31. October 2008 by justdanika.

Not my Mazda…My Pumpkin!

I really haven’t carved a pumpkin since I was young. It just wasn’t what I did on Halloween as I was so busy dealing with my birthday. So for my Art 60 class we literally had to “Carve for Credit”.

We researched tribal masks and listened to Matt Kahn’s excitement over the pumpkin carving. Really listening to the pumpkins and understanding what it wants to be. My Art 60 Prof, John Edelman, said something like “Its like the string project (where you drop a sting repetedly on a surface and trace it) where you are given a set of limitations by this string and you create something…anything. It is Beautiful.

Carve on Sweet Pumpkin.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/30/BA7P13QNU0.DTL

Please look at the pictures, and WATCH THE VIDEO

…This Rocked

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28. October 2008 by justdanika.

Tomorrow is the big day…25! Can you believe that? Being out here in CA and being so busy I can barely remember to take my shoes off to get in bed…it snuck up on me really quickly.

I reminisced today about my last few birthdays…and the people I shared them with. Its hard being in California, thousands of miles from those I would chose to spend my birthday with. My Mom & Dad, Tim, Michelle, Lindsay & the rugby Gals, Foxxxy, my wondeful sister…

Though I am sure tomorrow will be funfilled…as I have some great people out here to be with…I will still miss my friends and family. I worked very hard to create these life-long friendships with people for a reason beyond just wanting someone to go to happy hour with.

Anyway…enjoy my past b-day slideshow.

Missing everyone but thankful for the new people I have here in CA to help me enjoy the day that lets me justify all actions with one sentence:

“It’s My Birthday.”

-Turning 24 NYC w/ Tim & Michelle

Turning 23 - Lindsay Planned My Party

Turning 22 - Job Keg

Turning 21!!!!

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23. October 2008 by justdanika.

This wasn’t like industrial size sand-casting…it is hand packed sand around molds. The metal is melted in a crucible and then it is carried with giant tongs and hand pored into the different molds.

Yes…Stanford still teaches this fine art.

So I learned it. My hands are still black with the sand-oil mixture that we pounded into the cope & drag.

I met a alumni in her 40s who still had her Stanford plaque she made from the same molds, in the same class when she was an undergraduate.

Perfect!!!

Pictures attached…enjoy.

Stephanie & I

Changing Race

Molten Bronze

Making Plaques!

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20. October 2008 by justdanika.

I saw Michelle Wie on campus…first hitting golf balls at the range under the supervison of what appeared to be her mom and dad. Then I saw her on campus unhooking her bike…

She is really tall.

My dad says I should ask her to play golf sometime. Would I ask Clint Eastwood to go ride horses in the desert in Spain? Would I ask Meatloaf to sing Hot Patootie with me? It just sounds weird…next time I see her I’m going to try this.

“Hey”

“Hi There” (she looks down at me awkwardly)

“What’s your name?” I say with a smile.

“uh…Michelle Wie.” She gives me one of those you’ve gotta be kidding me looks.

“Yea…and I’m Danika Patrick.” I smile and then maybe I can invite her to be in my famous names club.

I’ll let you know if I get arrested for harrasment.

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17. October 2008 by justdanika.

I assaulted Mike Davis last night (my rugger Erika’s husband) who was out here on business. By assault I mean forced a hug on because I hadn’t realized my lack of human contact since leaving my friends and family far behind. The last real hug I had was when Tom left to go back to Colorado. That is a while ago for a girl who is use to constant human contact with those I care about.

So I get to the Loft in the morning and explain to my loft neighbor Karen my feelings about this lack of hugging. Little did I know that as the JPD group went to our Friday morning bonding - Calibrating the Instrument - that we were doing contact improv instead of the usual improv we were use to.

What is this contact improve you speak of Danika?

For 1 and a half hours we did interesting activities to help us understand how our bodies move, twist, and react to weight. We poured our weight onto each other in artistic and not so artistic ways. I did backbends over Hyejin, ended up tango-ing with Martin, body surfing over John and getting a full weight hug from James.

It was just what I needed actually…talk about taking the weight off…or adding it on depending on who was doing the hugging

A few pictures for those I have been meaning to send things to.

My Loft Space

My Team for DP1: David & Minjeong

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17. October 2008 by justdanika.

I honestly thought my professor was crazy when he assigned us a project to paint 3 sets of 100 objects and arrange them in

• Dark to Light
• Saturated to Desaturated
• Warm to Cool

So for 13 hours I painted 100 different colors, 3 times each. This was no small feat…

I am not even a little exaggerating the work I did. I learned a ton about making tints, hues and tones by adding white and/or black to my 8 base colors. Then I combined my colors to create some beautiful colors and some not so beautiful colors.

