texture

The photo above was taken at my grandparent's house (Chicago, IL). I adjusted the colors, as you may imagine. Please do not use or change without my permission, thank you.

DNA poem 12.08

Above image shows a fragment of a poem I am working on. It is inspired by DNA, or Deoxyribonucleic acid, which is made up of four bases: Adenine, Thyamine, Guanine and Cytosine (hence "ATGC" is the title of this poem).



Above is the complete poem. I intentionally left Microsoft Word's underlines (indicating a misspelling or fragment) on the image. Also note that in the previous post I wrote about VAS: An OPERA in Flatland--thus the opera theme of this somewhat logically follows. Also, I recently saw the opera: Porgy and Bess.

Favorites

I am rarely audacious enough to pick a favorite of anything. A proud assertion that I "have no favorite [color/song/genre of anything]" is far more likely to escape my lips than a sweeping preference selection. I feel like that could 'pigeon-hole' me into some category. That somehow I would be a less interesting individual if I picked favorites.

Putting my worries of lacking dimensionality/interest aside, I actually asserted a "favorite" last night. At a small holiday gathering with friends, I endorsed a book so strongly that I uttered the phrase: "probably my favorite." Even I was stunned by my (contextually) grand gesture.

With all that to preamble my grand endorsement, I will not delay the disclosure any further. VAS: An Opera in Flatland is the book that, above all others, I would want to share, discuss and to emulate. The text is a collaboration between Steve Tomasula (let us call him the author in the traditional sense) and Stephen Farrell (who did a brilliant job with the graphic arts and design). The book has excellent art and writing; a beautiful balance is struck between the two in a way I have never encountered in all my years in school (I read this my senior year in college for a Postmodernism course). This opened my eyes to a book's potential. It is a stage for multiple modes of communication; this makes the book more relevant in our increasingly technology-driven age.

(Somewhat tangentially) I am currently a volunteer at the International Museum of Surgical Science (IMSS). VAS enters the territory of science, eugenics, and surgery from an creative perspective. My propensity to view the history of medicine, surgery and science as inspiring and thought-provoking was what drew me to contact IMSS.

Let's have a Picnik

Picnik is the newest of my entertainment site bookmarks. A friend referred me to it and I am hooked. It is a free and intuitively configured site. It shares many features with Photoshop and makes me feel like a creative genius. Here are a couple of things i've made so far.




Here are some other things I am working on...please let me know what you think!!

And rainbow versions...

™All images are property of Elizabeth. No copying/using for any reason. Thank you.

Chicago's AGC (with Sarah Elizabeth)

Off the orange line Pulaski stop is a small beacon of hope. The Academy of Global Citizenship contract school has less than 100 students, but in its first year, it is a symbol for hope and change. As the fall season in Chicago is having its last days in the 70’s, change is certainly on the horizon. I visited The Academy on the day after the 2008 Presidential election— the notion of hope was part of the zeitgiest. Optimism pumped through the 100,000+ Americans who gathered in Chicago’s Grant Park last night.

In the faces of the kids I saw this morning at the AGC, I saw promise. With the curriculum of the International Baccalaureate Program, the environment of sustainability, caring and intelligent administrators, and encouraged proactivity, I do not know how to see anything else but budding individuals. I truly hope that these kids someday recognize and appreciate what a wonderful and supportive atmosphere they went to school in.

One particularly sweet story that Sarah Elizabeth Ippel, Founder and Executive Director at the AGC, shared with me today is that one of the students went to the office to sit down for a bit because he had a headache. After a few minutes, the women in the office saw him assuming the “tree pose” (a yoga pose which is calming). See it animated here. This was not only a heart-warming display of what the school hopes to foster (that is, a self-starter attitude), but it speaks also to their cross-pollinating/ cross-disciplinary approach. Finally, this example serves as a microcosm for what the students will be learning to do: creative problem-solving. Needless to say, I am thus far impressed not only with this young student, but with the Academy.

Not long after I walked out of the school, my little bubble of hope was put into perspective. I walked back through the parking lot, around broken glass and up to the El station. Outside the station were two cop cars—one of the officers must have been using a megaphone for the crowd of teenagers; I didn't stick around to see what the commotion was about. I jogged up the stairs to the platform, and it was filled with teens (and this was 11:30am). This scene served as a reminder: although these preschool-aged kids in the AGC school not 500 feet away had a bright future (in my mind’s eye), many issues facing urban education persist.

2 x 4

4 photo duos

portrait of an architect

A portrait of Rob Vagnieres, Jr. in front of a painting by his father.
Taken 10/10/08