The 'I'm so depressed' Thread by chrisisall

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The 'I'm so depressed' Thread

POSTED BY: CHRISISALL
UPDATED: Thursday, February 4, 2010 12:38
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Monday, February 1, 2010 11:02 AM

My web design class is for shit since the instructor obviously hates (or is clueless about) teaching. Big problem is, he's the instructor for five of my remaining six classes.
Fuck him, I'm out.
And now I'm depressed.
Life is a waste. Maybe I need to leave this fucked up world.

Except... I love my Wife & my Son...
I'm still more creative than most studio execs...
I have a drive to beat the crap out of obstacles...
I'm a lover AND a fighter!!!!

Better now.

Next?

The laughing Chrisisall

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Monday, February 1, 2010 11:03 AM

SPOOKI

So depressed?

Over five thousand years ago, Moses said to the children of Israel " pick up
your shovel, mount your asses and camels, and I will lead you to the
promised land".

Nearly 75 years ago, Roosevelt said, " Lay down your shovels, sit on your
asses, and light up a camel, this is the promised land".

Now Obama has stolen your shovel, taxed your asses, raised the price of
camels and mortgaged the promised land!

I was so depressed last night thinking about Health Care Plans, the economy,
the wars, lost jobs, Savings, Social Security, retirement funds, etc . . .
I called Lifeline. Got a call center in Pakistan . I told them I was suicidal.

They got all excited and asked if I could drive a truck....

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Monday, February 1, 2010 11:11 AM

CHRISISALL

LOL, Thanks.

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Monday, February 1, 2010 12:24 PM

NAVYSEILS

This morning I poured myself cereal, and when I went to the fridge, we had no milk. MLIA

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Monday, February 1, 2010 2:23 PM

SAVEWASH

Now I am learning about scary.

Do you speak of the pompitus of love?

Oh, wait, that's lover and sinner. Sorry.

Is there another instructor? Another school?

Best of luck and hang in there.

"We need to keep our heads so we can ... keep our heads."

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Monday, February 1, 2010 6:50 PM

OPPYH

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
My web design class is for shit since the instructor obviously hates (or is clueless about) teaching. Big problem is, he's the instructor for five of my remaining six classes.
Fuck him, I'm out.

There are other web design classes out there.

try a different college. Life is short man, and you have every right to enjoy what you do for a living.

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Tuesday, February 2, 2010 2:14 PM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by SAVEWASH:

Is there another instructor? Another school?

Best of luck and hang in there.

Quote:
Originally posted by OPPYH:

There are other web design classes out there.

try a different college. Life is short man, and you have every right to enjoy what you do for a living.

Imma talk to him one more time before I bail.
Thanks for the emotional support!

*There could be tears*

The laughing Chrisisall

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 1:46 AM

SIGMANUNKI

There are always "that instructor" no matter where you go, no matter what department, no matter... They are just a fact of life. In fact, most of them (if not all) are "known issues" where they work. But, academic freedom has been perverted (through unions) to protect them.

With that said, they are considered by everyone that I have studied/worked with as "weeding out instructors." In other words, if you can't get through that/those class(es) and bail, then you have been weeded out as someone without enough drive/etc to make it in the real world.

(Aside: My 3rd year Intro to Quantum Mechanics Prof was one of this type. He also had the thinking that his was the only class the students were taking and "appropriately" assigned assignments to that assumption. Hell, a year or two after me, he was behind teaching and assigned a BIG assignment on the last day of classes to be due at the final. You can imagine the extra work load and his popularity among the students.)

It really sucks that this guy is going to be such a bother to you (5 of 6 classes can only be described as a tragedy). However, if you hate him that much, then just stop going to class and learn it on your own (I've done that). Or go to class, but only 1/2 be there. As in, find something else (productive) to do and 1/2 listen; use his lectures as getting sign posts of what to learn on your own. Study groups are excellent for this sort of thing.

In other words, if you want that piece of paper, suck it up. Just try to imagine it as training for *when* you get that pointy haired boss.

----
I am on The Original List (twice). We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 2:21 AM

THESOMNAMBULIST

Ok that is unfortunate Chris Ol' buddy but nil desperandum Pal.

See what you can extract from this course and thereafter where ever there are gaps, teach yourself. I recall you taught yourself Tai Chi right...? You can I'm sure teach yourself a few software packages.

If you reach an impass let me know - perhaps I can help with a few things. I'm familiar with most of the Adobe range and a few others too.

In terms of feeling depressed. Here's the ticket:

First Listen to:
Crockets Theme from Miami Vice - This provides time for nostalgia and reflectivity....
Secondly:
The Opening theme to Miami Vice - This will make you feel invincible, and inspite of the minor side affect of wanting to roll up your sleeves and wear espadrilles - you'll be able to face the world with renewed vigour!

Must be in that order. (Give it a try)

http://www.cirqus.com/serenitygif/SerenitySig.mov

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 4:08 AM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up

Quote:
Originally posted by SigmaNunki:
Study groups are excellent for this sort of thing.

I second that. Find some like-minded folks in your class and work together. I had to do that in an Econ class long ago where the instructor was R.I.P. (Retired In Place) and spent most of his lecture time complaining about President Johnson.

"Keep the Shiny side up"

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 4:31 AM

BORIS

Crappy teachers are the worst...what I really hate is when you know more about a subject than the teacher.
On another note thats related to the depression: I know lifeline has helped alot of people but they messed me up for a while. I trained as a phone councilor with a branch that ended up getting seriously cleaned up after me and a few others complained. E.g. My phone councelling trainer kept insisting I was too nervous because I was twitching (I have Tourette's...so I pretty much twitch all the time regardless of my mood/status) I told her repeatedly I found her comments offensive but she just kept going on about my need to control my "nerves" and then one night she told me off for staying on the phone too long with a guy that was going to kill himself...her rationale was that other people with real problems may have tried to call, and I was holding up the line?????same guy called a few nights later to say thank you as he was ready to go, and the person he'd talked to (me)helped him redirect his negative thoughts. eventually I lost it and ended up telling the faciltator a few truths about her insecure self that made her cry.
I also had to go to a weekend training thing...I got into trouble for holding back and for refusing to hug people...I'm not a hugger. anyway I was disillusioned and depressed after these experiences so sadly have a bit of a trust issue with Lifeline.

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 4:42 AM

BORIS

At the moment I'm depressed because it's summer...I hate summer.

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 7:43 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by SigmaNunki:

In other words, if you want that piece of paper, suck it up. Just try to imagine it as training for *when* you get that pointy haired boss.

Today I was following along in the text and we came to a part where he babbled "click this" so fast that again he lost me. In the text it said to click the "+" button at the bottom of the CSS style box. Where? There was no such button on my screen, I went to "HELP" to find the button. No matches. The style box? No matches. As I felt the pounding in my carotid artery amp up, I decided it was time to leave, so I quietly just exited.
When you feel like actually killing someone, it's best to be alone was my thinking.

The laughing Chrisisall

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 7:49 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by TheSomnambulist:
I recall you taught yourself Tai Chi right...? You can I'm sure teach yourself a few software packages.

If you reach an impass let me know - perhaps I can help with a few things. I'm familiar with most of the Adobe range and a few others too.

Thanks pal, but funny thing is, I took to Photoshop, Indesign & Illustrator like a duck to water, often ahead of where the teacher was during class. He would joke "And...Chris is already done with this."

Dreamweaver makes no sense to me; it's like swimming through mud IMO. And with a warp-speed teacher that gets pissy with questions...GRRR ARGHH!

I guess I'm an artist, not a programmer.

The McCoy-like Chrisisall

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 7:53 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by Geezer:
Quote:
Originally posted by SigmaNunki:
Study groups are excellent for this sort of thing.

I second that. Find some like-minded folks in your class and work together.

Yeah, a good solution sometimes. Sadly, my martial arts training has had a bad effect upon me- I want to see, TWICE, and then DO it, and make it work. This getting BACK to stuff later that you had trouble with just doesn't compute in my brain...

The old dog Chrisisall

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 7:57 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by boris:

On another note thats related to the depression: I know lifeline has helped alot of people but they messed me up for a while.
anyway I was disillusioned and depressed after these experiences so sadly have a bit of a trust issue with Lifeline.

My depression takes the form of wanting to kill myself, or wanting to kill someone else (usually a programmer or some such), as long as I keep bouncing in between the two, I feel that everyone's safe.

The laughing Chrisisall

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 9:57 AM

CAZARIL

To borrow a line from Batman:

"Why do we fall down? So we can learn to pick ourselves back up"

Fireworks sucks... There is no way around saying that. It does goofy things that I could never figure out. One time it works, the next it didn't. You never really knew what the bloody thing was going to do, or when it would go sideways and fail.

I think a large part of your frustration comes from the fact that the software isn't very intuitive. Nor is it very forgiving. It is; step 1, step 2, step 3, or no go (where a lot of programs don't care). So when you do step 2 first, then go back and do step 1, it wouldn't allow you to do step 3. Options you expect, or are told will appear, don't. And then you become confused, lost and frustrated. Which will only start to snowball the effect.

Take heart. If you're doing the Adobe Web Collection (Dreamweaver, Flash and Fireworks), I can tell you it gets easier (although the projects became progressively more time consuming).

Also, I don't know how you are setup, but I took the class online with the ability to log into my campus account from home. It made it a lot easier to scream/curse at the computer, when you're not in a computer lab (stress relief). We had the book (which sucked), but the instructor wasn't big on getting back to you (or when she did, you got a crappy answer).

So with no real instructor, and a crap book (one that I spent a large amount of time discussing it's ancestry, parentage and sexual habits), I still made it through. It wasn't enjoyable, but it can be done.

Caz

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 10:09 AM

CHRISISALL

Thanks, but I have no inclination for this kind of stuff. If I was being paid to learn it, I STILL couldn't do it!
At home? My own speed? Possibly.

The laughing Chrisisall

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 11:20 AM

LWAVES

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
"And...Chris is already done with this."

Is that where you get your username from?

Quote:

Dreamweaver makes no sense to me; it's like swimming through mud IMO.

I guess I'm an artist, not a programmer.

I had exactly the same reaction. Photoshop and Illustrator came fairly easily for me, at least to a level I am more than happy with. But when a friend asked me to help design a website for him I just couldn't get to grips with it. I never really was a fan of programming so that probably didn't help but I thought I gave it a bloody good try and I still couldn't understand enough.

Sorry to hear about your troubles but I would just reiterate what the others have said. If you do give up this class then find another one. There are good teachers out there. Or you could report him to his superior. Especially if there are others in the class that feel the same as you.

Good luck whatever you decide.

"I don't believe in suicide, but if you'd like to try it it might cheer me up to watch."

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 11:57 AM

THESOMNAMBULIST

Hey Chris.... That's right Dreamweaver doesn't make sense. I have a friend who does websites and she basically never goes near Dreamweaver - it's all coding baby. However once you say to yourself Dreamweaver makes no sense you can then go on to make a website.

Try keeping it very simply.

http://www.cirqus.com

http://www.cirqus.eclipse.co.uk

These are two of my sites :- see they're very simple.

Enitrely made up of JPEG images 'Placed' within Dreamweaver then I 'Map' areas where a click of the mouse will take you to the corresponding page. I designed them as pages within illustrator and then save those as JPEGs. I taught myself one afternoon to do just this much and then I gave up going any further, because really I think - as has been stated by many- that it is really a different discipline understanding all that coding. I'm not into it.

Flash and Fireworks are similar beasts. Non intuitive and pompous. Any animation you have to do I'd suggest utilising the 'Layer' feature within Illustrator and or using Adobe Photoshop/After Effects. Flash and Fireworks I use only to 'refine' web animations (done as said in Adobe stuff) for optimum quality/file sizes.

However it would be nice to know what it is you're trying to do?

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 1:05 PM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by TheSomnambulist:

However it would be nice to know what it is you're trying to do?

Thanks, both of youse guys.

I want to be able to work in publishing on some design level. Also use my knowledge towards my graphic novel.

The laughing Chrisisall

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 1:30 PM

NCBROWNCOAT

My daughter is a fledgling web designer too. The graphics end comes very naturally to her and she's even taking some CCNA (Cisco Certification program-how to run the hardware and software on a network) and her problem though is the math. She has "one of those instructors" in math.

I understand that she has to have math, but how does that go into running a network or designing a web page?

And she agrees with you about Dreamweaver. She'll let you know about Druple later on in the semester.

S

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 1:50 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

Any chance to take the courses at a different school? Or get a tutor to help? Study groups ARE a big help, and tutors even more so, especially if you can find one who KNOWS this teacher and how ineffective he can be.

