. She noticed too, and looked up as more drops fell and splattered her and the seat and her baby. She called out to the bus driver, trying to draw his attention, "Sir! Sir! Your airconditioner is leaking!" He didn't seem to understand or maybe he didn't believe her, but then every time he hit the breaks the dripping would turn into a trickle. The mother gathered her things and moved to the seat behind me as we pulled into the mall and the bus driver got up to take a look. Since we were holding still, it was dripping less frequently, but he did note the leak before starting off again. I watched it for a while - it was most interesting to see how different turns and stops would make the water come out faster. Then as we were heading back down to baseline the lady became alarmed. "Sir!" she called, "Which way are you going?!" He didn't hear her really so I turned and answered. The look on her face was distraught to the point of tears as I explained that the bus she was on went west not north - that it only went north to turn around at the mall. I pulled the cord for her to stop the bus and she got off weeping with the baby in one arm and the bag and half-open stroller in the other. I felt really bad for her because she seemed to be having a really really rough day. I wondered whether she was a single parent, and whether this was just one of the many things that had gone wrong this day so far. Briefly I considered getting off with her and helping somehow, but then I knew I'd be late for class and that I really could do nothing but walk with her...but maybe I should have. Maybe she would have appreciated a listening ear and someone's assistance.
Nuts. I should have gotten off.
*Blank Stare*
*Cough cough cough*
Hey guess what. I'm sick again. Can you believe it? Twice in a row since school started and I wasn't sick even once before. Maybe all the stress is getting to me.
Days I missed:
Thursday Oct 9
I drew gnomes all through painting class, thinking that it was what I was going to paint next, but now I'm not so sure. After that I spent hours taping cardboard and newspaper together with duct tape to form giant hands for my Halloween costume. That's when I started coughing. The duct tape smelled like something DEAD so I thought I was reacting to the duct tape fumes. But the cough persisted so now I know it's really an evil virus. I borrowed the tape from my teacher who borrowed it from the custodial man with the promise that it not be stuck to the floor. Apparently it would strip off the top layer of the concrete gloss. When I was through taping up my monster hands, my own hands were red. I think the tape stripped off the top layer of my skin.
I went to digital painting and started some clouds and then tried to find Rob to practice rehearsing for my acting and movement class, but he was no where to be found. I hung out with Bing after 5:30 and took care of him until the Bible Study music rehearsal. It was kind of poopy because Daniel's violin was the only instrument this time aside from my bongo drum, and a bongo drum and violin don't always go together. We really could have used Jared. Or anyone with another musical instrument. Oh well. Daniel taught me how to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on the violin and that was pretty fun. Then Bing wanted to stick around to work on his bird claw for his Maya class. I stuck around and modeled this dog here. He's a work in progress. His head and legs aren't even attached to each other, heh heh heh.
Friday Oct 10
Once again class was canceled. I watched a presentation by Rhythm and Hues instead. They're responsible for such greats as "Scooby Doo", "Cats and Dogs", "Babe", "X-men II", "Daredevil", and the upcoming "Garfield" movie. They also do the Geico and Budweiser commercials. So they're pretty big-time. Made me really want to get with my program and get out there. Staying up until 5:30 a.m. doing art stuff sounds like a GREAT job to me. No sarcasm intended. Really - if that was my job, my non-existant concept of time and anal attention to detail would be useful instead of problematic. Instead of being threatened with job dismissal (as I was Friday night) for being too thorough and slow, I'd maybe even get a bonus or something. I mean, you guys know me - the wereartist. That'd be the perfect job. I just need to get an adequate handle on Maya. And I'm off to a discouraging start so far with only one beginning class in 3D Studio Max. Grrrrnfffle.
Saturday
Saturday I got up at 9 and got on my bike to go to Frys first thing (well, after putting on some clothes) because I had absolutely no toilet paper. On the way I came across a bum begging on the corner of the freeway. I remembered what Jared said about wanting to get together a group to help out the homeless people on Mill as a witness for Christ and I thought, "Hey, who needs a group. If this guy's hungry it'd be easy to get him something at Frys while I'm there." So I said, "Hey!" and he came up to me and I asked, "Would you like me to get you something at Frys?" and he said "Yeah, I could use some water so I don't get dehydrated out here." He held his hands real far apart when he said "water". So I said, "Alright. Stick around." So I biked up to Frys and got toilet paper and a big gallon jug of water and some doughnuts and a bagel for him too, but when I finally got back to the corner, he was gone. I waited a moment thinking he might be taking a leak or something, but he didn't come back. So I went home and watched "X-men Evolution" and then checked back and he was still gone. I suppose he got a ride to a job or something. Too bad. I wish he'd been there...
