The Rams have arrived

Well, apparently the big football team is now on campus, so all the buildings are locked down and it is frustrating to try to go anywhere on campus.

This afternoon the sculpture class went to the "Bradley Sculpture Garden" which is this fabulous estate filled with sculptures, beautiful lake, historic home, etc. It is only open for private tours, so we were the only ones there. There are couple works by Henry Moore and other notables. It was really incredible.

I went out to dinner tonight with one of my classmates. She has been in all three of my classes and we've become pretty good friends. Tomorrow I just have a critique in the afternoon for my sculpture class and then I have to try and get some of the pieces packed up so I can mail them home.

All is well and now I am counting down the hours --- I'm really ready to get home.

Mama Mia

Well, my sculptures are almost complete and my group finished printing our high school art curriculum today and we'll present it tomorrow. So tonight I was finally free to relax a little. I decided to go back to the posh theater that I had discovered on my first day in Milwaukee. So I sipped wine and saw "Mama Mia." It was so much fun. Meryl Streep of course was incredible and then how could it be bad with Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan? Then to top it off it also co-stared my favorite British actress Julie Walters. I haven't been to a movie in a very long time where the entire audience was laughing and having a great time. Anyway, Katie missed out. She said she didn't really want to see it, so too bad for her.

The St. Louis Rams apparently arrive on campus tomorrow for their summer training camp. The security around here is crazy. There are TV news trucks, big tents set up and apparently I will have to be parking about 2 miles away. (not really, but it seems that far) It should be interesting on Saturday morning when I have to get up at 4:00 a.m. and pull my luggage down the road to my car. Anyway, I am so looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and maybe even cooking a decent meal.

Sunday in Oak Park, IL

Well, I managed to make it safely back to Mequon from Chicago. I decided to bypass some of the freeways and took the local Rt. 41 north out of the city. It was slow, but better than the alternative. I eventually had to get on the freeway and stayed in the right lane traveling at 55 in the “construction zone” 45 miles per hour speed limit. Ever car on the freeway passed me going about 70 or above. It was three lanes with cones on both sides and no shoulders. There weren’t as many trucks on the road as on Friday, so that made it a little better, but it wasn’t a very enjoyable drive.

This morning I got checked out of the hotel and then arrived at the Frank Lloyd house & studio about 10:30. I had reservations, so I picked up my MP3 player & headset for a walking tour of the area homes and then had a 12:00 guided tour of the home & studio. It was his “early work” which was mostly his pre-prairie style homes. After Taliesin and now this tour, I feel I am somewhat of an expert on his life and work. I was amused today that the tour guide didn’t mention anything about why he only lived there until 1909 (FYI- He went to Germany with Mrs. Cheney for 2 years and then when he returned started building Taliesin where he continued to live with her until her murder.) His official wife & family of course continued to live there for sometime, but then it was eventually sold. It was purchased by the preservation society in the 70’s and apparently it was in a bad state of disrepair. The society has restored it to the 1909 period when he last lived there.

I only got to drive by the Robie house yesterday on the Chicago bus tour. Sometime I will have to go back and tour that house, which is supposed to be his “Prairie Style” masterpiece. Hopefully I’ll have time on Friday to go by a church in Milwaukee that he designed. Someday I want to see Taliesin West in Scottsdale.

Well, I just have 5 more days in Wisconsin and then leave early Saturday morning to fly to Seattle to meet Katie. Maybe this week I’ll post some of my sculpture projects that we have been making in class.


The FLW house & studio in Oak Park.
Obama's house as the tour bus was passing by.
The very cool Cloud Gate sculpture. (notice the black & white photo--something on my camera got reset and all my pictures of Chicago and today in Oak Park are B&W with only some red. Very weird.
There is a big theater district in Chicago. I was thinking you you Katie!
Every bit as wonderful as I thought it would be.
This is a Cezanne I took for Nicole. Apparently this museum has a huge Impressionist/Post Impressionist collection---but I only got to see a few because of current rennovations--more bad luck.
This is a Buddah at the Art Institute. I wanted to take a picture for Brian only to reach down and realize I didnt have my camera. I went into complete panic and found the nearest security guard. It had been found on a bench where I had rested briefly. I was lucky! It seems to me I have done that before. Rouen comes to mind.....

CHICAGO

I finally have something to write about on my blog.

