Casey's Blog

So the blog seems to finally be viewable to the public and so I realized that the other fellow bloggers had an introduction of sorts. I didn't because... I have had other web pages and such and they all had "About" links... which basically was a page to describe who I was and the basic things that I do. Since I don't have this page anymore, I will promptly introduce myself.

I am Casey Yano, I am an artist and I believe in love and peace and the spreading of it. I think that one day we'll live in a happy world where we will all get along, and I think that being honest with people will let them be honest with me, and everyone will be honest with everyone. It will be great. My major is architecture and they don't have that here, so unfortunately I need to transfer away soon.

There, that's my "About"... paragraph. Gosh I need to study, I am behind. I am taking a few introductory courses this quarter and so far they have been pretty boring... to be honest. However the classes being boring aren't really their fault, but more because the classes go over many facts and information that I already know. I think it's one of those, "just in case you didn't know this stuff" kind of info.

I'm liking my classes here at the Bothell campus. My teacher is quite nice for my Motion and Mechanics class and since I took highschool physics the class has been a free ride for about 2 weeks now. I'm pretty excited to move on to the more advanced stuff, because the class is going to stray away from just physics and enter things that are more like engineering I believe.

My second class is about Environmental Issues... and it's also introductory. The two professors are very energetic indeed and they're quite knowledgeable on the subject. I haven't taken a class like this before so it's been very interesting so far learning about the environment and how terrible human beings are (especially us, Americans). I would say something like, "Stop polluting". But quite frankly I want a lot of numbers and data before I say such broad things.

My third class... I feel detached... there's just so many people (about 250) and the class is an hour long. I spend more time on the class' website then in the classroom itself. These Seattle classes... Apparently the next few classes I'm taking over at Seattle are going to be split up into smaller groups so perhaps that will be cool and maybe I will be noticed and if I am noticed I may get a better chance of doing better things like taking more advanced courses and getting into the ARCH program.

I am waiting for challenging assignments in all my classes. Bring it on, seriously- I'm getting bored just reading the book. I suppose that laying the foundation on which we will base our projects on is vital.

Oh if you want to contact/yell at me then my email address is like caseyy@u.wasington.edu. I will be happy to hear from you. Even if you send an email to yell at me. Wait... no. Be nice.

My goodness, it would seem that the weather is having mood swings. Oh, this also applies to bus stops. Yes, buses which I utilize to get to the UW Seattle. I have been 20 minutes early to an hour late. It seems that no one in this state has gotten used to strong winds yet and therefore someone needs to crash, which leads to me being stuck on a bus that moves slower than a turtle on crutches. This however has given me a reason to email and visit the professor because I have missed half a lecture. Twice. The professor is a good guy and all, but with a class of 250 people I don't really know him, he also doesn't know I exist- except maybe as the guy that came in half an hour late. Twice. We shall see how that goes.

So for my other class here at UWB I went on a field trip. Yeah that's right, a field trip. You're jealous. That's not even a question. However you shouldn't be jealous because it was a field trip to the outdoors and it happened to rain so much that the concentration of half of our group was focused on staying dry and warm. Since I happen to sing in the rain and ignore the cold I didn't have any issues there. So it turns out that this farm we visited, 21 Acres in Woodinville, happens to be this self sustained farm thing. That means that the farm recycles the water, soil, and happiness. There was also a goat, and apparently they can eat doom berries (blackberry bushes of death). I think they have a website... *10 seconds later*... ah yes, http://www.21acres.org/ it's very interesting if you care about the environment, which you do.

It's been pretty easy going for my other class, Motion and Mechanics. I have some quizzes, homework, and a bit of reading. All of which I'm familiar with.

So Halloween seems to be coming up and I have my arch350 midterm the next day. That is not cool. How is a man supposed to properly celebrate a holiday without the fear of failing a 40%-of-your-grade test the next day? He can't, that's how. I will be studying in the dark shadows of Halloween when kids will be ringing the door bell and such. I will yell and whine and rant in front of them and then give them candy. It's gonna be a terrible night. At least the weekend will be "Yeah I survived the midterms" weekend.

