Online and Outdoors

Well it has been a couple weeks since my last post and that's because nothing too much has been going on around here. For the most part I usually just play volleyball a couple times a week, ride my bike back and forth to the lumber yard, do online classes, watch 24 and work on projects for friends. It truly is the "good life," being an online student. ;)
Just incase anyone has wondered what an online class looks like, I've attached a screen shot. The discussion board is where it all happens. I post assignments there and leave feedback for other people. It gets a little confusing, as you can tell from the picture, towards the end of a week, since there are usually over a hundred posts. Right now I'm taking Contemporary Art and an Ethics course. In three more weeks I will switch to taking Physics and a class on Law and Commercial Design. In other school news I just got an e-mail saying I have been selected as "Visual Effects and Motion Graphics Student of the Quarter," for Fall 2005 at my school. Oh here, I can't resist posting the whole thing.

"James Waterson has wowed his instructors from the get-go, and he has continuously managed to one-up himself along the way. A model of professionalism, James juggles incredible skills at lightening speed to produce realistic and eye-popping work. And he manages to do so without a trace of ego. Always willing to step up to a challenge, his skills as both a shooter, editor, and compositor are among the best we've had at Ai Minnesota. In addition, his thoughtful contributions to class make him an ideal candidate for this award. Congratulations James!"

Yep thats me. Student of the quarter. I find the part about, "without a trace of ego," to be especially true.

Outside of the school work I've been staying busy working on various design projects for the store and for other people. I've posted 2 recent print promo's I did for Gloss Clothing Boutique. The next two pictures were for a photo assignment Erik was working on and he needed shots of people jumping... The last three were taken at 3AM, when Erik and I decided we needed a break from an After Effects project we were working on, so we went outside and made crazy light pictures. I hope to get in a ski trip this week since it has been nice and cool (low 50's) so the snow should be pretty good. If I make it up look for another picture update soon. And as always let me know what you have all been up to!

Ski Spree 06

The ski trip was amazing this year. I took a lot of pictures, so I will allow them to, with some brief descriptions, describe the trip.

We had planned on driving up to Kirkwood Monday afternoon, but once we got up into the mountains it started snowing pretty heavily and the Spine on 88 was closed due to avalanche warnings. So we had to spend the night in Jackson. The first four pictures were taken just before sunrise the next morning as we finally made it through to Kirkwood.
The next picture is of all the dudes that showed up Tuesday to board with us and take advantage of the sweet conditions. From the left: Aaron, Weston, Jimmy, myself, Erik (in his warrior muu muu), Alex and Josh.
Pictures 6 to 9c (sorry the numbering got a little messed-up here because I added some more pictures) capture a little of the pow-pow day action. Keith, Chris and Alex lined up. Weston slicing it up. Erik busting some crazy moves, Aaron with his big ol' powder skis, messing around, and the Family line.
Picture 10 is of Weston and Aaron running through the halls. Why? Well because we had been watching the intense USC vs. Texas Rosebowl game when the power went off right in the middle of a possible touchdown play! We were out in the halls looking to see if anyone else had power when the lights came back on. Back to the game!
The next picture is of our new head protection...
Pictures 12-19 are all from the last two days of the trip. Weston and myself did some long traverses out into the untouched powder to have some fun. There's also some of us cruising the grooms.
Finally there's a picture taken this afternoon on our way home.

It was a great trip and I'm really glad we got as many people up there as we did. Special thanks to my mom for not freaking out too much as the numbers increased. ;) The best part of the trip this year is that while it normally marks the end of my ski season, this year it only marks the beginning. School starts next week, but I only have to be "in school" (online) four days a week. So if anyone wants to head up to the mountains during any of the other 3 days of the week... I'm available.

Intro 2006

Happy New Year 2006!
We hosted our New Years party once again on New Years eve. Early in the day I went to Costco with Anne and Two for the food supplies. Anyone reading this that wants some free food come on over because there's still plenty left. ;) We tried some new games this year which were pretty fun, but we also kept most of the classics such as the Orange Foot Pass, and Round Robin. The only really big change this year was that none of the Triumvirate (Weston, Aaron or myself) jumped in the pool. Maybe we're just getting too old, lazy or smart. But as always, the party was a fantastic way to bring in a new year with some best people in the world!
I didn't really take any pictures of the party so here's some pictures of my mom's horse. Hey its my blog I can post whatever I want! ;) Tomorrow myself and the fam head off to Kirkwood for a week! Wicky, Jimmy and maybe the E are all coming too. With all the recent storms hitting California there should be plenty of powder. 12"-40" in the last 24 hrs! So I should be taking some sweet pictures to post, but not until I've sliced all the powder I can find.