film slump...

What is happening to the world? Film giant AGFA has filed for bankruptcy:

"AgfaPhoto, the former consumer imaging division of Belgian group Agfa-Gevaert, says it has filed for bankruptcy protection.
... with the boom in digital photography, sales of traditional photographic film and paper have slumped." ~ The Age, 30 May 2005

This meant that I couldn't get my photos developed yesterday because the shop I normally go to has decided to stop processing film!

Hmm... I have been in a strange mood lately, and moody too. I have come to the conclusion that it is because I don't do anything. I haven't had much homework lately, but I still managed to not do anything else. Sunday night and last night I spent the evening curled up in bed watching television and knitting. Sure I like doing that, but I think the lack of fun I have been having lately is playing with my brain. I have decided I have to do something this weekend, but with exams next week I'm not sure who else will be up for it. I don't want to do anything huge. Just a movie and lunch, or maybe even a groovy little picnic in a park - though the weekend is meant to be really cold and perhaps wet... I just want to do something! And with all the spare days I having coming up where I will spend most of my time on my computer working on my big Media assignment, this would be the perfect weekend to just do something!

Here's to getting out of the house!!

cameras and more cameras...

Now, I have posted previously about my dream Uni course and my worries about getting in without much film experience. So I decided to do something about it. I have been asking everyone I know with skill in film photography if they can help me. I now have my media teacher helping me with the school equipment (cameras, film, developing), my step-dad's dad's camera (is that my step-grandad?) which is a Canon T70 (I think) and an SLR, and my dad's Fujica SLR. I have four lenses, and some filters to play with. I am all fired up about getting used to them - and I think I like my dad's the best! It has a really nice light-metering system - easy to read!

I actually used a role of black and white film that was expired in 1988 yesterday. I had the settings wrong (the film was 400 ASA and I had the camera set to 1600 ASA) but I don't know how they will affect the result. My stepdad is getting a proof sheet done today for me, I think. I am very excited to see my first real role of film. Well, technically it is my third, I did one in year 8, and one on a medium format camera, so I should say that the role I took yesterday is my second 35mm role of film. Hopefully they aren't too bad, but without much experience with film and not knowing how the ASA will affect the pics, I'm a little worried... Oh well, we shall find out soon. I might even scan some into the computer so I have digital versions for web use... I have to get them back first, though.

In other year 12 school-girl news, I just got 50/50 on my last International Studies SAC for Unit 3. That means I got 98% for the Unit. I am most definitely happy! I didn't think I would do so well, but I tried really hard and wrote 10 pages - the longest essay I have ever written. Hm, I'm proud!

I am excited - my sister is about to start her first lot of exams. Year 11 exams! I don't know if she is nervous or not, I know I was when I first did mine, but then again Sarah doesn't seem to get nervous much. She has six exams starting this week. She's growing up!! Becoming a big girl... Ok, that sounds pathetic... Oh well... I am very proud of her! Hmph!

relief...

It went well!! I couldn't believe how smoothly Sunday lunch went. The meat was cooked, the vegies weren't all crunchy and raw, and the pudding tasted great! Mind you, the pudding was a little bit cold, but oh well. The one hitch was that while eating the delicious meat, my dad broke one of his teeth. It was hilarious. We though he had crunched on a bone from the meat or something, but when he pulled it out from his mouth..there was a tooth! I didn't hurt, or so I was told, but I did feel pretty bad about it. Conversation was good, nothing too strange so nanny could be involved in the conversations. Sarah and I were able to show off our various art forms (photography and audio technician-ry). We both got sufficiently lovely responses of "Oh" and "Lovely"! Then when it got to about 3:30pm and dad and nanny headed home, Sarah and I had a mini party in the kitchen while washing the dishes. Not too bad!!

What a relief...

I will post about my lovely cameras in a bit.. I have to go to class.

sunday lunch...

This Sunday my dad and nanny are coming to our house for lunch. Being only 17 I have been fretting about making a decent lunch for them. I don't want to burn it, I don't want it to be raw, I don't want it to taste bad. I want it to be perfect. Sarah and I are cooking. We only decided this morning what we are actually cooking. Being driven to school we had ideas being thrown at us by mum, and we batted most of them away. We came to the decision that we will cook a roast. Roast beef. Roast vegetables: potato, onion, pumpkin, carrot. Then some peas and cauliflower. Hopefully, we will be able to make some gravy too - here's hoping!! Then we have to make dessert. I made an awesome carrot cake last week so that was the first idea. But Sarah wanted chocolate cake. So we decided to make a chocolate self-saucing pudding (my dad's absolute favourite!). But, because we always have chocolate self-saucing pudding with dad we decided to do something a little different - butterscotch self-saucing pudding.. with ice-cream and cream!! So indulgent!! Hopefully, my nan (who I see once or twice a year - she lives in a different state) will enjoy her lunch - fingers crossed!!

Next week the fun begins. Thursday is the end of Unit 3. I have Friday off. The next week I have Monday and Tuesday off, Wednesday is the GAT (General Achievement Test) and Thursday and Friday is a camp to Melbourne to check out Universities. Should be fun! I hope. After that I have the next Monday and Tuesday off. My big Media assignment is due the next day (the 15th) Then it is my mum's birthday, my aunties birthday (16th) and Hannah's birthday(17th). So some shopping needs to take place on the days off. I pretty much know what they will all be getting for their birthdays, but because they might read this, I won't write anything here. But the presents will/are awesome!! So very cool!

Yesterday I put some of my Uni worries to rest. I called the RMIT and talked to some people who seemed to know a little bit of what I wanted to know. My biggest concern was that I hadn't had much practice with film photography - I'm digital. One of the the guys made a point of telling me that Uni is a place to learn, so if you don't know something that is part of the course, you will probably learn when you get there. That made sense. And now I am not so worried. I think I will just plod along now, try and take some film photos (on an SLR camera) and see how that turns out. I also have to make sure that I keep checking out the other courses that could be good for me. I can't just stop at one, I might not get in!

Now, I must return a favour. My lovely cousin, Mae Friend, said everyone should check out my blog and my site, so I think everyone should check her blog too: One Two Tree. Enjoy it!

hopes and dreams...

I am being very melodramatic at the moment. I posted the other day about my dream Uni course - Bachelor of Arts (Photography). But now I am sad, and worried... And slightly panicky. If I was to get through to being shortlisted for the course, I would need a folio. So, of course, I went to the website to check out the Folio Preperation course. This is where I started getting worried. Just for the prep course you need to have negatives, transparencies and a 35mm camera. But I've never used film for photography before... Not seriously, at least. I have done the old happy snaps with my pink point and shoot camera, but never properly with a proper camera, and proper development myself... Eek... Now I'm worried that the course I want to get into will be closed to me because I haven't got the experience. I was telling some friends and they were very supportive about my little worry. The made a point of trying to come up with solutions - get a tutor for the rest of the year so you have experience, etc.. I just emailed the Uni.

Fingers crossed...

don't panic...

I should really follow the advice I give out to people: "Don't panic, everything will be fine". But I don't.

Every night this week and last week as people start talking more and more about next year I have these mini panic attacks. 'Next year' is that special first year out of high school. Into the big, bad world. I remember in year seven when I started high school that year twelve, finishing, seemed like a million years away. It was something I never really thought about. I love school, and was quite happy that finishing was a million years away. But now it's not. Now finishing is just around the corner. My last day of actual school is the 20th of October. That's it. After that high school is completed. Onto Uni and the world.. Out into the real world of bills, cars, houses..

I am are scared stiff. Monday I found my 'dream Uni course'. It as called Bachelor of Arts (Photography). I think I would love it. I was talking to my mum last night about life and whingeing that I didn't have any time to update my website or take photos. She told me to imagine what it will be like if I do a degree in photography - I won't have to do much else except for photography. That made me happy. But then I thought about the rest of it. I say I'm an independant person. I love being on my own. And I am often confident - when I'm not out of my comfort zone. Pull me out of what I know and I am timid as a mouse.. I don't talk, I don't interact.. I become boring. Most parties I go to I turn into this person. When it's a friends party it isn't so bad, but through in lots of people I don't really know and I will find a nice corner in the room and stay there. So next year frightens me.

It frightens me because I don't know what will happen. It frightens be because I can't be certain something will happen. It frightens me because I can't plan everything and be sure about everything. I may sound like a bit of a wuss, but I don't care. That's me! A wuss. I've never been on a rollercoaster, I've never been drunk, I've never been kissed. I'm just boring, timid me.

I hate uncertainties..

the galaxy and beyond...

"I'd make a suggestion, but you wouldn't listen. No one ever does."

Yesterday I ventured to the movies - alone! I love going alone, not quite sure why, I just do. I went to see Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, after many recommendations (and seeing that robot with the big head on tv, teehee!). There were four people in the cinema: me eating M&Ms, a guy who was about 40 eating popcorn at the very back and a 40-something year old couple sitting just in front of me laughing their heads off. I assume the couple in front of me were well versed in the book - the knew what was going on. I went there with no idea what was going on.. and came out knowing not much more. Some of the ideas in it are great fun - those dolphins and those mice! And some were nice and philosophical and some insanely ludicrous! I loved it.

Actually, what was really funny was when I got home was sister was watching some silly teen show and they were at Sea World hanging out with the dolphins! I laughed out loud and my sister thought I was nuts. The were doing spins and flips and waving their flippers about - great fun!

And I so want one of the Guides.. I want a book that says "Don't Panic" on the cover - how very laid back! Hmm..

I had dreams of being hit in this face if I thought and dreams of having a big white head and a depressed outlook...

"I think you ought to know I am feeling very depressed."

the bus...

