Having a blast!

July already! Time is still flying by since starting work at Tippett. I am getting closer to the end of my contract, and that's a sad thought. It'll be hard to say goodbye.
I feel I am really growing as an animator, and the more I grow, the more I come to realize how much more I have to grow (if that makes any sense!) It's weird at this point in my life to still be discovering stuff about myself. I guess it's things that I already knew, but realizing them for the first time.
I think a turning point for me was a couple months ago. Tippett sponsored some improv classes for us. I had no idea what to expect, and for some reason I had the image in my head of improv being 'artsy' people pretending to be flowers, or something. It turned out the classes were truly fun, well thought out, and eye opening. I consider myself a pretty shy person, but something about performing really excites me. It's a very strange thing, and hard to explain, but I am both scared, but at the same time crave the stage. Something clicked that day when acting out a skit, and I felt like I knew what to do. The words and ideas were coming, but I didn't know from where. It's like the classes gave me 'permission' to act out and be this other person, so I just followed my gut. And it worked!
I animate from my gut. I like to feel the performance and work with the faces right away along with the body. They are connected to me, and in many cases what is happening in the face drives alot of the animation for me. I was finding it a little difficult at work when I was animating the bodies and saving the face for last. It seemed a whole different mind-set for me. It made me think of it technically instead of as a performance. I think I knew that deep down, but didn't start realizing it until the imrov classes.
-Weekends have been interesting! Anything from go-karting to being a zombie in a short film. Fun stuff. I am still dragon boating every week, and am getting better. Or at least not sucking as much :).
Next week I am having a couple of friends from Animation Mentor coming into town for the graduation and BBQ. Two of my friends will be staying over my place, and I can't wait to see them!