I have much to synthesize after the summer. A lot of things happened.¹ Postcards from people I met along the way have been trickling in, and they are fantastic. I have not decided exactly how to treat them yet, or if I should. Perhaps they are intact as is, I’m not sure.

School is back in full swing. I’ll be using this space to track my thoughts and process as I make my way through my final year at RISD. A few goals for the year:

1. Make stuff.²

2. Keep it simple.³

3. Explore and gain working knowledge of several mediums.⁴ I’m definitely an advocate of coming at a topic from all sides, and so I am resolving to finish out my year with guns blazing, blasting tourism with a variety or print and digital techniques.⁵

4. Stay healthy. No more sinus infections.⁶ No more food poisoning.⁷ Exercise? Mental and emotional health is equally important to me. As such, I invested a great deal of time and effort in arranging my desk the right way to make myself as comfortable as possible in the cold confines of the studio.⁸

This policy has the added benefit of allowing me to buy whatever I want (within reason–see next line item) if it will make me that much happier. No yachts with choppers (I did see one of these while strolling the marina in Cannes—ridiculous).

5. Save some money.⁹

6. See some stuff. Despite having lived in the Northeast for two years now, I feel I have seen very little of it. This insular paradox is part and parcel of graduate school, and directly linked to the fact that I don’t own a vehicle. However, it’s no excuse. So, on that note, I’m keeping a running log of things and places to go around here. Even better that it’s all directly related to my thesis.

A. Western Massachusetts (Mass MoCA—especially for the upcoming Jenny Holzer exhibit)¹⁰

B. Block Island¹¹

C. Maple sugar tapping¹²

D. I still don’t know offhand which one, geographically, is on the outside, Vermont or New Hampshire. This is pathetic.

E. Leaf tour.¹³

F. Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket. Or both.

G. Then there’s always Niagara Falls. Not really in the Northeast, but close enough to make me want to go there.

Anyway, you get the point. More to come on all of this.

1. Aside from the things to which I was witness, a lot of stuff happened in my absence. For example: Karl Rove announced his resignation. !!! This makes me incredibly happy. Heath and Michelle called it quits. And several people died. Admittedly I did not do a good job of keeping up on news (US or other) while abroad. [↩]
2. Well, duh. But no, really. I think that this is a tenet that I can’t stress enough for myself, and one that I should chant like a mantra given my ability to over think an idea and work myself into a full paralysis. [↩]
3. I have a natural tendency toward the complex, I know. It’s my ally at times, but also my Achilles heel. I have resolved to treat what I make this semester as a series of studies, and to not get overly attached to any one piece too early. The studies should be resolved, but simple. [↩]
4. Including the use of footnotes. I’ve never really used them before, but I imagine someone will tell me if it gets annoying. For now, I find them novel, and a good substitute for my constant use of parentheticals. I’m currently trying my hand at building a website from start to finish and I am also about to commit myself to a year-long Lynda.com membership to pick up some more motion experience (AfterEffects and FinalCut Pro). This semester I am taking the Interactive Text course in the Digital+Media Department which will be a good arena to test these technologies. I’m also mentally committing myself to some programming, even though debugging makes me want to tear my hair out. I intend to build a web database of tourist photos (more on this to come). [↩]
5. I’m a little embarrassed to have just written that. [↩]
6. Being in bed for two weeks is the pits. I just bought some vitamins, and will be stocking Emergen-C at my desk, as well as doing a lot of hand washing, sanitizing of surfaces and the like. [↩]
7. Don’t eat the sushi at Whole Foods [↩]
8. What better way to eliminate clutter than to put everything on the wall?!? I also have a lovely money tree, which was donated by recent graduate Esther Chak. Not pictured: The giant pin-up of Canadian rocker, Bryan Adams who I was madly in love with when I was twelve. It’s there in the corner, but you don’t get to see all of it. That’s for my eyes only. [↩]
9. Well, there are gives and takes to all things in life. But I do remember all too well what it’s like to survive on one meal a day while living on a friend’s couch when jobs were scarce after graduation in 2002. Hopefully it won’t be like that this time around. That said, if you would like to offer me a job, send me an email. [↩]
10. I have ventured out to Northampton with friends a few times now, as well as to Mike’s Corn Maze, but there is so much more.. [↩]
11. What the hell is out there anyway? [↩]
12. Is that even what it’s called? I distinctly remember an episode of Reading Rainbow where LeVar Burton reads a book about maple syrup and then goes to a place where it’s harvested/made and tells us about it. I have wanted to do this ever since. In the same way that when Mr. Rogers (may he rest in peace) goes to to the Chef’s house and he is making tapioca pudding, I wanted to eat tapioca pudding. If this is not a prime example of the influence of media on our children, I don’t know what is. On that note, a quick internet search revealed several others who remembered this particular episode distinctly. How strange.. [↩]
13. Apparently there are tour buses (largely populated by seniors and New Yorkers) that take you around to see the changing leaves. Given the current weather patterns, it’s dubious whether or not this would be a worthwhile endeavor this year, but it could be an interesting experience all the same. [↩]