The Book of Love

rain

2009-09-05T23:37:52Z

The internet was down last night, and after watching Children of Men for the first time, I felt like drawing.

I love messing with coloring books too, but not nearly this awesomely

2009-09-04T10:20:30Z

Ha, randomly came across these. Two guys color Disney Princess coloring book pages in classical painting style. Cool idea, and they look awesome.

Ryan Wood does Belle

Sam Nielson does Jasmine

hopeless romantic

2009-09-04T09:27:13Z

But I drank it all, just 'cause you hate it when I let things go to waste

2009-08-26T08:34:20Z

Would you believe my mom requested this pic?!

just a flesh wound by ~myopic on deviant ART

They're just posing! 'Cause there's no way I'd kill off such a charmer. :P

2 months of art block

2009-08-25T03:24:47Z

Yup, two months of art block. No idea why. I did manage to draw something the other night, out of nowhere. I'm hoping this means it's lifting.

gesticulations by ~myopic on deviant ART

As an aside: Wow, I didn't know I could embed deviations with a free account!
-----

Saw this mentioned by someone today...

The thing about these cheesy movies (which are much like the ones on tv that are Sci Fi channel originals -- oops, I mean "SyFy") that I've never really understood is...are they TRYING to make a really ridiculous and/or funny movie? Because the ads always seem like they intend for it to be taken seriously, but... all it does is come off as low budget and MST3k-style commentary worthy.

If they're being hilarious on purpose, well, I gotta hand it to them, the people behind these kinds of movies have really perfected the art of the cheese factor. There should be an award for this kind of perfection, if it is indeed on purpose.

Ahhh hahaha, I think one of the best parts is that I've seen better CG effects in PC games from the 1990s. :p

Yaaaawn

2009-08-07T09:41:42Z

"Let's Play"s are awesome... but you know what I've decided I hate? When LPers invite someone else to comment along with them -- usually a girlfriend or romantic interest. UUUUUGHHHH, barf! If I'm watching someone do LPs, it's because they're hilarious or clever or both. Or just have something really interesting and unique to offer. If I wanted to hear some boring chick attempt to be cool or witty, I'd request them to do one. As it stands, it just mucks it all up and turns into the guy trying to pander to whoever the girl is.

Luckily, people tend to only have a guest on one or two episodes... but that sucks enough in itself because that makes for so much missed opportunity for awesome. Sigh.

Anyway, end rant. :P

Aside from that pointless stuff, in real life I'm having a really happy time right now because I have company for a week and yayyyy, movie marathon time and just general good times! :)

I just HAVE to comment on this

2009-08-04T11:36:24Z

Today's "Writer's Block" LJ question post promoter thing:

Imagine you manage a coven of baseball-playing vampires. The Cullen family is really strong this year and you want to bring in a ringer. Which currently active MLB baseball player do you sire?

...Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!

Maybe I've been watching too many episodes of someone attempting to play I Wanna Be the Guy on Youtube, and the language brought on by that rage recipe has rubbed off on me, BUT: WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT?

Ohhhhh man. Oh man. Hahahahaha

2010

2009-07-26T07:32:07Z

Misc.:

I started playing EarthBound the other day. It's one of those games I've been told I've GOT TO PLAY so many times over the years, and I've actually been saving it for a rainy day, as I so often do. I decided now was the time and so there you go. It is incredibly quirky and awesome, I really love it. It's sci fi scary with a softhearted atmosphere. I think I'm going to check out the rest of the series too.

I'm actually stalling right now, 'cause I'm pretty much at the end but I don't want it to end, so I'm leveling up for fun, haha. I'm one of the few people who enjoy leveling up...

I'm trying to recall all the RPGs I've been recommended over the years by the old boys in the gaming chats I used to frequent.

Oh yeah, what else... I got a reply from a cousin my brother told me about, and he said he's trying to track down the dad of my siblings I'm trying to find, and when he does he'll connect us and I'll see what I find out from there... so that's exciting!!

I've been corresponding with my brother too and... yeah my number one most looked forward thing to these days are new letters from him. :)

I'm also planning on starting another blog somewhere and putting this one to rest. Not on LJ. Gonna use it to post stories and such. Yes, stories and such, because I've been inspired again. Go figure, I get art block and suddenly get short story ideas.

Yeeeeaaaaaahhh ... that's me in a nutshell lately dudes. Gonna try and get medicaid so maybe they'll cover a new wheelchair because mine's starting to fall apart, and I can't afford a replacement at this moment in time, yarrrgghhh, and my damn monitor broke the other day and I had to buy a new one. Luckily it was under $200, but damn,that's a big deal in this street rat's life.

In the words of Paul McCartney, it's just another day...

Mario Marathon!

2009-07-12T07:49:35Z

I spent a surprisingly huge amount of time today, doing of all things, TWITTERING. Why? Because I noticed in the trending topics "Mario Marathon" and so I checked it out, and apparently there is a group of people doing... a Mario Brothers marathon.

See, they play various Nintendo Mario Brothers games(Mario 64, Mario Galaxy, Super Mario World, Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 2, etc) and they're doing it for charity! The charity is Child's Play, an organization that raises money to provide children in hospitals with video games and toys during their stays in the hospital. I think that's awesome, and so I did my best to help them get more viewers.

As of now they've been playing over 40 hours, and they've made over $12,000. I did a lot of posting to get people involved on twitter and I was amazed how happy I was as the donation number rose. It's such a cool idea for a charity event. Gaming for kids. Awesome.

If you use twitter and want to help, just include this in your tweet: #mariomarathon Mario Marathon http://ustre.am/VS3

Feel free to check out the live feed of the Mario Marathon at mariomarathon.com!

Make a donation or help out the cause by spreading the word. I think these people are awesome so I hope I've helped even a little bit. They'll be playing as long as donations keep coming in. :)

Art imitates life

2009-06-13T22:30:26Z

David Duchovny is such a weird guy. He was on Conan the other day talking about the 3rd season of his show, Californication, and told some weird story about his kid. See, the weird story about his kid sticks out mainly because there's now a running joke between ma and I about the really bizarre, disturbing stories about children guests on Conan keep telling. Really, it's scary! The scariest thing is, according to various forums, I seem to be the only one bothered by them.

Anyway, back to David. I really love him as an actor. As most of you know -- well, maybe not, but I'll pretend you guys know me well -- I love the X-Files. I started watching it at the beginning, and I even kept up with it when we were living in an RV for a year, and I consider it one of the most well-crafted shows ever to be on television. So, even though he's weird, I don't really mind, because I like what he does.

I had never seen Californication, but I'd heard about it. It's skeezy and dirty is what I'd heard. After watching Conan, I decided I wanted to see it. At least an episode. Well, I recently renewed my Netflix account(knowing we'd cancel our cable TV), and I noticed that on the streaming section they have season 1 of Californication! I decided to give it a shot, and... I could see why so many people(specifically women) hate the show, but guess what guys? I LOVED it. I like the fact I can both hate Hank(Duchovny's character) and love him at the same time. Let's just say I relate very heavily to his ex. His theme song is also awesome(sounds similar to "Young Folks" by Peter Bjorn and John, which I LOVE)

He has a daughter, Becca, in the show. A very cute, very interesting kid who plays in a band. She's one of the least annoying child characters I've ever seen in a show. Every time she swears, he charges her for it, and vice versa. It's funny to me because they're pretty much just playing musical chairs with the same set of bills going back and forth between each other.

Becca feels neglected by her father, and in one scene - after he's ditched her to go bail out the floozy step daughter of his ex - Becca's in bed, Hank comes in and sits down next to her, and she says this to him(in a tired, resigned voice):

"You never mean to let me down, but you do. You know, it's all well and good to talk about happy endings, but if a person can't deliver, if you keep screwing up, well, eventually I guess you kinda just have to say 'fuck you'... or words to that effect."

He refused her swear payment for this one, saying she was right, and he deserved it.

Death Cab For Cutie's "Passenger Seat" plays in the background on this scene, too. Definitely a favorite scene for me. (It's art imitating my life when it comes to certain storylines going on in it)

Lesson #1

2009-06-09T10:24:47Z

Ma gave me my first driving lesson on Sunday. That went pretty good. Keep in mind the list below is a huge deal to me because I have a few retarded qualities.

Things learned

- I have to turn the wheel exorcist-style to get the vehicle to actually TURN, which I figured out before I ran into the building in front of me
- ** I am capable of turning the wheel without my arms killing me **
- I am capable of not freaking out when behind the wheel! Though music may be a bad idea while I'm driving (too distracting)
- ** I am capable of adjusting the parking brake **
- I am capable of DRIVING

My plan now is to get the handbook, take the test, get my permit... and eventually get my license! It could happen. I actually think it could happen! I fear the driving test though...

I took the sample knowledge test online and got 8 of 10 questions right. I'd actually have gotten 9 out of 10 right if I'd gone with my first thought on one of the two I missed. The one I didn't know at all was one about the center turn lane(it told me what it's for after I answered though, so now I know!). I feel pretty optimistic.

Mmhmm, I'm very excited about this! :D

Success

2009-05-26T05:41:21Z

(Source)

As we face the pending landing of our successful STS-125 Space Shuttle Atlantis Hubble repair mission, I’m struck by the “Go-No Go” mentality of NASA’s can-do Mission Control teams at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Think about it. “Go-No Go” translates into, “We’re going forward until we tell you to stop.” Success-oriented thinking. A “Go-No Go-er” manages risk by assessing potential outcomes and making reasoned decisions based on the probability for success. If new information comes, reassess and alter direction.

Now, let’s consider the reverse: “No Go-Go,” which means “Do nothing until you’re told to do something.” A “No Go-Go-er” is risk-averse, because risk may lead to that dreaded thing: failure.

Let’s face it: You can NEVER be wrong if you NEVER make a decision.

Think about the people around you: workmates, family, friends. How many do you know who operate in a holding pattern until they get a green light? Far too many, I expect. I call it the “Black Hole of In-Between” – the never-never-land spent waiting for something to happen or someone to give direction.

Often, I’ve observed, that we may be waiting for someone to make a decision and, all the while, he/she may be caught in the Black Hole of not knowing what decision to make. My suggestion: throw them a rope! Get busy and develop solutions to present to your leadership. Be the “Go-No Go-er” who gets things moving. Make a decision. It’s worth the risk. Really!

Black hole, indeed. I often analyze myself to see whether or not I'm hovering around something. I strive to be a "Go-No Go-er." I like to think I'm improving...

The adventures of Francine and Katchoo

2009-05-17T04:47:59Z

http://www.terrymooreart.com/blog/?p=517

Strangers in Paradise Omnibus, guys! Hardcovers! Full-color cover gallery! All the one-shots and it's in chronological order, story-wise! Uncensored! Extra art!

Only downside is it costs $159.95. And is limited to 1250 copies...which actually is cool but means it's gonna be expensive when it sells out. Maybe one day when I'm 80 and rich I will find someone to buy it off of, but for now I stare longingly at this and wish I could bribe someone to get this for me and then let me pay them back later. MUCH later, haha.

So glorious.

I'm still looking forward to that "where are they now" story he's working on, too...hmmm...

Terry Moore is awesome.

With a buck twenty seven in his pocket

2009-05-14T05:42:49Z

Wii Fit continues:

According to my body test today... I GAINED WEIGHT! Nearly half a pound. For me this is a HUGE accomplishment! I actually feel like my goal to gain 10 pounds is achievable right now! Never before would I think this was possible, but I feel like it is now!! Really, there aren't enough exclamation points to drive this point home... but I'm very excited. Seriously!!

!!!!!!!

So happy right now. So happy. I did the tight rope walking thing and passed on my first try, even with having to jump over the chattering teeth bear trap thing! This is a big deal because on the ski jump thing I pretty much committed suicide 4 times because I'm too weak to be able to jump. Heh.

I'm feeling really amazing right now. I'm turning 25 in two weeks and... I'm finally maintaining my weight, and not only that, GAINING!! There is hope for me yet! I hope I become less of a weakling as time goes by. Man I feel motivated.

SO AWESOME!

Yeah I also did a lot of exercising during Colbert tonight. Talk about motivation... :p

When your dreamboat turns out to be a footnote...

2009-05-12T11:52:41Z

I have a fear of this website dying or the article being removed someday, so I'll post it here to save for later. I think this is an amazing example of glasses fetish material.

(Source)

Cinema has always been the medium of spectacle. And spectacles. Glasses, face furniture, bi-focals - the movies love them. They are divine prop, handy disguise and all-purpose symbol, the one item certain to transform heart-throbs into highbrows (Cary Grant in Bringing Up Baby, Ryan O'Neal in What's Up Doc), sexpots into schoolmarms (Jennifer Jones in Good Morning Miss Dove, Susan Sarandon in The Witches of Eastwick) and Superman into a mere mortal.

Let's start with the transparently obvious: 'Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses.' Marilyn Monroe quotes Dorothy Parker's dictum in How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) - when she's not bumping into walls. Monroe would rather be blind as a bat and suffer breakages than be a crude cultural stereotype: the repressed female barricaded behind her frames, staring out at a lustful world. Horny and horn-rims just don't mix.

If she isn't a buttoned-up secretary, burning with banked fires, aka the new Miss Moneypenny of The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989), she teaches, the classroom being a supposedly safe, pre-sexual place: witness Bernadette Peters in Pennies from Heaven (1981), her glassy owl-chick gaze simultaneously repelling and provoking male attention. Or she's the ulimate spinster aunt, like Bette Davis in Now, Voyager (1942), spectacles as blatant as a billboard emblazoned with the warning 'Hands off'.

There's a simple cure for such neurotic ills: remove the glasses. 'You don't need those,' psychiatrist Claude Rains tells Davis, who replies that she doesn't 'feel dressed without them'. Hey presto; frump is instantly transformed into a sleek fashion-plate, a change quite as extreme as Bernadette Peters' evolution from educator to whore.

This might seem laughable, except for the stereotype's amazing durability. It's one thing to laugh at National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 (1993), with its spoof-like gag about a plain girl taking off her glasses to become an entirely new woman (a busty, lynx-eyed blonde), and quite another to see Ellen Barkin, professional woman afraid of her own passions, run through the same routine seriously in The Big Easy (1986). Only Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (1951) manages a woman character combining spectacles and overt sexuality - and she dies for her sins, her strangulation reflected in the lenses that have fallen from her come-hither face.

Indeed, movies rarely endorse women's specs appeal. A rare exception is Born Yesterday (1950). The dumb blonde Judy Holliday, striving for culture, dons the usually offending articles to read heavy weight tomes. Garson Kanin's liberal script murmurs approval: her glasses pair up perfectly with those of the hero, William Holden.

Not that it's much better for the male of the species. In Some Like it Hot (1959) glasses are the outward sign of Tony Curtis's (feigned) impotence. Dialogue explicitly links the two. 'Your spectacles are steaming up,' Monroe notes, midway through her assault on Curtis's supposedly slumbering senses. Born Yesterday, Bringing Up Baby and What's Up, Doc? also equate their male stars' weak eyesight with weak libido; the hidden price of overt intellectualism, cries the sub-text (Holliday, like Monroe, has to seduce Holden). If you want it blunter yet, consider The Girl Can't Help It (1956): Jayne Mansfield's jiggle and wriggle actually splinter some poor sucker's specs into a thousand pieces.

This will come as news to Woody Allen, whose glasses shine with an erotic gleam powerful enough to balance any bookishness; maybe he saw the classic porn flick, Mr Peepers, a story of magic glasses and naked ladies, at a formative age. Allen wears his glasses not as a symbol but, like Harold Lloyd, as a necessity, flaunting them as unashamedly off screen as he does on, a trick James Dean declined to master. Ditto Robert Redford and Warren Beatty. Set upon by wily paparazzi, they blink madly: hey, it's okay for Woody their sheepish eyes implore, he's supposed to be a comic, not a pin-up.

Perhaps, like the bullied Piggy in Lord of the Flies (1990), men are frightened of having their glasses taken and broken; a slur on their masculinity. Or possibly they require 'milk bottle' lenses, which would never do, as such disfigurement is a sure celluloid sign of sadistic villainy (the Gestapo chief in Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981) or exotic, alien 'otherness' (Peter Lorre in the Mr Moto B-movies).

