My 2nd best buddy.

This is Paulie's cat, Gino. It's really spelled "Djino," and he's also known as Nino, Neen, Japa-Nino, among other names I can't think of right now.

We cuddle on the daily, but if he sees me somewhere else in the house or outside, he acts like he doesn't know me. Player Kitty.

Paul said he is going to update his blog today. I know, I'm in shock too! We had a great Christmas together. I'll tell more on that later.

Amsterdam.

It could happen ..

Happy Birthday to Me.

Our first tree.

But our 2nd Christmas .. we put the tree up today. And here it is.

I have more pics of the event, which maybe I'll post later, like a really old box of Christmas lights that we used. The box is funny because it's all 70s looking ..

My birthday is Friday. I think we are going to see King Kong in Amsterdam =)

* * *

P.S. I love StatCounter .. the counter at the bottom of my blog? It gives me all the info I need to see who peeps by, and even for how long, and which entries they read. I can even tell when someone searches for me by screenname. Handy feature. IPs and all.

A Must Read.

This book is really good.

I read it when Paulie is studying.

* * *

As you can see I have a new layout. I love it.

Grades.

For fall quarter ...

math - B

digital art - B

drawing - B

english - A

Probably won't be many, if ANY, more updates til January. I'm busy having fun with Paulie!

But feel free to keep stopping by. Read my faves or something.

Maya Shoe .. whoo F'ing hoo!

I'm SO glad to be done with this.

The professor can take this shoe and shove it up his stanky butt.

That's not me talking, it's my aching culprit tooth, which may be extracted tomorrow at 3pm.

Law of Gravity flawed?

What will people argue about next?

Read it and weep at how crazy people really are.

Why can't science just be science?

It definitely has it's place,

and it has nothing to do with religion.

Math final.

Tomorrow. 8am.

I didn't find this until just now, but I've already done all of that within the past few weeks.

I visited tutors in the math lab, I combed over past quizzes and tests, and I did the chapter reviews. I reworked problems I had missed in the past, I studied over confusing formulas (which, he said those would be the only freebies he'd give us during the final), and I've re-read both chapters twice. Hard to believe we only covered 2 chapters in 10 weeks, but whatever.

Tomorrow. 8 am.

I'm ready.

Tooth. Ache.

I'd like to thank the makers of penicillin, Aleve, Advil, Anbesol, Orajel, Sensodyne toothpaste, and cinnamon dental floss.

An honorable mention goes to Vicodin, who is waiting in the wings in case I absolutely can't stand it anymore.

Another honorable mention goes to Burt's Beeswax lip balm for helping my lips that my dentist ripped apart today from opening my mouth too wide.

I'm sick of being afraid of dentists, but I've just yet to meet any good ones. Even the ones that swear they have a "soft touch" are rough as hell and usually mean, arrogant, and just all around intimidating. I guess now that fear is catching up with me in the form of bad teeth.

I want the damn thing pulled, but the dentist refused, saying the roots are too close to my jawbone and he cannot pull it without breaking my jaw.

It's the same song and dance I heard when I had to have my impacted wisdom teeth cut out. The minute they woke me up from the surgery they told me, "Those teeth were VERY impacted, we almost broke your jaw trying to get them out .. "

But then again, 2 other dentists have said they'll pull it, no problem.

I don't know who to believe, but I'll let you know how it pans out.

*Gasp.*

I studied for two hours last night for my english final.

Today, when I arrive to take it, I am handed a single sheet of paper,

bearing one task.

"Please write a 50 word essay on what you have learned in this class and how I can make it better for next quarter."

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Twas Funny.

Hmm.

I found this article interesting, especially the part about how she is adapting to life as a commoner by taking driving lessons and practicing supermarket shopping.

Welcome to the real world, Sayako. I hope you can handle it.

I hate royalty.

Final Freakout.

Ok, this is all just becoming very humorous to me.

Today, we were supposed to review for our math final for an hour and 50 minutes.

I was SO looking forward to it. I had my list of questions ready.

Did we have the review?

No, we didn't.

Did we even have an ENTIRE CLASS PERIOD?

NO, WE DIDN'T!!!

The teacher had to leave 28 minutes into class to go to a funeral that was 2 hours away.

Because someone in his life died, WE SUFFER. Doesn't quite seem fair huh?

Ok, ok .. I'm being selfish. But WHY did it have to be on the day we review for our final?!

Why couldn't that bastard have waited to die just a FEW DAYS LATER?!

Oh hell, I'm being crass.

THE FINAL IS MONDAY! We only have ONE more day class day to review for it!

I say again .. couldn't that poor mofo have just held on to life a little longer so I could get some decent class instruction for my final?

Goodness gracious, I need to shut my selfish, insensitive mouth up.

Oh, but to put the REAL goddamn icing on the cake, we were notified today, to our surprise, that our math final WILL NOT be multiple choice.

We have been told it *would* be multiple choice from day One since allllll the way back in September and now suddenly, "Oh guess what? Your final isn't multiple choice anymore. hehe, surprise!!"

And it's even printed on the SYLLABUS .. "Final will include multiple choice along with a few extended answer questions."

FAIR?

HELL NO.

I only wish for greener pastures and smoother quarters from now on. Please, gods of college or whoever controls this type of shit, grant me this one wish!

I'm sorry. I think my soul has been taken over by that of my evil digital art professor.

*he undid my work, built my 3D object right before my eyes in 5 minutes, deleted it all .. and told me, "It's as easy as that! Now YOU do it!" Wednesday, I will take a tape recorder with me and record his showoff ass so I will know what he's talking about, but then again, what am I going to record? Him clicking around on the mouse and keyboard? *sigh*

For more ranty updates, go visit my boyfriend's blog. He's updating like mad lately (well, kinda) .. and he's on fire, perhaps even more than I am!

Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy.

*Instead of studying for finals, what about just going to the Bahamas and catching some rays? Maybe you'll flunk, but you might have flunked anyway; that's my point.

* Instead of having "answers" on a math test, they should just call them "impressions," and if you got a different "impression," so what, can't we all be brothers?

* Appropriate for finals week.

Influences.

Lately I've been thinking on my final project for my drawing class, and I decided that I need to think about influences. And after I decided that I decided to make a list of influences. Lots of deciding going on in these couple of sentences. Anyway.

Influences.

I'll add to this list occassionally because I'm sure I've forgotten some people.

The biggest influences of all, of course .. my boyfriend Paulie, and my late grandfather, who have both helped me see the light on things when I had no clue.

