Tis the giving season of course. Every year from October to January, the airwaves are full of commercials reminding us to get the perfect gift for friends or family or face the consequences of sour faces and attitudes. Then on the other side, we know we should give because it's morally good. Not for selfish reasons, though if we dig deep down psychologically, we know it is narcissistic to give. You want to feel good about yourself, but anyway, whatever your reasons, it's good to help where you can. Whether it be as simple as hanging a few new hats and gloves from a donation tree, donating last years sweaters and pants to Good Will, or even participating in Sears Heroes at Home online programme. Where you can help out military husbands and wives to make the holiday season easier and happy.
Christmas may be over, but it's not too late to donate to the Heroes at Home Wish Registry. It's very easy too, visit the website and you'll see several families with personal stories and wishlists. You can donate money directly to the families, or do a general donation that will be spread equally among all the families. These donations may not be tax deductible, but does it matter if you're able to bring a smile to a spouse or child of a parent in the military?
It's never too late to give, especially in this bad economic state when many people need help.
Talk about being out of touch! Sorry for not posting for quite a while there. Guess I just needed a bit of a sabbatical from the world of writing.
The weeks between posts have been busy with work-related nonsense...and uhm...video games XD
I'm pretty addicted to Rock Band right now, not that it helps that J got me a guitar for Christmas. I returned the favour by getting him drums, so now we have a full band set. Anyhoo, I hope you all had a good Christmas and got some pretty excellent gifts. I know I'll be busy with reading and playing now till I have to go back to school after New Years.
My mother's been trying a bunch of different products to fight ageing on her face. Just like the rest of America, women are so obsessed with keeping their youth that they try to put off any wrinkles for as long as possible. While my mother will probably never get anything as extreme as plastic surgery, or even botox, she will try different creams and hope that they work.
My mom really doesn't her age though, naturally she looks younger than she is, but there are some wrinkles starting to crop up. She's been trying Dermalastyl for the past week or so, and I have noticed some results. It's slight, but it has only been a week. Dermalastyl replaces the skin's natural loss of elastin with the synthetic Elastatropin, and promises really noticeable results in 2 months. We'll have to see how my mother likes it down the line.
I think the big problem with creams vs. surgery/botox, is that people want instant results. You just can't expect a cream to give you instantly smooth, youthful, skin in a day, you need to give it time for the ingredients to really activate in your epidermis. But Botox gives you that insta-fix, but it's not permanent. Nor are the results from most cream applications, but since Dermalastyl works on actually rebuilding the skin cells, it's more permanent. Dermalastyl uses Infusion Therapy to promote faster penetration of the Elastatropin protein by eliminating inert skin cells and activating the remaining cells and loosening the bonds between them.
Like I said, it's only been a week and my mother doesn't have that many wrinkles, but hopefully Dermalastyl will work for her and make her happy. We'll have to see how my mom looks in a few months to make a real determination if this is the miracle cream she hopes it is.
Thanksgiving went off well, I'd say. We went to two houses for it, and plenty of food was there at both. The evening commenced with staying up playing Rock Band 2 until we left at 2:30 to go stand in line at Best Buy. This is the first Black Friday I've been to in about 8 years, and the only one J's been to.
Our plan was to only hit up Best Buy, he wanted a new monitor, I wanted a few seasons of The Simpsons. That was all, no clothes shopping or anything else. Then go home and sleep. Since the last Black Friday I went to, (coincidently a Best Buy), was packed, with lines travelling deep into the store, I expected the same madness. But really, we didn't know what was in store for us, which is why we stood outside for over 2 hours in the cold in a line that reached past the large Kohls set up right next to Best Buy.
Of course, we weren't that hardcore, we saw several tents set up outside a few stores. That's crazy to me. The time went by fairly slowly, but just seemed to crawl for the last 10 minutes before the store opened at 5 a.m. It was so much more civil though than the last time I attempted Black Friday! Everyone shuffled inside in an orderly manner, the store was set up with several different lines that separated sections, and everyone was handed a map detailed what lines led to which product group beforehand. Since there was a line for computers, J made his way there to ask for his monitor and I made a beeline to the DVDs. The stock was great too, I was able to pick out all the seasons I wanted, with no crowding or pushing of anybody else.
After that, I met J at the computer line. The lines had little fences made of products. We stood there for a half hour, before the line snaked around and we noticed something. The monitor J was looking for was one of those products fencing us in. Which a quick slap to our foreheads and a jump, we grabbed one of the monitors and rushed to the check-out line. Surely, the line would be horrible, since everyone wanted to rush out and get to their next stop, right?
Wrong again. The line moved quickly and it was no longer than a typical weekend line at this Best Buy. Another fabulous surprise I'd say. We finally arrived home at 6 a.m., and after some badgering from my cat to feed him, fell into bed and slept until 3 p.m.
I'm pretty sure we could have gotten out earlier, if we hadn't stood in that silly line, but overall I was happily surprised with that Black Friday adventure.
Not that I really want to do it again. Not for several years.
I didn't realize this because I've been out of the state for so long, but apparently our old Epson printer was on its last legs. My father has been shopping around for multifunction printers and finally decided on the Canon MP260. We picked one up from Best Buy today, because it had the lowest price of $109.
I think the main selling point for my dad is that it's wireless. After some fiddling around today on both of our laptop, we were able to get it to work perfectly. This makes me quite excited, since now I can just print from anywhere! It's also got some pretty cool scanner/copier features. Pretty nice early family holiday present I'd say.
So I can't help but wonder, what with how expensive it is to just travel these days, who gets travel medical insurance? I mean, I suppose it's very useful if you're planning on a month-long trip, but for the casual tourist, that seems like quite an unnecessary expense.
Maybe I'm being shortsighted with this, but I don't think I can imagine any trip I'll take where I need extra insurance. Well, let me rephrase that. I can only hope I'll get to take a trip where I should buy extra insurance, because then I know I'm in for a fabulous vacation.
Oh man, Thanksgiving is tomorrow already?! I can't believe it. The years go by quickly and we'll have the house full of people again for our annual hosting duties.We feed everyone quite generously, with tomorrow featuring a 22lb turkey, ham and even venison sausage (that's new). We're not alone in our gluttonous givings, of that I'm sure. I'm also sure that after tomorrow's feast, people around the nation will be considering that new diet pill, hiding their scale, and locking their fridge for a day.
Oh yes, I'm looking forward to the two Thanksgivings I'll be attending. And hoping that all that food does slow me down for black friday. The first I've gone to in about 8 years.
And so, 3 months later, another quarter comes to an end...next Thursday. Close enough.
I'm looking forward to having my HP back in my arms. This Dell has been lovely and much better to use than the old HP that just runs on batteries, but...I'll have bloody CS4 on the other machine...and it's bigger!
I'm going to miss my major when I graduate. It's so much fun and I couldn't be happier with the major I chose. I doubt I'll look back on my life and regret choosing Sequential Art to study. It's just way to much fun, and I'm glad I followed my childhood dream. Even if I get a craptacular career because I'm doodling comics, at least I fulfilled my dream.
I do feel bad, I haven't been able to devote myself to VisArts as much as possible this quarter. It's just been too busy with art history and trying to finish work very nicely. A vacation is so needed right now. Not a vacation where I go to some hotels las vegas, or travel down to Florida or something, just a vacation where I can sit alone and play video games and colour comics.
Yeah, that'd be nice. Then I can finally devote enough time to finishing VisArts stuff, and making it work.
