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three weeks ago

Three weeks ago I was getting ready to take all my portfolio projects in for week 5 review. I was really nervous because I kept remembering the last time I tried this…and failed.
Well, I passed that review, barely, because my teacher went to bat for me. The advisor was willing to give almost everyone a fail slip and my teacher pulled him aside and said, "Hold on, just take a look at the work she's done here and compare it to what she had last time. She's improved 1000%."
Now, today, I'm going to "Round 2". This is the week 8 review and it's either pass or fail. I'm super nervous now because I truly don't know what I will do if I can't pass this time. I know you're thinking, well, just try again. This is the case of easier said than done. My problem is that I have ideas all day long, but lack the skills to bring them to life. As much as I've practiced using my programs I've learned, gone to workshops at school, look at tutorials I find on YouTube and design sites, it just doesn't hit me like it does other people. But I keep trying because when I'm working on an idea, I know this is what I should be doing.
In the past when I've tried something and wasn't good at it, I quit, but that was because I never had the feeling of "this is what I should be doing". I knew I didn't have the talent for it and I didn't think I needed to explore it further. Some days when I get a bad review on a project, I think for a split second "maybe I should find something else to do."
At six o'clock tonight, I'll find out.

Here are a few examples of things I'm taking today:

here is an ad I did for week 5 and got bad review on it - they love the tagline "Obscenely Clean", so I changed it …..

Here is the new ad for the laundromat. I hope this one passes.  (I don't have permission to use the photo yet)

here is an example of a book I made to display the logos I made,  they love the book idea, but I changed the layout a bit. I hope this is better.

( I do not have permission to use that photo yet)

here is an example of a page that will be in my portfolio book. I will have more logos on more pages to show all the logos I have designed. But for now, since I'm not graduating, I'm not required to have everything in my portfolio book.

No crying today...

As most of you know I did not pass my first portfolio class earlier this year, so I took a semester off from it, had other classes, worked on new projects and took them in for review each week.
Now, I am in portfolio class again. The first week I left in tears, not because I was told that my work was bad and I needed something new, but I was just so scared remembering how I felt the last time I left the first week compared to week 8 when I had to drop the class or fail it. The last two weeks I did not leave crying, but there was still a lot of re-do's I had to make. I'm barely passing right now, but what counts is the mid-term review which is next week. We have to show up by 11am to set up, so I took off work next Thursday. Last time I showed up on time, got a pretty good table, set up, had every single piece I was required to have and still failed, because my work wasn't good. Instead of dropping the class then, I thought I could gather some people and get things sorted out and come back by week 8, the final review week, and make it up. But I was wrong. On week 5, the mid-term review, if a student gets a letter on their table after review is over, it's a suggestion to drop the class because the work is not good. I got one last time and I don't want one again this time and I am so scared I'm going to get one. Every time I think about it, I want to cry. Not because I failed, but because I feel as though I'm being told I'm not good enough to do the thing I love.
So here are some pieces I am entering for the mid-term review. I hope I pass.

this is a print ad for a green laundromat I invented. (I made this in Illustrator)

this is an infographic I did with some facts I found on the OSHA site ( made in Illustrator)

Event posters is not my thing, I can not make a poster and I can not illustrate,
but I think I did pretty good on this one. (I made this mock up in Photoshop)

this is a coupon I made for a print ad for this brand of noodles I invented. (made in Illustrator, of course, my favorite)

Here is a billboard (we were required to have an outdoor advertisement) I did for the
brand of noodles I invented. (I do not have permission to use the picture yet)(mock up made in Photoshop)

I take free advice

So, the internship thing is going …

Instead of meeting up in the classroom each Wednesday and discuss our internship jobs, we post answers and responses to the aforementioned 25 part question each week and we all hate the internship class discussion board. We also have to upload a copy of our time sheets each week. Then, this week we find out that we also have to turn in a physical 10 page (or more) report, bound - in a very specific format answering very specific questions.  Jesus Christ, this keeps getting better and better. We all hate that, too.
As I mentioned before, I'm okay with the internship job being a graphic design position, even though I want to go into advertising. Yesterday before I left, my boss said that they were going to offer all the interns (there's 3 of us currently) a paid internship when the class ends, then after graduation, it could be a full-time position and would I be interested in that?

Weeeeellllllll……..

I would be interested in the paid internship until I graduate in March, but I would still like to keep my current part time job out at the airport because I like the work and my bosses, so I don't know how that would work because I didn't ask about the details about the paid internship. I know for sure that I would not like the permanent position. I think it's great to have the offer and I'm not gonna lie, I am really sweating finding a job when I graduate, but I really don't want to take just anything.

