I've been a negligent LJ'er again. I realize this especially when I go through old entries and realize I used to write more frequently, and more well-structured, well-written entries. Hrmm. I have to get back to that again! But.... for the time being, a few things:

* Work at VS continues to go well, although I didn't get as many hours as I hoped to get these past couple weeks. Trouble is, when business at a store is slow, they have to adjust their staffing accordingly. I really enjoy it, and will be going in this morning from 9:30-3 PM. I have worked in almost every room now! I really love helping with bras, and the room with the push-up bras is my fave! It's a small enough room that I am able to keep it totally neat and clean on my own without help. It is also fun to help customers find the bra they are looking for.

* Working for Pamela is also going well! I am helping her both with organizing her artwork and with some personal projects. I am making her an address book and organizing her contacts into a new email address, so that is something I can do from home. It is great! We also have had the greatest intentions of going swimming after I work with her at her house. So far we have only gone once (Pamela loves near a city pool -- which is BEAUTIFUL and FREE!). Every time I bring my swimsuit since that day, it has RAINED! Bummer.

* I have to ask at VS today, but my dad has asked me to come into the hardware store for a 5-day stretch in August! I think it would be super fun, and I hope VS allows me to do that. Plus, it would definitely be good pay because it would be full time hours for those 5 days. Crossed fingers that it works out!!

* SUSAN AND BOB GOT KITTENS!!! They are two little girls named Waffles and Edith, and I love them!!! I have decided to be their godmother. They are so cute!!

* Susan and Bob also got a Wii as a wedding present. (Seriously: Best wedding present ever!) Susan and I are addicted to the game "Trauma Center: New Blood." So addicted, in fact, that I got "Trauma Center" for Nintendo DS. :)

* Went with Aly to an event sponsored by PlayStation. It was their 2009 holiday launch, and we got to see the games that will be coming out this fall in time for Christmas. Let me just express my EXTREME EXCITEMENT over The Beatles: Rock Band!!!! I got to try it out and it is SO much fun! It makes me want to get a PlayStation 3. (Or an XBox 360. Or a Wii.) Seriously. At the event, they had mic stands, and I even attempted my goal of both singing AND playing guitar at the same time! This makes me think Doris and I have to rig someting up so that we can sing and play at the same time! If each of us can be 2 Beatles, we could be a whole band!

* My friend Jaime got me addicted to the Facebook game, "Farm Town." It's basically a farming Sim. It sounds lame, I know. I was skeptical at first, too. But now I love Farm Town!

* I am on a really weird sleep schedule. I need to get normalized! I am staying up really late and not even sleeping all that well. I don't know what my deal is, except when I work late at VS, I feel the need to stay up and chill before going directly to bed. And sometimes that's super late to begin with!

* In art news, my cousin Katie comissioned me to do a drawing for her sister-in-law, Kelly. She sent me some photographs to choose from. I did a pencil drawing of her with her baby son, Anson. It came out really nice! I was pleased with it. Katie will be giving it to Kelly this weekend, so I am eager to see how the gift goes over! I saw a picture of it now that Katie had it matted and framed, and it looks great!

* I finalls saw "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." I really enjoyed it! Because of my VS schedule I was not able to see it in Long Island with Megan and Scott, like I usually do. But I saw it with my friend Sam, and it was really fun! I thinkt he move was very fast paced, and it might be difficult for someone to understand who hasn't read the books. I think at this point, it is an assumption that you've done your required reading! ;) Those actors have really grown up with the movies, and I am so impressed with their acting, especially since they were so young to begin with!

* I have decided to keep my female pufferfish's name "Gilligan." Thanks to all who voted -- I think it was unanimous. I agree; I have been calling her "Gilligan" for too long now, it would be confusing to change her name. She is WAAAY cute. I just noticed the other day that one of the spots (right on the top of her head) resembles a heart!!! I changed her water yesterday, and the tank is just sparkling! My bettas are also doing swimmingly (pun intended). I have three: Otto, Owen, and Olaf. Owen is my oldest little guy and he is just doing GREAT! 

