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Some off-the-cuff things you should probably know
12 years ago
This is some slightly-edited copypasta from my deviantart page (CaribbeanPulse), which I hope to get active again after a long hiatus. But I figured it applies here, too.
-I'm 25 now. Holy crap.
-I still live in the Portland, Oregon area, way out in the country. I have lived in the same place my entire life. It's beautiful out here, but I'd live elsewhere if I could afford to. I'm too far from everything useful or fun. The roads are terrible. There's no cable, and you still can't get high speed internet, decent cell phone reception, or satellite TV out here. The main issue, though, is that I'm grown. I'm my own person, and I have accepted that my parents and I (especially my father) will never see eye-to-eye on some crucial things. Even when things are "peaceful," there is a toxic level of tension and resentment just under the surface. Every day. That takes its toll on me.
-I will probably move out after I finish college .I was supposed to graduate from Portland State University with a B.A. in graphic design. That didn't happen. In your sophomore year you have to submit a portfolio of your work so they can evaluate whether you "deserve" a spot in the upper-level classes. Many people do not pass. My sophomore-level work wasn't deemed good enough, so they did not allow me to continue in the program. That was a really big blow to my confidence that I never really recovered from. To try to salvage my losses, I changed to an Art Practices major. Basically a generic "little bit o' this, little bit' of that" fine arts major. It's been a long, strange trip, but I'm set to graduate this Fall with a B.A. in Art Practices (with a minor in Graphic Design and a minor in Writing).
-I'm really not sure what career path I will pursue after college. I have a lot of research and soul-searching to do in a relatively short amount of time. I've been so focused on the present, just getting through each day, that I haven't given the future as much thought as I should.
-I am an introvert, and I struggle a lot with anxiety and depression, not to mention ADD-like symptoms. For some people, their pain fuels their creative side. For me, it kills it. That's a large part of why I am not very productive or prolific and have precious few finished pieces to show from the past few years.
-I work in a gas station mini-mart deli. Before that, I worked at the Subway next door. Before that, I worked at a different Subway. I don't like working in food establishments. If nothing else, THAT motivates me to finish college and find a better job.
-I would like to get back into cartooning/illustration and fiction writing, because I feel those are important parts of me that have been lost. I am so rusty and so self-conscious that just picking up a pencil or sitting down at the keyboard provokes anxiety and becomes extremely awkward. It's like getting onto a bike only to suddenly realize you forgot how to ride, and you fall over. I feel miles behind my peers, and it's disheartening.
-I'm 25 now. Holy crap.
-I still live in the Portland, Oregon area, way out in the country. I have lived in the same place my entire life. It's beautiful out here, but I'd live elsewhere if I could afford to. I'm too far from everything useful or fun. The roads are terrible. There's no cable, and you still can't get high speed internet, decent cell phone reception, or satellite TV out here. The main issue, though, is that I'm grown. I'm my own person, and I have accepted that my parents and I (especially my father) will never see eye-to-eye on some crucial things. Even when things are "peaceful," there is a toxic level of tension and resentment just under the surface. Every day. That takes its toll on me.
-I will probably move out after I finish college .I was supposed to graduate from Portland State University with a B.A. in graphic design. That didn't happen. In your sophomore year you have to submit a portfolio of your work so they can evaluate whether you "deserve" a spot in the upper-level classes. Many people do not pass. My sophomore-level work wasn't deemed good enough, so they did not allow me to continue in the program. That was a really big blow to my confidence that I never really recovered from. To try to salvage my losses, I changed to an Art Practices major. Basically a generic "little bit o' this, little bit' of that" fine arts major. It's been a long, strange trip, but I'm set to graduate this Fall with a B.A. in Art Practices (with a minor in Graphic Design and a minor in Writing).
-I'm really not sure what career path I will pursue after college. I have a lot of research and soul-searching to do in a relatively short amount of time. I've been so focused on the present, just getting through each day, that I haven't given the future as much thought as I should.
-I am an introvert, and I struggle a lot with anxiety and depression, not to mention ADD-like symptoms. For some people, their pain fuels their creative side. For me, it kills it. That's a large part of why I am not very productive or prolific and have precious few finished pieces to show from the past few years.
-I work in a gas station mini-mart deli. Before that, I worked at the Subway next door. Before that, I worked at a different Subway. I don't like working in food establishments. If nothing else, THAT motivates me to finish college and find a better job.
-I would like to get back into cartooning/illustration and fiction writing, because I feel those are important parts of me that have been lost. I am so rusty and so self-conscious that just picking up a pencil or sitting down at the keyboard provokes anxiety and becomes extremely awkward. It's like getting onto a bike only to suddenly realize you forgot how to ride, and you fall over. I feel miles behind my peers, and it's disheartening.
That said, you and I both know that moving out of your parents' house can be an "out of the frying pan, into the fryer" experience. I haven't yet had the joy of establishing a "roommate" relationship with someone. But I expect it to be like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWENWNu--0Y