For the Love of the Game

When looking for apartments this weekend in Wrigleyville and the Lincoln Park area (and stuck in traffic since there was a Cubs game) I noticed a die-hard Cubs fan wearing a shirt with this design on it. Pretty cool and I want one even though I'm not quite an intense fan of the Cubs yet.... I feel like I'm cheating on the Brewers. :D

Buy this design now on Ebay for around $20.

Photo courtesy of Ebay.com. Chicago Cubs Skeleton Shirt.

Need a Hand?

When I saw these "handy" fixtures all over my former college roommate's bathroom in the house she is renting, I raved over them. She, on the other hand, would have done without and thought that they were kinda creepy. I first saw these helpful hands and feet months ago and I didn't want to post until I found the actual set for purchase. Without any luck, I surrendered and could not wait any longer to post. As you can see, the can hold things like towels, soap, toilet paper and drying racks. Though she is now in the process of finding a different place, I still want to tear out those fixtures for myself and replace them with something more traditional. I don't think the next potential renter or owner would care too much!



I did find a product comparable in function and design produced by designer Harry Allen. His designs are clever and bring a sense of naturalism to an otherwise rigid and typical design. To be more specific, one series that he created were casts of his own hands in different gestures to be use for holding anything that one can think of. Names such as Grab, C'Mere, Offer, Bestow and Om mimic the gestures and can be purchased for $79 each. Give yourself a hand and check them out!


Also, if any readers have any idea of where to find ceramic hand and feet fixtures like the ones above, please let me know by posting a comment. Thanks!

Photo courtesy for last photo from harryallendesign.com. C'Mere Hand Hook, Harry Allen, 2004, Resin.

John-Scott Project: Scott Portion

After some much needed rest and vacationing, I can now get back to showing my projects at the end of the semester. Ha ha! When I say much needed rest, I mean it. This little beauty kept me up nights before it was due, especially the night before. This is a 3D rendered illustration depicting nutrient absorption in the small intestine via thousands of villi in the intestinal lumen. The yellow spheres represent fat globules and lipids and the magenta represent both carbohydrate and amino acids (building blocks of proteins).

A few of my fellow students and I had a party that lasted all night; all of us working and helping each other. The project was due at 9 am and I finally threw in the towel with what I have here at 7:30 am. At that time, I went home, took a shower, and went back to class for the critique. Too bad I noticed too late that the RBCs that I decided to add at the last minute were too small. It will be an easy fix when I want to open up 3D Studio Max again. Mostly it will consist of rendering and compositing the foreground once again. I really liked compositing the different render passes the most, but my lighting pass freaked out and made the image blown-out when the opacity was at 100% in Photoshop. Other than the RBC problem, I am happier with the image than I thought I would be.

3D Studio Max is like math for me. I'm not a fan, but I feel like I have a talent for it. With everything, I just think it needs more practice so I'm not struggling with the program. I will post the revised one when I get the courage to open up the program again! :D Stay tuned for the John portion of the John-Scott Project!

Nutrient Absorption of the Small Intestine. Lindsey Pionek. 3D Studio Max 2009 and Photoshop.

My Break Thus Far

Well back from Vegas and Bachelorette festivities.... it has been great having some time to enjoy myself as well as getting some much needed R&R. As you probably noticed, we did not have any free wi-fi like I thought we would have in Vegas and I was a tad too busy since I have been back in Wisconsin. Though not much of a gambler, I doubled my money and also have a bit of a tan, ate some great food and drink, as well as getting my Mom a little tipsy on the last day. (Love you Mom!)

Back in the wonderful W-I, it was a friend from college's bachelorette party which was a great time. We mostly stayed in Appleton, but spent some time in Green Bay as well, taking in some of the memories from undergrad and working there. Thank goodness we weren't driving during the party! We all enjoyed ourselves and it was great to see the bride-to-be. Waking up, surprisingly without a hangover, a friend and I went to our favorite college weekend breakfast place, Nicolet. It was also the SNC graduation, so we caught up with a few graduates-to-be. After that, I went back home, just to go back the next day.

