once again the stress has returned. it's coming up on midterm and i have almost nothing to show for this semester photography-wise. i am doing my bfa review in april and need to have a substantial amount of work to show for that, but we haven't even started our projects in color. i just need to get my butt in gear i guess. 

i am glad this week is over, though. got an 'a' on my contemporary exam and i think i did well on my AOA essay test today. i also got my annotated bib turned in for contemporary and just need to figure out my paper now. agh...it's just neverending sometimes. 

i get so frustrated that i don't ever have time to work on stuff for myself--projects that i want to do. i like the work i do in school but sometimes i just want to spend a few hours working on something thats not going to be graded. or even catch up on some reading. or watch a good movie. i guess that's what summers are for..

gonna go drink some tea and finish a comic.

oscars

i have a 5 reference annotated bibliography due in contemporary art history on tuesday and at this point, i don't really even have a clear idea of what i am writing about/researching. i checked out a ton of books on the beat era and was planning on writing about art of this time, but i can't specify the direction or focus on my research. needless to say...i'll be up for a while tonite and tomorrow. ugh. any suggestions welcome...(distractions also welcome.....)

titled this blog "oscars" only because i'm watching them and writing this instead of doing the damn bib. i don't really have anything to say about them except i am glad slumdog is winning a lot, and i'm really happy that heath ledger won best supporting actor. 

i guess i'll go do some freaking research now.

i finally caved and let people convince me to check out some comics/graphic novels. luke bought me sandman, and i think i'm going to get y: the last man as well... i haven't started any of them yet, but i'm secretly excited. shhh. ;-)

nothing too exciting today. just did a few things on campus, had lunch at kaldi's, had a good workout at the gym, and ran around target, barnes and noble, and walmart (bought nothing) this evening with dan and julie. we drove to rendezvous and they were so busy there were no tables, so we just went back to dan's and watched supersize me. that was a pretty entertaining/disgusting/amusing etc. film. ironically i ate carrots and peanut butter, a clementine, and fresh apple/carrot juice while watching it. 

my house is looking slightly bare and in disarray right now. amanda moved out taking some of our decorations and things with her, so i guess i'll either have to make some things to decorate or take a little trip to the flea market. either sound fun to me. :-)

and lastly, today is my four-year anniversary with luke. he makes me happy and i can't wait to see him wednesday. we're gonna get massages (of course) and then i think we'll go somewhere fun for dinner and see coraline.

he will also finally be bringing rylee home to me. her surgery went well but my mom has been watching her for the past week. it's kind of tough to go without your dog for a while when she's constantly there. don't judge me.  

(i'm kind of bored if you couldn't tell..)

i am procrastinating big time...

i have a test in my AOA art history class tomorrow and i have not studied. at all. i've attempted to about 12 times now, but have gotten distracted by something every time. imagine that.

example: book shopping today at book castle-bought 6 new (used) books consisting of palahniuk, vonnegut, and a couple others. 

i should probably finish "on the road" (kerouac) and "the historian" (kostova) before i start any of them, but i just love opening a new book. 

alright...i should study and drink coffee. here's a parting gift. it's an oceanic wood carving. you just learned something new. you're welcome.

audios!

what's this?

ahh, yes, an update..

i am just sitting here, at home, on my couch, on this lovely, gray, saturday afternoon. i don't know when the last time this sort of thing occurred, but i am certainly enjoying it... i think.. i was supposed to work, but jess needed more hours, so i let her take mine. i should probably work considering the fact that i've been on vacation the last week, but hey, what's one more day when your paycheck is gonna be small anyway? and you can never have too many days off work..unless of course the bills aren't getting paid...then it may be too many...

anyway..

like i mentioned, i just got back from vacation. luke and i went to breckenridge so he could do a little snowboarding. it was a great time. we ate, relaxed, snowboarded, hot tubbed, walked around town, watched tv, and went to bed at 7 everyday...hahaha. no, really though, we did get in bed at like 7 or 8 everyday that we were there. it was lovely. i say i boarded, but really i just fell down the mountain. i've only been on a snowboard once previously and i've never skied so i was definitely an amateur. we went up the lift one time, it took 2 and a half hours for me to get to the bottom, and by the time we did, i was done and exhausted. i did ok after a while i think, but i definitely felt like i had whiplash all over my body from all the falls i took. i'm glad to be home, but i do miss luke. spending that much time with him just reminds me how much i miss him when we're apart.

other than that my break was pretty unproductive but nice. i went home for a couple of days to see my family over christmas. this year's christmas was pretty low key. i never really got in the spirit, so i felt kinda bummed at how anti-climatic the season was. maybe that's just what happens as you get older.. 

oh ya, last semester ended pretty well too. i got an "A" in my photography class as well as my printmaking class, and a "B" in my art history and ceramics classes. i was pretty well expecting the grades i got, although i thought i would get a lower grade in my photo and print classes. i just felt like i could've given more to those two classes, but i was really happy i got the grades that i did. especially in my photo class...i think it's probably pretty difficult to get A's in upper level classes, so i'm really excited i was able to get one in my first upper level photo class. 

my schedule this coming semester isn't too bad. i have two art history classes and two photo classes. i only have one class at 1pm monday, wednesday, and friday, and i don't start class until 11 on tuesday and thursday. i think i'll have a lot more time for myself this semester. i am doing my BFA review to be accepted into the photo program so that will take up some of my time, but i'm thinking it won't be too terribly stressful. 

i guess that's about all... maybe i'll update before 2 months pass again :-)

fun week

it's definitely been a blasty blast of a week. it was good to just have fun and not worry about much. the end of the semester is coming up really fast and i still have a ton to do, but i think i'm feeling a little refreshed after taking a breather. i just need to hit the studio hard the next few weeks to make sure i'm on track.

still to do:

finish 9x12 etching

6x9 etching

9x12 linocut

80 more photos shot and developed

contact sheets for those 80

prints galore

final prints, retouched, mounted

handbuilt piece in ceramics

glaze 8 jars and above piece

ceramics paper

art history paper

art history exams

phew. i can do it. soon enough i'll be looking at one more semester down which is great. next semester i will not stretch myself so thin. i am working about 30 hours a week and going to school for 3 studio classes and 1 lecture totaling about 21 hours of actual in class time. my only day off is sunday. it is really difficult to keep going like that. next semester i will only have 2 studios and won't have class until 1 on MWF and 11 on TTh. I'm planning on working about 25 hours and definately having more than just sunday off. i can't wait!

off to bed to wake up for another glorious monday.

playing catch-up.

i skipped my ceramics class and art history class today to play catch-up and work on photos for my critique tomorrow. slightly counter-productive huh? i went to joann's and walmart to get stuff for the still life set up and came back with the intention of taking 10 photos, but when i went to load my film, i realized i only had 4 pieces. it ended up working out ok because i didn't have enough time to take more than 4 anyway. 

i made it to my printmaking class a little late after shooting those four and worked on my plate a while. i'm being a little "ambitious" with this piece, but i think we decided that's not a bad thing. :-) it will be a lot of work, but i'm up to the challenge. i'm going to work on it some this weekend and try and get ahead on it.

i spent a few hours in the dark room finishing up my prints for the critique tomorrow. i ended up printing the 4 negatives i shot this afternoon, and they all looked good enough. one of the set-ups was a little more contemporary which ended up being my favorite. the prints are a little dark, but i didn't want to spend all night in the dark room, so they'll do for the critique. i'm looking forward to hearing what everyone has to say about them.

time to make some tea and read for a while. i'll work on posting some of my work later this week.