I was reading a post of Kevin Cornell's recently, about tattoos. I am of the same opinion as him when it comes to permanently inking my skin: if I were to do it, the tattoo would be drawn by me (or someone I know) and it would be useful to some degree.
Then I started thinking about what I would get if I had to get a tattoo, and here's my list, in no particular order:
The imperial scale, or a ruler. I can't tell you how many times I've searched in vain for a scale in order to measure a particular element in a drawing. If I had it tattooed on my forearm, problem solved!
To Do List. This might possibly be my favorite idea. It would basically just consist of "To Do" underlined, with unchecked boxes underneath it. Better even, would be a tattoo that merges my love of lists with my love of post it notes. Just get a yellow (or other color) post-it note tattooed on the inside of my forearm, complete with a corner curled up and shadow underneath.
Connect the dots. I don't know what image I would want it to look like, but it would look just like the "connect the dots" activities found in children's coloring books.
A list of CAD shortcuts, whether for AutoCAD, Rhino, Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.
Today marks a proud day in history, as Carnival Cruise Lines broke the world record for "World's Largest Beach Ball" today in downtown Dallas, Texas. The ball neasures 3 stories tall. Awesome? Yes. Cute? Definitely!
Just look at this video taken at the dropping of the beach ball:
I laughed out loud when all the people put their hands up in anticipation to hit the ball. It reminds me of that part in Toy Story where all the aliens are in the claw machine and they look up at the claw and go, "Ooooooo."
This event calls out to our inner children, I believe. Adults have forsaken work time for play time, if only for a few minutes, and I think part of the cute connection relies on the playfulness that this depicts.
Cute Cues:
Roundness
Unsteadiness (Slowness)
Smallness in comparison to other objects (People are dwarfed)
I've been trying for a long time to come up with a good Halloween costume, but have pretty much come up short. I've been so used to doing "group costumes" that doing one on my own is difficult. (I will be home and away from my school peeps this year.) Last year, our group was the Publisher's Clearing House Prize Patrol. And the year before, we were Legends of the Hidden Temple contestants. Both very awesome and fairly easy. I've had a couple of ideas, but they involve either (a) a lot of time or (b) a lot of money.
So, I started looking through my movie library for a little brainstorming and came up with this:
Trillian (aka Trisha McMillan) from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. She's the leading actress and Arthur Dent's love interest in the movie. She wears a three-armed shirt because her current beau, an alien named Zephod, has three arms. It's obscure enough that people will have to ask me what I am, but not so obscure that people will have never seen the movie. I am afraid, however, that people will mistake me for Tom Cruise in Risky Business. Or Leann from Project Runway because of the crazy large glasses.
Here are some snapshots from the movie:
I think I'm just the right amount of pale to pull this off, too.
It'd be rather cheap. Two oxford shirts, knee high socks, shorts, and reading glasses. And would only require a small amount of sewing. Plus, there are a few options for accessories: a "Hitchhiker's Guide" book, a towel. And then I have a drink option for the night as well: Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters!
Ideally, I would wear this costume of hers from the movie:
But that is way too intensive and far beyond my sewing capabilities.
Another idea, which would take a bit more time and money, would be a character from Guitar Hero. Both are a bit Comic-Con. Also, Juno, which would just involve a trip to PacSun and strategic pillow placement. If you have any ideas or some opinions, let me know.
Sad that the polaroid camera is being phased out? This will help!
Go here to download the software for free. (Sorry, for Mac only.) Then just drag and drop picture files onto the camera and out pops a polaroid version. Plus, if you "shake" the polaroid while it's developing, it will develop faster. Here are a few test runs of mine:
I've finally done my working drawings for my lounge chair. I added a little color to give you an idea of what it will look like when built. At least in profile:
Right now, if you sat in it, your butt would be about 6 inches off the ground. I realize that that is extremely low, but it's for me, so nyah. And I made the seat extremely large, about 2 x 2 feet, so that I could sit cross-legged and work on my laptop. As soon as I actually get some pieces cut or some actual progress done, I'll take pictures and post them.
I've got a critique for my Studio project today, and I'm all nervous. I haven't given a real honest-to-goodness presentation in just about forever.