Yes, I went back to the same location the next day. I really wanted to see one of my friends and former co-worker, but she was working at the time that I was there. I really wanted to see Star Trek (yeah, yeah, laugh and groan) and I convinced her to come along with me. I met her where I used to work, went to the movie (which was really good by the way), and then went out to the best sushi place EVER (still haven't found one in Chicago as good Koko's). Next, it was back to Margarita's to meet up with others to go bowling for another one of my buddy's going way bowling party. After that, the rest is history. So far, I have been very happy with my break and my life right now; I have received the highest GPA for this last semester that I have ever received in my college years, I have an assistantship to pay for a large amount of my tuition as well as getting paid for it too, and I have a great family that has been very supportive throughout my whole life. On to some more of break!



In case you are traveling as much I have recently, check out the Samsonite Black Label "Hero" designed my Alexander McQueen. This suitcase mimics the functionality of the ribcage to protect and preserve all of you vitals. With a price tag of at least $349 (yay for sales!), I will have to wait to purchase one for myself until the full-time work thing labeled as a job comes around. Ha ha, only a mere year away hopefully!



Photos courtesy of Samsonite Black Label. SBL by Alexander McQueen "Hero".

La La La Las Vegas!

Yep, out of Illinois, out of Wisconsin, to a place where I have no memories created prior. It is a well-deserved break away from it all and it couldn't have come at a more perfect time. I'm bringing my laptop with me so I hope there will be wi-fi so I can keep up with my blogging. Until then Viva Las Vegas! I just have to convince my Mom that she doesn't want to see Thunder Down Under. Ha ha! Well, it is Mother's Day.......

Photo Courtesy of LVABJ.com

The End in More Than One Way

Well I have finished my first year at UIC for my Master's in Biomedical Visualization! Yay! That went extremely fast, but I'm glad it's over. This past week has just been crazy. Just like it is every semester, you think you have enough time to do everything but then all of a sudden BAM! It hits you on the side of the face when you don't see it coming. This semester was definitely the hardest when it came to the end. After re-dos, large projects, assistantship interviews and presentations I am finally able to sleep (images to come!). I'm not lying either. From Sunday to Wednesday, I slept for maybe 10 hours. Sunday I slept for 3, Monday I pulled an all-nighter with a few others, Tuesday I slept for 5 after our critique and then woke up to do my presentation PowerPoint that I got way into and stayed up until 4 doing it, then got up at 8. Wednesday night after presentations I went out to Duffy's with a friend to celebrate to check out the Spazmatics again. Didn't go to bed until 4, work up at 6:30 since she had to go to work, took public transportation home and then slept a bit. It was a good time and so worth it!

That night brought on another end. After a year and a half of ups and downs and goods and bads, I am done with my past relationship. It's unfortunate but it had to be done. We didn't talk for a week and it made me think about what was happening (well when I wasn't thinking about everything that needed to be completed.) It's unfortunate how it ended too in the way that when I called I was cut off with what I wanted to say, so I'm just going to say it here. He was a great guy, but we just couldn't make it work. We are two totally different people with different values and priorities and I wasn't one of his (or he made me feel that way). And I slowly but surely made him less of a priority because of this. Yes, I was angry and sometimes unfair, I will admit that, but it takes two to make things work, so I am not the only one at fault. There were many opportunities to improve, and they would initially, but then fade in a matter of weeks. I have went on this roller coaster too many times, and was starting to get sick. So that is that. He helped me learn about Chicago, helped me find my apartment here, and explored which was great. It's too bad the Hancock Observatory will never be the same but this too shall pass and I have learned from it and I will continue to find who will be good for me.

Too bad I couldn't find the actual illustrator's name for the image above. I would love to credit them, but Healthwise must have taken all the rights. Hope the illustrator was compensated!

Photo courtesy of Health.com. Illustration of taking a rectal temperature of an infant.

Design and God

I'm in between renders and assignments, so I thought that this would be a good break. I know I will get everything done and I should be looking at the good side since I only have 3 more days of class but I still have so much to do! I can't believe how fast this semester went, it is just crazy to me. Maybe my mom is right about life going by faster when you get older. Graduating from high school seems like it was yesterday and I'm already halfway through my grad school years.

Anyway, above is a video that one of my professors from undergrad posted of a discussion about God and science at UC Berkeley. In this part of the discussion, Richard Dawkins talks about design in living beings. Quite an interesting talk, take a listen! Thank you Dr. Choudhury!