Photo Dump

Here are some photos from the last couple of weeks.








Yay to the return of thumbnails. It took me a while to type all this code, and I don't feel like labeling everything. Oh, what the heck. . .

row 1: (1) Starbucks sign, (2) Wendy's under a cloudy sky (3) my cup of tea at the Starbucks in Barnes & Noble
row 2: (1) the Mobile, AL cityscape, coming back from Daphne, AL; (2) me, (3) me after letting my sister practice cornrows on my hair
row 3: (1) my little sister at Wal-Mart (2) my mutant McDonald's french fry, (3) my father, the pacifist
row 4: (1) my cousin Chloe—age 3; (2) Chloe, her sister Maria (32 months), and me at my grandmother's house; (3)my older sister, Crystal and Chloe
row 5: (1) clockwise left to right - sweet tea, crab rangoon, egg roll, pork-fried rice, and sesame chicken; (2) me and Kevin—model for hire; (3) driving through very spooky woods behind the university
row 6: that same night, after writing the previous blog entry, tired but content

2 am Saturday morning

+ listening to: "finally woken" by Jem

I know I should definitely be asleep right now.

I think I'm keyed up from the really great time I had hanging out with a friend of mine. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's it. Ok, I'm gonna attempt to sleep now, because I'll probably fall asleep really easily after I actually get in bed. I'll write more about teh night tomorrow I guess. There are pictures and a short movie clip involved, so I'll upload all that stuff later today.

Night.

Wants and Needs

Schools out tomorrow for the Mardi Gras holiday. My little sister gets a whole week out. A week. For a religiously routed celebration?!? No wonder the kids never learn anything.

I'm in college, and we only get one day out. It's cool that we get out at all. Though Mardi Gras did originate in America in this fair city, so it makes sense that the administrators would go with the flow. They're probably be no one in class anyway.

So, I've been thinking about the two entries I have talking about my male guilty pleasures: Jason Momoa and Leland. I must seem like such the pathetic fangirl. I mean, I could just go out and get a guy of my own, but that's not working out so well, so. . .Yeah. At a family gathering this past weekend, my uncle asked me if I was dating anyone new. And I told him no. It has been over a year since my last relationship ended, so it's not like I'd be jumping into anything new. However, (how I love entries where I get to use however) I have a lot more important things to focus on and improve before considering entering into another potentially longterm relationship.

I'm about to graduate from college this summer, and then I'll be out in the job market. There's a very likely chance that I may move away from home for the first time in my life. I lived in dorms my freshman year of college, I'm from the town where the university is, so it was only a matter of convenience, as I didn't own a car to drive to school everyday. So, I'm presented with the very probable possibility of moving away to find decent work in the graphic design field. So, starting any kind of relationship wouldn't be the prudent choice. It'd only be an unnecessary distraction. I definitely have enough "distractions" already without putting another person into the mix.

It's an incredibly humbling experience to realize that your life isn't going to be what you thought you wanted when you were younger. A lyric from a Lauryn Hill song keeps coming to mind. I though what I wanted was something I needed." It isn't and I've been trying to reconcile that truth to myself for the past year and a half.

Funny. I have a friend who's kind of going through the same thing I was. It's really quite sobering as they act as a mirror, and I can see more clearly what I had wrong, and am able to admit things to myself as I see them progress through an understanding, and ultimately, acceptance, of their own situation.

Extremely. . .

Yeah, so I was watching Dog the Bounty Hunter on A&E. . .and I realized how hot Dog's son, Leland is. He has the most adorable smile. I can't believe he's 29.



I googled him, but I couldn't find many pictures. However, on the show's web site, Leland's bio went on about his legions of female fans and how lots of shirtless pics of him were circulatinig around the internet. However, I noticed that the page hadn't been updated in a while. When I first watched the show, I thought his hair style was really cheesy, with the long ponytail and his had shaved around, but it grew on me as I watched the show more. I really like nice, lean physique, though. I guess you get that from kickboxing ans extreme martial arts.

