spring 2010 grades

YES YES YES!!!



















I was really worried that I would get below a 93% on the arth final; if I got below, then I would have gotten an A- or lower. I'm proud of myself, I have to say! All those long, long hours in the library and money spent at the printshop making/printing/writing/studying notecards or the books. I think this calls for a little treat! A shopping treat ;D


Really relieved.


Freaking rep drawing!!! I guess I shouldn't have forgotten to do that one stupid shoelace drawing :( If I had done it, I probably would have gotten an A. Sigh. Killed my chances for getting on the President's List (for like, getting a 4.0 for two consecutive semesters). -__-


DsGD83 - Barabar, when will you post up the grades? :( I'm a little worried that I'll get a B+/A- because my animation didn't work in my PowerPoint.


Nutrition - yay! I didn't study as hard for Nutrition as I did for arth, so I was worried that I was underestimating the test. No matter.


All in all, I guess I'm proud of my effort in this semester. I'm grateful for Franny (for taking notes for me in arth when i fell asleep hehehehe... and telling me the assignments if i missed dsgd83) and the fact that I only had four classes.



Next semester... aiming for a 4.0 in five classes (four studio classes, one GE). I'll try my best!!!!

fall 09 grades

chyeah!! <3

12 units last semester was a breeze!

thanks to my photo and meteorology buddies for helping me out :D

where's the integrity?

Tiring, exhausting day! I've already finished dinner and it's only 6pm. Today had its high and low points... especially low points.

I'd stayed up to 4am editing my photos and whatnot. Today was my printing slot and I was the very first one in the class to print, and surprisingly my pictures turned out pretty well. Even my "tough love" photo teacher told me my prints looked great. I'm pleased. I wasn't pleased at 4am though... I'd tried to move all 110+ photos (even the edited ones) to a CD because that was part of the assignment. Moving everything took about 15+ minutes. However... as soon as it finished, Windows announced that there was an error with the pictures. My heart sank. I looked at the folder on my computer, and it was completely empty because I'd just moved all the pictures in it to the CD. I clicked on the CD... it was completely empty because of the error. I freaking panicked for a minute, but luckily I'd made backups. THANK GOODNESS. I still lost a substantial amount of photos (about 30 or 40), but I have most of them still. I'd kept my five edited pictures open in Photoshop, so they weren't lost. THANK GOODNESS!!!! Those were the ones I was most worried about.

For 2D, we had to expand a square. I totally started this at 11pm and finished at 12:30am. :) My first one was pretty nasty, so I started over and did another one. Much better! It got a pretty positive reception during critique today, so I'm happy.

But... while we were painting squares for the value scale, I got a text from Francis. He said that he'd checked on my bike (I'd left it on campus, locked next to Dudley Moorhead) and the seat was gone... and did I have it? Dismay hit me... shootles. I'd had too much faith in the integrity of mankind and assumed that no one would touch my bike. I mean, if I hadn't had my bike locked, of course I would expect it to be stolen. However, I wouldn't expect someone to like, steal the seat of my bike... Too much faith.

While I'm on the topic of integrity, I'd like to talk about something that disturbed me this weekend. Someone I know picked up and kept two items that weren't his, because supposedly they had been "left behind." When his motives were questioned on two separate occasions, he answered 1) "Because someone took my birds, so I'm taking this tube in retribution" and 2) "Because I've always wanted a bag like this." Personally, I was more than a little disgusted. Why?

1) You don't know who took your tube, yet you chose to punish someone (who is most likely innocent) by taking his half-full tube. Furthermore, you stated that your tube only had one bird in it. Why is that grounds for taking someone else's tube? What if someone stole a half-tube of birds from you?

2) You picked up someone else's bag and kept it for yourself? I don't exactly know the situation behind this, so I don't know if you found the bag empty or not. I don't know where you found it--it could have been in the trashcan or on the floor next to someone's badminton bag. I'm thinking that most likely someone accidentally left it behind. Instead of trying to find the owner or giving it to the tournament director for lost and found purposes, you kept it to satiate your own desires.

3) I would just like to rant about one more thing. I'm really cranky from lack of sleep right now, so maybe that's why I'm so rant-y today. Anyway, I digress.

You need to CHILL. If I am giving you a freaking ride, speeding and driving dangerously in order to get YOU somewhere in time for YOUR benefit, I do not need to hear you cursing and complaining in the backseat while I: a) slow for red lights, b) accidentally take a wrong turn, c) want to pull over to check the gps, d) brake to avoid a collision. I am NOT your chauffeur, nor are you even paying me. I am doing you a freaking favor. If you don't like the ride (and you don't appreciate that I'm doing you a favor), then you can get out because I will NOT be driving you anymore. Furthermore, and probably most importantly. I will NOT listen to you when I am in the furthest left-turning lane and you're telling me to go straight. Are you crazy? If you want to drive recklessly, drive your own freaking self. Don't try to tell me to do something illegal, stupid, and dangerously reckless just to get your butt warmed up for a better chance of winning your games. That is just so incredibly selfish.

I really doubt you will read this and I am honestly not too sure if I want you to read this because you'll probably get all butt-hurt, but I want you to realize how idiotic you were.

Anyway, enough of that. But on a similar topic... badminton. Badminton warms my heart :) The tournament on Saturday was so incredibly fun. Trevor and I got to D mixed semifinals and C mixed quarters. Unfortunately he had sprained his ankle and I couldn't really cover him haha. I made him bring his sleeping bag because I wanted to use it, but I was actually very wide awake during the tourney :( sorrrry! Truman and I just used it to sit on to watch games. haha.

