life’s not a paragraph

so i am sitting here at home and i realize i’m halfway through junior year. which is terrifying. only a year and a half left. wow. it’s crazy how fast the past few years have gone by. this semester went by faster than ever though. it’s no surprise though; i was so busy all the time. it really was a great semester (now that i am done with it). i learned so much– and i am not just saying that because i am writing for the school.

this semester gave me a lot of insight into what i am going to be doing over the next year and a half and hopefully what i will be doing when i graduate. however, i still haven’t decided what i would like to do when i do graduate. i mean, it’s hard to decide when i have only had one semester of graphic design classes. we’ve done so many different types of projects this year; my head is spinning with all the options. logo design & corporate identity, movie posters, book design, packaging design, typography, web design (i haven’t even had that class yet)… the opportunities seem endless. at the moment, i think i really like logos and print design. packaging too. but who knows? i could take web design this summer and fall in love with writing code! haha

i am excited for next semester! but i am definitely going to be cherishing this break. i hope everyone has a great holiday! see you next year! 😀

… not really. who ever originally wrote this song obviously wasn’t in college at the time. that’s right folks! finals week is here!

today i had my last class, which is really hard to believe. this semester has gone by incredibly fast. but it’s not done yet. that’s for sure. i already took the one final exam that i had. it went pretty well i think… i hope…. haha now all i have is final projects, an essay and my review to look forward to. which translates to a weekend jam packed full of homework! yay! 🙁

in reality, it shouldn’t be too bad as long as i plan my time well. i haven’t been really great at that lately, but i think i can pull it together. i have to write an essay on printing and the protestant reformation for my history of graphic design class (don’t wince– i actually chose the topic. it’s interesting!). i have a movie poster due for computer applications. we had to pick a book that hasn’t been made into a movie and make a poster for it. i chose the secret of platform 13 by eva ibbotson (one of my favorite childhood books!). for graphic design one we are creating a promotional piece for a band that we saw in concert. i went to a flamenco show a few weeks ago so i am making a website homepage and a promotional flamenco fan for my project. in imaging we are creating self portraits referencing our relationships with music and color. i already passed in my final project for typography. we had to create a type specimen, which is basically a book to show off a typeface and (try to) make you want to buy it. i chose gotham– the official typeface of the obama campaign and the discovery channel. haha it was sixteen pages and a little overwhelming at first but we worked on it a lot on class, so i was able to get a final product that i am really proud of. hopefully i get a good grade!

alright… i should probably start working on my homework now… wish me luck!

feasts you are wondering? yes it’s true! i had two thanksgiving feasts this past week. i really love thanksgiving so i decided to have two this year. i wish i had a crazy story like i had two full thanksgiving meals on thursday, but unfortunately, i am not a gilmore girl.

my first feast was last sunday. my roommate and i hosted a vegetarian thanksgiving at our apartment. we invited a whole bunch of our friends, cooked for five hours and had a delicious meal with our friends. everybody brought a little something (needless to say we still have leftovers). martine and i made a (gourmet, if i may say) menu of roasted garlic, apple, and butternut squash soup, sweet potato and swiss chard gratin, roasted chestnuts and brussels sprouts, and pumpkin pecan brownies. i’m really sorry if this doesn’t sound good to you, because it was great! our friends added lasagna, green bean casserole, apple spice cake, and gallons of apple cider. it was so much fun! we’re already planning on some sort of christmas extravaganza. cookie swap i think? yum yum yum!

my second feast was more traditional. meaning it was actually on thanksgiving and a turkey was present (though i didn’t eat it). my grandparents came over and we proceeded to eat a bunch. i made myself stuffed squash and i ate lots of mashed potatoes. yummm. it was really great to just relax and be with my family. i forget how much i miss home sometimes. it’s easy to get wrapped up in the city. we went over to our neighbor’s house for dessert and i ate more. one thing i can’t resist is chocolate… and these delicious anise cookies my neighbor’s aunt made. i probably ate 10. haha

ahhh and now i am back at school. trying to get yourself motivated after thanksgiving is probably one of the most difficult things to get through in college. it’s literally like i hit a brick wall. total mental block. good news: two more weeks of classes. bad news: final projects in every class are due in two weeks. mehhh. it’s terrifying how little sleep i will be getting over the next fourteen days. once i get to school tomorrow i’ll be back and focused, but right now, i am giving up and going to bed. tomorrow night i’ll do homework….

