Never did write this one on time, did I? Time has a real problem with me. It always seems to leave me right when I do not need it to, and never comes back with enough space to make up for what was lost. Why is that? What is the real point to any of that. I do not know. I will not know.

But looking back on the State Fair Trip, I had an amazing time this year, unlike the last. I spent it enjoying the sights, losing myself to the smells, and realizing that sometimes the wonder you look for in the rides, can be found in the people right next to you. But maybe that is also just wishful thinking, and hindsight speaking. The tour through the University of South Carolina this year was nothing spectacular, and felt far less intimate and group orientated than the previous year. It probably was not intended, but having Art and Digital Communications tour together was a bit of an issue. Too many kids, too little space, one tour guide.

However the food there was still amazing as it is each year, and I ate my fill before the Fair, just to make sure I did not buy anything more. Because while the University of South Carolina may have some mildly healthy options, the Fair has zero, and opts for more fried, battered or sugar-coated items due to the easy and simple availability for such cooking.

Really the highlight of the fair was the rides, and the people I rode with. Getting to spend time with some of the juniors, occasionally meet up with the seniors and really experience what I had not the year prior, felt amazing. There just IS something about not worrying with time, about not following the group because a senior is in it, and about realizing that sometimes, you are not meant to be there for everyone. I tried to hang out with as many people as I could, but really I stuck to one group, and I do not think I would have had it any other way.

Time is such a difficult idea to grab a hold of, and an even harder one to make up for the loss of. After a terrible instance of distortions and a leap in my own mental space, I finally feel up to being back on track with everything I have to do. The sun feels like it is shining for the first time in a long while, and since things are starting to look up, it is finally time for me to catch up with reality. There are plenty of problems I may have, but really there is nothing worse than realizing that you have almost thrown away weeks amount of time for the sole purpose of helping yourself. It makes me feel that it may not have been worth it, until I smile again and realize I would not have this if I had stayed that way. But that will not stop me from being me, and since I am writing this a bit late, than I can say that I have finally made progress on my mastery again. I am nineteen days into a research class, which is a presumed twenty-eight and a half hours, great numbers if you ask me.

On the subject of the door for our class? I can not say much as I have been helping only minimally mainly due to me having to catch up with what we had been doing in class at the time. However I have helped a number of the students in what they wanted for the design, and helped finalize much of what needed to be done.

On the topic of my Human Affairs logo, I took inspiration from more basic logos and decided to change some of the more represenative elements until I had something that would fit the bill for what I had wanted at that time. The final design came out to be a string of “paper” people of differing colors to represent that diversity is still unity, which also covered an outline of the state of South Carolina. From that point I added the basic wording they had wanted and turned it in, even if late.

This week has been a blur, and I mean that quite literally. Gaps in my memory have started to appear and my interest in anything feels almost lack luster to what it once did. Where I was once motivated to do most anything, I now find myself completely lost in most of my activities. This disassociation has led to this past week feeling completely tilted, almost as if it was an uphill mountain that would go to nowhere. It has caused plenty of setbacks as of recently, especially in the implications of school, friend, and family life which have all decreased to stressed angles all over the place. I do not truly know if it is safe for what had happened, or what may have even caused such an incident. It is hard to think that I am now so far behind in my classes, both my major and Astronomy, all the while being told that I am simply lazy or angry for no apparent reason when in reality I have been facing what feels like a blank in my brain that only recently came back to me. Finding reason again was hard, and even harder when considering that I felt I had non one to go to for such a subject, and yet now I have found the path to it once more. There is not much more I would want than to be able to accomplish my work and keep up my competence towards being social, but truly dropping those that were unnecessary to me has given me a better respite than before.

I was refreshed on what I did for my mastery this week however, as I had cataloged it all luckily. For almost all of the days of the week I had apparently been taking my regular notes on the class I view, while also making special appointments with certain students to meet about how their projects and media are coming along. This change of pacing and apparent effort on my part on completely lost on my mind and I do not know how to truly feel about such actions.

My design for SCHAC has not actually been started due to my last minute operation last week. Thursday and Friday were taken over by me having to get my wisdom teeth removed which honestly was one of the worst experiences of my life, as it has made me so very tired and lethargic. The operation itself went completely well enough except I woke up a fourth of the way through my operation and had to have the nurses inject me with an extra dosage of the anesthetic to put me back under until my operation was done. The only problem is, that I woke up with the urge to stand up and walk on my own and since the nurses could not carry me they had to put me in a wheel chair in which I then tried to use to flee from them. I was still caught however and was quickly treated to a nice talking to as I tried to fight me nurse for being so rude. In reality she was just making sure I was okay but I was in no mood, and was highly medicated for the expanse of that. Once home I have never slept as much as I did then and really it was so nice being able to rest without any worries through it all. It was just a really odd experience to go through and I still do not know how to fully go through this all without having to resort to another doctors visit.

