October 4th, nice rain

a picture my roommate took in the nature lab

Dear October,

I loved the rain today! It was good, timing that with the afternoon light. I was cooped up in the nature lab for seven hours with about ten of my drawing classmates today, and we were all drawing dynamic skeletons as accurately as possible. At some point after noon, small groups of us went downhill as it was raining and the sky was bright white, to go see the free stuff down at Market Square. There was a little art vendor event going on there, with little booths of branded art products under a big tent, and it was such a nice surprise being able to pick up a tube of gouache and technical pens and brush cleaner for free. I even got a really nice gray toned sketchbook! A bunch of students were standing around the table eyeing the sketchbooks displayed in stacks of two and three, and we all wanted them but we knew it would be too good to be true for sketchbooks like that to be free. But one daring student asked a vendor next to that table whether the sketchbooks were free, and he said we could just take them. So one girl picked up a tan toned sketchbook hesitantly and held it for a moment as if she was bracing herself for any objections, and then she walked away guiltily. Then the rest of us picked out sketchbooks, looked at each other with raised eyebrows, then walked away very slowly, and during that time the vendor who put up the sketchbook table came back and just sat down and watched it all happen without comment.

I really like having souvenirs of any kind, but especially the ones that can be opened or used for a while, because the happiness that comes from that lasts a long time. First there's the brimming excitement of having the potential for more happiness in little plastic packages, each of which can be opened at any time, and just thinking about it makes you happy. Then there's the fading happiness that is there after you've opened the package, so souvenir happiness comes in small bursts and layers. So that was how it was with us art students, I think, because we just got a whole bunch of high quality free art products and discounts, and that really cheered everyone up.

Also I got to spray paint on a slab of some kind of wall since there were art demos there too. So I did graffiti for the first and probably only time ever (except I suppose it's not really graffiti because we were allowed to do it)! I spray painted a red star over a bunch of other spray painted things. It was exhilarating.

Anyway, the timing with the rain was great. It made it all feel like an adventure, our small group running down the hill to find a tent with oil bars and spray cans and strangely absorbent claybord, and then running back up as if to return from our wardrobe.

I think I've been slamming my feet down on stairs and sloped sidewalks a bit too much, or else I've been twisting my feet in weird ways while standing in studio, because it's a little difficult walking! My feet hurt with this strange internal pressure whenever I step forward and put weight on the front of my feet, but not even my runner friends know what that means. I predict I will be limping for a few days, but at the same time that's fun too because it feels like I am enduring trials while traveling.

Goodnight,
Indigo

song of the day: Landfill by Daughter