Polymaths

I spent a bit of contemplative time in the woods this weekend feeling down that other people are better than me am in their fields. To cheer myself up, I told myself that everyone is good at something and no one is good at everything. For example (I told myself), I am good at ignoring mosquito bites and keeping track of the trail map, and choosing trailmates who can read a map. It didn't really help. Then I realized that I only need to get really good at one thing- being a polymath. I don't need to be like a special famous one, just a regular polymath such as any philomath might become. I mean, maybe I don't have the specialest brain, but I have lots of advantages da Vinci and them didn't, such as the works of da Vinci and them, electricity, standardized spelling and so on. So when I got home, after a hot bath and a good night's sleep, I sat down to invent and to learn taxonomy and then Latin and when and how everything was invented, and then I calmed down.

Night-thirst

I made two pint glasses of water before my nap this evening. Then I woke up thirsty two times. I thought I was drinking from the same glass but when I woke up properly I saw that I was exactly! the same amount thirsty both times.

So am I always the same amount thirsty? Is everyone? Neat.

Internet

I heard that Prince doesn't want to distribute his music on the internet because the internet is just a fad. Everyone scoffed at this, because the internet is exciting magic that lets you learn anything and contact anyone and buy anything from anywhere and also it is mostly free. But suppose it is indeed a fad, and my cohort's kids think nothing could be duller than fingertyping and eyescanning an internet page? I already know everything, they could say, and what I don't know I am happy to learn by slow and careful observation and tracking. I already have more than enough belongings to take care of, they could say, and by the way do you need anything? I suppose in my generation each family and school district acquired internet across a range of years, but I remember well when I had a computer cut off from everyone else's, and liked it. It had a program under the start menu that let me practice using a mouse pointer by clicking on one of five bright colored, numbered polygons. At nine years old I could barely type* but the idea of anyone unable to use a mouse, and yet able to learn to use a mouse, was absurd to me. Incidentally, I was fairly obsessed with whether each person I met could type, and how fast, and how they learned, and how long it took, until I learned properly, through practice, at about 12.

*I knew where the keys were, by a mnemonic that went: qwehrtieopp and azduhfuhguhhuhjaykayel and mom,mom,caitlanvandewalle,dad,nick,matthew/mark,period, but for the life of me I couldn't route my fingers to their destinations in a timely manner.

Submarine

I decided to make my car into a fake submarine- a superterra with Jules Verne/Victorian era submarine styling. My Dad had an art car when I was a kid, and I have always kind of wanted to make one. I am sooooo super happy I waited until I got an art degree under my belt though, because my follow through and motor skills have developed a lot. I am starting small, with the internal accouterments- a ship's log for my maintenance records, binding my DMV manual in leather, temperature and depth gauges on the dashboard- and I am very pleasantly surprised that I have failed at all of this sort of thing so many times already that I'm around the corner and can easily throw together successful pieces on my first try.

Here is the first example. I sat down to make a cd label (for my whale song/Pirates of the Caribbean mixtape), which I have never done before, and a couple minutes later I had a totally reasonable one.

I printed a model of the Nautilus on a partially used cd label page I found at school, then since the resolution was real bad I inked it.

I bet I moved a ton of stuff this week.

Physically, I wore myself out very thoroughly this week.
Monday: Mom said I couldn't carry the boxes of her new expedit bookcase in from the car, because together they weigh 150 lbs. So I did. And I knocked off her mailbox, but I put it back. Anyway then we had to spend like 2 hours putting that nonsense together, and I wore out my wrist screwing a thousand things together with an allen wrench. Then I put a small but heavy dresser/desk into my car and took it out- both times with help. Then I brought a small bookcase to school and installed it.

Tuesday: Ferried books to my "office" from the library

Wednesday: Returned all of my filming equipment to Media Services on the bus because parking is a headache. The tripod and flash camera were easy, and the light kit was very hard. It's a hard sided case with a lot of bulbs, cords, three tripods, those metal boxes that shield the bulbs and have barn doors attached, and the rest of the accessories are pretty light.

Thursday: Installed my brick barbell and bricks. Pushed an anvil and section of tree trunk across the metal shop (I had help for part of the way). Carried and dragged 45 books (with assistance) up the hill from the library to the art department.

Friday: moved my whole installation-with bookcases now full- to put carpet under it, then moved it back. Someone put the anvil back where it belongs but I didn't feel up to pushing it back where I needed it for my installation.

Saturday: Slept, nursed purported hangover symptoms that were more probably from lack of sleep and exertion.

Sunday: moved all of my furniture to one side of my room, polished the floor, moved it to the other side, polished the floor.

Monday: Moved all sculptures and installations (2 carloads) home from school.

Minimum Wage Project

So I have heard fifty and sixty thousand dollars tossed around as starting salaries that new grads unrealistically expect to earn. I was thinking it might be interesting to try my hardest for six months or a year to earn that through making the CA minimum wage, which is $8/hour. I was thinking I could get hired at Taco Bell, McDonalds, Burger King, and Jack in the Box. But I guess it would be impossible because that is a bit over 120 hours per week, and even though that seems like it might be doable on my end for a few weeks, employees don't have input into which hours they work so coordinating that across companies would be impossible.

I went in to Taco Bell today to pick up an application and I ended up buying a meal because it was $2.63 and I was like, how can there be a meal for $2.63? Anyway, the man helping me, Matthew, was really confused, and rang me up wrong a couple times and couldn't fix it because only someone with a manager's card can make changes. So his shift leader, whose nametag said Anggie, sent him to the back and rang me up. And I felt terrible. I hoped he was high because if his current state was a fair representation of the toolkit life has provided him with he should not be left to fend for himself at a job. So that made me mad. I had time to read the English portion of the whole 6 page application while I waited for my meal, which was a carryout order because I felt sick and there was a strong astringent smell in the restaurant. Then I went next door to McDonalds- I felt a bit bad because I had a bag from their competitor, but at least I was otherwise well put together- and asked for an application, but I have to apply online.

Anyway, my dinner was tasty and I'm glad my project is logistically impossible because I did not like it in that Taco Bell and my reserves are really diminished. But I was excited for a while because reading the application made me realize the project would pretty much conduct itself once I set it in motion. Here are some highlights:
Listed under "PHYSICAL DEMANDS" is:
"communicating, tasting/smelling, tolerating extreme cold, tolerating noise."
Listed under "Mental/Emotional Aspects of the Team Member position" is:
"Percent of total job that is repetitive: 50"
and under "Education" it instructs me to,
"PLEASE LIST ALL JOB-RELATED ORGANIZATIONS, CLUBS, OR ACTIVITIES YOU ARE/WERE INVOLVED IN AT SCHOOL, EXCEPT THOSE THAT INDICATE RACE, RELIGION, COLOR, NATIONAL ORIGIN, ANCESTRY, SEX, OR AGE." Okay. I have never seen a poster for a student group that didn't include one of those explicitly, except coed intramural teams.

I guess I will keep thinking about how exactly this endurance peice should play out.

On Chambermaiding

So I'm sitting in my filthy bedroom reading Tiger Beatdown's commentary* on the We Are All Chambermaids slogan at the French rallies in support of the woman who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attempted rape. Flavia wrote that the slogan isn't real solidarity since it erases the different levels of vulnerability that women experience across the class and power spectrum. And I thought, I would like a maid.

I graduate in two weeks and whenever I am not doing school stuff I am sleeping, and at this point I can't wash my dishes or my housemates will realize I have 30 dishes hoarded in my room. And I needed my bookcases for an installation I'm doing on campus, so I just piled everything in the corner. And I can't take two steps with all of this dumb lighting equipment everywhere. So, I would like to be reciprocal maids with someone. I could clean her place when I am bored and she was busy, and hopefully our finals would be at different times so we could both have a clean room all the time. This won'tt do a thing for women who are maids for a job, but I think it is a good way for me to not clean up after myself without being awful about it.

I have worked as a maid for four months or so at the hostel, and it was okay. It was nice because it isn't rich people who stay there. A lot of the regulars don't have permanent housing so I kind of liked making sure at least the bathroom was dehaired for them. Anyway, now I have to get dressed up Stepford wives style because a friend is coming over to watch me clean.

*here is the link, but on my computer each word is a separate line.