THEMACGIRL*

After a terrible first attempt using my Holga, I think that I’ve finally figured it out, it’s amazing what using the correct mask will do! I really like this camera, it takes pretty impressive lo-fi photos for a piece of multicolored plastic.

I was considering leaving it behind on vacation because of the limited space in my Crumpler bag, but I’m very happy that I didn’t. If only I would have thought to bring it along when we were at the shore, I probably would have used an entire roll (12 photos or 16 if you’re using a different mask) while there. All these photos were taken on vacation with the exception of the photo in the middle. There are a couple of holga photos that I uploaded to flickr that are not on the website if you’re interested. Click here.

Thanks again to my wonderful e-friend, Kris who sent me a roll of Fujifilm Superia film for my birthday. All of the photos I took on vacation was used with that film, and it’s probably in my head, but I do like it a lot better than the Kodak I had been using. Must pick up more film and keep practicing! :)

View more images… / Lazy? Here’s a slideshow.

I’ve spent the last few days in New Jersey and NYC visiting with my friend Andy and had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect the first day I was there, so we went to the shore in Seaside Heights and walked along the beach. It was odd seeing a beach almost deserted, but then again it is October. Despite my fear of large bodies of water I wandered in just a tiny bit, only to run out when the shock of the cold water hit my feet. The shore was my favorite part of the trip, because I’ve never been to a beach and it was nice to experience it.

Andy and I also spent some time in parts of New York visiting Central Park, the Empire State Building, and walking the Brooklyn Bridge to name a few. The views from the 86th floor of the Empire State Building were spectacular! Andy hadn’t been to either the Empire State Building or walked the Brooklyn Bridge in the time that he has lived near the city. Needless to say, it was an experience for both of us.

This has only been my second trip to NYC, but there’s something about it that I really like, maybe the fact that there’s always something new and fun to see. Like a homeless woman washing her naughty bits in a public restroom. Or a man bumping into a woman and inadvertently (or purposely) groping her. Technically those two incidents happened in Jersey — maybe it’s people from Jersey who are weird. ;-)

I don’t travel often, but when I do I feel reluctant about coming home and back to the daily grind. It’s nice doing daily activities that you want to do and not what you have to do. Unfortunately, time goes by too fast on vacation and it’s over with before you know it. Despite being back home and back to normal life I’m happy that I got to see Andy again and made new memories.

You may see a part two to this post in a few days, because the film from my Holga is currently being developed. Cross your fingers that I actually did everything right this time and my images don’t come back weird. Heh-heh. I really thought I would have more photos to show but I didn’t take a lot of diverse images. Still I’m happy with the ones that I did upload.

I met with my college adviser today to register for classes for the Spring semester, it seems a little early but I guess it’s really not. I was assigned to this adviser after switching my major from “Undecided” to “Business” a couple of days ago. It was a liberating feeling at the time to finally not be undecided, but to be working toward something. I went to this adviser in hopes that he would be able to tell me what would transfer to UofL, and keep me going in that direction. Instead, he was about as clueless as I was and still am. I was already annoyed because he kept me waiting almost 45 minutes after my scheduled time, time that I could have been studying, so this added to it. He said that UofL is constantly changing their curriculum and it’s really hard to say what will transfer without talking to someone at UofL. I think a lot of it is universities want their students to get all of their classes completed at the university, and they’re making it increasingly difficult to have transferable courses available at community colleges.

He found three classes for me and had a problem finding a fourth class to put me in. He finally found an Intro to Business class. He thought that it was transferable, he said, “…if nothing else you’ll get an idea of what you’re in for and if you want to continue a Business degree.” Great! I guess the Spring semester will be my last semester at ECTC… and off to bigger and better things!

As much as I want to move out as soon as possible I’ll probably delay it a little while. Given the state of the economy, the world going down the crapper, how dramatically Obama changes things when he becomes President ( ;-) ), etc. I’d feel safer about saving extra money to have in case of emergencies. I’ve seen too many of my friends move out before they should and depend on a credit card to get by each month. It’s better to be smart about it, right?

I have a busy weekend ahead with errands, work, and a definition-argument I need to write before going on vacation on Wednesday. I think it’s inevitable that I’ll have to work on final revisions while on vacation, but it shouldn’t require too much time and effort. What do you have planned for the weekend?

–

Also, I wanted to wish my brother Roy a very Happy Birthday! Miss you! :)