* Working at VS has inspired me to do a special cleaning/organizing project. I have been going through my dresser drawers one at a time. I went through panties and bras and threw away old or ill-fitting ones, then tidied the drawer and stacked the bras in the way VS does (which does not crush the cups like my previous storage method did). I also sorted my sock drawer, my pajama drawer, and my sweatpant/exercise clothes drawer. T-shirt drawer: you're next!

* We have a fruit fly infestation again! I mean, it's not the worst infestaton one could get. It's certainly better than bed bugs, fleas, cockroaches, and KATYDIDS! The fruit flies are just ANNOYING and there are SO MANY of them. I have implemented my wine traps, which worked last time I had fruit flies. Crossed fingers that this does the trick.

* While my "relationship" with M officially terminated in January, I have attempted to do the "just friends" thing for the first time. I think it is going well. I have had time away from him to think and I feel like I understand things a bit better just recently. And, I can't help but be so excited for him in regards to how well his career in music is going! He is going some really really great things, and will be playing LOLLAPALOOZA in a couple weeks! Wow!

* Speaking of M, I will likely be doing an incredible costume project for him. He is being recruited as "George Harrison" for a Beatles tribute band, and he needs a Sargent Pepper suit (George wears the reddish one). I am so psyched! Nothing gets me going like a good costume project! It will be my first experience making PANTS. Crazy, right? Something about costume design will NEVER leave my soul! This suit will be CHALLENGING, and it has to fit well. It also has a lot of details. (A LOT.) Plus, since it is for M's tenure with the band, it has to be made well for multiple wearings. The band will wear assorted outfits throughout one show, so it should be easy to change in and out of. My brain is racing with ideas!

* I am feeling the need to really get serious about weight loss and exercise again. I don't know why I've gotten lazy about it. I keep putting it off, and it's the worst thing to put off!

* Just got word that my diploma is available to be picked up from Brooklyn College!!! Yeah, it's official! I'm a master! :)

* Aly and I are going to a Sephora event today. Fun!

Okay; time to shower and get ready for my day! Tally-ho!

I feel like when I do a major cleaning project, it takes forever. Then, for like a week and a half, when people ask me what I've been up to, I'm like, "Oh, I've been cleaning." It doesn't seem like cleaning SHOULD take forever, but it does for me. That's because I stop and do random things while the cleaning is going on. I am very very nitpicky, which also makes a situation where I could be "cleaning" all day and my room still looks like a tornado hit it.

Today is one such day - I have been cleaning and to an outside person I think my room probably looks like I just shifted the mess from my floor to my bed (where there is now a big pile). HOWEVER, I have actually organized a great deal, but to the naked eye, this organization is not visible.

I have a journal/altered book I've been working on, and I save little things to put in it later on. I contained all the little things into a bag, and stopped to put some of the things into the actual book.

I made my General Piles of Mayhem into Organized Piles (craft supplies, stationery items, schoolwork stuff). The giant pile of schoolwork is now hidden in my bookshelf where it does not look unsightly any more.

I moved stuff off the floor so that I could Swiffer and vacuum.

I paused to work on my Pocket Shrine in honor of McNugget. It is coming out sooo cute. So far, I have replicated McNugget's environment in miniature. It's a baby Altoid tin covered in very fine blue glitter (water). At the bottom is some actual gravel from McNugget's tank, and a sprig of his favorite plastic plant (also a relic from his tank). McNugget himself will be represented by a fish magnet I have, I just have to repaint it in his color. The back of the tin shrine is covered in a collage of doodles I did of him during my grad classes. The front will be a photo of him, and the inside will have a saint.

Also while cleaning, I watched three Elvis movies ("Spinout," "Live a Little, Love a Little," and "Fun in Acapulco."), and I listened to two Mix CDs Doris made me. They are great!!

My goal for the day is to have the place actually look clean to an observer who is not me. I've been pretty embarrassed about the state of my bedroom to the point where I have not been letting people really look into it (and certainly have not invited anyone over).

