Well, I’ve completed my first week of grad school, and am sufficiently over-whelmed. I have a “Contemporary Thought” class that requires 1 full day per week just for reading the articles required for class (the professor suggests using Saturdays). I have a “Graduate Seminar” class that surprised us with a required trip to NYC in October (I’ll get to that in just a moment). Then, there’s the “Intermediate Drawing” class in which I am assisting a professor and a “Directed Study” course, so we’ll see what fun surprises I’ll be challenged with in my studio time. It’s been overwhelming, but good – I came to grad school to be challenged, and they are definitely holding up their end of the bargain!

Tampa is a very hot and humid place right now (we’re in our hurricane season), but I’m told time and again that the weather will improve soon. Other notable Florida items: there are little lizards everywhere, people are generally shocked and do not believe me when I say I don’t have a car, and voter registration ends Oct 6th here! (I didn’t realize how spoiled I was in MN where you can register the day of the vote).

Finally, as I mentioned before, I am going to be taking an unexpected trip to NYC October 9-12, 2008. If anyone is currently in NYC or knows someone there with a spare couch or floor space, please let me know… I am small, polite, and unobtrusive. I’m hoping to cut costs by finding some way to crash for free, or at a steep discount – any thoughts or suggestions are welcome!