Have the separations (aka the layers for screenprinting) done for my Christmas print!! And for my Christmas card!!!!! Tomorrow I expose them, and hopefully I'll start printing them that night. Hurray! Neither are large editions, or large prints, so they should print relatively fast. Wheee! I drew them using sharpie on transparency sheets, used for overhead projectors. I had a bit of a driving adventure looking for Staples. 17th magically doesn't connect to Soquel like it should, or at least not in an obvious way, so I went down 7th and jogged over, and the streets between 10th and 17th are named, not numbered, gaah, but I found Staples! I bought a 12 pack of bigger Sharpies, because one can never have enough Sharpies, and some fine tipped ones, and some envelopes to send my cards in (I splurged and got bright envelopes, so it really looks like you got a card, and it isn't just some white envelope blah whatever), and the 50 packs of transparency sheets were, like, fifty bucks, but I just asked the person at the copy section if I could buy it by the sheet (because obviously you can get transparencies printed there) and you can! So I got six sheets to be safe (I only needed 4, based on the scale I'm drawing at). It costs about five cents more a sheet to get it singles, but I'd have to be making a lot of separations before it would become better to break down and buy the stack instead of as needed.
Anyway, got some junk food on the way home because I was tired and lazy. Ate that, and got to drawing! I have watched soooo much Once Upon a Time tonight. Well, it has been on in the background while I worked. It, like Supernatural, is a perfectly functional background show.
Work was stressful. A lot is needing to get done, and it is getting done. Somethings are smoother than other things. I reclaimed screens. Finally got one job finished that has been waiting to be printed for a few months now, so all those screens, which are the most commonly used mesh count of 156, are back in circulation. Or they will be when they get coated. Boxed the job we ran today.
Tomorrow, hopefully, is long because day after tomorrow I can't stay all that late due to having to drive up to San Jose to see THE HOBBIT!! I should plan to get there around 8...so I should leave Santa Cruz at around 7. So I can work up till 6, which is still a pretty good late, but it's nice to have some down time.
Ahhh, time is running out so quickly! Have so much to do still. Wahhh! In less than a week, I'll be back home.
hi
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
getting my printing ducks in a line, or however that saying goes
I got my paper all cut down! Ready to be printed on! And my screens are coated. Damn I love the resources at my job. So awesome. We ran the backs on a job, and I set up the backs, and did a pretty good job at it. I taped more screens. I prepped more screens for discharge. I'm working full shift after full shift, and loving it! Busy times call for busy people. I've got the stamina, lets do this!
Though my paycheck hasn't come in (it normally comes in a Tuesday or a Wednesday) and I'm waiting on that to get the transparencies to make my stencils for screenprinting with. Don't want to spend my money till I get more in. Like a responsible adult! So I took it easy tonight. Watching Premium Rush, that Joseph Gordon-Levitt bike messenger movie. It's mediocre, but the bike scenes and pretty nifty.
Dad, what was the name of that boat style you liked?
Though my paycheck hasn't come in (it normally comes in a Tuesday or a Wednesday) and I'm waiting on that to get the transparencies to make my stencils for screenprinting with. Don't want to spend my money till I get more in. Like a responsible adult! So I took it easy tonight. Watching Premium Rush, that Joseph Gordon-Levitt bike messenger movie. It's mediocre, but the bike scenes and pretty nifty.
Dad, what was the name of that boat style you liked?
not holiday themed, but still nice
Whooo! Got my drawing done. It wasn't what I intended to do, but it looks quite nice. Excited to turn it into a card.
Had a nice full shift at work today. Burned screens. Washed out screens. Tons of screens! There will be more burning tomorrow as well. Finished prepping some of the screens for discharge. Another screen was cleaned and is half way to being ready for discharge. Discharge inks break down the emulsion, so you have to double coat it once it has been burned and washed out, and you use a hardener for that extra kick. New things I have learned! I also cleaned the floodbars. We ran the fronts on one job, and the fronts and backs on another. And that was that.
I got some groceries, went home and had dinner, and worked on drawing. I have a lot to squeeze into a little amount of time. It's the 11th! I go home in a week and a few days! AHhhh! But I have the weekend...I'll accomplish a lot this weekend. After I'm done being REALLY EXCITED about having seen The Hobbit.
Oh Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell continues to be excellent. Mom, I think I have a paperback of this book in my library. Should be a short, squat tome with white lettering on black. Feel free to read it.
Man, how have I watched this much Once Upon a Time?
Had a nice full shift at work today. Burned screens. Washed out screens. Tons of screens! There will be more burning tomorrow as well. Finished prepping some of the screens for discharge. Another screen was cleaned and is half way to being ready for discharge. Discharge inks break down the emulsion, so you have to double coat it once it has been burned and washed out, and you use a hardener for that extra kick. New things I have learned! I also cleaned the floodbars. We ran the fronts on one job, and the fronts and backs on another. And that was that.
I got some groceries, went home and had dinner, and worked on drawing. I have a lot to squeeze into a little amount of time. It's the 11th! I go home in a week and a few days! AHhhh! But I have the weekend...I'll accomplish a lot this weekend. After I'm done being REALLY EXCITED about having seen The Hobbit.
Oh Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell continues to be excellent. Mom, I think I have a paperback of this book in my library. Should be a short, squat tome with white lettering on black. Feel free to read it.
Man, how have I watched this much Once Upon a Time?
Sunday, December 9, 2012
can I just do a double post for every weekend?
Saturday:
Set the alarm because I had errands and couldn't do the 1pm wakeup thing. Had oatmeal, forgetting I had eggs and bacon in my fridge. Went and got paper for Christmas presents, and got some beach reference photos. It was a nice day for it.
Afterwards I drove up to San Jose to meet Steve for a house party/barbecue thingy. It was a fun shindig. There was so much food! And bacon was heartily used in most of the dishes. I ate a ton of mac & cheese, and noodle things, and beef with broccoli. Met Travis, Kate, a second Steve, Nargas, Sam, Crystal, and others. It was full of computer and engineers, but none of them could figure out how to adjust the color on the TV screen. Haha. We watched the Gary Mitchell episode of Star Trek on the projector. Gary Mitchell is supposed to be the new Star Trek movie villain (played by Benedict Cumberbatch).
Got back to my house after the shindig pretty late, so I went straight to sleep.
I finally finished Shadow of Night, and have started with the Patrick Melrose novels. I have the collection of the first four in one tome. It is so dense and beautifully written. Can't wait to read more! No longer am I languishing at the words of Deborah Harkness. I had high hopes but that book was just a disjointed mess.
Sunday:
Slept in! Hurray! Had a big scramble. Worked on my holiday gifts. Had some frustrations though. Wasn't a good work day. But as long as I keep working through the evenings in the coming week, all shall be well. Have to get up early tomorrow and get some Mylar, so I can get the seps ready for printing. Won't emulsify and expose my screens for a few days, but I want that done by week's end.
Now I am watching telly. Will probably tuck in early and read, though I know I've written that before.
Set the alarm because I had errands and couldn't do the 1pm wakeup thing. Had oatmeal, forgetting I had eggs and bacon in my fridge. Went and got paper for Christmas presents, and got some beach reference photos. It was a nice day for it.
Afterwards I drove up to San Jose to meet Steve for a house party/barbecue thingy. It was a fun shindig. There was so much food! And bacon was heartily used in most of the dishes. I ate a ton of mac & cheese, and noodle things, and beef with broccoli. Met Travis, Kate, a second Steve, Nargas, Sam, Crystal, and others. It was full of computer and engineers, but none of them could figure out how to adjust the color on the TV screen. Haha. We watched the Gary Mitchell episode of Star Trek on the projector. Gary Mitchell is supposed to be the new Star Trek movie villain (played by Benedict Cumberbatch).
Got back to my house after the shindig pretty late, so I went straight to sleep.
I finally finished Shadow of Night, and have started with the Patrick Melrose novels. I have the collection of the first four in one tome. It is so dense and beautifully written. Can't wait to read more! No longer am I languishing at the words of Deborah Harkness. I had high hopes but that book was just a disjointed mess.
Sunday:
Slept in! Hurray! Had a big scramble. Worked on my holiday gifts. Had some frustrations though. Wasn't a good work day. But as long as I keep working through the evenings in the coming week, all shall be well. Have to get up early tomorrow and get some Mylar, so I can get the seps ready for printing. Won't emulsify and expose my screens for a few days, but I want that done by week's end.
Now I am watching telly. Will probably tuck in early and read, though I know I've written that before.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
short entry about a nice enough Friday
I don't feel like blogging. It was a pretty cool day at work. Coated some screens. Prepped some for discharge. Taped some. We ran job on canvas, and the artist we ran them for came in and helped. That was neat. Hats were run, but I didn't run them. Stewart did.
Went home. Watched telly. Lined up my weekend plans. Ate a lot of carbs.
Went home. Watched telly. Lined up my weekend plans. Ate a lot of carbs.
Friday, December 7, 2012
gimme gimme
Oops I am slacking on my Christmas gifties. Need to get on that, but I got invited to do rad things this weekend...choices choices.
I did a lot of screen reclaiming at work today. 25 in total, 18 emulsified. Getting 156's into circulation again because a job coming up needs a lot of them. Also ran some hat transfers. There is paper that if you print onto, and then put this powdered glue on top of the print, and heat set it, you can then use a heat press and transfer THAT to a hat or shirt or whatever. I didn't know that was possible. Now I do! So that will probably happen in the coming days, the hat transfers I mean. Didn't get around to getting some of the screens ready for discharge ink. Suddenly there are tons of things to do! AHhh! The pre-Christmas rush! But all is well and super duper.
At home I did laundry and watched way too much Once Upon a Time. That "playing next episode in 3...2...1..." thing is just so automatic. It isn't the best show, but it is good to have on in the background.
My blogs are getting so short, but I don't know how to expound upon my days.
Oh, I added Pandemic to my Christmas List. The calendars I mention can be found at Drawn & Quarterly here and here. The Hark! A Vagrant store can be found here (you can also get the calendars from there). I think that is all the categories you need? And by you I mean Ma & Pa.
I'll get working on those gifts soon...
I did a lot of screen reclaiming at work today. 25 in total, 18 emulsified. Getting 156's into circulation again because a job coming up needs a lot of them. Also ran some hat transfers. There is paper that if you print onto, and then put this powdered glue on top of the print, and heat set it, you can then use a heat press and transfer THAT to a hat or shirt or whatever. I didn't know that was possible. Now I do! So that will probably happen in the coming days, the hat transfers I mean. Didn't get around to getting some of the screens ready for discharge ink. Suddenly there are tons of things to do! AHhh! The pre-Christmas rush! But all is well and super duper.
At home I did laundry and watched way too much Once Upon a Time. That "playing next episode in 3...2...1..." thing is just so automatic. It isn't the best show, but it is good to have on in the background.
My blogs are getting so short, but I don't know how to expound upon my days.
Oh, I added Pandemic to my Christmas List. The calendars I mention can be found at Drawn & Quarterly here and here. The Hark! A Vagrant store can be found here (you can also get the calendars from there). I think that is all the categories you need? And by you I mean Ma & Pa.
I'll get working on those gifts soon...
Thursday, December 6, 2012
star trek into ERMERGERD
It hasn't even been an hour since the Star Trek Into Darkness teaser trailer released and I'm already so exhilarated with excitement.
Spent some time cleaning at work. Figured out the order on one of the jobs, but ran a different one. The seps were done on vellum and were a pain to register, but we did it! Cara (Kara? I need to find out if that is a C or a K with her name) caught for a bit, and we chatted about how she should totally spoil her kids this Christmas.
Had dinner at Burger again, tried the "Hank Williams Sr." burger. It was okay. Like, they are perfectly serviceable burgers but nothing too phenomenal. You know whose burgers I am eagerly awaiting? Dad's. Made with Awesomesauce.
Oh wow, a little more than a week till THE HOBBIT!!
Spent some time cleaning at work. Figured out the order on one of the jobs, but ran a different one. The seps were done on vellum and were a pain to register, but we did it! Cara (Kara? I need to find out if that is a C or a K with her name) caught for a bit, and we chatted about how she should totally spoil her kids this Christmas.
Had dinner at Burger again, tried the "Hank Williams Sr." burger. It was okay. Like, they are perfectly serviceable burgers but nothing too phenomenal. You know whose burgers I am eagerly awaiting? Dad's. Made with Awesomesauce.
Oh wow, a little more than a week till THE HOBBIT!!
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
wobbly bangs are a girls best friend
Today was another long shift. Yay for getting hours right before a significant of time off from work! I cut and bagged stickers. I taped up some screens. I caught some jobs. Talked to Andrew about movies and such. Talked to boss about audiobooks and how they work (an extenuation of a conversation we had yesterday). We ran another job after the first job. Oh and I mixed discharge ink, so that was nifty. 6% powder weight to the weight of the discharge goop. Need to remember how to do percentages...err you multiply it by .06 right?
Anyway. I cleaned out the leftover leftovers from the fridge when I got home. Had a bacon and egg nibbles dinner. Cut my bangs. Watched telly. Figuring out how to spend this remaining time. It is coming together though, which is nice. I'm starting to see how things will unfold and happen and in what order and how I will do it. Which is a nice stage to be in, when things are getting down to it.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
magic!
I started listening to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, and I got so caught up I ended up working two hours without even taking note! I was cutting stickers and bagging them and all that fun stuff. I'm looking forward to a good long listen, after several books that clock in at around 10 hours.
It was a nice day today, hurray! I burned some screens, I taped them, I helped run a vinyl printing job. Tricky stuff, weird ink, very smelly ink too. I cut down paper. Stewart mixed ink. A nice long shift. Chopping stickers takes longer than one might think, and I'm still not yet done!
Back at home I had some pasta, and relaxed in my jammies. Didn't think about all the things I have to do and the remaining time I have to do them in. I'll think about that tomorrow.
Heart Shaped Box had a very satisfying ending. Wasn't the most groundbreaking of stories, but it was told really well.
It was a nice day today, hurray! I burned some screens, I taped them, I helped run a vinyl printing job. Tricky stuff, weird ink, very smelly ink too. I cut down paper. Stewart mixed ink. A nice long shift. Chopping stickers takes longer than one might think, and I'm still not yet done!
Back at home I had some pasta, and relaxed in my jammies. Didn't think about all the things I have to do and the remaining time I have to do them in. I'll think about that tomorrow.
Heart Shaped Box had a very satisfying ending. Wasn't the most groundbreaking of stories, but it was told really well.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
wants and haves
I went to the other art store to check out their wares, and while they lacked specific/artist specific things, they had a pretty good range. They had the craft supplies I was looking for and they also had this awesome tea strainer that looked like a diving helmet. I didn't get it, but maybe someone could order me it for Christmas/my birthday? There is also a robot tea strainer, if you are into that kind of thing. I'll also need a cool calendar for this coming year. You guys know what my taste is like. And by you guys I mean the only people who read this blog: ma & pa.
(And occasionally Jared, hi Jared!)
Today I washed my sheets and my work clothes. Separately, of course, because one is delicate and one gets a heavy duty wash. I also worked on my Christmas prezzies a bit.
I hung up a few posters, just to spruce up my room a bit more. It is looking cozy, and the red shelf is making itself useful for holding odds and ends.
I slept in. My body now feels up to snuff. It was feeling a bit sore and tired at work this past week. Strain builds up, you know.
Had another massive tasty scramble.
Now I am watching my Sunday telly. Another week begins! Counting down to Christmas!
(And occasionally Jared, hi Jared!)
Today I washed my sheets and my work clothes. Separately, of course, because one is delicate and one gets a heavy duty wash. I also worked on my Christmas prezzies a bit.
I hung up a few posters, just to spruce up my room a bit more. It is looking cozy, and the red shelf is making itself useful for holding odds and ends.
I slept in. My body now feels up to snuff. It was feeling a bit sore and tired at work this past week. Strain builds up, you know.
Had another massive tasty scramble.
Now I am watching my Sunday telly. Another week begins! Counting down to Christmas!
double feature Saturday
Oh wow. I did nothing today. It felt great!
Slept in. Had a big scramble that kept me sated through most of the day. Finished watching Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Awesome movie. Watched Strictly Ballroom. Also great movie. Mom. Watch that movie. It is on Netflix Instant.
Carmen and Josh stopped by for a bit to pick up their screen and pan. I got to play Josh's new game for a bit. It was super fun! I like the graphics.
Annnd...that was about it for today. Nice to just sit back. No running about. Tomorrow I'll run about.
Slept in. Had a big scramble that kept me sated through most of the day. Finished watching Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Awesome movie. Watched Strictly Ballroom. Also great movie. Mom. Watch that movie. It is on Netflix Instant.
Carmen and Josh stopped by for a bit to pick up their screen and pan. I got to play Josh's new game for a bit. It was super fun! I like the graphics.
Annnd...that was about it for today. Nice to just sit back. No running about. Tomorrow I'll run about.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
to do lists everywhere
It is the weekend and I have some art to make! Or at least some art to start/conceive.
Work was short, rather than long. I cleaned squeegees and floodbars and screens while Andrew tuned up the machine. It is running so cherry now. He did a bang up job on it. We ran the fronts and banks on a job, and that was boxed. I cleaned some screens and got those ready to be reclaimed. When the weather cleared up a bit, I quickly dehazed my screens & Carmen's. Though quickly wasn't quick enough because the rain still came down. My screens are pretty long since stained. The dehazing did a little but not much.
Came home. Did a bit of shopping. Did my final portrait. Ate dinner. Ray came over and we hung out for a bit.
I really like my pictures hanging above my bed. It makes for a nice something to have in my eyeline, behind my computer screen.
Only two weeks till The Hobbit!! And three weeks till I go home for Christmas!
AHHH THREE WEEKS, I better get cracking on things.
Work was short, rather than long. I cleaned squeegees and floodbars and screens while Andrew tuned up the machine. It is running so cherry now. He did a bang up job on it. We ran the fronts and banks on a job, and that was boxed. I cleaned some screens and got those ready to be reclaimed. When the weather cleared up a bit, I quickly dehazed my screens & Carmen's. Though quickly wasn't quick enough because the rain still came down. My screens are pretty long since stained. The dehazing did a little but not much.
