Day Three of New Semester!

Oh dear. I can see that my French class is going to take a whole lot more caffeine than previously thought. I swear I'm missing something. Could it be that my brain isn't a sponge anymore? Has it become hard as a rock? It's possible. This is it, I've entered into the "can't teach an old dog new tricks" years. Dangit...and I always wanted to learn how to play the violin.

Here. Just to prove my dedication to this class let me show you:

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. That is "Annie Get Your Gun" with French subtitles. It's a difficult movie under normal circumstances, nearly unbearable with French, but I made it through at least 30 minutes. At least.

The Portrait Drawing class last night has so far lived up to expectations. I'm so excited! I can't wait to get my hands all grimy with charcoal and ink! Whoopee!

I stayed for a long time in my Photoshop class today. I'm really excited about that class, too. It kind of feels wrong, altering photographs to make them look better. Doesn't it seem like it takes a certain amount of skill out of art? I guess it's just skill in a different capacity.

*Digression*: Don't you hate it when people sit in a highly public area (like the cafeteria in which I am sitting) and have angry conversations on the phone? This particular woman is even sitting at a table with someone else whose eyes have long since glossed over. Oh well, none of my bee's wax.

I think I'm going to go get something hot and lovely (like coffee.) The weather is so cold here!!! I want it to snow! Snow snow snow!

Day Two of New Semester

Normally, I’m a nice person. A very nice person. Having worked in the service industry, I have a healthy respect for people who wait on me in various capacities. I always say thank you with a big smile and even, occasionally, let them walk all over me as I stand timidly agreeing, wanting to cause as little trouble as possible. But when it comes to those handling my morning coffee, a completely different person takes over; Ms. Walker and Ms. Wheeler. For the last two semesters more or less the same people have been making my coffee. They know what I want: type of latte, milk, size, shots, temperature, etc. Well let me just tell you, this semester…completely different story. There’s a new girl. She’s slow, rude and complains loudly. She made me late to the second day of classes and I didn’t give her a tip or a smile. Take that newbie. I can only pray that she gets better. Okay, so maybe I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and crack a smile next time. The latte was…pretty good…so she may not be completely hopeless.

My French professor was as entertaining as ever today. She’s still in the over-emphasizing stage and it’s hilarious. Her face contorts in ways I never even thought was possible. We spend more time laughing than actually listening to the sounds she’s making.

I totally forgot how hard languages are. I was in 6^th grade the last time I went through the beginnings of a language and my brain has gotten decidedly stupider since then. That, and Spanish is just easier.

I have one more class tonight: Portrait Drawing! I hope it’s as relaxed as figure drawing was last semester. Other people say they didn’t like the professor I had for that class. True, she had a very different style. She would mostly peruse the room, throwing out criticisms in a thick Korean accent, “Her arm is too short!” “He looks like a monkey. Do you want him to look like a monkey?!” “Too light! Make it daka!” Those other people just can’t handle the truth. Personally, I thrive under the dictator type. It makes me learn so much more than all of the encouragement some professors dish out. You see, when I have approval, I feel satisfied and don’t push myself. But when I have constant criticism, I try that much harder to get the rare approval. I think I may have actually received a few compliments from her, most of the time hidden behind a criticism, but a compliment none-the-less. “It’ssssss….better…” “It’s a good composition but she’s way out of proportion.” I learned more and improved more in her class than any other art class I have ever taken. So this Portrait Drawing class has quite the example to live up to.

New Semester!

I've been having a blast with this GIMP photo program. I feel kind of dishonest, altering reality. Oh well, everyone else does it. Just prepare yourselves for a deluge of lies in photo form.

I just made fun of the narrator on a commercial for over-emphasizing a French word which leads me to...my first day of the Spring semester!

French was great. The professor is about half my height, really spunky and has a strong French accent. Also, she loves to pick on her students; at any other time, this would have been grounds for class droppage, but I think I'll be able to handle it. I'm feeling secure enough to make a complete fool out of myself and come out none the worse for wear.

Today, we learned, "Bonjour, j'mapelle, Ashley." It sounded more like, "Bonju. Jay mapel, Ashley." I have a horrible amazing French accent.

Digital Imaging was fine and is going to be surprisingly cheaper than I thought. Whoopee!

In other news, I have finally decided to never have kids, only dogs. I know, I know, I'm a horrible human being with no feelings and I'm going to hell. Trust me, I'm way too selfish to ever care for a screaming ball of terror. And besides, dogs are cute for their whole lives, kids are ugly in the beginning and ugly in the end with only five years of cuteness in between, tops.
(note: I love kids. I do. Just not when I'm bound to them for the rest of my life and responsible for them...eating. I like to be the kind "Aunty" type. Swoop in, have some fun, tickle, spoil a lot, send 'em back.)
(note 2: Chances are, as soon as I get married all of this will change and I'll be a baby machine.)