crazy-busy

I'm still adjusting to this year, which surprises me: I'm normally fairly well-adjusted by Week Three, but the last few weeks have been incredibly intense. And I need to work on my time management.

Monday: Although I was tired and could've done with an hour more of sleep, I was able to finish the day with more energy than the week before. Drawing class was also less intense than the week before, which was nice (thanks, Adam!).

I haven't said anything about my morning class (Preparing for Professional Life). I can sum up the entire class with, "NBCCD doesn't want you to be a starving artist post-graduation." And because I'm totally clueless about business stuff, I have a lot to learn.

My output class is as interesting as I expected it to be, which is good because from the moment I first heard about that class last year, I placed a high priority on it, because I want to be able to produce high-quality prints that will last a hundred years MINIMUM (which means that I'd better find an alternative to Kodak kiosks fast, because, as I found out this week, those prints only last about twenty years). By the way, did you know that when ink-jet photo printers first came on the market about two decades ago, the photos that they produced only lasted a few weeks--or just a few days if they were exposed to sunlight? Yikes. We've come a long way in twenty-five years.

Tuesday: I spent the day getting stuff done: editing photos from my Lighting homework, getting them ready to hand in and submitting them; shooting a roll of T-MAX for my independent study project; copying notes from my Monday morning class... It usually only takes me about half an hour to walk from my dorm to the college, but this time it took me about two hours because I was constantly looking for possible photos and then shooting them.

Wednesday: This week's Lighting assignment was to shoot using three flashes, and I got my assignment done right after class. Since the beginning of the semester, I've wanted to photograph the cameras that are just sitting on top of the lockers in the photo studio. I want to document them before I graduate next year because they're so quirky, clunky-looking and cool. I've always loved old stuff (I'm looking at you, Beethoven, Grieg, and Tchaikovsky), and cameras are no different--even if you can no longer get film for them.

Thursday: I finally crossed "say 'hi' to Rod" off of my to-do list for this semester. I still laugh when I think of the double-take he did when he saw me (knowing him, he was jesting). Ah, Rod and his sense of humour...

My independent study project has started to become more focused: this coming week, I'm going to shoot a couple rolls, and try to find "mates" (or, as Peter put it, "play match-maker"--ah, photo studio humour) for the photos from the first two rolls that I deem to be the best of the best.

That evening I listened to a live concert by Arcade Fire on CBC Radio 3, which was part of the POP Montreal festival. And yes, I sang along with my favourite songs.

Friday: And thus began my crazy-busy "weekend". I put it in quotation marks because it really wasn't much of a weekend because I was working my butt off all day, every day, for three days straight. That day I plowed through the readings for Output, worked on my homework for Drawing (a two-week project that's due tomorrow evening), got help with one of my Photoshop assignments (turns out, I had the layer order screwed up), copied the notes from my photo-shoot for my lighting assignment. ...and stayed at school until about eleven (ten EDT) that night (which is a record for me).

Saturday: Yesterday was Moving Planet (a worldwide event put on by 350.org), but I didn't attend the event here in F'ton due to my workload. However, I did manage to finish my drawing homework. And although I stayed at school late, I was outta there by about 9:30 (8:30 EDT), though I was absolutely wiped.

I also posted the letter that I wrote to Jack Layton a month ago. You can read it here.

Sunday: Today I finally took care of the business plan that's due tomorrow morning.

I planned to order tickets to Anna Bolena this weekend, but Empire Theatres isn't letting me: they say that there are no showtimes available for any of the simulcasts at the theatre here in Fredericton. I double-checked with the Met, and Empire Studio 10 Regent Mall is on the list for the 2011/2012 season, so something's screwy. I planned to call the theatre on Friday, but I was so busy that I didn't get around to it. I'll try to call them on Tuesday. Keep your fingers crossed, everyone!

This Polaroid camera usually just sits on top of one of the lockers in the NBCCD photography studio, looking pretty. Shot for this week's lighting assignment (three-light set-up).