Came home. Did a bit of shopping. Did my final portrait. Ate dinner. Ray came over and we hung out for a bit.
I really like my pictures hanging above my bed. It makes for a nice something to have in my eyeline, behind my computer screen.
Only two weeks till The Hobbit!! And three weeks till I go home for Christmas!
AHHH THREE WEEKS, I better get cracking on things.
Friday, November 30, 2012
can't wait for The Hobbit. TWO WEEKS!!
Buuhhh. It always seems like I have tons of time, and then I start in on a portrait and then BAM it is midnight. Oh well.
At work I caught shirts, mostly. Ran the front of one job, and then the front and back of another. Boxed em. It was windy and rainy. There is a lot of cleaning to be done. Squeegees. This big CMYK simulated process job is happening soon, so we'll need every squeegee we got clean and ready for use.
Got out a bit early and went home and ate the avocado before it went bad. I hung up my travel postcards. I try to get a WPA inspired (or reprint if the National Park actually had a WPA poster) postcard from the National Parks I visit, and they are the perfect size for the 4x6 Ikea frames. I bought 10 frames and had 11 postcards, so the Shasta Caverns one will have to wait till I get four more postcards. I have them in two rows of five above my bed. They are ordered in order of visit to location. My room is really coming together...course now I can't leave for a while seeing as how it has come together. And by leave I mean move out...but I don't see that happening for a while.
Anyway. Drew. Kept warm. Ate food. December is upon us!
OOHHH I got my ticket to see The Hobbit. IMAX! 3D! BOOYAH!!
Man. I need to really buckle down and get my Christmas stuff done, and done quick. Waaah! Time will go by so fast. But I'm going to take it easy first for a couple days.
At work I caught shirts, mostly. Ran the front of one job, and then the front and back of another. Boxed em. It was windy and rainy. There is a lot of cleaning to be done. Squeegees. This big CMYK simulated process job is happening soon, so we'll need every squeegee we got clean and ready for use.
Got out a bit early and went home and ate the avocado before it went bad. I hung up my travel postcards. I try to get a WPA inspired (or reprint if the National Park actually had a WPA poster) postcard from the National Parks I visit, and they are the perfect size for the 4x6 Ikea frames. I bought 10 frames and had 11 postcards, so the Shasta Caverns one will have to wait till I get four more postcards. I have them in two rows of five above my bed. They are ordered in order of visit to location. My room is really coming together...course now I can't leave for a while seeing as how it has come together. And by leave I mean move out...but I don't see that happening for a while.
Anyway. Drew. Kept warm. Ate food. December is upon us!
OOHHH I got my ticket to see The Hobbit. IMAX! 3D! BOOYAH!!
Man. I need to really buckle down and get my Christmas stuff done, and done quick. Waaah! Time will go by so fast. But I'm going to take it easy first for a couple days.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Punctuation Mark in Restaurant Name.
We ran hat transfers in the morning, and boss and Andrew went off to install some things, so I was left to do solo things. I finished Well of Lost Plots, which was excellent. The Thursday Next series just builds and builds and builds upon itself. I love it! Then I started listening to Joe Hill's Heart Shaped Box and got genuinely scared a couple times and had to switch to Spice Girls just to sort of..not be scared. It is a scary book, and I'm just starting! I wonder how much more frightening it will get.
So while they were gone, I did the hats, and coated some screens, and unboxed some shirts, and there were more things I could have done, but they returned and set up the backs to the job and we ran it. Gold ink smells funny.
Did I mention that I've given up cut offs? It is pants season. Boo!
I spent a lot of time thinking about my Christmas print. Maybe I should make a Christmas card as well? A simple two color thing. Or maybe...a Christmas zine! Ahhh I don't want to over tax myself...or do I?
After work, Steve and I met up and went to Burger. It is a restaurant. Named Burger. It did not disappoint. They also had a massive beer menu. Where you order and the service style, and prices, were very accessible and unfancy, but the dining interior and bar were very lovely. A bit loud but overall a nice environment. Would return!
It was a cold night, but not rainy. I wonder how long winter lasts in Santa Cruz? It seems to start around the start of December, lets see when I'm back in shorts on a regular basis.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Tuesday Meatballs
Starting to feel like I'm not catching up on sleep. Even though I did get in bed at a good enough hour last night.
My body was hurting less today, so that was good.
At work I, you guessed it, taped screens! And I burnt some more screens. And since we are clearing some space out of the exposure room, I finished up my shift by reclaiming screens. Not all the ones waiting to be reclaimed, but half of them. Tomorrow they shall be coated. I also cut some stickers and other things. Some shirts came in, so a job shall be run soon. Such a fast turn over!
After work I decided to go to Ikea, because I wanted to get frames so my Christmas print will go into a frame and be all nice and lovely. So I drove on up, and missed the traffic. Had some meatballs and then went to get frames. Though I made the mistake to walk through the store...so I also got a magnetic board, hand towels, napkins, note pads, wine cozies that are shaped like a cockatoo and a shark... hahaha. But yeah, yay Ikea!
Now I have plenty of frames and all is well. Now to make art to go into them!
Back at home I worked on tidying things away into my new shelves. Want to get rid of the presence of boxes, so I'm full and properly moved it. I'm getting there! Tomorrow I think I'll put up my shelves. That red shelving unit is one too many and I have nothing to really put in it, so I might stow it in the basement for the time being.
Yaaawn. Ohhh. Time to go to sleep.
Blehhh just looked at my bank account. Time to be frugaler! Except I need to get my ticket to see The Hobbit in Imax. Ohhh 3D or 48fps? I just don't knooow.
My body was hurting less today, so that was good.
At work I, you guessed it, taped screens! And I burnt some more screens. And since we are clearing some space out of the exposure room, I finished up my shift by reclaiming screens. Not all the ones waiting to be reclaimed, but half of them. Tomorrow they shall be coated. I also cut some stickers and other things. Some shirts came in, so a job shall be run soon. Such a fast turn over!
After work I decided to go to Ikea, because I wanted to get frames so my Christmas print will go into a frame and be all nice and lovely. So I drove on up, and missed the traffic. Had some meatballs and then went to get frames. Though I made the mistake to walk through the store...so I also got a magnetic board, hand towels, napkins, note pads, wine cozies that are shaped like a cockatoo and a shark... hahaha. But yeah, yay Ikea!
Now I have plenty of frames and all is well. Now to make art to go into them!
Back at home I worked on tidying things away into my new shelves. Want to get rid of the presence of boxes, so I'm full and properly moved it. I'm getting there! Tomorrow I think I'll put up my shelves. That red shelving unit is one too many and I have nothing to really put in it, so I might stow it in the basement for the time being.
Yaaawn. Ohhh. Time to go to sleep.
Blehhh just looked at my bank account. Time to be frugaler! Except I need to get my ticket to see The Hobbit in Imax. Ohhh 3D or 48fps? I just don't knooow.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
I need my hands to work!
I was fighting super soreness all day. I woke up and my hands felt funky and stiff. Plus my knee feels out of whack. Need to get to bed a lot earlier than I have been. Like, once I blog I am going to bed. Might read a bit, but for sure going to bed.
It is starting to get chilly. Starting to think about wearing pants over cutoffs to work. Hmm. Starting to think about switching to pants when it is almost December. Ha!
Work was a bit slow. A lot of housekeeping. Refilled the press wipe bottles. Refilled the glue bottle, which was a pain because the problem with things that contain glue is their caps get way stuck on. Cleaned screens, didn't reclaim them though. Will probably do that tomorrow if the weather holds up. Taped some screens. Listened to a good chunk of my audiobook. Burned some screens. Tomorrow will be more taping and reclaiming. Hopefully my hands will feel better, it's tough to do a job that needs your hands when you hands are hurting for some unknown reason.
Back at home I just drew and ate leftover crab stuffing. Uneventful day and night. Back in the swing of things!
It is starting to get chilly. Starting to think about wearing pants over cutoffs to work. Hmm. Starting to think about switching to pants when it is almost December. Ha!
Work was a bit slow. A lot of housekeeping. Refilled the press wipe bottles. Refilled the glue bottle, which was a pain because the problem with things that contain glue is their caps get way stuck on. Cleaned screens, didn't reclaim them though. Will probably do that tomorrow if the weather holds up. Taped some screens. Listened to a good chunk of my audiobook. Burned some screens. Tomorrow will be more taping and reclaiming. Hopefully my hands will feel better, it's tough to do a job that needs your hands when you hands are hurting for some unknown reason.
Back at home I just drew and ate leftover crab stuffing. Uneventful day and night. Back in the swing of things!
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Holly is a sensitive dog
Said goodbye to Ma & Pa. That was such a fun little vacation! Lots of roaming around my city and food and fun and a bit of shopping.
They said they'd get me a mattress for Christmas, and right on cue my bed is starting to feel really uncomfortable. Haha. You'd think the futon would be trying to win me over or something.