I also need to pack for my Georgia trip! I will be leaving on Tuesday, and will be gone for one week! We'll spend a few days at my family's cabin, then we'll head to St. Simons Island for my grandma's birthday party!

I would love to accomplish more of Marty's blanket. I don't know -- I am kind of running out of hours in the day!

Tomorrow is Susan's birthday, so we are having brunch to celebrate her (and my) birthday! Then I am doing something with Marty later in the day, so it would be nice to not have to worry about packing for my trip tomorrow.

Back in October, my Brooklyn Museum colleagues threw me a very nice farewell party and they presented me with some cool gifts. They included a cool t-shirt, a sushi stapler, and my AWESOME Diana F+ camera! Also, in lieu of a card, they presented me with a poster that they all signed. The poster is a nice painting, and everyone signed it on the back.

ADVICE NEEDED!

How do I display this? The lovely messages are on the BACK of the poster, so if I frame it, I will not be able to see them. However, the front of the poster is obviously the decorative side, and it would look cool framed or hanging up. Anyone have any ideas how I could enjoy BOTH sides? 

Leave it to me to bring you the big news going on in the art world!!!

McCarthy dog shit work wreaks havoc in Switzerland.

:)

This etching is the first out of my 4-part series having to do with photographs, mail/letters, personal objects, etc.

Annoyingly, because I solidified my concept afterwards, this is the only FICTITIOUS letter/image. The remainder of the "vignettes" I make are going to be of actual letters that I received, and other personal objects owned by me.

Either way -- although it is fictitious, I still like it, and I think the composition is neat.

An etching is made by applying a "ground" to a metal plate. The ground is made of resins and other things that resist acid. You then etch into the plate lightly to make the linework. Where the ground is, it will be light, where the line is, it will be dark. Then you submerge the plate into a bath of acid for several minutes. The acid is actually what "etches" the plate, not the pointy tool you use to draw the lines. The acid "bites into" the plate, making a little "trough" that will hold ink wherever the lines were drawn. Wash the ground off your plate, and you're ready to ink it up and begin printing!

All plates print "backwards" so it is important to reverse any images before drawing them onto the plate. This is important for my project because I am using writing in all of them.

Well, to my dismay, the weather was not perfect for photos. I was hoping for some sunnier weather, but I think in the end everything will work out. My final three "characters" were:

* St. Lucy (me wearing some bedsheets and standing outdoors with a dish containing two eyeballs)
* Miss Crustacean (me as a pageant queen)
* Marilyn Monroe (me reclining in bed, in full MM regalia)

The St. Lucy "eyeballs" prop was made by me out of clay. I coated them with corn oil so they'd look slimy! I hope they look like realistic eyeballs in the photos! I was sweating bullets in all of the sheets and the one going over my head kept falling off.

Fortunately I had everything I needed to become Marilyn Monroe, since I have been MM for Halloween before.

I actually bought a new wig this weekend to be Miss Crustacean. It is long and blonde and really looks like "pageant hair." (Or, at the very least, like Suzanne Somers.) I was worried about making a Miss Crustacean "sash." I thought we were going to have to stop at a craft store or two. Mom and I were at the mall and at Sears they were having a sale. Numerous mannequins were dressed in sashes that said "SALE" on them. If turned inside-out, we noted, the sashes were plain white! So, my mom and I actually "stole" a sash off of a mannequin! I feel kinda bad, but honestly it was the perfect thing ever for what I was trying to do.

My 4th roll of film contains pictures of my doggie, Gracie, and pictures of Doris' doggie, Petunia (separate, not together). Some of Gracie's pictures feature her in her very own plastic swimming pool that she enjoys. Petunia was only happy to pose after Doris lured her with chicken!! :)

I hope these 4 rolls come out well!! *crossed fingers!!* I will find out in class tomorrow!

I'm going to be sad when this Photography class is over. I am loving it! :) Last night I printed two photos to fulfill my "motion" assignment. I even sepia-toned them! They are images of my friends hula-hooping at the recent Art Ed Classmate Picnic. A picture of Claire shows the hula hoop is in a blur because it is moving and I used a slower shutter speed. A picture of Brian demonstrates that I can "freeze" the hoop in mid-air by using a faster shutter speed!

