I am just going to do a quick post, since it is late and I need to get up early tomorrow to go to my mum's graduation (yes, I got the day off).
Class: My final is next Thursday. We have to hang up our 5 matted prints, exchange prints with other classmates, and supposedly take some sort of written exam about which Richards-sensei has been very vague. The problem with Richards-sensei is that it is difficult to tell whether he is joking or serious most of the time.
My lily edition is now an edition of like 10, the most I've done. I did three prints with the background being black and the lily itself being some other color. I experimented with the etching ink tubes that were available. The first such color I found was called "thalto viridian." I'm not sure what "thalto" means (I've seen it on other things of ink also), but I recognized the word "viridian." I knew that it was a greenish color. As funny as it sounds, I probably recognized the word from the Pokémon games, as the final gym in the Kanto region (covered in Red/Blue/Yellow and Fire Red/Leaf Green, as well as the second half of Gold/Silver/Crystal) is located in a town called "Viridian City." Viridian City is also the first major town you come upon at the start of the game in Kanto, after leaving Pallet Town. But anyway, like other towns in the earlier games that had color-related names, the town was tinted that color in the game.
Anyway the "viridian" color turned out, as expected, to be a bluish green. For once, Richards-sensei didn't say anything about my color choice (probably cause I was using the ink tubes rather than the little containers of ink, the colored ones of which are mainly relief ink, not etching ink) and actually said that it was a nice color. And it did turn out nice actually.
The other two I did in "sepia" and "cadmium red light" respectively. The "sepia" turned out as a really dark brown, which I did not expect since sepia photographs are usually a lighter brown. It turned out ok though -- I thinned it enough for there to be a differentiation between the black and the sepia. The other color was also surprising -- I expected it to be, well, a light red. But apparently "cadmium red" is actually more like red-orange. That one turned out ok but I don't like it as much.
I am going to do more prints of it before the final, simply cause I have paper left and don't want to waste it. I also have to choose one of them to mat for my final.
Oh by the way matting yesterday was killer. It took me forever just to mat four prints, and the teacher had to help me a lot. But I finally got done around 4:00, near the end of class, and still had some time to do those two aforementioned prints.
Work: I was late today unfortunately, due to some transportation issues. I caught the bus at the wrong stop and thus ended up on a later bus, missed a train, had to catch the next one, got on my connecting bus to work and ended up on a bus with two wheelchairs (wheelchairs have to be fastened when a person gets on and unfastened when they get off, which slows down the bus), and ended up clocking in 19 minutes late. Ouch. And to top it off, I had taken my hairtie out of my locker and ended up having to put my hair up with a rubber band (obtained from Paul the CSR), until I bought scrunchies on my break.
Joseph was off, but we did not realize this till later in the afternoon. Thank goodness Maryam (one of the checkers) was helping package stuff cause it would've have been tough otherwise. I did garlic bread early on, then packaged some stuff, and then went to lunch. After lunch, I got things ready to finish what bread I had on the table. Then I went to inspect the other bread waiting to be made into garlic bread. Around this time I had to break out French bread to put in the proofer. When going to get the French bread, I noticed the cooler looked pretty empty. I went back to check later, and (wouldn't you know it?) there was no break-out. We had five people here, and nobody bothered to do any break-out? Um, ok. So, to save the girls a talking-to from Karen (our baker) in the morning, I took matters into my own hands and lugged the six-wheeler holding the rolls and danishes out of the freezer, and started to do break-out (this was at around 4:30). I was interrupted several times in the beginning for customers, etc., and also by Maryam with questions about things. But later in the evening (after 6:00) things slowed down and I actually got some work done. I followed the break-out list and broke out all the rolls and danishes, finishing at 6:50. Then I cleaned up, pushed the really heavy six-wheeler back into the freezer and started grabbing donut boxes. Then I broke out the donuts. By the time I finished this, it was 7:10. With 10 minutes left, I started to grab bagel boxes. I had one tray of bagels done when the phone rang. It turned out to be an order (though a quick one), but by the time I finished it it was time to clean up and leave. So I put the bagel boxes back, covered the rack and put it in the cooler, and got out of there. Then I went, clocked out, wrote a note to everyone, and put it up in the department. Then I left. Oy, what a day.
I have to call Sandra in the morning cause she forgot to give me one of my school days off and also next Friday, which is graduation day, which I had requested off more than a month ago.
Considering a Wii : I just found out a Wii sequel to Tales of Symphonia is in development. It makes me really want a Wii! I wonder if that game can be played with the "Classic" controller (which I will probably get cause I don't understand the Nunchuk and the Wiimote at all). Plus it would be cool to get Code Lyoko: Quest for Infinity when it comes out this fall.
Just checked Wikipedia for information on the new ToS game (called Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World). All the original main characters (except Kratos) return. (Kratos is the game's narrator, but he is not playable). The one cool thing is that the new protagonist, Emil, can capture monsters and have them fight alongside him in battle, which is similar to my DS game Rune Factory. Also the animation looks a lot different (just look at the picture of Lloyd on the right). One thing I would miss is that they replaced the "Field Map" idea with a point-with-the-Wiimote-to-where-you-want-to-go idea, which I don't like as much. But this idea is not totally new; in Pokemon Colosseum for GameCube, you select a place from the map to go to, and after a cut scene showing you traveling, you're there.
Ok better get ready for bed. I already didn't get much sleep last night. Good night!
Well, as I said before, the semester is ending soon. Just this week, then my final and graduation. Also, my mom's graduation from grad school is this weekend, so I'm trying to get the day off from work for that.
I have a stack of prints on my desk I still need to go through to figure out which ones to mat. I have to finish printing my lily picture (which will turn out to not be a deepbite after all -- there's not time to sit for hours waiting for it to sit in the acid -- and instead will be a line etching with aquatint) and bring home my pieces that are currently on display. I have to print 3 more prints of the lily etching as it is before I will have satisfied Richards-sensei and be able to do an aquatint treatment on my plate. He likes editions of 5 for some reason. I am going to go do those prints tomorrow (since I have tomorrow off) so that they are done before class, and maybe I will even start with the aquatint, if the teacher is there to show me what he recommends (since I'm not very good with aquatint). If not, I will work on it on Tuesday. At any rate, I will bring the prints I put on display on Thursday home so I have them to add to my collection of prints to choose from. I will leave the new prints so they can dry; I don't know how long that takes. It depends on how dry the paper is when you do the print. And of course the ink has to dry. But I think it dries fast.
The only prints I have up right now are 2 prints of my lily and the two prints I did of my Plexiglas/collage piece. Oh, speaking of which, my collage turned out splendidly...yay! I was afraid it would not work to do that sort of thing on Plexiglas (Mr. Flores did it on a metal plate), but it did work, although on the first one Misaki did not stick on the paper and I had to reglue her into place. Also after each print I had to go in with a little glue and glue down edges that didn't get enough glue. Because I had the glue on a mat board squegee, I was able to simply walk up to the print on the display board to make these corrections. Nice and easy. I was also concerned cause print #1 looked like it had lots of glue stains, but one of my classmates (who also looked at my print) said you can't even see them from far away. So that's good to know.
I have to go buy my own mat board, unfortunately. I am going to pick my prints first so I know what colors will be good and if I need a certain size. It doesn't look like it's too hard to mat - it's mostly measuring and cutting.
I have figured out I have some medical things to do in the near future. I need to get my mystery underarm bump checked out by the doctor. Mum thinks it's a clogged pore, but I'm not so sure, especially since it has developed a purplish bruise-like color, and my shirt seams (on shirts like my work shirts) still rub it even though it has gotten smaller in size since the time it first began to really bother me. I have been careful not to put deodorant on it (if it is a clogged pore, deodorant would be what is clogging it in the first place) and to shave around it. But it has not gone away.
Mum says I also need to have a physical, including some "female" stuff (like a Pap smear, maybe a mammogram). Fortunately, my new insurance covers physicals 100%.
I also haven't had an eye exam in awhile, so I probably need one of those too. And I may need to go to the dentist too, since I haven't been there in a while either.
The main problem is that, since I have new insurance, I have to make sure my various doctors take my new insurance.
From medical problems to coworkers...I am fed up somewhat with my coworker Amanda. I have worked with her sometimes cause she only works nights and I have been working till 7 the last couple weekends. She gets stressed out about the amount of work she has to do and goes on and on about it, and a couple of times has asked me to help her by doing part of breakout (she is usually assigned breakout duties). Now if I have no other duties of my own then I will help her with breakout, and I have done so at least once. But if, like tonight, I have my own work to do, I have to tell her that I can't help her with breakout cause I have to finish my own work, which is the truth. Then she gets mad, and I have to try to reason with her to get her to shut up so I can concentrate on my own work (usually packaging), or try to ignore her, if that is even possible. Tonight when she arrived (at 4:45), I was packaging a rack of drizzled gourmet cookies and still had to package the newly baked French bread, label the cookies and other stuff on the counter to get it out of the way, AND make garlic bread. I told her I couldn't help her with her work. She got mad, and went on about all of her work and how messy the department was (her other usual perpetually discussed topic) and asked me to make sure to clean up the front before I left, which I would've done anyway (and did), since making garlic bread leaves the counters messy, and in the process of cookie packaging a lot of drizzle pieces had ended up on the floor and needed to be swept up, along with the usual dirt and crumbs that end up on the floor of our front area.
