A Suitcase Full of Black

It’s been a long time. Trust me, I know. 

So in the last post I had promised to tell you what classes I would be taking this term. And I planned to do it once I had had them all, but life got in the way - or rather the lack of one......

The day my classes started this term was the day my Papa Tom got rushed to the hospital because he couldn’t breath. He already had horrible lungs and a bit of pneumonia was no help. He had to get a breathing tube and was in the ICU - it didn’t look to great.

He did get better, to the point that we were making plans on what would need to happen when he got released....Then a week after being admitted, after getting out of the ICU, he got worse. I called on the 21st and asked if I could talk to him. I told him how much I loved him, how he had to work harder to get better, and how I was going to make mini cheese cakes and show him. He had no energy to talk but I’m told he did smile and try to open his eyes - the most he had done in a few days.

My Papa Tom teaching me to make meatballs when I was about 6. 

I called around the same time on the 22nd, only to be told he wasn’t there.

Things moved quickly after that.

All at once I was contacting teachers saying I would be taking 2 days off the following week, trying to finish all my homework, making sure I had my plane tickets, packing my suitcase with every black thing I had. Everything was on automatic. Even when I got to the airport and saw my Dad, even when we got to my Mama Lou’s house to make memory boards to show during the wake. Nothing was real.

It got real once I saw him though. And I didn’t react well. 

I can’t do this anymore. We’re moving on.

So....classes.

First thing I did when I got back was my Thesis Pitch Presentation. Thankfully I had everything done ahead of time, and it went well. I’m doing mock commercials for PBS Kids and it will be very cute.

In addition to my 2 thesis classes I am also taking a Zbrush class (3D computer modeling program) and we are finishing up a full figure project. I also am in Glass Casting because, come on, it sounds awesome. It really is fun and learning to sculpt with wax instead of clay is interesting.

Next up we have my only Liberal class - Native American Cultures. Sounded interesting, needed the credit, teacher turned out to be annoying beyond reason. Why is he annoying? He says every week that he will post the homework and discussion pages and never does. You would think that a teacher forgetting to give you homework would be great, but it really isn’t.

Finally there is the 6th class, the one that I added to my schedule last minute. It is a collaborative class with General Motors (yes the car company) and you get assigned a mentor from the company and work with them to create a speed form of a car. Sketches, digital model, and clay model. It’s been interesting.

And there it is people. The beginning of my final semester of college.