I have completed the following pictures/characters for my final project:

* Dead-looking me
* Playing my uke on the rooftop (my "Album Cover")
* Being a Gypsy
* Being in a Freak Show
* Being at work w/out pants (my "worst nightmare")

Regarding the remainder of my project... I would like to do maybe 3 more characters this weekend. I am thinking the characters will be:

* Marilyn Monroe
* The President of the United States (my professor thought of this idea!)
* St. Lucy (my saint! Although I could do another religious figure such as the Virgin Mary or the FIRST WOMAN EVER, Eve! Either way, I MUST do a religious figure.)

Optional:

* Ballerina
* Someone connected to the earth/nature. (Gardener?/Farmer?)
* Me in my First Communion Dress, or Grandma's Wedding Dress.
* Any other costumes Doris and I can think of.

...Are there any of those that you'd particularly like to see? Any other ideas?

In addition to the SELF PORTRAITS, I also will be taking some photos of Gracie, my doglet. AND, as a special request of my professor, I will get some pictures of the pleasantly-plump Petunia, pug superstar! (The professor has a pug as well.) I would like to take pictures of my parents and Doris and anyone else who is willing to stand still for a second while I examine the light meter. :)

I accomplished taking my indoor "gypsy" photographs. Did that on Saturday, but then rain happened, and I was unable to do my next "character," a circus sideshow-type "freak." The "freak show" has been a huge obsession in my work. Note to self: Photograph or scan my "sideshow" lithographs. Overall, I thought my "gypsy" look was pretty awesome, but we'll see how it looks on film. I bought a deck of tarot cards, and I laid them out on a black lace tablecloth (thanks, Alexandra!). I used my "shrimposphere" (or biosphere/self-contained ecosystem) as a crystal ball!

On Sunday, I attended an Art Ed Classmate Picnic, co-planned by me with my friend Brian. We had a lovely two hours of eating and hanging out, before the skies opened up. However, I DID get to do my "motion" assignment. I photographed Brian, Claire, Kristin (Brian's fiancee), and Lauren (Claire's friend) hula-hooping. I even took some self-portraits of myself hooping.The idea of the assignment is to use faster shutter speeds to "stop" the hula hoop in mid-air so it's in focus. Using a slower shutter speed would show some "ghosting," or blurred movement of the hoop going around the person. So -- hopefully I have some good examples of both!

Later on, the rain and poor weather continued. I had really hoped to accomplish more in terms of doing another "character." So.... this morning I got up EARLY and went up on my roof to shoot! I accomplished my "freak" shoot, and I think that roll of film has a LOT of variables in it. First off -- even using the self-timer, it often wasn't enough time to get totally situated. In the pictures I'm attempting to demonstrate my double-jointed "parlor trick." However, that thing I can do with my shoulders is NOT easily captured in a STILL IMAGE -- would be better in a video (I know, I'll get to it, mananath!). So I would basically try to get into a weird position like a contortionist before the camera's timer went off. This would have been easier with a big mirror or a helper/assistant! I hope most of the images were in focus, and I hope that I was fully (or almost fully) in the frame for all or most of them. I think my hair/makeup/costume was neat, so hopefully that'll come across in the images.

Overall, I was glad that I completed an additional 3 rolls of film before the weekend was over! I will have a lot to do tonight!

I guess I will get to see how everything turned out this evening in the dark room!! I am excited! I am hoping the two characters will look distinct and different, even though they are both me. The "Gypsy" images should be powerful and mystical, while the "Carnie" shots should be kind of sad and vulnerable. We'll see if they came out that way... like I said, simply trying to get into the positions for the "freak" shots did not allow much time for me to consider what face I was making. I might be surprised! I hope they are creepy and a little bit gross, yet also somehow sensitive.

I have taken one roll of each character, and I feel I will have "done my job" if I get at least one good image out of each roll.