Things finally quieted down, thanks to the arrival of Liz, who usually works mornings but was apparently working a night shift tonight. She started helping Amanda with breakout, and all was well. I covered the front, working on my stuff and helping customers. Right around the time I was supposed to leave, I had two customers, and after I finished the first, I went to the back to ask Liz and Amanda if one of them could help the other customer, since I had to leave because I was like 2 minutes overtime. Amanda's response to my question was a comment telling me to leave so I wouldn't be late, which sounded less benign than it ought to sound. I wondered if she was still mad at me.
I must admit, I was stressed. I wanted Amanda to shut up, I was trying to do my own work, and I hadn't had a chance for my last break because I was going to take it, but I was afraid Amanda would make a fuss like last time we were both together by ourselves and I said I was going to take my break. Also, I was worried that I would be in trouble cause I accidentally put chocolate buttercream on some of the brownies instead of fudge (I asked Neomi, a new decorator, who was the only other person there, if she'd seen the fudge, she handed me a bucket, and I realized only after I had spread the stuff on the brownies that it might not be fudge). I don't know why I got stuck putting chocolate drizzle on the cookies and icing the brownies, neither of which I have done before and both of which should have been done already (especially with the brownies, which were from yesterday). And then she handed me the wrong bucket -- but of course, she's new...she wouldn't know. This would never have happened if Katie or Patricia was there; they know what the fudge looks like. Even Dina (a former decorator, now manager of the deli, who was helping us today) would've known, but I didn't ask her; she probably would've made me look for it myself anyways. I tried to look for it, but Dina and somebody else were working at the cake decorating counters and so I couldn't get in to look through the buckets. It's been so long since I've seen the fudge bucket I forgot what it looked like. It does sort of look like the Ready Ice Chocolate Frosting (aka chocolate buttercream) bucket though. So maybe that's why I didn't think of it; the chocolate buttercream is also thick like the fudge so the frosting looks similar, though it is lighter than the fudge.
Hopefully, it won't matter, but you know me; I am paranoid and think every little mistake could be job-ending. I was all paranoid about the cream cheese icing on the brownies not looking nice. I said I didn't want the customers saying "oh what ugly brownies" and not buying them. This is similar to how I wanted to get defensive when Liz said my a's on cakes looked like upside-down e's. They do, since I tend to forget to put a tail on my a's. I know this. On the other hand, she did think the writing was nice. While I didn't get defensive, I did point out that I usually don't have time to devote to practicing my cake writing so that it looks nice every time. She told me that if I asked the manager for time to do that, she would probably say yes. But I'm not a decorator. Why should I need extra time to practice my writing? The only reason I write on cakes at all is because often I am the only person there in the afternoon (and evening) and so I have to help customers, and this includes writing on cakes. When I worked at Sycamore, I always called someone else over to write on cakes, someone with experience, because that was what I was told to do.
If only preparing and decorating cakes was as easy as it is on my Cake Mania game...they have automatic frosters and stuff.
I got some new reading material, having grown bored with A Great Improvisation (a non-fiction book about Benjamin Franklin and his diplomatic efforts to secure French aid for the American Revolution). For just over $40 with tax at Barnes and Noble, I bought two Boxcar Children books, two volumes of Tsubasa: ReserVOIR Chronicle, and a Newbery Award-winning book called Kira-kira. The volumes of Tsubasa were numbers 13 and 14, which cover adventures in the world of Recort and (at the end of 14) another yet unidentified world. There is also a part where Syaoran opens this book and sees Kurogane's memories, and those take place in the past of the Country of Nihon, the country Kurogane is from (also called the Country of Japan). I also was pleased with myself somewhat for recognizing the crossover in Recort's Central Library of Sai and Kaede from Angelic Layer, although I had never seen them in a manga (only in the AL anime, which I recently finished watching -- see the previous post).
I should mention that Fei Wong Reed (one of the bad guys) has a female assistant, Xing Huo, who somewhat resembles Arisu from Angelic Layer. I do not know if that is an intentional crossover or just a coincidence.
Ack! It is really late...I started to look at some other stuff and didn't realize time went by. I want to get up early to go work at school, cause I think I'd like to see a movie afterwards. The movie theater by the mall is still showing this one movie I want to see. But it only has two matinee showings. I just checked.
Ok I'm gonna go and start getting ready for bed. Goodnight.
Well, there's just the rest of this week, and then next week, and then finals. Then I officially graduate from MiraCosta. I guess I need to do my IGETC Certification and stuff...oh crud just thought of that!
I just checked the IGETC Advising sheet. It says you do the IGETC Certification when you send your final transcript. Although my final transcript's not due at CSUSM till July, I should still do it soon. When I go to school tomorrow, I'll ask.
I have been working hard this week to try to get my work done. I was going to go work today, but I stayed up late last night working on my tag video (more on that later), and so I was really tired. Plus, I got a lot of stuff done yesterday so I am not really behind. Pretty much all I have to finish are my litho/deepbite and my Plexiglas/collage composition. The deepbite will be done somewhat differently than what others are doing cause I wasn't doing the cutting right. Anyway, it's of a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci which the teacher found for me. Here it is:
It's called "A Lily," or (as the site calls it that I got this picture from) "Study of a Lily." My copy of the drawing is in black and white though. It's pretty intricate and was hard to trace onto paper to transfer it to the plate. The first time I traced it, I went all out, trying to trace the shading lines and stuff, but the second time (I had to trace it twice cause I lost my first tracing of it) I stuck to simpler lines.
My Plexiglas/collage composition was initially also going to include a little 6"x0.75" strip of metal plate that I had left over from when my half of my plate (I sold half of the plate to someone else) was cut up. But the writing on it came out backwards when I did a test print, just as the teacher said it would. I told both the T.A. Hollis and Mum about this and they both said I should listen to my teacher. Also what I etched on the Plexiglas came out on the other side of the paper when I did a print, which means I have to rethink where my "collage" bits will go.
So anyway, Plan B! I think I have a way for the composition to still work. I did a layout of what I'm thinking it will look like using Photoshop on one of the school lab computers (because I'm one of those people who doesn't want to pay $700 to buy Photoshop myself):
As you can see, it has an Angelic Layer theme. I was going to do something more academic and artistic, but since it was just something I was doing for fun more than anything else, I decided to just do something fun. Since I've been watching Angelic Layer lately online, I decided to make something related to that show. Hikaru is already etched (I etched my Plexiglas while waiting for my metal plates to either dry under the heat lamp or sit in the acid); the logo on the bottom will replace the metal plate I was going to put along the top. I made sure to put the writing not backwards, not wanting to repeat the mistake that changed my plans.
I was going to etch the other stuff, but then I decided instead to "collage" it. I got this idea from what Gene Flores, a visiting artist, did last week when he did a printing demonstration during our class period. He took little cut out bits, arranged them where he wanted them on his plate, then put glue on the cut out bits so that when you ran the plate through the press, they would be stuck to the plate. Granted, he did it with a metal plate, and I'm using Plexiglas, which may or may not work as well. The only problem with using glue is you sort of only have one shot at getting the gluing process right. So I'll have to be careful.
I'm going to go in early tomorrow to work on that piece so I can devote as much class time as possible to my deepbite, since if we do it the way I think we are going to, it needs lots of time in the acid (as in HOURS). I will probably run at least one print of my deepbite plate so that the teacher and I can decide what to do next. I kind of hate to get up early when I will have to do so the next day (Friday) too because of work. But "no pain, no gain" as they say. And having something to do is always nice. As the proverb says which I often quote, "Idle hands are the devil's workshop."
Hold on, gotta go to the bathroom.
Ok, I'm back.
Moving on...As I said, I have been watching Angelic Layer online, having my interest in the anime piqued by the one manga volume of the series that I own (haven't been able to get more yet). I started watching it on YouTube, but YouTube only had a few episodes. So the rest I watched on Veoh. I've been watching all Japanese episodes, except episode 19 which I couldn't find in Japanese and had to watch the English dub of instead. I just watched the last three episodes today. The ending is really sad and emotional. I particularly like the ending credits of the last episode, which show what happened to everyone. *SPOILER* It starts with Shouko (Misaki's aunt, with whom she lives) at her job as a news anchor calling Ringo (a pop idol who also does Angelic Layer), and Ringo showing off her "Ranga Cosplay" outfit (based on her Angel, Ranga). Then there are some shots which reveal that certain characters coupled up: Tamayo and Kotaro, Ogata and Fujimari, and Yuuko and Shuji. Then we see Ryo Misaki and Arisu practicing Angelic Layer at practice layers (though not together, I don't think).
The next shot after that made me double take. It showed Sai (another one of the Angelic Layer players) kneeling at a grave and offering incense, with her friend Kaede standing by. A subtitle for the text on the gravestone said "Family Grave." I picked this up and went back and watched it again, and paused it where the subtitle showed up. "Oh, so her sister died?" I said. "How sad." (Sai has an ill sister in the series, for whose sake she had been playing Angelic Layer). After watching the whole video, I was reading the comments - and nobody picked up on this besides me! And yet, it's such an obvious visual clue that Sai's sister died, without any dialogue saying she is dead or anything.
