I know I didn't write anything about school this whole last semester, so I have arranged the topics by subject so you can scroll down and just pick what you want to read about....Mmmm-Kay? Here we go:
Classmates and other friends:
With the guidance of my friend, Tori, I discovered Bitstrips and made myself into a cartoon character. I've since been Bitstriping everyone! Tori says, "I gave you too much power."
I went to a 3 year-olds birthday party. I gave her a box of M&M's. I thought, "well, I know she likes them, and she's 3, so it should be okay." Then I saw all the cool stuff she was getting from people with money like a cool jacket, a bad-ass tea set and funky boots. I felt sad that I couldn't get her anything cool, but then later that night when her mommy put her down for bed I was told this in a text: "So I put Zara down for bed and she said, 'Mommy can I sleep with one of my presents?' Of course Mommy said 'Sure baby, which one do you want?' and Zara said 'My M's.'" The text ended with "Damn you Aunt Vicki!"
Halloween was just okay. I dressed up and drove to school in my costume:
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| I thought it was a good idea, but nobody got it: devil horns and a tail, a wig and disguise glasses.... I'm the devil in disguise! |
That night I was gonna go and pass out candy, but I ended up laying on my couch and just passing out instead.
I discovered S'mores dip and made some. Invited people over and we all ate it. Here's a video:
I went to a Halloween scary movie party at my friends house of Tony and Sergio. I drank some wine, everyone else drank lots of wine but we all watched a few movies: Nightmare Before Christmas and something else that wasn't really scary.
I ate at Applebees for free on Veterans Day with my friend Jerrad, who was totally unaware of things like this. I always feel bad and out of place for taking discounts or free stuff because I'm a veteran. I feel like I'm taking advantage because I never went over seas, I was stationed in Florida and had it pretty easy. Still, everyone tells me thanks for my service even though I tell them this, so OK then, thanks for the free stuff.
My friend Bernardo stopped by, unexpectedly, as usual, with someone else in tow. He called me from the train station: "Willis! hey is it ok to crash at your place tonight? I got so-and-so with me. oh and can you make me some food?" I don't mind this, I actually like it, and it's not like he does it every week. He's funny and I learn a lot of YouTube stuff from him. I know if I'm ever in the "ghetto" area of Dallas, known as Oakcliff, then I have someone to call on!
I discovered that crayons fit in a glue gun! So I invited a couple friends to try this with me and this is what happened:
We are taking turns sharing the finished piece. Right now I have the said canvas we named "Captain Bebop".
Work: Nothing of consequence happened there. I pretty much just carried on with my life.
Classes:
Print Production: I made a travel booklet about the Shenandoah Valley. I think it turned out pretty cool. I'll try to post a picture of it one day in the section "Stuff I made (check me out!)" I learned more about using InDesign and further discovered I can not math because the measurements for my die-cut brochure never did come out right. My final grade in that class is an A-, so I'll take it!
Conceptual Imagery: This class was taught by a teacher I've had twice before, the one I like to have a beer or three before class. I finally convinced a classmate of mine about that idea and he finally did go out and have a few rum and cokes with some people one day before this class and he said it made all the difference in the world! So, see there people! I DO know what I'm talking about!
Anyway, I ended up making a cool infograph for extreme couponing using squirrels as my main image, which I made in Illustrator from actual photos of squirrels. The teacher loved the squirrels and I named the piece "Squirreling it away: is couponing worth the trouble?" He loved that, too! My final grade in that class: just an A. I'll take it!
Design Marketing: I had no idea what this class was about, but it's on my curriculum for Graphic Design Advertising so I had to take it. The teacher was ok, even though in the syllabus it stated we must dress appropriately: office casual. Not a problem for me since I still had clothes from when I worked at the court. I wondered what would happen to those who didn't. Turns out, he gave us grades for attendance, which also included the dress code. I heard one girl had taken that class three times and I was thinking, "Shit, how difficult is this?" Turns out, all you have to do is just attempt the assignments, turn it in on time, show up to class and dress semi-appropriately. That's not difficult! So how can she not pass -- three times?!? She doesn't care because Mommy and Daddy must be paying for her. Big thumbs down and middle finger up for that!
I discovered from the material in the class that I have no head for business and couldn't care less what happens to what I design after it leaves my desk. I do understand that what does go on afterward is important in making a design that will catch the attention of the target audience though. One of the assignments was to write about building a better (proverbial) mousetrap. The comments from the teacher were, "Missed the point, but very creative." I'll take that because I value my creativity! My final grade in that class: An A and I'll take that, too!
Digital Photography: My teacher was the best part of this class. He's an older Chinese man and still has a very thick Chinese accent, so at times he was a bit difficult to understand and it made me laugh. One of his favorite things to say after explaining or pointing out something was "Am I right?" to which we all usually said "I guess, you're the teacher."
We learned how to use a Cannon Rebel Digital Camera. He's lecture on the subject and give us a formula to follow on the settings then we had a week to photograph and turn in 10 shots. I asked my friend, Sergio, a photographer, to accompany me on my first assignment. He was a great help in showing me the settings on the camera and a few ideas. I soon learned I hate fiddling with the controls; I just want my point and shoot camera!
In class, we would show our pictures and get critiqued. Alphabetical order, so of course, I was last. One day in class, we went through two peoples sets of photos and the teacher kept clicking through going, "No. No...what the hell are we looking at?" Then, exasperated, he said, "Let just go to Victoria picture, she usually get it right." That made me feel so good! I told Sergio about that and he said he was proud of me!
My final grade in that class: a B, but I'll take it! Everyone else got less than that and my friend Nick said when he took the class he got a D. Here are a few of my faves I took:
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| for Stop-Action assignment |
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| another for the Stop-Action assignment |
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| for the Blurred-Action assignment |
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| fun with my toys: Short Depth of Field assignment |
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| Selective Focus: Miss Scarlet in the Library (?) with the revolver |
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| Long Depth of Field: Pioneer Plaza downtown. |
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| I forget what this was for, but I still like the picture |
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| Short Depth of Field at the Dallas Arboretum |
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| for the assignment Exaggerated Focus |
Love Life:
I got closer to a guy in one of my classes, we got intimate, but now we are just friends again. *sad face* Next?
And now: I'm gonna be in Virginia for Christmas! So excited to be able to see my parents and sister again. My friend Marci will be watching my apartment and getting my mail so don't think you can cruise over and party at my place with out me!