I will definitely post photos when I can. :)

Today is a day I slated as 100% for photography... I need to get to town on my self portraits. I am gathering "stuff" for a few shoots today. The first I am going to do is to take pictures of myself as a kind of a gypsy/fortune teller. I thought that would be pretty awesome since the "gypsy" has become a part of my own personal mythology. To the extant that my email address is "gypsyallie."

Probably some people are wondering what that's about -- and I find it hard to explain, except to tell you that it was a short-lived childhood nickname that resurfaced a few times. When I was maybe 4 years old, my parents recorded a cassette tape in which I sang a bunch of songs to my Aunt Sharon and Uncle Frank  (who lived in California). At the beginning of the tape, I say (presumably repeating exactly what my parents wanted me to say): "Hello, Uncle Frank and Aunt Sharon. This is 'Let Me Entertain You' by Gypsy Allie." (With Allie being pronounced, Al Lee.) I guess my parents thought this was pretty cute, recalling famed stripper Gypsy Rose Lee in their 4-year old. I can't wait to do strange things like this to my own children someday... but I digress...

Another time around this same era (I was in Pre-K), I was a "gypsy" for Halloween, wearing a costume my Grams made for me. I think my mom thought of this after somehow obtaining this wild fabric that looked very fortune-teller-y. Grams made be a long skirt, a shawl, and a kerchief for my head. I wore it with a white turtleneck and costume beads and big clip-on earrings. My mom made a "crystal ball" by covering a small playground ball with aluminum foil. In Pre-K I'm not even sure I totally understood what I was supposed to be!

Later, my parents used a photo of me dressed as a gypsy in my high school yearbook, in the back where the parents put baby pictures in with the ad space. My mom said something about my "bright future" below the image...

Anyway, I think it is a random personal theme that always makes me think back to this early part of my childhood. Kind of weird, but true.

I explain this at length because I know that igraine120 has done a lot of research on real, actual Romanian gypsies, with a special focus on how the term is used to oppress them as a group of people. So I just wanted to be clear that this leg of the project actually has to do with with my own personal mythology and pop cultural topoi, rather than an ACTUAL group of people. So, Julia, I hope this sort of artmaking doesn't offend you. I don't know what your views are of the campy pop-cultural or glamorous use of "gypsies" as "fortune tellers" or "mystics" are, but I would love to hear any thoughts.

I just woke up from this wild dream where I made an art project/sociological experiment. What I did (in the dream) was set up a table on 7th Avenue in Park Slope. I set it up in front of a store that had closed down. I made a big sign that said "Can You Help?" Then I put a coffee can with a slot in it for monetary donations. There was another sign that was kind of motivating, saying things like, "Any spare change would be appreciated!" and "Make a Difference!" However, the point was that nowhere on the table was there any description of where the money would go. In the dream, I made the signs really attractive and eye-catching, and the table had a nice table cloth on it, etc.

The purpose was to see how many people would donate blindly not knowing where the money would go. The idea was that a lot of people make donations to things without taking the time to read/research what their money is being used for. A lot of well-intentioned people just donate blindly, wanting the satisfaction of donating "to charity," but they don't really check and see that the charity is legit or that they fully believe in what the charity is trying to promote (what if a pro-choice person donated to a pro-life organization, for instance?).

Anyway, in the dream, I just kind of milled around in 7th Avenue watching as people put coins into the coffee can.

Also, I decided (in the dream) that the "donations" collected were going to the Food Bank, because I believe that is something that everyone would support.

It was kind of an awesome idea I just dreamed up!!! I might have to actually do this some day!

Anyway, talk about an elaborate dream. I just had to write that down!!

As a photography student, this submission from [Unknown LJ tag] made me smile:

From my list of 36 things for the "Treasure Hunt" photography assignment... here are the things I have yet to find:

A famous person
The image of God
A dream
A political event
A holy person
A werewolf
A rural landscape
The last possible place on earth
Your worst nightmare
A road without end
A monster in disguise
A king or a queen
A proven miracle
Your favorite food
Your most prized possession

I found these but want to take better pictures of them:
A live wild animal
A new portrait of Elvis
A transmission of light through glass

On Saturday I went to Manhattan with Kristen and captured a bunch of images. On Sunday Jaime and I went to Coney Island and to Manhattan on a photo-mission! We got a LOT done, but I really wanted to get ALL of the things on the list!! It is a super fun project. As you can see all of the items on the list are really up to interpretation. I'm on my 3rd roll of film now.

