Bring your own oil

When dealing with the Arts, Media and Engineering program, do not expect a well oiled machine. Being that it is a fairly new program, that in itself is to be expected, but this surprised even me... the following are summarized excerpts from an e-mail conversation I had last night:

(me)
Dear [AME advisors],

After finalizing my schedule I have decided to take the following two classes - [class 1] and [class 2]. I would like to take 6 AME research credits in addition to this, for which (as I understand) I need permission from my two advisors.

(AME advisor)
Please do not register for [class 1] - AME concentration students are not allowed to have cse 598 classes count towards graduation. So, you can take the class, but this won't count.

Regarding research - you cannot take these credits unless you form a doctoral dissertation committee.

(me)
Hmm... OK that is really confusing, because [class 1] is listed explicitly on the AME's Ph. D. program of study, and is also on my preliminary program of study that you signed. [class 2] is also a 598 class.

[other student] asked [other AME person] about taking AME research credits and she told him that it is not necessary to have a doctoral committee formed, but it does require approval from both advisors.

Can we meet tomorrow sometime other than between 11:20 and 1:30?

(AME advisor)
I realize that it is confusing - the rules for all cse students changed at the end of last semester. - this had a specific effect on AME concentration students being not allowed to count CSE 598 towards graduation. [this translates to "your tentative program of study that we approved is no good any more, and none of the classes you are taking this semester count towards your degree. we just haven't told you about it."]

Come by at 11:30am tomorrow and we can talk more.

(me)
Good to know...

I have a class from 11:40am to 1:10pm so I can't meet at that time...


So, I am now enjoying a very healthy dose of cynicism towards the world :-) It feels good to be a cynner...

Back in Aye, Zee!

That's right - since tuesday I have been back in Arid-Zonea (which has been surprisingly wet). Since I came back I've been exploring a concept I call distributed living. I don't officially have a place yet, so my things are scattered throughout 3 or 4 locations around town. I kind of like how it's working out, and really enjoy the feeling of not having a home. Makes me feel like I could get up and go anywhere anytime. Even though I get to move into my new place later today I hope to explore this concept of distributed living further...

The last few weeks in Croatia went really well. My favorite time was at the Dance and Non-Verbal Theatre Festival which happens every year in a small town in the middle of nowhere. The night before day 0, I accidentally found out that there will be workshops as a part of the festival, and approximately 10 hours later I was taking my first dance class in Croatia! Taught by Sahar Azimi from Israel, who also did my favorite performance of the festival. It ended with him wearing lipstick, tidy-whities and heels while singing "These boots are made for walking...". Can't beat that.

The festival in general was an amazing experience, being my first opportunity to immerse myself in the Croatian dance scene. And immerse I did, spending all 5 days at the festival and with its people, even crashing in random sleeping bags and tents to avoid driving home. I greatly enjoyed the workshops and performances, loved the people, and had a blast dancing with them until wee hours of the night (or of the morning, which happened the last night and earned me an injury).

I also have to mention that I saw the best dance film ever - "Blush", done by Wim Vandekeybus and his Ultima Vez dance company. Laura Aris, of the company, also did a workshop with some really nice partnering excercises. Can't wait to see these people perform live.

And now in AZ, I am catching up with work and working on an interdisciplinary arts organization (ArtVERGE) which we recently started. The website has temporarily been placed at http://artverge.randomaxis.info/, if you'd like to check it out.