No picture today

Much to my dismay, the pictures of my first attempt at oil painting have too much glare to post, so I have to figure a way around that before I try again. Anymore photos tonight will have glare from the flash, so I get to try something different.

Last night's class was pretty depressing when I couldn't match the first few colors during the color mixing exercise, but that is because I had odd ball colors, nothing like sage or goldenrod, but something like golden meadow and shadows of a misty dawn and such pretentiously named colors, reminiscent of a thing, not actually representative of it.

As it turned out, my mixing never got up to snuff, so the colors in last night's hastily painted painting are hardly what I would refer to as accurate...except maybe the bottle. Sometime I will get that painting here, and actually next week, we start a multi-day painting, which should be fun and festive, and will hopefully look better than the collection of stuff I am posting right now.

That's it for now...off to some tator tots & beer.

wow...almost two months

Well, my first 8 week figure drawing is done, and the above is a detail from the last drawing. The rest of the drawing didn't turn out as well, since I ran out of time before finishing it.

I don't know why I decided to start posting again, but I have, so now I need to figure out what to ramble about. I have started a second 8 week figure drawing class (actually, the same class, same instructor, and some of the same students), as well as an 8 week oil painting fundamentals class. Anything from that class will have some delay before I post it, since I have to give the oils time to dry.

Spring has sprung, sort of a leak, but this is Seattle, so I shouldn't grouse too much about rain, since it was a given when I decided to move here, but it is no fun to have the heat on only for reasons of dispelling the damp chill, though I guess I could by a dehumidifier, but then I have to find someplace to keep it.

That is about it for now, as my egg rolls are getting cold.

Drawing Class

While I doubt I will take a picture & crop every drawing (as well as change the color, in this case) for the class I started this past Tuesday, it did seem appropriate to do it at least for a post dealing with the class. I recently decided to take a figure drawing class, since I was never very good at this subject matter, though I am sure some will say I still am not, but I thought it might be a bit of fun. Anyway, this is the result of the first class (2nd or 3rd attempt), and it is better than I had thought it might be, but not nearly as good as it could be, hence the cropping. It turns out class will be a pleasant three or so hours of drawing a model in a single pose, which will give a bit of time to actually flesh out the drawing. I remember doing gesture drawings in university, but never really liked it much, so I am pleased with the format of the class.

All I need to do now is make more time to draw in between classes.

What I found yesterday

Yesterday, I ventured into the Ballard Market (a store, not the weekly farmer's market), and aside from the above-pictured beverage, ran into a woman who made me want to cheer. If I had my camera with me, she probably would have thought I wanted to make fun of her by taking her picture, but that would not have been my intention. In all her glory, and she was well above a model's size, but Rubinesque would imply perhaps she was naked, and every bit of her was covered, most of it in metallic fabrics, and the rest with some sort of patterned clothing. As I passed, we exchanged courtesies, but I thought to myself it was wonderful I live in a place where people feel comfortable dressing and being as they like, and they aren't all still in school. This past summer when I overheard a conversation on the sidewalk between a youngish guy and a total stranger (female) discussing the merits of skirts, with the guy holding hands to what I took to be his girlfriend, and this young lady also adding comments, it gave me much the same feeling. (The guy & girl had similar cut skirts, though the color was different.)

As to the Leninade, I think I will mix it with some vodka and have a drink.

Playing follow the leader.

I have no real intention of going to every room in the house for this, but Dave's (Kristen's) trope about finding the nearest book, going to page 123, sentence 5 then copying the next 3 sentences into your blog left Dave chasing around, trying to find something with meaning, or define meaning out of what he found. Then again, I may have over-analyzed things, but he found quite a variety in his various rooms.

The closest book to me currently is the 1st edition, by Nicola Williams, of the Lonely Planet guide to Romania & Moldova:

South-east of Piata Universitatii at Str Histro Botev 18-20 is Bucharest's only Turkish restaurant. The Golden Falcon Casa Chebob serves delicious Turkish food. The pita bread is so large it won't fit on your plate.

I don't think there is a great deal of meaning there, and when I ate at the Golden Falcon, the meal was tasty. Chole lived around one corner from there, and the Peace Corps office was around a different corner, but there were more than four on this intersection, like so many in Bucuresti. On top of that I think a tramvai line went through the intersection as well. Such a fun bit of memories, all that and dog shit all over the place as well, since there were no "green" areas for a dog to do its business in, it could be anywhere.

Sunday Morning Laundry

With all my quarters piled so neatly on the chest of drawers, and dark laundry scattered here and there, I decided to do a bit of laundry this overcast morning, hoping it will clear up a little later. Not that I have ideas or plans for later, but a nicer day wouldn't really be that bad after all the unseasonably cold, icy, and snowy weather of the past couple of weeks. I say unseasonably because from what I have been told, it really isn't that common, and winter, while rainy and chilly, isn't supposed to be icy in the city, though it is the norm in the 'burbs.

For now, I guess I will get back to puttering about the house while waiting for the laundry to dry. The morning has been a mild cleaning sort of morning, but not a get the vacuum out cleaning sort of morning, for those that value the differentiation.

Pretty Decent Saturday

For a Saturday, I actually managed to accomplish some stuff today, from buying a mini-tripod for my digital camera to mailing some birthday presents which I think may already be late. It hasn't been all lounging about in bed or playing Guild Wars, even though they do have a test weekend going.

Weeks seem to be passing, and I can't quite believe it is almost February, though with a calendar saying January 20th, I guess that is the case. At least today was nice out, somewhere in the mid to upper forties, I would guess, and generally sunny. While out walking I did try the new pizza place, Snooze Junction, over on Market where pizza by the slice is available. The pizza was good, though the slice size seemed a bit small for the price, and the crust could be crunchier/firmer. The sauce and cheese were quite tasty, with the tomatoes sort of popping, which is a pleasant change from most places here in the Pacific Northwest. At some point, someone will get it right out here, and right while remaining walking distance from my apartment.

My guess is they do it because it is required by law, but I feel sorry for my former employers when they spend $4.64 to send a letter registered mail and all it contains is a single sheet of paper detailing the year in review on my 401K--information I am provided directly from the financial services company as well. It really wouldn't have made any difference if I had let them ship the letter back, since I briefly scanned it, folded it up, then placed it in my jacket pocket, where it will likely remain, until the pocket is too full with paper and I decide to empty it, scanning the contents while aiming for the garbage or the recycle bin.

O-Zone - Dragostea Din Tei

This song became well-known stateside because of a viral video, though I like this one, the original video, much better.

Fun with the above

If you caught O-Zone's "Dragostea Din Tei" video, then enjoy this version as well. The highlights of the original are still here.

Fun Romanian Dance Video

One of my favorite Romanian dance tunes--in part because I find the video hysterical, and the song is awfully catchy (O-Zone, "Despre tine").

Romanian Holiday Television

Since I know so many people are curious about the holiday offerings on television in Romania, and I haven't fully been able to explain them in person, while surfing around google video I found the below clip of traditional Romanian folk music. During the holidays, most of the local television stations resort to programming featuring traditional music (when they aren't showing the "Home Alone" series, or similar foreign holiday films), and below is an example of the programming. This is definitely not Christmas, but looks like some autumnal, harvest sort of thing with the corn. Christmas shows feature very similar costuming, about the same amount of movement, and snow--real or fake depends on whether it is filmed inside or outside (I did see at least one show that was filmed outdoors).

While it is not my style, many Romanians enjoy it, and while I don't like the New Year's Eve spectaculars, it is obvious many Americans enjoy them, so please do not take my commentary on this one as being critical of the Romanian culture.

