In the News
So tired and busy and yet so bent on getting to bed at a decent time. All these things do not, as I'm learning, equate to good blogging.

I think I bombed my Japanese quiz today. Ironic because I'm certainly more alert in class this term than I was last term even though it's a hour earlier. I'm actually absorbing what's being said, probably because I don't have that AWFUL HC fiction writing class before it to melt my brain. Erkh. And I'm still on schedule but getting slightly behind what with having an article to write for the magazine and still finishing my sendmeabroad site so I can promote it.

That brings me to the good news. I got a letter today offering me the $500 Opportunities Abroad Scholarship! Not much, but every bit helps! And I'll find out soon about the two $7,000 Freeman scholarships for which I applied. SWEET! I can add THAT to my grand total.

Aside from that I'm still feeling stupidly in debt. I've put about $800 into this camera on top of $250 in books/supplies and $100 in clothing over the last month. Bleh. And then there's taxes. I think I talked my mom into sending me a check for the $450 I farking OWE because they're illegally claiming me a as dependent to save their OWN asses.Thank GOD they're giving me money because that's about ALL I have in my account right now and it NEEDS to go towards starting to pay off the credit card bill I've accrued from all this shit.

What irks me is how it all piles up at once. This summer I'll be rolling in dough and perfectly qualified to purchase a laptop and pay off a camera. But all the things I need to get (new tennis shoes, class supplies, etc) are on sale now. I'm beginning to see how one racks up credit card debt. I guess I just have to make it through another two months of mediocre income before I'll have the bill on this camera paid off. That's really not too bad for the money I'm saving. But I still have to buy TONER for the photo lab printer ($20), get Justin his b-day present ($xxx), and ... I.... WANT to go to the TMBG concert.... but.... that's... another $20. Grar. They should let me in for free since I paid to go to the damn Celebration two years ago just to see them before the farking terrorists ruined it all and TMBG couldn't get here in time to play because there weren't any planes in the sky *pant pant pant*.... well... whatever....

I made my first prints for photojournalism today. If I remember, I'll link up the JPEGs here when I upload them. They aren't photo prints, they're "photograms" done with a flatbed scanner-- transmissive (read: two-sided) scans of objects that I rendered in B&W and inverted to look like the traditional photograms. A photogram is traditionally done by exposing objects arranged on photo paper to light. The light hits the paper and turns it black wherever it isn't blocked, thus causing a variable bleached imprint of the object according to how much light is absorbed. Most people's scans look nothing LIKE photograms. Most people probably didn't understand the assigment and failed to even create aesthetically pleasing images... but that remains to be seen. Despite the ability of the class to fake tech savviness for the first lecture, it's now becoming (and not surprisingly) apparent that most of them still view computers as VERY scary machines. Argh. But I have to say, I'm pleased with my prints and it was fun to mount the one I chose as the final. Reminded me of my days at U-Frame-It when I did mounting, matting and framing all the damn day. And most of the time it was great fun just chilling with the guys, listening to Pink Floyd and talking about their acid trips. Oh, and petting the big, black shop cat. Yeah, that rocked.

Anyway, I still can't express fully how glad I am to have a class that allows for creative expression. And I don't mean lame, forced expression like a mag writing or "short story" class but real visual and mental expression. Should I have gone into multimedia instead? It's infinitely more satisfying.... then again, most of the time I'm anything but inspired.

However, in a remarkable moment of insight today, I figured out what this war in Iraq is really about: KILLING JOURNALISTS!! Not just of the American Media but journalists of every nationality! These so-called "accidents" are becoming highly convenient. One falls off his hotel roof, another has an embolism, one is crushed when his Humvee runs into the back of a tank in a sand storm. We bomb three or more. Oh, and those that we really want to suffer we save from death but ruin their careers beyond recognition. See Peter Arnett. Ha! We sure got him! The US always wins! HOO-AH!

Oh, wow. And I totally just hit 20,000 and didn't even notice it. Man, have I been around here doing this for way too long. >.<