Em’s Blogtime Fun

     Well, it is Thursday the 7th of May and the semester is coming to an end.  I have a few more class periods in a couple different courses and then Spring Semester 2009 will be no more.  It almost brings a tear to my eye, to see it all go.  But then I realize that I don’t care and I am excited for some fun summer times.  Is everyone else loving the weather, too?  It is so wonderful, but I wish there were more thunderstorms.  That’s the best part of spring– rain.
      Let me give you a run-down of what I have left to complete for this semester: a 12 page paper, a 4 page paper, a million art projects, two stories, a test, a thread and this blog post.  90% of it is due by Monday.  I think I might die.  I also work a ridiculous amount of hours this weekend.  It will be so awesome.  For reals.
     I must be on my way to class now, however.  I am in the school’s computer lab redoing a paper that was due a month ago.  It is done and I feel a little lightened.  I am going to post again later and show you this super sweet drawing I did in Computer Art.  You’ll love it.  I’ll give you a hint as to what it is:  aliens and archeology.  Whoo.

This is a hurricane.  Sweet, huh?  Nature is so awesome.

(This blogging program does not work.  Sorry for the huge paragraph.  It will not let me make new paragraphs and keeps lumping everything together.  I am very frustrated.)     The end of the spring semester is nearing and it is overwhelming.  I have so many papers, projects and countless other things due in the next week or so.  I do not know what to do!  I am so incredibly busy.  It is very stressful.  I just keep reminding myself that it will all be over in just a little while, and then it will be nice.  Sweet freedom is close.  I can almost taste it.  But, not quite.  All I can taste right now is a nice mouthful of work.  Work tastes disgusting.     The weather is so beautiful lately!  I absolutely love it.  Rain here and there, real sun peeking out– it’s fantastic.  And you know what I noticed today?  Lilacs are in bloom!  In bloom, I say!  I am so excited.  They are my all-time favorite flower.  I love everything about them.  Every single thing.  They are so cool and beautiful and fragrant.  I am going to pick a million from my neighbor’s yard next week.  I wonder if they dislike it when I steal their flowers…  I’ll pick some tulips from my yard and leave them on their doorstep.  That will make it okay.       And you know what else?  Tomorrow is May Day!  This will be the first year I have not delivered May baskets to my friends.  It is disheartening, but the work consumes all of my time.  Here is a virtual May basket for you, though, my lovely reader.  Enjoy!   

     I have not posted in awhile, and I am sorry.  A lot has been going on lately.  My jobs and school have picked up and doubled in expectations over the past three weeks.  It is mind-numbing.  I only have two minutes to post this right now.  I will post again later.        The weather is so beautiful today!  Yesterday was divine as well.  Someone at the local grocery store told me that storms are on the way.  I am super excited.  There really is almost nothing finer than a spring storm.  Looove them.  The trees are abloom and the sky is blue.  How wonderful.     On a not so wonderful note, I have to go to work.  I want to show you guys some pictures of cool things in my next post.  I won’t tell you what they are– surprises are better.  So, check back in about… 10 hours.  Well, maybe 24 depending.  I will post something in 10 hours, though.  Surprises are the best.  And, I like iced coffee. 

      The times are busy!  I just got home from one of my jobs and my feet ache.  It was fun, though.  I sold a lot of fish and crickets and also got to snuggle a very, very cute guinea pig.  I named it Toady, even though it will get renamed later by its new parent.  Toady will never forget me, I can see it in his eyes.  He loves me.
      Over spring break I worked a total of 70 - 80 hours.  It almost killed me.  By Friday of that week, I was pretty sure death was not far.  With that week being so stressful and tiring, this week looks like a delicious piece of easy cake.  I don’t know what an easy cake is, but I am sure it’s good and well, easy.  I am only scheduled for 40 or so hours at both jobs combined this week.  That leaves a little time for homework and some time to do fun things.  I see myself making a few trips to the arcade…  What with the enormous paycheck I’ll be getting this Friday.  I am looking forward to all those cheap plastic toys I will win with my tickets at the arcade.  Last time I got a super awesome plastic boomerang and a blowup hammer with alien heads on it.  What’s cooler than that?  A lot of things, yeah, but it’s still pretty cool.
      Jumping back into schoolwork is a little trying after the ease of spring break.  It was nice never having to worry about homework or getting to class on time.  If I hadn’t been working every single day all day, I would have slept in until at least 5 PM every day, I know it.  That sounds so good right about now.  Sleep, how sweet it is.  I have a lot of homework to do tonight and tomorrow night.  A little overwhelming, but what can you do.  I think homework is a part of school or something.  Maybe it should be abolished.  I don’t think my professors realize how much time the arcade takes up and how little time it leaves for homework after going there.  And really, video games > homework always.  I would suggest turning homework into video games and doing it that way; you know, two birds with one stone.  But then I think back to days when I was a kid and my mom would bring home computer games like, “Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing!” and “Wacky Math Games!” and “Learn A Lot Play A Lot!”  I think they have to add an exclamation mark at the end of the titles because they know the game kind of blows by itself.  Have to add it to make it at least appear that it might be in some way fun.  There was this one game, though, that Mom brought home that was super fun and super educational.  It was called Math Blaster Mystery.  I played that for years.  You got to be an alien that traveled around a haunted house and did math problems to gain coins.  I forget what you did with the coins, but I am sure you bought cool plastic toys or something.  Or maybe delicious treats.  Whatever it was, that game was fun and taught me a lot of math.  I like being an alien.
                                                                  
      You know what else is good?  Cheddar Chex Mix.  I am eating it now, and it is so satisfying.  However, it also makes me a little angry.  You know when you reach into the bag thinking, ‘Wow!  This is so good.  I love those chex squares, I hope there’s a lot in this handful’?  And then you pull out your treasure and it’s practically 90% pretzels.  That makes me so angry.  Who even likes the freakin’ pretzels?  Not me.  I like them when everything else in the bag is gone and I have nothing else to eat.  So, pretty much only when I am desparate do I like pretzels.  Now, if they put in those huge soft pretzels you can get at the movies, that’d be another story.  You wouldn’t even need the chex or the cheddar.  Those soft pretzels are tops.  Did you know you can buy those in bulk at Sam’s Club?  I’ve gotten them before.  So good to be able to make a treat like that at home.  Tasty things are not just for movies anymore– they’re for always!  I like cheese on mine.  I also like them rolled in parmesan cheese.  We should send a letter to the Chex Mix company requesting that they get rid of the small, nasty pretzels and use the big soft ones instead.  Maybe they’d go for it.  Let me know if you want in.

      It is time for me to work on homework.  I have a test, a discussion, a paper, a reading, three art projects, and two stories to write by tomorrow-ish.  Tonight will be the best night of my life.  Late night homework is easily my most favorite thing to do.  Just kidding.  I have a bag full of pretzels now.  I think I will put them back in the cupboard.  When someone sees the bag they will get excited for cheddar chex, and then ha!  None.  Just nasty pretzels.  Joke’s on you.  I dislike pretzels.  Lemonade.

 P.S.  I added two new games to this site!  Look on the right side of the page under the ‘GAMES’ module.  Playyy them.  They are the best.

     Firstly, I am sorry I haven’t posted in a few weeks.  It feels like the time just slips away lately.  I do not know where it goes!  I have been incredibly busy, though.  The last time I posted I mentioned starting a new job.  I have finally gotten back into the swing of working.  Although, I don’t necessarily enjoy it.  There’s something about making millions of sandwiches every day that really, really gets me down.  I worked at this job for three and a half years, took a sixth month break, and am back.  I have gotten to the point where I can pretty accurately guess just by looking at someone what kind of sandwich they are going to order.  Weird, huh?  I bet you are thinking, ‘What kind of sandwich do I look like I would order?’  Because, that’s what I think too.  I wonder if I would be able to know what I would order if I saw myself as a customer.  Pretty unlikely that I would ever want to go somewhere to get a sandwich, though.  I see way too many everyday to enjoy them anymore.  Quite sad really, because sandwiches are a genius creation.

I’m not really sure what is happening in this cartoon, but I like it. I think the guy is disappointed by the size of the fast food burger, and is going to go for the footlong sub.

     Adding onto the hectic schedule a new job brings, I have picked up another.  I am starting next week at another job.  I am overjoyed.  I will be working with animals and animal owners.  I think it will be a fun experience.  I love animals and I like talking with people who love their own animals, so it will be a good fit.  The only thing I am wary about is working two jobs, going to school, and keeping up on my art.  It will be a very busy life for awhile, I think.  That is okay, though, because it will help me get where I really need to be for the future.
     Midterms are also here.  I have had a couple so far, but I have more coming.  They have not been difficult so far, and I have been almost completely prepared.  It is nice looking at As on SAIL.  I just have to make sure to stick with everything to the best of my ability.  Blogging included.  I will find time for everything, I know it, but it is easy to get discouraged.
     I am also taking a road trip with a friend to go look at some colleges.  I am very excited for that.  Where I find the time, I am not really sure.  I will post again this week with that cartoon I promised in my previous blog.  I have to visit my friend who has a scanner.  I like lemonade.

