017

Semester got off to a bad start. Way too much stress. The weather has gotten cold already and my stomach has been unruly for the past 2 weeks. Still belly dancing, still having way too much fun with it. I miss frequenting Little Marakesh and having Aly's amazing hookah blends. Also: her cheesecake oasis (the works: chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, crushed nuts, caramel, honey, etc). Also also: her Moroccan mint tea with orange blossom water. I want to take a mental vacation.

That is September and the beginning of October summed up.

016

Today I welcomed a new friend into my home. Her previous owners called her Sarah, but I've taken to calling her Chai. She is sweet and very adventurous. She loves hiding under my bed!

015

My summer has disintegrated into nothing but hookah, tribal belly dance, sewing, food, and time spent with friends. I've taken some (keyword being some) photos, but I've hardly had the creative juices going in that regard. I've been pouring it all into dance and expressing myself through earthy movements. This is the healthiest I've ever been and I am loving every minute of it. There are plans to enroll in more yoga classes, my advancement in belly dance is imminent, and classes are starting in 3 weeks. Oh, I'm working a lot too. I hardly have idle time on my hands.

Tomorrow: cliff jumping and I AM BRINGING CAMERAS. I want to take more photos.

Also: I am buying lots of ethnic jewelry. I am in love with Rajasthani, Thai Karen Hill Tribe, Kuchi, Ethiopian, Turkish, and Tibetan baubles. Tribal belly dance makes me feel enabled to spend so much money on frivolous things, but they've got backgrounds and histories and I love it.

014

This fall semester I am going to be taking a jewelry-making and metalsmithing class. This is good. I already make and sell jewelry but I generally wing it and I am fairly limited by the small amount of knowledge I have. I am also probably preregistering for level 1.5 tribal belly dance as well to keep myself in shape. Also, I am taking a crapload of photography classes (duh).

This summer, once I stop working SO MUCH, I intend to get crafty and reopen my Etsy shop.

I am eating baklava and being lazy until I go back into work.

013

Today I bought some cake. Delicious cake.

I brought it home and looked at the label and thought I ordered a slice of strawberry shit cake.

012

Today I photographed glass in the studio. I placed the glass on black plexi and pinned a clean white piece of paper to the wall for a backdrop. I set a flash up on a floor-stand and pointed it at the white backdrop. All of these photos are backlit using the reflected light.

PHOTOGRAPHING GLASS IS INFURIATING. I constantly had Windex on hand and was wiping the glass off every other shot because dust would show up or fingerprints or SOMETHING. INFURIATING.

011

Last time in Studio Lighting we messed around with color gels and whatnot. The teacher has always been hesitant to let us do what we want with them because the entire class starts OVERUSING them and it gets annoying/tacky-looking.

We used green, blue, and yellow gels. We had 3 flashes set up. 2 shoot-through umbrellas and one snoot placed on the floor aimed at Nikkita's face.

We messed around in class for a while. She split us into two teams and forbade us from using the seamless backdrop for in-class photos. Some of us worked well together ... and others really did not. It was kinda funny seeing a classmate retreat and hide in the digital lab because his group really got on his nerves. I had to leave class early because I got about 2 hours of sleep and had not eaten yet that day and around 5pm I just got dizzy and felt faint and decided to split.

ALSO: My school's cafeteria-coffee sucks. I went for hazelnut cream blend and the jug was only able to fill half of my cup. I filled the rest of my container with vanilla mocha and then I went and checked out. Let me tell you: THAT COFFEE WAS COLD, CHUNKY, AND NASTY. Even though when it came OUT of the dispenser it was steaming, by the time I got to my seat and started working it was ice-cold and disgusting. I tried for another cup [DESPERATE FOR CAFFIENE]. It was warmer but just as disgusting. I pinched my nose and chugged it since I was dead on my feet. Please, school, improve your purchasable caffeine so that your students may survive the day.