My classes are going well and I only have a week to go.

On Friday morning I headed south for a Chicago weekend. I had actually planned two weekends in Chicago, but I had to condense it into one because of the unexpected trip back to Oregon. So, I had reservations this weekend to stay in Oak Park, which is now part of Chicago, but at one time it was a posh suburb. It is about 8 miles east of downtown. Oak Park is famous for the Chicago home of Frank Lloyd Wright and there are 20+ residences in the area that he designed. It is also the birthplace of Hemmingway---yes, he did get around. I’m staying at a little historic inn across from the Hemmingway museum and right down the street from where he was born.

Anyway, I arrived Friday afternoon and immediately walked down 3 blocks from the hotel and caught the train into the city center. It takes about 25-30 minutes, with frequent stops. I visited the Chicago Art Institute and of course it was fantastic—I got to see the great work by Seurat Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Grant Wood’s American Gothic, and Hopper’s Night Hawks. There were of course many other great works, but it was disappointing in that about half of the museum was closed for renovation. Wouldn’t you know it—I have wanted to come here for years and the summer I am finally here they are going through a major remodel! Guess I’ll just have to come back.

So anyway, I walked out of the museum yesterday took a couple of photos and then the clouds decided to open up. Having no umbrella (forgot it in the rental car a couple weeks ago) I ran across the street to little restaurant and ordered a salad until I could venture back out and find my way back to the train. I did manage to get on the right train and headed back to Oak Park where I had a nice Italian meal before heading to the hotel. I also took a detour as I walked back and saw FLW’s Unity Temple.

Back at the hotel I continued to read “Three Cups of Tea,” which is such a great book. Long story, but I met the author’s wife in Portland last spring when I was taking an art education class.

This morning I got up fairly early and planned to head back into Chicago so I could take a city tour. Well, I woke up and it was really pouring. Remember I have no umbrella and it is about 3-4 blocks to the train station. I also only have sandals along, so I really didn’t think I could make it to the train without being completely drenched and miserable. I waited and waited and finally about 8:15 it looked like it was easing up a bit, so I jogged to the train—forgoing coffee and breakfast, because I needed to get to the tour office to buy a ticket for the 9:30 tour. I got on the train—no problem, but then there were delays, so again I was jogging to buy the ticket. I ended up with about 10 minutes to spare before the 4 hour tour was to begin, but the only coffee to be found had a line out the door. In other words, No Coffee…. No Breakfast.

The tour was great. It was the perfect way to see Chicago during the pouring rain. I got to see everything I wanted from the comfort of the bus, sculptures by Picasso, Calder, Chagall, Moore and others. We drove by Oprah’s apartment building on Lake Michigan, Wrigley Field, through parks, the Magnificent Mile, then south to the Hyde Park area where we drove by the famous Robie house designed by FLW, drove by Obama’s house, and the University of Chicago area. The tour ended about 2:00 and I was really hungry. It was still drizzly but not as bad as earlier.

I spent the rest of the afternoon walking down Michigan Ave. I went into the original American Girl store---kind of glad I didn’t have to spend any money there. It was so crowded, but fun to see. Then I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art. There was a Jeff Koons show. Not my favorite artist—It was an OK museum. I was just glad that my Portland Art Museum card got me in for free.

From there I continued walking along Michigan Ave. to Millennium Park. I have pictures, but I didn’t bring my camera cord. Maybe tomorrow night I’ll just post photos. By this time I was working on several blisters, so I made my way back to the train (I’m now an expert on the Chicago Transit system) and headed back to Oak Park. I wasn’t going to walk anywhere else, so I ate dinner here at the Inn.
The bistro was really good. Goat Cheese salad to die for and the most amazing prawns I’ve ever had.

Nicole just called and reported that they arrived safely back from Pennsylvania.
I think I am going to crawl into bed and read. Tomorrow I will tour the Oak Park neighborhood of FLW homes and then tour his home and studio. In the afternoon I will head north to Milwaukee, but I have to figure out an alternative route. The main freeway between Milwaukee and Chicago is about 100 miles long and the entire thing is being reconstructed. It was the most miserable stretch of road I have ever driven. I think I’ll try the secondary roads for my safety and sanity.

Tomorrow evening I’ll post photos. I now know why Wisconsin & Illinois lawns are so green all summer without irrigation. It rains more here than in Oregon.

Oh yea, Chicago is a great city. Clean, beautiful flowers, and art everywhere. I'm so glad to finally experience it.

Wednesday in Wisconsin

Nicole wondered why I hadn't written. Well, there is a very good reason for that. Since I arrived last Saturday night, there hasn't been a whole lot to report. In fact, for the first 24 hours I think I may have been the only person on campus. I saw no one in the dorms, I walked across campus twice on Sunday and through many of the long hall ways to the computer lab and didn't see a sole until Monday morning. It is kind of a eerie feeling actually. I've basically been trying to get caught up. My sculpture class started and it is going to be even more work than the drawing class. We have to complete something like 8 sculptures in three weeks. Today we spent 2 hours of the 4 your class working on an installation. We did a tree wrap. Mine actually turned out rather well I thought. I think students would love this assignment.
Then lets see...I have been too busy to go out for dinner the last couple of nights, so that means I ate my Trader Joes frozen dinners. Tonight I ventured out and I wish I hadn't. It took me about 20 min. to flag down a waitress to get a glass of water and then somehow they managed to produce the most awful shrimp salad--it is pretty hard to believe that so many people were in the restaurant because it was really bad. I guess I'll have to stick to the many Mexican restaurants that are in the neighborhood and forget about having any variety.
Let's see....anything else to report? No, I don't think so. Oh yes, I have to go get my ID card punched with a hole tomorrow at Campus Safety and have a lanyard attached. Then I guess I have to start wearing it at all times. Security is being increased because the St.Louis Rams are coming to campus for there Summer Training Camp. Apparently it will also mean that instead of being able to park about 1/4 mile from my dorm (because the roads are currently torn up), I will soon have to be parking about 1/2 mile away. Not because the parking lot is actually that far away, but because you have to walk through all the buildings on campus to get there.
Well, I'm sure you will all agree that now there is a good reason why I haven't posted to my blog. Check out another wrapped tree, just for excitement. (at the top-I still can't figure out how to place photos where I want them) Mine is the cool one with the long magenta yarn flying in the wind.

Back in Milwaukee

My Delta flights got me here right on time---no problems. There were no compact cars available when I got to the Budget desk, so they had to upgrade me to a PT Cruiser. That will be fun to drive this week. I'm back to the deserted campus and the parking lots are still under construction so I got to drag my suitcase through grass and gravel across campus to get to the dorm. I think I may sleep in tomorrow. Good night.

4th of July

Yes, we did actually find a place to eat in Albany. First we were going to go to Red Robin--but their water heater blew up and they were closed. So then we called Rene and she suggested Dos Amigos. It was pretty good Mexican food. But next time I am in Albany I will have to try a new Italian restaurant that is opening soon. Albany is growing...

Well, I slept much better last night and then got my laundry done today.

Dad and I went out to dinner tonight and then he talked me in to going to see Ironman. You can probably guess how good it was. Of course it was another movie with "rave" reviews. There is another big hole in downtown Portland. The block between Nordstrom and the 10 St. Smart Park is now undergoing a big dig.

Fireworks are going off now and Oscar was crying for a while, but I guess he got tired. Charlotte is glad to have me here and won't leave me alone. Brian apparently drove up to Vancouver, B.C. this morning to see friends. I would assume they would be friends from Japan. So I guess he'll be celebrating his 30th in Canada.

My flight back to Milwaukee is in the morning. I'm really not looking forward to heading back. I feel like I should really be staying here and helping out with my Mom.

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday today.

Albany day 4

Well, I spent the day once again at Mom's. We did a little yard work and cleaned out more of Dad's clothes. While looking through his odds and ends I found three of his teeth which had gold crowns. I guess with the price of gold on the rise he was holding on to them for an investment. They sure freaked me out and we had a good laugh.

I also got to put coins in rolls. He seems to empty his pocket change and it had really been piling up. Then I sorted through the long list of medications that grandma takes, called in some re-fills and sorted out her 4 times a day regimin of about 10 prescriptions. She should be set now for a few days if those taking care of her don't forget. Paula and I were having a hard time keeping up with it. Dad truly has been a saint over the last couple of years.

