Some Quick Updates/Recaps

1. I never talked about how our final review with Professor Graves went. One of the professors summed up the crit by calling it "good" and Michael Graves added "very good". Thankfully they all took the green watercolor plate with a dose of humour. My "regular" studio professor gently referred to it as "the copper plate" with a smile. It also helped that after we introduced ourselves our Miami student introduced "our huge sheet of mylar". It was huge. When we pinned up we started giggling. It was probably a very comical presentation because it included two of us knocking over the same can of pins and M.G.'s water bottle cap exploding off like champagne when his assistant opened it. The most flattering moment was when Graves singled out some of my drawings and addressed the one that was affected most terribly by the green saying "I'd like to congratulate you on that drawing...it's very inviting. It makes me want to be there." If you say so, sir. I think he only said that because he had seen it before looking significantly less verdant.

2. Last night I was able to talk to all of my family members at once thanks to a three way Skype video call. One of the most hilarious moments was when I mentioned that at the Papal Mass on Sunday there were three little girls on their dads' shoulders holding signs that said "W", "♥", "P", and "F" for "We love Pope Francis"; when I said this my nephew launched full force into the entire alphabet. There was also a span of time when he just kept giggling and repeating "Nothing! Nothing!....Nothing!".

3. Before going to Assisi I was waiting to hear something about this yearly pilgrimage I vaguely heard about and today they forward the email. Grr.

4. There is no indication in Italy that it is October. None at all.

5. Any architecture student knows that picking desks is really serious business. Because we are transitioning into our normal schedule with our normal professors and normal class times many people have to move rooms. Thankfully I don't need to move. If you asked me why I picked this desk I could spit out at least five reasons why I think it is in the ideal strategic location. It's strange to have most of the people around me change suddenly though.

6. We were assigned our new project today and spent studio time on a site visit. I think it was productive even though the first 45 minutes on our own were pretty much spent trying out the organic gelato and the bakery that the professors told us to check out. I also had a discussion about the new Avett Brothers album with the fellow Avett fan. My opinion: it is better than The Carpenter.

7. This song:

Now I'm in a bit of a Bert Jansch mood...or more Zeppelin.