Mid April thoughts

Sorry dear blog for the neglect, but the Wordpress blog for my Media Arts class is taking up my non-logo sketching time. I am glad to have this little space here for my personal ranting...it seems blogs are the business tool of the future, but I still feel it's a private yet public places for me to present a little part of my life - without the hopes of attracting attention or making any money off it. Anyway, it seems a little empty out there as I have to write about media/web related matters, and I just wanna talk about the busted electricity in my flat. But, overall things are going much better this quarter...I'm doing relevant stuff, and I dont feel like it's sink or swim. Some teachers are even proud of our class! So, I'm still not managing time much better, but I can work a tiny bit faster. Still have a 4am bedtime, but I'm sleeping in a little later too :)

Strange Mail and a New Blog

I got a piece of mail for my father today. As some background info, he died a rather grizzly death 10 years ago. It wasn't a substantial piece of mail, but I've only been living at this address for 2 years, and I'm not sure how the connection was made. I've married and my mother remarried and changed her name, and I've had several addresses. It's no big deal, though my mother had to change her phone number many years ago after receiving anonymous, antagonizing calls after the death. Just a slight oddity to see mail in your box to a dead parent at your address.
Anywho, the second quarter has begun and the work is piling on...but I feel much better about it that the 1st quarter. However, since I've been in classes/seminar from 10am - 9pm, I'm exhausted and have to get up for work tomorrow.
I've had to set up a blog on Wordpress for one of my classes...check it out if you must... http://andrearf.wordpress.com

Toast to 2nd Quarter

Well, the craziness is about to start all over again . There's a little bit of excitement left in me, though if I hadn't been sucked back into the corporate world for the past few weeks, I would be a bit more reluctant. The miserable critique definitely sent me into a bit of depression once words settled in, yet the monotony of work, same old problems, and reminders of my worker bee position reminded me why I was back at school. As a note in case any of my beloved coworkers actually wander onto this site, perhaps you can understand. I like my job very much, but it's mainly the people and creative energy around me that I enjoy (ok, long lunches, access to all the design magazines, and more socializing, too). The fact that I can't partake much in that creative energy is what pushed me into grad school. That, and this position has room for zero growth, and there is zero initiative aside from my own moral obligation to do my best and please my team...ok and the paycheck. After two years there, I see that full time presence leads to deadly apathy. I enjoy my job now much more when it's on a part-time basis, and it provides a refreshing break from from the atrocities of school and the stressed population there. But anyway, I enjoyed the last few weeks in a way that I haven't enjoyed life in a long time. It was wonderful in all its relaxed simplicity. So, here are some highlights of times I will surely miss during the next 2 and a half months....

Stone Mountain

An unusually cold March day...must hover over smoke pit for warmth.

Fanta + Martini = Fantini

Salmon Sashlyk on the ghetto disposable grill.

It's hard to contains one's excitement for the laser light show at Stone Mountain.

Mum's Birthday

Who wouldn't want frog legs for a birthday dinner? They oh so fun to play with!


That's right, a vanilla cake...who would ever think..

Georgia Aquarium

You begin to wonder who the exhibit really is...

Fish and Happiness. We went to the Dekalb Farmers Market afterward and picked out some fish for dinner.

Shashlyk at Chastain

The Masterpiece!

Our new "portable" grill...which should have been assembled during daylight.

Zastee Warrior Chase!


The deliverable

We love shuttlecocks!

Visit from the Yanks

My aunt, grandmother and cousin stop by during a visit from New York

What's a family visit without trying Korean salted duck eggs. Approved by the grandmother, rejected by the hub

Mum gives birth to her own egg

The End.

A Sushi Tutorial

This also happened last month, but the memories are still as fresh as ever. I actually made a trip to Super H Mart (pics to come) and made my own sushi later. Thank you, great Sushi Master!

Joe knows his squishy fishy

hot hot hotttt




it has a tail!


Sushi pride

snow man & friends

the sushi-piller!

all in a night's work

Cheep Wine...and some juice

Now that I have a fancy shmancy camera that has the potential to take kickass pictures, you'd think i'd be in every one's face...however, now that I have a camera that's the size of a real SLR camera and weighs the same, my outings become pretty selective with it. But, I'll post a few just since real photo albums don't exist anymore and maybe some people want to see highlights of events gone by. Maybe they don't, but at least I have proof of procrastination for the past quarter.

Below is Ms. Salsa Verde's birthday-wine tasting-game night - I'm sure it was a fabulous event, though as it was two days before critique I brought my own juice and couldn't stay for the games. I like the creative concept tho, as that European husband of mine says that Americans seem to equivocate celebrating with going out to eat, eat, eat - isn't there anything else to do?

