Royston Vassey

or bust.

I Am Not Bored

I am just ignorant right now. I know I haven't posted in a while, but I've written up draft after draft of proposals for this site's next post and kept them for my own. I think they ground me when I don't share. I am naturally a selfish person, and I like having secrets. I lord it over people on ocassion, in that time after a few drinks when you find out what you really think. It's not that I haven't wanted to post, just everything is too personal for even me to read.

I have two parts.
I haven't made up my mind.

My life is again. Some people will tell me what note their day is. I know what shape mine is. A cone right now. I'm about mid-height. It's a 30 degree angle up top. Recently I have begun communing with storms. Which basically means I stand out in them like a drunk and sound my barbaric yamp over the roofs of the world. And what I love is this guy named Dr. D. He comes into my camera store two days after every storm and gets disposable cameras developed to 6x9, full-frame. He used to be in the Weather Service. Now he's senile, hates my manager, and missing quite a few teeth. He brings me pictures of my storms. And I'll sit and talk for hours with him about cloud formations and cold fronts and the house down the street that caught fire and burned. But I won't tell him I just sold a camera to that couple whose house burned three days before finals week. Four days ago I saw one of my favorite photgraphs ever: a woman brough it in to my store, it was an offset girl's face in a fancy dress and ponytail with glitter eyeshadow, one hand was behind her head and she was missing a tooth and smiling with every ounce of confidence I have ever seen. I told the woman she needed it bigger and sold her a 6x9 version. I wanted to post one in the shop, but didn't ask.

I feel again: still no loneliness though I miss some friends.

I have not become an anti-digital advocate, I am merely pro-film and anti-photoshop. This month's Outdoor Photographer, a mediocre magazine, has an article titled horribly ("Where the Spot Meets the Pixel") in which they say something to the effect of, Too often a digital photagrapher will say, 'I'll fix it in photoshop,' when fixing takes longer than getting it right in the f---ing first place. And what makes me really angry are people who would rather own a photoshoped image than a Phillip Hyde, Freeman Patterson, or Alfred Steiglitz. Photoshop is the Thomas Kincade of the imaging world.

I don't know if I'm so much a storm chaser or a storm watcher. I'm really more of a storm crafter. I'm really more of a storm: Lister or weather.



The sky is calm
now. Listen.






(I now notice my ailment taking hold again. When I school from 7 to 1 then work from 3 to 10 I can feel it coming back. Today was a day off. I lay in worship of illness on my futon all day. I hope if I get to bed now I can help keep it off for just two and one-half more weeks. But really I am already faltering, being slowly buried again. And this week, when my disability permit expires, I will have to start riding my bike. I am not that strong yet. I still can't walk well.)

Parallel

In the early years of the century, manufacturing was going through a crisis. After the glorious era of the 90s, a mood of despondency gripped the nation; lack of direction and loss of confidence were the norm. The fledgling automobile industry was struggling with prejudices and vested interests, all doing their best to crush the growing number of automobile manufacturers. This was after all a period in the country's history when the nation's spirit of adventure was all but submerged. The cloak of officialdom lay heavily across the land. It was almost as if the authorities of the day were waiting to be dragged kicking and screaming into the new century. Fortunately even in the darkest of times in a country's development, there are always men of vision to be found. So how was national pride to survive against the well established practices already in existence?

Paraphrased: Britian at the turn of the 1900s is US at the turn of the 2000s.
(From here)

Breathtaking

Motor racing has its fair shares of beauty, danger, stupidity, and guts. In car racing, rally drivers are considered the craziest. However, rally's danger is incomparable to that of the legendary Isle of Man Tourist Trophy (TT). These guys are insane. Maybe I just have a natural aversion to running bikes through a street course, with stone walls on either side, at 200 MPH. Or maybe I'm just a wuss. But the IoM TT is the only motorcycle race I ever follow, morbidly. Then, when it's all over, the spectacle takes my breath away and I want to watch it all again. It starts tomorrow.

The Mall

Today a playwright was surprised someone in Idaho knew about the Iowa Writers Workshop.

Today I was surprised someone in Iowa knew who Robert Wrigley was.

ALMS Round 3 - Mid-Ohio

Rarely can we point to one year, one month, or .424 seconds and say, "That was the begining." Today we can: the international motorcar racing scene will never be the same.

Overall, LMP2, and LMP1: For the first time, LMP2s took 1-2 overall. The winning #7 started dead last on the grid, but forget class wins, the Penske Porches overcame the reliability issues of rounds 1 and 2 to claim their throne. Crossing the line .424 seconds apart, the two cars beat the new Dyson Lolas and the Audi R8 with impeccable pit strategies, improved reliability, less weight, manuverability, and zero driver mistakes over the 2:45 race. Dyson's #16 was on pace before heading off track and losing significant time in the pits; they took 5th overall, 2nd in class. Intersport finished 4th overall and 3rd in LMP2 class at their home race. The Audi R8 took 3rd overall and the LMP1 win.

