Tuesday, January 5, 2010
It has been a long time (again).
Wow, I completely forgot that I actually updated this thing a few times between fall 2008 and now. That shows how bad I am at keeping up with this thing. I'm planning to completely redesign this thing and my website sometime soon, so I figured I'd post something and try to get back into the habit of writing.
Every time I come back to write here, I feel like I've grown so much since I last wrote something here. It's surprising, and actually kind of scary, in a way. Who knew that I'd still have so much growing up left to do at 23 years old? I also know I'm still not even close to being finished growing, which is even scarier. Luckily I'm taking longer than the average student to finish college, so hopefully I'll be ready to grow up by the time I graduate. I hope I am, anyway.
To tell the truth, I've already grown so attached to Richmond and the people that I've met since I've been here that I'm absolutely terrified of graduating because graduating means that I'll have to leave everything I have behind and start fresh. While that might be good for me in some ways, I just don't know how I'm going to be ready to leave my family and all of the friends I've made when the time comes. I can't stay in Richmond because the fashion industry just doesn't exist here, but I'm scared to go to New York or California or wherever I end up having to go because I won't have anyone there. It's not just the fact that I won't have anyone that bothers me, either. I also don't know how I'm going to be okay without the people that I want and love and need to be close to me. It's just terrifying to me.
I also kind of wanted to write about some of the things that have happened to me since I've been at VCU, since I didn't really go over them the last few times I wrote here. So much has happened that I can't possibly go over all of it in a single post, and I don't really feel like going over everything in great detail, so I'll just highlight some of the important things.
My now ex-boyfriend and I broke up in November of 2008 (but we're still best friends!), and although I've been officially single since then, I've been involved in two things that were not quite relationships since then. I fell in love with one of them, and I was rejected by that person. Then I got used and betrayed by one of my so-called friends, but luckily I got out of that situation fairly easily. I'm currently still in love with the other, but that situation is complicated and I'd rather not go into it. For now, I'll just say that even though it almost seems hopeless for me, I'm not ready to give up on that. Meggi is an unstoppable force of love, bitches.
Although not everything has been great, I've met a lot of wonderful people and had a lot of wonderful experiences here. I went to my first concert here. I went out on Halloween for the first time since middle school here. I tried a kind of alcohol that I didn't hate for the first time here. I went to a club for the first time here, though I've since decided that I'm not crazy about clubs. I tried bubble tea for the first time here, and I've had so many other new experiences since I've been at VCU. I've learned a lot, too. I've learned how to crochet, bind books, sew, work with wood, make patterns, make animation and videos, and all kinds of things. It's been great.
Anyway, I'm going to go draw something now before bed, so I'll try to remember to write again later.
Every time I come back to write here, I feel like I've grown so much since I last wrote something here. It's surprising, and actually kind of scary, in a way. Who knew that I'd still have so much growing up left to do at 23 years old? I also know I'm still not even close to being finished growing, which is even scarier. Luckily I'm taking longer than the average student to finish college, so hopefully I'll be ready to grow up by the time I graduate. I hope I am, anyway.
To tell the truth, I've already grown so attached to Richmond and the people that I've met since I've been here that I'm absolutely terrified of graduating because graduating means that I'll have to leave everything I have behind and start fresh. While that might be good for me in some ways, I just don't know how I'm going to be ready to leave my family and all of the friends I've made when the time comes. I can't stay in Richmond because the fashion industry just doesn't exist here, but I'm scared to go to New York or California or wherever I end up having to go because I won't have anyone there. It's not just the fact that I won't have anyone that bothers me, either. I also don't know how I'm going to be okay without the people that I want and love and need to be close to me. It's just terrifying to me.
I also kind of wanted to write about some of the things that have happened to me since I've been at VCU, since I didn't really go over them the last few times I wrote here. So much has happened that I can't possibly go over all of it in a single post, and I don't really feel like going over everything in great detail, so I'll just highlight some of the important things.
My now ex-boyfriend and I broke up in November of 2008 (but we're still best friends!), and although I've been officially single since then, I've been involved in two things that were not quite relationships since then. I fell in love with one of them, and I was rejected by that person. Then I got used and betrayed by one of my so-called friends, but luckily I got out of that situation fairly easily. I'm currently still in love with the other, but that situation is complicated and I'd rather not go into it. For now, I'll just say that even though it almost seems hopeless for me, I'm not ready to give up on that. Meggi is an unstoppable force of love, bitches.
