christmas.

my family + new clothes + restaurant and bar shut down = the annual christmas fashion show, now with fancy lighting effects.

otherwise, i've been eating too much food (big family in the restaurant business), watching too much queer as folk (as recommended by a friend, and we know how i get once i start watching a tv show), and not doing enough of what i should be doing (sewing vests for the musical, taking photographs).

some things i now own: a tripod, new boots, a vintage persian lamb coat, some clothes that are a combination of pink, soft, and ruffly, and some silky pyjamas.

home.

sussex is seeing my family and keeping with holiday traditions. it's seeing the very few friends that don't live in sackville. it's going to bars that play country where the girls wear skanky tops that show of their bad tattoos and the boys wear baseball caps with in-no-way-ironic plaid shirts. it's getting hugs from people you barely knew, either because they want to hug as many people as possible or they don't want to hug everyone but you. it's being either too drunk or not drunk enough. it's going from a small town to a less small but less "cultured" one. it's getting bitten my my cat and drinking lots of juice. it's feeling nostalgic for high school, then remembering i really didn't like it that much.

some things.

i finished knitting something that i like and that's wearable.

i need to study for philosophy.

after reading a bunch about 19th century french art for my exam, i have taken a liking to les mis.

i want to make a book of sketches of great clothes and send it to the haus of gaga to see if they steal any of it without giving me credit. that would make my life.

i'm ready for a break.

i am a horrible person.

i have an art history take-home due in less than 24 hours, most of which i should use to sleep or attend a garnet & gold production meeting, and i have all of two sentences written down. my "oh, i have loads of time" perception of life is constantly increasing, and my motivation to do things decreasing.

so here's some procrastination: posting a photo that was printed through procrastination and taken during a photoshoot that came out of a good entire night and next morning of procrastination.

the scan is not great, and i no longer have photoshop to fix it with. then again, the print isn't that fantastic. it shows off my excellent and well-practiced (read: not) dodging skills. the alternate versions showcasing my burning skills were even greater.

anyway, over christmas break i hope to have a few photoshoots to this effect. but with real lighting and stuff. sequins and fur and skin and eyeliner. if i can get more boys in makeup, i will be satisfied.

this is what i do when i break things.

a few months ago, i was innnocently walking home from a night out, when my the left arm of my glasses suddenly snapped off. i was not too surprised, as the glasses were purchased online for a mere ten dollars, but it was still disappointing because i really did like those glasses. i taped the arm back on and wore them around for a few more weeks.

then, during a photo class trip to joggins, nova scotia, there was an incident. i leaned over a railing to get a picture of this miniature waterfall, and my glasses fell off my face. into the stream of water falling from the cliffs. so i went down and searched. i found the glasses, but that pesky left arm was nowhere to be found. i continued to wear the glasses for a few more weeks, floating on my face crookedly with nothing on the left side to keep them in place.

then, i had an idea. i made my way to the sculpture studio and fashioned a new arm out of wood.
some failed experiments with epoxy, and some tape and a pin and gold thread later, they were fixed.

i want to start a creative mending service.

i'm in a rut.

a big fat rut.

oh, musical theatre.

i've volunteered to be the costume designer for the musical "thoroughly modern millie". the fact that it's set in the 1920s makes it too appealing to me to resist, and i want to start building up some experience if i'm going to start my yearly applications to the national theatre school (i don't see the point in trying until at least next year, but my mother insists i start out early).

musicals do really make me happy, so do clothes. it's really a perfect match. a trip to halifax last week has made me think a little more about exactly what it is i'm doing. imagining what i'd be doing now if i had gone to nscad rather than mta is a strange thing. until the very last second, i had always known i'd go to nscad for textiles and fashion. but here i am in sackville doing sculpture and photography. in theory, the nscad program would have gotten me more training in an area closer to where i'd ultimately like to end up. at the same time, the experience at an art-only school would be very different, and i wouldn't have the chance to work on something like costuming for the musical, and also taking a theatre production course next semester.

generally, i don't really know what my plan is. the national theatre school thing would be great, but i'm not sure if it's just my pessimism saying that i'll never get into a program that accepts eight people per year, of if i would ever actually have a shot at it. and if not, what's my plan? i can't see myself being an actual practising artist full-time, obviously. and though photography is something i really enjoy, it's not really something i could make a career of, especially since i'm pretty sure i'm going to stick with film until perhaps it goes the way of the polaroid.

i am going to bed, and i will leave you with some costume sketches, done before a thorough reading of the script. i'll be updating costuming progress until the show in late january.

i'm finally beginning to get a grasp on quickly drawing an accurate figure for clothing sketches. they're starting to have more natural-looking poses. these ones were re-traced, obviously, but the original figures were mine.

i need to work on the males.

sculpture class.

sculpture. i think it may kill me.

my problem is getting a certain idea in my head that will not ever be able to be completed in the time we have to do the project. our first project was to make something out of paper, and i must have spent at least 2o hours on it, in one week. not a ridiculous amount of time, really, but it took much too long for what i ended up with. i may get some photos of it if it's still intact when i next see it.

the next project is to make something out of a 4'x8' sheet of plywood. we had two lists of words to choose from to base the project on. i'm unsure of the first word, maybe "fluid", but my second word will be "garment".
that image will not leave my head to make room for something less ridiculous and time-consuming. that would involve cutting an entire sheet of plywood into little sticks, drilling a hole in each of them, and somehow stringing them together to create this cape-thing. i really want to do it. i'm insane.

i'm considering a simpler version, which would be basically a solid version of that, without all the sticks, just a dome-cape-thing made of solid pieces, maybe fastened with hinges.

this is difficult.

terraria.

i made a terrarium. two, actually. terraria (thanks grace!)

i went for a nice walk in the waterfowl park yesterday to gather moss. i made a larger and nicer one with a deer in it, in a nice corked bottle. i happened to also have another jar and a bag of animal figurines, so i made a smaller one with a bear in it, which is messier and harder to see.


i'm kind of addicted. next up will be a large one under a wide glass dome (providing i can find one) with rolling hills of moss and a bighorn sheep.

so much fun.

some thoughts on the first few days of second year.

the quality of meal hall oranges has gone down. they're much harder to peel and less juicy.

single rooms are great because i can dress up and listen to showtunes without the girl on the other side of the room thinking i'm crazy.

having six hours of sculpture on fridays seems like it will be okay.

my social skills have not improved as far as meeting new people in residence goes, but i'm content with the acquaintances i have.

it is going to be so cold in the winter.

i'll be nineteen in three days, and i'm not sure if i really care.

having a functional light meter in my camera would be nice.

straw boater hats are fun.

i now have adequate closet space.