Jenny and I unexpectedly played C women's doubles, and got 2nd. Not much of a victory because a lot of girls dropped out of C's out of sheer exhaustion, but still! It was pretty awesome. I think when I get really warmed up, I can jump smash a bit. I've always wanted to jump smash :D I just don't think I'm getting the form right, haha. Oh well. As long as the smash is angled and fast, I'm happy.

On Friday, we're completing more challenges for the SJSU club. Leo and I have some more mixed matches to go because it's double elimination. Eva and I are #2 for doubles, and I hope Leo and I can get #2 or #3 for mixed! This Saturday is a dual-meet against Berkeley, and I know they're going to be tough... oh well. More experience!

Anyway... on a negative note. My mom told me that my dad got laid off today, and I was really shocked. I just hadn't been expecting it. We'll be okay for a while because of savings and whatnot, but I don't want to drag us down with unnecessary expenses. I'll manage my finances better and try to cut down on expenses, I guess. Oh, I must find a job!

self-portraits, upcoming week

I'm having an amazing week :) The best things are unexpected.

Tuesday is a furlough day, so I'll probably use that day photoshooting for my self-portrait. I already took some ridiculous ones...haha. Well, we have to take 100+ pictures and choose the best three, so i think I want to use three concepts.

I was going to go with something like this, but after some more thought, I want something thought-provoking and serious. Not something this simple/fun... I guess I want something surreal? Or emotionally charged? I'll think of something. Besides, they aren't even really in focus... too bad :P

Tuesday - furlough day! Study/photoshoot/clothes-altering day.

Wednesday - Have homework for 2D Concepts done? Shootles... what's the homework..? I have to go and check. Oh, and have concepts for my self portrait.

Thursday - Meteorology midterm! Must study. Turn in onion sketch, and sketch something else. I love drawing class! It's so chill.

Friday - SJSU badmin club! More challenges, especially in mixed. I don't know if there are any more girls doubles besides us and another pair.

Saturday - Santa Teresa tourney! I'm really looking forward to this.

Sunday - Finish 2D concepts assignment #2, and do the assigned reading. Oh, and have self-portraits ready for printing! My printing slot is 12:30-1 on Monday.

So far that's all I have planned.

Art Classes

Art classes are fun :)

Art12 (2D concepts): a pretty boring/easy class. This is like the next step up from Art01. Too bad I have to take this, but good thing I have the same professor from Art14 so her teaching style isn't anything new. I know how to suck up :) haha jk. But I'm glad to know what ticks her off and what I should do (participate in critiques, save all of my work, have really good craftsmanship) to guarantee an A in the class.

Art24 (beginning drawing): A little boring right now, but it's only the second week. We're moving on to charcoal drawing next class! We sketched huge bones today and put our work up on the critique board. Someone's work had her bone sketch and a sketch of someone's back. Then I realized that the subject was me, because of the long hair (in her sketch, a thick strand of hair was hanging down the subject's back, and the rest of her hair was over her shoulders. I pulled my hair back and sure enough, there was a single strand of hair hanging down my back), dress pattern, and angle (she was sitting right behind me). Super cool!!

Photo40 (beginning photo): I have all these visualizations of cool shots in my head, but due to my camera noobness, I can't find a way to transfer my visualizations onto the photo. :( But that's why I'm taking this class, yeah?

Unfortunately I'm only taking 12 units this semester :( I wanted to take 18 or at least 16, but I couldn't get into two waitlisted classes. Sucks... SJSU is going down the drain!!

Humbled.

I didn't have a problem with reading until my summer American History class started. -_- Our textbook is a 600-pg nonfiction book, which retells American history from the bottom up (poor to rich). I mean, it's interesting and all, and I definitely learned more about living in America in the old times than I would have if I'd taken any other history class... but it's a lot to stomach in a month-long class. It's not too bad; we just have to read 150 pages a week. The thing is, we can't just skim the book; we have to totally absorb each and every little detail and nugget of information because anything in the book can be tested.

I have a book report due tomorrow, which isn't too bad. What sucked was having to read The Grapes of Wrath ... all 600+ pages... in one weekend. lol. I mean, I probably should have started earlier, but I was too busy reading my textbook. The book honestly wasn't bad. It definitely left me humbled by the plights of the migrant families in the story. Like, they can't get anything but fried dough to eat, and meat is a luxury to them. It's like, I'm reading this and I'm snacking on yummies at the same time. lol. Reading about their hunger makes me hungry at the same time. -_-

june update

wow guys, I haven't blogged in the LONGEST time. Anyway, I'll make this nice and brief.


What have I been doing for the past month? Well, I had a summer class at SJCC in the afternoon. It was so awesome because for the past year I've been killing myself waking up early in the mornings to go to class (30 mins - 1 hour bus ride sucks) and for Oral Communications, I could wake up at noon!!! Awesome. Of course this totally messed up my nice sleep schedule, but I enjoyed it while it lasted.


I had an awesome professor for this class. She was really nice and fair and just overall very friendly (if you are going to take coms20 at SJCC, get Leslyn McCallum. Her classes fill up very quickly, so you'd have to hurry). I just really loved this class! I know I sound like a nerd but I don't care. I actually enjoyed writing and giving the speeches, and the activities in the class were really fun.

