Can I Expense That?

Although I have been thinking recently that I should write a blog post sometime soon, I have to admit that the real motivation behind this post is to try out my new wireless keyboard. Ever since I had my internship last summer with a dual screen set-up, I haven't wanted to go back. Having two screens made my life a lot easier, if nothing else. Especially when working on design projects, the added screen space was a big benefit.
So, I've slowly been working my way towards a dual screen set up. I got a monitor for my birthday last year, as well as a laptop stand. The laptop stand brings the laptop screen up to a higher level. But with that, it also brings the rest of the laptop with it. This makes using the trackpad and keyboard a tad awkward. So now I needed a mouse and keyboard as well. Wireless was the preference. I stole recruited a mouse from home and then all I needed for my set up to be complete was a keyboard. I didn't get one for Christmas, so I've been keeping an eye out since then. However, during school it wasn't high priority because I didn't really have the room to have an elaborate dual screen set up, and thus didn't need the keyboard.
But ever since I've started my job and have been working from home, it's becoming increasingly important to me that I have a decent desk set up (I'm already wearing a wrist brace while I work to control the pain I get from being on the computer all day).
The real kicker about needing the keyboard for working at home meant that there was a pretty good chance I could get work to pay for it. I explained to my manager why I thought I needed a keyboard to work at home and he understood. I told him I wanted the $160 wireless full size Apple keyboard. He said try again. So I went with a Logitech keyboard with solar panel charging, designed for use with Macs, at half the price. (He doesn't know all that fancy stuff though, he just knows I got a keyboard under his $100 price limit). And so far, it's working great. The only downside is that it's not bluetooth; it needs to use a USB port. I might have to look into getting a USB port hub, since now all two of my USB ports are being used for my keyboard and mouse. I wonder if I could get work to pay for that too...
I also got work to pay for the wrist brace :)

As for other updates, I'm all settled into my new apartment. It's a really nice apartment. The floors are a pale laminate, which looks great but shows every piece of dirt. Sweeping has already become a regular occurrence. The kitchen isn't huge, but has a lot of cupboard space. I'm still waiting for my couch to arrive...the friend I asked to deliver it is apparently much busier than I anticipated. Hopefully I have it by the end of the month; I'm tired of sitting on folding chairs.
The building has some really nice amenities, which I will need to make an effort of using more often. (Using more often...I've only been here two weeks!) There's been some issues with the elevators the past couple days where only 1 out of 4 will respond to calls. In a building 42 stories tall, this can cause some serious delays. I overheard a man saying that he waited 25mins for the elevator! Being on the 4th floor, it's not too hard to take the stairs. But the stairs only end outside; there's no way to get to the stair well on the main floor inside the building. This means I usually take the stairs when I leave, but not when I arrive. (I haven't tried it yet, but I don't know if my key would even open the door to the stairs from the outside).
I started hand embroidering. It's been slow going, as it also tends to hurt my wrist, and I want to learn some proper stitches instead of just going at it head on. I started a flower last night, and you can tell which petal I started on and which one I did last because they get better as you go around. I'm still keeping up with practicing lettering, although no longer daily. And I bake. And fold origami. That's pretty much what occupies my evenings!

Cooper District

Today GBDA X01 officially ended. After 8 weeks, a group of 20 of us came up with a proposal for the Cooper Site behind the campus. We have a website, video, branding, physical models and blueprints (which I've mentioned before), and perhaps my favourite, a book, to represent what we are now calling the Cooper District. We were assembling the books today. It's a accordion style book, with actual front and back covers. They're obviously handmade, but I think they turned out really well. Each one is just a tad unique, and that goes along well with the branding we came up with - rustic and a bit edgy. I wasn't a part of designing the book, but a couple of pictures I took as well as the blueprints made it into the book. So that's my little claim to fame on that aspect of the project. If I can find the motivation to photograph the book properly, I'd like to add it to my portfolio. I really enjoyed the whole thing and I'm happy to be able to say that this is something I did because I wanted to, not because I needed to for a mark or school. I'm really looking forward to what we do next term.

