Alanna Risse

Even though I have a “girls gone wild” hangover from all the partying I’ve been doing this week, I have a spring in my step and a glint in my eye today. I am cramming to get as much done today as I can and then I fly away, like a bird.

I have so many things I want to do tomorrow, I don’t know which to do. I think it will involve being outside though. It is so nice outside right now. We went to Red’s Java House for my going away lunch and sat outside on the patio. So sunny and beautiful today!

Ok, back to work.

Last night I went to Annie’s Cocktail Lounge. We had some birthday karaoke for my friend Jason. Annie’s is great. I’ve wanted to go for years but just never made it there. There’s a great crowd on Tuesdays and they have a pretty decent karaoke selection. I masacred a Carpenters song and a Patsy Cline song. I think the highlight of the evening was Waldo’s fantastic rendition of Sunday Girl. I nearly peed myself. Alan and Andy were there and Jeff from Liquid Audio. I don’t see those folks very often. It was a fun night. I even got a ride home.

I am so sick of hearing about Terri Schiavo and Michael Jackson. Today on yahoo! news I saw an article entitled “Jackson prays with Terri Schiavo’s family.” At first I thought it was referring to Michael Jackson, but it was the Rev. Jackson. That might be a good idea, just combine all the over-hyped news into one article per day. I’d sure appreicate it.

It’s spring break. Although I still have class tonight, so it’s really only spring break in spirit. I am thinking about having a wet t-shirt contest with myself in my back yard. Maybe Tom can just hose me down with the garden hose and we can drink some canned beer or something.

I am getting over my sinus infection nicely. I feel much better today. I have more energy and my nose is fairly clear. My stomach still hurts a little but not nearly as much as it had been hurting over the weekend. I am almost normal again.

The rest of the week I focus on finishing up my contract. Lots of bug fixes and tweaks. Then Friday is my first day of unemployment. I’m excited. I have lots planned for April.

Check out the photos from the March Sparkanzoo Craft Sale. I will be selling small paintings, pastels, cards and hats at the one on April 23rd so mark your calendars.

hip hop easter bunny

It’s the last day of classes before Spring break. This makes me a very happy girl. We are having a critique on our latest assignment of alternative surface and memory/autobiography. I am showing off my dinosaur today. Then tonight I’m off to Western Civ class for a final lecture before the break. I get my test results back tonight. Wish me luck.

A guy snuck into the met and hung 4 of his own paintings.

http://www.kottke.org/

http://www.woostercollective.com/2005/03/wooster-exclusive-banksy-hits-new.html

Genius!

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/03/18/artists.online/index.html

Hi, Amy Ruppel is having an online art sale today of her small encaustics $80 – $100. We own two of them and we like ‘em! So go buy one.

I’m getting over a cold. It mostly just made me really cranky and mad. Now I seem to be mostly ok. Today was busy for being so sniffly. I painted my dinosaur. Here he is in just newspaper. As of now he is covered in paper pulp and painted in a patchwork of pinks, blues and greys. Everyone in my class seemed genuinely taken by him. I will post more photos soon. Unless someone busts into our car tonight and steels him out of the back. Errrrr, now I’m scared.

After school I headed over to Flickerbox to pick up Tom. There was an artist party at Varnish for the artists that donated to the Artspan Auction this year. I was hoping to run into some studio friends but I actually ran into Ashley and Brian. They own two of my paintings. I hadn’t met Ashley before so that was pretty exciting.

Then we headed to the Odeon for the WordPress party. We are shy so we didn’t really communicate with other humans until Matt introduced himself as we were leaving. So I babbled a bunch of stuff about how I hearted WordPress and how I got everyone at Flickerbox using it and then we ran away. I’m a little embarrassed that I haven’t upgraded to 1.5 yet but jeez man, I’ve been busy jugglin’ and shit.

I’m looking over the crest of a big mountain of responsibility. I finished my test tonight and was able to go out for drinks. Now Tom is sick in bed and I’m all wide awake. I just have to make it through tomorrow, then work on my painting assignment for Tuesday and I’m pretty much done for the week. No papers due, just some hours at work and some school time. I can’t explain how good it feels to be out of the hard part. A guy in my class says he works 40 hours a week and has 4 core classes. I don’t know if I believe him because my 4 classes and 30 – 34 hours of work a week were on the cusp of humanly impossible. Anyway, it’s practically over now. And I’m repectably drunk for a st patty’s day. So there.

Paddy the famous Irishman is driving home after downing a few at the local
pub. He turns a corner and much to his horror he sees a tree in the middle
of the road. He swerves to avoid it and almost too late realizes that there
is yet another tree directly in his path. He swerves again and discovers
that his drive home has turned into a slalom course, causing him to veer
from side to side to avoid all the trees. Moments later he hears the sound
of a police siren and brings his car to a stop.
The officer, approaches Paddy’s car and asks him what on earth he was doing.
Paddy tells his story of the trees in the road when the officer stops him
mid sentence and says, “Fer Chris sakes, Paddy, that’s yer air freshener!”
HAPPY SAINT PATRICK’S DAY….

I just did a very smart thing and I can’t believe I did it. I turned down going to see a band with Ukuleles called “Tippycanoe.” It’s amazing I turned down this incredible evening because:

1. I really like Ukuleles and
2. I like to party and have a good time.

I instead decided to stay home to study for my test tomorrow because:

1. Trying to finish my BFA is one of the most important things I’ve ever undertaken in my life (that and being a good girlfriend). It’s a long way away and I need to be disciplined and consistant if I’m going to make it.
2. I’m doing not so good in my class and going out drinking on a Wednesday night, the night before a big test, isn’t going to make that better.
3. my neck hurts and headbanging to Ukuleles isn’t going to make that any better either.

So congratulations to me. I am a sensible and intelligent girl who’s going places in this world. Maybe someday soon I can go see Tippycanoe and I won’t even have to worry about a test the next day. I bet they play more often than I have tests.

Now back to studying!

here is where I am staying in paris:

Hotel Commines

You are in my dreams. April, the month of wonderment, of joy, of freedom and happiness. I think of you every second, of every day. We are past the March hump, only two more weeks to go and I will be all yours. I will appreciate you like no one has ever appreciated a month before. You are beautiful, and you will be all mine. So soon…. so soon.

On the way to work today, the clutch cable on my scooter snapped. I knew I needed to get a tune up but I rely on my scooter so much, I just never found the time. So now I have no choice but to deal with it. And frankly,it seems like the perfect time and day for it to happen, so I’m happy as a lark.

Hi, I have nothing to say really, I’m just showing off that I can post to my weblog from bart.

I feel very quiet today. I don’t have anything interesting going on inside my head. Just quiet. I would like to sit in the grass and watch the branches blowing around in the breeze. I am approaching my work and tasks for the week with the same sense of quiet. Probably a very good thing since there’s a lot on my plate. In two weeks I get a week off from school. I’m starting to feel like life is becomig managable again. I think about the next three years and all the school I have ahead of me and it doesn’t feel as daunting right now. I hope I can finish my AA by next summer. I think I can.

My neck is still bothering me but is now tolerable. I had made an appointment for Wednesday night at my Chiropractor but I just don’t see how I can get there in time. So I cancelled and I’ll just have to tough it out for another three weeks. I hope I don’t regret that.

This weekend we finished organizing our tax crap and dropped off large envelopes at our accountant’s office. What a huge relief.

My Saturday art marketing class was once again very helpful. We went over all of my materials like Bio, Statements, Resume and really tore them apart. Its so great to get such detailed feedback. One woman in the class was scared off by it, now there are only two of us left. Sad because it’s a very useful class and I’d hate to see it go away. For next week I’m supposed to revise my stuff based on the feedback I got, bring in one of my marketing books (little hand printed books I make with paintings and artist info) and I’m supposed to come up with a schedule for the next year broken down into larger and smaller goals. There’s a lot to think about there. I got a pretty good start last night. It felt kind of good to be makig myself a Gantt chart. This is a busines after all, and I should be treating it with equal respect.

I spent a decent amount of time studying for my Western Civ test this Thursday. The rest of my free time this week will be dedicated to studying. I am behind in my latest painting project. I know what I’m going to do but I don’t know when I’ll have time to do it. Might have to postpone work on it til this weekend.

Now I ask you, if you came across this lamp, would you be able to walk away? No, I don’t think so. I had to bring him home. He deserves a second chance.