winter arting

Yeah. . .So, I know I haven't been doing much art lately. I'm thinking of entering this art show. I have this script that I wrote years ago. I let a friend read it and he thinks it'd make a pretty good sequential, so I'm gonna try to do it. First I sketched out two of the main characters. They're best friends, Adriana and Amber, trying to navigate the complex road of teenage life. Boys usually tend to be the complication.



I haven't drawn these characters in forever, so it was fun. Now I just have to crank out some pages in the next two weeks.

Oh yeah. . . and find a job.

I've been working on my portfolio though. I didn't think it would be so much work. I've had to compile all my work, and some of it, the files were lost, so some rescanning was involved. Ugh. And there's some package design that needs to be photographed, as well. It's all so tedious.

So. . . that's what I've been doing lately.

Old friends & new Responsibilities

Outside door leading to Graphic Design studio and lab.

Ah, school is over and time for the job hunt. I won't feel like I'm officially done with school until I get my diploma in the mail. Having a BFA sounds so much cooler, to me, than having just a BA or BS. Many people don't know what a BFA is, so that adds an element of mystery and allure to the whole thing.

After being in school for about 22 years straight, finally being done with everything, I feel like I should just be able to take it easy. But, no. I have to get into the job market so I can support myself and be able to buy stuff. Ugh. The good thing is that I've a few job prospects that I'm going to look into. Also, I'm still doing freelance for Ellis Products. One of the most important things for me right now is to get some form of health insurance, because my parents can no longer carry me on theirs. I'm not a sickly person. I don't think I've ever had the flu or even been to the emergency room for anything . . . never even broken a bone. But, "time and unforseen occurance befall us all." So, when one least expects it something happens and you're blindsided by some tragedy you're ill-prepared for.

However, one of the first things I did as an independent adult was get my cell phone bill put in my own name. My dad was really happy about that, as you can see:



The other day I went to Best Buy to return a battery I had bought for my camera. While there, I got reacquainted with my friend Richard, who works on the Geek Squad. He's a pretty cool guy. He escorted me to our Senior Prom. The next day we went to see Casino Royale with another high school friend of ours. It was my second time seeing the movie, that weekend, the previos time being Friday. The movie was really good, Daniel Craig was really hot as Bond, and Richard and Gus enjoyed it as well. Of course, I took pictures.



Richard, being really intent on the movie.


We exited the theater to discover a beautifully foggy night. This is the parking lot.


Richard walking to his car.



I'm the model for once. I'm slowly getting more comfortable in front of the camera. Richard wanted to steal my camera. It can't blame him. The thing is awesome incarnate.


This shot curtesy of my camera phone.



After the movie we headed over the the Waffle House. I hadn't been there with those guys in a really long time. So it was fun to just chill and joke and laugh.



Uhm . . . the end?

No, not really. The next day we were supposed to go the the mall. We (Richard, his friend Todd, and I) ended up going to Best Buy so hc couls check out the prices of this digital camera for his brother. Richard ended up seeing a lot of his WoW friends while there. He happens to be a guild leader, or something, and it was crazy hearing them talk WoW jargon. The sad thing was that, though I don't play the game, I was able to understand much of what they were saying.

But, I ended up getting a UV lens filter for my camera, half-price with Richard's employee discount. We were all starving, so we went to Ruby Tuesday for dinner. I had some shrimp pasta with Parmesan sauce. It tasted amazing. Richard let me play his Nintendo DS Lite. That was cool, because Kendall had suggested that I get one when I told him I was thinking about buying a Wii.

The Consumer in Me

I love this song, and the new video is cute as well. I first heard the song when I was researching the band after my sister mentioned that she liked them after seeing the video for "The Queen and I" on The N. I found that a lot of their videos were posted on YouTube. I ended up buying the album from iTunes. I like it. A lot of the songs are silly and fun, and a bit cheesy at times, but all around it's a good listen.

So, about the title of the entry, I ordered a bunch of stuff today:
• 3 shirts from forever21.

• 3 pairs of shoes from journey's, including another pair of Onitsukas. I also got a cute bag.

• 1 30G iPod, black from Apple.

