Alanna Risse

I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place. I’m in my happy place.

well, it’s another wonderfully frustrating day on the job. This morning my computer was locked. My windows account has expired and no one seems to be around to help me get it back. It’s sort of ok though because several weeks ago, after about a week of trying to get admin privillages to my own machine, so that I can work on my project, Someone loaned me their machine, so I’m pretending I’m them, and they luckily haven’t expired too. Still, I can’t get email or my calendar. Also I’ve been trying to get a working build or a day and a half now. And I don’t really have any hopes of it working any time soon. Everyone is scrambling to get things done and I’m sick and tired of taknig other people’s time. I really want to go now. Maybe it I tap my shoe heels together three times.

I have so many paintings forming in my head and no time to paint them. I feel like I’m going to burst. Still, I’ll be able to start another one outside of the class assignment on Tuesday since it’ll take the class a while to get organized. You know what’s cool? 1970′s suburbs, cows and ufos.

Muscle Car is done, I think. I can never be too sure abot these things. But it’s done enough for now.

This morning I was having day dreams about how I’m going to be so much in demand that I’m going to have to start buying property just to do something with my assets. I will have to find a home with a garden and a nice studio, plus room for Tom’s music. It might take a long time. Maybe I should start looking now. You know, just to be prepared.

I am trying to get all my homework done this weekend so that I can hang out with Oona on Wednesday. It’s her 5th birthday. I gotta get her some presents. Damn, what to get her. If you were 5 and you really liked pink, what would you want?

I am almost done with my mapping project, which is due Tuesday. My paper, which is due Thursday is half done. I have sadly given up on the children’s book illustration class. I haven’t done work for it in over two weeks. I am still going to class but I told the teacher it would be a miracle if I completed anything. I worked 35 hours last week. This week I start class #4 and I’ll probably fall over.

I can’t stop buyinmg things. Yesterday I bought the Rosetta Stone French Learning CD ROM. We used to test them when I worked at Apple and I think they are really great. Still, it’s silly to spend so much money for a three week trip to France. But I guess I’m just silly.

I can’t seem to get motivated to get any work done today. I slept in until 11:30. We had a pretty late night. We saw Nada Surf at the Great American Music Hall. They were once again, great. We had sushi and many beers throughout the night. Tom’s not feeling very good today. I switched to vodka tonics early in the night and anaged to avoid a hangover.

Today I need to get going on a painting for my mapping project. I am going to paint my experience at my latest contract job. Should be pretty fun, if I can ever get off my bee-hind.

my heart beats for you… and also to carry blood to all the parts of my body, but mostly it beats for you.

These three things are more important than you’d think.

I did a little experimenting today. I might like this painting just the
way it is.
–alanna

After pouring through my Frank Lobdell book, I was having this very vivid dream tuesday night about the inner workings of machines and electronics and how I may have found my calling as an artist, to investigate the insides of things. I opened up this large machine and inside were pipes and knobs and switches that looked exactly like the locomotive painting I did a while back. . And I had this Eureka moment where I thought “Of course! This has been my destiny all along! This is my artistic voice trying to get out!” I flailed my arms up in the air in excitement and bashed my hand REALLY loudly into the wall and yelled something like “Of course!”. Tom mumbled “huh? what?”, I tried to explain my dream but the more I tried to explain, the more I realized, you just had to have been there. So I went back to sleep. Now I’m obsessed with the insides of things. I take these pictures of insides but I haven’t until now known how to represent them in a painting. I think I have some ideas to try out.

This mapping project has turned out to be pretty damn intereting. It’s challengnig but I’m starting to get it and I’m very intrigued by it. And this morning Amazon.com suckered me into byuing not 1 book but 4 books on various subjects. I now an the owner of a book on mapping, collage, artists journals and chart wheels. Like I need more books but I’m so damn excited about them, I can’t wait to get them.

Not much to say. I’m happy its thursday. Its a busy day today. I have
work and two classes. See ya later!
–alanna

I wish I wasn’t such a broken record but oh well. I’m doing better today. I got a lot done at work and feel like the project is getting closer to completion.

Yesterday I got pretty far on the muscle car painting. Should be done in a session or two.

Last night I decided the Frank Lobdell is a very good painter. I wish I was half as cool as he was.

Here, enjoy some nice photos of the San Francisco Bay Bridge and surrounding area.

I’m having a little anxiety attack today. I’m a little tired. It’s only Tuesday. I gotta hold it together. Just a couple more weeks. I can do it. When I’m done with the projcet I will say “That wasn’t all taht bad”. It’s just time.

Thompson died this weekend at age 67. It’s so sad. It’s just so sad. I don’t know what else to say. We will miss you.

Where did it go? Yesterday we packed up my cat painting “Reclining Nude” to get it ready to ship off to Arlington VA to it’s new owner. We got Tom a new producer’s desk at Guitar Center and I spent the rest of the day studying at a cafe while Tom tore apart the apartment to set up his new studio. I got most of my paper done that’s due this week but it still needs a little work. We had a nice dinner and watched Lost in Translation. I was so tired I went to bed at about 10:30 but read a little bit about Miro before passing out. I decided Miro was a very cool dude.

Today I got up, bought some sandals, picked up some groceries at Whole Foods and tried to work on paper #4 which is due next week. I didn’t get far. My Western Civ class isn’t all that much fun. The textbooks are so dry. It’s really painful. No wonder so many young kids drop out of college. The core classes really do just suck your brain dry. Tonight we are having champaigne, cheese, olives, and a nice roasted chicken and I’ll probably work on my paper more. Or maybe I will just drink wine and listen to Alistair Cook. That sounds better.

I am not getting anywhere in my children’s book illustration class. It is clearly a casualty of my contract being extended and that makes me sad, but the money I’m earning will send me to France, so it can’t be all that bad. Still I have one more class starting on March 5th and if my project isn’t done soon, I really will keel over. 4 classes, 30 hours of work, um no, that’s insane.

Tomorrow I have to leave work a little early to go to a meeting about the France trip, then I rush off to my class in Oakland at 7:15, and back home after a very long Bart trip and bus trip. It’s going to be an insanely busy day. I won’t be home til about 11:30pm. It’s all about the peanut butter sandwiches, baby. And um, cappucinos.

I’m so distracted these days that last night I tried to put the frying
pan away in the refridgerator.

Last week, when was supposed to be going to the laundry room, I instead
walked all the way out the gate of my apartment building before I
realised I had no idea where I was going.

It’s time I finish up this project so I can focus on school and art.
–alanna

I probably shouldn’t talk about it until all the Is are dotted and the Ts crossed but it looks like I have a buyer for Reclining Nude. I’m pretty happy about this because I think this painting deserves a good home. We have nowhere to hang it in our house anymore.

Happy day!

I’m dressed like a girl today. It feels nice to not feel like a slob. Maybe I should make fridays dress-up day. It’s hard to dress up when you know you are just going to get covered in paint.

Um, gotta work! bye.

Oh! I lost 4 pounds this week. Super duper!

Oh! and I got my tickets to France. I will be gone for the entire month of June. Weird and freaky and lonely and crazy and weee! I’m going to France!

I wish I had a better picture, but the light on the bay is so incredible
right now. The cranes are all lit up in bright light and the clouds are
dark behind them.
–alanna

At this precise moment, the sun is shining. Something I didn’t think I wuold see for another few days. It feels nice.

I am sick. My work is a festering petri dish of disease and germs. This is my third illness since starting here ni late November. Luckily, they have all been pretty mild illnesses but they are still crappy none-the-less. I don’t have time to be sick. This semester involves 8 papers, 4 tests, 15 paintings and a 32 page illustrated children’s book. I have no time for sickness.

What do you think?
–alanna