interesting places, new faces

Pictures taken a the Jehovah's Witness Hurricane Relief Center, Mobile, AL


I like tea.


My younger sister, Nicole, working in the Rooming Department.


Natasha from Philadelphia teaches signs to Linsey. That particular gesture is "name" in saying "My name is. . ."


I like the movement in her hand.


Sister Smith looking her cheerful self. I believe Nicole took this photo.


Brother Smith (Sr. Smith's husband) looking stressed. He's not really. He and his wife came down from northern California to help out.


And last, the wonderful David. He's the IT guy. He's from New York.


All in all, a spiritually fulfilling experience.

Sleep to dream

I tend to have really vivid dreams when I sleep. Sometimes I remember them, sometimes I don't. When I can't remember all the details, it's because I was in a very deep sleep when I was awakened. All I remember is that I had a dream that I wished I could remember. I'm left with this feeling. Then, when I eventually remember something from the previously unmemorable dream, it usually comes in the form of a very unsettling feeling of deja-vu.

So, I took a long nap today, and when I woke up I immediately remembered the dream. It was quite disturbing to me. It involved some romance, some death, and then some resurrection. I guess the resurrection was the disturbing part, because the person was brought back by kid who used a video game to do it (It's a dream remember). I vividly remember the feeling of my heart dropping when I found out that the person what dead, and the shock of finding out they had been brought back to life. I knew they weren't supposed to be alive that way. It had been too long (like 30 minutes), and something in me told me that they should have just been left dead. But I didn't want them to be dead, because we had just shared a momentously special moments only minutes before.

It was weird. I was totally going with the irrational events of the dream because the emotions I was feeling were the only thing happening that were appropriate. So, I felt I should try to articulate all this in an entry.

It is a comfort to know that my dreams do not foreshadow anything bad that's going to happen. I know that it's just my brain reorganizing information from that day, so I have a pretty good idea of where the general plot of the dream came from. It had to do with my present concerns, which involve someone leaving, and I guess I' worried about the possibility that I may never see them again, or at least for a very long time.

I don't know if I'm happy or not that I did remember this particular dream. I'm going to be thinking about it for a while; I know that.

Ah well. C'est la vie.

To Bend

I just got home from the movie night.

Only one person we invited came, who happened to be Kevin. He's awesome. He's going on a road trip in two days, so hopefully we can hang out more before then.

I'm so tired. I've been up since 6 AM, with no rest in between.

Serenity was awesome for the fourth time. Kevin liked it too, which was cool. And he wore the shirt I made him. That was nice, too.

I wish I was more articulate right now, but my thoughts are pretty random and basic. Yeah. I just wanted to say that I had a good day. Lots of bonding and meeting nice new people. I even have pictures. I guess I'll post them later today.

Done

+ listening to: an instrumental from some Dave Matthews Band song

For now, anyway.

Yesterday was my last day going to school for the semester. I had lab clean up in photography, and I also picked up my portfolio. I passed by the skin of my teeth with a C. I have never been more relieved to get a C in my life. I really need to get on it with my grades. In the end I know that I stressed way too much over that class, worrying about my concepts and what I was going to shoot, in the end turning my assignments in late. Hopefully I've learned my lesson.

But all is not lost. I made a B in my web design class. I'm not gonna begrudge that grade, because I know I could have put a lot more work into my site. However, I really was struggling with the programs in the beginning, so I'd only work on my site when I was in class. Then, at the end, all the information I had learned came together, and I finally knew what I was doing with the flash animations and how to make them work, but time was short. I do want to use my new skills to redesign my website over the break though. I'll be shocked if it actually happens.

I'm hungry. . .and a bit sleepy. I stayed up til around 3 a.m. last night, then my dad wakes me up at 6 a.m., saying that I spend too much time in bed. Maybe I do, but I stayed up late last night because I wanted to wash my hair before I went to bed, because I wouldn't have time to do it in the morning. Whatever. I'll sleep in the car I guess.

Serenity is out today and DVD. We're having a movie night with some friends to celebrate the end of the semester and just chill. I'm looking forward to it being lots of fun. I haven't hung out with a big group of people in a while.

T-shirts!

So last night I was in a crafty mood and decided to make t-shirts.

Recently I've become a really big fan of the TV series "Firefly." I'm a bit of a sci-fi geek already, and that show is awesome, so it was a natural progression. I had seen advertisements for the movie Serenity, but I thought it would be really cheesy. Then I happened to see a rerun of the show Firefly, on which Serenity is based, and was pleasantly surprised that it was actually good. So I went with my parents to see the movie, and the rest is history. I eventually bought the entire series on DVD. There were only 14 episodes, 11 of which were aired, before the show was canceled by FOX. It's an awesome show, and the cast is amazing.

So, I got the idea to make a shirt for my sister that featured her favourite character, Jayne (Adam Baldwin). I had some t-shirt transfers that I bought a while ago. I went to Hobby Lobby and bought 4 t-shirts for $3.99 a piece. I had also gotten the idea to make a shirt for Kevin to thank him for modeling for me.





I like buying colorful shirts with novelty sayings on them. However, since I am a graphic design major, I figured it would be much more practical for me to create my own shirts, since I have all the tool I need.