They don't know what they're missing. If directors myopically use spectacles as character shorthand and writers use them as clues - the murderers of Swoon (1992) are trapped by glasses dropped at the scene of the crime - astute actors employ them to upstage. You can suck one arm thoughtfully (contemplation). You can take them off in a single swift, movement (decision), and rub the bridge of your nose (despair). You can tip them to the end of your nose and peer over the rims (adorable). You can even remove them and rub your tired eyes the way a baby does (love me).

Of course, there is a brand of glasswear all stars suscribe to. If the ordinary brands reveal, sunglasses are about mystery, concealment, camouflage, confusion. Annabella Sciorra's first appearance in Mr Wonderful (1993) is behind sunglasses - and she's indoors. Facing ex-husband Matt Dillon, she's given herself a bargaining advantage: the windows to her soul have the blinds drawn and the shutters up. She's unreadable. Cheating on eye contact, sunglasses are fundamentally aggressive. Cops wear them a lot, from the sinister motorcycle type who stops Janet Leigh in Psycho (1960) to Magnum Force (1973), where a row of renegade reflecting shades greet Clint Eastwood in the underground car park. They confer spurious authority.

And spurious appeal. Sunglasses are so hot they're cool. The poster for Undercover Blues (reviewed opposite) asserts its with-it ways by picturing its principals looking dark around the eyes - groovy Ray-Bans adorn Mom, Dad and Baby. The image is cocky, which is why six Tom Cruise hits have our hero lazing in the shades, though Cruise seems a rank amateur beside Manhattan Murder Mystery's Anjelica Huston, who not only wears sunglasses indoors, but wears them indoors while it's raining. No wonder Susan Sarandon uses them to signal her transfiguration from schoolmarm to temptress in The Witches of Eastwick (1987) - they go so well with a dry martini and a low-cut bikini.

And with a prison break. On the run, Kevin Costner stops to replace his old sunglasses with new sunglasses in A Perfect World (1993). 'How do these look?' he asks, sure of the answer. 'Good,' comes the preordained reply.

In fact, it's possible to organise an entire film around the trope: The Blues Brothers (1980) genuflects to sunglasses' glamour. Neither Dan Aykroyd nor John Belushi need actually bother with a performance, for the usual situation has been reversed. The actors are now props for the shades, mere vehicles for their dark power. The boys need their retina protection as surely as The Man with X-Ray Eyes (1963). Or, like him, they might find themselves staring at life as it really is.

Gaia and Wii

2009-04-20T23:18:19Z

I got paid for that logo I did for lone_concertina(thanks again for the extra!! I hope the fullsize image email got to you, let me know if it didn't), and then I got a letter in the mail letting me know Obama's sending me $250 in May. So... this made my flame of desire for the Wii start burning again, because I realized suddenly I could afford it if the planets align correctly. Thus, I gave myself permission to window shop online for games and stuff just to see what I'd get if I did indeed splurge.

I'm not set on buying one, because I need to set up a budget now that we've bought furniture and everything and buckle down re: bills and food each month and figure out if I can afford to get one. But, I'm hoping maybe, just maybe, I can afford it. We'll see.

If nothing else, it's cool to have some money coming my way. It'll help out either way. :)

----

Oh geez. I spent so much time distracting myself on Gaia over Easter that I'm back into it again. I did indeed collect the 1 billion eggs to get all the prizes, and I think that's what started the enjoyment again(go figure, since that was really tedious to do).

I'm giving vending another shot. While I now understand better how to do it, I still suck at it. I'm so slow even when I do spot a deal on the main page.

And my quest for DJs is still going on. I'm serious. This is probably the longest running quest thread on Gaia. I guess it doesn't help I haven't started an art shop or learned how to vend properly.

BUT I will eventually finish my quest! Or else buy a pair of ports instead, since those seem to be cheaper, so it'd probably be "easier" to achieve that goal. :P

current self portrait!

2009-02-12T05:17:53Z

I'm sick. Coughing sucks. I think it's just a cold but it's so annoying. Stress is what made me susceptible of course... doesn't make it suck any less. I better get over this quickly! AAAAAAAH.

Test

2009-02-09T01:24:45Z

I love my phone upgrade!

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

just a spoon full of sugar - dang hotlinking

2009-01-26T07:51:54Z

I was gonna disable hotlinking since for a while now I've been aware there are a buncha jokers hotlinking a buncha my pics for their myspace pages and stuff. went through a lotta tutorial crap and it wouldn't work. found godaddy actually makes it harder to do this than it should be(unless you pay extra to use cpanel) but I finally got the htaccess crap to work...sort of, except for the fact some folders wouldn't work with it and then my website went down because it wound up blocking itself as well, even though I copied everything down to a T and it should have worked. whatever. maybe I'm overlooking something obvious but I'm in some pain and it's an annoying hassle. shouldn't be that tedious, but I guess it's in the best interest of a host if you go over your bandwidth limit, and I'm not nearly near that so I won't worry I guess.

SO I decided to scrap that idea for now.

but yeah, jokers. stop janking my stuff dudes. or at least gimme credit. or pay me. or both. $100 per image you plaster all over a horrible myspace layout - sound fair?

clark bar

2009-01-25T10:19:29Z

the beginning of this year has kicked off that familiar feeling of "I wanna change a buncha stuff." you know, wanting to clean out "friend lists" and organize entries and update my websites and profiles and start new things. while I've cleaned out every friend list except the one here(I have a tug of war with myself over that all the time, you know, good ol' INFJ-style guilt), I've been busy taking care of business in regards to this feeling.

I'm getting that itch to start a new journal again, too. fresh start, blah blah blah. my paid account runs out in may, so I might do it! I feel much like a nomad drifting about through the internet, here nor there to most people. I talk to a handful of people these days...really not that many. quiet period for me, etc. so I don't think there's really any reason at all to cling to old names anymore 'cause there's not really anyone who cares about me disappearing who wouldn't find out about it from me during conversation anyway. :)

it's that yearly moment of wanting to look at my priorities and cut off what's unnecessary. it's a productive feeling when put to good use. mmmyeah. we'll see what happens. I deleted the majority of my icons and that felt good. I actually feel like deleting everything. I'm not attached to any of my userpics much anymore. it's a great sign when I reach that point. I like reaching a point where I don't feel attached to stuff... it's hard to explain -- so often I get attached to stuff and it weighs me down, so when bit by bit, I find myself not attached to as much trivial stuff, I know I'm growing as a person.

I'm all about growth this year.

as an aside, let me just say that eating leftover chinese food(fried rice, half a packet of soy sauce per bowl...and I'm on my second bowl right now) and watching You've Got Mail for the 1,000th time is a nice moment of goodness. The bit at the end when Joe is getting to know Kathleen as friends... one of my favorite parts of a movie. The 152 meaning discussion = haha oh yeah my favorite couple dynamic discussion type.

"remember joy?!?"

2009-01-23T19:12:15Z

I woke up early today...at 9am! WILL IT LAST?

Ryan linked me to this website with photos of walls with stuff written on them. It's awesome.
http://picturesofwalls.com

more on phases

2009-01-21T11:29:14Z

Like I mentioned in my music post, I have phases. Well, I have phases with other stuff too. Another example of that is my interests. Specific themes or whatever.

I like collecting things. In general, I love vinyl and plastic figures of various sizes and subject matter. It hit me the other day that'd be something I could get back into again, though I'd rather find all my old ones from my childhood before I buy any new ones. I always loved my barn animals and disney figurines. I used to play with those all the time.

As for other, more specific things... here are my phases:

Angels - Ceramic, vinyl, plastic, dolls, etc. I would rearrange them from time to time and it made me feel happy.

Teddy bears - Plush, ceramic, vinyl, plastic, artwork, photographs, etc. I have a big collection of this stuff, and to this day plush bears are one of my favorite things. There's something about an adorable teddy bear that zaps me back into little kid form.

Snow globes - Now I've always liked snow globes but the thing is it kinda got more serious for me a couple years ago, and people kinda figured that out so I've received a few as gifts since then. I absolutely adore them, there's something so calming about a self-contained world that never changes, and the snow or glitter or whatever falling after I tip it over and sit it back down is really comforting. I want to add more to this collection.