I am not ranting on this blog, I am serving as a warning to others. Some things are happy though. Be sure to notice them and embrace them because they are the only things that will prevent you from breaking down. Oh, there's a bit of sarcasm here and there.
Where are my pretty pictures? They will be up next time. The rain made me hesitate about bringing a camera to the farm =(.

So this week seems to be project week. I have projects in all of my classes and I have personal projects which I am working on with various colleagues and friends. Oh it is so exciting! Researching, forming ideas, and whatnot. Here's a photo of a very fancy pen that my father is giving to his friend as a gift. It was so fancy I had to share.

Group projects are a very big part of UWB. During my first year here at UWB I was thinking that these group projects were going to be a drag and that others will slow me down. However after many many group projects (because basically every single class usually has a group project) I have come to the conclusion that groups of people can make things happen. These things that happen cannot be done by one person. This is because of a time limit or because inspiration is lost or laziness is found. In fact currently, I am working on a "secret" project outside of class and it is going pretty darn well. It is good to see something work for once. Although I won't give away my secret I will give away some failed concept art.

This image is not a screenshot from a functioning program. It is a digital alteration of the Android OS.

In other news, I have this feeling that I may be leaving this campus soonish. I didn't write transferring or dropping out, I wrote "leaving". This is because I get the feeling that I have found something that I wanted to do with my life and I have this feeling that if I don't take this chance it will never come by again. This may sound like an impulse but this feeling is more and more intriguing the more I think about it (I've been thinking for like, 6 months now). I'm not moving to Vegas with a girl. I'm talking about starting a company of sorts. It will represent happiness and goodness. This secret project and this feeling are kind of related. Or very related. Who knows?! I will call it a secret until it is confirmed.

Stay Tuned,

Casey Yano (caseyy@u.washington.edu)

So this week is like, very busy. I assume next week will be just as busy so I may be over exaggerating my busy-ness. BUT with that said, it seems that the end of the quarter is closing in and so no one should be out partying this weekend. I have a few group projects, essays, and tests to study for but other than that I am doing well.

There are certain classes I would like to take next quarter there seems to be an issue called "it's full" and so I have to figure what other classes to take and rearrange my schedule once again. I will probably have a meeting with the class adviser to see how I can get that taken care of without taking unwanted classes or credits I don't really need.

My my, it seems to be very cold these days. in fact it was just snowing a few hours ago where I live (Redmond, WA) and now it's all starting to melt but I think that the snow will come back and hopefully there will be snow on the mountains during winter break.

Gosh I am so busy. I will have to update this post later.

Alright folks, if you read Amin's Blog ( http://blogs.uwb.edu/aminm11/ ) - you should be aware that it is finals week. As Amin said, check the posters out in the CUSP office. They are great and mine is even better than Amin's. I can guarantee this, because I'm older. Okay it was a group project and age doesn't really matter. His is probably better anyway. Sigh.

Since I am busy and writing this blog at 2am I think that I should end this with a cat wearing a wig. I know that it is the coolest photograph ever. No need to remind me. Thanks.

Hey it's time for school again! Woo. Unlike high school and other schools below high school I am always very excited for every quarter of college because I always meet new people and my schedule changes so my life is basically completely different every quarter. Obviously this would be a nuisance for some; for me, however, it is just fun in a bun (?).

Here is a picture of my Intro to Journalism textbook and Design Drawing textbook and my Zune 80 (christmas present) flipped over. There is like a pattern on the back... It's laser etching or whatever! It's fancy and I like it; don't mug me.

This quarter I have a fantastic class (or so far it's been fantastic). I don't have any humongous lecture classes of 250+ people and instead I have a class of 45, a class of 30, and another of about 24. Introduction to Journalism is my first class at UWB which is Monday and Wednesday at like, 8:45 to 10:30 or something. We read newspapers, study the first amendment and learn about lots of stuff basically... it's interdisciplinary and our professor is apparently some Stanford writer guy and he's all smart, intelligible and not boring (this is a biggie). He seems like an honest guy and he explains things well and many times he has reminded us that we suck at being journalists by making us take a preliminary test that some of us can't answer a single question. Literally literally literally. I said literally 3 times which means I'm not lying. Seriously seriously seriously.