Monica Stiopoane - Omule esci din pamant si cata lut

(c) 2006 by Daniel Vuescu / Resita / Romania - Romanian Music Videoclip

Reading and Hat Collecting

OK...so my holiday included some time at Guild Wars collecting holiday headgear. The pumpkin head is my dervish, Fractal Zed, dancing up a storm waiting for the festivities to begin. At some point, maybe I will put up an image of all my various characters, without non-traditional headgear, but not right now.

Other than this, I have been reading and came across a few things, though if they are thoughts for the new year or not, I will let you decide.

"In the democratic centuries that are about to begin, I think that individual independence and local liberties will always be a product of art. Centralization will be the natural form of government. " p.796, Tocqueville, Democracy in America

"Uniformity reigns in studies as in everything else; diversity, like liberty, is vanishing day by day." p.805, Tocqueville, Democracy in America

"Newspapers seek to inform their readers quickly rather than to inform them well. Truth is not the beneficiary in this setting of priorities." p.32, Camus, Camus at Combat

I was trying to decide if I should comment on these as well, and thought about it. In the end, I won't comment, and let the reader decide whether these quotes have any relevance.

Tiki & Beer (or vice versa)

Today, after work, I went to the grocery and felt compelled to buy even more beer (Maritime Pacific's Nightwatch Dark Ale and Full Sail's Wreck the Halls). Of course that meant finishing a beer or two when I arrived home, in order to have space for the new six-pack of ale, since the other was a single holiday-size bottle. If there was ever a time to test my new Tiki (from Hawaii) bottle opener, this was it, and by golly, it worked. To my slight dismay at my thoughtlessness, I did not use it on the best beer in the house, but it worked just fine on the 2 Below.

No Camus today (yet), though I did finish a fun series on chocolate where a blogger decides to explore the sources of an upscale Dallas Chocolatier who seems to prefer to be thought of as a chocolate maker instead. It seemed well researched, but I don't really see it as a story of anything other than a couple of people deciding to exploit this culture's desire to pay for exclusivity and the latest things. Did PT Barnum say "There's one born every minute"? If so, it still holds true, and quite humorously, many of them have money.

Journalism (and 'blogs?)

I don't take this blogging business seriously. I don't really see it as a hobby, and I think I am less inclined to document facts of my life online than I am in a journal. Since this is most definitely not a journal, nor a serious effort at much of anything, what is it? Why do I spend my time typing things here? Also, why are these questions important?

Last question first, as with any written effort, it is best to have an idea of why you are writing it. Is a journal a document of life? If not that, just a repository of ideas? Perhaps, a collection of quotes or poetry that one likes? Journals don't have a specified form, just like blogs don't, but you don't go to the bookstore and buy just any magazine, normally if you are buying a journal of that nature, it is focused, which is what makes it interesting, because something in its focus is of interest to you as a reader.

Like too many things, I don't have much to really through in here, because I don't believe my generation was taught to have hobbies. The esoteric hobby concepts like stamp collecting just didn't take off to a generation with a television around, especially when everyone was all excited about Atari or Dungeons & Dragons. Sports never struck me as a hobby, and still don't, though how past-times differ from hobbies is a difference I don't quite feel like parsing right now.

So what is this 'blog about? Still, I don't know, but I do recall that I mention interesting ideas I come across in my reading (a past-time, really, not a hobby, though I think rare book collecting qualifies as a hobby), and earlier today, prior to a phone conversation with Dave, I was reading Camus (Camus at Combat), and ran across an article on the nature of journalism in which he defines a journalist as a "historian of the moment." The article was one written shortly after the liberation of Paris when Camus was seemingly disgusted with the direction of the newly free press. The direction, "any news is fit to print provided it appears to be a scoop," seems to be one the press has yet to break, though bloggers tend to be more persistent regarding asides(side-stories) they see as important to the greater picture. Bloggers also seem more inclined to delve into the dark places mainstream avoids, since mainstream doesn't like to shit where they eat. Perhaps this last is the root of the problem. It seems that as long as moneyed interests control the press, and what are stock-holders but moneyed interests, the press is shackled by concerns for profit. This concern does likely effect decisions, though most media would deny it.

