Well hello again...

It's been 2 and a half years since I have updated this thing. I think it goes without saying that a lot can happen, and a lot can change in the span of 2 and a half years, and it is no different on my end of things.

As I move forward, I feel it only necessary to re-set the table and give you a very very abridged version of my life since my last update. Many minor events and a few major ones have occurred, and I will detail them as I feel necessary.

So since May of 2008...

I graduated from JMU with my BFA in Painting and drawing.

I said one last goodbye to my grandfather Joseph Ward Wright, who I loved dearly, and who is perhaps my biggest influence personally. Granddad taught me so much in the 22 years we had together, and his support for my personal goals always drove me to work my ass off. I always wanted to make him proud, and I can only hope that I did and I continue to moving forward... rest in peace Granddad, I love you.

I traveled to Memphis, Nashville, and Kentucky for a week with my sister and parents, (our last trip together as a family.)
I traveled to New Orleans with grant, and ended up finding an awesome place to live.
Two weeks later I officially moved to New Orleans.

Three weeks later, I had to evacuate New Orleans due to the approach of Hurricane Gustav. I spent two nights in Tuscaloosa and two in Chattanooga before returning to Nola to find that we had never even lost power at our house... Annoying because I had to spend all of my savings on the evacuation.

I began my graduate career at the University of New Orleans
I endured 2 and a half months of being flat broke because UNO jerked me around on paying me.
This, homesickness, lonliness, and culture shock led me to a nervous breakdown.
I climbed out of the hole my breakdown left me in, thanks to newfound friends down here.
I traveled to Montreal with my best friends Grant and Andy... The best trip I have ever taken.
I swore off painting, and invested 100% of my time to photography.
One year of grad school over.

Had to go back home for a month and a half in the summer of 2009 because I couldn't find a job... That time back home made me realize that I had no future whatsoever in Washington DC, and re-ignited my drive to work and better myself.

I became re-dedicated to my studies and entered year two of grad school guns ablaze.
My art-work improved.
I visited my sister in Seattle for Thanksgiving (2009.)
I decided to ride out my time at UNO, (had been thinking of transferring.)
I began teaching
I got to experience the New Orleans Saints winning the Super Bowl down in the French Quarter!
I went to the Daytona 500 with Dad
I fell in love with teaching
year two of graduate school ended
I returned to Bonnaroo
I got a job working for Fun Services in New Orleans, (another event rental company, but an honest and real paycheck.)
I lost 35 lbs
began year three of graduate school
Traveled to Toronto for 5 days with Grant, (got to see Broken Social Scene live!)
Solidified my artwork

I met and fell in love with Lisa, a gorgeous, intelligent, kind, sweet, and caring woman who really turned my life around for the better.

I opened my thesis exhibition at the UNO St. Claude gallery, (on a shoestring budget,) and it was a fantastic success.

I caught Mono, and spent a month in bed... I wasn't aided by the quack doctor who gave me the wrong anti-biotics, which ended up making the sickness worst.

and now I'm here...

As of now, I am busy writing my thesis, which is coming along slowly but surely. despite being busy with that though, i am still finding time to enjoy the days. I have a list of concerts which I am going to in the coming weeks, beginning with Robin Trower and Broken Social Scene.

In March, I have my oral defense, which I am not worried about. After that, I have plans to go to Wrestlemania with my roommate Jeff, (Oh yeah, I rediscovered my love of professional wrestling.) Shortly after that, I plan on making a return trip to Montreal with Grant and Andy to see Marillion weekend. That will be followed by graduation... I almost have my Master's... Almost.

Again, that is the massively abridged bio of the last 2 and a half years. There's a million things I'm leaving out, but I got to the major events.

As always, my long-winded ass always has something to talk about, so I look forward to writing in this journal frequently... At least until I get my website up and running, which should happen soon.

Until the next time...

I'm back baby... More to come shortly.

~Roderick James Worden

Rest in Peace Robert Rauschenberg.

You were one of my biggest influences as a kid when I was getting interested in art. Even though most describe you as a pop artist, you led me to abstract-expressionism, which served as a foundation for me to work off of, and I have developed from there. You were a great artist, and even though you led a long long life, I'm still saddened by your death.

Came back home on Tuesday...

Wednesday, we made a delivery to TC Williams and then loaded one of the trucks for the Chili Cook Off... Wednesday was the easy day.

Thursday, we loaded the second truck for the cook off, then went and picked up a crapload of water for the 10K in Arlington, and then loaded a 24 ft truck with every material known to man for that damn race, doesn't sound like much, but we still dicked around for a good 8 hours doing it. Thursday was the slightly easy day.