The people in my class were also really cool and interesting--totally not your typical classmates. For example, the guy who sat on my left is currently going through a three-year-long child custody settlement with the mother--a girl who he never even liked. The guy who sat on my right is a reformed gangster. The girl who sat at the table behind me was in drug rehab for a number of years and has been clean for three years. Fun, huh? I love my classmates! :D

For my informative speech topic, I actually gave a speech about perverts on public transit. I loved that speech :P Oddly enough, the inspiration came to me when I had a pervert encounter on the bus the day I had to write the speech.

So, the pervert encounter? Yeah, I was on my way to Walmart from SJCC to pick up some junk. So I'm sitting in the upper division of the bus, near the back. The bus stops to pick up some people, but I'm not paying any attention to them. Then I notice this 40-50 year old Indian dude who has taken a seat diagonally across from me. Normally I wouldn't have paid him any attention, but his entire body was turned around in his seat and facing my direction. My gaze flickers over to him and I see that his gaze is turned in my direction. Well. Okay, whatever. Maybe he's looking out the window. My attention flickers back to the view out the dirty window.


A little bit later, the bus stops to pick up a whole group of people. I'm taking up two seats, so I scoot over to the window seat to make room. Bad move. The Indian guy seizes the opportunity to claim the seat next to me, like he thought I was offering it to him or something. A tall, slightly chubby Asian guy about my age fills his vacated seat.

Hence begins the usual hitting-on proceedings (and this guy was being a LOT more obvious than most), except that unlike most other pervs, he takes up 1.5 seats. I'm scrunched as close to the window as I can get because he's basically invading my space and I don't want my leg to touch his (ew). I'm trying to make it as clear as possible that I'm super disgruntled and uncomfortable so he will go away.

So out of the corner of my eye, I'm aware of the Asian dude looking at us and getting up to move to another seat somewhere behind us--but I'm barely paying any attention to this because I'm so focused on staring resolutely out of the window and wishing for my stop to come. Then when I finally see my stop coming up, I make these not-so-subtle getting-off-the-bus movements (zipping my bag, hoisting it over my shoulder, etc.). Indian dude offers his hand for a handshake. I gingerly clasp his hand (out of politeness) once and let it fall. As I get off the bus, I see the chubby Asian guy sitting right behind the seat where the Indian dude and I were sitting. I don't know exactly why he chose to sit there--I was wondering why he chose another seat--and here are the possible reasons I came up with:

1. He saw the debacle and wanted to view it from a better vantage point. (Sort of like entertainment on TV. Sheesh, I hope not.)

2. He didn't like his seat and wanted the seat behind us. (Maybe, but generally no one takes those side-facing seats unless the whole bus is like packed. I sat in those seats a couple of times and every time I got thrown around whenever the bus jerked to a stop or accelerated quickly).

3. He saw what was happening and positioned himself behind us to intervene if the perv tried something beyond perv-ness and into perverted-ness. (Maybe he was genuinely a good guy! The Asian guy, not the perv dude.)

If it was because of #3, I would like to maybe thank him the next time I see him (which is probably never). Not keeping my hopes up.

Anyway, tons of girls get hit on when taking public transit. I'm glad to think that the majority of people on VTA are nice people, and there are only 1% or so of perverts.

So in my speech, I talked about:

1) Recognizing a perv. Note that VTA pervs are generally of the flirty type and not so much of the really creepy physical perverted types. I'm thinking it's because we're in the Bay Area. Heh. Anyway, most of the pervs I've seen are either in their twenties, or 40-50 years. And totally not to be racist, but they are usually Hispanic. I don't know why. Perv encounters don't just take place on buses and lightrails, but also at bus stops and just walking to bus stops. There's always some sort of association with public transit..lol.


2) Dealing with the perv, should there be a confrontation. Resist giving out personal information, such as phone # (never, never ever). Usually a perv confrontation begins with a request for my name. I find it's hard to lie about this, so I don't think giving your name is a big deal. And I always, always say that I'm taken, even if I'm not. This step particularly will save you a ton of grief. The perv will usually back off at least a little.

Out of all of my female friends, I find that I take public transit the most because I take it everywhere all year. So, I've found it particularly handy to carry around my pepper spray!! I found it for $8 at Walgreens completely by surprise. But honestly, if any girl decides to take public transit, she would be subject to a possible perv encounter. It's just so easy for pervs to pick up girls on public transit, ya know? Being forced to take public transit as I am now, I had to learn to deal with these pervs. They really aren't so bad--they're just being friendly and trying to pick up girls easily. But if they are clearly at least 40-50 years old, their jeans zipper is unzipped (...) and they offer to drive you somewhere... that's when caution should be taken.

Okay, enough about pervs. I got an A in the class! Yay. OH, SPEAKING ABOUT GRADES. I GOT AN A- IN ART HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DUDES, I worked my butt off for this stupid class (which I now, absurdly, love). I was so scared, heehee. Okay, here's an easy list view.


Color Theory: A
3D Concepts: A-
Art History: A- (whooOoOo!!)
Art 01 - pass.
Social Problems - dudes, I still have no idea. The prof is pretty absentminded, so grades are reeeaaally delayed. I have the feeling that I got a B, though. Oh well. Don't care.
Creative Writing - A




And for Fall semester, here are the classes I want to take and have signed up for (two are waitlisted):





I can't wait! Heehee. I'm afraid I might get overwhelmed with three studio classes, but I'm not going to have to worry about Piedmont badminton in the afternoons anymore. Now I'm taking BADMINTON on fridays! And I'll be joining the club. Funnn!




