relief

What a relief.

I went into this past weekend in a terrible mood. Due to some sort of mix up and a misunderstanding, I thought I was totally screwed over in French course. I missed a couple of appointments with the French department. (I'm taking a French course where you make one-on-one appointments instead of attending a regularly scheduled class.) Now I knew I'd missed these 2 appointments, but it was the first ones I'd ever missed and you are only penalized if you miss a total of 4. Due to some mix up, the department thought I'd missed 2 previously and those plus the 2 I actually missed brought me to 4. So they dropped all my appointments for the next two weeks. Well, school is only in session for another two weeks! I'd would be near to impossible to get all my work done. With no appointments, I'd have to wait around their offices in hopes that someone wouldn't show up for an appointment. With the end of the quarter looming this seemed unlikely to me. Then as if that weren't bad enough... I got a friendly reminder email from the department reminding me that all my French work had to be completed by Wednesday - a week and a half early! Now, I'd sat down with one of the grad students and made out a schedule of the quarter for myself and at no time did she mention this deadline. Well, I was in quite a snit by Friday. If I had to pass two French tests by Wednesday (with no appointments!) I would have to get cracking. I locked myself in the library Friday night, but things looked bleak.

Luckily on Saturday afternoon, the assistant director of the French department responded to my frantic emails and told me not to worry. He fixed it so I could make appointments again and told me the Wednesday deadline would not apply to me. Whew! I am so relieved that he could get back to me over the weekend. Everything is right with the world again.

The only down side is that I have to reschedule new appointments for myself. My previous appointments where all given away during the one day I was without my privilege. This puts me a little behind scheduled, but I am in much better shape now than I was on Friday!

dead end internet?

The internet is like one big, long, never-ending magazine. I'm not all that crazy about magazines. It's a lot of disposable information which tends to either be too trivial to remember or so timely it's outdated in a month. I don't want to bash too hard though; the internet is a wonderful source of information. It is my yellow pages, my movie directory and the host of most of my correspondence. It provides up the minute accurate information about goods and services. BUT when I sit down at the computer and star at the keyboard, I don't know where to go. I sort of click my tongue, my eyes roll around the perimeter of the screen, then I go and check my email. How is it that people (by this I mean my husband) can spend hours on the thing? What is there to do?

I am going to ask you guys to please let me know your favorite(s) website(s) that you would think I'd be interested in...

I'll go first, this one was given to me by Quiltbug's husband....

http://www.angryalien.com/

tricky lighting

It's been a busy week. For once I was able to back-burner French which is good because I've been working a lot on my 3-d assignment this week. I had to create an interior space in Maya. I have attached pictures below. The lighting is bad because I didn't know what I was doing, but I'm proud of it. The teacher really liked it. I made a movie moving through the room, but it was like 120mb file - a bit large for a blog. So you are stuck with the stand alone picks. I'm toying with the idea of redoing the lighting and then trying to render it out in MUCH higher detail, but of course, it will take much LONGER and be much BIGGER files. We'll see if I have time.





I'm thinking about skipping my class tomorrow. I usually don't skip, but I'm really tempted since we have Friday off. That would end my week on Thursday at 4pm.

that's not right

Okay, this isn't right. I just witnessed the oddest thing. So I go into the ladies room. A woman follows me in... eating an apple. First of all, why would you eat in the bathroom?! Not right #1. Then she jams the apple into her mouth and proceeds to thoroughly wash her hands. Then with the apple still jammed up into her mouth, she uses the restroom. So she has food in her mouth while she goes. Not right #2. Then, and this is the kicker, she leaves the restroom without washing her hands again. She grabs the apple out of her mouth and begins to eat again before the door to restroom is even shut again. Not right #3. AND, this is a full-grown adult woman I'm talking about here. She wasn't a student! I think she's an advisor for heavens sakes.

That is the grossest/craziest thing I saw in the ladies room all week. Number two (no pun intended) was hearing a girl on her cell phone while using the facilities. Where, oh where, has our bathroom etiquette gone?

happy halloween

I wish I had a costume today. While I haven't really had the time or the creative energy to work on one, I wish I had made one. Heck, I wish I'd gotten the ol'Halloween decorations out. I haven't even done that. Really the only celebratory thing I've done this year is eat too much chocolate already. Which isn't a necessarily good thing... It's raining today. I hope it doesn't last too long so that the kiddies won't have to trek thru it. The best Halloweens were when it was cold enough that the leaves were falling, dry enough to cut through yards and warm enough not to have to wear a dumb winter coat. How many great costumes are ruined by a winter coat!? too many, that's what I say.

