I finally got sucked into the Twilight book... Bella is so parallel to me it's incredible. I finished the book today and might have to start on the 2nd book tonight. It made me think about my current situations, and how my actions will play out for everyone else.


I just ordered a MacBook Pro laptop last night. Macs are so backwards, but much more suited for image and design files, and they are mechanically much more durable. I also caved and bought an iPod Nano - you can even get it engraved for free!! Also found that I get student discounts with Apple :) So merry xmas / happy birthday to me.


I'm not at all prepared for this coming week, but I suppose I brought it all on myself. I deserve every bit of it, at least I know that. I have 2 weeks of school left, then I get to have an early xmas with my brother and his family in Michigan. Joey always makes me light up; kids are so innocent and precious it almost makes you forget about anything else but love.


"Little by little,
You have to give it all in all your life."
-Oasis

The last 4 months have been filled with horrible things, and the culmination of it all is almost unbearable. But "this too, shall pass"... hopefully soon. At least it is finally snowing: cheers me up just enough.



"No reason nor rhyme,
Just the scars that remain
Of all of these things.
I'm so much afraid--
Scared out of my mind
By the demons I've made."
-Jars of Clay

looking for redemption...

I registered for View Camera Techniques... that class will be quite interesting. My current photo class is going really well, I'm almost done with my semester project already, and I got 100% on my final exam!

Work is... going. I'm so busy all the time, but it seems I really do prioritize well. Things are getting interesting again. Interesting and horribly dramatic.

I know most of what I'm getting for xmas and my birthday, I can't wait! I won't get xmas off, but hopefully I can get some other days off to go spend it with my nephew. It's so crazy that he's walking already!!!



"You can stop 'caring' as you call it,
And I'll be fine right here.

You see that I can play a pretty convincing role
So I don't need you,
I don't think I need you..."
-Jars of Clay

wonderwall

I finally got my dSLR camera in the mail, but am waiting for the macro lens. I do have the telephoto lens, but I don't want to haul that around when I first play with the camera. The camera is quite intimidating, since it's a "professional" camera and much bigger than a normal SLR body. Still need a tripod and the macro lens, and then I will have so much fun :)


I know it's crazy, but I'm getting up at 5:30am tomorrow to get out to Saukville just after sunrise to take pictures of trees for my semester project. I also have to collect a bunch of leaves, if I can find any, so I can photograph them in the studio. I got my studio still-life slides back, they turned out amazing! Still have to take 1 more roll, of my bridesmaid dress & shoes, and then 2 rolls of Studio portraits of a girl from class. Then I'm all caught up. I really think I may change my degree to photography... think I'll take View Camera Techniques next semester and that should seal the deal, or not. I feel like I'm finally pretty good at something.


"All of the stars have faded away;
Just try not to worry--
You'll see them someday."
-Oasis

I'm losing my tenacity... too much stuff is pent up in my head. I guess I'm not as resilient as I used to be. :(


I can barely keep it together some days; it's the culmination of it all. As always, I wait for a turnaround, but it's never close enough. God knows I need (and deserve) a little peace here and there. Can you find it for me please?


Tonight I realized I've put my faith in the one person that keeps letting me down (story of my life). Stop pretending you give a shit about me... I'm over it dude.



I was excited to actually go out for Halloween this year, but it seems no one wants me to come to their parties, and I don't know of anyone going to the bars. But it's okay, because after the last 2 days, I'm no longer in a party / people mood. I think I need a retreat by myself, somewhere peaceful in the heart of nature. I would love to go camping by myself somewhere like Elroy-Sparta, and just do my own thing. Especially since it seems I have no one left to depend on. Hope the rest of you get to enjoy Halloween...

sans swine

After being horribly sick (no Mal, it was NOT the swine flu!) for a few days (3 1/2 months, really), I FINALLY feel good. I missed school and work, and slept the entire day Wednesday. I came to work Thursday with a fever, chills/sweats, and still really shaky, and since Eli left I had to stay by myself which was bad. But I made it home and crashed until 2pm today and am good as new. :)


I found a great apartment I'm going to check out next week. I really really want this one, but it's still a distance from work. It's my compromise though for a great big awesome place. I just spent a ton of money this month though - I should probably stop that huh? All I need is a coffee table for my apartment, so at least I won't be spending anything once I move. I really can't wait.