I've really been playing a lot of badminton these days at Smash City and once at Bintang. Like, Diane and I go about 2-3 times a week or so. It's pretty cool because we're both improving. Diane can get fast shots in the front a lot better, and I feel that I can move around a lot more.


I give the credit to Truman because I hecka pushed myself in that mixed game at Bintang with them. I felt so breathless (not tired breathless, but BREATHLESS breathless) and just so beat up after that game. I really felt like I gave it my all. Now I'm applying that same feeling to the games I play now...I hope. I'm thinking girls doubles with Diana or Jenny next semester, and mixed doubles with either Leo or Truman (if he needs a mixed girl).


Truman asked me to play mixed with him for the Berkeley tournament but I'd already said I was going to play with Mikey-poo! Darn. Oh well, I want to play with Mikey! I don't feel stressed out when I play with him. I'm thinking I want to play girls doubles with Meiyi for the tournament too, but I still have to ask her. We haven't played together in forever.





Pictures with Thannie from the little reunion get-together at Cataldi!

I love her! And that shopping day at B&BW was hilarious. This really nasty pumpkin lotion had erupted all over our COOL CITRUS BASIL bottles, which were all the way at the bottom of the big blue buckets. We hecka dug through all the mess to get to the bottles, and then we had to rinse them off at the sink. Haha. So obsessed...

-_- I was GOING to make this short and brief. oh well. I have so much to write about still (1. mini-reunion with ANDREW VO, 2. car insurance, 3. bipolar mom) but I honestly don't want to type any more. I shall resume tomorrow?

classes

GRADES COME OUT IN 10 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


at 8am tomorrow.





I'm hoping for straight A's, but that seems doubtful... so this is what I think my grades might be.





Art 14 (color) - A-, probably. I messed up a bit on the final vocab quiz and I got a B+ on my last project and I didn't do extra credit... but I did participate a lot.





Art 13 (3-d) - OMG I am between B+ and A- in this class. Well, Tracy said that I def. got an A on my last project and I think I did well on my vocab quiz... so maybe an A-? :D





Art 01 - no sweat. it's a pass/no pass class. However I missed the maximum amount of notecards that we can miss in order to pass the class, so if the prof. counted my notecards incorrectly, I'm going to have to retake the class again. Haha. Darn.





Art History - I HOPE I got at least an A-. I got an A on my 5pg paper (95%!!!). He said he gave A's to only a few people, a few A-'s, more B's, and a whole bunch of C's. Thank goodness; I worked my butt off for that paper. I didn't do extremely well on the final, so this is a toss-up...





Creative Writing - I kept missing reading quizzes bc I didn't do the reading, haha. bad... but I did pretty well on the poetry final. For the final, all we have to do is prepare a packet of three poems and our revised self-portraits. I had an interesting topic for the poem I read (we have to stand in front of the class and read one of our poems "with feeling"), but I sure as heck am not going to reveal the topic here. So I will venture... a B+?





Social Problems - B. I don't even care about this class because the professor doesn't care either. Honestly, I couldn't care less if I don't get an A in this class. I didn't try in this class AT ALL. I'll be mad if I get a B or lower in my art classes because I worked my butt off in those classes, but I'll have to admit: For this class, I did squat.














Away from grades for a minute... I was talking to Diane about how a mutual friend's blog is so obviously self-absorbed. Then I realized that personal blogs ARE essentially self-absorbed, because the content is on the person's own life. My blog is definitely self-absorbed; I'm always complaining and/or worried or something. I'm always self-conscious that I'll sound too conceited or MEMEME in my blog, but why fight it, you know? As long as I'm not bragging about myself in every other sentence, right? Or not sounding like I'm using my blog to brag about my accomplishments? Oh well, whatever. Not like people other than close friends are reading my blog :D I shouldn't feel like I'm getting judged.





Anyway, for my fall semester, I chose a tentative schedule:

2-D Concepts, Beginning Drawing, Beginning Photography, Child Development, Weather and Climate. Nice and fun classes :D Exactly 18 units.

I've decided to go for my BFA in Graphic Design (Bachelor of Fine Arts). It's basically more intensive than the BA and I have to take more art classes, thus 5 years instead of the typical 4 years of college. Then, because I'm going to go for five years, the plan requires me to go for at least 12 units a semester instead of the 16 units/sem for four years. I might as well double-minor!! heehee. Or double major!!! But in what? I'm thinking photography/animation/interior design/architecture/communications/creative writing/etc. No more psychology/sociology, because after taking Social Problems, I discovered that I have no interest in sociology. Couldn't care less about the class. Ahhh...thank goodness for GE's.

This summer, I'll be taking two GE classes at SJCC - Oral Communication and American History. Meh. They sound boring, but oh well.

NINE MORE HOURS

ART HISTORY

WOW i had a crazy dream that I almost failed my art history final. It was nighttime, raining, and I was on the bus on my way to PHHS for badminton. I got to school, went into the bathroom, and started to change into my badmin junk. I had on a lot of sweaters (it was cold and rainy, and really hot in the gym) so I kept pulling them off. I realized that I was wearing a tanktop that had my 5-pg paper (for art history) written on it. I was like OMG, WHAT AM I DOING AT BADMINTON!!! I NEED TO TURN THIS IN or i'm going to fail. So I hop back on the bus to go to school, and I arrive at the end of the final. My professor sets up a meeting for people who need to beg to take the make-up final and turn in their papers, and I join the meeting. When he comes to me, I explain that I'd completely forgotten and I really wanted to get an A in the class. After testing me on a few paintings, he lets me proceed to take the test.

Then I wake up and run off to study immediately :(

finished!

MY ART PROJECTS ARE OFFICIALLY DONE

I made a bow+arrow+stand set for my final 3DConcepts project. heh heh. It can actually shoot! I carried it home on the bus today and I got a lot of weird stares+comments. Oh well...

I thought it would be easy to make, but it was kind of frustrating--especially with the magnets and stuff. Speaking about magnets, I attached a whole string of them to my bow stand but they all disappeared. Hmm.

frustrated

being a freak

now, all I have to worry about is art history. Perhaps social problems? nahhh.

grades outlook

Today I went up to my huge locker (it can fit my badminton bag, two bows I'm working on, two huge drawing paper pads, a jacket, a scarf, an umbrella, my lunch, and so much more LOL) on the 2nd floor. As I put away my books, I suddenly hear my art history prof's voice. Turns out his office is right across the hall from my locker. Anyway, I decide to linger outside the office and give him an impromptu visit to ask about my grades. After a girl comes out, I go in and talk to him. So in order to get an A in the class, I have to get at least 90% on both the 5-pg paper and the final exam... gaaaaaaaaah. Luckily I went to all the classes so he'll boost my grade if I get a B+. heheh. Dangit, I foresee a lot of studying.

Speaking of grades... I got my first A+ in Color!

shameless bragging

it was an assignment where we had to use optical mixing, like really small dots of color


It was fun...but wasted a lot of paint.

I need a guy to fix my computer. Spyware+malware+virii all over the place.

nearing the close

Finals are coming up... projects and papers are swarming in like crazy. I've got to put together two portfolios, finish my blog entries for art13 (not bad, these are kind of fun), complete two more art14 projects, one more art13 project, re-do another art13 proj, write two papers for social problems (these will be super easy), and write a 5-pg paper for art history (not so easy...).

I got an A- on my midterm for art history!!!! I'm especially happy because my professor said that if 1) we attend all lectures and 2) score a whole letter grade higher on the 2nd midterm than the 1st midterm, he will decrease the weight of the first midterm from 20% to 10%. Sorry if that was confusing.. but that just means my first midterm (a B-, ugh) will be worth less in my final grade! I totally was not expecting to get 91%... but technically I didn't really, heheh. I actually got 84%, but he curved it for our class to 88%, and THEN he brought up everyone's grades by 3% because he saw that the other classes did so poorly. Thus... 91% :D I guess all that studying really did help. But there's still the final, which is going to be much harder than the midterms... so I will be studying for the full week beforehand again, I guess? I don't think I will get an A overall, but at least I might be able to scrape a B+.

OMG GRRRRRRRRRR I KEEP GETTING A POP UP LIKE EVERY TEN MINUTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It'll pop up RIGHT in the middle of my typing, so I'll miss a whole sentence of typing when that happens. Plus, it really slows down my computer when the stupid ad tries to pop up. WHERE'S MY POP UP BLOCKER

anyway.

I'm going to be playing doubles with Jenny and singles (ugh..........................) in the sjsu-davis meet on May 9th. dangit. I definitely don't mind playing doubles, but SINGLES? Hello incoming bagel...lol. I would play mixed instead of singles, but the positions are already taken and Danny's injured so he doesn't come to the practices. Oh well... more exercise for me, yeah??

my shirt!

a cool cloud

summer 2009

Okay, so I'll most likely be going to SJCC this summer - 98% chance. I looked up the schedule of classes - which is almost pathetically weak compared to Mission College's and De Anza's and SJSU's - but

1) SJSU tuition is much too expensive for the summer ($1000-$2000, I forgot, but it falls in that range)

2) SJCC only requires one bus and about 15 minutes of walking, whereas Mission College = lightrail, transfer to another lightrail, transfer to bus. De Anza = like close to an hour on the bus! heck no.

So, I whipped this up.

I know, I know...these classes are probably going to be super boring. These are all required GE's (I made sure that these articulated with SJSU GE requirements). Might as well get rid of three categories of GE's in one summer, no? I wanted to take Intermed/Advanced badminton at Mission College... but there's no way I'm going to spend an hour on public transit just for badmin class -_- And then I tried to compromise by sticking in Track and Field at SJCC, but that doesn't fit into my schedule (and who wants to run around the track in the blazing summer heat???). So... my summer schedule. I'm going to try to tack on a summer job too, but I have high doubts about that.

Thanh will probably go to Mission College for the summer... but of course there will be plenty of time to meet up at Quickly and have a date! Oh, and maybe throw in some fun activities!

1. Finish up summer classes.
2. Go cherry picking! yay!
3. Bike across Golden Gate Bridge
4. Go to the beach of course! And play some beach volleyball. funfun
5. I was thinking about hiking up Mission Peak. Or something. sounds like fun?


I'll think about more later.

Today I went to Michael's since I had to buy some modeling clay for my project (our clay wouldn't have worked, diane). I was admiring the brushes when I turned around and saw a huge ArtBin. I opened it up and OMG!!!! LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was $28 bucks or something, which in my opinion was a bit pricey for an art toolbox kit thing. But I had a 40% off coupon...

^ So I purchased it!!!!!

^ My stuff put inside it. I LOVE ORGANIZERS OMG. As soon as I got home I yanked the ArtBin open and showed my mom. She loved the triple tiers. As soon as my dad got home I proudly showed it to him as well. -_- He laughed at me.

