I know I say this every quarter, but this one has been crazy.  We keep comparing it to the ridiculousness of first quarter until today when I realized I gave myself a night off.  I don’t really get those anymore and I miss it. 

So here’s one of the war wounds:

It’s my outdoor lighting shoot (round 2) and I think I have grown to hate it. Hopefully it’ll go over well to someone!

 

My apologies to Ryan who is probably the only person who reads this blog!  Well so much has been going on, so I’m not really sure where to start.  I’ll say this, because I know Ryan will appreciate this.  I just got off the phone with my uncle in Denver and he just invited me to the Sundance Film Festival next year. He used to work it every year and he knows tons of people, so that would be an awesome time. Speaking of which, I just spent the most amazing week in Colorado.  I love it out there!  Here’s some eye candy from the experience:  

 

Also, I just met Mike Mills’ (bass player for REM) brother last night. We were coming home from dinner and he needed to jump-start his car. He’s a really nice guy! Small world!  

 

Hello!  Q4 is done and still it feels like it was yesterday the quarter was just starting.  I cannot believe I’ve been here a year already.   One down. One to go.  Then what?  That’s the scary part. I fixed my printer!  I’m so completely stoked!  The color was horrible and it was printing lines all over everything, and I fixed it and I feel like a rock star!On another high note, I went to get coffee this morning and this is what my cup said to me: ”Remember your dreams and fight for them. You must know what you want from life. There is just one thing that makes your dream impossible: the fear of failure. Never forget your Personal Legend. Never forget your dreams. Your silent heart will guide you. Be silent now. It is the possibility of a dream that makes life interesting. You can choose between being a victim of destiny or an adventurer who is fighting for something important.” Paulo Coelho Here’s to those of us fighting for what we want! 

I just submitted a photo to CA (Communication Arts) for the 2008 Photography annual.  Fingers crossed!!!

What in the world happened to Fiestada Pizza?  That nasty, greasy crap that used to serve in high school about every other day for lunch.  It came up in conversation and I don’t think I’ve thought about it since high school.  I think it fell of the face of the earth.  Good riddance! 

We submitted our One Show entries on Wednesday.  I’m glad it’s over.  If I see another Dorito again, it will be too soon!  One less class to worry about until the end of the quarter.  

Well, better late than never, I suppose.  My life has been revolving around Doritos these past few days.  It’s getting down to the wire.  I cannot wait for Wednesday night, because after Wednesday, my submissions for the One Show will be on their merry way to New York and off my plate, perhaps never to be thought of again.  

Remember when you were a kid, rolling out of bed on Saturday mornings? You made a beeline for the television at six o’clock, not caring that your parents weren’t up until you were so hungry you had to wake them to get you breakfast. But only during a commercial break would you dare venture away from the television set to do so. At that age, we didn’t really care what we watched as long as it was animated and held our attention span.

Things were simpler back then. We didn’t realize all the innuendos imbedded in the cartoons we watched, specifically Winnie the Pooh. Back then, he was just a tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff. If you ask me, it’s just a nice way to say he’s a fat little bear that’s full of crap. Don’t get me wrong. I love Pooh bear. My dog’s name is Winnie. But after reading The Tao of Pooh, I realized how un-thoughtful our thoughtful little friend can be.

Take the story about Eeyore’s birthday where Pooh went to get Eeyore a jar of honey from his house. On Pooh’s journey back to Eeyore, he grew hungry and ate all the honey, thinking how proud he was for being so clever to bring a snack with him. He then got up and remembered where he was going after losing all train of thought and realized he ate Eeyore’s present. He took the jar to Owl who wrote, Happy Birthday Eeyore, on it. He proceeded to give him the jar as a last minute fix, which would be fine, except the intended gift was the honey. But Pooh ate the honey. That’s not creative. It’s selfish. Meanwhile, Piglet gave Eeyore a balloon that popped when he fell on it. It’s a perfect example of how something that could’ve been looked at negatively turned out positive. And thanks to Taoism, Pooh and Piglet are made out to look like heroes rather than the lazy, thoughtless creatures they are.

I’m by no means insinuating these were thoughtless gifts. I can appreciate the sentimentality behind it, and it’s not like they had any money. They’re a bunch of animals in the woods. Or are they? I recall reading about a piece of mail sent to a Mister Pooh Bear advertising a shoe sale. Later on in the story, Pooh was caught with a closet full of shoes ranging from sizes 8 1/2 to 12 1/2. Pooh doesn’t even wear shoes. Where did he get the money for them? But, more importantly, if he had money to blow on shoes he had no intention of wearing, why the hell is Eeyore getting some jacked up honey pot?

Or what about the time Eeyore was stuck in the river? Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit and Roo were playing Poohsticks when they noticed Eeyore’s dilemma. A glorious example of Wu Wei where Pooh doesn’t think, he just does, to get the job done. Pooh’s brilliant idea was to get the biggest rock he could carry to throw at him. Save him. More like take him out. When the boulder hit him and he disappeared under the water, someone did take note that Piglet’s stick was just ahead of Rabbit’s in the game. Now that’s friendship.

If you ask me, Pooh had some grudge against Eeyore. No wonder that donkey was so depressed all the time. You would be too if you had some stupid bear plotting your demise and getting credit and presents for things he doesn’t even do.

The purpose of The Tao of Pooh is to restore our tainted adult image of Winnie the Pooh. Now that we’re grown-up, we see through his schemes for what he really is: a dense, simple-minded and selfish bear. Or a tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff. Yes, Winnie the Pooh is a shining example of the Taoist points brought up in the book. He’s laid-back, efficient in his thinking and does without doing. His efforts are effortless. But are they ethical?

That has got to be one of the greatest super bowl games ever!  Too bad the ads sucked.  They haven’t been up to par for quite some time, but this year was really disappointing.  I can’t even say any are really popping out at me.  I think the only decent one was the Bud Light Semi-pro.  Coke went the endearing route.  They were nice, but nothing earth-shattering.  I’m looking for LMAO funny.  In my opinion, Budweiser is allowed to get away with endearing with the Clydesdales, but that’s it.  I want to be rolling on the floor laughing during the rest. O-well. Maybe next year.

OK, I’m just going to throw this out there:  I hate it when people in line behind me crowd me at the checkout.  I feel like I’m invading their space when I’m trying to swipe my card through the machine.  I went to the grocery store tonight to buy stuff to make chili for the game tomorrow.  The woman bagging groceries left for a moment, so I went over to bag my stuff.  When it came time to pay, I couldn’t get to the computer because the people behind me were all crowding me in.  I hate that!   **I stand corrected on my last post.  Hema is a Dutch company, not a German company.  Thanks!