New Year, New Semester (and it's my last!)

I've been BAD at keeping up with my virtual school notebook. I've been swamped with (full time) work and (full time) school this (past and now last) semester. Last week was our first week back. I can't believe how fast it's been since we started. My classmates (now friends) and I are working our a$$es off to get revisions done for our master's project class. Not only do we have to complete a full length master's thesis project (45-65 pages, probably more for the most of us), we have to create an abridged version for publication and participate in a public symposium. It should be fun though. Listening to everyone's presentations last week was amazing. I'm incredibly biased, but my cohort is brilliant. My classmates have some fascinating research. 

In the Visual and Critical Studies program, each grad is required to take an elective and I got lucky! The elective is titled Analogue to Digital with the incomparable Kim Anno. As you may have guessed from the course name, it's about the intersection or transition from analogue to digital technologies coupled with looking at specific artistic practices that explore both realms. After our initial class, we travelled down south to the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art to see Terry Berlier's exhibition, Erased Loop Random Walk, and listen in on her artist's talk. During the semester, we will be working with a student over at Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa to produce a collaborative sound piece. It will be a pretty fast paced and exciting semester.

All right, I should get going. Back to thesis revisions, editing, and reading (and re-reading). 

Quora: The Virtual Place for Questions (and Answers)

One of my dear friends and extremely talented artist, Matt Ganucheau, suggested I hop onto Quora (Side Note: Matt ALWAYS has something awesome to share so you may be seeing his name mentioned here quite a bit). Quora is a unique way to socially network with like minded folks (or people that think it's funny to be offer up a lame answer but I have yet to see this happen). It is a virtual spot where you can ask questions and get answers. You're also able to "Thank" (think of the "Like" function on Facebook) other Quora users and vote up answers to questions. So, imagine if Reddit and Pinterest had a brilliant prodigy lovechild, that's pretty much how I view Quora. Now, it doesn't replace writing your papers or answer the difficult abstract questions you need to address for your thesis BUT it is a great stepping stone to see what others think of your questions, research, and most importantly, its a place to learn something new (constantly)! Are you on Quora? It would be great to connect and check out your questions and maybe, just maybe, answer your questions. I know I would appreciate your answers to my questions. See you there.