Here's a little preview of what I'm showing:
Hopefully, they'll be so astounded by my ability to draw neat stars that they'll look over the fact that I'm still in bubble diagram phase. But really, getting to this point was the hardest part. I've got all my inspiration pictures, which takes a lot longer to compile than you'd think, and my basic floor plan is hashed out. And I have my storyline complete, as well as what happens during the ride. I don't have to worry about code or wall sections or jamb details, so it's like I get to skip the CD phase. Woo!
Anyways, they're starting so I best be going. Wish me luck!
The CAPD is trying to come up with an alert plan in case of an emergency other than tornado or fire. Right now, the plan is to sound 3 long blasts from a air horn. If this should happen, please go to a room, lock the door, and get behind the wall or under your desk. STAY THERE UNTIL THE SITUATION IS CLEARED. Any questions, please come to me and ask.
Is there something going on that I'm not aware of? Anticipatory emergency plans for when Obama wins and all the Republican Kansans take to the town with pitchforks and torches?
There have been a few new developments as far as some of my projects have been concerned, and I'll start with the most exciting first.
My shop professor all but guaranteed that my desk design would be one of the three pieces to "win" the competition, so I've been working on my technical drawings for that. He also let me know that I would pretty much not need to do anything for at least the next month while the metal pieces are being fabricated, so...
I decided to go ahead and build the lounge chair that I wrote a post about a while back. This puts a bit of a strain on me, I understand that, so I have made it clear to Steve that this project may be carried into next semester. But, I went ahead and ordered the wood: 9 board feet of 2" dark walnut. I'm so excited to start work on it and finally get back into the shop! I miss everything about shop: the smell of all the wood, being covered in wood shavings, narrowly escaping death when the jointer decides to act up. Sigh.
Anyway, the lounge, aptly named the So Lo Lounge as the seat sits 6 inches off the floor, is going to look exactly as it does in the picture. No wheels, no brass footings. The only difference is in material choice: walnut and white cotton/nylon strap (as opposed to what I show in the model as beech and dark gray strap). I'm currently finishing up technical drawings, and will print out a full-size side elevation shortly.
The good news ends there, sadly. This last weekend, Kelsey attended a landscape architecture get-together in Pennsylvania, and to her surprise, a Disney Imagineer gave a talk on the future of landscape architecture in theme parks. Long story short, our fantastically one-of-a-kind idea has already been built at Tokyo Disney Sea, so we're going to have to shift our story a bit, or possibly go back to brainstorming phase. It's quite a setback, but I've got some ideas already brewing. I'm confident that I'll have a good idea developed and drawn up for my mid-crit next Friday.
Basically, all the hard work that I'm doing and will be doing over the next few weeks is going towards the ability to take off Halloween and the weekend following it, so I can go home and visit with family. That is my current motivation, so if I'm a hermit during this time, please don't blame me. It's the system.
As I'm sure all of you know, the 2008 Vice Presidential Debate between Democratic VP nominee Joe Biden and Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin is this evening, starting at 8pm (Central), and held at Washington University in my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri.
I'm proud to be from Missouri, which boasts a swing state status. Missouri has had quite a good record for choosing the presidents that eventually get elected. (Note I am not saying that they chose well, just that they matched election outcomes.) In fact, 1956 was the last time Missouri got it wrong, choosing Democrat Adlai Stevenson by an incredibly narrow margin of 4,000 votes. So it's safe to say that what happens in Missouri is a fairly accurate indicator of what is happening nationwide.
A CNN/TIME poll taken just two days ago puts Barack Obama just 1 percent ahead at 49% to John McCain's 48%. This is a very interesting fact, considering all previous polls had put Obama behind McCain by anywhere from 2 to 10 points. This does, however, reflect a nationwide shift of voters towards Obama. All signs lead to the current economic crisis as the reason.
