Michael Yamashita in Person

So this weekend I met and had a book signed by National Geographic photographer, Michael Yamashita. He is a really cool guy, and he has some amazing stories to tell. For serious, it was awesome. His photographs are definitely worth looking at. For his gallery, go here: [link]

My parents even came out for the event, which was super awesome. We had dinner at the 99 Restaurant beforehand too, which was nice. It's definitely not my favourite place though, so I don't know that I'll go back. lol

I also got to see Rick and Megan, because they came out to Mass for the weekend too! How friggin' awesome is that!? xD Had to go help them into Greenfield from Turners, but that's okay. Megan lived in Turners when she was attending Hallmark, so it's understandable that she'd know it better. So that was fun.

On Friday we got our digital backs, so I've been loving up on that. x3 22 megapixels yo! And 11 microns! It doesn't get much better! *luffle* <3

None of my batteries exploded, either, so that's good. xD Yeah... one of the batteries that Joey was charging in the supply room blew up... Dx Not cool, but everything and everyone is okay so it's cool. I'm glad mine didn't explode, lol.

So yeah, I had a fairly eventful weekend, and it rocked. First one that I've stayed in Massachusetts for. xD

Oh, and Megan introduced me to more terminology: Massholes. And it's true, the majority of Massachusetts residents are assholes. I have met a portion that are exceptions to the rule... but for the most part people in Massachusetts suck. Big time. So they're Massholes.

Ohhh... Busy Busy Week. :D

Since I last updated a lot has gone on. But now I can just update you of the highlights for sure. ^^ That's always a good thing, ne? lol I thought so at least. Anyways, this'll span close to a weeks time... so it might be a little long. But definitely worth it! *thumbs up* Hells yeah!

To start with, I officially have the Black Death. Yeah, you heard me, I got the plague. It's the cutest thing ever! I bought it (haha, and you thought I was diseased xD) the day I was out shopping with BakaTulip (BT for short) when I met her in real life for the first time. She is a friend I made through Gaiaonline, which totally kicks ass. :D She's a great person, and we get along well. After we hung around in town we went back to Smith College where she's attending school and did a trivia game with some of her house mates. They are a riot! Oh man... I'd totally do it again. BT and I lost miserably, but oh well. We had fun and that's all that mattered. Besides, we were a team of two against three teams of five... >.> I'd say we held our freakin own yo! xD

And you guys... Smith college ain't called the Lesbian College for nothing... xD <3

That weekend I went home to hell. But it's working out now, so it's all good. If you want to know more, go search my DA Journal for the information. It should be titled "Calling the Cops on a Close Friend" or something like that. But yeah, she's doing a lot better and I'm really happy about that. ^^ Still, at the time it caused me to become muddled in the head, I got a tiny bit lost getting to school, and slept through the first and last periods of the day. But I definitely crashed in the last one because of my pill. I took it like... seven hours early so I had a slight OD going on, and it made me drowsy. But I knew I wouldn't have an appetite later so it was safer to take it then so that I definitely got the chemical help I'd need to get up and function Tuesday. And in the end my plan did not fail me. :D

Saturday wasn't all gloom-and-doom though, because Luna-kun and I went out shooting at a park with Mr. Duck and the Mamiya. So come the long weekend she's getting her film back, and it's full of really cute images. <33

I also had Tony review my work, and I am pleased with the feedback I gained. Most people tell me they love what I do, but have never told me were I might be able to improve. Tony did that, and he didn't bullshit around anything either. He came out and told me when he didn't like something, and there was even one he absolutely loved. So it's all good and I'm pleased. It gives me a bit of direction to go on, ya know? And he even told me to take it with a grain of salt because it was only one opinion. ^^ He also showed me some of his work, which was great. And he's going to help me find more abandoned places to break into... xD I <3 my instructors.

We finally got login names to Mable as well. Mable is our server's name. Gaberiel and George came up with it. The name changes every year. And when it wasn't working Gabe actually said "I'm going to go have a talk with Mable..." and when he came back it was "I spoke with Mable, and I realize now that what I did was wrong." xD Tooooo funny. I love them so much. My days are always entertaining somehow. lol

I met new people yesterday, named Joules and Justine. We worked together for a project, and ended up laughing our asses off. Some great things were the Toga Pirate, sprouting horns in front of a rug, the big purple house, and my latest random spewing that became a quote: "Black is the Ultimate Rainbow!" Think about it... black is all colours combined so it's like a rainbow... sort of. xD It amused us, that's for sure. So yeah, it was fun. Saw the beautiful area of Shelburne Falls too. I will be going back there once we get our digital backs.

Speaking of digital backs... GETTING THEM TOMORROW!!! CAN'T WAIT FOR THE END OF THE DAY FRIDAY!!! <333333

Mr. Sandiago and I are stuck in a group together. The whole group pretty much dislikes him. xP

Get to do public speaking in one of our classes on ourselves. I'm doing mine about coming from a really tiny town. ^^

This weekend Michael Yamashita is coming to speak at Hallmark, and is showing in the Hallmark Museum of Contemporary Photography. So I'm going to see that, it's entirely free, and my parents are coming out to join me. How cool is that? :D Hawt shit yo!