The next shot was kind of funny and requires some explanation. Ichiro (aka "Icchan"), the one who got Misaki (the main character) started with Angelic Layer (and who is in fact the creator of Angelic Layer and is in love with his research partner Shuuko, Misaki's mom) is known for being somewhat of a peeping tom. His stepbrother is Oujiro, the Deus for the angel Wizard and Misaki's love interest (in the anime only). Anyway, this shot shows them behind a wall, and Icchan is peeking, and Oujiro asks him what he's doing, and then Icchan tells Oujiro that Misaki's there too, and Oujiro starts peeking.
We then see Misaki and her mother go by. Despite the fact that I caught the clue about Sai's sister, I did not catch the story clue in this shot until I was reading the comments. In this shot, we see Misaki AND her mother are both walking! I should mention that Shuuko had been in a wheelchair up to this point in the series, her leg debilitated by a nerve disease (presumed to be MS). She had been doing research with Icchan about the possibility of creating artificial limbs that could be controlled by the brain. When the real version of this failed to get funding, they came up with making it a toy, and Angelic Layer was born.
The ending ends with a shot of Athena (Shuuko's Angel) hugging Hikaru (Misaki's Angel). Kawaii! *END SPOILER*
Anyway, overall, I really like the series, and will try to get the rest of the manga in order to compare it to the anime.
I must say that the dub of this series seems very unprofessionally done, even though it is in fact an official dub. They tried a little too hard to keep the Japanese suffixes for one, which kind of spoils the dialogue (having suffixes is great, but it usually only works in English translations of manga; it sounds weird in anime). It was done by ADV Films too, who is generally known for rather good anime dubs. Weird...
Next to watch? Either Chobits (which is also based on a CLAMP manga, like Angelic Layer, and is in fact set in the same universe as Angelic Layer, though it is set later in time; I own the manga and really like it) or Wedding Peach (some transformation clips and such have made me want to watch it...I saw a couple dub clips when I was trying to get a clip for my tag video...the dub isn't bad. "I am the Love Angel! I am Wedding Peach! And I am extremely angry with you!" LOL).
A fad has cropped up on YouTube called "tagging." I don't know who started it. But anyway, it involves making a video which contains 5 facts about yourself. You wait till you are tagged to do it, and when you do it, you then go on and continue the chain by tagging 5 other people.
I posted my tag video today, after working on it last night and this morning. Here it is:
I am currently reading a book about Benjamin Franklin called A Great Improvisation. It is about his time as a diplomat to France during the American Revolution. But before that, I was reading a book called Immortal, which is a novel set in medieval and early Renaissnce Florence. It is about a boy who has an extraordinary power that allows him to heal quickly, provide help to people with his hands via some power called a consolateum, and live a really long time without aging a day. It is a good book, though the beginning, where the character is sold to a brothel by his best friend and ends up working there, was pretty disturbing. But after that the book became more palatable and interesting. I have to admit I was kinda glad to finish it, though.
On another note, I finally got my eighth badge in Pokemon Pearl, on my third try fighting the last gym leader. My Pokemon kept getting KO'd by attacks like Charge Beam (the attack you get as a TM if you win) and Brick Break. I knew I needed to rely mainly on my one Pokemon with ground attacks, my Graveler. So I went back to the Wayward Cave and got the TM for Earthquake, the most powerful Ground-type move. I taught it to my Graveler. With that and its learned move Magnitude on hand, I went and fought Volkner again. I was able to quickly knock out his electric types with Magnitude and Earthquake, and in the meantime I saved my Machoke for his Normal-type Ambipom. His Octillery was a problem cause it KO'd my Luxray, so I had to use other Pokemon instead. But finally, I won. Yay!
Well, that's it. I think I am going to walk to the store to get dinner. I feel like getting out of the house.
As long as I'm home in time for American Idol, I'll be ok. I forgot to vote again, but hopefully the one I like (Syesha) won't be on the chopping block.
Yesterday, when I left for school, Mum was asking me if I would be home that night, cause "we're all going to watch American Idol together." I know, lame family activity, watching TV. But I watch Top Chef and Project Runway with her and watched some of The Biggest Loser: Couples with her, and she watches The Amazing Race with me, so I guess I can't complain.
Just came from class, where the teacher gave a lecture on a process called "litho" something or other. Chances are I will have forgotten everything he said by next class; I seem to be forgetting a lot of the processes lately. I totally forgot aquatint.
Fortunately, this is the last process he is teaching us, with the end of the semester coming soon.
I finally bought my zinc plate today, for $59, and I sold half of it to one of my classmates since I didn't think I would be using it all and got back $30. I got it cut and used one of the plates for my second soft ground print (the one I'm doing with leaves & foliage I collected) and another plate - long and thin - for my aquatint, which I bought a set of stencils for because, according to one of my classmates, you needed to make a stencil (although the teacher refuted this). I got confused about the aquatint but fortunately the teacher helped me out. He asked me what exactly I was planning to do with the stencil as far as aquatinting and I said, I didn't really know exactly but that I needed to do an aquatint cause I hadn't done one yet and I didn't want to be behind, and that somebody had told me you needed to make a stencil for it. He told me you didn't need to make a stencil, but since I had one and some extra space around where I would've put the stencil (I had made the plate have space around where the stencil would be on purpose when marking my plate into smaller plates, thinking I would need it), he said, let's go and experiment. So we did. He used my stencil (of a line of roses) and did three of them, one on top, one in the middle, one on the bottom. Then he took some metal mesh thing he'd picked up on our way to the spray booth (where you can use spray paint safely away from others, since the fumes are so bad...someone was using that when we got there though so we did it over a trash can) and laid it on there so when you lifted it off, it filled the blank space. Then he told me that if I liked it to go put it in acid.
The mesh thing was actually pretty cool - you do a similar trick to this with tarletan (which is also like mesh but is cloth) with the foliage soft ground, to produce the same effect (filling the blank/negative space).
Here is a picture of the design of the stencil, blown up a little via Photoshop:
But despite all my work today, the only fruit of my labor was one print of my second soft ground, in green, and accidentially upside down (this happened with my first print of my first soft ground too). An attempt to print this same thing in blue turned out so light you couldn't see anything, and the aquatint, in black, ditto. *sigh*
So I am bummed. This on top of Amy leaving for the start of her basic Army Reserves training today (we did talk yesterday though on IM), just plain being restless, buying a book that sounded good but is actually pretty disturbing, the heat (although it is cooler today), and the stress of knowing I gotta get ready for my final soon, picking my 5 pieces to present. And the pieces will actually be displayed in the gallery here! Scary! I hope the matting covers my smudged edges, the result of touching the paper with inky fingers.
I don't know why I've been so restless lately. Maybe I'm just tired, or maybe cause I'm trying to eat healthier I'm not getting as much sugar or protein (both energy boosters) as I usually get. Or maybe I'm sick. Or it could just be a pre-menstrual thing; I'm starting to get restless before day 1 of my period now.
I did have a whole quarter leg (a thigh and leg together; it's a service deli item) for dinner on Sunday, just to see what it tasted like. That probably messed up my "diet" right there -- although the chicken is baked, not fried. And baked chicken I think is better for you. It was pretty good though, but very messy to eat. And very filling.
I've gotten back into listening to my Divine Comedy audiobook, which I have found does not interest me as much as I expected. I am on the Paradiso now. I think that the first part (Inferno) is easier to read (or listen to) because more is actually going on. The other two parts (Purgatorio and Paradiso) have less actual action and more "discourse" -- long speeches on various topics, mostly theology. One gets lost in the wording and rather confused. Not to mention that medieval Christian theology (such as Dante and the readers of his time would have known) is very different from modern Christian theology in many respects, so it is difficult to understand the former when your main education is in the latter.
Well I better go, it's getting late and I want to buy my May bus pass before I leave and maybe get something to eat to lift my energy. Bye.
I told Mum tonight how the people at the place I took my computer to yesterday (which is within walking distance of my house) said that my laptop battery was dead and I needed to get a new one. But this discussion went nowhere. Mum pointed out that I have already replaced the battery twice only to have both batteries fail to work properly.
I have taken my computer to Staples, Best Buy, and a couple independent computer places now, and nobody can solve my battery problem. It's very frustrating.
My computer has had quite a few problems in its about 2 1/2 year existence in my possession, after I received it (with "much rejoicing" as Monty Python would say) for my 21st birthday. First, I had a problem with the battery not charging. It did work, but it would not charge using my cord. I ended up having to borrow my mom's laptop cord all the time. I took the computer to an independent place and learned that my cord had developed a short on the end that plugs into the laptop, and I needed a new cord. Ok, no big (as Kim Possible would say). I dole out $60, have them order a new cord for me, and yay, problem solved.
Then there was slowness and programs that would freeze (especially Movie Maker), a problem I still have (and which my mother blames on all the big files on my computer...uh, yeah, ok). Then for a time, my internet didn't work at all on my laptop. But I solved that problem with the help of my friend Gilbert/Oberon's Servant from Tech Links, with whom I had real-time voice contact via a podcast we were trying to create with Tech Links's admin Wartonchan. I don't think I ever found out precisely why I couldn't get online though.
Multiple reboots later, my computer is still slow and doesn't run on battery. Time for a new computer? Probably - seeing as at this point it's pointless to spend any more time and money peddling my problem to various places. Not even Toshiba (the makers of my current computer) is useful; their Tech Support has never been of any help to me, and the most recent times I called, we talked and then they wouldn't go any further with their advice after a while unless I paid them.
