A day-to-day blog/vent of my transition to city-living in Chicago, relationships, and the perils of graduate school in Biomedical Visualization (aka Medical Illustration) and life after grad school. Be prepared for irony and things to not go the way they should!
So exciting! Biomedical Visualization at UIC was presented on the CBS 2 Chicago News this evening. Program Director, Scott Barrows and students Leslie White and Michaela Calhoun (with a cameo by Erin Stevens) were interviewed for the newscast. I think they did a great job showing what we do in our unique program. Props!
Furthermore, the newscasters seemed quite impressed with our unusual skill set, calling us "Renaissance men and women, like Leonardo da Vinci for this century". You can see a video of the newscast by CLICKING HERE or checking out the article HERE!
More news about our program and the people in it. Three Biomedical Visualization students, myself included, were selected as winners and finalists in UIC's 2010 "Image of Research" competition. Congrats to me, Lindsey Brake and Annie Campbell! Take a look HERE! Hands off! to H1N1. Finalist in UIC's Image of Research. Lindsey Pionek. 2010. Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign.
I have been pretty busy. My apologies for lack of posting recently. It's time to get back in the saddle and start again. As for today, here's a quick update with what I have been doing:
Working on my project research so I can graduate this semester
Freaking out a bit about graduation because I have a TON left to do
Wishing that I didn't have a slump in the middle of the semester; I would be so much farther along
Kicking butt in Illustrator and taking names
Searching, applying, and researching jobs (Any advertising companies hiring creatives in Chicago?)
Have a new portfolio domain name and built the website from scratch in 3 days (see screenshot at top)
Became a Twitter freak (it's much faster than blog posts [though I do love blogging] and I have been learning much from individuals I am following (you can see a small feed on the right)
Workin' it at my GA
Found out for my 16 hours I work, I have to commute 8 additional hours (no wonder why I feel like I have no time. However, I love my apartment location)
Started a running program
Only to have it delayed by badly rolling my ankle 5 days after by missing a few steps (graceful, I know)
Finally, after 2 weeks the bruising and swelling is almost gone
Spent Easter with my cousin grilling out
Bought my graduation dress, even though I haven't heard anything about buying robes
Realized that tourists come out of the woodwork when its above 70F in Chicago
Refusing to pay for heat anymore because it has been too expensive for my taste
Sketched out a Dachshund (one of my dogs) and manually drew every bone in their little bodies for a project about canine Intervertebral Disk Disease
So there you go, a little update on what I have been up to. I have a few graphic design pieces that I completed that I will be posting in the next day or two.
When it comes to explaining what I do in grad school, the most common response other than "Oh, so you draw guts!" is "Like Netter, right?" Instead of getting the blank stare when I elaborate (We can do A LOT more than just illustration if you haven't figured that out yet.), I usually just say yes and go on my way. This past Friday, the UIC Biomedical Visualization graduate program welcomed Frank Netter's daughter, Francine, to have a talk about her famous father. She explained to the crowd Frank's childhood and how he was interested in art, and naturally good at it, at a young age. He started out with humble beginnings and a strong influence from his mother to become a doctor, though he preferred art. They came to an agreement that he could study art at the National Academy of Design if he promised to go to medical school in the future.
After Frank's mother passed away, he gave up art to follow his mother's dream for him and went into medicine. When studying, he realized that subjects were learned much faster when drawings were made, as did his peers and professors. When he was done with school and working at Mt. Sinai hospital, the Depression came forth and health care was unfortunately too expensive for most, so few patients came in for care. To keep him from being bored, and to make money to survive, he went back to his art by creating illustrations for medicine. Like many individuals starting out in the art field, he began with low wages, but when he was able to increase his charges (even more than he was expecting as well because of a miscommunication of a series of illustrations he was going to do for a total of $1500, but client responded and agreed to $1500 for each illustration), devoted himself to create images of science.
At the beginning of his formal medical illustration career war shook the world. Instead of being drafted, Frank volunteered for the Army and was set up in a studio by the Army Medical Museum. Though bored at first, he was later contacted to redesign the Army's First Aid Manual to make user-friendly as Francine mentioned that it was a huge clunky book that did not do much help when in the field. He make the book a small size and filled it primarily with his illustrations (which by the way were painted by students at the Society of Illustrators in New York, because Frank was unable to do because that was considered manual labor which an officer of the army was unable to do). With the much-needed benefit of a hand-held reference, Frank was assigned to create more on other subjects such as survival in the arctics and tropics.
When the war was over and was done with his service, CIBA contacted Frank t0 create medical illustrations for medical pamphlets which were later comprised in a book and sold out completely for two printing sessions. With the demand from this project, Frank was asked to illustrate the entire human body in a series of atlases of the systems of the body. Though Frank estimated it would take him 10 years to complete, it ended up taking up the rest of his life. As I have realized myself, creating art always takes longer than expected.
Hearing Frank's story from his daughter was very inspiring to hear and see. His life, her life growing up being around his work, his process of work, and seeing his sketches was helpful and educational. I am very happy that I allowed time in my day to experience this talk about one of the well-known medical illustrators.
Photo courtesy of mesotheliomacg.com. Anterior view of lungs in situ. 1995. Frank Netter.
Above is the logo chosen with the color and text choices that made the cut. I have a few reasons why I chose this logo above the others:
- The modern design reflects the characteristic of Promeaga be a "new" and revolutionary drug. - The center ovals of the logo symbolize a cell with a nucleus which is the level that the drug performs at. - The outer loop of the logo has a whimsical look. This was added to create an approachable and "take action" feel. It was made to look like someone took a marker and circled the cell; the way that Promeaga works. The negative space that interrupts this loop heightens this take action aura and creates interest. - The logo looks like an abstract target, one of the key words and ways that Promeaga works in the body.
Adding the brand name to the logo was the next step. As you can see from the examples, I wanted to use a san-serif font to mimic the clean and modern feel of the logo. I ended up with a thin, rounded san-serif named VAG Rounded in title case which worked well with the roundness of the logo and the way the letters created even more circles in the brand name.
Lastly, color is added to the logo. Color is very important in the branding process. Colors aren't just chosen to make the logo pretty, there is a large amount of psychology and symbolism behind each and every color. I have always been interested in color psychology, so choosing colors was an enjoyable task. The orange-red gradient and the vibrant light blue were chosen with aesthetic and psychological purposes. The blue signifies a state of disease, yet the shade of blue does not look dangerous or grotesque. The orange is a very vibrant and active color, but after some more research, I found that the color orange stimulates the immune system. This works for this logo since Promeaga doesn't compromise the immune system, yet is able to rid the body of cancerous cells. In the end, the final logo is modern, optimistic and approachable; exactly what I wanted this pharmaceutical drug is to represent.
Logo color and typography concepts and final Promeaga logo design. 2009. Lindsey Pionek. Adobe Illustrator CS4.
In the process of (finally) presenting all of my work from the past semester, here is the first part of my branding assignments from my Advanced Graphic Design class with Donna Hughes. The first part of the branding process was logo development. A logo should embody an organization or product, therefore a designer should dedicate an ample amount of time in research. Donna taught us this by requiring us to complete a few forms, which included a product identity, as well as filling out a concepting matrix, which included word, image, and color association list. I decided to create a logo for an imaginary pharmaceutical drug, Promeaga. Why? I didn't want to mimic anything on the market, recreate present branding, and most importantly, I wanted to put myself in a real-life situation with creating a new logo. Let's take a look at the process with the Promeaga logo.
Product Identity Name of product: Promeaga (Echinomycin doxorubictin)
What exactly does the product do? Promeaga is a cancer suppressant pharmaceutical that successfully repairs the human p53 gene, the transcription factor that prevent genome mutation by initiating apoptosis (premeditated cell death). In most cancers this transcription factor is mutated, therefore Promeaga would be able to restore the function of apoptosis in cancer patients, providing a better chance of restoring normal function in cancer patients.
Describe the industry of which the product is a part. Promeaga is part of the new findings and experimentation of Merck & Co. Merck & Co is a global research-driven pharmaceutical company dedicated to putting patients first. Established in 1891, Merck discovers, develops, manufactures and markets vaccines and medicines to address unmet medical needs. The Company devotes extensive e fforts to increase access to medicines through far-reaching programs that not only donate Merck medicines, but help deliver them to the people who need them.
How does the product fit in this industry? What is unique about it that sets it apart from others in the market? What is similar that keeps it competitive within the market?) Promeaga is the first product to benefit cancer patients of all kinds without the negative e ffects of chemotherapy. This drug provides a step ahead towards the actual cure for cancer. Though this drug is not the cure-all, Promeaga targets the transcription factor that initiates apoptosis, which stops the mutated cells from multiplying and make the cancer deadly. With the death of cancer-causing cells, there is a better chance of survival normal functioning cells and the patient. This drug, as beneficial as it is, is one step closer to the cure for cancer, though it does not fully provide society with the cure for cancer. Therefore, there is a sufficient amount of research yet to be done by pharmaceutical companies to find the cure.
Audience Profile Who is the audience (end user) for the product? Describe their personality as a group. The audience in for patients with all types of cancer that would like to see an alternative to treatment other than chemotherapy. They are likely very sick and exhausted from dealing with their cancer. The patients will most likely be happy to know that there is a better treatment option than chemotherapy, and one that could potentially cure many of numerous types of cancers. Cancer patients tend to be hopeful through their treatment and are more willing to try new procedures. They want to rid themselves of the cancer with as little pain and su ffering as possible.
What is the accepted/preferred visual language of the audience? Research example of what they are used to seeing and what is successful in communicating with them. The visual language for cancer patients follows a positive outlook for curing cancer. Though the drugs and therapies are not highly advertised, organizations for all types of cancer show images of hope, love, family, strength, life. All imagery is active and positive. Though the audience is faced with the possibility of a shortened life, the advertising takes them away from this to keep them positive during their treatment and not willing to give up on their battle.
What is the primary message you want the audience to receive about the product?(This should be a simple, clear answer—one concise sentence.) Promeaga provides cancer patients with more hope and promise than any other cancer treatment.
What is the secondary message you want the audience to receive about the product? Promeaga gives cancer patients their lives back by providing a more comfortable treatment.
After product identity was in place, I was able to go to the concepting matrix. Though this matrix did not have to be followed, it is a fantastic tool for experimentation and spurring thought and creativity. Afterwards, I worked on thumbnails of possible logo ideas in black and white. Below are images of these worksheets as well as a my top choices for the final logo. Which one do you think I chose to finish?
Well today was the day - the beginning of the 2009 Frank Armitage Lecture that our Biomedical Visualization graduate program. It seems like just yesterday I was building the website for the event. I swear, this semester has to slow down! Anyway, I wanted to be prepared for the morning and be on-time and put-together for the event so I picked out my outfit the night before and everything else was ready to go for the smoothest morning possible.... of course that didn't happen. When my alarm went off in the morning, I realized it went off too early so I set it for a later time.... too bad I turned it off and ended up waking up at 8 instead of 7. Well, I guess I will just have to take a cab again. Annoying, but still on time. I hop in the shower and get ready to look presentable-professional and I'm out the door with coffee-in-hand on-time. To my surprise, even with living right off of Clark Street in the heart of Lincoln Park, there are no cabs to be seen... and it is raining. No, not today, just not today. After hoping to see a vacant cab for 10 minutes, I decided to call for one. The operator said it would be less than 5 minutes. Okay, I can handle that. Well after another 10 minutes, I said screw it and I finally was able to hail a cab. The cab I called for called me 10 minutes later... not quite the time they gave me. Oh well, I got another one. Later, when I was about to be dropped off they cabbie figured out I was in school and stated that I was too beautiful to be in the medical field... whatever that means, but I took it as a compliment. Public compliments seem to be my thing; I can't go anywhere without someone noticing me even though I don't feel like I stand out. Oh well; there are much worse things that could happen.
Needless to say, I was late again by 10 minutes. Even though I attempt to be as prepared as possible, there is always some unexpected variable that destroys the plan. I just can't seem to catch a break. I walked into the lecture to Noah Lowenthal, Vice President of Abelson-Taylor. He discussed working in pharmaceutical advertising, more specifically working with the client, different animators and companies to create the product, as well as the working team. The drug, Kapidex, was the example the he discussed. Abelson-Taylor needed to build a booth for a convention that was promoting the drug. The A-T team decided that interactivity was key to captivate the audience, in which they decided to utilize Microsoft Surface. The work that A-T did was very impressive, especially as this was the first time that the company was working with this software.
Greg Blew was next, in which he discussed Emmi Solutions and patient education. More specifically, he started with the beginnings of the company, the significance of patient education for the patient as well as the hospitals, planning, budgeting, and survey scores from patients. Since Greg is also a professor for our program, he has discussed some insider info with us prior, but nothing like this. It was great to see even more of such a beneficial business.
After lunch, we had our last, and main, lecturer, David Bolinsky. Starting out with prehistoric art and man's ability to create artwork and evoke movement. Bolinsky went on to bring this idea into his own life and his progress to where he is today. Starting out in med school and doing pen and ink illustrations on the side, he was always interested in animation. Taking a leap of faith, he decided to drop everything and follow his dream. Can you believe this man started his company XVIVO, a 3D medical animating company, without ever owning a computer? They started off small and not well-known, but after submitting a short on the process visualizing the process of extravasation at a Siggraph conference and getting rave (yet unexpected, or so XVIVO thought) reviews, the company was jet-set to stardom in an instant. It was amazing to see the success that he had through his hard work and following his dream, which were his words of wisdom for the audience as well.
I couldn't believe what a success the first day of the lecture was this year. Usually, the talks, other than the main lecturer, are attended mainly by Biomedical Visualization students and faculty. This year, all the seats were full for every talk. It is fantastic to see how more people are becoming aware of what we do. All of the speakers were captivating, interesting, and the work they showed was just incredible. I don't think our program could have asked for a better day. We'll see how tomorrow goes!
Video courtesy of youtube.com. Inner Life of a Cell.
Today the Biomedical Visualization program hosted professional biomedical animator, Drew Berry. He held a talk during the day today discussing his rise to success by hard work and self-promotion as well as his process in creating his animations. Drew works at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia, a prestigious medical research establishment, in which they have received an Emmy for DNA documentary series in 2005.
My approach is the opposite tack to simplifying the science,” says Berry. “Rather than dumbing it down, I set out to show the audience exactly what the scientists are talking about. By building accurate visualizations founded on real scientific data, the animations come alive of their own accord, engage the audience, and go a long way towards explaining what the science is about. The science is rich, detailed and fascinating, and if you can watch it in action you will intuitively get to know how it works.
It was a pleasure to get to see, listen and meet with a professional in our field yet again and this man was stellar and this is just the first one this week! Stay tuned for a recap of the Frank Armitage Lecture later this week!
Photo courtesy of cgsociety.org. Still from animation of the malaria life cycle in human hosts. Drew Berry. Animation courtesy of youtube.com. Molecular Visualizations of DNA - DNA Chromosome Wrapping. Drew Berry.
The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago just replaced their old, yet cherished, walk-through heart with one that holds interactivity in a modern fashion. This new 14-foot steel wall hanging has the image of a human heart beating projected onto its surface. Place your hand on the pulse station's hand grips and the animated heart will match your pulse. More interactivity of this heart displays the inner anatomy and the electrical function that will keep education entertaining. This technological wonder is part of the new, 15,000-square-foot permanent exhibit pinned "You! The Experience". Scheduled to open October 8th, the exhibit is designed to showcase for visitors how the human body works and how to make better decisions regarding health and mental well-being.
Tom Hennes, president of the New York design firm Thinc, is the new exhibit's primary designer. Furthermore, the "Inner Life of the Cell" creator David Bolinsky, and his team, XVIVO, were involved in creating this new exhibit. Wait, there is one more part: David Bolinski is visiting our program and in the main guest speaker in this year's Frank Armitage Lecture which is presented by the Biomedical Visualization to show new technologies in our field.
The UIC Biomedical Visualization program not only has ties with the new heart installation, but the old one as well. The 8-foot wide, plaster of paris heart built around a pillar was designed and created in our department by past faculty and others, including Professor A. Hooker Goodwin, the director of from the 1950s to 1976. Because of the construction, the walk-through heart had to be broken into smaller pieces. Some of the pieces have been given as mementos to the people or the families that have worked on the installation, so I'm assuming our department will have something somewhere. In our hallway, we have photographs of the construction.
I personally look forward to taking a look at this new exhibit when it is open to the public. I hope you do too!
Photo courtesy of msichicago.org. Heart in "You! The Experience" permanent exhibit. 2009. Museum of Science and Industry. Chicago, IL.
A couple days ago we had a UIC Biomedical Visualization Alum, Matthew Holt, come in and give us a presentation of his lifestyle and work process. He is a freelance medical illustrator that lives in Wisconsin close to the Illinois border. He knew he wanted to do freelance right after grad school and he has been doing that ever since. From what he said, freelancing seems like quite the lifestyle; never knowing when a job will come around or busy for a bit and making a lot of money in a short time frame and then not having work for awhile, working from home, being there with your children, pursuing other passions, being your own boss, etc. It was interesting to hear about the life of a freelancer, but I would not want to do that unless I had to. I would be a stressful little person constantly; I'm the kind of person that likes more routine in my life than not (even though I'm always up for a surprise). At least he loves what he is doing and it makes me appreciate that there are all kinds of people that have to opportunity to find their own niche that works for them.
What amazed me with his talk is the speed that Matthew can finish an illustration. He showed us one of a profile of the face completely rendered and from start to finish he said it maybe took him two and a half hours! Of course, he didn't start out this fast, but still that just blows my mind! I guess it is all in practice and when you have been doing this for so many years and you have your technique down, it reduces the time. Take a look at his website for more work by Holt and to see what else he does when he isn't illustrating.
Photo courtesy of bodyrender.com. Small Joint Replacements. Matthew Holt. 2008. Photoshop.
Well I have finished my first year at UIC for my Master's in Biomedical Visualization! Yay! That went extremely fast, but I'm glad it's over. This past week has just been crazy. Just like it is every semester, you think you have enough time to do everything but then all of a sudden BAM! It hits you on the side of the face when you don't see it coming. This semester was definitely the hardest when it came to the end. After re-dos, large projects, assistantship interviews and presentations I am finally able to sleep (images to come!). I'm not lying either. From Sunday to Wednesday, I slept for maybe 10 hours. Sunday I slept for 3, Monday I pulled an all-nighter with a few others, Tuesday I slept for 5 after our critique and then woke up to do my presentation PowerPoint that I got way into and stayed up until 4 doing it, then got up at 8. Wednesday night after presentations I went out to Duffy's with a friend to celebrate to check out the Spazmatics again. Didn't go to bed until 4, work up at 6:30 since she had to go to work, took public transportation home and then slept a bit. It was a good time and so worth it!
That night brought on another end. After a year and a half of ups and downs and goods and bads, I am done with my past relationship. It's unfortunate but it had to be done. We didn't talk for a week and it made me think about what was happening (well when I wasn't thinking about everything that needed to be completed.) It's unfortunate how it ended too in the way that when I called I was cut off with what I wanted to say, so I'm just going to say it here. He was a great guy, but we just couldn't make it work. We are two totally different people with different values and priorities and I wasn't one of his (or he made me feel that way). And I slowly but surely made him less of a priority because of this. Yes, I was angry and sometimes unfair, I will admit that, but it takes two to make things work, so I am not the only one at fault. There were many opportunities to improve, and they would initially, but then fade in a matter of weeks. I have went on this roller coaster too many times, and was starting to get sick. So that is that. He helped me learn about Chicago, helped me find my apartment here, and explored which was great. It's too bad the Hancock Observatory will never be the same but this too shall pass and I have learned from it and I will continue to find who will be good for me.
Too bad I couldn't find the actual illustrator's name for the image above. I would love to credit them, but Healthwise must have taken all the rights. Hope the illustrator was compensated!
Photo courtesy of Health.com. Illustration of taking a rectal temperature of an infant.
with these handy dandy reflex hammers! Look real? They're not! I actually modeled and rendered this little piece of equipment in 3Ds Max. When I finally got the hang of it (a couple times of starting over to get it just right), the modeling did not take long. I enjoyed this assignment for the most part, but my favorite was the texturing and playing with reflections, plus it made the most sense to me. I even added a fingerprint! I tidied up the situation a bit from the critique and created more of an appealing composition without overdoing it too much. All in all, I'm impressed by what Max can do... and this is just the beginning!
I'm pretty amazed by what my classmates have done as well. Some of them chose some really complex tools and I don't know how they were able to complete the assignment for some of them. I give them great respect for taking up the challenge. Check out 2 of my fellow classmate's blogs where they show their work: Josy and Annie.
Unfortunately, I was unable to see everyone's since I had to leave for my internship. It was good though, I have been learning so much from putting files on ours and other companies FTP sites by using FileZilla (so helpful!) for print as well as creating zip files and making sure that all the elements of a document are included. It may sound simple to you experts out there, but remember when you first were introduced to all that. I have to admit, this whole process is very humbling but I am blessed to having very patient and helpful people above me in the marketing department. I guess it is better to learn it now than later when I am actually in a full-time position.
Everyone in our 3D Max (aka Computer Visualization) class is on the rush to get our instruments completed by critique on Friday. Seriously, everyone is scrambling to obtain their ray-traced reflections and realistic textures on their (hopefully) modeled tools. Our poor professor seemed very tired by the end of class today going from person to person to answer a plethora of questions. Thank goodness I am almost done with my instrument and I'm pretty proud of it. I can't believe how real you can get objects to look! Hope your excited to see the finished product, I know I am!
The syringe above is the one that I modeled previously and was a mini-project coaxing us into the shallow end of the huge pool of texturing. Texturing is all about making things shiny, realistic, have labels, bumpy, whatever you put your mind to. Modeling is the planning and frustrating part as of now and texturing is more experimental and well, more enjoyable to say the least. I know I will go back to it and improve more, but for now, it is suitable to post; it already took me 2 weeks to post this!
You know how it goes, busy, busy, busy but learning so many techniques and programs to benefit our career. It seems like a good deal to me, I still miss having the time/money to go out on the weekends regularily..... missing some of my undergrad experience, but UIC's BVIS program seems like it will be worth it!
I think this one is for the record books people. This is by far the biggest eye that I have ever seen and it is in the US! Eye by Tony Tasset is a 12-foot diameter, fiberglass painted well, eye that is exhibited in Laumeier Sculpture Park in Saint Louis, MO. The detail of the iris and the ocular conjunctival vasculature is what captured me when I first took a look at it monumental piece. After doing a little bit of research, I found something even more interesting.....
Tony Tasset is a local! Yes, Tony received his Master of Fine Arts degree from The School of the Art institute of Chicago and is currently a University Professor at UIC in the School of Art and Design. I guess UIC is the place to be! Though Tasset recently has been creating large-scale permanent sculptural pieces for the outdoors, he works in a variety of mediums.