Come this long weekend I plan on visiting my friend Helena for that Friday night, since I haven't seen her in f.o.r.e.v.e.r! And then I'm heading home to play with friends.

So yeah, that's about it. A lot can happen in a week. Hallmark is running me ragged. But you know what... I love it. <3

HIPMVCC

So we had a Mandatory-Voluntary contest with the theme of "Childhood Fears".
I did The Monster that Lives Beneath the Bed.



The Monster Under the Bed by *Saknika on deviantART

Never Hated Anyone So Fast...

I have never hated anyone so fast before as this guy. I am mentioning no names, however, because that's far more rude than I'm going to be. But damn I'd love to. Anyways... it took me less than three hours to determine that he was definitely not worthy of being called mature or kind. What an asshole.

So this guy is 27 from California... and he's arrogant like you wouldn't believe. Thinks he is the big cheese... and in reality he's still a small fry. So we were talking about logos and trademarks... he had his made for him. And now he's getting it trademark protected. Well, I was talking about how sometimes we work off of other people's stuff, or borrow small portions, just for little graphics on forums. This guy said he would sue anyone who did that with his. EVEN IF THEY WERE 13! He is fully prepared to ruin someone's life forever just because they like his logo enough to emulate it. His reason: It'd be destroying his professional image as a business, and that comes first. I really fail to see how it'd be degrading to his business. Actually, I think his attitude is more than anything.

Anyways, he's so anal that he actually wants to bitch at Dunkin' Doughnuts because the coffee tasted watered down, and he didn't like his sandwich. I'm sorry, but you're not going to enjoy everything. I can understand watered down coffee, but the sandwich? No. He's also a pain in the ass at restaurants because if the food isn't to his liking, he sends it back. And sometimes he'll just get up and leave without paying because it wasn't to his taste. And the only food that he ever felt was truly to perfection was from a restaurant that his boyfriend took him to for his birthday that cost $700 for two meals.

...Honestly, is everyone from California like this? Because if so I'm definitely never going there. Seriously... this is bull shit. It is people like this who make life difficult for the rest of us with no reason. He is no different in my eyes than the woman who put the McDonald's coffee between her legs and sued them (and won!) when it spilled and burned her.

Man was I pissed with him. I can't wait until winter... he's so going to be humorous to watch wither and hopefully die. I would love to see him kicked out of this program.

Other than that, today was great. Got my film back for the first two projects, and shot my third one. We do the fourth and fifth tomorrow.

On more bad notes for today... all my tasty rolls I brought from home were moldy. That made me sad... so I ate my turkey on just plain toasted bread.

Slowly Killing Myself...

Okay, so I definitely pulled a stupid. I chose to spend one more night at home because I wasn't feeling the greatest, and then drive into Massachusetts and school at 4:30am this morning. This would have been fine... had I been able to sleep. But I wasn't. Damn insomnia. So I drove in at 4:30am on... an hour and a half's worth of sleep...

Before I continue on that though... let me just say that the drive was both amazing and pissy at once. First off... I wanted to give Brendan a prank wakeup call at 5:30am and be all "GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE!!!!" ...But the phone never got a signal Then, I was watching the most gorgeous sunrise ever, especially since 80% of the drive is east (sun rises in the east for those who forgot...), and I loved it... but I was pissed because I couldn't pull over and take photos. So going back to a scenic spot on 91N that faces east to do that.

Anyways... back to the drive...

Don't do that. Seriously, don't. It was not pretty. I mean at first I was fine, people even said I looked amazingly fresh! And then around 10am... the liquid speed (energy drink) started having no effect... and we started falling asleep...

Anyways, I felt really bad because I was falling asleep in Tony's class, and he's such a great guy. But I still heard what was important... I think... And made it through without too many issues.

Thankfully, that didn't happen in other classes... nor while I was driving.

Rich has decided people shouldn't come near me as well... since I'm now weapons girl... Apparently double edged, multiple pointed, or longer than four inch blades... are illegal... So..... shhhhh...

But hey, it's fun. I think I'm in a really fun group for portraits this time around, which is great for the first one! I'm excited.

And Michael Zide and I are exchanging crazy DVDs. I was the only one in class today that knew about El Chupacabra. Yeah... we incorporated El Chupacabra into photography. It was awesome. YAY FEARS! I love Zide. So going to be on his bus for NYC. We're going to try and do The Ring... or some other obscure DVD. Hence our conversation.

I've also found out my really hot upstairs neighbor is bisexual... So hells yeah baby! We've got a lot of fine women here And one digs chicks.

And if you're wondering about the girlfriend situation...

She's in Virginia now. And as much as I care for her... I'm not going to spend my life waiting. So when I found out about all this two or three weeks ago I dealt with it then, and I'm moving on. If she hates Alabama, when she gets there, and returns, I might get back with her. I'm not sure. But either way, I won't just sit on my ass and wait either, because I don't expect her to. It's not fair. Besides, I'm pretty sure there is a girl in Alabama waiting for her. Not much I can do about it, but you get the idea...

