Mind Doodles-College of Design Edition

1. Dear Architects of the COD: Notice how every other building on campus is built close to the road? Do you know why that is? Because when it is cold, raining, snowing, windy, etc. or any combination of the above (as it is 4 out of 5 days here on campus) nobody wants to walk an extra 1000 feet to their destination! Congratulations, because that walkway from the road always feels like the longest part of the journey from my apartment to my studio.
2. I am always slightly fearful when I walk over the unavoidable, uneven grate on the pathway to the COD that it will finally give way and plummet me down a story to the abyss below.
3. Planning when to go to the COD cafe for lunch always involves a master set of strategic skill. 10:00-10:30: Looks funny to be getting lunch at this time, plus soup is not served yet. However if you have pulled an all-nighter, this feels like lunch time, so may be your best option. 11:00? Best to be avoided, as that is when they start serving soup. 11:20-11:50: Usually safe. Noon-12:25: To be avoided at all costs. Never, ever, ever get lunch at this time. The exception: you need a good 20-30 minute break from studio without your professor getting upset that you are not in class. Caution: Too much later than 12:30 and there is the unfortunate possibility that they will be out of your chosen soup/bread/sandwich topping/pasta salad/sub sandwich for the day.
4. Dead Week/Finals Week brings the inevitable posters that proclaim the giving of free espresso shots, buildings open 24/7, and printing services open past midnight. Dude, it's like that every week here, and you don't see us getting all excited about it.

Mind Doodles IV

1.) I like the scarf trend; I think they are cute. What I don't get is wearing scarves with tank tops. I actually think it looks kind of cute until I realize that it just doesn't make sense...it's warm enough to wear a tank top but your neck is still cold? What?? It's like the socks with sandals look: it's either warm enough to wear sandals, or cold enough to wear socks, but definitely not both!

2.) Whenever I finish a project, no matter how good or bad it might be, I only see the flaws in it (at least at first). I wonder if someone like Da Vinci would look at his Mona Lisa and only see what was wrong with it, or Van Gogh look at Starry Night and see all of his mistakes.

3.) 18 years of school (including my fifth of college!) and the first week just does not get any easier to transition into. And actually, this is the second week...darn it.

4.) I am missing the Great Minnesota Get-Together (that's the Minnesota state fair for those of you out there not fortunate enough to be Minnesotans ;)) this year for the first time since I was in elementary school. Sad day.

5.) Below: my first project completed and critiqued for the year, for my Advanced Studies in Interior Design class, which this semester is focusing on color. This is what I was referring to in #2...however mine actually looked pretty darn good when viewed with everyone else's projects on the wall together. Rock on.

mind doodles II

1.)  I can get $15 an hour to be an unclothed model for a life-drawing class here at ISU.  This means that I can get paid more money to take my clothes off than to be a research assistant to my professor, advancing the knowledge of mankind.  Welcome to the world.

2.)  I am not very good at adapting to change when I do not see it coming.  Maybe that sounds obvious, but let me give an example: The transition to college was not a big deal to me at all.  It was obviously supposed to be a change, and therefore it didn't bother me.  I can remember laying in bed the first night wondering if I was supposed to feel upset or lonely or something...because I didn't.  Conversely, I WAS upset last weekend when we went to eat at an at an Italian restaurant at the last minute instead of The Cafe, because I had my mind made up for one type of food, and my mind did not like transitioning to the other.  

3.)  I am trying to think of a name for the light I am designing for class/a lighting competition.  I am going the sustainable route, and am using recycled glass and pieces of glass to create the fixture.  However titling the piece is a problem.  Using "broken", "shattered", "fragment" or synonyms of those words (to reference the pieces of glass making up the luminaire) sound either too depressing or too dangerous.  Hmmm...