| PROJECT: TABULA RASA |
[01 Nov 2009|01:09am] |
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Tabula rasa : (Latin: blank slate) the theory that individuals are born without built-in mental content and that their knowledge comes from experience and perception.
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First off, let me say that my bronchitis is long gone. It took only 5 days of a single daily pill’s medicine to make my throat all better. Well, sort of better. After two weeks of persistent coughs, my throat has become prone to occasional breaks in my speech whenever I talk for a while. I’m hoping they’ll go away on their own, so I’ll keep an eye out on that. Now, onto more important matters…
During those two weeks I was sick, I did some thinking. As I have posted here many times before, I’ve been feeling dissatisfied with the way things have been going in my life. I’ve been feeling this way for almost two years now; ever since I graduated from UF. I naively thought a college art degree would solve all my problems. Well, it didn’t. Long story short, I realized that I needed to make more substantial efforts than just sitting back and waiting for something good to happen. Now, I know I’ve made statements like that before, but my parents have recently been getting close to the boiling point with me. They have graciously supported me for 24 years now, and I can see that they’re getting more tired and older with each passing year. My little sister will graduate from UF next year. It seems like my life has hit a snag, and everybody else’s life is leaving me in the dust! I need to dig myself out of this hole, but that’s easier said than done. My BFA degree hasn’t landed me any jobs, the security job I’m at now doesn’t pay me enough money to live off of, and every day is a constant battle of keeping misery away with varying success.
Well, no more.
I have decided that I refuse to live the rest of my life in my parents’ house, depending on their cars, food, utilities, and the cramped, bland bedroom I spend most of my days in. That’s the whole point of being independent, right? To be free of all these restrictions, to make vast improvements on my life, to stop with the destructive and negative influences that have plagued me for months now… that is what I want.
So for my first announcement: I’m going back to school.
Security guarding is really not my thing, despite having the world’s easiest guard post. I can do better than minimum wage at only 18 hours a week. And my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, as I’ve said, has not landed me the high-paying jobs I have anticipated when I was a freshman… yet there’s tons of programming, web design, and IT jobs on virtually every job site I’ve seen! I’ve taken a couple of such classes at UF, but perhaps if I take more of these classes and maybe get an associates degree in IT training, maybe this will increase my chances of finding work in the future. To save money and time, I aim to take these classes at Santa Fe College, a community college that’s closer to my house and has less expensive classes than UF. The curriculum I’ve looked at will allow me to find internships, jobs, and just as importantly, new people to talk to, since my social life needs a severe jumpstart.
My second announcement: I am not leaving the furry fandom.
Earlier this month, I had briefly considered leaving the furry fandom. I felt like I wasn’t getting much out of it and wondered if it was really doing me any good. In the 4 years I’ve been in the fandom, I’ve traveled to several Florida furry conventions and meets (Megaplex, Furloween, Elliot’s Spring Gathering, et. al.) I admit they were fun times, but they were also expensive on my little-to-no budget, which always stressed me out. Plus, my parents haven’t been big fans of the fandom, and are often worried that I’ll become so consumed by the fandom that I’ll lose track of my goals and aspirations and fall in with “the wrong crowd”. That’s why I hesitate whenever I want to call the Funday Pawpet Show and ask to guest appear one day. That’s why I feel slightly sick to my stomach whenever I shell out $100 for my own hotel room because it feels wrong to room with a complete stranger or without paying. And I enjoy drawing furry art, but not furry porn, despite recent attempts to draw porn just to pander to certain audiences and my own desires when I wasn’t really comfortable revealing it to the public in the first place. So you can see how I have been wondering if the fandom has just been one big negative influence on my life.
But…
I have one local friend who is a furry, treats me with respect, and talks to me often. I have fun at furry conventions and enjoy meeting new people. I like drawing furry art… I just need to set more specific parameters to my art. And most of all, I want to be original. I don’t need to fit in with any one crowd or species or clique. I have my own set of rules regarding the fandom, and damn it I’m going to use them to my advantage. So it looks like the furries CAN be a positive influence on me! I just need to use common sense and a clear mind and everything will be okay.
Which brings me to my final announcement: PROJECT: TABULA RASA
( Click here to see my Project )
The link above is an image of a flowchart. It’s a map of ideas and goals that I created on one of my patrols last week. As you can see, it has a bunch of information on it. I want at least 50% of these goals to be accomplished by January 1st, 2010. Why should I wait until New Years to suddenly change when I can lead up to it gradually instead? Goals include developing new art styles in new mediums, making a daily job search schedule, my long-term “new CCC” (new car, new computer, new condo) goals, and many more. My personal website will also be overhauled to look like a professional portfolio website, complete with Arial text and grey backgrounds.
In conclusion, I want to be a better Me next year, compared to years in the past. 2007 was a good year, but 2008 and 2009 SUCKED. This miserable feeling I have all the time has to stop. It’s like a sickness that’s driving me crazy. I even went to so far as to buy a planner. You know, one of those daily/weekly planners you use for school. It should help, because I’ll be using it for school and for projects and schedules in the immediate future. With this new path in my life suddenly open, I will be very busy for the next couple of months putting this plan into motion. Internet accounts I never use will be destroyed. Worthless information on my hard-drive and elsewhere will be removed. People I never talk to on my IM lists will be deleted. I’m doing this not because I no longer appreciate these people. I’m doing this because there’s only one person whom I have to improve and depend on before I can feel happier than how I feel right now:
Me.
Happy New Year. See you in 2010.
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| How a License Plate Made My Day Better |
[13 Oct 2009|10:28pm] |
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So you all may have noticed my JL posts have been rather sparse lately. For the past 10 days, I have had a very bothersome cough. No fever or runny nose or anything else. Just a cough. A very pesky cough that refused to go away. I took losenges, 4-hour cough medicine, and 8-hour cough medicine. Nothing worked. After keeping my parents awake last night (sis went to Tennessee yesterday for a school group trip), I was finally encouraged to go see a doctor. After waiting two hours for my walk-in appointment, during which I skipped lunch and bought some art supplies, I was finally brought in for a 15-minute inspection.
The end result? I have bronchitis.
The doctor, who had a more cheerful disposition than most doctors, prescribed me some Azithromycin and told me to follow the instructions. No alcohol either, which is fine by me since I only drink about a quart of alcohol per year. So I drove to CVS feeling rather miserable, despite finally knowing what was wrong with me. Somehow, on the way to the pharmacy, I ended up behind a bronze Buick with the following license plate:
BPOZTIV
My first thought was "Is this a Russian license plate?" Then I eventually realized that, "Oh! BPOZTIV means 'be positive.'" That little realization made me smile for the first time today. For the rest of the day, even after I got my meds and took some, I felt a little better than before. Hopefully I will feel good as new by the end of this week, which is when I run out of the pills necessary to clear up my throat, so no need to fret. I'll be back to normal shortly.
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| *COUGH* |
[11 Oct 2009|01:23pm] |
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This has not been the best of weeks.
First off, I have been having a rather pesky cough for the last 10 days or so. No fever, no nasal problems or sore throat issues... just a cough. It feels like a thick glob has been sitting in my throat refusing to budge. I've been taking losenges and every-4-hours cough medicine, but it hasn't been much help. I've spent hours late at night with horrific coughing fits, though I see that as my fault for forgetting to take medicine before bed. This morning at 4 AM, my parents actually went so far as to walk into my room to give me an every-8-hours cough medicine to see that did anything. I still feel consistent tickling in my throat and my ab muscles are very sore from coughing so often. I am going to the doctor's tomorrow if this coughing persists.
Despite that, things might be improving. Volunteering at the art museum has led me to be interviewed for an assistant position in the museum's study center. I had my interview on Friday and could learn as soon as tomorrow whether I got the job or not! It's only a weekend job though, but it would be a big help since I don't really have anything to do on the weekends anyway. Fingers crossed.
This is usually the part where I complain and moan about my meager paycheck from my late-night security job, but you probably wouldn't be interested in that. Instead, I'll say that a friend of mine got Guitar Hero 5 yesterday, so that was fun. He only had that one guitar controller, so we had to take turns with it.
Well, that's about it for now. No art, no exercise, and no enjoyment lately thanks to this stupid cough. Here's hoping it goes away soon.
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| Sister Jealousy |
[04 Oct 2009|11:45am] |
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Well, I'm back.
First off, my sister went to her first Metallica concert in Tampa last night. She said it was the greatest concert ever. And because her boyfriend's a member of the Metallica fan-club, he scored them front-row seats. And she managed to acquire an initialed guitar pick from the band's bassist. Even though I'm not a big fan of Metallica, I'm jealous anyway.
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| Saturday is Awesome Day |
[23 Aug 2009|03:06am] |
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So there was a crazy dude at the art museum yesterday who started knocking his umbrella handle against the life-size metal horse sculpture in the front foyer. This guy had some mental problems because on the way back, he acted very erratic and nonsensical. He was also with two elderly women who kept apologizing, and we had to get a security guard to keep an eye on them so it wouldn't happen again. Also filed a report about it. Well, Lauren did, I just stood behind the desk because I'm the volunteer. Nothing else like that had happened for a while, apparently, so that was a pretty major deal for us.
Another big deal for me was spending the rest of the day with Riv&Adrian, two friends of mine who I haven't been with in months! We got caught up on things and hung out at Petsmart. All the local animal shelters bring their pets there on Saturdays, so it was really noisy and full of dogs and cats all over the place. I almost cried seeing all those big and little faces in those cages. And getting them to lick me or occasionally asking the volunteers to hold a dog or cat was a real joy. We then went over to Best Buy next door and I got to try out a demo of Rock Band: The Beatles. It was really cool, if a bit easy, since it's The Beatles. But then again, IT'S THE BEATLES! xD
Afterwards, we had dinner at Steak & Shake. I can sum that up in one word: Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
Then we went to Santa Fe College and UF, trying to find wireless internet and talk about things until it got dark. Very entertaining, very fun, very huggy. ^^ In short, an awesome day.
...Oh, and I'm just about to go to bed after my security patrol when I see a roach crawl across my desk. 1.5 inches long and brown. I was somehow able to squash it on a newspaper on my desk with a clipboard. I had to wash it off this morning. Bleh.
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| Oh Well, Probably Was Gonna Be TL;DR Anyway |
[20 Aug 2009|05:15pm] |
I was typing a really long post here whining and complaining about how unproductive I was this week, what with Dad coming home from business today and getting me upset about how I spent most of the week getting addicted to Hulu.com and nothing else.... I was almost done with the post when I clicked on another browser window... and the whole browser just crashes. Hmph. Of course, it auto-saved so I could've ended up posting it, but maybe it was for the best. I mean, the last thing you want to read is a long list of complaints from my Livejournal. There are plenty of other LJs for that.
So instead, I'll only say that progress is slow-going and I'm trying to do the best I can with what I got, but I know I can do better.
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| Why Haven't I Volunteered for This Sooner?? |
[13 Aug 2009|11:23am] |
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So last Saturday was my first day volunteering at the Harn Art Museum, and it was actually a nice experience. I mean, for four hours, I just sat behind the front desk and greeted people as they entered the museum. No phoning, no data entry... just being friendly and courteous to small numbers of people as they arrived. I got to meet this lovely UF student named Lauren who has one of the most vibrant personalities of any girl I've ever met. I got to meet her the previous Monday during the initial interview. She showed me everything behind the information desk, things I'd seen many times while visiting the museum but never really knew what they were. It was fairly easy; just smile and ask if visitors would like a map and explain the camera policies. The place had a great environment; bright and air-conditioned. And I got to meet a lot of new people, especially Allen the senior security guard. Simply put, Allen was what made the place fun. He had a ton of stories, was so cheerful and positive about everything, and treated Lauren like she was his own daughter, buying her a goofy novelty light switch sticker in the gift shop at one point. It wasn't really busy that day either, but this Saturday is Family Day and then after that the fall classes begin so activity might pick up. I almost didn't want to leave when my 4 hours were over.
To my surprise, I actually ended up getting invited to have lunch on Tuesday with Allen and Lauren. I heartily agreed, but that night a tree branch fell on the station wagon and busted the right turn signal light. I was worried I wouldn't be able to drive anywhere, but some duct tape fixed that (the replacement part actually arrived today in the mail.) Anyway, lunch was a real treat. I learned that Lauren had a twin sister (^_^) and a boyfriend (v_v) and Allen liked eating conch fritters and gator tail. I hadn't eaten gator tail in years, so I ordered some. They taste great; like chicken nuggets with just a slightly different taste. I had a club sandwich, which tasted just as good as if it were from Schlotzsky's or Panera Bread Co. But the Great Outdoor Cafe in High Springs had a fantastic interior and the food was really good. I'm so glad I got to hang out with new people after what seems like years!!
Retooled my resume yesterday. Also applied to a graphic design position at the CIA (hah!), and is currently wondering where everybody is.
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| My Top 10 Most Disturbing Music Videos Ever |
[09 Aug 2009|12:31pm] |
After a bit of curious exploring, I have come across 10 music videos that I believe are truly works of the bizarre, the weird, and the unusual. Some bands like Tool and Slipknot have great videos too in the disturbing department, but I wasn't sure where to put them in my list.
10. Grizzly Bear - Knife (link)
A truly psychedelic audio/video combo, reminiscent of early Pink Floyd. The video, which has one of the strangest conclusions ever, makes me wonder if going on an acid trip is as fun as it sounds.
9. Robbie Williams - Rock DJ (link)
While the shock factor of this video has mellowed out by now, this video creeped me out when I first saw it. Very good makeup and CGI at the end of the video, although now I'm more creeped out by Robbie's underwear and blurry bits.
8. Daft Punk - Prime Time of Your Life (link)
I didn't think Daft Punk could outdo the creepy factor of the robot doll in their "Technologic" video, but this video proved me wrong. It's similar to "Rock DJ", what with the skin removal concept and all, but with the added metaphor of anorexia added to the slowly increasing tempo during the end of the song.
7. MGMT - Kids (link)
I guess video explains why little kids cry all the time in public. I'm not sure which is more disturbing in this video: what the world looks like through the kid's eyes or the outfits the band is wearing in the video.
6. Goldie - Mother (link)
It's crazy what you can do with some black paint and a white room.
5. Skinny Puppy - Worlock (link NSFW)
While the band's "Testure" video is equally graphic, I put "Worlock" on the list because the video has scenes from various horror movies and the song is one of their best, IMO.
4. Marilyn Manson - (s)Aint (link NSFW)
It's no surprise that Marilyn Manson makes the list. Practically every video he's ever done has a high level of disturbing imagery, but (s)Aint is arguably his most graphic. Drugs, cutting, fornication; it's all there.
3. Aphex Twin - Rubber Johnny (link)
Still a weird little video, even though it's more of a short film than music video, I think. You could just as easily replace it with Aphex Twin's videos for "Come to Daddy" and "Windowlicker".
2. Nine Inch Nails - "Happiness in Slavery" (and all other videos included on the "Broken" movie)
Back in 1993, Trent Reznor developed a companion piece to NIN's EP "Broken" in the form of a short film that included the tracks from the EP. A deprived, horrific short film reminiscent of a snuff film, the "Happiness in Slavery" part is pure mindfuckery.
And the most disturbing video ever is....
lol, kidding.
1. Dir en Grey - Obscure (link NSFW)
Every video this band makes is insane. Proof that the Japanese rock hard... and that's just the censored version! Good luck finding the uncensored one.
Any music videos that are also disturbing that I didn't mention? Let me know.
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| Revenge of the Cockroach |
[08 Aug 2009|09:49am] |
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The past 12 hours have been seriously freaky... but it's what happened a few minutes ago that really shook me up. A bit.
It started last night at around 10:15 PM. I'm in the kitchen, dressing in my security officer uniform, about to go on patrol. I'm eating a slice of cake, and when I'm done, I rinse off my fork and open the dishwasher to put the utensil inside. Suddenly, I see this little brown thing dart across the the bottom of the dishwasher. It's a big, brown roach. Now, there have been roaches in the kitchen before, so I wasn't too surprised, but it had been a while since I had last seen one. So, not wanting to let this little creature crawl over the dishes that were inside there, I ran upstairs and got out the Ortho all-insect sprayer (my family keeps one upstairs in case there a big bug upstairs somewhere.) I went back downstairs, got the sprayer ready, and opened the dishwasher to find where the roach went. I saw it behind a plate, crawling towards me on the plastic dishwasher "roll-out" thing. I sprayed the little thing with the Ortho, and it wriggled and ran behind the washing mechanism at the bottom of the dishwasher. At this point, I figured my work was done and the roach would die in a few minutes, so I closed the dishwasher and resumed getting ready for work. I'd remove the dead roach in the morning if it was still in there.
So I went to work and returned at 12:45 AM. I was SUPPOSED to go right to bed, but I came across a pic on FA that featured part of the infamous "smile.dog" pic and I wondered what the heck that thing was. Well, one site led to another until I ended up on a thread in the "XKCD" webcomic forum that had a bunch of spooky stories on it. And like the idiot I am, I stayed up until 3:30 AM reading many of them, especially the classic "Ted's Cave Diary" story (which you can read here: http://www.angelfire.com/trek/caver/page1.html ) In any case, I finally decide to flip the laptop down and go to bed... but I couldn't go to sleep, not after reading so many creepy stuff. My art museum volunteer position is at noon today, so I had to get some sleep. By the time 4 AM arrived, I knew I had to do something. I opened AIM and managed to talked to one of only three contacts to who were on, a female internet friend from Japan, which worked because I became calm enough to finally get some sleep.
I woke up at 10 AM, just a few minutes ago. With only 2 hours left until I have to go to the museum, I leaped up to my feet and took a half step forward. That's when I saw it smack in the middle of my floor, not three feet away. A roach. It did not move at all and looked like one side of it was completely flattened by something. I hadn't immediately seen it because of my desk, but then I was wondering, "It couldn't be the same roach from downstairs in the dishwasher, could it?" Knowing I had to get rid of it, I reached for a tissue and bent over to pick it up and toss it. Just as I grabbed it, the roach wriggled two inched out of my grasp! The thing was still alive despite being halfway crushed. I grabbed the bug again, harder this time, lifting it up and making a break for the bathroom wearing nothing but my briefs. I could feel it move slightly in my hand, which creeped me out even more. I immediately flushed the toilet, dropped the tissue with the roach into it, and watched it swirl away.
...This had better be the only weird thing that happens to me today. o.O
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| Saaaay, This could be Interesting! |
[07 Aug 2009|04:46pm] |
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Tomorrow I start a volunteer position at the Harn Museum of Art in Gainesville. This is good news for me because I can finally get out of the house and DO stuff instead of just sitting at home sifting through job-rejection emails. I'll have a position at the front information center and get to see everyone arrive and leave. Since it's an art museum, it'll be quiet and air-conditioned and a comforting place to be. Also, a girl named Lauren will be there to get me familiar with the environment and tell me what to do. I'll be there from noon to 4 PM on Saturdays, which is a good time for me since my daily security job can stretch on as late as 2 AM. So I'll be sure to say how that goes!
In the meantime, I'm trying to get other things done. I'm currently editing the Megaplex '09 Fursuit Games footage I took, and it's taking an unusually long time to compress. I sent in volunteer and employment forms to my local YMCA facility yesterday. And I started typing up some scripts for some videos I might be putting together with my animal hand puppets, but it'll take a while to put together.
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| Patrols, A Movie Director, Art Schools, and WhereRUs |
[12 Jul 2009|09:25pm] |
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I had a six-hour security patrol at a hotel construction site today from noon to six in 90-degree weather. I had to go inside (thank you, A/C!!) and drink city water with lame aftertaste because I only brought one water bottle with me. I had to use Porto-Potties like the construction crew did, listen to the local rock stations for entertainment, and the batteries in my portable battery-powered fan ran out an hour before my shift was over. I even brought my laptop with me thinking there was wireless internet, but there wasn't. BLAHHHHH! And I have my daily, 2-hour security patrol behind my house that I need to get to soon too. At least the construction security post will be finished soon... and NEXT Sunday, I'll be returning to The District apartment complex for another all-night patrol. WOO!
Have any of you heard of the 1999 movie "Happy, Texas"? It was directed, co-produced, and co-written by a guy named Mark Illsley... who just so happens to be my Mom's cousin! Mom told me she was talking to Mark's mother, my great-aunt Ellie, and that she was interested upon hearing about my Digital Art experience in UF. A while back she sent me a card with Mark's phone number and email address and ended up misplacing it. Today, I found it! I think I shall email Mark and see what kind of interesting information he can provide me in the world of moviemaking and related fields.
Still waiting to receive school information packets in the mail from SCAD, Ringling, Full Sail, and DMAC in Boca Raton. Full Sail definitely seems to be the most insistent on hearing from me, sending me three emails, two phone calls, and sent me info on their open house next Sunday. Unfortunately, my District patrol is that day, so I'll have to reschedule.
Quite a few people on my LJ friends list who I haven't heard from in ages. ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) armadillorex,o_angel_o,leviathanfafner, where are you guys?
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| Online Dating, Dermatology, Whataburger, and Conventions |
[30 Jun 2009|04:40pm] |
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I've been thinking about signing up to an online dating site, but I'm not sure which one to choose. Match, eHarmony, Cupid, all the ones that don't have TV commercials ...how to choose? Chemistry.com has a neat format for signing up and meeting people... but I'm wondering if it's really worth it. At this point, I feel like I've been isolated from the outside world for so long that I feel ready to try anything at this point.
I had a dermatology appointment last week to have some moles on my back checked. They were fine, but a small spot on my right bicep had to be removed and looked at. They did so by giving me a shot under the spot, which numbed and swelled up the skin, then took a razor blade and sliced off the skin layers with the spot, putting a bandage immediately on it. It was cool to look at; needles don't really faze me as much as they should. Heh.
For some reason, the two Whataburger stores in my hometown have closed down, which sucks because not only were they some of the only places in town that were open 24 hours, but they also put tasty mustard on their burgers. I didn't eat there too often because they were slightly more expensive, but I did work at one of the stores for a few months back in 2007.
Anthrocon's this weekend, and I hope everyone who's going has a great time. Megaplex is coming up next month, and I'm anxious to spend a day there or so. If I had a better income I could afford to go to these places all the time and not feel so guilty about spending so much money. I should use the month of July to my advantage and keep searching for work. We'll see how much better I can make next month compared to the crap that was this month.
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| A Day Unlike Some Others I've Had |
[24 Jun 2009|10:53pm] |
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jubilant |
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Today I saw some odd license plates around town: "XWNGFTR", "APRIL 16", and "B52 OWW".
I also finally had my interview at the Tempforce temp agency in town this morning. Fortunately, they already had me on file from last year, so I could skip retaking the assessment tests again. I REALLY hope I can get something from them. In the meantime, Dad and Mom saw the 'Star Trek' movie in theaters, and Dad noticed how many digital artists there were in the end credits. He suggested I write down all the production companies and contact them somehow for work, even if it's scrubbing toilets. Sure Dad, take the least-likely job position they offer... though I'm pretty sure even the janitors at the major production houses get paid pretty well.
I also saw the movie 'Up'. It was a delightfully wonderful movie. Doug the Dog is pure awesomeness. Also, my sister saw a midnight showing of Transformers 2. She said it was 'okay', not really as thrilling as the first one. And judging by a few peoples' reviews, I'm inclined to agree. >.
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| Megaplex Decision |
[23 Jun 2009|03:04pm] |
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After careful consideration, I've decided that I will not be staying the full three days at Megaplex this year. There are several reasons why:
- I've been struggling financially for months now, and Megaplex would only hamper my recovery more than aid it.
- I already spent 3 days at Elliot's Spring Gathering at the same exact hotel last month, which is pretty much enough of a Megaplex-like furry convention for me for one summer.
- I cancelled my hotel room reservation just now for two reasons. One, the person I had planned to room with won't make it, and I don't feel comfortable rooming with people I barely know. And two, the hotel charged me the Megaplex discount room rate of $89 a night for two nights, plus tax, which is more expensive than what I paid for the room at Elliot's.
- There are already five people on the waiting list for a table at the Dealer's Den, which means I didn't register soon enough.
- Without going into too much detail, I was almost lured into someone's hotel room at Elliot's to do who-knows-what, and I don't want that to happen again.
- After the phenomenally awesome time I had at Elliot's, I don't know if Megaplex could ever top that.
Now, this doesn't mean I won't attend Megaplex at all. It's highly possible that I will spend either Friday or Saturday at the con. I just think that if I stay all three days, it'll make me too worried and miserable to enjoy it.
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| Alive and stuff |
[14 Jun 2009|09:40am] |
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Well, Friday's bachelorette party was... well, it was actually kinda boring, as far as such parties go, but according to my sister, much fun was had regardless. Dressing the bride up in a toilet paper wedding dress, Mad Libs, and watching the movie "Bride Wars" with lots of food for everyone to eat all culminated to an enjoyable evening. I was lucky enough to duck out of the house for my patrol, avoiding the girls' festivities. Unfortunately, I was not as lucky on the way back in. One of my sisters' camera-happy friends wanted to take a group picture, including me in uniform, and one with just me, my sister, and the bride-to-be. That was about it; I mean, it would've been extremely awkward for me to do anything flamboyant with mom and sis there. So I ate some cake and left. Oh, and one of the party attendees was a girl named Tara whom I recognized from my high school, which was kinda cool. All in all, I'm just glad I left in one piece. :P
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| Um, Party? |
[12 Jun 2009|11:54am] |
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groggy |
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Downstairs, things are getting set up for a bachelorette party at 6 PM in the living room for my sister's friend's upcoming wedding. Due to budget concerns, my family volunteered to host the bachelorette party here, much to my chagrin. Looks like I'll be holed up in my room for most of today. Kinda feels weird though seeing frills and balloons while sis blasts Metallica music from the radio. She's going to a Def Leppard and Metallica concert later this year. She's really getting into rock music ever since she hooked up with her current boyfriend. Haha. I think I'm going to lose my mind before the night's over. @_@
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| Taken from bucktowntiger |
[06 Jun 2009|09:37pm] |
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1. You can ONLY answer 'Yes' or 'No'.
2. You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone comments you and asks— and, believe me, the temptation to explain some of these will be overwhelming. Nothing is exactly as it seems.
Kissed any one of your LiveJournal friends? — No.
Been arrested? — No.
Kissed someone you didn't like? — No.
Slept in until 5 PM? — No.
Fallen asleep at work/school? — Yes.
Held a snake? — Yes.
Ran a-...
OK, I'm sorry, but I had to stop right here to answer the phone, did some other stuff, came back here, and have suddenly lost the will to keep going with this. And people wonder why I don't respond to memes anymore. lol
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| Update |
[05 Jun 2009|01:49pm] |
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 hungry |
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Well, now that Elliot's has come and gone, I've been feeling rather listless lately. Not much going on, really.
Got my first check from Dad regarding my security job yesterday. Couple hundred or so. Not much at all. I might consider a second job during the day just to spice things up financially.
Artwork's going well, albeit slow-going. I've been bringing my sketchbook with me during my patrol to sketch and ink in during my two-hour shift. Given how low-security a vacant building is, I've been getting a lot done. Plus, from my position, I can survey almost the entire grounds, so I can be alert for things that may be going on. Like stray cats and deer in the fields.
Still considering looking into art schools in the area. The DAVE School was pretty cool, but I don't want that to be my only option. Ringling, DMAC in Boca Raton, SCAD in GA, and others are up for consideration.
Been raining off and on for days now. Typical Florida summer weather, of course.
I need lunch now.
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| My 'Elliot's Spring Gathering' Adventure! |
[31 May 2009|09:39pm] |
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mood |
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 exhausted |
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Well, I just got back from Elliot's Spring Gathering in Kissimmee, FL and all I have to say is:
WOW!
I went there on Friday expecting it to be a nice, quiet event where I could sit back and treat it as a "practice con" until Megaplex arrives in July. Boy, was I ever proved wrong! In fact, this might actually have been more fun than last year's Megaplex in a lot of respects. It really turned out to be a pleasantly entertaining event... and I didn't even go to Fun Spot or Wet 'n Wild due to previous engagements.
See, I had scheduled a tour of the Digital Animation and Visual Effects School, or the DAVE School, at 11 AM on Friday because my parents didn't want me to spend any extra money going there and back home (a 2-hour drive) and then going back to my hotel when I could just take the tour (again, only two hours) and head straight to the hotel from there. The DAVE School (http://www.daveschool.com), by the way, is really awesome!! The instructors are all really nice, I got to see the facility and was just blown away by how they could fit so much Awesome into such a small place. They even had a big green-screen room in the back with motion capture cameras, movie props, editing and theater viewing rooms, lecture halls, storyboards and prelim-models... it was such a thrill to see! Of course, the year-long course is not cheap, especially with the tour of the housing facilities afterwards. In short, I'm gonna have to do some more art school shopping if I want to really take being a professional artist seriously.
Anyway, after my tour of the DAVE School, I drove to my hotel... only to see the last bus to Fun Spot pull out of the parking lot. Damn. Oh sure, I could've tailed them in my car and hung out at Fun Spot anyway... but it was really hot and humid and all those go-karts and loud noises... I just didn't think it was worth it by that time, which was around 3 PM. So I got my room ready, registered to Elliot's and just hung out in the videogame room and the hotel lobby. The hotel, The Radisson Worldgate Hotel, is REALLY nice! WAY better than the Megaplex's hotel in Jacksonville last year (and Megaplex is gonna be held in this same hotel in July! YAY!) A nice outdoor pool with two hot tubs surrounded by the hotel, comfy-as-hell beds in the rooms, and a BATHTUB! Ohhhh, getting a bath for the first time in years was sheer bliss from someone who only takes showers. Mmmmmm. Anyway, Friday I spent chatting with a bunch of new people, including a bunch of Florida furs I'd never seen before. I mean, there was a freakin' Pizza Hut Express right in the lobby!!! Pure awesomeness.
But the best was yet to come. After a while, I slipped back into the lobby and overheard a small group of people discussing about where to eat dinner. A guy named Matt (aka Soba) and two African-American artists named Jossy (aka WFA) and SolidAsp were considering eating at Golden Corral with this foreign couple from Germany. Being the nice guy I am, I asked if I could tag along and they said I could! Just then, I spotted another group of artists arrive, including two awesome artists, Spunky and "Better Days" creator Jay Naylor. I introduced myself to Spunky at this point and, despite her short stature, brightens any room with her personality alone. ^^ Anyway, a scary moment occurred when I went to my car to follow the rest of the gang, turned the key, and the car wouldn't start! After 30 seconds of sheer panic, I saw the crank was still in drive. I R stupid. So I pushed it to park and it started okay. whew!
I'd never eaten at Golden Corral before, which is a really nice All-U-Can-Eat buffet and grill, and it was the perfect place to talk to the artists I was eating with. I was particularly interested in the German couple, who traveled all the way from Bavaria to come to Elliot's. They were so nice and spoke surprisingly good English. It wasn't until after dinner and was trying to write down everyone's names that I learned that this couple was none other than Nimrais and Kaji, two of my absolute favorite furry artists!! xD I was totally floored by that realization. Fortunately, my fanboyistic bursts are very short-lived.
Also short-lived was waiting for what was to be the highlight of the entire event. By some amazing amount of planning, and I don't know how they did this, but the people behind Elliot's surprised all of us with a 9 PM private performance, live on stage, of the musical "Avenue Q"... by the original Broadway cast! As someone who has only heard one or two songs and never seen the show before, this was a phenomenal thrill, even bigger than my first midnight Rocky Horror Picture Show performance two years ago!! The show was a blast, even though they had to cut out a few songs, and everyone was thoroughly entertained. One of the puppeteers, who had also worked at 'Sesame Street', gave a panel on puppets and puppeteering the next day!
But I didn't go to that panel. I couldn't because Saturday was when the Dealer's Den was open and I got to sit in the same room as some of the most popular artists in the fandom! WFA, SolidAsp, Nimrais and Kaji were there, as were Jay Naylor and Spunky, but also Likeshine, Painted Dog, Meesh, Gnaw, GunMouth, KamiCheetah, Gideon, Bonk, and someone I've been dying to meet in person for years, Max Blackrabbit. I was bouncing in my seat at times from sheer excitement. It almost made me forget that I only had very little to offer: three large charcoal pastel drawings and a couple sketchbooks. But I didn't care. I was determined to get some commissions from some people... and I did! Nimrais, Kaji, Gnaw, Spunky, Max, and an artist named Koze all drew in a blank sketchbook I brought with me. I'm don't consider myself an art whore, but this was a real treat. AND someone actually bought one of my charcoal art pieces, the cheetah one... for $50!!! Sweet. After the Den shut down, there was dancing late into the nigh (which is pretty much the norm at ANY con/meet) and I got to meet Leon, an online contact I've known for a while that I got to meet in person. Speaking of meeting people, Glamring and Phiner, two north-central Florida furs and two of my closest friends, were there too. Rockin'!
Sunday morning, a free outdoor breakfast of pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns, and watermelon was provided. More videogames and conversing. By this point, I began feeling like going home; it's always the third day that I start saying to myself, 'Yeah, I've gotten my fun for the weekend'. So back home I went and here I am.
What a party! I'll have to go again next year... and maybe Megaplex in two months in the meantime. Whee!!!
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