here we SCROLL:

today:

Smoking:

Today I saw Ex-Nihilo, the greatest goth-boy band ever. This is Erin's boy's band. We got in for free, hung out with all the bands while they were setting up, and I got a free t-shirt. The drummer was amazing and played with both his hands and feet at the same tim, like a monkey!

current project:

These were the architecture students' installations (err, last week). It was fun, I got to walk around in them. They were assembled over the weekend, and taken down after two days. The tunnel is made of a bunch of wood plates bolted together, and was lit underneath at night. Thank God I am an apparel designer.

webcomic:

This is a kimono sleeve shirt I made some weeks ago. Anyways, I had dinner with Jared tonight, that was really nice; the whole going out for once.

My roommate Kat gave me sound advice, to focus on something other than the main topic at hand. I think that started the wheel of inspiration. She also brought me yummy Asian food, because all Asian things are the best (especially the Asian art-nerds).

The assignment: design sportswear

I chose bicycling outfits, somewhat inspired by the crazy outfits my parents wear. I really like the shoes.

Miss L. Rand asks: why are the people so insanely thin?

It is a marketing ploy. Skinny people are supposed to simulate walking hangers. One only sees clothing on hangers in the store; it may be the best fitting garment in the world, but you sure as hell aren't going to try it on if it is ugly on the hanger.

I'm heading back on the road towards inspiration. A special prize to anyone who can knock me back on track; my semester project remains unresolved, with the due date looming ever near. Procrastination is my best friend and worst enemy, and our cat is having a spazz attack at 4:18 am and running into my door repeatedly. Oh well, no attention for him.

Here's what's up with the website, and all that crazy mish mash. I'm test driving a bunch of different things. Ultimatley, there will be webcomicy fun (because my drawing skills may be more worthy of attention than my writing skills).

Left: a dress I made yesterday (homework).

Family Matters

Last Thanksgiving, my uncle and I sat in the living room on our laptops and bonded over the lack of Ethernet at my grandmother's house. It's not that my grandmother lack's technology. Infact, everyone at our family's Thanksgiving get together knows C++ (my grandmother, uncle, dad, mom, younger brother and me). Our after diner activities include shopping online, installing new hardware, and playing with my uncles' new techie toys (last year he had children's PDA's that messaged each other via infared, the year before it was a digital camera).

My parents are always encouraging me to bring a boyfriend home for Thanksgiving. But I worry that said "boyfriend" won't be able to relate to my family. I thought of devising a quiz that I might hand out to potentials: Do you know C++ and atleast one other programming language? Are you an Engineer? What is your IQ? But dating doesn't really work that way.

Comfort items

Remember the stuffed animal, the security blanket, the pacifier? Do we become secure as we grow up, or do our security objects simply evolve?
I had a deep personal attachment to my pc with it's 6 gig hard drive, 32 MB of RAM, and cd-rom that only works 35% of the time. It is my five-year science fair project, it is what I was playing with when my first bf asked me out on the phone, it is where my best friend consoled me at early hours in the morning on IM. It was my pre-college existence. So when I graduated to my pIII laptop with it's 16 gig hard drive, 192 MB of RAM, and CD-ROM/DVD player/burner (the burning part working 35% of the time), I still booted up my old gateway (fondly dubbed M. Ordinateur) whenever I returned home. I was going to keep it forever.

But I traded it to a guy for help setting up a Linux server (the very one that would host this page if only I was so fortunate). How was I supposed to explain to him that he was getting M. Ordinateur, the PC I was going to spend the rest of my life with; the one I talked to in French at 5 a.m. when I was babbling and finishing research papers. I was giving him a piece of me. It was irksome!

But it's ok. I bought an adapter for the keyboard that has been with me for 12 years. The keys have the perfect pitched "click" when I type, and I feel reassured.

In a world where pocket CD-RW's are a must-have and models everywhere are wearing thick, dark-framed glasses, a question arises: Is it trendy to be a nerd?

Nerds will always stray away from pop culture, but as technology merges computers into mass society, techie toys become a part of everyone's lives. People carry computers in their palms, teenagers rely on MP3's instead of CD's, tapes, and records (what the heck is that?). Guys compare their souped up PC's instead of cars; I'm just waiting to hear "Hey baby, wanna check out my P IV 1.4 gig processor?"

The Sunday comics are now doused with computer related humor; Cathy has a crisis reformatting her hard drive; Andy Cap is too lazy to go to the bar, he takes up internet dating; Family Circus becomes a networked family, with a Linksys router, etc., etc.. I find myself reading WIRED a techie magazine (about electronic and computer accessories). I also skim Vogue, and laugh at the "relationships over email" column in Seventeen. I want a boyfriend for Valentine's Day so that I can give him a valentine burned onto a pink mini CD-R. Yes, I want a boyfriend for all of the wrong reasons. And I do think it would be cute for him to leave little messages on my PDA for me. I also want a Tux pajama shirt, but I need to learn Linux first. Tux is cute. I wonder about my motives.

Does that make me dorky, technologically inclined, or just plain trendy?

I arrived at the airport via limo, the driver wore a suit, stood outside the car waiting for me to arrive, and openned the door for me. At 12:30 noonish, all the cabs in providence were booked. Ironically traveling by limo to the airport was cheaper than cab. So it looks like limos for me for the rest of my RISD time.

I'm rapidly approaching fair Jacksonville par avion sitting in front of some annoying, loud kids. How can parents let their children behave that way? I'm just going to hope that they are flying solo, and are well mannered and polite in the presence of their parental units. Kick, kick, kick on the back of my seat.

Lay-over in Washington DC. Honestly, I expected more action, but the airport was much the same as other airports I have "laid-over."

a moment to reflect on the war, and thoughts to those who are participating....

The $10,000 Contest:
Perrier sponsored the second annual bubbling under contest. Criteria: create fashion designs for the future, present them in 3 to 5 sketches, accompanied by essays, diagrams, and swatches.

My Entry:
The dressSMART concept: She needs a dress, she logs onto the website dressSMART.com, she looks through thousands of dress designs, she purchases the one she wants using her credit card, the website sends the dress as a file to her computer, the file is printed and cut out on the special dressSmart printer, she assembles the pieces on an underdress, she is ready to go.

The pieces have high quality graphic images printed on a variety of fabrics (silk, leather, jersey knit, etc.). Anyone from the customer to a couture designer can create garment designs.

top right: design sketches
bottom left: presentation boards
background: garment flats (think blueprints for clothing)

I went to a club tonight with Erin, Marsha, and Stan. Oh my... I was just dancing along with this boy who smelled like glue, and he tried to kiss me. I averted my head in an attempt to miss the whole ordeal, but part of his mouth still landed in mine. He tasted like glue too. It was pretty bad(and don't go thinking I was a paste eater in preschool, one can assume how glue tastes).

But still, I had to leave at midnight, so I gave him a little hug, left promptly, and returned to my RISD work life. I felt like such a cinderella.

Look, I am a South Park character (even though I don't really like the show). You can make yourself one too: http://www.planearium.de/flash/sp-studio.swf . (It doesn't really look like me, especially since I have curly hair. But the little redhaired goddess one looks a lot more convincingly like Gabby).