it has been way too long. please don’t yell at me. i am sure you can agree that october just flew by. i honestly don’t know what happened. no, actually i do. four studio classes happened. i have had a lot of work this semester. sometimes i get a little overwhelmed to be honest, but that’s college for you.

thankfully, i have had some time to fit some fun stuff in. on the weekends, usually sundays, my roommate and i go cafe hopping. basically this means we tote our homework around with us to a different cafe every sunday and spend the day sipping on delicious tea (or coffee, depending on our mood) and shifting through our mountains of homework. it’s amazing how much more efficient i am when i leave my apartment! something about being out of the house just gets me motivated. maybe it’s the caffeine. haha i don’t know what it is, but i am not going to question it. cafe-hopping sundays have gotten me through the weekends lately. they have now become an integral part of my week and they help me explore the city a bit more. i have already found two great cafes right by my place. they are cozy and they have super yummy bagels and other treats. not great for my wallet, but wonderful for my tummy. 🙂

for halloween i got the chance to go to worcester and visit one of my best friends. leidy and i have been besties since freshman year. i love to visit her in worcester! i know a lot of people dislike worcester, but i love it! maybe it’s all the hispanic culture and delicious food (i’ve had some great brazilian food there!). haha maybe it’s just that i know quite a few people who live there (some of my friends from high school go to school in worcester). maybe it’s just that i always have fun when i go. yet again, i don’t know. i’m not going to question it… again. this entry is just chock full of mysteries! anyways, this trip i was able to hang out with leidy her boyfriend, and a few of his friends for halloween. i dressed up as a pink lady from grease. leidy and derek were yoko ono and john lennon. i also hung out with a pope, buzz lightyear and captain jack sparrow. i had such a great time. i am definitely going to be making another trip there soon–sans costume of course.

it feels like i have only been at school for two weeks… and at the same time, it feels like i never left for the summer. it’s a very strange feeling. almost as if time has grabbed a hold of each of my arms and is pulling in opposite directions, and i’m being pulled and stretched (cartoon-style of course).

no matter how long it’s been since school started, i have finally completed the first project in two of my classes. my imaging class and my typography class consist of a lot of small projects which we get assigned to complete over the course of the weekend. however, in my graphic design one class and my computer applications class, we have been working on the same project since (practically) the beginning of the semester.

and i am so happy with the final products. i am really amazed how my ideas and concepts transformed into something tangible and concrete. my gd1 project was the shorter of the two. we had to pick an object (i chose a happy buddha figurine that i have. some people chose vegetable peelers, locks, or flowers) and in nine steps, go from a detailed pencil drawing to abstract cut paper shapes. it’s a lot harder than it seems… and probably a lot more fun than it seems too. the progression is key. you can’t jump too much from one step to another or it completely disrupts the flow of the piece. it’s hard but you get some of the most  beautiful and interesting shapes as a result!

my comp apps project took the most time. we had to redesign a candy bar wrapper. we were given a list of five to chose from. i chose almond joy because it is one of my all time favorites. we had to research the history, come up with concepts, and ultimately, design a new wrapper.

in my original ideas, i just wanted to use lowercase letters. however, while i was looking for a font, i found an all uppercase font that worked perfectly with my concept. so i ended up using it! i am really proud of my final result. looking at my first sketches and then looking at my final product, it’s really cool to see how my ideas developed and changed. we actually had to make a mock up of our candy bar for our final presentation. i cut down two pieces of wood to replicate the size of the almond joy bars and then i printed out my wrapper and folded it to look like the real thing! it was strange to see it in its “true form”. it really makes me excited to do other projects because i know that all of the final projects will surprise me! this project made me want to try the product design class!

i know it’s a little early to be talking about spring break but the reason i’m bringing it up is because i am going to be a leader this year! 🙂 and the planning has already started!

