User:Tommy Wilson

Always Wanted To Schedule

 * Topic "Living on a budget"


 * Research Component Books such as "One income households" and the internet


 * week 1


 * week 2


 * week 3


 * week 4


 * week 5


 * week 6


 * week 7


 * week 8

Midterm Assignment 1: Taste & Aesthetics
Thomas Wilson Friday, GE 100 The trip to the Olympic Sculpture Park was somewhat disappointing for me to be honest. The park itself was beautiful, but as far as the actual sculptures, or lack there of, I'll just say that I didn't have a very hard time finding one that I didn't like. There was one that definatly stood out in my "Didn't Like" catagory, it was a peice by Mark di Suvero called "Bunyan's Chess". To be totally honest, I have no idea what makes the peice art? It is three logs suspended in the air by bulky steel chains, it's more hidious than art. After I left the park, I came home and started my research on the internet. I was surprised to learn that Mark di Suvero has sculptures displayed in every state in the US except Hawaii and Alaska. All though he is known nation, and world wide for that matter, I wasn't to impressed with any of his other work I found either, but it was much better than the peice here in Seattle. After researching him, I proceeded to research other artist's in his area of expertise, which would be abstract expressionist sculpting. I found work from sculptors such as Salvador Dali, Carlos De La Rua, and Candido Monge. There were a few peices by Carlos De La Rua that I really liked, they were much more intracit and detailed, it actually showed a great amount of talent, unlike the peice in question.

After four days I decided to pay another visit to the sculpture park to see if any of the research I've done has changed my opinion any about "Bunyan's Chess". The one thing I do have now is respect for Mark di Suvero I wouldn't have had if I wouldn't have done some research on him. He was a key figure in the developement of postwar American sculpting. But I have to say, it's still a huge thumbs down for his work from me. Lucky for him a am no art critic or I'm sure he would not like any review I'd give him.

Self-Assessment
To give myself a self assessment, I should first begin with a little background information so I have something to compare my current situation to. I was supposed to graduate high school in 1994, but didn't because I was what you would consider a poor student. Now don't get me wrong, the classes in which I liked the teacher I excelled in, but those classes were few and far between. I have spent the past 15 years or so as a bartender, moving from state to state, partying as hard, and as often as I possibly could. This entire time, in the back of my mind, I knew I had to go to school if I ever hoped to someday have a carreer, some stability. I arrived in Seattle a week before the beginning of this quarter with a computer, a bag of clothes, and a purpose. All of the questions I had about myself, about my ability were all finally going to be answered. The first few weeks of school were a bit overwhelming to say the least. By the time Friday rolled around, and I found myself sitting in your class, I was already in a sort of daze. I must admit that I didn't start taking your class seriously until around week four, I heard people questioning the validity of the class and started questioning it myself. After the trip we took to the Seattle Library, I started looking at the class like I was looking at all of the rest of them, which was, there was something to be learned in the class, some knowledge I could walk away with that I didn't have before I started the class. And isn't that the reason I came to school in the first place, the persuit of knowledge? The Seattle Library has become a valuable resource in itself, I go there at least once a week now for a variety of different reasons. Once I put Friday's class on the same page with the rest of the classes I was taking, I started appriciating what your class was doing for me. For starters, you gave us an assignment that gave us the opportunity to better ourselves in some way, that's how I approached choosing my goal anyway. I also believe we got some inside knowledge of a teachers thought process in your class, S.S.A.L.E is something I would have never considered if it wasn't for your class. So for my own self assessment, I can't just use your class as a measurement of how I did this quarter, although it is definatly a part of how I feel I did as a whole. I found out alot of things about myself that I never knew before I came to this school. First, I found out I'm a pretty decent student after all. I have good study habits, did homework religously, sometimes a week ahead of time, and after a couple missed classes in the beginning of the quarter, I made it to class on time the rest of the quarter. Show up, Listen, and Execute, what more could I have asked of myself? Once all the self-doubt was gone, I came to the realization that I just might be able to pull this off. Second, I have heard my entire life how I am waisting my potential, I finally got a glimpse of what they were talking about. It's amazing how much you can miss when you get stuck in a rut, things that people close to you see go undetected. It's a great feeling when you pull yourself up and begin to see what they have. To wrap this assessment up, I can hold my head up, and be proud of how far I've come in such a short time. I also have to realize that this was only step one in a long journey. This can not be seen by myself as an accomplishment, but a new beginning, a means to an end, a foundation in which to start building on. And I can walk away from your class feeling good about what I've learned, and how I performed. Thanks Steven, hope to see you again along the journey.