Speaking of making the book, we were using bone folding tools to crease and fold the pages, and I now want one for myself. It would be really helpful for origami folding.
In other news, last night the SSC had their last event of the term, a holiday dessert potluck. We had 10 people, which was just about perfect for the space (and chairs) we have. There was lots of delicious dessert, one of my favourites being peanut butter and corn flake munchies. They were very good and I ate (too) many. We built the gingerbread house without any structural difficulties and one guest even made a cat out of candy. I ate the chimney today and the gingerbread is rock hard. I'm wondering if this kit might be leftover from last year? Or maybe I'm just so used to the softer homemade ginger bread that this is a rude reminder of what I used to enjoy eating as a child.

Hello, can you hear me?

title taken from Adele's new single, "Hello"

A friend just told me about Mark Manson (specifically this and this article). I really enjoyed them both. And it made me think about what my passion is. Truth is, I don't really know. What I do know is that two days I really wanted to do something creative. More specifically, I wanted to create a font. Ever since I got my drawing tablet and found a website that lets you create your own font, I have had a bit of a thing for typography.

On the letters that I send out every week, I like to try and make the envelope a little more interesting than just a name, address, and stamp. This usually results in me putting a lot of effort into writing out their name (and then realizing I didn't leave a lot of room for the address, and therefore have to write it really tiny, but that's not the point). The past couple of letters I've done a geometric type font, and I was fond of it. I decided that I wanted to make the whole font.

When I actually went about creating this font, I realized that I didn't have my sketchbooks with me. I own 5, and I hadn't brought a single one with me to Stratford. Neither did I have my drawing pencils, nor my paints. Anything, really. (I do have some markers and colouring pencils with me). The sad part is that I distinctly remember packing for Stratford and thinking I wouldn't want to be creative, that I wouldn't need any of my tools. And that is where I limited myself. It's true that I don't often have the desire to paint or draw or create fonts. But when they do come around, it really sucks when you don't have the tools to do so.

I got my drawing tablet out (ok, so apparently I do have creative tools with me, just not the right ones) and tried drawing some letters straight into my computer. It didn't go to well. There were two reasons for that: 1) I used Illustrator, which I've only used a handful of times and am not completely aware of how to use properly and 2) it's hard to create a font when you've never done it before. I looked at some articles online about typography and creating fonts, which were enlightening.

But what I really wanted was my sketchbook and a pencil and eraser. Because that was how I wanted to be creative. "Being creative" is such a vague term and I'm lucky that I have so many different ways that I can be creative. Just not the right way, apparently.

After my disappointing first failed attempt at creating a font, I made some origami lotus flowers like the ones in an episode of Sherlock. It took me multiple tries to get it right. I could get all of the folds, but the last step is to invert the petals so they stand up, and it's a lot harder than Sherlock makes it out to me. My main issue is that the paper would rip because it was so thin. I eventually used some tape to reinforce the spot where it always tended to rip, despite the fact that I despise using tape, glue, or scissors in origami. Hopefully one day I can make one without the tape (and no rips).

I've been thinking recently about my term abroad. I am definitely going to blog while I'm away, and it will probably be the main way I tell people in general how I'm doing and what I'm up to. But I can't decide if I want to use this blog or create a new one. If I create a new one, well, I'd have two blogs. And I don't like the idea of having two blogs. It's like one person having two cars. Why do you need two? You can only drive one at a time. It doesn't make sense.

On the other hand, if I use this one, then I run into a bit of a situation. I want more people than the people who know about this blog to be able to hear about my adventures in England. But do I want those people to be able to read everything I've written here over the past 4 years? Because if they're anything like me, I know that they'd go through and read every single post. And I'm pretty sure I don't want that. Also, I'm pretty sure some people (really, just one person that I am thinking of) would get mad at me that I hadn't told them I had a blog.

Fortunately, I have 3 months to think about this. But I don't think the way I stand on either side is going to change over that time, and thus it really isn't that fortunate at all.

(I don't want to toot my own horn here or anything, and I know I've said this before, but I am proud of my writing skills. And I know that sometimes the way sentences sound in my head doesn't always make it to the keyboard, but I could probably be a writer for something. Like a blog that has a purpose, DIY Central or Recipes From Home, not just a personal blog. I think I have a good mastery of the English language, and know how to make it sound good. And using big words is fun. Although I have a tendency to overuse commas. I love 'em :) That's all I have to say).

366. What is your superpower of choice?
Those of Elastigirl, from the Incredibles.