This year I will be participating in the Tour de Cure, which is a cycling fund-raising event for the American Diabetes Association (ADA). If any of you would be interested in sponsoring me the below link will allow you to make credit/debit donations, or you can give other forms of donations directly to me. (The link is accessible through our intranet.) Certainly don’t feel obligated to donate anything! Every donation, regardless of size, will be appreciated.
http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=5026&px=4167632
Why I am doing this:
I try to do my part to help organizations that I believe in. I also, REALLY enjoy riding my bike. In regard to the ADA specifically, this Mother’s Day marks the 28th anniversary of my Grandma’s death. Seeing that I am currently 27, it is understood that my Grandma passed away months before I was born. My mother is also diabetic. Organizations like the ADA help to advance research and technologies that will hopefully allow my mother the opportunity to be on this earth long enough to meet my children.
I have to raise at least $150 to participate in the ride. However, my current goal is set at $1,550. In reality I just want to raise as much as I can, because I do really believe in this organization. I have no problem with paying the $150 out of my pocket. I just want to do this 50k ride and at the end feel like I did everything that I could to further the efforts of the organization. I don’t really care if at the end of the day I only have $150 that came out of my pocket. So honestly, DO NOT feel obligated.
Thanks,
Evan
P.S. Feel free to forward this if you know of someone else that might be interested in the event in any way.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Final Project
I had quite a few different ideas for the final project. I was going back on doing the green thing or re-doing the N190 thing. Ultimately, I have decided to use my onion project for my final project. For one, I had planned on showing my onion project along with my final project and my research from the book. Then I thought about how long it would take me to do all three. Not that it would be too horribly long, but everyone is supposed to be doing two presentations. I’m not sure how it’s all going to fit. Anyway, the onion project didn’t really turn out like I wanted it to. In reality, I think it will play out better as my final project.
My onion project comes courtesy of a ‘friend’. He fails to grow. His life has been a process of repeating the same things over and over and over again, only to realize that the same things keep happening. His life is agonizing. To him at least; to me, well, I don’t really care anymore. Why should I continue to help a person who just puts himself back in the same place? Do you really want help? You ask for it, but you never really do anything with it. Every time I see him, it’s like there is a little less. Maybe it’s because his life is actually decaying, or maybe I just get a little further away from him with each passing day. So maybe it’s not actually decay, maybe its lack of growth. I’m not sure that lack of growth is any better though.
My onion project comes courtesy of a ‘friend’. He fails to grow. His life has been a process of repeating the same things over and over and over again, only to realize that the same things keep happening. His life is agonizing. To him at least; to me, well, I don’t really care anymore. Why should I continue to help a person who just puts himself back in the same place? Do you really want help? You ask for it, but you never really do anything with it. Every time I see him, it’s like there is a little less. Maybe it’s because his life is actually decaying, or maybe I just get a little further away from him with each passing day. So maybe it’s not actually decay, maybe its lack of growth. I’m not sure that lack of growth is any better though.
I'm in LOVE with a car
I'm in love with a car.... and here it is
http://www.think.no/think/Press-Pictures/Picture-gallery/Movies/TH!NK-Ox-film
Sheer beauty and eco grace
http://www.think.no/think/Press-Pictures/Picture-gallery/Movies/TH!NK-Ox-film
Sheer beauty and eco grace
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Sue Crolick
For my research from the books assignment I have chosen Sue Crolick.
A Smile in the Mind... pages 56, 102, 110, 113, 132, 135
Sue Crolick: a successful advertising art director turns big sister-esque art buddy
Sue's work reminded me a lot of some artists that used to run an after-school children's program that I would attend in Evansville. It was focused on inner-city kids. It gave kids the opportunity to do something positive instead of activities that negatively affect our society. When I first started attending the program it was a general after-school program that helped you with homework and let you play... supervised. However, the director was an artist, and eventually she collected other artists and gave the program an art focus. I had no interest in art people I started that program. That's where I learned that art is whatever you want it to be. That it is EXTREMELY broad, and it's about the process, and personal meaning, and expression, and it's never right or wrong... it just is.
Later I learned that in reality that's a bubble.
Nonetheless, everyone should be able to experience that bubble at least once. I did. And I guess once you learn it, you will never forget it.
http://www.artbuddies.org/video.asp
Go'on whit cha bad self, Sue.
http://www.turner.com/planet/credit-song.html
A Smile in the Mind... pages 56, 102, 110, 113, 132, 135
Sue Crolick: a successful advertising art director turns big sister-esque art buddy
Sue's work reminded me a lot of some artists that used to run an after-school children's program that I would attend in Evansville. It was focused on inner-city kids. It gave kids the opportunity to do something positive instead of activities that negatively affect our society. When I first started attending the program it was a general after-school program that helped you with homework and let you play... supervised. However, the director was an artist, and eventually she collected other artists and gave the program an art focus. I had no interest in art people I started that program. That's where I learned that art is whatever you want it to be. That it is EXTREMELY broad, and it's about the process, and personal meaning, and expression, and it's never right or wrong... it just is.
Later I learned that in reality that's a bubble.
Nonetheless, everyone should be able to experience that bubble at least once. I did. And I guess once you learn it, you will never forget it.
http://www.artbuddies.org/video.asp
Go'on whit cha bad self, Sue.
http://www.turner.com/planet/credit-song.html
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Connections
Connection in the ‘supply and demand’ sense
Wow. I didn’t even look at the connections assignment until today. So weird. I don’t know if today was an especially good day to think about connections… or maybe it’s just something that is always in my face. In regard to work I am an inventory guru. This morning I was lucky enough to actually do the job I accepted a couple of years ago. I helped a sales rep, who is in pursuit of a promotion, complete a physical inventory count this morning. I felt like his connection. Not just a connection to the information and assistance that he needed but also his connection to where he wants to go with the company.
Connection in the 'similar' sense
Before he and I could finish his inventory my ‘boss’ and a co-worker came to check in, which brings me to a different connection. With the co-worker I feel like we have a sibling-like connection. We are likely to through each other under the bus, but we will always have each other’s back. We have a ton of fun together. We have a very similar sense of humor, which allows us to connect on a friendly level first. We have a good time together.
Connection in the ‘long ties that bind’ sense
Then there is my ‘boss,’ whom I have worked with for more than 6 years now. Last night she told me that she is pregnant again, which I am super excited about. I wanted to talk to her about it when I saw her, but she told me it was a secret. I suspect that I was the only one at that location who knew, so it would have been a horrible time for me to speak to her about it.
Connection in the ‘linked’ sense
After leaving that location I went to a store just up the street to convince another co-worker to grab some lunch with me. I have known her for a long time, but we have only become really close in the last year. I dated a woman a couple years ago who later ended up working for the company as well. She ended up working with the co-worker I had planned to grab lunch with. My co-worker, who I’ll call S, got to know my ex-girlfriend pretty well. I think S then felt as if she need more about me, or better understood me based on her experience with my ex-girlfriend. S and my ex are still pretty good friend. I guess because my ex is an amazing person than I had to be an amazing person as well. At least, that’s what I think S thinks.
Connection in the ‘needed’ sense
S and I have been talking a lot about her life lately. She’s not really happy. I feel like I am constantly offering her advice, suggestions and just sharing things about my life and experiences. Today I was talking to her about how crazy I am about gardening. I have been toying with the idea of gardening for a long time, but have never really done anything about it. Something apparently bit me in the ass this year, and I have been working like a maniac to start a garden. I feel like all I want to do is watch my plants grow. They need so much time and attention that some days it does seem like that is all I have done. I have to make sure they have the right amount of water and light and keep them warm.
Wow. I didn’t even look at the connections assignment until today. So weird. I don’t know if today was an especially good day to think about connections… or maybe it’s just something that is always in my face. In regard to work I am an inventory guru. This morning I was lucky enough to actually do the job I accepted a couple of years ago. I helped a sales rep, who is in pursuit of a promotion, complete a physical inventory count this morning. I felt like his connection. Not just a connection to the information and assistance that he needed but also his connection to where he wants to go with the company.
Connection in the 'similar' sense
Before he and I could finish his inventory my ‘boss’ and a co-worker came to check in, which brings me to a different connection. With the co-worker I feel like we have a sibling-like connection. We are likely to through each other under the bus, but we will always have each other’s back. We have a ton of fun together. We have a very similar sense of humor, which allows us to connect on a friendly level first. We have a good time together.
