oh, Garçon!

As you all know I am attending The Art Institute of Dallas for Graphic Design, specifically for Advertising. But, let me talk about the Culinary School here for a minute.
First of all, they have a building separate from the main campus building and it looks really cool - like a real restaurant, because it is! A real working restaurant where the students make the menu, plan the seating, take turns hosting, waiting tables and of course, cooking.

I went to school today to work on a project in the computer lab and I figured since I was there anyway and I was hungry, I'd check out the culinary students at work.

I was greeted as a host would normally greet dining guests: "Hello. Table for one for lunch today?"
When I was seated, the host pulled out my chair for me, handed me the menu and smiled. My waitress appeared to take my drink order and returned promptly with a fresh yeast roll, a plate with three small dabs of butter - one salted butter, one unsalted and one honey butter - and my fresh unsweet iced tea.
She told me about the four specials: a buffalo chicken pizza, a stir-fry, a tomatilla sauced chicken, and something on couscous that I can't remember. They all looked and sounded great, but I had my eye on another pizza that was a regular item on the menu.

This pie was one that would commonly be found in Northern Italy. First, the crust was thin and crisp with a slight butter flavor. The sauce was a white cheese variety and it was topped with shaved prosciutto ham and fresh chopped figs. After it was baked, it was topped with fresh arugula that had a soft turnip-like sharpness.

There were so many flavors going on, you'd think it'd be too much, but you would be wrong. All the flavors complemented and melded together nicely, not one overpowered the other.

Everything on the menu sounds delicious and I look forward to trying more dishes.
See the lunch and dinner menus here

Me and my hooptie in Dallas

When I first knew I was going to move to Dallas, I felt okay knowing it was because I was going to go to school. Then as time got closer, I realized "I'm moving to DALLAS!"
Granted, Dallas is not as big as NYC, but it is still a huge city. Much bigger than any place I've ever lived in my whole life. My first reaction then was, "Holy crap, a city that big scares the bejebus out of me."
But, when I got here, my friends drove me around a time or two, then I slowly started branching out on my own, sticking to the roads I knew. Every now and then I'll ask them "Where is such-and-such?" and they tell me and I get in my little beat up, heavily bumper-stickered Toyota and go there. No problems so far.
The only thing I really don't like about driving around is the damned traffic! So many cars every where!  I really wish the DART public train thingy was better and went further and had more stations and stops. I wouldn't mind taking the train then I wouldn't have to worry about finding a parking spot!
Now, I leave you with a video by Sir Mix-a-Lot, and an 80's favorite of mine.
my hooptie

click here to watch the video

Leggo of my Logo

My class assignment was to create a logo for myself and present it in front of the class, which I did and I liked.
     I got a big red "BULLSHIT" stamped on it.
This was the class where the syllabus stated that you needed a thick skin, which I have, so I was not offended at the critique.
Later, of course, the teacher explained why he gave us all that stamp.
Only a few of us students did the assignment correctly and only a couple of those students were told that they had a good idea, but it was going in the wrong direction or that it needed to be developed further.
     I was one of those students.
I'm happy with this critique because using my logo will come in handy later in school. I will continue to work on it and turn it in again at the end of the quarter.
Our next assignment is to look for a job in our field of study.
HA!
That's going to be sooooo much easier than actually looking, applying and getting the job. I know this because I still need part-time work.

My critiqued homework. It's nice!

"...go back to San Juan..." "I know a boat you can get on!"

I'm paraphrasing a line from a song in "West Side Story", but now I know I want to visit Puerto Rico. Why? Because I went with some friends to a Puerto Rican eatery yesterday and almost wet my pants the food was so delicious. I have also decided I need to learn how to make the delight that I ordered: mofongo - a dish that is mashed cooked plantains with garlic and bits of pork and awesome deliciousness.

A waft of sweet plantains, garlic, adobo spices and fried pork fill the air when you open the door to this small cafe. I was a little hesitant when I started to order because everyone in front of me spoke Spanish and my Spanish isn't that great. I approached the counter and the lady said "Bueno" and I said "Hello" and she smiled and said "How can I help you?"

They had a lot of different dishes, all favorite standbys like adobo spiced pork chops, rice and beans, arroz con gandulez (spanish rice with a type of black bean), mofongo,  and some other stuff I can't remember how to pronounce. But you don't pronounce it, you eat it!

The menu is on a computer screen because they change most dishes every day. It is first listed in Spanish but is then, in smaller print, in English for los gringos como yo.

Also, the atmosphere is like Puerto Rico: the painted walls are red with bright colors and pictures of the ocean adorning them and the small tables are like sitting at an outdoor cafe, which, you may as well be sitting outside because it is HOT in there.  Be advised there is no air conditioning (just fans blowing full blast), which didn't bother me or one of my friends, The Mrs., but the other one, The Mr., was saying "Next time let's call ahead a take-out order and get the eff outta here!"
Don't let his comment dissuade you. As he said such things, he continued to stuff his bearded face with tostones (fried plantain pieces with a dusting of salt and garlic).

Go to Adobo Puerto Rican Cafe. Here is a site from Yelp for directions: good food here 
Adobo is in a strip mall shopping center, so just look for the Puerto Rican flag!

here is the Facebook site: Adobo Puerto Rican Cafe

just a few things

It's Friday at noon and I'm still sitting here in my pajamas. I like it. If I were still living in Amarillo, I'd be at work right now, sitting in my old clerk position in court next to the judge taking notes on what the defendants are trying to explain. Sometimes that was fun, especially when a defendant would come up with a real doozy of a story. They always started out pretty much the same way: "Well, you see judge, what had happen was...."
What I'm really supposed to be doing is homework: I have to finish my logo, which I have, just need to figure out enough of a program to print it. If not then I have permission to draw it by hand. Also, still need to finish some vocabulary words for said programs and I need to draw two perspectives that, to me, look like the grid from Tron.
I don't think I will make it to Friday night supper club and I especially won't be getting a tattoo again today. I may have a beer though. I am also cooking tonight: Ham and broccoli quiche. It's a Pampered Chef recipe, so it'll be fast and easy.
Oh, yeah. There is this thing on my blog dashboard that show stats like my audience. I recently discovered this and it says I have a few hundred readers in the U.S., ok, and one in the UK, ok, I know who that is. Then it shows there are some in Germany and more in Russia. Germany I can understand since there are Air Force bases there and maybe some of my friends from my days in the service are stationed there right now. But Russia? I'd like to know these guys! Who are you and how did you find me? Email me if you want: bohemiangirl72@gmail.com

One last thing. Did I mention that my friends I live with have a (almost) 2 year-old? Yes and she has just learned to say my name, only she calls my "Icki". Somehow the "V" got lost in translation. Thanks, kid, for helping me to relive my awesome grade-school days.

my drawing won't look this cool, but
this is what I thought of when the teacher was explaining

I am not cool enough to be in a band...

Mr. "S" telling Lawrence that he IS cool enough to be in a band!

I went to school early today, and by early I mean 11:30. It's okay, it didn't interrupt my leisure schedule.
Today was the day to sign up for clubs and organizations.
In the student lounge, there was music playing at the Drama club table, lots of chatting around the GLASS club, an nice plate of cookies at the Ad Club space (plus a nice poster, that's what they do!) and a few buzzings going on at the other tables. I signed my name to a few of them just to see what was what. Amazingly, there are more Veterans than I thought, so I put my name down for that group for the community service involvements.
I want to join up so I can be one of the cool kids. Also, these groups will be a great opportunity to socialize, network in my future field, volunteer to do stuff in the community and mostly to have fun and meet people outside my apartment. I hear stuff like these types of involvements looks good on your resume. And even though I'm still looking for part-time work to get through school, I will need a job when I graduate to pay for these loans - unless someone gives me a winning lottery ticket?
Just sayin'.

What's cooking home fry?