Friday, we set up the DC Chili Cook Off, and for the 11th time out of the 12 years I've been doing this event, it poured fucking rain during the entire setup. It only took about 7 hours to set it all up, but the rain made it feel like forever, and I got some mad chills from it... Friday sucked.

Saturday, we woke up at 4am to do the 10K in Arlington... It poured fucking rain the entire time, and we were there for 10 hours, from the start of the race to the finish, and then we had to pick up all the trash ourselves and dump it, ourselves for the race, (Trashman has never been a part of my job description.) That event enraged me (rain assisted) but there was one perk... I got a free pair of $110 shoes out of it thanks to the lovely folks at Pacers running stores... We rested for a couple hours and then had to go to DC and take down the Chili Cook Off, and by the grace of God, it didn't rain... So the take down only took about three and a half hours, though we unloaded the trucks afterward, and ended up working till about 2am anyways, basically a good 22 hours straight, more than half of that in the rain.

and now it's Sunday, and there's a goddam monsoon outside, and it's just gonna keep getting harder until tomorrow night... But at least it's over... and at least I got a slick pair of $110 Puma's... and at least I'm going back to Harrisonburg tomorrow for about 4 days... and at least it's over.

Goddam I am tired.

I really am sorry that I never ever post in this thing anymore.

I really have just kinda fallen off the face of the Earth this semester, not in a bad way, just in a busy way. It just feels like this last semester, I've been tied up in red tape, doing work for classes that I don't care about, which have nothing to do with my major concentration. I feel like I've never worked harder, and yet I've never gotten less done... I don't care about any of it though, I'm just dealing with the same shit everyone else has to deal with at some point to graduate... Oh well.

Lately I've been feeling so damn nostalgiac though. It seems like after finding out I got into grad school, I was happy for 2 days... and I've been bummed out ever since. That's cause I've been realizing that I'm gonna be going down there alone. All the friends I've made here are going off on their own paths, doing their own things, which all of us have to do at some point... That makes leaving them and saying goodbye no less painful.

Everyday, I think about the loading dock at the Art Studio. This is the place where I walk up to, and can almost always expect to see one, or all of my friends there, just chillin. I know when I go down to New Orleans, I'm gonna find a new loading dock with new people to talk with, yet, this spot has become such an important place in my life, to leave it, just leaves me with an empty feeling... I'm gonna miss this place, and everyone I know here dearly.

I'm not sad, or depressed or anything, cause I knew from day one that this was gonna happen. All of us leave at some point and start on something else in our lives, and I accepted that a long time ago. It's one of those things where you just have to bite the bullet and understand that it happens.

I'm excited about my future, even though I still don't know what it is or is gonna involve. That's why I always stay optimistic though, cause there's always potential for something to come along; some type of opportunity; some person or people, which is only gonna push you forward. In this case I had an opportunity dumped in my lap, and I'm taking it, but I understand that I'm leaving a hell of alot behind in the process, which is something we all have to do at some point.

I'm not worried about anything, cause I know anything can happen good or bad... I'm just gonna miss this place is all.

I'll get back to this thing soon enough. Later.

Ok, so literally, the very second I typed in the period to the last sentence of that last post I just made, I got a call from a Mr. Jim Richard at the University of New Orleans...

I GOT INTO GRAD SCHOOL!!!

I got accepted! They offered me a full assistance-ship, a full waiver of the tuition. I'm gonna work 20 hours a week for the school and recieve $5500 a semester for it.

I'M GOING TO NEW ORLEANS!!!
I'M GOING TO NEW ORLEANS!!!
I'M FUCKING GOING TO NEW ORLEANS!!!

I have never been this excited or happy in my life. It's amazing how I go from having a life-changing dream, straight into a life-changing moment all in a flash.

This is the start of something incredible, I can feel it.

You can't get me off of this cloud.

I tend to tell people how I have rather boring and unimportant dreams where nothing really happens aside from me sitting in some random place, talking to one, or a few of my friends about random shit; movies, music, art, etc... Every 1-2 years or so though, I have a really vivid dream which just stays with me at all times, which ends up meaning a lot to me, and last night I had one of those, and if I don't get this out, it's just gonna stay on my mind until I do...

In the dream, I wake up in my bedroom here in Harrisonburg. I turn over, and look up toward my window, and see a pack of lizards siting in an un-assuming manner around my window. At first I'm frightened, because why would there be a pack of lizards just sitting in my room. I stare at them for a bit, un-sure of what to do, but all they do, is just stare back, and then look out the window, and eventually I look out the window to see what they're gazing at.

Outside, there's a bunch of bushes and tree branches which aren't there in real life, and on these branches, is a swarm of praying mantis', just devouring everything in sight. At this point I don't know what to do, aside from stay inside my room, and away from that swarm. I get up and go to my computer, and notice more lizards, just walking around the room, paying no attention to me.

Over time, I notice the swarm outside slowly going away, and as this is happening, the lizards slowly leave my room, until both are all gone. It's when this happens, that I realize that the lizards were in my room protecting me. If any of the mantis' were to get into my room, the lizards would've have attacked it and kept it away from me. Luckily that never happened, but it was appeasing to the nerves to know I was safe from what was going on...

The dream then goes into a bunch of different situations, where for whatever reason, I'm either scared, failing at something, or I've screwed up really badly. But in each of these situations, my failures end up getting rendered petty and unimportant...

In one, I'm in a bar, just completely down on my luck for whatever reason. Then an old man walks in and sits next to me, and we start talking. We talk about art, and I reveal to him that I'm an artist, and for some reason, I have a portfolio of my work with me, that I show to him... He likes it, and then he reveals to me that his is a very reknowned art dealer, and tells me that he wants to take my work on... Everything ends up turning from bad to good...

In one, I'm on a basketball court with two hoops at both ends, playing with a bunch of kids, ranging in all ages. I go up to dunk the basketball, and end up breaking the hoop when I do... After this, I feel awful, cause I just ruined one of the only two hoops that this neighborhood has, and I'm scared as shit to face all the kids. They all come up to me with shocked looks on their faces, but it's because they were more worried about my well-being than the hoop. I apologize profusely for breaking the hoop, but they all to a man just say, "It's allright, we still have one hoop to play on, and eventually they'll fix this one, don't worry about it." and then we go on playing on the other hoop. Again a situation turning from bad to good.

In one, I cause a car accident with another guy, where both of our cars get ruined. Again, I feel god-awful, and am just thinking about how much trouble I'm in. He gets out of his car and walks up to me. He just asks me if I'm allright, and yet again, I begin apologizing profusely. He just smiles, says that "accidents happen" and just says that we'll work it all out, and that he won't make a huge deal out of it. Yet again, my mind is put at ease, though I screwed up, it ends up not being as bad as it could be. he could sue me, call the cops, do everything to take his frustration out on me, and yet he doesn't...

In the last situation, I'm standing in a parking lot, with a girl who I'm madly in love with, and I'm trying to tell her how I feel about her, but I am scared shit-less and beginning to think I can't do it... I look around, and then I see a car sitting a short distance away from me, turned on, with it's lights on. Inside of the car, there's a giant praying mantis at the steering wheel, just looking at me, and it's then that I realize, that the mantis is trapped inside the car, and doesn't know how to drive it, and has no way of affecting me. After that, my fear goes away, and I tell her how I feel, and then we kiss...

It's at this point that I wake up.

Lately I've been stressed out like nothing else, worrying about school, what to do after school, possibly moving to Chicago, and how everything is about to change completely. This dream kinda put everything in perspective for me though. I realize now that all these things are just really minor annoyances that are gonna have no affect on me overall. I'm gonna graduate, and then I'm gonna move somewhere, and get started on my life, and it's gonna work, cause I'm gonna make it work. I really have nothing to worry about, and shouldn't be worrying about things as much as I have been. I realize now how simple all of this is, and that though I'm gonna fail at things, I'm gonna succeed at the same time.

I woke up this morning, and for the first time in a long long time, my head was clear of all worry and fear and doubt. Things just seem easy now, and I realize that they have been this easy all along.

Happy New Year's or something...

Anyways, I got about 5 more days in Northern Virginia, 7 more days until my 22nd birthday, and 19 more days until we invade Mason's art gallery.

I'll be soooooo happy to get away from Alexandria. Each time I come back, I grow to hate this place a little more. The traffic, congestion, the pure setup of the area, it being so spread out with the same shit at every corner you turn, it's faceless, people here are pretentious dicks, there's no contemporary art here, and though I love my parents to death, I can stand depending on them or living with them. I needs to get the fuck out of this joint.

At least I have Harrisonburg as an escape. Though I only got this last semester before I'm finished for good. I got grad school to look forward to, but I don't know what to expect with that. I have a feeling I'm gonna end up like Paul, going to grad school, and then hanging out with the undergrad students, hehehe.

My birf'day is next Tuesday. Hopefully I can drag a few people to the bar to celebrate or something. After last year (drinking whiskey by myself while watching reruns of South Park,) I need something better to remember this day.