This morning I got up at 5 AM and watched the sunrise from my roof and photographed it. It was so awesome, I'm almost inspired to get up at 5 AM again! It was gorgeous. Hopefully it looks as cool in black and white as it did in color. As the sun came up, it was hot pink! Really incredible!

One of my exciting moments this weekend was visiting the very subway grate where Marilyn Monroe's Seven-Year Itch "skirt blowing scene" was filmed. That was my choice for "a famous historical place."

I will try to get some of these things at the Botanic Garden tomorrow after work. If I feel really inspired I saw there was a booksigning at Borders where Oscar de la Hoya will be talking about his new memoir. Then I could get a picture of a famous person! Of course I'd have to go on my lunch hour and it might take too long...

I am thinking about finding a Burger King to function as my "king." (Too bad I don't know of any Drag Queens in NYC... I only know where to find them upstate!) It could be cute to get a sign pointing to Queens (the borough)! Hmm...

I haven't decided what my "prized possession" should be!

Aly and I are having sushi tomorrow so I can photograph my favorite food. I am thinking about trying to photograph the sushi chefs, if they'll let me!

Anyone know of any political events going on?? Between now and Wednesday? And where can I find an Elvis impersonator? There are never any Elvis impersonators when I need them.

My mini-trampoline is here! Assembly is required. I got it from work (where I had it mailed) to my home in between work and sculpture class. I got home from sculpture at 11 PM. Then I set to work on my second draft of my final project (a poem) for writing class tomorrow. I've only just finished the draft, and I feel it is too late to go setting up the mini-tramp. Alas! I really wanted to try it out!!!

On my way out of work, one of the security guards told me that she used to have a mini-trampoline, and that she loved it and wore it out! She no longer has one due to having a smaller apartment, but she really endorsed it. That made me excited. I think my mom is totally skeptical of the mini-tramp. I will have to convince her it is good exercise!

+ + +

In sculpture, I am making a Cabinet of Curiosities! I have a small wooden "treasure box" that contains all of these small items that pack wallops of sentimental value. (My Pop Pop's cufflinks and his mandolin pick, my first "love letter" from the seventh grade, both of my dogs' license tags they had when they died, pamphlet about butterflies that my Grandpa brought to boy scout camp, etc.)

I am building a wooden box to display the items in, in sort of a "Cabinet of Wonders" style. I will put a little curtain on to cover the cabinet.

Overall, the idea is that my personal "artifacts" will look a certain way to someone who doesn't know what they are. Maybe they will function as a kind of a self-portrait of me and of things that are important to me (mostly family related). Maybe people will look at them and wonder just WHAT the stories are, or why the items are important.

The Brooklyn Museum is having an exhibition entitled "Click" where YOU can be a curator! All you do is look at photos and evaluate them. It is really fun and interesting to see the photos and rate them. I just finished evaluating the photos this week. EVERYONE is welcome to participate! See below for more information:

If you know everything about art or nothing at all, create an account, log in and evaluate some of the works that have been submitted during our open call for Click! A Crowd-Curated Exhibition. Your participation will shape the exhibition, opening at the Museum on June 27, 2008. Evaluation can take a while, but you can do as little or as much as you want *and* you can log in anytime throughout the evaluation period which ends May 23. It would also be super helpful if you'd pass the word along to others. We really need a diverse crowd and that means we need evaluators with range of knowledge (including none!) and varied geographic locations (including outside of Brooklyn!).

Register and get started here: http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/click/

Untitled (Ginger & Gilligan) Plexiglass etching. March 2008.

For fun, I thought I would share my recent Gilligan and Ginger etching with you!! Here it is!

As you can see, I am back in Brooklyn. More about my trip later!! :)