So I know I've been very...distant...from this blog lately. That's primarily because this entire quarter has been chockfull of work. And I'm trying my hardest to do my best since this is my last year, last shot to learn all I can. In about 2 weeks, I'll be home again. Home to my cold state, cold room, and warm heater. I may not have a tankless water heater, but a ceramic works well enough in my little den.
This should be an excellent break, all things considered, because I'll have a Xbox and t.v. My room will be a lovely womb of games and comics.
Man, it's been way to long since I last posted. Sorry guys, totally my fault for dropping the ball on this journal. And my reason is pretty, well, bad. See, I've been doing nothing this past week but homework and gaming. I've just been floating through the days doing that. I'm glad this week is almost over anyway and I'll have that stupid cover drawing all coloured in.
I also keep waking up with some nasty dry eyes going on. So much so that whenever I look in any mirrors, I feel like the undead with my red eyes. Oh well, that's the downside to the surgery. Aside from being uncomfortable, I'm not really too disappointed by this result. It's expected and all I can do is take my eye-drops and use the nighttime gel to help. I'm pretty sure it's also because we have a dehumidifier in the room and that's drying it out a bit more here, you know along with the change in weather to a dryer winter. Hopefully when I get back, I'll be able to wake up and not see a pair of red, dry, eyes staring back at me in the mirror. Or this will dissipate by next summer. Not a bad tradeoff for a lifetime of good sight.
Today's my birthday and I was woken up at 8 a.m. by a tree falling. Awesome! It wasn't so bad, just because it was a short loud "CRACK" noise. And I don't think it did too much damage to the car it fell on. It was later, at 9 a.m., when the chainsaw started, that I quite disliked Nature's way of telling me happy birthday.
Oh well, the day is dark and dreary and the tree has been cut up and moved. I'm looking towards a pretty good birthday day now. Nice and quiet, spent with the man I love.
I'm a pretty big supporter of body modification. As an owner of a few mods (tattoos, piercings, hair colour), I find it's important to know all about a practise that's quite old and has roots in ancient tribes. I pride myself on being fairly knowledgeable about modification, I learn the history behind how a certain trend came to be. Such as where stretched lobes and lips came from. How tattoos came to be and the reasons people get them in other cultures. Really, a person changes the way they look because they want to make a change in their life. Whether it's cosmetic, permanent, or painful, a person feels that at the point and time that they get their piercing, tattoo, or dye their hair, it's the right decision to make.
Though I've heard a lot of personal reasons to get a certain tattoo, and I have seen a lot of different of types, I've never seen anybody get an advertisement tattooed onto their skull. I suppose that will change at some point soon, as www.airnewzealand.com is holding a casting call for 30 adults to get their heads shaved and tattooed to be walking billboards in Los Angeles, ala:
Now, before we get into a discussion of ethics and morals and why it seems like a stupid idea for anyone to get a permanent ad tattooed on their body, don't worry. It's just a temporary henna tattoo. While I have seen a lot of logos tattooed on people, and my personal belief is that that's generally a bad idea, I'm all for an interesting ad campaign like this. A temporary message on the back of someone's skull is pretty jarring, and as anyone who has visible tattoos could tell you, it's a great spot for people to stare.
The campaign is all about traveling to New Zealand for a life changing journey. I suppose I've had my own life changing journey. Moving across country after my freshmen year of high school, I met my longtime boyfriend and I do believe that my life has never been the same since being with him. It's hard to think about what my life would be like if I stayed where I did, and never moved or met him, but that's pretty impossible to predict a future that never was.
So, have you experienced a life changing journey? Think you'd be brave enough to sign up to get your head shaved for www.airnewzealand.com?
To quote the great Noel Fielding, "It's hard to know what you'll look like when you shave your head. You have no idea what your head will look like, or if you'll have that little bit at the back." Which is why I will never shave my head. Also, I like my blue hair too much. But who would be a good candidate for such a cranial billboard?
Celebrities, of course, would be the best for this campaign. Britney Spears aside, you know you'd love to see Angelina Jolie bald with a tattoo. Thanks to online competition communities, we can have some idea of what Angelina Jolie might look like bald.
You'll have to imagine the ad on her head herself. You know she'd be perfect because Ms. Jolie is such a huge star, it would make national news if she shaved her hair off.
Of course, she'd never do such a thing, but it's fun to imagine.
We're working on our midterms right now in my computer colouring class, which means that I have about 4 pages to colour (and some to draw) before next Thursday. I'll be pretty busy getting that stuff up and done, but I'm planning on posting some recent work this weekend.
Now, off to class to doodle and colour for 2 1/2 hours!
I'm not generally a big car person. I don't care too much about what my personal method of transport is as long as it works and doesn't look too craptacular. Though I'm not completely ignorant about cars either, I take good care of mine. I have some basic mechanical know-how about my car, and I do keep track of all changes needed and try to stay on top of that. Of course, my little Corolla isn't going to last forever, but I already know that my next car of choice will be a hybrid. Honda has a fairly good hybrid out right now with its Civic.
Honda's Civic Hybrid offers up to 45 mpg on the highway,a USB Audio Interface 110-hp, 8 valve, SOHC i-VTEC® 4-cylider engine, continuously variable transmission, and a MP3 Auxiliary Input Jack for all your Ipody needs.
Right now, Charter Communications is running a sweepstakes where you could win a brand new 2009 Civic Hybrid. It's worth $24,500, which is a lot of money to spend on a brand new car, but since it's a hybrid, you'll save quite a bit on gas. All you have to do is either order any Charter service online, or just simply register, and you'll be in the running for the new Civic Hybrid. The only bad side is that to enter you must live in an area where Charter services are available. I'm not applicable to enter, but good luck to all of the rest of you who will!
After going to a Rock Band party this weekend, I think J and I are determined to get it. However, while it's a fun game and all, I don't think you can consider screaming as loud as you can as you fumble the words singing.
My ears hurt that night. Nonetheless, the game shall be purchased, played and replayed over and over again until some other music game comes out that's as good.
Ugh, I don't look forward to be a mother of any sort. I really don't like children, and I especially don't like babies. To me they are little parasites that wreak havoc on your body and then your wallet. It's just not for me. All of the expenses of a child too, it's all too much. Having to pay for anything for a kid that'll just grow out of it in a year is quite daunting. I mean, I don't want to have to buy baby bedding, clothes, or toys and then realise that in a year or less, I'll have to rebuy all of it again because it's just not what the child will fit into or want to play with.
God, I don't like babies. In fact, I think I loathe them.
I'm working on getting rid of a bunch of free comic books that I've aquired from summer. So far I've been able to give them to a fair number of people, but I still have over 100 copies left to give. I'm considering just leaving them in my major building, where I know they'll find a good home with other sequential students, or perhaps create lovely gift baskets where I can slip in a few issues to friends/neighbours/professors/well-wishers. It's hard to decide what to do with this plethora of comics, but I'm sure I'll find a solution.
Part of my worries about stress and all when it comes to school probably affects a bit of my health. Though, in all honesty, if it does it's hard to tell. I mean, I don't break out, I don't get acne and I don't tend to over/under eat in times of stress. So really, when I'm feeling any sort of stress what happens to my body? Nothing.
It always just affects my mind. But I like being busy, and I like some element of stress to be a part of it. That way I really feel like I'm working.