GT1: The #4 Corvette took its 8th win in a row. I remember being in Portland, Oregon last year and cheering them across the line first. They haven't lost since. I like to think it's because of me. This class was a Vette 1-2, and an Aston 3-4. Next Vette v. Martin battle is Le Mans.

GT2: #45 Flying Lizard took another win! I always get excited when my favorite team - still the underdog - does way better than expected against stiff competition. I hope the best for them at Le Mans. They won despite an early off. #50 Panoz came in second. BMW came in 4th and 5th, great finishes on a track that didn't quite suit them. Ferrari took 6th.

Bought Today

Because my insurance dropped $30 despite a $550 ticket and because my gas bill is only $20 this month.

The bottom one is a Comoy's 1935 Town Hall - hence the signature sterling silver band. I picked it up for $4.75. The cheapest new Comoy's I could find was around $50.

The Columbia Plateau Is The Second Largest Fissure Flow In The World

In the mornings it is hot. Hotter than it has ever been. We've broken records days in a row now. There is a breeze coming through open windows. I can smell the lilac bush just below my bed. I try and remember what happened last night. Nothing. Nothing happened. I don't have any food and I've never liked the meal so I skip breakfast, sit down to my paintings, hum Rhymefest or Wagner. Moscow is empty. Not empty like the abscence of feeling or community. Empty as in a lack of drunk college students. Some nights I feel I'm the only one smashed. I think I should write it. I think I should write everything. But when I do I bore myself. It's not that writing is boring, I just am at a boring stage in writing. I feel some breakthrough is coming. I think it has to do with this summer.

Around noon it goes quiet. The hum of my fan muted by silence. Humidity builds quickly as wind ceases. This is my warning - there is no flash of light signaling a coming, no roll of horizon thunder harking a change, just silence. I put my paints down, wash my brushes, move everything valuable away from the open windows. I don't want to close them. I want to feel this. And when I do, the parking lot disappears as the dust rises in unison to the air in praise of the palouse. The house bends before snapping back upright. A branch lands on my car. Then the rain. Then the hail. Then the thunder. Then a flash right over my house, light coming in every window, every crack, every wall. And for a second I look over - has my clock stopped? - before closing my eyes. You could not imagine the smells. Forget history, I smell weeds, pollen. I smell geology. Dormant scents bring the formation of this plateau. I smell the fissure lava flowing. I see the Columbia forming. In the wind I hear Dry Falls roaring.

I open my eyes, see a whirlpool overhead. And the light falls off so suddenly I blink to find I haven't closed my eyes again. This is when the grouse come out to feed. This is when the squirells leave their trees. This is when I can see. Houses jettison their inhabitants who stand out in the rain, in the thick of it, and feel the lightning, exalt the thunder. I stay inside, wonder if I've missed anything, and finally begin to write. I have found my healing.

North to Rathdrum

Yesterday
.

The Rest

I need to write it. Need to paint it. Need to feel it sitting on an overstuffed leather couch smoking a cigar.

Moscow is empty. Completely. I love it. My girlfriend and an old friend diagnosed me with an inability to feel loneliness. I agree. I love seeing people everywhere, and I love seeing nobody.

I am really quite excited for Le Mans this year.

The owner of one of my favorite coffee shops is a Cognitave psychologist and in my painting class. I am pretty sure I'm Existential Phenomenological. I can't ever define myself though. My girlfriend's mom says I am the wierdest conglomeration of traits a quirks she's ever met. I would agree but for a few of my poet friends. I just make up my own damn mind.

I need to wash dishes. I need to start my 18x24 watercolor. I need to finish my 13x14 watercolor. I need to start my 9x14 watercolor. I need a break.

Last night I almost didn't make it home from Cour D'Alene. I took a nap after class today.

I go back to work tomorrow, after 3 days off.

There is a lilac bush beneath my window that is roughly 4 m tall and around. It smells orgasmic.

I have a library book a week overdue in my hand. I love it too much to give it back.

A thunderstorm is coming. After yesterday, when we set a record high for temperature. My power already went out once at 6:23.

Good News

My inflatable sculpture will be featured in the fall issue of Idaho Magazine!

Our entire class was a little put out because the other class made the front page of the local newspaper the day before and the newspaper didn't even come down. Then the divine Julie from photographic services got our work in the mag which is way cooler.

Today In Moscow

Record highs and squirrels sleeping.

Today I Began My Life As A Painter

I love watercolor: watering the paper then setting it out in the sun to dry - it's growing a painting.

