Misguided Blog

Jeez, what month is it? Augseptoctember? They're going by too fast for me to keep up. It's like an endless sweep transition like they used to have in old Batman episodes except it doesn't transition from one scene to the next, it just keeps going. I had intended to write this blog during the brief two weeks break before the semester started up, but then my Mac started crapping out on me and then the semester started and then...pant pant. Well, here we are halfway through the semester. Better late than never. Speaking of my Mac, I should give some major shouts and wut wuts to Ribbit Computers, who identified the problem (logic board dying, too expensive for me to replace) and made some minor repairs to keep the thing running while I backed everything up and got a new one and they didn't charge me one red cent for the effort. What?! I know it's crazy! I've been there twice and I still haven't paid anything. I don't know how they do it but they've got a costumer for life, as long as they don't ever charge me anything, just kidding, sort of. But seriously, you should go to Ribbit Computers. Even if you don't live in Wichita, you should get on a plane and fly to Wichita and go there. You'll save money, somehow, I donno, it made sense when I thought of it.

It was a busy summer for Sue and I. Like a crazy person I slugged my way through a full 15 credit hours. It wasn't intentional. I had signed up for a couple Gen Eds and then realized I should get my coop work credit out of the way. Then Heather, the awesome design instructor who built Newman's program, announced she was leaving and this summer would be my last opportunity to take her helpful summer portfolio classes. Suddenly, I had five classes going. Well, I survived and the portfolio classes were very useful. Usually taken by seniors about to graduate, they help you put your portfolio in order and develop a logo and letterhead. I still have two more semesters to go after this one but I'm one step ahead thanks to all the work I put in this summer. Oh and speaking of Heather leaving, guess who had the stress of finding her replacement with no time to spare. Yeah, Sue had a busy summer too.

Another thing I intended to do before the summer was over was work on my website. Well, I managed to get something up and running though

it's a bit generic looking right now and a far way from being complete. But the slideshow is pretty neat and some of my work is posted. Go to www.misguideddesign.com to check it out and perhaps give me some feedback, it would be most appreciated!

So, the summer. Hmmm, the summer (cue: grainy, sepia toned footage) It was so long ago. Sue and I did manage to have some fun in the midst of all the craziness. We made it up to Kansas City twice: once to see Rasputina play at the Beaumont Club, and a

second time when good friend Erika came to visit. This was Erika's second time visiting, though her first seeing our new house and enjoying our comfortable guest accommodations. Welllll, comfortable after we cranked up the portable air conditioner. It gets kind of, um, airless up their in the summer. Between the two visits we saw

and did lots of cool stuff in KC, visited a couple museums, ate

some tasty meals, browsed an impressive farmers market with lots of ethnic fare and hung out in Laurence. We also took Erika to Tanganyika, a local wildlife park, and to Bartelli's, the only New York style pizzeria in Wichita (it got a thumbs up from Erika and my mom). Btw, some of the pics on this post were taken by Erika, but I won't say which ones, hmmwaahaha. We're looking forward to two more visitors soon; Marisa, who will be speaking at Newman about the Islamic Spring; and Sue's bro Scott, who will be here for Thanksgiving. See more pics from our summer below.

Wow, time does fly. The kittens are just about a year old now.

Scratch is pretty huge but Toots, fitting for his name, will be a small boy. They are hella energetic and like to wake us up bright and early in the morning. Thankfully they are great company for each other. I can't imaging how friggin annoying they'd be if either one of them was by himself. But we

love them. And my mom has been here for over a year! I think we knew it would be a good move for her in some ways, getting out of the Post Office, retiring somewhere with a reasonable cost-of-living. But we didn't guess how

great the change would be. She made friends right away and seems to have a more active social life than she had back in NY. She belongs to a book club and reads ravenously, goes to a gym, and now has even started volunteering at a couple local ranches working with the horsies. The ranch work has been a life-long dream of hers and she seems to be enjoying the experience immensely. She is proof that you can be busier after retirement than before, but in a good way.

I'll probably get into this semester more during the next blog, but I will say that I'm taking my second printmaking class and am loving it so much that I'm considering getting a double emphasis

(graphic design & printmaking). It will depend a lot of whether or not they can get enough enrollment to put together a special class in the spring but even if they can't I'll probably get three classes of printmaking in before I graduate. It's such hard work and can be frustrating but I love the process and it feels really good when it comes together. Anyone who wants to come to Wichita in the spring to take a printmaking class should definitely consider it. You won't have to pay for lodging and will probably get a lot of your meals taken care of too. Totally sounds worth it to me. Just sayin'.

So anyway, I feel like I'm skipping a lot of stuff, but that's life these days. Got to www.misguideddesign.com and let me know what you think. I'm definitely not a web designer (yet), so any advice would be accepted gratefully. For those of you planning

visits (you know who you are. Oh yeah and now everyone else does too), we look forward to seeing you! And we hope the rest of you are happy and healthy and all that good stuff. Talk to you soon!