Yesterday I played in the ocean...
No, seriously. Lenka called up a couple of days ago to suggest that we grab the wetsuits and go swimming at Kits beach... Great idea! Cast aside the winter and bring on the spring! I headed into Speed Theory on Saturday and wound up sharing this magical idea with a couple of the staff members... They commented on how absolutely crazy this idea seemed...
So, clearly they are just wimps, right?
Well, headstrong and full of mission, Lenka and I headed out to the ocean, stuck our feet in and WOAH!
It's friggin cold. No, I mean REALLY cold. 2nd thoughts, 2nd thoughts... But we both knew we couldn't leave it at that, so reluctantly we stuck our heads in the ocean and started swimming. My face was so cold I couldn't keep it in the water very long at all, and looked forward to each chance to breathe (which I did every stroke).
After a minute swimming out, we stopped, and Lenka came up with the voice of reason, "I don't think we should swim too long. It might be dangerous." All the encouragement I needed!
Swimming back to shore, I couldn't feel my feet or my hands, and my face wasn't getting used to the water at all.
After all that, it was agreed that we might try this again next week. Defying logic and common sense seem to be my mantra most of the time, but I will say that it is nice to do something that really shocks you into waking up. And it felt good to go for a short run afterwards...
Monday, February 26, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
And the end of term one... more planning needed
Today is the first day where I wake up without an assignment due, a class to attend, or an exam...
I never realized school would be, well, school... My head is filled with art and creative clumps of gibberish that are mangled and mixed within a sea of responsibilities, like work, training, the social life outside of school, and so on...
But, for the moment, my head is above water, and I can assess the damage :)... The main source of damage has remarkably not been a drop in health, as I managed to stare down the colds and flu that permeated throughout campus in the past 2 weeks. But the real damage has been Ironman training. No way to avoid the truth, here, but I would say I'm about at half-speed on training...
And in case I'm still not convinced, I have a race in 2 weeks, the Olympic tri at UBC, and I haven't ridden 40k in 2 weeks... Not a great sign. Looks like I'll be using this "downtime" to kickstart things. I think next week needs to be a "shocker" week. Just a week of consistent workouts, regardless of how much time or how intense they are, just to get the juices going again.
But I remain undeterred. I am still thinking I can do the Ironman again this year. I simply have to focus on the Half Ironman in June in 3 1/2 months and get myself ready for that. If I can do that, then I can take on the summer in stride.
By these accounts, I can look at the past term as a testing ground to see what was going to be expected of me. I learned that there is a lot of work, and the key is to just stay on top of it.
Tough? Yes. But it's never boring.
I never realized school would be, well, school... My head is filled with art and creative clumps of gibberish that are mangled and mixed within a sea of responsibilities, like work, training, the social life outside of school, and so on...
But, for the moment, my head is above water, and I can assess the damage :)... The main source of damage has remarkably not been a drop in health, as I managed to stare down the colds and flu that permeated throughout campus in the past 2 weeks. But the real damage has been Ironman training. No way to avoid the truth, here, but I would say I'm about at half-speed on training...
And in case I'm still not convinced, I have a race in 2 weeks, the Olympic tri at UBC, and I haven't ridden 40k in 2 weeks... Not a great sign. Looks like I'll be using this "downtime" to kickstart things. I think next week needs to be a "shocker" week. Just a week of consistent workouts, regardless of how much time or how intense they are, just to get the juices going again.
But I remain undeterred. I am still thinking I can do the Ironman again this year. I simply have to focus on the Half Ironman in June in 3 1/2 months and get myself ready for that. If I can do that, then I can take on the summer in stride.
By these accounts, I can look at the past term as a testing ground to see what was going to be expected of me. I learned that there is a lot of work, and the key is to just stay on top of it.
Tough? Yes. But it's never boring.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
"As an artist, it is central to be unsatisfied! This isn't greed, though it be appetite." - Lawrence Galgagno...
Yeah, I would say that I am living in the world of the "unsatisfied" when it comes to my work these days. And I'll preface this by saying that I am completely happy, though in a delusional sort of "not-enough-sleep-to-think-straight" kind of way...
Today I had my life-drawing "exam" where I spent 2 1/2 hours drawing a nude in various poses. After 7 weeks of practice, I figured I would at least be competent enough to get the basics of form down and make a person look realistic on paper. Of course, practice and exam are two separate challenges, and the "exam" caused me to become unduly anxious, overthink my form and structure, and try to perfect things that I had not been able to perfect, instead of finding my strengths and simple elements and components and work from there. You see, a human body is really a series of structural elements that make it up. Ellipses, squares, etc. all help form the human body... And I over-complicated it today in an effort to pass a test...
Does that sound familiar? Like, say, for a RACE?
Yeah, the parallels I am finding between racing and training to be an artist are too eerily connected.....