Photographers: Alyson Klutenkamper, Shelby Lee Adams

Artists: (of course all of these are artists, but .. y'know what I mean) .. Andy Warhol, Vincent van Gogh, Salvador Dali, M.C. Escher, D. Hill (artist in Amsterdam from California, wish I knew her first name so I could search for her online, damnit)

Authors: Alice Sebold, Chuck Palahniuk, Stephen King

Directors: Quentin Tarantino, Sofia Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Tim Burton, David Lynch, Rob Zombie

Honorable Mentions in no specific category or order of relevance (yet): Todd Oldham, Charles Darwin, the Smurfs, American Beauty, Pulp Fiction, Amsterdam

That is all. For now.

Damn the Man!

I was assigned yet *another* english paper.

I got the crazy, nonsensical, absolutely and utterly mindfucking details of my Maya project.

I got the study guide for my math final, and test #2 (only two tests the whole quarter, and they count for more than the final actually).

I got help on test #2 from Paulie and also from tutors in the math lab today, and I'll be going back tomorrow to finish up and get some additional help.

So far, I'm running A's and B's in everything as far as I know. The A's in math and english, B's in the other (I think ..)

For some reason, in the art classes at my school you are left guessing your grade until the end.

More when this all dies down.

The calm before the storm.

I understand just how the little guy feels.

I say 'the calm before the storm' because the week or two before finals, there is a strange calm. Very little homework, very little known about what is to come.

Paulie is just finishing his up, and I am just embarking on the beginning of mine.

Tomorrow I will receive my Maya project details, and my study guide for my math final. Tuesday I will get more details on my final project for my drawing class, and also my english final.

Luckily my 18 page research paper, which I titled 'The Banning of Huckleberry Finn: History Cannot be Debarred,' was handed in 11 days before its original due date. At least I have that out of the way.

Because I know the others are going to kick my ass.

In other news, I chose my classes for next quarter. I'll be taking my last english (YAY!), my next to last math (semi-YAY!), a digital publishing/layout class, and a class focusing on the process of creativity.

Hope it's more interesting than this quarter has been, because this quarter SUCKED. I picked a bad course combo or something. And all my teachers were men =/ and will be again next quarter! *sigh* Nothing against men, but I like to have a little variety in my classroom diet.

High Score.

I'm going to keep track of my high score on Bookworm.

This isn't the highest rank I've had, but I can't remember my highest score.

This way, I won't forget.

Say it isn't so!

(Which could also fall under the title of my infamous "What's wrong with People?" category .. )

I heard on the radio this morning that THIS is the most popular toy at Christmas this year.

Owl Puke.

I don't know how credible the source was, but it WAS on the radio and the guy was supposedly reading from some survey he found somewhere. I don't know the whole story, it was 7:30 am for god's sake. Anyway, back to my story.

OWL PUKE. Owl puke guys!!

What's wrong with people?

With the kit running a mere $13.95, kids (and probably some adults too) can enjoy playing environmentalist or scientist or whoever the hell dissects owl puke .. and actually dissect, uhh .. owl puke.

Search under any tree in your backyard where an owl sits and you shall find an abundance of gray pellets which are .. you guessed it .. OWL PUKE. And since owls cannot digest the bones of their prey, you can dissect the pellet by peeling away the fibrous gray matter and VIOLA, you can then marvel at the skeletal remains of whatever the owl had for dinner last night and then puked up like some anorexic teenager with a bad self image.

Sound like fun? I didn't think so either!

Can't you get diseases from shit like this?

*sigh* What WILL they think up next.

Now back to my riveting nightly game of Bookworm.

Compliments of Math Professor.

My math professor recited this yesterday in class. I was impressed, and even a little choked up over it.

It Couldn't Be Done

Somebody said that it couldn't be done, but she with a chuckle, replied

that maybe it couldn't, but she would be one who wouldn't say so 'til she tried.

So she buckled right in with the trace of a grin on her face. If she worried, she hid it.

She started to sing as she tackled the thing that couldn't be done, and she did it.

Somebody scoffed: “Oh you'll never do that; no one ever has done it.”

But she took off her coat and took off her hat, and the first thing she knew, she'd begun it.

With the lift of her chin, and a bit of a grin, without any doubting or quiddit,

she started to sing as the tackled the thing that couldn't be done, and she did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done, there are thousands to prophesize failure;

there are thousands to point out to you one by one, the dangers that wait to assail you.

But just buckle right in with a bit of a grin, then take off your coat and go to it.

Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing that cannot be done, and you'll do it.

- Edgar Guest (1881 - 1959)

Edgar A. Guest began his illustrious career in 1895 at the age of fourteen when his work first appeared the the Detroit Free Press. His column was syndicated in over 300 newspapers, and he became known as "The Poet of the People."

Evil Professor.

I put in hours on my Pooh as Tigger project.

He told me just DAYS ago that it was looking good.

At the critique today, he ripped it a new asshole basically.

He said Pooh's stripes looked like they were floating on top of his body.

He said he told me NEVER to use flat black (don't recall .. but whatever.)

He said my orange colors weren't working.

He said *nothing* good.

Yet, there were others there whose stuff looked horrid, which he RAVED about.

To quote Maddox, I've pissed patterns in snow more coherent than that.

Ok, so I've never pissed in snow, but if I HAD .. it would have looked better.

Some had no backgrounds.

Some didn't even look like the object the person spent 3 weeks painting (or, supposedly spent 3 weeks.)

So, I don't get it. I knew college would be full of good critiques and bad critiques, but I had faith this one would be good.

Next up, my Maya project. 3D modeling.

I am very, very afraid.

* * *

In other news, I get to interview one of the Oak Ridge Boys. Maybe.

Y'know the ones.

Elvira
Elvira
my heaaaaaart's on FIRE for Elvira ..
giddyup .. mmmbopmmmbop maw maw ..
Hi Ho Silver, AWAY!

Yeah, them.

October 23rd.

This year the day came and went.

It wasn't that I was too busy, or that I had forgotten, or wasn't thinking, because actually, all I was doing that day was thinking.

I didn't write my tribute, which I've done for the past two years.

My Papaw loved me. He may not have always agreed with every decision I made in life, but he never EVER made me feel bad about any decision I made for myself.

He stood beside me through everything, and backed me up no matter what.

He went to bat for me more times than I can even speak of.

Never raised a hand to me, never raised his voice.

When my Papaw told me he was proud of me, which was often, I actually believed it. I could tell he meant it, and that it wasn't just something he was saying. When he told me that he knew I had done my personal best, I could feel that his words were real .. and that .. that was the greatest.

If I made a mistake, he never made me feel terrible about it. He helped me try and try again if at first I didn't succeed.

There was never, EVER a doubt in my mind that he loved me. He let me know that all the time.

When we both got computers, we talked every day. He loved to sit and talk with me until he was so sleepy he could hardly talk or type any more. When he didn't feel like typing, we would use our microphones. If we weren't able to talk on a certain day, we would email all day long.

He emailed me just hours before he passed away. We talked about a leather jacket.

How I wish so bad that I could talk to him again just one more time. It wouldn't be about a goddamn leather jacket, that's for sure.

I miss him terribly. There were days after he passed away that I just wasn't sure why I was still functioning in this sometimes miserable world while he was gone. It didn't seem fair that such a great person was taken away. In another way, it didn't seem fair that he was gone from my life so soon, and I had no idea how I was going to make it through without my "best buddy."

But, I kept on breathing. I kept on waking up in the mornings, going to sleep at night, and trying my best to hang on to every memory I could of him.

It's been 2 years, and to my surprise the days have gotten a little easier, but there are still some rough ones where I just wish I could tell him some things. I wish he could see sometimes what life is like now. He always had solutions to any problem. He was a rock and could handle anything in the world. Difficult people were no issue for him. Difficult situations weren't either.

He was just .. perfect.

So, almost exactly a year after my Papaw passed away, I fell in love with Paul.

He may have no idea exactly how much he helped me with the grief, even before we were a couple. But he did .. he made me smile even on the days where I felt like the whole world could go to hell for all I cared.

And it wasn't long before I noticed how Paul loved me. How he stood by me, backed me up no matter what, and went to bat for me many times.

Never raised a hand to me, never raised his voice.

He tells me he's proud of me .. and I can tell he means it.

I never have to guess if he loves me or not, because he tells me and shows me all the time.

We may be apart right now, but he will sit and talk to me every day (night for him, with the time difference) ... until his eyes are heavy with sleep.

If we can't talk on a certain day, we email. All day long.

And now I have a new "best buddy," who just happens to also be someone I'm so crazy about and love so much.

And although I miss him when we are apart .. it's just comforting to know that this best buddy is not one I have to miss forever. This best buddy I can love with all my heart and spend the rest of my life with.

He's always there for me .. he never lets me down. When there's a difficult person or situation I run into, he helps me through it. He does so much ..

He is just ... perfect.

Once I thought my life would never be complete again .. and now, it's so complete I can barely fathom it sometimes.

Happy Anniversary again Paulie, I love you ...

* * *

*disclaimer* I rarely write personal stuff, but this had been on my mind for a while.

We will now return to our regularly scheduled postings about random stuff.

Your little peek into my big world has now concluded.

We are one year old!

haha, one year old .. yeah sometimes we might act like we are =D but what I really mean is, we've been together for one year!

Yesterday was me & Paul's 1 year anniversary.

And Halloween too =D But more importantly our anniversary.

He's done!!

YES!!

Right click, view image to enlarge.

I wish I could show you all of him, because he's very detailed, but the file is like 104 MB. Flattened. Yeah, I'm gonna need that external hard drive.

He just needs to be mounted on matboard and he's so finished.

I thought the black background looked pretty good, but the professor said it wasn't working. He said that it would be ok if Disney had some rocket ship and blasted him into outer space and he was floating out there (you'd have to know my professor .. ) SO .. I put him in an environment.

Paul suggested I put him in hell, and I agreed. Because I've worked on it so much I am ready to tell Pooh to go to hell.

But, instead I chose him to sit up against a sponge-painted wall, on a desk.

Like it? =)

I'm happy with it.

White Pumpkins.

These are really cool!

CHICAGO AP - These pumpkins look like something scared THEM. Eerie-looking white pumpkins — naturally white, not painted — are finding their way into more and more homes this Halloween season.

The albinos are called Ghost pumpkins, Snowballs, Luminas or Caspers — presumably a reference to the friendly ghost. And the ones about the size of a baseball? Baby Boos.

Almost Done!!

You might not be able to see a huge difference between the last one and this one, but I did add some things and make some changes.

Right Click, View Image to see more detail.

I'm ready to be done with him! I'm hoping tomorrow to print & mount after I make just some small adjustments around his body outline.

Critique is Wednesday.

HaHa ..

Right click, View Image to enlarge.

Pooh 2

He's getting better I think. Keep in mind this is saved on a really low quality though, so he looks a little fuzzier than he really is.

After showing the stuffed animal to Paul, he showed me how Pooh had a much bigger nose than what I had originally drawn. Although far from perfect I do think this makes his face look better than it did.

Also, after much staring I noticed that Pooh's face is more gold, while his stomach and the insides of his ears were more beige.

I think it helped!

I just need to add more lowlights around his stomach and legs, lighten the fur on his stomach, add more fur to the light parts of his ears, and fix the stroke around "Tigger" on his stomach. Not sure what happened there really .. I didn't change anything.

Pooh: Before and During

I can't quite show an after pic yet because he's not done .. but I can show you how god awful he looked when I first started, and where I am now. Pooh dressed up as Tigger for Halloween 1999, handpainted in Photoshop after a real beanie stuffed animal that I have.

It's due Wednesday.

I'm really happy with his body and hoodie, and his "fur".

I'm really unhappy with how his facial features look so unrealistic.

Anyway, it's getting there. Check them out.

Before:



and During:

A buzzword I'm sick of.

a·ware ( P ) Pronunciation Key (-wâr)
adj.

1. Having knowledge or cognizance: aware of the difference between the two versions; became aware of faint sound.
2. Archaic. Vigilant; watchful.

* * *

A buzzword I've been hearing a lot of lately is the word "awareness."

More than that, it's been all about "creating awareness."

I'm sick to death of hearing it. It's misused and it's overused.

In terms of my job, I interview a lot of people doing a wide array of "awareness creating."

Me: "So, what do you hope to accomplish with this event/gathering/meeting, etc. ?"

Them: "Well, we are just trying to create awareness .. "

Usually, the subject they are trying to "create awareness" about is something that has been pounded into the ground for years, perhaps even decades. In some rare cases, perhaps even centuries!

I don't know about you, but I'm fully aware that there are hungry people in the world. I'm aware that terminally ill folks do not always have proper health care coverage. I'm aware that there are soldiers dying at the rate of one per day in Iraq. I'm aware that destructive hurricanes recently ripped through parts of the U.S. and tore apart lives while taking many others along the way. I am aware that September 11th happened. I'm aware that domestic violence is a serious issue. I'm aware that there is a Black history month, a breast cancer awareness month, I even learned recently that there is a math awareness month.

For those that aren't aware of that last one, it's in April. Mark your calendars.

Yes, I am AWARE.

If I were any more aware of these things, I'm not sure I could stand myself or even be able to sleep at night.

For those of you who use this loathsome buzzword, be aware of what you are really trying to create awareness on. If it's some brand-spanking-new-fresh-on-the-shelves-something that nobody knows about, then by all means, create awareness.

If it isn't, then I might have to create some awareness of my own by telling you to take your awareness and shove it.

By Me.

Original was done in charcoal. Digitalized in Photoshop.

Forgotten Faves.

Have you ever played a song to death because you love it so much, but then forget about it a while?

That happened to me with some of the Prodigy's songs.

Luckily my love for them has been rekindled thanks to Paulie suggesting that I put some of their songs on my cd that I listen to while I walk on the treadmill.

Nothing gets your ass moving like a stirring rendition of "Smack my Bitch Up."

* * *

Want to see some interesting photography?

Shelby Lee Adams, who hails from Hazard, Kentucky has work worth seeing. It ranges from modern day Appalachia photos to some .. other stuff.

Definitely different.

Visit here and here.

Giggity, Giggity, Giggity ..

This picture made me laugh. I used to have a variation of it as my profile pic on another blog, so when I saw it with the bunny ears it just struck me as funny.

Today was .. ok, I guess. I had some stressful moments. I felt pretty physically drained all day , I guess from donating blood yesterday, but I feel better now.

It's getting so near the end of the quarter. This quarter FLEW by, and now it's nearly time to choose our classes for next quarter. I'll be taking my last english, my next-to-last math, and two art classes, one digital and one more hands on. I always schedule that way, so I can have to classes where I use my left brain and two where I use my right. It just seems to even out better that way.

I considered starting on my sciences, histories, or even ethics and getting them out of the way, but I really think I will save them for last. They were always the hard ones in high school, other than math. Lots of memorization and stuff. I'm not ready for that yet. Plus I heard that some, especially ethics, are really tough.

However, what is tough for some may be a breeze for me. I try not to put too much weight into believing what someone else says about a class until I take it myself.

What the .. ?

What's *really* wrong with people?

I ask that just about everyday .. sometimes multiple times per day.

But this ..

this just takes the proverbial cake (for this week, anyway .. so far!)

Click image above to visit this lovely, lovely website.

Even a dollar would help.

I'm participating in CropWalk this year which raises money for food pantries, soup kitchens, and disaster relief efforts locally as well as all over the world.

I have a website where donations can be made.

I realize it is short notice, because the 3.5 mile walk is this Sunday.

Please visit my donation site by clicking here and consider giving to this cause ..

thank you in advance!

15 Needs & a list of Wants.

Just more blog fodder because I'm too lazy to think up or search for anything original to post.

I saw this idea on some random blog .. feel free to play along on your own.

The idea is to write down 15 things you think you need.

So ..

1) FluentSap needs Paulie, first and foremost!
2) FluentSap needs a second part-time job that isn't too draining.
3) FluentSap needs more time to read materials other than what's required for college.
4) FluentSap needs to pass two more math classes before she's done with it completely.
5) FluentSap needs to know why some things and some people are how they are.
6) FluentSap needs to watch more movies, and will when she's with Paulie.
7) FluentSap needs to not worry about things that are out of her control.
8) FluentSap needs a haircut, and maybe some color.
9) FluentSap needs more long-sleeved tshirts in her clothing collection.
10) FluentSap needs to start on her banned book research paper - PRONTO.
11) FluentSap needs to get over her irrational fears, like of frogs, and dentists.
12) FluentSap needs to stop biting her fingernails and the surrounding areas of thumb. It's ugly.
13) FluentSap needs to keep improving on her layout designs.
14) FluentSap needs caffeine in the mornings, and decent sleep on the weekends.
15) FluentSap needs .. something. Don't we all always need something?

* * *

I don't know what that proved.

I don't usually feel like I *need* anything really .. other than Paul, and air to breathe, and to treat people the way I want to be treated, stuff like that. Other than that, my needs are pretty slim.

Maybe I'll go back and read it after I've attained some of these things, and see what has changed, and what I think I *need* at that point.

* * *

On another note, my aunt writes down a list of things she wants. It can be anything, from the major to the very small. She says if you write things down that you want, eventually they will come your way. She had things on her list like New vehicle (she recently bought one), laptop computer (one was given to her), and then little things like, a red tank top (still hadn't gotten that last time I checked.)

So, here's my list. It can't hurt, right?

1) Long sleeved tshirts
2) Intriguing books
3) new tennis shoes
4) an external hard drive
5) a Wacom

That's all I can think of for now. I'm not very needy or grabby when it comes to wanting material things. I can go for a long time without new shoes, until the ones I have start falling apart (as I've noticed the stitching is beginning to fray), I have clothes in my closet that I've had for years and wouldn't give up now, and the books I just always seem to acquire.

The external hard drive and Wacom would just be added bonus toys that will come in handy for school, but still .. they aren't really needs.

Ah well, maybe I'm reading too far into it.

We'll see what happens!

Conference

The gaming conference was a success, and I had fun there.

I only wish Paul had been with me, because I think he would have really enjoyed it too, but there will be others in the future.

I would never call myself an actual "gamer" but I have played my share of games. I learned a lot today, such as I didn't know the gaming industry made more money than Hollywood. And it's not just a little, it's by a landslide if you figure the amounts. I don't remember the actual number they gave today, but it was monstrous, Google-worthy if you are interested. I'm just too lazy to look it up right now.

And I didn't know that 42% of gamers are women (In 2004, anyway), and that the average gamer is 30 years old. Which means that those of us who grew up with games are still playing.

I didn't know that there have been studies done on the game Dance Dance Revolution which prove that playing the game has helped raise a student's math scores. I didn't know that some schools use the game in their physical education classes to help kids stay active or lose weight.

I didn't know a lot of what I was told today or what I saw and heard in lectures. It was interesting and I'm glad my school can offer majors in gaming development and simulation.

It seems like what was once laughed at as a fad is now anything but.

Have ticket, will travel.

I'm going to see Paulie next month!

We purchased my ticket today =)

The countdown begins!

I'm very excited .. can't wait to see him again!

* * *

Tomorrow I'm going to be taking pictures at a gaming convention. There will be people from all over the United States there, speaking about Playstation, Nintendo, pc, and mac games they have created.

Might be fun.

Hilarity.

This is just too hysterical.

This and more can be found at loljesus.com.

Some are crude as hell. If you don't think it's humourous, I'd advise you not to click.

Flashback.

I cut another minute off my nightly 1.5 mile walk, and I'm pretty sure that's due to a cd mix of fast songs that I put together, with the help of Paulie.

Some of those songs I hadn't listened to for a very long time, since he and I first started hanging out or when we first got together.

Like 'Toca's Miracle' by Fragma, 'Push Up' by FreeStylers, 'Girls' and 'Breathe' by the Prodigy ..

It was really awesome to hear them again =) Brought back really great memories.

Slap your Co-Worker Day!

Who else thinks it's *really* annoying when a co-worker tells you what kind of week you're going to have?

For example, your week is going along great so far for a Tuesday, and suddenly the irritating co-worker pipes up and says what a long week it's going to be for everybody. That happened this morning and it really got on my nerves. Who was she to tell me I wasn't going to have a great, speedy, problem-free week?

The NERVE.

I guess it's too damn bad it wasn't Slap Your Co-Worker Day.

Some days ..

Some days it kinda feels that way, doesn't it?

Those days where you keep your head down, your mouth shut and just try to blend in .. haha .. I like that picture! How'd he get in there anyway?

Today wasn't one of those days for me, thankfully.

My math test went well (Thanks Paulie!), my critique went well (Thanks again Paulie .. and thanks to Kandi for giving me pointers and advice about my asshole teacher!), and after both of them were done I found a penny heads up on the ground. I thought it was funny. I don't believe in stuff like that but it was ironic that I found it *after* the fact.

And yes, I did pick it up! I may not believe in superstitions, but I am pretty greedy when it comes to collecting change.

My interview went well also, and I got quite a bit written at work.

If I can get through my English test tomorrow, things will be good =)

Oh yeah, and pray for rain or bad weather. Our drawing teacher has planned another outing for tomorrow and I really don't want to go.

* * *

Here's something I wasn't expecting.

Who knew my thoughts of "As Simple as Snow" would be published on the book's website?

It's all really great reviews, and then you get to mine at the bottom and I bash it in one sentence. One poorly written sentence for that matter. If I had known it would be posted on the website, I would have taken a little more time to perfect it =)

I wouldn't advise anyone not to read it, it just wasn't for me. I didn't understand the riddles and codes, I didn't understand why the male main character remained nameless, and I thought the search for Anna was slow and drawn out. On a positive note, her bedroom sounded cool, her parents were quirky, and she had a knack for giving interesting gifts.

I also admit to reading it in bed at late hours when I was half dead from tiredness .. and I do give a round of applause to anyone who becomes a published author, because that takes some work. No, I'm not ass kissing either. I'm just telling it like it is. Now that my job is to write press releases, I know how good it feels just to get an article published on a website or in the town newspaper.

Everyone's a critic. Bad publicity is STILL publicity.

Gotta love a critique.

Tomorrow is my first critique of the quarter in my digital class.

We will critique each other's Garfield tracings that we did with Adobe Illustrator.

I'm *not* looking forward to it ..

Why can't students have Columbus Day off anyway?

At least I could prepare and postpone it until Wednesday that way.

But, might as well bite the bullet and get it over with.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Asian Pears.

I'm not a big fruit fan, and normally I hate pears.

But these are good .. they are more like apples but with a million times the crunch and juicyness. They aren't as pliable and mushy gushy as european pears.

Not bad. Not bad at all. Just don't forget your napkin, because they drip like mad.

However, they are high in sugar content and only South Beach friendly for Phase 3 of the diet.

I just learned that after the fact.

Oops.

I'll know better next time.

* * *

I cut two minutes off my walk time today and moved up to starting out with a fast walk, then a light jog, and finishing up again with the fast walk before cool down.

I've made it up to a mile and a half a day (well, almost everyday, depending upon homework and how tired I am.)

I'm slowly working up to 4.5 mph for the entire 30 minutes. I don't know how good or bad that is ... some power walking websites call that a fast walk and one to make a goal of, I would call it jogging ... and one to make a goal of.

Interesting interviews & getting things done.

I interviewed a very cool professor today at my school.

I knew after the interview that I wanted to see more of her work.

I'm glad I did.

Go visit her website.

Her photography is amazing.

I can't begin to go into everything she discussed, and I've yet to go back and replay my tape and listen to the interview. But one thing that really struck me was when she talked about how sometimes photographs can dull a memory of a time.

It reminded me of some of the pictures I have of Amsterdam and Holland, and even some that Paul and I took this summer. The pictures may be beautiful, but it's not nearly as grand and amazing as what I remember it to be in my mind.

* * *

In other news, and thanks to the amazing help Paulie gives me, I finished my take-home math test which is due Monday. I glued down my Garfield project and he will be out of my life come Monday. I wrote a rough draft of my english paper that's due Tuesday.

All I have left to do this weekend is 20 sketches of structures, math homework, and study for an English test on Tuesday.

Yeah, that's *all* I have to do. But really, it's a load off my mind to get Garfield done, and the paper, and the math test. That was my main focus.

Thank you again so much for helping me Paulie! I know I've said it 5 thousand times, but still ..

* * *

My school's women's forum will be creating a women's edition of a publication where students, faculty, staff, and the general public may submit artwork, short stories, etc.

My supervisor thinks that the 3 of us in our office should submit something.

I was unsure of what to submit, but with the help of Paulie I've decided to submit the project I did as my final for my color class I had last quarter. I'm probably going to work with it a little though, tone it down and get rid of the red so it's not so angry, and maybe even cut out the text.

Here it is in it's red, angry form, haha .. :

Self-Portrait, Mixed Media: by Me.

* * *

I don't know. I've looked at last year's edition and I think this might be a little too much for them, even if I change the color or not. But I'm going to submit it anyway.

Virtual Pumpkin Carver

Since it's almost Halloween and all, better get in the mood.

Cleveland in Rain.

Paulie took this picture while he was visiting this summer. It was taken from the mezzanine level of Cleveland Indians baseball stadium. They were playing the Chicago White Sox, and the game had started out with the weather being nice and sunny, and then turned into this.

