I've assigned the Site Plan drawing on Thursday. It's due on Tuesday. I also introduced how to render with color markers, and will teach using color pencils on Tuesday. We're midway through the Spring semester. The second half of the semester will go by a lot quicker.

We had our annual St. Patrick's Day dinner on Sunday. We usually celebrate the day of, but I am teaching on Tuesday so we pushed it up a couple of days. We had the usual: corned beef, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and rye bread. I am bringing St. Patrick's Day cookies to class on Tuesday. The students go crazy over "free food." It must be a college thing.

I was at a local Japanese market to pick up a bento box to go late last week. I walked into the super market and was overcome by a strong stench. At the back of the store was a layer of raw sewage on the floor. Apparently some plumbing had failed. I left without getting any food. I'm sure that if the health department found out, they would have closed the store and made them get rid of all of the food. This was located in the produce section. Hopefully the store made the necessary repairs and replaced the produce in proximity to the sewage leak.

Brabus: the AMG of smarts.

Same ol', same ol'. Tuesday's in-class assignment was to fill 30 squares with various hatch patterns used to delineate materials on architectural renderings. Everything was to be drawn freehand, without drafting tools. I didn't allow the students to use correction tape or White-Out. If they made a mistake, they had to start over. The entire class was busy trying to complete this assignment. Usually they socialize during the class while working on their assignments. However, this assignment was so demanding, they didn't even take their 30-minute break. I think that I will create more assignments like this.

A few of the students left class because they have a big project due in their other studio class. I told them that they would jeopardize their points for participation if they left. They left anyway, and they didn't submit their sketch project at the end of my class. The best part of this situation is that I will be a juror when they present their big project in their other studio class. When those students present their projects, I will make comments like, "you had extra time to work on your project, however the solution appears weak." Comments like that will usually generate other similar comments from the other jurors.

One of my students snuck out of studio. I didn't notice it. This student is friends with one of my former students. The former student will come into my class from time to time to visit his friend, the student who snuck out. My former students approaches me and asks, "where's R*an?" I look up and scan the classroom and notice that R*an has left. I tell my former student, "he was here earlier, it looks like he snuck out. Thanks for letting me know. I will mark him absent." I heard a student say, "busted!"

Emerald Restaurant offers an inexpensive late night menu starting at 9PM until closing. The prices range from $5.95 to $7.95, and doesn't require coupons! Two of us went to Emerald after class, arriving just shy of 9. But the hostess gave us the late night menu anyway. What a deal. We ordered three dishes (the servings are slightly smaller than the regular menu), including one seafood dish, and the total was under 20$! The next time we go, we will just order soup and one dish. That should get us out of their for under 15$.

I did a walk-in at one of the many reflexology places that have popped up recently. The owner welcomed me, and barked out something in Mandarin. Out of the dark comes one of their "therapists." I was directed to sit in one of their naugahyde recliners. I was offered tea or water. I asked for water. After I got situated in the recliners, I removed my socks and shoes and placed my unclad feet in a wooden tub of hot water. While my dogs were soaking the therapist gave me a upper body massage. I removed my glasses so the therapist could work my temples. I cannot see anything without my glasses, so I just closed my eyes during the session. The therapist massaged my neck, back, and shoulders. During the session, the therapist asked if the pressure was okay. I replied that she could use slightly less pressure. Her reply: "thank you." THANK YOU????? From that point I knew she wasn't an English major at the University of Beijing. I kind of laughed inside. I mean, what was I going to do? Later during the session, the therapist starts to massage my hands and forearms. She tugs my arms up, down, left, right. At one point I think that the back of my hand brushed up against chi chi. I was like, "thank you."

The dismal economy may have slowed smart car sales. At one time, consumers wishing to get their hands on a smart car had to pay a $99 deposit, and wait a year or more for delivery. Apparently, some people who had been waiting for their smart cars decided to take their despoit back and leave the car at the dealership. There are enough people out here who have changed their minds about taking home a smart car that the dealers have a large inventory of smart cars looking for homes. smart car of america has labled these unwanted cars "orphans." Consumers can purchase an orphan right off of the lot, without having to wait a year. And I am sure that the dealers are willing to work on the price. So if any of you are considering a smart car, now would be the ideal time to make the move.

The semester is moving along nicely. The new class that I am teaching is turning out to be easier than I thought it would be. Now that we are a few weeks into the Spring semester and the students are getting a hang of things, I am going to demand more from them. I think that they can handle it, they are a sharp group.

The students were taught how to draw abstract human figures. I suggested that the students don't draw figures that are overly detailed, otherwise the figures may appear too cartoon-like. The human figures provide a sense of scale to drawings. The viewer can easily relate the height of a human figure to the height of a space.

Watch out for the killer poodles!

Sometimes I'm too tired to cook after a long day, so I will pick up dinner on the way home. One of my favorite places to pick up dinner is Peking. Peking has been owned by the same family since the 1940's. It's the last of the old fashioned Chinese-American restaurants. They serve the Chinese food I remember eating as a kid when we'd go out to dinner. Some of my favorite items are: Almond Chicken chow mein, Tofu with BBQ Pork, Bok Choy with Chicken, and their War Won Ton soup. I can order enough food for dinner and leftovers for just over $20. Its a great deal, and I do not have to do dishes afterwards.

Another "cheap eats" place is Tajima. They serve huge portions of ramen with a variety of items at very reasonable prices. They also serve some interesting dishes, like Spicy Yam. I passed.

You know that times are tough when you go from Black Label to tall boys.

I was driving with Nephew No. 3 the other day. During the drive, Nephew No. 3 and I engaged in some very interesting conversation. Now that he is in middle school, he likes to tell me about the topics he's been studying. Nephew No. 3 has been studying about ancient civilizations. We talked about ancient India and ancient China. He told me about jade, and I told him about monkey "picked" tea. He told me about Buddha, and I told him about "bowl" haircuts. After a few of these exchanges, Nephew No. 3 changed the subject--