Warm, Goosey Glow

One thing I really hate about this dumb dorm rooms is the lighting. It's just awful. 4 long fluorescent bulbs on the ceiling, covered by plastic, that give the room a bright white sanatorium feeling when turned on. That's why I bought a gooseneck standing lamp, and it's been my faithful giver of light for 3 years now.

The only time the overhead lights are turned on in my room is when we're just stopping in for something quick, or the lamp is packed away. That's it. This year I don't think we've had the lights on for more then 10 minutes at a time. Even when I'm drawing, the gooseneck lamp is good enough.

Really, good lighting is needed to make a dorm room feel inviting and lived in, not stark and ugly. It also cuts down on my migraines, I've noticed. I'll have a rule against fluorescent tube lighting in my house. Henceforth, it shall be forbidden.

Certify This!

All my life I've known I wanted to be an artist. I've never had any doubt that it is my passion and dream to be able to illustrate for my career. Whether it's comic books, spot illustrations, or creative graphic design pieces, I'm there. That's my world. I've never been interested in math or science, as I find those to be dull subjects that I would just muck though in college. They're not creative or interesting to me in the least, but I understand that's a personal preference. I know how important math and science jobs are, and I respect those that choose to live their lives doing that. I also know that these people will make far more money then I can ever hope to doodling away, and for that, I am jealous.

Though I will say that I far more enjoy learning in the environment that I'm in, with small classes and getting to draw comics. It's a much better alternative to 300 students in a giant lecture hall, clacking away at their laptops while the professor drones on about calculus or whatnot. As well as the fact that you can continue to get degrees while working, which isn't something you can really do in a illustration field. I suppose you could also get a certificate online, in a programme like what Saint Joseph's University offers. They let you get your
CAPM certificate for project management.

I've got to admit, I was a little confused as to what project management actually means, since it sounds like such a generic umbrella term. It also seems like a certificate that only pads your resume more, though I suppose it could also help greatly with leading teams. As a complete outsider, I found SJU's website to be easy to navigate and understand what Project Management actually means. It's really a continuation certificate for those already in an office environment who want to learn leadership skills. Which is important for any job, not just math and science related ones.

Though this is a world I'll hopefully never know, I wonder how important a certificate in project management is to getting a promotion and larger paycheck. If any of you guys have one, please, let me know how it's helped you in your field. I'm genuinely curious.

It's a 24 week course, and while I have no problems with leading or time management, I know plenty of kids at college who could probably benefit from such a thing. Even though this is art school. The career choices page, which details types of occupations and median wages is pretty interesting to look over. If nothing else, to find out how much a laboratory manager or teaching assistant makes annually.

It's nice to have programmes like this one, designed for people who need a little extra push to excel at work. Though I would never, ever, go back and choose a different school or major, looking at what people could earn with CAPM certificates makes me a tad jealous.

Oh well, I'll just get back to my painting.

2 more weeks

Only 2 more weeks till the end of the quarter! I’m both excited and afraid of what this end of the quarter will bring. Hopefully, good things. All around. Right now I’m working on my last project for comics painting, a mixed media 4 page piece based on the Edgar Allen Poe poem, The Conqueror Worm. Should be quite fun.

I’ve also got about 32 pages done from my artbook. I’m pretty happy with it so far, it’s something I’ve wanted to do and I’m fairly content with the results. Hopefully, my professor will see that I’ve been working quite hard and grade me based on that. It’s all I can hope for at this point.

Never been to the OBX

I live in Maryland, but I've yet to really spend time on the Outer Banks (or OBX, as bumper stickers would indicate). I don't know why, I've just never really been out there for more then maybe a few hours. There's never been any family out there, I don't really go boating, and we don't do any Outer Banks rentals of property, so what's the point?

I've become less and less of a fan of beaches over the years. It's not so much that I don't like going in the ocean, I used to love swimming, is that I don't particularly care for the sun or tourists. Quiet beaches can be so serene and calming, but I don't think I'd really get that if I were to go to the Outer Banks for a summer holiday. I'm quite happy staying inside, by DC, and enjoying my quiet, homely, comfort.

CC deep discounts= good times

Ohhh the buying of things at Circuit City continues....

Their liquidation sale has finally granted our patience. J and I visited the local store every weekend since the announcement, biding out time till the discounts were great enough. I don't understand the stupid people who bought so much stuff the first weekend, it was only 10-20% off! Of original retail price! That's more expensive then you can find it on Amazon or Best Buy. Stupid people.

We waited until games and DVDs were 40-50% off, and it was worth it. I've gotten The Simpsons seasons 7 and 8 as well as the movie and Memento. I also got a pack of 50 Double Layer DVD+Rs for $30. Pretty nice.

One more visit, in the hopes of just one more big discount (if the sale is even on, I know they're supposed to end it all in March) and we'll be done.

We are soooooo geeky. But frugal, which is good.

