Tuesday 13 December 2011

gotta keep moving;

I am going to cry, I am going to cry on a Thursday.
Thursday everything will be done, I'll either have my project complete or 75% complete.
Lets hope for a complete...
I haven't cried yet, I don't have time, I am in too deep.
This is the time of the year I wish I had normal classes with a normal final. The final would require me to study, and if I had a good enough grade I could say "screw it" and take a nap. With final projects, you can't say screw it, if you say screw it you don't have anything to show. I have spent more time in the darkroom making/developing prints than I have spent sleeping in three days. Last night I got 5 hours. Even if I try napping right now I just have vivid dreams of school, failing my projects, or anything that leaves me waking in a panic. I have never been this stressed. I don't even know what to do. Thinking straight is not an option anymore. Alright, my complaining ends here.
I did good on my Digital Project Final, it turned out real pretty. I love black and white photos, and I love night shots. I'll post the pictures below as well as one from my parents 25th Anniversary. Should have done it a while ago.






Charlie, Dave, Lisa, Me
I get to see these precious people in 4 days =) 

Monday 5 December 2011

A much needed update;


Here we go on an update on the past 10 or so days! School is hell, honestly it’s crunch time right now and I am stressed through the roof. I can’t function; my dreams have turned into nightmares about my homework. Napping is a chore; I sometimes am too stressed to even shut myself down for 10 minutes. I want December 16th to come so I can be done this semester. At the same time I want more time to finish my final assignments. With art classes I really don’t have exams…everyone is stressed about studying but here I am stressed about finishing my final projects to the best of my ability. I think with exams you can choose to half ass it or not, study here and there…with my art I have to go hard the entire time until that project is done! Oh my oh my! On the plus side though my current assignment for my darkroom class (film/b&w photography) is really going well. I am excited about it. We are allowed to do whatever we want; however we want. I am photographing this one girl in way that really exploits a bad girl lifestyle and such. Photographing her drinking, smoking, waking up in odd situations after nights of partying. It’s really turned out well; I think it looks awesome at least! Some people might see it as weird or revealing but I think it shows the choices that a lot of college students make because of the temporary pleasures it brings. I still have some developing of prints to do; blowing them up. All the final details!
Moving on, next on the list. I had an amazing soccer season with the school, really enjoyed myself. It wasn’t the highest level of soccer I’ve ever played but because of this I was able to have less stress from soccer. I was simply able to enjoy my time on the field. After all that’s what the sport should be about; doing it because you love it. Over the season not once did I go into a game saying “I need to score or get assists so I can get more points to be ranked higher”. Ranking as a team was more important to me, and if I so happened to get an assist and or goal I was ecstatic. A few times girls got off track in that sense; some games they would be looking for the points for themselves rather than just capitalizing on opportunities and not worrying whose foot was to put the ball in the back of the net. All in all though I can’t say anyone was overly that way, just a few times in the season it was really noticeable. My point is I was happy with a 41st finish or something in the league for individual goals/assists. Numerous girls on my team finished higher; in fact Taige on my team got 4th in the league! A really amazing accomplishment for not only a player but for a freshman! Either way our team accomplished a lot. Now, the other day awards were given out. The All American Award; an award given out every season to 20 players based on points and overall playing ability. Coaches and directors of the league watched games, decided and voted collectively to establish whom they felt were the “best” or however I should describe it. I really didn’t know much about it, honestly I had only ever heard a few girls talk about it…and when they did talk about it, it was said in terms of “I need more points if I want to be even considered for All American”. Those sentences really bother me, it really screams they aren’t there for the team but for themselves only. Either way what I am trying to say is when I heard the news that I got the All American Award for the season I was shocked. I honestly never even considered I would get it…I guess being Canadian doesn’t matter haha!! I was really excited about it, proud I guess. Reassured that all the effort I put into the season was worth it! Me getting the award wasn’t as accepted as perhaps I thought it might me. Actually to the point of me not telling anyone but those back home and a few of my good friends here. I guess a few girls were really hoping they got it this year and maybe perhaps expecting too. I kind of almost feel guilty for getting it, being a freshman and all. Anyways, the fact is I got it and Taige also received the award and we both worked hard and no matter what we both deserved it.
Next an interesting email came along and for those narcoleptics who read this, I thought you might like to hear about it! First I would like to say thank you for everyone who reads this, when I started the blog it was mostly just to establish a reflection on my experience with narcolepsy, college and life in general. I get a kick out of hearing from anyone that they enjoy reading my blog, it’s nice to know that someone gets something out of this silly webpage; so thank you! Anyways the email was from a Corinne Poole who from what I understand is working on putting together a website full of information on sleep disorders, one being Narcolepsy. Their goal is to inform and get out as much information about all forms of sleep disorders to the public. As most of you narcoleptics know, sleep disorders are often miss-diagnosed, untreated, etc. As she put in the email:
“…online digital network of video channels called the INTEGRIS Digital Network. Within this revolutionary network are four channels with hundreds of videos; each designed to tell the individual stories of patients, their families and doctors, and the journey that brought them to today. I am reaching out to you because I think your blog would be an interesting read and also a great resource for our visitors and I would love to be able to direct them to it. I am recently out of college and I think it’s important that our generation is aware of the risks of sleep disorders.

I have found that many people do not realize the severity of a sleep disorder and the way it can put a life in jeopardy. It is estimated that nearly 70-million people in the U.S. suffer from chronic - yet treatable - sleep disorders. Yet millions go undiagnosed and untreated, leading not only to extreme fatigue and increased risk of accidents, but also to many serious health conditions such as heart attack, diabetes and stroke. It is the mission of the INTEGRIS team to encourage those who are suffering to take their symptoms seriously and help them find the relief they need…”

Anyways I thought it was interesting and the website is still in the process of developing but so far it looks great. I recommend checking it out and looking again in the near future when more is complete. Basically I think that it’s great information for those who are looking for more answers and or just links to other blogs and or networks. The link is as follows:
She also recommended this story: Katie Cook

I think that completes my update, I got a week full of photography so I need my rest! First I got to make the ever so famous college dinner; Kraft Dinner Mac & Cheese!
-Sarah