So my last post seems to have taken on a life of its own: as of this evening, it has sixty-two views. Normally, a post will get somewhere between twenty and thirty views in a week and only hit the higher numbers (anything above thirty) in the second week. However, I'm not surprised: it was a fairly dramatic post, and we humans seem drawn to that kind of thing (why do you think we have tabloids like the National Enquirer?). I myself love a good, dramatic opera--even better if it ends tragically (see: Carman, La Bohème--which I will talk about later--La Traviata, etc.)
Monday: The End is definitely in sight, after an intense semester (that's what happens when you study anything to do with Indigenous peoples, given how much white settlers have put them through since Contact in 1492). Carla praised our writing, as we've all written strong papers. I wanted to applaud, and I told her so after class.
Tuesday: This week's meeting with Joan was extremely emotional on my part and I cried several times. We discussed what I've been going through and how I could deal with it--some of Joan's suggestions overlapped quite a bit with Lynn's, and I told her so. I also shared with her the part of Lynn's email that makes me cry (you know which part I'm talking about, Lynn), which I'd written on a Post-It note--and this time I had to put my head on my arms facedown and sob, I was so moved by Lynn's words and thankful for her support. A few minutes after reading the excerpt to Joan, I put it in my wallet, behind my drivers' license, which is always in front of my other cards. It will remain there for the rest of my time in Halifax.
Wednesday: What is it with me taking on personal projects during finals that end up taking over my life??? This time it's an art project (the blog book is still happening, though: I'm going to dive into finishing it once I'm home, and I want to have it sent off to Blurb by the end of May at the latest), but I can't say much more than that because it's a surprise for one of my friends/readers (not saying who). I will say that it's in a medium that I haven't worked with since graduating from NBCCD. I've been doing some preliminary work, but the bulk of the project won't happen until I'm home. I might do a post about it once it's in said friend's hands (I plan to keep writing here after I'm done school, as I'm now officially hooked on blog writing and writing in general).
Thursday: Exam Review Day (the exam for 20th Century Art is on Tuesday). This time I somehow managed to not end up with writers' cramp. Hmmm... Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the review started about half an hour after class officially started, due to the need to fill out course evaluation forms.
That evening I went to a show opening at ViewPoint Gallery--and I finally met one of the guys who skyped with Peter's class during my first semester as a Photog: Eric Boutilier-Brown, who photographs nudes. Like me, Eric went to both NBCCD and NSCAD.
Friday: As per usual, I spent the day studying. In this case, I finished copying my notes from the review into a Word document. I'm not going to worry about the other two exams (both of which are take-homes) until after the one for 20th Century Art is done.
Saturday: La Bohème Day. During the intermission between acts three and four, Margaret and Ira talked about how the bohemians of the opera are not the same people in the fourth act that they were in the first: they've experienced so much. Boy, do I know what that feels like. Since really getting into that opera a few years ago, I've found that I really identify with it, and now more than ever: I'm a poor art student (however, they just had to worry about making rent--not paying back a student loan) and I've been through a difficult year. At its heart, Bohème is about life and its ups and downs, its joys and sorrows, which is one of the reasons why I love it so much. Bohème could happen in real life--and probably has.
I spent the day copying my exam notes back into my notebook, which Ken Rice (the administrative assistant in the history and critical studies department) had suggested as a way of making sure the info's in my head.
And yes, I sobbed like my heart was breaking during the fourth act--which it was (as Ben Heppner said during the intermission between the third and fourth acts, "ready, set... Cry." La Bohème in a nutshell.).
The woman who played Mimí that day was filling in for the woman who was supposed to sing the role, as that woman is sick with the flu. The replacement had just sung the title role in Madama Butterfly the night before and was running on about two hours of sleep. And, gee, I sometimes struggle to get through those days when I get less than eight hours of sleep--and I don't have to sing a whole (emotionally demanding) opera. Although the performance was simulcast and I wanted to go (I'd seriously considered it), I couldn't due to the need to study. When I go to the Met--and I will someday--La Bohème will be one of the possibilities. I just hope they're still doing the current production (by Franco Zefferelli, the guy who directed my favourite Romeo & Juliet): it's been at the Met since '81, and the company has started to retire some of the older productions. The predecessor to the Met's current Ring production, which was by Otto Schenk, opened in '87 and was retired at the end of the '08 - '09 season (the current production by Robert Lepage--a Canuck!--opened two seasons later).
As the opera hadn't been broadcast since '10, when I was a stressed-out FVA student, I had a few moments early on where I thought, "I'm listening to my favourite opera!" While I have other favourites (Carmen, Doctor Atomic, La Damnation de Faust, The Nose and La Traviata), La Bohème holds a special place in my heart, and if I had to whittle my favourites down to just one opera, Bohème would be it. And I'll admit that I lip-synched parts of it, especially O soave fanciulla (see video below), and smiled as I heard familiar tune after familiar tune, each one feeling like an old friend that I hadn't seen in forever (I deduced that La Bohème is the opera equivalent of The Nutcracker, in terms of how much I love it in relation to other works in its art form--though I came to Bohème probably about five to ten years after falling in love with Nutcracker).
Sunday: I had a mild run-in with the person with whom I'm not getting along today, and, although it was mild, the incident coloured my entire day. Let's face it: I'm extremely worn down emotionally, and everything has the potential to make my entire day either a good one or a bad one (note to Mom and Tom: when I come home, be extremely gentle with me. You are already good, kind parents, but I'm extremely fragile right now, as this year has been traumatic.). I spent the day prepping for the Twentieth Century Art exam, which is on Tuesday--and found out that I have to fill in some gaps in my notes in the definitions section, which will happen tomorrow (**gulp**). Wish me luck! It's only after that exam is over that I'll even think about the other two exams.
Showing posts with label opera. Show all posts
Showing posts with label opera. Show all posts
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Sunday, February 9, 2014
the fun of midterms
The fun keeps happening. **sarcasm** Also, midterms. **gulp**
Monday: I got bus tickets on the way to school. This will be my final time doing so to come home for break.
Tuesday: A friend with whom I hadn't been getting along with for a long time and I finally sat down and talked--and she told me that she has breast cancer. The tumour's pretty big, and she doesn't know whether or not she'll survive. I sobbed through much of our talk, I felt so bad for her. She choked up a couple times, too, but didn't turn into a complete mess, unlike me.
After my appointment with Joan, I spent the day doing homework and that night I snapped. After what I went through last semester, Stan's death and now this, I'd had enough and I became furious with the gods.
Wednesday: I emailed Lynn late-Tuesday/early-Wednesday and exploded, taking out a lot of my rage and fear on her (though I made it clear that said rage wasn't directed at her: I was angry with the gods, having gone through so much over the last few months and I'd finally reached my breaking point, as I think of this in the context of the entire year). That night I would've been happy to find an empty room somewhere and let loose and scream and yell until I couldn't anymore.
These pieces describe how I felt perfectly. Brace yourself. If you've seen Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, you might recognize the first one.
During my first lesson with my full-size violin (September 10, 2001), Lynn played this piece on said violin--and I fell in love with the composition immediately. Since then, it has been a piece that I turn to when I need something that I know will comfort me. Thanks, Lynn!
And this one pretty much sums it all up:
Thursday: My afternoon class was canceled because Carla was sick so I used the time to get a head-start on my weekend homework load and run some errands.
Friday: As promised back in the summer, I spent the day listening to Tchaikovsky while finishing the readings for Contemporary Indigenous Arts.
Saturday: On the way to school, I noticed that Halifax had raised the gay pride flag in the Grand Parade. I stopped and took some photos (the one below is from today)--and suspected that it was a show of solidarity with the LGBT community in Russia. Turns out, I was right. When I googled it, I found out that Fredericton and Moncton have also raised the pride flag at their city halls (go New Brunswick!). I have no words for how excited I felt when I saw the flag in Halifax. Now, whenever I pass the Grand Parade on my way to or from school, I look at the flag and smile: pride flags and rainbows in general make me happy, but pride flags being raised in solidarity with Russia's LGBT community, which many Canadian cities are doing, make me even happier (shut up, Rob Ford).
I missed the live broadcast of Rusalka (the story reminds me of Anderson's The Little Mermaid)--so I listened to it in Mountain Time, which, on CBC at least (I don't know about other networks in other countries), meant that it wasn't live. As I'd expected, Song to the Moon was spectacular.
I'd planned to do the first shoot for my independent project that evening, but the guy who was supposed to pose is sick so we rescheduled for this coming week ('tis the season).
While waiting for my laundry that evening I finally started turning this blog into a book using Blurb BookSmart. I'd tried a few times using BookSmart's blog-to-book feature, but it always stalled after importing my photos. I finally decided to give up on that method and copy and paste the text myself, post by post. I'm finding BookSmart clunky and slow (seriously, Blurb??), but at least I'm able to start work on my dream. I'm looking at a trade-size hardcover book with full-colour photos. Based on what I've done so far (up to Christmas break '09), I'm looking at about a two hundred page book and around 100,000 words(!)--not bad for five years of college and university. My current plan is to copy the posts that I wrote during the school year and possibly the posts that I wrote during the summer breaks. Some of the summer posts are referenced in posts written during the school year (e.g., the posts that I wrote as I figured out how I was going to approach the Sochi Games). I also want to do a table of contents, which will be interesting. Between this and more study of the Nutcracker conductors' score (can't wait!), reading week will fly by.
Sunday: I spent much of the day writing and stressing about midterms (seriously, my time management skills should be better than this by now). BTW, I only have two midterms to worry about right now: the one for Topics in Modern Canadian Art isn't until after the break.
Monday: I got bus tickets on the way to school. This will be my final time doing so to come home for break.
Tuesday: A friend with whom I hadn't been getting along with for a long time and I finally sat down and talked--and she told me that she has breast cancer. The tumour's pretty big, and she doesn't know whether or not she'll survive. I sobbed through much of our talk, I felt so bad for her. She choked up a couple times, too, but didn't turn into a complete mess, unlike me.
After my appointment with Joan, I spent the day doing homework and that night I snapped. After what I went through last semester, Stan's death and now this, I'd had enough and I became furious with the gods.
Wednesday: I emailed Lynn late-Tuesday/early-Wednesday and exploded, taking out a lot of my rage and fear on her (though I made it clear that said rage wasn't directed at her: I was angry with the gods, having gone through so much over the last few months and I'd finally reached my breaking point, as I think of this in the context of the entire year). That night I would've been happy to find an empty room somewhere and let loose and scream and yell until I couldn't anymore.
These pieces describe how I felt perfectly. Brace yourself. If you've seen Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, you might recognize the first one.
During my first lesson with my full-size violin (September 10, 2001), Lynn played this piece on said violin--and I fell in love with the composition immediately. Since then, it has been a piece that I turn to when I need something that I know will comfort me. Thanks, Lynn!
And this one pretty much sums it all up:
Thursday: My afternoon class was canceled because Carla was sick so I used the time to get a head-start on my weekend homework load and run some errands.
Friday: As promised back in the summer, I spent the day listening to Tchaikovsky while finishing the readings for Contemporary Indigenous Arts.
Saturday: On the way to school, I noticed that Halifax had raised the gay pride flag in the Grand Parade. I stopped and took some photos (the one below is from today)--and suspected that it was a show of solidarity with the LGBT community in Russia. Turns out, I was right. When I googled it, I found out that Fredericton and Moncton have also raised the pride flag at their city halls (go New Brunswick!). I have no words for how excited I felt when I saw the flag in Halifax. Now, whenever I pass the Grand Parade on my way to or from school, I look at the flag and smile: pride flags and rainbows in general make me happy, but pride flags being raised in solidarity with Russia's LGBT community, which many Canadian cities are doing, make me even happier (shut up, Rob Ford).
I'd planned to do the first shoot for my independent project that evening, but the guy who was supposed to pose is sick so we rescheduled for this coming week ('tis the season).
While waiting for my laundry that evening I finally started turning this blog into a book using Blurb BookSmart. I'd tried a few times using BookSmart's blog-to-book feature, but it always stalled after importing my photos. I finally decided to give up on that method and copy and paste the text myself, post by post. I'm finding BookSmart clunky and slow (seriously, Blurb??), but at least I'm able to start work on my dream. I'm looking at a trade-size hardcover book with full-colour photos. Based on what I've done so far (up to Christmas break '09), I'm looking at about a two hundred page book and around 100,000 words(!)--not bad for five years of college and university. My current plan is to copy the posts that I wrote during the school year and possibly the posts that I wrote during the summer breaks. Some of the summer posts are referenced in posts written during the school year (e.g., the posts that I wrote as I figured out how I was going to approach the Sochi Games). I also want to do a table of contents, which will be interesting. Between this and more study of the Nutcracker conductors' score (can't wait!), reading week will fly by.
Sunday: I spent much of the day writing and stressing about midterms (seriously, my time management skills should be better than this by now). BTW, I only have two midterms to worry about right now: the one for Topics in Modern Canadian Art isn't until after the break.
Monday, February 3, 2014
critiquing artists in the Canadian canon and toi, toi, toi*, Renée
If you know one thing about Canadian art history, it's the Group of Seven. Thing is, that's all I've heard about Canadian art history, and it's made me think, there has to be more to Canadian art than this! ...right?
Monday: I submitted a call for participants for my independent project to the NOW bulletin, which is published by the NSCAD Service Centre and distributed throughout the school three times a week.
Tuesday: Over lunch, there was a meeting about the grad show and catalogue. We can do either one or both, and both are voluntary, unlike NBCCD's grad show, which is a requirement of all the programs. I'm considering submitting stuff to the catalogue but not the show because of the cost of shipping my photos on top of the cost of mats and frames (Canada Post ain't cheap).
I was supposed to have an appointment with Joan that afternoon, but it was canceled because she was sick. I used the extra hour to get stuff done.
Wednesday: At the beginning of the semester, I had a look in The Plaid Place, which sells Scottish stuff, and checked out their tartan scarves. I have a Moffatt tartan scarf, but it's way too scratchy for me. The lady told me that they'd be having their annual sale (fifty per cent off) in the last week of January and the first week of February. On Wednesday I finally bought myself a scarf--or two. As I didn't have anything with the Johnston tartan (Mom's family--unfortunately, that tartan doesn't reproduce well: in addition to the gold stripe, it has dark blue, forest green and black) on it, I decided to get a Johnston tartan scarf as well.