At work today there was a costume party. I thought the best costume was this guy who came as a bartender. He wore a tuxedo shirt and bowtie. But the best part was that he BUILT a portable bar for himself to stand behind. It was complete with a mirror behind and the bar and attached stools in the front. It was quite elaborate. The other costume I liked this year was some kid who wore an Optimus Prime costume. He clearly made it himself. I was quite impressed with that as well. Maybe next year I can be Optimus Prime?

check it out <-------

Please check out the hubby's new blog at sketchscape!

parlez-vous francais?

me neither...

Bonjour! I hate French. Well, that's not true. I hate learning French. Yes, that is much more accurate. I've painted myself into a very fine corner at the moment. I have until Friday to learn an entire chapter of French. Why, oh, why did I procrastinate this! I should have been working on this all weekend! --or at least on Sunday for heavens sake. I am currently locked in the library. I'm sure my pounding on the keyboard is bothering all the acctually studious students behind me. Well, screw them. Wow, this keyboard is very clicky. I kind of like it. It makes me feel like I'm typing really fast.

i've said it before...

...and I'll say it again. I hate throw away design assignments. I'm sick of creating logos for myself. Whether it's my full name or just a symbol, I keep getting this same assignment by various teachers. Here is my latest (and NOT greatest) version of my own personal logo.

If and when the day comes I actually need to make a logo design for myself, I won't be able to take it seriously. It's like interior designers who live out of moving boxes for years and never decorate their own place. Or the computer programmer who doesn't own a home computer. Or the elementary school teacher who doesn't want children. Sometimes the things you do for work just seem like work when you have to do it for yourself.

a moments rest

I just took my second French test (or as my good friend calls them my "freedom" test). The 2nd of a scheduled 10. I passed so I am going to reward myself with no French homework tonight! This is quite a treat, let me tell you. Even yesterday (Sunday) I was at the library studying French. So lucky me is in the computer lab preparing to actually do some work for my other classes. This is good because I've neglected them a bit as of late.

On an unrelated note...
I am so excited! It totally is feeling like fall now. The leaves are changing and falling just a bit. The weather has turned and there is that fall smell in the air. All I need now is some hot cider from ye ol'Starbucks and a pumpkin for my porch. Not that I have a porch... it's more of a stairway, but whatever. OOoooOOh, let's pretend to that I'll get some of those dried corn stalk things too for the the "porch." I love autumn.

UGH!

I'm going crazy. I have back pain today. I guess it all started a few weeks ago. I think I did too much driving over a short period of time, plus I spent a few nights on a rock hard bed. After that my back was a little cranky in the morning, but it would be fine for the day. Now is a different case. I think helping Neonapple build a bookcase this past weekend put me in worse shape. I was okay yesterday, but today is a different matter. I feel like a creaky old lady. I'm in pain. I went to webMD.com for some advice. They said to continue my routine for the most part. Apparently bed rest can make it worse. And I'm supposed to ice it for a few days and then heat it for a few days. Ugh. I can't wait to get home. Work is done for today, I'm in class right now. All I need is to make it to my individual French appointment and decide how ambitious I'm going to be with my homework...

tomorrow

The first day of school is tomorrow. I will actually know somone in my design class. A guy I work with is taking the same class. It will be good know at least one person during the day. Then I have a nice long break and then French. EEk. Then after French I'll go to work for a few hours. It'll be a full day - especially since it's also the husband's birthday tomorrow. Speaking of which, I need to wrap a certain present!

Wish me luck.

an intern looks back

Well, today my internship ends. While I wouldn't go so far as to say I learned a lot, I would say they paid me decently for my work. They didn't pay me all that much, and I didn't work all that much. It all evens out in the grand karmic circle of work. This summer has felt rather blurry. I don't really remember all that much of it. I felt like I spent most of my time running between my two jobs. The daily grind. I'd forgotten how easily it is to fall into it. When I think about my last job which I worked at for 5 years, I can see how easy it was to just stay there. You get caught up in the rhythm of it, and you don' t even notice.

I'm looking ahead now. The nice thing about being a student is that the rhythm of life changes often. It keeps you on your toes and makes you pay attention to what your doing. (Unless you're drunk half the time, and then the reverse is true. Being that I'm not much of a lush, it doesn't apply here.) So in a week and half my classes will start. But for now, I'm going to enjoy a week's vacation.

later, gator

busted again

Okay, I just got caught by a supervisor doing nothing again. I was checking my personal email this time. He came up to me and asked if I need anything to do. I said "yes, please. I can always use more work." Which is so totally true. I'm sick of asking for more to do which is why I didn't today. At least he didn't catch me checking the Sims2 message boards or checking out bravotv.com for more Project Runway dish. I'm such a dork...

tried and true

Well I guess no one really liked the "lies" of my previous email because I didn't get any comments. And don't we all judge out success by the number of comments we can generate? So we'll go back to the tried and true, where I'm "honest" and what not.

It's such a rainy day here. I want to crawl back into bed and listen to it rain on the roof of my apartment. BUT truth be told, I'd like to be in bed whether it's raining or not. It seemed especially hard to drag my butt out of bed today. It's so creepy when I look out my wall of windows and see such a gloomy scene. I swear it looks like evening out there. Nothing makes the day seem longer than everlasting evening.