Yeah, I would say that I am living in the world of the "unsatisfied" when it comes to my work these days. And I'll preface this by saying that I am completely happy, though in a delusional sort of "not-enough-sleep-to-think-straight" kind of way...
Today I had my life-drawing "exam" where I spent 2 1/2 hours drawing a nude in various poses. After 7 weeks of practice, I figured I would at least be competent enough to get the basics of form down and make a person look realistic on paper. Of course, practice and exam are two separate challenges, and the "exam" caused me to become unduly anxious, overthink my form and structure, and try to perfect things that I had not been able to perfect, instead of finding my strengths and simple elements and components and work from there. You see, a human body is really a series of structural elements that make it up. Ellipses, squares, etc. all help form the human body... And I over-complicated it today in an effort to pass a test...
Does that sound familiar? Like, say, for a RACE?
Yeah, the parallels I am finding between racing and training to be an artist are too eerily connected.....
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
2am and just finished a project...
The latest in my projects now online...
http://student.vfs.com/~fd23anthony/2DDesign/comicfinish2D.jpg
http://student.vfs.com/~fd23anthony/2DDesign/comicfinish2D.jpg
Monday, February 12, 2007
Rather than fight the constant urge to write something about Ironman training, I figured I'd just keep going on artwork and make my Ironman training find it's own way to the story.
Part of how we're learning to "create" art is learning how the human body performs in certain aspects and actions. I am taking a life-drawing class where we draw nudes every (almost) week. What is interesting about this is gaining the perspective on what happens to different parts of the body when they are being used to "balance" or provide strength to a pose or action. You really can see the difference in tension in one leg, for example, when it is being used to anchor the whole body.
Even more amazing is how you learn to draw that leg in relation to the other one, which may only be used to balance out the pose so that the person doesn't fall. You can see how strong one part becomes while others become subtle. And how weird it looks drawing both with the same strength, even though it logically appears as though both legs or arms are identical. The slight change in emphasis creates the reality.
It really makes me think about the movement of our body when we're doing some activity, like riding a bike or running or swimming. The difference in tone from one side to the other and the timing required to switch back and forth so majestically is something we take for granted. There's a series of very significant motions that need to occur for that to happen perfectly. And yet we can do it, for the most part, without a thought. I see how difficult it is while trying to draw that same strength and tension...
Speaking of, I have to get back to drawing homework... Ran 35 minutes today and plan to swim tomorrow after class!
Part of how we're learning to "create" art is learning how the human body performs in certain aspects and actions. I am taking a life-drawing class where we draw nudes every (almost) week. What is interesting about this is gaining the perspective on what happens to different parts of the body when they are being used to "balance" or provide strength to a pose or action. You really can see the difference in tension in one leg, for example, when it is being used to anchor the whole body.
Even more amazing is how you learn to draw that leg in relation to the other one, which may only be used to balance out the pose so that the person doesn't fall. You can see how strong one part becomes while others become subtle. And how weird it looks drawing both with the same strength, even though it logically appears as though both legs or arms are identical. The slight change in emphasis creates the reality.
It really makes me think about the movement of our body when we're doing some activity, like riding a bike or running or swimming. The difference in tone from one side to the other and the timing required to switch back and forth so majestically is something we take for granted. There's a series of very significant motions that need to occur for that to happen perfectly. And yet we can do it, for the most part, without a thought. I see how difficult it is while trying to draw that same strength and tension...
Speaking of, I have to get back to drawing homework... Ran 35 minutes today and plan to swim tomorrow after class!
Friday, February 09, 2007
Adventures continue.... I am entering "Final Projects Week" for the first term of film school. Everything, so far, has been getting progressively more difficult with each passing week.
As a result, this week training took a "get what you can get done" week. I hopped out for a swim after class on Monday, although I was really feeling quite ill after being up until 2am on Sunday night. I barely finished 1500 meters before feeling like I was going to collapse. So, Tuesday I took off and Wednesday I threw in a light, 45 minute ride on the trainer. Thursday I resumed the swimming and got in 2000 meters... All in all a light week but I wasn't feeling well and was quite tired, so I'll take it as I get it.
Tomorrow is Saturday so I'll try to get the ride in early in the morning and hit the swimming in the afternoon... And Sunday I have a 16k run to get out for!
As a result, this week training took a "get what you can get done" week. I hopped out for a swim after class on Monday, although I was really feeling quite ill after being up until 2am on Sunday night. I barely finished 1500 meters before feeling like I was going to collapse. So, Tuesday I took off and Wednesday I threw in a light, 45 minute ride on the trainer. Thursday I resumed the swimming and got in 2000 meters... All in all a light week but I wasn't feeling well and was quite tired, so I'll take it as I get it.
Tomorrow is Saturday so I'll try to get the ride in early in the morning and hit the swimming in the afternoon... And Sunday I have a 16k run to get out for!
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