I am interested in hearing what you all have to say about all this… post here or email me: vic.w@mail.com

my boss had left early that day and I was left to interpret a customer order...

that point in class when everyone's face read "what the hell is happening?"

Yeah, that happened yesterday in my class for Internship. 

First of all, the schedule said it started at 6, so I showed up at school about 10 minutes early. When I got to class, it was already pretty full and the teacher was already talking and had a powerpoint slide going and I said, "Oh, am I late?" She quickly said, "No, we haven't really started yet." But she had, because she had already mentioned about community service and points during the quarter to report to class and I'm just like, "Huh? what I miss?" I sat next to my friend Nick and then several other people showed up after me. At 6 o'clock, she starts talking again, and, man, I gotta say, this lady is like a drill sergeant. "Quickly people, move it, settle in, we've got a fast two hours"
I admit, I really didn't know what to expect, but at least my advisor had the sense enough to tell me that I needed to have procured an internship by the time I entered the classroom, and I'm glad that I had done at least that much because when the teacher started talking about turning in hours and a 10 page proposal packet by Monday at 8 AM (this Monday at 8AM - just 4 days from time in class!), the looks on some students faces was utter shock and horror, like on those old scary movie posters.
      *It came from nowhere…madness, astounding shock!!*

In my portfolio class, they send out a packet and it tells you what to bring to class the very first day and what projects will be expected each week. This is so you can be prepared….I like this idea. I would really have liked the internship class to have done something like this because when she said, "Oh and you need to have completed at least 3 hours of community service by next Wednesday", another round of sharp gasps filled the room. 

I'm like, "wait, what?" 

First of all, I get why they want us to do community service, because some people have never worked before and don't know the value - okay. But I have, plus I was in the military! I should just get credit for that. Second, could ya give us a little more time? I mean, I work and have hours where I work free doing internship, plus 4 other classes so the only time I have is this very Saturday and or Sunday. Most places want you to apply or do a background check on you before you can volunteer. Some places have orientation. On top of that, what if I hadn't already found an internship? I'd be looking for that, too --- all by Monday morning at god damn 8AM! Who the hell finds a job, let alone two in four days? It's an impossibility. Half the class is set to fail just out of the gate. What the holy living fuck? Oh, and on top of all this, we have discussion groups online. Normally questions like this are solo and pretty simple, like explain the difference between A and B and give an example. But not our questions, these questions are plentiful and in several parts. Our first week discussion is a set of 5 questions about critical listening, our internship, work ethics and then they are all in 5 parts, so that's like 25 questions. We answer them in paragraph form and then we have to respond to at least 2-3 of our classmates. In all honesty, there are probably only going to end up being about 10 people left in the class out of the 48 that started yesterday. One girl left within the first hour. I don't know what she was mumbling as she left, but I'm sure it contained a lot of "fuck this shit".

Before I left my internship job Tuesday afternoon, I asked my boss if she needed anyone else, and before I could even finish my sentence she was nodding her head yes. So, I asked my classmate Alyssa if she had found one, and she said yes, but my classmate Wendy had not, so I gave her the info and she was so elated she was dancing around as she hugged me. "Thank you so much! you really saved me!" No problem, I like paying it forward. 

Okay, so to recap for those of you who fell asleep during my rant, this is what's due by Monday at 8AM  - just for this class:

- answer  the 25 part online discussion questions and respond to your classmates

- write and turn in a 10 page internship job proposal (this includes retrieving a copy of your unofficial transcript, your resume, a questionnaire and having your internship boss sign a page)

- find an internship

- find and complete 3 hours community service

- answer the community service discussion board questions (only 4 questions!)

After this week though, it's all downhill,  we just have to each week answer the 25 part discussion questions and respond to our classmates and also turn in our time sheets. On week 6 and 10 we have to have our internship boss send in a report on us.

 

I've already made it through this week and it's not even Monday, so I'm relieved. I wrote my proposal, got all the stuff for it and turned that in online today. Last night, I wrote out my paragraphs for the discussion questions and today I found a place to do some community service. I let my teacher know all this and she's very happy with me. I'm pretty sure I'm the only student to have all this done in one day. Maybe I've set a record? I should get a prize for this!