OMG! I applied to write for a cooking blog and I got a phone interview on Friday morning! I'm so excited about it.
I've never written "professionally" before, so I knew that in addition to my regular job resume that they wanted, I had to write one hell of a cover letter. I guess I did!
It will only pay a few dollars a week for the article, but it's a start on something I like to do: write!
ok, again, wish me luck, cross your fingers, so a dance or say a prayer or whatever voodoo you do.
Peace, Luv and Bubblegum.

I'm in Week Two, how about you?

an artist's brain

I like my survey of graphic design class so far. My assignment this week is to design a logo for myself. So I'm working a few ideas.

Right now what I'm working on is an essay of sorts for a scholarship worth $1000 and I need some help coming up with a few more points.

The topic is "Top ten reasons I should have this scholarship"

Here is what I have so far (in no particular order)

1. my GI Bill has expired and I need money for books and art supplies.
2. There are almost no scholarships for art students.
3. There are absolutely no scholarships for normal, healthy, average white girls who figured out late in life what they want to be when they grow up.
4. Art is important for imagination. It makes all aspects of thought possible.
5. I am the only one in my family to attend college and I want to set a good example for my niece and nephew
6. Since I'm not part of any ethnic/ religious/ heritage group, any slim chance of a scholarship I qualify for, so does everyone in those groups, which slims my chances even more.
7. ??
8. ??
9. ??
10. ??

I need four more good ones....so, whattya say? Can you help a poor art student? Pretty please with pudding on top?

Living la vida Local

I can imagine this question being asked tomorrow at school: "What did you do this weekend?"
My response will be the truth:
"I got a tattoo on a whim with some friends, then drank too much, was pretty much useless on Saturday due to my hangover and the scratchiness on the back of my leg where my new tattoo lives, then felt like the living again on Sunday."
I'd like to think that at my age I'd know better by now. Clearly I'm fooling myself. I can't scold myself too badly, though. It was the weekend and I had all day Saturday to do nothing, and I took full advantage of that. And I should have all the fun I can before I get tied down with work, right?
Now that I'm back to being responsible, I need to finish a class assignment then go grocery shopping with my hosts. I've volunteered to cook twice this week, so we'll see how that goes.

"Everybody on the bed" I ordered them...hehe.
Me and my Friday Night Supper Club peeps and our new  "Friday the 13th" tattoos or piercings. Cheers!

in the peripheral

I like my perspective drawing class. Mostly I get to draw, but also my classmates are loud and a lot of fun to listen to and they don't have any idea what's going on as much as I do. The teacher is an old guy who wears rainbow suspenders. He's a good teacher and funny, too. Today when he was introducing everything to us and talking about how boys eyes are different than girls eyes (scientific explanation here) all I kept picturing was the scene in the movie "The  40 year old virgin" where the guy is saying "don't look, you gotta use your peripherals, use your peripherals!" And when our teacher was going on about shapes and forms and lines and dots, I kept thinking "maybe we should all be smoking a joint to get a better, deeper understanding". But, I don't smoke.
Now, the UPS group interview today. There were about 15 of us lined up outside. We were asked a few questions then walked through a portion of the plant where we'd be working, which is to either load trucks or unload deliveries. It's HUGE and hot in there and a lot is going on, but I've worked in places like that before. So, we'll see how I do on the one-on-one interview in a few days. I wouldn't mind it. The pay starts out at $9 an hour and you get a .50 cent raise after 90 days, then periodically. The hours would be from 10 pm to 2 am, which is fine with me too since I'm not sleeping then anyways. I'd have time to come home, eat, do my homework, boogie out to work, come home and sleep then do it again. It wouldn't be forever, so I could handle it as long as I knew there was an end point.

"don't look straight at her, use your peripherals! use your peripherals!"

a class for classes

me and my school ID

In addition to my continued job search (I still have my interview with UPS tomorrow), I also got ready for my next class today.