^ My brushes. The two bottom ones were purchased today. That fan brush is sooo pretty. and yes, I know the handles are dirty -_- i'm too lazy to scrape off the dried paint.

and Samuel... THIS IS FOR YOU

^FOREHEAD GALORE! and no bangs, per your "request" :P

^ Broken fence. beyond is the neighbor's orange tree.

Badminton frosh/soph tourny tomorrow at indy!

art major?

I have been busting my butt (almost literally, I've been sitting on my butt for 4-5 hours on end and I can feel it molding to the shape of the chairseat) this whole week studying for my art history midterm.

...OKAY GUYS IT'S NOT AS EASY AS IT SOUNDS. Right now I am going to get SUPER annoyed at ANYONE who says art is super easy BECAUSE IT DOES TAKE BRAINS, YOU KNOW. You can't just go to class and sleep through it and BS something for your art project the night before it's due. You just can't. I hate it when people go, "Oh, you're an art major? Well, you'll be relaxing a lot, won't you?"

Okay, they've got it right on some levels.

1. No exams, no homework.

Yes, yes, yes, that's certainly true for the most part. You know what my midterm was for Color Theory? It was like a job interview thing where I just brought in all my work for the class, had a 1-on-1 sitting with Terry, and we talked about my progress and strengths and weaknesses. And then after evaluating the work, she'd assign a grade for the entire midterm. I had several B+'s at the beginning of the semester with A's and A-'s for the rest of the projects up to then. She decided then that my overall grade would be an A instead of a B+ or an A-, just because I showed up to class/had a "persona" in the classroom, and participated frequently in critiques. That was the midterm. For 3-D Concepts, we just had like maybe a 30-question quiz on vocab and the required readings and such. I mean, yes, these ARE introductory-level classes so I don't know if the upper-level classes have exams and such. I don't suppose they do.

2. We can freely interpret the assignment.

Okay, I wasn't really sure how to word this one, but I'm sure you can figure it out. What I mean is that our assignments aren't cut and dried. They aren't like math, where you have to get a certain number in order to get the assignment done correctly. It's like 3-D Concepts--just have a form, asymmetrical balance, implied movement, no discernible base, etc., and you'd have at least a C or B. I think this is where most people get the idea that art is super easy because anyone could just BS it and do it in an hour or something, right, instead of being all precise? And if there's a mistake in the composition, the artist can just be all like "OH THAT WAS INTENTIONAL, *blahblahblah about why the mistake actually works in his/her favor*."

3. We "don't have to study."

Dictionary.com gives these definitions of the verb study:

1) to examine or investigate carefully and in detail

2) to apply oneself to acquiring a knowledge of (a subject)

3) to think out, as the result of careful consideration or devising

4) to endeavor to learn or memorize

Yes, I know there are some very hard majors out there that require lots of studying. Diane, as an example. Her butt is permanently molded to her chair (heh heh) because she does some biochem/organic chem or some science-y thing that she hasn't decided yet. I know chemistry is hard. I know, I hate it because of that reason. I know it makes people in those majors study hard, because there's a lot of information they have to take in. They're certainly applying themselves, examining the material, thinking out the subject, and memorizing the vocabulary terms and whatnot. I'm not going to deny that it's hard. I mean, if you go into a science-y major, you're going to be learning a lot of new stuff, stuff that you never know. Compare that to going into an art major--art is all around you. You've seen colors and color comparisons before. You've seen paintings and sculptures and designs and everything. You've seen art before.

While all the above statements have truth in them, I'm leaving out some major things.

1. ART HISTORY ANYONE?????? and Extended projects.

If anyone tries to tell me art history is easy...

Try memorizing the names, artists, locations, dates, mediums, historical background, and contents for the various paintings/sculptures/buildings depicted on these notecards. That's not to mention the 3-hour long lectures, one 5-minute break each lecture (I once got reprimanded for accidentally coming back to the lecture hall after 7 minutes, instead of 5...but hey, I was getting some iced tea, man!), and frantic, frantic, frantic note-taking for the entire time. Like, non-stop scribbling.

Okay, I just went and counted all the images. There are 90 in all.

Oh before I get any pity... I checked my e-mail tonight and discovered a beautiful little wrapped present waiting for me.

OMG, I seriously thought he was going to reschedule the exam. I seriously did. I was all O____O OMG THE HEAVENS HAVE ANSWERED MY PRAYERS, and I opened up the e-mail. (At that precise moment, the computer and internat lagged, so I waited five minutes for the e-mail to open up.)

Oh well... better than nothing. lol. I guess he realized how incredibly tough the test was going to be, so he shortened it. Now we are down to 47 images. Thank goodness. (If those images are too small, sorry.)

Anyway, I digress.

We art students do get minimal amounts of homework. This homework would actually fall into the category of projects...but these assignments take a lot of energy, effort, and thinking. Which brings me to #3.

#3. Yes, we do study.

Studying isn't all memorizing vocabulary terms and molecular structures and formulas. Studying is also defined as "to think out, to investigate deeply and in detail." (Okay, something like that, but I can't really be bothered to scroll up and check.) For example, in Color Theory we learned about Itten's 7 Color Contrasts. To see the concept behind how colors contrast, we really have to understand the logic behind them, i.e.: saturated colors pull their parent hue from a color that's been juxtaposed with them, warm and cool, afterimages, the eye's natural tendency to see complementary colors, etc. I find this stuff incredibly fascinating. In class, we have to make/paint compositions that show we understand the material. It's not just like, "OKAY, this blue looks different from this yellow, I'll paint a funky-colored flower!" We have to know how they'll offset each other to really emit a vibrant, luminous effect. We have to think carefully about the composition and make sure that craftsmanship is perfect to keep the illusion working.