Met up at the motorhome at around 10:30. Pancakes for breakfast! Yay! The first stop, after dropping Holly off, was Lighthouse Field State Park. We found parking at the museum, which didn't open till noon, so we got the binoculars and watched the surfers. And I say that in a non creeper way. They were really good surfers! Binocs just make it easier to appreciate their skills.
It was another beautiful day. The weather has been amazing during my parent's visit. Now they are going back to sucky Seabeck weather. California is curing my Pacific Northwest Stockholm Syndrome.
The Surfing Museum was pretty cool. A little place, with lots of boards and history. From there we walked down to the beach and then walked back because there were quite a few dog poops on the beach. I drove and parked downtown and we walked up Front Street. I was able to point out some shirts I had printed in a shop window. We checked out the Museum of Art and History, which had an exhibit of Collections. Like, different things people have collected over time, like skulls, old drills, burnt sculptures, computers, etc. And each collection had a blurb about the collector, which I really liked.
There was a history exhibit as well, and Santa Cruz strikes me as very prone to natural disasters like earthquakes and floods. Well, maybe not PRONE but they have had a few in the past 100 years. There, like at the Surfing Museum, was some history about Duke Kahanamoku, a Hawaiian surfer who spent time at Santa Cruz. I wonder if he has a cool biography about him-NO! TRILLIAN! You have ENOUGH to read.
After the museum, Ma and Pa were hungry, so we stopped at a Thai food place on Pacific. I moved my car because the time was starting to run low. Ma and Pa ordered for me, which was fine because between Ma's soup and Dad's squid salad and spring rolls and side of rice and chicken satay, there was more than enough food for the three of us.
We walked down Pacific. Dad got a swell shirt at O'Neill's. We went into Logos and I found a copy of X'ed Out by Charles Burns for SEVEN BUCKS! Sweet deal! Ma got some vinyl, Dad got a CD. Then we all got froyo! And they got some tea at Trader Joe's.
Then we swung by my house and picked up a very excited and enthusiastic Holly and went to Seacliff State Park, or Cliff Sea Park. Something with a cliff. Holly was a good dog. One of the other little dogs went after her. What a jackass that dog was. Every other dog was mellow and Holly was mellow. That one dog though. Boo! Holly went down all the steps and all the way onto the wharf. She may be an old dog, but she can tromp with the best of them. The sunset was pretty. Holly went up the 149 steps like a trooper. She just likes attention.
At my house we picked up the remaining pie, Holly's food and blanket, and then I took Ma and Pa home and hugged them goodnight and goodbye.
Back at home, all by myself, I drew my portrait for the day and ate cookies.
They said they'd get me a mattress for Christmas, and right on cue my bed is starting to feel really uncomfortable. Haha. You'd think the futon would be trying to win me over or something.
Met up at the motorhome at around 10:30. Pancakes for breakfast! Yay! The first stop, after dropping Holly off, was Lighthouse Field State Park. We found parking at the museum, which didn't open till noon, so we got the binoculars and watched the surfers. And I say that in a non creeper way. They were really good surfers! Binocs just make it easier to appreciate their skills.
It was another beautiful day. The weather has been amazing during my parent's visit. Now they are going back to sucky Seabeck weather. California is curing my Pacific Northwest Stockholm Syndrome.
The Surfing Museum was pretty cool. A little place, with lots of boards and history. From there we walked down to the beach and then walked back because there were quite a few dog poops on the beach. I drove and parked downtown and we walked up Front Street. I was able to point out some shirts I had printed in a shop window. We checked out the Museum of Art and History, which had an exhibit of Collections. Like, different things people have collected over time, like skulls, old drills, burnt sculptures, computers, etc. And each collection had a blurb about the collector, which I really liked.
There was a history exhibit as well, and Santa Cruz strikes me as very prone to natural disasters like earthquakes and floods. Well, maybe not PRONE but they have had a few in the past 100 years. There, like at the Surfing Museum, was some history about Duke Kahanamoku, a Hawaiian surfer who spent time at Santa Cruz. I wonder if he has a cool biography about him-NO! TRILLIAN! You have ENOUGH to read.
After the museum, Ma and Pa were hungry, so we stopped at a Thai food place on Pacific. I moved my car because the time was starting to run low. Ma and Pa ordered for me, which was fine because between Ma's soup and Dad's squid salad and spring rolls and side of rice and chicken satay, there was more than enough food for the three of us.
We walked down Pacific. Dad got a swell shirt at O'Neill's. We went into Logos and I found a copy of X'ed Out by Charles Burns for SEVEN BUCKS! Sweet deal! Ma got some vinyl, Dad got a CD. Then we all got froyo! And they got some tea at Trader Joe's.
Then we swung by my house and picked up a very excited and enthusiastic Holly and went to Seacliff State Park, or Cliff Sea Park. Something with a cliff. Holly was a good dog. One of the other little dogs went after her. What a jackass that dog was. Every other dog was mellow and Holly was mellow. That one dog though. Boo! Holly went down all the steps and all the way onto the wharf. She may be an old dog, but she can tromp with the best of them. The sunset was pretty. Holly went up the 149 steps like a trooper. She just likes attention.
At my house we picked up the remaining pie, Holly's food and blanket, and then I took Ma and Pa home and hugged them goodnight and goodbye.
Back at home, all by myself, I drew my portrait for the day and ate cookies.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
state park hoppin'
Another busy day! Though I parted from Ma & Pa & Nate earlier on. Still! Whoo nice to be out and about and doing all sorts of things.
Got up. Showered. Had cinnamon rolls and tea at the motorhome. Then we returned to my place, well we picked up some maps at the Visitor's Information place first, and we dropped off Holly. Poor doggy, brought all the way down to Santa Cruz and spends most of the time in my back yard. Still, it is a nice back yard. Plenty of room for pooping.
We drove on to this steam train thingy north of Santa Cruz. Ma and Pa ruined the joke I was trying to tell. It is a very good joke, but hard to tell, and then messed me up. So they don't get the punchline!
The Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow-Gauge Railroad had a steam train that you can ride up into the redwoods. We met Nathan there. I got some jerky to gnaw on during the course of the ride. There were kids present, but the kids in our section of the car were really well behaved. The only way I can stand kids is if they are not screaming, which none of these were. It was awesome.
The trees were nice, and it was a lovely day. At the top was a break area, and I got a candy cane from Santa. And some hot apple cider. There was a family hiking up the trail, and they kept pace with the train. A straight line up versus a zig zag along the track. Pops got me a train shirt, though it wouldn't pass snuff if it was printed at MY shop (pin hole and registration).
Back at home we had leftovers for lunch and gave Holly some attention (and turkey skin). From there we went to (sans dog) Wilder Ranch State Park and walked around. Looked at the visitor's center. Saw a bit of the sunset. I chased Nathan with the threat of tickles. Generally a good time was had. Nate returned to Redwood City. Ma and Pa did some shopping and I dropped them off at the motorhome.
So active! So many things to do! Tomorrow shall be more parks, more turkey, and...I dunno? But it is back to work the day after tomorrow. Yay work! I actually do like it, as I have said. Don't mind doing my job at all. Dad needs a Santa Cruz shirt. A proper one.
Got up. Showered. Had cinnamon rolls and tea at the motorhome. Then we returned to my place, well we picked up some maps at the Visitor's Information place first, and we dropped off Holly. Poor doggy, brought all the way down to Santa Cruz and spends most of the time in my back yard. Still, it is a nice back yard. Plenty of room for pooping.
We drove on to this steam train thingy north of Santa Cruz. Ma and Pa ruined the joke I was trying to tell. It is a very good joke, but hard to tell, and then messed me up. So they don't get the punchline!
The Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow-Gauge Railroad had a steam train that you can ride up into the redwoods. We met Nathan there. I got some jerky to gnaw on during the course of the ride. There were kids present, but the kids in our section of the car were really well behaved. The only way I can stand kids is if they are not screaming, which none of these were. It was awesome.
The trees were nice, and it was a lovely day. At the top was a break area, and I got a candy cane from Santa. And some hot apple cider. There was a family hiking up the trail, and they kept pace with the train. A straight line up versus a zig zag along the track. Pops got me a train shirt, though it wouldn't pass snuff if it was printed at MY shop (pin hole and registration).
Back at home we had leftovers for lunch and gave Holly some attention (and turkey skin). From there we went to (sans dog) Wilder Ranch State Park and walked around. Looked at the visitor's center. Saw a bit of the sunset. I chased Nathan with the threat of tickles. Generally a good time was had. Nate returned to Redwood City. Ma and Pa did some shopping and I dropped them off at the motorhome.
So active! So many things to do! Tomorrow shall be more parks, more turkey, and...I dunno? But it is back to work the day after tomorrow. Yay work! I actually do like it, as I have said. Don't mind doing my job at all. Dad needs a Santa Cruz shirt. A proper one.
Blue Sky Friday
Wow. I can't have too many full days like this in a row! I'm so tired, and this is supposed to be a vacation, right?
Anyway, I did catch plenty of Z's. And being still largely full, I didn't have breakfast. I just showered, pulled the shelves out of my car (parents brought down a lot of furniture for me, more than I asked for, but hey, all of my things should be sorted away now. No more line up of boxes on the wall!). Went and picked up Ma and Pa. We left Holly in my backyard and drove to the UCSC Arboretum. It was a beautiful day to spend amid the gardens. There were plants from New Zealand, South...America?, and Australia. The Australia plants were the coolest because they had all these interesting shapes. I must go back to the Arboretum with my sketchbook and draw some of the cool plant shapes.