Speaking of extreme martial arts. I was just surfing around one night, and I came across these different sites of these guys involved in the sport. There was lots of cool video footage as well:

+ Steve Terada
+ Emerson Wong
+ Team Ryouoko

Yeah. I surf the internet way much. I've also bought more DVDs and iTunes music while I've been away from the blog. When will the madness end. . .

rose of Sharon

except from Examing the Scriptures Daily 2006:

The glory of Lebanon itself must be given to it, the splenfor of Carmel and of Sharon.
—Isaiah 35:2

Sharon, a maritime plain between the hills of Samaria and the Great Sea, or the Mediterranean, was noted for it's beauty and productivity. Being well watered, it was fine for grazing, but it had forest of oak trees in the northern sections. (1 Chron. 27:29; Song of Sol. 2:1, ftn.; Isa. 65:10) Thus Isaiah 35:2 was foretelling a restoration and a land blossoming with splendor, becoming like a paradise.

My dad read this too me this morning, but I was too much in the haze of sleep to remember it, until just now, when I decided to read the text for today. The plain of Sharon is where my name is derived, a beautiful and fertile plain. My parents didn't know all of this when they named me twenty some-odd-years ago but upon discovering the origin of my name, I found it quite appropriate.

I'm also surronded by the flowering plant, Rose of Sharon. The plant is quite prolific in this region, and I've even photographed the flowers before (they're in the courtyard of the art building) never knowing what they were called. It was only last summer that I decided to Google the plant to find out what it looked like.

On another note, I started a Sketch Blog.

Hopefully this will encourage me to draw more.

Now I'm off to the photo lab.

the fangirl that be

So I was surfing youtube.com once more, and came across this video. It's a video montage of Ronon Dex (played by Jason Momoa) of Stargate: Atlantis, set to "Anxiety" by the Black-Eyed Peas. Apart from the fact that he's gorgeous, I love his character because you can always count on him to shoot someone when all else fails.

Photo Lab Pics

These shots are from the night I stayed at the lab til 2 AM.


working on my photo montage


We got new desks.


little work area leading to the gang darkroom


The intimate space that is the gang darkroom






Travis' camera bag. He loaned me his camera so I could do some shots on the copy stand. He also modeled his arm for me. Thanks Trav. :)

Youtube is cool

I got an account at youtube.com, just so I could post this video. I was having problems figuring out the video feature on my digital camera. I was trying to snap a pic, but I had accidentally put the camera in video mode, and I was having trouble turning it off once it started filming. I sound like such a ditz. I really like how Kevin is oblivious to the whole thing.




I just watched the movie again. . . I'm embarrassed by my goofy laugh. Oh well.

Burning the midnight oil

Last night I was working in the photo lab from about 7 pm to 2:15 am. Travis was there, too. We both felt it was good to have the company. And yet, I still didn't finish the assignment. I got 2 out of 3 prints done, and I'm about to go back to the lab to try and finish the final one. Just thinking about it makes me tired.

Gosh. . .and I've still got to write a proposal on my next assignment. I have no idea what I want to to for that. Add to that the complication of my photo supplies order getting lost in the mail (it happened Friday), and it makes for a rather frustrating week.

Ugh.

Hole in my pocket

Lately I've been ordering a lot of stuff off the internet.

Today, I just got The Last Unicorn Motion Picture Soundtrack in the mail. I had to order it from Britain, as it's not sold in the United States.

Other things that have fallen victim to my obsessive consumption:
- Drawing Portraits: Faces and Figures (The Art of Drawing)
- The Notebook - saw the movie, thought I'd read the book and compare.
- Runaways Vol. 1: Pride and Joy
- Red Eye
- Wildflower
- The Animatrix
- The Perfect Score - I may take it back cuz I just realized it's full screen.
- Shine

I've also downloaded a bunch of music off iTunes. I'm trying to control myself with that. You can spend a lot of money in a short period of time. My most recent purchase was today: Songs from Instant Star. "Instant Star" is a show that comes on the N, and it's about this teenage girl who wins a talent contest and is suddenly thrust into the entertainment industry. That show is scandalous, but pretty good. I'd say the best part of the show is Alexz Johnson's singing. That girl can sing.

I've also got random pics. It's not everyday you see the fuselage of an airplane on the back of an 18-wheeler, holding up two lanes of traffic as it makes it way down a very busy street on it's way to a restaurant that's using the pieces in it's design.