I suppose the iPod was a little graduation gift to myself. The thing is, I like to buy cool things, including clothes, but I don't like to drop a bunch of money on stuff, and usually go straight to the "sale" or "clearance" section. However, I will drop the dough on things like computers & electronics, because you definitely get what you pay for in that regard. Sometimes, however, it's good to put down the extra buck on clothing, because I've discovered that the nicer stuff is a bit more expensive, but you're paying for the quality.

Seriously, though, I'm in desperate need of some new shoes, but I'm the practical type that want's to be able to wear stuff with more than one outfit. Sometimes it's hard finding the pair that's just right. I also still need to purchase a winter coat. I didn't have much luck finding something I really liked on line, so it looks like I'll have to brave the holiday crowds and go to the mall and try to find something.

.

Well, now that I'm done with school and have all this free time on my hands before I get a job, I suppose I can work on some art that's way overdue to be finished. My friend Ashely got me a sketchbook as a graduation gift, so I'll be breaking that in over the holiday.

I would also like to do some photo shoots and independent graphic desingn stuff to exercise my skills and help my portfolio. It's gotten no love, lately.

G-Day

So, Saturday I graduated from college. Through an unforseen turn of events I ended up taking my camera with me during the ceremony. So, here's the graduation in words and photos:


Notice my B.F.A is listed under "All Other Degrees."

The thing about the graduation procession was that there was no practice. We graduates candidates just got a notice in the mail telling us to show up an hour before the ceremony in order th line up. We came to the meeting place and got a card with our name that told our place in line. I was in group 3 and #3 in the line. When we marched up to receive our empty diploma holder thingie, we handed the reader our name card. It was a pretty cool system, in order to insure that names were read correctly and in order.

That's my dad, taking pictures of me.

I was fortunate that my family happened to be sitting in my line of sight.

After I got outside, Kendall was the first person I saw.

Kendall's on vacation this weekend. He came over from Hattiesburg just to attend my graduation. He had some gems in the form of words of advice: GET A JOB!

Thanks, Ken.

I had to take this little girl because she was so cute.


Getting love from my daddy. :)


Grandfather Walter was really proud. He's all about getting that degree.


The Samples Family: Crystal, Laura, Granfather Walter, Me, Dad, Grandmother Bessie Ruth, Nicole, and Mommy.


Funny that my cap & gown was manufactured in Jackson, MS, where Ken lives.


The Mitchell Center.


After Graduation we headed over to Romano's Macaroni Grill to get out grub on. This is me and my maternal grandmother, Pauline. This photos is extra special because I hardly have any photos of me with my grandmother. She's going to be 70 next year and still looks amazing (like, that's her natural hair color, for example. Hardly any gray).


Nicole drew this awesome portrait of me.


Our handsome waiters for the night, Adam and Pierre. Pierre is from the Cote D'Ivoire (the Ivory Coast). Crystal conversed with him in French, because she's cool like that.

Well, that's pretty much it. Thanks to Ken for taking the photos of me and my family at graduation. Now, to get that ever-important JOB.

The thing is, school isn't done for me. I still have to go back tomorrow for lab clean-up, and then the next day to pick up my portfolio. Then I wait to see what my grade is in Photography. Hopefully I passed.

Final Critique

Yesterday I had what will (hopefully) be my last critique in photography. It went surprisingly well. For our final assignment we did Gum Prints. It's cool process, but a bit time consuming and difficult to master the first go-round.

It took me forever to develop my concept for this project. I had an idea really early on, but I didn't quite know how to execute it on film. Finally I came to the conclusion that simple is better, and worked from there. I'll talk more about it when I get the images back so I can post them here.

After class, we all got together to take a class portrait, like we've done in previous classes. It is photography, after all.



l to r: Rita Skiadas, the instructor; Sherard Robinson, William Bunce, Nikki Bhakta, John Hyland, and Sharon Samples (me). Photo taken by Sohil Bhakta with my camera.

In the beginning of the semester there were 8 students. Then there were 6. Only 5 people showed up for critique. Nikki's prints were awesome. She's an extremely talented photographer, and I'll hope to see more from her in the future. Her cousin, Sohil, is also a photo student at South. He's really good as well. I hope he realizes his dream of becoming a fashion photographer.

My future as a photographer is a bit less certain, but I do enjoy it. Who knows? My minor in photography may do me some good in the future.

Tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. I graduate. Ken's being awesome and attending. I still have yet to try on my cap & gown. If it doesn't fit now there isn't much I can do about anyways.

G-Day approaches.

LOST

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