Mom suggested we go out for dinner and I think she was pretty proud of herself that she was going to carry her own wallet (she also hasn't had to carry a purse in years & she had also hidden it and couldn't remember where it was) but then we convinced her that Paula had room to carry it in her purse. By the time we got back from dinner she had asked at least ten times "now who has my wallet?" At that point we really did canonize Dad a saint because he never got upset with her or reminded her that she had asked the same question several times -- believe me it was driving me crazy after just a few days.

I also started a schedule on a calender of who is going to take care of her at the house because we aren't sure how long it will be until she can move in to the retirement house and she really does need 24 hour supervision. Since I return to Milwaukee on Saturday I committed to some time at the end of July/beginning of August.

I headed back to Gresham after dinner and hopefully I'll sleep well tonight, because I'm really tired.

Sorry my blog is so boring, but thought I should keep you posted.

Still in Albany

Well, yesterday of course was the funeral. Today was a tough one too with a lot of decisions and details that needed to be addressed. Mom wanted us to take care of Dad's clothes so Rosalie & I got those boxed up. Then we went to Rene's and wrote Thank you cards to all who sent flowers or donations in honor of Dad.

Bruce was still in town too, so he and Paul went out this morning and check out an assisted living facility. So after a left-overs lunch at Rene's we are trying to get Mom use to the idea that she can't stay in the house and that we are looking at some options. Each time we mention it of course it comes as a complete surprise and sometimes she thinks it is a good idea and other times she thinks she would be just fine by herself in the house. Rosalie & I then checked out the place this evening and it is very nice and pretty similar to all the places Grandma Davis lived in. Bruce also has been looking in to all the savings, life insurance and investments and it looks like Mom won't have any financial concerns. Rene will take Mom out to the place next week for an interview and to make a formal request so she can get on the waiting list. We aren't sure at this point how quickly there will be a unit available. In the mean time someone has to be with mom, so Rene is working on a schedule.

This evening we picked out the grave maker. It sure has been nice having Wally in the family!
I got back to the hotel room about 10:30. I'll go and spend most of tomorrow at the house and then probably head back to Portland in the afternoon.

Taliesin

Well, after the shock of the phone call from Rene I proceeded on to my Bed & Breakfast--really not concentrating on where I was suppose to be going and managed to get totally lost for about an hour. I was almost in a panic, but I figured out my wrong turn. I'm talking about 1 lane country roads through the rolling hills--cows & corn pretty much.

So this morning I went on my scheduled tour which was really wonderful, but I was rather distracted thinking I should be heading back to Milwaukee to get on a plane.
Here are a few photos of Taliesin:

I decided to head back to campus this afternoon so that maybe I could get an early flight out on Sunday. I left the B & B about 4 and arrived back here about 6:30. I got my flight booked for the morning and my bag mostly packed. I figure I'll have to get up at 4:00 since my flight leaves at 7:00. Since I didn't get much sleep last night I'll probably be in great shape by the time I arrive in PDX.

I'm still in Maquon, WI

The coffee, snack & breakfast bar.


Shower to the left, toilet to the right Basic Dorm Room

This is the view from my dorm room door. The hall the other direction is identical.
As you enter the "suite" there is a lovely furnitureless room with two small refrigerators and a microwave.



Well, I haven't posted anything in a couple of days because really there isn't much to report. There aren't any priests buying my drinks (Katie needs to explain that one) nor are there picture-postcard chickens posing to create humorous joke. Life here is pretty simple, although I must say I am enjoying most of it and the people are incredibly friendly.

I thought I'd share some of the wonderful interior architecture of my surroundings. Not that I am complaining. It works out to about $16. a night so I can't complain.

As you can see I haven't quite figured out how to upload photos to the blog and add a caption underneath and place them exactly where I want them. Where are Nicole & Katie when I need them?

But other than going to class from 10 until 12 and again from 1 until 5, there isn't much else to report. I should be writing some papers, but I can't get motivated. I plan to drive a couple of hours east on Friday to a town called Spring Green. It is famous for Frank Lloyd Wright's home and school called "Taliesin." Other than that I'm drawing, reading, and surfing the net so I can keep up with what is happening in the world.

The accents here are pretty funny. Kind of a cross between Canadian and North Dakotan. Some people have a very heavy "aboat" that surfaces frequently.

I'm alive. I'm well and after the weekend maybe I'll have something of interest to share.

One week down, five to go.

I've been here a week already.  5 to go.