My main questions now are, if I get a new computer, what kind should I get? How much should I spend? What do I want out of it? Should I switch to Mac since (a) it's rather popular among people my age, (b) Mac has cool programs (like the iLife suite) that Windows lacks, and (c) the current Mac OS is supposedly a lot more stable right now than Windows Vista?
Best answers to these questions right now: How much should I spend? Not too much. I don't need a ton of bells and whistles. I need a decent amount of memory and storage space - probably a lot more than I think, given my surprisingly large song library in iTunes. But not a lot of unnecessary frills.
What do I want out of it? Speed for one thing. A good amount of memory (my current computer has 55 GB -- which is nothing compared to current laptop models). A battery that actually works (and has good battery life - my current battery, if it worked, would work for 3 hours, which beats the 1-hour original battery). Good sound & video quality, especially since my laptop is usually also my DVD player. Also maybe a nice-sized screen (mine right now is 17").
What kind should I get? I'm pretty sure I will not get Toshiba again, even though Greenpeace voted the Toshiba Tecra A9-S9013 as one of their top "green" laptop models (according to an article I read today in a local newspaper). Like I said, their Tech Support is very much not helpful. Plus, since my battery is obviously not the cause of my battery problem, the only other culprit is the computer itself, and if that's so, I'm gonna steer away from buying another product by the same company. I know that every model's different, but still I feel a bit of caveat emptor ("let the buyer beware") about it.
I would love to get a Tablet PC - probably a convertible (laptop converts to tablet) to save my neck. But they're hard to find (at least where I've looked) and they're more expensive than regular laptops.
I might go with Dell, since their prices are good, and they have a good reputation for great customer service and support. (Not to mention I can get 12% off their already low prices through my labor union).
I'll need time to think this through, obviously. If I do decide to get a new laptop, I'd like to do it before I start at Cal State this fall, if possible. I may see if they sell laptops there, since schools tend to get good deals on computers and computer software. (Yay! Photoshop for $200!).
Oh and the last question - Mac or Windows? I prefer Windows because I am familiar with it, despite its tendency to crash often, among other problems. However, we know from recent media (including the Mac commercials, featuring Drew Barrymore's boyfriend as the "Mac guy") that Vista, the new Windows OS, isn't doing so well. My brother (who has a Dell laptop with Vista on it) doesn't seem to have had any problems with it, though.
Macs are definitely popular among college students like myself. I have seen probably more of the cute little white MacBooks at my school than other laptops. A nice perk to Mac is that its operating systems seem to have done consistently better than Windows in the long run. And programs that are Mac-only -- like the handy-dandy iLife suite that is included with every Mac computer -- are nice to have. I know a lot of podcasters I've heard have Macs - probably cause since iLife features both an audio recording program (GarageBand) and the ever-popular podcast haven, iTunes, having a Mac works in their favor.
One frustrating thing about the iLife suite is the simple fact that it is just that, a program suite. You can't buy the programs separately - whereas you can with Microsoft Office (Windows's signature program suite). Frankly, the only program I'm majorly wanting is the wondrous and glorious iMovie. The latest version of this movie editing program can export your videos directly to YouTube (cool). The other programs I don't really need - iPhoto (a photo organizing program) doesn't seem all that cool. iWeb is a What You See is What You Get webpage maker, equivalent perhaps to programs like Adobe Dreamweaver. That kind of program is pretty useless to me since I know enough HTML to create a decent site all by myself. I have iTunes already, having downloaded it from Apple's website. GarageBand is cool, but I really like Audacity for my audio recording. It works great, and it's freeware, which is always nice. iDVD I don't necessarily need, though it would be nice to be able to rip DVD's to get footage for my videos sometimes.
Ok, time to move on. I gotta try to get to bed earlier tonight to make up for my 4-hour-and-50-minute night last night. I've totally forgotten about dinner till now. I'm going to go make my Lean Pocket, put my laundry in, and come back.
Ok, I'm back.
Next topic: I listened yesterday to PotterCast's podcast on the lawsuit between J.K. Rowling and RDR Books (MuggleCast did one too; I started listening to it on the way home today but haven't finished it yet). Basically, for those who don't know about this, here is the situation: This guy named Steve Vander Ark is a big Harry Potter fan and head of a major encyclopedia-like website on Harry Potter called The Harry Potter Lexicon. He somehow along the line recently decided to publish the Lexicon in book form, and RDR Books liked the idea and signed a book contract with him. Unfortunately, Rowling, along with Warner Brothers (who owns the movie rights to the series), viewed this as a violation of copyright and expressed their disapproval to the parties concerned, and eventually filed a lawsuit against RDR Books. They tried to settle things outside of court, but this proved to not work out, so the trial went to court this week.
The crux of the whole trial is how the "fair use doctrine" (which dictates just how much you can "fairly use" in your work from another person's work that is under copyright) will be interpreted in this case. If a right to "fair use" can be proven to belong to Steve Vander Ark, then that will make his side even stronger.
Being a frequent user of the web Lexicon, I was uncertain how to respond to all the brouhaha (don't you love that word?) surrounding this lawsuit, even after hearing the details on PotterCast.
After some contemplation of the matter today at work though, I came to a realization. Melissa on PotterCast had pointed out that if RDR wins this case, it won't just have a big impact on the Harry Potter fandom in particular, but on writer's rights in general. Seeing as Melissa is writing a book right now (on the Harry Potter fandom, no less), she must know very well how attached a writer becomes to his or her ideas and words. And then I thought, I'm a writer too. What will life be like for just-starting-out writers like me if RDR wins? Copyright law could totally change, for better or worse, as a result of this case.
And yet, writers deserve to have their ideas protected. It's in the Constitution, for goodness sake! It's in a clause currently known as the Copyright Clause or the Intellectual Property Clause, which appears in Article I, Section 8, a section naming the powers of Congress. The clause says:
"[The Congress shall have Power] To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries..."
After realizing what impact it could have on other authors, even up-and-coming ones like me, I sympathize with JKR. I, like a lot of fans of the books, think she is an absolute genius because of her unique writing style and the rich world she has created through the Harry Potter series. Such amazing writing deserves to be protected.
I am thinking now about the stories I've written - both those I can't find anymore and the ones I still have. I can't imagine having the world of Walden - which I've described richly in the "Walden Chronicle" stories I've written and in my notes on my Walden novel - taken from me by a copyright violation, nor the world of the constantly revised Lightning Girl saga. As a writer, things like that that you create are almost real to you, almost tangible, and yet intangible in the way they are ingrained in your heart, your mind, your soul even. To lose them or have them threatened would be very upsetting.
I have been writing seriously since I was 11, more than 10 years. Granted, it's been very on-and-off. But I really love storytelling, and composing stories comes very naturally to me. And I don't like to give up on stories - I've been revising the Lightning Girl story since high school! Not to mention that I think my talent for writing is a gift from God, and that makes it even more important.
I was recently reading some good books on writing, and in a couple of them, which featured essays by writers and writing teachers, the essay writers would sometimes reference their own works and talk about them in a way that made you know that - despite any successes, failures, or struggles - they really loved what they were doing and were into the stories they create. I think this is true of any author. Tolkien loved his Hobbits and his Elves and all the other creatures of Eä (the universe in which Middle-Earth exists). In fact, he loved the Elves so much that he devoted pretty much an entire book to them - The Silmarillion, probably the best LOTR-related book aside from the original trilogy. And he created their two languages (Quenya and Sindarin) himself!
So, in short, I sympathize with Rowling now. I'd want my writing protected too. So I want her to win.
Moving from Rowling's work to my own current profession...my hours at work have been less of late. I have 24 hours (the least they can give me) this week, packed into 3 8-hour days, on the weekend no less. And next week, it's the same. But I don't think it's just me. Everybody's hours are being cut, with the exception perhaps of certain checkers and other people that are locked into 40 hours a week. So I'm not the only one. It's not certainly because we don't get business (as was the reason for budget cuts at my last job). We get a lot of business, more so on some days than others, but still quite a bit. But the economy stinks right now, and labor budgets are tight. And that's the worst thing about it - you have a lot of people working barely any hours at the job they have, resulting perhaps in a desire to obtain another job, which in an economic slump like this (or "stagflation" as they have called this current slump) is going to be pretty hard. And with the high gas prices, it may be hard for many people just to get to work since lots of people don't want to pay high prices at the pump. (This is where taking public transit comes in handy - although buses need gas too). So, as much as I'd like to switch jobs before starting university this fall, I may need to just sit back and wait out the slump, since I can because I don't have a lot of necessary monthly expenses - just rent, my cell phone bill, and my bus pass.
The even worse thing is that not only is America's economy messed up, but I happen to live in California, whose state budget is perhaps even more messed up than the general economy, due to bad government spending and inefficient methods being used to try to deal with the deficit and revitalize California's economy.
***WARNING: SPOILERS FOR NIM'S ISLAND BELOW***
On Wednesday, I finally got around to seeing the movie I'd wanted to see, a movie called Nim's Island. It's about a girl who lives on an island with only her marine biologist dad and her animal friends for company. Her dad goes off on a sailing expedition and gets caught in a storm and left drifting out at sea. When Nim can't reach her dad, she wishes she had the help of her favorite adventure novel hero, Alex Rover, to get her dad back. She thinks she has hit some luck when someone named "Alex Rover" e-mails her dad about an article he wrote for National Geographic. They correspond, and Nim eventually asks Rover to come and help her find her dad before a cruise ship/tour company takes over the island to make a resort. What Nim doesn't know is that her correspondent is actually the author of the Alex Rover books - who is also named Alex Rover, but short for Alexandra. In short, she is female, though her hero is male. Alexandra Rover is a nervous wreck - she's got writer's block, she's on an obsessive diet of Progresso soup, she has extreme agoraphobia and hasn't left her apartment in 16 weeks (even to get the mail!), and she seems obsessed with cleanliness, as shown by her fondness for Purell hand sanitizer. While Nim is mad at Alexandra when they first finally meet, they grow closer, and Alexandra ends up staying on the island.
Overall, I thought it was really, really good.
***END SPOILERS***
Well, it's late, so I better start getting ready for bed. Erev niflah! ("Have a wonderful evening!" in Hebrew).
Today I went to see a production of Gluck's opera Orpheus and Eurydice at Palomar College, a community college near me. I had heard that it was happening a long time ago when I picked up a brochure about Palomar's 2008 Performing Arts season, but only in the last few weeks did I realize it was coming up so quickly and actually make plans. Though I had to leave class early to make the 4pm performance today. But today was the only day that worked out -- I could've gone to the 8pm Saturday shows but my mom kept asking me if there was a matinée, so I'm guessing they didn't want to have to drive out there to pick me up. And I couldn't make the Sunday 2pm matinées cause of work.
Anyway the opera was held in the Performance Lab, not the school's actual theater. The Lab was basically an open area in the middle with an orchestra box in the back and chairs on sets of risers on the sides. When I came in, they said to head towards the far side as they wanted to fill those seats first. To do this, you basically had to walk across the "stage," where the actors were already positioned (though the opera had not yet started), so that was kinda weird. But anyway the opera was good, but surprisingly short (only a little over an hour). Although it is only a three-act opera, so I guess one would expect it to be short.
The opera has only three principal characters: the two title characters and Amor, the god of love. All three of these were played by women, even though both Orpheus and Amor (a.k.a. Cupid) are male. But then Orpheus in this opera is usually played by a woman nowadays because a certain kind of voice is needed for that part. It was traditionally done by a male with the vocal range of a female. So now it is done by counter-tenors (tenors who can sing alto or mezzo-soprano) if a male plays the role, but more often a woman who can sing alto or mezzo-soprano plays the role, as was the case in this performance.
The woman singing for Orpheus was a special guest, a Palomar graduate, and she did very well though it was difficult to understand the words she sang (despite the fact the opera was being performed in English, rather than Gluck's original Italian or his later French revision).
Eurydice was played by a girl who during the rest of the opera was part of the chorus and also an understudy for Orpheus's part (interestingly enough). Her dress was very pretty. It was all gold and very much in a wedding style, befitting Eurydice having died right after getting married.
The last part, Amor, was played by a girl who is only 16 and was making her operatic debut with this opera. She was really, really good for only being 16. And you could actually understand her a lot better than the other two principals. Maybe it was because she was always toward the back of the stage and I was in the back row (since it was highest and thus provided the best all-stage view) that I heard her the best. I'm not sure. But anyway she was very good.
The other parts (the mourners in Act I, the demons and the blessed spirits in Act II, and the celebrants at Orpheus and Eurydice's reunion at the end of Act III) were played by the chorus, made up of other members of the Palomar Chamber Singers. They were also easier to understand most of the time.
The story was interesting because the ending was a twist on the ending of the original myth of Orpheus & Eurydice. The original myth ends with him losing her to death a second time because he looks back at her when they are escaping Hades, disobeying the gods' command. In Gluck's opera, Orpheus does disobey the command and lose Eurydice again, but the story doesn't end there. In the opera, Orpheus is so grieved at losing Eurydice again that he decides to kill himself so he can be reunited with her. Then, just as he is about to do so, Amor appears to stop him. Amor then tells Orpheus that because of his love and devotion, he will be able to get Eurydice back despite the fact that he disobeyed the gods' decree and looked back at her before it was safe to do so. Amor then brings Eurydice back to life, and the two are reunited and live happily-ever-after.
Somehow this ending makes more sense for an opera or play, since a sad ending is kind of depressing for a play (although many plays do end sadly, like Shakespeare's tragedies and Our Town). And Gluck does enough with the plot to make the new ending possible and not just a cheesy addition.
My printmaking class seems sped up now, probably cause
CONTINUED AT 8:43 PM
Sorry had to go down and eat dinner.
Anyway, my printmaking class is speeding up, probably cause it's near the end of the semester. I assumed we were doing line etchings next, so I brought in an image for that and did an etching of it. I printed some prints of it this morning before class. But everyone else seems to be doing aquatint (a different technique) right now so I'm confused. At any rate, the teacher said today (as did a fellow student) that the lines needed to be deeper, which means they need more time in the nitric acid bath. The teacher told me today though to at least put asphaltum on it and put it under the heat lamp, which I did, using my personal mix of asphaltum (well, the asphaltum's not mine, but I brought in my own jar for mixing it and thus ended up with my own mix). I did so, although I wasn't able to do anything with it cause I had to leave early to get to the opera, when the teacher was still giving a lecture on matting our prints.
The problem is the class is not very structured so it's difficult to keep up with what we're supposed to be doing at any given time, especially now that everyone seems to be doing something different.
Finals time is coming pretty close, so I am already trying to plan my collection of prints for the final. I have a pretty good breadth of work now, so there's quite a bit to choose from. I have to submit a minimum of 5 prints. I will probably submit one of each of my two blockprints, one copy of my Plexiglass etching, one copy of my metal etching (candle), and one of my line etching -- out of what I have so far. This will provide a variety of my work.
I volunteered one of my candle etchings to get matted today as an example (since I was the only one with a print on hand -- I had just pulled a bunch of my stuff off the display board per request from Hollis, the T.A. -- so I had a bunch of prints in my folder), so at least I have an example to go with. I will probably just single mat my pieces since it is easier, and also I missed most of the double matting explanation since I had to leave early.
I had to come up with a name on the spot for my etching when he matted it, so I went with the name I already had in my head from a sample sketch of it -- "The Scribe's Table By Moonlight." It's an etching of a taper candle on a table with scrolls and an inkpot next to it, with a window in the background and a moon in the sky outside the window.
I think I have tentative names for the pieces I'm considering for the collection, except for the first blockprint. The second blockprint will simply be called "Yosi" since it is a blockprint of Yosi from PowerMark, or maybe "Yosi (After PowerMark)" if I choose to acknowledge the source of the picture. The Plexiglass etching will probably just be called "Cornelia and Elyon" since that's what it's an etching of (unless I think of something more creative). The candle etching will be called, as aforesaid, "The Scribe's Table By Moonlight." My line etching will probably be called "Fairy of Night," after the original name given to the image I found.
Here is that image, btw (sized down to fit the post):
My etching of it is smaller though -- it's on a metal plate that's about 3 x 5. It's also a mirror image of this cause I traced it onto sketchbook paper using the light box in order to reproduce it in pencil (you need to draw it in pencil in order to be able to transfer the image onto the plate - when you transfer the image, even after getting off any excess paper that stuck to the plate, the image remains cause of the graphite in pencil lead).
Hold on while I take my laundry down.
Ok, I'm back.
I just have to hope and pray that things work out ok.
Speaking of school, I need to get things in order with graduating, etc. I got the order form for my cap and gown. I need to send that in soon. I just talked to Mum and she said there wasn't any point in ordering announcements, so I'm going to just order the basic package with no announcements.
I also submitted my "intent to enroll" tonight for CSUSM and I am now waiting for the fall schedule to be official so I can plan my classes better. They delayed it again, now till the 24th. Grr.
I shall have to plan soon for getting my final transcript ready to send to CSUSM and getting my IGETC certification. I think I have to get immunized too. Gosh I hope I didn't miss that deadline. Found the flyer. It says to contact Health Services 6 months before you plan to transfer. I start in August, which means I should have contacted them a couple months ago. Oops. I better call them tomorrow.
Basically the thing with immunizations is that the state school systems require them. They are immunizations for tetanus, MMR (probably Measles-Mumps-Rubella), hepatitis B, and tuberculosis (TB).
Anyway, moving on...
MuggleCast pulled another bad April Fools' Day joke. The worst part about it was, I actually fell for it this time, unlike last year where I knew for sure that it was a joke. (See this post about that, as well as this post, giving my reaction to them finally confessing it was a joke).
Anyway, the joke was about them diversifying the podcast to cover more fantasy fandoms. The show was going to be devoted not just to Harry Potter, but also to Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and a new series called Twilight that is about a girl who falls in love with a vampire. But I guess it isn't true. I was sad to hear this, as I had interest in trying to make a podcast that discussed multiple fantasy fandoms, but hadn't succeeded in figuring out how it would work. Their new show, had it actually happened, would've helped me figure out how to do such a podcast.
They do talk quite a bit about Twilight on both MuggleCast and now PotterCast too; I am kind of tired of that talk because I don't intend on reading Twilight. I'm not into vampire stories, especially after the scare I had reading that vampire-related book series that Que started lending me that I had a nightmare about.
Next little bit...I know this is more than a week too late, but I'll say it anyway: Michael Johns is gone from American Idol. *sigh* Oh well. I did like him and I am sad to see him leave. Kristy Lee Cook (the contestant ousted this week) I didn't care about as much. I always said she looks like some girl from the Baby-Sitters Club. Although looking at pictures now, I realized she doesn't look like Kristy Thomas, like I kept saying. Maybe like Larissa Oleynik (Dawn from the BSC movie), particularly how she looks in 10 Things I Hate About You. Anyway, the big shock with Michael Johns was that he was eliminated during Idol Gives Back week, whereas last year -- when they started Idol Gives Back -- there was no elimination that week.
I was reading something recently that said that the amount of viewers American Idol gets has dropped by more than a million since Sanjaya left. This sounds strange to me -- did he really bring in so many viewers that his absence would have that much of an impact? If so, why?
Mum was wondering what had happened to Melinda Doolittle, the third place finalist from season 6. It turns out she is currently recording an album, due to come out "in June or sooner," and she's going to be joining Michael W. Smith and The Katinas on a Christmas tour. She's also going to be on Smitty's (as Michael W. Smith is often nicknamed) Caribbean cruise tour this summer, according to Smitty's official website.
I have found out that a girl I'm friends with from riding the bus, Chrissy, is a Latter-Day Saint, or Mormon. She is not real Bible-thumper though (or whatever the Mormon equivalent of that is), despite the Mormons' focus on missions. She does carry around a book of what she calls "Scriptures," which contains the Christian Bible and the three Mormon "holy books" (the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price), all in one small volume (known as the "compact version," according to Chrissy). She has this when I see her on my school days, because she goes to "Institute" (the Institute of Religion) on those days, a class/club she goes to to study the kind of stuff that at our age as a Mormon you are supposed to study. There is an actual Institute building in our local area, but to better serve local university students (the age group targeted by the "Institute of Religion" concept), an on-campus group for this purpose has been formed at CSUSM, where Chrissy currently goes to school.
I have tried to be respectful of Chrissy's beliefs, though they differ a good deal from mine. Sometimes it's best not to really say anything to a person about their beliefs, because it can just escalate into something ugly, or feel awkward. Like with Ron (the FAST bus driver) and his beliefs that the end times are happening right now. He cites Scripture to attempt to back up his claims (mainly citing Daniel, not Revelation) but doesn't convince me at all. Mum said, when I told her Chrissy was Mormon, and how I'd responded to it, that it was good to be respectful of Chrissy's beliefs, and that if I was respectful about them then maybe she'd grow to be respectful of my Christian views.
Speaking of which, I brought up (carefully) on Tuesday to Chrissy the fact that I had been watching CNN during lunch (the only channel they play in our school cafeteria) and that they were reporting on what had happened with the ranch in Texas. For those not aware of what I'm talking about, there is a recent news story about a girl who called an abuse hotline to report being abused, and they tracked her down to this ranch in Texas where a group of fundamentalist Mormons are practicing polygamy, despite the fact that the non-Fundamental LDS no longer practice it, and that, by federal law, polygamy is illegal. I asked her what she thought about that, coming from where she does. Her only response was that there were a lot of difference between those sorts of Mormons and her sort of Mormons. I left it at that.
I just went downstairs to check my laundry and the baseball game (Rockies vs. our home team, the Padres) is now in its 14th inning, and supposedly still 0-0. Dang.
Ugh, my nose is so runny. I hope I'm not getting sick.
My friend Tammy, who I hadn't gotten an e-mail from in months, sent me (and the rest of her address book) an e-mail with a link to a YouTube video of an elephant painting a self-portrait. It was kind of cool, but the video itself was kind of boring, since very little went on for a while. Watch it yourself and see if you agree: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He7Ge7Sogrk.
Speaking of YouTube videos, I found out recently that the Potter Puppet Pals video "The Mysterious Ticking Noise" won the 2007 YouTube Video Awards. Good for them! I find that video very hilarious. Snape, Snape, Severus Snape...Dumbledore! Gotta love it. I just posted it on my Facebook profile, and here it is too for your enjoyment.
Anyway, can't think of anything else to say, and I'm tired.
I'll end the PotterCast/Potterwatch way:
Keep twiddling those dials! The next password will be "Orpheus." Keep each other safe. Keep faith. Good night!
I am about fed up with my job. I have worked almost every day this week straight through, without any breaks, fighting hunger, thirst, tiredness, and the urge to um, relieve myself, and I have still had to stay late every single day I've worked, except today where while I had to stay later than I was scheduled, I was asked to do so by Tori, and it was not the result of not finishing my work on schedule. The only days this week that I have worked and taken a break were Monday and today. I almost could have taken a break yesterday, but when I got to the point where I considered taking a break, I was by myself and was going to be alone until 5:00 when I got off. Therefore, I couldn't leave.
I am uncertain as to the reason for this. I have three guesses, all of which place the blame on a different person (or persons). One reason could be that I am not going fast enough with my work -- and I am capable of speeding myself up if needed -- and in that case the blame would fall on me. Another possible reason is that there are a lot of customers I end up having to help, delaying the completion of my work -- in which case one could say it was the customers' fault, or (to be more fair) the fault of an outside force. And a third reason could be that Tori is simply giving me too much work for a 5-hour shift -- in which case it's her fault.
The third one was debunked by Jennifer (our assistant store manager) today when I went to the office for an obligatory talk given to all of us bakery people about how we can run our department better. She said Tori wasn't giving us more work than we can complete. Although this may just be Jennifer's view of it. The others are valid. Sometimes I do have a lot of customers. And I can't help it if I'm alone and have to help them. On the other hand, I agree that sometimes I am kind of slow in my work. This is usually either cause of fatigue or because of being too thorough or distracted. For instance, it took me almost all of 5 1/2 hours to package, price, and tape two racks of La Brea bread, bag 8 boules of sourdough bread, and some strudel bites. Not too good.
Oh well. I suppose I could find another job, especially since I am thinking I would like to be part-time when I start at Cal State since there are a lot of classes to take -- 21 units just for core major stuff -- and I'd like to get my degree done as soon as possible. My dad said maybe I can get a job at Outreach (the place Andrew used to work at).
I rented a movie version of the book The Little Prince, which I bought and really liked when I read it, from iTunes. I watched it the other day. This version was a musical. I was really saddened by the end where the prince dies -- I didn't remember that from the book.
I also finally watched the first episode of the sci-fi show Firefly, which I had downloaded a while ago. It was pretty good. Long for a TV ep (1 1/2 hours) but good. I may watch more, but not for a bit. I was mad at the Captain for telling Simon Kaylee was dead when she wasn't. But overall I didn't get too emotionally into it.
I finally decided to start reading xxxHolic, a manga series which crosses over with Tsubasa: ReserVOIR Chronicle. I got volume 1 and read it. It was pretty good. Slightly scary too, but in the way that ghosts, etc., are scary.
Well not much else to say. It's late, and I got to get up early tomorrow for work. Spasiba e dasvidanya (Thank you and goodbye), as Ann from One Minute Russian would say.
This is a practice for me to replicate for myself a version of the monologues given in Lesson 3-A of the podcast I'm listening to to learn Hebrew.
Here goes.
Shalom. Shmi Misty. Ani studentit. Ani lomedet sifrut. Ani ovedet ch·n·vt m·ch·v·lt.
Translation:
Hello. My name is Misty. I am a student. I study literature. I work in a grocery store.
The words "studentit," "lomedet," and "ovedet" indicate right away that I am female, as they contain suffixes (-it and -et) used when referring to a female.
The dots in the word "ch·n·vt m·ch·v·lt" supposedly would be for vowels that are left out, but I don't know what vowels they would be.
Here's another possibility:
Shalom. Shmi Misty. Ani studentit. Ani lomedet m·n·vt. Ani ovedet ch·n·vt m·ch·v·lt.
Translation: Hello. My name is Misty. I am a student. I am studying art. I work in a grocery store.
I tried to find more vocab to learn, but even on the darn Internet such things as vocab lists for languages are few and far between.
For fun, here's the same two conversations in French (which I know much better).
Bonjour. Je m'appelle Misty. Je suis une étudiante. J'étudie la littérature. Je travaille dans la boulangerie de un épicierie.
Bonjour. Je m'appelle Misty. Je suis une étudiante. J'etudie l'imprimerie ce semestre. Je travaille dans la boulangerie de un épicierie.
I changed this up a little cause I know more French than Hebrew.
Translation:
#1:
Hello. My name is Misty. I am a (female) student. I study literature. I work in the bakery of a grocery shop.
#2:
Hello. My name is Misty. I am a (female) student. I am studying printing this semester. I work in the bakery of a grocery shop.
Notice here: I put (female) before student because I used the word for "student" with its feminine ending. Also by "printing" I mean the printing trade.
That's all. I'm gonna find something for dinner and probably watch Howl's Moving Castle like I intended to do tonight. I've seen it already, but only in Japanese.
Wow haven't written most of this month. Well there hasn't been much to report. I've gone to work and school and then come home and did stuff.
I am now riding the SPRINTER, a light-rail train, to work and school. In both cases, the SPRINTER is only part of my journey, and I have to catch buses before and after. It is a very nice train. It is quiet and smooth, and the seats are pretty comfortable. Plus, it's kind of cool because in the middle of the train there's an accordion-esque thing that allows one part of the train to move so the train can round curves without having to move the whole train. (Some of the San Diego buses have this thing too). Riding the SPRINTER is necessary for me to get to work now that the 320's been axed; it's not necessary to get to and from school using it (there's a bus I could take, I think, from school to the bus station I catch the bus home at) but it's fun anyways. The connection between the 319 (the bus that connects Mira Costa and the nearest SPRINTER station) and the SPRINTER though is very badly timed.
We are now doing etching in my printmaking class (though I'm a little behind and have to still run prints for my 2nd blockprint). I asked the teacher for permission to borrow an etching tool so I could work on my etching at home and catch up. So I did. But I had trouble printing it; the prints came out too light. The teacher said the lines needed to be thicker, so I borrowed an etching tool again with the intention of working on it last week during spring break. I must confess I put it off. The first part of the week, we were in Vegas Sunday and Monday, I was off Tuesday and Thursday, and I worked the rest of the week and was quite tired and stressed. I almost did it last night but ended up doing other things instead. But I finally worked on it tonight, as soon as I got home from work. It is better now.
The etching I am doing is of a page from one of my W.I.T.C.H. comic books that has a picture of Cornelia and Elyon. I was initially afraid it would be too big when the teacher was passing out squares of Plexiglass, but when I laid the Plexiglass on the picture, it fit just fine.
Here is the picture (resized to fit my blog post space):
Etching is at least easier than the blockprints, though when we move on to etching on metal plates it will supposedly be harder. Also, printing etchings is harder than printing blockprints.
I am learning 2 new languages thanks to the Radio Lingua Network's slew of podcasts on iTunes and my trusty iPod Nano: Russian and Hebrew. I have listened to two lessons of each, and am now listening to supplementary lessons from LearnHebrewPod.com (the site for the podcast I'm listening to to learn Hebrew). They are not as hard as I thought; I always figured Russian was pretty hard. I had issues though pronouncing the word for "hello" (Zdrastvuite) but I think I have figured it out.
Last week, we went to Vegas for my uncle's funeral. It was overall an ok trip but pretty boring. We did drive down the Strip on the first night though and saw all the famous hotels. The funeral service the next day was brief (due to Veteran Cemetery regulations) and after it we went and ate at the buffet at the hotel we had stayed at. It was a very good buffet, though I didn't eat much. I wasn't terribly hungry after my first helping (three fried wontons, some steamed rice, a breadstick, and some overly buttered penne, all of which I ate), so I just had dessert after that (a couple cookies, a small brownie-esque thing with M & M's, and a small bowl of ice cream).
This last week and then some has been stressful at work cause supervisors of various sorts have been in almost every day. Not to mention we just got through a holiday week (Easter; not to mention St. Patrick's Day was the same week). I've sampled once in about two weeks. The rest of the time I've been packaging to the point where if I were a less moral girl than I am, I would probably swear the next time I saw a dinner roll. Yesterday, I described myself as being in a "La Brea nightmare" cause I worked with La Brea all day (for FIVE HOURS). The supervisors' constant presence reminds me of the book 1984 (which I've heard of but never read) where it is said that "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU." In our case, it's THE SUPERVISOR IS WATCHING YOU. This stress has been weighing most heavily on our manager Tori, and lots of stress on a woman in her first trimester -- that's right, she's PREGNANT -- is not good. I am once again concerned about her lifting things when she's not supposed to (as I was with Katie).
Well, the news finally became official -- after weeks of rumors and at least one leak -- that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be split into TWO films, un-creatively titled Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I agree with what I've been hearing that using subtitles in the title would be better. This has worked for lots of movies, most recently Pirates of the Caribbean (all three films of which have subtitles in their titles -- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End) and National Treasure (the second movie is called National Treasure: Book of Secrets). The Star Wars prequels also succeeded at this (with the subtitles The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith respectively).
Possible subtitles? It probably depends on how they split the movies. I personally think that after they are captured by the Snatchers and dragged off to Malfoy Manor is a good cliffhanger ending, though after the Silver Doe appears would be logical too since that's about the halfway point of the book. It also is when Ron returns to the group after a long absence, an event which brings resolution and also echoes the end of the Chamber of Secrets movie (where everyone is in the Great Hall and Hermione, who's been Petrified, runs in alive and well and is greeted by Harry and Ron).
So hmm possible subtitles then. Maybe Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: The Battle Begins and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: The Battle Ends. Ok maybe too cheesy. Or maybe Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Soul Searching and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Sole Enemy. The "soul searching" being the search for the Horcruxes; the "sole enemy" being Voldemort. Plus the pun on "soul" and "sole" would be interesting.
On PotterCast, they were saying if they really wanted to do the books justice, they could have split all the movies. That would've been interesting. Order of the Phoenix could've totally been split. I can imagine Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: The Rebellion Begins and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: The Power of Friends. Or something like that.
Well today I was trying to finish my second blockprint. But I had to finish printing off my first blockprint, and ran into a couple snags: one of my papers which was in the water bin got snatched by some unknown person, and I remembered afterward to clean up my ink, and that ate up a bunch of time. I spent the first hour of class in the print lab running the prints and then cleaning the ink off the table using paint thinner and (via a classmate's recommendation) pages torn from a phone book.
I then worked on making the last few needed cuts in my key plate while listening to my iPod. Once I was ready to transfer the image to the other plates, I went and found the teacher and asked him how to do it. He told me, and I brought over to the print lab (where the ink rollers were) my plates, some butcher paper, a rubber thingie, and this flat thing for holding your plate flat so you can register the image for test prints and for getting the image on the initial plate. The process was supposed to be thus: you make a print of the key plate (i.e., the one that was cut). You then take that block out, put in a blank block, and rub the paper to make the image transfer from the paper to the block. Unfortunately, the lines on one block weren't too clear in some places, and one image didn't transfer well at all cause the tape holding down the paper loosened so the paper moved.
I told the teacher that my images didn't transfer well and he was saying something about cutting parts out and some other stuff my brain didn't quite process (must be that darn caffeine-free soda they had at College Hour). Anyway, we went back to the studio and he showed me with some colored pencils a way I could add colors to my otherwise black-and-white print. It involved cutting pieces out of the key plate - the cape, shoes, and the upper part of the outfit - after transferring the image to another plate, from which plate I would cut out everything BUT those parts I cut out of the key plate and then ink those in whatever colors I want. Then I would have a background plate, from which I also have to cut something out if I don't want the colors to blend. It's all so confusing. I'll have to come back to it with a clearer head.
I should mention what it is I'm doing a print of. Determined to do a person this time (after my previous print, a print of the weapons making up the Armor of God from my CYA story), I am doing a print of Yosi from the PowerMark comic series. I can't find a good picture of him, but if you go to powermarkcomics.com and click on "Goodies" and then click on the coloring page for Yosi, you will see the image I am doing a print of.
Speaking of blockprint #1, while it did not turn out perfect in either run (besides the sample one I did with my teacher's T.A., which of course looks better than my attempts), I am ok with it. Since I did a run with a light blue background and a run with a pink background, I am thinking of naming them "CYA Armor of God, Blue Period" and "CYA Armor of God, Rose Period," as a bit of a joke homage to Picasso, who is known for his "blue period" (where he painted a lot of paintings in blue hues) and his "rose period" (where he painted a lot of paintings in oranges and pinks). I suppose I am more satisfied with that print because since I actually drew the drawing from which it comes, I had more control over the look of it.
I am trying out new podcasts as a result of browsing iTunes yesterday in search of new things to listen to. I'm kinda low on money right now, and so podcasts are a good option to go for cause they're all free. During class today I listened to a NPR (National Public Radio) podcast on Books, where they talked during the first part about Hester Prynne as a character (which is what I wanted the episode for, actually, but the rest of it was good too), and to a BBC podcast called World Have Your Say, which explores news issues and lets people worldwide comment on them during the broadcast via phone, e-mail, text message, etc. This particular episode was on Russia and was done just prior to the recent elections there. It was quite interesting.
I better go soon so I am home in time for us to go out to dinner, since it's my brother's birthday. But I just have one more thing to say quickly.
My brother - Andrew - might have to move out soon.
Yeah you read right. You might be wondering why.
Well, it's a thing between my parents and my brother mostly, but they told me about it too, and while I don't plan on probably telling any actual person, I really wanted to work out my thoughts about it.
Basically, the issue is this: apparently my brother has been going out drinking and smoking marijuana with his friends. And our parents know about it, and they aren't happy (now granted, they themselves drink some alcohol now and then, but very moderately, and my mom occasionally smokes cigars, but not addictively). And they have told him to stop but he refuses. And so if he doesn't stop, he's going to have to move out by April 15.
If he does, I suppose it will be just as well, but still, he is my brother, and we have just in the last few years really started getting along. It will be weird if he leaves, especially if he moves out before me (since I'm the older one).
My first thought after hearing this had to do with my Aunt Jane (probably because my dad had just told me the confirmed date for my uncle's funeral earlier that day). She left my grandparents' house under similar circumstances - not drugs or anything - but basically moving out after having a fight with them. My mom also moved out at 17 because of issues at home. Is history repeating itself?
All of this too makes me wonder if I will ever move out. It doesn't look promising right now.
One last tidbit: My Mum did my taxes before I did the FAFSA, and it looks like I am going to get over $300 back as a tax refund. I have never gotten very much back from taxes, and always the refund came from the federal side (I always owed money to the state). So this is surprising.