So I'm still working towards my goal of losing weight without any real diet or use of weight loss pills. It's going slowly, and I'm skeptical about the results. There's not much I can do than just keep at it, I suppose. I mean, I'm trying to do this, but I'm also getting swept up in school/art work. This being my last year, I really feel like I should focus on doing as well as possible and creating as much work as I can to add to my lifetime portfolio.
Whoo boy, so how 'bout this here final year eh? Catching up on me a bit faster than usual, I'd say. I've been so distracted from making and updating blog posts, sorry guys. I'm going to make a real effort to get back into this, post some recent art, and keep on truckin'.
In about 2 more weeks, it will already be mid-terms here. Glory be the quickness of the quarter passed through.
The subject of graduation came up again recently, because I had to go to a meeting to find out all the requirements needed to get my degree. It's just another moment where I realize how much next year will differ from this. I'm going to have to think about a lot of things when I leave school this spring. Including, but not limited to, where I'll live, if/what kind of job I'll have right after I leave. How I'll pay for things like medical or car insurance. When will I have time to devote to artwork itself, and not feel bogged down in everyday issues. What will I need to bring with me when I finally find a place. What will I actually do with this new degree.
It's tough to seriously think that far ahead without getting bogged down in the details and feeling pessimistic. That's why I can't do it. I have to just focus on the here and now, put my all into finishing this last year with an awesome portfolio, and fling myself in the world after school.
Man, I'm so happy I don't have to wear glasses or contact lenses any more. It's such a lovely experience to be able to wake up, see the clock, see my room and not think about putting anything on or in my eyes. Then, I can just go to sleep when I want without even thinking about any sort of "ritual". Whether it be having to remove lenses from my eyes and be ever so careful not to destroy/lose them, or just making sure I remembered to take off my glasses and put them in their safe little case. It's just, wonderful. Another little thing I don't have to worry about since getting surgery.
Back in this wretched southern town ready to finish my last year and move on to years of odd jobs and living in boxes.
Really though, I'm on the precipice of adulthood. While I'm excited, I'm also quite afraid of what will happen next. The drive down wasn't too bad though, no major hangups or anything. It's nice to be back, but it also sucks. Savannah air hasn't shown its ugly head yet and thrown the ubiquitous stink at us, but it is quite hot and muggy. Not really pleasant when you walk to class everyday like I do.
Oh well, I knew what I was getting into 4 years ago, and I'm glad to be moving on from it in 9 months.
My roommate rather enjoys watching t.v., which is one of the reasons why I'm glad I got her instead of a person who can't stand television. We also like a lot of the same shows, which makes it even better. One of those shows is Intervention. Watching that on Monday nights is practically mandatory with us. It's such a fascinating peek into human psychology and I think it's a pretty fair show, not really biased against people. It's also interesting to see just how many drug treatment centers exist in America. I've got to wonder though, how much these rehabs charge and if the producers of Intervention have some sort of deal where the people profiled on the show get to stay for free or for a discount. Also, how do they decide what rehab is right for the individual?
Whatever the case, there's always the constant that the chosen drug treatment center is far away from the person's home. Whether it be in another state or 100 miles away, the show never needs to tell us why they do that. It's obvious that to heal a major addiction, you need to remove the person from their comfortable element, their home.
Intervention may be dramatic, but it's great t.v. and a lovely glimpse into a lifestyle I'll most likely never experience.
Whoo. I'm done packing, finished a few hours ago I suppose. Tomorrow we leave for that familiar trek down to Georgia again. I'm hoping this coming school brings a few new changes. I'm really going to work on finding a good fat burner method, whether it be exercise or food portioning we'll have to see. Whatever works successfully I hope. I'll be getting a new toy, an Xbox 360, and will be quite enthralled with that I imagine. This year I really need to find myself a signature style and work my best to impress editors and find a job. I'll also be continuing with VisArts, working while I can at school which is great news.
This new year brings about promise, excitement, and dread. I can only see what's in store and not make any great predictions.
I've been pretty out of it blog-wise recently. Sorry about that. My last week here is coming to and end before I go back to school, so of course it happens to be the week that one of our biggest shows open.
Glass: Evolving is opening tomorrow and I've been crazy busy with working on that as well as side VisArts projects. I'll have to update with some graphic design work I've been doing soon. But for now, I must pack, shower, and find some time to make some awesome nametags.
You know what's weird to me? Blackheads. They're these icky little things that create horrid bumps and spots on your face but are easy to get rid of. So we end up with thousands of commercials and products about the subject, targeted mainly towards teens and women, which means this is a rich subject to market.
I honestly have to wonder how much revinue is made in blackheads remover sales.
Well, I've been tagged by the lovely RJ Flamingo to complete this meme! It's been quite a while since I've done a meme, even moreso on this blog. So, without further ado, here we go:
1. Link to the person who tagged you *points up*.
2. Post the rules on your blog (this thing here).
3. Write 6 random things about yourself (see below).
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them
5. Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up
Six Things About Me
1. I'm more bendy than you'd expect.
2. I'm a baking and cooking fiend. If I ever have the finances/time, I'd love to go to culinary school.
3. I was assistant stage manager of my high school theatre, and rocked that place.
4. I'm addicted to True Life. *is watching a marathon right now*
5. I wear sandals/open toed shoes almost exclusively year-round. I own one pair of sneakers, and I haven't actually worn those in years. My socks collect dust in the drawer.
6. I'm earning a degree in sequential art (comics), but have more work experience in graphic design/illustration.
So, let's say I'm living in North Carolina and need to look for a raleigh moving company. There's a lot of places I'd look, right? The newspaper and yellow pages would be a good place to start, but it would probably be far easier to just do a search online. It's not hard to do, and with the trend that's happening right now, I would most likely get better/more diverse results. Same deal if I want to search for Raleigh landscaping companies. Clicksmart.com is a good place to search for companies in your hometown, just like the yellow pages. This little directory is growing by the day, so if your own company isn't listed you can easily add it. Even if you don't use clicksmart, it's good to know there's another good directory site out there.
WHOO! I got my copy of Watchmen today and I'm quite excited about reading it. Finally, I won't feel like a loser in my own major. Jeez, how much of a geek am I to think that?
So this will finally be one of those few times when I actually read the book before seeing the movie. Fantastic! Now, onto the reading!
When I was researching new cell phones a few months back, I did take the time to look at phones not offered by my chosen cell company, Verizon. Unlocked cell phones are a huge market, but I don't especially want to bother with them. I know officially there are a few companies that allow their phones to be unlocked and used with any cell company and plan, like Motorola. But the phone I wanted, and ultimately got, was a Samsung, and I couldn't find it for an especially good price outside of Verizon, or unlocked for that matter.
Man I'm happy I'm no longer a teenager. Even though I never personally had a problem with it, I knew several kids who had trouble with acne. No matter what acne cream, or wash, or patch, my friends' faces were still blotchy. Of course, as time wore on and they grew up, their skin cleared up more and their acne troubles almost completely went away. I'm sure they're happy they're no long teenagers too.
I love my cat. He means the world to me and I always feel pangs of sadness when I'm away at school. At 15, he's an old fart, but he's my old fart of a cat. I'm really a cat person, I don't like dogs as much and I really never want to own one, but I still support animal shelters and all that they do. Any non-profit organization that rescues pets is okay in my book. I really enjoy watching Animal Cops on Animal Planet, it's a sad show but also uplifting in that you get to see these poor animals either find good homes, or get put down humanely and thus ending their pain.
Really, I support the ASPCA and the Humane Society which is prominently featured on Animal Cops. We adopted my cat from a Denver Human Society outpost in a Petsmart, and I'm so glad we did. I'm not alone in wanting to support my pet shelter of choice, and it's easier than ever to do so. Zootoo is a great go-to site for pet lovers. You can create a profile, that includes your pet of choice, and gain points to support your local pet shelter and rescue center. It's free, and easy, and the site itself is a great resource for anything pet related. It's got classifieds, individual shelter pages with reviews, and a great help-out section with tips and opportunities to assist your favourite animal sanctuary. Really, it's a fantastic website and I'm glad to see a large community of animal lovers out there supporting such a good cause.
The ASPCA and Humane Society along with smaller shelters need all the help they can get. Non-profit ogranizations such as these need our support so they can continue to provide a great service to the local animal population. I've adopted from a shelter and I plan to do so again. But in the meantime, I'll assist from online.
I'm a big Christopher Guest fan. I love his films, and he's a fantastic actor. From seeing him as the 6-fingered man in The Princess Bride when I was just a wee one, to Nigel Tuffnel in what was to become one of my favourite films, This is Spinal Tap. His group of actors that he uses for a lot of his films work perfectly together, and all classic comedians.
I'm watching Waiting for Guffman at the moment, hence this post. Also, I need an excuse to post Corky St. Clair's dance:
Yeahhh, this film is gold. I don't own it yet, and I know it's part of the Christopher Guest Collection, but well...I already have A Mighty Wind, and Best in Show is somewhere on DVD. Also, I want to wait until there's a mega-super-ultra collection to get. Oh, I do have plans. And I plan to see every Guest and company film he creates.
Do you remember that weird Japanese (by way of England) betting show on Fox called, Banzai?
No?
Really?
Because it was quite the unique show. Perhaps this clip will jog your memory:
Yeah, looking a bit more familiar now, isn't it? Banzai was quite the odd show to be viewed by American audiences, shown on FOX but not for very long. I think it only lasted a season or so. It didn't catch on in quite the same way as it did in Britain. Unfortunately, most American audiences just didn't get it. But that's not stopping Channel 4 and Screenlife games from releasing a DVD game! ScreenLife Games is at it again. They launched a new Banzai game. Check it out:
I liked Banzai when it was on t.v., it was just weird enough for me. However, I think the major issue with the show was that it had a betting theme, but you couldn't actually bet. It's far better designed for an interactive game rather than a television show. I had the chance to play it too, and it is crazy.
J and I decided to spend a lovely Sunday night cozying up and settling in for some hardcore sushi betting. J had never seen the show before so he had no idea what to expect. Which, might I say, is an excellent way to play Banzai. The game itself is pretty easy to learn, and after a practise round you're ready to start betting!
I've never played a DVD game before, but the controls were quite easy for this. If you watched the video above you'll see how to play so I won't go into that here. I will say that the hardest part of the game is using the chopsticks to effectivly shovel in many sushi pieces.
The little animated characters and sushi bits are fantastically cute. Tako, the game's red octopus mascot, is adorable! He even has his own myspace page, what a talented octopus indeed. My favourite sushi piece is the New Jersey Squirrel Roll, even though he looks more like a hamster.
So, on to the gameplay itself. The DVD randomly picks a clip to show you, so it's harder to view one that you already bet on. We saw a lot of weird clips indeed. Recurring characters are always fun, and my favourite is Lady One Question, who I showed in the first clip above. I love her interaction with Graham Norton, (also shown above) which we bet on. She actually cracks up, so it makes the bet all the better. Perhaps the craziest dare we saw was one where to children had to pull out metal skewers from a guy's face. Whichever child pulled out the skewer attached to the pickled onion won. Yeah, that was an odd one to watch...
We played for about 2 hours before we had to resort to sudden death to finish the game. J and I were just so in tune with each other that we kept betting exactly the same over and over! We even lasted 3 sudden death rounds because of that. I'm sure if we play with a larger group, that will be less of a problem. Banzai is a silly game, but quite fun. However, it is a bit more adult so I'd say nobody under the age of 14 should play it, but otherwise it looks like a great party game. Hopefully this will become a bigger hit than the t.v. show!
The Wii has been gifted unto my mother and has now blessed our house with hours of exquisite remotetainment. My arms and legs are actually hurting a bit. The family played for several hours. Yep, a good video game workout indeed
J and I spent some time playing Raving Rabbids II. You may recall I rather enjoy the Rayman: Raving Rabbids game, as I got the second one for DS. While the DS version was just a lot of mini-games, the Wii version appears to have a little bit more of a plot. Just a teensy bit though, so far it's been one hell of a round of mini-games.
When I finish I'll probably post a review, but so far I'm having fun!
So, I've been having to do a bit of video editing lately. Nothing big, just transferring video from a DVD, editing it, and reformatting it for web. I also occasionally have to reformat video for my own, personal, ventures. While I wish it was just as simple as renaming the file fromAVI to MPEG, it's not. You can't trick video into a format it isn't predestined for. But, there are a fair amount of programs to make it easier.
Blaze Media Pro is one of those programs. It's a pretty good competitor to software like Nero or Roxio. Worth a look if you're trying to do something as simple as burning your own home video to DVD, or something a bit more complicated like reformatting and editing films for the internet or Ipods.
I just had to convert some audio files from one format to the other. Look at all of the options Blaze offers just for audio:
Well, I did it. I finally ordered two things I should have had a long while ago.
Watchmen and a yoga mat. I know, I know, I'm super late for both. I should have bought a mat months ago when I started this new yoga-sizing thing, but I just kept dragging my feet about it. Hoping I would be fine just doing yoga on the carpet. No such luck though, as I tend to slip a bit and I'm sure that's not good for my joints and makes it more difficult to get into poses.
The other...I know I should have bought this amazing comic book a long while ago, but I'm really such a newbie when it comes to owning English comics. I did want to buy it before the movie comes out, so at least I met that goal. I don't want to be met with a huge sudden rush of Watchmen fans, like what happened with The Dark Knight. While it's an excellent movie, which I enjoyed immensely, the giant and sudden "hipness" of Batman just hit too quickly. Yes, yes Batman is angsty and cool. Indeed, the Joker is a fabulous foe who represents what all of us would be like if we just let go of modern day ethos.
Anyhoo, I'm hoping Watchmen will be just as bloody amazing. The trailer at least brings hope:
So I keep my account at one bank, but my parent's have their primary checking account at another bank. This is because I needed a bank that would be in the same place as my school, it just makes it easier. But since I'm not at the same bank as my parents, they need a way to transfer money without a fee. So it's quite important to find a bank that offers no balance transfer fee. I'm glad we were able to.
I think if I ever own a pool I'm going to have to have some great pool floats lying around so it's not terribly boring. Then again, I probably wouldn't want to use the pool too much in the first place, unless it was shady or I could freeze it and double it as an ice skating rink. But I'm sure if I had kids or other children came over, I'm sure they'd want pool toys to pass the time with.
...I'd rather have an ice skating rink than children coming over though...
Ah, and now for a more relaxing Friday. It's nice to just sit around and be. Even though I can't play any Xbox games...yep, it's dead. Turns out it wasn't an A/V cable problem, it's the console itself. Well, the bad news has been told to the owner and now a coffin is on its way. It should take 3 weeks in total for it to be repaired, and one can only hope that this will be the one and only time J's roommate's Xbox will need repair.
This is one thing that I'm happy about with the Xbox 360. It seems to break down more often than other next-gen consoles. At least Microsoft is quick to fix them, but it's still the biggest problem that makes me feel a little ...eehhnn... about buying one. The hope is that I'll get a brand new version with a better cooling system and not have this problem. I'm crossing my fingers.
Oh hallowed screen shining brightly through the night I spend so much time staring at you I can't imagine what my life might be like if your light were to fade, or your image freeze or your body were to break I dare say I'd cry for you and probably bake a sad cake:
For you are my job you are my life you are my one and only Oh PC please do not freeze and make my evenings lonely
...yyeeeeaaaahhhh....now you see why I never pursued a poetry career.
Really though, I've spoken many times about my PC troubles here. How my last one died and the torrent of A/C adapters it took with it. It's still living on battery power and it is a good machine. Oh well, so far I haven't had any big hardware problems with this laptop. I don't really think my family stays constant with what kind of PC we get, however we always have used Windows as our operating system. I couldn't tell you why we started using Windows, but it's been the only OS we stick with. No Mac, or Linux, or Unix for this household. I do use Macs, but I'm not a big fan of them. To me, Macs are for people who don't know how to work a PC, or don't want an operating system they can dig deep into and fiddle with. But I love learning about my computer and manipulating its operating system in fun ways. I'm no tech geek, but I can still have fun with Windows and alter it in the ways I wish.
So I've gone through all stages of Windows, from 95, to NT, to 2000, to XP and now Vista. On my personal computer, I'm using Windows Vista Ultimate. J uses Vista Home Premium and my father uses Vista Business for the family desktop. While I wasn't completely for or against it, I've learned that it isn't a piece of crap like a lot of people seem to believe. I think it's offering more on the design side than XP did, but I don't see to many issues. And I'm able to work around compatibility issues, so I can play games designed for XP on my Vista machine without problem. Really, I think a lot of people who whine about Vista's shortcomings just haven't bothered to look up how to get around them.
Of course, no operating system is without it's fault and Vista is no different. Even with a fast processor, good hard drive and plenty of RAM, my computer decides it will freeze or give me weird little graphic glitches. The freezing problem is so common with any computer, it's hard to chalk it all up to Vista. The worst part is when it freezes at an inopportune time. Such as when I'm in the middle of working on a large Photoshop document and made some major change but hadn't saved yet. OOOooo and when that happens right when I also need to look something up for work or need to get that image to print? Yeah, that's a wonderful moment to freeze on me, Vista. Thanks a lot.
Oh well, that's nothing that a reboot while muttering under your breath can't take care of. With more serious issues, like trying to connect to another computer via Vista's remote desktop assistance, the customer service reps are pretty useful to chat with on Microsoft's site. Also, their support with Service Pack 1 is free right now, until March 18, 2009. Though I rarely have to use that option, it's nice that it's there. When your operating system includes a search bar built into the start menu, that means it's going to make troubleshooting and file finding easy.
As long as Windows is around, I'll probably be using their OS on my personal computer. As will my children, and my children's children, and my children's children's children.Then they might move to Linux for a year, but that penguin can only hold their gaze for so long before they do a dual install with Windows.
So, small updates on what I've been so busy with. We've been working diligently these last few weeks on two upcoming shows. Our members show; Inspired by Weather, and our glass show; Glass: Evolving. For the members show, I came up with our evite below:
This show will go up after our current one, Farm to Market: Wonderful evite designed by J
So, the members show features work submitted by VisArts members. It's in a few weeks but we pretty much have everything prepared for that. The glass show, which stays up longer and is a big deal, has much more work to go with it. I've got the evite and large posters all designed for that one, but we've also got a catalogue to be published along with the show. J is working on that, but myself and other gallery assistant, Paula have been contacting artists and getting all the necessary information for this book. We have to get all of the pieces, prices, their dimensions, an artist's statement, and a resume. As you might imagine, this is a lot of work and contacting artists is never an easy process. However, it looks like our hard work will be ending soon, since we've got just about everything we need from the artists and J will be finished with the catalogue by tomorrow.
As you know, I'm in the market for a web site. Specifically, I'm in the process of looking at different web hosting services and coming up with a good URL. J and I have been working off and on to come up with a good joint address that both of us can use, but that's another story.
I have some experience with Network Solutions, it's the chosen webhost for my work and I'd say our IT guy is quite happy with it. From my second-hand experience, I've seen that their customer service is pretty spot on. They are easy to get a hold of and very knowledgeable about whatever issues we have. A good example is when my partner and I were working on redesigning the site, we were hoping to use php. However, at that time, our hosting package didn't include php or ajax options, which would make it impossible for us to actually create the pages we wanted. Our IT go-to guy was able to make a quick phone call to Network Solutions and blammo! We have php support.
Of course, my work also has the pro package, so we get the most with Network Solutions web hosting. I would be looking for a personal package, which Network Solutions is just out of my price range for unfortunately. However, for a business, small or non-profit or otherwise, it is a pretty good deal.
The Wii has arrived! And ye, it is fabulous. My father and I have christened it "Wall-ii". Which is a more creative way to say "wii all". It's a cute name, it's temporary for the moment, in case my mother wants to change it. I like it, and since this is a family machine, it makes sense to add "all" in the name.
Anyhoo, it was quite easy to set up, and very simple to get online. That is quite a benefit of the Nintendo Wii, wifi. For some reason, Microsoft doesn't believe that including wi-fi is necessary for a good game console. Oh well, at least that has better graphics.
We'll present the wii to my mother on her birthday...or...a week before, depending on how long my dad can resist it's Nintendo charms.
I really need a business card, don't I? I've noticed that it's quite the important in the world of freelance and art to have a business card. A memorable one too, how else will people remember your art and want your business? Yeah, yeah I should buy a bunch but I haven't. Why not? Because of money, design, and title.
I don't have the money. I don't have a good design. And I certainly don't know what kind of title I want.
These are the troubles that prevent me from getting a bunch of business cards. I feel too cheap to waste a bunch of useless pieces of paper, so I want to be absolutely sure that I'll get the right kind. Having the right Logos on your cards are key to making a lasting impression. Whatever I choose as my logo, I have to stick with it, lest people stop associating me with that symbol.
At least there is a cheap site where you can purchase business cards and even get some free ones or 50% Off Business Cards (using coupon code "BizCard08" during checkout). VistaPrint.co.uk is offering a bunch of useful coupons right now. They offer a wide variety of print options, not just paper items like cards and brochures. Though, 25 Free Brochures (coupon code "FreeBrochures08") is a pretty good deal, especially if you want a cheap solution for a small event. They also offer 25% Off T-shirts (coupon code "TShirts25"), and 50% Off Small Rubber Stamps (coupon code "Stamps50").
From a business standpoint, I need all the discounts I can get. I'm also going to keep VistaPrint in mind when my boss asks about printing places.
Well, he did it. He finally did it. My father purchased a Wii for the family/my mom for her birthday.
Yes, I am just as happy as you think I am.
If only Nintendo would get the idea and make enough of these consoles instead of making everyone search like crazy and pay more than they should. Oh well, this should prove to be quite the wonderful toy.
I'm so glad I've got good skin. If there's one thing that stays constant, is that I don't break out in terrible pimples constantly. Even if I did, I'd turn to a natural acne treatment before using stuff like Proativ or the like. I just prefer to get rid of those things on my own, and not put too many chemicals on my face.
I do get a few pimples now and again, but never full-blown acne. I'm quite lucky that way, I suppose.
Well, I think I may have broken the Xbox. Not intentionally of course, but last night it gave me an "error 74" which means that there's either something wrong with the A/V cable or the sector chip. AWESOME!
What doesn't make sense is that I moved or unplugged the Xbox only once since I got it from J. And that was for a very short time. So why would it give me this error now?
Did I mention that this is borrowed from J's roommate? Yeah...
Tomorrow J will bring his A/V cables and I'll see if it's a cable or console issue. If it's a cable issue...I guess we'll have to pay $40 for a new one >.< If it's a console issue, we may be able to send it in for repair and still be under warranty. A few weeks ago, my house kept getting brown outs. Where the lights and electronics would loose power for a second. So the Xbox got the 3-red-lights of doom a few times. Luckily, it bounced back pretty quickly but still had me quite scared. Apparently, it logs that error in the memory, so we can technically send it in because of the lights of death, not the wire issue, and potentially get a brand new one.
I kind of hope it comes to that, since that would be the cheapest way to repair it and perhaps even do it without his roommate knowing.
Everybody needs a backup plan, right? Especially in this day and age where good jobs are scarce and a single person can go through an average of 5 jobs before they find "the one". It's better to have a lot of skills so you won't be out of work for too long, or at all. Which is why one might decide to look to the IT field to help pad out their resume.
But what do you need to become a great IT rep and find good work? Well, having knowledge of computers certainly is a start, but it also helps to have Cisco certification. Too be honest, I don't know too much about Cisco, but I have seen people I know list their certification on their resumes and I know it helps with getting work. I am a bit curious as to what Cisco is, what their training entails and just how could this help me in the future.
Well, it looks like Cisco offers several different training programs to those interested in the wide world of Information Technology. I seem to be fairly adept at computers, but it's more software work than hardware. I'm lucky in that I have a very computer-literate father who's taught me quite a bit about PCs. There's no way I could be considered for any IT job though, considering how I don't actually have much experience or knowledge of the field. I tend to focus more on the design, and visual, side of things I suppose.
Cisco does have a wide selection of certification programmes though, that can be completed via the web. They offer three levels of degrees, Associate, Professional, and Expert. With 6 different "paths" you can choose to center on.
It looks like CCNA certification is the most basic. If you complete the training for that, you're certified to install, configure, operate, and troubleshoot medium-size routed and switched networks. While this is excellent to get an IT career, it's also great knowledge to have in general so you can properly understand your own home network.
The more I think about it, the more I think I need some IT training. If not for my current job, then to include on a future resume and to turn my own home into a palace of working networks.
I recall hearing about Dark Sector a year or so ago, but didn't pay too close attention to it. The game looked nice, and its hook (you have evil powers that take the form of a bionic glaive)seemed promising so I was intrigued when J decided it was finally time to rent it. Of course, he knows far more about the game then I do, and showed me that it was, in fact, one of the first games to be developed for next-gen consoles but when through a whole hell of a lot of retooling. So much so, that the only similarity between the original trailer from E3 2005 and the most recent one is the main character's name (Hayden) and his suit design. Take a look:
2005
2007
To be fair, Hayden's super suit doesn't actually show up in the 2007 trailer, but here it is:
So, what's the storyline and why was this game halted for so long?
Well, the story takes place in made-up Lasria (it's Russia, we all know it's Russia), where we find ourselves in the middle of a biochemical war. An American Agent, Hayden, is sent in to destroy the creator of this horrible infection (known as Technocyte) Mezner. Within his first encounter with the bearded super-villian, Hayden has his arm evily jabbed by Mezner's right hand man, The Nemisis. Ouchie!
Hayden on the lefthand side, Nemesis on the righthand side
Hayden's arm transforms into a slimy, metallic, biofantabulous...arm that holds a glaive. This glaive is, of course, Hayden's power. He can kill enemies with it, pick up weapons, explode things, carry elemental power, open locks, grab bananas, slice watermelons, and open 3 letters at once. It really is the go-to tool for the everyday mutant!
Look at it burn! A dangerous weapon and convenient source of heat!
Anyhoo, Hayden progresses through Russia Lasria, looking to kill Mezner and halt his plans to expose the virus to the rest of the world, successfully creating a planet of pissed off zombies and mutants. Along his journey, Hayden fights through tons of fat biohazard-suited humans and creepy Silent Hill/Resident Evil style mutants and zombies.
So, why the drastic difference between 2008's Dark Sector and 2005's? According to the developers, the shift in focus by other gaming companies and publishers contributed to a story change, as well as adding a realism element that they hoped fans would enjoy. They wanted Hayden to be more like a superhero, and therefore more relatable. He stands out in a modern setting, whereas he might blend in, in a sci-fi setting.
To be honest, I don't see what was wrong with sticking with the space idea. Mass Effect (takes place in space) was also released this year to quite a bit of success. I don't really see how making Hayden a superhero is the same as making him relatable to fans. I suppose his mental conflicts do make the story a tad more believable, but he could have just the same amount of mental anguish up in space. Oh well, onto the pros and cons
Pros: This game has some fantastic settings and the graphics really do look better than their original 2005 concept. The concept art for the locations is quite stunning and accomplishes the goal of "don't play this game in the dark."
The glaive itself is a pretty cool idea, and I like all of the powers that centers around it.
Cons: Hoo boy, the cons. The story is somewhat confusing. I found myself asking J "what's going on?" more than once, only to be met with "I don't know". The reason I didn't play through this game myself is because I felt the controls were kind of awkward and just found myself panicking over having fun. It is a good game to watch though, and I was perfectly content doing that.
Hayden....I hate his character design. My tablet's not working again (another story for another time), so here's what I hate the most about him in awkward touchpad format:
It may not be obvious in that image, but he has a really tiny face positioned on a large, round head on top of a neck the same width as his ROUND HEAD! I hate his stupid tiny face. When he has the suit that doesn't really do anything apparently but look cool and hide his stupid face, he doesn't look too bad. But when that mask comes off...grrrr.... Also, what the hell is up with his shoulders and arms and why are they disconnected from his torso so much? I did a bit of "2-minute Photoshop plastic surgery" to show how I think he should have looked:
I just realized I didn't give him a large enough chin, so just imagine this with a proper chin attached.
Yeah, what the hell Digital Extremes?
All character bashing aside, there's some massive repetitive-level failure during one part of this game. You just keep walking into room after room, mindlessly killing throngs of mutants without much of an explanation.
Also, I'm not going to ruin the ending but I will say that this game does feature slimy, green gas spewing....tentacles...
Yep.
So really, overall this game is pretty...meh. It had some good concepts, great background art and creepy potential but the story just doesn't draw you in enough to care about a mutant infection escaping the soviet union. Also, Hayden has a stupid tiny face, that's not the head of a hero to me, not even an anti-hero. That's the face of a glaive-wielding jerk.
Let's get something straight, one of the few pleasures I truly enjoy in life is cooking. I absolutely love to make meals, and desserts, and snacks, and...well, you get the idea. Which is why, as I've stated before on this blog, how itchy I get when I'm at school and away from my full kitchen. While I'm not terribly creative myself, I'm always willing to try new recipes. If I ever get the chance, I'd love to go to culinary school and really learn my way around food.
