Yvette's Inner Geek Blog

This semester, along with everything else I have going on simultaneously, has not yet beaten me. There was a kid at my university who, on Tuesday, nearly jumped off the ledge of the building where I have most of my classes. I don’t know who it was, or what his overall situation was, but I’m glad he was talked down. I feel that my advanced (for college) age has provided me with a greater perspective on managing college stress… There, but for the grace of coffee, go I.

The most exciting thing I’ve done in the last couple months ended up looking like this:

Purple hair with bright blue streaks on top! Plus a layer of dark violet underneath.

Much more my style than the haircut I suffered in February. I took my aunt’s advice and brought photos (from haircrazy.info) of what I wanted to my new hairdresser. I met Erika while volunteering at Sundance Film Festival last year and decided from her hair and her personality that I’d give her a shot. She’s currently attending a schmancy hair/cosmetology/things-I-don’t-get school across the street from UVU, so it was convenient and far less expensive than it could have been. It took longer, but the end result was soooo worth it.

Because I did it mid-October, people assumed that I dyed it for Halloween. Total coincidence! I’ve been wanting to dye my hair blue or purple since my late teens, but there was always a reason not too: jobs, fear of my hair falling out from over-bleaching, and just being a plain old chicken. I’ve had purple streaks recently, but they weren’t as bold and only lasted a few days. Technically, having purple hair right now may affect my professional image, especially here in conservative Utah. Know what, though? Fuck it. I love my purple hair.

I’d have a pretty little nose stud, too, if I didn’t have legitimate concern about the teensy injury developing into a keloid scar.

Well, I’d say at this point I’ve shot my 2010 365-day blogging challenge all to hell. Bugger.

Moving on.

Isis is still kickin’ it, as opposed to having kicked the bucket, as of right now. Her abdomen appears to be swelling, but it’s not in her chest like last time so I’m not sure if maybe that’s from getting fat on all the delicious food she’s been prissily scarfing 10 times a day. And a few hours ago I caught her licking the top of the litter in her litter box. Yeah. Licking. G.R.O.S.S. Also, why the fuck is she tonguing her litter box like it’s a salt lick? It’s about time to check in with the vet.

Sorry for leaving some you hanging in regards to Isis. I received a couple hesitant emails from friends not sure if I stopped blogging because of mourning the loss of my dear (litter-licking) kitty. That is not the case.

I have been spending my time in the trenches of college finals and/or epically procrastinating for said finals despite a heavyweight guilt pressing menacingly on my shoulders and general brain area. This is my fourth semester in a row of college 2.0, and oh yeah! I remember now why I was so ready to be done with college the first time around.

But it’s going well. In a couple of weeks, if I pass my damn 3D modeling and animation class, I’ll have a shiny associate’s degree in “Digital Communication Technology” (aka Teh Internet) . My current plan is to stick around for the remaining 6 classes it will take to earn a second bachelor’s degree, this time in “Digital Media — Internet Technologies” (aka Teh Internet, with Moar Fancy!).

Then I will be able to append “B.A., A.S., B.S.” to my name. That’s WAY more letters than my less educated immediate family members have! Too bad for them they can only put three letters (Ph.D. or D.D.S.) after their names. Okay, maybe five if you include the B.S. they each have. That’s the only concession I’m giving. Right now I feel like I need to win at something.

What is it about the inherent social-spatial lesson that I (and what seems like most people) understand that some people just don’t get?

You probably know what I’m talking about: when you enter a space that you must share with other members of the public, such as a doctor’s office, you don’t sit down close to a stranger if there is a spot available at a “safe” distance, or one that is equidistant from other strangers. In a small room or on public transportation, it’s more acceptable to be in close proximity because there isn’t much space to begin with.  But in a large room, it’s customary to allow for plenty of personal space and not crowd someone for no reason.

Right?

This afternoon, I was sitting alone in a 4-seat sitting area on the perimeter of a large atrium (4th floor Losee Center) on UVU’s campus. It’s typically quiet and somewhat out of the way except for some doors to offices nestled around the perimeter. It’s a comfortable and well-lit waiting/reading area with about 50 lounge chairs scattered about. There were a handful of other people sharing the lounge area, all appropriately scattered in their own personal spaces and keeping to themselves.

I saw a girl walk briskly out of an office in my line of sight, then turn left and step up onto the platform of my little sitting area. She proceeded to sit down directly across from me—not in the seat closest to the office door, but in what I considered to be Directly In My Zone given the ample number of unoccupied seats otherwise available. Without saying a word to me or looking directly at me, she started reading the textbook in her hand.

And chomping her gum. Open-mouthed and all.

Dude. Really?

She might as well have sat directly on my lap and farted.

I initially gave her the benefit of the doubt—maybe she was just waiting for a minute until being called back into the office. But the chomping. Oh. My. God. And after a minute, it was clear that she was getting comfortable and would not be going anywhere.

My laptop was open, my feet were resting on the coffee table between us, and I was trying to do homework. I considered reaching into my bag for headphones so I wouldn’t have to listen to the chomping, but no. Why should I have to expend effort to accommodate my needs when she was the one violating the social norms of personal space and being rude by chomping gum in a quiet area?

Instead, I returned the gesture of hostility by playing a CNN video at a reasonable volume through my laptop speakers. It was an interview with a couple whose home had recently been broken into by a facebook friend and had been caught on film—there were some parts I just didn’t quite catch so I had to rewind a bit and adjust the volume. Nobody else was within earshot, I’m sure. I watched the girl shift in my peripheral vision, slightly distracted from her reading by my shared audio.

After a couple minutes, she stood up. She walked toward the center of the atrium and took a spot that was, in my opinion, an acceptable distance from others.

Pleased with my passive aggressive territory defense, I shut off the video and went back to homework.

Anybody else remember a cartoon called Maya the Bee that aired on (the brand new) Nick Jr. in the late 80s? I remember thinking that I was too old to watch it when it was on, but since my little sister wanted to, I guess I had to… As a result, hearing/reading the name “Maya” has always caused the theme song of that cartoon to pop into my head.

Myyyyyyyy-uh-ai-a, Maya the Bee.

And that song is also connected to the basement of my (one summer only, I think?) babysitter’s house and my fascination with the popping letter dice of Boggle. And David the Gnome, the cartoon that followed or preceded Maya the Bee.

Snapping back to present day: This semester I have been learning basic animation and 3D modeling using a pretty intense software program called Maya. The cartoon theme song has been a constantly droning, yet chipper, mental audio track as I curse and snarl and otherwise express my frustration for this complex software. Combine that with what I feel has been less than sufficient training from a young and monotone-y soft spoken instructor and perhaps I’m painting a picture for you to interpret as lackluster excitement for my class and Maya in general.

I have enjoyed most of the graphic and web design courses I’ve taken at UVU, but this one’s been tough. It’s a required course for the Digital Media major that I was initially excited about but have come to dread. I appreciate the art form of 3D modeling and animation, don’t get me wrong. I know how important it is as a consumer of that type of thing. It’s just… a lot of time-consuming work. And because Maya is something in which I’m not pursuing a career (or even a hobby), finding the motivation to invest a lot of time in it just isn’t easy. At least I was able to download a free 6-month trial as a student (via the parent company’s site, students.autodesk.com) so I’m not dependent on a computer lab.

Still, I’m getting to the point where I’ve done some neat things even if I want to give that 3D grid view a little what-fer to the face. I definitely prefer 3D modeling to the 2D animation we were doing in Maya at the beginning of the semester. (You say the software is powerful, I say the software is too effing complicated.) Anyway, here’s a pre-fab model that I posed (excluding the facial features) in a way to convey strength. And/or constipation.

This one’s a work in progress. I started from a single cube and have transformed it into a larger and disfigured cube that will hopefully be a cartoony toucan bird with wings extended by Wednesday night. I have a tutorial to follow, but it’s not great. I might end up turning this lump of pixels into Lou Ferrigno ca. Hulk Angry Time instead. Actually, that would be quite bitchin’.

I had to take Marianne to school with me today for logistical reasons, but it worked out well for her in terms of swag. It was “Wolverine Wednesday” at UVU, which is a one hour school spirit extravaganza involving $3 “J-Dawg” sausages and a spin-and-win wheel of fortune.