Though not solely science and anatomy-based, he created the Capuchine Chandelier, which uses the skeleton as an art material. It reminds me of the Roman Catholic Church of Sedlec in the Czech Republic as well as the catacombs of Paris, though these places actually used the real thing. Finding out more more about Tony Tasset was a great experience and I may have to contact him to learn more! Well back to working on my own medical-based projects!
Photo courtesy of Laumeier.com "Eye", 2007, Tony Tasset and Blog.daytonc.com "Capuchine Chandelier" 2006, Tony Tasset.
Day 2 of my second semester at UIC for my masters in Biomedical Visualization. Another full day, but great. In the morning we had John Daugherty's Illustration Techniques and he showed us all his portfolio through his career as a medical illustrator. His work and style is quite impressive! He even talked about some good approaches pertaining to rights of your artwork that you create. It was a very nice first day with him and it was entertaining hearing about his experiences throughout his years as an artist.
Next was Donna Hughes with our Graphic Design class. She is another successful and career-driven professor that we have. Not one just does teaching; it is incredible how they can balance all that they do. Donna has her own graphic design company and through tooling around on her site, I was quite impressed. She also designed Daugherty's portfolio site!
Though our professors ask quite a bit from us, I know it will benefit us all if we put the time and effort into it. I will have to keep telling myself that throughout my time here, though I love being here and learning the most that I can. I will come back to the specialties of my professors later!
Photo courtesy of Highlight Studios. Daugherty, John. Head and Neck Arteries
Well okay, here's the story. My Mom wanted me to paint a few places in our house including the ceiling of a few rooms during the break since I didn't quite have a job. You know, no big deal, I can paint a flat color no problem. Needless to say, I started with the ceiling since we didn't have to discuss colors. Too bad I didn't think about the trouble I would encounter with my mere 5' 2" frame.
I was in the process of cleaning the ceiling.... no problem, and then I started taping. I started and I couldn't get right up to corner so I had to use the tallest chair that we had.... too bad it was a swivel chair. I was fine for sometime, but the thing is with taping you have to continue with a long piece of tape; it will look better that way. So in the process of trying to hop to another chair, I crashed. Yup, just crashed. Crashed on my parents little snowman Christmas tree that I thought I moved far enough away. At least it was fake so I just messed up the branches of the tree. However, there were some glass ornaments which of course I broke and of course fell on and of course cut myself with. It's not even the problem I cut myself, it's the place. RIGHT ACROSS MY WRIST! Seriously, not only am I sore, bloody, broke some ornaments, and ticked off at myself, but now I look like a cutter. Awesome. I just hope it heals with no scars, seriously, who is going to believe this story?
Well after a bit, I went to taping again, but I left the hard-to-reach parts to my taller family members. So I was done for the day, with painting to do tomorrow. I received my brother's gift in the mail from my online shopping, just to open in and find out it has a tear in it, AWESOME. I also check out my loan account and there is STILL money in there. I. HATE. LOANS!!!!!!!
Tomorrow should be a better day, we will see with the painting.....
Also, I found this little illustration on Flickr, don't know who did it, but I thought it was appropriate.
My final anatomy exam which was on the head and neck was today. The lecture part went well, but unfortunately, the lab part was not my best, but when I mean best, like 3 wrong, so I shan't complain. I was up before it was light out this morning and let me tell you....8 degrees when I left the apartment! To make matter a bit more chilly as well, the UIC buses weren't working at that time.... that time was 6:45 when I left the house. I must be a total nerd too since the Health Sciences Library doesn't open until 7:30....what kind of people are running this place? Do they realized that they are in the sciences and science people need to study?! Anyway, I chatted with a friend (that was actually thinking the same as I that morning) until the library was opened.
After the test was done, we went for a little drinky and socialization at Hawkeyes. I had 2 beers and they tasted really good today. After that, I and others went to support a fellow grad student to go to her undergrad senior thesis art show. Chicago is more into the conceptual art than I am, but it is interesting what the process is sometimes; but really, can rotten vegetables be considered art?
