"First day of school!"

Today was my first real class session!  And I was really tired afterwards!  I've been out of school too long . . .

The class was Nude Painting, which I am taking because it will fulfill my course credits back home.  (I tried to pick all courses that will count for credit at CSULB, so I can stay on track with my major.)  It's been a while since I did any kind of real painting, and I was using acrylics, which I have never used enough to really get good at.  So it was a struggle just to get the paint to cooperate.  I wasn't quite sure how I wanted my painting to look, and for at least three of the four hours of class, it looked awful.  But it really came together in the last half-hour or so, and in the end, I actually could say I was proud of it.  My brain felt like a pile of mush, though!  I always forget how mentally taxing art classes can be!

The other reason I was tired when I got home was that my school bag was too heavy.  I've got to pack lighter next week . . . if only tubes of paint didn't weigh so much . . .

Spent the later afternoon and most of the evening finishing up my drawing for City Light to scan for Joey tomorrow.  It was tough to stay on task, though.  Our apartment was unusually busy tonight!  First Marni came down the hall to say hi, and then Patrick was back to finish painting his room (long-term residents are required to clean and repaint their rooms when they move out).  Then eight or nine of the international students, among which were Petra's friends Dani and Lauren, came to our apartment to make dinner and hang out.  They are planning to go to Copenhagen over Easter, so I think they wanted to discuss plans.  Petra and one of the guys made a cake, but they did it without a recipe and forgot the baking soda, so it came out really dense and about half an inch thick!  (But it tasted good anyway when  I tried it.) I popped in and out of the kitchen a couple of times, but I was still trying to finish my drawing and so I tried to stay in my room and focus.  Compared to usual, there was a lot going on!  Indra came in to keep me company for a while.  She taught me part of a song called "Evening Rise" and brought her handheld recorder into my room to record us.  It was a really basic recording, but she put it into her computer and added a few effects, and within 5 minutes she had made a track for me to put here on my blog.  So here it is!  I'm singing the lower part, and Indra is singing the harmony.