Marianne’s spin landed on a candy bar, but I asked the student running it if she could have a t-shirt instead. “She’s visiting me from Norway,” I said. It worked, and look how happy she is with her free, high-quality, totally American t-shirt!

Then I also landed on a candy bar, and the guy said “You’re not from Norway. You’re not getting a t-shirt.”

We also walked through the Hall of Flags, where we took an obligatory photo of her by the Norwegian flag.

And then a funny one by the Swedish flag (they had just beaten Norway in a cross-country Olympic ski relay, so it was warranted).

Guess what else happened? The Blu-ray player arrived! Whee! We watched some of the drool-worthy promos on the Wall-E disc, then enjoyed Gattaca. Marianne had actually watched it before in a science class when they were covering genetics, but she wanted to see it again—a girl after my own heart.

Lastly, and officially for the record, Nidar Bergene Melk chocolate is not as good as Freia Melkesjokolade. It’s a harder consistency and has a flavor that reminds me of hot chocolate rather than a smooth milk chocolate bar—and it’s feels a little waxy despite being made of all natural ingredients. You can’t test it yourself (at least not at my house) because what’s left will not be shared. Sorry!

Because last semester was so much fun, *twitch twitch* I registered for 19 credit hours again. HA! Not gonna happen.

I figured out which class I’m going to drop to bring that down to 16 credit hours. That still leaves me with plenty to potentially learn. And remember how I said this semester would be easier because I’m not going to be learning any new software programs? Forecasting FAIL. Here’s my courseload for the Spring semester:

• 3D Modeling and Animation Essentials (where I will tackle the heavyweight Maya software and try not cry in the process. So glad I took Drawing I from the art department over the summer so I have some basic artistic concepts down)
• Flash II (with a different prof than I had for Flash I, and thankfully it will require far less work)
• Web Content Management (learning how to build a website server-side-on-up in Joomla! and then in either WordPress or Drupal)
• Interaction Design (learning how to design sites and devices with more user-friendly structures)
• Advanced Topics in Digital Media Design (learning Adobe Illustrator and its applications for the web)

The topic of that last class with the generic name was a mystery to me until the first class today. I probably could have called and asked, but hellooooo, way too much effort. All information for the Digital Media department should be available online, right? Apparently there was some snafu with the scheduling and the class wasn’t actually supposed to be taught this semester, so I really lucked out by taking a chance and registering for it. I finally get to learn Illustrator! Now I take my skills from “pathetic novice because of that damn pen tool” to the soaring heights of “amateur hack.” At least that’s what I’m hoping for!

The interaction design class worried me initially because we were split into groups that we will work with the entire semester. I’ve been in a few group disaster scenarios, probably like everyone else, and am never excited about group work in a classroom setting. But my group seems good so far. The professor made us play Apples to Apples with our group for the last 25 minutes, which was bizarre at first—but its purpose was more than an ice breaker. After a few minutes of playing, the prof told 3 of my 4 of my group members to play the game as if they were a different age. One 9, one 14, and the other 75. It was interesting how my gameplay changed, considering that the point of the game is to cater to the “judge” of the round. I think I’m going to like that class.

Going back to school has really turned the bummer of being laid off into a kickass thing for me.

Yes, dear Internet, I am still alive. I just turned in my last project of the fall semester. At this time I would like to quote the first line of Neil Gaiman’s blog post from today:

How the hell did it get to be December the 18th? Ohhh. All the links I meant to post. Arghh.

Links, words, pictures, regrets, promises, poetry, brain-fizzling recounts of my days. These and more are on the list of things I should have blogged about during the last couple months. But didn’t. I’m sort of braindead right now, and probably shouldn’t be blogging, but lack of sleep and/or food with nutritional value is affecting my judgment. (Sorry, she says, in a cute little Canadian accent.)