While I did get stuff done, my time management was really bad and I was up until 2:00 AM studying for Thursday's classes...
Thursday: ...which meant that I only got about five hours of sleep, which is less than I get on Christmas (unless there's a power outage, I'm in bed at midnight and then up at 6:30 to put the cinnamon buns in the oven--and I'm someone who needs eight to nine hours of sleep a night in order to be happy).
Jayne spent the first part of class talking about the midterm exam, which will be my first-ever essay-format exam (all others have been multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank style). After class, I had a bunch of questions for her because I was new to doing an exam that way.
In between classes, I studied for Contemporary Indigenous Arts as I wanted to get a good start on the week's readings.
And yes, this week's Topics in Modern Canadian Art was about the Group of Seven. However, for the first time in my life, I was in a setting where there was freedom to actually think critically about the Group--in fact, one of the readings for this week took a step back and actually examined the Group and the National Art Gallery's role in promoting those artists to death. Apparently, the NGC's attitude has been, "if you don't like the Group of Seven, you're not Canadian or not patriotic" (which means I'm screwed: minus Harper, I love this country--but I like the Group of Seven about as much as I like Ketil Hvoslef: they're good, but not my style). I've been raised to think critically, and it's bothered me that no one has done that with the Group of Seven (at least as far as I could tell). Sure, I don't question the composers in the classical canon--but then again, I like most of them. And even with the ones that I don't like, I feel no pressure to like them and treat them like they're the best thing since music notation.
That evening I got my first response to the notice that I put on the SUNSCAD Facebook group, advertising for participants for my project.
Friday: During Helen's and my Skype chat/memorial service, she told me that she was going to be in Halifax a couple of weeks from then and we started making plans to meet. Friday was the big day and I met her on the first floor of the NSCAD library (it has three floors) and we talked for a while. Eventually Helen had to go put more money in the parking meter. On our way out, I said "hi" to Ken, who was also in the library and introduced him and Helen. The two talked for a while, discussing artist stuff. Also, yay, networking. After Helen fed the meter, we went in the NSCAD Art Supply Store's street door, as she wanted to get some supplies (unlike NBCCD's store, the NSCAD store is open to the public). Turns out, she knows Neil, the storekeeper. We finished with a thorough tour of the photo dept.--and a good, long chat with Alex and Chris (also: yay for all the random things you learn at art school. Today's topic: gardening.).
Saturday: I spent the day studying and listening to the Met.
I'm considering going to the simulcast of La Bohème. While I can afford it, the issue is that it's right at the end of the semester and therefore I'll be in the midst of studying for final exams and putting the final touches on my photo project. Keep your fingers crossed, everyone! I'd love to finish my time at university with a good Met Opera/MOO/favourite opera-induced sob-fest (Bohème never fails to turn me into a sobbing wreck in act four).
Because the BSO played a pops concert featuring the music of John Williams that evening, I thought I'd share my favourite pieces by him, some of which were on the program. Enjoy. What I would've given to hear the BSO play the Indiana Jones and Schindler's List themes...
You'll have to go to YouTube to view this one:
I still remember the time the BSO reduced me to tears with the Star Wars theme:
Sunday: Once again, I spent the day reading--while listening to opera on CBC Music in celebration of Renée Fleming's performance at the Super Bowl, which I was super-excited about (I was positively giddy as I wrote about the upcoming performance in an email to Lynn Saturday evening, and I think my excitement came across in my writing).
If you've ever wondered about Renée's vocal range--wonder no more. Long story short: it's impressive--yet another reason why she's my favourite soprano. I have always wondered about the numbers that followed note names, as in the video below, and I finally looked it up.
The video is included in this list on BuzzFeed.
Back in August, Suzanne Nance opened her final broadcast on MPBN with O mio babbino caro from Gianni Schicchi, as sung by Renée:
I know I've shared a lot of videos (eight, to be exact) with you guys already, but I promise this is the last one. How can I deny those of you who weren't lucky enough to see Renée's performance of The Star-Spangled Banner live the joy of said performance, which was the first time an opera singer sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl? As I watched--with tears in my eyes because her singing was so beautiful--I was thinking about the significance of her performance. This is what I had been gearing up for and getting excited about since yesterday. BRAVA, RENÉE!
*"Toi, toi, toi" is the opera equivalent of "break a leg".
Monday: I submitted a call for participants for my independent project to the NOW bulletin, which is published by the NSCAD Service Centre and distributed throughout the school three times a week.
Tuesday: Over lunch, there was a meeting about the grad show and catalogue. We can do either one or both, and both are voluntary, unlike NBCCD's grad show, which is a requirement of all the programs. I'm considering submitting stuff to the catalogue but not the show because of the cost of shipping my photos on top of the cost of mats and frames (Canada Post ain't cheap).
I was supposed to have an appointment with Joan that afternoon, but it was canceled because she was sick. I used the extra hour to get stuff done.
Wednesday: At the beginning of the semester, I had a look in The Plaid Place, which sells Scottish stuff, and checked out their tartan scarves. I have a Moffatt tartan scarf, but it's way too scratchy for me. The lady told me that they'd be having their annual sale (fifty per cent off) in the last week of January and the first week of February. On Wednesday I finally bought myself a scarf--or two. As I didn't have anything with the Johnston tartan (Mom's family--unfortunately, that tartan doesn't reproduce well: in addition to the gold stripe, it has dark blue, forest green and black) on it, I decided to get a Johnston tartan scarf as well.
While I did get stuff done, my time management was really bad and I was up until 2:00 AM studying for Thursday's classes...
Thursday: ...which meant that I only got about five hours of sleep, which is less than I get on Christmas (unless there's a power outage, I'm in bed at midnight and then up at 6:30 to put the cinnamon buns in the oven--and I'm someone who needs eight to nine hours of sleep a night in order to be happy).
Jayne spent the first part of class talking about the midterm exam, which will be my first-ever essay-format exam (all others have been multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank style). After class, I had a bunch of questions for her because I was new to doing an exam that way.
In between classes, I studied for Contemporary Indigenous Arts as I wanted to get a good start on the week's readings.
And yes, this week's Topics in Modern Canadian Art was about the Group of Seven. However, for the first time in my life, I was in a setting where there was freedom to actually think critically about the Group--in fact, one of the readings for this week took a step back and actually examined the Group and the National Art Gallery's role in promoting those artists to death. Apparently, the NGC's attitude has been, "if you don't like the Group of Seven, you're not Canadian or not patriotic" (which means I'm screwed: minus Harper, I love this country--but I like the Group of Seven about as much as I like Ketil Hvoslef: they're good, but not my style). I've been raised to think critically, and it's bothered me that no one has done that with the Group of Seven (at least as far as I could tell). Sure, I don't question the composers in the classical canon--but then again, I like most of them. And even with the ones that I don't like, I feel no pressure to like them and treat them like they're the best thing since music notation.
That evening I got my first response to the notice that I put on the SUNSCAD Facebook group, advertising for participants for my project.
Friday: During Helen's and my Skype chat/memorial service, she told me that she was going to be in Halifax a couple of weeks from then and we started making plans to meet. Friday was the big day and I met her on the first floor of the NSCAD library (it has three floors) and we talked for a while. Eventually Helen had to go put more money in the parking meter. On our way out, I said "hi" to Ken, who was also in the library and introduced him and Helen. The two talked for a while, discussing artist stuff. Also, yay, networking. After Helen fed the meter, we went in the NSCAD Art Supply Store's street door, as she wanted to get some supplies (unlike NBCCD's store, the NSCAD store is open to the public). Turns out, she knows Neil, the storekeeper. We finished with a thorough tour of the photo dept.--and a good, long chat with Alex and Chris (also: yay for all the random things you learn at art school. Today's topic: gardening.).
Saturday: I spent the day studying and listening to the Met.
I'm considering going to the simulcast of La Bohème. While I can afford it, the issue is that it's right at the end of the semester and therefore I'll be in the midst of studying for final exams and putting the final touches on my photo project. Keep your fingers crossed, everyone! I'd love to finish my time at university with a good Met Opera/MOO/favourite opera-induced sob-fest (Bohème never fails to turn me into a sobbing wreck in act four).
Because the BSO played a pops concert featuring the music of John Williams that evening, I thought I'd share my favourite pieces by him, some of which were on the program. Enjoy. What I would've given to hear the BSO play the Indiana Jones and Schindler's List themes...
You'll have to go to YouTube to view this one:
I still remember the time the BSO reduced me to tears with the Star Wars theme:
Sunday: Once again, I spent the day reading--while listening to opera on CBC Music in celebration of Renée Fleming's performance at the Super Bowl, which I was super-excited about (I was positively giddy as I wrote about the upcoming performance in an email to Lynn Saturday evening, and I think my excitement came across in my writing).
If you've ever wondered about Renée's vocal range--wonder no more. Long story short: it's impressive--yet another reason why she's my favourite soprano. I have always wondered about the numbers that followed note names, as in the video below, and I finally looked it up.
The video is included in this list on BuzzFeed.
Back in August, Suzanne Nance opened her final broadcast on MPBN with O mio babbino caro from Gianni Schicchi, as sung by Renée:
I know I've shared a lot of videos (eight, to be exact) with you guys already, but I promise this is the last one. How can I deny those of you who weren't lucky enough to see Renée's performance of The Star-Spangled Banner live the joy of said performance, which was the first time an opera singer sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl? As I watched--with tears in my eyes because her singing was so beautiful--I was thinking about the significance of her performance. This is what I had been gearing up for and getting excited about since yesterday. BRAVA, RENÉE!
*"Toi, toi, toi" is the opera equivalent of "break a leg".
Sunday, January 12, 2014
hit the ground running
Never a dull moment at art school… Also, this is post #200, in case anyone's curious. And I don't think the fact that this is my final semester has really sunk in yet.
Monday: I was in for a bit of a shock when I found out that my access card no longer worked on the Photo Dept. doors (any of them) due to the fact that I'm not taking any PHOT credits this semester. Needless to say, that completely threw me for a loop, as the Photo Dept. is my home at NSCAD. It completely messed with my way of working.
I have a feeling that I'm going to like Contemporary Indigenous Art, and I'm excited about what I'm going to learn this semester. The course will cover indigenous peoples outside North America as well as First Nations peoples and Native Americans, and cover other topics in addition to art. Because a couple of people said that Carla Taunton (who teaches two of my history courses: Contemporary Indigenous Art and Topics in Modern Canadian Art) knows a lot about indigenous peoples, I wanted to make the most of my time having her as a teacher. Since Idle No More started and I (finally) became interested in First Nations' history and what Natives have had to deal with since white people came to North America, I had been thinking about meeting with Carla to learn even more than what's presented in the course. That may or may not happen, because the course covers a lot. The description in the calendar doesn't do it justice: "This course on contemporary Indigenous arts will introduce students to the diversity of contemporary Aboriginal art practices (including video, photography, performance, painting, installation) contextualized by Indigenous theories of sovereignty, self-determination, and survivance."
I stayed until Photo closed at 10:30 that night. Alex and I left at the same time, and he came up with a few suggestions that would remedy my situation, including Reconfigured Image (done) or an independent project (AHA!!!). I went over my list of possible projects for APC, and picked the one that I felt was the best after the one that I did last semester. By the time I got home, I was 95% sure that I wanted to do it, and not just because it gets me twenty-four-hour access to the Photo Dept.
Tuesday: Right away, I could tell that Survey of Twentieth-Century Art was going to be different from NBCCD's FVA art history survey courses, as almost right away Jayne Wark was talking about Modernism. I'm looking forward to it, though.
That afternoon, I started jumping through the hoops necessary to make the independent project happen, and went to OSAS and made an appointment with Shawna (the registrar). I also emailed Adrian. I called Dal and made an appointment with Joan to continue what we'd started last semester.
Alex told me that evening that everything had been worked out. From an email to Mom:
Due to the intensity of the week up to that point, I decided to start writing this post that afternoon and continued writing throughout the week, adding to it every day.
Wednesday: I was finally able to catch my breath (and catch up on my sleep) that day due to not having any classes, and while I had things to do, the list wasn't as long as it had been for the last four days. I ordered the course pack for Contemporary Indigenous Art (which is thick as heck and equally expensive--good thing I don't plan to buy the course pack for Twentieth Century Art, as almost everything is on reserve in the NSCAD library--the exception is an article from an art journal, which is available at the library, just not on the reserve shelf--or the book for Topics in Modern Canadian Art, which will soon be available in the NSCAD library) and edited some photos.
Adrian replied to my email, and unfortunately he can't take on any more independent-study students. He suggested checking at OSAS to see if part-time instructors like Steve Farmer can work with students who are doing independent-study projects. And he's available to meet with me on Monday.
You may have heard of The Dark Side of Oz, which involves syncing The Dark Side of the Moon with The Wizard of Oz. Well, apparently if you sync Amnesiac by Radiohead with the rest of the movie, it works perfectly.
Thursday: During Survey of Twentieth-Century Art, I found out that there were readings for that day's class--and that I should've done them. After class, I clarified that part of the schedule. I then went to OSAS and asked about regular part-time faculty (RPT--NSCAD's system of part-time faculty is kind of complex, as there are three different levels) working with students who are doing independent-study projects. They weren't able to answer my question, and referred me to Joanne Reynolds-Farmer. According to her, RPTs can't, except in the summer.
That afternoon, I had Topics in Modern Canadian Art, which was interesting, as we spent most of the class waiting for course outlines to be printed. Though Carla was able to give us the rundown of what's going to happen.
I picked up the course pack (and forked over an arm and a leg--while I completely understand why Kinko's has to charge copyright fees, as a student those numbers can really take a chunk out of my loan) and marked in the list of readings in the front which readings were for which weeks, just as I'd done in the course pack for Obsolescence last year.
Friday: It's ridiculous how excited I was for the weekend. I don't have class on Fridays this semester, and after the whirlwind first week, I was looking forward to not having class until Monday afternoon.
I still had things to do, though, including checking at Student Services to see if NSCAD had received the second bit of the money that I owed for this semester (on Sunday night, I discovered that the federal loan folks had put more money in my credit union account than I'd expected. While extra money is awesome--even if I have to pay most of it back: some of it is in the form of bursaries--I was concerned that NSCAD hadn't gotten all that I owed them. I checked on Monday, and at the time the school had received half of what I owed for this semester.). They had, and I mentioned that I would possibly be doing an independent-study project. If I'm successful in taking on the extra three credits, I'll be responsible for paying the school. I'm so glad I have a chequing account now and don't have to get a counter cheque every time I need to use that payment method.
I emailed Alvin Comiter and Bob and asked about doing an independent-study project with either of them and emailed Adrian again.
And I wrote my assignments for the semester in my planner. I'd planned to do the readings that I needed to do that day, but decided to do them on Saturday instead.
Saturday: I spent the afternoon in the NSCAD Library, doing the readings for Twentieth-Century Art, and managed to finish the first reading and start the second.
The Met played Die Fledermaus (The Bat). Sadly, I was photocopying the chapters that I had to read and missed the Champagne Song (because NSCAD has the book that's used for Twentieth-Century Art and it's cheaper to do your own photocopying, I opted to borrow the copy that NSCAD has on reserve and use the library's photocopier). I usually write the parts that I find interesting or important in my notebook, but this time they were taking too long and I could only have the reserve copy for three hours. Making my own copies meant that I could take a highlighter pen to the readings.
Because I was in the library, I wasn't able to hum along with the overture, which is one of those pieces that never fails to make me hum along (the Moldau from Ma Vlast is another).
Every time I watch the Wiener Neujahrskonzert, I can't help but notice that all the musicians are men, with the exception of the harpist. And they're all white. Thankfully, my favourite orchestras (the BSO, Met Opera Orchestra and PBSO) are a lot more inclusive (though as of the last PBSO concert that I went to, Americans still outnumber Canucks by about 7:1, and Trond mentioned that the orchestra needs more Canadian members).
I was introduced to that song by the Met Opera Brass and their second album, Waltzes, Songs and Festive Scenes (the Champagne Song is track eight), and it's one of my favourite tracks from that album.
Sunday: I spent a couple hours in the NSCAD library today as well, finishing the readings. The library might end up becoming the spot where I do all my readings, as there's a lot more space to spread out than in the photo dept. Sorry, Photo.
I had a look at the list of important dates, and it looks like Friday was the last day that I could add a class. So I might not be able to do the independent-study project (for credit, anyway--I might just go ahead and do it, as it requires participation from other artists and I'm in the perfect spot). :-(
Earlier this evening I found out that a family friend, my honorary grandfather (and reader of this blog), Stan Hart, died Saturday night. I'll let my Facebook status do the talking. RIP Stan.
Monday: I was in for a bit of a shock when I found out that my access card no longer worked on the Photo Dept. doors (any of them) due to the fact that I'm not taking any PHOT credits this semester. Needless to say, that completely threw me for a loop, as the Photo Dept. is my home at NSCAD. It completely messed with my way of working.
I have a feeling that I'm going to like Contemporary Indigenous Art, and I'm excited about what I'm going to learn this semester. The course will cover indigenous peoples outside North America as well as First Nations peoples and Native Americans, and cover other topics in addition to art. Because a couple of people said that Carla Taunton (who teaches two of my history courses: Contemporary Indigenous Art and Topics in Modern Canadian Art) knows a lot about indigenous peoples, I wanted to make the most of my time having her as a teacher. Since Idle No More started and I (finally) became interested in First Nations' history and what Natives have had to deal with since white people came to North America, I had been thinking about meeting with Carla to learn even more than what's presented in the course. That may or may not happen, because the course covers a lot. The description in the calendar doesn't do it justice: "This course on contemporary Indigenous arts will introduce students to the diversity of contemporary Aboriginal art practices (including video, photography, performance, painting, installation) contextualized by Indigenous theories of sovereignty, self-determination, and survivance."
I stayed until Photo closed at 10:30 that night. Alex and I left at the same time, and he came up with a few suggestions that would remedy my situation, including Reconfigured Image (done) or an independent project (AHA!!!). I went over my list of possible projects for APC, and picked the one that I felt was the best after the one that I did last semester. By the time I got home, I was 95% sure that I wanted to do it, and not just because it gets me twenty-four-hour access to the Photo Dept.
Tuesday: Right away, I could tell that Survey of Twentieth-Century Art was going to be different from NBCCD's FVA art history survey courses, as almost right away Jayne Wark was talking about Modernism. I'm looking forward to it, though.
That afternoon, I started jumping through the hoops necessary to make the independent project happen, and went to OSAS and made an appointment with Shawna (the registrar). I also emailed Adrian. I called Dal and made an appointment with Joan to continue what we'd started last semester.
Alex told me that evening that everything had been worked out. From an email to Mom:
"My access card will eventually work on the doors in the Photo Dept., as Chris (who's the top tech) and Alex worked things out. However, I still plan to do the independent-study, as I'm all excited about it now, have picked my project and have started jumping through the hoops. I was talking with Alex just a few minutes ago, and he told me that everything had been worked out and he didn't have to kick me out tonight. I told him that I still planned to do the project, and that by the time I [was almost home Monday night], I was 95% sure that I wanted to do it. I decided to sleep on it, and I'm now going for it. I also mentioned that right from the start, my goal has been to make the most of my time at [NSCAD], and this is a way of doing that."And yes, my letter was published in the Courier (page A5, for anyone who reads that paper). As promised, here it is:
Wednesday: I was finally able to catch my breath (and catch up on my sleep) that day due to not having any classes, and while I had things to do, the list wasn't as long as it had been for the last four days. I ordered the course pack for Contemporary Indigenous Art (which is thick as heck and equally expensive--good thing I don't plan to buy the course pack for Twentieth Century Art, as almost everything is on reserve in the NSCAD library--the exception is an article from an art journal, which is available at the library, just not on the reserve shelf--or the book for Topics in Modern Canadian Art, which will soon be available in the NSCAD library) and edited some photos.
Adrian replied to my email, and unfortunately he can't take on any more independent-study students. He suggested checking at OSAS to see if part-time instructors like Steve Farmer can work with students who are doing independent-study projects. And he's available to meet with me on Monday.
You may have heard of The Dark Side of Oz, which involves syncing The Dark Side of the Moon with The Wizard of Oz. Well, apparently if you sync Amnesiac by Radiohead with the rest of the movie, it works perfectly.
Thursday: During Survey of Twentieth-Century Art, I found out that there were readings for that day's class--and that I should've done them. After class, I clarified that part of the schedule. I then went to OSAS and asked about regular part-time faculty (RPT--NSCAD's system of part-time faculty is kind of complex, as there are three different levels) working with students who are doing independent-study projects. They weren't able to answer my question, and referred me to Joanne Reynolds-Farmer. According to her, RPTs can't, except in the summer.
That afternoon, I had Topics in Modern Canadian Art, which was interesting, as we spent most of the class waiting for course outlines to be printed. Though Carla was able to give us the rundown of what's going to happen.
I picked up the course pack (and forked over an arm and a leg--while I completely understand why Kinko's has to charge copyright fees, as a student those numbers can really take a chunk out of my loan) and marked in the list of readings in the front which readings were for which weeks, just as I'd done in the course pack for Obsolescence last year.
Friday: It's ridiculous how excited I was for the weekend. I don't have class on Fridays this semester, and after the whirlwind first week, I was looking forward to not having class until Monday afternoon.
I still had things to do, though, including checking at Student Services to see if NSCAD had received the second bit of the money that I owed for this semester (on Sunday night, I discovered that the federal loan folks had put more money in my credit union account than I'd expected. While extra money is awesome--even if I have to pay most of it back: some of it is in the form of bursaries--I was concerned that NSCAD hadn't gotten all that I owed them. I checked on Monday, and at the time the school had received half of what I owed for this semester.). They had, and I mentioned that I would possibly be doing an independent-study project. If I'm successful in taking on the extra three credits, I'll be responsible for paying the school. I'm so glad I have a chequing account now and don't have to get a counter cheque every time I need to use that payment method.
I emailed Alvin Comiter and Bob and asked about doing an independent-study project with either of them and emailed Adrian again.
And I wrote my assignments for the semester in my planner. I'd planned to do the readings that I needed to do that day, but decided to do them on Saturday instead.
Saturday: I spent the afternoon in the NSCAD Library, doing the readings for Twentieth-Century Art, and managed to finish the first reading and start the second.
The Met played Die Fledermaus (The Bat). Sadly, I was photocopying the chapters that I had to read and missed the Champagne Song (because NSCAD has the book that's used for Twentieth-Century Art and it's cheaper to do your own photocopying, I opted to borrow the copy that NSCAD has on reserve and use the library's photocopier). I usually write the parts that I find interesting or important in my notebook, but this time they were taking too long and I could only have the reserve copy for three hours. Making my own copies meant that I could take a highlighter pen to the readings.
Because I was in the library, I wasn't able to hum along with the overture, which is one of those pieces that never fails to make me hum along (the Moldau from Ma Vlast is another).
Every time I watch the Wiener Neujahrskonzert, I can't help but notice that all the musicians are men, with the exception of the harpist. And they're all white. Thankfully, my favourite orchestras (the BSO, Met Opera Orchestra and PBSO) are a lot more inclusive (though as of the last PBSO concert that I went to, Americans still outnumber Canucks by about 7:1, and Trond mentioned that the orchestra needs more Canadian members).
I was introduced to that song by the Met Opera Brass and their second album, Waltzes, Songs and Festive Scenes (the Champagne Song is track eight), and it's one of my favourite tracks from that album.
Sunday: I spent a couple hours in the NSCAD library today as well, finishing the readings. The library might end up becoming the spot where I do all my readings, as there's a lot more space to spread out than in the photo dept. Sorry, Photo.
I had a look at the list of important dates, and it looks like Friday was the last day that I could add a class. So I might not be able to do the independent-study project (for credit, anyway--I might just go ahead and do it, as it requires participation from other artists and I'm in the perfect spot). :-(
Earlier this evening I found out that a family friend, my honorary grandfather (and reader of this blog), Stan Hart, died Saturday night. I'll let my Facebook status do the talking. RIP Stan.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
the intensity's finally over
I'm home for a much-needed break.
Monday: Crunch time. I spent the day doing last-minute things, including printing photos for cards--one of which I wanted to give to the techs, as Jake, Alex and, to a lesser extent, Chris, had played a major role in helping me to survive the hell that I went through this semester. The card was half-thank-you card and half-happy holidays card.
I finally started packing that night.
Tuesday: More getting stuff done, including getting a stack of movies from the NSCAD Visual Resources Collection for the break and getting food for Thursday (otherwise I would've been stuck eating crap at Irvings). I treated myself to supper at Boston Pizza to celebrate surviving the semester, and that night I stayed up a little too late packing.
Wednesday: The longest day of the semester. I'll let my Facebook status from that evening do the talking: "[I'm] done for the semester and [have] been kicked out of the Photo Dept., as they closed at 6:00. I said good-bye to some friends who are graduating (one of whom is going back to RI), had some of the dept.'s goodies (including hot apple cider and cranberry juice with lemon), hung out, enjoyed watching the last minute dash, caught up with a former classmate, got hugs from at least four people, shared the story of my busy day with one of the techs [Alex]: I didn't know where we were starting today: in the classroom or at the place where the crit was?, went to the wrong campus as a result, met up with a classmate who also didn't know what was going on, found out where to go [we asked Jake, who was in The Cage at the time], trekked down to the correct campus [Port], was half-an-hour late to class as a result, [ran] back to the campus where I started [Granville] at noon, ordered lunch there and dropped off a holiday card to another tech [Jake, again]--it's for all three guys--grabbed lunch on the way out, [ran] back to the other campus, continued with the rest of the crits, was done about an hour and a half early, went back to [Granville] with a few friends--chatting with them the whole way--wished the daytime weekday security guard happy holidays, went to the Photo Dept., hung out there until close and talked with the aforementioned friend, said good-bye to both her and the tech who was on tonight [Alex] and headed to another location [the library] to catch up on FB and email and eat supper... **whew** And it's not over yet: when I get home tonight, I have to shower, finish my packing up to the last-minute stuff that'll get packed tomorrow, crash until 6:00 AM, get up, pack the last-minute stuff, get dressed, lug my stuff down to the elevator (keeping an eye out for my roommie's cats, one of whom likes to escape), call a cab, lug my stuff to the cab, go to the bus station, lug my stuff inside, lug it back out when my bus is announced, stow said stuff, hand them my ticket and--FINALLY--relax.
If you made it all the way to the end of this MASSIVE status update, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! #ChristmasBreak #lastdayofclass #finals"
A little bit later I posted, "I forgot to mention that according to Alex (classmate), I'll be known as the woman who brought rum cake to the final #APC crit (we had a potluck)."
I ended up setting my alarm for 5:45 AM, as I felt that 6:00 wouldn't give me enough time. I crashed at about 1:00 AM.
Thursday: Up and at 'em--way too early and with one heck of a massive sleep debt (due to Tuesday and Wednesday nights, I was missing about ten hours of sleep). I packed the last-minute stuff (including food), triple-checked my packing list, checked the temperature, got dressed, lugged my bags out into the hall one at a time, left a note for my roommie, locked the door, lugged my bags to the elevator (which is just two doors down from my apartment, the stairs being the other door), took the elevator down to the ground floor, lugged everything into the lobby, called a cab, lugged my stuff into the entryway, lugged it to the cab (which was extremely prompt, even for the company that I deal with), went to the bus station, lugged my stuff inside, put tags on the two bags that would be going under the bus, lugged my stuff back out, got my two non-carryon bags stowed underneath, chose a seat and--finally, after two days of non-stop gogogo--relaxed. I snoozed for a couple hours, read and checked the internet wherever possible (while Maritime Bus advertises that they have wifi on their buses, that isn't true for the entire fleet). Finally, the bus from Moncton (there's a transfer there) pulled into the terminal at Fredericton and I unloaded my stuff and looked for Mom's Highlander. I didn't see it, so I lugged my stuff into the terminal as it was far too cold to stay outside very long (welcome to New Brunswick). After lugging my stuff to a chair, I turned around--and there was Mom!
As usual, we talked all the way home. I was in bed by 12:30 that night, as I was incredibly tired.
Friday: I planned to get a bunch of stuff done, but as I was still exhausted and had a headache due to said exhaustion (those are the worst), I didn't do much.
