Present Joys

Well, here we are: my last week of college. Monday, all I had was motion graphics, as usual. Our teacher used my narwhal logo as a demonstration of puppet warp. Barely anyone showed up, but that was okay, because the people who did were lots of fun. We had critiques in jewelry all week. On tuesday, the crit focused solely on intermediate-level students, so it was very uninteresting—and it lasted the entire period. Thankfully, I had a lot of extra free time to spend on jewelry; the ad faculty were dealing with thesis stuff on tuesday afternoon and had instructed me not to come to class. I used all my free time to finish the jewelry stuff I also picked up stuff from Jason, who I told I’d help out with pillows.

I worked really late in the jewelry lab, taking a bit of time off to visit the Grass Skirt before rushing off to Circle Hall to take my final exam for History of 2-d Design. Since I am a graduating senior, I was taking the test a week earlier than everyone else, in an empty classroom. I got done very quickly. And that was the end of that!

I worked at home wednesday morning, only getting to campus around 3pm, in time for motion graphics. We did a comically simple in-class project, then a bunch of us headed over to the Grass Skirt with my teacher, where we had a fantastic time and generally caused a ruckus. After that, I parked my car in the alley next to Crane and unloaded all my thesis stuff. I spent about three hours setting up my exhibition and hanging out with my everybody else who was setting up on the third floor of Crane. It was a total blast—I just wish we’d planned ahead and had a pyjama party.

And then it was thursday! Oh my, what a big day. I had another jewelry crit. As usual, it took up the full three-hour class period. After jewelry, I drove off-campus for a top-secret job interview at noon, but came straight back in time for one more bit of thesis work with Mr. Mohr. I had lunch at home, but came back to campus for a bit more thesis setup. Theresa, Karl, and I had a drink at Wolf’s Ridge and raced back to school for the Senior Thesis exhibition, which lasted from 7–9pm. I stood around and talked to a bunch of people and had a lovely time sharing my work and taking email signups!. With the completion of the thesis show, this project has crossed a major milestone, but is by no means finished. Stay tuned for more updates on that.

And then it was friday! I had a string of job meetings in the morning, but was back on campus by 1pm. I had to make a few extra take-away things for thesis, so I did all that, then I headed back to Crane for the second day of the thesis exhibition. Thursday night was bustling and lively, but friday afternoon was mostly dead. There were a few interesting guests, but mostly I just hung out with all my classmates for a few hours. And we took some absolutely perfect group photos! After the thesis show officially ended at 7pm, we cleaned everything up and a bunch of us met to celebrate at Plank’s Bier Garten. We had drinks and pizza and scintillating conversation., and it was just right. I made it home just before midnight and fell asleep instantly.

So there it is—the end of my time at CCAD. Quite honestly, I was expecting more turmoil and frustration during this last week. It was smooth and pleasant. Next week, I’ll travel to New York City with my senior ad teacher and a handful of friends. Next saturday, I graduate. Then it’ll really all be over—then the sadness will really set in. For now, I’m content to rest in the afterglow of a fantastic final week.

We had a good run.

Today marks the end of my time in CCAD’s Saturday Morning Art Class program. After being a student for twelve years, I came to college here and have worked as a teaching assistant these past four years. And now I’m graduating. I will miss helping fifth-graders create. I will miss fighting a losing battle to organize art supplies in a cabinet. I will even miss the boring, mandatory, bi-yearly professional development meetings. Most of all, I will miss working with Derrick Ehlen—a dear friend and a very good teacher. The end is difficult.

• Tuesday morning, I took 40 minutes to get downtown because of the snow. Jewelry was laid-back; we had a crit for our final project (tea infusers) that lasted the whole period. After that, I met up with Dorian, Don, and Ian for friendship lunch at the Grass Skirt.
• At 12:30pm, I went to Senior Ad, which consisted of licorice and a long, wide-ranging conversation about the senior thesis project we will be doing next semester.
• Wednesday morning, we had presentations in Brand and Market Development. Our teacher brought props, and I brought my accordion so I could play a song for my friends’ presentation. Apparently, this was very popular on Instagram. I also gave Anna a mixtape I’d made to answer the one she’d given me. A nice morning!
• Wednesday afternoon in History of Cinema, we had a very schismatic discussion about The Hurt Locker (last week’s screening), then took a final exam. In hindsight, I probably studied more than was necessary.
• Thursday was the coldest school day of the entire year—and one of the most unusual! I got to school around 9am, in time to pick up my jewelry final. I crashed at the school library for a few hours to work, and at 12:30pm, I went to my very last Senior Ad class of the semester. Mr. Mohr used 80 minutes of class time to play a documentary about people doing weird things with their dead pets.
• After the documentary, Mohr took all our portfolios away for final review and grading. Left with a few hours to kill, a bunch of us walked over to the Grass Skirt, where we hung out for a while. Faced with even more time to kill, Theresa, Karl, Evan, and I, had dinner at the Little Palace.
• At 6pm, Theresa and I got into the Kinney Hall photo studio where she shot portraits for me for three hours. (I think we got some really good stuff! But T wouldn’t let me see much.) We finished up the night by visiting Evan’s apartment, where we listened to Thriller on his vintage turntable and watched “Antiques Roadshow”. A good time was had by all.
• Friday morning, we had our final Thurber House client presentation, which ended up tanking. But it was okay because Jim Johnson ended up liking me. I gave everyone hugs and then we were done. For now.

Day 57: fri, 13 dec 2013. We Ended On Good Terms: The Jim Johnson and Nigel Ewan Story.

The fourteen minni kids are back home! Let me tell you about our sunday together:

• This morning, I woke up early to pack and rendezvoused with the gang at 9am. We dithered around for a while then decided to go to breakfast. We ended up at the News Room, the same place we’d had dinner on wednesday night. (I made everybody sit in the exact same places as before for continuity’s sake.) I had a very delicious corned beef hash and a ton of different beverages (including a bloody mary, which John did not like the taste of at all.) Lutz picked up the tab for our meal, which was both totally uncalled for and extremely generous. We have been taken care of grandly.
• After brunch, a handful of us walked with Lutz and Burleigh to the sculpture garden where we saw the giant cherry + spoon and some other stuff. The walk itself, which took us through a lovely park in downtown Minneapolis, was lovely. There were churchbells ringing and ringing and ringing and it was an amazing experience. When we got to the sculptures, Haley and Burleigh climbed on them.
• Then we rode to the airport and did all the nonsense associated with air travel. I “opted out” of the naked body scanner machine and took a pat-down instead, which was completely hilarious to everyone involved. My friends gleefully took highly illegal photographs of the whole experience. As the wise John said, “Nigel finally got his neck massage!”
• Our flight was smooth and uneventful with a dull three-hour layover in St. Louis, during which most of us ate appalling food at Chili’s. The ride home was nice, surrounded by friends. And then we said goodbye. Back to school soon? What’s school?