March Break: we're almost there!

Things are starting to wind down in preparation for mid-term assessment week next week and MARCH BREAK the week after. Yes, I'm excited--but I'll fill the week not by going to Mexico, but by going home and gorging myself on my favourite music on a good sound system (hello, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra French horn section **swoons**). Maybe a few other things (like hanging out with Mom and Tom), but I intend on keeping it low-key.

This semester my drawing class has been doing life drawing. Yes, that means that we're drawing a nude model (a woman in our case). In the beginning I was a bit nervous, but I've gotten used to it--it's one of those things that all art students have to go through, no matter where you go to school. It also makes for good stories to tell your friends and your kids.

For five or six years I've had an idea for a piece of music going around in my head and a few weeks ago I finally decided that this summer I would commit to writing it. The current concept is that it'll be an autobiographical piece. I also want to push myself to the limit and try to make it as complex and advanced as I can--even if it means doing a few things that I don't quite have a handle on. I figure, I'll either learn, or I'll ditch the idea in question. I also want to make it longer then four lines, which is my current average.

Back in November I really made my views about the Olympics known. Well, guess what--last Friday night I stayed up until three in the morning watching the opening ceremony with about half of MJC. I couldn't believe how emotional I got when Canada entered BC Place: I actually cried on Liz's shoulder. (Though I didn't like how CTV kept tossing in commercial breaks--even if they only contained one ad--every ten minutes or so)

Earlier this month I found out the PBSO will be performing in late-April and early-May--just as I'm coming home from my first year at NBCCD! It's like getting a fanfare to welcome me home. YAY, PBSO! I love that orchestra.

fun times at art school

This weekend is MJC's House Weekend, which started on Thursday with Virgin Drink Night. As we all know, tomorrow night is Super Bowl Sunday (I'm cheering for the New Orleans Saints), so we're having a Super Bowl party. Usually just Tom and I watch the Super Bowl together, so this will be my first time watching the Big Game with a whole bunch of people.

For several years one of my goals in life has been to develop a photo "the old-fashioned way"--by hand, and without a single Kodak kiosk in sight (though I've come to love the ease of those things). On Thursday afternoon my dream came true. In history we've been learning about the history of photography, and that day we made photograms. As you can imagine, I felt like a kid in a candy store. Because these are images made by placing objects directly on the paper, they are one-offs--no negatives.

The one below (of some orange mesh that was probably attached to a crate of clementines at one point) is the best of the three that I made and the one that I'll submit this Thursday (along with a drawing of said mesh and a one-hundred-and-fifty-word report comparing and contrasting the two--process, my personal thoughts, everything).

In case you're curious, here's the first photo ever taken (or at least the oldest one that still exists today). It was made in 1826 (the year before Beethoven died). The fact that it took eight hours to make the photo totally blows my mind.

Every now and then I have moments where I say or think, "I love my school." Those moments have been happening more often this semester (last semester was brutal) and one of them happened Friday afternoon during my Textiles class. We were doing silkscreening (I'll make sure to model my T-shirt at some point) and one of the teachers, WhiteFeather, came in to do some of her own work. She had this drawing of a rather angry-looking (but still cute) cat that her niece drew and WhiteFeather wanted to silkscreen said kitty onto every bit of fabric she could find (or so it seemed).

Before I go any further, I should mention that I love being around creative people as they're creating something--music, visual art of some kind, dance, you name it. There's a certain kind of energy that's generated in situations like that (forgive me if I sound rather New Age-y), and I get so excited and inspired.

Yesterday was one of those times: Denise and Jackie were teaching my class (though for this particular day they basically showed us how to do the silkscreening, which probably only took a few minutes, and then told us to get to it), WhiteFeather was buzzing around, giving every bit of cloth that she owned a bit of feline attitude, and it all added up to the point where I actually skipped a couple of times because I was so darn excited.

The age of having every bit of homework done by the weekend has passed, but it's not as bad this time around. This semester I feel more in control and like I know what I'm doing, I'm less stressed (most of the time, anyway), and my outlook on life isn't as negative as it was last semester (there were some times when I seriously doubted myself and my abilities).