A furious end to our year.

UCI runs on the quarter system (as opposed to the semester system), which means that we're just now, in mid-June, ending our week of final exams.  Most of the rest of the country has been out of classes for almost a month.  Not us.

Last weekend, we ended our school year with a very busy weekend full of activities.  On Friday night, we held the thesis critique for graduating student Andrea Allmond. For thesis productions, Mike and I always invite an outside sound designer to watch the production and provide feedback. For Andrea's work on Avenue Q, we were delighted to host Broadway Sound Designer (and legend) Tony Meola. Tony flew in on Friday afternoon, had dinner with Andrea, Mike, and I, saw the show, and then joined the rest of the program for a critique in the Meyer Sound Design Studio.  The critique was robust and valuable, and I did manage to snap a very serious-looking photograph of the goings-on.

On Saturday morning, before we shuttled Tony back to LAX for his flight home, the program gathered at my place for a breakfast.  It was cloudy and slightly misty at first, but soon the sun came out and we all enjoyed our food and visit.

On Sunday, everyone gathered back at my place for a much sadder occasion.  Mike and I hosted a memorial celebration for our old friend and colleague, BC Keller.  BC passed in May from a relatively short battle with cancer, and we knew that his friends and colleagues needed an opportunity to grieve and remember him.  We opened the doors to everyone who knew him: family, friends, UCI co-workers, LA co-workers, students, and alumni.  The Claire Trevor School of the Arts Dean's office also helped out by providing some refreshments.  

Here's a photo of BC's mom Patty checking out a quilt that one of her friends made with some of BC's tshirts.

And now, with that flurry of activity behind us, it's time to say good-bye to this school year.  Congratulations to Andrea Allmond and Ben Scheff, our graduating MFA students, and to Jacques Zwielich, our Honors in Design BA! You'll go off and do great things.  But first, take a short break, if you can. You've earned it.