Class today.

I woke up a little too early again, but it was either that or get up to change the alarm and not being as satisfied with my sleep. Once I realized I was waking up, I made it a point to keep my eyes closed.

I wish those classes took place on Monday. ^^; I usually don't have to work on Mondays, and more often than not we have to report to jury duty at 2pm, so I always get more sleep. I'm just feeling exhausted, but it'll pass. I have a long day ahead of me, though. Work zapping my energy/patience from me isn't going to help things. By the way, the replacement supplies Yessenia ordered for me? Wrong stuff. Everything was wrong except for one pack of paper. :D

Roped in again.

Just because I have nothing to do doesn't mean I want to do your stuff for you. -_-;

Dona has something for me to do today. It's been a while. 9_9 She wants me to gather pictures of famous African-Americans that people 15-16 years old should know. She says the parents of the kids at her church have let their kids "get lost in hip-hop" and as a result, they don't know who anyone is.

Seeing as it's been ten years for me since I was that young, I had absolutely no clue what to put in, so I've been putting in some pretty freaking obvious ones. (Will Smith, anyone? And a picture from I Am Legend, at that, but only because I figured not a lot of teenagers would really want to see that movie. I could be wrong. But whatever, he's a freebie.) I started with fifteen people, about 1/5 of them activists/ministers/reverends (MLK Jr., Sharpton, Jackson, and Malcolm X, although I'm sure everyone has at least dabbled in activism at some point). She didn't know George Washington Carver (?! What the hell, you should know that!) and had me take him out. I was considering taking him out anyway because he might be a little TOO obscure, if that's the right word. I know about him, because I had a book and did a report on him, and I loved reading about him, so maybe I'm biased. But he's easily the greatest black inventor ever (and the only one I had on my list because he's the only one I could think of that younger people might be able to guess; you DO learn about him in school, unless learning during Black History Month has taken a turn for the worst), which MEANS there are no inventors in the group :D). Anyway, she said to take him out because he's too unrecognizable. I don't quite understand that, since she had me put Marian Anderson in, and I had absolutely NO clue who she was until I looked her up. Apparently, people Dona doesn't know = bad.

She wants me to put in Luther Vandross, James Brown (fine, good one, EVERYONE knows him), Wesley Snipes, Della Reese (eh), Harry Belafonte (what 15-YEAR-OLD is gonna know him?!), Sidney Portierre (must look up spelling of name), some other sports figure to replace either Hank Aaron or Jackie Robinson (because OMG, TWO ball players is too much!), and some other people whose names ring bells, but I wouldn't know if they slapped me in the face. If this is being used as an educational thing, fine. But then don't tell me to pick people kids would recognize. Tell me to pick famous black people. That's it. No other conditions.

Gah. Home, please. Do not want to be here. Do not want.

And the boss isn't here yet, but he just called from home, and he's coming in. For some incredibly retarded reason. Which means I'll have to deal with him.

And this is what I meant when I said I'm tired. My patience is shot today.

Another 45 minutes or so, and I'm out.

I need to get something to eat, because eating when I get home is not something I should do. I won't get back until nearly 10pm. Thank goodness there's a Subway right around here. Or maybe I'll just go downstairs and get a slice of pizza. They should still be open.

I'm coming home later and going to sleep. I have two more days of this garbage before the weekend. I have a late meeting tomorrow (3 o'clock, ugh). Friday should be quiet.

OKAY.

Art class: Fun. Our teacher, Ivan, was half an hour late, though. XD He's used to the other class that starts at 6:30.

I like him. I like his approach to things, the way he gives helpful, constructive criticism and never sounds like he's saying "You're doing it wrong", even when you are off on your proportions or something. I was mortified when he had us take our drawings and tape them to the blackboard for criticism. He pointed one person (I think that was Elizabeth) out and asked which drawing she liked, and when she pointed one out he'd ask who drew it, then ask that person which drawing they liked. Two people liked mine. The girl sitting in front of me, Annie, said she liked that I seemed to have a strong grasp of shapes. After that we went back to work on the drawings and introduced ourselves, and when I told Ivan I hadn't taken a formal art class before, he was surprised and said my drawing seemed very mature. ^____^ It was a really nice compliment.

We drew a sphere on top of a box next to a baseball cap underneath a black umbrella on a table. (Got all that?) I need to get my hands on a white charcoal pencil... Ivan had me borrow one from another student, Roderick (Rodrick?), and it'll really come in handy, so I need to get one of my own. And a couple of charcoal pencils.

After three or four classes, we're going to move from still life to live models. ^_^

So, I'm happy, and I can't wait for the next nine classes.

That's when I'm happiest, though--when I'm putting pencil or pen or charcoal or whatever to paper and making things. I'm hoping working with new mediums will pump some life into me.

Quizzle.

You're the time of day right around sunrise, when the sky is still a pale bluish gray. The streets are empty, and the grass and leaves are a little bit sparkly with dew. You are the sound of a few chirpy birds outside the window. You are quiet, peaceful, and contemplative. If you move slowly, it's not because you're lazy – it's because you know there's no reason to rush. You move like a relaxed cat, pausing for deep stretches that make your muscles feel alive. You are long sips of tea or coffee (out of a mug that's held with both hands) that slowly warm your insides just as the sun is brightening the sky.

Sounds right, I suppose. I will make it a point to get places on time, mostly early, but other than that I'm much more relaxed... except when I'm sitting at work, but y'know.

Okay, I think I need my bed now. Good night. Meeting tomorrow at three in the PM. -_-