I also got my hair done on Friday. I spent 4 hours at the hair stylist because my stylist overbooked a bit. I had an appointment. I'm not too miffed though, because she's realy good, and I wasn't in a rush or anything, thankfully. Friday's are a bad day to get your hair done anyway; it's always going to be busy. I usually get my hair done on Tuesdays anyway. But my hair has grown quite a bit in the two and a half months since I got it cut.


Then.


Now.

Sweet Relief

+ listening to: "Three Flights Down" by Yellowcard

I'm finally getting my hair done tomorrow, and I can hardly wait. My hair roots are so bad. . .I can't wash my hair because I won't be able to comb through it. This is where the macro feature comes in handy:


These are my roots. You can see all the kinks.

Those of you unfamiliar with African-Americn hair care probably have no idea what I'm talking about. Basically, my hair is naturally nappy. I get what's called a "relaxer" which is a permanent chemical straightener. It's the opposite of a "permanent", which makes the hair curly. So, about every six weeks I have to get a reapplication of the relaxer to the roots of my hair. People with a looser curl pattern to their hair (less nappy) can go for as long as three months between relaxers. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people.

--+ + +--

This is Cici:



She's a really sweet girl that works at a Chinese restaurant near my house. I'm helping her with her English. She doesn't have anyone else to practice with, because everyone else she's around speaks Mandarin, and her conversations with the customers are limited.

This photo is blurry because, as I found out, she hates taking picture of herself, so I cropped this shot out of an image of some art on the wall. Cici deleted the other pics of her from the camera on the sly. >(

Shutterclick, Lights and Sounds

+ listening to: "Martin Sheen or JFK" by Yellowcard
+ drinking: sweet tea
+ watching: Roll Bounce

I got a new digital camera today. I got tired of waiting for my order to be shipped from Amazon, so I just canceled the order and went and bought the camera from Wal-Mart instead. I was trying to be patient and save money, but the screen on my old camera died out, and the images won't show up without the display screen working. . . and there are things that need to be photographed by me, so I had to get a replacement camera.

So, I've had fun today testing it out. It's a Canon Powershot SD400 Digital Elph (5MP). I had lots of fun with the Macro mode.

<
One of the first images I took with the camera.


You can see my freckles and blemishes. . .


. . .and the texture of my corduroy jacket.


Macro shot of my sister's wrap scarf


My lovely little sister, Laura


macro shot of Laura's hair


C'est moi, encore. I look so petite here.


I edited this image in Photoshop a bit.

I never realized how inadequate my other camera was. Well, I did have somewhat of an idea, because 2.8 megapixels really wasn't giving me the level of detail I desired in my photographs. I like to find beauty in relatively mundane objects, and hopefully, this new camera will help me realize some ideas. I know it's just a camera, but I'm so excited with something new, and it's actually mine. I bought it with my own funds, unlike my former camera. And hopefully, I can take better care of this oneÂ?I already almost dropped it twice. I'm a bit of a techno-clutz.

In other news
I just downloaded Yellowcard's new album, Lights and Sounds, from iTunes. It's awesome. There's definitely been a musical development, this album being a bit more orchestral than their last effort. I could be more articulate about how the band has progressed and such, but it's late/early, and I'm lazy. It's just good, is all I can manage to say about it right now. It's one of those albums you can listen to all the way through and groove to it because all the songs have a decent melody, yet some songs stand out more than others. Oh look. . .I am being a bit more descriptive, let me stop rambling.

I've a morning of more internship goodnesss to which to look forward.

^_^

Sitting, Wishing, Waiting

I really should be in bed right now.

I've got a project due tomorrow that's totally not done.

I've got to go to my internship at 9 a.m. again. I started a blog about it, since I'm required to keep a written journal about my experiences as part of the curriculum.

It's interesting the way I relate to people. I see so many qualities about myself in someone. We're so much alike. . . too much alike, it feels like, at times. . .I'm glad of it though—the awareness, I mean. I helps me keep the proper perspective on things.

I'm behind on the aformentioned journal already. It doesn't help that my digital camera is fading on me. I've had it about 2 years, I guess, and the display screen keeps going out. I guess it didn't help that it's been dropped a bunch of times. I have a new one on order from amazon.com, but I ordered it a week ago, and they have yet to ship it. Still, it's like, $40 cheaper than buying it from Wal-Mart, so I must be patient.

Ho hum. . . I guess I'll update my other blog now.

Validation

I am once again, seriously behind in my photography class. I haven't turned anything in late yet, but I haven't finished shooting for my photo montage that's due and Tuesday. I have no idea what the lab hours are, but I need to go there today and see. I should have gotten a lot of it done on Friday, but I got a late start to the day. I'm trying to gradually get my sleeping schedule back on track by going to bed a bit earlier each night. I used to stay up til around 3-4 a.m. and now I've gotten it to around 2 a.m. Not ideal, I know, but it's progress.

I had been really nervous about my initial portfolio critique in my Senior Portfolio Presentation class. It went much better than I expected, however. My professor, who has many years of illustration and graphic design experience under his belt, along with teaching for many years, was really impressed with my illustration ability. He told me that it would be a waste of my talent to get stuck in some dead-end Graphic Design job, and suggested that I could move to New York or some other big city to work.

Well. . .It's good to be getting some serious validation as far as my work is concerned. It's not that I didn't realized I was talented, it's just that I wasn't sure what I could do with it. So now that I have a little more direction, I can think of what I want to do when I get out of school. My portfolio still need a lot of work, and I have about 4 more logos to design, plus I have to do some more illustrations to showcase my talent. It should be fun and interesting developing those things.

Also, I've started an intership blog. You can read it here.

-----

I found a link to think on Angel's blog. This is just too cute.

little indonesian girl singing

Grunt work

I got the internship! Yay me. The interview went pretty well. The interviewer was Paula, an art director at the company. She was a very friendly lady. We chatted a bit, and then she looked at my work that I had prepared on a CD. Then she took me around the office, showing giving me a tour of the building and introducing me to the people I'd be working with. A few of the people were like, "Oh, another intern. . ." as they rubbed their hands together and laughed maniacally. I was like they were saying, "Ooh, less grunt work that I have to do. . . Muahahahaha!"

I must say that I loved the office. The building was an old house, not quite old enough to be a historic home though. It was brick on the outside, with a fountain in front. I just really liked the layout of the place. I'm so excited. I don't know if I'll be able to get many pictures or what, but I'll try. I'm really excited to finally be getting some experience in the Graphic Design field.

I don't want to gush to much. I'm just really happy. I'm not even getting paid for this, but I so do not care. I'm getting school credit, so that's fine with me. I definitely have stars in my eyes at the moment, I must admit.

Also, I had my sister take some photos of me before I left for the interview.





See those big dangly things hanging from my ears? My I went shopping for something to wear to the interview, and my little sister made me get them. The did look nice, but I never got used to the jingling sound they made every time I turned my head.

Rest less

I have an interview for an intership position at a local design company at ten thirty in the morning, and I can't get to sleep.

I bought some new clothes to wear, and my little sister made me buy these earrings that do happen to look very nice. I'll try to remember to take a pic of myself before I leave for the interview.

I've been tweaking my resume, and I've still got to prepare some samples of my work to show. . .

I'm too wired to sleep. Maybe I'll read some fanfiction to calm my nerves. . .

Hopes and Fears

For the first few sessions of my Senior Portfolio class, the instructor will go through our work and tell us what we should keep, change, and do new. Looking through all my work last night, I was greatly discouraged by what I perceive to be the substandard quality of my work. I mean, while I was doing it, I thought it was really good. However, there were a lot of things about the work that I knew then I should probably fix, but I told myself I'd just redo it at a later date.

Now it seems I have all this work that needs fixing. I'm sure it's not as bad as I think, because I made A's and B's on most of my projects, but looking at it now it seems so sophomoric and unrealized. I'm almost embarrassed to show it. The one thing I am proud of though, are the illustrations that I did for projects.

I guess I'm just really afraid of what the professor will say. He's been doing graphic design and illustration for a very long time, so he really knows a lot about the subject. I've always felt that though I have great rendering abilities as far as drawing, that I didn't really measure up as a graphic designer. I just don't feel like I'm that creative. I'm probably being too hard on myself. It's getting to be crunch time as far as school is concerned, and soon I'll be out in the job market. The whole purpose of the class is too improve one's portfolio, so I guess I don't really have that much to worry about.

I just hope I don't get too harsh of a critique.

the road ahead

Today was my first day of classes for the Spring semester. I still had classes yet to register for, and I'm in the process of finally acquiring an intership so I can get some much-needed experience in the graphic design field. It won't be paid, but I'll get credit. . .and the aforementioned experience. There's also a possibility of getting hooked up with another design-related job either at the campus newspaper of this sign shop that my friend used work at.

I'm taking Senior Portfolio this semester, which means that I'm going to almost definitely have to redo all of my design projects that are worth anything. It's going to be a lot of hard work. I've never had the instructor before either, but he's very wisened and has lots of experience—

Ooh, this song called "Tear You Apart" by She Wants Revenge just came on. I got it as a free download from iTunes, and I love this song. They sound like a cross between Cake and The Killers, except a bit darker.

Anway, as I was saying. . . I have a lot of work to do this semester. Actually, I have a lot of work to do every semester, and then I end up slacking off at the end and struggling to get my final projects done on time.

. . .Yeah. But it was good to see all my classmates again. Everyone looks totally refreshed in contrast to how they looked at the end of last semester: all strung out and caffeined up with lots of sleep deprevation thrown in. Good times I tell ya. Good times.

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.

+ recent iTunes dloads:
· "Helena" and "I'm Not Okay (I Promise) by My Chemical Romance
· "Hands Down" by Dashboard Confessional

Yeah. I'm really feeling the emo/ansty music at the moment. The lyrics are always amazingly introspective, and I love that.

So, I went to photo class today and it was worth it. After a few people presented their artist response papers, we watched a video on Richard Avedon. I'd never heard of him before today, even though he's a very influential photographer. I was very inspired by his portrait photography. I'd like to try some shoots that emulate his style, just for experimentation.

I went to the hair stylist today and got a new cut. I like it lots. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it up. Next I want to get some highlights. I haven't dyed my hair in over a year because it's been damaged (mainly because I did it myself), but now that I've been going to my stylist regularly I think I'll try it again. My sister told me that I'm not a real artist because I don't have a cool hair style. I don't know about hair styles being a definitive measure of artistic devotion, but I agree that I needed a change. I truly wish that I could dye my hair extreme colors, but I refrain because would like to maintain a modicum of modesty with my appearance due to Christian values. Still there's always room for individuality, which I mostly express through my shirts with pithy sayings and little accents in the form of Strawberry Shortcake buttons.

^_^

+ listening to: "Everything" by Alanis Morissette

Well, I don't really feel any better than I did last night.

Today I'm going to the hair stylist and I'm planning on a drastic style change. I've been entertaining the idea of getting my hair cut short for years. Now it looks like I'm finally gonna do it. My sisters don't believe I have the guts, so I guess that gives me more impetus to go ahead with it. I'd really like to get some highlights as well, but I don't think I can afford it right now, and my hair is recovering from previous damage.

Anyway, I think a change will do me good.

I'm seriously considering not going to photo class today. We have a paper due, which I have barely started, and I don't know if it's my day to go.


:sigh: It's now 9:11. I guess I'll get ready to go to class. I've just considered some things I need to take care of.

feelin' that feeling

Let me tell you something
Tell you how I feel
When he comes around
I get to feelin ill
It's a achy feelin inside my chest
It's like I'm going into cardiac arrest

Adrenaline rushing in my body
All my power I just can't fight it
No matter how I keep on tryin'
I can't deny I got this...heartburn
Burnin in my soul
Call the fire department
It's out of control

—from "Heartburn" by Alicia Keys

+ listening to: "what if" by coldplay

Looking through alumni of my high school on the thefacebook.com I began to think back to the kind of people I went to high school with. A lot of people have joined fraternities and sororities (I try not to hold it against them).

Then my thoughts traveled to senior honors day. It was a program held near the end of the year in which scholarships were announced and awards were given out for the people with the highest averages in academic subjects and electives. There was one girl who received an award from her church. The presenter of the award told of what a nice and respectable young woman she was, and how honored she was of to be giving her the award?or something to that effect. The girl was overcome with emotion and teared up. I'm pretty sure she didn't know she was getting the award, so it made for a nice little moment.

The entire time, this is playing out, I'm thinking of what type of person she was in class. She was in my government and economics class, and we weren't friends, and I don't think we ever had an actual conversation. I do distinctly recall herbehaviorr in class. She wasn't disruptive or anything, but she did use pretty foul language quite often. I know for a fact that I almost definitely would not have remembered that about her had it not been for her getting the award for her commitment to her church.

Though I was 18 at the time (God, almost 5 years ago), I guess I was pretty naive. I knew that people acted differently with their peers than they did with their parents and other authority figures. That wasn't new to me. I was aware of the hypocrisy of it all, and was, and still am, turned off by it. I'll even admit that I don't act exactly the same around my parents as I do when they're not around. I just recall being so absolutely astounded that this girl was receiving an award, and she had the audacity to be touched by it, like she deserved it. I mean, sure, she probably was really devoted at church and was not a bad person. But that little incident in class just stuck out in my mind. If she was like that at school?so casually using very vulgar language?then how was she when she was elsewhere.

I'm not sure if I have a point, and I may come out sounding like a big hypocrite. I'm just expressing my feeling at that point in time. It was definitely a wake-up call to the ways of the world. I see it more today, and it still gets on my nerves. It's not the fact that the person is doing non-Christian things. It's the fact that they proclaim to be a Christian, but it only last for an hour a week. No, even that doesn't isn't it. It's the fact that they get praised for their few good efforts, when that's not really, truly, the type of person they are, "having some for of godly devotion but proving false to its power."

Stop Thinking About Her

Gone, she's gone
How do you feel about it
That's what I thought
You're real torn up about it
And I wish you the best
But I could do without it
And I will, because you've worn me down
Oh, I will, because you've worn me down

Worn me down like a road
I did everything you told
Worn me down to my knees
I did everything to please
But you can't stop thinking about her
No, you can't stop thinking about her

And you're wrong, you're wrong
I'm not overreacting
Something is off
Why don't we ever believe ourselves
And I, oh, I feel that word for you
And I will, because you've worn me down
Oh, I will because you have worn me down

Worn me down like a road
I did everything you told
Worn me down to my knees
I did everything to please
But you can't stop thinking about her
No, you can't stop thinking about her

She's so pretty; she's so damn right
But I'm so tired of thinking
About her tonight

Worn me down like a road
I did everything you told
Worn me down to my knees
I did everything to please
But you can't stop thinking about her
No, you can't stop thinking about her

Worn me down like a road
I did everything you told
Worn me down to my knees
I did everything to please
Worn me down like a road
I did everything you told to me to do
But you, you can't stop thinking about her
No, you can't stop thinking about her
No, you can't stop thinking about her
No, you can't stop thinking about her

—"Worn Me Down" by Rachael Yamagata

Carpe Diem

+ listening to: "tongue-tied" by Aqualung

Yesterday my friend Kevin treated me to my first outing to a little coffe house called Carpe Diem.







finis.

+ listening to: "crawling in the dark" by hoobastank

"In the homes of the black and white Americans of the same cultural and economic level one finds similar furniture, literature, and conversation. How, then, can the black American be expected to produce art and literature dissimilar to that of the white American?

Consider Coleridge-Taylor, Edward Wilmot Blyden, and Claude McKay, the Englishmen; Pushkin, the Russian; Bridgewater, the Pole; Antar, the Arabian; Latino, the Spaniard; Dumas, pere and fils, the Frenchmen; and Paul Laurence Dunbar, Charles W. Chestnut, and James Weldon Johnson, the Americans. All Negroes; yet their work shows the impress of nationality rather than race. They all reveal the psychology and culture of their environment?their color is incidental. Why should Negro artists of America vary from the national artistic norm when Negro artists in other countries have not done so?"

–from ?The Negro Art Hokum?, 1926 article by George Schuyler

More than once people have asked me why I don't draw more "black" people (males in particular). It's not an common question, but it has come up. So, while I may not agree with the article as a whole, I sympathize with the general idea. My art reflects my surroundings and my upbringing.

