I took some notes which may or may not be legible, but feel free to poke through them here, here, and here.

I also took lots of crummy shots with my BlackBerry camera, which you can peruse here. On Thursday I snagged a few decent shots of her tiles with my Canon, and in the set, those shots begin here.

Needless to say, it was an inspiring and fun demonstration. Unfortunately I had class during Monday’s and had to show up at the ODU gallery on Tuesday at noon, but I got a good 3 hours of awesome ways to apply printmaking and other techniques to ceramics. Thanks so much, Erin!

You can view her portfolio here.

When I was in the ODU Gallery, being counted for attendance in 279, I was looking at the wall of text written on the glass of Stephen Sagmeister’s exhibit. There was a lot of Korean writing (none of which I can read), and I saw some Japanese, so I decided to leave a message in Japanese myself. It’s down in the left-hand corner (if you are inside the exhibit, facing the lobby), and written in white and red. Here are a couple photos:

Here’s what it says, in my really awful Japanese grammar:

???

?????????????????????
????????????????????

???
????????????

It roughly translates to: “Hey; The English alphabet has 26 characters, but they are all boring (that’s what I think). Regards, “Those Damn Kids” (Manard-Jini).”

I hope sensei doesn’t see this…she just gave me a 94 on my JAPN395 midterm, and I don’t want to lose any of it!!!

That’s about all for tonight. I need my beauty sleep (as you can clearly see in my Flickr……)

xoxo
that damn kid

Yes, this semester is harder than it looks….

Yes, I’m posting this for my own self-reference because I have the memory of a bowl of jello.

Second Annual Haunted Stables Theatre!

(as if that place wasn’t creepy enough…eugh)

ODU’s Departmental Theatre Organization, The Starving Artist’s will bring you campus’s scariest activity for another Halloween season! To those who came last year, bring friends, and don’t tell them how many days it took you to recover! Watch out this year for a completely different experience with just as many thrills and chills to get you in the Halloween mood. Have carnivals and circuses ever given you a creepy feeling? Then STEP RIGHT UP!
This event is not recommended for anyone 13 years of age or younger.

This year we’ll have 2 full weekends, Thursday through Sunday night!
Thursday, October 23rd through Sunday, October 26th - 8:00pm to 10:30pm
Thursday, October 30th through Friday October 31st - 8:00pm to 10:30pm
Saturday, November 1st from 8:00pm to 9:30pm
Sunday November 2nd from 8:00 to 10:30pm

Please note: prices are $3.00 for students with valid ID and $5.00 for general admission.

Come see us at the Stables Theatre, campus’s oldest and most haunted building, on Monarch Way between 46th and 47th street…. if you dare!

Flu Vaccine Clinic!
(yaaaaayyyy~!)

Student Health Services is offering its annual Flu Vaccine Clinics on Tuesday, October 21st and Thursday, November 6th from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The location of the Vaccine Clinic is in the Student Health Center, 1007 South Webb Center (behind the Food Court).

The cost: $18/students, $25 faculty/staff.

Payment can be made by check for faculty/staff. For students, payments can be billed to student accounts or Monarch Plus card.

You may fill out the attached consent form and bring it with you for even faster service!

Please visit our website for further information.

Please click here to print out the Flu Vaccine Information Sheet.

New on-line tutorial for Praxis I writing assessment on ODU.edu
(..cause professors don’t hound you enough about utilizing WTS……)

Attention ODU future educators - there is now a free on-line tutorial for the Praxis I writing exam. If you are planning on entering an “approved initial licensure teacher education program” at ODU and need assistance with the writing portion of the Praxis I exam, this tutorial is for you.

For more information contact Dr. Leigh L. Butler or Ms. Arminda Israel at 683-3348

Please go to www.odu.edu/tes. On the right hand side of the webpage you will see a box that says “announcements”…the 2nd item is the Praxis I Writing Tutorial Online - please click this item. You will be directed to the tutorial. Good luck! The other Praxis I titles will be available in the near future.

Annnnd….pay attention to student announcements for more info that I’ve left out due to being obliterated with assignments a procrastinator a student.