Quiet Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was pretty quiet this year. We didn't do too much, other then go out to a nice restaurant and have delicious Thai food followed by wonderful ice cream. We didn't get each other gifts or anything, so no sexy chemises for me or anything baked for J.

I suppose it's a bit boring, but we're a boring couple. I prefer to have a boyfriend who doesn't like going out to parties, but prefers to stay in and watch a movie while eating take out. Ahhhh romance.

Try Again

Okay, I've been lazy enough these past several weeks. Along with schookwork, I'm going to try out Yourself Fitness, a game that's as close to Wii Fit that I can find for the Xbox. I'll never try diet pills, shakes, or powders, but I can try video games.

The worst that happens is that it won't do anything and I'll have a game collecting dust. The best is that it'll really work and I'll loose weight.

30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. That's my goal. Let's see how this goes.

Busy Busy Bee

I am such a busy bee right now. Senior project is a real bear of work for me. 40 pages in 10 weeks, whew! I must be crazy. Oh well, it should all be worth it in the end.

Now, back to drawing flying cats!

I'll post at the end of this week with a few of the pages.

Moving On

Okay, honestly, the prospect of moving out is kind of daunting. Not knowing what the future holds for me, it's hard to gauge what I'll need and when I should buy it. I know I won't have much money, so I'll have to get some discount furniture, from Craigslist or something. Or I'll get lucky and be able to buy the college-graduate staple, Ikea. Hopefully I won't have to worry too much though. If J happens to get a great job at a game company not too far from our parents' houses, we'll be able to easily move, without worry of shipping and packing.

Class Act, All the Way

J doesn't have a roommate this quarter. Quite nice, I'd say. I'm sure he'd agree too. He was assigned a roommate, but we gave the guy until Tuesday to show up, or contact him in some way, before we decided to rearrange the room. Guess who never showed. Yep!

So, we changed the room around a bit. Turned it into a very acceptable single dorm room. Brought in a nice lamp to give the place a warmer glow and not have to use those awful florescent lights the rooms all come equipped with. We should probably class the joint up a bit, add some chandeliers, some fancy furniture, play some Mozart in the background all the time, you know really make the place feel expensive. Yeah, that's what we should do. So we can end our time in college on a fancy note.

Simpsons Obsession

Since last summer, I've been on such a huge Simpsons kick. Watching the DVDs I've bought over and over, at least 5 times since November. Which is crazy. Those $15 DVD sets have paid for themselves quite well. I guess my renewed love with the series is because...well, I don't get to watch them everyday with dinner anymore. And I never realized how much I missed out on the fantastic extras and commentaries. Ohohoho, I'm quite obsessed.

I've always loved the show, and have seen every episode ever aired on Fox (didn't get HBO when they were the shorts on Tracey Ullman). I had two toys, a Marge and Homer rubber set where you could move their limbs, to a degree. I lost the toys when we moved, and I've never forgiven myself. Hopefully one day I can find, or replace, them. Making me feel whole again.

Senior Project

Okay, so what I'm doing for my senior sequential project is a 40pg artbook featuring concept illustrations and a 5pg comic all related to two of my favourite subjects, robots and animals. I'm planning on doing everything from character designs, environment speed paintings, even pinups with sexy lingerie and all.

I'm working on the idea right now for the comic, but I'm thinking about a touchingly violent story about a little robot boy and his pet bee. Beyond that, I couldn't tell you the plot as it would spoil the lovely result.

I'm really quite excited to start this book project. By the end of the course I want it to be ready for publishing, and get it published for my portfolio over spring break. If all goes well, I'll also offer it for sale. Yes, I've got big plans this quarter. BIG plans.

Traveling Along

Man, packing for this quarter was hard. Aside from the usual stuff I needed to bring, I ended up spending quite a bit of time looking for stuff to fill the boxes I had. Not that, in my infinite wisdom, I thought at all about taking the extra paint or illustration board that I actually need. That's a whole other gripe though.

I should be pretty happy though, that I'm able to take more than just what will fit in a single Delsey luggage wheel bag. I can take a lot of stuff home and back to school. I'm glad I didn't decide to go to school on the west coast for this reason, it would just be a big pain in the end.

Wintery Business

Man, I'm busy this term. I've got a 40page artbook to create, and hopefully publish by spring break. Several comics that will be fully painted (WHOOO!!!), a few graphic design thangys of much note, and probably more stuff then I'm remembering right now.

In the meantime, I have gotten my portfolio site up, I'm very excited about this. As you see, there is another blog there, of the same name as this one. That's because I plan on phasing out this old blogspot location for Glitch Gallery. It'll take several months, I'm guessing 6 is a good estimate, because I really need to get back into this blogging thing.

I think I'll try to keep up with the process of the artbook, since 40 pages is a lot of work, but should be good fun when I'm done. It'll be a good learning experience. I'll post links from here to the blog, so you all won't feel too left out.

Anyhoo, on with winter term, 2009!

Be a Hero

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.