I am so sorry, Burrell.

I saw the Blair Underwood episode last night too. (He is a very handsome man. I'm going on record with that.) I thought it was so cool that there was someone in the same DNA-translating program who was related to him at all, from so far away and so long ago. It was a good episode.

How've you been liking the class, Tom?

It's been fun! It's mostly been helpful in getting me less wary of taking photos of strangers. I wish I could have got more feedback on my pictures; maybe it's because I don't know the right questions to ask?

The class blog is here: [link]

I wish I could have got more feedback on my pictures

My feedback would be along the lines of "ooh, pretty!" and nothing really technically helpful. I think your photos are lovely.

That's a really cool blog. It's good that it seems you found a simpatico group of people. I joined a photo club in Michigan, and it was mostly pictures of deer and the Grand Canyon, and I got really tepid reactions to my work, enough that I couldn't be sure what was constructive and what was just missing the target market. But the other people in your group look like they have good cool eyes.

Still, I dig wanting more feedback. And learning to give feedback is always good.

The art "class" I went to a couple weeks back wasn't a class. It was a model session. There was no instruction or feedback, which was kind of disappointing. But getting a model to work with was still a start.

I'm feeling very artistically adrift, and I need external help to get my moorings back.

I swear, no actor is having more fun this season than Mark Pellegrino. Jesus hijinks.

Yup, I had that with the songwriting class I did. Partly because I goofed and it was a multiday class and I only got the last half of it. But apparently the earlier days were more feedbacky and the parts I came in for were more applause only. But I enjoyed the heck out of it and hope to do it again this coming summer.

Does anyone have a link to (or the actual thing) an MP3 of the monks singing My Immortal? I don't trust anything I come across via google. It all looks highly shady.

I'm not sure why I'm having such a hard time finding appropriate classes/groups. I know I have restrictions on my availability, but this is Los Angeles. I feel like I should at least have more options to turn down. I'm just not looking in the right places, clearly.

ita, the first place I would look is the extension/community sites for nearby unis and community colleges. E.g.: [link]

the first place I would look is the extension/community sites for nearby unis and community colleges

I've done that for UCLA and Santa Monica College, and no dice, unfortunately. I'd love to find something like that art center you link to that's *not* on the other side of town.

I've also tried bulletin boards in local art stores, and they've gotten me as far as meetups, but no classes proper.

But...I'm trying a new google blast, so maybe I'll unearth something my last shot didn't turn up.

Okay, well, that's taken care of. I've found myself a merely moderately expensive class I can try for a month nearby on Mondays.