I’m not going to do a 3.5 month hiatus justice in one post, so here’s the Cliff Notes version:

• 19 credit hours at UVU that kicked my butt
• Filled my brain with useful skills in Flash, ActionScript, Flex Builder, Advanced Photoshop, Audacity, how to file a formal complaint with the department head about a horrid class, how to get an A- in a class you almost dropped because you were failing two weeks into it
• Subsequently made my brain squishy by playing stupid Farmville and watching most of seasons 1&2 of Babylon 5 for the first time
• Took up subversive embroidery
• Turned 30
• Watched Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 for the first time
• Blog broke
• Blog restored with a little miracle (named Ben)
• Freelance work picked up (triple fuckin’ YAY)
• Created 3 different working(-ish) website mockups for innergeek.us that I mostly hate now
• Saw one movie in the theater since August (Zombieland)

There are some good things on the list, like learning SKILLZ and moving closer to finishing a second degree (in Teh Inernets, in case you were wondering). And lots of stuff I feel guilty about doing instead of blogging or generally being a useful human being. I mean, I couldn’t even keep up my Twittering. That’s saying something.

Anyway. If you haven’t already given up on me, thank you. You are the bee’s knees. (WhateverTF that means.) I plan to get my shit together over the next two weeks. I’m not traveling for the holidays unless you count Avoiding The Mall Entirely as I drive out for groceries and such. That’s not even possible, though, because I intend to catch at least one movie in the theater which is unavoidably located by the Mall. Crap. Will re-evaluate this scenario later.

Happy 8th night of Hanukkah to my Jewish friends, and Happy Your-Upcoming-Winter-Holiday-Here to everyone else. I hope to interact with you more now that I’m done with the Fall of 2009 that is suddenly and thankfully over.

I’ve been watching this barn swallow all summer on the campus of Utah Valley University. She swoops around, chirping happily with a couple other swallows. Her nest sits atop a junction box in the rafters of a covered breezeway on campus.

Last Thursday, I heard teeny squawks coming from the rafters and looked up to see teeny bird heads poking out! I pulled out my Canon Powershot camera from my purse (which I’ve been carrying around expressly for times like these) and held an impromptu photo shoot. I’m sure it looked weird to people walking by since the nest is somewhat hidden in a back corner about 10 feet up. What can I say… I’m fascinated by nature’s little things. Like those tiny adorable all-beak little birdies!

The mama swallow knew I was there, but that didn’t stop her from darting by every minute or two to cough up some food for her babies. I got a couple decent shots of her hummingbird-speed movements and was surprised by the prominent white spots on her tail. I haven’t had the opportunity to really study barn swallows before… shows how much of a poser birder I am. These birds are “the most abundant and widely distributed swallow species in the world” according to the (helpful and recommended) Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Today (Monday) was the next chance I had to see them, and they’ve already grown to look like actual birds rather than slimy gerbil babies with beaks. I didn’t have my camera this morning (it was sitting on my desk so I would remember to upload the photos) but I confirmed that there are four fledgling birds who don’t all seem to fit in the nest together anymore. One was sitting on the pipe just above but it doesn’t look like they’ve flown yet. I’ll try to get some photos of them tomorrow.

(Maybe I’m a little less of a poser birder since I created a separate birds set on Flickr?)

I honestly love snow, and I never want to live anywhere without a “real” winter. However, this winter of 2008/2009 is officially on my shit list.

It started early and has been a very wet winter for Utah—which is GREAT for the mountain snow pack, should it ever actually start to melt and fill the rivers and reservoirs with water. But there has been a little Springtime torture mixed in lately that is driving me NUTS.

***

Exhibit A: Sunday, April 12, 2009

I took this photo on Easter and thought, “Oh wow! Spring has finally sprung!”

It had been chilly and rainy in the afternoon but warmed up enough to be simply cool and delightful. Ben and I sat outside and enjoyed the early evening sun until it got too cold.

The past couple weeks have had spotty sun and more day-to-day clouds than I think I’ve ever seen since moving to Utah. I’m just being whiny*, of course. This is still no comparison to Cincinnati’s total of 4 nice days a year.

***

Exhibit B: Tuesday, April 14, 2009

It got colder again and rained for a good portion of the day. As I was walking on the university campus with my bold purple umbrella protecting me, I had to try very hard not to smile and laugh and all of the people who weren’t even wearing jackets, let alone carrying umbrellas.

It made me think of a recent episode of Heroes when Angela Petrelli chides Noah for being out in the rain without an umbrella. And then that irritated me because hello, Heroes? Needs to just quit being a telenovela and kill everyone off except Hiro. And then Hiro needs to be badass like Future Hiro in Season 1. Read more…