John McClain

I'm finally home. The fall semester was very hectic, but a lot of good came of it. More finished pieces, more experience in time management, more opportunities to experiment, and more time spent processing with God and working on my character. And the new, unfortunately temporary, professor allowed me to leave my comfort zone to experiment with different materials and styles. Even though it was scary for me personally, there was no added pressure from him that would have made it that much harder on me. Instead, he was very supportive and gave good feedback.

Now that I'm home, there is still much to be done. But there's a different kind of stress here. It's good. It keeps me going, motivated, feeling responsible and mature. I'm not as overwhelmed as when I'm at school, even though there is a lot to do. At school, you have deadlines and grades and expectations to meet. At home, there is love and understanding, and while things do need to be done, no one is here to bite my head off if I can't come through on everything because they know I'm working hard at whatever it is I AM doing. At school, some teachers think that their class takes precedence over every other class and aspect of your life, and if you don't come through on their assignment, you weren't trying hard enough. I hate that. I know I work hard. On EVERYTHING I possibly can. I've gotten physically sick trying to meet deadlines. I even threw up during a crit once because I was so sickly exhausted. And sometimes it's hard to decide whether to get something done just so you have it in on time, or to do it very well and risk not finishing. They say that in the real world, you get to say yes or no to what jobs you take. Or that you can sometimes work it out with a client so that you can work with a decent timeframe for you and also give them quality. If every class or assignment I had equalled a job, I'm sure I would be saying no to some of them. But you can't really do that at school. Any of it. Everyone has the same deadlines, whether you work fast or slow, and if you can't get it done then "screw you; I don't care if life happened; you knew about this assignment since ther day you were born; this is unprofessional; blah blah blah".

I guess all I'm saying is that it feels good to be home. The best part so far is that my dad got a Christmas tree that was apparently too tall and had a lot of empty spots. So he pulled a John McClain move and drilled holes in the trunk so he could stick branches in them to fill the empty patches. I really thought it was hillarious, and I'm sure I'll remember it forever. I love my dad. My sisters and I always imagine him doing the things Bruce Willis' character does in the Die Hard movies.

I love being home.

Good Night, Hartford

I wrapped two Christmas gifts tonight. It took about a half hour to an hour. That's the most productive I've felt all week and weekend. It's nice getting SOMETHING accomplished for a change. Everything else is taking forever, despite my best efforts. I enjoy being creative when I don't have to be, even when it's something as simple as wrapping presents. It's a nice break from school projects.

Now for my early bedtime. Another thing I'm feeling pretty good about.

Good night, Hartford. This is our last week together.

On the plate...

arthistoryfinalpaperduewednesdayANDthreepagesequentialstoryofsuperheropluscoverpageforbillANDfinalteaillustrationwithspotsforchuckANDitalianpresentationwithpaperANDitaliantakehometestANDfulltimerelationshipwithadamANDgettingenoughsleeptoavaoidgettingsickANDkeepingupenoughwithivcfnottoletthegroupstandingwithsgabedamagedANDfiguringoutchristmasplansANDdoingallthatchristmasshoppingjustdaysbeforechristmasbecauseihavenotimeduringschoolANDmakingsureigetallmymealseachdayANDprayingANDreadingthebiblANDmoretocomei'msure...

A Blessing From God

There's nothing like spending the end of a bad or emotional day with the one you love. Adam and I both had our own bad and/or emotional day today. When he got here for our date night, we were able to comfort each other. As much as these kinds of days suck, I'm just glad we can go through them together.

And I thank God for giving me a best friend to cry with.

A moment to breath before the pressure's really on

So it's Monday once more. The Monday right after the Thanksgiving break. If you want to call it a break, that is. More like an end semester teaser. I've got about two weeks left of classes, then finals. Doesn't seem that bad when you look at it like that. But then you factor in two new illustration projects, both of which are not yet started. On top of that, an art history final paper, and an Italian presentation with a paper to match. That paper has to be in Italian. As if it's not hard enough buckling down to write one in your own language.

Right, four final projects in two weeks. Even less time, actually, depending on due dates. The papers and presentation are all due next week. So... a week and a half for those. The illustrations are due soon after.

What am I going to do about it? One of three things. Procrastinate up 'til the last minute so that the only way to get anything done is to pull all-nighters; work as much as I can all the way through, even if it means stressing out a little and losing sleep; or get my needed 8 hours of sleep every night for the next two weeks, work without stressing, and get as much as I can done in the time given, even if it means sacraficing a little bit of my obsessive full potential.

I'm aiming for the third. The one with less stress and more sleep. I'm hoping to put it into practice tonight. I'm aiming for a 10:00 bedtime, with 11:00 being the limit.

I'm approaching the last straightaway. Here we go!