I found out that day that December thirteenth, in addition to being Santa Lucia Day, is International Violin Day. Yes, apparently the violin has its own holiday--as it should. I celebrated by listening to the BSO and then dancing that night to some of my favourite violin pieces. For a belated celebration, here's one of my favourite pieces from The Nutcracker: the Coda. Holy sixteenth notes! Violinists who play this, I salute you! Ditto and double when it comes to sight-reading the sixteenth notes at full speed (which I just tried with the first violin part that I have in PDF format on my computer--see here).
For anyone who's curious, here's what the first violin part looks like for the Coda:
Saturday: I was almost back to normal, and Mom and I brought the tree into the house ahead of a major storm that was expected to hit that night.
That day was the first Met Opera radio broadcast where the MOO was conducted by James Levine in about two years. WELCOME BACK, MAESTRO! (BTW, the opera that day was Verdi's Falstaff.)
Sunday: Much of the day was devoted to making Mom's birthday supper (vegetarian pizza and carrot cake, both of which were delicious).
I discovered this song while listening to a radio station that I discovered yesterday, and which you can check out here. Many of the songs are in Norwegian, and the station itself is based in Norway.
This particular song is mostly in English--but with some Norwegian words thrown in to keep you on your toes. Click here for the lyrics.
Monday: Crunch time. I spent the day doing last-minute things, including printing photos for cards--one of which I wanted to give to the techs, as Jake, Alex and, to a lesser extent, Chris, had played a major role in helping me to survive the hell that I went through this semester. The card was half-thank-you card and half-happy holidays card.
I finally started packing that night.
Tuesday: More getting stuff done, including getting a stack of movies from the NSCAD Visual Resources Collection for the break and getting food for Thursday (otherwise I would've been stuck eating crap at Irvings). I treated myself to supper at Boston Pizza to celebrate surviving the semester, and that night I stayed up a little too late packing.
Wednesday: The longest day of the semester. I'll let my Facebook status from that evening do the talking: "[I'm] done for the semester and [have] been kicked out of the Photo Dept., as they closed at 6:00. I said good-bye to some friends who are graduating (one of whom is going back to RI), had some of the dept.'s goodies (including hot apple cider and cranberry juice with lemon), hung out, enjoyed watching the last minute dash, caught up with a former classmate, got hugs from at least four people, shared the story of my busy day with one of the techs [Alex]: I didn't know where we were starting today: in the classroom or at the place where the crit was?, went to the wrong campus as a result, met up with a classmate who also didn't know what was going on, found out where to go [we asked Jake, who was in The Cage at the time], trekked down to the correct campus [Port], was half-an-hour late to class as a result, [ran] back to the campus where I started [Granville] at noon, ordered lunch there and dropped off a holiday card to another tech [Jake, again]--it's for all three guys--grabbed lunch on the way out, [ran] back to the other campus, continued with the rest of the crits, was done about an hour and a half early, went back to [Granville] with a few friends--chatting with them the whole way--wished the daytime weekday security guard happy holidays, went to the Photo Dept., hung out there until close and talked with the aforementioned friend, said good-bye to both her and the tech who was on tonight [Alex] and headed to another location [the library] to catch up on FB and email and eat supper... **whew** And it's not over yet: when I get home tonight, I have to shower, finish my packing up to the last-minute stuff that'll get packed tomorrow, crash until 6:00 AM, get up, pack the last-minute stuff, get dressed, lug my stuff down to the elevator (keeping an eye out for my roommie's cats, one of whom likes to escape), call a cab, lug my stuff to the cab, go to the bus station, lug my stuff inside, lug it back out when my bus is announced, stow said stuff, hand them my ticket and--FINALLY--relax.
If you made it all the way to the end of this MASSIVE status update, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! #ChristmasBreak #lastdayofclass #finals"
A little bit later I posted, "I forgot to mention that according to Alex (classmate), I'll be known as the woman who brought rum cake to the final #APC crit (we had a potluck)."
I ended up setting my alarm for 5:45 AM, as I felt that 6:00 wouldn't give me enough time. I crashed at about 1:00 AM.
Thursday: Up and at 'em--way too early and with one heck of a massive sleep debt (due to Tuesday and Wednesday nights, I was missing about ten hours of sleep). I packed the last-minute stuff (including food), triple-checked my packing list, checked the temperature, got dressed, lugged my bags out into the hall one at a time, left a note for my roommie, locked the door, lugged my bags to the elevator (which is just two doors down from my apartment, the stairs being the other door), took the elevator down to the ground floor, lugged everything into the lobby, called a cab, lugged my stuff into the entryway, lugged it to the cab (which was extremely prompt, even for the company that I deal with), went to the bus station, lugged my stuff inside, put tags on the two bags that would be going under the bus, lugged my stuff back out, got my two non-carryon bags stowed underneath, chose a seat and--finally, after two days of non-stop gogogo--relaxed. I snoozed for a couple hours, read and checked the internet wherever possible (while Maritime Bus advertises that they have wifi on their buses, that isn't true for the entire fleet). Finally, the bus from Moncton (there's a transfer there) pulled into the terminal at Fredericton and I unloaded my stuff and looked for Mom's Highlander. I didn't see it, so I lugged my stuff into the terminal as it was far too cold to stay outside very long (welcome to New Brunswick). After lugging my stuff to a chair, I turned around--and there was Mom!
As usual, we talked all the way home. I was in bed by 12:30 that night, as I was incredibly tired.
Friday: I planned to get a bunch of stuff done, but as I was still exhausted and had a headache due to said exhaustion (those are the worst), I didn't do much.
I found out that day that December thirteenth, in addition to being Santa Lucia Day, is International Violin Day. Yes, apparently the violin has its own holiday--as it should. I celebrated by listening to the BSO and then dancing that night to some of my favourite violin pieces. For a belated celebration, here's one of my favourite pieces from The Nutcracker: the Coda. Holy sixteenth notes! Violinists who play this, I salute you! Ditto and double when it comes to sight-reading the sixteenth notes at full speed (which I just tried with the first violin part that I have in PDF format on my computer--see here).
For anyone who's curious, here's what the first violin part looks like for the Coda:
Saturday: I was almost back to normal, and Mom and I brought the tree into the house ahead of a major storm that was expected to hit that night.
That day was the first Met Opera radio broadcast where the MOO was conducted by James Levine in about two years. WELCOME BACK, MAESTRO! (BTW, the opera that day was Verdi's Falstaff.)
Sunday: Much of the day was devoted to making Mom's birthday supper (vegetarian pizza and carrot cake, both of which were delicious).
I discovered this song while listening to a radio station that I discovered yesterday, and which you can check out here. Many of the songs are in Norwegian, and the station itself is based in Norway.
This particular song is mostly in English--but with some Norwegian words thrown in to keep you on your toes. Click here for the lyrics.
Happy Holidays!
Sunday, December 8, 2013
life, death and art
The countdown to the final day is in full swing.
Monday: I spent much of the day decompressing from the trip to Elsipogtog. Turns out, Laura and I had gone at the right time, as the protesters had another confrontation with SWN and the RCMP. This one wasn't as major as the one that grabbed headlines in October, thankfully.
I also had another meltdown related to what I've been going through this semester. I could feel it bubbling just under the surface after I read the thing that triggered said meltdown that morning. I waited until late that afternoon before talking with Jake and Alex about it--and crying. And Chris (another tech) now knows some of what I've been going through this semester. This time of year is busy for everyone, techs included, so I'm really thankful that they managed to find time to comfort me.
Tuesday: I had another appointment with Joan--my last for this semester. And I discussed the events of the previous day with her (it was one of those times where, yes, I had an appointment the next day--but I needed to talk with someone right then).
That day Mom told me that she wanted some of my photos from Elsipogtog for the Christmas newsletter. She also wondered why some people are pro-fracking, which I happily researched (see here and here).
Wednesday: Crit Day. I did really well and I'm proud of what I've accomplished this semester. To paraphrase Neil Gaiman: going through a hell that keeps recurring? Make good art. I'm going to deviate from talking about the crit to share this passage from that address with you guys because it's so awesome: "Fourthly, I hope you'll make mistakes. If you're making mistakes, it means you're out there doing something. And the mistakes in themselves can be useful. I once misspelled Caroline, in a letter, transposing the A and the O, and I thought, 'Coraline looks like a real name...'
"And remember that whatever discipline you are in, whether you are a musician or a photographer[!!!], a fine artist or a cartoonist, a writer, a dancer, a designer, whatever you do you have one thing that's unique. You have the ability to make art.
"And for me, and for so many of the people I have known, that's been a lifesaver. The ultimate lifesaver. It gets you through good times and it gets you through the other ones.
"Life is sometimes hard. Things go wrong, in life and in love and in business and in friendship and in health and in all the other ways that life can go wrong. And when things get tough, this is what you should do.
"Make good art.
"I'm serious. Husband runs off with a politician? Make good art. Leg crushed and then eaten by mutated boa constrictor? Make good art. IRS on your trail? Make good art. Cat exploded? Make good art. Somebody on the Internet thinks what you do is stupid or evil or it's all been done before? Make good art. Probably things will work out somehow, and eventually time will take the sting away, but that doesn't matter. Do what only you do best. Make good art.
"Make it on the good days too."
And now, back to the blog post.
While my crit went well, I had to rewrite part of the contextualizing statement. I was okay with that, though I'd planned to be done with the thing: once I'd gotten the final draft down to seven hundred and fifty words and was happy with it, I planned to never touch it again. Turns out, I had to dig it back out after all. I spent the afternoon rewriting the statement during the open studio.
Mom had told me that she and Tom were going to work on the annual Christmas newsletter the next day, so I chose photos from the Elsipogtog trip, edited them and wrote a couple hundred words on the experience. I sent everything that night.
Thursday: I worked on the statement and some other things that needed to get done, including getting some Christmas presents. Early that evening, I found out that Nelson Mandela had died and I emailed Mom with the news. She hadn't yet found out. As I was writing this on Saturday night, I was listening to CBC Music's Essential Classics channel and as I was writing about what happened on Thursday, the folks at CBC had Barber's Adagio on. I wanted to include something in this post to honour Mandela, and the Adagio is perfect. Thanks, CBC!
And this, from another wonderful human:
Friday: I didn't get a whole lot done, which I wasn't thrilled about. Though I managed to finish the contextualizing statement. That evening I went to an end-of-semester/birthday/some-classmates-are-done-this-semester-and-are-moving-away party. I was there during the first half of said party, while it was still fairly small and intimate. We played music on the host's (Greg, one of my classmates) turntable and iPad Mini and iPods from a couple of his friends. This was the first record that he put on. Also, I tried blueberry wine for the first time. I liked it and would happily have it again, but I was expecting more of a blueberry taste.
That day, SWN finally backed down. I wish I could go to Elsipogtog again just to give everyone involved with the protest a high five. However, the fight isn't over: SWN will be back. Some sources are saying in '15, others say they don't know when the company will try again.
Saturday: Saturday was the Met's first radio broadcast of the season: Verdi's Rigoletto, which was wonderful as always. I've missed the Met (and their wonderful orchestra, complete with a horn section that could give the BSO's violin section a run for its money when it comes to knocking peoples' socks off), so it was great to hear them again. Here's Questa o quella from act one (the Met's current production is set in Vegas in 1960):
I spent the day getting a bunch of things done.
Sunday: I worked on several things not related to school, including my packing list and a surprise for the techs, as I want to thank them for supporting me through this semester's bumps and scrapes.
Today marks ten years since my worst violin lesson ever. I hadn't practiced all week, and Lynn knew right away. It took her three tries to get me to tell the truth--the first time I don't think I really gave an answer, the second time I probably said something along the lines of "maybe...?," the third I admitted to what I'd done. I'll never forget her telling me that the lesson was a waste of money (hers don't come cheap, but they're so worth it as she's a really good teacher). And I'll never forget the times that I wanted to find a small corner in her house, curl up into a ball and sob--and the times that I came close to tears on the way home. Simply put, I was miserable. For the last few years, I've been suspicious that that lesson was an early sign of what would culminate in me quitting lessons in April 2004. I can't believe it's been ten years.
The next time I write, I'll be enjoying a much-needed and -deserved break at home. And a week after that is Nutcracker weekend for the BSO. Here's a version of the entire ballet that was performed as a concert (you read that right--no dancers were involved in this performance). My god! We're only two weeks away from Nutcracker weekend!!! **squeals**
Monday: I spent much of the day decompressing from the trip to Elsipogtog. Turns out, Laura and I had gone at the right time, as the protesters had another confrontation with SWN and the RCMP. This one wasn't as major as the one that grabbed headlines in October, thankfully.
I also had another meltdown related to what I've been going through this semester. I could feel it bubbling just under the surface after I read the thing that triggered said meltdown that morning. I waited until late that afternoon before talking with Jake and Alex about it--and crying. And Chris (another tech) now knows some of what I've been going through this semester. This time of year is busy for everyone, techs included, so I'm really thankful that they managed to find time to comfort me.
Tuesday: I had another appointment with Joan--my last for this semester. And I discussed the events of the previous day with her (it was one of those times where, yes, I had an appointment the next day--but I needed to talk with someone right then).
That day Mom told me that she wanted some of my photos from Elsipogtog for the Christmas newsletter. She also wondered why some people are pro-fracking, which I happily researched (see here and here).
Wednesday: Crit Day. I did really well and I'm proud of what I've accomplished this semester. To paraphrase Neil Gaiman: going through a hell that keeps recurring? Make good art. I'm going to deviate from talking about the crit to share this passage from that address with you guys because it's so awesome: "Fourthly, I hope you'll make mistakes. If you're making mistakes, it means you're out there doing something. And the mistakes in themselves can be useful. I once misspelled Caroline, in a letter, transposing the A and the O, and I thought, 'Coraline looks like a real name...'
"And remember that whatever discipline you are in, whether you are a musician or a photographer[!!!], a fine artist or a cartoonist, a writer, a dancer, a designer, whatever you do you have one thing that's unique. You have the ability to make art.
"And for me, and for so many of the people I have known, that's been a lifesaver. The ultimate lifesaver. It gets you through good times and it gets you through the other ones.
"Life is sometimes hard. Things go wrong, in life and in love and in business and in friendship and in health and in all the other ways that life can go wrong. And when things get tough, this is what you should do.
"Make good art.
"I'm serious. Husband runs off with a politician? Make good art. Leg crushed and then eaten by mutated boa constrictor? Make good art. IRS on your trail? Make good art. Cat exploded? Make good art. Somebody on the Internet thinks what you do is stupid or evil or it's all been done before? Make good art. Probably things will work out somehow, and eventually time will take the sting away, but that doesn't matter. Do what only you do best. Make good art.