Hmmm... the way this has rambled really makes me appreciate a bit of good form, and also calls to mind something I recall reading which was said by Gunter Grass regarding computer composition. Basically it was to the effect that he could always tell when something had been composed on a computer because the style wasn't as tight and edited as something written first in longhand, which leads me to think if I am going to keep this up, then I should try to do a better job on the composition side.

Quickly, or perhaps not, I do think I write here for a purpose, but I don't really know if the purpose is to edify anyone or provide a living example of what not to do with a blog. I sometimes enjoy throwing things out, not knowing if they ever land anywhere, or if they will just be discovered accidentally 5 yrs out, when I have ceased adding to this. Maybe, like Atari, it is because of the newness and hipness of it that I am doing something here, but more likely it is because I have time to do something, and would rather do something here than with a television. Should I list more possibilities?

The perfect soundtrack for a blog-based movie?

At the encouragement and after the example of Dave, here is the musical list, though in advance I will tell you holiday tunes were skipped, since normally they don't receive play in shuffle.

Opening Credits--Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair (Nina Simone)... if nothing else, it starts things on an interesting note.

Waking Up--The Charleston (Spike Jones)... You better wake up it this is playing.

First Day at School--Forty Days and Forty Nights (Muddy Waters)... most likely a reference to how long it seemed.

Falling in Love--Peach Plum Pear (Joanna Newsome)... this is labeled "Harpsichord Pop" in the genre field. Not a common pop instrument, for something that hasn't been all that common for me.

Fight Song--The American Patrol (The Glenn Miller Orchestra)... I wasn't ever in the armed forces.

Breaking Up--The Moon and I (Ron Goodwin)... Nothing like an exotica instrumental for those difficult times of life.

I am actually doing this as I type, Prom being next truly concerns me considering how things have been going.

Prom--Hairshirt (R.E.M.)... how appropriate, just what wearing that prom tuxedo felt like.

Life--Explode and Make Up (Sugar)... stress relief

Breakdown--Jungle Safari (Nocabouts)... genre coded as rock, but more like exotica, with pseudo tribal moans, or some such thing, mostly instrumental, like any good breakdown should be.

Driving--Wuthering Heights (Kate Bush)... perhaps a hint that I should slow down my driving?

Flashback--Belfast (Sasha vs The Light Remix) (Obital)... a song that begins with ominous words on "the Mobius, a twist in the fabric of space where time become a loop" and so it goes.

Getting Back Together--Pressure Face (Sunbrain)... a song from a sampler that I don't play often, and now it is gone

Getting Back Together (Now that Pressure Face is no longer on my Ipod)... Chick on my Tip (Sublime), which of course being gay makes for an interesting choice.

Wedding--Meftuh' (Rachid Taha)... it is in arabic. Am I going to convert prior to have a gay islamic wedding?

Birth of a Child--A Whisper (Coldplay)... always thought they came in with a wail.

Final Battle--Cheops and Nefertiti (Francesco De Gemini)... somehow appropriate if you listen to it, but it is film music after all.

Funeral Song--Bama Lama Bama Loo (Elvis Costello)... so it will be a rockin' funeral.

End Credits--Ace of Spades (Link Wray)... just continuing our previous theme, though with an instrumental.

I found it odd that somehow, with almost the complete ouvre of David Bowie in my library, somehow he was missed--maybe I will try this again. By the way, I only skipped one Christmas tune, and it show up after I had to delete that track by Sunbrain.

Last Day Off

Christmas came and went with little exciting to report. On the eve, I made myself a dinner, then surfed the web for a bit. Yesterday, I made coffee, enjoyed the traditional Christmas breakfast of home-made cookies (supplied by Mom), and then opened the handful of gifts I had here, calling family (or receiving calls) along the way. I visited with Kip, Heidi, & Dominick, as well as going over to my old room-mates' place for dinner, and a gift exchange. Sometime after Kevin's birthday (in November) they decided to go off to Thailand, and it sounds as if a good time was had by all.