It seems my life is finally calming down once again, but I know very soon it's about to blow upside down, and I just hope that I can handle what I know is coming. I swear everytime I try to get ahead or just get content in my life, something big pushes me back or pushes me down. And I never let anyone help me after that, so it takes me forever to get back to where I even started. I swear I don't know what I'm doing wrong in life, or who I pissed off so badly, because even I shouldn't have karma this bad. Right?

My laptop apparently has a bad hard drive. I restored it successfully, but I keep getting the error message every 15 minutes that my hard disk is bad. Thanks a lot DELL. I just bought a super expensive digital SLR camera last week: I got the telephoto lens, case, cable switch, and battery pack already. Now I'm just waiting for the actual camera and normal focal length lens. It's an incredible camera, and well worth the money. 21.1 megapixels baby!!! I can't wait to take pictures with it :)

We had to do some studio photography this week, I thought I'd hate it but I loved it. I just got my slides back tonight and they turned out so good!!! I have to take another roll of slides in the studio next week, so I'm still thinking of ideas for subject material.

I just sponsored a fruit bat, and the 2 baby tiger cubs at the Milwaukee zoo... what have you done today?? I also found some more apartments I'm hoping to look at next week. *fingers crossed*


This is the first weekend I've had off, and I truly enjoyed it. I still had some homework to work on, and had to label all the slide mounts of my studio photographs. But I've watched a bunch of episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and started a movie. And now I have a weird urge to bake some bread, mmmm There is always next weekend.

I got my Halloween costume all complete, do you? I can't wait!

sleepless in Wisconsin

Tuesday I got 2 hours of sleep, then went nonstop Wednesday between school and work from 8am till 3am. Wednesday night I got about 4 hours, so Thursday I was just horribly ditzy. I couldn't fall asleep till 5:30am Thurs night and was up at 10am Friday, and was doing errands and cleaning all day.

After 4 hrs of sleep last night, I was up at 9:30 taking Graphic & Abstract images straight until 6pm, when I finally stopped for hot chocolate. I got rained on 3 different times, almost blown over on my skateboard, then snowed on, AND sunburnt today! I managed to take 84 photos today - there was so much set up work with props and such. I have to take the last 8 pictures tomorrow I guess. I just hope they turned out okay!


Our next assignment is Studio Photography! I'm excited but extremely nervous. We get to pick whatever we want to bring for subject material and set up the lights however we want, so it's truly original creativity. I have a few ideas, but nothing exquisite or unique. I have to have all my props figured out and my pre-production photo list completed by Wednesday, and study for our test, and label all 109 slide mounts from the photos I'm taking now, and fill out 3 photo logs detailing the pictures I took...

I went to the doctor this morning, so my pain is much better already. I took a 3-hr nap today, I didn't realize how much I needed it until I woke up.

I wish that I could help a certain someone - take away his pain. I'm terribly worried about him. He's going through more than anyone should at this age, but I guess I'm in that same position too. Which is probably why we're so good for each other. Or are we?

Here's my "theme" song, one of probably 5 that I have. She's one of my favorite artists, and she's sort of my Amerian Idol. I wish I had her style, looks, voice, charisma, energy, and perseverance. Enjoy.

updations

I'm in lots of pain, literally and figuratively. Hopefully going to the doctor tomorrow because this is pretty bad...

I got my Halloween costume today! I can't wait for Halloween this year, it's going to be exciting.

Trying to tour some apartments this week, I just wish I had more time to find a place.