Seafood is probably my favourite "meat". Specifically, shellfish. I do like beef and poultry, *I stay away from pork* but there's something about shellfish that just makes me want to experiment more. Perhaps it's the cost of shrimp, my typical weekday meal, or perhaps it's the lack of time and fact that I tend to cook for one. Whatever the case, I just prefer to try new things with shellfish. Shrimp, scallops, crab, all great ingredients to experiment with and serve alongside some delicious pasta.
One of my more favourite recipes that I tried this year is Crab Stuffed Shrimp. It's a fairly domestic recipe, in fact I got it from the Lady and Sons restaurant in Savannah, though, to be honest, I don't recall seeing it on the menu the one time I went. But I digress, this recipe is a little complicated, but delicious! You can view the full recipe here:
You'll notice I didn't mention the bacon part, like I said, I don't particularly like pork so I left that bit out. I'm sure it's just as good with the bacon though!
On most nights, I just prefer to do a simple recipe like Shrimp Scampi. It's so easy to put together and fast, thus making the perfect after work, lazy dinner. I've gotten to the point where when I cook something for myself there's not much measuring, but here are the ingredients that I use:
Shrimp - 4-8 Garlic -1 clove Lemon juice White wine Butter Olive oil Parsley Linguine or whatever pasta you're in the mood for
It's all trial and error for me, but shrimp scampi is such a basic dish you can't really screw it up. Unless you do something like bombard it with garlic or add peanut oil instead of butter or something.
Anyhoo, I think if I were to compete in a Cook off, say, a Great American Seafood Cook Off, I'd use the crab stuffed shrimp recipe. It's unique, savoury, and quite possibly one of the best shrimp dishes I've ever had. It's also a very domestic seafood dish. I'm all for the positiveness of domestic seafood sustainability, it's one of the few things grown in America that I'm rather happy about. Plus, there is something nice to knowing where the source of your fresh seafood came from, especially if it's local. Yeah, I would like to participate in a cook off one day, that would be really fun. Though, I am a bit afraid that I would get stage fright being up in front of a crowd cooking.
The more I think about it, the more I believe I would enjoy a seafood cook off. Maybe one day I'll get to participate in something like that. Well, I've just got to keep practising!
Are there any seafood recipes you love to make?
If you do try the crab stuffed shrimp or scampi dish, let me know how it was! I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
Recently my boyfriend decided to rent two games to try out this summer, Dark Sector and Battlefield: Bad Company. We finished Dark Sector tonight, so I'd like to post a full review of this game tomorrow. At the moment, I will say this; the game was entertaining but not fantastic. It felt repetitive in some parts, aggravating in others. However, the design was nice and it succeeded in being a weird, creepy, game.
I haven't finished Bad Company yet, but I'm holding off because J decided he's going to buy it. So really, there's no rush in completing the game. So far, I've found it to be quite funny and ridiculous. Like, seriously, you can heal yourself at any moment with a simple injection. Which is quite useful during the many times you'll accidently get blown up. Your teammates are entertaining to no end, and the gameplay itself feels quite natural. Right along with other war games like Gears of War or Army of Two.
So far, I've been lucky in that I've been able to stay away from loans for college and haven't had too many bad financial nightmares. Yes, this is mostly due to my parents willing to help out when they can, but another part of it is that I'm good enough with my money that I don't need any Debt consolidation, because there is no debt.
College is quite expensive though, and I'm always aware of other people's financial troubles because of it. When I decided I wanted to get my bachelors, I hoped that I'd never need Debt help because I won't go into it. I won't apply for any student loans unless absolutely necessary, and I won't ask for too much or complain that my parents don't spend enough money on me. That's silly.
That said, this summer has been my most feduciarily scary yet. My job, while I do love it, isn't paying me at all until the end of the summer. And when I do get paid, I'm not expecting much. Tis the trouble with non-profit businesses of course. Since I don't have to worry about a mortgage or monthly house payments, I'm not freaking out. However, I'm not positively ecstatic about the situation either.
Working at VisArts has given me a good amount of portfolio work, and I've got some great references when I need them. The lack of any sort of hourly wage does prevent me from coming in everyday. I also can complete a lot of my work from home, so I can save on gas, which, by the way, is also cutting into my funds. If I didn't have a place to stay, who knows where I would be living.
This summer is certainly not the ideal situation, but it's better than nothing and more appropriate than working retail. I am talking to my boss about getting some more money and outside commissions, so that should help. Really, I need more money to invest so I can prepare better for my future. I never want to be in a situation where I'll need Debt relief, so I need to prepare. Even when I'm making practically nothing, I need to stop thinking about the present and realize my future is more important. I can get through this summer just fine, it's next June that I'm really worried about.
I've finished another game. This has become the summer of Xbox 360 for me. With the goal of finishing as many games as possible and getting as many achievements as my fingers and eyes can handle. So far, I've finished Army of Two several times and now I'm working on finishing The Orange Box. You may recall that I finished Portal a while back, and I can't accomplish Team Fortress at this moment.
Lately I've been addicted to watching shows on BBC America. In the afternoons I love to just laze about and watch You Are What You Eat and Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.
Frankly, I think Gordon Ramsay is a good chef and honest with his criticism. Now, I've watched Hell's Kitchen a few times too, but I think Ramsay is far more endearing in Kitchen Nightmares. He's not portrayed as a giant ass, and he really does appear to want to help the restaurant owners with their problems. Of course, he does swear but not as much and it's not nearly as bothersome as when Fox edits everything out.
I don't know, I much prefer the British depiction of Gordan Ramsay far more than the American Fox version. Do you agree?
This commercial sticks out in my mind for being one of the most pretentious bath fixture ads out there:
Now, I know there are people in the world who value their Kohler, Moen, or Delta faucets more than their children, but really, it's just a faucet. It's not even a particularly awe-inspiring faucet. What kind of house would this guy design that might make it stand out from all the others?
Unless he builds a house that looks exactly like their stupid faucet, there's no need to proclaim that your lives are so snotty that you derive your biggest inspiration from a bloody bath fixture.
Well, I didn't post about my day 10 follow-up because it was quite short and I was told that I was healing nicely and my combined vision was about 20/25.
Today I had my 6th follow-up visit and I'm happy to report that I'm seeing 20/20!
It was another short visit, which is good. That means my eyes are healing great. I haven't been using the eyedrops quite as much, as my eyes don't feel as dry and I'm able to produce tears normally.
All in all, great news. My next visit is in about 6 weeks, and I imagine it to be much of the same. From here until my 1 year visit, I don't think I'm going to post anymore about my PRK experience unless something drastic happens. At this rate, I don't believe it will.
So, in conclusion, I'm very happy with my Lasik surgery and my experience has been more positive than I expected. LasikPlus has been wonderful and I highly recommend them if you choose to take that big step into better vision.
I mentioned earlier that I'm working on yoga-ing up my life this summer. The freedom of working out in private without worrying about classes or other people or teachers, oh it's lovely. Quite lovely. I've never been the type to rely on diets or pills. I hate working out, but even moreso, I hate asking myself questions during the day like, "How many calories does that beef lo mein have?" or, "How many points is this donut from Krispy Kreme worth?" or, "does Ephedrasil Hardcore work?" or "What will happen if I quit using Alli?"
It's just not worth it to spend all that time questioning and being so self concious. I'd much rather just take an hour a day spent on Vinyasa and Ashtanga yoga. That's far more fulfilling.
Listening to audio commentary on The Simpsons merely solidifies why I love this series. Really, the commentary is just as entertaining as that of Futurama. Which means something, considering the whole reason I got the entire Futurama series is because of the commentary.