This class is introducing me to and how to use all kinds of design programs like Dreamweaver, Adobe InDesign, Interface, Photoshop and a bunch of others that I'll be using through out school for projects. There's more information than we have time for in class, so we get to use the computer lab and our home computers for additional tutorials.
I'm getting used to my Mac, but still a lot to learn as far as using a computer goes. I can figure it out though.
My teacher is great, very thorough. He also sounds like a Simpsons character: a cross between Moe and  Kent Brockman (the newscaster guy). So he's fun to listen to.
He talked about being a production artist, something I've been doing all along except I haven't been paid for it. Now I'm learning how to do it right so I can get paid!
This is the type of class I imagined school would be like: lecture on the steps and then do the assignment. Easy, right? We'll see. I have two Word program assignments due by next class. First, I need a chocolate.

I'm thinking...I'm thinking....

One of my assignments was to start thinking for 5 hours a week. Well, I have news for this teacher....I glaze over and think all the time! So much, that sometimes people piss me off because they have no clue what I'm doing, mostly because they don't ever sit and think - ever. I wrote an essay about it one time. It involved me pinning someone to a bulletin board for mistaking my daydreaming for sleeping with my eyes open. And a fly.
So, what did I think about today? Well, I'm helping to plan a birthday party for a 2 year-old, so I thought about party games and fun foods. Then when I was reading one of my supplemental assignments, one of the vocabulary words was "unity" and all I could think about then for about ten minutes or so was the Dave Chappelle skit he did of Rick James when he punched Charlie Murphy in the forehead with his ring that read "unity" on it..."Bam! Charlie Murphy! Ha ha ha! Unityyyyyyy!"
Oh, Dave, where have you gone?
Then I started thinking about making tacos from ground beef and what spices to add and wondered if we even had any tortillas. Then remembered trying to make tortillas when I lived in Mexico, started thinking about one of the kids, Diego, forgot to message him on Facebook, then remembered my ex-language teacher, Enrique and  how much fun he was and started thinking about the two students I hung out with, Zack and Cambria and how they are doing well at a nonprofit thing selling t-shirts they started. Then I had to babysit for a while and thinking was out the window then. I had a 20 month old to entertain for an hour.
And now I'm here,  thinking what else I should tell you guys that's going on with me, but not much else happened today. I did not have class today because I had to drop a class since I didn't have enough money for tuition. Tomorrow though, I'm back at school baby!

see video here!!

Hippies to Teachers

I learned a couple things today: 1. I am among people like myself. We can blurt out any obscure, strange thing in class or even in school in order to solve a problem or come up with an idea and nobody thinks it is strange. I like that. 2. Design (I'm going to school for Graphic Design, in case you didn't know) can be described in four words - the juxtaposition of space. I like that too and I believe I will be a good designer because I like to fill space.
My teacher, Mr. Bell, is an old hippie with short hair. He's easy to talk with and likes to joke and  have fun (makes working easier, like I said many times before). He also likes Bluegrass, so we start each class with a music video.   the video we watched in class today

I had fun in class today. How many people in school, outside of kindergarten, can say that? First, we had instructions on how to access the assignments and quizzes on our class website and then he spoke about the design field and aspects of design and what will be covered in the next eleven weeks.
then, we were given a puzzle to solve. We formed 4 groups of 6 and were given a wooden block that had a nail hammered into it about 1/2 inch. Our goal was to get the other 10 nails given to us to stay up on the nail in the block with out use of anything else.
My group was the first to solve it, so we got to leave early!

Now I have homework, so if you'll please excuse me for a few minutes....

me leaving for my first day of school

aaaaaannddd.... here we go!

Today is my first day of school. My class today is at 1 o'clock, but I have to get there early to pick up my school i.d. at the library. I feel nervous and scared, but excited at the same time. I wonder how many other of my classmates feel this way?
I will update when I get home tonight!