And yes, had I not gone maybe I wouldn't have been 10 minutes late to critique, had time to practice, and put on makeup...but I have priorities, need down time, and friends are important. I'll have 7 more critiques anyway, and I'm sure my ass would have gotten chewed regardless- it was the deliverables they scrutinized, not my stammering and hideous sight. anyway...

Where else can you go and actually have a glass with your name on it waiting for you? It really does say our names, just accidentally switched the camera to manual for a moment and didn't focus.I'm not sure why I took this photo of Zoe, but I don't think it looked so inappropriate at the time...what kind of toys does this dog have?

My merry self again

Ahh whatever about that last week business. I'm on to happy times now, not gonna waste my time dwelling on that suka bleddy business. So I took a vacation for 5 days and went to Atlanta, and I feel much better. I had a fabulous time, really, Pig took those days off too. I know, it's not exotic, since I live here and all, but it certainly was more affordable and I had a comfy bed every night. Anyway, I'll post adventures about Stone Mountain shashlyki, the Georgia Aquarium, Fulton County Court House (legal business), Mall of Georgia, and the historic Dave & Busters later on...for now it's back to work in ye mighty Roswell and a steady existence for the next two weeks of healthy amounts of sleep, regular meals, and bathing. First however, I'll share some pics of what I've been trying to clean up during my down time...not very successfully, but this is what 1st quarter will do to a place....

Part of our living room....

The Ugly bathroom, still not renovated...but great for last minute spray mount and polyurethaning!

Desk in my studio...there's a computer, two keyborads and two printers somewhere there...

Over it.

It's over. 1st quarter. The thing that has occupied every bit of my mind heart and soul for the past 2 and a half months. and now a little break before it starts all over again. Everything was down to the wire, last minute, sleepless. i was even late to my critique. I was actually excited to go to critique and interact with the panel of judges, but once I stepped into the room I could tell it wasn't going to be such a fun endeavor. Tough crowd. I felt like show and tell to 8th graders - lots of bored looks and cynical remarks. My double CD set "feels like a coffin". My other CD package had "no real content or character". Two of the four judges said they didn't even see my animal in my precious DA poster. Well, I don't need to go on all the negatives, 25 minutes of brow beating could take up a lot of time. I think a few positive things were said, but with all the stress and chaos and lack of sleep, it didn't stick. There was a truly grumpy lady on the panel - made Sylvia look like a saint. She said that I paid attention to texture, so it show I learned "something".
So, I've had a day to reflect on it, and I'm feeling pretty down. I know everyone is elated it's over and out celebrating, but I see no reason to celebrate, and I'm pretty isolated from theo people anyway. Pig and I did go out for LaFonda margaritas, and if it wasn't for him and a small circle of friends, I would be utterly depressed. Needless to say, I'm dreading the next critique. I put everything into these projects, so I'm not very excited about moving forward.
Give me a little time for some more rest, and I'll see if my mood improves.

Just give me 5 more days and I'll be alive again

Next week at this time I'll be alive again, communicative, bathed, and maybe rested, I hope.

It's 5:30 am, and this is the third night this week that I've been in this spot. It's Wedneday night. To think some people are waking right now after a night of sleep :) At least I can sleep in tomorrow. Monday I had work, Tuesday was morning meetings and afternoon meetings. I've found a really great espresso blend at the Dekalb Farmers Market, thanfully, I get a nice amount of work done during the rush before my hands start shaking and the anxiety sets back in.

It's studio week, gotta finish it all... Next Monday night and it's over. There will be much joy in the air...and some Apache beer if we can find it...

Compliments and Trail Mix

I got a compliment in an email recently from my most notorious instructor. It took me by surprise, as positive feedback from this person is rare. In fact, I was told to be proud. This actually scared me, I guess for several reasons - I'm being noticed, and I have expectations now. I've always been taught pride is bad, and humility is good, so I'm also hesitant to take this to heart. You know, the higher you are, the farther you will fall when you suck the next time, and that will hurt even more. And everyone will hate you. I just hope I don't fall flat next time and have any past success be credited mainly to luck. There are enough egos at school, they don't need another...as a classmate has said, sometimes the school isn't big enough to house them all.
But I am enjoying myself more now, I don't know if it's because the burden of concepting is over and it's time to construct, so I'm just used to little sleep and finding time constraints don't always hinder my creativity. I also am starting to like trail mixes, like the kind with nuts and seeds. I've always hated that crap, but now I feel like a hamster. Well, that's my random note for the day.

6:30 am on a Sunday?

It's Friday at last, though Wednesday nights often feel more relaxing for some weird reason. I still have to get up for a meeting tomorrow, and as I went to bed at 5:30 am and woke up at 9:00, and was in class all day, I'll be taking it easy tonight. I actually did have plans, but fortunately I have very understanding friends. I promise I'll make it up during those two glorious weeks in March!

So it's been busy, chaos. Sometimes I feel good about a class, and others (most) I'm just barely hanging by...I need to have 3 bags/boxes designed for Tuesday, and 3 3d comps of each (9 total, and don't forget those boxes have to have a re-use, relate to my civ, incorporate my animal, unique handles with an AOF, involve a color harmony that uses color of my civ, and somehow makes my interviewed child's life better pertaining to their problem). And after that class I gotta meet for my production class and pull something together for Mr. Allen Jackson and Co. I am enjoying the 50 card set project though.
We've had a last minute 6:30 am Sunday meeting on "time management" from Mr. President of PC himself, but it seems things just take me longer than one can ever imagine..and that longer just needs a day with more than 24 hours. I haven't been playing a very good wife, but we did go out last weekend which was much needed.

As for other things, I really like these little boxes of Silk Chocolate milk. Rubber cement erasers are miraculous inventions. My in-laws will be coming in April for 10 days, then going to Florida for 10 days. Pig is happy at work, and I enjoy the distraction my job offers. Ok, until next time...

Pigs go marching on...

My eye turned red and started swelling shut thus week, but I haven't had time to go to the doc. It's getting better though - I think my eyes just want a little more closed time.

Work piles on and on...suddenly those first weeks don't seem so bad...just sketching and concepting, did it really take so much time? Now things are moving into making and producing - stuff that can't be done just hours before class..which is how a lot has been going as I scurry around trying to play catch up at the last minute. I just can't get ahead of the game. On the glass is half full side, I guess you could say I'm running parallel with the game, or just shortly trailing behind. I bring stuff in, it may be mediocre, but it's there in hopes of turning into something better...but I fear it won't with all my running to just keep up. Well, a lovely 6:30 am meeting with Hank on Sunday morning was just scheduled, maybe there will be some great and amazing breakthroughs there...

Anyway, I wish I could talk about something other than school, but that's all that's going on...it's weird to spend time at my job away from the pressure of everything, and I'm very glad to have the resources there that I do...it's so hard to work especially some place 30-40 minutes away, but I don't want to cut my ties there either...pantone books, HOW magazine and wide format printing! Oh yeah, and amusing coworkers.

Anyway, the pigs go marching on...

I could but I won't

I could probably go to bed early tonight, but I'd feel too guilty. I have the majority of everything prepped for tomorrow's packaging class, with the exception of some ideas for the Alan Jackson project. In case I haven't mentioned it, I drew his name from a hat...I don't know anything about country music beyond the stereotypes, and nothing about Alan Jackson except for that Way Down Yonder on the Chattahoochee song. I just watched the video, yayyy.
Anyway, the projects are piling on, so extra sleep time now could turn to a deadly time mismanagement mistake when I'm working and freaking out with Sylvia's project this weekend. Regardless, I am taking a break tomorrow night and going out for some fresh air. If Sylvia brings an early death upon me, at least I won't have that stuffy old person smell.
So, enough chatting here, I'll go compile some more research and work on getting somewhere with Sylvia's massive of list of things to do...

First Week and already an all-nighter!

I'm so incredibly tired. I've had sore throats, coughing, sneezing and even my ears so swollen I haven't been able to hear...and all during my first week. I'd like to consider myself semi-hardy, but the stress and anxiety of everything just got to me.

So things got off to a chaotic start last week when my alarm clock failed to go of for Sylvia's class, the most notorious class I've heard about...as she claims, she's the only one that's giving me my moneys worth right now. Well, I don't agree about that, but if I was paying for criticism and loads of stress, then she would be giving me a lot of bang for my buck. Anyway, since orientation was in the way of her class, we made it up later in the week, which gave us a shorter time to work on her ginormous assignments for Tuesday. Needless to say, I pulled an all-nighter on Monday, after meeting with other students Thursday and Saturday, visiting two libraries (what are those?) and working on it most my waking hours of the weekend. I was racing at 7 am to finish up, as class was at 8am. And then presentations for 5 and a half hours. I was feeling so sick and miserable, I couldn't even hear out of my left ear! Needless to say, I didn't go to work afterward, and anyway I had to finish my Emotive Type assignment for Wednesday. Oi.

So the work has continued to pile on, but after that hellish first week I feel a little better, all the newness is calming down and sometimes the concepting in the beginning is the hardest - I like to have an established direction. I'm still overwhelmed, and today is the first day I've felt somewhat ok. I even had time to visit with friends in the evening. Wow.

I'm a slow worker and the workload is immense - it's a very hard juggling act for me. Some of the students just breezed through the first week, very happily voicing their success, and I can only wonder how they did it...and feel like I've failed a little. Well, some have said they are experts at time management so I guess that's where the problem lies. But I also feel overwhelmed by just keeping relationships afloat. I think I'm the old married lady there, and no one else has to worry about dealing with another person...I have to consider a spouse's feelings constantly, keep a household functioning, and as much as it annoys me that he can play X-Box endlessly while I work and work, I have to remember that I made this decision. Oh well. But I'm also constantly held accountable for the stupid things I do, all the million of mistakes I make a day, and there are a lot now that my head is spinning. I'm under every one's eye at school, and sometimes I wish my shortfalls could just be put aside when I'm at home. Well, we do the best we can, and I can only hope that I'll learn to handle this better as time goes on...I'm still very happy that I will have someone by my side through all of this, hopefully it will give me some stability.

I'm so tired, last night I was up to almost 5..but I did sleep til 9...working on packaging stuff I should have started earlier, as I drastically miscalculated how long it would take me. Mistakes= learning. Lots of learning going on...

Oinks and Apaches, who knew?

Gallopping into new territory

So it's been two days at Portfolio Center, and I already feel like I've been there for a very very long time (except when I accidentally walk into a class of upperclassmen)...and I haven't even done anything! Information overload, I guess, and my mind has just been wrapped around preparing for that whole time management thing - a challenge for unorganized me. I look back at what I was doing a week ago, and it seems so far away. Those coworkers I spent everyday with are now so removed from me, and a new world of people and mindsets are slowly enveloping me. Spunbond? Print Requests? Stacy-isms? What are those?

The uncertainty of what will happen this quarter gets more nerve racking the more I talk to people...but in return I feel very alive.

Anyway, to give myself a little space from all this newness, I'm working on more renovation on my bathroom. For you who have never seen it, it is very frightening. Two words: bunny tiles. It's the only room we haven't renovated yet, and in fact nothing has been touched. We've never used the shower, except to throw paint rollers in the tub. The crusty bright yellow venetian plaster that greets the pink tiles on the walls has long scared anyone away. So, now it's time for its low budget face lift.

I warned you they were scary...

And yes, I feel guilty, I should be working on my assignments and following that whole time management thing. For Emotive Type: Develop a musician/band, create in-depth bio of band, 100 thumbnail sketches of type-based logos for them, and write a song they would perform - by next Wednesday. And tomorrow is the most feared class from the rumors I've heard, Design Aesthetics with Sylvia. We'll see at 8:00 am tomorrow.

Pig is calling, time for tea...

С Новым Годом!!!

For all you non-Ruskis, or those that don't share accommodations with one, that's Happy New Year (pronounced S Novim Godom). And for those that don't know, New Year is the biggest holiday of the year in Russo-land. I'm not gonna give a history lesson here, but it's basically like Christmas...Ded Moroz (Russified Santa in blue) comes and brings gifts, and there's lots of eating and drinking, toasting and watching singing-dancing shows on TV. Mr. Putin gives a little speech outside of Red Square before the bells dong at midnight, and then more singing-dancing songs! Glory be to Maxim Galkin!

Since our little family includes a Russian, we try to make the most of the holidays going on. So after Christmas at my parent's on the 25th, we come home and decorate our Christmas tree (Yulka) for Novy Gode. We drive all around the metro Atlanta area going to various Farmer's Markets, Russian Grocery Stores, and Buford Highway liquor stores to find all the necessary goods for the big day. Pig preps everything on the 31st and we get ready for our feast at midnight with Mr. Putin and then singing dancing shows till the early hours of the morning. It's the beginning of the holiday season...Old Christmas (Orthodox calendar) is on the 7th, and Old New Year is on the 13th...more toasts, salads, and singing dancing shows yet to come!

Ok, so it hasn't been as wild as it was in Moscow, but we make it a fun cozy event for us. Anyway, thankfully I've had January 1st to recover, and now it's time for orientation at PC tomorrow morning!

December 31: Adding the final decorations to the yulka.

New Year salad "Olivia" and Pig's Russian Cheese-Garlic salad behind...

Smoked Fish and Caviar in Eggs.

Russian delicacy, American nightmare...

Sovietsky Champagne...at least the Soviets got one thing right. Special thanks to the import gods who ship this stuff over!

Mr. Putie admits some people have misbehaved this year....