Uggggh... I'll be 22 years old. I saw a commercial yesterday on AMC advertising the "15th anniversary" of the release of Jurassic Park. Nothing yet has made me realize the passage of time like that commercial. That movie came out 15 fucking years ago? My god, I am fucking old.

Worst yet, I went to the barber the other day, and my gray hair problem is slowly getting worst. The men on my mother's side of the family carry the gene that turns your hair gray really early in life. All my uncles went gray during their 30's, and I'm on that path. The plethora of gray hairs running down my skull at the barber was a worrysome sight. Oh well.

The point of it all is, I'm beginning to feel like that joke, the guy living n his parents basement who hasn't accomplished anything. The fact that I'm even thinking this way has led me to this resolution...

I will not be in DC next New Year's, and I will not be typing in this journal from this fucking basement! I'm not saying this might happen, I'm saying this will happen! After this summer, I'm finished here. That is all.

Allright, (*spoken with a Quagmire voice,)

So I checked out my grades today, and I actually managed to get away with a C- in Geology. So in a semester where I completely slacked off and stopped caring about things, I've discovered that you actually have to work to get below a C... Rod is God.

Whelp, X-Mas shopping is pretty much done. I finally found a new needle for Dad's record player, though I have no idea if it's gonna work, so I gotta hook it up to find out, otherwise I'll have to drive back out to Guitar Center at Seven Corners to replace it.

Speaking of Seven Corners, I was amazed to find a Bennigan's out there. I had no idea they were still in existence, and have no idea why they are still in existence. They just don't go away... Bennigan's is the Paul Reiser of dining establishments.

and man, speaking of Seven Corners, it took me an hour and a half to get home from there, ever since I've come back, I've found that traffic in Northern Virginia has only gotten worst, and now it's damn near unbearable, only adding fuel to my fire to move far far away from this place as soon as humanly possible.

Also, the weekend of Jan 25-27th, Cornelius and Super Furry Animals will be playing two separate shows at the 9:30 Club. If anyone wants to go, lemme know.

That's all for now. later.

Whelp, my semester has ended.

Got A's in both my photo classes, a B+ in painting. A C in Art History (I didn't care much about that class though,) and will prally get a D in geology, (I didn't care AT ALL about that fucking class.) So at the end of the day, in a semester in which I struggled to find the motivation to get any work done, it all ended up ok.

There's not much to say about the past four months. I pretty much settled into a constant routine of wake up ---> Go to the studio ---> Work till about 8 or 9pm ---> Go to the bar ---> Come back to my apartment at 2am and fall asleep. Needless to say, I am very content with this routine.

The work I produced this semester was excellent as far as photo is concerened, but in painting, it didn't quite stand up to what I did last year, but again, I wasn't as motivated this time around, and I don't know why. I kinda think it's more of a seasonal thing. I always tend towards photo in the fall, and painting in the spring. and it's always been like that too. So hopefully in the spring, my painting will wake back up, (even though I'm not taking a painting class, thank you very much "General Art Electives.")

These past three weeks though, I came very close to a nervous breakdown. I was so hellishly swamped with work, that I barely had time to think, but then the money problems started to snowball into a shit avalanche.

First I overdrew my account by $10, so that's one $25 overdraft fee. Then my rent check bounced, which is a $25 returned check fee, as well as a $35 late fee from my apartments. Sarah helped me out alot by sending a check for $40, but I still had to sell one of my cameras to cover the rent, and that returned me to the level of flat broke, at which point I had to call and beg Dad for gas money to get home. Hell, I had to ride my bike around Harrisonburg on Wednesday because I had no gas. I mean, work is one thing, but once the money issues come into play... Well.... Needless to say I am strung out razor thin right now.

But that's all over and done with. Sarah comes back from Seattle in a week, which will be awesome. I'm gonna work a little over break, so I should have a good deal of money when I return to Harrisonburg. I'm gonna send away applications to five grad schools over break, and I'm confident I'll get in somewhere good. My birthday is the second day of next semester, which means the party begins immediately for my last semester at JMU.

AND... I got that show at Mason on January the 21st! Even better though, is that it's basically me and my best friends involved. Brady and Tyler are in on it, my friend Tim (who's an awesome printmaker,) is in on it, and a really cool girl named Sarah who does really great installation works are all involved. This is basically me and my friends driving up and taking over another school's gallery, which is an awesome prospect. If you're reading this, you're invited to the opening.

I'm basically gonna lay back, quietly work for these next three weeks, and prepare myself for what shall be the best four months of my life to come. I'm looking forward to this next semester.

Also, I've been listening to Spiritualized nonstop recently! Everyone should go out and get their album "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space," it is great stuff.

Also, anyone wanna go museam'ing with me over break, Lemme know!

