printing, cutting, & folding 50 copies of this quarter-size zine today was surprisingly easy! i always get anxious about printing, because something usually goes wrong and you have to rush to fix and reformat it. but, alas, it went smoothly!! also, i'm extremely excited about this card stock for the cover, really. it makes the zine look so badass!

for the past couple of months, I've been volunteering to help guest curate galleryHOMELAND with other ResearchClub-ers. this first show is a 2d show - paintings, prints, and other flat images - hence the title 'vision.' Valerie and I made this zine to document each of the 4 artists' (in the show) research and creative process. also, we did this in a week's time. pretty cool, just saying.

if you're in Portland and wanna check out the show - tonight is the opening reception. not only will there be good art and company - but free cheese, wine, & beers. yup. details:

galleryHOMELAND :: 2505 SE 11th Ave. #136

June 10, 2011 :: 6 - 9 PM

i recently bought this candle. it smells great! i remember being really excited about bath and body works candles when i was 11. since then, my candle craze pretty much faded away and i hadn't bought a candle since. considering that my walls mold, clearly the moisture of Portland is too much for this little, old apartment - a candle was a good idea. i can't help but want these $35 candles from a.p.c. & their minimal label designs.

fotos from the garden

bird poop tomato. don't worry, it's still good!

zucchini-bonanza!

zinnia flowers, so pretty.

you avid readers, it has been awhile! I've been reflecting on only have 3 more weeks before my VISTA term is ended. the looming thought of unemployment makes me sad and a bit uncomfortable. But, while I truly enjoy this job, I also strongly want to move to Portland by the end of August. if I can both move & get a job in PDX, I will be very thankful indeed. to come, lists! 01. things to do in MI before moving 02. things to do in PDX.

it's zucchini season! hurrah! a gardener at Towar already harvested a bucketful of them & was so kind as to give me some. I will be making bread tonight. I think zucchinis are quiet cute in the way they grow from the plant (see 2nd foto above).

tah-dah! so, I finished the community garden tour poster early last week & it has since gone to the printer & into the windows of Lansing businesses. if you live in the Ingham area, you should come on out! details:

July 27, 2010 Bike Tour @ 5:30P Location: Letts Comm. Center
1220 W. Kalamazoo
Lansing, MI 48915

July 29, 2010 Bus Tour @ 5:30P
Location: Foster Resource Center
2401 Marcus Street
Lansing, MI‎ 48912

pest management: it works!
I have a hard time catching cucumber beetles, because they are smart & quick to fly away. i'm having great success with an oil & soap spray. the spray makes it harder for the bugs to fly away, so I can catch them and oil smothers the bugs anyways. I feel a bit destructive killing bugs, but it must be done. on that note, only use spray if you are sure there are destructive plant eating bugs. the spray is indiscriminate & will kill the bugs it comes into contact with.
recipe:

1T oil (I used canola)
1T biodegradable liquid soap
1C water

mix all ingredients in a spray bottle & give it a shake.
you're all set to defend plants from bugs!

a foto of our bug foe. you can see he has been sprayed from the bubbles on the leaf.

hello again.
on wednesday, i had a wonderful day. this week was a lot of wonderful days due to sunshine & rain and an easy going pace. back to wednesday - it was raining when i got up at around 9:30a. so i decided to go swimming before heading out to Towar garden, letting nature do the watering. i swam at MSU IM West, free indoor pool from 10:30 to 2P about everyday. i swam 40 laps, next week i'll try for 50 perhaps. when done with swimming at around noon, the rain had finished but there was still a good breeze.

at Towar, i cover cropped two back plots and mulched a little path - so that i can conveniently walk from my donation plot past the cover crops to mine & ryan's plot. hehe. i was quiet proud :p
the soil was recently tilled, plus the rain, making it easy to work with. took me about 2 hours as a i jumped back and forth between tasks.

we are trying Edamame as a cover crop. And to my limited knowledge, cover cropping is good...
01. at keeping weeds out by planting an intentional crop to cover the empty space = cover crop
02. to help with nutrients in the soil. some crops draw nitrogen towards the top of the soil, making for more nourishing soil the next planting season.

thursday, i spent inside getting down to business. i'm putting together the poster for the garden tours (july 27 &29). it's quiet fun & i love that i can go between working in the garden and then doing some illustration work.

on the left is the a tiny sketch that i made in less than a minute, just to get the idea down. then the drawing of the pepper, the carving of the stamp, and the print of the stamp. i scan the stamp to my computer & import to Illustrator (thank you live paint feature!). i just can't function in Photoshop, my knowledge is too limited. so the whole poster will be laid out in Illustrator and converted to PDF for the printer.

that's been my week more or less. should have the poster up here next week.

post- surgery hurray

is it strange, that pre-surgery the nurse puts an orange (for eye-catching brightness no doubt) wristband on the patient that says the procedure you're about to receive, handwritten on it? The surgeon has to initial it before hand, a good communication system, i guess.

reminiscence. woke up around 1am, due to pain. had a small panic/claustrophobia bout because i wasn't sure i could breathe being that my mouth rubber-banded shut and my sinuses swollen to fuck. passed quickly enough, thank goodness my mom stayed with me. anyhow, couldn't fall back to sleep straight away, so this:

the writing is me tell my mom what i am doing, ha.

i am healing quiet well. really, two weeks does wonders. the swelling is almost gone, no more chipmunk face & i can almost chew again. pain is subsiding & i am trying to be active. cheers.

i'm glad to have gotten out of e.l. for the a day. much driving, much seeing, much coffees. it's nice to rely on coffee to make me feel awake, sometimes. i often forget it has that power.

note taking w. ryan from a piano concert:

hello,
i have had a head cold + allergies for about 3 weeks now? fuck this weather! my body is confused.

i feel sad & uninspired. I spend a lot of time sleeping & i feel like i can not move very well in my room or house, so i don't make things or take photos. spring break is coming at the right time because i need a change of scenery & to spend quality time with people i enjoy. i don't feel like i see people enough, we're too "busy." we are.

i don't know how i feel about blogs, this blog. i feel compelled to write & at the same time to stop.

i need to feel like i've completed something. i need to feel resolution about any sort of personal endeavor. mainly, i need school to go away, i need e.l. to go away. i need to get rid of everything i own. then i can start. i think.

i like this seahorse. i don't know why its upside down.

some collab drawing from me & my housemates.

and speaking of type, here are some scans of my tentative typeface "manhandled."





hopefully, i'll start using the computer machine & finalize it (we don't have to for class so I fear my laziness & general dislike of being inside on the computer).