Random sketches

   Occasionally, I do random sketches for friends when they're feeling down or annoyed. I appreciate it, because it lets me express art in a way that doesn't need to feel finished. I don't stress over it, or worry if this one line is off- just sketch, photograph, send via email or text, and scrap. I usually don't even know what is going to be drawn until the pen hits the paper, and something starts coming out. Here are two that have come up recently.

1) Tony.
   Tony got a start when my friend Shay needed inspiration to keep mopping the floor. I totally messed up the very first line of whatever I was trying to draw, and it ended up getting turned into Tony- the cheerful, upbeat, inspiring male cheerleader. Go figure.

2) Poor Saul.
     Poor Saul got started when both a friend and I were extremely frustrated at tasks we "had to" be doing. I grabbed an old piece of homework, turned it over, and draw this guy:

The line that accompanied him was "At least you're not stuck in a paper jail, playing a badly-drawn harmonica, with bubba waiting behind the scenes for the music to stop."

Hey, there's truth to that. It could be worse.  

Blank slate

     Usually, when I sit down to write a post, I have something in mind. Either a recent event that I'd like to share for the laughs, or something I feel very strongly about for better or for worse. Despite the injunction to "make me laugh" from a friend for today's post, I find myself remarkably empty of ideas or opinions today. So instead, here's the chaos that will be my upcoming semester:

Cruise and graffiti

  Cruise! Tuesday after class, we met at a distant metro station and walked over to this where this boat was moored. I was lucky enough to get a single room, I guess because I'm old and crotchety and Artemi (the prof) knows that I don't tolerate drunken shenanigans.  And lordy were there drunken shenanigans. Just like the trip to Europe I went on with Morgana, a lot of the kids had never encountered absinthe, and thought it would be the best thing in the world to knock it back like soda. Brilliant. Anyhow.. the cruise started at 8 pm, and we had to wait a bit for a bridge to go up, as the water level is pretty high at the moment, but we kept going during the night, and arrived at Valaam Island, located at 61 degrees N in Lake Ladoga. We got very, very lucky and it was a beautiful day. A touch windy, but no clouds in the sky and probably 63 degrees (F).