This is what I’ll more than likely be doing when the semester’s over, in no particular order…
- Sleeping
- Watching all of the movies that I’ve missed this semester
- Throwing a belated birthday party (the good kind…the kind where your brain is still fuzzy three days later)
- Working
- Working on photo projects (now that I’m not taking any more photo classes I can finally do my own thing)
- Freelancing
- Finding an appartment in LA
So I finished my Digital I class today, and it’s photo class that I’ll be taking. I decided to drop my minor because I’d rather focus on writing - besides since I’m going to LA I wouldn’t be able to take anymore photo classes anyways.
I didn’t think that I’d be sad about leaving the Photo Dept. but I kinda am. I always felt like the odd one out because the other students that are Photo Majors all know each other because they take a bunch of classes together where those who minor kind of wander in and out of what they need to take. The kids in that department would come up with the most amazing, detailed projects and I’d usually end up feeling like a total hack.
Then there were the teachers… most of them were cool but there was at least one (who shall remain nameless) who could be a complete A-hole. During a project conference he absolutely hated what I had come up with, started yelling at me, threw my contact sheets across the table, and then…asked me to go get him some coffee. A couple of weeks later when we were critiquing my assignment in class, he starts screaming at me again about how he hated my photos in front of everyone (the girl who was in charge of critiquing my work was sitting there trying to defend me and he just kept cutting her off). Another kid is sitting there laughing, another is contemplating hiding under the table (or so he told me later) and I was sitting there staring at him considering which one would be my best option. I got an A- in the class, but that’s really here nor there at this point.
See now that I’ve brought all that back up, I don’t really feel that bad about not taking any more photo classes. So much for getting all sentimental.
So I finally finished up my Advanced Magazine paper yesterday and I still can’t believe that it’s actually DONE and I don’t have to do another revision of it. At first, I thought I would be dreading that class, but once I finally got used to tracking people down for interviews, it wasn’t so bad. Well, that’s one more assignment I don’t have to worry about any more. All I need now is a paper bag to breathe into on Thursday and I’m sure I’ll be just fine.
I still can’t believe that the semester is almost over. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen a semester fly by so fast. Strangely enough, I’m not stressed out because most of the stuff that I’ve been working on I’ve been doing all semester long and now I’m just finishing them up. I’m done with two of my classes so far and I can actually focus on the stuff that I have left to do instead of multitasking like crazy. I actually have time to go see a movie tomorrow night (I haven’t seen anything that’s come out since August) so I when my friends spontaneously come up with something to do I can finally go with them. It’s been a really long time since I’ve actually had a semester end without constantly running around like crazy.
CLTV decided to allow viewers to sound off about how Mayor Daley wants to cut costs by only plowing the city’s main streets this winter. This topic hit a nerve because the people who where calling in were completely beside themselves (and rightfully so). One caller mentioned that we pay the highest sales tax rate in the country, yet we’ll still have neccessary services cut. If Daley thinks that this option is going to fly this winter, his days in office might be numbered.
This is the first day that I was actually able to get out of class early which I was really happy about because I really didn’t feel like driving home in sleet. Normally I would be walking in the door about now but I was able to get home by five. It was kinda strange to be home so early because I was actually able to sit down and watch some tv and chill out for a little while instead jumping right into my homework.
I took my Digital I photoshop final (apparently it’s not uncommon for students to fail this test) and it didn’t seem to bad, but then again I’ve been studying for this thing since last Monday. I was also able to finish printing the rest of my photo project which is good because I’ve got the feeling that the photo lab is going to be turining into a complete mad house over the next few days.
So at least that’s one less thing that I’m going to have to worry about.
I don’t typically like to rant online but today I’ll make an exception…
I’m not sure if it’s because today is Monday, if it’s because today is the first day back from a four day weekend or if it’s because the weather is crappy, but today completely sucked.
I’m not a fan of Mondays in the first place, but in a sense I’ve got it easy because I don’t have classes and instead I’m in the English Department for 8 hours working and doing homework. Most of the time, it’s pretty laid back and I can get a lot of stuff done and that’s what I was hoping to be able to do today…but no. I barely had a chance to take my coat off when I find out that I have to finish putting together the teacher evaluations - that should have been finished by the students that worked on Wednesday afternoon - because they had to be in everyone’s mail boxes TODAY. So I spent about three hours getting these things out as fast as possible. This pushed back everything else I wanted to get done this morning so that I could have time this afternoon to study for a final that I have to take on Wednesday (and no I didn’t get a chance to study for it today). I was talking with one of my co-workers about how I never want to put together teacher evaluations ever again. He said that this probably would be the last time that I do this and I realized that he was right, which remined me that my days at Columbia are numbered.
Aside from that, it usually feels much busier at work during the last two weeks of classes. I still can’t believe that the semester is almost over and I think that Thanksgiving weekend threw me for a loop because I actually had a chance to just sit down and do absolutely nothing. All semester I’ve been running around like crazy and if I’m not in class, I’m at work, if I’m not there, I’m interviewing someone, if I’m not doing that, I’m applying for internships, if I’m not doing that, I’m writing or taking pictures, if I’m not doing that, I’m commuting, if I’m not doing that, I’m doing homework, and if I’m not doing that, I’m probably sleeping. So now that I’ve had four days where I could actually take a break, I feel like I was moving in slow motion today just trying to catch up to everthing.
I think that another reason that I’m in a bad mood is because the weather is so bad and it reminds me of how much I hate winter. Normally I like the first snow of the season but today I just wasn’t feeling it because it meant that I would have to get up earlier to clean off my car and get to the train in time. I knew that I’d have to clean off my car when I came home tonight and sit in gridlock. So of course when I do get back to my car after work, my friggin door is frozen shut. Once I finally get the door open and clean my car off, I realize that my window was still frozen shut so when I went to pay as I was leaving the lot, I had to back up so that I could get out of my car to pay. This made me realize that if this is only the first day of winter weather, I’ve got to sit through another six weeks of this crap. Maybe it’s getting on my nerves because I’ve got an escape plan or maybe the begining of winter has lost it’s fun. Who knows.
At this point, I’m just happy to be home.
So my birthday is next week and I don’t usually make a big deal about it but my family does. I was born on Thanksgiving and because everyone is getting together anyways my birthday is usually celebrated by default.
It was cool when I was a kid because I would get Thanksgiving dinner AND a ton of presents but now that I’m in my mid-twenties I’m totally over it. My mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told her that the only thing I wanted an ice cream cake shaped like a turkey (Baskin Robbins actually has this for the holidays, I kid you not). She thought I was joking but I am dead serious about this. This thing looks f***ing hilarious and if we’re going to keep up this tradition, then we’re going to at least do it my way damn it.
It’s been a busy week: I found out that I’m spending next semester in L.A., I’ve just gotten my second feature assignment with Alarm, so there is a lot to discuss… but right now I’m completely cross eyed from staying up so late and I have to be up early so I will continue this thought tomorrow…
… so anyways, it’s kinda funny how I’ve gone from having no idea what I was going to be doing next semester in terms of internships, freelance stuff, etc to completely having everything set in place within a week. I’ve just gotten my second feature with Alarm Magazine so I guess I can offically say that I write for them now. It still hasn’t completely hit me that I’m going to L.A. (I’m sure that will happen some time around January) but considering that I’ve never lived anywhere besides Chicago, I’m sure it will be interesting to say the least.
This morning I was watching the Today Show and Matt Lauer was interviewing a woman whose life was saved by her over stuffed handbag. Since I often carry EVERYTHING I own in my bag (and I am constantly made fun of for it), I was intrigued. Turns out this woman that he was interviewing was walking to her car after work and a guy tried to mug her. He tried taking her laptop, she refused to hand it over so he shot her. The bullet hit her bag and was stopped by a calculator, umbrella, sunglasses case, and some magazines.
Matt then asked her how much stuff she normally keeps in her bag. Her answer was: a laptop, a camera, a cell phone, magazines, notebooks, sunglasses, an umbrella, a makeup bag and hand lotion, etc…
It sounded exactly like the contents of my bag too. So make fun all you want, at least my bag could potentially dodge a bullet.