I think someone else could have explained that better, but oh well. Just an example.

#2. Yes, we can BS the assignments, but it won't look good.

It is painfully obvious who spent a few hours/one night on the project, versus someone else who spent the entire week perfecting it. That's really all there is to it.

Anyway, I wrote the above for a few reasons.

1. It is so freaking annoying to have someone tell you that you don't have to do anything because you have an easy major. Um, I think I (not anyone else) know the amount of work that's given to me. If I want a perfect project, I will spend days/weeks on it, if necessary. If I want a shabby piece that looks like it was done by a kindergartener wielding a box of dry Dollar Tree crayons, I will whip through the project in an hour and call it a day.

2. I had just read the e-mail about the art history midterm being shorter and I decided to take a long break... lol.

3. Hmm. I had another reason in my mind, but I completely forgot it now.

On to happier things!

^ my five beloved $3.00 bottles of Cool Citrus Basil. GOD!! Love. Thank you ThannieX1000000000 for telling me about the B&BW sale, otherwise I would not have these bottles to cherish. And Diane, I'm so glad I decided not to listen to you when you said two bottles were enough :P

^ this is why I always have bangs. I just look weird without them.

Back to some happier studying!

plastic beer cups

Plastic beer cups are so incredibly tacky.

Now that my friends and I are in college, I'm seeing more and more of them attend parties where there's beer and alcohol and red beer cups. It's so trashy. I mean, I'll be on Facebook and they'll have uploaded party pictures of them or something, and there're a whole line of beer cups all behind them and cans of beer strewn around, or stacked up. Are these really the people I knew in high school? The ones that I gossiped with in high school about people drinking and doing drugs and getting suspended/expelled... and now they're doing the same thing, minus the getting expelled part? It's like, Oh, I'm in college and now I must go along with my college buddies and start drinking. I mean, no offense meant, but I find that so incredibly lame and juvenile. I know people who don't WANT to drink at first, but their friends "are all doing it" so they feel that they must, in order not to look like they're "nerds" or "wusses."

LAME.

Grow a freaking set and be firm on what you want and what you don't. It's your own body; it's your own mind. Be proud of them and don't let other people undermine you just because they want you to get wasted too, or do other stupid things.

Okay, yes, I'll admit it. I'm a prude. I can't tolerate (underage) drinking, smoking, drugs, premarriage sex, extreme profanity, etc. I don't care. Call me whatever you want; this is my stance. I find it ridiculous how people my age will succumb to marijuana and drinking parties just because their friends do.

Whenever I hear that one of my friends was drinking, or I see a drunken picture of them at a classic plasticredbeercups party, I can't help but feel a twinge of disrespect for them, like a "WHAT in the world are you thinking? Are you the same person I used to know, or just following the crowd?"

In elementary school, everybody was taught to be "Drug/alcohol/whatever free, that's me!" I remember when my second grade (or third? or fourth? I forgot) class was scheduled to do a clean-up of the playground area, Carole and I found a cigarette butt in the tanbark. We ran to our teacher and pointed it out, because we thought it was a crazy-dangerous thing- someone was smoking on the playground! Then there were all those times we tied red ribbons to the fence to symbolize that we were drug-free. Crazy how much of a contrast our mindsets were, compared to now, isn't it?

/rant

skipped class :(

heh heh heh. after Color Theory, I went to the student union today and read the required passage for Creative Writing. I reread that and then read another passage, which was pretty interesting. We were going to be quizzed on the required passage, so I wanted to be able to remember it.

..but I accidentally fell asleep at 11:30. At 11:40, I woke up and checked the time, and decided to sleep just ten more minutes so I could make it in time for class at noon.

BUT...

I woke up feeling kind of weird, and checked the time. IT WAS 12:30 T____T and I'd surely missed the quiz. ddaaaaanngggit!!! so I gave up and went back to sleep. heh. My armchair thing was sooo comfortable. The arms are on the same level as the back of the seat, so it's so easy to just tuck your head into the inner corner of the back of the seat and fall asleep. I woke up again at 1, then 1:30, then 2:30. Finally I got up .. hehehehehhehehe.

dangit. I don't want a bad grade in English :(

a cold, rainy week

I've been having an absolutely horrible week and it's only Tuesday. I can only hope that the rest of the week will perk up, but it's just hope.

It is really hard trying to please everyone. I just can't do it, even though I want to. It gets pretty darn stressful, especially when one of them is a very influential person...yes, my mom. When she gets angry, she likes to make derogative assumptions and comparisons. The more they sting, the better. Soon they get into unforgivable territory--the insults that really stick, the ones that really hamper your self-esteem and personal wellbeing. I keep a passive, neutral expression on my face. She only wants a reaction, but she's not going to get it. It's just that this week, I've been receiving a constant barrage of negativity, not only from my mom.

He and I are having problems, but I don't know if we both have the strength to overcome them.

I can't please everyone.

I like to immerse myself in the beauty of soft piano music. Music doesn't hurt. I would like to fix our old, sagging piano so I can actually play something nice. I am currently working on a beautiful song by Yiruma, which is called River Flows in You. I thought it would be hard but it's very flowing and repetitive, so I'm getting it down.

