Last Saturday, the Group got together and played a wicked game of Super Carcazonne that lasted about eight hours. For those who don't know, Carcazonne is a game played by placing tiles on the ground or table. Each tile has a different stuff on it; sometimes a castle wall is connected on two sides, othertimes a road, sometimes it's just blank with a church or cult or dragon on it. Either way, the point of the game is to have the most property at the end. You do this by completing castles, sending dragons to burn down the other players' hopes and dreams, and basically make everyone else miserable while you expand your ever-increasing wealth.
Games like this allow me to utilize what I call the "dirty" method of having fun. This method is simple. Think of all the fun that can be had in a game between multiple people as being a pile of dirt. Normally all of the players will take an equal amount of dirt so that everyone will be kept satisfied and the game is enjoyable by all, but every now and then someone will come along and take that entire pile of dirt for themselves, having a metric shit-ton of fun and watching the others cry themselves into sleep under the oppressive glow of your entertainment. It's a good way to make sure that you won't be bored, but it also creates intense rivalries and bitterness unless you're in a setting where that's all well and good, aka the Group. Needless to say, Carcazonne was a load of fun, and the pile of dirt transitioned enough times to make everyone happy.
My 3D project involves making a scythe out of wood, which has sustained my interest long enough that I feel that I'm really able to put a good effort into it. That's not something I can say all the time; motivation waxes and wanes depending on how bored I get with something. I kinda wish I was a little more OCD so I could feel mentally obligated to finish something to the best of my ability, but instead it seems my current state of mind, sleepiness and whether or not I have a nice shirt on will decide how much work I put into anything anymore. But that's fine, it means I can be more judicial with what I do, concentrating my efforts on projects I think will benefit me the most in the long run, and leaving the others on the side like an unwashed whore after Mardi Gras.
I still have to paint that scythe ivory white, and possibly add some gold trim. The color scheme comes from a dream I had a while back, involving a demon and someone slicing him in half on top of an endless sea obscured by mist and fog. The design is something akin to mixing a key and a rose, which is just perfect for this kind of assignment. The fact that it's based off a dream means that the sharpness of the blade is irrelevant in the end; it's a weapon of the mind, which is deadly in its own right. I look forward to seeing how the class takes it, but I don't expect a warm welcome on Tuesday. It's just the way of things.
I feel as though my social life is interfering with my art. It could be just a side effect of the fact that I'm spreading myself pretty thin over the different kinds of work I'm doing, and so I don't see the amount of work I'm putting out in the normal places like devArt and Photobucket, but it's still annoying to remember that I'm down in Bloomington for just about ever Group-related event they have. The problem is, I know that cutting that back will cause me just as much harm as good, with the benefit being that I'll increase artistic output, and the problem being my increased melancholy and loneliness. Still, artists are meant to suffer for their art. I've had it pretty good up to this point, so maybe it's time to bring on the torment.
That's not going to stop me from going to Anime Club this Thursday, nor dancing on Saturday. Tsubasa's playing, and I wanna keep in shape. Fun fun.
I'm very happy for one of my friends. She got the courage to leave her boyfriend, who was dragging her down. She would have done this earlier if not for the fact that she pitied him and his current state of mind, but pity does not a relationship make, so it' s better for both of them in the long run. Now she's with another guy who she had been falling for, so I think she's gonna be just fine.
Judging from the occurrences at MCAD over the past month, I've come to the decision that art school is not the place to look for a love interest. Every person here is already in love, and it is that passion that drove them to congregate at this estate of higher learning in the first place. Trying to add another romance to the artistic pursuit is hard enough, but managing both between two artists can lead to tragedy, broken hearts, and worst of all: faulty work. I've come to believe myself that, no matter how much of a great lover I can be to someone, the pursuit of literature, music, and imagery will have to take precedence over any torrid tryst or passionate affair I come to have. Whether this colors the relationship like a successful seventh chord or taints the melody with an off-key interval, the truth of the matter will show in the poetry I make, the songs I write, and the pictures I draw. If I like it, I'll stick with it. If I don't, it's over.
I spent a bit of time taping some of my favorite works from last and this semester up on my walls and ceilings. It looks pretty cool, and I enjoy being able to take a trip back in time by gazing up every once in a while. I put some of the best sketches next to my bed, where I gaze longingly at what is, what could have been, and therefore what will be. It's exciting, to say the least. Also, it's fun to watch the characters of my animation project dance around right above my head before I enter dreamland every night.
Well, due to the fact that I just took a 4-hour nap right before bedtime, and I haven't gotten proper nutrition today, I'm going to go ahead and fix some food and tea for myself and contemplate the coming work I need to do. Heck, maybe I'll get started on those illustration projects. That'd be a nice way to end the night.
We'll see.
