can we just fast-forward two or three months, please?

I start my final(!!!!!!) semester tomorrow and am currently on the bus, en route to Halifax. I can't believe that there are now only four months left in my university career. Let's hope it's not quite as big a roller-coaster as last semester--I honestly don't know how much more I can take. I sure as heck don't want to sink as low as I did: despair is not an emotion that I want to feel again any time soon. But if I do, I've got a solid support system in place.

I've spent the break trying to unwind from what I went through this past semester, which has proven to be difficult (I always have to unclench my brain from the stresses of the semester, but usually it's just academic stress). But given what I went through between September and December, I'm not surprised. Still, I'd give anything to completely relax mentally for more than a night (Friday night was wonderful: I felt the calmest that I've felt since September).

For Nutcracker Weekend, I read the entire first violin part, which was thrilling, though I had a few moments where I didn't know where I was in the music, and I completely messed up the part where Clara and the prince arrive in the Land of Sweets and went back after finishing the Apotheosis and read it with the music again. This time I knew what I was doing and where I was in the music.

We spent a few days, including Christmas Day, in the dark due to the ice storm that hit the Maritimes and New England, which got to be a bit tedious (especially since my room turned into an icebox), though Christmas Eve was pretty nice, as I listened to MPBN radio's Christmas music programs on my pocket radio by the fire--we kept the dining room fireplace and the basement stove going 'round the clock, and every night I had the evening shift from when Mom went to bed until Tom came down to take over for me and sleep by the fireplace for the rest of the night--during the outage, he went to bed around 5:00 PM). By that point, I was properly warm (I'd been shivering most of that day even though I had on four layers from the waist up and two layers from the waist down plus socks and boot-style slippers--both fleece). I'll admit that I was disappointed that we couldn't have cinnamon buns on Christmas morning, though I made up for it by making them on the eve of my parents' wedding anniversary. Mom baked them for me the next morning, and they were worth the wait. At this point, I'm sick of Winter. Trond, if you happen to stumble across this blog, I want you to know that I'm jealous of you and your wife (visual artist Joan Siem). You two have the right idea, escaping to Galveston, TX (in addition to being the BSO's concertmaster, Trond conducts the Galveston Symphony).

The power came back on Boxing Day evening, and we all celebrated--and then disappeared behind our respective screens.

On Friday, I wrote a letter to the editor of the Saint Croix Courier (the local paper), thanking the line crews, many of whom were away from home over Christmas (NB Power called in reinforcements), and all of whom had to work in less-than-ideal conditions and at all hours of the day and night:

"Editor:
"I, like many of my fellow readers, wish to thank the line crews who worked through the holidays and in less-than-ideal conditions, giving up time with their families to get those of us who were without power back on the grid. THANK YOU!
"I admit to feelings of frustration toward the government, especially Alward's insensitive, out-of-touch 'hunker down' comment, and the realization on Christmas Eve that my family would be without our traditional Christmas morning breakfast of homemade cinnamon buns the next day was more than a bit disappointing (I like my routines). However, those feelings were dwarfed by the relief that Mom and I felt when we saw three power trucks go up the road on Boxing Day evening, and she and I waved and cheered even though we knew no one could see or hear us. When the lights came back on an hour later, the whole family celebrated.
"Again, THANK YOU, LINESMEN!
"Annapurna Moffatt"

I'll let you know if it gets published (if that happens, it should be in this week's paper)--maybe even with a JPEG of the Letters to the Editor section, as my family has a digital subscription in addition to the regular, hardcopy subscriptions to the Courier and Courier Weekend. I believe this is my first time writing a letter to the editor. Either way, it's exciting.

I got a cheap (for a conductor's score, anyway) copy of the score for The Nutcracker and spent the days after Christmas studying it, which kept me occupied during the remainder of the outage, and I've already made a handful of notes in it (because it's sheet music, and a lot of the sheet music that I already have is littered with Lynn's and my notes, I don't feel bad taking a pencil to my favourite ballet). My initial plan was to read the harp part, but along the way I ended up reading the other parts and studying how everything fits together. I read up to Drosselmeyer's entrance, which is the beginning of page ninety. I wanted to finish the galop before I left for Halifax so that I know exactly where I am when I come home for Reading Week. I also got a lot of recorded music (some in CD form and some from iTunes): Charlotte Church's first three EPs, a beautiful recording of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and one of Trond's albums (Hika), which I want to get autographed the next time I go to a PBSO concert.