Today I got a hot tapioca milk tea from Quickly. The guy spent a while trying to put on the cap, and then came over and told me to be careful because the cap was falling off. I picked up the cup and the lid popped off. Oh well...they must be out of the right size of lids for a large cup. I told the guy it was okay, and left. On the way to the bus, my bag slipped from my shoulders, jolting my hand that was clutching the cup. The lid flew off and hot liquid spewed over my fingers. I refused to lose my milk tea, however, and quickly laid down my umbrella and burning cup onto the ground. I transferred the milk tea to my thermos. Lovely. The burned fingers were worth saving my delicious milk tea, and the pearls were yummy as always.

It's been a very trying week, but I've got some pictures from last week to share.

...nvm. blogger uploader isn't working.

Well, my sociology class is always a bit of a laugh...especially last Thursday's session and today's. Last Thursday the prof didn't show up at all, and today we were gathered in the classroom for today's session. The class is supposed to start at 12:00pm. At 12:15, another professor rushes in and announces to us all that our professor is stuck in traffic 10 miles up on 680, and requests another 15 minutes (we are supposed to wait a max.of 15 minutes for a prof who has a doctoral degree) to get here. He mutters something about putting on some cartoons for us, and exits the room. About two minutes later, the TA strolls in and says that the prof "just woke up and wants to tell you guys that he's not coming." We were all like...what????? lol. craziness.

homework

I would love to blog but I really can't at the moment... I have two papers + a 4-10 page nonfiction piece to write, a design to mock up with cardboard, 3 free color studies and a complementary color assignment to paint, readings for four classes to do, art history stuff for which to study...

so just a few pics will suffice for now :D

^across the street from king library

^ palazzo medici-riccardi. isn't the courtyard pretty?!!

^ some of my favorite pieces we have to study

^ and all the pieces...lol

i have learned more about christianity than i ever wanted to learn from art history alone.

^ my wooden birdie!!!! :D it's a little over a foot tall.

second impressions

EDIT

I miss Thannie very, very, very much :(



________________
I have so many things to blog about; they've all been piling up in my head. I've begun transferring some thoughts to a scrap piece of binder paper floating around in my bag. Maybe I should start carrying around a little notebook or something.

I think creative writing is really inspiring little phrases to pop into my head at random moments. haha. That class has taught me that I've really been overwriting ALL the time. like, in fanfics. I would go into way too much detail, tacking on adverbs/adjectives to every single verb/noun. From Monday's session, I learned that that's tactical writing, like giving a play-by-play of everything. You just wanna make the important bits stand out, not describe the whole thing down to every single grain, "like an instruction manual." I think most beginning writers (myself included) make their writing too flowery, like putting in all these adjectives and big words and tons of metaphors and everything. It just feels too written. I'm glad I'm taking this class. yeah, the class sessions can be boring, but they're very informative and I can correct my writing mistakes now.

3D concepts is fun :D I guess I had a really bad first impression. It's easier to talk to the people in the class now, and the instructor is super nice and friendly. I unexpectedly made friends with someone, which is cool. And today I used the panel saw!!!! It's this big old saw thing that's taller than people. Like this one..

It's scary because it makes such a loud noise! The instructor assured me that it was the safest piece of equipment in the shop, though. Go figure.

I think I blogged before about this really mean student assistant at the woodshop. Anyway, she was there today, watching me and this girl cut a huge piece of wood. She started a conversation with us about the class and everything...turns out she's pretty nice. So much for first impressions.

So i went to Michael's today and got more things...lol. I think I've spent about $250 for my art supplies for Color Theory. Well, luckily I can use these things for future art classes...OH! I bought more fake flowers too! This time for the bathroom. I love fake flowers. I would have bought more, but I can't carry them all because I take the bus. lol. I think next time I'm gonna go back for the cherry blossom stems.

and now for a whole slew of pics

^ San Jose Athletic Club

^ MLK library at night

^ my drawing pads

^ color spectrum hw

my impression of my classes

i'll fix the broken blog template...later >_> ah, this is always happening.

but yeah, now that i've gone into all my classes... it seems a lot easier than i thought. a LOT. from the way my mom was describing it, i was expecting AP^10.

by far the easiest class would have to be Art 001. The professor shortened it from 3 hours to 1.5. LOVELY :D Everyone cheered when he said that. Haha. It's a big ol' lecture hall, so we can do homework/read/eat/sleep. It's a credit/no credit class too, so we're graded on participation (2 index cards submitted every class. for the first index card, all we have to do is write about an experience we had that's related to the world of art. for the second, it's basically our response to the current lecture). We can miss up to 6 cards total in order to pass the class. ahhh. beautiful <3

Social Problems... well, the prof is very easygoing and laidback. He says that even though there are due dates for the papers, we can turn in ALL our work on the last day and we'll still get full credit. how crazy is that?! plus, i heard that the tests are super easy; just attend the lectures and he'll tell you the answers to the tests straight out.

Color Theory, Creative Writing, and 3D Concepts won't be academically challenging, but all I need to do is put my best effort in and don't procrastinate and I believe I should do fine. Color Theory - basically cut+paste and painting. -_- 3D Concepts- a little more difficult because we'll need to use the woodshop and saws and drills and sanders and everything to construct things, but should be fine if I invest time in it. Creative Writing - same thing. Now Art History is something else. That seems more of a studying class, in my opinion. And it's a little hard to stay awake during the 3-hr long lectures, heh heh. Well, it is REALLY boring when he blabbers on about the history of Rome and Europe and everything, but I found it really interesting when he related the composition, color choices, shapes, everything, to the historical context of a particular painting.

Easy classes... should lead to more time to helping badmin kids ;D