"Make it on the good days too."
And now, back to the blog post.
While my crit went well, I had to rewrite part of the contextualizing statement. I was okay with that, though I'd planned to be done with the thing: once I'd gotten the final draft down to seven hundred and fifty words and was happy with it, I planned to never touch it again. Turns out, I had to dig it back out after all. I spent the afternoon rewriting the statement during the open studio.
Mom had told me that she and Tom were going to work on the annual Christmas newsletter the next day, so I chose photos from the Elsipogtog trip, edited them and wrote a couple hundred words on the experience. I sent everything that night.
Thursday: I worked on the statement and some other things that needed to get done, including getting some Christmas presents. Early that evening, I found out that Nelson Mandela had died and I emailed Mom with the news. She hadn't yet found out. As I was writing this on Saturday night, I was listening to CBC Music's Essential Classics channel and as I was writing about what happened on Thursday, the folks at CBC had Barber's Adagio on. I wanted to include something in this post to honour Mandela, and the Adagio is perfect. Thanks, CBC!
And this, from another wonderful human:
Friday: I didn't get a whole lot done, which I wasn't thrilled about. Though I managed to finish the contextualizing statement. That evening I went to an end-of-semester/birthday/some-classmates-are-done-this-semester-and-are-moving-away party. I was there during the first half of said party, while it was still fairly small and intimate. We played music on the host's (Greg, one of my classmates) turntable and iPad Mini and iPods from a couple of his friends. This was the first record that he put on. Also, I tried blueberry wine for the first time. I liked it and would happily have it again, but I was expecting more of a blueberry taste.
That day, SWN finally backed down. I wish I could go to Elsipogtog again just to give everyone involved with the protest a high five. However, the fight isn't over: SWN will be back. Some sources are saying in '15, others say they don't know when the company will try again.
Saturday: Saturday was the Met's first radio broadcast of the season: Verdi's Rigoletto, which was wonderful as always. I've missed the Met (and their wonderful orchestra, complete with a horn section that could give the BSO's violin section a run for its money when it comes to knocking peoples' socks off), so it was great to hear them again. Here's Questa o quella from act one (the Met's current production is set in Vegas in 1960):
I spent the day getting a bunch of things done.
Sunday: I worked on several things not related to school, including my packing list and a surprise for the techs, as I want to thank them for supporting me through this semester's bumps and scrapes.
Today marks ten years since my worst violin lesson ever. I hadn't practiced all week, and Lynn knew right away. It took her three tries to get me to tell the truth--the first time I don't think I really gave an answer, the second time I probably said something along the lines of "maybe...?," the third I admitted to what I'd done. I'll never forget her telling me that the lesson was a waste of money (hers don't come cheap, but they're so worth it as she's a really good teacher). And I'll never forget the times that I wanted to find a small corner in her house, curl up into a ball and sob--and the times that I came close to tears on the way home. Simply put, I was miserable. For the last few years, I've been suspicious that that lesson was an early sign of what would culminate in me quitting lessons in April 2004. I can't believe it's been ten years.
The next time I write, I'll be enjoying a much-needed and -deserved break at home. And a week after that is Nutcracker weekend for the BSO. Here's a version of the entire ballet that was performed as a concert (you read that right--no dancers were involved in this performance). My god! We're only two weeks away from Nutcracker weekend!!! **squeals**
Sunday, April 14, 2013
we're thisclose to the end
This week was the peak of the stress, but at last it's all over. It was one of those weeks where, if I were taking eighteen credits, I probably wouldn't have slept much.
Monday: We met at the Atrium at Saint Mary's University and then went to the university's data cave. Afterward, we went over to the Granville Campus and worked on our projects.
Tuesday: Welcome to the busiest day of the semester. I met with Anna at Port at ten that morning to go over my final piece for her class and then headed up to Granville where I worked on my paper for Obsolescence until my meeting with Bernadette to discuss my change in plans. When I initially split my course load, I split it twelve credits in the fall and six credits in the winter. Bernadette told me that because I'd be a part-time student in the winter, I would only get loan money for tuition--not other expenses. She advised that I split it nine and nine, which means doing all my history credits in the winter.
Afterward, I printed the test strips for my final for Reconfigured, which was my first time printing on matte paper EVER. This particular paper is about two or three times thicker than the regular Epson Enhanced Matte paper that both NSCAD and NBCCD stock.
Wednesday: I spent the afternoon doing everything that I needed to do that didn't get done on the weekend or Tuesday.
That evening we again split into groups and critiqued each others' work and then could leave. After class, I went to Staples to talk with them about printing my final project, which is a brochure of my work. I'm printing on legal-size paper in colour and double-sided (none of which I can do in the Photo Dept.).
Thursday: I met with NSCAD's registrar, Shawna, to discuss the changes in my plans. After my meeting with Bernadette, I'd moved the extra course that I was taking in the fall (Survey of Twentieth-Century Art) to the winter semester, and when Shawna and I went over my courses she was very happy with how I'd set it up and told me that I was "setting [myself] up for success." She agreed that my original plan of doing all eighteen credits in one semester would've been brutal (I'd been very worried about burnout). I came out of the meeting with a huge smile on my face. My graduation date is now officially Summer '14, meaning that a year from now I'll be doing my last set of finals and graduating with my BFA in Photography. It also means another year of reading about my shenanigans and adventures as a university student.
We spent the second half of class watching The Matrix. I'd found out a couple days prior when I'd met a classmate at OSAS that the final paper for Obsolescence was supposed to be 3,000 to 4,000 words long (Bob had made no mention of this). I only had 2,000 words (still a respectable number--and my longest college/university paper ever). I'd emailed Bob, and although he'd replied I wanted to talk with him about it in person, which we did after class. Afterward, I successfully found my way back to G-block from S-block (which has taken several tries that always ended in defeat, so this is a major accomplishment). I'm finally at a point where I feel reasonably comfortable navigating parts of the school that aren't G- or D-block (where Photo is). By the time I graduate, I should be completely adjusted to the maze that is Granville. The fact that all four of my classes are at that campus (currently--that could change, as was the case with Writing for the Arts, which was supposed to be in Granville until it got changed to Port) helps.
On my way home I stopped by the SuperStore to pick up stuff for the next day's potluck.
Friday: Yay for end-of-the-semester potluck brunches--and for meeting at ten instead of eight-thirty. One of my classmates--who was supposed to present last week, but didn't--presented, and we watched an episode of The Twilight Zone, which I'd heard about for years, but never actually seen. The episode? The Obsolete Man, of course!
Bob had brought a cake--with "Obsolete!" written on it. Us being photography majors, most of the class crowded around the cake, taking photos (because, honestly, how many times in your life are you going to see a cake with "obsolete" written on it?).
WftA had a potluck as well. Several of us (including me) read the journal entries that we had edited. You can read mine (about my journey from being a timid artist to one who's not afraid to use her art to stand up for what she believes in) here. When I was reading it, I couldn't help but think about how much it benefited from being read aloud. Anna told us tearfully about a couple of students who'd been raising funds for a new computer for her (her previous laptop was stolen).
In the evening, we had the closing of the WftA shows. I went home between class and the closing to eat supper and dump my backpack and then went back to Port. Here's the photo of my piece that I promised.
I spent the rest of the evening adding to my Obsolescence paper.
Saturday: Saturday is usually the day I spend at home, but this time I spent part of the afternoon at NSCAD, printing my final for Reconfigured and giving my final for Graphics a once-over. Once I got home, I spent some time cleaning my room and then finished off the Obsolescence paper--for real this time. The whole time, I listened to Die Walküre, and was reminded just how awesome that opera is (something I keep forgetting). I'm not a Ring-head, but Walküre is almost enough to convert me. Almost.
Sunday: Today I didn't have much to do. I finished the project that I'd photographed for the WftA show (sealing all those envelopes--I just have to mail them now), proofread the paper for Obsolescence, watched an episode of a New Zealand TV show that I've been watching on YouTube (The Secret Lives of Dancers, which is about the Royal New Zealand Ballet company) and read a bunch of the tabs that have been accumulating in Firefox since at least January (college/university = very little time to read).
Mom will be coming over on Tuesday to help me pack and then we're outta here next Friday.
Monday: We met at the Atrium at Saint Mary's University and then went to the university's data cave. Afterward, we went over to the Granville Campus and worked on our projects.
Tuesday: Welcome to the busiest day of the semester. I met with Anna at Port at ten that morning to go over my final piece for her class and then headed up to Granville where I worked on my paper for Obsolescence until my meeting with Bernadette to discuss my change in plans. When I initially split my course load, I split it twelve credits in the fall and six credits in the winter. Bernadette told me that because I'd be a part-time student in the winter, I would only get loan money for tuition--not other expenses. She advised that I split it nine and nine, which means doing all my history credits in the winter.
Afterward, I printed the test strips for my final for Reconfigured, which was my first time printing on matte paper EVER. This particular paper is about two or three times thicker than the regular Epson Enhanced Matte paper that both NSCAD and NBCCD stock.
Wednesday: I spent the afternoon doing everything that I needed to do that didn't get done on the weekend or Tuesday.
That evening we again split into groups and critiqued each others' work and then could leave. After class, I went to Staples to talk with them about printing my final project, which is a brochure of my work. I'm printing on legal-size paper in colour and double-sided (none of which I can do in the Photo Dept.).
Thursday: I met with NSCAD's registrar, Shawna, to discuss the changes in my plans. After my meeting with Bernadette, I'd moved the extra course that I was taking in the fall (Survey of Twentieth-Century Art) to the winter semester, and when Shawna and I went over my courses she was very happy with how I'd set it up and told me that I was "setting [myself] up for success." She agreed that my original plan of doing all eighteen credits in one semester would've been brutal (I'd been very worried about burnout). I came out of the meeting with a huge smile on my face. My graduation date is now officially Summer '14, meaning that a year from now I'll be doing my last set of finals and graduating with my BFA in Photography. It also means another year of reading about my shenanigans and adventures as a university student.
We spent the second half of class watching The Matrix. I'd found out a couple days prior when I'd met a classmate at OSAS that the final paper for Obsolescence was supposed to be 3,000 to 4,000 words long (Bob had made no mention of this). I only had 2,000 words (still a respectable number--and my longest college/university paper ever). I'd emailed Bob, and although he'd replied I wanted to talk with him about it in person, which we did after class. Afterward, I successfully found my way back to G-block from S-block (which has taken several tries that always ended in defeat, so this is a major accomplishment). I'm finally at a point where I feel reasonably comfortable navigating parts of the school that aren't G- or D-block (where Photo is). By the time I graduate, I should be completely adjusted to the maze that is Granville. The fact that all four of my classes are at that campus (currently--that could change, as was the case with Writing for the Arts, which was supposed to be in Granville until it got changed to Port) helps.
On my way home I stopped by the SuperStore to pick up stuff for the next day's potluck.
Friday: Yay for end-of-the-semester potluck brunches--and for meeting at ten instead of eight-thirty. One of my classmates--who was supposed to present last week, but didn't--presented, and we watched an episode of The Twilight Zone, which I'd heard about for years, but never actually seen. The episode? The Obsolete Man, of course!
Bob had brought a cake--with "Obsolete!" written on it. Us being photography majors, most of the class crowded around the cake, taking photos (because, honestly, how many times in your life are you going to see a cake with "obsolete" written on it?).
WftA had a potluck as well. Several of us (including me) read the journal entries that we had edited. You can read mine (about my journey from being a timid artist to one who's not afraid to use her art to stand up for what she believes in) here. When I was reading it, I couldn't help but think about how much it benefited from being read aloud. Anna told us tearfully about a couple of students who'd been raising funds for a new computer for her (her previous laptop was stolen).
In the evening, we had the closing of the WftA shows. I went home between class and the closing to eat supper and dump my backpack and then went back to Port. Here's the photo of my piece that I promised.
I spent the rest of the evening adding to my Obsolescence paper.
Saturday: Saturday is usually the day I spend at home, but this time I spent part of the afternoon at NSCAD, printing my final for Reconfigured and giving my final for Graphics a once-over. Once I got home, I spent some time cleaning my room and then finished off the Obsolescence paper--for real this time. The whole time, I listened to Die Walküre, and was reminded just how awesome that opera is (something I keep forgetting). I'm not a Ring-head, but Walküre is almost enough to convert me. Almost.
Sunday: Today I didn't have much to do. I finished the project that I'd photographed for the WftA show (sealing all those envelopes--I just have to mail them now), proofread the paper for Obsolescence, watched an episode of a New Zealand TV show that I've been watching on YouTube (The Secret Lives of Dancers, which is about the Royal New Zealand Ballet company) and read a bunch of the tabs that have been accumulating in Firefox since at least January (college/university = very little time to read).
Mom will be coming over on Tuesday to help me pack and then we're outta here next Friday.
Monday, April 8, 2013
prepping for next year
My university plans have changed again. And finals are just as brutal as ever.
Monday: Due to it being Easter Monday, there were no classes. I spent the day doing homework.
Tuesday: I returned the DVDs to the VRC and ended up discussing them with the woman in charge of the Collection (Rebecca, who's a NSCAD grad--Photography, Class of '99). I think Anna Leonowens and I would've gotten along quite nicely, and I love that she was a suffragette. Once again, I spent the day doing homework, including prepping for the next day's printing.
I'm determined to get an apartment next year: I've lived in a university residence for the last four years, and at twenty-four (twenty-five in July), I'm ready to truly start living on my own and be responsible for paying rent. So I visited a couple of apartment buildings on my way home. I didn't get to see any rooms, but I like the feel of both places, and they're close to pretty much everything.
Later that evening, I started to feel the telltale signs of a cold.
Wednesday: I woke up feeling like I could've slept another hour or two. By the end of the day, however, I was feeling much better.
That day was Printing Day. I spent a chunk of the afternoon doing final adjustments and then printed the photos.
Class was another group critique. I had some tweaks to make, but overall it went well.
