Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Inspiration and Perspiration.

I'm not sure what your reasons are for reading my blog, (unless you're one of the many who I've systematically coerced into becoming my followers) but chances are that you're bored. We've all been there. Small amounts are harmless but large doses are fatal (well...not really). I remember a long time ago (in a galaxy far away) where I became extremely bored. Time seems to slow down to a snail's pace and you go quite insane! Consequently, I quickly learned how to circumvent those episodes. And I discovered that there are many ways to do so. The best way outside of hanging out with your buddies, or subjecting yourself to the various kinds of entertainment media out there, is by adopting a hobby. What's mine you may ask? Mine is art.

Art? That's not saying much now is it? Well, that's the beauty of it. Art is so liberal. It can exist in many forms and expressions. Expression is an integral part of art. Boredom is a state of mind that can be expressed. I keep myself busy now exploring any kind of art I discover. Soon you'll find that, once it becomes a habitual hobby (art being new each time it's approached), it no longer exists to stem boredom. It becomes a part of who you are. It can quite literally become the key to a door you never knew existed, opening up so many opportunities. We're the lucky ones as well, reading this you're already using the best medium to find one.

Now I always look for new ways to express myself. A part of that is looking for the inspiration to motivate my creative juices, and produce my next masterpiece (I live in a small world....my world...I'm the master in it...). To express how much I love my girlfriend, I decided to make a tribute for her; a drawing of her face, but not with my usual pencil and pad. How did I find the medium this time? I simply looked down at my desk, and found these:

Anything can be used for art ^^

There's freedom in expression.

I got one of her photos, used some software to help break the image down and then I got to work. I toiled for 6 hours to make what is now a piece of art on my wall, right above my desk. Now, I can look her image anytime I want, especially when studying and work has got me all stressed out. She calms me down, puts a smile on my face, and I get right back to work. Mind you though, I'm still searching for more ways to do my hobby :)


My baby ~ Nutcharee
So, I hope I've motivated you to kick boredom in the nuts. What you do doesn't have to be art, if you feel you aren't creative (which will be a topic featured in my blog in the future), there are plenty of things to do out there to keep you preoccupied. Good luck!!!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

This is FOOTBALL!!!

Which one of us could have known? To a certain extent, I did expect this, but I can say that I wasn't prepared for the thrashing we received last night. Unfortunately for us, we had to play a knock-out round to qualify for the round robin style group stage. We were soundly trounced. This is not to say that the lads didn't perform, in fact I laud the efforts of each member of Blue Shell.

Our match was scheduled for 10 PM, and in true football fashion, we played in wet conditions. Running out onto the pitch, I could feel the cold air challenge my muscles. Blue Shell had quite a following there last night, and as much as we competed for the ball and for goals on the pitch, our supporters vied for aural supremacy with those of our opponents' supporters off of it. But we were, without a doubt, outclassed. They were harder, better, faster and stronger. We lost 6 - 0, with barely a look-in towards their goal. All in all though, we had good fun, and it was nice to find out just where we stood within the bigger picture of football within the university.

The wet weather has continued into today as the sky is splashed with slate-grey clouds and the ground outside is damp but in the distance, sunlight perforates through. The scene looks heavenly. It's funny though, since I never used to like the rain. I used to hate how I could never go out. At how I could not see my friends. I didn't like to get my socks and shoes wet. The cuffs of my jeans dirty. I hated all of it. But now, the gloom brings along with it such a sense of romanticism. Images of cups of hot chocolate come to mind, staying in with my better half, who incidentally is half-way across the world. But being on my own right now is also okay, the mood inspires introspection and reflection, and more than that, appreciation. One need only stare out his window into the beauty beyond. Yeah, I know, it sounds so corny, but it's true...and, it works.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Blue Shell Lives!!!

The Spring has set in fully now, and the weather has gotten warmer. Each day is a beautiful one, but unfortunately, along with the Season of Love, comes the hordes of mosquitoes hellbent on eating me raw!!! My roomie Hasan and I invested in a little bottle of water called OFF!. So far, it has worked wonders. I can now have uninterrupted sleep.

So far, this week has brought good news. Where do I start...well, I'll save the best for last. During May, my department will have what it's calling 'Design Week', where myself, and the other students will participate in workshops, some of which might result in actual productions of design within the campus, such as street furniture. I'll be signing up for one in which we'll design a 2d shape and manipulate it into 3d to design a pavilion. It certainly has piqued my interest. Apparently though, no student has a choice. If we don't participate, we'll receive an NG for our studio course!!! It's looking like it'll be a fun although tiring week, since our design studios don't stop!

Elsewhere, EMU (That's Eastern Mediterranean University) had applied for accreditation from a distinguished international body (I forget the name). It's been 3 years in the process, and we were informed in class today that EMU has passed each stage until the final. This involves an evaluation board to come and, well, evaluate our facilities. As such, a student representative for each year has to be elected, and having been nominated, I have won. I now hold the distinction of being my year's representative. What does that mean or entail? I haven't got a bloody clue!!! I'm sure I'll have to be on my best behaviour during the board's visit (so no whoopee cushions I'm afraid). To be honest, all of this is quite a revelation for me. A very positive one I might say.

