Rodin's Lover, Camille Claudel

Because Rodin was Camille's teacher and lover, people always assumed that her work was merely an imitation of his. Nothing could be further from the truth, and Rodin himself said, 'I showed her where to find the gold, but the gold she found was truly her own.'

Sound of a Heart Breaking

I know intimately the sounds of a heart breaking, of fears found true, alive and living well in my own life. This sound; the gasping and uneasy queasiness of failure, of let downs, of love lost and days bound by unwelcome solitude is the sound I express alone, in private behind closed doors. I recognize in others, the familiar sound that escapes my throat from time to time when I realize it is April 9, and for ten years I have not been able to speak to my father. It catches me off guard these days. I may see a man who reminds me of him, or hear a song reminiscent of the out of tune whistling on a Saturday morning, at an hour when not even the birds dare open their mouths. I miss him and I mean to say that I know what it feels like to have your heart broken and to have to carry it piecemeal with you in the the hopes that you may find someone who knows how to make it whole again. I wish for myself to have gumption to not be trapped by my fears of losing again, to not be overcome by a "what is the point" attitude, but to thrive and remind myself often that to love and lose love is to have lived to the fullest; the richest life possible.

Breathing Room

I have given alot of thought to breathing room lately. Breathing room; the space created that allows us to inhale and exhale with ease. My bookcase had no breathing room at all, poor Anna Karenina was suffocating under her heavy load, she could barely cry for help her mouth dry and cracked under the weight of Carl Jung and his Dreams. So I decided to give them all a little space and am happy to say that a little breathing room has helped us all feel a little more open, a little less caved in. I was drowning underneath my books and disorganization but now I have breathing room. Space to move about as I please. My guilt is no longer consuming me, the inability to find a book no longer unnerves me, I am crawling out from the clutter and into the open air. Anna Karenina is calling.

Paris in July

To be in Paris and not be Parisian is both frustrating and intoxicating. I stared openly at the women who seem to be born with impeccable style and grace. They wear everything with such confidence. It's not only what they wear. It's how they hold themselves, the way they do everything from crossing the street, to grocery shopping and ordering food. There is beauty in the mundane. I hope that is something I can take with me. I can see why Hemingway and Fitgerald were expats in a city that inspires beauty in every single moment.

MAGAZINE LAUNCH

Magazine Design Fall 06' Professor: Bert Smith
Launch of the magazine Safety Pin. An alternative teenage magazine highlighting; fashion, beauty, sports, music, technology, and current events including sections on the environment, politics and teenage issues. SafetyPin is a response to the mainstream focuses of TeenVogue and CosmoGirl. The demographic includes bright, creative, intelligent, forward thinking young girls who are imaginative and willing to make their own way. No lambs following the herd, here, only innovative-inspired individuals.

The Women In My Life

FORMATI DESIGN

Typography, Fall 06' Semester, Professor Max Boam

Assignment: Design a logotype for a furniture design company specializing in one-of-a-kind contemporary creations. The company sells furniture from its stores in Baltimore, Washington, New York and from the internet. A variety of material, including wood, steel and plastic are used. The underlying theme of the product is its simple use of geometric forms, hence the company name, formati.

Here is the logotype, brochure, and business card I created for the assignment.

Teddy Roosevelt Says It All

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcomng; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusisms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
Theodor Roosevelt
Citizenship ina Republic; Speech delivered at the Sorbonne, Paris
April 23, 1910

To Yoga or Not to Yoga

Okay I'm back. After a summer hiatus from my blog, I have decided to return. Trying to keep my head above water in school and then a two week vacay in Georgia at the beach doing absolutely nothing and eating massive meals at Paula Deen's southern cookin' restaurant, I have left myself no choice but to join a 60 day yoga challenge.

Here are the details. Bikram Yoga in Crofton Maryland is sponsoring this glorious challenge: Ten weeks of yoga, six classes a week. Each class is 90 min. long in a room heated to 105 degrees and 100% humidity. Needless to say the minute you enter you begin schvitzing like crazy. But here's the deal. I have no other choice at the this point. I have a belly that appeared (which now hangs over my jeans) out of nowhere. Okay now it could have been the beer I have been devouring since school has made me an alchoholic, it could be the heavy cream and sugar I prefer in my coffee and it just might be the lack of any aerobic exercise aside from the occasional impromptu jog to the mailbox done primarily to avoid oncoming traffic. Regardless my close no longer fit and cellulite is attacking me quicker than picnic ants on a sugared spoon. I think perhaps it is a culmination of miraculous events that of course I had complete control over but decided to completely turn a blind eye.

So this is it. No- not my last martini- I couldn't get through the quarter without vodka, but tomorrow I begin my 60 day challenge. I HAVE to Do this at all or any cost. So fingers crossed. I'll need all the support I can get on this one.


90 min. a day to a leaner me and hopefully one more day closer to stepping into those skinny jeans I wore before my wedding.

OC hairball, a blogzine: Chili Peppers Rock in Rio

OC hairball, a blogzine: Chili Peppers Rock in Rio

Arms: En Bas

How to place your arms in Preparatory Position.
Thought this would be fun. I imagine people at their computers trying to place their arms "en bas. " Let me know how you do!!!

The training of the arms is begun with preparatory position: arms en bas. The arms are lowered in front of the body, with the pinky fingers of each hand in front of and parallel to your thighs, but not touching the thighs. The fingertips on each hand are curved, one inch apart from one another, and the palms are face up. The elbows are to the side, slightly bent, the arms forming an oval. The thumb and middle finger of each hand barely touch, as if holding lightly to a penny. Each combination begins and ends with arms en bas.

Imagine you're four years old and you have to stand for four measures of 4/4 holding this position. Whoops, now you have to go the bathroom. Welcome to my world!!!!

The Paper Source

For show and tell, I brought in brochures from

The Paper Source

The Paper Source rocks. I could spend hours there. I love paper. I love the smell of the print on the page, ribbons, and rubber stamps, stickers and wrapping paper, notecards, envelopes, invitations, paper flowers, origami, vellum, bone folders, journals, and books about well- books. This place is so fun.

VISIT DANE COOK!!!

This guy is hysterical. Put your ear buds in and turn up the volume. His website has a continuous loop of his best stuff. If you need a good laugh. Let this guy deliver. Seriously. Go there now!!!!!

Dane Cook

No Reading!!!!

Okay so no reading this week rocks my world. I'm ecstatic. I can't even tell you.

I have been able to read my New Yorker which I'm somewhat ashamed to admit I subscribe to because, if you haven't noticed this school references The New Yorker daily, in every class, in some form or another as if The New Yorker is gospel. Is it well written? Sure, but other examples of good writing do exist. When someone discusses The New Yorker incessantly all I can think of is some English professor wearing tweed with elbow patches, smoking his pipe and regurgitatitng "The Talk of the Town" while sipping on his Cabernet. Yuck!!!!!!!

I'd rather have a triple root canal while giving birth. Okay, that is extreme but anyway. I have enjoyed my magazine with words that I can hardly pronounce along with my book club choice of Hotel Babylon. Hotel Babylon is raunchy and wonderful. It chronicles the behind the scenes of a five star hotel in London. I'm concerned though, what will we discuss this week? Okay now I'm panicking. What will we discuss this week?

I know that I doodle but that is the only way I can survive. If I don't my brain will shut down and I will pass out and seizure, which will not be pretty but perhaps will excuse me from the rest of class- perhaps. So without a lengthy discussion of McQuade and McQuade will I get my healthy dosage of doodling? I guess I'll have to wait and see.

P.S. Does anyone know what we're suppose to be blogging about?

Il Presidente

I am currently listening to my husband memorize 16 bars of "Hail to the Chief," for the parade tomorrow night at the United States Marine Barracks-8th and I, the oldest military post in the U.S. The Prez will be there and I can't go because I'm constructing a foldy thing that makes no sense, and folds improperly anyway. But hey i've made my choice and i'm going with the foldy thing. So that's that.

Whether I like the pres. or not it's still cool to see him in person. I met a guy this week who saw President Clinton and was mesmerized by the experience. He said, "That's something I'll tell my kids." So true. Whether you agreed with Clinton and his inappropriate use of interns or not he was still the most powerful man in the free world. I think its funny my husband will spend twenty minutes learning a song for tomorrow night to honor the President of the United States. I wonder what the president is doing in the next twenty minutes for us?

How to Piss off My Husband

1. Take a 5 hour class on Sundays
2. Prepare for my five hour class on monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday and sunday.
3. Take David Ortiz's name in vane.
4. Mention the two hour HBO special i'd like to watch during the Red Sox game.
5. Sign up for salsa lessons but tell him we're just meeting friends for dinner. Surprise!!!
6. Replace his Sam Adams with Sam Adams Light
7. When he slaves over the stove, tell everyone I made the meal
8. Tell him what I really think of his family
9. Discontinue his Times subscription to pay for a new pair of shoes
10. Take his car for a spin and return it without any gas.

this is just for starters.

