Thankful here...

Hope y'all had a nice Thanksgiving.

We went over the river and through the woods about 3 miles to Mom's house for dinner. We even survived her husband's family being there. Barely. Luckily his sister's cooking didn't kill us.

Among a list of many things we're thankful for here in our household - due to Hubby's hearing problem the university has put him in contact with the local DARS office. It turns out when the first test showed his hearing was 40-60% in each ear, it was conducted at decibels ABOVE normal conversation tones. At normal conversation level, his hearing is 8% and 28%. (Explains why I yell at him so much, haha.)

So, being a "disabled student" they are providing him with:

• Free hearing aids - and these are NOT inexpensive ones, the models that he requires cost around $4500 for the both of them.

• Free tuition - starting in Spring, so all his grants etc will be refunded to us for next term

• Free textbooks

• Free school supplies - Scientific calculator, laptop, all other supplies needed for his classes, which for engineering wouldn't be cheap

For all of these things we are very thankful, it will help us tremendously. He's thrilled about the hearing aids, which he was fitted for last week. It'll help him hear again and help save my voice. Not to mention the speakers on our TV.

I'm also proud of him for handling the word "disability" so well. He thought himself to be superman when he was younger, so I'm sure it's not easy for him when at school he has to tell people he's "hard of hearing, please speak up," especially around the younger classmates. That's okay, he's still superman to me.

But there's something he's learned from being part deaf- the hearing therapist brought up that he could probably read lips and didn't even know it. It turns out it's true, he has a harder time understanding people when he can't see their lips move as they talk. So now that he knows it he's been having fun with that little developed assimilation, watching people talk across the room to see if he can understand them, lol.

Yes, we are thankful this Thanksgiving. Hope the rest of you are just as blessed.

Ughhhh...

I am writing this as I take a break from reading an article for my Art History Survey class, which if I didn't take a break my head might have exploded. It's an article about the Phoenix Hall, a Buddhist complex in Japan. An excerpt:

There is evidence that, at the Phoenix Hall, the conflation of Amitabha with Mahavairocana was intentional. The sculpture of Amitabha certainly lends itself to interpretation as a symbolic emanation of the Mahavairocana in the Main Hall nearby. The mudra of the small statue attached to the peak of the mandorla of the Amitabha figure, Wisdom Fists, indicates that it is the Mahavairocana of the Diamond World, or Vajradhatu. As such it represents the adamantine wisdom of the Cosmic Buddha, of which the universe is formed. Ritual convention and iconograpy stipulate its juxtaposition with a Mahavairocana of the Womb World, or Gharbadhatu, the noumenous realm of knowledge, and indeed such is provided in the Amitabha, who is an emanation of that form of Mahavairocana. It is also likely that the solar imagery of the Phoenix Hall, from the sun on the doors behind the Amitabha to its orientation toward the track of the setting sun, encompasses the symbology of Mahavairocana as the Buddha solaris.

Huh?

Anyway, it's like 25 pages long and halfway through I already feel like my head has been scrambled. When finished I have to write an essay on whether I agree with the evidence presented in the article. I wonder how I can drag out "Um, yeah" into a 2-page essay.

If any of y'all happen to be masochists you can read the full article here.

More art stuff...

From my design class, here is a bridge I had to make out of balsa wood. My TA suggested that I construct it to look similar to the "birdsnest stadium" from the Beijing Olympics, so that's the basis for its design. And might I add, it's not fun trying to bend balsa wood! Even after boiling the wood to make it pliable it still breaks easily.


Charcoal final nude drawing. The window was put in to fill empty space (and I have found mini-blinds are an easy effect to create.)


Another planar analysis, stemming from the previous exercise from the last post. My only comment is, she looks like she's writhing in pain, lol.


Matrix assignment, the same person drawn at different areas of the room to show proportions in space.




By the way, I'm amused by the assortment of models we have for our classes. This gentleman strided into our class in a white shirt and tie and slacks before undressing. Many of our other models have been college students. One of my male friends said he's signed up to be a model for next term. I have to say I'll feel a little uneasy drawing someone I know, if he happens to model in any of my classes!

Art update...

Some items from my drawing class the last few weeks:

Old dude again:


Planar analysis of body (turning areas into flat planes):


Outside homework project, had to be something related to the space of corners, and had to have 3 objects:


Self portrait... not the best but hey I'm learning...



Still life of complementary colors in class... I chose the complementary colors red & green. Other choices were yellow & violet or orange and blue. Instructor said red & green are hardest to work with, so of course that's what I chose. Yep, she was right the colors are god-awful together.

Apt song...

Something I've noticed listening to the local music station Jack FM- in the time since the Presidential election they've played "Land of Confusion" numerous times. And I mean the original Genesis version shown below, not the cover by Disturbed:



Yeah, I'd say this is a land of confusion right now. Only I can't see Obama as filling the Superman role...

My generation will put it right
Were not just making promises
That we know, well never keep.

... I wish I could believe that about the next 4 years, but just can't. And that's all I'm going to say on that.

Can't get past Textnology...

It's becoming a texting world, and Hubby is trying to cope.

Personally, I like text messaging. I never was a telephone talker, even as a teen. I can't explain it, I just hate calling people. In fact, even though I have a full contact list of names on my phone the only one I ever actually talk to is Hubby. Everyone else I text. Okay okay I occasionally call Mom too.

But texting is so quick and easy. No having to stop and carry on a long drawn-out conversation. My friends and I can banter quick simple quips back and forth without it hardly slowing our daily tasks that we're in the middle of.

It seems it's becoming more commonplace in the business world as well. Within the last couple years both Hubby and I have had bosses who insisted on sending info and asking questions in text form. It was fine by me.

Hubby on the other hand hates it. That should be no surprise, as he's a "talker." He'll call anybody anytime about anything, and chat away. But now he's being forced to face the texting world, and become part of it. He has to communicate with the up-and-coming technology generation that he'll be graduating with. Several of his university classmates already send him texts about joint team projects, homework, etc. I text him about where I parked the car after dropping him off outside his first class. We're all pulling him kicking and screaming into the texting world.

So, we decided that when we next upgrade our 2yo cellphones, we'll have to get the full alpha-numeric keypads. The trick will be finding keys large enough for his big fingers, lol.

But the one thing we both agree on, we SPELL OUT our words. No abbreviated grammatical rebus txt 4 us, thx. Well gtg, C U L8r!

Booming here...

Who says the housing market is down?

On my dead-end street of about 10 houses, 3 have been for sale this last month.

The first one on the market in ONE WEEK had 10 visits, and a bidding war started between buyers that drove the price UP from the seller's original asking price. The resulting buyers paid cash for the house.

Then the second seller posted a sale sign in their yard MONDAY, and today a couple looking at the third house walked over to see the second one... and called the seller back this afternoon that they want to buy it. No squabbles over money or anything. It was the first visit the seller had on their house.

It's like desperate buyers are flocking to our neighborhood. It's weird. I have to wonder if it's due to the foreclosures in the DFW area on larger homes, so folks are downsizing. I also have to wonder how they're getting financed in the mortgage turmoil going on.

By the way, the third house has been on the market for a while, but it's not the most attractive house on the block, on the end and sits at a strange angle. But at this rate it should be snatched up too before long.

New neighbors everywhere.