Posted

May 10th 2006

Mood

Content

Music

"Inca Bridges" by Cusco

If you are here, you probably followed it from my photo site. This is just an update of what I've been doing the past few months.

Last semester hit me like a ten-ton rock. I was very busy with schoolwork and with extracirricular activities. I just simply did not have time to sit down and do all the things I wanted, including some artwork. Winter break wasn't exactly a break either; I took three winterm classes, worked, and traveled to both Louisiana and Milwaukee for some time each.

This semester wasn't as bad...in some aspects. I had much less work than previously, but I had to deal with perhaps the most incompetent and flat-minded person I have ever met on a near daily basis. We were lab partners for one of my two classes, and she just...didn't really know how to do anything. She would work, yes...but her work was apathetic and choppy, which meant I had to spent time making corrections (or sometimes just doing the entire damn work myself) every week. When she wasn't working, she was constantly asking me questions about things. She would ask for help on homework the day it was due, she didn't know how to write lab reports and inquired about them while as I was writing them, instead of at a more suitable time when we could sit down together and I could clearly explain them to her without getting annoyed. I tried....really I tried to be patient and calm with her work methods, but by the end (no...middle) of the semester I just decided to do all of the work myself, seeing as though anything she gave me was pure garbage. Yes, I was very callous for her, but I did not want to risk exploding my anger to her. As much as she annoyed me and stupified me, she didn't deserve that. No, it wasn't fair to either of us, but I decided I would rather not sacrifice my very high GPA because she couldn't do anything suitable for an "A" report. By the way...the lowest grade I've gotten on any lab report (there were 8) this semester was a 94. And that was just the one time!

Right now for that class, our final project is a video of a lab. I've done 99% of the work. The first day we got together she flat out said that she did not have any ideas for the video. I did, and so I got to work cutting and editing the video. Later she asked what she could be doing, and we agreed that she could look for background music. She said she found some but I never recieved any from her. She also said voice overs would be good, and since I hate my own voice I said she could do them. Monday we had the entire 2-hour class period to do the video, and she never showed up. Instead, I get an e-mail from her which asks what she can do for the video project. This ticked me off, because instead of coming in to see what she could do she sends this petty little e-mail. I stayed until 2 pm that day working on the video project, and have been coming in at nearly any free moment I've had to work on it, and it still isn't done. I'll be finishing it tomorrow. I guess maybe I was a little cold on letting her work on the video, but she just never really expressed interest in it either...after all, the first thing she said was that she didn't have any ideas, and since I did have ideas, what was I going to do? I feel a bit guilty, but as I said it's not worth risking my grade. I really loved this class a lot, and I feel I have learned a lot from it. Both are good signs, because if I didn't feel that way I may not have given two spits about what happened.

Another thorn this semester was one of my teachers. She was just annoying and made the entire class much, much harder than it should have been. The material itself wasn't very difficult, but the way she taught it made it sound like rocket science instead of mere chemistry. She rushed things, didn't stop for questions, crammed the lectures, put together the most dull and insulting labs I have ever had, and was just all around a horrible teacher. The funny part is that I did not have to take her class....I only took it so I could get a Chemistry Minor. But still, I have skipped her class more than I have any other class ever, simply because her classes did not teach me anything. I'm doing all right in the class (I've aced everything except the tests...I'm really not a test person), but having a bad teacher can ruin even your favorite class.

Okay, let's back up a month or two and hit on some GOOD news.

For my specific major, I need field experience in a related area. I got an e-mail from Reiman Publications (Taste of Home, anyone?) asking for interns for food preperation/styling, and I immediately applied for it. Two weeks pass, and I get a call from the human resources lady asking me to come in for an interview....the next day. Now this place is 300 miles away (near Milwaukee), and I didn't have a portfolio or anything ready, so there was no way in hell I could go in the next day. We reschedule it for the next week, and during that week I work like mad putting a very nice portfolio together and buying some new clothes to wear for the interview.

So I make the 300 mile voyage for the interview, which was supposed to start at 1:00pm. At 1:15, the lady interviewing me shows up. The interview was supposed to last for 90 minutes. I'm there for 20 before they have to return to work...and I have to leave. I didn't even get to show them my entire portfolio that I had spent many hours putting together.

I wind up getting lost for 2 hours before I find my way back home. Let me tell you...nothing is as nervewracking as getting lost in a big city for 2 hours.

Anyway, I am very confused about the interview because it was cut so short. Did I get it? Did I do something wrong? I ask my advisor about it and she tells me I probably didn't do something right so they scurried me along. This hurt me...since not only did I need this to graduate, but more importantly I REALLY wanted this internship. I was then told by some people that what happened was "normal" for Reiman. This brightened me a bit.

About a week passes before I hear from them again, and this time they want my reference list. Another week passes, but a few of my references informed me that they have, indeed, called. Another week passes, and they want me to sign a contract for a background check. Another week passes, and finally....

....I get the internship. :) :)

I am very relieved and very excited. I start May 22nd and end in mid-August. I bought a used 2005 Ford Focus last weekend and have arranged a place to stay while I work. I am very hoping that this may turn into a full-time job for me as well.

I have been doing my fair share of artwork during this time as well, as you will soon see in my gallery. I have been keeping quite up to date with my webcomic, and I enjoy drawing it very much. I upgraded my art program from PSP7 to PSP9, and I find it much easier and quicker to work with. The only thing I would like is a new computer, and I plan on buying one this summer. (Oh, a wacom tablet would be nice too, but I'd rather have a new computer first.)

Well, I think that's all I want to rant about right now. I'm hungry!