Counting Sheep

Last week I turned in my first watercolor assignment. It was a set of three abstract paintings using complimentary colors to better understand the medium. Now we are working on a still life before transitioning to landscapes, people, and eventually illustrations/story-telling. So far the class is pretty fun. A lot of the work can be completed in class, and our professor is quite the character. One of my friends that took the class last semester wrote down some of her favorite quotes of his such as:

1. Those people I disagreed with... well, they're dead now, so it doesn't matter.
2. while discussing airplanes- I'm always next to the guy who's spilling over his seat, like porridge gone awry.
3. You could name this series "But I'm Okay Now!"
4. Being a social outcast doesn't make you an artist. You just have to be good.
5. If this were the solar system you'd definitely be Pluto.
6. I thought drug inspired music would be a good background for watercolor!
7. If God came down from Heaven and made the perfect city, it would not be Dallas.

The list goes on and on, but you get the idea. Something interesting (and challenging for me)in regards to water color is that it turns out better if you are relaxed about it. If you overwork it and try to control too much, it usually doesn't turn out as well. Maybe that is how I should try to approach life a little more.

Perhaps you are wondering why I named this post "Counting Sheep." This past week kicked my butt. I had an awful time sleeping, waking up every couple of hours and not being able to fall back asleep. Then I started to get sick- it just was not a fun time, and there was one night I resorted to the old, count-the-sheep-jumping-over-the-fence idea. It didn't work; I could not figure out if my sheep should look like the cartoony ones from those old mattress commercials or actual sheep. Anyway, I spent so much time trying to visualize what they would look like and how this scene would play out that I never actually got to the counting part. Luckily, I am sleeping better now so I hope I do not have to resort to sheep again. I still have a little bit of a cold, but it seems like that is the normal state of just about everyone on campus.

The photos posted are from Dance Marathon.

Dance Marathon, Ballet Class, and Other Stuff

This past Saturday, I participated in Dance Marathon. It is a charity event in which the volunteers, or dancers, stand on their feet for 15 hours to raise money for the University of Iowa Children's Hospital. I thought it was going to be like one of those crazy dance marathons from the 30s where people had to constantly dance until they were the last ones standing- literally standing. But there was actually a lot more than just dancing. Every hour, we would preform a morale dance that the leaders taught all of the dancers at the beginning of the event. For the rest of the hour, there were lots of games, inflatables, four-square, Wii, demonstrations by clubs like the Swing Society and Judo, and competitions like the classic passing-the-orange-neck-to-neck relay. If you have every seen Charade with Carey Grant and Audrey Hepburn, you know what I mean.

Every hour after the morale dance, families also shared their stories, and each team had an adopted family with whom we were able to spend time and do activities. My team's adopted family had two kids with Hirschsprung Disease which meant they were born without nerves in their lower digestive tracts. Nate, who is 11, receives the majority of his caloric and water intake via an IV through his chest every night. This has kept him alive even though the doctors thought he wouldn't make it past three months old. The problem is that he might have to get a liver transplant since it doesn't get used very much, and he is very prone to infections with the IV. He was a really cool kid, and beat me mercilessly at Wii boxing.

My legs held up pretty well until the last couple of hours. During Power Hour, all of the games were put away and everyone was in the dance room jumping up and down, fist pumping, swirling glowsticks, etc. That was the hardest part. Then, for the final hour, the total amount raised was released to the crowd- $260,000! Thank you so much to all who donated.

Speaking of dancing, I am taking an intro. to ballet class at ISU. I have always wanted to take a dance class, and it is a good break between three hours of lecture and three hours of art studio twice a week. Most of the people have not taken ballet, but there are a few that definitely know what they are doing. It's really fun but fast-paced, and I need to review the terms in our textbook. Yes, we had to buy a text book, and we will be tested on the terms at mid-term and finals. I'm hoping the class will make me more graceful and give me better posture- we'll see. Sometimes I think my movements resemble a chicken more than a swan.

This last paragraph is just a bunch of random stuff. I am still a GIRLS Power mentor until the end of the semester, and today we had one of our large group meetings where we learned self defense moves from the the judo club. You do not want to mess with me now. I also found out that one of my short stories I wrote for Creative Fiction Writing last fall was accepted into Sketch, a literary magazine produced once a semester at ISU with short stories, poems, and some photography. I was pretty pumped.

Have a great rest of the week- hopefully it gets warmer. My memories of Spain are becoming fonder with each layer I add before heading to another class.

A Surfer in a Washing Maching

Hey, everyone-

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with loved ones. I certainly enjoyed my time at home with my parents and sister, playing games and cooking and sewing and etc. We also got to see a lot of relatives and some family friends.

But break is over, and a new semester has begun. With 18 credits once again, I decided not to do the archeology artifact illustration work. Part of me realizes I am missing out on a great opportunity to make some good money and add something to my resume, but those are the only reasons why I would be doing it and right now in my life, I don't want to add extra commitments unless they are something I really want to do.

My classes this semester include: Intro. to Watercolor, Comparative Chordate Anatomy and the lab (5 credits), an anthropology course called Globalization and the Human Condition, an Honors seminar called Robin Hood from Ballad to Book to Movie, Scientific Illustration, and Intro. to Ballet (for a fun break between classes.)I'm also in a non-credit fitness class with two friends. It is called piloxing (pilates and boxing) which we are going to try to make into a regular thing since it is too cold to bike or walk to campus anymore. This semester, I am still a mentor for GIRLS Power, an Honors Ambassador for potential students on college visits, a BPMI Club member, a tutor if any students need help with fiction writing or the bio. class I took last spring called Plants and People, and I still want to stay involved in CPC (Collegiate Presbyterian Church.)

Instead of writing about all of my classes at once, I will try to just focus on one a week. First up: Comparative Chordate Anatomy. The professor for this class and lab is very interested in her subject matter and about teaching it to her students (always a plus.) I feel like she could be a character in a Woody Allen film, but maybe its just because she has a New York accent which is pretty uncommon here. Anyway, for those of us who have not taken evolutionary biology or vertebrate biology, we feel a little overwhelmed. We fly through material very quickly- we are already in chapter 3! I understand the concepts, but I have trouble remembering and remembering how to spell all of the phylums and subphlyums and classes and yada-yada. At least a lot of BPMI students, Jake (one of my UA coworkers last year), and a few other people I know are also taking the class. This gives me some options for study buddies later in the semester or at least people with whom I can commiserate.

Last night a BPMI friend hosted a little party, and several of us BPMI-ers came early to help her make potato pancakes, or latkes, for one of the hors d'oeuvres. We never got around to playing games or watching movies that people brought, but it was perfectly fine, and we had a really nice time. Today I leave for a CPC retreat. It was scheduled for this weekend because we do not have classes on Monday due to MLK Day. I am looking forward to the games, sledding, good food, and good talks.

Things are going well for me now- I'm on top of my surf board enjoying the ride, but I know I'm in a washing machine that could suck me down very quickly into dark oblivion where all the lost socks go and never return. OK- that was a little dramatic. But anyway I feel like this semester will be fine as long as I stay with my board. I might fall off now and again, but that is why I wear a safety ankle strap (my family, my friends, and my faith.)