I've become such a DVD commentary junkie, how sad is that?
I do truly love hearing the behind the scenes story though, for any DVD.
The annual Alzheimer's Memory Walk is back and ready to raise more money than ever for this great cause!
Walking for a cause is always a great way to participate in a charity without feeling like you're being guilted in. It's a healthy, pleasant, experience and you feel great afterwords knowing that just by walking 2-3 miles, you've made a difference in somebody's life. The Alzheimer's Memory Walk is the United State's largest fundrasing event for Alzheimer support and care.
There are more than 600 walks that occur throughout the US, and the Alzheimer's Association is always looking for more team captains. If you're a team captain, you can start your own group and invite family and friends to walk with you. You can gain sponsors as well to help with the cause. These walks are held on weekends in the Fall all over America, so you don't even have to worry about taking time off from your Mon-Fri job!
It requires very little to commit to a walk for Alzheimer's, but it means so much to the cause.
Well, the new exhibit is up and running, I'm pleased to say. We had a lovely opening night and now hopefully it'll be smooth sailing for a month until the exhibit closes. I've been busy anyway with graphic design projects for our other events and upcoming shows, but I'm expecting some particularly slow days ahead.
Recently, I was told of a chance to design a t-shirt for a restaurant. Now, my usual intention is to create funny t-shirts, but I imagine that will not fit the client's dream. Oh well, the fact that I'm getting this offer is good enough, and I'm quite glad that VisArts is providing me with all of these opportunities.
I have a friend who took a course about illustration children's books. Her idea itself wasn't exactly....kid oriented, but she did some fantastic illustrations. Being a children's book illustrator is quite a good business actually. My friend, who is an illustration major, has said that she would love to do book illustrations, and that there is a big market for them. Personally, I don't know how much I would enjoy drawing for kids, since my humour is a bit more...adult, I suppose. But if the story's good, I'll do it.
One reason I'm glad I'm not in Savannah is the terrible air. There's a plant down there, a paper rendering plant, that completely stinks up the town at random intervals. You can't predict when it's going to happen, but you know that the smell will seep in without fail. As soon as you venture outside, BAM! stinky Savannah hits you like a dumptruck of rotting fish tipped over right in front of you.
Often during these stinky moments I wonder what would happen if I bothered to get some sort of air purifier, like Austin Air air purifiers. It's that bad, but really, I don't think it would help much.
Generally, I never get very far in considering this option as I move on to better, more interesting things. I'll always wonder though...
Thanks to YouTube, we have the ability to create and post personal videos online. This internet phenomenon has created several different types of video sharing sites. There are all kinds of websites devoted to the always intriguing internet voyeurism. While there are sites that will cater to you news, social, and naughty preference, there aren't really any out there that will reward you for posting.
Getting cash for videos is a dream come true for the viral poster. There's a bit of pride that comes with posting your own crummy video and finding out that 25 million people want to view it.
There is one site out there that strives to make the poster's and the viewers happy. Viddiction.com offers monthly competitions with cash prizes ranging from $50 - $500. Youtube doesn't offer that, neither does Google video. These competitions rely on video views to decide their winners, which means that the poster of a possible winning video must try their hardest to get a bunch of pageviews. Judging by how addicted we all are to personal videos, this shouldn't be a difficult task.
Viddiction's title in itself summerizes our attitude towards online video posting quite well. It is an addiction to web videos. We may not all admit it, but inside is a voyuer, wanting to peer into other people's lives without censorship or acknowledgement. Personal videos on social sites such as Viddiction provide that glimse into the real personalities behind a sea of faces all over the world.
Then again, websites like this could also be popular because watching a cat continunely flush a toilet is darn funny:
Ahh, getting into the swing of things is kind of nice. Having 4 days off of work is also quite nice. It's giving me time to work on stuff I want to. Such as important tasks like...gaming.
I've really gotten into Army of Two this past week, it's quite fun. I'm also working hard to meet my goal of over 4000 in my gamerscore on XboxLive. So far, I've got less than 1000 points to go! I'm quite excited.
Army of Two is really addictive. I just love killing and getting money. Oooh it's quite nice.
I'm so glad I've got an LCD tv. I don't have to worry about any sort of converter to play basic television in Feb. 2009. My grandmother, on the other hand, does. So my parents are going to take her t.v. shopping and finally replace that old UHF crapbox in her sitting room.
I have faith that this new t.v. will be used far more (as in, acutally used) then her computer which she can't bother to figure out.
Short little snippet here, but I got an email a little while ago anouncing the date that The Witcher: Enhanced Edition will be released. I've held off on reinstalling that game because I want to play it at its full potential. Originally, Bioware was supposed to release everything in May, but oh well, September 2008 is good too.
They're working on improving a lot in the game, including re-recording all the dialogue, in 10 different languages. Bioware's trying their hardest. I can't really fault them for releasing the game before it's "complete", since a lot of companies do that. It doesn't mean the full game isn't done, it just needs a tad more polishing.
Something happens around this time of the year. Something, happens.
With a presidential race in full swing, children freshly out of their American History classes in school, and a nation of grumpy grownups who don't want to bother with the recession, it's the right condition for a special something to bloom.
Tis the summer of political comedy.
It's a long-standing tradition for comics to rag on the current political affairs of the United States. We tend to cherish those special folk that agree with our point of view and bash those we think evil. This style of comedy, while it tends to be dry and not very ridiculous, does have a large audience. Especially here in DC. This large demographic is partly how Air America came to be, it's a political radio station and features comedians such as Al Frankin and Janeane Garofalo. We also tend to have comedy groups like Second City and The Capital Steps begin their summer nationwide tours. Also doing nationwide tours are individual comedians, like Glenn Beck, who is also a blogger.
Glenn is a fairly funny man, on the liberal side, and runs a great little political blog. He's touring at the moment, but if you can't make it to see him in person, his Dallas show on the 17th of July will be broadcast in select movie theatres around the nation.
If you have never seen a politcal comedy show, an individual comedian is a great way to start.
If I had the choice between a laptop and a desktop, at this moment, I'd still take the laptop. I know it's weird, since desktops are better for the graphically/game inclined. However at this time, I value transportation over modification. At this moment, I prefer to be able to relax with my laptop in bed and be able to carry it around while at school. It's more comfortable.
I imagine when I have more than a room to call my own, a desktop will be quite welcome, but I'll still keep a laptop around to keep by my side.
Ugh, Photoshop is being bitchy lately. It's taking about 5 minutes to start up again. I don't understand why, honestly, it's not like I don't have enough memory in the computer. I got the "out of memory" error message again too when I was working on a photo edit. I've got 2 gigs of RAM in this baby, so I was quite confused.
It doesn't seem to matter if it's HP memory, dell memory, or Apple memory, I'll always get that evil little message that doesn't make any sense. I guess I'll just have to live with it.
I got my yoga books finally, a few weeks ago, and I'm quite excited because that means that I can now practice the yoga I've always wanted. I'm all for losing weight naturally, not having to rely on weight loss pills like Alli, or hoodia. I believe that those products work, but only if you keep using them consistently. I think it's the same way with diets like Weight Watchers and jenny Craig. All of those will definitely help you lose weight, but as soon as you stop taking the pill, or quit the pre-made meals, you'll go right back up to your high weight. Perhaps even higher.
This reason is exactly why I stay away from any sort of diet. I don't want to have to rely on changing my habits drastically to get an appropriate size. I'd much rather do it in a way that's not going to make me hate food.
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