Connection in the ‘long ties that bind’ sense
Then there is my ‘boss,’ whom I have worked with for more than 6 years now. Last night she told me that she is pregnant again, which I am super excited about. I wanted to talk to her about it when I saw her, but she told me it was a secret. I suspect that I was the only one at that location who knew, so it would have been a horrible time for me to speak to her about it.
Connection in the ‘linked’ sense
After leaving that location I went to a store just up the street to convince another co-worker to grab some lunch with me. I have known her for a long time, but we have only become really close in the last year. I dated a woman a couple years ago who later ended up working for the company as well. She ended up working with the co-worker I had planned to grab lunch with. My co-worker, who I’ll call S, got to know my ex-girlfriend pretty well. I think S then felt as if she need more about me, or better understood me based on her experience with my ex-girlfriend. S and my ex are still pretty good friend. I guess because my ex is an amazing person than I had to be an amazing person as well. At least, that’s what I think S thinks.
Connection in the ‘needed’ sense
S and I have been talking a lot about her life lately. She’s not really happy. I feel like I am constantly offering her advice, suggestions and just sharing things about my life and experiences. Today I was talking to her about how crazy I am about gardening. I have been toying with the idea of gardening for a long time, but have never really done anything about it. Something apparently bit me in the ass this year, and I have been working like a maniac to start a garden. I feel like all I want to do is watch my plants grow. They need so much time and attention that some days it does seem like that is all I have done. I have to make sure they have the right amount of water and light and keep them warm.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Freak gets and "A" in my book
So I finally have learned the real name of “Freak,” as it turns out his legal name is Joshua Ahrens. For this assignment Freak decided to write “No One” on a piece of tape and stick it to his paper, which he later balled up and stuck two pencils in (in the shape of an ‘X’ of course.) To top it all off, he then dug a hole and buried it.
Initially I wasn’t really sure how to take Freak’s assignment. How do you grade someone on his or her representation of his or her self? I sat down on a picnic table to think about it a little longer. I tore a small piece of paper out of my notebook and wrote on it, “How can no one leave a mark?”
I then started thinking more and more about what he had to say. I didn’t really agree with what he said. I feel like he will probably be the most memorable person from the class. Ten years down the road I’ll be talking about this course that bored me to death. I will remember nothing except, “There was this guy, we called him Freak…”
Anyway, I really started to look deeper into his project. Then it started to make since to me. I’m sure it probably wasn’t intentional, but there was quite a bit of symbolism in his project. I think inside he might really feel like he is ‘no one.’ Maybe that’s something that he wants to ball up and bury deep inside of him. Maybe he’s had to deal with other’s telling him that he is ‘no one’. Which seems so different from the Freak we see in class. He seems extremely confident in himself and fearless. Not in the sense that he would try to cut someone, more in the sense that you would need to watch what you dare him to do because it’s as good as done. That’s why it was hard for me to agree with him when he said he was ‘no one’. The Freak we see in class is certainly full of life and seemingly self-assured.
When I take it all in, and try to analyze, it makes sense to me. If this project is really Joshua Ahrens on paper, then this was a very real project. What the project says to me is that Joshua has a low self-image of himself and Freak overcompensates.
Maybe I am completely wrong, but that’s what I think. It’s possible, however, that I see it in that sense, because I relate to it. When I was younger I was extremely depressed, eventually I was standing on the suicidal line. On the outside, you would have never guessed it. I was the happiest person you had ever met. Inside, I was in agony. The only real sign was my writing. Which I didn’t even know was a sign. I didn’t really let anyone read, but the few that did were like, ‘wow, we need to get you some help.’ I really had no idea how sad I was.