Well, as you can see I have been doing my homework this weekend.  A self-portrait is always a tough assignment, but in the end I had to admit that it is pretty close to what I look like. 

 

Today I went to a cute little historic town called Cedarburg.  I had lunch and roamed around for a bit. 

 

Then it was back to work on more drawings so I drew my mother from a photo I had taken on her 90th birthday.  I gave her all the wrinkles I could and she still looks younger than the photo.  That is probably a good thing.  It is really hard to draw pure white hair without making the background dark, so I let it fade into the background.

I tried to call Katie this morning.  She is now in the Aran Islands.  The call kept getting cut off, so after three tries I gave up.  All I got from the brief conversations was that the electricity on the island was out today due to a bad storm yesterday...I'm sure she'll be ready to leave in a day or so if she isn't already.

Exploring Lake Church Cemetery

It might be these........

or it could actually be this one because it did say "johann" but I couldn't make out anything else.....

Yes, the first few days I had the halls pretty much to myself. There are probably less than 50 graduate students on campus and no undergrads during the summer. There are several summer camps that started on Wed., so now there is at least a little life around here. Soccer kids & girls basketball as far as I can tell.

This morning I ventured up north about 15 miles to the little village of Lake Church. Actually it is just a Catholic Church and school--maybe a little restaurant. Anyway, I went roaming around the cemetery in hopes of finding the grave of one of my great-great grandfathers. He and his wife were married in the church in 1874 and he died in 1891 and is supposedly buried there. Unfortunately all the grave stones from that era were in pretty bad shape, so I didn't find any sign of a "Johann Kuther." Apparently Johann was a very popular name though, because just about every other grave was Johann. Also it was apparent that the Kriar family was the dominant family in the area and the rest were all German names as well. So sadly I took a few pictures of the cemetery and had a nice walk around and then left rather disappointed.

This afternoon I spent a few more hours working on my self-portrait assignment---it is coming along. Maybe I'll post a picture of it tomorrow. I am procrastinating. I should be writing a couple of papers, but I can't get motivated.

Milwaukee Art Museum Visit

Endless halls everywhere on campus.......




Concordia's 1950s high schoolish architecture

Well, I set out this morning for the Milwaukee art museum. An incredible building and their collection is pretty good. This weekend is the Lakefront Festival of Arts which was in huge tents on the lawn of the art museum. Sort of like Art in the Pearl, but vendors from all over the country. So really beautiful art and I was amazed with the number of printmakers. It was really enjoyable except it was warmer than I expected and I had long pants on. After a couple of hours I headed back. (I was going to post a photo of the museum, but just discovered I took a video instead of a photo! It wouldn't upload.)

I drove down via the Lake shore road. There is about 5 miles of one stately mansion after another. It was really a beautiful drive along the shore of Lake Michigan.

Yes, the photos I posted yesterday were of the lake and beach area on campus. That is the beautiful part. But you can't really see it from any of the buildings on campus because they are all 1 or 2 stories and weren't built with views of the lake. Amazing I know. Today I thought I'd share some of the boring architecture of the campus and a few of the 100's of hall ways that one can not avoid to get from one end of campus to the other. Apparently it is a good idea to build the buildings attached to one another so no one ever has to go outside in the winter. But, during the summer it is so frustrating to be walking inside these ugly corridors.

Well, another day of classes behind me and I was pleased to find out that classes are actually M - Thurs. I guess they are technically Mon. - Friday but professors just give extra work for the weekend and then can justify the shortened week. It is OK by me. I do have a lot to do this weekend, but it was an exhausting week.

I thought I'd try to post pictures because there is not a whole lot to report. I didn't even go out for dinner last night (another frozen entree) but I did decide that the morning latte is going to have to be part of my routine.

Another day of classes

Well, I kind of knew this blog wouldn't be very exciting. The only event in my day was that I got to the cafeteria this morning and it was closed for no apparent reason. All I wanted was a cup of coffee. I had about an hour to kill before class and so I decided to treat myself to a latte. I had to drive about 3 miles to get it, but it was a nice treat. Other than that we drew outside today and the wind was really cold. So far I haven't experienced any hot humid weather. I'm sure it is probably on the way.

Day 2 of Classes

I'm afraid my blog is going to be rather dull. I get up and make a bowl of cereal in my room and then get ready for the day. My first class is from 10 to 12, so I have time to do some reading or drawing in the morning. No lattes on campus. Unfortunately the coffee shop is closed for the summer. Starbucks is a couple miles away, so I haven't gotten that desperate yet. I haven't found a newspaper either.