I was in a mood to make some artistic pics in Photoshop this evening, and I tried to make something with this one, but soon realized that it needs no work done to it to make it look cool.

It's perfect as it is.

Argh.

Well, I *thought* I was almost done with Garfield but noticed some major problems on it today at class. The mean teacher didn't notice however, so I was safe. He didn't go and undo any of my work and I fixed everything on my own when I got home tonight.

So, here's the again *almost* finished project .. I need to do some minor changes on his ears, and fix some pointy places on his person, then soon it will need to be printed out and mounted because it's due Monday. Wish me luck!

Click image to enlarge ..

Practice Safe Sun.

I'm so almost done with the Garfield tracing project! It's not due til next Monday, but here's a *small* sneak peak anyway. It's tiny, but you can click to enlarge.

I've decided I don't really like Adobe Illustrator, but I love Photoshop, so I'm hoping for the next project I'll feel a little more comfortable, having used Photoshop a lot and Illustrator, NEVER. Can't say I'd ever have a need to use it again either .. except maybe for future school projects.

* * *

I have an english paper due soon, on the topic of the question about human exposure to sun.

I've decided to write about how the sun rays can be dangerous, but can also be beneficial if not abused.

I'm going to title it "Practice Safe Sun."

I thought it was clever.



That is all.

That's my shit, that's my shit ..

To quote Gwen Stefani, YES .. this is mine!

The picture circled is a watercolor I did for a class last quarter where we studied color. I turned it into a digital piece to glamourize Blythe dolls, those freaky big-headed, big-eyed, little bodied plastic works of art that are decades old but now popular in Japan, as Neo-Blythes.

Click image to see the site! My painting and other amazing works of art can be found under the gallery section.

If you are interested in buying any of my prints such as this one, or the ones in my Flickr gallery, drop me a line at purepixel@gmail.com and I will provide you with pricing information.

=)

911.

Yesterday in the early morning hours, just about maybe eleven miles from my house, a well-known-around-town-couple were shot. The couple ran a funeral home out of their own home. This is where they were shot, in the comfort of their own home and business.

Not only were they shot, but their house and business was invaded by three large men, the biggest one with black, matted hair. That's the only description given, and frankly, in this town that description doesn't narrow it down any. The fact that they had on dark tshirts and camoflauge pants doesn't narrow it down much either.

The men's race is unimportant, because this could have happened anywhere, to anyone, by any man of any color. Stuff like this happens everyday.

The three intruders wanted the toxic embalming chemical formaldehyde. I suppose that soaking rolling papers in formaldehyde gives a person a rush. But instead of just breaking in and demanding the formaldehyde, they shot the man five times, and shot the woman in the back of the head. The bullet came out of her eye.

That formaldehyde must pack a damn good punch if it's worth trying to kill someone over.

How cracked out does a person have to be to do something like this?

Did they go smoke their formaldehyde soaked joints afterward?

Did they shower? Eat a meal? Watch tv?

What does a person do after doing something so ... horrid. Horrid isn't even the right word.

They are still on the loose.

What was I doing while this was happening? Was I safe in my bed? Was I dreaming of Paulie? Was I awake for a moment, looking at the clock wishing I had more time to sleep?

It's just strange how things can happen so close by .. anywhere, anytime.

Of course this does not make me live in fear, because I can't fear things that haven't happened yet .. and I won't base my life on that. And while I won't live in fear, it is still interesting to think about.

I realize people get killed over drugs everyday, and it used to be a rarity in this town but now is becoming increasingly more common. At least once a week I hear of a meth lab being found. Sometimes mobile meth labs, which I didn't even know existed until recently. I've been told that the show 60 Minutes once named this town the meth capital of the world. I have no resources to back that up, however.

The man and woman are still alive, amazingly. Even in stable, but still serious, condition.

They probably would have died if the neighbors had not heard the shots and called 911.

I'm just intrigued in a negative sense by the whole story. It makes me feel creepy to drive down that street on the way to school. I hope they catch the people involved. Maybe someone around this sometimes hellish little town knows some answers. I'm sure probably lots of people do. This town is full of "undesireables," as my Gramma always puts it. I always laughed at how stupid that term sounded when referring to people .. then I saw the light. It really IS full of undesireables.

People that you wouldn't even want to come and take out your trash for fear they would case your house in the meantime.

Not everyone. But a lot.

* * *

I was driving home from work today. It was about 3pm, broad daylight.

I am on a relatively busy road.

A clunker of a vehicle pulls up beside me at a red light. Two guys inside, maybe high school age or just out of high school. Thuggish.

One starts saying, "Hey .. HEY ... HEY!! Hey I'm talking to you!" trying to get my attention.

I quickly glance to the side, made brief eye contact, but also gave a look that let them know I wasn't playing around.

The red light turned green, and I got up ahead of them a little. They sped up beside me. Again the passenger started the "HEY!" stuff. This time I just stared straight ahead, an obvious sign that I wasn't interested. The driver started to honk his horn, and the passenger tried even harder to get my attention. I made brief eye contact again, and he winked at me.

They then cut me off at a very close range, enough for me to roughly put on my brakes, and the passenger started throwing trash out the window, piece by piece.

I grabbed my cell phone, and just as I was about to call 911 on them for reckless endangerment, they sped off the next exit.

It wasn't 911 worthy, it wasn't an emergency. As Paulie said, 911 probably wouldn't have even sent someone to respond.

Now that I work at a job where we do news releases, and with a woman who is a local radio personality, I hear a lot of things. A lot of things have happened here just in the past few weeks.

It's enough to make me program the police's number into my cell phone for those non-911 moments, and just hope it's a number I never have to dial.

They need help too.

Click Image to Play.

For those who are audio sensitive, turn down sound.

"The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
- Gandhi

Nostalgia.

I was talking to Paulie while I was at work today, and he was going back and reading our old emails we sent to each other, which .. they are "old" as in, it's been nearly a year now that we've been together.

So when I got home, I decided I really wanted to go back and read some too.

It's just really cool to look back and see how far we've come, how much we've done together, and how through it all, we've just become so much closer, which is hard to believe sometimes, haha .. because we were so close to begin with.

I'll spare putting snippets of the emails here, because that's personal and just for us ..

but it makes me really happy, and really emotional too, to go back and read them.

We've been through rough times and we've made it through them while still being there for each other, and good to each other. I've just seen so many times where couples go through hard things together and it tears them apart, or they start being mean to each other. And I just could never imagine it being that way for us.