last year i was just a participant. i went to meridian, mississippi and had one of the most amazing experiences of my life (see my post from march named inspiration). it was so rewarding. when it came time for 2011 leader applications, i was a little hesitant to sign up. classes and homework take up a lot of my time… actually, most of my time. but i decided that alternative spring break (asb) would be a valuable way to use the free time i do have!

so far (and we’re only two weeks in) asb is going to be bigger and better than it was last year. not only am i pumped about the leaders we have this year, we are planning more trips! last year there were four; this year they decided to do six! i guess they had more applications last year than they have ever had before, so they decided to make the asb program bigger to supply for the demand. good ol’ economics at its best.

i am so excited to be in a leadership role, but it’s a bit more demanding than i anticipated. my workload this year is turning out to be quite substantial, and asb on top of it all got a little overwhelming for me this past week. i am still getting used to all my classes, my professors, and all the new programs i am learning. last wednesday i felt like i was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. haha but as i get more into the school year, i know everything is going to get easier. as i get more comfortable with the photoshop and illustrator, the homework won’t take as long and i’ll have even more time to become a great asb leader!

today marks the end of my first full week of classes, but oddly enough, i feel like it’s the end of the first month. haha i’ve really only had classes for six days but man, have they been long ones. not in a bad way though. actually, my longest days go by pretty quickly. i have to do a lot on mondays and wednesdays- i have three studio classes those days- but they go by quickly! i am always running around in between classes, doing homework or eating. 🙂

i really love all my classes which is great. my professors are awesome. i have learned so much already! i opened adobe illustrator for the first time on monday in computer applications. everyone had to research different famous designers and create a presentation in graphic design one. i was assigned jonathan ive, the senior vp of industrial design at apple! i’ve made strange creatures and landscapes out of photocopies of etchings for imaging. i created my own typeface in basic typography. and i learned about the progression of cuniform to our latin alphabet in history of graphic design. i’ve done so much already this week. this is going to be a jam packed semester.

if you didn’t get it from the title of this post, i moved into a new apartment this year! i moved away from beacon hill and decided to move out to the back bay! i absolutely love it. we are right in the center of all the noise and music (literally) of the city. we live right by berklee and northeastern so there are always students around and the apartment building is bursting with singing and instrumental music. our neighbor has this beautiful broadway voice. he was writing a song last night, and it was so great to listen to it as i walked out to get the mail!

i am rooming with my friend martine from my alternative spring break trip and we get along so well! our apartment is super cute! it’s very open which is the opposite of what i lived in last year. we’ve got floor pillows and a tapestry and a cute little green tea pot and this awesome butcher block (with a shelf full of tea!) that martine brought up from her house.

we cook all the time. martine is a vegetarian like me so we love to cook up gourmet veggy meals! conveniently, whole foods is right near by and the copley square farmers market (on tuesdays and fridays) is located on my walk home so we have easy access to all the ingredients we could ever need. and i got this amazing thing called the ninja (if you haven’t seen the infomercials, it’s like the magic bullet on steriods) to make yummy smoothies with! i actually had one this morning (banana, mango and blueberry!).  i am so happy with my new place. i think i am going to stay here for awhile. 🙂

fall 2010- it’s a new school year! for the first time in my college career i have returned to the same place for school. last year the new england school of art and design was completely new to me. this year i feel like i have returned home i know where i am going. i know where all the rooms are. i know some of the faculty. even though i have a ton of new professors and i am learning so many new things (i’m finally in all of my graphic design classes), i am comfortable.

although- i have to be honest- i am not quite back into the school mindset. the whole homework thing is still a bit of a challenge. today is only my fourth full day of classes, so i am going to cut myself a little slack. by friday i am sure that i will be completely back in the swing of the things. 😀

it’s now july and i have caught up on all my paintings. i’ve had my review at school and now i am just awaiting my grade! prague was an amazing start to my summer, but so far i am having a pretty great summer at home. i’m working a bunch and seeing all my friends from high school.

but i can’t wait to get back to boston in september! 😀

i’ll be back then! have a good summer!