thank goodness the holidays are over

the holidays are always stressful for me. why you may ask? i work retail, enough said. it just gets so tiring with every customer asking the few days before christmas, "well why cant you get this custom frame finished before christmas?... it is just a frame." which fallows me with saying, "im sorry, but that takes 10 DAYS to complete. you had to be here over a week ago to make that happen." it is not my fault you forgot christmas was coming or was a dumb-ass who waited till the last minute. i mean really? christmas comes at the same time each and every year, how do you forget? it is sad, but people do. sorry but there is a cut off point in which we can do things in a timely fashion for you. oh well... some people will just never learn, thats retail.

but now we dont have to deal with that any more. the next holiday is valentines day and we already have merchandise for it. it is kinda sad. we cant even finish one holiday without getting new merchandise for another over a month away. everything is just way too commercialized now. 

on a side note, i am staying at my current job location. i just cant leave my group. and im tired of waiting for the other manager to make up his mind of when i can transfer. so until june i am staying put. this does mean that i have to take on a second part time job until then but hey, gotta pay bills somehow. 

right now i am on my winter break from school. i get a full month off to just work and save some money. it is so wonderful to not have to worry about classes and homework and just be a vegetable and play guitar hero when i get home. although at the same time, i cant wait for the new semester to start up again. this will be my last semester at school for awhile. i will have a BA in studio art with emphasis in photography. and i have no clue what to do with it yet. i really want to do something with commercial photography. maybe wedding photography or advertisements or maybe movie posters (this is southern california you know). 

not long ago i met with my photo teacher to go over my final project and we got talking. i told him that i was really confused with which direction to take my photography. and he gave me an idea to help with that: go to the book store, get comfy with some coffee and take a notebook with me. start going through all of the photo books that they have. write down the things that i like and any ideas that come to me. write down my thoughts about the artist and any other notes that may come up. i have had one go at this so far and i love it. i mean, really going through page by page and finding the things that i like and peak my interest and actually writing it down truly makes me think more about the work. 

so here comes the big question... WHAT DO I WANT TO DO WITH PHOTOGRAPHY?

i like fashion (even though my half of the closet is smaller than my fiancé's)

i like animals (who doesnt like a cute little or not so little animal?)

i like people (all kinds of people intrigue me: young, old, small, big, weird, disabled, tattooed...)

i like comedy and making things funny (laughter is a wonderful thing)

i like things that are vintage or old fashioned (there is something timeless about them)

i like movies (always have and always will)

i like b&w and color photos (each is beautiful in its own way)

i like the human body (bodies are elegant and very beautiful, especially when nude)

so here is what i am going to do. each week i am going to try a different aspect of photography. each week i will create and complete an assignment and see what i like most at the end of april. my deadline will be the 1st of may. at that time i will be looking for a permanent job. each week i will post my assignment and the completed photo(s). what will work best for me? we will see