The Oddest Paradox

I've realized something about my classes. For the first time in my academic career, I love them all. But that's not necessarily a good thing. Now before all my fellow students throw up at this cheesy revelation, hear me out.

While I'm only taking 13 credits, they are all Advanced Studio Classes that have a few long-term projects rather than daily assignments. And since I have more freedom to create my own assignments, the projects are consequently all interesting and revelant to my creative aspirations. I'm faced with juggling several on-going personal projects and I want to devote more time to each of them than I have available. And then, of course, there are the high standards I place on myself. And then, of course, there's everything outside of my academic life too.

Life was so much simpler in Mali.

Tomorrow I am supposed to turn in sketches for my Narrative Art class but I haven't even cut the bristol board. This is not to say that I haven't been working on the Fairy Tale/Myth assignment...I've just done extensive background research. I am currently finishing up four hours of studying on my couch, surrounded by thick books on global mythology with post-it notes sticking out of the pages. So while I don't have any sketches to turn in, I do have a solid concept, setting, and extensive list of characters:

I'd like to introduce: Anansi, Texcatlipoca, the Monkey King, Renart the Fox, Hermes, Coyote, Raven, Kokopelli, Loki, Tikoloshe and Maui.

These are all various "Trickster" figures from cultures all across the globe (and time) and I'd like to imagine a situation where they all meet and interact. I'm thinking something like a bar scene, where each character comes in after a long, hard day of mischevious work...complaining about ungrateful humans over a beer, swapping and one-uping heroic stories, and possibly engaging in the inevitable bar-room brawl. There are so many great personality traits I can create based on their legends and back stories. And parallels too. Hermes invented the lyre and Kokopelli plays the flute... in a bar setting, I can easily spin this so that they're providing the background music. Tikoloshe and Kokopelli are, um... well-endowed we shall say and would naturally be the ones to hit on all the female patrons. Loki got in trouble with the Norse gods for his gossiping and I think he'd make a good bartender.

So you see, it's all there...just not there on paper. Due date, Thursday, February 22. It'll be done.

Oh, and the best part is that the traditional depictions of these characters are absolutely gorgeous and I want to presevere the styes as much as possible: