He That Makes My Life a Little Brighter

My first assignment for studio class was experimenting with various types of lighting. So Josiah and I spent a few hours on a Saturday afternoon in the studio, and had some fun.

Don't mind the poor scan quality and my lack of making up for it in photoshop:

Remembering Brooke

It's a bit past midnight and I should go to bed, but I just felt like I needed to write something.

Today I have thought about a dear friend,
Someone I used to laugh with, study with, compete with, and just hang out with. Someone who never demanded anything in return for her generosity. With a sense of sweeping emotion, I have thought about her bubbling laugh, her chatty nature, the deep conversations, all the times I had vented about something so minute, yet she just listened, open ears, never rushing me.

I can hear her voice in my head as I play back a song we once sang together. I remember her dreams, her goals that I thought were so high, yet she attacked them, with ease.

I thought about her family, and what they must be feeling today.
And I wonder if I could ever fathom that type of pain.
I remembered Brooke today, whose death came first as a shock, then disbelief, then a tidal wave of memories, emotions, and tears.
Today, October 19th, would have been her 20th birthday.

I will never, ever, forget her.

Studio Time With Josiah = Fun.

"So, what do you want me to do for these pictures?"
"Eh, it really doesn't matter much... I just have to use all different types of lighting."
"Why am I always the project that doesn't matter??"

Baby, you do matter. You are what makes these sorts of projects actually fun.

Scenic Tour Saturday

Today was a crazy but fun day. This morning I had to go and pick it my car from the shop, and so my scenic tour began.

First I boarded a bus that took me to Chinatown. Interestingly enough, I haven't ever been there, and its mere minutes away from me. Next, I boarded another bus that took me to the repair shop, in Pilsen (Famous Spanish neighborhood.) I picked up my car and headed back home.

I didn't really know the fastest way to where I was going, so I called Josiah. "Hey, hun, can you look up real quick how I can get back to Hyde Park the fastest?" This phone conversation was very non-productive. For some reason, I continued driving south. Why? I saw signs pointing towards highway 90 and for some reason, that interested me.

"Take 51st street east," Josiah told me.
"I already passed 51st... I'm at 57th."
"Well go back and take it."
"Are you sure I can actually get onto the highway from 51st?"
"No, but try it!"

This is the point, about 5-10 minutes into the conversation, that Josiah was in fact using a paper map. And it was frustrating him that I was continuing to drive so my location was constantly changing. So I took 51st, and it did in fact lead me to the highway.

Let me just explain right now that the Dan Ryan Expressway is under intense construction right now, and the highway was a bad idea on my part. It was so packed, I ended up heading straight south on 94, which goes to Indiana, because I couldn't get off on the right exit. I normally take pride in my navigation skills. Really, I usually find my way out of situations pretty easily. But today, I don't know.

Next stop on my tour? 75th street. Eastbound. The "thank goodness it's daylight" part of the city. While traveling on 75th, I randomly decided to turn north, because the part of Hyde Park that I park my car in is on 55th St. Somehow, this unmarked street that I turned onto magically turned in to Lake Shore Drive. Fun, huh? Problem was that I missed the exit I was supposed to take, and ended up having to backtrack.

I finally arrived, having seen a great deal of the city of Chicago. Parking my car has never felt so good.

I Topped off the evening with 3 hours shooting pictures of Josiah in Columbia's main studio, followed by a trip to the beach, followed by a nap, followed by a cheeseburger from the cafeteria.



I searched google maps to see how far off track I really was - I'm including a personal illustration of my trek below. I'm ready to sleep now.

And So, It Begins

Move-ins are OVER! I am so relieved. No more beggining-of-the-year floor meetings. No more anxious parents asking me to personally take care of their child. No more pointless 7:30am OR 6:30am meetings. It's finally time for me to be a student again, to have a real job again!

Classes started yesterday. I had my Advanced Color Photography class in the morning and my Studio I class in the afternoon. Later in the evening, I dropped my Advanced Color class and switched to something better - the teacher had let us know up front that there would be a great amount of shooting and hours of printing for this class, all done on my own time. Too much... I already have studio photography hours to put in, website design lab hours to put in, and digital II hours... lots of additional shooting and hours of printing didn't sound inviting enough!

I am amazingly excited for this semester! I can't wait to learn all about studio lighting, to use the amazing equipment Columbia has. I learned yesterday that I did in fact get another federal grant this year, and now my student loans are all in order. Today I start training on the Segway, so soon I'll be a Chicago tour guide. Tuesday, I'm taking a group of students from my floor to the Cubs vs. Dodgers game. All free tickets, provided by my building. I'm not sure who I'm truly cheering for - I live in Chicago so it SHOULD be the Cubs, but Dad is asking me to put some cheers in for his Dodgers... I may just make a t-shirt with both logos on the front.

The possibilities are endless... it's going to be a great year.