DUCKS - Now this one has been going on for a while, and one of the biggest promoters of this love of mine is my niece Madison. She's given me paintings, drawings, sculptures, toys, dolls, slippers, etc. It really makes me happy to see she noticed this interest of mine and goes out of her way to make me happy with something she knows I love. She's a sweet heart. :) Just about everyone else I know has given me duckies over the years as well. I have a big collection of them in the form of plush, plastic, rubber(of course), light up plastic, plastic, clothing, stickers, and all sorts of stuff. I just love ducks so much. THEY ARE SO ADORABLE. THE CUTEST ANIMAL ON THE PLANET.

The reason I post about this now is because I can feel another phase starting. Or rather, I think it's already started. SPACE TRAVEL! Astronauts! All that stuff. It's been going on for a few months... or maybe more, I'm bad with time lately. I enjoy the whole idea of floating in space or going to another world. Sitting on the moon and watching earth. I'm kinda sad I never went to space camp. If I weren't a gimp and dumb with math, I TOTALLY WISH I'D BECOME AN ASTRONAUT. (Ok, maybe not... but space camp would have been awesome)

I want to try freeze dried ice cream. I hear it's terrible but I have to try food at least once. I decided if I ever do dress up for a costume party or event of any kind, I'm going as an astronaut, definitely. It makes me a little giddy just thinking about it. Yup. There's just something that draws me to the whole idea. Mmm yeah gives me a happy feeling.

re: jan. 20

2009-01-21T11:07:26Z

I stayed up till around 10am today because I felt the intense need to watch the inauguration coverage.

One of my moments of being reminded of how sensitive to the universe I am because I got a bit emotional watching. Yeah, it's funny how I can know something's going to happen yet somehow when it DOES happen it just blows me away. Well, it's nice though - Good to have a nice emotional release. Happy tears! Moment in history and all that... geez, all those people crowded all over... some crazy stuff. It's good to think that even though I get down about the world at large sometimes, in this little instance they really came together for something.

During family time in the kitchen tonight it was suggested we all write our obituaries. Haha, even though I kinda led it there, I called everyone morbid for taking the idea and running... but I think I may do it! Something to think about anyway.

I started writing in another book! This one has lined paper in it so it'll be strictly words. Hand cramps be darned. I wrote a story in my head when I couldn't sleep last night, and I'm still not sure if I'll actually write it down or not. We'll see.

define myself or whatever

2009-01-17T11:41:28Z

I was asked to define myself. Vague request, but I gave it a shot!

I'm quiet, thoughtful, and observant. I like to keep others at ease and help people out. I love inciting laughter. I enjoy the evocative things in life - music, sights, scents, sensations... I can dwell in evocative sensations for long periods of time, and that's a big source of inspiration for me creatively. I'm very determined, and when I set my mind on a goal, I always accomplish it. I'm very patient with long-term goals, but I can be impatient when it comes to little things like heading to the store to buy a food I crave or something else like that. I care very much about peoples' well-being. I worry about doing or saying things "wrong" and will often simply not do or say something because of that. I'm a sensitive person. I pick up on the feelings of people around me. I sometimes push myself too hard.

I keep people at arm's length to protect myself; I don't trust many people. I avoid conflict, but when conflict does arise, I cannot rest until the problem is acknowledged, discussed, and corrected. I enjoy planning things in advance, even if only vaguely...having a general idea of something makes me feel safe. I'm always striving for more understanding of myself and others. I love deeply. I often feel like I can never word my thoughts and feelings properly, and it frustrates me. I enjoy situations where I feel like I'm part of a team(My ideal relationship would resemble a team - "partners in crime"). Eating is one of my favorite activities...I love savoring flavors, and focusing on how they combine - A common scene is me with my eyes closed, smiling at how delicious something is, while I go for another bite. I don't want to let my health problems define my life, but I'm steadily coming to terms with the fact they are a part of me... though I still get angry with myself for being unable to do things I view as "simple" from time to time.

From a post I made on a forum re: music favored

2009-01-14T04:55:26Z

Yeah, in every forum there's usually something along the lines of "What kinda music do you like?" and this forum was no exception. The first post also asked for suggestions, so I decided to explain my taste as well as include lists of suggestions in my explanation. I'm always working at wording things better. Here's the post I made.

I love music, and when I'm drawing or painting or just creating stuff in general, I tend to be listening to music. Summing up what I listen to isn't easy for me because I always feel like I'm leaving something out if I use a simple sentence to sum it up.

So... how about a long explanation?

I made a mix cd for myself a few months ago to listen to in the car...and I've enjoyed the mix so much that I've been using it as an example of what I listen to on various forums!

Leona Naess - Calling
The Magnetic Fields - Love is Lighter Than Air
Wilco and Billy Bragg - Hesitating Beauty
The Field Mice - Canada
Louis Armstrong - The Dummy Song
Nick Drake - One of These Things First
George Harrison - Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Sam Cooke - (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons
She & Him - Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?
The Features - The Idea of Growing Old
Fontella Bass - Rescue Me
David Gray - Babylon
Brisa Roché - Dial Me Up
Sara Bareilles - Love Song
Louis Prima - When You're Smiling/The Sheik Of Araby
Walter Meego - Forever

With music, I tend to have phases. When I leave a phase, I still enjoy the music, but I get "tired" and move onto something that feels more fresh to me and then revisit things from phases later on in a less obsessed way.

For a while I was huge into twee pop, listening exclusively to stuff like The Field Mice, All Girl Summer Fun Band, The Magic Whispers, Hello Saferide, The Snow Fairies, The Camera Casanovas!, etc.

Then I was hugely into trip-hop stuff like Bjork, Massive Attack, Supreme Beings of Leisure, Microbunny, Conjure One, Ruby, Rob Dougan, Moby, etc.

Then another time I was huge into weird folk stuff like Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, Scout Niblett, Iron and Wine, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Vashti Bunyan, etc.

Back in high school and before, I was more into rock/punk/against the man stuff, like Weezer, Social Distortion, bis, Green Day, Rancid, MXPX, NoFx, Sublime, Everclear, Eve6, Third Eye Blind, Stabbing Westward, Matchbox Twenty, etc

I've also been in the general "indie" phase as well, including stuff like of Montreal, The Magnetic Fields, Bright Eyes, Neutral Milk Hotel, Apples in Stereo, The Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie, Marshmallow Coast, Essex Green, Cat Power, etc

And again I was into general pop type stuff, adult alternative, type stuff, including Poe, Madonna, Sheryl Crow, Sarah McLachlan, Dido, Ani DiFranco, Melissa Ferrick, Annie, Aimee Mann, Duncan Sheik, Trespassers William, Vienna Teng, Beth Orton, Darren Hanlon, Imogen Heap,

Also a shoegazey type phase including Mazzy Star, Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, etc

Also was into general country/folk type stuff as well, including Cat Stevens, The Innocence Mission, Hanne Hukkleberg,

Then there was the older stuff phase, including Sal Mineo, Nat King Cole, Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, The Zombies, Chad & Jeremy, Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, etc.

Inbetween all of these phases, I have these downtimes where I just listen to everything on random(shuffe if you use iTunes like I do), or I make playlists and mix CDs with specific songs that fit a theme or are in general just very enjoyable to me at the time. Then something finds me or I find it randomly, either via the radio, browsing the internet(forums, last.fm, songmeanings.net, friends, or otherwise) and I become launched into another theme related to whatever it is I've found and the cycle starts all over again.

I feel weird sometimes for having these themes/phases I go through, because I feel like I'm being too "into" one thing, but I think in general it's a positive, because I end up, afterwards, having more music to add to my library for later on when I enter another downtime of shuffling. I don't get entirely sick of whatever the phase was after I'm out of it, I just save it for later because I get enough of it after a while that I move onto something else. When stuff comes on shuffle later from previous phases I'm very happy to hear it again and will revisit it to some extent!

So yep, there's my taste in music. I hope you find some new stuff there...though I'm not sure how great I am at assigning genres to stuff.

Geez I made some typos in there. Anyway, each phase usually lasts about a month or two. I like exploring things with similar feels to get a nice handle on that theme and really get in touch with it. It's enjoyable for me. Aaaaand I don't think I've ever really elaborated on that, but I think each list gives a good glimpse into just what I mean by "phase."