childhood fantasies

 Last night I got caught up watching the "Greatest Hard Rock Songs Ever" or something like that countdown on VH1 Classic. I blame it on being on vacation and sometimes feeling like I'm 13 again and just wanting to sit by the pool and then come inside and waste my afternoon away watching music videos ( If only it were 1994 again and MTV and VH1 still played music videos. But that's a discussion for some other time.)

In reality it's because of my not-so-secret dream of becoming a rock star. This is being partially fulfilled by the pseudo band practices I have with two friends. It's super fun, and we've even played for an audience on one occasion. (Not a paying audience, don't be ridiculous) We're planning for a second performance at some point. So free up your calendars people, it's going to be epic. And when I say epic I mean probably in someone's basement again.

In case you were wondering, the #1 greatest hard rock song according to the countdown: "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses.  Though it does rock I prefer the #2 choice: "Back in Black" by AC/DC, which I sometimes (I mean always) play air guitar to when I hear it. Which is usually in the car.

I really should get tinted windows. 

things accomplished while on vacation

1. Got a tan. 

This was much needed given how many hours I've spent indoors 

in front of a computer screen for the past two and a half months. Vitamin D anyone?

 

2. Caught up on my reading.

2 1/2 books, 3 issues of Rolling Stone.

 

3. Saw some tigers.

There's nothing like some cute animals to put me in a good mood. Really, ask my roommate. She was witness to my giddiness over the creatures. I don't know what else to say. There's just something about zoo animals.

 

4. Purchased a white blazer. 

 

And on sale! I've been looking for a white blazer/jacket that I liked and wasn't crazy expensive for quite a few years now. So thank you New York & Co. It will be put to good use. Maybe some day I'll look as cool as Albert Hammond Jr.

 

5. Watched some tutorials.

So apparently I can't go on vacation and stop thinking about school.  Maybe it's cause I sill feel like I have so much to learn. Luckily I have a free subscription to Lynda.com through my school and can watch tutorials to continue learning After Effects even when I'm not in class.  I now know how to animate a rather convincing fireball. Be impressed, people.

why I went to art school

I'm not the best at admitting my weaknesses. Blame it on my Argentinean pride. But there is one thing I know I do terribly, and that's writing. I know what you're thinking "But Jackie, your blog is so awesome, the words flow like (insert appropriate simile here), you must have years and years of blogging/writing/wooing others with your words experience." Not so my friends.


So I find myself back in school and having to write not only an essay (which I'm supposed to be working on right now but felt the urge to vent to cyberspace for a moment instead) but also two, count them, TWO research papers.  I thought attending art school was going to stay in line with my goal of never having to write for school ever again.


Apparently not.


Kill me now.

back in the saddle

In about a week from now I start graduate school . . . again . . . sort of.  So, if you're my friend and you thought I was still in school it means we haven't talked in a really long time. If you didn't even know I was in school for part of last year it means we haven't talked in a really, really long time. My apologies. Seriously. When things in my life aren't going the way I think they should I tend to shut people out and hide in my jackie cave until I can get things figured out. I have some issues. We can discuss those at some later date if you're actually interested.

So starting March 28th I'll be a student in the Motion Media Design program at SCAD. (here's where I hope no one who is reading this is stalking me, since I've just told you where I'm going to be spending the majority of my time for the next year. If you are stalking me . . . thanks . . . I'm a little flattered.)

And this is what I will be studying:
Motion graphics are graphics that use video and/or animation technology to create the illusion of motion or a transforming appearance

That's the short version of what I'll be doing, which really I should memorize, because people keep asking me what I'm going into and I've realized I'm fairly inept at explaining it to them. Darn my inability to communicate in a way that others besides me can understand! So, If you feel like reading more about it you may go here or here.

So I'm excited, and nervous, and also slightly in denial of the fact that I'm going to be back in school. Also, if again you don't hear from me for a long time it hopefully won't be because I'm having some sort of existential crisis but merely stuck in front of a computer screen creating something awesome.

in case you were wondering

The Mars bar was discontinued in the United States in 2002 but was relaunched last year. 

(am I the only one who notices when candy bars disappear? Peanut-Butter-Twix anyone?)

The American version of the Mars bar is not the same as the one sold in the UK. 

So if you're looking for that signature black wrapper and red lettering you're going to be searching for a long time (unless you're in the imported/ethnic foods section of certain stores. If that's where you are then you shouldn't be having this problem, and can stop reading this blog post, and go ahead and eat your candy bar).

Though the American version is pretty different, I found the white nougat quite enjoyable.

This may be due to the fact that I consumed it at that around 3pm, which is when I almost regularly crave a chocolate fix.

Also, thanks Amanda for providing said candy bar.

Also, also, the Mars bar is being sold exclusively through Walmart stores. 

directions please

Oliver Wendell Holmes once said "The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving."

So I'm getting a GPS. 

 

This will hopefully solve some of my directional problems. At least the figure-out-how-to-not-get-lost-through-the-non-grid-atlanta-metro-area kind of problems.

As for the rest of my life, I'm still working on it.

 

 

also, Garmin or TomTom?

so sometimes . . .

. . . I'm a little clumsy. For example, I regularly bump into door knobs, coffee tables, bed posts, drawers that are slightly open (probably because I didn't close them all the way), etc. This I've gotten used to since it happens so often I usually don't even notice until I find a mysterious bruise somewhere on my person. A depth perception problem perhaps? I don't really know.

Here's what I do know. There may or may not be a small welt on my face resulting from my hitting myself in the face with the car door today. I also may have had to put some ice on my face at work. It may turn into a bruise (though porbably not, it doesn't really hurt).

The really sad thing about this? This is not the first time I've hit myself in the face with a car door.

The mocking may now commence.

I deserve it.