Also, I have to, Have to, HAVE TO, see "There Will Be Blood," when it comes out in theaters, if you wanna go, lemme know.

Also, that's it. Catch ya guys later.

Basically it goes like this...

A keg of Yuengling + A keg of Dead Guy Ale + Numerous hits of some high grade marijuana = The worst fucking hangover you will ever experience over the entire duration of your entire fucking life!

Seriously guys, the combination of those three things is a molotov cocktail of physical paralysis. Don't ever mix flavors unless you have to.

Giggity

I gazed forward with an empty stare
Eyes canvassing the images before me
conscious thought made possible only by the percentage of caffeine within my bloodstream
hastening the passage of neurotransmitters throughout my nervous system
My corneas graced by the angelic image of a man
the image passing hypnotically through the optical highway flowing through the upper half of my skull

There he stood...
Ron Popeil
Ron Popeil

Trapped within the intoxicating spin of the rotisserie
Pork tenderloin
Seven sirloin strips
A Fifteen Pound Turkey!
A Fifteen Pound Turkey!
Injected with the cloves of the Earth
Surpassing even the foresight of Futureman
Four easy payments of $39.95
Yes
The flavor injector is included
The top steamer is included
The kabob reel is included

There he stood...
Ron Popeil
Ron Popeil

The tide turned with the camera's pan
The joy of easy and economical cooking dispelled
The natural crime revealed to even drunken eyes

There he stood...
Ron Popeil
Ron Popeil

I saw the audience
Geriatric mindlessness exposed upon a platform of manipulative greed
Joy produced, yet not exposed for the truth therein
He took advantage of their age
Their ability to yield to even the slightest aura of ignorance
Pawns in a capatalistic game where cannonballs give way to ovens and silverware
Their fostered smiles surely a product of the supplying retirement home's contract with the afformentioned "Ronco"
Upheld with musket shafts pressuring into the upper region of their backs softened with age
To use these weakened minds of the geriatric population is surely beyond even the most evil temptations of man
I cried for these people
For they were reduced to the lowest platform of society
The drugged smile of an 85 year old infomercial background personality
All for the profit of one green smocked man with the audacity to prolong this dark institution of mankind

There he stood...
Ron Popeil
Ron Popeil

And he is the bane of all that is evil within humanity.



I really do believe that when Ron Popeil produces an infomercial for his cookware company, that he drives a 15 ft box truck down to Sun City, Florida, and lures these old people into it with the promise of a free meal at the Old Country Buffet. I saw those people sitting in his audience tonight and realized why the fear of getting old is a very well-established and properly substantiated one. I just felt so bad for those people, and so scared that I might one day be there as well. Goddam Alzheimer's sucks ass.

Well, we have hit the Thanksgiving holiday, and I am back home for the first time in about two months. The past month has been hectic as hell, and being here with nothing to do has given me the chance to lay back for a bit and look at things from a distance, and I realize now that a bunch of shit (good shit) is about to go down.

First off, I have options, and plans, and plans to act on those options.

The main one is the one I'm most excited about. Within the last month, banter has been passed amongst me and my friends down at JMU about moving to Chicago at the end of next summer, and that banter is starting to turn into actual planning. The idea was mainly the brainchild of Brady, wherein about 8-10 of us move out to Chicago and lease a warehouse, renovate it, and use it as our work / studio space. The 8-10 people would be 8-10 of our closest friends; Me, brady and Tyler are all already pretty much on board. We've been doing research and found that a fuckton of these spaces are open in more of Chicago's industrial districts.

Not only that though, but Chicago is bidding for the 2016 summer Olympics, and we've found that they are desperately trying to revitalize these areas, so much so that they (the city) are offering grants to people who wish to move into these spots. Imagine 8-10 artists coming in, it would work beautifully.

I know this sounds like a lofty goal, but three of us are on board, we have two who are pretty much committed to the idea, and a host of others more than interested. Me, Brady and Tyler are the type of people who will follow through on anything so long as we're devoted to an idea, and I really think this thing is gonna move forward. Our main requirement is that everyone who moves their must find a job as soon as humanly possible. We've pretty much discussed that the first two things we're gonna do are... 1. Install a toilet, and 2. Go to the temp agency. Your basic cooperative. The goal is to use this space and each other's talents to basically as a collective get each other into the public sphere as far as it concerns the art world.

Basically this idea is something we've all been dreaming of, and we all know it can work as well, so long as we get the right people on board, which we will.

That being said, I know this could easily fail, so I'm still applying to grad schools. I've got a shortlist of four places I'm going to apply. The University of Washington, Indiana - Bloomington, Tyler, and the School of Art Institute of Chicago. I feel confident that I can get into any, or all of these places.