Life on Forest Lane

Two weeks ago I came home from work and there was a moving truck blocking my parking space, so I just parked somewhere else. I saw that stuff was being brought from my upstairs neighbors apartment. I yelled "NO!!!!" and ran upstairs to see what was going on. Her company is moving her to an office in North Carolina, so she's moving. I slowly went back downstairs to my apartment and spent all my wishes on wishing to get another upstairs neighbor like her: quiet, reasonable hours, doesn't listen to tv like she's at a drive-in, doesn't stomp around and says "hello" every once in a while. Totally opposite of my last neighbors and I just don't want to get another one of those!! If you'd like to refresh your memory of those days past, look here: squeaky floors, elephants and rhinos. And if you pray, please pray for me to not get another neighbor like that! I've only got 9 more months of school and hopefully I can move out immediately after graduation.

As far as school goes, one of the things we have to do before graduation is obtain an internship in our field of study. My friend Nick found a graphic design position at this apparel company and he told the lady about me. She said, "we could use another intern, I'm so behind here." So, he told me. I really wanted an advertising or marketing gig, but I'll take whatever I can get for now to fill the requirement, and anyway, graphic design is the basis for my field in advertising. I sent out a few letters (emails) and filled out a few applications, but didn't get called back for any of them. I finally gave in and wrote to this place Nick told me about. Within hours she contacted me and the next day I had an interview and the following week I had an internship. It's unpaid, but it's ok, it's only 8 hours a week and it's literally 2 miles from my apartment. The place is called One Team Apparel and in my first assignment, I organized and developed a file for blank outfits, so the patterns and new school designs can be dropped in without having to design the whole thing all over again. Then last week, I started drawing in Illustrator my own patterns. The place is new and there's some construction going on and the production building in next door, so everything is made in the good ol' USA. It's a small staff and I think I can bear it for 11 weeks, even though I'd really like to be working on an ad campaign for local businesses.


here is a pattern I've started. I need to add a leopard pattern. this wasn't my idea, but, it's my internship job…

last student loan….

Yes, my last student loan just got put into action. I'm ready for my last year of school!! 

Now I look forward to spending the next 25 years of my life repaying the $100,000….yes, one hundred thousand, plus interest. Tuition and living expenses for this school ain't cheap, but hopefully it will be worth it. Everyone I know who has graduated (and some who didn't) said that their employers really enjoy students from the Art Institute, they know they can depend on them, be it the work or the work ethic.

I haven't been sleeping well lately, again. Earlier this week, I called my financial advisor (because she never calls first) to make sure all my paperwork was processed, that's when I found out my loan had not been signed off by the Director of Finance yet, even though I had already been approved by the lender. I had work and my internship so I couldn't get to school until today when I went to pick up my schedule, and of course there was a hold on my account. I was really worried, because even though I could still get the art grant and not have tuition, I still needed to subsidize my income from work with a student loan for living expenses. If I don't have that, I can't pay rent, then where would I live while I go to school? I'm not a fan of being homeless. But it all got resolved today and I'm in the clear.

The other thing keeping me up late is the fact that I have to repeat my Portfolio I class -- the class I opted to drop last time instead of choosing the failing grade. My work just wasn't good enough and I was heartbroken to be told in so many words and feel like I'm not good enough to be doing the thing that I wake up every morning thinking about: creating stuff. I'm really scared to go through that again. I was sent the project list for this class three weeks ago and I've been going through it every day since then to be sure I have everything made and tweaked. I've asked a few people their opinions, and last quarter in school I was taking things in to teachers to have them look at it and give a critique. I have four projects due the first day, and hopefully this time they won't be rejected. Last time, I never could get my logos right, they were rejected every week, as well as my info-graph, and my event poster. All that plus a die-cut multi-page brochure is due next Thursday. If they all pass, then I won't have to spend time revising anything then I can just concentrate on the next weeks projects.

I'm worried about my friend Nick. I saw him at school today and his student loan account paperwork is a mess, so he couldn't register for classes. He's only got two quarters left til he graduates - for us that 24 weeks! He's smart and talented and a super good designer and I'd really hate to see him not be able to finish school because of some paperwork errors.

Here are a few things I'm taking for class next week:

a montage of my logos

a mockup of the info graph I made, and one of it's intended uses

a travel poster for my Destination Branding Ad campaign
(I don't have permission to use the photo yet)

one of my magazine ads for a brand of pasta I invented.
(I don't have permission to use some of the photos yet)

extracurricular stuff...

I was talking out loud in my cubicle at work the other day. 
I do this because I don't know if anyone is on the other side of the half wall or not, I'm shoved away from society so I can do my data entry work. Anywho, I announced, "I want shrimp and grits for dinner tonight" and I heard a little "eehh" from the unknown beyond. I continued my rant about being Southern and how to cook the shrimp and that I don't like my grits soft and runny, but no minds were changed. A few people did poke their heads around to tell me they liked shrimp and grits and wanted to try some. I went to the store after work, bought some shrimp and made this dish. I invited my boyfriend over. He didn't know what a grit was (he's from Mexico, so he's excused), but he was willing to try it. Guess what? He liked it.
Now, the next day at work, I was able to convince the person who said "eehh" to try pizza burgers and my famous pizza fries. She agreed that sounded better.
Please enjoy this drawing I've made of shrimp and grits. I made it using my Adobe Illustrator program…yay me!

Also, I'm funny because my friend posted this on Facebook and look at my reply:

I'd like an internship, please

About 8 weeks ago I knew I needed to apply for internships. Having an internship is part of the curriculum, we get graded on it. If you don't get one, you have to drop the class, and if you don't have one by the time you graduate, I don't know what happens. But it doesn't matter, because I got one!
I had been asking people who had internships and my teachers for leads. I got a few names and wrote a few letters (and by letters, I mean emails). Then my friend Nick comes along and says, "oh, hey you could intern where I'm at because she needs a lot of help." So I write the lady and she responds within the hour, and just like that I had an interview set up. I go to the place and she explains what they do there and I ask what she would need from me. Since they never had interns before (except Nick and he's quite casual about pretty much everything), I explain what I was told about the program and tell her the hours I'd need. She explains a little more about what she does, then looks at me and asks, "So, you think you'd be interested?" And I was like, "Sure!" So, just like that I got an internship, unpaid, but oh well. I start on Monday at 1 and I'm nervous about working for a professional company using my Adobe Illustrator skills. But, I'm good at following directions, so I should be ok for a while. I hope.

Here is one of the last things I made recently in school for a final group project: a logo for a fake company so we could make a direct response ad campaign for it.

another end

So the end of another quarter of school is here. I made 3 A's and 1 B. The B was from my web design class, which I do not care about, but it's part of the curriculum for anyone in any type of graphic design course. And, as I am majoring in Advertising, it's considered a graphic design class. We had a mid-term practicum where we were given a sketch and told to write the code for it using html and css. Well, I would have done a lot better, I believe, if I had a better teacher. The way it was explained to me from the beginning made no sense. So I failed the test. I say fail like I made a 60 or something…no. I made a 31 (that's out of 100 points). For our final, we had to turn in a 5 page website designed from sketches we turned in previously. I asked my friend Brad to help me. When he arrived to help, I had already most of the html written and he said it wasn't that bad. Now I had to write the css, which is what adds the "pretty" to the page (margins, backgrounds, letter size…) The way he explained everything made perfect sense. Why couldn't my teacher do that?? Anyway, I was able to write all my pages a week ahead of time and turn it in. Everything worked and was set correctly and I was happy with it. I saw my grade on it today. I made an 85 on it. Meh. I don't care, but what makes me upset is that she marked off for something I think is really stupid: my choice of font for the text in my web page. I chose a serif font. I don't remember seeing in the rules anywhere that I couldn't have a serif font, but she marked it as wrong. WTF?? I know most websites these days use sans serif, but there are plenty that use serif and I think they look just fine.

I feel comfortable enough with what I know and understand to design the front-end part of the website, and hand it to a coder and say "ok, here, write this."I'm sure I can find a job where I don't have to code. I need a t-shirt that says "I hate to code".

Beauty in a box

For some reason I can't remember, I started subscribing to a YouTube channel by a girl named Bunny who calls her channel "grav3yardgirl". She's pretty entertaining, I love her "Does This Thing Really Work?" series where she actually buys and records herself  trying out all those as seen on tv things that claim to change your life. Some of them really work, like the bacon bowl and some do not work that great, like the NONO hair removal. I think she almost caught her friends arm on fire trying to remove all his black arm hair. Anyway, I deviated from my usual programming to watch her open a monthly beauty box and try out all the goodies in there. I don't remember the company, but I remember thinking, "Man, that's like Christmas every month!"
So, I decided to look into this Christmas every month thing and there are TONS of these companies. I didn't want to pick just anyone or leave it to flipping a coin because that never works out so well - so I did some research. I looked at Allure magazines online article about this because I think that they are pretty credible in the beauty world. I also read some blogs like Buzzfeed and Babble.com.  I finally went with a company called IPSY. I clicked on the get started button and was taken to a 20 question beauty quiz where they asked me things like what type of styles would I like to try (I picked "hip and edgy" and "simple", I thought it a good mix) and what type of hair do I have, eye color, hair color and so on like that. I didn't mind this part, I expected it because how else are they supposed to know what to surprise me with? Then, and here's the parts I didn't care for, I had to pick ten friends to share the IPSY experience with. I'm thinking, I don't even know what the poop yet, why would I want to say "hey guys, do this thing with me." Then, I had to subscribe to their YouTube channel, no big because I can always unsubscribe later. Also, I had to sign up to follow them and one of their stylists on Instagram, which I didn't mind because I like the pictures on Instagram. I was hesitant about doing this because it's $10 a month, but I just cancelled my Netflix since I never watch it anymore and I can cancel the beauty box anytime.
Now I'm all signed up and am supposed to be getting a surprise beauty box with 6-7 new things and samples by mid-May (just in time for my birthday! yay me!)