Magic 8 ball

It's 1 o'clock in the afternoon and I just got dressed. I lay in my bed earlier feeling sad. I blame hormones. Stupid being 40.
I asked my magic 8 ball (yes, everyone should have one to make important decisions...why do you thing I came to Dallas to go to art school?) if I should get out of bed today. It said "outlook good". Okay, then, I'll try it.
Of course, I know if I don't get up and get out I won't accomplish anything and I need to find a job so I can continue to pay my tuition and continue to go to school. The plasma thing didn't work out because you have to get there first thing (7:30 am) in the morning to make an appointment. I live about 19 miles from this place, but in Dallas traffic in the morning between 6am and 9am, you're really not getting anywhere anytime soon. I'd have to leave by 6:30 to get there - just to make an appointment! So that is on the "only if I'm really desperate" list for now, along with cocktail waitressing and passing out flyers in high heels.
I know I'm not the only one out there like this. My friend, who lives in a town close by, is having the same problem.
Please send out the good vibes for us so we can live our dreams! And send money, too, if you want. I wouldn't mind that.

*********************UPDATE!!*************

The magic 8 ball doesn't lie! I got up, got dressed, put some concealer on, combed my hair and went out to find a coffee shop I heard about. Heard some gossip about jobs and when I got home (after purchasing some very delicious cupcakes) I applied for a job at UPS and got an interview for Thursday after class! I'm very excited. I hope I get it. So everyone cross your fingers, do a dance, say a prayer or whatever you do!

Quite a day...

Well, I went to "New Student Orientation" today.
First of all, I can't believe I'm in school. Second of all, I can't believe how excited I feel about being in school.
I don't think I would have felt this way had I gone to college directly after high school like most of my classmates have done. Which is another thing. I gazed around the room of about one hundred other new students to look for someone else my age. Every time I saw someone my age, I got a little excited then noticed they were with their kid, who was the student. (about four or five parents attended orientation with their kid, and can you blame them? Obviously they're footing the bill!)
The presentation included typical stuff like safety, security, where to park, appropriate behavior and also stuff like how to possess strong time management skills and how to be sure to budget your money so you can take care of your financial obligations and school. I sat there thinking, "well, duh. If I haven't figured that stuff out by now, I'm a sorry excuse for a forty year-old."
A lot of the students picked up their art kits, sewing kits or for the culinary students, new pots and pans and the like. I left with a big smile on my face and my official class schedule. I logged in to the student website when I got home and downloaded my e-books. As I was reading through each of the class syllabuses (syllabi?) to see what other materials I would need for my first day, one listed a three-ring binder and thick skin and an open mind.
I have all of these! At least I have one advantage to being older. I can tell you right now that I didn't have thick skin at 18 and even though I thought I had an open mind, I didn't have the life experiences that has led to my openness I now possess.

The job hunt is slow going, so I am out into the wide world again tomorrow to sell some plasma. The school will have a job fair in two weeks. I hope I still have enough blood pumping through me by then!

The medal I got from the SeaLife Aquarium in Grapevine today for being a super fact-finder! yay me!

another day...

Yesterday while waiting for my advisor to help me register and get my school id and stuff, I drew on a banana I brought as a snack.

Today I went back out into the wide world and found my way to a scrapbook store. I wanted to find like minded people and I know those people think like me, in a way: "Picture! I can put this in my scrapbook and title it 'a day in the life of a banana'...." It's what I do since I don't have kids.
On my way back home, I decided to take the street instead of the highway and somehow ended up on another street. I knew the direction I needed to go, so I just stayed on the path and you know what? I found my way home all by my onsie! Now if I could just find a job...

page 1A

Yes, yes, I know I've tried this before, but I'm doing it again....the blogging thing. I started the last blog to showcase art stuff I was doing and contests and whatnot I was entering. I realized I sucked at art but still loved it and so I decided to go to school to learn how to do it right. I looked at a few places and finally chose the one I'm attending now: The Art Institute of Dallas.
So far, I've moved to Dallas and set up living space in a friends back-bedroom, partly with a cat named Brooklyn who won't leave. I've signed all my financial aid stuff and I'll be heading off to orientation July 5th at 10 a.m.
I hope to keep up my blog so that all my friends and family that are all spread out can keep track of me so I won't have to send out a crap-ton of individual e-mails and Facebook status updates that get overlooked.
Fingers crossed, wish me luck?

I have no idea what I'm getting into, do I?