This'll all work out perfectly though. I'll find out if I'm accepted to these places around April - May, and by then I'll know for sure if Chicago is on. Hence, I have numerous options to fall back on. Needless to say, I'm excited as hell right now about the prospects of the future.

As for now, I'm still truckin'. A fluid routine of working and drinking. It's been a fun semester, and it's heading toward a decent ending. I've done two successfull shows, and got a third one coming up in two weeks which I know will go off without a hitch, (I'm working with some good people on this one.) and then I got another show coming up January 25th at George Mason's gallery which is gonna be awesome. (All my Northern Virginia brethren are required to attend!) I applied for a VMFA grant which I feel like I have a decent shot at getting, though I'm certainly not getting my hopes up. Everything's working out right now, and I couldn't be happier.

So that's about it for now. I'll get back on here eventually. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

So I ended up not dressing up as Wayne Coyne for Halloween, cause I couldn't find a cheap white suit... But I think I one-upped myself on that...




I was Ritchie Fucking Tenenbaum!!! Boo-yukasha!

Hey guys, haven't updated this thing for too long. I've had the busiest month of my life, and just haven't taken the time to verbalize it. So here we go. This is the abridged version.

I've gone out of town the past three weekends.

The first was to go down to norfolk to see Megadeth with Grant, which was a fucking awesome show. After all these years Dave Mustaine still has it, only they didn't play "Devil's Island," which is my favorite Megadeth tune :-( Oh well.

The second trip was down to Savannah, GA with my friend Paul for the SPE (Society of Photographic Educators,) conference. The conference was really cool, saw alot of good talks, met some really cool photographers, but mainly the trip was just four days of drunken debauchery. Both me and Paul were drunk until 5am every night. We both hooked up with someone every night down there, teeheehee. It's nice to know that i still got it, as much as the women here at JMU can bring me down.

The third trip was with Grant out to Indiana. On the way there we picked up Ben from UK, and went up to IU-Bloomington to hang with Kyle. It was a great trip. Everyone was in a really good mood the whole time, we saw Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello at Assembley Hall on IU's campus. We celebrated Kyle's 21st birthday. Grant got to chill with Kristen. All around just a really good trip.

I'm back at JMU for good now, no more trips in the future. I got alot of work ahead of me too. I got four art shows coming up. A photo show at JMU's student gallery opening this coming Monday. The following Monday I got a show up at Eastern Mennonite University, which is a cool show held every year displaying work by students from JMU, EMU and Bridgewater. I'll be showing with my good friend Brady and this cool girl named Lea who does really good installation work. I got a show in December with my African-American art history class, though I have no fucking clue what will be involved with that. and in late January, I got a show along with 5 other JMU students up at George Mason University, (on the flipsyde, the Mason students will be showing down here in February.)

So yeah, I got alot on my plate in terms of all of that.

I register for classes on Monday, I gotta take 4 general art classes to graduate, which will be Metals, Ceramics, Weaving, and Figure Drawing. Unfortunately I can't fit in any painting or photo classes for my last semester, but you know I'll keep working on that shit anyways. So yeah, I'm getting graduated in May, Hooray!

I'm starting to look into Grad Schools. I'll definately be applying to University of Washington, Indiana - Bloomington, and Tyler, those are my top three. I'm gonna apply to Yale and RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) for shits and giggles, and possibly Rochester Insititute for photo and as a safety UNLV cause my photo professor said she could possibly help get me in there. If I got enough money I might apply to a couple others, but that's my short-list. I'm confident that my shit is good enough to get into at least one of them, but still it's kinda nerve-racking. Oh well, whatever will be will be.

Halloween parties this weekend, and yes, I'm gonna be Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips.

Well, that's been my month in a nutshell. If I ever get the chance I'll update this again, though that is becoming a rarity. Anyways. Later homies.

Heh. Even though I haven't really been doing any painting this semester, I do have one that's about 90% finished now, so for your viewing pleasure...




I'll get it finished in a couple weeks. Aside from that, not much. I'm going to Savannah, GA in a couple weeks for the SPE conference. I'm doing that instead of going to NYC, cause it's a good chance to hobb-knob with peers and pedal my portfolio to grad schools, maybe even find a job or an internship somewhere. Plus Paul has a friend down at Savannah who's house we're gonna stay at. So no money for hotels, (hooray!)

This next month is gonna be a busy one. No rest for Mr. Roderick. Anyways... I need to update this thing more often, oh well. Later homies.