We had leftovers for lunch back at my place, and Nathan and Helen came down for the rest of the day. We once again left Holly behind (poor doggy, but we'll do something pet friendly tomorrow probably). We went to Natural Bridges State Park, which is a lie because there is only ONE bridge. Singular. We walked the loop through the park, saw the monarch butterflies, fiddled with anemones in tide pools, and I asked about what presents people want for Christmas.
From the park we drove down Cliff Drive and parked in the residential area, and walked out along the Wharf. Saw the sun go down and the boardwalk lit up for all of an hour it seemed. Saw the sea lions make their rucus and had some fish and chips. No leftovers! I think leftovers can really only be eaten for 2/3s of the post-Thanksgiving meals.
And Nathan got us dessert. Caramel apples and fudge (though Mom has since whisked away the fudge and I know not where it is). We drove back to my house, dished up some leftovers for Nathan, and said adieu to him and Helen. I drove Ma & Pa back to the campsite soon after. Tomorrow there will be a train adventure of sorts. Hopefully I won't be surrounded by too many children.
I spent the rest of the night catching up on portraits (as you can see below) and relaxing. I banged my hand on my desk, so hopefully it won't be too bad come morning.
Anyway, I did catch plenty of Z's. And being still largely full, I didn't have breakfast. I just showered, pulled the shelves out of my car (parents brought down a lot of furniture for me, more than I asked for, but hey, all of my things should be sorted away now. No more line up of boxes on the wall!). Went and picked up Ma and Pa. We left Holly in my backyard and drove to the UCSC Arboretum. It was a beautiful day to spend amid the gardens. There were plants from New Zealand, South...America?, and Australia. The Australia plants were the coolest because they had all these interesting shapes. I must go back to the Arboretum with my sketchbook and draw some of the cool plant shapes.
We had leftovers for lunch back at my place, and Nathan and Helen came down for the rest of the day. We once again left Holly behind (poor doggy, but we'll do something pet friendly tomorrow probably). We went to Natural Bridges State Park, which is a lie because there is only ONE bridge. Singular. We walked the loop through the park, saw the monarch butterflies, fiddled with anemones in tide pools, and I asked about what presents people want for Christmas.
From the park we drove down Cliff Drive and parked in the residential area, and walked out along the Wharf. Saw the sun go down and the boardwalk lit up for all of an hour it seemed. Saw the sea lions make their rucus and had some fish and chips. No leftovers! I think leftovers can really only be eaten for 2/3s of the post-Thanksgiving meals.
And Nathan got us dessert. Caramel apples and fudge (though Mom has since whisked away the fudge and I know not where it is). We drove back to my house, dished up some leftovers for Nathan, and said adieu to him and Helen. I drove Ma & Pa back to the campsite soon after. Tomorrow there will be a train adventure of sorts. Hopefully I won't be surrounded by too many children.
I spent the rest of the night catching up on portraits (as you can see below) and relaxing. I banged my hand on my desk, so hopefully it won't be too bad come morning.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
I'm thankful for having an awesome family
Ohhh boy. I don't think I'll need to eat till Saturday. Made too much food, ate a bunch of it, then ate some more.
But lets start at the start.
Alarm went off at 6:45. I got up at 7:15ish and set the over to preheating. Took a shower, then I put foil around the turkey and popped it in the oven. Then I went to pick up ma and pa. I hung out in their motorhome for a bit and drank tea, and then it was time to get the cooking underway. Hurray!
The finished menu ended up being: turkey, cranberry sauce, avocado creamy pasta, tearaway bread rolls, this sweet potato thing, some apple juice and a couple bottles of wine, green beans, salad, and crab stuffing courtesy of Carmen & Josh. Oh and two pies. This was for FIVE PEOPLE. I don't know what I was thinking. We could easily have done away with the pasta, at the very least I didn't have to double the recipe. And didn't need to double the recipe on the sweet potato thing. We also didn't have the spices right, so it was lacking a bit. The pasta sauce was a bit strong on the lemon. Buuut the turkey was good, the cranberry sauce was primo, the stuffing was tasty stuff.
I made the cranberry sauce, the pasta, and the bread, and the sauce that went with the sweet potato stuff. Dad arranged the sweet potatoes. Ma made the salad. They tended to the turkey. It was a steady pace of cooking, but not too overwhelming. Ma made the pies, and oh they were good. Well the apple, my favorite, was swell.
Between meal and pie, we went for a walk down to the beach. Walked Holly.
Carmen and Josh arrived right on time as things were finishing up.
It was a bright day, not the warmest but bright.
When I returned Ma & Pa to the motorhome, we had tea and watched Apollo 13.
I'm so allergic to that cat. Boo.
So things I learned for the future:
But lets start at the start.
Alarm went off at 6:45. I got up at 7:15ish and set the over to preheating. Took a shower, then I put foil around the turkey and popped it in the oven. Then I went to pick up ma and pa. I hung out in their motorhome for a bit and drank tea, and then it was time to get the cooking underway. Hurray!
The finished menu ended up being: turkey, cranberry sauce, avocado creamy pasta, tearaway bread rolls, this sweet potato thing, some apple juice and a couple bottles of wine, green beans, salad, and crab stuffing courtesy of Carmen & Josh. Oh and two pies. This was for FIVE PEOPLE. I don't know what I was thinking. We could easily have done away with the pasta, at the very least I didn't have to double the recipe. And didn't need to double the recipe on the sweet potato thing. We also didn't have the spices right, so it was lacking a bit. The pasta sauce was a bit strong on the lemon. Buuut the turkey was good, the cranberry sauce was primo, the stuffing was tasty stuff.
I made the cranberry sauce, the pasta, and the bread, and the sauce that went with the sweet potato stuff. Dad arranged the sweet potatoes. Ma made the salad. They tended to the turkey. It was a steady pace of cooking, but not too overwhelming. Ma made the pies, and oh they were good. Well the apple, my favorite, was swell.
Between meal and pie, we went for a walk down to the beach. Walked Holly.
Carmen and Josh arrived right on time as things were finishing up.
It was a bright day, not the warmest but bright.
When I returned Ma & Pa to the motorhome, we had tea and watched Apollo 13.
I'm so allergic to that cat. Boo.
So things I learned for the future:
- when making a lot of dishes, don't double up recipes.
- use the right spices.
- if people are bringing a dish, you don't need to make as many dishes.
- seriously, you don't need to double up recipes like that.
It was nice. Now I will be well fed for a while. Turkey sandwiches!
Curly Anne
Work was one full length shift. Ran one job, that was one color, but lots of different shirt sizes, thus requiring several palette changes, and taping many screens because all the images were different sizes as well. I cleaned some screens. I burned some screens. Didn't tape those ones though. I also caught shirts, and Andrew boxed. Finished 14, started The Well of Lost Plots. The Thursday Next series is seriously good!
At 6:30 I was outta there, and I went straight to the park where Ma and Pa are staying. I was hoping they had arrived by then, and they had! With kitty and doggy in tow. That cat, formerly known as Salvador and currently known as Dali, is getting so big!
We packed up my car with some food stuffs and went to my place. From there we figured out what we needed to buy, and went to Trader Joe's for a food run. Food and sweets. Then we went to Woodstock's and got pizza for dinner. They misheard my name, so when it came time to call us forth to receive our pizza, they said, "Curly Anne?". Ha! That is a new mishearing.
Back at the house, we ate the pizza and watched Downton Abbey, and then we lathered up the turkey and got it ready. I am aiming to get it into the oven at around 7. Early start! Time for me to go to bed.
And when I dropped Ma and Pa off, they put some of the stuff they brought for me into my car, so now I have a second lamp, a drafting table, some shelves...and I have more coming my way.
At 6:30 I was outta there, and I went straight to the park where Ma and Pa are staying. I was hoping they had arrived by then, and they had! With kitty and doggy in tow. That cat, formerly known as Salvador and currently known as Dali, is getting so big!
We packed up my car with some food stuffs and went to my place. From there we figured out what we needed to buy, and went to Trader Joe's for a food run. Food and sweets. Then we went to Woodstock's and got pizza for dinner. They misheard my name, so when it came time to call us forth to receive our pizza, they said, "Curly Anne?". Ha! That is a new mishearing.
Back at the house, we ate the pizza and watched Downton Abbey, and then we lathered up the turkey and got it ready. I am aiming to get it into the oven at around 7. Early start! Time for me to go to bed.
And when I dropped Ma and Pa off, they put some of the stuff they brought for me into my car, so now I have a second lamp, a drafting table, some shelves...and I have more coming my way.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
there is tension in my jaw, like I've been clenching it....
Just finished the portrait for tomorrow. Ohhh boy. It looks really good! I am very pleased with it, and can't wait for y'all to see it. Getting better all the time! WHooo!!
Work was pretty busy. Ran some more shirts in the morning, cleaned some screens, taped some screens, there were about seven boxes worth of shirts & sweatshirts to unload and in all sorts of sizes, and not readily grouped together, so it was my assignment to find all the zips and pullovers and put those into their piles, then the ladies tees, and the white unisex tees, and the youth, and the childrens and all these things. Hehe. Tomorrow a lot will be printed and then it is the long weekend! Hurrayay!
I am almost done with 14 and it is positively riveting! It went straight up crazy Tesla Lovecraft, and I am all on board for that.
Did my laundry. Figured out the Thanksgiving menu. Looks like brussel sprouts and gravy are not on the menu...can't make TOO much good stuff, but we shall try.
Work was pretty busy. Ran some more shirts in the morning, cleaned some screens, taped some screens, there were about seven boxes worth of shirts & sweatshirts to unload and in all sorts of sizes, and not readily grouped together, so it was my assignment to find all the zips and pullovers and put those into their piles, then the ladies tees, and the white unisex tees, and the youth, and the childrens and all these things. Hehe. Tomorrow a lot will be printed and then it is the long weekend! Hurrayay!
I am almost done with 14 and it is positively riveting! It went straight up crazy Tesla Lovecraft, and I am all on board for that.
Did my laundry. Figured out the Thanksgiving menu. Looks like brussel sprouts and gravy are not on the menu...can't make TOO much good stuff, but we shall try.
Monday, November 19, 2012
good times are now and ahead
Oh man. Oh man. I've been listening to 14 by Peter Clines and it is RIVETING!! Soooo good. Very intense. It's all I can do to keep myself from listening to it all the time. Have to recharge my mp3 player batteries some time!
Got my tickets for coming home. 20th-29th I'll be in Kitsap! Whooo! Talking about December. And Christmas. Guess I should put a Christmas/Birthday wish list in my side bar on my blog.
Need to figure out my Thanksgiving menu. I got wrapped up with drawing and listening to 14....
Dang it has gone chilly again.
Work, we troubleshooted and adjusted the off contact and everything went awesomely. Finished two jobs, so that is awesome. I caught and boxed and broke down the press. Also added more oil and helped at the high heat lube to the press. Nice work day. I work tomorrow, then Wednesday, then holiday time! I asked for Thanksgiving and the Friday after off, all though I was pretty sure they were already given off. I also have two weeks for Christmas off. HA! Awesome job. So much time off (though it is time during which I am not making any money, which sucks) but nice to not have to stress about working during certain times.
Anyway. Back home I drew and relaxed and things were pretty nifty.
Life is good for lil ol' Trillian.
And I like being able to say that. I'm coming round on 25 and I feel good about where I am right now.
Got my tickets for coming home. 20th-29th I'll be in Kitsap! Whooo! Talking about December. And Christmas. Guess I should put a Christmas/Birthday wish list in my side bar on my blog.
Need to figure out my Thanksgiving menu. I got wrapped up with drawing and listening to 14....
Dang it has gone chilly again.
Work, we troubleshooted and adjusted the off contact and everything went awesomely. Finished two jobs, so that is awesome. I caught and boxed and broke down the press. Also added more oil and helped at the high heat lube to the press. Nice work day. I work tomorrow, then Wednesday, then holiday time! I asked for Thanksgiving and the Friday after off, all though I was pretty sure they were already given off. I also have two weeks for Christmas off. HA! Awesome job. So much time off (though it is time during which I am not making any money, which sucks) but nice to not have to stress about working during certain times.
Anyway. Back home I drew and relaxed and things were pretty nifty.
Life is good for lil ol' Trillian.
And I like being able to say that. I'm coming round on 25 and I feel good about where I am right now.
soon I shall see family and it will be grand
Got up at a more respectable hour. It was a beautiful day. It poured down a bit last night, but it was sunny and warm enough all day long, which is pretty awesome for mid November.
Took my bike out and pedaled down Laurel and up Mission to meet Ray for brunch at Cafe Brasil. Or Brasil Cafe. A little place with tasty brunch food. I had poached egg and avocado on baguette, and it was scrumptious. Can't go wrong with those three things. Had a nice little meal and we walked around the neighborhood chatting. Santa Cruz is really quite nice.
Back at home I put my feet up and drew some portraits and ate leftover pizza.
The Walking Dead is seriously good this season. Intense! To the point! And some damn good filming. Now to watch Homeland and then go to sleep. Got a busy week ahead of me!
Took my bike out and pedaled down Laurel and up Mission to meet Ray for brunch at Cafe Brasil. Or Brasil Cafe. A little place with tasty brunch food. I had poached egg and avocado on baguette, and it was scrumptious. Can't go wrong with those three things. Had a nice little meal and we walked around the neighborhood chatting. Santa Cruz is really quite nice.
Back at home I put my feet up and drew some portraits and ate leftover pizza.
The Walking Dead is seriously good this season. Intense! To the point! And some damn good filming. Now to watch Homeland and then go to sleep. Got a busy week ahead of me!
Sunday, November 18, 2012
pizza is good
Ahhh sleep. I dig it. Did a grocery run. Candy Cane Joe-Joe's are at Trader Joe's!! I'm so happy. As are tons of other holiday seasonal sweets. Tasty tasty stuff. Also got fruit and pasta and pasta sauce. Those things.
Steve came down (from San Jose) for the evening, and we got pizza from Woodstock's. Mmm can't go wrong with feta, chicken, basil, and onions. Numm! I need to get a takehome menu, so I can phone in orders, instead of waiting in the restaurant for a while for the pizza.
Fairly relaxing Saturday. I have brunch plans tomorrow and then I think I'll spend the rest of Sunday drawing some portraits. That will be nice. Then back to work! Hurray!
November is going by REALLY fast. Holy cow month, SLOW DOWN! I don't even have any Christmas shopping done. Though I'll probably just make a print for people. A Christmas print. And they'll ENJOY IT! So help me they will...
Steve came down (from San Jose) for the evening, and we got pizza from Woodstock's. Mmm can't go wrong with feta, chicken, basil, and onions. Numm! I need to get a takehome menu, so I can phone in orders, instead of waiting in the restaurant for a while for the pizza.
Fairly relaxing Saturday. I have brunch plans tomorrow and then I think I'll spend the rest of Sunday drawing some portraits. That will be nice. Then back to work! Hurray!
November is going by REALLY fast. Holy cow month, SLOW DOWN! I don't even have any Christmas shopping done. Though I'll probably just make a print for people. A Christmas print. And they'll ENJOY IT! So help me they will...
Saturday, November 17, 2012
I like the sound of rain on the roof.
Had a relatively short day at work. Just ran a bit of a job, which required a lot of set up. I coated some screens as well. Now we have oodles of screens just waiting to be burned! Finished Killing Floor. Moved on to 14, pretty nifty book thus far.
Talked to Ma & Pa. Figuring out Thanksgiving. Need to figure out what I am going to MAKE for Thanksgiving!
I was lazy and bought Jack in the Box for a late lunch. Watched some movies. Did some portraits. Weekend! Time to do things!
It has been raining all day. It's nice to listen to.
Talked to Ma & Pa. Figuring out Thanksgiving. Need to figure out what I am going to MAKE for Thanksgiving!
I was lazy and bought Jack in the Box for a late lunch. Watched some movies. Did some portraits. Weekend! Time to do things!
It has been raining all day. It's nice to listen to.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
chevron over herringbone
Winding down by watching Cosmopolis. Well. Not sure if winding down is the right way to put it. It is very strange. Sure it is David Cronenberg....but yeah.
Finished Killing Floor. Exciting little book. Moved onto 14. Not sure if I want to listen to a bunch of Jack Reacher novels...
At work I tidied up the waterbased inks, and burn and taped a bunch of screens, and weeded some vinyl, and...errr. Did some other things too, I'm sure. Getting ready for some jobs.
I ordered a new wallet offa Etsy. A little thing, hand made in Ontario, chevron patterned with a pocket. Looks nice, I'm excited for it to arrive.
Tomorrow is Friday? Already? Blimey!
Finished Killing Floor. Exciting little book. Moved onto 14. Not sure if I want to listen to a bunch of Jack Reacher novels...
At work I tidied up the waterbased inks, and burn and taped a bunch of screens, and weeded some vinyl, and...errr. Did some other things too, I'm sure. Getting ready for some jobs.
I ordered a new wallet offa Etsy. A little thing, hand made in Ontario, chevron patterned with a pocket. Looks nice, I'm excited for it to arrive.
Tomorrow is Friday? Already? Blimey!
billfold
Another largely solitary day. Killing Floor is a pretty exciting little mystery, it keeps my brain going "oh whodunnit, was it this person? ooooh." Sometimes I just want to wait for the book to reveal itself, so I like it when a book gets me thinking along with the narrative.
I applied glue to the palettes, burned a screen, cleaned the press, and then was given the task of putting banner scraps on the new ink shelves (to make an easier to clean surface) and then cleaning and reorganizing said ink shelves. Now the station looks much better, and the colors are easier to get to. The tans and beiges are together, the purple and pinks are together, and both the aforementioned are not shoved behind reds and yellows and oranges. Nothing is more than two deep, so all the numbers on the things of ink are easily readable. Looks so nice. And plenty of room for new inks!
