S-M-R-T

It’s a place where mischief is actually encouraged, at least to some extent. Pulling up youtube videos or podcasts is entirely acceptable. Doodling, surfing the net, playing on the computer are all good things. Socializing and music are great, anything that breeds inspiration.

It’s how we do it in the creative world. I hardly function without distractions. If I’m only logged into g-chat and working on a project, I feel under-stimulated. It’s not ADD or boredom, it’s a need for things to be happening around me. (That doesn’t mean that I’m incapable of silence or sitting still, I have a penchant for moving…and shaking.)

There you have it, I’m a mover and a shaker. Anyway, I recently started my one back-to-school-I’m-gonna-be-smarter class. Ahhhh (angels singing). Ok, not really singing angels, more like creative over-drive. It’s wicked awesome. My one 5.5 hour class was super neato. Motion graphics, kids. Suddenly I have dreams of being a big-time motion graphics artist working in Hollywood, creating opening credits for movies. Right, ‘cause that’s reality in this mid-western girl’s world. It’s fun to dream, though..and who knows what may happen. Ok, I’m so scatter brained right now, sorry.

Class was long, but entertaining and interactive and fun. I have only 5 classmates and my professor is kind of off-the-wall funny. He made a Beavis and Butthead reference (well, he laughed like them) only one boy-classmate and I laughed (I think the others are too young to know who Beavis and Butthead are, sigh). Most everyone is friendly and willing to help or ask questions (something that doesn’t always happen in follow-along classes). A couple of my classmates even asked me some professional questions, since I’m already a working gal.

In some ways class makes me feel like a newbie, but mostly I feel like a seasoned veteran. A few things that happened to me on my first day: 1) no internet access, guess I have to get that installed on my computer; 2) my software for class wasn’t fully loaded, my trial version is missing one plug-in that I needed; 3) I worked on a school computer while taking notes on my laptop and occasionally surfing the net during down-times. The joy of rushing from work to class is really going to be something. I have 30 minutes for a roughly 20 minute without traffic drive, plus a girl needs some nourishment before a full night of class. Tonight I left work early (luckily my bosses are cool with that) and ran through the McDonalds drive through. I was nervous I would be late for my first day, so I ate my quarter pounder with cheese and fries really quickly (‘cause somehow that would get me to school faster). I made it with a few minutes to spare, and my prof seems pretty laid-back, which may come in handy during the winter months.

All-iin-all the first night of class was a good experience. We didn't go over a syllabus or a schedule or expectations or anything like that, which was kinda strange. But, the material is interesting and the software is practically limitless. So excited to get working on things!