Yesterday for Biomedical Visualization (BVIS) Seminar, Mr. Scott Barrows gave our class the opportunity to check out the Electronic Visualization Laboratory here at UIC. I was greatly impressed! They had virtual reality, a touch screen table like in some of the new movies and incredibly hi-res photos that could be projected on this huge screen. It's awesome to think that some things that they were showing us are the teaching tools of the future. Of course, when I go to try out the touch-screen picture table, the image doesn't move and it temporarily freezes. Another girl in my class noticed and stated that now she realizes what I'm talking about when things get messed up when I'm around..... Tell me about it!
Well off to sleep and then some major website-building tomorrow! Less than a week and I'm done with the semester!
Here my friends, we have a messed-up heart with the left hepatic vein not draining into the inferior vena cava like it should be, but up into the right atrium that our class had to draw with the focus on form. I enjoyed this project since I tend to go into detail. Unlike the knee assignment prior to this, I received much better reviews, much better than I expected, actually. I will take it though, don't you worry! Too bad I was looking at the labels the day after I handed it in (and after it was critiqued for that matter) and I noticed something off.... HALF OF MY DAMN LABELS WERE FLIPPED FOR LEFT AND RIGHT!!!! Seriously, Lindsey?! Do you have to make yourself look more like an idiot?! The surprising thing is, NO ONE, not even our professor, made a comment. I'm assuming if they didn't make a comment because they didn't notice it because of my beautiful, magnificent, glorious rendition of light on form (jk, but not really ;) ), or maybe they just thought I really am an idiot and they decided to leave it alone.... I guess I won't know now, but I did change it before I put it here and I emailed the professor so he really didn't think I was a moron; I am so embarrassed. I'm really not an idiot; I just don't pay attention fully all the time because there is always so much going on in my mind.
Well today is when my lucky streak ended.... it all started when UIC sent me this email saying "Your e-bill is ready". WHAT?! I have loans to pay for this! Well I look and there is over $7000 in there with a late fee. If you don't know the whole situation, UIC financial aid and I have not seen eye-to-eye since I have been here. It all started when I never received anything about financial aid during the summer so I applied for a private loan. Well that private loan never showed because I put my mom's birthday as the wrong year so there was a massive amount of money in my account and no one would help me. Well, after the joys of FASFA and their loans, I no longer needed the private loan, so I sent that money back to the loan company so I wouldn't have to pay for it later..... Well now in my UIC account the same amount from the private loan plus a late fee are in my account right now..... WHAT THE HELL? So, guess who's going back there when she should really be taking the time to do homework and nobody else has this problem? ME!
There is the financial aid black cloud over me once again, the noticed flaw in my labeling, and then working on my online class I can't figure out this stupid concept map to do anything....and I haven't had time to study for anatomy yet... and I have friends coming up this weekend (NOT COMPLAINING) so I won't do anything then... so yeah, when it rains, it pours........
Hello everyone! I moved to the city of Chicago, IL from Green Bay, WI to go to Graduate School @ UIC for Biomedical Visualization about 3 months ago. So excited for this opportunity, I didn't think much about the transition that I would have to go through to adjust to living in the 3rd largest city in the US. I mean, how hard could it be? Would it really be that different?
Well to my surprise, I have come to realize in the past 3 months that irony and minute frustrations occur every single day in my life. I may complain about life, but I will be the first one to admit, mine is really not that bad...... it's just ANNOYING! Seriously, I can't count how many times I have JUST missed the bus because I can't cross the street, or when the EL's electricity shuts off and you can literally see the ramp of the stop you get off at right out your window but you can't get out and you sit there for 20 minutes. Yeah, silly situations like this and much more happens all the time! I hope readers will be able to relate to my real-life experiences and if they can't and you are one of those people that is so obnoxiously perfect (I hate you, but want to be like you) I hope you can laugh at me. I just have to keep on laughing to survive since my family told me it was the best medicine.
