Home for the Holidays

So I am home for the holidays, and it feels GREAT! I have been waiting what seems like f.o.r.e.v.e.r for this two-week vacation. xD Sadly, it's going by incredibly fast, which means too soon I'll be back to work. *sigh* But at least I'm doing what I love.

Of course, Hallmark couldn't just let us have a vacation, even though they said we really didn't have to do these over vacation... Yeah, right. Because people are going to pass up a chance to work with people they know, or are going to leave so many things to the last minute so that they can stress and panic. Yeah... e_e

So instead, we're all fairly annoyed. But hey... that's Hallmark I suppose.

So this is my list of assignments for my holiday vacation, in no particular order:

• Self Portrait
  
• Character Study Portrait
  
• Environmental Portrait
  
• North-Facing Window Light Portrait
  
• Photo Essay (essay done via pictures Dx)
  
• Ideas for the Historical Image Recreation Photo
  

So like... that's six things to think about. D: Two weeks, six assignments, plus holidays with the families. AUUUUUGH!!!

But at least I had a good Christmas! xD

The other issue at hand though, is that my car is in the shop for repairs. I lost my washer fluid, and wipers, plus the turn signal has pretty much fallen off and snapped wires. Fuuuuun... /sarcasm

I also am still dealing with druggie friend issues. D: Geezus

I do have some of my assignments scheduled to be done though. On the 30th I am meeting up with Miss. M to do a character study because her and Aiden are just the perfect character study. Seriously. And she's a ton of fun, which makes it something to look forward to. :D

Then on the 5th of January I am going to a Honeycreeper concert in Saratoga and I'll shoot that and meet them after the show to do my environmental portrait.

I'm going to try to do my photo essay this Saturday... we'll see. ^^;

As for the north-facing window light... who knows. D:

The 31st I have an eye appointment...

On the 5th I might have to do my driver's safety over again because of a speeding ticket I didn't deserve. Dx Stupid cops...

And somewhere in this I want to do figure studies for a friend, and a waterfall side project for myself, not to mention revisit abandoned buildings in snow.

Yeaaah... I'm busy.

And here I thought I'd get to relax. >_o

Heidi's Xmas Party

So for the first time in my history at Hallmark, I was invited to a party. And that really meant a lot to me. I don't think Heidi knows just how much it meant to me. I felt included, and that was wonderful.

The party consisted of myself, Heidi, June, Diane, Nicole, and Corrine. It was small, but awesome. We did a white elephant gift exchange, which is where you could steal other's gifts. xD But no one really did, which was great. So now Nicole is growing her own Paparazzi, Heidi has peppermint bricks, Corrine has diffusion rods, June got incense, Diane got playdoh (<3), and I have exfoliating foot soak stuff and lip gloss. I'd say we all made out pretty good.

And of course Diane shared the playdoh with us so we all went back to childhood. xD

We also told Nicole that she needs to bring her Paparazzi in to John Nordell. rofl. x3 It'd be so funny.

Later we watched The Polar Express. I'm sure everyone remembers that book from when they were young, with the bell that only jingles for those who believe in Santa? Well, the movie is really awesome, but totally not a good one for kids. How it was rated PG is BEYOND me. Half the movie would have scared me shitless as a kid, and everyone at the party was in agreeance on that. But still, it was cool. I'd watch it again.

We had a lot of good laughs last night too. It was just... I really felt like I was a part of something. So I had a wonderful time. And we have decided to stage a photo in downtown Greenfield or Turners Falls (we haven't picked where yet) come spring of a cowboy shoot out... with cameras! xD How cool will that be!? We were laughing about it a lot as we planned it out. I hope we really pull it off, because it'd be awesome. We're going to get the outfits, and put cameras in holsters, and instead of a tumbleweed rolling by we're going to have a reflector... xD Oh god it's going to be PRICELESS.

We are the shit. Bow down to us. Hehe <3

Too bad today SUCKED because of the snow and ice storm. Blarg.

Go Elf Yourself

Ashley showed this to me, and I can't resist sharing. xD

Yes, that's my picture. Tehe ~<3

I Elfed Myself

Hello Mr. Jackfrost...

So today I gave my 10min speech with Lisa on Producers. It was really a heart-tugger though, because she was so nervous. Still, she got up and spoke and that's all that matters. :) Paul said it was obvious that I was more comfortable on stage.

Gee... ya think? I don't really have issues with public speaking. Sure, it's a bit nerve-wracking, but I'm not worried overall. xD

And David Fraizer gave us the COOLEST FRACKEN ASSIGNMENT EVER! It is a train wreck of AWESOME! We get to do a photographic representaion of any art piece out there. EVEN MANGA. >3 Ohhhh boy. So I'm gonna do... like... FIFTY MILLION OF THEM! <33333333333333333333333 I was so excited in class I was literally bouncing where I sat. ^^; Tehe...

But then it had to go and start snowing. Hard. So now we're in practically blizzard conditions. It sucks. xP Anyone want the snow? I'll give it to ya for free. Dx

Here are photos: Click to see Pictures
And a Video: Click to see a Video

So... enjoy. I totally got the hell out of that school early though. Made it through the attendance for my last class, and then left. Even Tom Purtisto (instructor) told us he was leaving within a half an hour. So that's saying something.

Some people were talking about camping at the school if the roads got too bad. Poor people.

Man is it good to be home. I'm gonna go get some Hot Cocoa and retouch photos.

PS: Anyone wanna shoot couples with me? ^^

Deadly Weddings

Today was a very humorous day. All thanks to Rich Barnes!