Now it might sound like I'm super involved and keep up-to-date on everything political, but my fascination is actually very recently discovered. I did vote in the last presidential election (at the ripe age of 18) by absentee ballot as I was a new freshman at Kansas State. I do remember sitting in my dorm room on election night, watching my roommate's tiny television as the ballots were counted and the numbers came in. But I was nowhere near as informed then as I am now. For some reason, I just find this election absolutely fascinating! Maybe it's the fact that there is an African American presidential candidate or maybe it's that there is a female vice presidential candidate or maybe it's that I feel the most important and hotly debated issues affect me more now than 2004's issues did then. But the result is the same. I am practically glued to my television (and computer), watching the latest polls, debates, interviews, gaffes, and Saturday Night Live skits.
From the onset of my newly-found obsession, I tried to remain objective, making my mind up on the issues, setting my priorities before taking sides, and not allowing stereotypes to pervade my opinions. But even though it is early in the running, and there is still almost 5 weeks left before the election, I believe I have come to a decision regarding my vote, and (just to warn you) my stance will be made painfully obvious in the following paragraphs.
Now I'm not trying to change minds or alienate, I'm simply sharing with you all the interesting and humorous things I've seen over the past few weeks. And warning that those things will lean overwhelmingly left.
First is a short that played on Fox News (lovingly referred to as Fixed News or Fox Noise by most liberals) where Brian Wilson "polled" diners in Scranton, Pennsylvania, asking them collectively who they will vote for.
If you pay close attention, you will notice that a man in the center of the shot begins to raise his hand when Wilson asks for McCain voters. His wife quickly hits his hand down. When Wilson then asks for Obama voters, he raises his hand and his wife raises both of hers. Hilarious! Also, you'll see that when Wilson asks for McCain voters, there is one hand raised, almost off camera on the right. When the shot pans out, you see that it is actually Wilson's hand. And even after that outrageously one-sided vote, he has the cajones to call it a split!? Oh, Fox News, you make me giggle.
Next is the most recent of Palin's interviews with Katie Couric, where Couric asks her what newspapers and magazines she reads. Check out her answer:
Any of them? All of them?! This is just one of the many reasons why Palin scares the living bejesus out of me. (Her belief in Creationism and inquiry into book banning are among the top of my list.) And perhaps it wouldn't be that big of an issue if McCain weren't 72 years old. But he is, and there is a very significant chance that she would become president in the next four years. And that is a very scary thing for me.
So to lighten the mood a bit, my last video comes from Saturday Night Live, which is seeing major exposure on cable news networks for Tina Fey's guest star portrayal as Sarah Palin for its opening skits these past two weeks. The most recent skit portrays Sarah Palin's first interview with Couric:
And check out this side-by-side comparison of Palin and Fey as they deliver the exact same words:
(45 seconds in is where the comparison starts)
Apparently, according to Keith Olbermann, Tina Fey will be appearing on the next five episodes of SNL up until the election on November 4th. I am so excited for this. The first two were amazing and it can only get better.
So please take a gander. (I myself will be sitting back, taking notes while sipping a White Russian.) Make up your own mind. And for Pete's sake, register to vote!
So in true Kate fashion, I'm not doing a chair for my shop project. (At least not my main shop project.) If you are not familiar with my work methodology, it's that my first idea is always crap. I know that is not true, but it helps me feel better about switching my project up a month into the school year. The final proposal (a small 8.5 x 11" with images and text) for the project was due today for those that are participating in the cast metal competition. It's not so much a competition as it is bidding to be one of the three students who gets their casting process done absolutely free (which would save me hundreds of dollars).
Steve let me know only after my inquiring into the use of cast metal footings for my chair that this competition was up for grabs. So i figured I would focus on metal as the main component of my design. I went back to some earlier sketches for some inspiration for my new, mostly metal piece, and voila! The WorkGroup Desk!
Click the image to read the description.
It isn't shown in this proposal, but the wood "slots" into the hollow aluminum ends, so there are only three pieces to put together. It'll be nice for me when I move at the end of the year, and it's a good selling point for storage and shipping and such. I've drawn up a bunch of "variants," which I won't be building, but plan to propose to the head of the cast metal manufacturing plant if my piece is chosen.
So let me know what you think! And questions and ideas are definitely welcome.
Hi! My name is Kate, and I'm in my fifth and final year at Kansas State University, working towards a Masters in Interior Architecture and Product Design.
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