The Pope missed Ash Wednesday services because he was feeling ill. I missed Ash Wednesday service with no excuse. I feel a stronger connection with the Pope now though.
On Monday nights I have a class called Non-Darkroom Processes. We are learning to use solvents, acrylic medium, heat, and water to transfer images to plastic, metal, and cloth. People are still situated in the room in a similar way that they would be in a darkroom only the lights are on. Instead of using light to make images we use hair dryers, clothing irons, spoons, and brushes. And just as you might expect, two students at the rear of the class discuss their dreams of one day making T-shirts for a living.
I went to my friends Andrew and Maris's house to watch the Super Bowl. Great close game. The best part was the hot wings and the steaks our friend Paul cooked on the grill. The Super Bowl is the Thanksgiving of sporting events.
I felt uncomfortable getting on the elevator with a woman, while I was carrying all my laundry bags. I got to the laundry room, threw my dirty clothes down, and went to the change machine -- out of order! Later, when I was nearly done I found out that one of the dryers I was using didn't work.
Two sculptors, Adam and Ellen sit in the basement of the Corcoran Gallery discussing an opening at the Arts Club of Washington. I told them I'd see them there, but not before I had something to eat. I went to Goldie's Italian and ordered a slice of pizza. Since it was Friday I decided to get a beer too. It was $3 a glass or $6 a pitcher; I went for economy. When I walked out of Goldie's 15 minutes later it felt like a whole new world. I was lucky to make it to the opening. I remember most Bill Newman's colorful oil paintings. The attention to detail in Newman's paintings is supernatural. Drinking that pitcher so quickly earlier was a supernatural sleeping pill with a side of Tourettes. I fought its effects as well as I could for about 3 hours until I found myself at home sleeping.
A friend of mine, Rick heads to his apartment after night class. He is a photography student from Panama. He is working an internship at the Gannett Publishing/USA Today photo department in McLean, Va. He may ride his bike to and from his classes but I've only ever seen him walking it.
This is Cassie sitting by the color print machine waiting for her print. She is the only other photojournalism student in Mr. Kim Stacy Kirkpatrick's Wednesday night color photography class. Tonight we all spent a lot of time waiting for prints to emerge from the machine. It was my first time using a color enlarger and I made a few simple mistakes. However, I was able to make a good enough print to move to the next assignment by the end of class. I have a good time in class. I remember that having a tangible photographic print is one of the reasons for photography.
Elizabeth Chacko, GWU associate professor of geography and international affairs spoke on the affect of the tsunami on development and public health issues during a discussion panel held Tuesday night. The gathering of panel experts from George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs was entitled The Asian Tsunami: Political, Economic, and Social Implications. Chacko was the only one of the panel who was in the area of the tsunami at the time it struck. She was concerned with raising awareness about the emotional and psychological repercussions of the tsunami on women. Moderator and dean of the Elliott School, Harry Harding, summed up the situation by first drawing a connection between the night's sparse attendance and the tsunami's drop from the headlines. Harding said that although the problems have just begun the consequences will last for decades.
On my way home from class tonight I went to Chef's Express to get a small Hunan Chicken ($4.75). While I was carrying my dinner home I saw a vagrant man talking to himself beside a church. As I got closer I realized he was speaking in Chinese. As I got even closer he snapped out of his one-man theatrics and gestured me for a cigarette. When he realized I didn't smoke he went back to talking to himself. The way he was using his hands to talk you'd think he was Italian and not Chinese. When I snuck around the church to snap a picture of him I realized he was acting into the church's security camera. I was never able to find out if he was a Chinese National or not.
After hours of working in the fine arts studio today my friend mike suggested getting a bite to eat. We both had the unnatural urge to go to McDonald's to get a hamburger. When realizing that it was because we were listening to a McDonald's radio commercial, we both felt mentally violated like lab rats reacting to a formula. We opted for Burger King instead. Eating our hamburgers from the 2nd story window we watched the Burger King manager chase a vagrant from the store with a sawed-off mop stick. I said, "Burger King tastes worse than McDonald's." Mike agreed.
