I'm pretty sure...

...that my brain is already on summer break. Well, the three weeks that I will get before and after the summer sessions.

The biggest thing I'm worried about, really, is my short story revision. I think it's because I don't have it in me to think and be creative at this point in the semester.

I've got one more project due for Commercial Photo, and I'm hoping it won't take too much time because it involves working in Photoshop and distorting images and stuff that I normally don't want to deal with.

Let's see, I'm almost done with my personal website for Web Site Design. (AHEM...) I just have to find my notes from Web-based Software to refresh my memory (or, more appropriately, relearn) how to make a slideshow in Flash CS4. I opened up an exercise we'd done in the class, and it absolutely did NOT come flooding back to me. At all. So, this could prove to be a problem.

Hmmm...what else...one more exam in Org Theory and then The Final. I'll find out tonight how I did on last week's exam (crossing fingers) and get the study guides for Exam 5 and The Final. And tonight's the last night of lecture. Not that I'm complaining, but I do enjoy Dr. Baack's lectures. They're very information-rich, and we're writing ALL class period long. No lie. I have to stop sometimes and shake out the cramp in my wrist. But he keeps it very entertaining with his stories from his younger days that relate completely to the point he is making at the moment.

Well, I guess I know how I'll be spending the rest of the week and Sunday. If I were wise, I would have my nose in the "books" all weekend, but Artsfest is occurring this weekend in Springfield, and I want to go. That's all. Just 'cuz.

I also have to write a short-short story for Creative Writing about a wedding cake that somehow ends up in the middle of the road. Should be interesting. I need to come up with something really wacky for this one. It doesn't have to be that long. Max of four pages. I'll probably fall somewhere between two and three.

Yeah, I believe that's it. OH, I have to come up with ten questions from a reading assignment for Commercial Photo for tomorrow. Yeah, so that's what I'll be doing after class tonight before watching the DVR'd The Biggest Loser.

Well, yeah, if you've made it this far, ku-friggin-dos. That would be COMPLETELY boring to anyone but me. So, here's some compensation...


Not the best shot, but it was hysterical. This was
in the parking lot of the WalMart up in Independence, MO.


A pretty sunset somewhere around here


Lavallette, NJ *sigh*


Some, um, pretty flowers


A park near Cherryvale, KS

The Broadway Bridge in North KC

Downtown Anderson, MO

Commercial Break Photos

Well, I finally remembered that Family Guy is on, and since it's on a commercial break, I thought I would share some photos from an impromptu photo shoot with my good (and very photogenic) friend, Jenn.

Another Friday!

Wow, it's Friday already! My weeks are so nutty that it's hard to believe another one has passed. However, you won't hear any complaints from me!

So, what's everyone up to this weekend? Anything fun? Well, mine will be half and half. Tonight, I'm headed to Springfield to catch an acoustic show by Sleeping at Last, and then Jenn and I will be some hanging out with good friends that we haven't seen in a while.

Then, Sunday is reserved for studying, and then a break for dinner with Mom. And then, probably a few more hours of studying will resume after that.

Just so you get an idea of what these next two weeks will be like for me, picture a giant, overweight cat squishing itself into a shoebox. That, right there, my friends, is what my immediate future is going to be like.

I've got three projects for Commercial Photography, a website to design from scratch, a couple of killer exams in Org Theory, and some writing and revisions for Creative Writing. It wouldn't be so bad if I could focus on just those projects and get them done. The challenge is finding time to get to the computer lab and the printing lab while working everyday from 8:00-4:30, and then night classes on Mondays and Tuesdays.

I mean, it's all fun stuff (other than the Org Theory...no offense to Org Theory people), but there's just literally not enough time to get this all finished, well, and keep my sanity. Ah well. OK, this is turning into another whiney post. Shoosh, Kris...

Here are some photos to reimburse you for your time spent reading that...


The Butterfly House in Chesterfield, MO


Goodbye Tomorrow


Deas Vail


Sounding the Silence


Kerrington Cooper

Sanctus Real

Eureka Springs at Night

Sunday Evening Whinings

You know, crafting a 12-hour class schedule around a full-time job is pretty difficult in itself. Add into that mix the fact that there are no night classes that I can take, and you've got yourself one hell of a headache.

So, I finally decided on a decent schedule, and I come to find that the Digital File Prep class I was going to take in the fall is now listed as a Writing to Learn. Oh, hell no! I paid my dues back in freshman and sophomore "years." I put quotation marks around 'years' because I was a freshman and sophomore for far longer than the normal person would normally desire. Like I said, working around a full-time job is not pretty.

Alright, time for some happiness. And, what could possibly be happier than a huge bowl of Cheerios with a ton of ripe, delicious strawberries? Nope, nothing.