Thursday: Here's where things get interesting. I went to school early to meet with Adrian Fish, who'll be my teacher next semester for APC, to talk about the course. I've been discussing it a lot with a student who's currently taking it, Mary Ellen, and I wanted to see what Adrian had to say. We went over the course outline, which he emailed to me. I also mentioned that I'd be doing all nine of my history credits (three courses) that semester. With APC that's a whopping eighteen credits, i.e., overload. Whenever I've mentioned this to my friends at school they've all said something along the lines of "that's a lot." And it is. But I'd gotten it into my head that I'll finish my degree in three semesters, and all my plans and decisions have been based around that schedule, so adding another semester was more than a bit stressful. Adrian said the same--in fact, he said that that was the most difficult way to go about finishing said degree. That did it for me. Because Adrian's awesome and I trust him, I figured he had to be right about this. I've been kind of worried, anyway, about doing it that way. Yes, it's cheaper, but while I'd save money, I'd probably end up racking up a lot of sleep debt (and this gal needs eight to nine hours of sleep a night. I can get by on seven for a night or two, but any less, or several nights in a row of seven hours or less, and you don't want to be me. Though I somehow manage to happily go through Christmas Day on about six and a half hours of sleep.). I'd also be stressed out of my mind, especially during finals, which are stressful enough at fifteen credits. And I'd run the risk of doing a crappy job on my APC project, and my expectations for that course are higher than they are for most other courses because it's the thesis course for the Photography BFA (and as I've gotten older and learned more, my standards for my own work and that of others have skyrocketed--and not just for photography, either: this also applies to other forms of visual art, dance and music). I won't accept anything less than the best. But because money is a big concern for me (I have a student loan for the first time, having gone through NBCCD with a university fund that no longer exists), I was concerned about the financial side of adding another semester. However, I'd rather go a little deeper into debt than sacrifice the quality of my work, my GPA--and my sanity.
After all that, I went to the SUNSCAD AGM--which didn't get underway until about 12:30. I unfortunately had to leave just after the new SUNSCAD exec was ratified due to class at 1:00.
The latter part of class was a working class, and I spent it tidying up the pieces that I'd done. During break, I went to OSAS to talk with them about the change in plan because I'd already applied to graduate and listed my graduation date as Winter '14. I have a couple of appointments to talk things over on Tuesday, which is going to be a ridiculously busy day.
Friday: The last set of presentations for Obsolescence. We also made plans for next week: because it's the last day for that course, we're meeting at ten instead of 8:30. Hello, sleeping in until 8:30!
Anna spent the class going over the structure and format of our final essays.
Saturday: Up and at 'em. That morning we installed the show on the second floor of the Port Campus, and my print is looking gorgeous. This is my first time mounting a photo using earth magnets, and I love the look. It cuts down on cost, yes (and I don't know if NSCAD has frames that I can borrow nor do I know who cuts mats well and charges an amount that's easy for a student to cough up), but some images are best when presented "naked". It forces the viewer to be confronted by the work and whatever idea the artist is trying to get across whether the viewer likes it or not. This is my first show outside New Brunswick.
Once the show was up, I went back to my place and spent the rest of the day studying, and I'm amazed at how much I got done--which is good news for Tuesday. I also dropped two courses from my Fall '13 schedule and registered for courses for Winter '14. I'll be taking APC and Survey of 20th Century Art in the Fall (twelve credits), and Contemporary Indigenous Arts and Topics in Canadian Art in the Winter (six credits, meaning that I'll be a part-time student--full-time status kicks in at nine credits). Since Friday, I've felt lighter when I think about the remaining courses: I don't have to worry about how I'm going to get all my projects done. Plus, if Contemporary Indigenous Arts is as awesome as I think it's going to be, I could treat it as an extension of my summer project on First Nations peoples, culture, history, treaties and treatment by white people (that's probably going to be the most painful part of the project).
Due to all the excitement, I didn't listen to the opera. This week the Met performed Das Rheingold, which is home to one of the most beautiful preludes ever. I don't care what you think of Wagner or opera--that thing's awesome. I'm not the biggest Wagner fan--I'm definitely not a Ring-head--but the Das Rheingold prelude is one of my favourite pieces. I love how it starts out simply and then grows and builds and swells, evoking the Rhine river. Here it is, as performed by the Met in the new Robert Lepage production. That's all eight MOO hornists you're hearing.
Sunday: Once again, I spent the day doing homework down at the Port Campus. Despite my rather late start to the day, I managed to finish much of the rest of my to-do list.
Monday: Due to it being Easter Monday, there were no classes. I spent the day doing homework.
Tuesday: I returned the DVDs to the VRC and ended up discussing them with the woman in charge of the Collection (Rebecca, who's a NSCAD grad--Photography, Class of '99). I think Anna Leonowens and I would've gotten along quite nicely, and I love that she was a suffragette. Once again, I spent the day doing homework, including prepping for the next day's printing.
I'm determined to get an apartment next year: I've lived in a university residence for the last four years, and at twenty-four (twenty-five in July), I'm ready to truly start living on my own and be responsible for paying rent. So I visited a couple of apartment buildings on my way home. I didn't get to see any rooms, but I like the feel of both places, and they're close to pretty much everything.
Later that evening, I started to feel the telltale signs of a cold.
Wednesday: I woke up feeling like I could've slept another hour or two. By the end of the day, however, I was feeling much better.
That day was Printing Day. I spent a chunk of the afternoon doing final adjustments and then printed the photos.
Class was another group critique. I had some tweaks to make, but overall it went well.
Thursday: Here's where things get interesting. I went to school early to meet with Adrian Fish, who'll be my teacher next semester for APC, to talk about the course. I've been discussing it a lot with a student who's currently taking it, Mary Ellen, and I wanted to see what Adrian had to say. We went over the course outline, which he emailed to me. I also mentioned that I'd be doing all nine of my history credits (three courses) that semester. With APC that's a whopping eighteen credits, i.e., overload. Whenever I've mentioned this to my friends at school they've all said something along the lines of "that's a lot." And it is. But I'd gotten it into my head that I'll finish my degree in three semesters, and all my plans and decisions have been based around that schedule, so adding another semester was more than a bit stressful. Adrian said the same--in fact, he said that that was the most difficult way to go about finishing said degree. That did it for me. Because Adrian's awesome and I trust him, I figured he had to be right about this. I've been kind of worried, anyway, about doing it that way. Yes, it's cheaper, but while I'd save money, I'd probably end up racking up a lot of sleep debt (and this gal needs eight to nine hours of sleep a night. I can get by on seven for a night or two, but any less, or several nights in a row of seven hours or less, and you don't want to be me. Though I somehow manage to happily go through Christmas Day on about six and a half hours of sleep.). I'd also be stressed out of my mind, especially during finals, which are stressful enough at fifteen credits. And I'd run the risk of doing a crappy job on my APC project, and my expectations for that course are higher than they are for most other courses because it's the thesis course for the Photography BFA (and as I've gotten older and learned more, my standards for my own work and that of others have skyrocketed--and not just for photography, either: this also applies to other forms of visual art, dance and music). I won't accept anything less than the best. But because money is a big concern for me (I have a student loan for the first time, having gone through NBCCD with a university fund that no longer exists), I was concerned about the financial side of adding another semester. However, I'd rather go a little deeper into debt than sacrifice the quality of my work, my GPA--and my sanity.
After all that, I went to the SUNSCAD AGM--which didn't get underway until about 12:30. I unfortunately had to leave just after the new SUNSCAD exec was ratified due to class at 1:00.
The latter part of class was a working class, and I spent it tidying up the pieces that I'd done. During break, I went to OSAS to talk with them about the change in plan because I'd already applied to graduate and listed my graduation date as Winter '14. I have a couple of appointments to talk things over on Tuesday, which is going to be a ridiculously busy day.
Friday: The last set of presentations for Obsolescence. We also made plans for next week: because it's the last day for that course, we're meeting at ten instead of 8:30. Hello, sleeping in until 8:30!
Anna spent the class going over the structure and format of our final essays.
Saturday: Up and at 'em. That morning we installed the show on the second floor of the Port Campus, and my print is looking gorgeous. This is my first time mounting a photo using earth magnets, and I love the look. It cuts down on cost, yes (and I don't know if NSCAD has frames that I can borrow nor do I know who cuts mats well and charges an amount that's easy for a student to cough up), but some images are best when presented "naked". It forces the viewer to be confronted by the work and whatever idea the artist is trying to get across whether the viewer likes it or not. This is my first show outside New Brunswick.
Once the show was up, I went back to my place and spent the rest of the day studying, and I'm amazed at how much I got done--which is good news for Tuesday. I also dropped two courses from my Fall '13 schedule and registered for courses for Winter '14. I'll be taking APC and Survey of 20th Century Art in the Fall (twelve credits), and Contemporary Indigenous Arts and Topics in Canadian Art in the Winter (six credits, meaning that I'll be a part-time student--full-time status kicks in at nine credits). Since Friday, I've felt lighter when I think about the remaining courses: I don't have to worry about how I'm going to get all my projects done. Plus, if Contemporary Indigenous Arts is as awesome as I think it's going to be, I could treat it as an extension of my summer project on First Nations peoples, culture, history, treaties and treatment by white people (that's probably going to be the most painful part of the project).
Due to all the excitement, I didn't listen to the opera. This week the Met performed Das Rheingold, which is home to one of the most beautiful preludes ever. I don't care what you think of Wagner or opera--that thing's awesome. I'm not the biggest Wagner fan--I'm definitely not a Ring-head--but the Das Rheingold prelude is one of my favourite pieces. I love how it starts out simply and then grows and builds and swells, evoking the Rhine river. Here it is, as performed by the Met in the new Robert Lepage production. That's all eight MOO hornists you're hearing.
Sunday: Once again, I spent the day doing homework down at the Port Campus. Despite my rather late start to the day, I managed to finish much of the rest of my to-do list.
Monday, March 4, 2013
I am artist, hear me roar
This week was extremely busy, crazy and rather stressful, but I think I'm mostly recovered from it.
Monday: Monday was the beginning of Assessment Week at NBCCD (this week is their March Break).
When I got to school that afternoon, Keven, NSCAD's daytime security guard, told me that the reason why NS' "spring" break is at the time that it is is because that's the week in which students where committing suicide the most. So while it makes sense to have the break during that week, universities (including NSCAD) are still in midterm mode, so students come back with a few more exams or midterm projects to do. I like NB's break schedule a lot better.
We watched another movie during class: Blade Runner (I can't remember which version).
Tuesday: I spent the day tweaking the first project for Graphics, coming up with ideas for the second one and doing the readings for Obsolescence. I finished the afternoon by taking the files to Staples and getting them printed (which was an adventure).
We had another GA that evening. FUNSCAD I (the teachers' union) could go on strike on Wednesday. If they go on strike, SUNSCAD will hold a rally on Friday. One of the issues that FUNSCAD I is fighting is the fact that the administration is trying to prevent part-time and regular part-time faculty (part-time has three different levels, and from there it gets rather complex) from being on-campus outside the regular semester, which doesn't bode well for students who want to meet with a part-timer in the summer. If this is anything like FUNSCAD II's almost-strike, Tuesday night is going to be a sleepless one for me: I, like my fellow students and the faculty, don't want the strike to happen.
Wednesday: I went to school early to put my book together (Jeff wanted them bound).
He met with us individually to critique our first projects and discuss our ideas for the second project. My crit went very well.
Thursday: Thursday was a working class, which made me very happy because I wasn't as far along with the project as I would've liked.
I finally finished my homework for Friday that night (the usual readings for Obsolescence--this week's set was the last for that course--and writing for Writing for the Arts).
Friday: The usual discussion of the week's readings. At the end of class, Bob went over our proposals for the final focus essay (two thousand words, which will make this essay the longest I've written for a college or university assignment--bring it) and suggested ways in which we could take the essay further.
I did my presentation for Writing for the Arts, and I think it was one of my best presentations at either NBCCD or NSCAD. My theme was Marcel Duchamp and readymades. I gave a biography of him and then branched out, talking about the Fountain, his paintings, and artists who do similar work: Gene Nichols (who'll use just about anything to create rhythm: "I am addicted to sound, all sound. That's what gets me to thinking about everything as music.") and Andy Warhol (who used cheap, readily-available techniques to churn out multiples of his works). I couldn't help but get excited: this is the kind of thing that I live for. This is why I'm an artist.
After class, I discussed my idea for the WftA show with Anna. My idea was to take a bunch of photos around NSCAD, print them, arrange the prints with an envelope and take a photo of that. Title: Love Letters to NSCAD. While my idea was good, Anna felt it could be a bit stronger. She suggested actually mailing the photos to the Board of Governors (BoG) and NSCAD's acting president. We both got rather excited about the project, and Anna was thrilled that I was taking on a project like that: it couldn't be more timely.
That evening, I posted on the SUNSCAD Facebook group, explaining my idea, asking who's on the BoG and how I could contact them. I got the info, and then another comment suggesting that I send photos to the HFX Chamber of Commerce, as business organizations would be negatively affected in a big way if the university went under and the municipal government, as they have been silent throughout the whole mess at NSCAD.
One of the things I love about NSCAD is how they encourage students to be political. To quote the manifesto, "NSCAD's ability to nurture critical, political and philosophical thought continually sets us apart. It cultivates the artists and critical thinkers needed in today's society." I noticed that atmosphere right away, and while I soaked it up last semester, it was only in my finals that it really started to worm its way into my art. My approach to my education at NSCAD was always as another set of tools in my creative toolbox, and as someone who's become more political in the last four or so years, I appreciate the university's contributions to my art practice. Thanks, NSCAD!
Saturday: After such a crazy week (I was up to my eyeballs in homework every evening and stressing about whether I'd be able to get it all done on time), I tried to take the day as slowly as possible while still getting work done--and listening to Parsifal. By the way, the Met's current production was directed by Fraçois Girard, who directed The Red Violin. Oh, and he's a Canuck!
Sunday: I spent the afternoon working on my Graphics homework.
The BSO played a concert today. Feels like they just did one, but it was back in January. You know you've been busy when... Today's concert was the one that, if I lived in or around Bangor, I would've gone to (the cheap tickets are fairly affordable on a student budget--and yes, I'd put up with the crappiest seats in the world if it meant a couple hours of listening to one of my favourite orchestras). They played Vaughan-Williams' Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (one of my favourite pieces), Suite No. 1 from Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances and Vivaldi's Four Seasons (another favourite). All three pieces are rather strings-heavy, which makes me happy. I love a full orchestra--and when the BSO is going full-tilt, they can knock my socks off--but there's just something about a beautiful string section. The fact that the BSO's violin section is beyond awesome, reminds me why that instrument is one of my favourites and makes me proud to play the violin doesn't hurt, either. Long story short: BSO, I love you!