Tomorrow I return to work for the remaining three days of the year, and right now, I can't say that I am excited about it. I haven't done much the last several days, and now, I am doing laundry while I compose this. Perhaps because it is so close to the end of the year, and it seems another has gone by in which I didn't accomplish nearly so much as I desired, that I am feeling a bit of the end of the year depression. This is not to say that I feel the need to produce a list of resolutions, but rather I need to again focus on where I want to be and what it is that I would like to be doing. Since winning the lottery isn't likely to be in my cards, I should figure out some way to combine those things I enjoy with those things that are required.

Winter Brews

While I would hardly consider myself expert on winter and holiday beer, I do know that I enjoy it. It is unfortunate that I can't get Tuborg's Christmas Ale here, as I really liked it. So far this year, I have had Jolly Roger Christmas Ale, Full Sail Wassail, 2 Below Ale, Delirium Noel, and Jubilale. Likely there has been another, but these come to mind. My favorites would be the Full Sail Wassail and the Delirium Noel, while my least favorite would be the 2 Below. I don't exactly know what they mean by "tawny-roasted malts," but it tastes like they over-roasted them.

Miscellany of the day

At Thanksgiving I visited San Francisco for the first time, and in wandering down Market Street toward the Bay, found this festive scene. It was in the 50's or 60's that day, so the cooling machinery was working overtime.

Anymore I can never walk by a Macy's without a total lack of desire to go inside. It may be because it swallowed so many locally hallowed names (The Bon Marche, Marshall Field's, etc.), but it is also because the stores that now carry its name are no longer special, or at least I don't perceive them as such. Frango mints are a distinctly Marshall Fieldsian treat, but are now a Macy's exclusive, but why would I want to buy them as a treat for someone when they can head down to the local former Lazarus (now Macy's) and get their own. In my mind, there is no great reason to go Christmas shopping at the local department store (now that it isn't "local"), and I did enjoy shopping at Field's at Christmas in Chicago, and still have my well-worn, in need of replacement front pocket wallet/money clip purchased at Field's in Chicago, but I haven't had the same desire to go to Macy's here in Seattle. I can understand their branding logic, as with everything Macy's, you only have one set of in-store brands as well. Personally, I hope Macy's loses their battle to put a sign up on the State Street store, for no other reason than in the digital mock-ups it looks tacky and out of place. As it is, Macy's plasters their name everywhere on/in their premises, to such a degree that I am constantly being reminded that this isn't really "Macy's" but someplace that has been relabeled. I am sure the management there has heard it all before, and quite honestly I also know I am not a customer they desire, being someone who would shop at Field's for the holidays or for special occasions. I rather miss having a "special" place to go where I know there is a good chance I can find something interesting, but now I am out roaming a multitude of small shops, not always near malls, but also guaranteed to provide me with something interesting, though I might have to spend a bit more time looking.

4 more work days

Not too long ago, Dave (whose blog is linked in the sidebar), sent me these lovely postcards. I think my favorite is the chicks as breasts, but pouty with the puppies is also just beyond comment.

The boss is on vacation, so now several of the other managers at work have decided to tell me how to do my job--actually, not only me, but most of those in my department. I have a feeling none of them would like it if John did the same when they were gone, but it is what it is. To me, it is an ideal time to check the job listings at idealist.org.

It has been a bit blust'ry here, with schools closed today due to widespread power outages. I understand that it is threatening snow, but I don't really know if it is falling out in the 'burbs, which have a higher elevation.

Now I understand a bit why I stopped adding to this 'blog as there seemed to be a lack of ideas and activities to report, since I have been living such a lack-luster sort of life out here. My weekend has a few potential Christmas parties, but that is it.