Week 3, recap.

I can't believe I am finished with the 3rd week of this semester already. The month of September is flying by, and I am sure October will too. So far, so good! I am still ahead of schedule with some parts, and right where I want to be for others. I am sure I will slip a little in another few weeks, so I plan to stay ahead as much as I can.

The past week I got my motivation back, felt creative, and I have more energy than I have had in a while. I owe that to running. I really have no idea why I let myself slack with that because the more I do, the better I feel, and therefore the more I get done.

Book: I began my computer roughs for the book. I set up my book pages, the grid, and began mocking up the pages. The majority of my book needs to be hand made, but I need a computer rough done so I can see how everything looks before I go and waste time hand making a page that sucks. I plan to take the next couple weeks finishing the mock up and then show it around to people to get feedback. Right now I really like where I am heading with my sketches, but I know there is much more I can do to make each spread dynamic and interesting to look at. I also have to write the book. I have a pretty good idea of the content that I need, but I need to write it out and have it there to dump into the book when it is ready. I am using placeholder type for now. The next couple weeks will seem slow moving, but will be really helpful for moving forward.

Website: I wrote most of the type for the website last week and then made a few variations of the home page computer roughs. It was really helpful to see the sketches mocked up, but I ended up liking bits and pieces of each version. So this week I need to refine the homepage and explore some new ideas for the little details that will make the website look professional and actually designed. I am spending more hours at the computer working on this than I thought, with little to show for. But luckily my book is ahead of schedule, so I was able to put some of the work I had planned on hold so I could catch up with the web plans.


Life: I did not get sick last week. Guess it was allergies. This is new to me, so I am not used to the feeling. The only feeling I have to relate it too is a cold. So that is what I thought it was. Yippy to not being sick. I have been able to socialize too! This semester is like Christmas. I have cool projects, I'm not stressed, I'm still sleeping, I'm eating, AND I have been able to make time to play each week. I now it won't last the whole semester, but that is OK! I will take what I can get.


Food: I stopped by the grocery store on the way home tonight. I like doing that rather than going on the weekend, because if I take the long walk home it is on the way so it is quicker. The downside is, it is pretty busy. I was getting some cheese at the deli and did the pre-order thing and it took longer than my shopping, so I was able to do some "thesis research" like I used to do when I began my work for thesis. It is so much fun. I just follow other shoppers around and see how they interact with the produce. It is so amusing to me because people pick up the food, squeeze it a little, pick up another, squeeze that, and repeat till they find the prize. At that point they admire it like it was a hand-full of gold, smile a little and then place it in their cart before they move on to do it again.  I suggest "super market stalking" sometime. It is a good time.


Well clearly I am practicing with the book writing. That was a long post. I don't have much to show for visuals yet, so I guess I will keep posting pictures of the photo shoot to keep my posts pretty.

Jam Jar

Picnic tables to be used in Farm Food eatery (painted by kids in Little Farmers)

Little Farmers t-shirts

Week 2. Felt like week 12

I lost a little motivation this week. That's what I get for working like a dog during week one. I still managed to get a decent amount done, but I didn't want to do it. That is not supposed to happen till the end of the semester. At the same time, it does not feel like I am in a semester at all. I think it is a combination of being able to work at home, and working in between semesters the past year. I love working at home because I am getting much more done, but it is a break in my routine so it is kind of throwing me for a loop. Oh well, I will keep plugging on.

Book: I  had the whole book sketched out from week one but then noticed some holes. I also sketched the book out so fast I was worried I would forget what my notes meant. So, I went back and refined the sketches and cleaned them up. Now I can follow each spread and know exactly what it means. I also fixed the issues it had, worked out some details, and updated the parts I forgot. I am pretty excited to be going into this week with a full plan for my book because that means I get to jump into my computer roughs, which is what I had planned for week 5.

Web: I began the week with refining the sketches from last week and working on navigation variations, but I felt something was holding me back. So I stopped that stuff and began writing the content for each page, which then led me to re-do my site map. It scared the shit out of me. I had no idea how much content I could have for this website. And, what I included is just a portion of what the real website would be if City Farm we not just my dream. Luckily, my advisor Mike is kick ass and helped me to make sense of my site map. So now I can see that some parts are combined and some are not needed, or can be put off to add later if we have time. Thanks, Mike!

Admin: I also found out I was taking 3 classes instead of two, which was not what I thought I signed up for. I had some communication issues when I was setting up my classes so I had to drop my book advisor. I'm kinda bummed because she had some nice work and seemed super friendly, but that would have meant a very expensive semester. Seeing as I have already had the book ideas sort of worked out with my old advisor Matt, I figured I could go ahead on my own. Fingers crossed I can make it awesome on my own.

I also found out that I can not present my thesis as a final in December. Final presentations are done after we have everything completed. So I will need to wait till portfolio is done in the spring. It alleviated the pressure this semester had, but I still do plan to be finished with everything at the end of this semester. No need to go into the spring with a broken website and a crappy book.

