have you ever tried...

brushing your teeth with your less dominant hand?  it's a whole new world...

have you ever wondered...

why many of the biggest fashion designers are gay?

i think perhaps it's because most straight men don't realize that women dress more for other women than other men.

anyway, back to the studio...

some come over, just be patient and don't worry...

i think it's about time to call baloney on the notion that i won't have a life this year.  or at least this semester.  then again, this may simply be an illusion caused by the fact that i'm not taking life drawing like the other kids in my program since i took figure drawing at duke.  that fashion would consume me was a major concern of mine going into my program.  of course, i made the decision beforehand that pursuing fashion would be worth my time and energy, because nobody would pursue a career if they thought it wasn't worth it (doctors, for instance).  now, it's week 5 and classes are fully underway and after doing the work and talking to and reading about people in the industry, i'm convinced that you can be a great designer and still have a normal life outside of work.  and if i ever have my own design studio, i think the background music will  be comprised largely of opera pieces.

i admit however, that i have been slacking in other areas of my life outside my classes but have made a renewed commitment to stop sucking.  part of this commitment includes taking a sabbath every week like i did at duke (more or less), either on saturday or sunday--i haven't quite decided yet.  another part includes upping the quality of my communications.  if you're lucky, you might even receive a handwritten letter from me once and a while :-)

yesterday, i popped into the on-campus christian fellowship for the first time.  before coming here, i thought i would get away from the college fellowship lifestyle and get involved with a church, but i thought i should visit this fellowship at least once.  i was pleasantly surprised.  i think the christian community on campus is larger than i had initially thought, and like the student body, there's a good number of people my age and even older. even so, i still think i'll get involved with a church instead, but i might hang out with some of the older members of the fellowship occasionally.  one of the things i like about it though is the fact that the club's faculty advisor/sponsor actually participates in the meetings, something that duke intervaristy's peter feaver never did and which i always thought was a bit odd.

if i were to describe today in one word, it would be clumsy.  i cut my NOSE while shaving, which of course began bleeding profusely and tripped on the STAIRS, almost breaking my wrist. let me tell you, a bandage over only one side of your nose results in a rather awkward look.  and my hand is still throbbing as i'm typing this.  this reminds me however, that i'm trying to get into the habit of shaving everyday.  i think it's an important...discipline.

i was looking in the mirror the other day (of course), and i'm convinced that i've become better looking since graduating.

watch bill...

i know i posted this before but i feel like bill deserves his own post.  watch and laugh:

feet cold, ears hot...

i've noticed 2 rather interesting things about the population here in new york city: 1) a surprising number of people are culturally ignorant and perhaps can even be described as hostile, and 2) there's a large surplus of koreans here.  i was eating some asian food of some type on a few occasions when the response of a nearby observer would be that of disgust.  i don't think this would have ever been the case at duke.  it's rather surprising for such a cosmopolitan city.  i suppose that even here it's still possible to live in a bubble.  as for the koreans, there's so many of them here!  my classes are 40% korean.  this of course, can only mean trouble hahaha.

i was mostly playing catch-up this week because of my illness last week.  needless to say, i'm SO glad the week's over.  i had to design a 15-piece activewear collection this week.  i do NOT do activewear.  polyester, nylon, and spandex are not the most inspiring fabrics.  i also spent 3 hours in mood fabrics which is not nearly as well stocked as project runway leads you to believe.

fashion design is an exercise in masochism...

i went back to work in the studio today and managed to prick myself on pins several times and slice my finger open on the sewing machine.  i fear for the continued softness of my famously soft hands.

my final schedule and a few other things...

i was finally able to drop life drawing last week so here's my final schedule:

i love having wednesday afternoons off--it was sort of necessary in my opinion.

i haven't felt too busy/stressed lately but apparently my body disagrees as i am currently sick with joint aches, fatigue, and a fever.  last night was especially uncomfortable.  in fact, i had to skip classes today to go to a doctor, who simply wrote me a prescription for some drugs and sent me home.  i am feeling better now however.  although i'm still not entirely sure what this mysterious illness is.  the nice thing about being sick is that you can get people to do things for you that they normally wouldn't do...like buying you grapefruit juice and dinner.  tonight i'm eating korean soft tofu soup with seafood.  no worries though--i should be back on my feet in no time only to be faced with a mountain of work.  let's see...i need to:

1) make a skirt with a yoke, tier, and bubble

2) design 2 bustiers

3) practice sewing an invisible zipper

4) draft 3 different skirt patterns and actually make one of them

5) plus the assignments i missed today...whatever those are

should be fun!

anyway.

i feel like i lose track of time while in school and sometimes i have to think what day it is.  not sure if that means i'm enjoying it here or that i'm too busy.  probably should figure that out.  the good news is that i got As on all 3 of my first draping projects! and with things like this, you only get better with time.  i love it. i also met john varvatos.  needless to say it was awesome and he seems like a really down-to-earth guy.  too bad he only makes menswear.

i miss duke's unlimited free printing...and all you guys that aren't here with me.  i guess it's worse when you're sick.

this song seems appropriate at this time: