Here's what's new in my world!

This semester has been the most difficult in my life.  Had I not been living with my fiance, I would a) have failed everything b) never seen him c) had a mental breakdown d) perhaps murdered my family e) become single and f) cried myself to sleep every night.

But we are all okay here!  I made my own choices and decided to be in control of my life, my time, and my priorities.

So, this semester I did my senior capstone (final project for seniors, like a thesis paper, but different per major), Visual Thinking 1 (this is the worst class on the face of the earth, it taught me nothing and was far too much stress for ANY student to have to bear... and the worst part, IT'S A FRESHMAN CLASS! no wonder Shepherd has a huge dropout rate), History of Film, Computer and Digital Imagery, and Single Camera production.  On top of all this I worked every day of my weekends.  Icky.

The assignment load has been tremendous.  Capstone and VT are not a good combination.  Visual thinking had me making anywhere from 1 to 12 pieces twice a week.  The grading was harsh, and out of all of the assignments I ever turned in, I got 3 As.  Everything else was a C.  I missed no classes, I tried to do what they told me to do... very frustrating to have 3 professors for 100 kids with their preconceived notions of what art is and grading you on those notions.  I will be furious if all of the effort that I put into this class drops my GPA.  Although, what is done is done, and I just have to accept that I am frequently not willing to sacrifice that which I love creating for someone else's definition of contemporary art.  

Let's see.. for Capstone, I built a massive 'promo package' for my parents' small business.  I felt like doing it for family members was cheating, but I don't have anyone else really to contact for that sort of thing.  Frustrating, really.  So I:
finished their website: www.southwoodfarmforge.com
made a print ad campaign
made tabletop displays for their annual Over-The-Mountain Studio Tour expose'
made business cards
designed a logo
gave them a social media presence via Youtube and Facebook
created a press kit and attempted distribution
drafted a radio PSA
made a lovely little brochure

It was quite a bit of work.  On top of all that I was required to build a presentation board, which when printed out cost about $150, go to 5 cultural events, keep a running weekly blog about, well, everything, make a physical portfolio to take with me to interviews and such, and make an online portfolio: www.rljimages.webs.com  - Go look, please!  I have worked my butt off with this semester.
Of course, I felt very inadequate when compared to many of my classmates, although I know for a fact I actually paced myself well and had things done on time, and also did more work than many of them.  Plus, they didn't have to deal with my family.

Also, when creating my final project for Visual Thinking, they gave me a C.  I suppose that I sacrificed their grade for my personal love for the work I had done.  If you can picture the stars/songs image I put up, except split up into an accordion booklet with 4 images per side and then some nail polish painted over some areas, a star-shaped mirror glued to the cover page, and ink spatters placed over top of my work, that's what I did.  It was terrible to find out that they thought that I had 'poor craft' and 'didn't integrate images well'.... FTW?   This project had personal meaning to me.  Everything was intentional.  And nowhere, NOWHERE in the rubric did it say that my piece had to be contemporary or mixed media.  UGh.

For that project, I had a difficult time coming up with ways to orient and place text and focal points.  So I went to see my Astro 1 and 2 professor, Dr. Best.  He's kind of my mentor, which is not something I would have expected given my background.  But, he is the most rational person and the most intelligent that I have ever met.  If he can make math easy for me, he has to be something.  I... well, I don't know how I would have gotten things done without him.  I wish that he taught every class at the school.  His methods and care for students are impeccable.  He is hilarious.  He is a geek.  He is what I hope to become one day.  I can't say enough good things about him.   What I can say is that I brought my images to him, and I sat and talked with him in his office for about 2 hours.  He asked me what my images meant to me- then he started a stopwatch, and began writing what I said on the fly- then after 30 seconds I stopped- and he read back what I had said: that the stars are beautiful;  there is no way for someone to accurately represent the cosmos on one piece of paper; that they are a source of serenity.  He then told me that from what I said, the shape was that of a bell curve; that I had moved from a 5 year old perspective of appreciation to a more scientific and rational perspective about the cosmos to an overall philosophical outlook that now defines how I feel.  He was able to tell from how I thought my life story.  
We talked, we analyzed, he gave me advice and perspective about life and how I should stop trying to be and just be... all this of course sounds very generic to you, but his words meant so much to me.  
People complain about his classes, they complain about how it's difficult and how if you're only taking the class as general studies, you shouldn't be expected to learn these things... I am so glad that I did learn these things.  How would I view life if I never learned the reason for the existence of the universe?  How would I reach a greater understanding of life, of my purpose, of religion's faults and of science if I had not taken this class?    

I can truly say that taking Astronomy with Dr. Best changed my life.

Besides that.  I have absolutely loved my CDI class.  I have learned so very much about Photoshop and the multitude of ways to build fantastic images!! I admit I am still partial to standard photography. But having dabbled into the
photoshopping process, I find it to be an irreplaceable tool.

On a happier note, my fiance got me a kitten for my birthday.  Her name is Shrodinger.  We call her Ding.  Or Dinglebert.  or Cat.  Mostly Ding.   Anyway, I have found myself in a happy place living with him, and I am satisfied with my life choices so far.  

WEll, I have a study session in a few hours, and then I have another tough final- Media Law and Ethics.  But first, a free massage courtesy of the Honors program, and then some lunch, and maybe a nap, because I got a very small amount of sleep, as usual.  Cheers!