Mexicoland

So I went to Mexico for spring break... I had the greatest time and it was a huge eye opener. Seeing things there and then coming back to the States makes me appreciate everything we have a lot more...
I went down there with my mom and her best friend with the intention of helping an organization build a home for a poor family. I thought I would be doing lots of labor and working my ass off...Well I was wrong and right. I did work on a house but I didn't work my ass off.

This image shows the house that the family currently lives in... The 'house' is made of corrugated metal for the roof and walls. The door is made of clothing. It's maybe 10' x 10' and a family of 5 lives in it... There is no running water, no heating/cooling, and no electricity... It made me not be so quick to complain about some of my gripes about my computer or being a bit too warm and what not.

The house we worked on was made of an compressed earth modified adobe brick. I got to go in some of the completed adobe houses that the organization had built for other families...They felt as if they were being air conditioned but in reality, they still had no running water, no electricity, and still no heating/cooling, but the home was much more cozy and much more safe.

Here is the back end of the house... We were just starting on the vaulted roof.

and yes I did do work. I didn't just walk around and take pics. So here is some proof :P

A play through the eye of a designer

Camino Real Review
Paul Reynolds

In theatrical productions, each of Aristotle’s elements are brought together to produce what we see. All of the elements are essential to the performance, and if one of the elements is lacking, the performance could suffer. During the performance of Camino Real, the actors were all over the place, including out in the audience. While some of the choices of Emil Boulos, the lighting designer, helped get some of the ideas of the show across, one of the choices actually brought the audience out of the show.
The first successful use of the lighting was at the beginning of the play when Don Quixote entered from the back of the theatre. Quixote’s entrance was quite grand in the fact that the aisle was lit up during his journey towards the stage. The illumination of aisle helps make the action very apparent and helps draw the audience into the action. This choice by the lighting designer was a good transition from general lighting to more specific lighting of the space. The scene started with much of the space being lit; then as Quixote approached the stage, less of the space was illuminated, and most of the lighting was focused on the stage.
The second successful use of the lighting was when Kilroy ran out into the crowd as he ran from the guards. The spotlights helped bring the audience back into the action by shifting the focus of light from the stage to the crowd. Although the lighting was very random, it still lit the scene and kept the focus on the action. This shifting of focus helped the audience watch as Kilroy attempted to escape the guards. Because the lighting in the scene was arbitrary, it helped enforce the action in the scene, as the action was chaotic and Kilroy seemed confused as he ran.
After Kilroy stole his golden heart, he ran out into the crowd a second time, the spotlights and the guards following him. At the same time the spotlights and guards were chasing Kilroy, a multicolored light spun and waved around the space. This light was a rough transition from focused lighting and structured scene to a more general lighting and chaotic scene. This colored light made the action confusing to me because I was expecting some cast member from the previous scene to come out into the audience. Every time I focused my attention back on Kilroy, the colored light distracted me back up towards the stage where some of the actors still stood.
As lighting designer, Emil Boulos made many decisions on how to light the space, focus the attention, and guide the action. Most of the decisions were effective except for one, and this one decision really brought me out of the action of the play, and had a negative effect on my experience of the production. This proves that to create a successful production, all of the elements must work in a logical and cohesive manner.

tired.

so here it is...the time when our ARCH classes start having due dates conflict with each other... I just had two tests for two of the classes, I have a midterm coming up with a studio project and a working drawings assignment as well...Hey wait, I also have English too... I just need a chance to bitch about it and then get back to work... I ate too much junk food last night while staying up late here in studio... We just had a fire drill? The whole Muncie Fire Dept. showed up. I've never heard the alarm go off and I heard a professor say that he's never heard one in the years that he's been working here. Maybe there was a fire, I don't know... We are having a job fair and there are project presentations going on so of course it was very convenient to have this alarm. Random thoughts :/

My eyes are heavy and my stomach hurts. I just want to go to bed and sleep for maybe a day or three.

Joke

Thank you Morgan for introducing me to my next best friend...

btw, I don't believe his views are correct, just funny.

heat

The University is all about their image these days. They are doing things like talking about how awesome our programs our to now requiring that all new building construction MUST be LEED certified. Wow, that's all good and stuff. Even the new geothermal heating that they will be switching to is great. But with all this, when the hell are they going to turn off or even down the heat. I go into a classroom and I swear it's like 80 degrees... What the hell!? People create heat. It's a proven fact. The average person, while sedentary, I believe creates about 600 BTUs/hr... Yeah Yeah, what the hell does that mean. Well basically, we are essentially a small heater inside of the heated classroom. Does it make sense to overheat a room when you will be introducing more heat into it? This new saving energy things BSU is getting into is...well, cool but you need to reduce the current waste as well. What if you heated them to maybe 68 or 70. That would be fine, everyone should be comfortable in those temperatures. If not, wear more clothes? There is always that option.

Weather...

The weather... I'm not sure about you but I enjoy cool weather. I don't mind the cold at all. My body seems to produce excess heat even at 'idle'...I'm not sure if I have a faulty heat sync or what but I'm always sweating. :/

So my gripe for the week...
With this change in weather, the temperature has risen and the snow has melted. Now the rain is pouring and everyone seems to be bitching. Uh hello, it was just 15deg and snowing like a frickin blizzard... do you prefer the blizzard or the rain that doesnt make you melt? Yes, I know. The rain sucks, but honestly it beats the hell out of the 15 degrees with a wind chill of 0. (although I don't mind those temps)
ok, I think that is enough of my complaining.

I can't wait for Spring break...This year I'm going back to Mexico. This time I will be volunteering to help build homes. :) I can't wait! I love traveling. This summer I'd like to go see Metallica and Slipknot perform in Barcelona, Spain. :D I'm really going to try and push for that... they are also going to be in Holland I believe.
I think this post was full of really random thoughts. Hopefully you can follow. Oh and these following few images are from Moline, IL. When I went to see Metallica. There are no words that describe the awesomeness of being 5 feet! from the stage!!

Birthday

So as a few of you may know... yesterday was 1) my birthday and 2) the Slipknot concert.

I think it could not have gotten any better, well with a few exceptions, but I'll leave those out of this. I did the usual going to class and that was alright I suppose. I did not acquire too much homework, but I got something for each class. Wow, thanks for the present. My architecture history class gave out the usual research on stuff and write a paper. :/
My structures class had the usually lecture then the assignment. I have to design a beam in a structural system. The system is to support a roof that will be a green roof and also allow people to walk on top of it. It should also take into consideration that in the winter time there will be the weight of snow on top of it... So yea, that ought to be fun.
After class, it was lunch time, for lunch I chose to go renew my license. Oh boy, what a deal. Waiting an hour in line for it. That sucked. I hurried back to campus, grabbing Taco Bell on the way back. Then I went to English... I have some work to do on my paper. :/
After class, I went to pick up my buddies. Time for the concert!
The Slipknot show was one of the best concerts I've been to. They have put on a great show both times that I have seen them. Last night they did not disappoint, although Coheed and Cambria were the Fail. They were horrible.
But overall a great night. :)