Hello? Remember me?

I'm sure not many people are reading this blog and I don't blame you. Nothing too exciting happens here, it's just my life. But still, I feel the need to record some things to keep a record even if it's just for me. On my 35 minute drive to work everyday I am thinking about what I should write or post.
Instead of trying to get all caught up on one page, I will start from today and continue to blog and update when referring back. How's that? Okie dokie, here I go.

This week the Spring Quarter at school started. I don't have anything in the display case this time, but my classmate who I gave some of my ideas to because he couldn't think of any does have two of mine in the display case. I'm not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand, I told him, "Here, just take these, they're good ideas, I just couldn't make it work" and he did and they look great. But, they're my ideas and I couldn't make them work, but he can. See, this is my problem, and I know it: I have great concepts, but I have trouble with the execution. That's why I need a team. I'm good in a team because I can recognize people's strengths and order the project accordingly. This is called being a Director, but I have to start at the bottom to get there and I'm afraid I won't ever even make it to the bottom with the crap I've been putting out. Before you start to put in the comments something like "Oh Vicki, you're a great blah blah blah blah", let me just stop you by saying that if I'm so great, why couldn't I pass my portfolio class? I had to drop the class so I wouldn't fail and I still had to pay for it and all the printing of the projects AND since I didn't pass, I still have to take it and pay for all of it again.
My classmates were upset that I didn't pass. I don't know how I feel about that because I don't understand why they should be upset about me not passing.
I still cry whenever I think about the whole ordeal because it scares me. I mean, if I can't pass my portfolio class, I can't graduate and all the money goes straight down the drain. If that's the case, I really don't have any business being in a design school, then do I? I have another chance this summer. I hope the projects I've been working on will be good enough to pass then. I can't go through another failure like that, financially and emotionally.
It's not like I've never failed before. I've been failing at life since I left high-school. It's just that to be told you're not good enough to be doing the one thing it's taken you years to find, is heart-breaking.

too much sadness

This week has been a bit rough.
First of all, another really good person in my life has left this Earth, my friend Trish. She had a brain cancer and couldn't be treated. When she went through chemo and lost all her hair, her very best friends who are closest to her, shaved their heads too so she wouldn't be alone. She was my age and I don't understand how someone so wonderful had to die. She had just gotten married a few months ago to a man she'd known her whole life. I feel bad for him, losing someone so soon in such a horrible way.

My first week of school has felt like a mad race. I have a Monday afternoon class, so I get up at 6:30 for work, leave work at noon, eat a sandwich on the drive to school, class at 1-5 then home to do homework. I have an online class in Psychology, which an assignment was due that first day! I came home at 5, opened my online class and noticed I had until midnight to submit a paper already. WTF? Then had until Wednesday to read the chapters and submit another paper, also to review and critique two other students work on both assignments. I still have another assignment due by Sunday night. I don't like this online class business. I like to be able to go to class, do it and that's it, none of this string it out over the week crap. Well, good thing is it's only 5 weeks which is good because then I will have time to spend on my Portfolio class. OMG I have soooooo much work in that class. On the first day I had to show up with work. This is why I spent my Christmas vacation doing 2 years worth of work in the 3 weeks (if you are not aware, I lost all my digital files from the first 2 years of my schoolwork). I was nervous about bringing in these things. My critique wasn't that bad though. The teacher either loved it ( put a star) , approved it (a check mark) or put a big X on it because it was no good. I didn't get any stars, but I didn't get any X's either. I got 3 check marks and the rest had minor changes to make. So I have to redo all that plus 2 more projects are due next week! And I have to write a resume. And I have to finish making business forms for another class. And I have chapters to read for another class in addition to the Psychology homework. Let's see what else, what else can I pile on?

A good thing that happened this week is that my bosses took me out to lunch on Wednesday and I'm going to the rodeo parade with my friend Marci on Saturday over in Fort Worth, so that should be fun.
Now it's 2 a.m. and I can't sleep because I'm up thinking about the projects I need to do.