The Big 2

What most consider the two important races in the world are coming quickly up: Le Mans and Monaco.



Le 24 Heures de Le Mans

In just over 31 days 18 hours the green flag drops on the greatest race in the world. The 8.4 mile course is in its twelfth iteration, the 2002 track. The legendary Hunaudieres, the six km back straight, now features two chicanes to slow the cars. This year Audi is fielding the new R10: Le Mans will be its second race. The list of entrants shows the care put into selections: 12 LMP1s, 12 LMP2s, 12 GT1s, 14 GT2s. This is a very diverse field with some total unknowns entering all categories.



Le Monaco/Monte-Carlo F1 Grand Prix

In 11 days 14 hours, the diverse and tight Formula 1 field will begin their banner race. F1 is the most watched sporting league in the world and Monaco is the banner race. Since 1929 F1 has showcased itself on the streets of Monte Carlo. Greats like Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill, Stirling Moss, Bruce McLaren, Juan Manuel Fanglo, Alain Prost, Gilles Villeneuve, Ayrton Senna, Michael Shumacher, and David Coulthard have all raced here. Both Shumacher and Coulthard will be on grid for this year and it will be Coulthard's 201st GP. The season is getting close as both Renault and Ferrari continue to do quite well. But with one of the most diverse F1 fields in years, this race could go anywhere.

Canstruction

More pictures here.
I like the golden ratio shell best.

My Kitchen

11:30 PM May 14th (Post-Finals Week Dishes)

9:30 AM May 15th

11:30 AM May 15th

I already miss my old sink.

My Manager

Just chewed me out for staying late to save her job.

Thunked

I spent 16 hours this weekend saving the job of someone I desperately want fired.

I am now sure persuading someone of the truth is much harder than convincing one of a lie.

Architecture Final Grade

80.4%



YES!!!


Now I just have to convince the board I almost died but still pulled a B so they'll let me into second year.

In The Hills Above Vantage, Washington

When I first moved to Idaho, it amazed me that the moon was bright enough to dim the stars, even without a house for miles. Then the cop pulled me over and gave me a five-hundred and fifty dollar ticket.

-

Seen Near North Bend, Washington

Houston Recap

The street course tore everybody apart.

Overall:

The R8 took another victory after running behind the Porsche RS Spyders all week. Both Penske Porsches had late drivetrain problems as a result of the surface. The Corvette placed second.

LMP1:

The Audi R8 took it ahead of the Dyson Lolas who had troubles from the course.

LMP2:

When the Porsches dropped out, Liz Halliday and Clint Field were able to nurse their hurting Lola across the line in first. B-K Motorsports put their Mazda in second.

GT1:

The Corvettes finished 1 & 2 just ahead of the Astons. The #4 won its 7th straight and finished 2nd overall - the highest placement for a GT1 car ever.

GT2:

My BMW prediction did not come true. Alex Job Racing logged their 50th win in their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Flying Lizard took 2nd and 5th in their Porsches, placing them ahead in points for the year. Risi finished 3rd in the Ferrari at their home race. Fourth went to Petersen/White Lightning in their Porsche. Multimatic Panoz wore their tires down much quicker then anticipated and took an early pit, then collapsed the rear suspension.

A Legend Will Soon Die

The R8

Introduced at Sebring in 2000, the R8 has since won 5 Le 24 Heures de Le Mans Overall and LMP1 titles and the ALMS championship six consecutive times. The body was designed for durability, the engine for reliability. In an R8 battle at Le Mans one team shorted themselves on fuel for the formation lap, but the driver coasted around the 8 mile track, turning the car on and off to save fuel, before taking the checkered flag 24 hours later. This car is already fabled. It never dropped out of a race. It took 61 wins out of 77 races over 6 years. That is impossible.

2006

March 2006 saw the introduction of Audi's replacement for the R8, the diesel R10. The R8 had ran for 6 years at the top of the racing world. That is impossible. Audi put the R10 into competition at Sebring and it took a win and a withdrawl. They pulled the R10 out of the three ALMS races between Sebring and Le Mans to assure their victory at the big one. Audi Sport North America then joined Champion Racing for the entire ALMS season. The R10 comes again to ALMS post Le Mans, in Utah. In the meantime the joint team will race their 2000 R8s. This is the seventh competitive year for the R8 - that is impossible. I've heard a driver say the R8 is so durable it feels like a production car.

Houston, May 12th, 2006

The brand new Dyson Lolas and Penske Porsches were looking strong against the R8s but the rough surface of the street course took all four down. The Audi took the win. R8 driver Dindo Capelli said, "Now we are in 2006 and this car should not have been as competitive as it was today." That makes the record 62 of 78, and if it wins both of its last two races - Mid Ohio and Lime Rock - the R8 will retire with 64 of 80 wins: an 80% winning percentage exactly. That is impossible.

