turns out I will NOT graduate this semester as planned.
I'm pissed about my situation, but I'm still determined to overcome it.

also,
if you're ever prescribed one or more medications that alter the serotonin levels in your brain, be sure t ask your doctor about "Serotonin Syndrome," the lesser-discussed side effect risk that can actually be MUCH worse than the symptoms that you're trying to treat. This drug interaction is actually TOXIC, man. how's that for risks-outweigh-the-benefits shitty side-effects?

***

On a more positive note, I will be making final edits to my large collection of stock photography/food porn, and you should see much more work in my gallery soon.
I may decide to make a separate stock account for this, who knows.


Either way, I will continue to post my artwork NOT as a show-n-tell attention-whoring, but as a way to get intelligent feedback and helpful critique of my work. I'd like to know what I can do to improve my photography, as I still have no formal training, and I do not plan to anytime soon.
If I'm neglecting your work, and you feel that I'm not returning the favor of leaving helpful comments, please let me know. I do try to take note of these things when my brain chemistry ISN'T working against me.

thank you.

***

I think I have adopted quite a bit of a British personality and lifestyle as of late. It isn't some effort to recreate myself, or to put on some kind of front, but I happen to adore British humour, especially the writing of Douglas Adams, the Monty Python folks, and other BBC goodness.

I enjoy alternative spellings and slang terms that aren't so common around northern Iowa. I've always loved the sound of "bloody" as a modifier, and I've loved it even more since I had the pleasure of hearing Daniel Clasby (one of the best art professors ever) use it quite regularly. Hey, I also say "groovy" and "I dig it" on a regular basis, and not in a joking manner...I just don't care if they're outdated or silly, I love the way they sound.

I have also been very fond of hot tea--the REAL kind, from leaves, not from a plastic bottle filled with corn syrup and artificial color--for a very long time now. Perhaps I will officially adopt a tea time as part of my daily schedule. As I no longer have a daily schedule, this might be just the thing to get me back into one.

also, the biggest part of my Brit "alter ego" of sorts:
*sigh* here goes....
this is silly, but absolutely, 100 per cent true...

I have a British accent inner monologue most of the time. You know when you think the words inside your head, you can hear them as you form your spoken or written words in the material world, and it's usually just your own voice, right? Well, mine often sounds like a British man. I'm not sure which dialect(s) it follows, as it varies somewhat from day to day, but typically sounds similar to, let's say, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, or a more masculine version of Kate Winslet.

yes. I am being quite serious.

I've had this for quite a while, and can't really remember when it started....but it first manifested itself when I discovered that I actually *speak* this accent aloud whenever I get...*ahem*..."silly" off of certain substances. I mean, it is NOT forced at all, I actually can't help it!
When I'm sober, I still hear the inner monologue in the accent, but I can go about speaking in my normal voice...and in fact, if I TRY to speak in an accent, I think it sounds forced and all wrong.
I have no idea if it's at all accurate when I'm *ahem* not sober, but it sounds the same in my mind, so it makes no difference to me as it happens.

The frequency of this British man voice invading my inner monologue has increased remarkably in the last two or three years. I have no explanation for it, unless my medications have something to do with it....but again, it's been with me (to a lesser degree) since at least my Freshman year of college, I think.

*shrugs*

cue the Teen Girl Squad photo:
/weirded out!