Arranging them was a hefty task as well. Trying to decide if a dull green or a dull blue is more desaturated can make you go blind in fact. Thank god for the laser-camm allowing me to cut 101 of the exact same shaped holes for me to pop my ice cube trays into…

It actually turned out…beautiful.

Above: Warm to Cool

Above: Saturated to Desaturated

Above: Dark to Light

Final Objects Pre-Arranging:

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2. October 2008 by justdanika.

Did you ever think about how you only put 3 colors into your inkjet printer but still manage to get a huge range of colors?

For my Design 1: Fundamental Visual Language (Art60) project this week I actually became an inkjet printer. Armed with a Cyan, Magenta and Yellow pen I created an orange, purple and green picture.

Above: Final Purple, Orange & Green

Above: Cyan & Magenta

Above: Yellow & Magenta

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2. October 2008 by justdanika.

Did you know that I wanted to weld? I always had this passion for it…

Big torches…the power to attach metal to metal and the power to build. Well…it’s ok if you didn’t. Pratt & Whitney did not totally infuse this need…which is mostly because I wasn’t even allowed to touch parts…let alone learn/understand a process that i put on prints daily. There is something about engineers not actually having any real knowledge that makes a great company….not.

ANYWAY!!!

Welding….sweet. TIG to be precise is what I am attempting to master as I start to design a coffee table (for my ottoman back in CT). The coffee table is designed to go over my ottoman so I can put my feet up and wine glass down in harmony.

Above: 1/2 Scale Prototype

Yeah…I’m excited and it’s going to be sweet. You wish you had a Danika Original…maybe someday you will.

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24. September 2008 by justdanika.

I got hit by a car riding my bicycle. I made fun of Kerry (a friend from Pratt) who got hit by a car because I thought it sounded unprobable. Nope…it happens.

Just riding my bike towards the loft on a average day. Nothing special about it until a girl decides to pull into a parking lot that I am about to pass as I am just casually biking (no stop sign violations or momentary laps of judgement around)…and WHAM! She pulls right in front of me. I grab on and feel my whole bike come rocketing back at me as I ram into the side of the lame boat she was driving. The seat left a wonderful bruise on the inside of my thigh and a pretty jammed finger.

Dang is that girl lucky I played rugby. She gets out…”oh my gosh I didnt see you”…blah blah a few more people run over…looking quite scared I may say. I assure them that I am ok…bruised…but ok. Once the crowd disperses she says “I’m so sorry I didn’t put my contacts in today…I didn’t think it was a big deal”.

Gee…thanks…now I have a broken front brake, a scuff all up my hand and a bruise the size of antartica and all because YOU didn’t feel like putting your contacts in.

Awesome.

Love this place…

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13. September 2008 by justdanika.

So my best writings often come from my emails. They are honest and fun and I usually enjoy writing them.

This is my cross-country adventure story and some photos to boot….

Title: I Made It

So…4800 miles and 21 states later I actually made it across the country. It was pretty much the coolest 2 weeks ever. My friend Jeremy and I had a blast cruising down the east coast, spending a night with John Jr & Fam and then headed across the “deep south” where SC actually still has the confederate flag on display. I picked up Dad in Jackson Mississippi just in time to drive through the hurricane across Louisiana. We hit up Tulsa and Oklahoma City…if you get a chance Oklahoma City deserves a day of your time. We headed through Amarillo TX past Rt66 and Cadillac ranch and into Albuquerque and Santa Fe. We cruised up through Taos to see the mighty Rio Grande and then to Denver to meet up for a night in down town Denver with Tom and Travis. Tom and I headed to Steamboat to spend some time with my lovely sister. We hiked Rocky Peak, played fetch with Shire and made tomato sauce. Re-packed, Tom and I headed out for the next leg of the trip. We hiked Little Wild Horse Canyon, a slot canyon carved by years of rushing water in Utah. We drove through Capitol Reef National Park and hit up Dixie National Forest. We had dinner in Mormon land and fancied ourselves some “Polygamy Porter” and “Evolution Amber Ale: created in 27 days…not 7″. After camping we drove to Zion to see the National Park I most wanted to get to since I was a kid….it was everything I dreamed of. The dynamic duo then continued to Vegas in time to catch some rays by the pool in “Casey Land” I mean at the Flamingo…and meet a million british people. We gambled to our hearts content and saw LOVE…totally enjoyed the beatles music and the show. Heading out with minor hangovers we drove through death valley. 115 degree temps + 180 ft below see level can certainly screw with your system. Drove up the west side of the Sierra Nevadas and through Yosemite only to emerge into San Fran Bay Area alive, smiling and my car completely covered with dust from all 21 states the wheels touched down in.

All moved in, got a bike and am ready for the next big adventure.

Hope things are going great for everyone…please send this on to anyone I may have accidentally left off…

Love Danika

Above: Oklahoma City-Bricktown

Above: Rio Grande-Taos

Above: Zion w/ Tom

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