I do not remember what it feels like to have a clear throat. It has been bothering me for over a week now. It started with symptoms of strep throat and I soon drank my weight in tropicana (side note: what do you think of their new packaging?). Those symptoms went away but I was still left sore. Now I have developed a nasty cough and have begun to lose my voice. That or I am going through puberty again and my voice is changing. Whatever it is, I’ve had enough.

Why me?

This was one of the best Valentine’s Days that T and I have ever had the pleasure of having. Last year this time, I was in Germany and the year before that, we didn’t do anything because of a conference. But today won out by a landslide. First of all, I was able to sleep in from my late night type installation. I shouldn’t have slept so long as there was more than enough for me to do (like keeping up with my Google Reader feeds for instance), but I like to do what my body tells me. I ate a bowl of SpecialK at around 1PM and then went to run some errands. Later I went by her apartment to exchange gifts. It is clear that we are ready to be living together by the beautiful red colander I received and the Pier1 red apron I gave her. On the way to dinner, we made a quick stop by HobLob to max out on their current sale on candles. In the effort to save money on wedding reception decorations, we walked out of the store with two shopping carts full of candles, ribbon, and table mirrors – and for a very good price. It was super fun too. It started sprinkling as we loaded up the trunk, but we didn’t care. Candles don’t melt from water fortunately.

We arrived at Square One Bistro right on Time. Luckily, I had made reservations as it was quite crowded. Neither of us had been to this restaurant before now in its Downtown Bryan location, and we were soon amazed. (Special thanks to the hard work of AC for their fantastic re-brand). It had a unique charm about it. Romantic enough for the occasion, but with a personality to fit any day or time. Soft candle glow lit up the eclectic collections of art and photography, glass bottles and warm faces. There was gentle music in the background – no wait, a live performer! She had a sound like Nora Jones and was absolutely perfect for this atmosphere. I later found her name to be Sara Degroat, a local artist. It was the icing on the cake. We had a half-caraf of the house zinf and garlic bread at first, then ordered a to-die-for plate of stuffed mushrooms. We were further impressed by T’s order of angel hair tomato pasta and my lamb over cuscus and carrots.

We left more than satisfied and smiling … a wonderful Valentine’s indeed.

The AIAS Career Fair is this Thursday and Friday. I am going in optimistic, but not expecting too much to come of it. With this economic crunch, we have a lot less interested and prospective attending firms. Last year, we had 65 firms attend and actually had to turn away 15. Last week, we had 9 signed up. As of now though, we have a healthy 26. Much better. Admirable, even. Now I just have to finish getting ready for it. Resumes, business cards, and portfolio have all undergone overhauls and are due to print. With our limited facilities in the BCS area, I have found OfficeMax’s CopyMax to be the best and the friendliest. However, they are only open until 9PM – something that makes CopyCorner’s 2AM policy look so appealing. We will see.

Finally it rains. I love rain. It’s a reason to relax, is an instant conversation starter, and a pleasant change to a view out the window.

I am taking yoga once a week on Monday mornings. It’s at 9:30, so I can sleep plenty but still have an excuse to get up earlier and start my day off right. This class is looking to be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. We stretch in a dim-lit, warm room in the old gymnasium, which heats up your muscles, ready for some hot stretching. Near the end, we lie in corpse pose (flat on your back, relaxed, eyes closed) for about 15 minutes. We are led through different simple moves with our arms and legs and made to imagine ourselves in a different landscape. It’s extremely relaxing and truly allows your mind to be free of any stress or concern in the real world. It also helps to have an excellent instructor, KB. She does a great job to teach this beginners course, easing us into some of the more advanced positions. I wish we had class more than once a week, but i guess it just makes you practice on your own – something I need to start doing.

I spent Friday evening and a large portion of Saturday in a fairly intense software tutorial for Rhinoceros, or Rhino for short. It is one of the most advanced NURBS modeling program on the market, has an interface somewhere between 3dsMax and Sketchup (a very good thing), and is just really tight.

Our instructor was excellent. He teaches high school students Rhino in Ohio, where apparently it has been quite cold lately (-15ºF?) and did a great job introducing us to the program. We would have a simple objective, like to model a piece of stemware, but would teach 10-12 different techniques and commands along the way – a great way to learn. Gabriel Esquivel is the one who’s jumped hurdles to get Rhino on our lab computer’s here and I thank him greatly for it. I feel like we, as students and designers have been given a powerful tool and opportunity to incorporate into our projects. If only I had learned this three years ago… or even in high school.

New year resolutions do not have to start on the first of January, do they? When does the “new year” become the “present year” or the “now year” or even the “old year?” In terms of getting my blog up and running, my new year starts today, 08 February 2009. Happy New Year. <throws confetti>

Welcome to my new blog. I have had this webspace for about six months now, and thanks to the help of the nice people over at WordPress, I am maximizing its potential. While I don’t have a concrete plan on its usage, I’d like this blog to represent me and my daily thoughts, creations, and experiences. My previous blog was a success but has long been over. It is now time for me to re-enter the blogosphere (I missed it) and provide inisight on my life as well as share current activities personally and abroad.

Ready, set, go.