No "25 Days" for a Few Days

BECAUSE:

I'm a chipmunk. A chipmunk hopped up on vicodin. And milkshakes.

Done With College: Catching Up On 25 Days

Day 12: Your favorite Christmas song.



Day 13: 5 things you love about Christmas.
Snow, being with my family, everyone being home from college, Christmas cookies, Christmas lights.


Day 14: Share a previous Christmas memory.
One Christmas, we went to see Adam Sandler's "Bedtime Stories." My dad fell asleep. BA DUM CHHHH

Day 15: Most annoying this about this time of year?
Forced cheer. Bitter cold. Eating so many cookies you get a stomachache.

Day 16: Your favorite Christmas tradition.
Duh, that's an easy one: going to the movies in our sweatpants! Since we're halfsies, we usually wake up, open presents, eat a tasty, tasty brunch, go to the movies, come home, get dressed, then eat a fancy dinner. It's the best, seriously.

Day 17: A photo of you in the holiday spirit.

I think that's all I have on this computer. I used to have all these pictures of my face reflected on ornaments but I think they were on the old Dell.

Day 18: Favorite Starbucks holiday drink.
Nonfat peppermint mocha, of course!

Ignoring My "25 Days" Until Tomorrow

 

I love my mom. Home cooked favorite meal during my last-ever-finals crunch? Hands down the best thing that could happen to me. Macaroni and cheese, you're the love of my life.

Day 10, Day 11, Jerky Professors, FINALS

First, because I'm pretty angry about this, I'm going on a rant about my Psychoanalysis professor.  Honestly, I love this class and this professor. It's one of the few academic (read: non-art) classes I've really enjoyed--even on days that I don't finish (or start) the reading, class discussions are flowing and productive, and I always learn something. The professor makes witty jokes and hilarious puns, encourages participation, and actually admits when he doesn't know the answer. Our class dynamic works really well--I have a few friends in class and everyone is just nice to each other. So far he's been relatively reasonable with papers (pushing back due dates when they snuck up on us, allowing us to come up with topics together, etc.) and had only canceled class twice.

That is, until last week. We still hadn't (and still haven't) gotten back our second and third papers, so I had (and still have) no idea where I stand grade-wise and style-wise. He canceled class on Monday via a Sunday afternoon e-mail, which was kind of awesome because I was tired and it's my first class of the day. Okay. But let it be know that we had scheduled our final paper to be due this upcoming Wednesday, the 15th, and still didn't have the topic that Monday. On Wednesday (the 8th), he didn't show up to class. Really just didn't come. We waited for almost half an hour before we decided we were just wasting our time and went to get coffee. And we just got an e-mail about it. TODAY. Which might have been prompted by my (very polite) e-mail asking about the final paper topic, because yesterday, there five days between me and the final paper being due. A final paper that was supposed to be 7-10 pages in length. Granted, he pushed our paper back until Monday (the 20th), and cut the length to 5-7 pages, but honestly I'm not leaving this until then. My printmaking project will get done during studio time on Tuesday, and this paper is the only other thing I have. Plus, the 20th is the day of my wisdom teeth surgery. Thanks but no thanks.

AND HERE'S THE WORST PART. Let me quote directly from his e-mail: "[Your] papers, all of them, on Monday (30 papers x 20 min/a paper = 600 minutes, or ten hours. It's been hard to find ten hours this semester -- but it's my job)."

YES. That IS your job! And I can guarantee that I spent more than 10 hours writing your goddamn papers. There's absolutely NO WAY I spent less than 3 hours on each of those papers. None. Zip. Zilch. What kind of nerve do you have to even SAY that? It's this total disregard for my time and my effort that makes me angry. SO ANGRY.

But. Moving right along. Here are my days 10 and 11--sorry I haven't actually been doing one every day. Even without a lot of finals and things, it's a hectic time of year.

Day 10: Who spoiled Santa Claus for you?

I'm going to assume my parents on this one. There came a point when my parents didn't even put the presents under the tree during the night, and my sister and I would have to go upstairs and rifle through their closets for the presents and bring them down. Now, we usually put them under the tree a day or two ahead of Christmas, all wrapped and pretty!

