Welcome to the beginning of the end.

Finals are coming. And I have the privilege to do 3 final projects on the same day. That day is also my anniversary.

In un-finals-related news, we have been covering mirrors, reflections, refractions, glass, all sorts of fun things. We covered ray-trace and depth map shadows. The still below is from a rendering of my Thanksgiving-homework, a showcase of my work.

The bottle is supposed to have a label on it, the 'background' is cheap and not lit well, the ray-trace shadows are grainy. The bottle also doesn't have the refractions that (I think) will make it look like it has a shell rather than a thin layer outside a darker layer. And there are no bump maps on anything.

In the spare un-school-related news, I've been excitedly following the 2012 republican debate. When I registered up to vote, the card my parents got in the mail said that I'm a registered conservative. I tried to register as 'nothing' or 'other' or 'independent', I don't want to be part of a party this early in my life.

In less serious news, my hair is purple again! A skunk-stripe of purple. It's the very top layer of my hair.

But at the same time. I've been in the computer labs (loosely) from 9am-12pm, 4pm-11pm. I'm looking forward to baking cookies tomorrow morning.

Midterms are over

And life can start again, it is the fall rebirth.

And what is happening? I'm too close to the center of Occupy Wall Street, most of the kids from my friends support it. I don't know what I support. I'm not in the 1%. But the 99% is not my life. The more I want to feel this coming together of our generation, I can't. It is the same as school. The kids around me stay up all night working. I can barely keep my eyes open past 2am.

What works best for me? How can I get the most out of what I do? I can start by waking up early everyday and getting even 2 hours of work in before class, because I can do that. I can go beyond assignments while still fulfilling them.

How can I make MY life worth living to the fullest? How can I learn the most in such a short period of time? How can I stay with a project for weeks without boredom, and how can I learn the patience to overcome that?

Orientation Staff, Mingleling, and How I've Improved

The last two weeks have been move-in, preparation for Orientation Week, and the week itself. All of which have left me tired and worn out, to be rejuvenated during the hurricane this weekend. Hurricane Irene.

Over the last week, I was in social skills bootcamp. We practiced answering questions correctly, respectfully, and positively (freshmen have questions). I learned a ton of getting-to-know-you games, name games, and ice-breakers.

I got a lot of practice. When my schedule actually tells me to Mingle with the freshmen, I took initiative and joined conversations, added myself to groups, and tried to talk to new people.

I came to Pratt terrified of this getting to know you bullshit. And now it's just something that clicks me into a mode of "I want to get to know you" rather than "what are you thinking about me? Is it bad?" I think, at this point, I assume that people will either like me and talk to me, or stay clear of me.

I don't want to say 'it was an experience like STAC', because it wasn't- I had less than a week to get to know everybody and lose my shyness, then a week to work as the team we became, and now it's all over until I seen familiar faces next year.

After the whole experience- this is the college life I didn't have last year. I can keep my door open and people will say hi, I can get to know people. Through O-STAFF I met a lot of heads of clubs/associations, the top people of Student Involvement, and may have even found a small job for the year.

So if you can join any kind of student leadership group, go for it.

Keeping Busy.

It's been weeks, and everything is still a mess, except, for some reason, my head. One month till my birthday, another and I'm at school. I'm keeping busy:

Gardening. I borrowed a rototiller and cleaned up a plot in the backyard. It's midway through June, but mom already bought the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. I even consulted my books (what's the point of having them if you don't read them?) to get the spacing and planting right. I love the work. I hope that some day I'll grow my own vegetables.

Painting. I have the paint, I haven't painted my room yet.

Cooking. I'm trying to make the core recipes for next year, make sure I can make real healthy food in a short amount of time with a few ingredients- how much can I do with flour, eggs, butter, sugar? Would it be cheaper to bake my own bread?

Asking Questions. I want to know how businesses and politics work. I love learning about it. What laws govern businesses and religion and politicians and real estate and how they are interpretted. I've become increasingly interested in corruption and I want to be able to understand the economy better than an art student stereotype. I want to have intelligent conversations with people. I'm also preparing myself for the upcoming presidential election.