So in Portrait Studio we're moving on to posing couples. And so Rich needed volunteers to pose for him so that the class could see. I was a part of the first set... and let me tell you it was SO odd to have Rich sit super close behind me to show the other girl how to create her pose to compliment mine. But we all just laughed it off. Actually, Mellisa (my posing partner, aka girlfriend lol) were laughing the whole time we were up there. It was great fun! The best part with us was when he was asking general questions, and goes "So how long have you two known each other?" and we just looked at each other and I was like "We've never met", so we introduced ourselves right then and there. xD

But the best was yet to come! He used different people for different posing just so we all could see. And the last set was Ricardo and Josh (later Leslie for the more... intimate stuff...) who were thrilled. But the cameras all came out when Rich was posing them because it was like a gay parade. Lots of huggly-snuggly poses going on here. I am so deadly serious... omg. And Rich had Ricardo lay on the ground... and then on his stomach while he showed Leslie how to lay on top of him. We were ROLLING with laughter. Surprise buttsex much!? OMG... soooo priceless. I wish I had been carrying a little digital for that one. xD It was beautiful. And during this Josh decided to make it a threesome.

God we're terrible. x3

Later in class, because we had ten minutes to kill, Rich told us the story of the WORST wedding he ever shot. Everything was late, his assistant was nervous, and the wedding party wasn't of the terribly kind-natured people. But it couldn't just end there. Nope, while the guests were all doing the Hully Gully (like the Electric Slide... but not...), this one old woman looks up right at Rich's assistant... and just falls over backwards dead! NO LIE!

And when Rich went into work the next day, it was that same woman who babysat his digital asset manager's children. Small world. xD

Seriously though, can you imagine that happening!? Crazy!

In back news, we shot still life in the Commercial Studio, and according to Kathleen I made the perfect Christmas card shot. <333


Merry Christmas 2007 by *Saknika on deviantART

White-Knuckle Driving

So it was pretty much white-knuckle driving to get back to my apartment, because I ended up driving through one hell of an icey snow storm. For the first bit of the journey, none of the roads were plowed. So I was going through a good three inches of snow, and it was sleeting. Not. Cool.

You'd think that the highway would be plowed... nope, that wasn't the case. So when you're on the highway and the top speed you can comfortably do is 40mph... things get rough. It was a nasty, slippery mess out there.

When I got down I-90E a bit though, there was some plowing and salting going on, so the roads weren't as bad. But they still sucked, and visibility was still shit. However, we could get up to 65mph, sometimes 70mph when we were really lucky.

Thankfully, I was doing this late at night so there wasn't a lot of traffic. A lot of traffic really would have killed me. Nope, I started around midnight.

Should have started around 3pm before the shity weather hit... but oops...>.>

So anyways, truckers were my savior because if you followed them, you had a bit of an easier drive. I did make the mistake of trying to pass one, and as I got around his spray of whiteness... there was a slow-moving car right there. I locked my arms and hit the brakes. All I could do was pray I didn't spin out, and that I didn't hit them.

We both turned out okay.

There were a few times I came close to losing control of the vehicle too, but thanks to neutral I was good. You really do remember the oddest things in those situations, lemme tell ya.

You could tell when you crossed into Massachusetts though, because the highway went right back to shit. But of course, it is Massachusetts, so I'm not surprised. When I got onto I-91N... it hadn't been plowed once, or salted.

Yeah, time to pick up the pace Massachusetts! You're slacking!

I could understand that Greenfield really hadn't been touched though. My main concern later at night would also be highways. But it honestly seems like they just didn't give a shit and no one is going to plow until morning. I've yet to hear one go by.

But anyways, I just got in not too long ago. Maybe a half an hour? Still, that stupid storm made my nice 2.5 hour trip into 4.5 hours! >.< I only made one pit-stop, in Lee Massachusetts, because I had to pee and I needed gas pretty badly.

I am so glad to be home.

Gonna Get Kicked... xD

Yeah... I'm fully expecting to get kicked on Monday because I was telling everyone on Friday that I smelled snow coming...

And here comes this massive freaking storm that they expect to dump a ton of snow in the Adirondacks, and at least a foot in Western Massachusetts... Someone is gonna kick me, I swear. lol

So it looks like I'll have to head back earlier on Sunday than I usually do. *shrug* At this rate with the weather, I might not commute home as much anymore. So who knows what will happen. Aside from me being emo-lonely. COME BE MAH FRIEND! <3

I fully expect to be giving those from non-snow regions/states a ride into school too. Cool beans. That means I have a better chance of *gasp* friends! x3

So here's to the fluffy white shit. :d Not. Snow=/=win

The Great Coffee Cup Contest

So the latest Mandatory-Voluntary contest had the theme of "Coffee Cup". This is what I submitted, and have decided to do a series on. So any suggestions on phrases are loved and welcomed. ^^

Enjoy!


The Great Coffee Cup Contest by *Saknika on deviantART

PS: My mother said she'd smash the coffee cup against a wall if it went on strike. Now I'm gonna have to report her for mug abuse! lmao xD

Lack of a Sense of Humour?

I think Michael Merrit, as great a guy as he is, lacks a really good sense of humour. Which is sad, because he seems like the guy who would have one at first glance. I say this because of an experience...

See, myself and Leslie (new person yo!) were in the Imaging Lab (IL) working on our aerial shots. And she asked me if we could submit black and whites... Well I didn't know so she looked it up on the assignment sheet. Turns out they have to be colour shots. So I said "Hey, just go with sepia then! Brown's a colour!" and we laughed. Michael told us though that that's not what they meant, and that sepia is a tone. We knew that, we were just having fun. He didn't even smile. If anything he seemed angry. o.O

I think this is why his classes make me need other mental stimulation. He tries to be funny... he really does... but he just bombs something terrible. I feel bad for the guy, because like I said, he's really nice.

Oh well, I guess we all can't have a good sense of humour. *shrug*