This looks so refreshing.

     It has taken me over a week to find time to sit down and write to you guys.  I have been swamped with homework and I also started a new job.  Well, not new, but I haven’t worked it in over six months.  I have been working a lot of hours these past few weeks– it’s killing me, but the pay makes it worthwhile.  I am finding that I took all that free time I had last semester for granted.  Sometimes I would just sit and watch the sky.  For hours.  Now I can only catch quick glances as I pass from one building to another.  I appreciate architecture and buildings and everything, but dang, I wish they had glass ceilings or something.  Wouldn’t that be neat?  That way you could always see the sky.  Instead of beams and ceiling tiles.
     This is going to be a short post, seeing as I am in passing from class to work.  I have fifteen minutes between the two and thought I’d be productive.  I most likely have tomorrow off from work, thank goodness, and will post again with a drawing I did about my job.  Check back tomorrow!

     The 2009 spring semester is underway!  After the first week, I can confidently say that I am excited to see what the semester will bring.  My classes all seem very interesting and beneficial.  I am taking Design I, Drawing II, Intro to Psychology, Composition II, Creative Writing and Computer Art.  It’s exciting to think about all the things I am going to learn.
     While being back at school gives me something to do during the day, I can’t help but sit here and frown because semester break is over.  The last week of my break I took a trip to southern California to visit some good friends of mine.  It was one of the best trips of my life.  Quite possibly tied for first place on my list of awesome things I have done.  I flew alone, (I’ve only ever flown once before this, so it is a big deal) and I felt so independent and powerful.  Well, not powerful in a sense like I could challenge a thousand armies and win or something, but powerful because what I did with my time was really up to me– without a dozen eyes watching me every second helping me do what I am “suppose” to do.  It was nice.  My first flight, however, was delayed until the next day, which was a bummer, but the next flight was roomy and comfortable.  I caught a second connecting flight in Minneapolis, MN.  This flight is one for the memories.  I met an interesting girl from Washington DC on the plane who loved to talk.  About everything, actually.  I’m not sure whether it was a good or bad thing, though.  It was entertaining nonetheless.  The big thing about this flight, though, is what happened in the middle of the flight.  I was chatting with Miss DC and all of a sudden I heard several gasps come from the back of the plane (I was in row 06 C).  Right after a man yells, “WE NEED A DOCTOR.”  I almost wanted to check for cameramen or something, because no way does this happen in real life.  We had to make an emergency landing in Rapid City, SD.  The man who needed medical assistance was safely taken off the plane and rushed to a hospital.  My prayers are with him.  After the instance, though, Miss DC could not stop talking about death and the apocalypse.  It was funny, though, because right after the sick man was taken off of the plane, the people behind us began coughing.  Immediately Miss DC turned to me with the most serious face I have seen in a long time and said, “What if he had an infectious disease?”  I wanted to laugh right there because of the irrationality of the question, but instead I returned the serious look and said, “Then we’re going to catch it, and then it will work its way to the captain, and…”  I think that may have been the wrong thing to say at the wrong time, but sometimes I don’t think until I already say the thing I should have thought about saying.  At any rate, I thought it was funny.  We landed safely in Palm Springs, CA and my adventure continued.
                             
               
     My friends live in the Marine Corps base at Twentynine Palms, CA, an hour or so away from Palm Springs.  It was interesting to get a first-hand look at the daily life and living environment of base-residing Marines.  Twnetynine Palms is only three hours away from Las Vegas, NV–  that is, if you drive through the Mojave Desert.  Since it was so nearby, we decided to spend a day there.  I have been to Vegas before, but it felt like an entirely new place.  In the sense that I didn’t get to really experience it the first time (visited with my parents).  Surprisingly, though, I still knew my way around Vegas three years after I had gone the first time.  It was a trip to remember.  I met some interesting people.  One guy that I remember most distinctly was a guy in a green shirt on a corner.  He was funny– however, he also tried to sell me questionable things.  But, can you really go to Vegas and not experience that?  Part of the life there.  There were a lot of really, really awesome street performers, too.  My favorite, other than the magicians, was a guy dressed as a robot.  He was so awesome.  He was covered head to toe in silver paint and silver sparkles.  That is a dream of mine, actually.  Not necessarily silver, but just to be covered in sparkles and shiny paint.  What a glorious job that must be!  I also really enjoyed the large-scale water show that the Bellagio hotel and casino put on.  You can click on the picture below to watch one of the shows that my friend caught with her camera:

