Anne and I had a rough night on Tuesday night. It had been raining all day and into the evening, at bedtime we discovered that the roof had been leaking. I suspect that some undetected storm damage had just been revealed. Our bed got soaked. I pulled off all of the bedding and threw it into the washer. The mattress hadn’t gotten too wet, so I just pulled it away from the drips. It stopped dripping just about then too, but the damage had been done. We ended up “sleeping” on our twin couches. I did not get much rest that night.

I spent too much time on Wednesday arguing with our insurance company. They had transmitted an estimate for our repairs, but they had also left off several key items from their list. I argued for them to be covered, they argued against me. At the end of the day, the best that I had gotten was that our insurance adjuster would go ask his boss. I predict that Thursday will bring more of the same. Wednesday night we had the first of many contractors stop by. He looked at the damage, took some measurements and promised us a bid.

I took the photograph of the mockingbird on Sunday. I used the new camera and the new lens that I bought from Chris. I’m rather pleased with the quality of this photograph. I attribute this picture’s quality to the L-series lens, the Canon 5D camera and this cooperative mockingbird. Chris, the check is in the mail.

Dan has reported in with the following news about himself:

I wanted to let you know that I found a few grants, so the expensive art project (fingers crossed) won’t be quite so pricey. I should hear back about the grants in early April. The same with one of the summer residencies that I applied for, which I found out that CalArts has tuition matching with, so if I get in, I shouldn’t have to pay anything. School has been crazy-hectic, but good so far. I have a lot of theory and seminar classes this semester, my homework includes an average of 100-120 pages of reading per week, a lot of it Freud. I don’t have another show this semester, but I’ll try to document my new work on my website soon.

Dave has reported in with the following news about himself:

I heard back from Georgia Tech the other day. I didn’t get in there. I’ve emailed all of the other schools, just to check in. The only useful information that I have gotten, is that I am on the wait list at Utah. I don’t really know what that means, or what my chances are, but that’s pretty much all I know so far.

As I was writing this post, Anne dropped off the below pictured postcard for Axe University apparel. When I realized what she had just given me, I thanked her profusely. “Your muse provides”, she replied and then walked away. When we were at Michigan State together, we would joke about naming one of the halls there Axe Hall, but never did the idea of entire university ever enter my mind. You’ve got to admire the marketing prowess of the purveyors of this product. Say, maybe Dan and Dave should apply to Axe University? I’ll bet you that they would have no problems getting into it. Remember, operators are standing by!