Other than that, all you can do is grind it out and grit it out, or find a different area of study. :( I had one of those horrible professors once, in Analytical Geometry. I gutted out the semester, took the B, then retook the class the next term and upped it to an A with a better prof. By the second time around, I was actually LEARNING stuff. The biggest thing I learned was that I liked government and history far more than I did math, so I swapped majors and never regretted it! :)

Good luck with it, and find your inner peace. You'll be okay. Go build something fun with SonIsAll, and remember the good stuff you've got in life.

Oh, and in class, when you get frustrated, just crush the teacher's head, Kids in the Hall style.

Mike

Work is the curse of the Drinking Class.
- Oscar Wilde

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 2:51 PM

CAZARIL

Quote:
Originally posted by ncbrowncoat:
...she's even taking some CCNA (Cisco Certification program-how to run the hardware and software on a network)...

I understand that she has to have math, but how does that go into running a network or designing a web page?

CCNA => Cisco Certified Network Associate... It's like CompTIA's Network +, but obviously focused on Cisco's equipment.

The CCNA is a certification, and if she's taking this as some kind of class, it should be part of a larger program.

I'm currently in a Computer Engineering Technology program, and one of the classes is AC/DC circuit analysis. Think: Calculus, but with just a bunch of letters. The math only becomes relevant if you are planning on designing circuit boards... but it is still required.

Quote:
Originally posted by Chrisisall:
Thanks, but I have no inclination for this kind of stuff. If I was being paid to learn it, I STILL couldn't do it!
At home? My own speed? Possibly.

At home means you can shout all you want, but it also means you have no-one to turn to if you run into problems (your classmates being pretty much just names... You don't talk to them, see them, or suffer with them).

Online doesn't mean you don't have deadlines. And making yourself sit and do work that frustrates you, it takes discipline. If you have the discipline to do it at home, you can make the classroom work.

Caz

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 3:49 PM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by ncbrowncoat:

I understand that she has to have math, but how does that go into running a network or designing a web page?

Uhh.... it doesn't.

The laughing Chrisisall

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 3:51 PM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by Cazaril:
If you have the discipline to do it at home, you can make the classroom work.

The only thing that matters is what a man CAN do, and what a man CAN'T do.

I can't savvy that teacher's instructions, savvy?

The laughing Chrisisall

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 3:54 PM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
Any chance to take the courses at a different school?

That is my plan- lots in the area to choose from!

"One door closes, another one opens..."

Heck- I was on the DEAN'S list last semester!
I don't know who Dean is, but he must be pretty important.

The laughing Chrisisall

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010 11:25 PM

BORIS

Hey Chrisisall That balancing between two exteremes tactic sounds brilliant...maybe you should market it...or become a motivational speaker, and teach it to others. Seriously imagine how much depression you could help smother. I rarely feel like killing myself.If I did that I wouldn't be around to help reform the less evolved folks on the planet :-)
I generally feel like smacking people on the forhead if they are depressing me. I've done it a few times, it seems to have a positive effect if you hit the right spot. Alternatively they get angry and flatten you...that's never fun.

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Thursday, February 4, 2010 12:17 AM

THESOMNAMBULIST

Originally posted by chrisisall:

Quote:
I want to be able to work in publishing on some design level. Also use my knowledge towards my graphic novel.

Hmmm. Then coding may be needed.... I few years back I would have said you could be a designer without a need for knowledge on web based design - but I must admit looking through a few recent ads for Graphic Designers there is usually a high level of web savvy needed.....It's something I'm having to dodge.

In terms of the Graphic novel then you're set. All you need is a story and imagination. Photoshop/Illustrator/pencil and paper... it's all there. Keep me posted on that 'C' would love to see what you do.

Did ya try the Miami Vice things

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Thursday, February 4, 2010 12:38 PM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by TheSomnambulist:

Hmmm. Then coding may be needed....

Oh I'll learn it. At another school.

Quote:

In terms of the Graphic novel then you're set. All you need is a story and imagination. Photoshop/Illustrator/pencil and paper... it's all there. Keep me posted on that 'C' would love to see what you do.

It won't be this year, but you'll see it when I'm done.

Quote:

Did ya try the Miami Vice things ?

In my head. For some reason, I haven't shaved since...?

The laughing Chrisisall

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