06/01/2001 - 07/01/2001 07/01/2001 - 08/01/2001 08/01/2001 - 09/01/2001 09/01/2001 - 10/01/2001 10/01/2001 - 11/01/2001 11/01/2001 - 12/01/2001 12/01/2001 - 01/01/2002 01/01/2002 - 02/01/2002 02/01/2002 - 03/01/2002 03/01/2002 - 04/01/2002 04/01/2002 - 05/01/2002 05/01/2002 - 06/01/2002 06/01/2002 - 07/01/2002 07/01/2002 - 08/01/2002 08/01/2002 - 09/01/2002 09/01/2002 - 10/01/2002 10/01/2002 - 11/01/2002 11/01/2002 - 12/01/2002 12/01/2002 - 01/01/2003 01/01/2003 - 02/01/2003 02/01/2003 - 03/01/2003 03/01/2003 - 04/01/2003 04/01/2003 - 05/01/2003 05/01/2003 - 06/01/2003 06/01/2003 - 07/01/2003 07/01/2003 - 08/01/2003 08/01/2003 - 09/01/2003 09/01/2003 - 10/01/2003 10/01/2003 - 11/01/2003 11/01/2003 - 12/01/2003 12/01/2003 - 01/01/2004 01/01/2004 - 02/01/2004 02/01/2004 - 03/01/2004 03/01/2004 - 04/01/2004 04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004 05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004 08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004 10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004 11/01/2004 - 12/01/2004 02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005 04/01/2005 - 05/01/2005 a firenze

Sunday, December 30

1:11 PM
I'm about to leave Iowa with Shannon. Will explain later.

Thursday, December 20

3:31 PM
Cool! Una cartolina elettronica da Chiara! Lei è molto simpatica.

2:27 AM
Ted is out of India and apparently currently in some place called Udaipur. He must be having a blast.

Wednesday, December 19

5:49 PM
Today was the last day of Installation. For my piece I made a cd and a tape of this droning noise and played it on a loop, and put the cd player in one stairwell of the art building and the tape player in the other, so there was this constant noise. There's constant noise elsewhere in the building (like at the vending machines), so this gave you the same kind of feeling. Then, to break up the connection with the real sounds, every few minutes there was interspersed drum beats or music (on the cd). I don't think people liked the music part, but they did like the drum sample. I think they were right. The drum was enough to let you know that it's artificial, I didn't need the music. Oh well.

There were some cool projects. One guy, Nick, put signs all over the building that were closed captioning labels, e.g., every door said "door squeaks open" and above the water fountains it said "water running". The toilet said "toilet flushes". Celina made bars of soap that each contained a single word like "hate", "envy", "oppression". They were in a really good, commanding font too. There was a problem, though, with three or four people's installations colliding in the bathrooms. Courtney had tiny photographs, placed all around the art building, of her feet wearing shoes made out of maps. And I liked Anna's a whole lot: she gave each of the members of the class an object she made specifically tailored to that person. Barbara (the prof) got, I think, a wax box filled with twigs snapped to equal length. Doug got a box of nail clippings pinned to the inside of the box. I got a small pencil sharpened to the point where the only text on it read "USA    INTEGRITY   No. 2". She said it was only half-finished, and that she meant to have a little notebook with the paper cut out in the shape of the pencil, and the pencil placed inside. Because she always sees me writing in my little notebook. That was the coolest project. I couldn't tell you why everybody got what objects they did, but I think I understand mine, which is enough for me.

Thursday, December 13

11:48 PM
there was a fire down the street earlier this afternoon. a couple of fire trucks. on my way to school there were a couple of emergency vehicles. and a minute ago three police cars zoomed down my street.

9:44 PM
i gave my jasper johns presentation today and it was not bad. i am feeling very well, and looking forward to christmas.

Sunday, December 9

4:03 PM
i am happy.

6:53 AM
currently enamored of/obsessed with "get under it" by robert pollard, and slightly less so for "distorted angel" by elvis costello.
and still "lollipop" by suprashiny.

4:21 AM
working on last minute papers and stuff. i procrastinate as though insane.

shannon insists i see amélie ("the best movie i've seen in my entire life"), and so i will. in time.

Friday, December 7

10:02 PM
Went to a play on campus called Mr. Kolpert, a black comedy about a get-together whose hosts may have killed the eponymous character. One of the leads was a guy who's been in most of the plays I've seen, and usually he's not very good, and he was no exception tonight. He just can't act well enough to convince me he's straight. But most of the actors were a little off... Their dialogue wasn't very well done, but they pulled off the action really well.

Thursday, December 6

12:12 PM
and maddy was on cnn yesterday morning. watch it here. she's the girl who says "aspirin. wow!"

12:10 PM
feeling pretty good lately, despite all the work i have ahead of me. i did well on the first jasper johns paper. last night after class i asked a couple guys in my class to walk with me to my car, so they just drove me instead. i'm overly cautious now about strangers approaching me on the street, which always made me nervous to begin with.

i'm happy to see that my mystery visitor from oman has appeared again.

Monday, December 3

8:04 PM
tonight i was attacked by some teenagers while on my way from a class to my car. not terribly. i heard them yelling from a distance, but i wasn't sure if it was at me. it was a good hike from the building i was leaving to the parking lot, and i was close to my car when one of them came up from behind and hit me in the back of the head; then he dashed off and the other two were laughing at me. i was afraid that they might do something worse, so i just got in my car and drove away.

i know they were just punk teenagers going for a quick thrill, but it really shook me up. i've had this fear of random violence for a while now, and it makes me sick to think that maybe it wasn't unfounded. but before it was being afraid of being shot randomly.

if i had just left my class earlier or later, maybe it could have been avoided. or it could have been much worse. what if they'd had knives? i'm afraid.

Saturday, December 1

10:22 PM
I like the show American Routes.