The Future
Hmmm...On Friday, I walked into the CS Cube and found a bunch of my contemporaries playing Puzzle Fighter on the Xbox360. Having never played the game and believing that only Tetris is worthy in the falling-tile genre, I paid no attention to their shenanigans. I eventually noticed that one guy started to continually beat everyone else around in the room. Then all of the sudden, why girl pops in and goes, "ZOMG! IT'S PUZZLE FIGHTER! I HAVEN'T PLAYED THAT IN SINCE GRADE 7!!! X333333" She then ends up trumping the previous guy, establishing herself Queen of Puzzle Fighter. Then one guy phones his friend. This friend of his had apparently played Puzzle Fighter every day during one summer, establishing a long and heated rivalry between the two. This friend walks into the Cube and trumps the Queen with surprising ease.
This is where I step in.
It is now so noisy in the room, I can't think/listen music even with my earphones at maximum. So I join the cuffuffle (I like how I was able to spell cuffuffle on my first try ever) and play against this newfound King. And so round and round and round we go, everyone trying desperately to beat this guy just once. The original guy couldn't make a dent and the Queen was stymied as were my own efforts. But like any good Dragon Ball Z character, each time I was beaten, I became much, much stronger. On my fourth round against this guy, I had beaten him not once, but twice. And then I had become King. And I kept the title for the next hour and a half before my class started.
vPortfolio
After class, I came back, was challenged again to a few more rounds of Puzzle Fighter. I beat them rather easily. While doing so, someone had mentioned an event called vPortfolio that was happening in the building next door and that they had pizza. Seeing as how Annie had to cancel dinner, and I told my parents that I was going out to eat, I was more than happy to crash in unannounced for an event I didn't care about for free food. =D
So some other CompSci students and I entered their icebreaker event under the guise of being interested students. It turns out that they were doing some pretty interesting stuff. This program, vPortfolio, is geared towards CS students who have an eye for filming. The program supplies filming equipment, editing software, and workshops that give the students a crash course in film making. Their hope is that student groups will submit their movies for review, which will be entered in an end-of-term contest. Registration Fee: non-existent. The prize: cash or film equipment. The catch: it's only available this semester.
Apparently, this is their first semester running the program. The idea has been bouncing around for the last couple of years but had only taken hold with the CS execs just recently. Undoubtedly, this is the reason why they don't have a registration fee: they want people badly.
In short, this program has reawaken that itch to be a part of filmmaking. I had originally hoped to do some sort of filming project over the summer but no dice. Now I'm being handed an opportunity to have every resource at my disposal, all I need to do is get into a group and apply. My main concern is that I might be spreading myself too thin. I already have 4 courses, a research lab to run, be a treasurer and co-prez on a club, and find jobs and apply to them for co-op. Do I have time to make a movie? I have no clue. So far, I haven't gotten sick, and I've had a decent amount of sleep over the last couple of weeks excluding one day. However, one of my former classmates told the directors of the program of her idea and they apparently loved it. Maybe I can help her with the filming aspect of it. I've always been good at getting good shots for any film project I've worked in. Plus, filming doesn't take up too much time. If planned well, filming could take a day or two. One of the best things about the program is that you don't have to submit a video on time. If you fail to make the deadline, you won't be entered in the contest, but they'll still look at your work. In any case, it's definitely something to look into. In fact, I'll probably register myself in it anyways.
If I manage to survive this semester, it would be the most productive semester I've ever been in. Not only that, with all the extra projects I am doing, it will definitely look good on the resume. Other than the workload, my only complaint this semester is that I don't get to see Annie all that often. She has full time work, I have full time school. And we can't see each other during weekdays because of her parents. And so I only get to see her...maybe once a week? This arrangement would probably frustrate a lot of people but I find myself in a strange state of detached contentment. Both she and I are going on seperate career paths, and even though I don't see her as often, I still find that I love her a lot. It's been almost a year so all the new couple happy-bubbly feeling has worn off, so I know it's not that. I think what Mai-Mae said was right. We started this relationship seeing each other at least every other day. And although we don't get to see each other as often, we always try to make the most of what little time we have together. It's something I wasn't sure if I had in me. Whatever sparked this change, I'm glad it had happened. This is something I definitely want to continue in the long run.
[EDIT: I have a paper due on Tuesday that must be 1000-1200 words long. I started today and I'm only at 169 words. This entry along without the extra EDIT section is 996 words and I wrote it in an hour. WTF?!?!!?]