Although not everything has been great, I've met a lot of wonderful people and had a lot of wonderful experiences here. I went to my first concert here. I went out on Halloween for the first time since middle school here. I tried a kind of alcohol that I didn't hate for the first time here. I went to a club for the first time here, though I've since decided that I'm not crazy about clubs. I tried bubble tea for the first time here, and I've had so many other new experiences since I've been at VCU. I've learned a lot, too. I've learned how to crochet, bind books, sew, work with wood, make patterns, make animation and videos, and all kinds of things. It's been great.
Anyway, I'm going to go draw something now before bed, so I'll try to remember to write again later.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Short update
Finally updated my website with my most recent drawings/CafePress designs. :3
Other than that, not many interesting things have happened to me since I last wrote. I had a couple of doctor's appointments this week; I had my depo shot on Monday, and my dermatologist prescribed a new topical gel for my acne today. Hopefully my skin will clear up before I go to VCU.
I have about only two weeks left to spend with my boyfriend before he moves back home. I'm thinking about taking him out of town with me next week so that we can eat at the Olive Garden and so that I can finish shopping for my dorm supplies. I've ordered my bed and bath linens online, but there are a few odds and ends that I still need, like a basket to store and carry my shower supplies and a toothbrush case. I might also buy a few new cosmetic bags to store my toothpaste and other essentials in, but I'm not sure because I already have a number of cosmetic bags.
Friday I have a hair appointment, and to be honest, I'm not sure what I want to do with it. I kind of like the way my hairdresser has been cutting it, but I'm also thinking about cutting it a little shorter in the back. :\ I guess I'll look online a bit before my appointment and see if I can find a better style.
Other than that, not many interesting things have happened to me since I last wrote. I had a couple of doctor's appointments this week; I had my depo shot on Monday, and my dermatologist prescribed a new topical gel for my acne today. Hopefully my skin will clear up before I go to VCU.
I have about only two weeks left to spend with my boyfriend before he moves back home. I'm thinking about taking him out of town with me next week so that we can eat at the Olive Garden and so that I can finish shopping for my dorm supplies. I've ordered my bed and bath linens online, but there are a few odds and ends that I still need, like a basket to store and carry my shower supplies and a toothbrush case. I might also buy a few new cosmetic bags to store my toothpaste and other essentials in, but I'm not sure because I already have a number of cosmetic bags.
Friday I have a hair appointment, and to be honest, I'm not sure what I want to do with it. I kind of like the way my hairdresser has been cutting it, but I'm also thinking about cutting it a little shorter in the back. :\ I guess I'll look online a bit before my appointment and see if I can find a better style.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Orientation and stuff
It's been a while. I probably should have updated this sooner, but I finally caught the summer fever and got lazy about things. I've been stressing about things with VCU and the apartment situation, but I've also been playing a few videogames, which have been taking up most of my free time lately.
My orientation went well, and so did my brother's orientation. However, with him being a freshman and having the two-day orientation rather than the one-day session that I had, I think his orientation was slightly better than mine. That isn't to say that I didn't enjoy a few extra benefits by attending his orientation, though. I was able to get two free VCU t-shirts at his orientation (compared to the zero I received at my own), and I was able to attend the bus tour for parents and guests at his orientation, though I personally think that tour would have been more beneficial to the students than the parents. I was also able to walk around the campus and ride around on the shuttle bus to see how I would be getting to all of my classes while my brother was registering for his classes.
Well, I guess I've written enough about his orientation, but I haven't really said anything about my own orientation. To be honest, I think one of the most exciting parts of my orientation was getting to walk by myself from the art foundation building to one of the dining centers on campus. Of course, it wasn't my first time walking across the campus, but it was the first time I'd done so by myself, and it was pretty exciting to be able to figure out where to go by myself without having the help of another person or a group of people who already know where they're going.
It was also pretty exciting to finally register for my classes; it really started to give me a sense of being an actual student of VCU and not just an applicant. However, it wasn't a very organized process; I was expecting a one-on-one session with an advisor who would tell me what classes to take, but instead we got a computer lab full of students and maybe five advisors who didn't all exactly know what we should have been taking. I'm also a little concerned because one of the credits that should have transferred to VCU didn't transfer, and I don't exactly know why. However, the advisors recommended that I skip that requirement in case it transfers later.
I was impressed that my drawing classes at my community college both transferred, though. They transferred as credits for VCU's drawing studio and project classes, but I'm taking the drawing and project classes at VCU anyway because they'll help me keep full-time status and because I want them. My community college drawing classes were great, but since they were at a community college and not a full-blown art school, there weren't a lot of resources for models and other things like that (even though their new easels are quite nice :3), so I think that I would benefit from a drawing class at VCU.
After my orientation we drove around the neighborhoods where the apartments I was interested in were located, and surprisingly most of them weren't in such great neighborhoods. We ended up eliminating all of the apartments that I hadn't been able to make appointments to see prior to the day of my orientation, plus two of the four appointments I had already made.
The two apartments that we actually looked at were okay, but in the end I decided that the best choice overall would be to get the dorm. A lot of factors went into my decision, but in the end I think the two biggest things it came down to were the question of whether my boyfriend could keep up with his half of the rent without a secure job yet or any backup money, and the fact that I probably wouldn't be happy living in either of the apartments for the whole 3-4 years I'd be at VCU. The apartments only offered 12-month leases, and it would have been either very difficult or very expensive for me to try to find a better apartment later.
So I'm going to be in a dorm for my first year at VCU, and I'm going to look into getting an apartment in the spring so that I'll be able to grab one right as graduating or transferring students move out. If for some reason that isn't possible, I might try to get into one of the apartment-style dorms for upperclassmen for the next school year.
As far as other things in my life go, I'm really behind on updating my website, and I haven't really drawn anything since my last CafePress design. I just haven't felt like it, but it probably isn't such a bad thing. I'll be in artist boot camp starting on August 21st, so it's probably not such a bad idea to take a break so that I'll feel rested and ready to work when classes start. If I feel like it, I might draw my characters a bit before the fall semester starts because I'm not going to let myself draw them at all during the semester, but I'm not going to pressure myself to keep drawing just to stay busy. However, I will try to update my website to add my latest drawings sometime this week.
Oh, I mentioned that I've been playing videogames, right? Well, I put Silent Hill Origins on hold because I started itching to play Final Fantasy X-2 again. I started a New Game Plus, but I kind of rushed through it because I really just wanted to finish getting 100% (I had 99% previously) so that I could get the good ending, but for some reason I didn't get it. I got pissed off about that and started playing Final Fantasy X instead. I started getting really excited about totally owning Yunalesca this time around because she gave me so much trouble in my first game, and I beat her last night. Now I'm at the point of the game where all of the sidequests are available with the airship, but I'm already getting bored with it and I want to play something different. It's frustrating because I really wanted to get that AP trick so that I can over-level Yuna and make her hit harder than Auron, but I'm also impatient about getting the items that allow me to do that trick. I think I'll take a break and play something different and maybe come back to FFX when I'm ready to do that.
Well, that's about all I wanted to write today. I'll try to start updating more regularly. :3
My orientation went well, and so did my brother's orientation. However, with him being a freshman and having the two-day orientation rather than the one-day session that I had, I think his orientation was slightly better than mine. That isn't to say that I didn't enjoy a few extra benefits by attending his orientation, though. I was able to get two free VCU t-shirts at his orientation (compared to the zero I received at my own), and I was able to attend the bus tour for parents and guests at his orientation, though I personally think that tour would have been more beneficial to the students than the parents. I was also able to walk around the campus and ride around on the shuttle bus to see how I would be getting to all of my classes while my brother was registering for his classes.
Well, I guess I've written enough about his orientation, but I haven't really said anything about my own orientation. To be honest, I think one of the most exciting parts of my orientation was getting to walk by myself from the art foundation building to one of the dining centers on campus. Of course, it wasn't my first time walking across the campus, but it was the first time I'd done so by myself, and it was pretty exciting to be able to figure out where to go by myself without having the help of another person or a group of people who already know where they're going.
It was also pretty exciting to finally register for my classes; it really started to give me a sense of being an actual student of VCU and not just an applicant. However, it wasn't a very organized process; I was expecting a one-on-one session with an advisor who would tell me what classes to take, but instead we got a computer lab full of students and maybe five advisors who didn't all exactly know what we should have been taking. I'm also a little concerned because one of the credits that should have transferred to VCU didn't transfer, and I don't exactly know why. However, the advisors recommended that I skip that requirement in case it transfers later.
I was impressed that my drawing classes at my community college both transferred, though. They transferred as credits for VCU's drawing studio and project classes, but I'm taking the drawing and project classes at VCU anyway because they'll help me keep full-time status and because I want them. My community college drawing classes were great, but since they were at a community college and not a full-blown art school, there weren't a lot of resources for models and other things like that (even though their new easels are quite nice :3), so I think that I would benefit from a drawing class at VCU.
After my orientation we drove around the neighborhoods where the apartments I was interested in were located, and surprisingly most of them weren't in such great neighborhoods. We ended up eliminating all of the apartments that I hadn't been able to make appointments to see prior to the day of my orientation, plus two of the four appointments I had already made.
The two apartments that we actually looked at were okay, but in the end I decided that the best choice overall would be to get the dorm. A lot of factors went into my decision, but in the end I think the two biggest things it came down to were the question of whether my boyfriend could keep up with his half of the rent without a secure job yet or any backup money, and the fact that I probably wouldn't be happy living in either of the apartments for the whole 3-4 years I'd be at VCU. The apartments only offered 12-month leases, and it would have been either very difficult or very expensive for me to try to find a better apartment later.
So I'm going to be in a dorm for my first year at VCU, and I'm going to look into getting an apartment in the spring so that I'll be able to grab one right as graduating or transferring students move out. If for some reason that isn't possible, I might try to get into one of the apartment-style dorms for upperclassmen for the next school year.
As far as other things in my life go, I'm really behind on updating my website, and I haven't really drawn anything since my last CafePress design. I just haven't felt like it, but it probably isn't such a bad thing. I'll be in artist boot camp starting on August 21st, so it's probably not such a bad idea to take a break so that I'll feel rested and ready to work when classes start. If I feel like it, I might draw my characters a bit before the fall semester starts because I'm not going to let myself draw them at all during the semester, but I'm not going to pressure myself to keep drawing just to stay busy. However, I will try to update my website to add my latest drawings sometime this week.
Oh, I mentioned that I've been playing videogames, right? Well, I put Silent Hill Origins on hold because I started itching to play Final Fantasy X-2 again. I started a New Game Plus, but I kind of rushed through it because I really just wanted to finish getting 100% (I had 99% previously) so that I could get the good ending, but for some reason I didn't get it. I got pissed off about that and started playing Final Fantasy X instead. I started getting really excited about totally owning Yunalesca this time around because she gave me so much trouble in my first game, and I beat her last night. Now I'm at the point of the game where all of the sidequests are available with the airship, but I'm already getting bored with it and I want to play something different. It's frustrating because I really wanted to get that AP trick so that I can over-level Yuna and make her hit harder than Auron, but I'm also impatient about getting the items that allow me to do that trick. I think I'll take a break and play something different and maybe come back to FFX when I'm ready to do that.
Well, that's about all I wanted to write today. I'll try to start updating more regularly. :3
Labels: apartments, art, dorm, drawing, orientation, vcu, videogames, website
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Busy again
Sorry for the lack of updates; I've been working on my website almost nonstop for the past several days, and when I haven't been working on my website I've been working on the apartment hunt.
I'm currently uploading my website, and after I'm done with that, it's all a matter of testing it to make sure everything works okay, changing the links from my old website, and adding a few extra things (like a 404 error page--I've always wanted to make my own).
The apartment hunt has gone pretty well so far; I browsed VCU's off-campus housing website and found at least fifteen listings right off. I printed them all out and sorted through them, and I easily narrowed the group to my top six listings based on what I need in an apartment. I also called VCU's off-campus student services today because I wasn't sure if the apartments were in good neighborhoods, but the man I talked to said that they were all safe places. All that's left with that is to figure out which one is right for me and.
To be honest though, things are starting to pile up on me again. I haven't received my information packet yet, and I need it in order to do anything else because it contains my VCU ID number. I have to submit my response form to tell them that I do plan to attend VCU, I have to request my final transcripts, I have to take a math placement test (even though I already took Calculus >>), I have to get immunization records, and I have to register for orientation next week, and in order to do any of those things I need either my ID number or that information packet.
To add to the stress, the only orientation dates that are offered to students in the School of the Arts are June 23 and July 7, and I really want to do the June 23 orientation because it's better for my mom's schedule and because I want to look at apartments the next day. A few of my listings state that their apartments go very quickly, and I don't want to be stuck picking through the leftovers after all of the good apartments are taken.
I'm planning to call VCU tomorrow to see if they can give me my VCU ID number over the phone so that I can register for orientation and start calling the apartment owners to see if I can make an appointment to look at their apartments next Tuesday. Hopefully everything will go well. If not, I might be stuck ruining my mom's next big weekend trip. :\
I'm currently uploading my website, and after I'm done with that, it's all a matter of testing it to make sure everything works okay, changing the links from my old website, and adding a few extra things (like a 404 error page--I've always wanted to make my own).
The apartment hunt has gone pretty well so far; I browsed VCU's off-campus housing website and found at least fifteen listings right off. I printed them all out and sorted through them, and I easily narrowed the group to my top six listings based on what I need in an apartment. I also called VCU's off-campus student services today because I wasn't sure if the apartments were in good neighborhoods, but the man I talked to said that they were all safe places. All that's left with that is to figure out which one is right for me and.
To be honest though, things are starting to pile up on me again. I haven't received my information packet yet, and I need it in order to do anything else because it contains my VCU ID number. I have to submit my response form to tell them that I do plan to attend VCU, I have to request my final transcripts, I have to take a math placement test (even though I already took Calculus >>), I have to get immunization records, and I have to register for orientation next week, and in order to do any of those things I need either my ID number or that information packet.
To add to the stress, the only orientation dates that are offered to students in the School of the Arts are June 23 and July 7, and I really want to do the June 23 orientation because it's better for my mom's schedule and because I want to look at apartments the next day. A few of my listings state that their apartments go very quickly, and I don't want to be stuck picking through the leftovers after all of the good apartments are taken.
I'm planning to call VCU tomorrow to see if they can give me my VCU ID number over the phone so that I can register for orientation and start calling the apartment owners to see if I can make an appointment to look at their apartments next Tuesday. Hopefully everything will go well. If not, I might be stuck ruining my mom's next big weekend trip. :\
Labels: apartments, vcu, website
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Creativity block
I have one big problem today. Well, aside from the fact that my response from VCU still hasn't arrived yet, I have one big problem today.
The big problem?
Yesterday I drew a self portrait that I had originally planned to use in my website's new design, but when I finished it I decided I didn't want to paste my face onto the main page of my website after all. It seems that after that original idea failed, I've reached a creativity block.
I'm not sure what I want to put on the main page of my website now. I don't have the patience to do another realistic drawing for it, but I don't know if I want to draw another anime girl or something like that. Even if it would be more fun for me and it would better represent what I like in art, I don't want people to take me or my art as "juvenile." On the other hand, I don't know if I even care because it'll just be on the ".com" page of the website and nowhere else, and if I give somebody a link to the "professional" part of my website, it would be their own fault for leaving that section and finding my less serious art. But that doesn't help me decide on what I want to draw; it just justifies my desire to make "stupid art," as Inka Essenhigh might have put it.
I really wanted to draw something original for my website to keep it recent, but I think at this point I might just give up and salvage one of my older drawings for it if I can't think of anything else soon. At least I've justified wanting to draw whatever I want to draw for it through talking to my boyfriend and writing about it.
I'm also not sure what I should use as my domain name for my website. I've noticed that a lot of artists just use their real name, but I really wouldn't want to do that. I'm barely willing to put my real name on my website at all, but I'm still not sure what to use as my domain name. I want something cute and simple that I won't get sick of later, but I can't think of anything yet. Meggi.com would have been perfect, but it's already taken and apparently on auction at like $5,700 or something like that. Oh well, I'll probably come up with something eventually. :\
By the way, here's a preview of the self portrait I finished yesterday. I'm pretty proud of it, even though it's not going to make it to my website design.
Self Portrait by ~sailor-meggi on deviantART
The big problem?
Yesterday I drew a self portrait that I had originally planned to use in my website's new design, but when I finished it I decided I didn't want to paste my face onto the main page of my website after all. It seems that after that original idea failed, I've reached a creativity block.
I'm not sure what I want to put on the main page of my website now. I don't have the patience to do another realistic drawing for it, but I don't know if I want to draw another anime girl or something like that. Even if it would be more fun for me and it would better represent what I like in art, I don't want people to take me or my art as "juvenile." On the other hand, I don't know if I even care because it'll just be on the ".com" page of the website and nowhere else, and if I give somebody a link to the "professional" part of my website, it would be their own fault for leaving that section and finding my less serious art. But that doesn't help me decide on what I want to draw; it just justifies my desire to make "stupid art," as Inka Essenhigh might have put it.
I really wanted to draw something original for my website to keep it recent, but I think at this point I might just give up and salvage one of my older drawings for it if I can't think of anything else soon. At least I've justified wanting to draw whatever I want to draw for it through talking to my boyfriend and writing about it.
I'm also not sure what I should use as my domain name for my website. I've noticed that a lot of artists just use their real name, but I really wouldn't want to do that. I'm barely willing to put my real name on my website at all, but I'm still not sure what to use as my domain name. I want something cute and simple that I won't get sick of later, but I can't think of anything yet. Meggi.com would have been perfect, but it's already taken and apparently on auction at like $5,700 or something like that. Oh well, I'll probably come up with something eventually. :\
By the way, here's a preview of the self portrait I finished yesterday. I'm pretty proud of it, even though it's not going to make it to my website design.
Self Portrait by ~sailor-meggi on deviantART
Labels: art, creativity block, design, domain name, website, website design
all content and graphics copyright © 2008 Meg Couch. all rights reserved.