So yes, I have a nice selection here. Hello ladies.

Oh, and today's quotes!

Joan had been explaining about how this one girl made condoms pretty, just like this famous guy, and then shortly after she said this...
"Or you may feel you just can't stretch as much..."
...

There was also Gabe who told us never to just click the glowing blue button even though it's all "Touch me dammit. Click me!"

My teachers are awesome. Seriously... no one really cares.

Oh, and Zide is selling apples at $0.25 to help those animals still in need of shelter and care from Katrina, so if you're in the area or know me personally and want to help, get in contact and I can hook you up with yummy apples.

That's pretty much it. I'm off to keep editing photos since I now have a rather large supply, and be a bum.

I Am Intimidating

So these past couple days have been most excellent.

Yesterday we went to Old Deerfield, which is very historic, and shot our first two assignments on 120mm chrome film. Once again, non-photography people, just trust me when I say that's good film. lol Anyways, we had to shoot buildings, people, and objects using front, back, and side lighting. Then we had to over and underexpose shots. Mostly just to see and understand what we were doing. Well, since I had it, I brought the digital with me as well and did some other shooting. So you can expect to see new stuff!

Ophelia was kind of upset, in a fun way, because I made her model for me by sitting on a fence. She laughed the whole time though, and then I got up on the fence for her, so it was good. Ophelia is awesome.

I also tickled the crap out of Jess for a shot for Josh. Man that was fun. Completely random thought becomes photographic history.

I think the most difficult part was using the light meter. lol

So yeah, that was our first assignment.

Today we had our photos taken for when we do Press Releases, and we also went over technical stuff if we felt we needed to. Well, during attendence Tony calls my name, and I said "Here!", and the next words out of his mouth are:

"Honestly, she is the most intimidating person here."

O_O We were all laughing, and I asked him later on why I was intimidating, since others have said likewise before--outside of Hallmark.

Well, he said it's because from the moment he saw me, and when I went on stage, he could tell that I meant business and I was the kind of person who tended to get the job done. Hence I was intimidating, but in a good way. That was a big honour for me. I am super proud of that one. Yay me!

My sister has decided Rob is a hottie. She and mom agree. So they've picked the cute one. My family is strange.

Other than that, there really isn't anything else to tell. I'm back home, so that's cool.

Oh, and my teacher and fellow students debated on the gender of Brendan in this photo, and only two nailed it... and it wasn't the teacher.



So now that's really it. I am off to edit some more photos. Look for them!

Ridiculous Discounts from Heaven or Hell!?

So the second day of true classes was pretty good. Nothing too much went on, but we did really start to find out what's at the heart of Hallmark. And that would be a hell of a lot of determination and dedication. Just... wow. lol

It poured today though, sadly, and because of that my feet were s.o.a.k.e.d from noon to six pm when I got home. It kinda sucked, but hey, my pants are super-absorbent.

Still, not a bad day.

We have a lot of assignments already, but the majority of them aren't due for about eight weeks, so we have time. Two of them we're doing this Thursday though, in historic Deerfield. So that'll be fun.

I also found out today that the 100gb (gig) external hard drives we're getting tomorrow are ours to keep. Yeah... you heard me... 100gb. o_o That's more space than my laptop has. Holy. Shit.

We also get ridiculous student discounts because Hallmark is one of 45 elite schools in the states. For serious, there is this Adobe Image and Design Suite that has like, Photoshop CS3, Flash, Dreamweaver, and a couple other nice programs in it... Usually it's $1,600. Regular student discount is $600. We Hallmark students can get it for $300. Yes, I just said $300. Lightroom, a $300 program, is discounted to $79 for us currently. They're working on getting it down to $39. Oh healls yeah baby!

I'm also super happy with my fellow students, because they are all really nice. I met three new people today, Faviello(sp), Matt, and Dawn. Then there is Alexis, who I met yesterday but got to know better today. And Josh who wants me to model.

Speaking of modeling, I am becoming a favourite for students already. A couple have approached me to be a model for them. They say I look very natural. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy good inside to hear that. YAY!

With our computers, we have no restrictions. They are the latest Mac computers too, just at 10.4 while we let everyone else discover 10.5's bugs. And they did lock the settings, but told us if we wanted to waste our time figuring out how to go in and mess with them, that they wouldn't stop us. Since we'd only be hurting ourselves in the end. lol

We also have this report system for errors, and Rob was typing in the box to show us how it works, since we do have some people who've never used a computer before , and he types:
"Help. The keyboard is levitating. It's freaking me out. And smells like chocolate."



I'm also working on really cleaning and organizing my apartment so that I can create a small studio in it. And when I get home... I am so building a studio along with my darkroom. You have no idea. I am absolutely in love with this profession.

Photography is a great passion.

So yeah, college is rocking some major socks. Seriously, I wish high school had been like this.