So enough about me; I guess I am looking at his project like a contemporary art piece. This is what I get from it. Which really makes me think twice about how we look at art. It’s important that people can relate to it, regardless if that’s what you meant or not. I mean, kind of like R.E.M songs. Most of the time you have no idea was Michael Stipes is saying, but you feel it. He could be singing about how chicken shit is stinky, who knows, but you feel it. Art speaks to us, but only when we can hear it. When it relates to us, when it’s something we understand and can comprehend. That’s what we are missing in this class: Relatability. If we could relate the Art 21 stuff to ourselves, it would be meaningful to us. Maybe the class doesn’t know itself. If we did then we could appreciate the class more. I understand the ‘it works if you work it’ argument, but I don’t, personally, feel that is the case. We need to have commonality in the class. We haven’t even gotten an opportunity to really get to know each other. After today, I now officially know one more person’s name…, which takes me up to maybe knowing 5 people’s name. Maybe. I think we need to know secrets. If we could take off for a while around the building, right down a secret, then through it in a hat. Random people draw it out of the hat and read it aloud, or something.
So I’m going on track. The moral of the story, I would give Freak an “A”. Regardless if it had much meaning for him, I think it had a very deep meaning to me. In my eyes, it seemed like it was a pretty naked moment. The beauty of it all, is that it doesn’t really matter what he meant, because I get to own it now…. We all do. Like deleting Damon’s art. We all own that experience. We are the only one’s that know what was there.
Initially I wasn’t really sure how to take Freak’s assignment. How do you grade someone on his or her representation of his or her self? I sat down on a picnic table to think about it a little longer. I tore a small piece of paper out of my notebook and wrote on it, “How can no one leave a mark?”
I then started thinking more and more about what he had to say. I didn’t really agree with what he said. I feel like he will probably be the most memorable person from the class. Ten years down the road I’ll be talking about this course that bored me to death. I will remember nothing except, “There was this guy, we called him Freak…”
Anyway, I really started to look deeper into his project. Then it started to make since to me. I’m sure it probably wasn’t intentional, but there was quite a bit of symbolism in his project. I think inside he might really feel like he is ‘no one.’ Maybe that’s something that he wants to ball up and bury deep inside of him. Maybe he’s had to deal with other’s telling him that he is ‘no one’. Which seems so different from the Freak we see in class. He seems extremely confident in himself and fearless. Not in the sense that he would try to cut someone, more in the sense that you would need to watch what you dare him to do because it’s as good as done. That’s why it was hard for me to agree with him when he said he was ‘no one’. The Freak we see in class is certainly full of life and seemingly self-assured.
When I take it all in, and try to analyze, it makes sense to me. If this project is really Joshua Ahrens on paper, then this was a very real project. What the project says to me is that Joshua has a low self-image of himself and Freak overcompensates.
Maybe I am completely wrong, but that’s what I think. It’s possible, however, that I see it in that sense, because I relate to it. When I was younger I was extremely depressed, eventually I was standing on the suicidal line. On the outside, you would have never guessed it. I was the happiest person you had ever met. Inside, I was in agony. The only real sign was my writing. Which I didn’t even know was a sign. I didn’t really let anyone read, but the few that did were like, ‘wow, we need to get you some help.’ I really had no idea how sad I was.
So enough about me; I guess I am looking at his project like a contemporary art piece. This is what I get from it. Which really makes me think twice about how we look at art. It’s important that people can relate to it, regardless if that’s what you meant or not. I mean, kind of like R.E.M songs. Most of the time you have no idea was Michael Stipes is saying, but you feel it. He could be singing about how chicken shit is stinky, who knows, but you feel it. Art speaks to us, but only when we can hear it. When it relates to us, when it’s something we understand and can comprehend. That’s what we are missing in this class: Relatability. If we could relate the Art 21 stuff to ourselves, it would be meaningful to us. Maybe the class doesn’t know itself. If we did then we could appreciate the class more. I understand the ‘it works if you work it’ argument, but I don’t, personally, feel that is the case. We need to have commonality in the class. We haven’t even gotten an opportunity to really get to know each other. After today, I now officially know one more person’s name…, which takes me up to maybe knowing 5 people’s name. Maybe. I think we need to know secrets. If we could take off for a while around the building, right down a secret, then through it in a hat. Random people draw it out of the hat and read it aloud, or something.
So I’m going on track. The moral of the story, I would give Freak an “A”. Regardless if it had much meaning for him, I think it had a very deep meaning to me. In my eyes, it seemed like it was a pretty naked moment. The beauty of it all, is that it doesn’t really matter what he meant, because I get to own it now…. We all do. Like deleting Damon’s art. We all own that experience. We are the only one’s that know what was there.
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