Damn Isaiah, Where'd You Go?

Maaan, I couldn't even tell you...

What's up everybody, here we are, unapologetically two months after my last post ((which ahhhh wasn't the best part to leave off at, I'll admit that, but at the point I wasn't even planning on leaving off)).

"Well, what have you been up to?"

Damn near everything lol. Before I dive any further I will update you that I emailed my teacher (from the post right before this one) that same night about the incident and he apologized, saying he was deeply sorry and that there was no malicious intention, so that's good.

Also, one of the things I was starting to notice about blogging regularly about my time here was that I was spending a lot of my mental time and energy on being constantly self-aware. It was fine for a bit, and being generally self-aware is a good thing (in my opinion), but I felt like it was getting in the way of the experience I was having here. You know? Having to process at the end of my day or week in my head, to myself, is one thing. Trying to type it all out with an honest narrative voice (which begets questions of how much or how little should I share), maintaining a flow of content so I do not miss out on important details, events, etc. Truthfully is just became a lot of work, and I guess I just needed a break from it.

In the meantime, I:

-finished the script for the short film we are working on this semester

-went on Spring break, five countries in eight days (terrible idea)

     -London, England; Paris, France; Brussels, Belgium; Amsterdam, Denmark; Belgium, Germany

-started dating someone (whaaat?)

-broke up with that someone (awww)

-felt uninspired with photography and art in general

Photos of the Blue Church of St. Elizabeth
Bratislava, Slovakia

-took some photos because I wanted to, not because I felt obligated too, and felt something there

-remained in contact with friends and family back home and gained some grounding through that

-started cooking a bit more (I still suck but that's okay!)

-worked on being more patient and having more grace with myself

-a litany of other things

Some seasoned turkey with unforgivably soggy rice and
store-bought tomato paste. Turkey was decent.

Some seasoned chicken and rice (stained with tomato paste)
that I made a while back. Had potential that was not met.

"Why now? We practically forgot all about you."

I mean, damn, please don't forget about me, but if you do then that's just the way things have are going to be, I suppose (been thinking a lot about what we choose to allow/what's worth your time and effort/what is only irreconcilable because we choose not to work on it, hence the word change).

Anyways, right now is the final week of classes, and there's still roughly six weeks left in the program (usually I would say something like 'oh wow, how time flies' but no, it definitely feels like I have been here for a while lol), and so part of the reason is I am ending major part of the program and it feels like a good time to provide updates and be actively reflective and self-aware again. Another part of it is that this is something to do in the meantime. I'm hoping this begins an avalanche of productivity, like "Okay, done with the blog post, might as well go sightseeing or hit up the gym," as opposed to spending my final month here chilling in bed half the day. Even if I was more socially engaged and had people always hitting me up to hang out, I just don't have that much social energy/patience.

A poorly composed but still dramatic photo of the street I had
near my Airbnb in London, England.
(NE view down Alberta St. from it's intersection w Braganza St., near Kennington Underground Station)
(I'm a stickler for specific locations, I know)

The rest of the program is full of shooting dates for the various working groups that will each be shooting their films in three-day periods (there's 16 groups in my study abroad program alone but I know that there's at least one other program here from NYU so we have to share resources like studio time with them as well), so when I'm not shooting or helping out on someone else's set I'm big chilling.

So expect to see more blog posts, I guess. Probably about the list I mentioned earlier, definitely some vacation photos. I truly have no idea what the rest of this program has in store for me (at a personal level). I anticipate the collaborative process of filming and various deadlines to be difficult but it's all a part of the game. Take it easy.