I have a new obsession to add to my list. There is an expansion pack to the game I play all the time. The Sims2. Okay I don't play all the time, but I get re-addicted to it every few months. Well they've set a vague release date of "fall" for their pets addition to the game. All last week I re-rechecked their website for a firmer date than "fall," but couldn't find much other than some people speculating on message boards. So each day I check. I'm such loser... I know you don't have to say it.

finally someone's updated this stupid thing!

Been a rather blah week. Not much to write about really... So because my life is so boring, I will proceed to lie to you for the rest of today's blog. This is your only warning of my upcoming deceptions.

I am so excited about my upcoming vacation. Brian and I have been traveling so much over the last few years, but this trip should really take the cake. We're going international and taking a tour of non-American English speaking countries. We've been planning this for so long now! The first week we'll be in jolly ol' England. This should be a pretty good time of year to go there. I wouldn't want to go when the weather would be too rainy after all. The only thing I think I don't want to do there is go on that huge ferris wheel thing they've got. No way is Brian getting me up on that thing! Week two we'll be going to Australia - down under! My travel agent has found the most wonderful outback style spa and resort there. A week of relaxation and massages. I can hardly wait. I know we'll be quite jet lagged when we get home, but it will be worth it. Wish me bon voyage!

headache

My evening last night was dominated by a headache. Even after taking (over the course of the night) 8 aspirin, the thing still lingered there on the edges of my mind. I hate that. My original plan for the evening was to take some pictures of the area for my sister and then work on a feelance job. But when I got home I had this sh!tty headache, and Brian asked if I wanted to go to the movies. At first I said no, but I was in such a rotten mood, I said f#ck it, let's go. Besides he has to work the next couple of evenings so we couldn't hang out together again until maybe Saturday. We saw the Will Ferrell racing movie. (P.S. very funny) While my mood improved considerably, the high volume setting on the theater didn't do much for the original headache problem. Then when we got home, I had to get to work. I ended up working on my project until 1:30 in the morning. Doh! I paid the price for my procrastination!

So anyways. Here is a look at the project from last night. A woman I work with is on the Cheerleading Boosters for her daughter's high school. She needed buttons to be made up for the Boosters to sell at the football games. The school's colors are black, white and silver which translates to grayscale in other words. But the individual class buttons, I made color for fun. And the football teams unofficial anthem is AC/DC "Back on Black." If they hate the colored ones they can print them black and white. So here they are...

pockets of time

I am guilt free blogging today. I completed my assignment from yesterday, I have alerted my bosses that I am available for a new one and now I wait. The weird thing about being an intern is the lack of responsibility. I don't have a large on going project that is my responsibility to monitor and get out. I just sit here and ask for work when I'm out. Part of me likes this and thinks that is just fine (It's the same part that sees my paycheck every week.) and part of me wishes that I were like the permanent staff with a clear and defined roll in the system that is making a school text book. I'd have a deadline or goal I'm working to achieve (...and a bigger paycheck to go with it too.)

Then on a completely different note... I am looking forward to school starting again. I want to walk around between classes and enjoy the fresh air. I want to dress comfy and sloppy and be fine with it. I want to sit on the bus and read instead of having to drive myself to work. But of course, when you check back on this blog after a few months of being back at school, I'm sure I'll be wishing it were all over too and I were back at work. I just can't be happy?!

DOH!

You can disregard the blog below pretty much. I forgot I have to work on a freelance piece tonight and tomorrow. DOH! How could I forget! So much for free time...

work bloggin'

I'm trying to get back into my work bloggin' habits. I just can't find the drive to blog from home... so keep a lookout and let me know if you see anyone coming....

The house is now empty of house guests. Of course, this means it need a fresh round of cleaning. With 4 people instead of 2 in a confined space, they house got twice as dirty, twice as fast. I was looking around the messy apartment last night, hoping that my guests would just try to remember how tidy the joint had been upon their arrival. Good first impressions hopefully will win out over last impressions.

What will I do with my evening tonight? The procrastination over school planning and French studying can't be put off any longer. BUT I'm in the middle of the last Harry Potter book, so we'll see who wins this power struggle for my attention tonight. Plus this will be the first night to just hang with the hubby so maybe we'll see a movie or something. Who knows. Life is once again an open book!

messy is in the details

Well, the husband really pulled through! He did some serious cleaning of the ol'homestead. Which was fantastic. There are some details that still need handled. You know, I walk by the dead plants on our porch every day and don't even notice them. But I'm thinking a guest might...

BUSTED! I am blogging at work and a supervisor just walked up with a co-worker I've never met. He needed some papers and wanted to know how far into the project I'd gotten. DOH! Clearly I must get to work now. Ugh.