Thursday, September 28, 2006

Busy Week, Lazy Me

I've been so good at homeworking thus far, until this week. And great, this week is the most homework/group project laden one of them all. So, I have three minutes to write this before running off to screenwriting followed by Japanese followed by re-shoots for our movie followed by actually figuring out what I'm going to say in that presentation tomorrow followed by a few hours of editing the movie.

Um, it's really hot today, and I feel like sleeping, but since it's my best two classes, I suppose that can wait. I been writing this week/lately, so maybe some of that will get up to where you can see it. Actually, it all goes up into the writing journal, but you guys are too lazy to go and check there. Silly you. Wrote a "movie scene" just now, for screenwriting, and it's pretty funny. Might go somewhere. But really we're supposed to be working on our play for the next while.

Ok, I'm being yelled at to go to class, so I'm off!! Have a nice week and a Happy Thursday, everyone!!

-Steph

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Been a While

Happy Blackjack Thursday! First one of the year. I know there's one next month, but I almost totally forgot about this one. Hahah, oops, since it's way more obvious than October 5th. Perhaps I'll get my roomies to play a hand with me. Sigh, if only I could count in my head.

So, I've been of the opinion, for a long time now, that everything happens for a reason. Here's a good story.

The other day, I was on my way to the caf for dinner. There are two ways to get there from my little house, the common way and the faster way. Because it's the common way, I was headed toward that one. But it just so happens that a car is coming down the road, which makes me veer off towards the other way. But in the car is one of my roommates, Alex. We wave, and I continue off in my new direction.

This is like an alley, blocked off from cars, between the baseball field and a dorm. So, I'm walking, and I see in front of me a lady talking to a freshman, the latter of which shrugs and goes on. I'm just catching up, and as I pass, I catch the lady's eye, because I know she's looking for somewhere and that girl couldn't help her. She catches mine, and sure enough, says, "Do you know where the IMT modular is?" I sure do. So I nod, and reply, "Yeah. Do you want me to show you where it is?"

Long story short, I walk her over to IMT and we have a nice chat about the campus. She says they didn't give her very good directions, and I say they never do. IMT isn't exactly on the way to the caf, but the direction I was headed when I met up with her is the way to get to the way to IMT, so it was easy to escort her there. My directions probably would have been worse than the ones she got before, anyhow--it was easier to just take her there myself. She thanks me, saying she really wouldn't have found it on her own, and I encourage her to have a nice day.

What if I had left the mod thirty seconds earlier, and wasn't detoured by Alex? Then I never would have had the chance to help out. And the actually helping out itself? Pure after-effects of Vons training. I'm not joking you. When someone asks me where something is, my very very first response is to ask if they want me to help them find it. Plus, the friendly chat between strangers? Never woulda happened four months ago.

I believe everything happens for a reason. If the sole reason I got that stupid job was to be prepared to help this lady find IMT, then I'm willing to say that it was worth it. Because those moments of friendliness, of service, were definitely the highlight of my day. I think that there's nothing I like more than to be useful. ^^

In school news, we're about to start filming our first project for film production. Actually, I mean taping and television, respectively. It's a chase scene that doesn't have a lot of action. If it turns out well, I'll tell you about it. ^^
Screenwriting we've started from the very beginning--the other day we created character and conflict, today we worked on scene. The writers of scenes had to direct the other kids in performing the scene, and it was very enlightening as to how to write with acting in mind. I'm not sure what we're working on next, but Mike said he'd ask Dom what our homework was. ^^;;
Japanese, we're finishing up chapter one! Still learning how to read, really. And, you know, write. Apparently chapter two is verbs, which I'm really interested in. Verbs will really start to free me up in the language. After all, you can't do anything without verbs.
Church history...finally turned in an assignment today. I've been good, doing the readings so far. Actually, I've been excellent at keeping up in all my classes so far, even doing my homework when I get home instead of waiting til after dinner to start it. It's weird, but it seems to be working. XD The only thing I'm behind in is reading for Mass Comm, but I'm not sure how much it matters. That's my least favorite class...because it's not interesting. But it is the prof who thinks that essays are the answer for everything, but I guess not in this class, which is a relief.

And little-house life is great, over all. Discovered KDOC-TV the other day (channel 112 here, 0o) and it makes life a lot better. Oh! And Grey's Anatomy is on tonight! And Lost soon, and I think Scrubs, too, huh? ^^ I like how house-life turned into tv-life.

It's really hard to believe I've only been here for a few weeks.

-Steph

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Swing of Things

Happy Thursday! This one is very different from last week--cloudy and cold, and I actually was able to wear my jacket almost all day. 67 degrees at the beginning of the afternoon. I kept hearing last year how it was unusually warm for so long...so maybe this is what it's really like, and it gets cold right away? Never can tell--I bet it'll be 90 again at least sometime next week.

Friend of ours rented Lost season 2, and she and Brianna have been watching it straight as often as they can, and of course I'm eager to join them. Do you guys know how great of a show that is?! I wish I'd started it at the beginning...or maybe I don't, 'cause I don't know what the weekly wait would have done to me. And I thought Alias cliffhangers were bad. Shoot.

