WHO I AM

WHAT I DO

WHAT I'M
THINKING ABOUT

WHAT I'M STUDYING

Monday, April 26, 2004

Gotta Represent My Peeps
Somehow, I got suckered into being the Design representative on the Graduate Student Assembly for next year. I'm not sure how the Jedi mind trick worked on me...

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Sunday, April 18, 2004

Goin' Buggy

Images from CMU's infamous Buggy Races. (Click either for larger view)

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Consider Me Appreciated

Two weeks ago was Graduate Appreciation Week, where lowly graduate students were appreciated for their tireless bitterness. The School of Design took us out for free drinks and food at perennial favorite Sharp Edge. (Click either image to enlarge)

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Thursday, April 15, 2004

Carnivale!
The next four days at CMU are Carnival, when classes are suspended, heavy drinking ensues, rides are erected, and tiny women are sent hurling down steep hills in buggies. Music events happen on several stages for the next couple of days, with the headline act being N.E.R.D on Friday night. Could there be a more appropriately-named band to play on this campus? Probably not.

After weeks of cold and rain, the weather is sunny and warm and glorious. It should be a nice couple of days.

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Saturday, February 21, 2004

Bowling for Undergraduates
Thursday night, Haven and senior Chris Thomas arranged an evening of bowling for design grad students and seniors. Needless to say, the $8 buckets of beer did little to improve my already idiosyncratic bowling technique.

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Monday, February 2, 2004

Chili Dogs
Professor Shelley Evenson and her husband John Rheinfrank hosted a party for grad students and faculty at their house on Saturday night, serving up chili, wine, and the company of their two Bernese Mountain dogs, Frasier and Liza. As Maggie put it, it was the type of party that one imagines happens all the time when you're a grad student (but in reality seldom does).

A personal highlight for me: the set of Roycroft dinnerware!

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Sunday, January 18, 2004

A Puppy and a Player Piano
CPIDer Ashley Deal had a soiree at her house (!) in Wilkinsburg last night, and was able to show off her new Dalmation puppy. Very cute. But, other than the copious amounts of alcohol, how can you explain groups around the old player piano, singing standards and oddities like "Time in a Bottle?"

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Sunday, January 11, 2004

Back to School Brunch
In honor of school starting back up, my wife and I hosted a back to school brunch for my classmates this morning. Nice to see everybody again and get warmed up for starting classes. I'll be glad to be in school again.

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Sunday, November 9, 2003

Aloha from Pittsburgh
When CPID classmate Cheryl Gach planned a luau a few days ago, it was 78 degrees. Last night, the night of the luau, it was 28 degrees. Perfect for Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts! Still, a good time--and fruity rum beverages--were enjoyed by all.

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Thursday, November 6, 2003

Rock and/or Roll
As it turns out, one of the second-year CPID students is dating a rock star. En route to Japan, the band stopped over in Pittsburgh last night, and some of us caught the show. Rock n roll, baby!

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Sunday, October 12, 2003

Fright Farm!

After weeks of the HCI department kicking our ass, party-wise, Design finally struck back with a trip to Fright Farm, in southwestern PA. A haunted house, a haunted hayless hayride around the farm, and generally just standing around a bonfire, roasting marshmellows and hotdogs was the agenda for the evening.

I was able to get a handful of (lousy) bonfire pictures. Click on any of them for the full image:

Kudos to Chad for arranging this!

Sunday, October 5, 2003

Wined and Dined

The design department threw a soiree for faculty, staff, and graduate students at the James Gallery in Pittsburgh's West End last night. Excellent food and wine. A beautiful space too.

There id definately something to be said for being a grad student at a private university. This sort of thing never would have happened at my undergrad university.

Friday, August 29, 2003

Party like it's 1989

We had our first all-Design outing last night as well, at the Lava Lounge on the South Side. The DJ inexplicably played music from the 1985-1993 era, but a good time was had by all.

Friday, August 22, 2003

Orientation

We had orientation yesterday, where the design faculty welcomed us, the ninth class to have gone through the Interaction Design program and our sister program, Communication Planning and Information Design. There are 14 of us first-year grads: six ID and eight CPID. Ten women, four men.

Orientation was led mainly by Dan Boyarski, head of the Design school, there was a lot of talk about the intensity of CMU and to prepare ourselves for that. He also implored us not to be too hard on ourselves while going through the program: there will be things we're good at and things we'll have to work harder at. And one inspirational message: writing and design together can change the world.

We also got to pick our seat in the graduate design studio and were assigned our assistantships. I got the unusual (for me) assistantship of tech support for the Smillie Lab, the new digital imaging lab. I'm also going to be doing a semi-TAship for Bob Swinehart's Corporate Identity class.

Refreshments were served.

I also managed to crash the HCI program's orientation party last night. Fun fun fun!

Tuesday, July 15, 2003

Social Animals

Just in case you thought all we grad students do was sit around and talk design, I should let you know that we often do it in a social setting with beverages of choice in hand. Every week I've been here, there's been at least one or two off-campus gatherings. Cinema in the Park is a Design School tradition. Bach, Beethoven, and Brunch was fun for the whole family. And tonight is Micah's goodbye bash before he heads off to eBay.