I want to use the money for driving school, even though that would take up most if not all the money in one fell swoop. But I do want to get my license soon, even if I can't afford a car for a bit, just cause by this age, I am starting to feel really embarassed about not having a license.
Work the last few days has been a royal, stinking stress-fest. I know the wording of that is weird but I have no clue how else to say it. Usually, I am pretty good at maintaining my cool under stress and pressure, but when the stress level gets to a certain point, even something small can put me in a bad mood. On such days, I tend to get upset with really stupid things and take out my frustration on totally innocent people. Not only is this a very bad Christian example, but I feel awful afterwards for being such a pain in the...um, posterior (I cannot believe I actually considered putting the a-word there...bad girl). Also, when I get worked up, I totally destroy people's illusions that I am calm and can deal with anything that comes my way. I look weak and vulnerable, and sometimes I even end up in tears AT WORK --and, I'm sorry, that is just plain embarrassing as I see it. You don't cry at work. You can't. Especially if it's over something totally stupid. It's just not professional.
To anyone who might actually read this blog (I know I write very candidly and privately as if no one reads this, but I do know that more people than just me use Blogger and the Internet in general), you are probably thinking, "C'mon. You're only human." Yeah I do know I am only human. But I also want to look professional at work, and I want the managers to think well of me--but I don't think I do very well at that in situations like this.
Situations like this make me question my faith. If I'm supposedly growing as a Christian -- as I should have by now, after FOURTEEN YEARS as a believer -- why have I not learned to call on God to help me act the right way in situations like this? I know I do not do so consciously at work, except in some rare situations.
And why did I not turn to God for comfort on my way home? All I did on the bus ride home was first, sit and brood and sigh. Then, I turned on my iPod and listened to music, mainly Hilary Duff, and I felt like maybe my spirits were lifting as I sang along to "Someone's Watching Over Me" and "Jericho" while at the bus station waiting for the bus to school to buy my March bus pass. Then, I turned off the iPod and indulged in some Pokemon Pearl. My spirits lightened a bit when I won my second contest in a row. And the view of the slowly disappearing sunset over the horizon line of the view from where I catch the bus home from school was so pretty I just sat and stared at it. Then I indulged in more Pearl. After getting dinner at Arby's once I missed the 6:30 FAST, I turned on Mugglecast and listened to it.
The only time I remember thinking of God was when I was watching the sunset.
I have said it before, I am probably too hard on myself in regards to how I live my life -- spiritually and otherwise. I have this expectation of what I should be, and I get frustrated that I can't meet it. Subconsciously, or maybe consciously, I know that I'm just driving myself insane with this perfectionistic way of living. But I just can't stop. It's a pattern I have gotten myself into that I have no clue how to get out of. I'm not even sure if I asked God to help me get out of it if it would be possible, as blasphemous as that sounds.
I have difficulty trusting people -- it's gotten worse since Kyle, I think, but I think it was a problem even before then. Especially since my teenage years it has been difficult to trust God. The double whammy of my grandmother's death my freshman year of high school and the thing with Kyle my sophomore year really impacted me spiritually. Then junior year was tough academically speaking; I got a rather low score on my SAT due to being behind in math (due to a scheduling error my sophomore year), among other things. Then, in my senior year, another double whammy: my other grandmother died AND my best friend got pregnant out of wedlock.
College hasn't been much better; I've had rough spots with my grades, with my GPA dropping below 3.0 for the first time. Then Kyle had the nerve to butt into my life again, unannounced this time. I still had difficulties regarding career and school choices. Plus, I became disillusioned with the one Christian group on campus, just when I probably needed Christian friends most. I got laid off of a job I really liked, did finally find a new job (my current one) but dislike it greatly, and now because of my new job going to church has proven difficult (since I tend to work Sundays) and my experience of church has been reduced to going a few times with my parents to their new church and to listening to sermons from my church on my iPod.
As I was ranting I thought of a part of The Horse and His Boy when Shasta talks about his misfortunes. At one point, he says: "I do think that I must be the most unfortunate boy that ever lived in the whole world. Everything goes right for everyone except me." Then a Large Thing/Person (actually Aslan, but Shasta does not know this) approaches him, and bids Shasta to "Tell me your sorrows."
The following paragraph reads thus:
"Shasta was a little reassured by the breath: so he told how he had never known his real father or mother and had been brought up sternly by the fisherman. And then he told the story of his escape and how they were chased by lions and forced to swim for their lives; and of all their dangers in Tashbaan and about his night among the tombs and how the beasts howled at him out of the desert. And he told about the heat and thirst of their desert journey and how they were almost at their goal when another lion chased them and wounded Aravis. And also, how very long it was since he had had anything to eat."
The response of Aslan to Shasta's tale of woe is interesting:
“I do not call you unfortunate,” said the Large Voice.
"I do not call you unfortunate." Interesting. "Unfortunate," in terms of word history, basically means "not prosperous or happy" (un- meaning "not" or some other negative; "fortunate" coming from a Latin word signifying prosperity and happiness).
I just thought also of how people sometimes quote schmaltzy Bible verses to comfort people in situations like mine. Ones like James 1:2 ("Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face various trials...") and Romans 8:28 ("All things work together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose"). That last one was actually on the list of the "Ten Most Misunderstood Verses" that I heard one of the pastors from my church preach on for a college group talk (which I got off iTunes as a podcast).
One verse that has been in my mind quite a bit lately is 1 Timothy 4:12: "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers, in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity." I think I was thinking of it because I was working the CYA storyline around in my head, and I thought it might be a great theme verse for them. But I suppose it applies to me too, and not just cause I know a cool song of it (which is how I have it memorized - I have this old cassette with some kids' thing on it with songs that are Bible verses also). A commentary I just found says this about the verse: "Because Timothy was young, he was vulnerable to the errors of youth which bring the often justified criticism of those older. To address this, Paul called him to live a life so that was so godly that no one could despise his youth." This makes sense, for he calls him to be an example in several areas: what he says (speech), what he does (life), how he treats others (love), in faith (the commentary previously quoted says this is "in a sense of faithfulness"), and in being pure (purity).
I decided to do a bit of a word study of these words right now, using Studylight.org's Greek lexicon. I used the KJV for the word study so I could use Strong's; the verse as quoted above is from the NIV.
***
The word translated "speech" is the Greek word logos, which is usually said to mean "word" but can mean "a word, uttered by a living voice, embodies a conception or idea," what somebody else has said, discourse, a type of teaching, or the topic of a conversation when referring to speech. It can also refer to reasoning or one's account of something in response to a judgment on something. Since the KJV translates the word as "word" though, the meaning is probably meant to refer to the "speech" sense of the word.
The word used for "life" is the Greek word anastrophe, which means "manner of life, conduct, behaviour, deportment." In other words, how do you behave? Does the talk match the walk, as it were. Interestingly, this word comes from another word -- anastrepho -- which means "to turn upside down, overturn," to sojourn in a place for a time, or to "turn back." It is the metaphorical sense only that gives us the "manner of life" direction.
Not surprisingly, the Greek word used for "love" here is agape. In Ancient Greek, there are three words for love: eros, phileo, and agape. Eros is the term for romantic love -- hence our word "erotic." Phileo is brotherly love -- hence the town of Philadelphia, PA being the "City of Brotherly Love." But agape goes deeper than eros and phileo and is defined as unconditional love. It is the love God is said in the Bible to have for us, and since we are commanded to "love one another as Christ has loved you," agape is for us too. However, being imperfect human beings, it is very difficult for us to show agape love. Yet Paul includes it on this list, so it must be important.
The word used for "faith" is the Greek word pistis, which can mean "conviction of the truth of anything, belief" and also "fidelity, faithfulness." I said before that the commentary viewed this as a "faithfulness" context. This word comes from the Greek word peitho, which means "to persuade" or "to trust."
The word for "purity" is hagneia and means "purity, sinlessness of life." This is confusing cause none of us are sinless.
***
I feel better having vented this here.
In other news, I may leave for school earlier than usual tomorrow to do some print lab work before class so I can focus more of class on my second blockprint, which I think Mr. Richards wants done by Thursday. I hate to get up early on my day off. But maybe I can still get up at 8, leave at 9:30, and just go straight to the print lab when I get to school instead of hanging out in the library or whatever. Actually, that's not a bad idea.
Basically, what I have to do is take one of my good papers out of the water it's in and put it in my blotter to dry, take the two dry papers out of the blotter and run prints on them, clean my plates to prep for my blue-ink prints, cut more paper to run the blue-ink prints, and then soak those papers and put as many of those in the blotter as I can fit (which will probably only be one or two).
The paper soaking only takes like 5 minutes, and you can go off and do something else while they soak (like with dishes...^v^). I don't have to worry about the papers I put in the blotter; they need to dry at least overnight anyway. And running the prints is actually not as time-consuming as it sounds, even with a hand-crank press. You ink your plate (or plates), set the plate on your paper (with newsprint underneath and on top) and then lay the cloth over it that keeps the ink off the press itself, and then crank. If you have a multi-plate image (like me) then you leave the printed image on the paper and just change the plate and then crank the press again.
Ok I am happy again I think. Venting is always useful. And with a blog, you don't have to worry about offending the ventee cause the blog is not a person.
There's not really anything else to say. Good night.
