Disappointments and opportunities

I haven't written a post in a long time so I figured I needed to write SOMETHING down before I put it off for so long that I would no longer feel inclined to ever write.

School has been back in session for about 3 months. I'm actually close to the end of the semester than the beginning so this post is long overdue. To say that I haven't been doing well in school this semester would be a gross understatement. I have been doing horrible. I have already dropped one class in which the professor told me there would be absolutely no chance of passing. The rest of the classes I have missed a considerable amount of class time which in turn means that I missed a lot of classwork. Those two facts put together means that I haven't earned satisfactory grades in any of my classes. That isn't to say that I haven't enjoyed my classes, because I have.

French class is probably the one I have done the best in so far, but that's not saying much. I'm loving learning a new language and the thought that someday I will put it to good use. I can't wait for upcoming semesters when I will expand that knowledge. Plus, my teacher is pretty attractive so it makes it easier to will myself to go to class. Besides that, I have enjoyed going to Cinematography. Everyone in class will admit that our professor is probably not the greatest instructor. However, she is still a person of great and useful knowledge so whenever we can extract some of it and put it into application, it's a very good thing. She's been around the industry a long time so she knows a lot of tricks to the trade. However, she doesn't include them very well in her under-planned lessons so it takes us asking a lot of questions to get that knowledge from her.

I have been able to put what I'm learning in that class to use more this semester than I would have in previous ones. This is because I have been getting offers for project on a more consistent basis than in previous semesters. I'm told that apparently I have slowly forged somewhat of a reputation for being a knowledgeable and dependable cinematographer and camera operator. So in the last few months I've worked on more films than I have in previous semesters. It's the best work I've done so far in my short career, and I only see it getting better. As I start getting some of the footage back, I'll post links so you can judge for yourself.

I've been recently upset that I'm still living at home. More and more I find myself desperate to leave the nest and find my own place. Specifically one closer to school. I miss out on a lot of events because it takes too much effort and gas to travel to Tempe from Glendale every time there's something to do. I think I'm going to try to push for a move in January or early February. If not, definitely over the summer. But it's getting tough in the current economic climate. Don't you just hate that buzz phrase right now? However, this crisis is really taking a toll on my family. My father and sister are both looking for new employers because of it. My dad's boss has cut back his hours considerably and my sister was let go by the LA Times. In both cases they cited the need to trim costs for their respective companies. So for the time being I am the only employed person in my family, and that is something to be worried about. However, we've been in dire situations before and come through, so nobody is really panicking quite yet.

I have a few more things I feel like writing about, but in the interest of time and boring you, I'll cut it here and resume later. Thanks for reading.