the [all-night] dance

last thursday, i pulled an "all-nighter", and when i say this, i mean a true "all-nighter". where one does not sleep or take any naps during the night, and then must try to function the entire next day. during my stay here at seaton i've learned that the "all-nighter" is a seductive, and luring lady that temps and tricks the minds of young architecture students. her magnetic charm attracts you to her and pulls you in. she makes you believe that it's a good idea to forget sleep and stay up the entire night to work. however the cost of dancing with this debutante is paid during the following days. it may be true that i was able to stay up and get my drawings completed and a model built, but it is also true that i have very little recognition of last week, and i lost most of the weekend trying to catch up on sleep.

i've learned that most people are able to stay alert up until about 4 a.m. ironically that's the time lady "all-nighter" comes waltzing in, begging you to stay and work, so you comply. soon after this, around 4:30 you enter a state where you're not really asleep and yet not really awake. it's in this semi-coma that one tries to use objects such as exacto blades and scissors. as the dance continues you're mind falls deeper into nothingness. this continues right up until the crit, when your mind has completely stopped, and the only shred of focus comes from a carbonated and caffeinated beverage, i like to call dr. pepper. it's at this stage that voices sound like the teacher from charlie brown, which is actually a great way to go through a crit. just smiling and nodding. as the dance ends you walk home. one usually doesn't remember exactly how you ended up in the bedroom or in the bed for that matter. as the dance ends, lady "all-nighter" leaves you to sleep for 20 hours, after which you wake up and realize that not only are still dressed, but you're bookbag is on your back, and you're ipod headphones are still in your ears. the cost of this dance you might ask, one to two days of recovering.

i did, however, have a great time finishing up the project that night. i was able to have some fun with the sections and elevations, and i learned that i can produce a crude set of drawings and a rough model in 10 hours. i've also learned that this "all night dance" is a lot better with the perfect set of shoes. fuzzy slippers.













the sections for my house. the only requirements were that it be a three bedroom house for an art collector. to make it more interesting, i felt that the client would be a collector of marilyn monroe images and paintings.