Three personal announcements…

1. I moved! I am no longer living in the swampartment. I’m high and dry down the street now, and there’s open wireless internet networks a-plenty! Not that I’m into that kind of thing… Anyway, there’s plenty of room for Mac to run wild with an oven mitt in his mouth. Good times.

2. GO TO BORJO AND BUY THE MOST HUMONGOUS HOT APPLE CIDER YOUR PENNIES CAN AFFORD RIGHT NOW! Being an October baby (I recently turned a quarter of a century old, go me), I am a downright connoisseur of autumnal yummies. Since it’s still early in the season for buying fresh apple cider (although Farm Fresh Market has $5 bags of variously-spiced mulling spices), and the Starbucks on campus…whats the word… oh, SUCK, I popped into Borjo and got a yum-yum hot apple cider on one of those crappy rainy days a couple weeks back. LET ME EXPLAIN TO YOU IN CAPS HOW DELICIOUS IT IS. There is an entire stick (bold and italicized for emphasis, here) of cinnamon RIGHT IN THE CUP! I don’t know what your heaven looks like, but I’m damn certain mine is a honey-brown and smells like fall came right up and kicked you in the mouth. AMAZING!

3. Finally, the second best part of this fall has definitely been catching new episodes of House MD on Tuesday nights at 9 on FOX HD. I watched the other four seasons in SD or on my laptop, and OHHHHH YEAHHHH Hugh Laurie is about 900% more handsome in high-def. Shiza. Definitely more win than watching the debates of not-as-handsome-by-any-comparison politicians that you can just catch on YouTube in the same gross quality.
(Man I miss being able to watch british parliament in session on TV as a kid. Definitely superior in content AND humour.)

One more note on being a House-keteer with a recent upgrade in age… I went to New York City. Here’s some pics, but HERE’S the one you WANT to see. Recognize that building? You know it. I’m also really glad I don’t have to walk around Princeton’s campus…holy confusing hotdog lampshades. New York, eh, caught up with an old friend, AND, spent a lot of cash on gifts for my fellow Japanese sufferers students and other cool stuff for myself.

That about wraps up my been-up-all-night-got-something-to-say post. Don’t expect any more 6 AM postings. I hope…

This Thursday through next Monday I’ll be in New York City and then in Washington, DC for my annual I-wish-I-lived-here-not-Norfolk trip for my birthday. In an effort to not spend any money before my big trip, I’ve been staying in most of the time watching House seasons 1-4 on my laptop. The only thing I’ve really bought is the new Harvest Moon, Island of Happiness (I HATE THE STYLUS).

Unfortunately I’m still contractually stuck in my swampartment (which now has water coming up in no less than 4 places, and still more areas make a gushing noise when stepped on), even though I’ve found another place and moved a lot of stuff. Its really bad; there’s water damage and mold inside the bedroom closet now, and even more tiles in the kitchen are bulging up. I can’t do anything about it today (SOMEONE needs to take out the trash and pick up their stuff), but tomorrow I’m gonna bring the fury to the main office.

Good news, everyone survived the weekend Grams is doing well, and Gramps is already itchin to go try out his new motor.

Did you know the ODU Bookstore has Moleskine notebooks half off? I picked up one of the watercolor pads the other day; it’s really excellent paper with smooth tooth, and holds permanent fine-line ink really well. Maybe I’ll take a few pictures of my doodles and upload em on my flickr… If I remember!

There’s a coldfront coming, so enjoy the last day of gross! I’ll post a bunch of pictures from NYC when I get back in the swing of things next Tuesday. Cheers!

xoxo
Jini

If you aren’t familiar with Post Secret, well, where have you been?! The original blog is a gallery of anonymously mailed postcards that reveal a secret. I’ve loved this idea for years, even sent in a few myself. Anonymous art and mail art are just fascinating to me, and if you’re at all interested in things like this, definitely check out the lecture on Thursday night. I’ll be there, you can sit next to me

Cheers,
Jini

(P.S. New York in 9 days! Wooo!)

This will be my first semester during which I have time to participate in Nichi-Bei, and from what I understand there are lots of interested Japanese exchange students and first year Japanese language students. Lets have a good year, and study Japanese together! ????????????????????????