Betty, me and Trish at a play --- goodnight my beautiful friend
I will miss your cute smile.

in this new year

"So how was your Christmas break?" is gonna be the most popular question when I get back to school on Monday. So, let me just tell you now:
It was just ok. I stayed in Dallas, spent Christmas day with my boyfriend and New Years day in the hospital with him. He's fine now, but I dread that emergency room bill! I'm glad I don't have to pay it, and since he's not a legal citizen, what will stop him from not paying it either? He'll probably pay it like he did his Tollway ticket since he's not interested in getting deported. I finally got my new washer and dryer in my apartment. I've been doing my laundry at my friend Marci's apartment because the office kept saying they didn't have a unit I could use. I think they are liars. I also worked on my projects for school since my digital files all got lost or erased. I think I've come up with some good stuff. I need to finish my logos and make a brochure and an event poster, but I have everything else done. Yay me!
I was part of a Secret Santa gift exchange and gave a really cool gift to a guy I had only met once: a venus fly trap plant. He loved it. I got John Wayne movies and a snack basket and Star Wars mugs from my Secret Santa, Trish. I love them!
As you know I have a new job and I love that too! My bosses are really good and understand that school is first for me. This Thursday coming up I am going to be helping out at a job fair out by the airport. My boss came up to my desk this morning while I was filing and asked if I could stay late on Friday. I said, "Sure, I don't have class or anything, so it's okay." She said great, then I said, "What's Friday?" She told me that since I've been there for 3 weeks, they want to take me out to lunch. Next Friday I will actually will have been there for a month already. How great are these people?  Also, whenever the the bus drivers go for 30 days without and accident or incident, we get a catered lunch. So, the first week I worked there, we had Chipotle and today we had Chicken Express.
Today I went to pick up my schedule for classes next week. I am taking one online class which I'm a little nervous about. It's for Psychology and I was told it's a lot of reading and paper writing. When I entered the building on the fourth floor, I saw some of my projects in the display case! I was so excited to see something I made on display.( read about the concerns I'd been having) I immediately took pictures and texted my classmates Camille and Emily who were part of the teams to make them. They're excited too!
I'm happy I finally made something cool. Now I don't have to be jealous of my friend Nick, who has had things in the display cases already.

on the Jason's Deli, I was the assistant and created all
the artwork and packaging (my art director, Camille, was the
assistant on the Little Ceasars pizza, so she did all the artwork
on that stuff.)

on the Subway Cafe stuff, I was the Art Director and
came up with the idea to "upbrand" Subway by changing
the packaging to eco-friendly biodegradable and recyclable
materials…also I changed the logo and had the idea
to make an employee apron and special water bottle.
my assistant (my classmate, Emily) actually made the artwork,
I just told her what to make and how I wanted it.

Now, enjoy these things I have created using my programs (these are some of the things I'm taking to my portfolio prep class - these are all digital, I didn't actually "make" anything physical, and I used Photoshop, my nemesis as well as Illustrator to design them)

personal identity package: bohemian girl studio

Ninth Pluto
my idea for a Space Travel Agency. I'm going
to use this to make an event poster and brochure too.

Yans Kitchen
Good Chinese-American Food

Fred contemplates on some news I gave him….

So life goes on

As you know, a friend of mine passed away in mid-November and since then all of us who knew him have been affected one way or another. With heavy hearts, we move on with our own lives.
Thanksgiving was just around the corner. I knew I could go to my friend's house and join in, but I wanted to have my own Thanksgiving for all the single people with no place else to go. The boyfriend went to Austin to see his dad - Mexicans don't celebrate our Thanksgiving, you know. For everyone who showed up, we had a blast- of course. We ate and drank, watched movies, played Go-Fish and Old Maid, had a coloring contest and decorated cookies, also a football game was on, but I don't know who paid any attention to that.
After Thanksgiving, I had a hard time getting back into the groove of school. With only a few more weeks left to finish my projects, I felt like everything was moving too fast now. I did, of course, get everything done. I presented my rebranded Subway Cafe and Jason's Deli items, presented my website designs, gave my speech in Oral Communications (and, for the final exam our professor sang the answers to the test to us!) and I also gave a presentation about my promotion kit for a non-profit. I got 3 A's and a B.
Now on to better news. I quit working as a cashier at JoAnn. The day I left my two week notice, everyone, and I mean everyone, was UPSET. "Why you want to leave us, Vicki?" and "We can give you more hours if you need more money." No thanks, I'm done standing 8 hours a day, it kills my back and my legs, I'm done arguing with people about coupons and taking the blame for things I can't control, I'm done answering the phone while checking someone and taking a coupon and looking up inventory and greeting people, calling for back up that never shows up and asking questions and answers over the radio all at the same time for only eight bucks an hour!
I found a nice little office job out at the DFW airport where I quietly work alone four hours a day, Monday through Friday from 8AM to noon. They are willing to work with my school schedule and I don't have to answer phones or even talk to anyone if I don't want to on any given day. I simply come in, and enter numbers from the bus drivers' passenger count sheets from 3 shifts into a database in the computer. I also file and verify information. Soon I'll be putting together packets for hiring drivers and other jobs available during a job fair. That's it! And they pay me ten dollars an hour for that and it's a guaranteed 20 hours a week. Sometimes it may be an hour longer on a certain day, but no less than 20 for sure. You all know I'm not a fan of mornings, but I am happy to get up and go to this job because I know I'm not going to drive home later upset and stressed out. Plus, when I get home, I have literally all day left to work on my projects, or read or whatever!
So, the shortage of my funds is coming to a close because I also got approved for food stamps short term. I can apply again in three months if I want or need to, but with my new job, I should be okay by then.

I photoshopped this, it's me "modeling" some Subway stuff I made

another shot of some of the rebranded Subway stuff

a diagram of a new sandwich bag for Jason's Deli I engineered and designed.
I made the little drawings, too!

a diagram of the soup cup wrap I made for Jason's Deli.

a mock up of my websites mobile look

a mock up of a website for fitness, I made up the name "Push It" and made the little logo for it too.
I designed the layout and the colors.

a magazine ad I made for my non-profit. I wrote
all the copy for it too.

In a day

Just about a month ago, I texted a friend to see if he wanted to go to the Klyde Warren Park with me and my friend Evelyn and little Zara. He said he had to work, but maybe later. So two days later I texted him about coming over to watch American Horror Story that we and a few others enjoy. He said he was sick so I didn't go over. I had to dog sit anyway. I figured he was going through his allergy stuff again and I'd see him in a few days. Well, in the next few days he sent out a picture of where he was from his hospital bed. I was a little concerned, but did not take the time to see him because I knew he'd be out soon. And he was, but when I asked if he wanted to go see a play with me, he said the meds he was on made him so exhausted. A few days later his mother sent a text to say he was in the hospital again.
That was last week.
I drove down to the hospital to see him after my shift on Monday. He died on Tuesday night. He had a cancer that caused complications to his treatment. It happened so fast, a lot of his friends out of state didn't even know he was sick. The worst part about all this, is that even though his parents were with him in the end, he still couldn't tell them he was gay. Even when he was dying, he didn't feel they would accept him.
I hope anyone reading this who has children would never let your child go through something like this. They are your children and you should love them no matter what. Your kids will always have a different opinion than you on some stuff, but that should not stop you from loving them.

Rest in Peace my beautiful friend.

Humans and lettuce

The Humans:

On Wednesday nights I have my Oral Communications class. My professor is a hoot and I think he's pretty good at explaining why we need to study how to communicate. If I'm able to give the right answers at an interview, then I'll be above the rest of the artists trying for the same job.

Here is a sample of the syllabus for this class and hilighted in yellow is why he cracks us up:

The Lettuce:

So, on Tuesdays I have class from 1-5 then again from 6-10. In between I stroll over to Which 'Wich and have a sandwich for dinner. This week, after eating a hot roast beef, I was picking lettuce from between my teeth - a usual thing - when my filling popped out. "Oh Jaysus, what the hell is going on?" I moved my tongue around and felt the hole in my very back left bottom molar. It didn't hurt and there was no sensitivity, so I thought, "Well, I guess I'll just find a dentist tomorrow and see about getting that put back together."

That was the plan. Here is what resulted. This tooth had a filling in it already on the top from when I was in the Air Force stationed at Wichita Falls. Then, a few years ago, another filling was put on the other side of the tooth in Maryland. This is the filling that popped out. It was never put in properly in the first place so the whole tooth is in decay. So my new dentist is putting on a crown and it's fourteen hundred bucks because I don't have insurance. Luckily I have a Discover credit card I can use so I called my parents because they are cosigners on the card. I told my mother what was going on and she's like "Whaaaatt?? why is it so much?" I told her "That's just how much things cost these days. It's not 1985. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know in case you see the statement you'll know I haven't been out renting limousines and hookers." Then she said, "Well, what you do is your business, just as long as you paying off the card like you said you would and not screwing up our credit."

These are the people that raised me. How great are they? 

And now I want to eat, but the whole left side of my face is still numb.

new week, new stuff

The second week of school is underway and the new season of one of my favorite shows started on Sunday. All week I was excited to start watching The Walking Dead, then I remembered I don't have cable anymore and how could I watch my show? My friend Cathy gave me a website, which I went to on Monday after work. Since I'm technologically challenged, (not to mention it was the first day of my period, so I was in no mood to deal with something like this) I tried to get the show to play several ways and when I finally did, it was some error in loading! WTF!? I just want to lay on the couch and watch my show! Then, I asked my friend, Jeff about another website and that was taking too long to download so he sent me another link, which I eventually figured out how to load.

Some days I just want things to be easy, especially on days when my whole body hurts and I'm loosing blood by the pints. I've since discovered that if I wait until Wednesday, I can watch it on my On Demand portal Time Warner Cable is allowing me to have so far.

Now, about this school thing. In my writing for Public Relations, we have to start a blog. Well, luckily, I already have one (see?). But for the assignment, I went ahead and started a new one. If you've seen pictures of my waffle iron stuff on Pinterest or Facebook then you'll be excited to read about the experiments.
www.waffleironcreations.blogspot.com is where you'll find all the new things. It's also the tab up top there that reads "Read how Vicki waffles".

I have to write a new entry each week, so it may be more reliable than this blog.
Bon Appetite!

Me, worry? Yes.

The last few weeks or so I've been feeling nervous about school -- more like what's going to happen AFTER school, you know, like when I graduate. (I have had my concerns before, read here.)
I have concerns about being hired because will my work be good enough?
I talked to some classmates about this the other day and one guy said, "What's wrong with your work? It's fine." I said, "Yeah, it's fine, not good like yours." He just shook his head. Another girl said, "Yeah, I know what you mean because I have ideas but I have trouble making them turn out the way I envisioned."
Oh! Thank god! I thought it was only me!
But still, I feel it's lacking because I compare my projects to those of other students. My friend Nick, for example, at the end of our Observational Drawing class, his poster was hung in the hallway and of course I was jealous because I had trouble enough just drawing circles trying to block out a candlestick. Then last quarter, he finished his project in package design and it's now on display in one of the cases at school along with others who have exceptional work. My final project in that class was just ok. I had a great idea, I thought, but had trouble bringing it to fruition.
So, he's talented, no doubt, but does he have the same drive as I do? Maybe, maybe not. But work like his is what I'll be up against and this is why I'm worried.
During the lecture in my Writing for Public Relations and Promotions class today, I realized that I'm genetically wired to be in Advertising. It took me a long time to get here because I was out discovering the world first, and in turn, myself. I know myself, I know what I can do. I'm outgoing, willing to strive for just a little more and I can explain why I designed something the way I did. These, apparently, are elements needed to succeed in my career field. Does Nick possess all these? Maybe not as well as I do, but he is an excellent creator and designer - two things I'm learning to do. I know what my strengths are and I'm learning how to play those up. I also hope to have something of mine on display at school one day.

first day of the Fall quarter…weeeeee!!!

and I just keep swimmin'

So it's my week off from school. No parties this time, but I did manage to do a weekends worth of stuff in one day.
Friday September 26, I had my final exam in my Copyright law class. Before the exam, the teacher announced the students with the highest grades and gave out art gallery books. I got the second highest grade so, yes, I got my art gallery book and love it. Thanks Mr. Darnold!
Next, I wizzed through the exam then trotted over to the train station to meet my friend Marci. We jumped on the red line and headed downtown with a plan to see the Texas State Fair parade scheduled to roll down Main street at noon. Well, we got down there early so we ventured out to Klyde Warren Park then strolled toward the parade route. We took pictures and talked to everyone, of course. The parade was a lot of fun and when it was done, we followed half of the crowd back to the train stop and headed to the fair grounds. Marci had purchased a season pass for about how much two tickets would cost and her pass came with a free ticket, so she gave it to me. yay! We didn't get on any rides, even with my free admission, I could only afford to get a corn dog and a drink! But we got free samples and give aways at the exhibit buildings and walked around and took pictures.
I left her there because she still had some shopping to do. I ventured the train on my own and found my way back to school where I left my car. I headed home, showered and proceeded to the Greek Festival where I met up with Evelyn and Tim. They only stayed a little while, but I enjoyed the food, watching the dancing, the music and the cooking demos.
Now I am applying for a new part time job (for either clerical or graphic design) due to the financial situation my school has left me in. I hope I get one of the new jobs because  I have absolutely had it with retail. I don't have to work again until saturday and already I'm dreading it.
For now, enjoy these pictures and videos:

looking up at Big Tex at the Texas State Fairgrounds

Marci dippin' her feet in the fountain, Klyde Warren Park

Sometimes you just can't find the right way to stop a truck...

a pumpkin patch chalk drawing on my sidewalk

directions at the Greek Festival

video at the parade