Onwards! My second class is Electricity and Invention. The word invention should be enough to say that the class should be interesting. Basically we learn about who invented electricity, why that's great, how it works, what we can do, etc etc etc. Or I assume- so far. I have the same professor as before from my Motion and Mech class (which was like an intro to Physics) and basically it's going to be similar. Which is good, because I had a good time last quarter. Our professor seems stoked to teach our class many things, his enthusiasm is, well, interesting let's say. This class takes place right after the journalism class so my Monday and Wednesday mornings are spent this way.

This quarter I have a class called "Design Drawing I" over at the Seattle campus. My teacher (not professor, he's an architect- they're not professors) is a smart guy- his name is J. Crone and he explains why we must do many pointless and tedious drawing exercises. But like I said/wrote- he explains why- therefore they don't seem as pointless and tedious afterwards. I must admit that I get the feeling I'm going to "learn" something about design and drawing this quarter and that's a lot coming from me because I used to spend every hour of my life studying design and art at one point in my life- because it was fascinating and I love it. So this class has my "passion" infused into it and Mr. Crone and the other instructor, Lydia something (I'm bad with names) has specifically told us that this class will be time consuming and difficult out of every class required for architecture and that makes me super happy, not sad. Super friggin Happy because I have never felt challenged in the field of art and design in my entire life and just maybe- it will be this quarter. Be sure to return to my blog later to see if I am depressed from the realization that I am a nobody in the field of Architecture and Design. The lecture portion of this class is an hour long and it's once a week and it happens to be one of those huge 250 people classes and the instructor for that IS a professor. I think. Hmm- mystery! I really don't care though as long as they're smart people... but I guess if they're professors they're obviously smart in the field of teaching and whatnot so I should care. Alright, I care now.

You have read a lot. I am very impressed. My email address is caseyyano AT gmail DOT com. My UW email address is caseyy AT u.washington DOT edu. However that will just forward it to my gmail- so there's no such thing as priority in this case. I am not lonely; but feedback is nice.

There is a class I mentioned last week, Design Drawing I at the Seattle campus. This class is "amazing". You may be wondering what amazing means and may have looked it up in the dictionary; however I will define what amazing means for Design Drawing I.

Amazing [uh-mey-zing] adj
A college level course that is causing great surprise to the college student by bestowing large amounts of knowledge to the student, giving difficult projects with extremely limited time to work, and then explaining that you may want to drop the course if it's not in your major.

That is Design Drawing I, and it's ridiculously hard, time consuming, and expensive (if you think about the materials). But the class is great, I feel that my drawing skills and designing skills (which I taught myself) are being tested, and I like that. Apparently being an architect is hard work and the amount of pay for the amount of work isn't exactly worth it. However, I don't care.

Materials purchased so far:
Sketchbook, Pencils (4H, 2H, HB, 2B, 4B), Erasers (vinyl, kneaded, oval), balsa wood, illustration boards, tracing paper, steel rulers with cork, Ex-Acto knives, black pens, and etc etc etc. I think it's been about $100 so far? However that's actually not so bad if you consider a photography class which may cost you up to $900 as a classmate of mine has mentioned. Of course money is not important if your job is about your passion right? Right? No? I guess it depends.

Although this is a blog at the UWB site and UWB does not have ARCH classes I think I will explain why I like the idea of becoming an architect.

1. An architect requires math. The math is not too hard but it's not so easy that you're insulted.
2. Blueprints do not lie. They are like visual solutions that abide by a set of rules.
3. Creativity. Many parts of architecture require creativity such as conceptual architecture.
4. You make buildings, and those are big. After all the painful efforts it is satisfying.

This has been an explanation of my Design Drawing I class. Stay tuned for my Journalism class explanation- because that's a great class too. Oh! and pictures will come later.

Here's a quote from my Journalism teacher, David S. Goldstein, Ph. D. This quote is incorrect in sentence structure so it's actually not a quote if you think about it. It's a paraphrase really.
Interdisciplinary studies covers 80% of all jobs so although it doesn't sound like an IAS degree is important, it is more useful than most job specific degrees. And it sounds great, I want an IAS degree too. Hmm. So if you don't know what to do in your life, you may want to go for that degree since you can change your job.... to a LOT of other jobs if you end up with one you don't prefer. Oh and if you want to be a journalist, I believe that Dr. Goldstein also mentioned that experience is far more important than anything else. That's like important stuff for those who want to write write stuff and get news and all that.