Well, after a three week funk wherein I had absolutely no energy to do anything, (art related or social) I think I'm starting to come out of it. The last couple nights I've spent in the darkroom doing some black & white stuff for the first time in about a year and a half. I had forgotten how much I love working in the darkroom, and now I'm getting excited about possibly doing some large-format black & white stuff for my portfolio class.

I'm starting to wake up towards the painting too. The past month I just have not wanted to paint at all! But now I have a really good idea to complete this one work I've had going since last semester, and I'm about to start these two realism works that should be pretty interesting.

Also, I might be showing some works in a collective show up at Eastern Mennonite University. This is an annual show where students from Bridgewater, JMU, and EMU all display work. My professors Greg and Rebecca both approached me about it, so I think it's a go.

I'm starting to look forward to working again, as for plans, this coming weekend I'm going home for the last home series at RFK for the Nationals. The two weekends from now, I'm gonna go camping and take some time lapse photos involving the stars moving in the sky, it'll be some eery shit. The next weekend is Megadeth in Norfolk. The weekend after that I might be going on a road trip to NYC, that'll be a last-minute decision though. The weekend after that is the Indiana trip to see Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello... AND THAT'S IT! Oh man, this senior year is fixin' to be a non-stop road trip. That's the way I like it though.

Good times coming back again. Later homies.

Well, yesterday I went to the doctor's and got my glands checked out. The doctor told me not to worry, and that she doubted it was anything serious. She mentioned how sometimes after an infection glands can even remain larger permenantly. She told me to not worry, but if it didn't go down, or if it gets worst within the next two weeks, that I should check back in and maybe get some blood tests done.

So that took a load off my mind. After that was over, I did my routine trips to Goodwill and came away with two really cool old LaCoste shirts. I just love that damn alligator. I blame The Streets for my fascination with it.

Since then though, I seriously have not done shit. I'm just in a lazy lazy mood right. I have no motivation to do anything. I have no desire to get drunk or stoned, or go out and party. All I've felt like doing is sitting here and watching football and baseball...

Which today was an amazing day for both. first Appalachian St. beats 5th ranked Michigan AT Michigan! Let's review that right quick... App. ST. is a division I-AA school from Boone, NC where the population is roughly 13,500 people. They go into a stadium which seats roughly 110,000 people, and beat a D I-A school that many people thought was gonna win the national title this year. To sum it up... Biggest upset ever!

I watched JMU get pummeled by UNC 37-14. 'Nuff said about that.

Then tonight, Clay Bucholz from the Boston Red Sox throws a no-hitter in his second career start against those shit-bird Orioles. Amazing shit man.

What a lazy, but satisfying weekend this has been. We'll see what happens next. Later dudes / dudettes.

Well, I've been back at JMU for a little less than a week now. Don't really know how this semester is gonna turn out, but I'm not worried.

Haven't done much this past week, alot of joyriding. I have what I think is a bit of a sinus infection, but I'm gonna get it checked out on Tuesday, (Not tomorrow cause I'm going to see Nile at Jaxx!!!) I have these three swollen glands on the left side of my neck, so I'm mainly going to get those checked out. Being kind of a hypochondriac, I've been getting worried sick that it might be serious, so getting it checked will at least put me at ease. I'm not horribly freaked out though, cause it doesn't hurt at all, I have no symptoms and the swelling hasn't gotten worst at all, still, I'm a tad freaked. oh well, nothing I can do till I get it checked.

I need to find a job, but problem is, I have shit planned out for a bunch of weekends coming up. I'm going home on the weekend of the 22nd to see the last Nationals home series at RFK. Then the next weekend, I'm going home to see Steve Vai at the Birchmere. The following weekend I'm seeing Megadeth down at The Norva. Two weekends after that is a possible road trip to Indiana for Kyle's 21st and the IU football game (Also, Ben if you see this post before I get a chance to talk to you, call me about that possible IU trip, it won't be any good unless you come along.) and then two weeks after that is another possible trip back to DC to see Boris at The Black Cat.

I really don't wanna skip out on any of those, so I don't know what to do. Oh well, I always figure this shit out.

That's about it for now. Nile is gonna kick some serious ass tomorrow night.

Allright, later dudes and/or dudettes.

Damn, I don't think I've updated this thing since mid-June. I've just been in kind of a lazy rut since I got back from Seattle. Can you blame me though? For damn near two months straight I was always on the go somewhere or somehow, doing something with someone for some reason or another.

I was at Bonnaroo, which was the adventure of a lifetime. I'm sorry I never finished my story of Bonnaroo, maybe at some point in the future I'll complete it, as I just feel it's one of those things where I need to go into ultra-detail. Hell, I could write a fucking novel about The Flaming Lips performance by itself.

