Who else is addicted to Xbox? I splurged and got one during Thanksgiving or so, and have been pretty hooked. So far the best games I have played are:

Bioshock, which is the first game in a long time that I would consider to be a work of art on par with quality movies or tv... it has pretty intense consistent themes and actually poses intellectual, moral and ethical questions to the player. It makes you think! Also, amazing art deco-influenced art direction. Highly recommended.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. This is the best shooter I have ever played. The single player campaign is brutal and grim, depicting Eastern Europe falling into chaos as warlords vie for nuclear warheads. The game basically takes you through scenarios that are familiar to us all from the wars overseas, which is very, very intense. You get to be in the boots of a active duty soldier, and it doesn't glamorize it. Pretty great stuff, but not for the faint of heart.

Then the multiplayer is polished to an amazing, amazing degree. Instead of simply competing for points, the game gives you a dozen or so game types, customizable classes, dozens of special perks that enhance your character, many different weapons types and weapons... and then only unlocks all these things bit by bit as you earn experience by competing online AND by completing different challenges. The genius of it is that the challenges are designed to make you better at the game, and encourage you to learn to play in different ways. For example, I generally don't snipe in shooting games, but since there is a whole array of sniper challenges, I am finding myself learning how to play as a sniper in order to get the sweet, sweet experience points. A great multiplayer experience.


What are you playing? Also, post your gamertag or gamercard if you are on Xbox Live.

Starting in a few weeks I'm gonna volunteer at an arboretum on Saturdays from 9am until about noon.
I have been very fatigued lately and debated giving up this plan but then I thought that maybe being outdoors will actually give me more energy.
My chicken-cooking class is on Wednesday.
I spend the rest of my weekends in the jewelry studio. Currently taking a rings class.


I found all those little copper "Z" squares all over the floor of the studio. Soldering them like that was actually rather challenging.

By far my most crowd-pleasing piece has been the carrot:

I plan to heat the surface a little to bring out the dirty carroty texture and then give it to my mom.

We had a project with many requirements including a bezel, a box that closes and has a stand.. a hinge. So I made this conceptual monstrosity. The box is circular, the stand holds it closed, the hinge is the clasp. The box on a normal chain or the chain by itself would be attractive.


open:


Here's my apple from the very first class I took. I can't believe that was a whole year ago. What the fuck.


Spring months are always very exciting for me but I'm particularly nostalgic about last spring. I try not to avoid thinking that I gave it up my lifestyle for my current happiness but rather believe that it was leading into it.

Did I already mention here that I'm doing unicornmeat.com again?

well I am.

I know I already talked about my garden. Here's an ASCII rendition of my yard:

flowers in the front and back and carrots, chives and tomatos all along the narrow side and herbs in the box in the back. Lots and lots of basil.
This spring will be just as good as the last one. Probably better.