On Friday, Lynn emailed me an article from the New York Times about a photography documentary, and when I watched the trailer on YouTube (I couldn't watch it on the NYT site, as it just kept buffering), I had to share it with the rest of my readers: it's too awesome to keep to myself (I emailed the article to Tom as well). Thanks, Lynn!



Just like last year, the trip back to Halifax was an interesting one, as the bus was half-an-hour late leaving (boarding was right on schedule), due to the bus coming from Québec--which was one of the transfer buses at Moncton that would take those of us going to places in Nova Scotia the rest of the way (due to so many university students going back to school today, there were several buses covering that route, and because the bus from QC was filled to capacity there was a second bus following it)--being an hour late. When I transferred at Moncton, there were two or three buses covering the route between Moncton and Halifax, and I ended up on the same bus that I boarded in Fredericton.

Check out this video and article about the Robinson Ballet's production of The Nutcracker, which they perform around Maine every December. In Bangor (the performances that the feature talks about), they perform with the BSO. Look for a closeup of Lynn at the 1:16 mark--the piece the orchestra's playing is the Waltz of the Snowflakes from Act I, and due to Trond being in Galveston, she's in the concertmaster's seat (when he's in Maine, she sits in the chair to the concertmaster's left). Go violins!

gogogogogo!

I've officially entered the homestretch.

Monday: I returned Food, Inc. to the VRC and spent much of the afternoon editing the contextualizing statement. I also read chapter six (which wasn't part of the readings for APC) from Of Cigarettes, High Heels and Other Interesting Things. And I finally got my contextualizing statement back down to seven hundred and fifty words (while I got it down to that number for the rough draft, I wrote about a hundred more than I needed when writing the final draft and had to whittle it down, just as I did for the rough draft. This time, though, I was able to do it on my own.).

Tuesday: I had another meeting with Joan.

While I finally had the time to make it to a Feminist Collective meeting, no one else except Kelly (the woman who runs the meetings--she's a fellow student) showed up and the meeting was cancelled. An hour later I went to what was billed as material-making for an event to welcome the new provincial government but that ended up being event planning for said welcome--at least while I was there: I eventually had to leave because I had to be up early the next day.

Wednesday: We met at the Port Loggia gallery this week instead of our usual classroom to discuss the show and what the students who are in charge of talking with the gallery people found out. Afterward, we wended our way back to Granville. I spent the rest of the day in the computer lab, where Adrian helped me fix the colour in some of my images--which took a while and I finally felt some of that old finals-induced stress as, for a while, I felt that the images would never be finished. We did a dress rehearsal of sorts and had a look at one of the corrected images on the classroom's G5 iMac(!) and projector. I had several moments throughout the day where the realization that my final photography course was almost over hit me. I felt very nostalgic for my time as a photography major and had to keep reminding myself that it wasn't over yet. Even when I'm done my photography courses, I'll probably still come to the photography dept. next semester, as I like the feel of the place, it's easy to get to (which is saying something, given the maze that is the Granville Campus) and it has a regular laser printer (which is important when you're writing essays). And I'll have access to the photo printers until mid-April. I then went over to the Academy Building to replace the old, yucky images with the newer ones.

That night there was a huge storm in Halifax, with high winds. The gusts hit 115 Km/h around 1:30 Thursday morning, and from when I got home that evening to when I went to bed around 2:00 AM, the gusts were powerful enough that they were causing the glass in my bedroom windows to bend in toward my room, which scared me. I could also hear the windows shifting around on their tracks (they're mostly glued shut--mostly) and could feel the building swaying slightly.

Thursday: Before I left my building that day, I paid a visit to the rental office and asked one of the landlords about what I'd experienced the night before. She reassured me that what I'd felt was completely normal. Wednesday night is officially my first time regretting my decision to live as high up as I do: I haven't been that scared of a storm since I conquered my fear of thunder and lightning when I was seven.

I didn't do a whole lot that day, though I did come a little closer to making my final decisions for the photos that I want to print and give as Christmas presents. I also noticed just how off my laptop's calibration is (factory--I've never calibrated it myself), as I had it open next to one of the Photo Dept. computers (which are properly calibrated). My computer has a very blue colour cast, whereas the school computers have a slight magenta colour cast. I asked Alex what the Photo Dept. has for calibration equipment. They have two options, one of which won't work with OS X Lion (what I have on my computer). The other does, and I made a note to calibrate my computer when I come back next semester. Because my computer's a laptop, the colours will never match those of a desktop, but once it's calibrated they will be closer to the colours on a calibrated desktop monitor.

