It's HERE!

For 3 hours I've been sitting in the presence of greatness, completely UNAWARE!

I totally missed the fact that this beautiful thing (17" Macbook Pro) was sitting in just inside my office door when I arrived this morning. And in a few hours, Mr. IT (Charlie) is going to wisk it away and tinker with it and love it until it hums and then he is going to bring it back to me, whence I will make it sing!

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I, like many people I'm sure, have been a bit anxiety ridden about the approaching state of the economy. I called my Mortgage Adviser (who I absolutely LOVE), Seth Warren at Alpine Mortgage, with just the tinies hint of worry in my voice. He told me to shoosh and keep in mind that the job market is a good indicator of the economy and thus, the housing market. Well, things are going strong here in Portland. Its one of the few places in the country that the housing and job market are both going strong. The voice in the back of my head is saying, "yeah, but...Portland has historically been a late bloomer, catching up with the rest of the US economy months or even years later." I tell that voice to shut up! I don't want to know!

But then... Today, I heard the employment rating has dropped significantly (in the US, not Portland only). *sigh* I am thinking seriously about persuing a part-time teaching gig. And maybe even trying to persuade Daniel that we should get a roommate for a while.

On the positive side, I am going to have my vision checked and get glasses and daniel will be getting glasses for the first time in like 7 years!

Personal Iconography

Lesson: Over the first 1/2 of the term have students scan new doodles in their sketchbooks. These can be random (not drawn with conscious thought) and deliberate sketches. Regular assignments are to develop complex, but succint illustrations combining or using their personal iconography. The end result is a database of original, self-reflective, emotive illustrations that develop both the students' illustration ability, narrative skill, and ability to convey succint, personal expression. Example

I Want To Go Back To School

...as a teacher. Part-time, maybe evening classes. I really enjoy teaching and think I could help students deveop their critical thinking skills. I am developing my syllubus now. Just in case...

Blogtastic

Sometimes I wonder if these people have day jobs, or if they really do blog all day long. I can't stop looking at these blogs Oh Joy! and Decor8. The photos are faboulous. Here is a small sampling of their colorful sites and hopefull shows why I can't stop looking at them.

1000 Bricks

Daniel and I spent all of yesterday obtaining 1000 bricks. We had to rent a uhaul and do this in 2 trips because it turns out, bricks are REALLY heavy. It was a particularly dirty job and Daniel and I both killed a LOT of VERY VERY BIG spiders. At the end of the second load my dad and Keegan came to help us unload which is good because I don't think we could face it alone at that point. So there are now 1000 bricks piled in the back of our house. What are we going to do with it, you ask? We are going to pave and build retaining walls and who knows what else, but here is an inspirational photo of brick in Belguim