i heart teachers

i had the most fantastic teacher day, ever.

my wildland/amenities management class this morning i had a presentation - it was supposed to be on thursday but last thursday the teacher asked if i could switch because someone else had a scheduling conflict. so he thanked me before class for doing that. and even though i ran everyone over class time (i was the last presenter) he said i had a really good presentation (though its possible that he was just placating me after seeing my nerve-wracked presentation. i didn't feel nervous beforehand, i just got a little rambly and couldn't find the words... so i think i may have sounded awkward - but it was obvious that i had a lot of information to impart as well.) so that was good.

Then i hung out in the computer lab for a while and read some articles - then on my way to the Hitchcock class, i was walking along and i hear this "hey! how are you?" from Brian McDonald. He was one of the teachers of my Storyboard for Animation class last summer, and the one who told me that i seemed like an actor. I liked him a lot and i liked his approach to films from a more story-based viewpoint, but i wasn't sure if he would remember me so it was cool to have him stop me on campus and ask how i was. We talked for a bit and he reiterated that i should take an acting class or something because he thought i'd be good at it. and that he'd cast me. (i'm not sure if he actually would, but it was an awfully nice thing to say.) Then the rest of the computer animation kids walked up and told me they liked my voice over last year on our story reel. so all that was even more good than the presentation thing.

after my hitchcock class, i stayed to ask Tweedie (the prof) about the Bejiing Film Program - and so we chatted about that and then we were kind of talking about stuff in class and i told him it was so weird that i'm going to graduate next quarter and i don't have a Tweedie class! (i've had him consistently for a year now.) He told me i should audit his 1960-present film class again, jokingly, but in a way that made me feel like he enjoyed having me in class. Hes my favorite film teacher, so it was cool.

He also advised me about writing to Willis Konick asap for my independent study course next quarter, because his class is so full already. So i spent my next break before class composing an email about how i wanted to write about music in kubricks films, half expecting that he'd say he just had too many people in the class or something, and then i got a reply just a couple of minutes ago, that said: "I'd be delighted to work with you on the subject of music in Kubrick's films. A fascinating subject indeed... you can attend the class any time you want to, and I think it might be interesting for you to view the major Kubrick films, and you might want to hear what I'm going to say about them." So Yay! Independent study that i'm actually interested in and from somebody who sounds like they know what they're talking about (hes email said more to make me believe this was already a subject he had explored a bit).

So yay! Yay for teachers! I miss being a teacher's pet. I look up to my teachers a lot, and to have them recognize me as being a good student or whatever just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

Ce Neveu Monde ??

i love C-Neuf radio (la connection pop-rock de Paris)...

but at the moment i'm listening to Aladdin's "A Whole New World" in french. Its a bit disconcerting, somehow. I like my disney in english, apparently.

THURSDAY is the day

that i post most consistently. i didn't plan it, but now that i've noticed the trend i think i'll try and stick to it.

So i have something exciting to write about. But i'm not going to. Yet. Its not finished yet. I'll write about it next week.

We only have 1.2 weeks of school left! and finals! but they don't count! then i'm just un quartier away from finishing school completely! god. thats so weird. i know jayne is kind of weirded out by not knowing whats going to happen next year, and i would be, except... i kind of got freaked out by it 4 years in advance. i worried about finishing college as i was finishing highschool. now that its here, i'm not really worried or bothered i guess. comes from having low expectations, i think. i mean, i just don't really care too greatly about where i end up. My ambitions career-wise are spectacularily low or un-focused or something - comes from really enjoying meaningless office-clerk type tasks. I know that i can get a job and be really pretty happy with it, even if its not film related. not that i wouldn't love to do something film-related, but i'm more interested in learning more about production, etc. before immersing myself full-time into film - lest it bore me or lose its appeal or something. i don't really think it would - but i suppose it could. Living in seattle has already bored me a bit on independent film.

Ok. Going off to watch a depressing holocaust film now. (its Pianist day in my roman polankski class.)

chomp chomp lyposuction ?

lately ive been noticing teeth. i like my teeth pretty well, they're really pretty straight, just one little bottom front tooth is noticeably twisted, but even then, not that bad. BUT - jesus christ, everyone now has PERFECT teeth. So even that small little twist makes me feel self conscious. And i just have to wonder what our kids will be like, as all kids now already have perfect teeth thanks to the very customary procedure of parents taking their kids to the orthodontist to have them medically make their mouths more beautiful. Well, scratch that, not all kids. Kids with money have perfect teeth. I can see this as being another thing that separates people who are really poor in america - i would feel so outcasted now with bad teeth, i cant even imagine what it will be like in 20 years. And it just seems like such an accepted and expected thing to go and have your teeth changed so they are all pretty and lined up perfectly that i can see more and more people turning to lyposuction/cosmetic surgeries because they've grown up thinking that medical "fixing" of your appearance is what is expected. it doesn't seem like a good thing for us in the long run. and my own mother is perpetuating the problem. geez, lisa. So. i'm going to be proud of my little crooked tooth. or try to be. and hope that my kids have naturally straight teeth so i dont have to get them orthodontically influenced into thinking that their appearance is merely a matter of medical finesse.

senioritis has come again?

i haven't updated in forever. but i have pledged to update at least every time my father does. which is perhaps lame and not the best plan i have ever come up with - but i'm writing, so at least its working at the moment.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETER. um, again. it was peter's bday last night, so i went to go be social with him at his petite fete. it was fun, i had a good time - everyone liked the cake i made, and i got to play some ddr and piano, and had a good chat with peter waiting for the bus. (there was absolutely NO ONE else on that bus. that doublebus bus... all empty for me... was a bit strange.)

going to classes has been difficult. i like 2/3 of my classes, i'm just having a hard time working up the _____________ to go to them. even though i don't really have anything better to do, a big part of me is just kind of like "classes? ...... meh, maybe not." So i'm trying to get over that.


And speaking of film classes - i may have to rethink my position on my favorite director. I like bertolucci a LOT, but he may be getting bumped down the list by Mind-Fuck-Polanski. I've liked all of his films so far, even the ones that dont make my brains dribble out of my ears- but those ones are the best. I havent had a movie affect/effect me in a long while, and then we watched REPULSION. and today i got to see The Tenant (or Le Locataire if you're in france). both made me have dribbly brains.

anyway. thats kind of what has been going on lately. everyone in the house seems to be listening to Paul Simon's Graceland lately - and i've finally downloaded a copy of it to my computer and am listening to it currently. i'm not sure how i escaped the paul simon (and garfunkel) revolution - apparently it never happened in our house. we jump straight from the allman brothers and the doors to peter gabriel and alison krauss...

and in a final and very sad note, jupiter is still missing. i can only hope that he was taken in by someone who is very nice to him. i miss him, where ever he is.

s a l u t a t i o n s

i apologize for not updating sooner. internet things have been erratic, but are now fixed. i still don't have any photos on my computer - but hopefully will soon.

lately... i moved back to seattle and settled into my room. i like my room mucho mucho, its nice and comfy with an amazing light set up in the closet that makes me smile everytime i have to get dressed. i do have pictures of that now... i'll try and get them up later.

and... i have decent classes. i like the roman polanski class the best, for more reasons than one- but it is / he is (roman) really interesting. and its easy. thats always nice. the hitchcock class is good, but i keep falling asleep in class for reasons i can't really figure out-and it might not count for credit, which would be a load of crap, but i still have enough time to get in the classes i need before i graduate. and the wildland public management class is pretty interesting, but i'm not sure how much i really like it. it also has the most reading, which makes it last on my list.

Diet Coke has changed their bottlecaps - and while i like the new design, they seem to slip from my fingers easier and i have a difficult time putting them back on.

ok. hope everybody had a good holiday time. i did.

My parisien family

Meet Brigitte and Rica, my host mom and the Japanese student who lives with us.
I'll put up more pictures as soon as i can. :)