The Fall semester is almost over

This is my last blog post for this class. It’s been interesting, I’ve never really kept a blog before. I might keep doing it, who knows? After this I only have two projects I need to finish by next week, then it’s the holidays! Of course, I’ll still have work, bleh. Oh well, I kinda like keeping busy. Oh, and I really need to figure out my capstone. I think I want to do the Scarhead poster and maybe some other graphic design for the Youtube show. Amorae, if you’re reading this, I think it would be fun, and I want to do more stuff with you. :^) Well, I guess that’s it for me.

I got dublin dr. pepper today

Today’s gift in the 25 days of christmas were four cans of Dublin Dr. Pepper, and they were still cold! Well, that’s because the gifts are next to the balcony doors, and the insulation here sucks. Read my previous post for more info on that…

But yeah, it’s awesome, because I have been craving some good Dr. Pepper for the last couple of days. I’ve been drinking nothing but water. I know I’d be healthier if I didn’t drink sodas, but life’s too short to worry about every little thing you eat and drink and not being able to enjoy it. I’m still pretty healthy and eat healthy, I eat my veggies and fruits and drink lots of water. Dublin Dr. Pepper is the best soda ever.

Waterview Sucks

Why is it so cold in here? Probably because the insulation in the walls is deteriorating and this giant glass balcony door is falling apart at the sill. And bugs. We keep our apartment extremely clean, still get roaches. WTF? The wireless internet I was promised goes on and off, I’ve gotta hurry up and finish this before it goes out again. Rent keeps going up every year, $400 a month WITH scholarship. I’m so ready to move out. The only reason I’m still here is because I get the scholarship discount and it’s just conveniently next to campus.

Ugh, and my roommate. He’s a cool guy…well, he’s a nice guy, probably not very cool. But he stays up till like 3 in the morning and doesn’t eat dinner till like 1 AM which means I’m woken up every night by strange smells. One night at like 4 in the morning I was abruptly awoken by the most god-awful smell I have every inhaled. I don’t know what it was, but I cleaned all the dishes and took out the trash right then, because I couldn’t even sleep. Ridiculous.

So this is my rant about how much the Waterview Apartments suck, and how much I would like to move out and get a new roommate. If you read this entire thing, I’m sorry. It’s just that the word “Waterview” has become synonymous with “suck”, plain and simple.

If I were stranded on an island…

…I would most definitely need music to listen to, so I would have to have my Zune. Then of course I would need my laptop, a solar charger, and a satellite internet connection. Well, that just used up four of my five things that I could have with me. I guess the last thing I would need is Amorae, without whom I don’t think I could last 5 days. We could eat coconuts and roasted crab. I’ve seen Castaway, I know how it goes.

Plans after graduating

I can’t decide what I want to do yet. I know I should be applying to grad schools, even if I end up not going. The Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) seems like a top candidate, but it’s one of the best in the nation, if not the best, and would be incredibly hard to get into, not to mention expensive. But I’ll still try for it. I’m also thinking about staying here at UTD for the ATEC graduate program and focus more on things that I want to do, like 2D graphic design and print making. If I stay at UTD I could get an on campus job doing full-time graphic work for the school, and get a discount on my tuition. That would be pretty sweet, though I’m not sure how much I would enjoy working for the school after this year is over. Those are my top two options, but I’m sure other options are available if those don’t pan out. I just gotta come up with a Plan C or something…

Upcoming Movies!

These are some movies I’m excited about seeing in the next 6-10 months or so, as well as some I’ve missed and hope to see soon.