Monday: Monday was the beginning of Assessment Week at NBCCD (this week is their March Break).
When I got to school that afternoon, Keven, NSCAD's daytime security guard, told me that the reason why NS' "spring" break is at the time that it is is because that's the week in which students where committing suicide the most. So while it makes sense to have the break during that week, universities (including NSCAD) are still in midterm mode, so students come back with a few more exams or midterm projects to do. I like NB's break schedule a lot better.
We watched another movie during class: Blade Runner (I can't remember which version).
Tuesday: I spent the day tweaking the first project for Graphics, coming up with ideas for the second one and doing the readings for Obsolescence. I finished the afternoon by taking the files to Staples and getting them printed (which was an adventure).
We had another GA that evening. FUNSCAD I (the teachers' union) could go on strike on Wednesday. If they go on strike, SUNSCAD will hold a rally on Friday. One of the issues that FUNSCAD I is fighting is the fact that the administration is trying to prevent part-time and regular part-time faculty (part-time has three different levels, and from there it gets rather complex) from being on-campus outside the regular semester, which doesn't bode well for students who want to meet with a part-timer in the summer. If this is anything like FUNSCAD II's almost-strike, Tuesday night is going to be a sleepless one for me: I, like my fellow students and the faculty, don't want the strike to happen.
Wednesday: I went to school early to put my book together (Jeff wanted them bound).
He met with us individually to critique our first projects and discuss our ideas for the second project. My crit went very well.
Thursday: Thursday was a working class, which made me very happy because I wasn't as far along with the project as I would've liked.
I finally finished my homework for Friday that night (the usual readings for Obsolescence--this week's set was the last for that course--and writing for Writing for the Arts).
Friday: The usual discussion of the week's readings. At the end of class, Bob went over our proposals for the final focus essay (two thousand words, which will make this essay the longest I've written for a college or university assignment--bring it) and suggested ways in which we could take the essay further.
I did my presentation for Writing for the Arts, and I think it was one of my best presentations at either NBCCD or NSCAD. My theme was Marcel Duchamp and readymades. I gave a biography of him and then branched out, talking about the Fountain, his paintings, and artists who do similar work: Gene Nichols (who'll use just about anything to create rhythm: "I am addicted to sound, all sound. That's what gets me to thinking about everything as music.") and Andy Warhol (who used cheap, readily-available techniques to churn out multiples of his works). I couldn't help but get excited: this is the kind of thing that I live for. This is why I'm an artist.
After class, I discussed my idea for the WftA show with Anna. My idea was to take a bunch of photos around NSCAD, print them, arrange the prints with an envelope and take a photo of that. Title: Love Letters to NSCAD. While my idea was good, Anna felt it could be a bit stronger. She suggested actually mailing the photos to the Board of Governors (BoG) and NSCAD's acting president. We both got rather excited about the project, and Anna was thrilled that I was taking on a project like that: it couldn't be more timely.
That evening, I posted on the SUNSCAD Facebook group, explaining my idea, asking who's on the BoG and how I could contact them. I got the info, and then another comment suggesting that I send photos to the HFX Chamber of Commerce, as business organizations would be negatively affected in a big way if the university went under and the municipal government, as they have been silent throughout the whole mess at NSCAD.
One of the things I love about NSCAD is how they encourage students to be political. To quote the manifesto, "NSCAD's ability to nurture critical, political and philosophical thought continually sets us apart. It cultivates the artists and critical thinkers needed in today's society." I noticed that atmosphere right away, and while I soaked it up last semester, it was only in my finals that it really started to worm its way into my art. My approach to my education at NSCAD was always as another set of tools in my creative toolbox, and as someone who's become more political in the last four or so years, I appreciate the university's contributions to my art practice. Thanks, NSCAD!
Saturday: After such a crazy week (I was up to my eyeballs in homework every evening and stressing about whether I'd be able to get it all done on time), I tried to take the day as slowly as possible while still getting work done--and listening to Parsifal. By the way, the Met's current production was directed by Fraçois Girard, who directed The Red Violin. Oh, and he's a Canuck!
Sunday: I spent the afternoon working on my Graphics homework.
The BSO played a concert today. Feels like they just did one, but it was back in January. You know you've been busy when... Today's concert was the one that, if I lived in or around Bangor, I would've gone to (the cheap tickets are fairly affordable on a student budget--and yes, I'd put up with the crappiest seats in the world if it meant a couple hours of listening to one of my favourite orchestras). They played Vaughan-Williams' Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (one of my favourite pieces), Suite No. 1 from Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances and Vivaldi's Four Seasons (another favourite). All three pieces are rather strings-heavy, which makes me happy. I love a full orchestra--and when the BSO is going full-tilt, they can knock my socks off--but there's just something about a beautiful string section. The fact that the BSO's violin section is beyond awesome, reminds me why that instrument is one of my favourites and makes me proud to play the violin doesn't hurt, either. Long story short: BSO, I love you!
Monday, February 18, 2013
happiness is being home
Reading Week snuck up on me this year--probably because I'm so used to NBCCD's first-week-in-March break.
Monday: Bob and one of the MFA students gave us a rundown of our printing options, specifically paper. The papers that both NSCAD and NBCCD use (Epson Premium Lustre and I can't remember which matte paper because I rarely use matte) are proofing papers: they'll get the job done, but they won't last as long as higher-quality papers.
On my way home, I finally bought my bus ticket.
Tuesday: I spent much of the day at NSCAD, but didn't get as much done as I'd planned. Instead, I spent most of my time there wrestling with my Graphics project. I then took it over to Staples and printed it (Staples will print on a variety of papers, whereas the Cage will only print on the pre-loaded paper).
Wednesday: I tried to make up for Tuesday, and I almost succeeded. This week we had to write another focus essay for Obsolescence as well as a proposal for the final, I had to finish my presentation and write the usual journal entry for Writing for the Arts and finish the project for Graphics. This meant that I barely had any free time.
I started packing for break that afternoon.
Graphics was mostly a critique of our projects. Mine went fairly well, though I have to redo some things and resubmit the project.
Thursday: I went to school a bit earlier than usual to finish and print stuff for Friday.
We talked more about paper options and decided which two to get.
Friday: This week's discussion took a decidedly science-y turn.
There were supposed to be two presentations as per usual in Writing for the Arts, but because the first one ran really long and we had to decide the show theme for the Wednesday class, I will be presenting in the first week after the break. And that theme is "No Hands". The theme that the Wednesday class decided for us is "Envelop(e)". When I first heard that we were going to do a show at the end of the year, I decided that whatever the theme, my submission would be photo-based because that's what I'm majoring in.
Saturday: I was not happy about waking up at 5:45 AM/4:45 EST--but because it was to catch the bus, it was worth it because I'd get to see my parents and cats earlier. And besides--I could snooze on the bus, which I did.
Mom and I talked the whole way home, as usual.
That evening, Tom had a couple of surprises for me: two books on opera. Although I have a kids' book about opera, I didn't have any grown-up books on the subject. One is a book of the synopses of the popular (repertoire) operas and the other is about the history behind those operas. I was about as excited as if he'd given me tickets to a performance at the Met.
Sunday: I'd planned to be productive, but those plans went out the window.
I spent Saturday and Sunday evenings watching La Bohème (the performance that the Met simulcast a few seasons ago)--and sobbing through the latter half of Act IV. I never want Mimì to die, and I always mutter, "no, no, no, no" at various points throughout that act, as though it'll change the ending. Unlike many other operas, La Bohème is very real to me: although they're fictional, Mimì, Rodolfo, Colline, Shaunard, Marcello and, yes, Musetta are my friends by the end--I relate to them. I love them all, and I know that if they were real people they would be my friends. So seeing one of of them die breaks my heart. It's the same every time, but I always come back for more.
Monday: Bob and one of the MFA students gave us a rundown of our printing options, specifically paper. The papers that both NSCAD and NBCCD use (Epson Premium Lustre and I can't remember which matte paper because I rarely use matte) are proofing papers: they'll get the job done, but they won't last as long as higher-quality papers.
On my way home, I finally bought my bus ticket.
Tuesday: I spent much of the day at NSCAD, but didn't get as much done as I'd planned. Instead, I spent most of my time there wrestling with my Graphics project. I then took it over to Staples and printed it (Staples will print on a variety of papers, whereas the Cage will only print on the pre-loaded paper).
Wednesday: I tried to make up for Tuesday, and I almost succeeded. This week we had to write another focus essay for Obsolescence as well as a proposal for the final, I had to finish my presentation and write the usual journal entry for Writing for the Arts and finish the project for Graphics. This meant that I barely had any free time.
I started packing for break that afternoon.
Graphics was mostly a critique of our projects. Mine went fairly well, though I have to redo some things and resubmit the project.
Thursday: I went to school a bit earlier than usual to finish and print stuff for Friday.
We talked more about paper options and decided which two to get.
Friday: This week's discussion took a decidedly science-y turn.
There were supposed to be two presentations as per usual in Writing for the Arts, but because the first one ran really long and we had to decide the show theme for the Wednesday class, I will be presenting in the first week after the break. And that theme is "No Hands". The theme that the Wednesday class decided for us is "Envelop(e)". When I first heard that we were going to do a show at the end of the year, I decided that whatever the theme, my submission would be photo-based because that's what I'm majoring in.
Saturday: I was not happy about waking up at 5:45 AM/4:45 EST--but because it was to catch the bus, it was worth it because I'd get to see my parents and cats earlier. And besides--I could snooze on the bus, which I did.
Mom and I talked the whole way home, as usual.
That evening, Tom had a couple of surprises for me: two books on opera. Although I have a kids' book about opera, I didn't have any grown-up books on the subject. One is a book of the synopses of the popular (repertoire) operas and the other is about the history behind those operas. I was about as excited as if he'd given me tickets to a performance at the Met.
Sunday: I'd planned to be productive, but those plans went out the window.
I spent Saturday and Sunday evenings watching La Bohème (the performance that the Met simulcast a few seasons ago)--and sobbing through the latter half of Act IV. I never want Mimì to die, and I always mutter, "no, no, no, no" at various points throughout that act, as though it'll change the ending. Unlike many other operas, La Bohème is very real to me: although they're fictional, Mimì, Rodolfo, Colline, Shaunard, Marcello and, yes, Musetta are my friends by the end--I relate to them. I love them all, and I know that if they were real people they would be my friends. So seeing one of of them die breaks my heart. It's the same every time, but I always come back for more.
Monday, January 23, 2012
NSCAD, here I come!
I'm applying to NSCAD University! More on that later.
Monday: That day I had two meetings: one with Karen in the morning, one with Jane in the afternoon. The meeting with Karen was to discuss my ArtsNB application, as she's one of my references (Drew's the other one).
I met with Jane to discuss stuff for my independent project. I'd intended to talk with her about creative techniques, but I totally forgot the topic. However, it all worked out: she ended up giving me a whole bunch of "behind the scenes" stuff, which is just as important.
I also asked my drawing teacher, Linda, to have a look at the drawing part of my university application portfolio. Turns out, Linda is a graduate of NSCAD: "Linda holds a Master of Arts degree in Art Education and a Bachelor in Fine Art and Art Education from NSCAD University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature (honours) from the University of New Brunswick" (from her bio on the NBCCD website).
And I started putting together the PowerPoint for Peter's class (the dress-rehearsal is this week--we get to present to the first-year Photogs!), and googling creative photography techniques.
Tuesday: That day, I decided that I'd try to have my NSCAD application in the mail by the next Monday--meaning today).
We're doing another stop-motion movie for Rod's class (we did one for Photographic Digital Imaging last year). But I couldn't be happier, as I love stop-motion. Mine is a take-off on another stop-motion movie, The Joy of Books. Except that in mine, it isn't a bookstore that I'm animating: it's the photo studio classroom.
And that evening, I started in on my drawing homework. It's a good thing I did, too: I just finished it yesterday evening. I would've been able to finish it earlier, though, if I hadn't taken two days off.
Just after I went to bed that night, the smoke alarm started ringing, and I fumbled out of bed. Even though I keep my shoes and coats in my room, I didn't even think about them. I then ran for the stairs, and ran down them so fast that I was basically sliding. I had a moment or two where I thought, "I hope I don't trip." I've never run down a flight of stairs that fast before. Then again, until that night, I'd never had to put what I know from fire drills (Kings Landing Visiting Cousins, NBCCD, the residence) into practice.
Because I hadn't stopped to get shoes or a coat (I just wanted to get out--hmm... Maybe I'm a bit too well-trained?), my feet were freezing within minutes of hitting the snow. That night was warmer than what we've been having, so although I was shivering a bit, from the ankles up the temperature was bearable. However, one of my residence-mates gave me a pair of (huge) hiking shoes that she'd found (her feet aren't as sensitive to the cold as mine are--jealous).
After what felt like forever, the fire truck arrived, and after another eternity, we were allowed back in.
The fire was a small one in someone's room.
Wednesday: We got another "contact someone at a gallery assignment". This time we were to contact a gallery that we're interested in showing at. We also talked about our show that will be happening this spring at the Charlotte Street Arts Centre, and Karen asked us to come up with at least one title. I came up with three.
Thursday: We had our PowerPoints critiqued in class that day. Mine was good, but Peter wanted me to make the images bigger so that they filled the screen.
Earlier in the week, I told him that I wanted to talk with him about my NSCAD/ArtsNB portfolio in addition to talking about my independent study project. So we did.
After that meeting, I grabbed my computer and external hard drive and headed up to Linda's office. I showed her the drawings that I wanted to put in my university application. Her suggestion: only show one of the copy exercises (I had two). I picked the one that was the most frustrating (while doing it) and the most rewarding (once I'd finished it). I'm still ridiculously happy with it.
And then I spent the rest of the day working on homework.
Helen (my mentor from last semester) and I had scheduled a Skype meeting for 6:00 that evening--but both of us forgot about it. We rescheduled for Saturday evening.
Friday: That day was an interesting one: in the morning, I called Ingrid Mueller Art + Concepts for my assignment for Karen, and Ingrid asked me to drop by the gallery.
On the way, I went to NBCCD to print off the list of questions, as I don't have a printer at my place, and I'm unable to get print creds for the residence printer (I tried once when I was in FVA year). Word was giving me hell that day, so I ended up typing the questions up in TextEdit, and then going back over to the gallery. In addition to answering my questions, Ingrid said that she's interested in seeing some of my work sometime. Yay!