             
                                                                  [The Vegas strip]
                                            
                                                                    [Emily and Katy]
On the way home from Vegas was the real adventure.  Leaving Vegas around 11 PM, we ended up getting to the desert around midnight.  Firstly, let me tell you how absolutely beautiful the desert was.  The moon was almost at the biggest it’d be in all of 2009 and it illuminated everything with a subtle blue glaze.  You could see every star, it seemed.  Seeing the moon hanging above the tops of the mountains with stars shining around it was absolutely breathtaking.  And the temperature was so perfect.  It was that perfect spot right between warm and cold.  Just right.  Eventhough the desert was beautiful, it became a little scary.  Probably because we got lost in the middle of it for about an hour.  I was running a fever, so I was no help finding the way, and my friend was on her own.  I am still sorry, friend.  We eventually got back to her house around 3 AM, safe and sound.
     A lot more happened on my trip, but I will spare you, because this is already unbearably long.  I just want everyone to know that I appreciate the beauty and awesomeness of southern California.  I think I am visiting there again in March over spring break.  I am beyond excited.  I am not excited right now, though, because I must do homework.
           
       [This is a tree covered in shoes that we passed on our way to Vegas.  Creepily awesome.]

     Final week is coming.  I am not stressed out about final week really.  Compared to last week, it will be a breeze.  They really should warn you about pre-final week too.  It’s not fun, but at least it is over.  I am so excited to be finished with the fall semester.  This was my first full semester at Iowa Western and it was a complete success.  It was a positive time for me really.  I attended classes, did the homework and recieved all of the credits I signed up for.  I am very happy.  However, a few final tests still await.  We’ll see how they go.  I should be fine, but sometimes I think I am fine and I end up not being fine at all.  In regards of test-taking, I mean.
     With all of the homework I have been doing, I have been listening to a lot of music.  I have comprised a playlist fo you to listen to if you want to hear some very good music.  Click here to be linked to it.  It includes some of my favorite bands, songs and also some good homework-doing music.  Check it out.
     I took a trip to the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, NE this morning.  It is free before 11 AM on Saturdays.  It’s a good deal, let me tell you.  Until January 18th they are hosting an exhibit of Diego Rivera’s work.  It includes Rivera’s work from the collection of the Museum of Art of the State of Veracruz.  There are a lot of drawings and watercolors as well as some oil paintings he has done.  It is very interesting.  I reccommend it to anyone and everyone.  There is something that is so neat and inspiring about looking at a work of art that the artist had once been physically creating.  Kind of like a convergence of time and thought between you, the viewer, and the artist.  I love the Joslyn.  I am very grateful to have an art museum with such a beautiful and extensive collection right here at home.  You should browse their website at http://www.joslyn.org.  It includes any information you would like to know about their galleries, exhibitions (current and upcoming), events, and more.  It’s worth taking a look at.

Diego Rivera, Segadores (Harvesters), 1956, dibujo al carbón y acuarela (charcoal and watercolor), Collection of The Governor of the State of Veracruz, the Veracruz Institute of Culture, and the Museum of Art of the State of Veracruz

Good luck with finals!

     It is the day after Thanksgiving and I know I am not the only one who says, ‘THANK THE HEAVENS IT IS BREAK.’  It’s not that the work load is too much, it is just that I need a break from the monotonous routine.  I don’t know how I did it in highschool.  I guess I was a little bit of (or a lot of) a slacker when it comes to school then too, but it was year-round without the awesome break between semesters.  I appreciate the breaks more than I could ever say.
     I have some very good news.  I don’t know if you remember an older post of mine (if not, scroll down and look!), but I posted a video project that me and two other students at IWCC did.  It was for a competition where we had to make an environmentally friendly and creative product out of plastic bags.  I found out on Wednesday that we won second place!  Not only did we get a very incrdible prize, but our video is entered in the national competition.  I’m not sure if we’ll be as successful in that, but I am very proud that our work was worthwhile.  I will post the video again for anyone who missed it in my earlier post and for those who don’t want to scroll down to find it.  Just click on the image below to be linked to the video.
                              
     The next two days of break will be spent working on the annoying amount of presentations that I have due next week.  Why do all instructors insist on giving power point presentations as final assignments?  I have 4 power points to complete.  It is not that they are hard or anything, it is just annoying that I have so many.  What happened to just giving lots of tests at the end of semester?  Or maybe I will have those too.  Break is awesome.