i am never really in town these days, so since i was coming in for a month, i figured i'd update my page and such. so far after as many days, i have only had 3 page-views. as this feels kind of lame to me to be putting up art that no one sees or critiques, i think i'm going to stop putting stuff up. anyone know a good site other than da?

thanks in advance.

christmas has always been snowy (or slushy, but at least cold-ish)...but not this year. as i have been surrounded by 70-90 degree F weather, it really hasn't seemed all that much like christmas and i've really kind of missed home.

then, this morning, i had the wonderful chance to celebrate with one of the pc staff people and it was awesome. pancakes (first i've had in months), fruit (ok, i get a lot of that here, but not in my village, and it doesn't get old), banana bread, and egg/meat/quiche-ish thing that tasted wonderful, juice, and wine. what a sweet breakfast! and then for desert, some sort of frozen lemon thing (i don't know what was better...the frozen or the lemon (*it was the frozen)).

so i pigged out like a king and decided to go back to the peace corps bureau to see what people have been up to for the last few months and so here i am talking with you.

i haven't forgotten art (in fact i have a new piece or two to get up soon-ish...just no digital), and i love the fact that deviantart logs deviations so that i get a chance to look at some of your stuff and catch up a bit to the art game.

i hope things have been going well here and everyone has a wonderful holiday season!

peace,
rob

ps. for anyone interested, i have been posting pictures from my time here in burkina faso on the facebook [link] (if you send me a message with your deviantart name and a friend request, i will happily add you to on so you can check out pictures of some of my adventures.

also, i occasionally send out emails to lots of people regarding interesting things that i am doing in village here/customs/random thoughts, so if you're interested in that, send me your email address at hartwi15@gmail.com

if you're having trouble finding me on the facebook, my name is robert hartwig and you can find me using the search bar thing

i'm so hyped...some of you already know, but i'm leaving for philly in less than a week and after two days there, i'm going to burkina faso for 27 months!

omg omg omg omg omg...it's soon!

if you're really confused right now, i'm going into the peace corps, so i'll be teaching health topics to the burkinabe as well as working to improve the overall workings of their health system.

anywho, if i don't upload art for a while, don't think i am abandoning da, i probably just won't have internet (i have been informed that i will be living in a mud or concrete hut without electricity or running water).

peace all,
rob

i got tagged by .

i usually don't respond when someone sends me a chain letter/journal/main-page-comments-section thing, but given the very open-ended nature of this one, it seems like it might be a bit fun.

here are the rules (you can tell i didn't write them cause there's capital letters!):

The rules :
1. Post these rules
2. Each person tagged must post 8 random facts about themselves
3. Tags should write a journal/ blog of these facts
4. At the end of the post 8 more persons are tagged and named
5. Go to their page and leave a comment telling them they're tagged

1. i learned to juggle at a young age (only 1, 2, or 3 objects)

2. i am leaving soon for peace corps service in burkina faso

3. i really like to draw, but a good philosophy discussion is even better (note: drawing and philosophy go well together too! )

4. i hated impressionism when i was young until i got glasses (age 16) and realized that not everyone saw the world like the impressionists.

5. for the same reason, i used to love extreme realism (it was more detail than i could imagine). i still like realism though.

6. i use smileys as a crutch on da because they seem the easiest way of showing an emotion when otherwise the text i am typing might not show it.

7. when there is not a da smiley, i just write the emotion i wish to convey between colons (it makes it seem like i just spelled it wrong or something) :i-can't-believe-how-sneaky-i-am:

8. i have the title and chapters for a really good and depressing philosophy text that i some-day intend to write, but i have not written any more.

i guess the task now goes to , , , , , , , and to put this in their journals as well.

ha...it only took me almost a month from when i got back, but now i've uploaded most of the cool pics from my trip to pennsylvania and maryland. enjoy!

also, let me know if anyone really reads this by commenting. i love comments (both positive and constructive [negative comments suck! ]) on my pics and journals. it makes it seem like people actually are interested in things that i'm posting, which, for a narcissist like myself, is good, because that reinforces my beliefs.