Wow... Another Dry Spell. Move over Mojave!

Well I figure that I will write again, and re-re-pledge to actually do something about this thing.

I have started back to school. I was officially accepted into the department of Architecture after my provisional year, and am looking forward to the big challenge ahead. Okay BIG CHALLENGE ahead. I was also hired by the department and am working as an assistant to several professors. In addition, one of my professors who is a licensed architect is developing several external submission projects and art installations has asked me to be on his design and production team. Needless to say, I will be very busy and Ty will have more than enough time to develop ALL of his hobbies.

Speaking of Ty, he is now teaching at Minter Bridge Elementary in the HIllsboro School District. And he LOVES his faculty. The other teacher on his team has been teaching for longer than Ty has been alive, so he will provide Ty with a wealth of knowledge.

Anyways more later....

Lets End the Dry Spell

So just to let everyone know what has been keeping me SO busy that I haven't been posting, I thought I would post some of the work that I have been producing for my Architecture Dept.  This should last me at least another week... :)

For all of the art work, charcoal and pencil, we were not allowed to use straight edges or guides of any kind in an attempt to train our eyes to do everything by sight.

Continued I

Continued II

Continued III

Continued IV

Conitnued IV & 1/2

Continued V

A little winter cheer...

Though we happen to be gathering on the Oregon Coast with the family for the coming holiday week, we wanted to write about some of the traditions that we keep in our little two-man house.  

Since both of us wither with the loss of the sun, we anxiously await the swing side of the winter when the days become longer again.  We love the Winter Solstice, because it is the shortest day of the year, the day after which the sun will steadily rise just a little earlier and set just a little later, shedding just that much more sunlight.  We can begin to feel the shift in the air, bringing light and warmth back into our lives and the world around us.  And to celebrate, we like to do a few things to mark the occasion.

The return of the light can be very symbolic for the coming year.  The dark quiet of winter is a prime time to reflect on the past year, and to look forward and plan for the coming one.  It is a good time to let go of past regrets and grudges and to embrace the spirit of the year ahead.  We like to tidy up, make homey food and to decorate with color and warmth and find a way to bring a little of the light of the coming year into every day.  We like to find at least one thing to soften our hearts to, find one person to shed a little light for.  We try to reconnect and make amends with those that need it, forgive others and ourselves and let those lessons be learned with the diminishing light. We seek out and share gratitude with those who bring light to our lives, and strive to be that candle of light in return.

It is a good time for remembering.  We go through our photo albums and journals and reminisce, and do a little updating so as not to forget who we are and where we came from.  We also use this as a time to hash out the stories and tales that will become family legend, to remind us of THIS winter, THIS year.  We also use this time to dream of the future, talk about our goals and aspirations.  To check in to make sure that we both are doing all we can to meet the needs of the other and ourselves.  That we are moving towards the goals that we have set for ourselves, each other and us.  The future can sure look bright indeed through the dark of those cold winter nights.

We thought to share this as there are so many things out there that would be easy to take with us into this next year, too many things to begrudge and forget.  Too much talk of doom and gloom.  Too much of the dark to hide the coming of the light of a new day, a new year.  Gather warmth and light and love.  Memory and passions, hope and humility.  These are such wonderful things to carry...

We love you all and are thinking of you.

Alan and Ty 

Sick Puppy

So just a little update, after a little while away.

Ty's school year is going well, his kids are light years away from his children last year.  He has said that after this year, he would gladly teach at another Chicano/Chicana school, because of how respectful and dedicated to learning his kids are.  What a bonus :)

I have begun the long slog back to school.  I was a little concerned at the transition, but at the same time I was pretty confident seeing as how it seems that I have been constantly thrown under the bus, and am still kicking.  But in all my limited 20 some odd year old expertise, I have come to realize that I am not nearly as spry or as witty as I was when I was even just a few years younger.  Or, and probably more likely, I am less bendable and less willing to seek justification from somebody else.  And so, the transition has been a bit more "colorful" shall we say, than anticipated.  Anyways, it is mid term week, and I am SLAMMED.  And to think, I pay for this torture.

The other big thing, that has provided for my absence is actually a little battle that we have had with our little puppy girl. Rykka decided that it would be cute to shred off 2 foot long sections of her blankets and swallow them whole.  Her stomach and intestines did not agree as to the cuteness of this and staged a fairly drastic rebellion against her.  After dealing with 24 hours of nearly constant vomiting and diarrhea, gracing nearly every room in the house and leaving her near actual death, and the proceeding hospital visit and $1000 dollars vet bill, time and money that I certainly don't have, she is left marginally alive, severely underweight, now with a phobia of  any dish containing water, you know the stuff that allows her to go on living.  So...  Anyways, I apologize for the absence, and hopefully we will have a chance to talk to one another after midterms when I return to the real world of half functioning individuals.

Cheers!

Nerd Alert: the Caucaus

I was doing a bit of research into the whole Georgia/South Ossetia and just this simple map, at least, made me think that whatever the larger governments say, the historical and regional makeup of this volatile region has plenty to do with the current conflict.

I miss my cats...

"A Bit O' Pidgin..."

The English used in Nigeria, as Edward Harris of the AP reports,"has developed over the years with a Nigerian twist."

For example, a TV isn't switched on or off — it's "on-ed" or "off-ed."

A Nigerian congratulating someone on a success or victory will likely "felicitate" him rather than offer felicitations. Similarly, people are invited to "jubilate," or celebrate, a triumph.

Sentence structure often reflects local languages, says Daramola. In the Yoruba language, adjectives can be altered by repeating them. So in Nigerian English a very small boy would be a "small, small boy."

Also, Yoruba English speakers may "smell" soup, rather than taste it, because the words are similar in Yoruba.

"The influence of native languages have combined to make performance a little peculiar," says the introduction to the textbook "Nigerian English," published in 2004. "The Nigerian variant of English seems to have emerged since there are so many influences impinging on its acquisition and use in its new home."

Many words are simply holdovers from the colonial era. Eateries are called "Chop Houses" — once popular but now all but vanished from Britain.

Upset stomach? Take "gripe water." Puncture? Take the tire to the "vulcanizer."

Street children are "urchins," and police often brand criminals as "touts," "rascals," or "miscreants" who carry "cutlasses" — machetes.

In reporting crime, Nigerian newspapers say police open a can of worms when raiding criminal hideouts. A dead or jailed robber is often said to meet his Waterloo. Politicians "heap calumny" on those they accuse of corruption.

In another influence of Nigerian languages, no letter is missed when speaking English. Fuel is FOO-el. A receipt is a "re-seeped," and yacht frequently rhymes with hatched. Wednesday is pronounced exactly as written — Wed-nes-day — and a leopard rhymes with leotard.

City people....

nuff said...