I could tell that finals were in full swing, as the Photography Dept. was a hive of activity that day. I kind of liked it, though: plenty of people around, we were all doing our thing and flitting around...

That afternoon, a friend, Laura, posted on Facebook that she would be going to Elsipogtog (pronounced El-sip-pug-tug) on Sunday. I expressed interest, and that evening we messaged back and forth on FB, figuring things out.

Friday: I devoted the day to doing the final edits on my contextualizing statement. It isn't due until Wednesday (due with the project), but as I knew I would lose a whole workday by going to NB, I wanted to make sure it got done and that I didn't have to stress about it. I printed it off about half an hour before The Cage closed.

I also discussed show stuff with a classmate, also named Alex. He and another classmate, Caitlin, are in charge of talking with the gallery people. I will be showing my project at the Anna Leonowens Gallery instead of the Port Loggia Gallery, where everyone else will be. While it sucks to be separate from my classmates, it's better for my project, as the Anna has monitors and media players, is insured and I won't have to go and turn on said equipment every day, which would be a pain.

Saturday: Another day of hard work. This time I focused on doing the final version of the video, also due to the loss of a workday. My day started with going to the Academy building and doing some tweaks on the video (the original plan was to just export the most recent version as a QuickTime file--turns out, I had a few edits to make before that step) and then exporting the final version. I then went to the Photo Dept. where I had a look at the video on one of the computers (I'd made some edits to a photo and wanted to make sure everything looked okay on the computers that I'd used to do all the other edits, as I don't know what the calibration situation is at the Academy Building). I was bothered by some of the photos, as there was some really noticeable white in the upper-right-hand corner. No one had mentioned it in crits, but it was bugging me. Besides--when I did a Freeman Patterson/André Gallant workshop in '08, one of my photos had some white that was out of place and André and Freeman noticed. Getting rid of the light spots might translate into a better crit.

Sunday: Up bright and early on a Sunday (which is amazing for me) and off to NB. I waited at my favourite coffee shop for Laura to pick me up. After what felt like forever (because I was eager to get going), she arrived. We stopped at the Granville Campus and she picked up a six-pack of film (each roll has thirty-six exposures) and then we headed off to NB. Due to staying up too late the night before, I snoozed for over an hour on the way to Elsipogtog. Because a picture's worth a thousand words, I'll share some of the photos that I took at the encampment. Not seen in these photos is an SWN truck parked right next to said encampment.

Yes, that's Maude Barlow.

We spent a couple hours there, talking with the people at the camp, taking photos (Laura shot a couple rolls for a school assignment--she's also a NSCADian), listening to the singing and drumming, listening to Maude's speech... Laura was interviewed by APTN. People driving by honked their horns (the protest has a lot of support from people in the surrounding area, settler and aboriginal alike). We then drove back to Halifax, where Laura dropped me off at the school. On the way, she asked me what I thought. I'd come with an open mind, not knowing what to expect--and it turned out to be an amazing experience. When she dropped me off, we talked some more, discussing my desire to learn more about First Nations issues and history (which can be a challenge, as one sometimes has to dig through a bunch of racism in order to find the truth). We agreed to meet sometime next semester and she'll share what she knows (she's Dene, BTW). I also plan to speak with the woman who's teaching Contemporary Indigenous Arts next semester, Carla Taunton, and meet with her, as I've heard from at least one former classmate that she's a really good resource for that kind of thing (I'd want to discuss everything--not just art). I just want to learn as much as possible and be able to sort the truth from the racism and myths.

sol! sol! sol! solidarity!*

This post is dedicated to the awesome members of Unit II of the Faculty Union of NSCAD.

---

This week has been insanely exciting and stressful. Words cannot fully describe what I've experienced and felt, but I'll do my best.

Monday: I applied to graduate! Class of '13, here I come!

We spent much of Reconfigured Image dissecting a reading that Bob had given us on Thursday.

Tuesday: I spent most of the day doing homework and then in the evening went to NSCAD and helped make signs for Wednesday's march to Province House.

Wednesday: Manifesto Delivery Day. By the time I got to NSCAD, I was beyond ready to march. I chose a sign, waited for a bit, and then the Canadian Federation of Students' Maritimes Organizer, Rebecca Rose, led us in our first chant in the student lounge ("we're fired up, can't take it no more"). After that, we headed out and over to Province House, chanting the whole time. I'd brought my point 'n' shoot and I took a few photos. As I chanted, I wondered if I was going to go hoarse from it all.

The first few protesters had some issues getting into the Province House parking lot, but the rest of us were okay (the authorities had figured out what was going on by that point). We presented the manifesto not to Premier Derrel Dexter, but to Leonard Preyra, the MLA who represents Halifax Citadel-Sable Island, which is the riding that NSCAD's in. He made a small speech, but while it sounded okay, it was basically lip service. As we chanted, "Derrel Dexter shame on you! Shame on you for turning blue!" (Blue is the colour of the Conservative Party, and the NS NDP is more Conservative than it is NDP.) And yes, we booed and jeered at a couple of his statements. We then headed back to NSCAD, chanting the whole way. And who was watching us from an upper window but Premier Dexter... We finished in the Granville Campus courtyard and chanted "we support you Unit II!" You can see photos from the march here and here. I found out later that there'd been about two hundred people at the protest. In addition to NSCADians, some folks from King's and Dalhousie universities showed up in solidarity. Although it was a cold day, I didn't feel cold and I ended up not putting on my gloves. I think it was because a. we were in a fairly sheltered area the whole time, and b. I was so focused on the march that I completely forgot about the subzero temperature.

After all that, I spent the afternoon getting work done--and basking in the high that the protest had induced.

In the evening, we had yet another GA--but I had to leave before it had really started because I had Graphics in the Port Campus (apparently the Port computer lab was the only one available).

Class was spent working out the kinks in our projects.

I was so nervous about FUNSCAD II, whether they'd end up with a good deal and whether there'd be a strike that I barely slept that night.

Thursday: As soon as I got up, I checked my school email. SUNSCAD had sent out the minutes from the GA, so I read them--and then I kept refreshing the inbox, hoping for news about FUNSCAD II's strike situation. Nothing. Check again two minutes later: still nothing.

When I got to school, I immediately headed to the Photo Dept.'s computer lab because I wanted to print one of my photos from the march and give it to the Photo studio techs because they're awesome. I was in a major rush because the strike would be legal as of 12:42 PM/11:42 AM EST. When I gave it to Chris (one of the four techs) after trimming it, he said that the union and administration had reached a tentative agreement--and that there wouldn't be a strike. I was so relieved and happy that I could barely speak for a few seconds. I then grabbed lunch and went to class, brimming with excitement. I found out later that the deal had been struck at four in the morning. All but one of the Photo techs went home to get some much-needed and -deserved sleep. Alex was the one left in charge, so he was a bit hard to track down sometimes because he was doing the work of four techs. Go Alex! Click here to see FUNSCAD's update/thank-you note that they posted on Facebook. The last paragraph: "Finally, a huge thank you to SUNSCAD and our incredible and active NSCAD students! You came out in impressive numbers to express your support for Unit II, and we couldn't do this without you. Your letters to the NSCAD President and Administration makes clear the importance of Unit II staff, and the indispensable role that Unit II fulfills at this school. We extend our sincere gratitude to each individual student who supported FUNSCAD with their words of encouragement and expressions of solidarity." Aww... You're welcome!

One of the students hadn't presented her last project, so she presented it. We also discussed our current projects and watched a movie that was made completely out of still images.

Several times throughout the day, I wanted to cry. When I got home, I couldn't hold it in anymore and I let loose and sobbed out of overwhelming joy and relief.

Just so you know, the battle isn't over yet: FUNSCAD I (the teachers' union) is currently in conciliation, and the earliest that they could strike is just when the students are coming back after the break.

Friday: Back to earth with a bump. I'd regained some of the sleep that I missed on Wednesday night, but I wasn't back up to 100% yet.

Obsolescence was pretty much the same as usual, though we got to watch a movie, and Bob handed back our first essays (I didn't do too badly). We have to write another one this week as well as a brief proposal for the final essay.

Writing ended up being almost completely devoted to this week's presentation, which was a long (but fascinating) one.

Saturday: NSCAD, like all the other post-secondary schools in Halifax, closed due to winter storm Nemo. I spent the day trying to get myself to tackle that mountain of homework (I managed to get a little of it done) and celebrating FUNSCAD II. Mom called early that afternoon, which was the first time that I'd heard her voice since Christmas Break.

Sunday: Yesterday's celebration was fun and all, but I really needed to get back to work today. And I did: that mountain of homework is looking a little less like Everest and a little more like Katahdin at this point.

Next week I'll be home for the break. I admit that it snuck up on me, probably because I'm so used to NB's first-week-in-March break. This week's non-homework priority: buying my bus ticket.

Here are videos of the protest:







The last video was at the Granville Campus.

The Ode to Joy from Beethoven's ninth pretty much sums up what I felt that day:



*Another of our chants.