I spent the rest of the day alternating between dashing around the school (transcript to send to NSCAD: check!) and staring intensely at my computer screen, working on homework.
That evening, I went to an opening at Gallery 78. And for once, I actually enjoyed the opening (I usually don't like their openings, due to the fact that they're so loud). Partly it's because another Photog went, and as she'd never been in that gallery before, I showed her around. And we talked the whole time: about the art in the gallery, art in general, and our lives.
Saturday: That afternoon the Met Opera performed their new Baroque pastiche, The Enchanted Island. I'm not usually a fan of Baroque opera (I like instrumental Baroque, like Vivaldi's The Four Seasons and L'Estro Armonico, Bach's Double Violin Concerto and Unaccompanied Cello Suites, and Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks and Water Music), but I actually loved this one. The music was spectacular, and the story was thrilling.
I spent the day working on homework and my NSCAD portfolio, including trying to figure out the dates of my drawings from FVA, which are my most recent drawings from observation (although the drawings that I did in Adam's class started with observation, he had us morph and mold them into something completely different from what we started with). In addition to the year, NSCAD also wanted the month, so I was forced to make some educated guesses. I don't think I did too badly.
That evening, I finally connected with Helen. As we're also friends, our conversations usually go from mentor stuff to friend stuff, back to mentor stuff, and back again to friend stuff. As I was in the final stages of putting together my application package, we talked a lot about NSCAD (Helen lives in Nova Scotia), drawing (I was also in the final stages of that week's drawing assignment), and talked about NSCAD some more.
Sunday: Portfolio Assembly Day! I burned a CD-ROM of my images, making absolutely sure that it was readable on both Macs and PCs (thank you, Toast Titanium!), as I have no idea what NSCAD has for computers, and what the people who review portfolios view said portfolios on. I also Skyped with my parents, and we went 'round and 'round and 'round about the ins and outs of sending the application.
Afterward, I walked over to the college and put one of the black and white printers through it's paces. Application essay: done. List of portfolio contents: done. Letter from my parents stating that I was homeschooled from elementary to high school, and have fulfilled the requirements to graduate: done (NSCAD wanted both high school and college/university transcripts, and although I got one from NBCCD, as a homeschooler I've never had a transcript for anything below post-secondary): done. University application form: done (though I had to consult with my parents before filling out some of the questions).
Over the last couple days, it's really started to sink in: I'm applying to university! And, unlike when I applied to NBCCD for FVA, when my parents did most, if not all, of the work, I'm doing it all by myself, with minimal input from other adults (though my portfolio was critiqued by Karen, Drew and Peter, and I had questions for my parents, on which two of the older Photogs also weighed in). I even paid the application fee myself, in the form of a money order. Now I'm really starting to feel grown up. And what was that that Mom and Tom said on the last night of Christmas Break about taking charge and going after things like scholarships, education and jobs myself?
As I rarely talk about the Monday of the week on which I'm posting (i.e., today), I won't say much. I'll just say that my application is on it's merry way to Halifax, and that I read on the application form last night that the transcript has to be sent directly from the institution that issued it (i.e., NBCCD), so I gave said transcript back to the registrar, and explained that it had to be sent from the college.
Let's go get that BFA in photography!
Monday: That day I had two meetings: one with Karen in the morning, one with Jane in the afternoon. The meeting with Karen was to discuss my ArtsNB application, as she's one of my references (Drew's the other one).
I met with Jane to discuss stuff for my independent project. I'd intended to talk with her about creative techniques, but I totally forgot the topic. However, it all worked out: she ended up giving me a whole bunch of "behind the scenes" stuff, which is just as important.
I also asked my drawing teacher, Linda, to have a look at the drawing part of my university application portfolio. Turns out, Linda is a graduate of NSCAD: "Linda holds a Master of Arts degree in Art Education and a Bachelor in Fine Art and Art Education from NSCAD University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature (honours) from the University of New Brunswick" (from her bio on the NBCCD website).
And I started putting together the PowerPoint for Peter's class (the dress-rehearsal is this week--we get to present to the first-year Photogs!), and googling creative photography techniques.
Tuesday: That day, I decided that I'd try to have my NSCAD application in the mail by the next Monday--meaning today).
We're doing another stop-motion movie for Rod's class (we did one for Photographic Digital Imaging last year). But I couldn't be happier, as I love stop-motion. Mine is a take-off on another stop-motion movie, The Joy of Books. Except that in mine, it isn't a bookstore that I'm animating: it's the photo studio classroom.
And that evening, I started in on my drawing homework. It's a good thing I did, too: I just finished it yesterday evening. I would've been able to finish it earlier, though, if I hadn't taken two days off.
Just after I went to bed that night, the smoke alarm started ringing, and I fumbled out of bed. Even though I keep my shoes and coats in my room, I didn't even think about them. I then ran for the stairs, and ran down them so fast that I was basically sliding. I had a moment or two where I thought, "I hope I don't trip." I've never run down a flight of stairs that fast before. Then again, until that night, I'd never had to put what I know from fire drills (Kings Landing Visiting Cousins, NBCCD, the residence) into practice.
Because I hadn't stopped to get shoes or a coat (I just wanted to get out--hmm... Maybe I'm a bit too well-trained?), my feet were freezing within minutes of hitting the snow. That night was warmer than what we've been having, so although I was shivering a bit, from the ankles up the temperature was bearable. However, one of my residence-mates gave me a pair of (huge) hiking shoes that she'd found (her feet aren't as sensitive to the cold as mine are--jealous).
After what felt like forever, the fire truck arrived, and after another eternity, we were allowed back in.
The fire was a small one in someone's room.
Wednesday: We got another "contact someone at a gallery assignment". This time we were to contact a gallery that we're interested in showing at. We also talked about our show that will be happening this spring at the Charlotte Street Arts Centre, and Karen asked us to come up with at least one title. I came up with three.
Thursday: We had our PowerPoints critiqued in class that day. Mine was good, but Peter wanted me to make the images bigger so that they filled the screen.
Earlier in the week, I told him that I wanted to talk with him about my NSCAD/ArtsNB portfolio in addition to talking about my independent study project. So we did.
After that meeting, I grabbed my computer and external hard drive and headed up to Linda's office. I showed her the drawings that I wanted to put in my university application. Her suggestion: only show one of the copy exercises (I had two). I picked the one that was the most frustrating (while doing it) and the most rewarding (once I'd finished it). I'm still ridiculously happy with it.
And then I spent the rest of the day working on homework.
Helen (my mentor from last semester) and I had scheduled a Skype meeting for 6:00 that evening--but both of us forgot about it. We rescheduled for Saturday evening.
Friday: That day was an interesting one: in the morning, I called Ingrid Mueller Art + Concepts for my assignment for Karen, and Ingrid asked me to drop by the gallery.
On the way, I went to NBCCD to print off the list of questions, as I don't have a printer at my place, and I'm unable to get print creds for the residence printer (I tried once when I was in FVA year). Word was giving me hell that day, so I ended up typing the questions up in TextEdit, and then going back over to the gallery. In addition to answering my questions, Ingrid said that she's interested in seeing some of my work sometime. Yay!
I spent the rest of the day alternating between dashing around the school (transcript to send to NSCAD: check!) and staring intensely at my computer screen, working on homework.
That evening, I went to an opening at Gallery 78. And for once, I actually enjoyed the opening (I usually don't like their openings, due to the fact that they're so loud). Partly it's because another Photog went, and as she'd never been in that gallery before, I showed her around. And we talked the whole time: about the art in the gallery, art in general, and our lives.
Saturday: That afternoon the Met Opera performed their new Baroque pastiche, The Enchanted Island. I'm not usually a fan of Baroque opera (I like instrumental Baroque, like Vivaldi's The Four Seasons and L'Estro Armonico, Bach's Double Violin Concerto and Unaccompanied Cello Suites, and Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks and Water Music), but I actually loved this one. The music was spectacular, and the story was thrilling.
I spent the day working on homework and my NSCAD portfolio, including trying to figure out the dates of my drawings from FVA, which are my most recent drawings from observation (although the drawings that I did in Adam's class started with observation, he had us morph and mold them into something completely different from what we started with). In addition to the year, NSCAD also wanted the month, so I was forced to make some educated guesses. I don't think I did too badly.
That evening, I finally connected with Helen. As we're also friends, our conversations usually go from mentor stuff to friend stuff, back to mentor stuff, and back again to friend stuff. As I was in the final stages of putting together my application package, we talked a lot about NSCAD (Helen lives in Nova Scotia), drawing (I was also in the final stages of that week's drawing assignment), and talked about NSCAD some more.
Sunday: Portfolio Assembly Day! I burned a CD-ROM of my images, making absolutely sure that it was readable on both Macs and PCs (thank you, Toast Titanium!), as I have no idea what NSCAD has for computers, and what the people who review portfolios view said portfolios on. I also Skyped with my parents, and we went 'round and 'round and 'round about the ins and outs of sending the application.
Afterward, I walked over to the college and put one of the black and white printers through it's paces. Application essay: done. List of portfolio contents: done. Letter from my parents stating that I was homeschooled from elementary to high school, and have fulfilled the requirements to graduate: done (NSCAD wanted both high school and college/university transcripts, and although I got one from NBCCD, as a homeschooler I've never had a transcript for anything below post-secondary): done. University application form: done (though I had to consult with my parents before filling out some of the questions).
Over the last couple days, it's really started to sink in: I'm applying to university! And, unlike when I applied to NBCCD for FVA, when my parents did most, if not all, of the work, I'm doing it all by myself, with minimal input from other adults (though my portfolio was critiqued by Karen, Drew and Peter, and I had questions for my parents, on which two of the older Photogs also weighed in). I even paid the application fee myself, in the form of a money order. Now I'm really starting to feel grown up. And what was that that Mom and Tom said on the last night of Christmas Break about taking charge and going after things like scholarships, education and jobs myself?
As I rarely talk about the Monday of the week on which I'm posting (i.e., today), I won't say much. I'll just say that my application is on it's merry way to Halifax, and that I read on the application form last night that the transcript has to be sent directly from the institution that issued it (i.e., NBCCD), so I gave said transcript back to the registrar, and explained that it had to be sent from the college.
Let's go get that BFA in photography!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
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!
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). |
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Hojotoho!*
My last blog post is officially a hit, especially with the woman whose blog post inspired it: WhiteFeather wrote on Thursday that she "needed that. Really." You can read her full post here. I'm starting to lose track of how many times we've referenced each other in our respective blogs this year (hmm... Maybe I should do a tally.). But I have to admit that I love it: it's almost like a conversation, but it's carried out on two different blogs. WhiteFeather also posted the link my last blog post on Facebook. And praised me.
Yesterday was the Met's final radio broadcast/Live in HD transmission of the season (Die Walküre), and that evening was their final performance of the season (Orfeo ed Euridice--Christoph Willibald Gluck). Time to start the countdown to December third--the date of the next radio broadcast (Handel's Rodelinda)!
Yesterday's performance actually surprised me: although I like Wagner (unless I'm watching the opera), this time I really got into the performance and the beauty of the music. During some of it, I actually felt like crying. Although that's not unusual for me, I've never felt that way towards Wagner. Until yesterday. And I almost did cry, too: during the Ride of the Valkyries I turned on my dad's radio (which is part of a big, beautiful sound-system: the radio/receiver, CD player and tape player are all separate, and the whole thing is connected to a pair of book-shelf-size speakers that make everything and everyone sound gorgeous), and basked in the glory that is the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and one of the greatest pieces of music ever written. And choked up a bit.
This week, the Met released the lineup for next year's HD transmissions. I'm thinking about going to either Don Giovanni (Mozart, of course) or Satyagraha (Phillip Glass). But no matter what my decision, I'm not going to performances in either December or April (mi dispiace, La Traviata), due to finals: although I could probably use the stress-relief, it would probably backfire because I'd be going over my to-do list nonstop when I was supposed to be enjoying the opera.
*The title for this post is taken from the first words of the Ride of the Valkyries.
And just because the Ride is so darn awesome (in all senses of the word), here's a video of the instrumental version, performed by the NBC Symphony and conducted by Arturo Toscanini (who conducted the MOO from 1908 to 1915) from 1948. If you can, hook your computer up to THE BEST set of speakers you own, and crank up the volume as loud as you can stand. And check out that first violin section.
If you want the full effect (valkyries included), here's a version with the vocals, as performed at the BBC Proms.
 |
| The link to my last blog post as it appeared on my Facebook profile, with the resulting conversation between my mom and me. |
Yesterday was the Met's final radio broadcast/Live in HD transmission of the season (Die Walküre), and that evening was their final performance of the season (Orfeo ed Euridice--Christoph Willibald Gluck). Time to start the countdown to December third--the date of the next radio broadcast (Handel's Rodelinda)!
Yesterday's performance actually surprised me: although I like Wagner (unless I'm watching the opera), this time I really got into the performance and the beauty of the music. During some of it, I actually felt like crying. Although that's not unusual for me, I've never felt that way towards Wagner. Until yesterday. And I almost did cry, too: during the Ride of the Valkyries I turned on my dad's radio (which is part of a big, beautiful sound-system: the radio/receiver, CD player and tape player are all separate, and the whole thing is connected to a pair of book-shelf-size speakers that make everything and everyone sound gorgeous), and basked in the glory that is the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and one of the greatest pieces of music ever written. And choked up a bit.
This week, the Met released the lineup for next year's HD transmissions. I'm thinking about going to either Don Giovanni (Mozart, of course) or Satyagraha (Phillip Glass). But no matter what my decision, I'm not going to performances in either December or April (mi dispiace, La Traviata), due to finals: although I could probably use the stress-relief, it would probably backfire because I'd be going over my to-do list nonstop when I was supposed to be enjoying the opera.
*The title for this post is taken from the first words of the Ride of the Valkyries.
And just because the Ride is so darn awesome (in all senses of the word), here's a video of the instrumental version, performed by the NBC Symphony and conducted by Arturo Toscanini (who conducted the MOO from 1908 to 1915) from 1948. If you can, hook your computer up to THE BEST set of speakers you own, and crank up the volume as loud as you can stand. And check out that first violin section.
If you want the full effect (valkyries included), here's a version with the vocals, as performed at the BBC Proms.
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