And could never imagine there being a day without Paulie in it.

There was a time very early in our relationship when we talked about and asked ourselves if this was just a phase, or puppy love, or things of that nature .. and now look what it's become .. it's just amazing.

I know I've talked about him, and us .. a lot in the past few days .. but how can I help from it? He's the greatest =) and I love him so much.

So, gag and puke if you will .. but it's how I feel.

In just a couple of days it will be our 11 month anniversary. I have to think of something BIG! And since Paulie reads this, he'll know I'm trying to think of something big so maybe it won't be a surprise .. but that's ok, I don't mind =)

O Happy Day

* Spilled ginger ale down the front of my hoodie on the way to school

* Spilled water in my car

* Couldn't get the shell off of my hard-boiled eggs for breakfast, ended up throwing the whole thing in the trash because it was just .. the yellow part. Blech.

* Spilled water again in drawing class, down the back of my drawing pad

* Forgot to put a battery in the digital camera I had to take to do my interview for a lady going from this little town down to Baton Rouge to help the hurricane victims (luckily the lady didn't want her picture made anyway, so I was lucky there)

* Had to walk a block or so to a museum visit during drawing class, got all sweaty

* Went to English class after that, got too cold because of the a/c

* Got home, worked on digital art project, saved it (or thought I did .. )

* It didn't save, so I lost about an hour or maybe two hours worth of work

BUT ...

I got to see Paulie, talk to him, laugh with him ..

and that's all that I look forward to ... makes my day worthwhile.

Not to mention how much he helped me with my project ..

and how much he helps me with *everything* under the sun!

I love you Paulie, so much! Just wanted to tell the world, yet again ;)

My colloquial Dutch lesson will come in handy!

Next week I will be interviewing and writing an article on a new social sciences professor at my school. She is Dutch.

She is not new to America, she received her Ph.D. from a school in Las Vegas. However, she IS new to this little town I live in, and I'm wondering what a trip that is for her. I can't wait to hear.

I emailed her to ask if I may be the one to interview her, and she responded very nicely saying "Yes! Ofcourse you may interview me!" .. and I was glad for that, because sometimes people I ask to interview can be real assholes about it.

So, I wonder what she'll say when I greet her with, "Goede middag, Dr. Balsam! Ik ben Stephanie. Hoe is het? Leuk om jou te ontmoeten. Welkom in *censored for anonymity* University .. "

Haha, no I wouldn't say all that, and I'm not even sure if it's all correct, I'd have to run it by Paulie first! ... but I can at least get out the good afternoon and my name is Stephanie without problem, and maybe the welcome part .. and perhaps end the interview with a "Bedankt! Dag!"

Anything else, nope .. not that far .. yet!

SmallVille

Yesterday at the gym, I biked as usual. They have a bike that you sit on and it has arms, like a chair .. much easier on the back than the bikes where you sit upright. I biked for an hour on the Random Hill level. To my surprise, it would have taken me another hour to finish the course .. must ride faster next time!

A girl on a bike beside me talked on her cell phone for 30 minutes straight about her wedding. Then her husband beeped in. And it went a little something like this:

Him: Hey babe.
Her: Hey hon.
Him: You about done?
Her: I have 3 minutes to go.
Him: Hmm, you at the gym?
Her: Yeah.
Him: Hmm, what are you wearing?
Her: Uhh, white shirt, gray shorts.
Him: Are you wearing your sports bra?
Her: Yes ...
Him: Mmmmm ..

At that point, I was gagging.

I guess people don't realize that on cell phones, normally when you are within earshot of the person holding the phone, you can still hear both parties talking .. because people on cell phones tend to talk much louder than regular phones.

Anyhow, it made me sick. Plus, who the hell talks on a cell phone while they are working out? Hello?!

On the way home from the gym, I saw two little boys who were probably not any older than 8 or 9, smoking.

I also saw a Mexican driving a car, and he could barely see over the steering wheel. I *swear* to you, his face was peeking at me from just under the top of the wheel.

I couldn't believe it.

For a moment I wondered if I'd slipped into some strange twilight zone ..

then I remembered, nope .. it's just the lovely town I happen to live in at the moment. That's just how things .. and people .. are here.

Ah well. Back to my regularly scheduled cup of decaf green tea.

Good GOD.

I'm mentally exhausted.

I just finished writing a 3 page paper on why the war in Iraq has been unsuccessful.

How can you condense *so* many reasons into 3 pages?!

It's possibly the hardest paper I've ever had to write, simply because of its size limit.

Give me maybe a 5-10 page limit, I'm good to go, because there is so much info to sift through ...

.. but THREE?

It's just too broad a topic.

I did the best I could, but I think what I wrote royally sucks.

We'll see I guess.

Mmmmm .. Chai tea.

Celestial Seasonings teas are SO good. I've never met a brand of their teas that I didn't like .. who could turn down a tea like Sleepytime? Tension Tamer? Honey Peach Ginger? Mint Magic? Bengal Spice? (ok, maybe Paulie, because he's not a big fan of tea .. =)

While I wish I could have a private stock collection of each & every tea they've ever made, I can't. Nor can I afford to.

Celestial Seasonings has a good line of chai teas, which the India spice one happens to be my favorite ..

But store-bought chai is nothing compared to a homemade chai. You can doctor it up with all the milk and honey you like, but it just doesn't compare. If you've never tasted a really good long brewed chai tea, you are missing something so good.

Chai is a centuries-old recipe of black tea, usually made up with heavy milk, various spices, and a little sweetener (although I'm not fond of the sweetener .. you can ditch it or just add a little for taste)

The first time I had homemade chai tea was when I lived in Tennessee. My aunt had a party and someone brought a pitcher. I thought it looked like a strange colored milk, and I wasn't about to try it. However, I did try it, and after one cup, I was hooked. I wanted more but the pitcher was drained within minutes. Everyone else at the get-together loved it too.

It isn't the easiest tea to make and it's a little time consuming, but once finished, you'll be glad you took the time.

Moon Chai

• 10 pieces of ginger, 1-inch
• 4 cinnamon sticks, broken
• 1 tsp green cardamom pods
• 2 1/4 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 tsp cloves, whole
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp licorice root
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 5 cups water
• 3 tbs honey
• Milk, to taste

Combine everything except milk and honey in a saucepan. Cover pot and simmer 45 minutes. Remove pot from heat and let sit another 45 minutes (covered.) Strain out the spices, and add the milk and honey as desired.

