The visit

Rumors of this blog’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. In an attempt to destroy self-bets involving cheeseburgers, and to dispel rumors that I’ve died or been abducted or joined a cult, I post once again.

Flashback to the 30th of July (whooshing sound effect goes here).

For the graphic design class, we set a date for our visit to ITLA (Instituto Tecnológico de Las Américas, and I’ll leave you to figure out the translation). A Thursday afternoon seemed to work we best for most of us, although I was very concerned that I wouldn’t be early for my 5:00 class.

We agreed to meet at the southern gates of Mordor, early in the afternoon. As I’d been having more health issues than I usually do, I had to get up and have lunch earlier than the usual, so my food would have time to settle.

I got there just in time … to see that only one other person in class had arrived. I had some waiting to do before everyone got there, so I went to print some work that I had for my 5:00 class. When I went back to the gates, no one else had arrived. I had the camera with me, of course, and I checked if the batteries were working properly and made a few test shots.

All but three people in class arrived (two weren’t going, and one was “on his way”), in addition to the teacher and her husband, who would be driving us. Four others had withdrawn from class already, bringing it down to six, of which only four were going on this trip.

The one who was on his way was stuck in traffic, so we all managed to fit in the small car, driven by the teacher’s husband, with the other guy meeting us at a halfway point. Taking advantage of the situation, I readied the camera and made several car-window shots (even though I was in the middle of the back seat). At one point, we passed that evil school I graduated from and, almost immediately, some newspapers that were in the back were rustled by the wind and began to attack us. It was the school’s doing. I’m sure of it!

After crossing the Juan Pablo Duarte bridge, we drove some way ahead and waited for the other guy to join us. We had stopped at one of the many places where transit is at its most chaotic, and were looking in every direction, waiting for a sign. After a long while, his car stopped in front of us, and he took out his hand to indicate to us that he was willing to take two passengers (well, that, or he was just making the peace sign). Myself and a girl in class quickly got out of the car and ran toward his. That way, each car carried three occupants.

It was better for me this way, because the trip was finally made comfortable, and even enjoyable. I was alone in the back seat, the air conditioning was at full power and the guy (whose middle name is my first) is a big, big fan of Michael Jackson, and perhaps had a bigger rediscovery of his music than I did after he died. The entire way was accompanied by some of the best songs from the King of Pop (and even some from the Jackson 5/The Jacksons).

We kept singing along to every song we could. There were some cases where I could finally connect a song with its title, having heard it before but not knowing what it was called. We had lost sight of the other car a while ago, and we stopped. I took advantage of that moment to roll down the window and capture the Caribbean Sea, which was to my right (those shots resulted in the panorama featured in this post).

After a while of not seeing the other car, we decided  to just keep going, in case the others were actually ahead of us, or in hopes that they would eventually catch up. We finally got there (and took me a while to get to this part of the post). We were the first to arrive. The others weren’t there yet, and so we waited inside the car.

When they finally got there, we all got out and made our way to the Arts building. The whole place is looks magnificent. Colorful buildings, scattered here and there, and its initials, written in big, blue letters, stood out under the cloudy sky. The Arts building, predominantly orange and yellow (on the outside), has quite a lot of glass in it. Many door-to-ceiling windows, glass panels, and a long skylight allowing for the sun to do its part for the lighting. Energy efficiency win.

The first thing I noticed when I was inside, was the abundance of laptops. No, really. There were a lot of artsy-looking kids (I say kids, because I’m clearly older at this point), each one sitting down on the floor, or in one of the few chairs, staring at a laptop. After this short first impression of the place, our tour guide led us to an auditorium, where she and this young fellow readied the standard presentation. The auditorium had many large screens in the front, but the presentation only used one. Through it, we were shown the history of the place, its purpose and its many departments.

During the show, I started to feel less than great (gah!), and I knew I had to make a quick trip to the restroom. After the presentation, we were led out to the hallway, so we could see some of the works made by students. Some are quite good, I have to admit. As we looked (and as I kept getting worse), an older man, older than our two guides, arrived. He was a teacher, and was going to talk about the art courses.

We were back in our seats in the auditorium, and our new host talked about the courses, the pricing, duration, requirements, and so on. It seems our teacher’s husband is also very interested in 3D animation, but kept mixing up CAD and standard 3D modeling (and kept getting corrected).