On that note, let me see if there are any random photos I can share this evening before I grab my laundry out of the dryer, put the other load in, and fold the dry load...

Oh, for the love of tonsils!

...or not. I'm going to whine and say that the left side of my tonsils and my left ear are KILLING ME!!

OK, so for enduring that, I'll share a few extremely random and very unrelated pieces.

(this one was in the Morning Sun back in May 2005)

Scheduled Post

Well, we are working on a team project at the moment. We are creating a website for a local florist, and I have volunteered to take the photos. I just finished uploading them to the class folder, and I'm probably going to make another trip to the florist to shoot some more arrangements that may be missing.

That's about it. I'm ready to get out of this room, aka sauna.

Until next time...

Album of the Day

...that's right, I said "album." It is none other than Breathe's "All that Jazz," featuring the 80s hits, "Hands to Heaven," and "How Can I Fall?"

I'm showing my age, I know.

Well, here are some more extremely random photos for your visual enjoyment to go along with the ear treat suggestion.

Micah and Anneliese "AJ" Burdick (two of my most favorite people in this world!)

Micah rockin' out with his former band, In the Fire

Micah playing for us with AJ's help

Strip the Colors at the Foundry (Joplin, MO) in July 2007

A tulip in my front yard, circa 2005

Some Photoshop fun

Some more photos

I thought I'd share some more random photos from the archives. Feel free to comment or critique!

More random shots

These shots are of the Dunlop boys from a few years ago, probably around 2004 or 2005.

Click here to see more of my photos, and here to see more that I've posted so far on this blog.

Some Random Shots from Over the Years

This blog will now be used as my portfolio blog for my Website Design class, so there's my kick in the rear to blog again.

Blog.

Friday notes...

well, I haven't blogged here in a while...why?

Because I've pretty much been blogging here: www.xanga.com/kris94.

So, if you're wondering about my life, there ya go.

Dirrrrrrty air

Hello everyone! Or, one. Depending on just how many people read this.
Anyway, further to the title, I think it's about time we get the air purified in here. I'm speaking of my place of employment. Every five or ten minutes, someone sneezes. And I know I hardly sneeze except for when I'm here (which is a huge majority of my waking hours), and everyone else says the same. So, all I have to say is...

What's up with that?

Well, for most of us, it's almost time to celebrate the long weekend. Woo hoo! I appreciate my time off even more so now that I've taken on 9 credit hours while still working 40 hours a week. Gotta love being a glutton for punishment. Well, I can justify it by wanting to get done faster so I can get ON with my life and career! So there.

Well, everyone, or one, have a fantastic friggin' weekend. It looks like it's supposed to be pretty nice out, so get some schunschine, dammit!

k

Saturday!

Oh my Sweet Lord, forget it. This is my fourth attempt at posting. I'm too tired to re-type everything again. My brain just doesn't have that capability on a Saturday morning. What the aych is up with this friggin' blog?

Lots to do today. Photos, dresser drawers, room cleaning and possible rearranging, etc., etc., etc. It sounded a lot better the first time I tried to convey it.

Screw you. No, not you. The blog people. Or the pod people.

Disappointed...

Hey, I know it's been a while. Again. It seems I write here only when I have something monumental (in my mind, anyway) to share.
Well, today I took my second to last exam in U.S. Politics, and I got a B-. Now, for that class, I'm betting that's good. But if I don't ace the next exam, I will get a B in the class overall. And, consequently, marr my 4.0. Remind me NOT to take such an involved class in the summer.

I don't know if it's just me, but I just do not remember some of the question he asks on these tests. I write down pretty much everything the man says, but still, there are things of which I have no recollection.

So, on this test, I missed 13 out of 60, resulting in a B-. That brought my grade so far to about 87%. I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to bring that up to an A if I don't do well again on my next exam, which is the final one next Friday. We'll see.

And it's not even the B that bugs me so much. It's the fact that I worked really hard and still couldn't achieve the A. Maybe it's a lesson in humility and learning that I can't succeed at everything.

I'm welcoming the break after next week, though. I'll have about two or three weeks before the fall semester starts. I'm also welcoming the return to some sense of normalcy in the fact that my classes will be twice a week rather than everyday. This everyday for two hours in the morning has been intense, especially with all of the information he feels the need to cram in. It's insanity, if you ask me. You have to LOVE politics to absorb everything in the lectures.

Ah well, other than that, things are going well. I must stay positive, according to my friend, jb. I'm so thankful for her every single day. She reminds me, even when it's the last thing I want to hear, that positive thinking brings about positive things. These days I don't have much faith in that fact, but I'm hoping her reiterations will make it stick in my brain.

So, that's about it. Stressing over my potentially marred 4.0 and such.

I say this everytime, but I'll try to update this a bit more than every six months. Even if it's only for my own sanity.