Life: I am feeling something coming on. So I plan to work crazy tonight and hope I get ahead of myself if I do get sick. If not, then I guess I just worked ahead :)I also got back into running, but it was only because I signed up for a road race a while back. It was only 4 miles and I hated every minute of it. Guess I better get back in shape. :)

Food: Just ate some sesame seed crusted tuna over rice pilaf and green beans. When that settles I plan to take down this chocolate mouse cake thing. Tomorrow is my favorite meal and I have made it so much my husband has grown to hate it. Poor Brandon. It is a white wine, mascarpone cheese sauce with pasta and mushrooms, topped with fresh chives. Life is good.

Not much to show for images these first few weeks (trust me, no one would make sense out of my sketches anyways). But I have most of my images edited from photo shoot #2, so here are some.

Week 1: Done.

I had a strong start to my week. I am happy to say I am working ahead with my book and am where I want to be with the web stuff. So far, not falling behind. Yay!

I started the week with a lot of research for the website. I checked out other farms and also looked at websites to see the type of layouts I liked. The other farm websites gave me a better idea of the content I will need and this helped me understand the type of layout that should work. My advisor, Mike, agreed with the concept I chose to be the strongest, so that is good news. I should have a busy week staring at blank papers and trying to come up with some variations and details. I also will begin to gather my content, it is in pieces right now and I need it to come together to tell the City Farm story.

I then dove into the book layout. For some reason it all came together easily. I think this happened because I have had the book ideas floating around in my head for so long and I couldn't get sketching fast enough. I have the entire thing sketched out, which is what I hoped to have done by week 3. So happy! Once I finished I found a lot of holes, areas that need to be refined, and I need to add another section. So I have a lot to keep me busy.

On top of the book and web sketches I also got through about 1/2 of the photo shoot edits. I was hoping to be done this week, but I have a lot more than I realized. They came out awesome and I love editing them. Maybe this week I will have them done and will be sure to post some of my favorites.

Then on top of that.... I also got my first book test done. I wanted to be sure my chosen binding method would work, and also get the book set up for me to practice all these hand-made elements for each spread. This test gives me all the motivation I need for the semester. I am in love with the binding, the colors, the cover, and the end sheets. I have had these sketches and ideas done for a while now and it is cool to see them coming to life. I am really happy I began my tests early because I already see so many pieces I need to improve and fix with the binding, gluing, and the way the paper sits on the cover.

Now if you will excuse me, I am starving and need to go find food to fuel me through week 2.

Japanese stab binding, with the overview of City Farm typed and glued to the cover.

Cut endsheets to resemble grass.

1.5" gutter, with individual folded pages to help the book lay flat when opened.

Fall 2011: Ready or not.

Today marks my first day of the fall semester which holds an obscene amount of work that needs to be done, many sleepless nights, zero socialization and most I will likely cry because of the stress. This is all I have been thinking about the past month... well, year actually, and it has made me wish the start would never come.  I know the feeling will pass and I will be the excited, eager student I usually am, but the past week I was in a slump.

At the end of this semester I will have a working website for City Farm, my hand-made presentation book and my verbal presentation. If all goes well, I may pass my final thesis presentation and officially be in my FINAL class in the spring! Even if I do not pass, I will be very close to the final and will have some great feedback. So needless to say, this semester is a culmination of everything I have been working on the past 4 years.

To help me get over my anxiety, I filled my free time with anything and everything that makes me happy. It took some time, but I eventually crawled out of the slump. I wondered around downtown to shop, read 3 books, went to dinner, stayed in bed late (even if I was not sleeping), watched terrible chick flicks, slept on the beach, ate my weight in lobster rolls, and cooked.

As I wrote down my ingredient list for all the foods I was making to freeze (for when I have no time to shop again) I realized that I have not gone through my list of recipes in over a year. So instead of filling my nights with little to-do lists that bore me, I decided to cook.

My "coming out of the slump" breaking point, was on a night I was making up a random dinner for myself. I did what I always do when making up meals, and threw random foods together based on my Italian motto: "Garlic, olive oil and shallots make everything taste like heaven". I had a glass of vino, the oven on, and food all over the place. I was surrounded by cut up eggplant, tomatoes, garlic, shallots, mozzarella and bread, and I was sampling everything as I combined it. The apartment smelled amazing, and was warm from the oven, my clothes and floors were covered in bits of food, my eyes burned from the shallots and my hands smelled of garlic. I hadn't even gotten the mixture on the bread to bake before I realized this is what always makes me feel happy. Literately being consumed by food, in me, around me and being experienced by all my senses. The smell, taste, touch, and sight of the colors. I then spent the next few days making soups, sauces, home-made pasta and little meals to freeze, and I now feel like my slump was decades behind me. The semester technically started on Thursday, but I gave myself this last weekend off to enjoy, and I am really happy I did.

I am ready to take on another semester. I am ready to trash my apartment with binding supplies. I am ready to stay up all night while my brain fires off ideas. I am ready to be frustrated. I am ready to feel totally accomplished and proud of my work.

I was wishing the start of this semester would never come, but now I am so happy it is hear. I will finally learn how to build a website and my book is going to be awesome.

"It's the start that stops most people."