Weekend update (AEM and otherwise)

Busy weekend; lots of ups and downs. I started to write a fairly detailed account of the trials and tribulations that have transpired in the last 48 hours, but I think it might be better to just present as quick a summary as I can muster. I think it's still by no means short.

I flew down to North Carolina Friday evening for a wedding in Chapel Hill on Saturday. I was meeting the SOOTTAD at the airport, although my flight was actually getting in about 3 hours before hers. I figured I'd spend the time studying and working on a paper, and maybe if I was so inspired, do a little drawing.

Anyway, it turned out to be a pretty hectic afternoon. All the little things kind of trainwrecked: work tasks took a little longer, little chores around the house before I left, last minute packing. I felt pretty rushed, but I made it to the airport more or less as planned.

But to be fair, my plan was a little crazy.

The wedding was Saturday afternoon and there was a post-reception party at the groom's parents' house that I didn't want to miss (mmmmm, barbecue), but I wanted to make it back for class Sunday morning. So I booked a return flight that left on Sunday morning around 6AM that was scheduled to arrive in Boston at 8:09am, giving me a grand total of 21 minutes to get from the plane out the terminal onto the shuttle to the parking lot to my car and to school by 8:30am. I can summarize this plan in two words: DUMB. ASS.

Anyway, there's a lot of beating myself up for making this decision, not taking appropriate measures to improve the situation, making other decisions that made the situation worse (such as taking me on a scenic tour of LaGuardia airport and reducing the amount of time I actually have to study or work on my paper) but I did manage to safely arrive in RDU, get my return ticket changed (without a painful $400+ change fee and price difference), get some of my paper written, pick up the SOOTTAD and only get us lost once before arriving at the EBC dance event in Carrboro to find the friends of the SOOTTAD who are putting us up for the weekend.

Saturday, we manage to wake up with just enough time to iron shirt and dress and get our asses to Chapel Hill for the wedding and reception. A short but very sweet ceremony. Tasty hors d'oeuvres. Dancing. Good times. Afterwards, there's a minor boondoggle caravan in search of a vintage store that we never find. I'm exhausted, so I let the SOOTTAD drive while I try to work on my paper a bit. We hit the post-reception barbecue and mingle some, but mostly, I hide myself away and work on my paper. I manage to finish just as most people are leaving. Still, we get to spend some quality time with the happy couple and the groom's parents who have to be some of the nicest people in the world. I've seldom felt so comfortable hanging with a friend's parents. It felt good.

Back to our hosts' apartment -- they're out at another dance event. I haven't seen them since the night we got in. We stay up late again for no reason, doing nothing, really. I draw a little. Sleep.

Up early this morning, though not ungodly early. But sadly, not early enough to get breakfast together. I'm on the 9:27am flight back to Boston, so we shoot to get to the airport at 8:30am and arrive without incident. And, of course, when I go to check in, I discover... my flight's been delayed. *sigh* I spend some time drawing, inking some of the stuff I did last night. The rescheduled flight is now scheduled to depart at 10; we actually leave the ground around 10:30. Touch down in Boston just before noon, and I'm right back where I started with a class to make (our Module 3 technique assessment) in 20 minutes. I'm out of the terminal by 12:05 and end up waiting 20 minutes for the shuttle to the economy lots that come every 15 minutes. (Annoyed? Why yes, why do you ask?) I'm already late, even before I get to the lot at 12:34. In my car, through the gate and stuck at a light by 12:35. I make it to Watertown in 13 minutes, park and sprint. In the classroom, stressed, winded and shaking with nerves at 12:50pm.

But reentry is good. Everyone in class is warm and welcoming. W gets me on the table so she can do her assessment, and 40 minutes later we're at the break and I'm feeling several orders of magnitude better.

Yay, massage therapy.

Things are a little rough in the skills and dynamics class for which I'd written the paper the previous night. Looks like we're stormin' again. Still, the class overall is genuinely supportive of one another so I make it through to the end of class and head home to friendly kitties.

Oh yeah, and for the day I ate:

• 1 apple danish
• 1 can of tomato juice
• 1 small bag of pretzels
• 2 Zone energy bars
• 1 handful of popcorn

Home for a few hours, it finally occurs to me to have something to eat. I bust out some ramen and egg.

Yeah, it's been one heck of a weekend.

* * *

So, not a lot of time to draw or post, but here's what I've got for the last few days.

Day 4:

Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
I finally had a moment to catch my breath once with met up with Ja & Je at the dance in Carrboro. While we waited for them to finish up (they were competing in a Jack & Jill), I did a little sketching of the dancers. I've always had trouble sketching moving subjects, but sometimes ya gotta do whatcha gotta do.

Day 5:

Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
Back at Ja & Je's apartment, not ready to go to sleep just yet. Hands have been sketching subject matter for years. I'm actually planning on doing some more with this one, but I was pretty happy with how they came out, so I thought I should capture it for posterity before I "ruin it."

Day 6:

Both originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
I tried to catch a picture of this image at the wedding but my timing was always off or it came out blurry or I couldn't frame it right. This is probably as close to going from mind's eye to paper, although I'll admit that I did use some of the photos I took as reference. In some ways I actually like the sketched version better than the final ink -- I feel like the sketched version almost has a warmer quality to it, possibly due to the fuzziness of the lines. Funny, that. (However, it's much easier to capture photos of the inked stuff. I suppose I should just suck it up and use the scanner -- we'll see.)