Janet Bruesselbach painted me last night, as Frodo. She's a RISD student who's into sci-fi and fantasy and geeks. She was my partner in cs137 this fall. She asked if she could paint me as a fictional character... I took a look at my hair, which is at its curly, overgrown stage, and decided to be a hobbit. So last night I pulled on some heavy felt pants and a cloak, took off my shoes and socks, and posed on Janet's couch... while watching Return of the King, no less. Janet started with an empty canvas, and then three hours later, there was an actual painting there. Of me! As a hobbit! I look like me and also like a hobbit at the same time. I was worried that I wouldn't like the way I look, but I really do... something about how hobbits are supposed to be chubby.

I did try to watch the whole ROTK extended edition, but that's just too long to sit still for me!

Now I"m off to the cave for some hacking on screen, which I'm re-implementing in IS3D. I want to finish a project. For once.

Maybe that's what's so amazing about Janet's painting last night -- she produced a complete, finished work. Also that she did it on a Saturday night, at the end of the semester... it reminded me that artists make art for fun, not just for coursework. I code for fun, too, sure, but this was still somehow surprising, I suppose after all semester of hearing the RISD kids saying things like "I have to go finish a painting now."

Zebediah and I are planning to build a space ship and fly to the moon, or Mars, or Saturn. We will bring Hugo and Phineas in special kitty space suits, and we will return to earth when we need to go to a cat food store. Darling and Isabel just want to lie on the couch; they don't want to go to space.