angelchildr

Alright.

So I'm better than I was yesterday.

We had a problem with the bikes. Here is the story (part of which I've already told).

My parents came down to visit on Saturday, and brought me a bike. It was an awesome bike; just a simple one speed with pedal brakes (because I have weak hands, and that would not be a good situation to have hand brakes lol). It matched TinyCar and my new helmet, and I was really excited about it. Rode it a bit in the parking lot (about 1 minute total). Then I took it upstairs to store it in the apartment for the moment (though I will probably be putting it on the balcony eventually).

As I was sitting on the couch later that night, the back tire randomly blew out (scaring the crap out of me). I was pretty bummed, but figured that it was a random fault, so I planned to drive up to visit my parents on Sunday and take that bike back. Unplanned one day trip, but not un-doable.

So I got up Sunday morning, managed to fit the bike in TinyCar, and drove up to my parents'. My dad and I went to return the bike and got a new one (same model and everything). The lady from sporting goods was NOT AMUSED at havng to take back the bike, and was looking for reasons to not take it, but after dealing with a few minutes of attitude, we got the new bike. We took it home, filled the tires to specifications, and I rode it around (again for about a minute total) and then just stood over it for a while talking to my mom. After a few minutes, I heard the same popssssssssssssssssssss noise as the previous night, and we realized that the FRONT tire this time had gone completely flat.

My mom actually uttered the phrase "What the FUCK?" :-D

My dad was mowing the lawn at the time, so we decided to just let him finish before telling him, and I went inside to make that post from yesterday. I was getting a little upset, but mostly covering it well. My dad finished up the lawn and I went outside again to see him pacing in the garage with my mom watching. He looked at the bike again, shook his head and said "I have to get away from this thing for a minute" and went inside. He was NOT happy.

He went to cool down a bit, mom went in the kitchen, and I sat down on the back porch and proceeded to have a mini breakdown and cry a little. I logically knew that it couldn't be me blowing out the tires, because (as someone else said too) I've seen people much larger than I am riding bikes. Mom came out to sit by me and tried to tell me exactly that, but it's hard sometimes to calm down once you're upset. Dad came out after a bit too and saw I was upset and gave me one of the tightest hugs I can remember getting from him for a long while. I was a lot calmer by then, but that helped too.

Then my dad became ACTION DAD!!! He was NOT going to stand for a crappy bike for his daughter! :-D He had previously been thinking about trying to replace just the tire, but instead he got the bike into his car and went to take it back. Mom said that she thinks that he was irritated/frustrated by the bike before then, but seeing me upset just pissed him off. :-D So he took the bike back, told the store that he didn't think that the bikes were safe at all, and that he wasn't going to send his daughter back to Chicago with an unsafe bike. :-D ♥ my dad, you guys.

We then met at a different store and got a different bike. Different make, different model, different store. SO FAR it has not blown a tire. :-D And I went for a ride around the block with my dad, so so far so good. It doesn't match TinyCar as exactly, but it's still blue (just a little lighter), with offwhite fenders and wide handlebars and a wide seat. It's kind of retro, and I like it a lot.

Yeah, so I'm a lot better than I was when I posted yesterday. With a new bike that hasn't broken (yet). I'm going to have to work up to biking to work/school because it's about 2 miles and I'm an out of shape weakling, but hopefully it'll go quickly and I'll be super-buff by the end of summer. :-D Or at least able to get to/from school/work without passing out. :-D Good thing the ride is mostly flat.

♥ to you guys though. Thanks for the good comments yesterday.

Talked to Cathie today for a bit (head of the Art Dept). Things I should remember from that conversation:

1.) No matter what level of work the rest of my senior class is at, if they are lower, don't lower *my* level of work to "match" theirs. Keep getting better and doing the best that *I* can.

2.) Trying to get into grad school with a BA as opposed to a BFA is apparently a challenge. Not impossible, but a challenge. So far, my GPA, my writing abilities, and how I would present myself in an interview is most likely up to a grad school standard. Also, the fact that I'm of a more mature age than some is also in my favor, as it will look like I actually know that this is what I want to do, and will work at it. That leaves the "problem" being my portfolio. I need to start making art quite a bit right now, and KEEP making art. Make it *good*. Make it up to the standards of someone that went to art school for their undergrad.

Speaking of portfolios and artwork, here's some stuff that I did this semester! Most of it for Drawing II, but some I did on my own.

( Click here for art! :-D )