There are some design flaws to the shirt that I feel I should mention. One thing is that I used a highly overused font called papyrus. The only reason I used it was because it was the same typeface used for the Serenity movie title. When I saw they had used this typeface, I was somewhat confused, because the movie wasn't low budget at all, and yet they had this really generic, unoriginal typeface for the title. So when Kevin saw my shirt (I was wearing it when I took him his), he pointed this out. He's also a graphic design student. The problem is, that the quote I used for the shirt ("Time for some thrilling heroics") was actually from the television series, and not the movie. So I probably should have chosen a different typeface. I was just being lazy I guess.

Ah well. My shirt still rawks. ^_^





Serenity comes out on DVD this Tuesday, December 20th. Rent it or Buy it!

Late Night at the Lab

Photos as promised. I've had classes with these people for a good while now, and I thought it was about time I took pictures of them, me being a photographer and all.*


Our humble photo lab. That's my stuff on the desk in the foreground. That passageway in the back leads to the darkroom. Someone left the light table on. . .


Hannan photographs Mary, who is looking at Hannan's contact sheet.


Jason, meticulously matting his prints.


Travis, doing something with his phone. Maybe he's texting his girlfriend. She's in the class, too.


These bottles are from Travis' edition from last semester. People have yet to take theirs home with them. I got mine. They were Polaroid transfers of his hand with some song lyrics. Very cool.


Finally, we have Sohil, the lab monitor. He's an awesome photographer. He also likes to take pictures of himself. A lot. Now I have a photo of him. ^_^

*All images shot with a Canon Powershot A60 (digital), except for the last image, which is a negative scan. That image was shot with my Olympus OM-1 (35 mm).

There and Back Again

I just got back from the photo lab. I guess i got there around 10:30. I got all my mattes cut. It was quite tedious. I haven't had to use fractions in a long time. I felt pretty good afterwards that I was able to figure out the measurements without the use of a calculator. I wrote them all down on the back of the receipt for my matte board.

Geez, the last matte gave me heck. I ended up having to recut it twice because I measured wrong. Now all that's left is spot-toning the prints and then mounting them in their mattes. I'll probably put it off til tomorrow morning.

I also have some photos that I took at the lab last night while I was killing time. I'll post those soon.

Light at the End

+ listening to: "happy ending" by Avril Lavigne

Yesterday, I was at the photo lab from around 3:30 in the afternoon til midnight. I wasn't the last person to leave. It was cool though. I got my prints done. I took some photos of my classmates. I'm about to head out right now to get some matte board and then cut my mattes and mount my prints. That is not going to be fun.

But semester is almost done, and then I'll get a much needed break. I even have idea for a photo series. I've been inspired by my photo shoot with Kevin. He's such a great model. I'll admit he's been my artistic muse as of late. Such a great guy.

Anyway, I really need to go. But I'll leave a treat. . .

+ listening to: "Lover I Don't Have To Love" by Bright Eyes

I'm going to be at the photo lab all night working on my project. I just know it. I have to remember to buy matte board as well.

My only consolation is that I'm getting my hair done today. ^_^

Photo Shoot

+ listening to: "life of a salesman" by Yellowcard
+ reading: On Photography by Susan Santog

This morning I had a photo shoot for my final project in photography class. After that, I went to the lab and developed the film and made contact sheets. I'm so happy with how the shots came out; I'm actually starting to feel like a decent photographer. I can't take all the credit, though. My friend is an awesome model. When, I tell him, he just thinks it's flattery, but whatever. . .^_^

At first, I was going to shoot using a light meter. But I couldn't figure out how to work the thing, so I just had to wing it. However, I did overdevelop two of the rolls, but the detail is still pretty good. I like using Ilford film because it's very forgiving. Delta 400 is the best.

Well, enough gushing for now. I have to go scan the images in.

Clarity

Walking from class today, I wondered why there was an ache in my calf muscles. Then I remembered how Monday I had walked all the way across campus in the freezing cold and humidity to my friend's dorm. It felt good at the time, now I'm feeling the consequences. It still feels good now, knowing I did that, the reason for my discomfort.

We had critique in class today, and I didn't have my children's book done. About half the class didn't have their stuff done, though, so I don't feel so bad. I have to get it done by Friday though.

And then there's photography. I still haven't shot anything for my final project, and I'm supposed to have two finished prints to show tomorrow. I have a feeling that's not going to happen. I've been having technical issues, though, with my model, and the concept, so I'll have to change it from what I originally planned.

And there's the fact that I'm so friggin' lazy. This really needs to stop. There's no reason for school to be going as badly as it has. My grades have definitely suffered from my constant complacency. I'm pulling it together though. Being honest with yourself is quite therapeutic.

+ listening to: "away from the sun" by 3 doors down
+ writing: a four-page letter

Well, now that that's settled (see previous entry), for the most part, I can move on. I've wasted so much time it's really sad. Now I've got to throw myself into school so I can pull off some decent grades. It's the last week of class, so I don't know how successful I'll be.

I have to remember to study for my photography final. I bombed it last semester, and I can't do that again. I actually have to study again. How novel is that?


It's good to have good friends who will be there for you no matter what.

Goodness, I've only got a day left to finish my children's book. Looks like it's not going to have color after all. . .

Strange & Beautiful

Sometimes, the last thing you want comes in first,
Sometimes, the first thing you want never comes,
And I know, the waiting is all you can do,
Sometimes...

All these years and we hardly ever touched. Now, for me, our relationship is an exercise in patience.






I wish you knew.