So then I just went to work and...worked. It was long and busy, but with friends it was alright. Daniel my clone brother came and hung out putting together puzzels and such. I got off at 8 and we both went to the chocolate shop. He bought some toffee and gave me a piece and then we went to the record store and sat on the floor reading "Wolverine: Legends 1". It was a really weird take on Wolverine...very strange strange illustrations, but I sorta liked it. I guess that took about an hour and then I took the bus home and Daniel followed to hang out and play games. I killed him once in Worms Armageddon and then over and over again in Tekken (HUZZAH! BOW TO THE QUEEN, BABY!)
No, that's just an enthusiastic Army of Darkness expression. I don't really call anyone "baby". Especially not semi-bro Daniel. No, I call him, "LOOOOOSERRRRRR!" Muahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaa!
Just kidding. I only call him a loser when we play Tekken. Yes, ha ha. It would have been funner if Jeff had come too, then we could have all traded off, and maybe we could have played poker again. And then Daniel and I wouldn't have had to eat as much pudding either and Daniel wouldn't have been bored while I was doing other stuff either. Oh well. Can't have everything. And at least if I'm contagious only ONE person will get sick, ha ha ha...
The only bad thing really that happened this week besides being threatend with canning was that I couldn't get the internet to work last night and so I couldn't do my homework or turn it in on time. I wrote my teacher an email begging for mercy this morning. I hope it works.
Sunday
Today I didn't go to church because I couldn't get a ride, and even if I had gotten a ride, I wouldn't have wanted to expose all the two-year-olds in the nursery to my cold virus, and I would have been a bit of a disruption in the service too. Oh well. I should be able to attend the evening stuff tonight.
Mmm...Guess that's it.
*Cough COUGH hack hack COUGH*
My stomach and my head hurt from coughing so hard so much. Every time I think I'm getting better I end up coughing worse. I can't help Bing walk because 1. I'd be coughing in his face and 2. I'd probably throw him off balance every time my body buckled around my heaving lungs.
Monday was a pretty rotten day to begin with. I think I missed the bus twice and then Rob, the guy I was supposed to meet in the morning, never showed up. I was kinda ruffled over that, but mostly I was mad at myself for wasting half of my free day. I went to Bing's and he helped me with my Programming class, then his Dad and sister and Nutmeg (one of the dogs) took me home where I cleaned up a bit until clone-brother Daniel arrived to help me review for my acting and movement class and programming.
We stayed up until 1 working on a really difficult problem, and then I kicked him out so he could catch the bus. The bus reached the end of its line at the mall, however, so he ended up walking a fair distance anyway - but at least not as far as he would have had to walk if I'd not kicked him out right then. So he tells me now that there are black widow spiders under the freeway overpass. I didn't know that.
And then this morning as I was walking to catch the bus I looked over at the water I was crossing and saw a big fin-like thing break the water and sink again like an alligator or giant fish. This is very unusual because I did not think that anything could survive in this water that is full of rusted old shopping carts, refuse, and possibly sewage. In fact, previously I'd considered throwing in some goldfish, but decided that they would probably die as soon as they hit that murky surface. But low and behold, this morning - a creature broke the surface before my very eyes - and it was NO goldfish for sure.
I was so surprised that I walked over where two Latino guys were sitting at the edge and asked them if there were fish in the water. Neither seemed to speak English so I made a swimming fish gesture with my hand. They said, "Biscotto" or something like that and I pointed at the water and held my hands far apart saying "Yeah, I just saw a BIG fish or something right there!" I was trying to think of the word for "big" as I walked back towards the bus stop, but kept thinking "grossen" which is German. Then I remembered "Grande'" (duh), but it was too late. I imagined how these guys could really have said any word in Spanish and I would have nodded, supposing it was the word for fish. They could have really been playing with me. I mean, they could have said "penis" for all I know and there I'd be nodding my head and gesturing wildly about the big "biscotto" I saw over there...in the...water...nevermind. Yeah. Well they probably really said the word for "fish" because they copied the same gesture and didn't laugh as hard as they would if they'd said something else.
ANYWAY...
I fought with swords and sticks in acting and movement again this morning and found to my surprise and approval that we did not have to have our dialogues memorized today. I had it memorized anyway, but now I can memorize it even better - and dress up as Chico. Now if I can just find a good hat and some of those Groucho glasses with the big nose and moustache for Rob our costuming would be complete.
This problem my Programming teacher assigned to us for chapter 6 is cruel. I had six different people helping me with it and still don't have the right answer. And two of them knew programming and the rest are good at math. So I wonder how the rest of the students pulled this one off. Especially since none of us know much of anything about programming. I have to talk to Clint and find out what's going on with my grade. I really detest this class.
I want to sculpt a giant dragon nose and make it look as though it's pushing through my wall. Maybe a few claws too. Yeah. As an artist, I need more art in my apartment. Art should be flowing out of my ears. I should have weird cutouts and creative decorations all over. But I just have posters and books...
Oh yeah - and I drew McCoy and a Creature Sunday night. I think McCoy needs a background, but I like how he came out so far.
