hi

hi

Thursday, July 18, 2013

yay for shoes, boo for everything else



The landlord came by with a realtor and contractor to look the place over a bit more, and they talked loudly about what they'd have to do and what needs to be done and all this stuff. Looks like we'll be getting the two months "move out" notice soon. I love living in this house. It's the right amount of space. I really like my housemates. I like the closeness to downtown. I just really like it and don't want to move. Don't want to foot the expenses of moving. Don't want to look for a new place.

Just don't want any of it.

So I worked on my leftovers, drank a Guinness, and now I'm trying to figure out which candy to eat first. Eating my emotions basically.

My new shoes arrived. Did I mention I finally bought a new pair of 'Roos for work? The price on Zappos dropped a bit. Poor things they just don't stand a chance.

At work we finished off the stack of shirts. I put on Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and there was a fun moment of Andrew double taking and saying, "did he just say Trillian?". We almost finished the whole book! Granted it is only about 5 hours long, but still. Yay for listening!

I broke down the press and cleaned the squeegees and floodbars and removed the tape from the screens. So tomorrow we will print a smallish job, get the backs set up on the big job, and get ready for next week.

Came home to the landlord stuff.

Have the feeling I'm forgetting stuff.

I need like two weeks of no obligations, no tasks, no nothing to be done about anything so that I can reset. It's been too busy, but it won't stop being busy till this month is over and even then who knows what August will bring.

Uhhhg

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

audiobooks in the queue for all to enjoy

Holy guacamole I'm beat!

Work was an endeavor of catching. It isn't hard but it is repetative and you just look at piles of shirts and KNOW you have hours left to work. But at the end I put on The Waste Lands on the stereo for Jeff and I to listen to (he requested an audiobook and I know he has read the Dark Tower series). Though I really dislike the narrator, so I may start something else tomorrow instead. Maybe Hitchhiker's Guide, because...DUH.

Finished one job and boxed it. Started the BIG 1500 piece job. Got about 1/3 of the way through it. I just had to take a second shower when I got home. Even my sweat was sweaty.

Theeeeen I met up with Ryan, Marina, and James to see Pacific Rim. Which was just as cool the second time around.

Now I'm back home and very tired. Off to bed with me!

winners and by proxy winners



Had a really good day! Work was largely spent catching a job, but I also helped clean squeegees and set up the job and other job stuff. It went by relatively fast, though I was hungry by the end. Morale is high and there is a good level of camaraderie. We've got two HUGE jobs to complete, but we shall do just that and it'll be awesome.

Back at home I relaxed for a bit. Changed out of my work clothes. On Zappos, Roos dropped in price so I finally caved and ordered a new pair of work shoes. Hate to doom them, but I've almost worn through the black sole on my current pair. Still have the white rubbery bit, but something tells me that that part isn't meant to be walked on.

Then I ran some quick downtown errands and met Ryan at 99 Bottles to hang out and catch up. I had the philly cheesesteak and ticked off #69 from my 99 Bottles card, and I convinced him to get a card. Tuesday night means raffle night as it turns out, and for each beer you get a ticket. Ryan won twice, but both wins resulted in the same Scrimshaw pint glass, so he gave me one. Awesome! Marina joined us, and we all got to gabbing and sketching and talking about bucket lists and art and travel. I ticked off #79 as well, but two pints was more than enough for me. Arrived at 7:30, left at 11:30. Pretty solid night of hanging out.

Been cooped up working on stuff, so yeah. Nice to get out.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Arya

  




5" x 7". pencil and ink on paper

feelin' good in this neighborhood

Three days of blogging! I think I'll go backwards for this one.

Today (aka Monday):

Welp, I got up to another gray day, though in Santa Cruz it normally just starts gray then clears up and is nice and blue. Work started slow. I caught some hat transfers, then I counted in some shirts. It was the type of work level where I can't do something lengthy like reclaim/coat/clean screens because I'll be needed to catch a job, but the job is taking some set up so I just sort of hang around tidying up a bit. Either way, it was okay. Though I think the next couple days are going to contain a madcap of high volume printing.

After Jeff was done, I reclaimed 20 screens. Something tells me we'll be needing them shortly.

At home I had some chocolate and tea and I, err, ordered more tea. I just like all the tea I've had from Adagio thus far, that I want more tea on hand. Plus I have incurred quite a few points, so I was able to cash them in for a gift card for myself! You get a point for every buck you spend (and you also get points for reviews and sharing on Facebook but I don't do those things). Anyway. Yeah. I'm so set for tea now. But I enjoy having the different blends. Do I feel like an earthy chamomile? Something floral? Yeah. Plus I've been drinking less beer now that I'm drinking more tea. Tea is better calorie wise, not that I'm a calorie counter. Also tea is cheaper in the long run. ANYWAY...I need to find a better place to store my teas, or organize them better on the shelf. Hmm.

I worked on some for fun paintings tonight. Just to keep my mind on fun things. Okay. Now. Lets get to the awesome weekend of fun with Auntie Brynne and Uncle Dan!

Saturday the 13th:

Brunch was moved to 11am, which worked for me. At 10:15ish I got a text from Brynne and Dan informing me that they had put our names on the list and that there were 10 people in front of them for seating. I was already up and showered by this point, so all I had to do was strut my stuff over to Zachary's and meet them! I started the day in pants, a shirt and a hoody.

I ordered the eggs benedict because I trust it to be delicious. Brynne had a hash and Dan a scramble. All was met with yums among good conversation about driving and art and vacation adventures. I like hanging with Brynne and Dan. They make for good conversation people and are very indulgent. They told me about how they wanted to trade cats, so Mom and Dad make sure that next time Salvador is near Auntie and Uncle, you don't get a dyed tabby bait and switch.

From brunch we walked up Pacific, wandering into a couple stores, and then we went into Verve for hot chocolate (me) and espresso (them). We looped around onto Front and said hello to Janet who was working a little street fair sale thingy. Then we walked down Front street and headed to their hotel to drop off things and change into warm weather clothes. They were staying near the wharf and had an excellent view of the bay. Brynne loaned me some shorts and I left my hoody in the hotel. Onwards we walked down to Lighthouse Field State Beach. We saw a young daughter surfing on her dads back like a turtle. Well he was laying flat on the board and paddling about in a non wave bit a water. Still it was cute. There were surfers, because there are always surfers. We went down to the dog beach and sat there for a while absorbing the sun and petting dogs. It was another nice meander back to the hotel, where Brynne took a nap while Dan and I walked out onto the wharf.

Collecting Brynne, we returned to my house. So much walking! Though all pretty easy walks. I was looking a bit pink on the cheeks at this point, but I had put on sunscreen so it could have been much worse. We had a little bit of ice cream and I showed them my place and then it was off again to downtown for dinner. Reservations had been made earlier in the day at Laili with the special request for patio seating. Ah what a patio! There was ivy growing up the walls and it was all just lovely. We had a salad course, a ... something course with yogurt and pumpkin, and the main red meat course with sides that were all delicious and naan (though it wasn't Indian food) and a bottle of wine shared betwixt us. It was all good and really nice. The table cloth was paper so we drew on it while waiting for food, hehe.

A chill had come in, so Brynne and Dan scuttled quickly off to their hotel and I returned home. Ah what a day!

Sunday:

Tried to sleep in but I was unsuccessful, so I had some oatmeal and did my internet rounds. I set out on my bike at 12:15 and picked up Brynne's hat from Laili (she had accidentally left it there) and then I headed east on Soquel for Charlie Hong Kong, where I had told Brynne, Dan, Nathan, and Christine to meet up for Lunch. In retrospect I might have suggested Santa Cruz Diner because that is a bit more "Santa Cruzy" but CHK is better for meeting groups of people who arrive at various times, versus a sit downish place, ya know? We all got noodles and I got the left overs! Christine (I'm sure that is her name but I may be wrong) is a former student of Brynne's. We all gabbed about this and that. Nathan did Tough Mudder on Saturday so he talked about that. He said the hardest part was doing it in wet shoes. None of us wanted to part ways after lunch, so we agreed to meet at my house and then carpool to De Laveaga for a walk. I figured that they could all easily find parking and then we'd all get into one car, but it just ended up being that only Christine could find one, and so they followed Nate & I to the park. I pass by the entrance every day on my way to work, so I figured it was high time to actually check it out. It was a wide well made path through the woods, with the sounds of a park full of people echoing up from the left. At one point we took some side trails and which led us right into the middle of a gold course. We wanted some water so we dashed across the green to sample from the water fountain. We found our way back to the path and then headed back to the cars. It wasn't the longest of walks but it was still a nice one. Always good to stretch one's feet. I hugged B & D goodbye, and we gave C a lift to her car. Nate sampled some of my tea and we chatted for a bit before he too headed back up.

Chatted with Daniel & Heather, and KRB a bit. Talked to Carmen about the upcoming album art. And that is where the day ended up. On a really good note.

I didn't get sunburnt. I had good company. I had lots of good food. I wish for more weekends like this.

Oh and good news, my print portfolio appears to no longer be lost in the mail! It should be back on its way to me soon. Yaay!

Monday, July 15, 2013

sketches of a fun time

My internet went weird last night and I couldn't post, sorry! I'll do a three day sum up tonight, promise! In the mean time, here are some sketches from my weekend with Brynne and Dan: