The Part Where It's Almost My Birthday!!

Three days, eh! Yeah, it's exciting. And strange ... this is the first birthday in recent memory where I'm not scrambling to finish some sort of project. This is going back like... eight years, at least. Yupyup, all the way since the beginning of high school. Though, I guess in high school, it was more of a conglomeration of a ton of things, where as in college, it was usually one big project that I was working to finish. I mean, I got hired to do some effects on a student film this past week, which has made this past week a lot less enjoyable than I wish it had been, but, hey, I got to clear the cobwebs on my AfterEffects skills and made some pretty sweet light saber and force lightning effects (yeah... it's heavily influenced by Star Wars). It's actually a pretty cute film; it just really hit home to me to see how under-appreciated the VFX industry is. By no means am I a professional, but ... to be brutally honest, I think I got paid like $1.50/hour, which makes sense, considering the fact that I'm working on a student project. But if that's the mentality that's being fed out into the film industry, suddenly all the bankrupt VFX houses start to make sense because directors are being led to believe that VFX work should be that cheap, which is totally untrue.

Anyways. I don't want to get into industry politics right now, so I'm just gonna shut up.

And furrealsies! It's almost my birthday! I'm excited; my parents are showing up in LA, in approximately 3.5 hours. We're gonna have a family weekend ... still not quite sure what I'm gonna do with them, other than this SCAD Open House thing tomorrow, but I'm sure we'll figure it out as the weekend goes on.

It's crazy to think about what a difference a year makes ... times sure have changed since last April. I can't believe where I am, what I've done, how I've changed. It's a pretty impressive thing to think about, honestly. It's kind of funny that graduation will have happened exactly one year ago, next Sunday, and I was so unsure of what I was doing, but so sure at the same time. It's funny how I had all these plans, and I'm nowhere near them right now, but I wouldn't give up what has happened this past year for anything. What a year, what a year!

Haha! Birthdays are almost more important to me, and re-evaluating everything, than New Year's.

I've also been thinking about how much a change of setting can help refresh life. Leaving Loft was the best decision I've ever made. It's funny, with my new job, I am probably more vocal about thinking something is wrong, which often means that my boss will shoot me down, but at the very least, I'm voicing my discontent. Haha, that sounds like my new job is terrible, but it's really not. It's got the fast-paced nature and interpersonal interaction that Loft had, but it's much more in line with ... well, me. And my boss treats me well and I'm slowly but surely feeling the creative spark come back to me, which is something that never happened for me at Loft. It was almost like I could feel it draining me every time I went in. I was fighting so hard with myself to enjoy working there and be positive and keep my head straight and out of politics ... it was just a mess. I'll always be happy for the people I met there; they're really fun and nice, but I really needed to get out.

Onwards and upwards!

Anyways, before I bounce, photo update!

April 19, 2013. Feelin' a bit patriotic after that week from hell.

April 20, 2013. E had a special reading of her book. It was fantastic! I'm excited for the rest of it to be written ^_^

April 21, 2013. We had a busy, busy day! Went to a 3D showing of The Little Mermaid, then out to the beach, then to a fundraiser for Boston, then to mass at LMU! T'was very busy, and very fun, and very full of people!

April 22, 2013. The Command Center! Working on the Star Wars project, watching Doctor Who, and eating a sandwich. Actually, it was a pretty good day ^_^

April 23, 2013. Happiest of Birthdays to my lovely little, Erika. You are the light of my life. Thank you for Facebook stalking men when I am completely incapable of doing so. And for assuming that my phone password is some nerd reference. Which it's not. =D

April 24, 2013. Again... E! Yeah... it's an occupational hazard to live with me while I'm embarking on a Project 365. Goodness knows you'll have a LOT of pictures of yourself at the end of that year. ^_^

April 25, 2013. Ohhhh Kellie, the labs have not been kind to you. Love you!!

--Tiffany