I could go way more in depth with my views and feelings about race and stereotypes. . .but I'm not. I'll just point out that I like to draw characters that are racially ambiguous. Of course, all of them have specific ethnicities and cultural backgrounds that I have in mind for them, but unless they're colored, I think, the viewer isn't really sure. Also, I don't draw a lot of males in general, because I'm not that good at it. I'm working on it, though. So, my lack of African-American male figures has nothing to do with my dislike of that particular group. On the contrary, it's because I don't want to do them injustice that I don't attempt to draw them much, if that makes any sense. Since I can't quite execute artistically the idealized version of said male, I stay on the safe side and draw other things (people) that I'm more confident in portraying–like pretty young women. ^_^

+ listening to: "not for all the love in the world" by The Thrills
+ mood: completely disoriented

I was awakened this morning by the wringing of my cell phone. It was on the other side of the room by my computer. I jumped out of the bed to answer it as I realized that I may have overslept for class. As I went for the phone. I looked at my alarm clock: 8:49.

Shoot.

I hastily answered, and after having a brief chat with my younger sister about her anxieties about turning in her argumentative essay on blood transfusion alternatives, I rushed to get ready.

Fully dressed, I went back to look at the clock. 9:02 a.m. My class doesn't start until 10:10. I don't know what was going on with my mind. It is now 9:11, so I've got about an hour to kill before class. I could be productive and work on sketches for my children's book, or layout for my web site design project. . . in so doing, actually being productive, for once.

Well, the first thing I'll do is go find some grub, because I'm always starving after my studio classesÃ?–they last two and a half to almost three hours, and we can't eat in the computer lab. I'll see what happens after that, and return this afternoon with a progress report.

+ listening to: "warning sign" by Coldplay

I just got back from the Photo Lab, working on my late self portrait assignment and my 3200 homework assignment that's due Thursday. I got to the lab at 6:45 p.m. . . .


Yeah. . . 6 hours of standing and I'm still not done. I did, however, get the 3200 print done.






.:sigh:.

What the. . .*what*?!?

This is a quote taken from a song lyrics site. The person was commenting about the song "Jesus Walks" by Kanye West.

"i luv it. its so kool. its the best thing to do with jesus. Jesus is so hot, almost as hot as the song. this is a great song and he explains jesus in an awesum way"

It's a bit unsettling—to say the least—to find someone thinks our Savior almost as hot as a song by Kanye West, or, what's more, that the person could think to put Jesus and Kanye in the same "hotness" category for said comparison.

+ listening to: "Amsterdam" by Coldplay

I am the worst photography student ever.










But I'm aware.
I'm working on it.

+ listening to: "Predictable" by Good Charlotte
+ reading: The final chapters of I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb

I just got back from my morning class, Senior Graphic Design. I had a corporate identity project do, and we had a critique. I'd say my project was pretty successful. The class liked it, anyway. There are a lot of other things that I wanted to do, and I got some good feedback as to what I could change to make it better. Some other people had some really nice designs as well. There's one girl in my class who does these really awesome designs. In all her projects she displays a really good, innate sense of unity and creates these nice patterns with shapes. She's also an awesome illustrator. She always has problems when it comes to craftmanship, but I envy her design capabilities.

+ listening to: "The First Taste" by Fiona Apple

However, I think it's good to have someone in the class who you feel that way about. It pushes me to be more creative with my designs. Not to necessarily be better than that person, but just to come out of your shell more. Interestingly, she really likes the designs that I do.

+ listening to: "Older Chests" by Damien Rice

But it's been a good morning. This afternoon I go to Web Design class with Kyeong. Today we're going to start learning flash. I always end up dozing off during lectures because all the lights are off . . .But that was before I had the text book. If I can follow along I should be ok.

Now I shall devour the bacon, cheddar and mushroom melt that my wonderful sister brought me from Wendy's.

+ listening to: The Ghost of You by Good Charlotte
+ reading: On Photography by Susan Santog
+ watching: The Goonies

I just bought an iTrip for my iPod mini. It lets you play your iPod through the car stereo of FM radio. It's cool, cuz it's a cheap way to remedy not having a CD player in any of the vehicles at my house.

We finally got high speed internet access at my house. I'm so relieved. It was really trying having to go up to the computer lab just to use the internet, especially since I like to go to side that are graphic intense. So now procrastination has become a lot more convenient for me. That's not too good. . .

+ listening to: Get Lifted by John Legend

We had a critique in photography today. I wasn't prepared. Since I went out of town this weekend to the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival this past weekend, I wasn't able to go the lab and get anything done. Realistically, since I knew I was going to the festival back in August, I should have just gotten my stuff done early. I could have gotten my stuff done. But I'm me, so it didn't happen. Now I've got to slave this weekend, but it's my responsibility. Hopefully I can at least get to the movies to see Into the Blue.

Mactopia

+ listening: my dad playing Generals: Command & Conquer
+ watching: Napoleon Dynamite
+ reading: Dreamweaver MX 2004 H.O.T (hands-on training) by R. Yeung

Yesterday evening I received my new Mac in mail. Now when I go to class I'll join the other "islanders" as my friend Kevin refers to the people who dock at the table in the center of the computer lab, away from the other computers lining the wall. The most that I've used it so far is to play and download music, so my dad commented that all he bought me was a very expensive MP3 player. But hey, what else am I supposed to do w/ this thing?

I bought the student version of Dreamweaver MX 2004 for my web design class. The bookstore was out of Adobe CS2, so I have to wait til another order comes in sometime next week. Honestly, when I first got my computer, I didn't really know what to do with it. I mean, it has so much capability, and I'm amazed to actually have something like it. I feel really humbled and fortunate to be able to get one at this point in time.

Enough mushiness. . .

This new computer ROX! : D

+ listening to: "God Put A Smile on Your Face" by coldplay
+ mood: Just got lifted by John Legend
+ reading: I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb

I haven't drawn anything not school-related in the longest time. So I was at movie gallery chatting it up with my favourite Customer Service Associate, Shawn. Currently Movie Gallery is having this promotional thing where customers write their #1 reason to rent, and they post it on the wall. I had done one already, but Shawn asked me to draw a picture, since I had mentioned before that I was an art student. This is what I came up with:

Cause & Effect

Well, hurricane Katrina did a terrible number on the Gulf Coast, where I happen to live. I'm located in Mobile, AL. We sustained some damage, a lot of downed trees and power outages (and we no longer have a fence around our backyard), but nothing compared to Louisiana and Mississippi.

An unexpected result of Katrina's strike is that it's allowed me to get that Mac I've been talking about. A 15" Powerbook G4, to be exact. See, my dad owns a lawn maintenance and tree removal company. So when storms come through, or threaten, he naturally gets more business.

After being out of college for a week, I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. I'm already going to be late turning in my first photography assignment. I've got a logo design due Monday that I haven't even started the computer work on, and I've got a project proposal due for my web site design class that I still need to reference (of the three things it's the nearest to being complete). I've also got three movie rentals that are overdue. So much for getting on the ball this semester.

There's even a career expo at school this Tuesday that I should be preparing to attend, since I plan on graduating in the Spring, but I totally don't feel like it. The professional world seems so overwhelming, but alas, I must join it eventually.

Into the Swing

I just finished the fist week of what will hopefully be my last year of school. It's all gone by so quickly. I can't put it off any longer. I have to seriously consider what I'm going to do after graduation. I also have to concentrate on doing really well in all of my classes, photography especially. Last spring I bombed that class so badly, barely passsing. I'm going to improve my technical skills so can make better images.

I'm also taking Web Design this semester. I'm hoping to translate the things I learn in that class to this site. We've only got one project the whole semester, which is to design a website with a specific theme. . . .I'll see how it goes.

I'm in Senior Graphic Design, and that class is so jam-packed. I registered for it late. So the second day of class I came, and I was late, so I didn't even have a chair to sit in as there are only 18 computer stations. I'm trying to get my dad to get my a mac laptop, so I will be easier for me to work. I've got a PC at home, and though I have the graphic software I sometimes run into problems when I try to transfer the files I worked on at home to the school computer. That's what I'm really looking forward to getting.

Yeah. . . That's what's going on right now. I've got so much work to do this weekend.