Losing Brains Cells and Gaining Knowledge

Design Boot camp continues, but word seems to be out to all of the professors that we are inundated with work, and working very hard to meet everyone's expectations. Re-coping from 3 hours a night sleep is getting easier and rewarding; it's nice to go to class with better work, only thing is that I was so tired the other morning at 3 am that I fell off my bike when I got home, not a big deal, but my hand hurts, especially when doing clay, but whatever, clay sculptures were just smaller this week.

Last week many people were getting this crazy sickness where they would be home for 24 hours pucking their guts out, Then in the midst of us making models with various toxic materials and modeling clay someone made the most foul smelling popcorn in the microwave and then it occurred to myself and others that even though the hard clay we are using is non-toxic, doesn't mean that we should warm it up in the same microwave that we heat our food up in. We now have two Microwaves, one for food, one for clay.

On Sunday I turned my "Stacking dishes" with a lathe on urethane foam, I didn't know what either of those things were 2 months ago! Basically I shaped something with a machine spinning something around, it was really fun and my project came out pretty good! I didn't take photos yet, but I'll post them when I get another minute to do so.

Currently one of my favorite projects instead of Function following form, we are using Form following Function. We were all given random Form, picked out of an envelop and a function the sameway. My pair happens to be a Twig Bug (aka Walking stick) and a metro card holder. Everyone in the class has something completely different, the guy next to me had a Crab and a toilet brush, one of the funnier and ironic pairs;)

Anyway I have become completely obsessed with how cool walking sticks are, and how they form this symbiotic relationship with ants, Ants actually take their eggs and eat the top off and discard the rest, the ants taking the egg to their colony protects the nymph from being eaten by other predators and b/c the ant only eats, or cares about the top of the egg the nymph can grow stronger and safer and it's easier for them to get out once they are grown!---how cool is that!--And my product as a metro card holder it can be tied to how the egg, passes into to a crazy underground colony, or system of tunnels that make up our metro, everything thing is connected, aka the Toe theory.

Humm, what else, with all the late nights we are really getting to know each other a lot, quickly and it's just funny, seems like the hurdle had been jumped that we are getting over people's hang-ups and are starting to come to terms with people strengths and weaknesses, these are blessings, really. Sometimes one can be really good at something and it's almost hard not to hate the person b/c of how good they are, but then, the next day is another day and I or someone else does something super cool and it all just balances out.

Word also is we all need to get out a lot more, I haven't been to Manhattan in about a month and my only contact with the outside world was on Friday when my cousin Ken visited and then on Saturday when a friend came out to visit, actually it was Glen that first read the instructions on the Apoixe many of us are using was toxic. We were supposed to be using gloves, and masks, oops!

So that's, AH! my mind is slipping, it's late, it no longer feels it. I almost never know what day it is, only what is due that day---or 12 hours from now, With the toxicity of chemicals, I'm loosing brain cells and gaining knowledge. This week we noticed that we could start to work faster and that a museum visit might be a good idea- soon.

It's now that I know I'm in this for the long hall- no matter what, and that what came before although very useful for what I do now, I can never go back to with the same eyes. But this is also the point, I'm not very sharp, yet, but I've got another 2 and 3/4 years to go.