School is going great. I can already see a vast improvement in my photos, and the current assignment is very challenging, but also the kind that makes you find your own creative eye / style. So I'm looking forward to finding my very own creativeness.

Almost fell asleep at 9pm and now I'm wide awake again. Insomnia is almost like a part-time job LOL

wake me up when September ends...

October is going to be a good month, or at least it better be. I'm hopefully moving then, and for the 2nd time in 10 years - dressing up and going out for Halloween! I think I finally decided on a costume.

I have a new-found love of hiking. I take 74 photographs for class each week, so I try and go to different places. State parks are the best, or just walking all over downtown. Today I went to Lapham Peak State Park and hiked on the Ice Age trail, it was so pretty and it's great for soul-searching when you're by yourself with an mp3 player.



"I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do about you now..."
-Oasis, "Wonderwall"

undulations

I'm doing really well in my PHOTO class, my professor loves my pictures. Which is impressive, because I've never taken a photo that wasn't completely auto-everything, and never knew how to take a "good" picture. It's a really good class.

My good friend, her husband, and daughter are coming tomorrow (today) to visit MKE for the weekend, I can't wait! I'm taking them to the zoo, the children's museum, and probably discovery world and around the lakefront.

The guy I like and I have both had a really rough month so far, but at least it's brought us closer. I just hate to see him so sad and defeated, knowing I can't save him from all this pain.



"It's time to forget about the past
To wash away what happened last..."
-30 Seconds to Mars

"Too much of the same stories in our lives;
I think it's time for a change, don't you?"
-Trapt, "Stories"

to every season, turn turn turn

Things are starting to get quite interesting, but I promised myself I wouldn't get too optimistic yet.

I am happy in the allusion of things to come, and that is good enough for now. Especially after such awful weeks, and since Septembers haunt me. I need to break this cycle of bad karma that has followed me, and make a clean break toward happiness. Things could go back to how they've always been, but there is a sliver of evidence that things are finally beginning to turn...

"Can't believe that I feel
Good enough,
I feel good enough.
It's been such a long time coming,
But I feel good.

And I'm still waiting for the rain to fall;
Pour real life down on me.
'Cause I can't hold onto anything
This good enough..."
-Evanescence

Little by little

When you can't hold in your tears anymore, and the apathy starts to wear off - watch Legends of the Fall. It will make you cry it all out, and you won't really feel better after, but it's still quite the dispensation.

It's one of my favorite movies, but it's a downer movie. After my talks with Ryan about life and such, I needed to watch it. Now I'm in a depressing funk, but at least I finally got it all out of my system. The relief of it all will come tomorrow.


Today I walked all over the Botanical Gardens and then Whitnall Park itself. And then I walked 55 blocks around downtown! All for my Photography class. What an adventure that was after walking from 2nd St. up to 24th St., and then realizing I had to walk alllllll the way back. But I just kept going around after that. It's made me realize how much I miss being active; I miss playing sports, dancing, canoeing, riding my bike, rollerblading, and stress running. I think I'm going to start some of those again. I really want to go back on the Elroy-Sparta bike trail in the next year anyway, and haven't ridden my bike in 13 years, so I should probably start with that. We'll see how that goes...

feeling loved, for once in my life

Today I hung out with the one person who understands me better than I understand myself. It's been so long since we've been able to hang out, and it's been a bad few weeks, so this was really good.

Ryan loves me for who I am, not who I try to be around others. He laughs at my blonde moments and doesn't make me feel stupid afterward. He knows my good qualities, and tries to bring them out more often, and he tries to help me work on my other ones. He knows what my pet peeves are, and respects them well enough, yet is constantly pushing boundaries with me to help us both grow.

And he's still so sweet to me after all these years, that I wonder what I ever did to deserve it. Tonight he brought up (I can't believe he remembers this) our pact to get married at 30 if we're still single... it's funny because I always imagined we'd end up together, and days like today make me believe we will. But no matter what, he is my best friend and I love that boy to death.