• RocknRolla - This new Guy Ritchie flick starring Gerard Butler caught me by surprise with its intense trailer. It’ll be at the dollar theater in Plano this weekend. I really wanna go see it.
• Watchmen - A movie based on the greatest graphic novel of all time, this movie will not dissappoint. It’s directed by Zach Snyder, the director of 300, and has an amazing, visually pleasing trailer that you need to check out if you haven’t already seen it. It’ll be the Dark Knight of 2009, and releases on March 6th.
• Dragonball: Evolution - I know, this is probably going to be silly b-movie at best, but it’s directed by James Wong who directed The One with Jet Li and two of the three Final Destination movies which I thought were pretty original and fun. I loved watching Dragonball as a kid, and I can’t help but feel nostalgic about this one. Trailer!
• The Day the Earth Stood Still – I knew it! Keanu Reeves is an alien! This role seems to suit him well, and this movie just looks like one of those rare films that are true to the science fiction genre, as it is going to be more like the short story of the same name than the original 1951 film. It comes out this weekend!
• X-Men Origins: Wolverine: Not much to say except flippin sweet! Hugh Jackman plays an awesome Wolverine, who is by far my favorite X-men. Not only do we get to find out more about Wolverine, but we also get to see characters like Dead Pool and Gambit for the first time in a live action movie. Awesome!
• Terminator Salvation: I hope it’s better than Terminator 3. That movie was a disappointment. It has Christian Bale as an older John Connor, which is a great start, and it will reveal more about the future of the Terminator fiction. May 22nd release date.
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – This series seems to get better with each movie, and as I’ve finally read most of the books, I’m even more interested to see how this one turns out. It looks like a really fun and well-made movie, and props for John Williams score! Releases July 17th, 2009
• Fast and Furious – Besides a lack of ingenuity in the title of the movie, this looks like a real comeback for Vin Diesel after the apparent failure Babylon A.D. (which I haven’t seen yet, but want to). It brings back most of the original cast of The Fast and the Furious and carries the same style of the first in the series, which is a very good thing, as I really enjoyed that movie. Check it out, releases June 12th, 2009.

Lighting and Texturing eats my life (ATEC in general)

This lighting and texturing class is killing me right now. I’d be much less stressed if it wasn’t for this awful final project we have to do, lighting and texturing a city corner scene. I’m only taking this class for the credit hours, I really just want to do 2D graphic design, but the ATEC program here at UTD is very broad and doesn’t offer much education in the 2D graphic design category. This project requires that we create new textures for about 100 different objects: bump maps, color maps, specular maps, and occlusion…then light the scene for both day and night. In the real world, there are people that make the textures, people that unwrap the UV’s, people that light, and people that set up cameras. One person doesn’t do all of it. This would have been much better as a group project, and would have had the advantage of teaching us how to work together and interact in a setting that mimics the real computer graphics industry.

My Favorite Edible Things

I don’t know why pizza comes to mind, I don’t think it’s my favorite, but maybe it actually is, I just don’t want to admit it. But why wouldn’t I want to admit that, pizza is really good. And there’s so many different kinds, I can’t choose just one. I also really really like manicotti and lasagna. Italian food in general is pretty much delicious…any Italian food.

I really like nachos too, the kind that you make at home. You know, put a bunch of tortilla chips on a baking sheet, cover ‘em with shredded cheese, tomatoes, black olives, green onions, and refried beans. Cook ‘em up till the cheese is melted, then pour on the salsa. Holy crap amazing.

Mmmmm, buffalo wings. I like spicy foods, and buffalo wings are probably my favorite spicy food. Especially with some celery sticks and ranch dip.

Now for dessert, that’s a little more difficult. It changes for me…sometimes I really crave some snickerdoodles, usually around Christmas time. Other times I just want some Skittles, you never know. Those big chocolate chip cookies are awesome, and one thing I’ve wanted to try but haven’t yet is a big warm choc chip cookie with mint choc chip ice cream on top.

Ok, I’m really hungry now.

SUAAB Marketing

I’ve made so many fliers and posters for SUAAB this semester, I’ve got enough for a portfolio to get me into any design institute in the flippin’ world. Ok, that might be an overstatement, it’s probably very difficult to get into a nice design school, not to mention the intense competition. But seriously, I am an underpaid, overworked, marketing designer (is that conceited? probably) that has some pretty awesome prints to show for it all. I’m also currently working on the Spring 2009 SUAAB calendar of events. It’s called the “SUAAB Manifesto” and will include bios of the executive board members, an explanation of who we are and what we do, and a planner that students can use to schedule their lives. It’s very daunting and time-consuming, but I think it’s gonna turn out to be one of the cornerstones of my future portfolio.

The first 10 days of Christmas

I have received some of the most awesome gifts ever from my significant other, and it’s only the first 10 days of the 25 Days of Christmas Extravaganza! Some of the awesomeness includes a special edition Wall-E DVD, a tin full of Jelly Belly gourmet jelly beans, a 3-D doodle kit, an Iron Man Mighty Mug and Iron Man pin back buttons, Left 4 Dead for the Xbox 360, and some Moleskine sketch pads (the best kind), among other amazing things. She knows me very well. I’m having too much fun, and finals aren’t even over yet.