So, tomorrow, I'll wake up early and make french toast ravioli.
http://www.newlyweds-blog.com/2010/09/23/stuffed-french-toast/.
I probably don't have ricotta, but I'm thinking of putting something else in there, like eggs or PANCAKE BATTER. Pancake in french toast. THIS is what summer is about.

bring in the new year with Fleet Foxes

Somehow managed a nice, round number for 2010 posts, but it's not anything like 2009 posts. This marks almost the third year of this blog.


2010.
What happened last year:
I got into Pratt, New Paltz, and Purchase, waitlisted to CalArts, decided on Pratt, graduated Herricks High School.
I started college and did well in my first semester.
I started playing Maplestory.
I love my overgrown puppy.
Movies.
I started listening to more alternative and indie music.
I also noticed that I've said a lot of things like, "I want to ____," and I never get around to them. I shouldn't say, "I want to do all the things I want to do", because that's like running around in a circle to try to make a tornado. So maybe I should just do things, rather than spending too long trying to think about priorities of things and orders of things.


Start of another year.

What a life I lead in the summer, What a life I lead in the spring,
What a life I lead in the winded breeze, What a life I lead in the spring.
What a life I lead when the sun breaks free as a giant torn from the clouds,
What a life indeed when that ancient seed is a berry watered and plowed.


What a life, What a life, What a life, What a life.


What a life I lead in the summer, What a life I lead in the spring,
What a life I lead in the winded breeze, What a life I lead in the spring.

Workshop 4, Karl, and Passion, and a Lingerie Commercial

Listening: Clementine, Decemberists, Castaways and Cutouts


I actually got a lot done this workshop. I came in with a plan and I worked on it. I don't know if it was a good idea to come in with a straight idea, but listening to Karl talk with other people at my table helped, and I made a mock-up. I also ripped my paper, folded my signatures (I have 8), and put them under weight. My book may be as much as 1 1/2 inches thick. Oops. That's okay. I need to work on the outside cover of my book next week, which means cutting apart a pair of jeans. I'm making a watercolor sketchbook.


Luke keeps asking people 'what's your passion?', what do you really want to work on? I've spent this half of the year working with my hands. My original practice was sewing, and now it's cooking, and I'm making an armature model for my project. Craft things, hand-working things, small repetitive hand motions I can concentrate on.


And I read on CNN about LaneBryant's Lingerie Commercial. It isn't clear what happened, but the commercial didn't air during the time it was supposed to, because it was too racy. I don't like The View or whatever that's called on CNN, each person takes a biased view and they can't be in total opposition because they have to look good. I love the commercial, I love the support it's getting on youtube's comments, and I wish more people could see it.
     This, in comparison with a New York Times magazine article about how "food is never just food", and watching what you and your child eats and talking to them about food and exercise and weight, but having them be healthy. This is too much for little girls. Just enjoy yourself.

It's a christmas Miracle.

Prayers get answered and I'm heading over to the school tomorrow morning to get my stuff.
Thank you Mr. Ganes.

shades of grey, star trek

Today is a writing day.


I found news that a Disney hand-animated production of Snow Queen is in production. The Snow Queen is an Hans Christian Anderson fairytale, in different parts. The story is pretty complex, in seven parts, and centers around the struggles of Kai (the little boy stolen away) and Gerta (heroine), who looks for him. She talks to flowers, crows, a prince and princess, is taken prisoner by a robber girl, and rides a reindeer to the Queen's snow palace. She frees him with the power of religion.
I get lost at TV tropes.


Working on a large landscape. Today, I went over everything with different shades of pink. White near the horizon, redder when it's closer. Next layer is green, and the pink will still stand out a little (only using palette knife), and the landscape wont just be different shades of green.

it's a jungle out there, and randy newman connections

Monk ended yesterday, and I finally got to see the finale, and I'm glad shows can go on without people watching them. I don't really want a sequel. Sequels, even for good movies, can end up bad. Except, sometimes, if themes are strong enough, or if there's another theme that needs to be solved. Toy Story is about Woody potentially losing his spot. Toy Story 2 is about Woody being needed in that spot, even if it isn't permanent. And, many many times, sequels are made when there should be closure.


I am legitimately sick. I carry around my own tissues. Watching the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, because I haven't yet.


Toy Story 3 trailer. This is like Brave Little Toaster and the clip with Andy in the tent is like straight out of Iron Giant. Andy only owns blue. But I can't wait to see closure. I hope.

300

My mom asked me about the movie 300. She's student-teaching world history. SETUP FOR DISASTER.

Young disney people talking basically about CalArts. Thank you, forum people.

The new psych project is about the progress of relationships. That's more specific than his definition. I was thinking of starting from the end, and working my way back through a relationship. In comic form. Inked. Keeping things general will probably be my best bet. It's been a while since I've tried a comic project.

Recipes:

French Toast

Grilled Cheese

Croutons

Toasted Italian Bread

Breadcrumbs

i think its great that our president is telling us to stay in school and work hard and be good people. I think it's a responsibility that all presidents should have.

shaun of the dead, i am legend. zombies that eat people freak me out.

i don't think i'll read war of the worlds tonight.

on a lighter note, i finally have a very nice Swiss army knife. I fully intend to use all 10 parts, even though my favorite (besides the main blade) is the toothpick. i don't know when i'll be able to use the bottle-opener.

I've started my summer reading (Water for Elephants) and I need to come up with a ball-point pen project.

I'll try to think about that princess who kills princes again, but with a different lens: after reading M*, I want to try to make a story with simpler characters and more complex character interactions. it's not gonna be interesting, but it's looking at what happens to them rather than defining 'them'.

*A graphic novel version of Fritz Lang's M (1931). Fritz Lang is very important. He made Metropolis.

I do not like large, loud noises. Especially gun-like noises that i cannot see.

Fireworks, between 3 and 6 blocks away from my house, and night. Real fireworks, with different colors and patterns. Technically, illegal in New York without special permission, but a lot of firemen and teenagers usually get things like sparklers and bottle rockets.

In the end, I hid in my basement fearing the apocolypse. The sky was on fire, and there were cannons and gunshot.

In garden news, my first zucchini was harvested today, and it will be made into breakfast muffins tomorrow. I'm trying to dry lemon balm for tea use, to see if i can do it and to cut down on the overgrown mess of a bush.

On the side is my first friendship bracelet. I'm a lanyard (aka boondoggle) person, but i had a lot of pre-cut string around.

long day.

morning: pulling flags from Veteran Cemetary with my brothers' boy scout troop, at like 8am. Learned a lot of names. Avoided a lot of spiders.

geekout: there were two spanish american war veteran gravestones.

problem: after a few years, walking through a graveyard doesnt bother me.

afternoon: went to two libraries and read the local church bulletin, which is usually hilariously bias.

geekout: found a Hans Christian Anderson story book in the library, with pictures of Anderson's cutouts.

problem: the bulletin was about the Holy Spirit-as fire and air- being the forces that 'shapes landscapes' and 'pulls the boat across the sea'. in short, it was about male (fire and air) triumphing over female (earth and water). it still bothers me that the priest used the elements and pagan symbols to get his point across.

night: carnival is in a local parking lot. everything is overpriced.

geekout: there was a spinning ride that looked a lot like a UFO, and i remembered all the SciFi theories for gravity- having an inflated spinning doughnut.

problem: felt disconnected from crowd- lots of the rides were swinging-based, and no matter how many Gs, they were really calming. most of the other people were screaming.

mr. Pink, no klingons, ap bio, bookshelf wars

Mr. Pink the right-brain economy spoke-man talks about the rise of the right-brain economy.

i was fully expecting to see klingons in the star trek movie. and Cardassians were mentioned. Why? They aren't in the series until at least the Next Generation. and Chekov didn't say that something was made in russia! but it was a good movie. great jokes, nice pacing (though a little heavy in action sequences and repeated action sequences), but good. 

today is ap bio study day. all afternoon. and then, i'll watch a disney movie tonight, or Iron Giant. something animated. i refuse to get worked up about this, but i dont want to do bad, either.

starting a campaign for a bookshelf. hopefully ill find an older, sturdy one. perhaps i'll rearrange my room before the summer ends. that's a decent excuse to clean and organize all the papery things. ill get new posters, too. the current 'muscles n bones' poster doesn't have everything labelled. im a little past a fifth grade classroom. with a muscles n bones poster, star charts, and national geographic's world map, i may need to get some more accurate posters. to the museum of natural history's gift shop!

in soviet russia, tv watch you.

Metropolis. new favorite movie. i feel like i need to see every other scifi movie to understand it better. i'd like a copy. that may involved wiping Derek the flashdrive clean, but its a chance i am willing to take. I would like to see it at least one more time, just to take notes on the shapes in the frames. 

i also like german expressionism a lot more than i thought i did. It makes sense- everything is so obviously understandable.

im interested in new workshops. i dont know what they are, but i do want to find out.

tomorrow: tea-staining newspaper. well, tea and a mix of yellowish watercolor. for the yellow.

a few ideas today: making a scrabble set out of keyboard keys. and developing the microwaved cake-in-a-mug to include oatmeal, which shouldn't be difficult.

i drew a few pics of metropolis and Freder, but the postits disappeared into the bubbling depths of an abyss. but i found this coupon on my fridge and a soviet russia book. it is important, when reading the coupon, to wonder who would need 3600 doughnuts. and why they would need 300 more. i really hope that math is right.

"BUILDING A CITY: WOMAN'S WORK

In Russia, as you can see, women enjoy complete equality with men. They drive buses, operate cranes and steam rollers, lay brick, operate lathes and even dig coal. More than 75 per cent of the doctors in Russia are women, and 70 per cent of the teachers are schoolmarms... This situation prompted Khrushchev to leek at the model American kitchen in the Moscow exhibit and say to Mr. Nixon, "We think so highly of our women that we never put them in the same class as capitalists." Later he added proudly, "Our women work." Low salaries make it almost imperitive for both husband and wife to be wage earners. Furthermore, there is little incentive for women to stay home and be housekeepers. In Moscow and other cities, "home" is likely to be one room of a three-room apartment, with bathroom and kitchen shared by all three families."

FROM Let's Travel in the SOVIET UNION, (c) 1960, renewed 1964.

salvaged from my grandparent's attic.

monster, phoneless, not fair

all-state scores came out today.

in the most childish, whining voice possible: IT'S NOT FAIR.

why should someone get a higher score than me for not doing nearly as much work? why should people not work for something, win, and be praised for it? this is terrible and IT HAPPENS EVERYWHERE. its in every profession and with anyone you work with.

and today was spent doing so many things so that i wouldn't have to think about it. a B+ is a good score, but its not progress from last year. and grades are terrible- they sum up time and energy into a little letter that means too much. and it's not like i have people chasing me around to work on things- i have my own standards and they are too high.

but i have things to work on.

microwaved chocolate cake works out better than i ever thought it would. all i have to do now is figure out a way to make it in the stac microwave. thats gonna be on may 12th, after the ap bio test.

mexico was hit hard this week, with swine flu and press and now an earthquake. the good thing, i guess, about all these outbreaks (mersa, swine flu, avian virus, e. coli) is that america is now fully prepared to deal with the inevitable supervirus of the 7th extinction.

my phone decided to disappear a few days ago. probably thursday or friday. i should be more worried, but im not. there are some people who would be going through epileptic shock at this moment. the only thing im worried about is that i'll miss a babysitting call/job opportunity, or that i wont remember a number. i should keep an external addressbook anyways.

there was a part of the book ive been reading for a few months where MainCharacter and Nemesis-Child teleport randomly onto a beach. He finds some gold things and pockets them. Then there's this monster who goes to attack him for stealing. but the monster like.. has a floral and beautiful scent that takes over your vision, too, so the Nemesis-Child gets confused. MainCharacter puts up telepathic blocks. the creature, in its description, looks nothing like what i drew/painted. there is some visual confusion around his left shoulder, and the profile drawing should really have a more muscular back, but i don't know the muscles of the back very well. too.. anthropomorphic, overall.

i have a good 6 hours of biology hw to do. about 1500 words. i would be fretting, but im not. on some sick level, ecology is interesting. plus i intend to vex the teacher with humans for 'animal examples'. she doesnt like that much.