Ancient Chinese Tidbit

Hello everyone! Hope you are all well and staying warm, it is very very cold and windy here. Today's post is going to be very short, but I just had to share something that I learned in class today! In my Survey of Asian Art History class we were discussing the ancient Shang Dynasty written language which was originally transcribed onto oracle bones which were the shoulder blades and the breast bones of turtles. My professor had us guess what some of the symbols represented and then she shared a few combinations with us.

My favorite was a combination of the symbol for rain and the symbol for turtle. When the turtle is placed under the rain the two symbols become a different word, what would you guess it was?

The answer will probably surprise you....a lot. It will most likely make you laugh too.

Yes, together the rain and the turtle mean electricity!

You never know what your day is going to bring when you wake up in the mornings. As you go about your day be observant and attentive to your surroundings so that you can learn something today!

Oh, and as always....it's the random reasons.

Trinket for Thursday

Hello everyone! Hope you all are having a great week! Guess what! If you said, "Hey, Trinket for Thursdays are back!" then, yes, you are correct! While thinking of what to tell you all today, I thought about how I have recently learned that Korea and Japan have the fastest Internet in the world, or how I just signed up for something with UPS that is going to make package deliveries so much easier, but instead I have decided to go with something else:  Professor Dad. 

What? Yes, I said, Professor Dad. Confused? Not surprising.

Anyhoo, in my Studio Methods class, my professor reminds me of my dad....a lot. He wears flannel and jean button up/collared shits, wrangler jeans, plastic heavy duty watch, and leather work boots. That's not the only weird part: he also talks like my dad ,and is stubborn, just like, you guessed it....my dad.

After using a few select cuss words while describing art in America today, it dawned on me....my professor is like an older version of my dad with more hair and a much more extensive knowledge of the arts. This is going to make for an interesting semester.

I hope that you all have had a great Thursday so far, it's not over, so definitely make the best of it! Oh, and remember...it's the random reasons.  

Oh the Possibilities

Hello everyone! I am once again, sorry for not posting for almost a month, but I decided to take a little break from the blog while I was out of school. I have also been a little busy with work and Christmas and everything. However, I have lots of great news.

1. 2011's holiday season will hopefully be the last holiday season that C.J. and I will have to work in retail. We both have new jobs, and they are wonderful 8-5 weekday jobs! Yay! I cannot explain my happiness. C.J. is already finished at Best Buy and starts his new full time job tomorrow. I have already started working part time in the BITE office at CareerTech, and will finish up my time at Best Buy on the 21st. Words can't explain how blessed I feel to know that very, very soon, we will have weeknights and weekends to ourselves!

2. Classes start tomorrow and while I am not overly excited about my classes, I think that this semester will be a good one. I am taking 5 classes, 1 online, and 4 in class. Those four are all in the Bartlett Center and 2 are in one room, and the other 2 are in a different room. Two studios, and two art histories. There should be an abundance of art this semester! Also, keep on the watch for show information!

3. As one of my Christmas presents, C.J. has agreed to build me a website for my art. I am still trying to decide on domain names and all of the little details, but that should be up and running within the next few months!

That's about all I have for you right now, but this year is definitely going to be a good one! I have a feeling that 2012 is going to bring a lot of joy and happiness my way.

Hope you all have had a great start to your year, and as you go about the coming week, remember that there is always something better around the corner, you just have to be brave enough to go looking for it. Have a wonderful week, and as always, it's the random reasons.

A Trinket for Thursday

Hello everyone, hope you are doing well! Today's trinket comes from my Italian Renassance Art History class. Today we studied portraiture and looked at paintings of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino. This peice features the duke and his very idealized wife on the front and then pictures of them in their separate carriages and chariots on the back. Here is the front:

His face is "messed up" because apparently he is missing part of his face, including his upper nose and eyeball. The artist spared the duchess of looking like her actual self by painting her in the ideal female model of the Italian Renassance:  pale skin and blonde hair for purity, expensive fabric and jewelry for social stautus and wealth, and modern hairstyle. Lucky her.

Anyways, that was not the trinket for today, but just consider that an extra tidbit. Here is the back panels and the trinket for Thursday:

This picture is showing the paintings without their frame, but they are placed right behind the portraits in the same over-the-top frame.

The duke and his chariot pulled by white horses are on the left, while the duchess and her carriage pulled by unicorns are on the right. Now...for today's trinket:

FACT:  Unicorns can only be tamed by virgins.

I bet you were not expecting that one! As it turns out, you can learn something everyday.

As you go about your weekend, try to learn some random useless fact. It will do you good. Laugh a little! Oh and remember...it's the random reasons.

P.S.:  Expect an art post tomorrow!

A Trinket for Thursday

Today's trinket is a tad bit nerdy and caused some confusion for me this morning. On Thursday mornings I have my geography lab. I hate my geography class, and it is becoming more and more clear that the only reason I am taking it is to fulfill my science credits. Anyhoo, today in lab we worked with maps. Now, I don't know about you, but when I see a group of dots with numbers beside them I want to grab a pencil and connect the dots. You don't do this with isolines on a map. You have to draw around them and such.

Sorry for the boring trinket, but at least now you know that the geographers are doing more than just connecting the dots...it may not be as fun, but it is a little more complicated. Enjoy the rest of your day and don't forget...it's the random reasons.

P.S.  Look for an art post coming soon!

That Tingly Feeling

So, I have been super busy with getting ready to get to finals week. This past "Dead Week" as it is known around campus, has been very much alive, leaving me, at times, wanting to drop down into the fetal position. Presentation after prezi, paper after paper, design after design, this week has been a lot of work. The rainy weather had its pros and cons. It was good that it wasn't nice out, then I would want to be outside, instead of inside, working. But the dreary sky and rain seemed to make me want to curl up in bed and nap. Oh well. I have made it through more than half of the week and just have one paper left to do until finals week hits Stillwater. Luckily, unlike many of the students on campus, I do not have to worry about moving out of my room. Thank you summer conference assistant job!

Well, with the hopes that you are not already bored to tears with my description of my week, I am going to leave you with a video I used in my prezi presentation this morning in Comp 2. It gives me that tingly feeling every time I watch it and has already convinced me to add the movie to C.J.'s netflix line-up. So, I hope you enjoy this trailer from "Waiting for 'Superman'".

So as you go about your day try to find something which gives you that tingly feeling and inspires you to make the work a better place....and always remember that, it's the random reasons...