After that, I went to Arizona with my parents. I can say that there is not shit to do in the Phoenix / Scottsdale area. It was nice seeing my Aunt Leslie there, I went to a Diamondbacks game with my father, (Chase Field is alot nicer than you might think, it was like seeing a game inside a big airline hangar,) and we went to a place called South Mountain, where you can drive to the top and get a great view of the Phoenix metropolis, which is absolutely gigantic.

Key thing about Arizona though was going to see the Grand Canyon, which was very impressive. Awe-inspiring views wherever you looked, and a closeness with nature you rarely get in this country. I loved it there, and really wanna go back in the future, mostly to hike down into the canyon and photograph much more extensively.

That trip killed though. I love my parents to death, but spending an entire week with them just grates on the nerves. I never needed a cigarette worst in my life when that week was over.

The week eventually was over though, at which point I flew up to Seattle to visit my sister for two and a half weeks. Funny thing was at the airport in Phoenix, I ran into John McCain who was waiting for a flight to DC. I didn't say hi or anything, cause I didn't wanna acknowledge his presence. Still, kinda weird, wasn't expecting that one.

Anyways, Seattle was great. It was awesome to just visit my sister for 17 days, and now be held to the rigors of an actual "vacation" like my parents would want. It was laid-back, but I still did alot out there. Visited all the neighborhoods, Ballard, U-District, Greenwood, etc... Saw the new an improved Seattle Art Museum or "SAM" which had an incredible collection, (My favorite part was the Gerard Richter room) visited and caught up with my friend Kim who I had not seen since I graduated high school, (Kim goes to Evergreen and hence lives in Olympia now) Went to one of the 12 "Kwik-E-Marts" in the country, saw a snek-preview of Transformers two days before it actually came out, (that movie kicked ass by the way,) visited the campus of the University of Washington which was an important thing to do as I might be applying to grad school there next year; I went to a Mariners game at Safeco, as well as a whole host of other things that are escaping me right now.

Also, me and my sister made two side trips. the first was a weekend trip to Portland, Ore which was really nice. Portland was a really nice little town. I got a great vibe from there. it just seemed like if you combined Milwaukee's size with Pittsburgh's charm, you'd get Portland. Great place for the hipster kid, however, i could never see myself settling there, I just think it's a place where I'd get bored quickly if I had to stay there for a really long time.

The second trip was up to Vancouver... Vancouver dissapointed me. I always imagined this great place where dreams came true. Where weed flowed through the streets like a desert torrent and everybody knew your name. What ended up happening was there was one street with a whole lot of very ritzy and flashy nightclubs, and then there wasn't a whole lot outside of that. I've always said, gimme me a quiet, dank little bar where I can actually go up and talk to people. I guess sometimes there is a bit of the South in me... Vancouver was far far away from the South. Oh well.

The real adventure though was the Hostel we stayed at. We stayed in an un-air conditioned room with these two dumbfucks from Gudalajara, Mexico named Jorge and Cesar. One of them tried to have sex with a girl while me and my sister were in the room trying to sleep. then the second came in right after that with several people and tried to let them sleep in the room on the floor. We, (well my sister at least) put a stop to that one, but seriously, those dudes were assholes. Not to mention my bed had no support under it. My matress was literally sitting on five wrought-iron bars. End result: I went back to Seattle with the most god-awful back spasms imaginable. Oh well. You live and you learn.

I got back here to Virginia on July the 17th, and since then it's literally been nothing but work and going to Nationals games. I've been to 6 of the last 11 homes games, and two away games in Philly with my dad (who's a Phillies fan, hence I've been using the comparison that he's Darth Vader and I'm Luke Skywalker, heh heh heh) I went to the game just tonight, and am going to 4 of the next 5. I've found myself becoming even more obsessed with baseball if that is possible. I've even started going out to the mound and throwing again, and frankly, I'm feeling confident that I can make the club team down at JMU this fall. My velocity is still there, but now I've figured out how to throw a good change-up, and am getting close on throwing a really good knuckle-curve ball. It would be awesome if I could make a team and finally be able to play instead of just watching the game. We'll see.

That's where I'm at now, and where I've been since I lost wrote on here. Where I'm going is back to JMU in exactly one week, which I've been waiting in vain for. It will be great seeing all my friends again, but also getting back in the swing of things with the art. I haven't done a goddam thing this summer as far as that's concerned, and I have alot of ideas I wanna pursue, now I can get back to it. So that will be nice.

Hopefully I start writing on here more often, and I can finish my Bonnaroo story, we'll just see how I'm feeling about it later on, but until then, peace, and if you read this entire entry, then you're a trooper.

Later.