I was playing video games before I got into bed the other night, and it really hit me that this is the last time I'm going to have this kind of experience, or at the very least the last time for awhile. There's something oddly mature about being up at 2am, watching television, and getting up early the next day. It's so mundane and adult, and yet exciting.

I totally disappeared for like 3 weeks. Sorry about that. I've been working super hard on my thesis. Editing, buying mattes (AGH! THIS SCARES ME SO MUCH), designing my postcard and posters, re-printing images, writing my artist statement... it doesn't leave very much time for other stuff (including other classes... *cough*).

Speaking of artist statements, here it is. In all of it's under 200 words glory!

***
My first romance began in childhood; I was infatuated with my pet cat . He was quite a hunter, and I relished in watching his subtle, yet deliberate, feline movements. Armed with just a point and shoot Barbie camera, I began my lifelong fascination with animal photography.

Instead of traveling around the world to see animals in their natural habitat, I began to visit the zoo obsessively, and practice shooting while I was there. It was my surrogate for “real” wildlife photography, and I treat it with the same kind of respect. It became obvious that these animals were both feral and domesticated- they rode the fence between human fantasy and fact.

At the Natural History Museum this line is even more hazy. These animals are placed exactly the way they “should” be, like images from a storybook. Animals are not a human construct; they have their own natural conduct that cannot be controlled. These behaviors are what entice me to sit for hours, waiting for that perfect moment between the camera, the animal, and myself.
***

This was really, really hard to write, and even harder to be concise and yet interesting. I don't think I could do it better though, and I rather like it.

I really, really, really want to shoot again, but I know I shouldn't. I should concentrate on other things, like animation class. But I really want to go to the Aquarium again. Perhaps I'll go after finals, or just go to the one in California.

AHH AHHH AHHHH I've already made my end of the year calendar, I've ordered my cap and gown, I'm working on final projects/papers already, I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING.