Archive for November, 2008
Second place and Thanksgiving break are the best.
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.
Battle and portraits.
Semester is nearing and that means a barage of assignments and presentations is too. I think those few weeks where I had very little homework and easy assignments was just some sort of sick foreshadowing of what is to come. It’s a bad form of teasing really. Just when I think the work load is thinning and I can see the light at the end of the dark, dismal tunnel that is school, the tunnel collapses and kills me. Makes me think of a classic war scene in the movies; when the underdog has eliminated all of its opponents in sight and when they begin to rejoice an endless flood of more opponents comes rushing from over a hilltop or something. It’s sad and disheartening. Will the underdog that is me ever win against its opponent that is homework? I believe it is a losing battle. However, I must be courageous and fight ’til the end. It has to do with pride, or something. …Or the desire to not fail and not waste my money and time.
Other than school work, I have been drawing a lot lately. I have had this unignorable itching to sketch portraits. So far I have drawn six different pictures. I strayed from the realistic approach with my art for the past few years and I felt like it was time to venture back into it. I really enjoy it. I like taking realistic photos and manipulating them somehow and giving them a sense of endless identity. I’m not sure if you understand what I am saying, most people I try to explain it to usually don’t. Maybe you will understand it better by looking at the pictures I have posted below. Click on the thumbnail to be linked to a larger view of the picture.
If you look at these, you should leave me a comment and let me know what you think. One day I will have an online portfolio, but until then, I will have to beg your thoughts on blogs like this. I will post some of my other stuff on my next blog. I would do it now, but I don’t want to overwhelm you. And, that is also my secret ploy in order to get you to come back and read my future blogs. And that is assuming you might actually have some sort of desire to see more of my work…
People make Andrew Jackson cry.
This has been a terrible week for me. Mostly because of today’s events. Let me tell you about them. Last night I went to see the movie Wall-E at the local dollar theater, The Omni 4, and I accidentally left my wallet there. Let it be noted that my wallet contains very important things, for example my credit cards, contact cards, personal information, etc. etc. It is my own fault for leaving it there and I realize this. I spent the entire day having mini panic attacks when I would think about what could result of it ending up in the wrong hands. However, I knew it was there. I waited for five hours and missed a class so I could meet the person opening the store so I could get it right away. I got it and immediately checked if anything was missing. Low and behold, all of my cash was gone. I went to the last showing of the night and the only people in or out of the building were the two closing employees. It was undeniably one of them who ripped me off. I am upset about losing the money, naturally, but I am more upset at the fact that people can be that dishonest and be that lacking in morals. I would never do that to someone. Never. Sometimes I encounter very nice people that will help me say, change a flat tire or give me directions, and I gain some faith in mainkind. You know, that they really aren’t terrible, but then I encounter people like these. And my faith is smashed. I just want to let local readers know that the Omni 4 has some very dishonest employees and they cannot be trusted. I am sad because of this. I am also sad because I missed my class, of which, I did all my homework for. I don’t know if losing a wallet is a good excuse for missing class or not. I mean, considering I did not have a license or anything, I had no legal way to get there. So, I guess we will see.
The theives make Andrew Jackson sad.
On another more uplifting note, the movie Frida was fantastic. I reccommend it to anyone and everyone. The story was so engaging and interesting. Not to mention the filming was beautiful. I have always thought Frida Kahlo’s life story was interesting, but this movie brings it to life and lets you see into it on a personal level. It gives her and her work a whole new meaning. It is a sensational movie. Please see it.
Oh yeah, and sometimes on this blog I get comments from robots posting spam comments, and I got a funny one on one of my previous blogs. It was from Ganzalo Estevez at ilovechocolate.com. It reads:
“Hello webmaster. I am going to check it, since I saw a comment in another site regarding \”\”. Someone related to candy from mexico. Thanks anyway.” …I have no idea what this means, but it makes me laugh. Clearly it’s spam, but not very good spam.
Cold days and Frida Kahlo.
Did anyone else see the snow flurries the other day? I want to say that it is too early for winter, but then I look at the calendar and realize it is already November 10th. In previous years it has already snowed several feet by now, so I should be sending my love to the skies. Don’t get me wrong, I love the snow very much, but I am just not ready! I dug my winter coat out today. I believe I put it off for as long as I could. It has become necessary. It is far too cold to bundle up with just a couple hoodies and a scarf. The thing that makes me resent winter a little bit are the illnesses it brings. I was miserably sick all of last week with a cold. I am getting better, though. Is there some sort of rule that says you can only get sick once every few months? I sure hope so, because I have done my time.
Another thing about the winter months is that the days seem to drag. I love the cozy, laid back-ness of them, but I hate how long the days are. It leaves to much room for me to lose focus from important things, like school for example. I think that I have been slacking way too much. I missed several classes last week due to my cold, but I really did not mind. I always find other things to do instead of homework. I shouldn’t do that, though. I missed a lot of a homework that I now have to make up. Along with other assignments that I put off. I feel very congested with school. In reality, though, I do not have that much work to do. It just is so much less fun in comparison to say, video games. Maybe if they made homework into a video game I would do it. But, then again, how fun could that game really be? I should just buckle down and do my work. Afterall, it is my education, my time, my money and my future.
A few friends and I recently participated in a competition. We heard about it through Iowa Western and thought it might be an interesting thing to do. We had to use a plastic bag in a creative way that is also environmentally friendly. We also had to create a 3 - 5 minute video about our creation. Click on the picture below to watch our awesome video! Everyone cross your fingers that we win something! Maybe the combined wishing of everyone will make us succeed.
Tonight I will be spending my time working on homework. I am very excited. (Not really.) However, I am watching the movie Frida for an assignment. I’ve always wanted to see that movie. It is about the life of the artist Frida Kahlo. I learned a lot about her during my high school years in art class. She’s not my favorite artist, but I think her life story is very interesting. I don’t know much else about the video, but the cover shows that it won some stuff. I don’t remember what stuff exactly, but hey, it won. So, somebody somewhere thought it was good. After watching it I have to write a movie review. I hope I love it and can write a very sincere and passionate response. It’s always more fun when you either really like or really dislike something you have to write about. I will post what I think of it in my next blog.
(The Frame by Frida Kahlo.)