After we were done with that, our tour guide led us to the second floor so we could see some classrooms. I spotted a restroom close to the stairs, but I didn’t want to miss the tour, so I kept going. We saw a few classrooms (I spotted a girl working on a 3D model of a car), and more student work displayed on the walls. I couldn’t stand it for longer, so I asked the tour guide where the restroom was. I knew where it was, but I didn’t want to give her the impression that I was straying from the tour. I went and … well, that ended quickly. My plan to eat earlier was an effective one, as all my food was kept down. Still, it sucks that I had to feel ill during an interesting visit.

When I went back to where the classrooms were, I saw no sign of the tour guide … or the rest of my group. I asked a student who was sitting on the floor if she had seen them, but she missed them, as she had been working on her laptop. I walked around the place and went upstairs to the third floor. Turns out that there is no third floor. The staircase led up to the roof. I went downstairs the ground level and found them there. The tour guide was gone, and the tour was over. That’s it?!, I thought.

That was it. Of all the buildings and facilities that ITLA had to offer, we had only seen one, and the whole tour lasted less than the way there. Good thing it was free!

We went outside, and the sky had cleared up a bit. I quickly made several photos to create a panoramic view of ITLA. I’m surprised it turned out decent.

One of the others saw me with the camera and called to the rest of the group. We needed a group shot. Many group shots were made, including some in front of the big, blue letters. The camera didn’t expose correctly at first (resulting in some very dark, but fixable images), but it eventually gave in to the temptation of actually capturing what was in front of it, just as it looked.

After that, we were back on the road, and I was back to singing along to Michael Jackson. When I didn’t sing along, I took my time to make more window shots of the sky and the road. Good times.

Before we knew it, we were back in the city. I guess I expected too much of the visit, seeing that it was too short and not overly impressive. The time on the road was great, though.

In the end, I made it to the classroom some fifteen or twenty minutes before my 5:00 class began. Whew!

Okay, that’s plenty of words and pictures for today. I think I’ve made my point here, but I’ll make it again: I’m not dead, and neither is the blog. I’ve just had little reason/motivation for posting, as of late.

Expect more frequent posts from now on, reader(s). If I’ve got so much free time, it’s the least I can do.

This could’ve been it

So, I leave the online world for a couple of hours, a rather boring class. After that, I figured I’d hang out for while, so I headed for the area near University Store, a supply shop on campus, only to see an article, written in French, about Michael Jackson dying. I didn’t think it was true, and the two who were reading the article on a laptop were laughing about it. After pretending to have something better to do, I rushed home to the point where I would’ve run across oncoming traffic, only to face reality: Michael Jackson is dead.

Yes, Farrah Fawcett also died today, but her death was expected, and I commented to my sister, just last night, that her time was close (as I read an article about her receiving the last rites from a priest while in the hospital). But this, the absolute least expected thing of the day, week, year and even decade.

While I didn’t pay that much attention to what he was doing these last few years, perhaps even the last decade, I couldn’t get enough of his songs and music videos when I was little. After the announcement of his final concert tour, This Is It!, I hoped it would mean a true comeback, a way to get back into form after much controversy and his 2005 trial.

Regardless of what others think of him (online response to his death in forums is rather disappointing), he had an incredible career. It’s an incredible loss of talent for the world, the end of an era for music history, and a source of sadness for me.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve some being sad to do for a while … and figure out dinner. The world still turns, even when it seems not to.

The encounter, part one

Last time, I mentioned that I was nominated for this sort-of-special certificate for best student of the May-August term. Now, I have to say that I was not expecting to get it … and so, I didn’t! But, it turns out that a fellow art student, and friend of mine, not only earned that one, but was also given a certificate for best student of the art department and best student of the whole term. A one-person trifecta for the art department. Congrats, H.!

I also said I was going to attend this international encounter thing, which began yesterday (Thursday) with an opening ceremony that consisted of waaay more singing than talking. The graphic design class didn’t happen, but the teacher was going to give us points for attending the event, and so we were supposed to meet in the classroom and go from there to the hotel right across the avenue. We made the mistake of waiting a bit for the rest of the class to arrive, because they didn’t. By the time we got the event, most seats were taken and we were forced to stand through most of the thing.

It started out nicely. First came a small dance. No idea what it was supposed to represent. It seemed very ballet-like. Then, there was an introduction speech, followed by a speech by the current rector of the university, and then another one from the dean of the arts department. Overall very nice speeches, okay? Then came … the singing and dancing, which took most of the event. They first introduced a vocal group that’s been going on since 1986, but with Menudo-like changes in formation (“you’re too old, go away!”). As soon as the lady said that the group members were changed often, the whole audience proceeded to give a collective AAAAAH!, which made me laugh a bit. They were okay. They performed three songs, the last of which is a song by one of my all-time favorites, Juan Luis Guerra, and his band 440 (see them performing it here).

Then came more dancing. Some girls dancing to hip-hop. Not sure what it was about. Finally, to close the deal, came a rock band, Stars and Boulevards, who performed some recent songs of theirs. As they performed, some seats finally became available to us, as they began to serve food and drinks and everyone went to get their share. The event ended right after the band was done, with a “thank you, and enjoy the rest of the night”. Not many left right at that moment, as they kept serving food and drink, and even I stayed and talked while enjoying some appetizers. Not too bad. The omelette (or whatever that way) tray was left almost full for some reason, so I stayed away from it.

After a while, most of the friends I was with (and even the teacher) left for the night. I was left with my friend V., who had a cast on one of her legs (she was given a seat immediately!). Naturally, she wasn’t going to walk home with that, so her mother came to pick her up. Since they were going on the same route I take, I got a ride home (well, near home). Saved me from getting here much later than it already was.

It’s past midnight now. I’d be thankful for it being Friday, but I’m going to be at this event the whole day today and tomorrow, so no rest until Sunday. I’m a bit worried about the marketing team work that I’m supposed to be a part of. I can’t do anything else these two days, and our presentation is on Wednesday. Other than that, everything else is fine.

Anyway, must get an early start in the morning (and rest my ears … I’ll be listening to a lot of people saying a lot of things). Go away!

Yearning for laziness

I’m wanting to be as lazy as Droopy here (that lucky dog!) when it comes to college work. Well, I always am, but this is a long weekend: It’s yet another holiday, Constitution Day, that’s moved for our benefit.

I’ve got lots of work to do. Some team work that hasn’t shown much progress, and there’s quite a bit of illustration, but I’ve got a chance to use Blender for that, so, uh … yay. I made a very complete presentation for graphic design class on Thursday, but my teammate didn’t show up, so it was pretty much just me doing the work. It’ll likely remain that way for the rest of the term. I don’t mind doing most (or all) of the work, especially when it’s this easy, but that other person will have to find someone else to latch on to for the next term. Hey, I’d like to be the one who does the nothing part for a while.

The Friday class sort of didn’t happen, because the teacher showed up really, really late, and only to tell us that he’d send us our final assignment via e-mail. Great. Hopefully it won’t be something too expensive.

Like I said already, it’s a long weekend, of which this has been the first day. Next week is some sort of international encounter of graphic design schools from Latin America and Spain, which will take place at a hotel that’s right in front of college. I paid a nice amount for it, so I sure as heck won’t miss it, despite not being very interested. It’ll kill the upcoming weekend for me, but it seems that the next Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning classes won’t be taking place, so I’ll be able to sleep in more often in the week. I’m hoping work doesn’t start gnawing on my brain to the point where I can’t think of anything else. The more that happens, the more I hate it.

I’m looking forward to more free time. It seems I’ll only have to wait two weeks or so for my precious share of idle bliss.  All of December will hopefully be dedicated to sleeping, reading and Blender. If I feel good enough, I throw in a bit of working out. Each time I have to carry those five-gallon water bottle from the entrance door to the back room, I’m reminded of how much strength I’m lacking. Heck, my 65-year-old father carries them with more ease than I do.

As for Blender, I’m looking for some motivation. I don’t pay much attention to its forum anymore, because it’s too crowded and, well … I’ve lost interest in it. Like I said in a previous post, I’m not long for it. I sure hope the wiki manual is kept up to date by the time the 2.50 release comes out. Not that I’m waiting for it, though. I’ve been overwhelmed with the current set of features for years and years now. I only make use of a small percentage of it, and not even good use. With Autodesk acquiring –and taking upon development of– many of the major commercial 3D applications, Blender continues to rise as an open source alternative that’s more than good enough for major studios to use.

But I’m looking too far ahead. Right now, I’ve got my dear long weekend. I’ve got tonight and tomorrow for sleeping like a log (or so I hope), and I’ve not been able to keep my eyes fully open for most of this day.

All that said, enjoy (the rest of your) your weekend, listen to some good music and have a good night/morning/afternoon/evening.

Practical Lunacy, now with 33.33% more lunacy!

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