Self-Portrait

I didn't like this piece at first, then I erected it and loved it in the round. Only three people, including me, saw it finished before I took it down. I built the box and cast the film cannisters in wax with a plaster mould I made.

What I'm Wearing

ProjectStone.org

Get you some: Send an article of clothing, a word (for inspiration), then recieve your art.

Houston Predictions

ALMS Round 2 is this Friday on a street course at Reliant Park in Houston. CBS will televise the race Saturday at 1PM Eastern.

Overall: #16 Dyson Lola B06/10 AER
LMP1: #16 Dyson Lola B06/10 AER
LMP2: #6 DHL Penske Porsche RS Spyder
GT1: #4 Compuware Chevrolet Corvette C6-R
GT2: #21 BMW team PTG M3 (Above)


This is the third to last race of the legendary Audi R8. They will turn their last laps on July 1st at Lime Rock. Utah (July 15th) will see the R10s coming to ALMS for the rest of the season.

Reading Recap

I drank a bottle of wine before. And two shots with a T&T afterwards.

It went well. I read my RJ bit from "The Poem of History," my enigmatic favorite "Unknown," and the class favorite of mine, "I am the Restart Button of My Histories," which I always find so dull and boring. I was surprised at the people in the crowd: a man I see in sculpture lab all the time, two people from my architecture class, and two seperate girls hit on my friend Charles. He has a date with one. DPS style.

Happy Birthday

I want to read my RJ poem today. I want to go down to the crossroads near the crossing of 61 and 49, just before midnight, and see if he shows up, see what his price is to teach me to play better than he. I beleive I'll dust my broom today.

Coming Up

I am slowly getting there again. Getting stronger, nourished, hydrated, energized. All this spring growth around me helps I'm sure. My car decides to work more often. I'm not worried about money. My apartement is slowly getting cleaned up. I go back to work today. Maybe tonight I'll have people over. Maybe tonight I'll go out. Maybe tonight I'll sleep again.

In other Architecture news: Renzo Piano made Time's list of 100 most influential people.

Another point of news: Gehry is designing a new stadium for the New Jersey Nets.

Inflatables

Last night our 30ft Margarita glass exploded when we turned the fan to three. So we used the rest of the plastic to make two snakes/abstract shapes that writhe on the ground. We took 'em down to the playground in Friendship Square and inflated them to the cheers of little ones. They had so much fun. It was definately healing after the last few weeks of la bufera infernal.

Things are getting green in Moscow again. I love the smells of spring.

A little nervous for my reading.

And That's The End

I do not pass away. There is no cloud for me to hide under. I am not yet forgotten though I am often inscrutable at heart. Not in the wildest days of my boyish vision could I have seen the commitment required. I am still romantic, staring at my dreams, but this bride is brutal. I do not remember when I last slept or showered.

The Story: Architecture and Hospital visits do not go well together. I ended up 2 months behind in a hand drafting course. I had three weeks to do it. It was due today at 5:00 PM. I skipped four drafting assignements to focus on the final (above). At 4:55 PM I walked out of my apartement carrying my notebook, final, and portfolio to my TAs. Both of them were surprised I finished and only skipped four. They are proud of me (because I had to teach myself everything) and after looking at some others, mine turned out really well. A relieving cap put on la bufera infernal.

Of course, tonight is party night, not sleep night.

And yes, I am quite proud that I hand drafted Perpetua so well.

I Received The Best News Imaginable Last Night

7.5 hours off. 5:00 it is.

Third sleepless night in a row. Check.



9:19 (WOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!)





I'm twitching.
I'm writing.
I'm drafting.
I'm probably fucking something up inside.
I'm listening to Two Gallants (That's the type of night week it is)

Crush

I once asked a friend if the feeling of my chest collapsing is normal.




11:47

My Trout House

This is my life right now. I've pulled two weeks of 2-3 sleeping hours a night on this.

This is architect Steve Trout's personal house in Boise, ID.

My final piece will be technical (Micron) pens on Vellum or Single Sided Mylar.

23 Hours 35 Minutes

I'm lusting for the out of doors.

Sleep

has left me. I'm hyped up on Monster's and hookah. Less then 48 hours now.

Passing

Sam.

World War II hero.
Sultan legend.
Owner of Sultan Saw Shop.

He died this morning in the hospital. This man sharpened my chains for years. This man sharpened my grandpa's chains while my grandpa was a faller. This man sharpened my dads chains. He always used to tell me he would soon have his "young assistant" do everything. The assistant was 68 last year. Now the shop is on the market. Little tragedies surround us every day.