After my morning class I come back to my room and prepare a gourmet frozen entree in the microwave and then head to my drawing class which is from 1 until 5. Yes, it sounds easy, but it is really pretty difficult to draw for almost 4 hours. Today we went down to Lake Michigan to draw for the first couple of hours. The (ugly) campus is on a bluff 150 ft above the lake. The walk down wasn't so bad, but it was a hike getting back up. The professor also expects us to draw an additional 1 to 2 hours a day--besides readings, etc. So, basically this isn't going to be as much fun as I had hoped and a lot of work instead.

After class I drove up the highway about 5 miles where there are a few restaurants, Target & a Costco. Now I need to do some reading and drawing. Pretty exciting, huh?

I think I'm in Wisconsin

The first day was interesting. I'm not sure why I thought it was a good idea to take a red-eye. I think it was to save a few bucks on a hotel for Saturday night. Yesterday was pretty much a blurrrr...... The flight was an hour late leaving PDX so it was one of those connections in Minneapolis/St. Paul where I had to sprint from one terminal to another and barely made the flight. Luckily the second leg wasn't full at all so I got to stretch out on 3 seats and get a little sleep. Unfortunately that flight was only 40 minutes. It must have been a smooth landing, because I didn't wake up until everyone else had pretty much exited the plane.

So on that 40 minutes of sleep I arrived in Milwaukee feeling quite weary. I rented a car and I one of my tasks for the day was to find the local Trader Joes. At 8:30 on a Sunday morning I was praying that it would be open, because I knew there wouldn't be much else open. I headed up the freeway and found TJs and bought water, snacks and essentials. Then I had to figure out how I was going to fill the next 7 hours of the day until I could check into my room.

I left the car in the parking lot and started walking. Much to my delight the TJs is part of a huge new shopping mall--but more like a cute small village with stores on the lower levels and then 3 to 4 stories of offices and apartments. It was perfect since I found a great coffee shop and got my daily latte then I roamed around for awhile, but nothing was going to open until 10:00. There was also a movie theater, but the first showing wasn't until 12:00. So I thought I'd sleep in the car for a while---that didn't work even as tired as I was. Instead I headed for a Target to get a few other things on my list and waste more time and then I headed back to the theater. (Oh, the movie theater was really something. More on the lines of the Living Room Theater in PDX. At first I thought I was walking in to a fancy restaurant which is actually part of it too. The snack counter was like a bar. There are ushers that show you to your huge reclining seats, side tables for food and drinks......really nice!)

Sex in the City was the first movie playing. What luck! Yes, Katie I am sure you are jealous. The movie was better than expected. Part comedy. Part romantic/tragic love story. Oh, and part PORN. I think it is actually the most sexually graphic movie I have ever seen. But, despite that it was pretty good.

Then lets see, I think I drove around a little and then headed up to Concordia. It is actually a pretty short drive--maybe 15 min. north of downtown. Check in was suppose to be from 4 - 7 pm. I was a bit early, but it didn't matter. I probably could have even gotten here earlier--oh well.

I have a regular dorm room. Normally it is a 4 person suite with 2 bedrooms, common room and bathroom, but I have it to myself. But the common room has no furniture--just 2 small refrigerators and a microwave. Then the bedroom has the usual 2 beds, 2 desks, etc. The cinder block white walls are already closing in, but I really won't be in my room much. At least I can fix breakfast & lunch in my room.

The campus is really ugly. Looks like a 1950's sprawling high school. I'll take pictures and explain at another time.

So today I started 2 of my classes. One is on Designing Art Curriculum taught by a Dr. Baker who is probably at least 80. He speaks with long pauses, but seems quite knowledgeable. The class looks like it will be a considerable amount of reading and work...not quite like Nicole's tour of Florence & the surroundings. There are only 9 students in the class.

The other is a Drawing (How to teach Drawing) course, so we will be doing a lot of drawing. 4 hours M - Th and then he expects 1 to 2 hours besides that everyday. So, I will be reading, drawing, writing and studying with little time for much else. Only 4 students in this class.

And that brings you up to date on everything. Now I need to figure out what I'm going to do for dinner and then get busy on my homework.