CLASSIFIED

To classify something is to put it neatly in its own little box; to compartmentalize. I have gotten in trouble for this before. It's also called assuming something is so when there are exceptions to every rule. I know we are talking about toys, desserts and relatives but with relatives it's probably best not to let them read this one. The honesty that comes through when telling a stanger all the wonderful details of your families craziness is much easier than confronting your family about their own craziness.
I am dry, as dry as the desert. Seriously, I have no ideas flowing. Usually, when an assignment is given I have an idea or two. I jot down a few notes. This time?-- Nothing. Nothing at all. No hint of an idea. That and I can't write anymore because, I can't think anymore either.
I need the beach and a trashy novel.
I just want to bake in the sun all day long-- throw caution to the wind, and think again without having to feel like i have to be clever.

Ohhhh UB

A branding campaign is an interesting thing. It's not Coca Cola we're selling, or Hershey's bars here at UB, we're selling an education and hopefully it's the right one for all of us. When looking at schools I have to admit, I didn't just pull up the cover pages of various school websites and say to myself, "MMMmmmmmm, Harvard's logo is so old and tired, let me look at RISD's yeah no, that won't do either." Initially I looked at the program, what would I be doing? and who would be teaching me? Then, hey can I afford this education, that now is necessary in today's job market. An advanced degree is a MUST. Incurring more debt is a MUST.
UB's logo while more energetic is also, I feel, going to go out of style very quickly. So kiss that $300,000 goodbye because in ten years you'll be doing it again and then you'll really confuse everyone.
I did like the old logo, it was standard and classic which I realize is not what the university is going for especially with the introduction of the four year undergraduate programs. But does this new logo capture that idea? I think it's interesting that the blue they chose is a kind of navy blue suit, blue. Borrrrrring! All that's missing are the pinstripes! The green though gets lost. They do compliment one another but I think its at the wrong volume. Not enough punch. It's an exchange- one kind of bland for another kind of bland, just with more energy???? I guess???
Also since the launch of this new logo I have seen it reproduced in several different colors, I 've seen it in grayscale, with orange and I swear I even saw it in fuscia although I can't remember where and I have no proof. But Let's not do what we did before and have six official school colors representing various programs and completely throw everyone for a loop.
How about we spend that money on building a website that works. The pull down menus are frightening, I never get to the same place twice and don't get me started on the color pallettes that change from page to page. I find myself wondering if I'm even visiting the same website from link to link. Fix the website for prospective students. It is the first impression and it shouldn't be confusing.

PERSISTANCE

I don't have anything to say.
I don't have anything to say.
I don't have anything to say.
I don't have anything to say.

this post started out like this, and then I found this:

From the personal diary of a guy you might have heard of, Christopher Columbus.

May 4: On this day we sailed on.
May 5: On this day we sailed on.
May 6: On this day we sailed on.
May 7: On this day we sailed on.
May 8: Discovered Land! Ate corn!

My point: I have to remember to BE patient! Often it might look like nothing is happening, but surely a little bit at a time, I am improving, growing, learning,-even though it may seem like I am standing still. At the same time: my teeth are decaying at lightning speed, the worry crease in the center of my forehead is becoming more pronounced by the second, and those cute high heels I bought in Boca are so painful that my bunions hurt even thinking about wearing them. I guess I'm improving even though I'm also aging. I guess you can't have everything.

Lisa Loeb Look Alike

D.C. is sometimes the coolest and strangest place on Earth. Friday night Jon and I went to the Rhino Bar in Georgetown. It's a Red Sox bar and Jon is a maniac about the Sox, which has no bearing on my story but if you like the SOX this is the place to be.

While we were there some radio station personality, "Elliot In The Morning" was giving away a trip to Colorado for one lucky person. He announces the name and everyone at my table looks at me and starts pointing like "Hey, hey!! Here she is." Well my name isn't Sherry Willis and I was mortified. They thought I would get away with it or something. My friends wouldn't let it go and "Elliot In The Morning Guy" thought i was Sherry and then he called my a Lisa Loeb look alike which I was laughing hysterically at. It must be the glasses.

But only in DC and specifically Georgetown could a group of people, who prior to this point had been discussing genocide-, i.e. the situations in Darfur and Rwanda with Madeleine Albright's teaching assistant for her Senior Foreign Policy class at Georgetown, switch to: "Hey that Lisa Loeb look alike is really Sherry Willis who just won a trip to Colorado but doesn't seem too excited about it, because she really isn't Ms. Willis but her friends are nut balls and won't leave it alone. Did I mention 3$ pitchers were flowing. That could have something to do with it too.