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...