(Actually if you’re looking for a good way to clean your MacBook, take a white staedtler, “Magic Rub”, or any brand vinyl eraser to it, and just rub away. Works really well all over the MacBook, even on the trackpad!)

Here’s a shot of Webb from today. Have you joined any clubs yet?

Today in ceramics we started our first wheel-thrown project. It’s kinda fun, since I’ve never done it before. My piece slid right off after I got it into a very nice cylinder, and I had to re-center it and basically form it all over again. That was kind of a pain, but the wheel is neat because it acts like a vertical lathe like you would use for wood carving. Gets pretty messy and slimy though, luckily this cat is an APRONCAT! Hah, inside joke there.

Here’s a small rant that most of you will disagree with:

I hate when class gets let out early! Arrrrg! Especially when it’s a studio class and you end up with two hours to burn. I popped into my digital art class at 11, and we were let out by 11:30! My next class isn’t even until 3pm! And even then I’m out at 4:15, and the National Art Educators Association meeting isn’t until 7:30! Maybe I’ll head to the Pottery Art Studio store on Kellam and buy some glazes and some less-rough clay…

I could pay for my parking pass, but my tags are expired and I plan to replace them, so I don’t want to have to go back to the parking office to change what my license plates are. Besides, the ladies that work in that office are, sorry, totally anal cranky whiny bitches. Now, some of you may call this a “pot and kettle” situation, but honestly…every single time I’ve gone into that office, I’ve come out pissed. It’s like Wal-Mart; you go in, knowing what you need, estimate about how long it will take to walk to that section, get it, and pay for it, but you end up wasting much longer than you anticipated and come out all frazzled because everyone in there treats you like dirt, from the kid ramming a cart into your knee to the cashier who’s too busy on her cellphone to ring up your bananas.</endrant>

(To all of my former English teachers, I’m very sorry for that run-on sentence.)

Well I feel stuffed for not bringing my DS today, so I guess I’m going to go find something to occupy my time. I also hear Ishibashi-sensei in her office and I should scram before she finds me and talks to me without my Japanese brain loaded. If you see me wandering around, feel free to point me in the direction of something cool.

Cheers,
Jini

I’ve come up with a couple ideas of what I want to work on during my 3-hour block of computer access on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I’m looking into some undergrad and graduate scholarships to help me out a bit, since all of my cash in the spring is going to the big trip to Japan in May. I’m gettin all wiggly thinkin about it!

Other than the midday sleepies in the hour of time I have on Tues and Thurs between art and teaching, the 3 hour block of classes on MWF is really working for me. Can’t stress enough that parking sucks (especially for what they charge for a pass…that’s balls) but I manage to find a spot in the overflow lot near WHRO.

Anyway, it’s a three day weekend. Enjoy it while you got it!

xoxo
Jini

ARTH360: I’ve had Professor Whelan before for ARTH212. I know she grades hard on her papers, but her exams are relevant and she gives adequate review and heads-up info on them. I’m in this class with Macomber-san, and we accidentally went to the wrong room on the first day (whoops lol). It should be interesting, with lots of field trips and extra-curricular activities planned. I’m a bit upset that the second half of our schedule is off by a day or three…

JAPN395: Ishibashi-sensei is using us as guinea pigs! There’s only 9 people in this class, and the bookstore hasn’t gotten in a single textbook for it yet. Cripes, I know Japanese books are hard to order sometimes, but sheeez…get them in already! Looks like the trip to Japan is on for next May, too! YEEESSSS!

HIST338: This is my first time in Jin-sensei’s class. Jeni from work is in it, and so is Ashley and Victoria (?) from my last few Japanese classes! We have a whole row of Japanese goodness. Should make group projects easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.

