Then we went to the new PeachMac store over by the Bonefish in order to start the shopping process for my new mac.

I am torn…the new 27″ iMac quad-core for the editing process in Final Cut alone would be so, so sweet…yet, after finishing my first semester at FSU, I realize I need the convenience of the macBook pro to be able to take it along to campus, meetings, project meetings for a documentary I am working on, an untitled cop project that I am in the beginning stages of writing, etc…

I guess the question that I am mulling over is: will I be able enjoy editing on the macbook pro?? Alright friends, any feedback from you macBook pro and Final Cut users would be appreciated…of course, I am leaning towards the 17″ macBook pro now…

My first semester of graduate school is done. Whoo-hoo! I am not sure where the last four months went. I have never studied so much or read so much in my entire life; but it has been well worth it. I love grad school! I’m liking Tallahassee, too. Who knew?

I would like to thank my bf, my friends, roommates – David and Beth (and their sexy cats and nutty dogs), all my professors – past and present, the cops at the Bagel shop, and perhaps, most of all, coffee for helping me survive my first semester.

Grades are not due until today and are supposed to be posted by December 16th…so, Dr. Lucas, in response to your question about my grade/feedback for holding class, I guess I will let you “How I did” then…I know I got an 85 for my holding class session for the hour and fifteen minutes. That counts for 50% of my overall grade. Then, I had a twenty page technology paper due for the other half of the grade. I got some good feedback on my teaching skills, but overall, the professor said that I need more practice. I agree, since that was the first and only class session I have ever taught. How am I supposed to know how to teach, if I have never taught a class before?

Until then, I am chilling out, catching up on laundry and getting ready to head back to Georgia for the holidays! Stay tuned…final grade update to follow…

Apparently, I already have an update…I just got an email from my RTV/New Communications and Technology Theory & Research professor. My grade has been posted. I got a B+ for the semester. That’s an 85 for the teaching class session and a 93 for the final paper. I’ll take it…

Also, I got my 20 page paper on the Digital Dilemma in Hollywood turned in and am now writing my essays for my Theories of Human Communication exam.

I look forward to some time off! I can’t wait to see the boy, the dog, the family, friends, my house in Haddock, and even the evil cats. Next week can’t get here soon enough. Peace.

Go Noles!

The Seacrest Wolf Preserve is a non-profit organization that believes in preservation of wildlife through education. The preserve is home to several different kinds of wolves and the people and volunteers that run the preserve are all about saving the wolf. Who knew that Northwest Florida was home to the only wolf preserve in the Southeast?

I am going to go to the preserve this Friday and Saturday to interview the people that run it and hope to get wonderful footage of the wolves to use in the piece. So, looks like I will spending the weekend with the wolves. I look forward to posting my wolf photos – and eventually my final project.

I had to assign readings, videos, and annotated bibliographies for the class as well.

Teaching a class for over an hour is definitely different than giving a presentation or a speech as a student.  I had to outline readings and make a lesson plan. Although I only had to assign one reading for the entire class, I had to read at least ten other articles on the material I covered in class. The biggest challenge was trying to engage everyone in participating in the conversation and flow of the class.

Teaching the class session counts towards 40% of the overall grade in the class. Now, I have to write a twenty page paper on the topic for the rest of my grade in the class.

Unconquered

I’ve been on a self-imposed blogging hiatus for about six months now and I finally figured that today is the day that I must return. I have actually missed my website!

First of all, my mother is still recovering from her back surgery nightmare. She’s still without total use of her left leg and is in the wheelchair. But, she has been fitted with special leg braces and a walker that she is learning to walk with. It has been a difficult six months, but we are hoping that she will continue to recover and get better over the next year.

Somehow between my Mom’s medical mess, I did manage -with the help of Nick- to get moved to Tallahassee. I started graduate school August 16. It’s all been kind of a blur actually…i just survived my midterms and am mentally preparing for the second half of the semester…which means more readings, articles, journals, group projects, videos to edit, and class sessions to teach. I am challenged on most days! Right now I am learning all about the Seven Traditions of Human Communication. Whooo-hoo!

In honor of my surviving the first half of my first semester of graduate school, I finishing off this glass of cabernet and going to bed before 1am! Good night, all. More adventures from FSU and Media and Communication Studies to come – I promise.

It has just hit me that I am done with my undergraduate degree and I am well on my way to beginning my Master’s program. I am pleased that my undergraduate degree is complete. I finished my Sex, Lies, and Simulacra CIT senior capstone project. The presentation has been given and the paper written and turned in. What a feeling of accomplishment and relief!

Also, I find it exciting and interesting that just a few short days after I sent my letter of intent to FSU, I received my first issue of FSU magazine that includes a cover story on the merging of the College of Communication and the College of Information at FSU. The merging of these two colleges reinforces the trend of combining communication and information programs in the twenty-first century. This excites me.

I am receiving my degree in CIT (Communications and Information Technology) at Macon State. The CIT program is innovative in the way it combines communications and new media theory with information technology practices. It just makes sense to me to go onto a graduate program that embraces the combining of communications and information programs.  New media studies is the way for me to go!

I’ve got my laptop and my iPod, so I am passing the time by getting some work done while Ms Betty is in and out of consciousness. Who would have thought that one could get so much work done in the hospital? Ms Betty just wished me luck “working on the interwebs” and fell back asleep. Her orthopedic surgeon has ordered another CT scan to investigate the numbness in her legs. So, looks like she’s going down to get that done in a few minutes.

I am working on my website and trying to get caught up on some school work – one last edit of my CIT paper and an analysis of my website.

Also, the nurses on the 4th floor neurological wing are awesome!

I gave my CIT senior project presentation, Sex, Lies, and Simulacra around 11:00 Friday morning. (I will be posting my presentation slides and the video breakdown I did for some of the scenes in Soderbergh’s Solaris shortly). After almost a year of working with my advisor, Dr. Gerald Lucas, researching, writing and rehearsing for the presentation, it felt good to finally be able to share it with an audience.

Of course, Friday morning I felt a bit nervous and had the pre-presentation jitters. (I probably should not have had those three cups of coffee before presenting either!) But overall, I have to say it was an amazing experience. I have never had stage fright or been nervous speaking in front of crowds of people, but I did have a slight moment of hesitation while standing at the podium. I just took a couple of deep breaths, hoped I would not have a raging asthma attack or completely stumble and forget what I was talking about. I think it went well. 

The entire process of working on a senior capstone project has definitely made me a better student. I realize now why I waited almost 16 years to return to college and finish my degree. Back when I was in my early twenties, I never had the self-discipline or curiosity or patience to actually take on a task as daunting as a senior capstone project or finishing my degree. The process of studying Lem’s novel Solaris and the Tarkovsky and Soderbergh films and Baudrillard’s theory of hyperrealism has lead me to a passion for a subject that I am thinking about continuing to study in graduate school. 

I was fortunate to receive acceptance letters from all the graduate programs I applied to. I have chosen to go to FSU and pursue a Master’s Degree in Media and Communications Studies with a concentration and graduate certificate in Digital Video Production. The program incorporates intense new media and communication theory and research methods with production. 

I will forever be grateful for my successful career in the world of film and TV production, but I really feel I am on a new path now that I am about to finish my degree in communications. I thank all my wonderful teachers, my advisor and all of my fellow CIT classmates who have helped make the last two years of my college career such a blast.

It is interesting how I have watched my project evolve from what I thought it was going to be to what it actually is. I guess this is part of the creative process of writing a thesis paper and creating a technology project that ties in with the paper. I originally had visions of working with numerous films from Steven Soderbegh. Through my research and readings, I compiled enough information for a 50 page paper. I have had to re-evaluate and narrow my thesis.

Now I’ve narrowed the scope of my paper to concentrate on Baudrillard’s theory of hyperrealism and the Solaris films of Tarkovsky and Soderbergh. Interesting how I find the actual project emerges as I sit and view clip after clip of the films and then analyze them.

Time for another coffee.