Day 11: Favorite gift received as a child?

One of the first years my sister and I were aware enough and had enough money to buy each other presents, she bought me one of those dog-robots that followed you around and you had to feed and stuff. I was obsessed with it for a few weeks. Then, as it always happens, it lived in the basement near the dog cage for years. Oh well.

Day 9: When Do You Put Up Your Tree?

Well, we've always had an artificial tree (I was allergic when I was a kid and we never really re-evaluated) so the timing isn't necessarily important. We usually wait until everyone is home, then we sort the tiers and put it all together. We put up the lights (alternating color and white) and tinsel, then dad disappears and us ladies put on all the ornaments.

 

Actually, we just got a new tree! Our old one was nine feet tall and too big for the new house. So it's going to be quite different this year--it's pre-lit, and so I assume it stays assembled. It's probably already up, but we'll wait until Nora and I are home for Christmas to decorate.

And, behold! This is my final photo project--I printed pictures of foliage in crazy, whacked out colors. I'm so proud of it!

Days 7 & 8 (Because I Had a Paper Due Today and Slacked on Blogging Yesterday)

Day 7: Your Christmas food craving.

Two words: NUTMEG NOELS. These cookies are the perfect combination of crunchy and chewy, sugary and nutmegy, and green and red (the mixture we roll the dough balls in always has red and green sugar in it). My mom makes an insane variety of Christmas cookies but these are absolutely THE BEST.

Day 8: There is mistletoe hanging above you, who do you wish is next to you?

Well telling you takes away some of the fun, doesn't it? I'll give you a hint: Freud. And no, it's not Sigmund Freud.

Day 6: Which one of Santa’s reindeer is your favorite?

 

I'm gonna have to go with Comet, just because I like his name the best.

Unless I'm really missing something, I feel like only Rudolf has his "own" personality. So name-favoritism it is!

Day 5: Favorite Candy Cane Flavor

Seriously, what kind of question is this? While some of the more fruity flavors are certainly delicious, nothing beats the classic peppermint. Dunked in hot chocolate with some marshmallows, even!

Day 4: 3 Things That Come to Mind When You Think of Christmas

Snow!!

My family!

  

 And Christmas trees, duh.

Days 1, 2, and 3!

Day 1: A photo of you last Christmas.

Take 12/30/09...probably the closest we're gonna get.

Day 2: Send a letter to Santa/what’s on your Christmas list?

A yoga mat, new "work" clothes (and SHOES), and honestly I have no idea what else. I've been thinking, though. SANTA CAN YOU HELP ME?

Day 3: A picture of you in the snow.

NYU's snow day last year! What a wonderful day that was :)

This Will Immediately Be Followed by Days 1-3

25 Days Till Christmas Challenge

Day 1: A photo of you last Christmas.
Day 2: Send a letter to Santa/what’s on your Christmas list?
Day 3: A picture of you in the snow.
Day 4: What 3 things come to mind when you think Christmas?
Day 5: Favorite Candy Cane Flavor.
Day 6: Which one of Santa’s reindeer is your favorite?
Day 7: Your Christmas food craving.
Day 8: There is mistletoe hanging above you, who do you wish is next to you?
Day 9: When do you put up your tree?
Day 10: Who spoiled Santa Claus for you?
Day 11: Favorite gift received as a child?
Day 12: Your favorite Christmas song.
Day 13: 5 things you love about Christmas.
Day 14: Share a previous Christmas memory.
Day 15: Most annoying this about this time of year?
Day 16: Your favorite Christmas tradition.
Day 17: A photo of you in the holiday spirit.
Day 18: Favorite Starbucks holiday drink.
Day 19: Whose gift was the hardest to buy this year?
Day 20: All time favorite Christmas present.
Day 21: Your favorite Christmas movie.
Day 22: Somewhere you would want to spend Christmas one year.
Day 23: How much money do you think you spent Christmas shopping?
Day 24: Don’t forget to leave cookies for Santa!. Your picture or Reblog
Day 25: It’s Christmas! What were some of the things you received this year?

Printmaking, To a T

"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it's normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through." -Ira Glass