I don’t have many happy days, but today was one of them

• got a 90 on my art history project
• am finally signing a lease next week
• thanks to Brad, my beloved DWI (Dance With Intensity) game is back
• am downloading more songs for said game than I ever knew existed
• one of my bio group members (Katie) really reminds me of Erica
• no class tomorrow

So yay! Don’t feel like writing a big post ’cause I’m tired, so yeah … aside from learning that the graphics department is switching to InDesign (which frickin’ rocks) next semester and ditching Quark (which sucks) , today went pretty well.

Today was long … lab seemed to go on forever, could barely stay awake in art history (despite getting 6 or 7 hours of sleep), and got my worst grade so far in graphics for my Firefox ad. I hate Quark — especially since there are no layers, you can’t lock or hide objects, and if things are positioned close enough, you always end up clicking and moving the wrong thing. And then, say you want to rotate an object … after rotating it, it’ll automatically select the default tool instead of keeping the rotate tool selected, which sucks if you want to rotate it again. Frickin’ annoying. Don’t get me started on the way it displays pages — or why we don’t just have a better version of Quark (or InDesign) to begin with.

On the other hand, according to Blackboard, I have a 94.69% in graphics so far (was expecting a B) … definitely will be surprised if it stays that way.

Haven’t taken one of these in awhile:

Adobe and Macromedia — together? Yep, Adobe has bought Macromedia for $3.4 billion … though I dunno when the merge will actually happen.

I was introduced to Beatriz Milhazes (from Brazil) in art today, and her work is just beautiful … incredibly time-consuming, I’m sure, but if I had a couple thousand dollars lying around, I’d definitely buy a painting. Go take a look.

Random note: my biology professor met Richard Tyson (of Black Hawk Down and Kindergarten Cop fame) this weekend in Alabama — they were on the same Holiday Inn floor. Even though I’ve never heard of him lol, it’s still cool

Never buy D-Link’s USB 2.0 CardBus Adapter — upon “installation” it froze my computer whenever I tried to connect my iPod (even after reformatting). It worked with my mouse, but that’s probably ’cause it’s a 1.1 device. System Restoring to yesterday didn’t work, and the support guy didn’t know what was wrong, so now I have to wait another week ’til I’m back in Fairfax and can take the thing back to Microcenter *sigh* Why can’t stuff just work? I’m getting frickin’ tired of calling support.

New layout…even though I like ducks, the old graphic just wasn’t doing it for me. I know this look doesn’t blow too many people away, but eh, it’ll be a placeholder for awhile. Or something.

In other news, my car has a loose drive shaft, so I’ll be car-less for a week. First the computer, now this … what next? Then again, getting it fixed is better than crashing or getting stranded on the highway. At least Brian’s willing to give me a ride back … and there’s always the bus next weekend, though I’m supposed to meet Starza then … meh. Guess I’ll figure it out later. Speaking of later, I need to do my lab report and art project between now and tomorrow. And some other stuff. So adios.

Mozilla Firefox 1.0.3 is now available for download with more security fixes and an improved update process — go get it! Release notes are here if you’re interested.

Signed up for classes today, and surprisingly was able to get all art and graphic design classes with decently-rated professors! So yay. As I do every semester, here’s the breakdown of each class (descriptions coming soon … Mondays and Wednesdays are going to be especially hard):

ART 321 (Weaving & Other Fiber Arts):
Introduction to and practice in basic weaving and other fiber arts. Emphasis will be placed on floor loom weaving and surface design on the fabric.
- MW 1:30 - 4 pm

ART 322 (Metal & Jewelry):
An exploration of techniques necessary to execute well-designed objects in metals including forming, repousse, stone setting, metal finishing, enameling and centrifugal casting.
- MW 10:45 am - 1:15 pm

ART 362 (Painting):
Oil painting and other media with creative and aesthetic considerations in picture structure.
- TTh 10:45 am - 1:15 pm

GRPH 244 (Design Methodology):
Exploration of strategies for conceptualizing, analyzing and solving design problems. Emphasis is placed on graphic presentation of ideas and the creative process.
- TTh 4:15 - 6:45 pm

GRPH 246 (Introduction to Typography):
Introduction to the study of letter-forms for their aesthetic and communicative value. Emphasis will be placed on the form and function of basic type including a fundamental understanding of electronic prepress.
- MW 8 - 10:30 am

Whew. And no class on Friday is gonna rock

The Wal-Mart in Harrisonburg is a couple hundred feet from 81. On my way back to Fairfax tonight as I got on 81, I noticed a huge, billowing, black cloud of smoke coming from the next exit (by Wal-Mart). Confused and then noting the sirens I’d heard minutes earlier, as I got closer I realized the smoke was coming from the Wal-Mart shopping center, and soon, in the space between Wal-Mart and Home Depot, a one-story (maybe more) cube of space was engulfed in flames. It wasn’t quite in the store from what I could tell, but it was definitely on fire, it was definitely big, and I’m really anxious to find out how it started. I’m guessing it was something industrial, but then again, what do I know. Maybe Google News will have something in the morning.

Rented Supersize Me tonight (I’d been wanting to for awhile). Let me say one thing — I won’t be eating McDonald’s for awhile (maybe never?). I mean, I love their fries … but after seeing what Morgan went through, it’s just, ugh … me staying alive does not entail eating that. I also really wish the school systems would follow in the footsteps of the Wisconsin school that served real, healthy food I’d actually feel good about eating (at the same cost). I don’t care about corporate success or the stockholders … businesses are supposed to make money by helping people, not killing them. Seriously, people need to stop being afraid and do what’s right.