This week however, I have gotten some progress done on my mastery specifically meeting with certain people for the business set ups and multiple advertising accounts that had to be set up. These are specifically created to help formulate the basis for spreading their names and their ventures across far more than just given word. It makes things easier for both of us, and not to mention it is what helps me with my mastery and them with their business which just seems to work. Other than that my mastery has been going well. Also have done a massive amount of research.

This week has been a mighty busy time as I have begun to fill up a lot more research than what was initially thought of, especially in the ways I have been doing it. My fourth block is dominated by watching a class socially interact, and use social media while at the same time seeing how people are in a realistic environment. Even with that research happening, I have also been moving to arrange an internship with Jeremy Alexander as of recent, and will continue to pursue such a goal until the moment that I no longer can. Furthering, I have officially turned in my State Fair piece so that is no longer weighing on my mind while also giving me more time for research this time around.

My senior year of school has been a roller coaster so far as I have been interacting more than ever with people while at the same time I have also been dedicating myself to my work now more than once ever before, especially with how well off I have become in social situations. Compared to my own Junior year, this year has been a lot more comfortable and reliable for me, even in the worst of times. However, I do need to start appreciating sleep a little more than what I am right now since I have been pretty stupid as of late with how long I am up for.

With all of that said, for once I do not feel fully crunched for time, even with my need for research. My schedule is highly flexible and remarkably open for a lot of the needed investments, such as meeting with students about business or going in to view a class that may need it. I have been able to study more students than what I once thought of, and really it makes things a lot easier in the long run for me. An even larger plus is that I have been able to sit down and commit to a lot more of my work than I was able to in my junior year, so of course this year has already felt better. Not to mention, I have also been working out lately and that is pretty fun.

Since the start of school we have worked on our proposals and insuring that our mastery presentations are figured out, even if it is just getting to pinpoint a general idea. There is a lot of work going into this year already, especially involving work ethic and the establishment of both ideas and products for the mastery presentations to be completed on, yet that is not inclusive of the large amount of other works that we will have to manage and work through throughout the year. The State Fair especially, as that was a serious slap in the face for some of the seniors to try and accomplish. However I am handling the work solidly and with enough pacing I will be set on the right track soon enough.

Speaking of, being a senior this year has been a real trip as things have progressed. There is a major shift in work ethic, in expected guidelines and of course there is one in social interaction as things are kept either to serious talks or short snippets. Most of my time is spent investigating other sources for research as of right now and even that is a struggling effort. There is so much to look and sift through so of course that will take time unto itself, but luckily I have some pretty amazing people to work with.

Oh! There was an event that happened this week which was pretty fun actually, and that was the visit to the media center, which helped in a lot of different aspects. Firstly, I ended up finding my own way around my mastery and discovered the question that I want to answer by the end of it. Secondly, since I had already visited the library once I had no need to grab another book so instead I took the time to discuss with other students how their projects would come along and also how the presentation would come along in their eyes. It was also used for the betterment of my own project by associating a part of their project with mine. It was nice.

This year has been one massive ride, almost like a massive roller-coaster. Nothing compares to coming to a new school, meeting strange people and having to adapt to the environment you threw yourself into. Too many things have happened to put them into three hundred-fifty words, but I will at least try my best to. Starting off, I had not touched the entire Adobe Suite programs until this year, and with the people I met could easily say that I was nervous. Kayla and Rosie are definitely characters. But nothing compares to the first time I sat down and interacted with each person in my class. The first time I began to bond and help many of them was a feeling that I can not describe even with every word I have at my service. The class started off remarkably shy, sticking to groups of known people or interests, and keeping it at that. But what was really needed was for someone to go around and stitch together each piece, so that we may have a full blanket. There were multiple of us, doing these kind of things, but really it came down to me and Kayla to initially upstart everyone. Gears do not kick into motion on their own, and all we had to do is start the spinning. From there this major has become something greater, and more connected than our other predecessors. The State Fair trip is probably what really kicked started it all truthfully. It was what made us get going so fervently and rapidly. There was nothing greater than hearing those of us in this major coming together as a family. And realizing that while we are different, that we are still one entity. And Ms. Desimone is the mother of it all.
And to talk about how I have come along: it has been amazing. I have learned how to create what I want, not only from my visualizations but also from the roughs and sketches that have come along with it. Nothing compares to progress, and I have made leaps and bounds from what I once was.

Truly, this week has tested me. Six medications, multiple projects and one hell of a cough. But I’m still standing, and still hear to say that this stuff is weird. Like really weird. My final design on the Cooper Bridge Run Project has come along pretty well, and the usage of blank space was actually put to the test, but luckily it did not affect the composition too much. I also used the style of the font to capitalize on the affect it had. This lead to a better piece than I really care to admit. However, it did use a pretty solid gradient work to style it.

Academics have tried to drag me through hell and back this week. Really, it is hard to concentrate with every medication I have been on recently, but it has also lead to me being more productive for some reason. So really I don’t have much complaint except that I wish that math wasn’t as hard as it is. Really school, tone down the maths please. That would be nice. And if you can not tell I gate math, like really hate math. It is just not my subject or my topic of interest. So yeah, it is stupid.

My main form of preparation is studying source material which I don’t know, and glancing what I do know. This way I may have far more of a chance on a greater amount of questions than if I were to stick to what I am good at. This also leads to some minor confusion, as really memorizing everything necessary is a hard task, and truly I do not believe that our intelligence should be based upon such a fragile thing as memory. Instead we should have more motivational and creative systems. However, this does not mean that I will not take my tests with lessened enthusiasm, just that I do not agree with them.

I will also go to say that I have simple hobbies. Reading, writing, and gaming are inclusive, while also walking and exercise. Preferably like to stick to a routine for most of these things though.

One of the main points that I’ve learned within the past month is controlling my time and managing different colors. There was a lot of initial difficulty involving general design points where gradients could be used, but weren’t needed, or they could have been placed better. Really there is a level of learning that comes passively with any work, and with what I have had to create through out my time here has taught me everything I know. From the basics of any of these programs to developing my own logos, this class has made me more self motivated and better at teaching things to myself.

My final design is highly influenced by my more recent works, and my more recent practices. This was such a great opportunity to change parts of my style, and to explore the usage of blank space with bolder lettering. I felt the bridge needed emphasis, yet the message needed more standing, so I built around the idea that maybe the bridge should be shown with more color and brightness, and the main title to be shown simply with blank space that would bring out the words. This technique, in my opinion, actually seemed to work, and lead to a better piece in general.

Well, I could try to use a template or button map to help layout a basis that I’ve already created to help me get started. Then afterwards I would have to take everything to the next level by adding more add-on content and a far greater amount of portfolio material. However this demonstration would still have to be tame, because really what I would try to convey is a steady theme and passive calm. That way people would be more likely to come back to the website to check it out, or maybe just to see what has been uploaded. Watermelon.

This Spring Break has been crazy, and wildly hysterical. I spent most of it at Disney World, with my best friends and one of their families. And while it is something to talk about, truly I care not for what it is that had been done, must instead for the feeling it invoked.

HTML Training is one of the hardest things I have ever encountered, not because it is something difficult skill wise, but because it is so monotonous and boring of a practice. It requires so much more than what should be required for something so simple. Now it is my own poor planning that led to me doing it till midnight one night, but that does not stop me from detesting the practice as much as I do. I learned a good deal however about why HTML is used, about how to use it and about why to use it. It is the basis for every other coding language and has given way to the most complicated of scripts. Doesn’t mean that I won’t stop hating it however.

The five Illustrator pieces include my color wheel, my Art Fields entry, my Earth Day at the Bay, and my You can make a difference. Each has a different meaning, and a different purpose to me. My color wheel showed my first ploys into the distopian creation of color and ignorance of the programs I explored in. It showed my base level efforts. The Earth Day, and You can make a Difference were pieces that explored different elements for me, such as gradients and textures as a whole which still led to some mild problems. My Photoshop exploits have led to me having only a few pieces of mention, such as my Destiny piece, and my even better pixel art piece, The Iron Lords. Both pieces explored something I had never known prior to working on it. My Art Fields Entry was an awesome forming of my work with gradients. I used textured, translucent and layered gradients to add depth and other aspects to the Entry.

My Tech Fair Day was very interesting, as we (that being Allison and I) had major problems with starting the game up and getting the computer to run. It felt like a major hassle to those around us, but soon everything was booting up and working correctly, even though we still had kinks to roll out. All in all, the day was great even if we couldn’t place, and I got to talk to friends.