This has been a rambling by Casey Yano (casey yano @ g mail . com).

SO! It seems that my classes are rather... busy these days.I missed a class because I didn't sleep the previous day and now I've been measuring buildings with group members. At the Bothell campus the buildings look and function in a modern way but at the Seattle campus.... not so much. There is a lot of Gothic influence on the buildings and that makes the buildings much harder to draw out.

This is a drawing and measurements of what looks to be a bracket... more like a fake bracket because it doesn't really support anything. It seems like it's there for aesthetics. Which means that it's probably not a bracket; but something else that I don't know the term for.

The plan drawings that we are currently drawing out take a long long time to do and the samples that they showed us look amazing.

My other class is electricity and inventions and my midterm and take home exam are both due on Monday so I must cut this blog short. Hey it's almost Valentine's Day- that is fabulous. It's either wonderful or horrible so I'm not going to really comment on it. What I will comment on, however, is that these chocolates look pretty amazing. These are handmade chocolates from Godiva. They go for around $95. Is that too much? Maybe. Probably.

I feel that it is coming.... this "finals" thing. It's creeping up on me and I'm not ready. I need to start! I need to staaaart. I need to start.

I have some projects and I have some papers and I have some homeworks.

Design Drawing I:
This course is so very busy and hard. Why we need to learn all the basics in this time is just... no. After all the hard stuff though I am now on perspective drawings! These don't require precise measurements and that makes me happy as a bunny with a pancake on his head (see picture). This actually isn't a pancake... it's a dorayaki (kind of like a hoho except a non-chocolate cake with sweet red bean filling. But the internet created a macro and they called it a pancake... and they were wrong. They will continue to be wrong, forever.
Just type in pancake bunny in google.

Electricity and Invention:
It's starting to get complicated. It's kind of like history and electrical engineering put together. It's very useful because we live an age of technology... and I like technology so I think it's important.

Intro to Journalism:
I had to drop this course because I was too busy with Design Drawing I. This is a good course though, the teacher is a nice guy and the basics of journalisming is all there. All those facts that can keep you from being sued and that is important because when you face the law, you normally face bankruptcy- or worse.

So my big project is done and now I'm just studying for finals and such.

a game for Nintendo's newest game console was released on like March 9th or so. The game is called Super Smash Brothers Brawl (weird name for a game) and it's a sequel to one of the very few games I enjoyed playing. It is good- except it's not super good. It's just good.

I am kind of pondering what classes I should take next quarter and basically I have no choice but to pick early monday and wednesday classes and maybe an early tues and thursday class. I want to take Design Drawing II (even though though Design Drawing I almost killed me) and so I need to make a few sacrifices in selecting my classes because of this class. This is one of the classes required for the ARCH program over at the Seattle campus and it probably builds upon the fundamentals of Design Drawing- which goes up to like Design Drawing V if I remember properly.

Anyhow, I recommend taking classes by STEVE COLLINS because he is such an interesting guy and he has a great passion for the topics that he teaches. He brings in examples to class to help us better understand and when the textbook sucks he tries very hard to come up with his own explanations.

I'm learning about electromagnetic fields and radioactive decay and such. super fascinating really

It would seem I have found my camera. It is in good shape. I think I will go take pictures when it is sunny. My sentence structure is so plain. It is boring. But it is grammatically correct.

Tomorrow I have a field trip to Pike Place. And by field trip I actually meant that I get to draw diagrams of Pike Place Market and how the people walk in and out of the place. Then I need to pick an interesting spot and draw 4 perspective drawings 3 x 4 on a 15 x 20 illustration board all in pen so I can't screw up. Isn't that exciting? I probably won't enjoy two seconds of Pike Place goodness. I'll buy donuts though; I can't resist them. If you don't know where Pike Place Market is... Google it. I'm kidding (kind of). It's the directory of merchants and such in Seattle. It's a big deal; if you didn't know about it... then you're strange.

Since I don't need to finish my entire project just tomorrow- I think I may have an opportunity to take pictures and such. It will be cool. I'll probably spend Sunday there too- just so I can get more work in.