 And I now reveal the best news this week: BLUE SHELL LIVES!!! Huh? What? Yes, yes, your questions will be answered. Firstly, what is Blue Shell? Well, Blue Shell is the name of our football team entered into a tournament organized by EMU. I think I saw around 11 other teams registered, so this will be interesting. It was a last minute decision made by the lads and myself, and so this morning I went and registered us. The roster consists of the following, in no particular order:
Mohammed Homsi (Hamoude AKA Link)
Talha Ali (Bubble Boy)
Sufiyan Ali (Legoman)
Hamza Mohsin
Amir Siddiqui
Mustafa Atique
Mohammed Bilal Asif
Rasem Khulusi
Farhan Khan
Peter Chime
Fuad Abu Khalaf
Eyad Sawalmeh
Mahdi Daoud
Myself (Height)

We're in the tournament just for kicks (No pun intended), and we're certainly not expecting anything, though that won't stop us from giving it our best!! I'm posted (again, no pun intended) as goalie. So, I'll be able to bark orders to my defenders, always a plus. The team is named after the podcast started and currently produced by Hamoude, Sufiyan, Faisal and Mahdi, which itself was named after a weapon usable in the Mario Kart video games. Video games are the topic of discussion in the podcast, and it can be reached here:


http://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_187133794655429&ap=1

BLUE SHELL LIVES!!!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

The Hullabaloo of so much to do...

Wow, who knew writing a blog was so tough?!

It's only been a few days, and while I've only begun to write, I've already started to encounter writer's block. I'm not really sure what to write about, though when I started I thought I had it all sorted out. So, to circumvent this potential blog-threatening obstacle, I went around cyberspace and read a lot about blogs and blogging. The underlying piece of advice that stuck out was to just exercise the blogging muscle.

I'm known to my friends as a restless, energetic person. Apparently, even to acquaintances, I'm always walking about. My mind is akin to that of a ticking clock that you just can't shut up. So I keep busy. Productivity is something I'm keen on. So each day, I list out (sometimes mentally, and other times written down) the things I have to and want to do that day, and well, I do them.

Today is Thursday, and that means Design class. It went rather well I thought. I'm not sure if I am working hard or I give the illusion that I am, even when I'm not. Either way, my instructor is happy with the progress I'm making, and today I fleshed the plans out a little more. Circulation and structure are apparent, evolving constantly, and are conducive to my goal next week; to mass my design in Revit. What's my design you may ask? I've got to design a mixed-use mid-rise building somewhere in the capital city of Nicosia (Lefkosa).

Have faith in the fact that I'll be writing more mental check-lists in the weeks to follow. What's on the agenda? Well, for next week, it'll be to get my passport renewed in Spain. So I'll be visiting the only capital city currently split in to two in the world; Nicosia. This time round, I'll go early and make a day of it. It should be fun...

Monday, April 11, 2011

Aches, Pains and Classes.

So my blissful week of hiatus right after mid-terms is over and done with. What did I do? Well, I can tell you what I didn't do; work! I've been plagued by the flu for the last week as well. Headaches racked my head while I spoke almost entirely in coughs for a while, but now I am starting to feel better.

I'll be headed to class in a little while. While I'm not entirely irked for having to return to classes, I do wish I had another couple of days. Truth be told, I don't mind work at all. The trouble with it, as I'm sure we all know, is that we never really get to do it on our own time.

I did labour on the wall art project. All night, two days ago in fact. 12 hours of uninterrupted work and it's done and I must say I'm mighty proud of it. It's a welcome addition to the once bland, emotionless wall. I admit, I did like the "institutional" feel of the white walls but it's as if they were screaming out for some character, or perhaps I was screaming to put some on them. Below are the before and after pictures. Enjoy.


Saturday, April 9, 2011

Windy days and cherry blossoms.

There's a lot that I might write about here in my new blog, ranging from my poetry, opinions on certain affairs to rants about my faculty; architecture. But for now, I'll just tell you about today.

I'm about to head out into what looks like a sunny albeit blustery day. The palms visible outside my window are dancing quite awkwardly to the wind today. But where am I going? I'm off to the nearby stationary shop. Well, when I say nearby, I mean 15 minutes of walk time. My roomie, Hasan, and I have decided to personalize the room a little more. 

So rather than have blank, emotionless walls, we're going to decorate each of our own sides with a design of our choice. I've decided on Japanese inspired Cherry Blossoms. Took me a little while to find it out, but now it seems like the perfect fit. The addition of paper will utilize the wall and combine the two with a good balance of figure-ground harmony. At least, that's the idea. Before and after photos will follow shortly. Stay tuned.

Getting started...

Phew!

So I've finally laid the foundation down to start blogging. It's been in my mind for quite some time now, the trouble with getting started was what to blog about. So rather than be bogged down with too much thinking and not enough doing, I clicked the mouse a few times Et Voila!!

So, without further ado, I'll leave you to my blogging wonders...whatever they may be.