Thursday is my longest day, right? Where I hafta wake up at 7 to go to the film production lab. XP And thanks to Lost I got to bed at a charming 1 AM...but it was alright. I need to shake up my sleep schedule so I don't build up a tolerance to 8 hours. Actually, though, I just got up from my nap, because my head started hurting halfway through Japanese.

Which is a great class. Sure, the ONLY new things I've learned so far are the words for pond, chair, salt, and station...but it's still fun to be in school for something you love. Because, I guess, school's never been like that before. Oh! And, the teacher gave us all Japanese names to use in class, and I'm Sakura. ^^ Which is like *the* most over-used anime name ever, but it feels so special ^^. I'm sure, though, it's because I was the first on the list, and the first girl's name that starts with S to come to mind is definitely Sakura. The other Stephanie is Yumiko (she changed her given one), and the other other one already had a Japanese name, Kiyoko.

It's actually pretty thrilling to say, "Hajimemashite, Sakura desu. Dozo yoroshiku."

And my reading ability is way far ahead of everyone else's. ^^ They're sounding things out, and I'm reading them. Thing is, we're starting out in hiragana only, which actually throws me off, because some things I can read in their kanji...she holds up き and I know it's "ki", but then she asks what it means, and I say, nothing. Becuase 木 is pronounced "ki", and that's what I think of when I think of the word "tree" in Japanese. Wow, did that make sense? No. Ok. Moving on.

Similarly, my screenplay class with Esselstrom is going veeeeeerrrrry well. So inpsiring and exciting. Already read a whole book for that class, and it hasn't been assigned yet. Today, we brought in a description of a character and a situation for him, and we acted it out. First, though, we gave him just the name of our characters, and he made up a description and conflict out of his shiny head, and it was pretty amazing. I acted (!!, I know) as a creepy old lady who HAD to check for change in ALL the parking meters, including the one where the guy with the car is just standing. It was pretty funny.

Also, right now, I'm sharing the couch with a guy named Alex, whom my roomie Alex introduced to us all, and he comes over like every day. And, right now, he's attempting to write a Thursday/Brown song. In search of the one chord which will make brown actually emit from the guitar. Because he's accidently wearing brown out of fate today, and I gave him a high five.

We have fun times in college, we really do. Later tonight Sophomores get free pizza and prizes or something. And, my homework is all online, so I only need my compy to do it. And, we're gonna go to bed early today!

Lookin' forward to the Blackjack Thursday coming up? I know I am.

-Steph

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Thursday at 88 degrees

I guess I was too busy singing freedom songs last week to mention it, but yesterday was the first day of classes. That means, of course, that I've moved out again, back to my favorite school of all, APU. Bye, Ventura, till next year!

I'm taking:
MWF: Film and TV Production
Some Media Critism class 0o

TR: F&TVP lab (R only)
Church History
Creative Writing for Stage and Screen
Japanese 101

In case you didn't know, R stands for Thursday 'round these parts. So...Happy R!

It's hot and dry and everything is the same as when I left. Well, there's some new umbrellas over some tables, and all the plants look painfully trimmed, but it's really exactly the same. And this time around, there's nothing to figure out, no one to meet. And the last days of summer while I was moved in before classes started, it was so BORING.

So far it's been easy to reconnect with friends from last year (I've got at least two in different classes), plus I've actually made new acquantances already!

My classes, oh, my classes. I seem to have great profs (and the one I've already had twice that I don't like, well, this class of his seems better than the others, even if it's the most boring of the five), and all of them (besides the one already mentioned) look like they're going to be so much fun and packed with learning. Sorta worried about the amount of work facing me, but that's the only worry.

My film classes, I'm sorta daunted by. I keep saying to myself "Ahhh, I can't make movies and direct and write screenplays!!!!" But that's just silly, because that's what I'm in those classes to learn how to do. It's not like an English class where you don't *learn* anything because you already know the language. They're actual educational classes where I am going to be taught a skill I don't have from the get go. I'm not used to not already being ahead.....I hope I have a lot of fun learning. ^^

Oh, and Japanese? I can see a lot of this class being review for me XD Some of the kids do already know how to put together sentences, but I was listening to them, and I know all the words they used. Other kids think they know what their doing, and I don't know if I am annoyed more by them or the kids who seem like they're not even trying. But they're not *not trying*, they're just really white and have never heard a Japanese word spoken before. There's an amazing amount of geeky anime fans in there, too. And a handful of American Japanese kids who want to learn how to talk with their family XD

A guy from my screenwriting class just came over to hang out with Alex, one of my roomies.

Alex: Where is my card!
ME: I stole it. And...put it into the sun.
Megan: *Why* would you do that?
ME: For safe keeping!

Yeaaaah, college life.

Megan's my other new roomie. The old one is Brianna. We live in a little house! Eventually I'll take pictures and pop them up on Flickr--I just got a text message, hold on........

Oh, it's Shelby. She's coming over! She's here!

Ok, good week to you!

-Steph