The great thing about catching a public bus: the strange people who randomly decide to chat to you. Last night some 30 year old guy in a long black jacket, badly bleached hair and feminine voice eating god-knows-what overheard me attempting to tell Hannah about Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - poorly I might add. This poor attempt seems to be what caught this guys attention because he turned around to us and asked if we were talking about Hitchhikers's. After admitting that yes we were talking about that movie he decided to explain the 'real' concept and how when he was seven years younger than we are now (we are both 17) the book was made into a tv show which he loved, so, of course, he knew exactly what he was talking about. I don't know if what he said was correct, but it sounded interesting. He said the book was actually about a French-man who was guiding (hence Hitchhiker's Guide) someone and the "galaxy" he was guiding him around was a metaphor for religion. So the book was really about a man's realisation of life and religion. However he then went on to comment on the lateness of the bus and the fact that there was a couple kissing in front of us, and that 30 year olds really knew everything, or at least something about everything. It was interesting...

happiness..or stress...

Happiness can come in the most interesting and exciting forms. The most recent exposure to happiness I have encountered was when my mum got her new boots from overseas. She has been looking for "the right pair of boots" for about four years and she finally found them in America. She ordered them and was waiting for about a month to see what they would look like "in person" and how they would feel on her little size 7 1/2 feet. They arrived! She carefully opened the box, with much love and anticipation, to find two black leather boots. With zips up the side and heels not-too-high they looked perfect. She put them on.. We all stood around her (my step-dad, my sister and I) waiting to see how she reacted - another let down wouldn't be nice.. To all of our delight they were perfect! She ran around the house in glee, laughing like a little girl with her new pair of party shoes on! Mum ran and got a skirt, stripped in the lounge room (to my sister and I's horror) and put the skirt and boots on. She then stood in front of the full length mirror we have in our hallway for the next half hour, trying on different skirts and different pants, looking lovingly at how each piece of clothing was complimented perfectly by her beautiful new boots. Once my sister, step-dad and I had gone off to our respective rooms in the house to get to homework and other work, mum decided to give each of us a personal fashion show. She knocked excitedly on the door, thrust it open, danced in and said "Look!" She followed this exclamation with a little happy dance, then danced out of the room onto the next family member. She had even decided she would wear her new shoes to bed. Thankfully, she had had a long day at work so she finally gave us some peace when she fell asleep.

The next morning she came running down the stairs from her room saying "Look at what I'm wearing today!" She did another happy dance and stood in front of the mirror for another little while. So very deliriously happy was she!!

Then on the other hand, there is the lovely little piece of stress I was handed today.. We were told at the very start of the year that the documentation part of our huge media final would be due at the end of second term/first semester. Today, after the teacher realised the mistake she had made, she changed the due date from the end of term to the end of unit three - three weekds earlier. The uproar in the classroom was astounding! Some students haven't started, some had. Luckily, I wasn't as stressed as others because I have started to plan the piece a little bit - but not enough for it to be due in four weeks!

Eeek..

On top of that I have another media assignment due in one and a half weeks which today I realised was actually a whole lot more work than I expected it to be. I must admit, though, the reason that it is so much is all my fault. We had to choose two techniques or elements to print or photography that we needed a bit more practice on for the final at the end of the year. I decided to look at lighting/colour and typography/colour. I thought it would be really interesting to look at the effect the colour of the image and the font/colour or the text on the front of a magazine has on what the reader expects of the magazine. I have been writing my intention/proposal now for just under 3 hours, and it is nowhere near finished. Then I have to shoot it, and compile it all. Then right an evaluation.. And none of it is really meant to be done outside of class time..

Whinge, whinge, whinge.. I should really just get off the net and onto my work, hey?

issues...

What should one think of beggars?

chocolate and videos...

This weekend my mum went to Melbourne with some old Uni friends. My step-dad travelled to Melbourne each day with a wine-tour-owner-friend of his to taste wines. That left my sister and I alone in the house. I answer to an empty house - chocolate, diet coke, ice-cream, and videos! We walked to the video store to get "six weekly's for $10". We decided to go for comedies, though some weren't exactly the comedy we were after. I really don't get how some of the movies could be classed as comedy, the should have their own "black-comedy/drama" section. We hired Pieces of April, Sidewalks of New York, Le Divorce, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, High Fidelity and Reality Bites. Best: Pieces of April. Worst/most boring: Le Divorce followed by Sidewalks of New York. I love Reality Bites, and High Fidelity has some great bits. And, in tribute to High Fidelity:

Top 5 Best songs to listen to while doing homework:
1. Anything by New Buffalo
2. Angry Anymore - Ani Difranco
3. Silence - Xavier Rudd
4. Hille Le - Indian Ocean
5. Cactus that Found the Beat - Missy Higgins

Top 5 Worst Songs to listen to while doing homework:
1. Anything by Tripod (too much funny stuff to listen to)
2. Go to Work - Trojan Horns (I go to work.. ba dom ba dom ba ba dom ba dom ba bom)
3. Sweet Enough - Trojan Horns
4. Tapped and Wired - Ember Swift
5. Out West - Ash Grunwald