ARTS263: After a change in professors, I have Anna Freeman for ceramics. She’s really nice and organized, and gave us a great tour of the back half of the Arts Studio Building. Rick Nickel has a lot of cool stuff in his private room in the middle there! I’m kinda excited to go buy clay things tomorrow…and blow stuff up in that giant ass gas kiln YEAH! (kidding KIDDING!…….maybe)

ARTS279: LOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOL At least I explained to Ms Bousquet what I’d gone through prior to ODU, and the problems that arise from transfering from a private school, and she agreed to let me bring in a portfolio and let me work on scholarship and portfolio projects. Cool lady! I like her already. Just gotta make sure I get my ass in there to sit at a G5, not one of those crummy G4 plastic towers…muahaha…Maybe I’ll take that solo desk to set up my 3 portable HDDs and my tablet on. I’m kind of a space hog…

ESSE506: Dr. Baker is really knowledgable, and I feel like I’m in a psychology class. It’s pretty great…except for the fact we have one of the smallest classrooms in BAL (with seating for 20) and there were 27 of 30 registered that showed up to class…some people were on the floor or in borrowed chairs…Sigh. Textbook was expensive, but really good and thorough. I love the multi-color handouts!

Overall…parking will suck. Dried out clay hands will suck. Hauling a bunch of hard drives and a tablet around for 9 hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays will CERTAINLY suck (I have shoulder and neck problems). Other than all of that, the semester should go pretty smoothly, and I expect some solid A’s and B’s out of it. Oh, and some awkwardly shaped coffee cups and ashtrays. But I’ll just call them “indie” and throw them up on Etsy. Cheers.

Old Dominion University: Built for the Modern Mind

That’s me in the pink tank and glasses at 1:01, 1:05 and 1:38.

Loldramaticprairiedogsmilewhoops.

I’ll post a review of my professors for the fall here after my next class. In the mean time I need to gather a portfolio! Oh crap!

Here’s whats cool:

1. Did the photo/film shoot on Wednesday for the ODU video. I can’t wait to see it!

2. Snapped these at the bookstore, I might have to get them…

See the text on the heel? It says FREUDIAN SLIPPERS! lololol~

3. Trip to DC is postponed until uh…I have gil, lol. I know, it sucks. I’m waiting for my reimbursement check from my financial aid extras, which won’t be a lot, but who knows. I’m definitely going back to NYC in late Sep/early Oct. Depends on when I’ll be at work/have a big test at school. More on that closer to the day.

4. Yesterday was the opening ceremonies at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. It was monstrously cool! I’ve never seen anything like it, and even though I like the winter Olympics more, I was wholly impressed with the pomp. I’ll be watching all of the aquatic events (in that badass cube thing), equestrian, fencing, gymnastics, judo, and table tennis. I’m kinda upse that Joey Cheek got the banstick, but I’m excited to see Mike mc-hotty-hot-pants Phelps compete. Ruarrr.

5. Yesterday was ALSO the 8/8/08 event on Flickr. This was my submission:

I saw that in P-town on uh…… yeah Thursday night when I went to go see Batman with my Dad and Jane. Strange. Good thing I don’t go to school there any more.

6. I finished FFTA2! Now to buy FFIV. I think I’ll get a PS3 soon, and FFXIII will be out sometime this holiday season *crosses fingers* but I dunno…I’m still kinda wanting an XBOX360. Who knows…

7. Last but not least: grades! They’re not out yet, but I know I kicked ass. I really enjoyed Heather’s painting class, and Carla’s communication class. Clay’s 2D design class, even though I knew everything going into that class, was still fun. I’m still enrolled in Eva’s PSYC323 until the week after next, but I’m pretty sure I’ll score at least a B. Only need a C for finishing up my Psyc minor. Yeehaw! If you ever get the chance to have classes in the art dept. with Heather Bryant and James (Clay) Mcglamory, go for it. Same for Carla Harrell in communications. My PSYC323 is online, so I can’t really say much for Eva Clarke, but I know that Misty Hixon who is an adjunct for the psychology department kicks ASS, so take her Theories of Personality and/or Abnormal Psychology classes. You’ll learn a ton and have fun too.

Anyway, happy summer to all you crazy people. I’m off to do some back to school window shopping…Did you know American Eagle now sells their *ubercomfy* jeans in size extra-long on their website? That’s right…longer than size long. MY DAY OF JOY HAS COME. NO LONGER WILL I HAVE TOO-SHORT JEANS BECAUSE I’M PART AMAZON! Yeeeeeeaaaa! You’ll see me baby, shakin that ass.

xoxo

Jini