My new phone.

This is my new phone, a Nokia 3120. Nothing fancy about it, but I do have the ringtone of Eminem's song "Puke" on it .. pretty proud of that.

I'm at work right now. Fridays are dead around here. I'm alone in the office until 2pm, and since there are no classes on campus, it's really hard to get in touch with professors and staff about interviews we need to do, or questions I need answered.

So I blog, work on my English paper, and wait for Paulie. =)

Fluent Sap on ... Michael Moore.

So my essay on Moore hasn't been officially graded, but I can't think of anything else to post right now.

I'm tired. I've been working and writing so much for my job, going to classes, coming home and talking to Paulie as much as possible (because he's the best boyfriend in the world), and let's not forget studying, working out, and whatever else I can fit in.

I read that Michael Moore may already be starting on a documentary concerning Katrinagate. Should be interesting.

The essay is all centered in MLA style, but I tried to make it easier to read. I am too lazy to clean it up and make it look pretty. I'll let you know what kind of grade I get on it.

* * *
Michael Moore’s Battle

When asking any voting American how they feel about the controversial author and filmmaker Michael Moore, it comes as no surprise to receive a barrage of multi-faceted answers. The general American public either loves him or hates him, with little or no grey area in between. However, for a man to ethically and powerfully expose his views of America, while concurrently searching for truth and solutions to better the country, deserves a special kudos for his efforts.
Moore has been referred to by some as a hater of America due to his politically charged documentaries “Fahrenheit 9/11” and “Bowling for Columbine.” Upon visiting Moore’s official website, michaelmoore.com, it is evident that he does care for America greatly, while simultaneously expressing his outrage at the costly failings of American leadership. The website shows that Moore’s interests include subjects such as helping the soldiers in Iraq and making donations to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. A hater of America would not go to such lengths to assist the less fortunate and try to make the country a better place to live.
Moore is also considered controversial because of his stance against President George W. Bush and the war in Iraq. From this he has been labeled as a liberal extremist. On the other hand, when a country has only two political parties to choose from, one will always be against the other in many ways. The method Moore takes to express his stance is his right, according to the first amendment of our nation’s Declaration of Independence: that all Americans have the right to free speech.
In an article in Rolling Stone magazine, Peter Travers states, “There’s no discounting the power of Moore’s ferocious, cathartically funny film. It’s the highest grossing documentary in movie history, and oddsmakers claim it may become the first documentary ever to be Oscar Nominated for Best Picture. What makes it great is the way Moore indicts hypocrisy across all party lines. The film’s theme? Political expediency and who gets to die for it. Watch the scene in which Moore rallies members of Congress to get their own children to enlist in the Iraq war …” (Travers 114-144.)
Moore was named one Essence magazine’s Men of the Year in 2004. Writer Pamela K. Johnson states that Moore is, “one smart, courageous, filmmaking White guy, who we know has our back” (Johnson 175).
Moore, a man who likes to rile people up socially and politically, should not be discredited at first glance. He is an excellent researcher, author, and filmmaker who simply searches for the truth in a world where honesty is not the easiest attribute to find. The way he expresses himself harms no one, but only serves to open the eyes of those that may be searching for those same truths.

Jill of All Trades.

Ok, I figure it's time to have a laugh and marvel at all the jobs I've held in my lifetime.

I've put together this comprehensive list so we can all have a giggle and wonder how and why I packed so many jobs into such a short amount of time. Well, I guess it wasn't *that* short. I started working at age 19, and that was about 10 years ago now.

That's another story .. I had good reasons for leaving some of them. Very good reasons, as you'll see from the types of businesses they were (fast food and convenience store jobs SUCK .. not to mention cleaning up after hotel guests ) .. Anyway, here goes.

Laugh it up.

1) Mark Pi's Express - chinese fast food restaurant, cashier
2) B.P. Oil - Assistant manager
3) Tommy's Pizza - morning prep cook
4) United Dairy Farmers - convenience store, assistant manager
5) Subway - sanwich artist, assistant manager
6) Lil Champs - convenience store, shift manager
7) Knights Inn - housekeeper
8) Atlantis Motel - housekeeper
9) World of Science - seasonal (only open during Xmas), salesperson
10) Rack Room Shoes - salesperson
11) Disc Jockey - music & entertainment store, seasonal, salesperson
12) Captain D's - shift manager
13) Taco Bell - assitant manager
14) GC Services - collections representative
15) Hyatt Regency hotel - housekeeper
16) Cendant corportation - hotel reservations/account representative for insurance policies
17) 2 housekeeping jobs while in Holland, but not hotels, actuall houses
18) and currently, communications specialist (I write news articles), and also notetaker for my math class (share math notes with other students)

As you can see, 16-18 showed quite an improvement in the kind of work I was doing.

I only hope the one(s) to follow get better & better.

So, I'll just be over in MathLand.

I'm taking basic college algebra & geometry this quarter, combined into one class.

The first day I was so lost .. before Paul helped me with some homework.

Anyway, I told my aunt how hard the class was and that I was already lost in just the 2nd week ..

and she said, "Well, just imagine that you are going to MathLand, and you have to learn the language ... so you go and learn the numbers and formulas so you'll be able to speak fluently when you arrive in MathLand .. "

haha ..

Paulie said it was a real pothead way of looking at it.

As far as I know, my aunt doens't smoke pot though, haha.

My first math quiz is Thursday ..

wish me luck!

Recent sketches.

These are just a few of the 20 sketches I did over the weekend for my drawing class.

I've definitely evolved a little in my drawing skills, but not much. I just hope to keep improving.

The one of my foot really does look a lot like my foot, haha .. I was surprised!

For now we're just doing line drawing .. no shading yet. I've never done shading before (except when working with color) .. so it will be different for me.

I made some rough-draft logos for PurePixel-Designs.com this evening so Paul and I can start giving our site a makeover and show what we can really do as designers. It's going to take a lot of work though, and right now .. we don't have a lot of time between us to work on it.

I'm glad because I got so much done this weekend. My math homework (thanks to Paulie), some of my digital arts project, all of my sketches, and my paper on Michael Moore (which I'll post after it's been graded.) All that and had time to work out on Saturday morning and walk this evening, and still talk to Paulie (! That's the greatest!)

It doesn't feel like tomorrow should be Monday though. And my long day at that. Blah.

This one's for Paulie.

He'll understand why.

"Love is friendship set on fire" - Jeremy Taylor