Yup. Got home pretty tired from being slightly hunched all day.
Watched my telly, ate my dinner.
Need to buy a new wallet, as I spilled gunk on my current one, which was already shabby and in need of a replacement. I've gone through two wallets since 2005! That is OUTRAGEOUS!
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
tuesday night thoughts
Back to work! And it was largely clean up and stuff. It felt like I did the tasks very slow, or maybe I'm just not aware of the time things take? Broke down the press. The studio was cold, which was a bummer. It was warm outside. And I mentioned breaking down means taking down all the screens and squeegees and things right? Taking them down and out from the press. Cleaned the screens, cleaned the squeegess, weeded some vinyl, helped Andrew remove from brackets from the van, cleaned the pallets.
It sucks to get out of work at 5pm and it is already dark. Booo!
Pasta for dinner. And I drew some portraits! Two of them! One came easily, one did not. You'll see them soon.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Eleanor
I spent most of the day at home. Didn't feel like going out and drawing landscapes. I stayed in and worked on a portrait which proved very difficult. Started listened to Killing Floor, the first Jack Reacher novel. Felt in a mood for something a little less whimsical after Lost In a Good Story.
Game night was fun. Met Mary and Paula was there. We played Thurn and Taxis and Transamerica and this German bike game and Evo. Pretty full line up. Thurn and Taxis was neat. A sort of...mail route system game. Apparently tabletop games are HUGE in Germany.
It's cold again. Time to crawl into bed.
Monday, November 12, 2012
California chills
It's been really cold in my house. I checked the windows and found the one in the spare bedroom was open. Probably to keep the room from getting musty or whatever. But I closed it anyway. Because it is cold. And I don't have long johns.
I am drinking hot tea out of a mason jar. Specifically the kind from Cherish & Isaiah's wedding. Half way through it now. It's good. Warms my soul.
Slept way way in. It was nice to do so. My body rhythms are still set firmly to waking up at 8am. Pretty satisfied that I can get up so regularly and get to work on time. I can sleep in when I don't work, and get up when I don't. I'm an adult! WHooo!!
Drew a portrait. Watched telly. Ate food. Went and got more food so that I can eat it. Still no candy cane joe joes at Trader Joe's. Probably waiting to sell off the crummy Halloween cookies first.
Ray came over and we finished off the chili and watching The Walking Dead and Misfits.
Amanda, my housemate, is back from helping the Obama Campaign in Colorado. Well she came back a couple days ago, but this was the first night that I have actually seen her.
Now I think I shall sit in bed and read. Oh wait. I have Homeland to watch. Hmmmn.
I am drinking hot tea out of a mason jar. Specifically the kind from Cherish & Isaiah's wedding. Half way through it now. It's good. Warms my soul.
Slept way way in. It was nice to do so. My body rhythms are still set firmly to waking up at 8am. Pretty satisfied that I can get up so regularly and get to work on time. I can sleep in when I don't work, and get up when I don't. I'm an adult! WHooo!!
Drew a portrait. Watched telly. Ate food. Went and got more food so that I can eat it. Still no candy cane joe joes at Trader Joe's. Probably waiting to sell off the crummy Halloween cookies first.
Ray came over and we finished off the chili and watching The Walking Dead and Misfits.
Amanda, my housemate, is back from helping the Obama Campaign in Colorado. Well she came back a couple days ago, but this was the first night that I have actually seen her.
Now I think I shall sit in bed and read. Oh wait. I have Homeland to watch. Hmmmn.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Robin & Finn
What a lovely wonderful day! Things are really coming up quite splendidly in my life these days.
Met Steve in San Jose for a little afternoon hike. We went to the, err, Sierra Azul? open area in Los Gatos, and walked up the path a bit. There were some mountain bikers, but we were never in danger of being squashed by some maniacs. It was a bit chillier of a day, but when one hikes, one warms up. After proving how bad I actually am at going up hills, we shared a sandwich in downtown San Jose, and parted ways. I headed North some more to Oakland.
Though it was closer in to Berkley than Oakland. I found easy on the street parking and waited outside Zachary's pizza for Robin and Finn. Finn was the first to arrive. I don't think I've seen him since I was unemployed. Oh how fast things change! Robin arrived next and we decided on sushi instead of pizza. I had udon and a philly role. Robin stuck to rolls, Finn had ramen and rolls. We shared sake, and a good chat was had by all. From there we went to Tara's Ice Cream. I had the salted caramel with brownie bites. It was so damn tasty. They had tons of different flavors, and a few I had never heard of before. Good stuff. I need to find all the hip little places in Santa Cruz, so that when people visit me, I can take them to groovy places.
We went back to Finn's place, and watched Anchorman. Which was odder than I remember it being. I dunno. I think I don't like the character of Ron Burgundy that much.
It was nice to keep the company of good old friends. A bit of a drive, but ever so worth it.
Met Steve in San Jose for a little afternoon hike. We went to the, err, Sierra Azul? open area in Los Gatos, and walked up the path a bit. There were some mountain bikers, but we were never in danger of being squashed by some maniacs. It was a bit chillier of a day, but when one hikes, one warms up. After proving how bad I actually am at going up hills, we shared a sandwich in downtown San Jose, and parted ways. I headed North some more to Oakland.
Though it was closer in to Berkley than Oakland. I found easy on the street parking and waited outside Zachary's pizza for Robin and Finn. Finn was the first to arrive. I don't think I've seen him since I was unemployed. Oh how fast things change! Robin arrived next and we decided on sushi instead of pizza. I had udon and a philly role. Robin stuck to rolls, Finn had ramen and rolls. We shared sake, and a good chat was had by all. From there we went to Tara's Ice Cream. I had the salted caramel with brownie bites. It was so damn tasty. They had tons of different flavors, and a few I had never heard of before. Good stuff. I need to find all the hip little places in Santa Cruz, so that when people visit me, I can take them to groovy places.
We went back to Finn's place, and watched Anchorman. Which was odder than I remember it being. I dunno. I think I don't like the character of Ron Burgundy that much.
It was nice to keep the company of good old friends. A bit of a drive, but ever so worth it.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
sushifall
Doing these portraits, some of them I can do in, like, 30 minutes. Some take me hours!
Slept in today. It was a glorious thing to do. Had a little breakfast. Toodled around the house. Drew a bit.
Met Ray at 5ish, and got tickets for Skyfall. Then we had sushi! Yum! Had some of those big combo many ingredients rolls. Pretty good! Avocado, cremecheese, shrimp. Can't go wrong. Oh, and tempura banana? Delicious! I need to get Robin's recipe for fried banana.
Skyfall was good. Less action heavy than I was expecting, but NO SHAKEY CAM! Which is great. The action was good. Clear, concise. It was a bit light on the babes. Now Craig's Bond is set up for more Bond movies, with Q and Moneypenny. I dug it.
Now it is chilly, I'm going to crawl into bed.
Friday, November 9, 2012
itemized awesome
Thirteen hour shift, BUUUUT it is a four day weekend! The Boss is going to a little conference thingy.
So some awesome things happened at work today:
So some awesome things happened at work today:
- I was shown how to tape the edges on banners, so now that is another skill I have. More skills, more awesomeness!
- Boss said that I could use the facilities at work to print, though I think I'll still work on my at home set up. Just knowing I can use the exposure unit is awesome. At home I can work on my own time and stuff, but yeah. That is awesome!
- Boss asked if I would like to design a shirt. WHOOO!! Something with some Santa Cruz landscapes in it. I'm already having plenty of ideas, and am looking forward to sketching my new city. How great is that?
I weeded some vinyl, and caught a job which ended up running a bit longer due to a totally unfigureoutable problem. Something was up and eventually it stopped being up. I wanted to see Skyfall tonight, but I am tired! I'll catch a matinee tomorrow, because it is THE WEEKEND FOR ME! Clear on till Tuesday!
There will be no portrait today, but two tomorrow most likely.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
week coming to an end, making them weekend plans
Back to work! Unexpected days off are nice, but hey, I dig my job!
Letssss seee. What did I do? Well I unboxed the shirts and sweaters for two jobs. I burned and taped some screens. I ran one of the jobs. Loaded and unloaded the shirts perfectly! Go me. Also put some thingies on some hats, and weeded some vinyl. Talked to boss about surfing. Well I mostly listened, I can't really hold up an end of a conversation about surfing, though I do dig it. My boss is very enthusiastic when he talks, so it makes for good stories to hear.
It ended a bit early, though due to it going dark at bloomin' 5pm now, it felt later. I went to Target to pick up some lady necessities, and got caught in the commuter traffic on Highway 1. Boo! Got my things, some candy, and a new 5 pack of work shirts, and it was much faster on the way back.
I don't understand why people always seem to wait till the last minute to merge, and always try to get as far forward as possible. Ah, oh well.
At home I drew BT for today's portrait. Had a big bowl of pasta. Washed my hoodies, because they were probably in need of a wash. I cut the hems and collar out of my work shirts, makes it much more comfortable. They are all clean and pristine! Eventually my shirts will stop getting dirty, and I'll get rid of the worst ones, and then I'll look nice at work, instead of like a day old grubby person. I'd like another pair of shoes to wear at work, but then they would be new shoes, and I'd just dirty them. My 'Roos and White Chucks look awful. Hahah. Sneakers, cut offs/short pants, a white Hanes tee, and hair in a pony tail or bun. Boom, work clothes! And a company branded sweater has been added to that.
