Whew! I’m so glad that is over. I made an A on my Unit 4 test (last Thursday), a B on the Unit 4 practical, a C on the final exam, and a B overall. Biology II is DONE!
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Category: Educate Me
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Final Exams, Round 1…
My first final exam is today at 2:00pm CST. It is in Biology II, including a zillion phylums, orders, genus, species classifications. I’m nervous, but not too bad. I think I should do ok – not fabulous, as I keep forgetting some of the classification information – but I remember a lot of the other details. All of the random trivia, like the 4 types of pine cones and things like that.
Please feel free to send me all the prayers, positive vibes, good mojo, whatever you prefer to call it that you can from 2:00 – 3:50 CST. I’ll need it!
In case you need the prayer, positive vibes, good mojo schedule, my other two tests are tomorrow at 11:00am (Chemistry) and Thursday at 12:30pm (Photography). Then it will be summer break for three glorious months! Whee!
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All is Quiet…
In the last week of Photo I, we toned prints. This came out of the darkroom black & white; after about 45 minutes in chemicals it was sepia toned. Taken at the cemetary in Galveston, April 2006.
I was pleasantly surprised yesterday to realize that I actually remember more from the first unit of Biology (the evil bacteria and protista unit) than I thought I did. So studying for the final tomorrow hasn’t been too bad at all. After this, I’ll spend time studying for the Chemistry final (Wednesday) and then Photography (Thursday). I have pretty solid grades in all three classes, so unless I got perfect scores or failed the tests really bad, that isn’t going to change. That takes a lot of the pressure off of me.
I can’t believe this semester is almost over. Thank goodness! Yeah!
I started my latest pair of socks last week using the Trekking XXL #107 pink and green yarn. I’m very “meh” about the color though – I’m going to just run waste yarn through the first sock so I can take it off the needles and I can move on to my “Big Pink Cookie” yarn. Odd, because I loved the Trekking color as Janet was making hers. Of course, every ball of Trekking can be just a little different. I’ll photograph mine later today and share. I have to move on though because I need something that doesn’t take much concentration right now, just round-and-round knitting. After finals I’ll move on to projects that require more focus – I have some lace waiting in the wings for me!
Speaking of taking pictures of things – I’ll take a picture of the new enlarger too! We went and picked it up yesterday. It is so wonderful. PERFECT. Exactly as I was hoping it would be. Huge props to Craigslist, which is where I found it. I promised Cindy, the previous owner, that I would show it a lot of love. You can tell she loved it and took great care of it over the years.
If all goes according to my current plan, I’ll be recording the next Pointy Sticks podcast later today. I’m so psyched! I want to do it right now, but I have to review the plant kingdom first. Then I can play for a little bit!
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A Dream Come True…
After several people left comments here about my “Taste the Rainbow” print, and I’ve had some inquiries recently via Flickr asking about buying prints, I decided to pursue a dream. I’m going to buy an enlarger so I can print photographs at home.
In 7th & 8th grade, I did a science fair project on Photograms. I made it to the Illinois State Science Fair both years, which was a great experience. But what probably stuck with me even longer was working in my own “darkroom” of sorts. My parents set it up in our small second bath, and since I was doing photograms we only needed developing trays and a red-light plus some photographic paper to make them. I loved working on them – it was so much fun! So the passion was ignited. Matter of fact, one of the first items I ever purchased with the babysitting money I earned was a 35mm point-and-shoot camera. I’ve been hooked on photography ever since.
My senior year in high school, I took Photo I. I loved working in the darkroom. I loved the creative process. Elaine & I were trying to explain this to Kathy last night, and it came down to the fact that everything you can do in Photoshop, you can do in the darkroom. That is, after all, why it is called Photoshop. Since I took that class back in 1986, I’ve always wanted my own darkroom.
When we first looked at our house, I noted the fact that there is a second bathroom upstairs. It is sort of odd, because there are three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The original owners, who we bought the house from, had 3 teenagers when they moved in – so with a girl and two boys, it made sense to have two bathrooms. Jason doesn’t need two bathrooms though, so my first comment? “Look! This one would make a perfect darkroom!” There are no windows. I would have running water. It would be a dream come true.
Now, after the latest photography experience, I don’t want to walk away from working in the darkroom. Plus, I don’t really need to take Photo II because I don’t need any more electives for my degree. I would like to take it so I can learn more, because as I said the other day there is a lifetime of learning out there when it comes to photography. I will not take it with my current teacher though – if I take it, it will be at a different campus. Or I will take continuing education courses for fun. But the cost of a used enlarger and the cost of tuition for the course are about the same. No need for the extra credits, I’ll take an enlarger instead.
So, thanks to the joy of Craigslist, I have found an enlarger. Not only that, the photographer that is selling it actually wants to sell off all of her darkroom equipment, for a fantastic price. MUCH lower than retail.
In order to help get the darkroom set up, I’m planning on selling a limited edition run of the flamingo prints, numbered and signed. Both the hand-colored flamingos and the sleeping flamingos. I’m working out the last of the details right now, so I will keep you posted. I’ll probably set everything up after Thursday, when the finals are over.
I’m *so* excited, I can’t even put it into words. Seriously, it is a dream come true. Thank you again to all of you for your support and encouragement – with out you, I’m not sure if I would be brave enough to follow the dream.
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Taste the Rainbow…
Click on the photo to get the uber-cool large view.
Originally, I hand-colored all of the flamingos pink. They looked … so … something. Plain? Boring? Expected? I don’t know. Just not right. So I removed all of that color – the joy of working with chalks! – and instead went with the rainbow flamingos. This scan doesn’t even do them justice – they turned out very nice in person.
They are now sitting in my Photo I portfolio that I turned in today. I went in yesterday to develop my last two rolls of film. I exchanged minimal words with my instructor, and he was back to normal. Well, what I thought was normal all semester long until Tuesday. I forgot to mention that at one point a few weeks ago he made some quip to me about something – the usual banter that goes on in a lab class like that – and said to me that he was glad he knew me well enough to say what he said. (I think it was something about a joke they had just made on the radio. His comment stuck with me a lot more than the context.)
I think that was part of what bothered me so much the other day. I felt as though I had met another photography lover, something that brings a common bond between anyone with a passion for their art. Knitters? We have a bond. Photographers? We have a bond. Although looking at it now, I realize the bonds are different. Both are arts, but knitters share their passion so freely – while some photographer guard it so close and can be quite snooty about other people’s work. You don’t see this in the knitting world. If I come across a new knitter, I welcome them – no matter what. I do not critique their work. I value it. I am the same way with photographers, but the lesson that has been driven home by this experience is that not everyone feels that way.
I refuse to be a skeptic though. I refuse to let it get me down. I will still embrace all photographers, because as I said the other day – we all have something to learn from one another. Knitters have taught me this lesson time and time again. No matter what your skill level is in any craft, there is something that I can learn from you.
My other lesson for today? To remember to love your inner geek, your inner freak, your little quirks – whatever it is that makes you who you are. Don’t let the world smother that part of you, but instead you need to set it free.
My last two Biology tests are over now. I made a B on the lab practical, and I am confident that I will make a B on the exam too. I’m down to three final exams on Tuesday, Wednesday and maybe Thursday of next week (depending on whether or not I take the photo final on Wednesday or Thursday), and then the semester is done. For tonight, I am going to enjoy some needed down time. Tomorrow there will be the MOMs group, studying, and then we will get together with Daysies to have dinner and wish her well as she moves off to Dallas. I still can’t believe she is leaving – I’m just glad she will always just be a phone call away.