I have had the prof for this class many times before (the faculty for Art History at Guelph is pretty limited) and am unsure if I like her. On one hand she seems to mark pretty easily sometimes (about 50% of the time), gives midterms that are very brief considering it's a third year class and her final assignments are never just your run of the mill research paper (they usually allow more room for creativity). On the other hand, she never seems to understand what I try to do with my assignments. (Her English is also sometimes hard to follow, though she wasn't born here and English isn't her first language, so that's bound to happen).
Alright, before I continue. I like to consider myself a creative individual. I play bass and guitar. I write a lot (between here and on my own). I like to write music a lot. I like to draw (not very seriously, but it is something that I really enjoy). I also think that I'm someone who stands out in a crowd. When I'm slouching in my spot on the couch, in checkerboard slip-ons, wearing a greasy tank-top, tight-jeans, some bright flip-up hat, listening to Anthrax and playing pokemon on my laptop, I get the idea that my closest friends kind of write it off as a "just Timmy being Timmy" type deal. Definitely okay with that, don't worry if you think that, I like it. But anyways, I think that "being Timmy" sets me apart from most people.
So this "being Timmy" is something that I've been trying to incorporate in my scholarly ventures more and more (such as that presentation that I mentioned in a blog not too long ago). This is usually easiest for me to do with the assignments that this prof gives out. For example, last year we had to design our own exhibition for a gallery and do a write-up about it. I chose to do mine about a fictional "Pez Exhibition" based around my collection. I thought it was pretty clever; a postmodern exhibition showing found items that show how "little boys don't grow up" (because I sure haven't). She did not. But she did think that another student's project showing her purse collection was clever.
I don't want to be "that guy" who always whines about how other people are getting the breaks and stuff and coasting through school, but I think that's pretty bullshit. I mean, I'm pretty sure the reason she didn't really like it was because she had no idea what Pez was before, and the exhibition seemed weird and she didn't understand it. But mostly what it boils down to is her just not being familiar with and not liking my interests, which I am trying to include in the project in order to make it distinguishable from everyone else's work.
So I'm pretty sure this is going to happen again. Our project for this class is to design a tour of a place for someone. I chose New York because it is pretty much the only place I'v travelled to (try and tell me you want a paper about Detroit with a straight face. Please try.). I decided to design the tour for my brother, because we share some interests and he would probably enjoy a trip to New York. I don't want to say that we're hipsters (but then again, is there a more hipster thing to say than "I'm not a hipster"? I still listen to The Hippos, so I think I'm okay) but we do like things that are a little out of the mainstream and "hip". For example, one of the spots I'm using is Washington Square Park. I guess "hipsters" would like the place because its location in Greenwich Village and how Bob Dylan used to hang out there and Jack Kerouac lived there (I also think this is pretty cool because Bob Dylan really rules a lot and On The Road is one of my favourite books. Fuck, I'm a hipster aren't I?). It's also relevant to us because a lot of important street skating went on there in the early 90's. So that's what I'm trying to get across in this project. Like I said, she probably will think it's dumb again, mostly because I mention skateboarding and The Ramones. It gets under my skin.
I mean if you want me to write about the same shit that everyone has been writing about forever, then give me a research essay. But if you give out an assignment that caters to personal interest, then obviously my personal interests are going to come out in it.
I don't really know where I was going with this. When I start writing with only a vague idea of what's going on a conclusion never seems to materialize.
Alright, I'm done.
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