<br/>Today, my film camera arrived. I was pretty excited as I was opening up the box. I have been messing around with it a bit, trying to figure out how to use it. I think I have got the gist of it down, I think the light meter is a bit inaccurate inside the house – I mean, ISO 3200 with a 1 second exposure should not underexpose anything. I plan on using the camera outside for the most part.<br/><br/>The build quality feels good. The camera itself feels heavy, and the lens is constructed with a mix of plastic and metal components. I think overall it feels nice for a $200 camera. It is much nicer than I expected it to be. If anyone was looking for a film camera, I would recommend this one. It doesn’t have automatic anything, but I don’t think that is a problem. This camera was designed for students learning photography, and for that reason full manual just isn’t a problem.<br/><br/>Aside from receiving my camera, today was an ordinary day. I went to work early, got off early, and am now sitting at home with Levi.<br/><br/>This entire year pretty much went by like today. Me going to work early, going to school late, and sitting at home with Levi. Unfortunately, I didn’t accomplish anything in the process. School-wise, this entire year was one big disappointment after another. First I was unable to get my stress under control and my grades suffered, and then family issues really became an issue. I am still unsure if nursing is the right path for me, but I think for now I might stay on it.<br/><br/>My relationship has been amazing as always – Levi and I have never been happier. No complaints there. This new year brings with it the possibility of Levi and I getting domestically partnered with the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. That will be exciting for the both of us. I’ve waited a long time, and I am happy that it will finally be happening soon. Maybe after my 21st birthday. That is coming up soon.

Levi and I love our new panini press so much. We have used it every day this week. It is so great. Levi bought some awkward vegetables to put in his sandwiches, me – I prefer meat and cheese. <br/><br/>We ordered our books and my camera. We are pretty excited for school to start up again. As much as I love being home all the time, I miss doing stuff too. I am excited to get to use a film SLR for the first time as well. I think it will be a lot of fun learning how to develop film and use the camera. The camera was pretty cheap, I opted for the one with the zoom lens for more practicality at the expense of image quality. But hey, it is a beginning black and white film photography course – how good of quality can they expect from the students. <br/><br/>I hope my courses won’t be too difficult, I am hoping for a good quarter after a few bad ones. I am still uncertain about what I plan to do for school. I might still become a nurse, after all. I found that the whole process of starting a business was simply too complicated and risky – it was a huge possibility that in the end I may not even have broken even. I think that maybe sometime later on I may work on starting a photography business. As much as I had hoped it would work out, I think I need to consider other options instead.<br/><br/>I think I am mostly afraid. I don’t know how things will work out and that makes me nervous. I will figure everything out. I hope.<br/><br/><br/>

Where to start? How about with all of the things that have happened since the last time I blogged. Well, first and foremost, my father had a heart attack a few days before Christmas. He is fine and out of the hospital now, but let me tell you – that was one hell of a way to be woken up in the morning.<br/><br/>Aside from that not much has happened. Christmas went well. Everyone enjoyed their presents. We gifted my brother an iPod touch, which he really loves. We gave my parents a Food Saver and some other stuff. I think they liked it as well. We received money, a rice cooker and an electric skillet. I haven’t used the electric skillet yet but I will eventually. Levi and I went out and bought a panini press tonight. We made panini sandwiches for dinner, and it was very delicious. Everyone should have a panini press.<br/><br/>School is about to start and I still need to buy a film camera. I will probably buy it next week or something. It isn’t too expensive, I am just lazy. Really lazy, that is. We also need to buy levi his books. We will get to that eventually. Eventually….

I spoke to my apartment manager about opening a business and she said all I would need to do is get a P.O. box so that I wouldn’t be operating out of the apartment. She also said it was fine so long as I did not have clients over at the house. So with that, all systems are go for me to start getting everything in order to open up my own photography business.<br/><br/>I hope to keep this blog updated as I go, sort of a documentation of opening a business. Right now my main goal is to upgrade my equipment, and start getting a portfolio ready to go. To build up my portfolio, my mother had the brilliant idea for me to offer families and individuals my services for only the cost of printing. I think that I will also offer the services for free if they opt for a DVD only. The stipulation for this would be that they must sign a waiver for me to use their photographs in my portfolio. I will probably seek some legal advice for the drawing up of the waiver. I’m sure it won’t be too expensive to have an attorney write a waiver.<br/><br/>I should have everything ready to go within a year, hopefully. I am still a little nervous about the entire process. To ease my nerves I have been doing a lot of research on starting and running a business. I even bought a book. I don’t know if the book will help at all, but it will look nice on the bookshelf.<br/><br/>I think life is about to get much more exciting for Levi and I. I am happy that I will be able to do something more than spend money and work at a lousy job. I will still have a lousy day job, but I will hopefully be able to start making some serious money. Speaking of serious money, my mother recommended I also do weddings. I am afraid of the idea of shooting weddings still, but I will consider it.

Gak. Slimy, smelly, Gak. So gross yet fun to play with at the same time. Fun until you just happen to notice it seeping out of its bag and into the carpet in your living room – the brand new, never been used by anyone else but you, carpet in your living room, This is the sight I beheld this evening right before we left for dinner. The worst part about this discovery? It had been seeping in to the carpet since the night before had begun to dry. Freaking out, I grabbed the cleaner I use on my wood surfaces in an effort to clean the Gak off of the carpet. This only left me with a spicey smelling mess.<br/><br/>Frantic, Levi and I made our way to the store to pick up some carpet cleaning supplies. Our first attempt at subduing the mess was some normal carpet cleaner. It did and OK job but it definitely left a lot to be desired. Our next attempt was Oxy Clean. That stuff really works. On first application the Oxy Clean solution completely removed the blue dye from the Gak, leaving the Gak a pink color. The second application I noticed even more color leaving the Gak but it still stayed mostly intact. In a last ditch effort I made another application of the Gak and took a hair brush and ran it through the carpet to break up the Gak as the Oxy Clean did its stuff. <br/><br/>The end result of this little adventure was a clean carpet. The Oxy Clean worked very well, and I am very happy I decided to get it. I am unsure about the other stuff but I am pretty much sold on Oxy Clean now. Last time I leave a bag of Gak on the floor.

I’ve decided to begin my camera fund again. Only this time, I have selected a cheaper goal. The 5D mark II was just too expensive for me to be comfortable with the expense. The new camera I have selected is the 7D. The 7D, like the 5D, offers phenomenal image quality compared to other cameras. The differences between the two are pretty important. For one, the 7D doesn’t off the full-frame sensor, so it has a crop factor – and two, the 7D offers a far more advanced focusing system. The 5D performs better in low light but the 7D doesn’t perform badly. <br/><br/>Like with the 5D, I’ve decided to go with the kit instead of just the camera. The lens I have will work with the 7D, but because it is such low quality I might as well upgrade the lens at the same time. While the 7D kit lens isn’t as great as the 5D lens, it is still much better than my current lens. My current lens is really great on a Rebel XS, but it is a travesty of sorts to even consider putting it on the 7D. <br/><br/>In other news, I am pretty sure I will be retaking microbiology, but at the same time I am unsure if nursing is something I even want to do with my life. I am worried what my parents will think if I decide to quit school, or change my career path. My father likes to hang things over my head sometimes to scare me into staying in school. I’m positive I would be able to afford my student loans if I were to stop going to school. Maybe I could start a photography business or something.<br/><br/>Running a business could be difficult. I would have to submit to having my taxes done by somebody for the rest of my life, something that I am not at all opposed too. I hate doing my taxes. All I care about is how much money I am going to get back.<br/><br/>I’m still not sure about everything, there is still a lot I need to figure out. Right now, I am just not feeling school. Anything that has to do with the future scares the crap out of me. Honestly.

I tried to make myself a WordPress template last night, I even blogged about my intentions. What I learned from this experience is that CSS and positioning is far too complicated and I am better off using the work of somebody else. I just don’t have it anymore, I guess.

I made breakfast for Levi and I this morning. We had french toast, real french toast. I put milk, cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg and sugar into the egg batter and it was very tasty.

Finals week is this week. I have one final, on tuesday, and then I am finished. I already took my other final, and got B+ on it. I am pretty excited about this B+ because it is much better than I thought I was going to do. I didn’t read the book, or pay attention in this class. I suppose that is normal for a 100 level class though. My last final is in microbiology, I think I am going to do well. While I have not started studying yet, the information on this exam is much more interesting than the information covered on the previous exam.

School and work have really been taking away from my photography lately. I haven’t taken any new pictures since I stopped my 365 day project. Hopefully next quarter will be different. Even though it will be film, I am really excited for my photography class. I am excited to work with film, just as much as I am excited to have time to pick up a camera again – even if it is not my digital.

I have some studying to do before I can really start thinking about next quarter. I don’t want to get ahead of myself.