Test of my new scanner!!

More to come...

Choice Images from Today: Lewis and Clark National Historical Park

Seriously, all from today. I'm seriously thinking about starting a Flickr account for work.

Road Trip with Ron Bend, Part I

On Thursday and Friday, I got to play assistant to filmmaker Ron Bend, who is creating video shorts about the Inventory and Monitoring program. I'm enjoying my Diane Sawyer 15-min of fame...even though my interview questions will be edited out of the final films. Still, it's fun to be able to travel like this for work and meet some incredibly enthusiastic NPS staff. Here we visit Ebey's Landing and Olympic National Park. Michelle, does the scenery remind you of Maine at all?

Roomies!

Steve, my college roommate of 3 years has been in Seattle for the summer, working as "Assistant Director" for Shrek the Musical. Here we are on Alki Beach, West Seattle, perhaps on the last day of summer.

North Cascades=Coolio

Here's a project I've been working on (almost done). Want the full .pdf? Until I figure out how to put it on the blog, just shoot me an e-mail.



I'm actually really quite proud of it.

Finally

Today is the first really cool, cloudy, somewhat-rainy day for awhile. And I finally feel motivated to stay inside and organize all the random boxes of stuff I've somehow accumulated. Seriously, there are things that I stuffed away in April that haven't seen the light of day since then.

But first, I'm going to IKEA to pick out storage containers. I have a $15 coupon because I used my debit card last time I was there (some sort of cash back incentive). I love that IKEA is only 20 minutes away.

Bored?

Okay, try this game. It's an interactive graphic from today's NYT Science article on math.

"Testing Your Approximate Number Sense:
Humans use two distinct number systems, one learned and one intuitive. Computation, such as taking a square root, is an abstract process that is uniquely human. But the nonverbal process of approximating numbers is a system we share with infants and many other animals."

Most adults who take this test get an average of 75% after taking it 25 times. I only got one wrong, when I had to differentiate between 14 blue dots and 15 yellow ones. I'm curious to see if artists test higher because of their visual spatial skills.

An early Christmas...for me.

I'm surprised my credit card hasn't been deactivated because in addition to paying for gas to Montana (to be reimbursed by Uncle Sam of course), I've been doing some online shopping this weekend.

Nothing spontaneous of course, just things I've been needing to purchase anyway.

-Like one of my natural science illustration textbooks.


-And a pair of Levi Slim Fit jeans because a) of all, it's the best pair of fitting jeans I've found and b) of all, I only own one pair of jeans right now and it's getting a little thin in the behind.


-And most exciting, a scanner! It's 11x17, got great customer reviews on Amazon, wasn't terribly expensive and I'm considering it one of my first adult purchases as a "professional" artist.


I've realized I have a number of projects I haven't posted on the blog yet...some because I've just procrastinated, others because I'm without a scanner right now. So once I do, I'll be sure to post them. I'm especially proud of a pen and ink drawing of a turkey, something that I've probably put in 5 hours over the last 2 days. Weird subject I know but I'm just thinking ahead to Thanksgiving...

I'm very excited because the scanner also gives me some much needed options for art projects I've been meaning to try.

Best School Supply List ever

I just got an e-mail with a list of supplies I need for my illustration classes next month:

"For the first night of class, please bring the following supplies:

1. 9x12 sketchpad
2. drawing pencils: 2H, HB, 2B, 4B (Berol, Sanford, Staedtler or Derwent)
3. 12" transparent ruler
4. pencil sharpener
5. an eraser (Staedtler Mars Plastic)
6. a small, padded container to transport your chicken skull."

I'm so excited.

Social Butterfly

Yawn.

I'm in my bedroom, staring at boxes that still need to be unpacked. But it's such a beautiful sunny day, again, that I really don't want to. According to the weather forecast, fall/winter will start arriving by the end of the week. I guess I should make the most of it!

Yesterday was quite the busy day and really I'm just recouping from all the fun activities:

Noon- went with my friend Kate Minto to a bar in West Seattle that plays the U of M football games live for all the alumni in the city. Kind of a surreal experience to see so much Maize and Blue and to hear cowbells and the Michigan fight song 3,500 miles away from Ann Arbor. But I enjoyed it, despite the score, and this will probably be a weekly tradition to look forward to.

2:45- Met up for "dinner" with some co-workers from the national park who were in the city to watch the UW Huskies football game. Traffic was pretty bad with all the fans and I still can't get over how ugly purple and silver are as school colors.

7:30-Saw Shrek: The Musical with some friends from Bellingham. As I may have mentioned, my good friend and college roommate of 3 years, Steve Sposito, was the Assistant Director on this major, soon-to-be Broadway, production. While we were originally in the balcony section, Steve moved us down to the orchestra level and then gave us a behind-the-scenes tour of the theatre, scenic pieces, costume rooms, etc. He was so blasé about it, but we all felt like VIPs.

10:30- the group then went over to a nearby pub to continue catching up with Steve.

11:30- The Bellingham contingent left to drive home and Steve and I took a cab to the Capitol Hill club, Neighbors, to meet up with other Shrek staff. Over the course of the night I met a Pulitzer-prize winner for play writing and a Tony-award winning lighting designer. Wow, these are Steve's friends and I'm kind of jealous. Even though clubbing and dancing isn't exactly my scene, it was still fun to get out and let loose for a bit.

2:30am- Steve and I parted ways and I headed home.

3:00am- bed

Okay, clearly this is not representative of my everyday life. I wish I was this cool and cosmopolitan! It just so happened that all these engagements fell on the same day. As someone new to a big city and still building new groups of friends, I'm certainly not as socially-active as I was in Ann Arbor... Ah well, it's all part of this transition post-college, right?

Gross

I spent a good part of yesterday afternoon cleaning 500 dead flies off the grill of my car. This is what happens when you drive through Eastern Washington.


It smells like fish fly season and I may have vomited in my mouth a little.

First blog post from Bellevue

Just a brief blog post today as I’m trying to finish packing for a business trip tomorrow to Glacier National Park. Ha, that sounds so adult: business trip. I guess it’s a fitting way to start my first September where I’m not going back to school. I’ve talked to a few friends and we’ve all agreed that it’s very strange to not be in Ann Arbor right now (or for those still in Ann Arbor, to not have classes). Maybe this is why my latest move, from Bellingham to Bellevue, was more disorienting than I imagined. The weather too, is starting to feel like fall and my body automatically associates the cooler temperature, fading light, and changing colors with fresh starts (and cross-country season).

Okay, hold on, I think my potatoes are done boiling. I lied, I’m not actually packing right now, I’m in the midst of making dinner. I’m trying my hand at gnocchi, with a spicy arrabbiata sauce.
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And…I’m back. The potatoes have been mashed and are cooling in the fridge. I hope these turn out all right. Jeremy, one of my new roommates puts me to shame with his confidence in the kitchen. But it’s a good thing my somewhat competitive nature has kicked in and he’s pushing me to be a better cook.

Man, there’s so much to write about that it’s actually kind of overwhelming to try and cover it all.

Here are the basics-

-I spent most of last week cleaning up and packing my apartment in Bellingham.
-Friday, I drove straight from work, in my fully packed station wagon, through a steady rain, to Bellevue.
-Unfortunately, the room that I was to move into wasn’t yet ready so I had to spend the next three nights on a futon in the mess room by the kitchen. Amidst all my boxes and bags.
-I bought a mattress, bed frame, and dresser from IKEA and really enjoyed putting them all together. Very satisfying, in the same way that I found building the Warehaus gallery walls a satisfying hands-on experience.
-Yesterday, I finally moved into my room and slept in my newly built bed- my first bed since moving from Michigan (remember, I’ve had an air mattress for the last 4 months!).
-Today feels like Day One of my post-college life. So far, it’s off to a good start.

Okay, I think that’s it for now. I’ll put up pictures of Bellevue sometime in the future. But before that, it’s off to Montana! I’m looking forward to the 9-hour drive (seriously, I am).

Oh wait, I forgot to buy gummi bears.