Back again after oh-so-long

Well, that Jay Van Buren is one helluva guy, let me tell you. Not only does he look past the fact that I haven't paid him for my website updates and that I only logged onto this thing after months and months to hype a friend's site, but he goes so far as to welcome me back with open arms. Thanks, Jay - that's awfully sweet of you.

Well, I've been gone, but it's not like I've been lollygaggling all day. Sometime directly after my Summer of Hell (ie: Daily News vs. Drawing Center/Me), I walked myself over to a shrink and started going to therapy. Then, just as I was adjusting to the notion of paying to cry once a week, the semester started. I've found myself back at my alma mater SVA, where in the fall I was teaching a class on kitsch (it's true!) and this semester I'm teaching painting to freshman in a pilot Honors program.

It's been a great experience - all of it; after the Summer of Hell, that is. I love teaching so much it's sick; if I loved it any more, they wouldn't have to pay me. And I started this weird project with my students (linked to the title of this post, above) where we blog every week. Well, I blog more than that, but I have no life; they blog once a week and we all check each other's blogs.

I wasn't sure how it would go. Basically forcing a class of over twenty 18-19 year olds to pour out their innermost feelings in a forum where all their classmates (SVA keeps freshman together, so they're all taking the same classes together) can read it was a tricky prospect at best. But I'm very pleased at how it's been working out. I've learned an awful lot from them a lot quicker than I would if I just met up with them once a week in class. And it's been a huge help in my getting-to-know the illustrators, graphic designers, and cartoonists, who are into different artists and references than the fine arts majors.

So, yay for blogs. And yay for spilling your guts out. I really want to start writing more on here, because I've been writing so much on my class blog my students are starting to think I'm crazy. Well, I sort of am, but you know - professionalism and all that stuff is important, too.

So, yay. I'm happy to be back.

Jay, can I please pay you now (or give you work) and could you also update my webpage? I wish I had an adorable emoticon to insert here: _____. Eh, either way, I'll keep writing.