Letssss seee. What did I do? Well I unboxed the shirts and sweaters for two jobs. I burned and taped some screens. I ran one of the jobs. Loaded and unloaded the shirts perfectly! Go me. Also put some thingies on some hats, and weeded some vinyl. Talked to boss about surfing. Well I mostly listened, I can't really hold up an end of a conversation about surfing, though I do dig it. My boss is very enthusiastic when he talks, so it makes for good stories to hear.
It ended a bit early, though due to it going dark at bloomin' 5pm now, it felt later. I went to Target to pick up some lady necessities, and got caught in the commuter traffic on Highway 1. Boo! Got my things, some candy, and a new 5 pack of work shirts, and it was much faster on the way back.
I don't understand why people always seem to wait till the last minute to merge, and always try to get as far forward as possible. Ah, oh well.
At home I drew BT for today's portrait. Had a big bowl of pasta. Washed my hoodies, because they were probably in need of a wash. I cut the hems and collar out of my work shirts, makes it much more comfortable. They are all clean and pristine! Eventually my shirts will stop getting dirty, and I'll get rid of the worst ones, and then I'll look nice at work, instead of like a day old grubby person. I'd like another pair of shoes to wear at work, but then they would be new shoes, and I'd just dirty them. My 'Roos and White Chucks look awful. Hahah. Sneakers, cut offs/short pants, a white Hanes tee, and hair in a pony tail or bun. Boom, work clothes! And a company branded sweater has been added to that.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
hunk watch 2012
Yay! Obama! It was looking close and then BAM West Coast came in and decimated the electoral votes. That was swell.
After a long and restful night sleep, I got a text from my boss saying that there would be no work due to a surf competition. He said if I wanted to see some of the world's best surfers, I should check it out. So I did! I arrived at Lighthouse Beach in time for the last heat. So I missed most of the surfing, but oh well. It was hot, and sunny, and a lovely day for surfing. I sketched in my sketchbook, and tried to be subtle about checking out some of the shirtless hunks. The final surf match was between Taj Burrow and Matt Wilkinson, both Australians.
Nice little afternoon sojurn. I rode my bike to and from the beach, which was an easy route and quite lovely because it goes along the water. So near the water, I wouldn't have it any other way.
Back at home, I ate some lunch, and wondered what to do with the rest of my day. So I ended up having a couple beers while I watched the entirety of Nathan Barley (all six 25 minute episodes) while refreshing the election results. Pretty fun night. Well fun because Obama won and it seems like some great things got passed. Once he won, I set about drawing him for today's portrait. With some critique, I fixed it, and it turned out pretty satisfactorily.
Hurray! WHeee! Yay! And I think I'll have an early night again. Feels good to get sleep.
Today was pretty good. I'm feeling really good about life these past few weeks. Things are coming to a nice settle and rhythm.
After a long and restful night sleep, I got a text from my boss saying that there would be no work due to a surf competition. He said if I wanted to see some of the world's best surfers, I should check it out. So I did! I arrived at Lighthouse Beach in time for the last heat. So I missed most of the surfing, but oh well. It was hot, and sunny, and a lovely day for surfing. I sketched in my sketchbook, and tried to be subtle about checking out some of the shirtless hunks. The final surf match was between Taj Burrow and Matt Wilkinson, both Australians.
Nice little afternoon sojurn. I rode my bike to and from the beach, which was an easy route and quite lovely because it goes along the water. So near the water, I wouldn't have it any other way.
Back at home, I ate some lunch, and wondered what to do with the rest of my day. So I ended up having a couple beers while I watched the entirety of Nathan Barley (all six 25 minute episodes) while refreshing the election results. Pretty fun night. Well fun because Obama won and it seems like some great things got passed. Once he won, I set about drawing him for today's portrait. With some critique, I fixed it, and it turned out pretty satisfactorily.
Hurray! WHeee! Yay! And I think I'll have an early night again. Feels good to get sleep.
Today was pretty good. I'm feeling really good about life these past few weeks. Things are coming to a nice settle and rhythm.
Monday, November 5, 2012
redbull gives you wiiiiOOOOAHAHHHHHHEHHEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHE
Carmen left at 4:45am. I crawled into bed at 5am. I was prepared to text my boss and say that I would be coming in a bit later, but then my body was all "it's 8am, this is when you usually get up, so GET UP!" So I got up. Blhhhhhuherg.
Showered. Had breakfast. Got text from boss saying that it would be a solo shift and that there was a list of things to do and that he wouldn't be there till later. So I totally could have slept in! If my body would have let me.
Anyway, I got a Red Bull on the way to work, and that gave me lots of pep! Pep to clean screens, and burn screens, and tape screens, and reclaim screens, and patch screens, and clean palettes, and reclaim some more screens and patch another screen. Busy short shift. At home I did laundry, and cleaned up my room, and has some rice and seaweed snack/dinner, put away laundry, watched telly.
Now I am crashing. Mmm. Sleep. That will be nice.
Showered. Had breakfast. Got text from boss saying that it would be a solo shift and that there was a list of things to do and that he wouldn't be there till later. So I totally could have slept in! If my body would have let me.
Anyway, I got a Red Bull on the way to work, and that gave me lots of pep! Pep to clean screens, and burn screens, and tape screens, and reclaim screens, and patch screens, and clean palettes, and reclaim some more screens and patch another screen. Busy short shift. At home I did laundry, and cleaned up my room, and has some rice and seaweed snack/dinner, put away laundry, watched telly.
Now I am crashing. Mmm. Sleep. That will be nice.
a day of printing, a great day, stressful but great
11pm, and two colors to go on this monster four color reductive print. But once this color is done, it's just the black layer and then BOOM DONE. We are so close, it is awesome!
So. My day started very early. I was barely out of bed and figuring out how to assemble the poster for 8.5x11 print out, because we (Carmen and I) decided to do the poster at 15x24, to maximize space, and to do that I'd need a to scale reference to draw from. If any of this doesn't make sense, well...tough! Anyway, Carmen arrived at 9. We printed out the reference. Then exposed her screen. Or tried to. She got it pre-coated but something was weird with the emulsion and it did not expose at all, so I used my emulsion remover and slathered that up, and then we started from square one. We didn't get printing till about 2. But it worked out! The yellow flat of color was tricky, but Carmen did a great job pulling it. We had the layers strewn all around the house. Hahha. After that, we got lunch, and then returned to the printing. The second layer, the reductive fluid, got stuck to the paper and so Carmen reprinted out the sheets while I coated and prepped the screen. We ran out of daylight and moved the printing table into the upstairs bathroom. We had to remove the legs to navigate it in, but it worked! The blue layer printed really fast, which was swell. With Carmen's help, the green layer got drawn on with drawing fluid lickity split (while listening to The Museum of Curiosity). While that dried in my closet (with the fan running, a very good dark drying room) we watched Sherlock. Relaxing then working relaxing then working.
Right now the green screen is drying, and Carmen is mixing the green. Soon that will be printed. And then: THE FINAL LAYER.
2:32am
The final layer is drying. Waiting to be printed. Then it will be printed. And I'll wash out the screen one last time, then that is it. I'm just going to climb into bed straight after. You'll hear from me tomorrow.
Guhhh work.
So. My day started very early. I was barely out of bed and figuring out how to assemble the poster for 8.5x11 print out, because we (Carmen and I) decided to do the poster at 15x24, to maximize space, and to do that I'd need a to scale reference to draw from. If any of this doesn't make sense, well...tough! Anyway, Carmen arrived at 9. We printed out the reference. Then exposed her screen. Or tried to. She got it pre-coated but something was weird with the emulsion and it did not expose at all, so I used my emulsion remover and slathered that up, and then we started from square one. We didn't get printing till about 2. But it worked out! The yellow flat of color was tricky, but Carmen did a great job pulling it. We had the layers strewn all around the house. Hahha. After that, we got lunch, and then returned to the printing. The second layer, the reductive fluid, got stuck to the paper and so Carmen reprinted out the sheets while I coated and prepped the screen. We ran out of daylight and moved the printing table into the upstairs bathroom. We had to remove the legs to navigate it in, but it worked! The blue layer printed really fast, which was swell. With Carmen's help, the green layer got drawn on with drawing fluid lickity split (while listening to The Museum of Curiosity). While that dried in my closet (with the fan running, a very good dark drying room) we watched Sherlock. Relaxing then working relaxing then working.
Right now the green screen is drying, and Carmen is mixing the green. Soon that will be printed. And then: THE FINAL LAYER.
2:32am
The final layer is drying. Waiting to be printed. Then it will be printed. And I'll wash out the screen one last time, then that is it. I'm just going to climb into bed straight after. You'll hear from me tomorrow.
Guhhh work.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
I didn't even get close to a Yahtzee...:(
Time just rolled back an hour, so instead of being 2:30am, it is 1:30am. Hurray?
Turns out the art store didn't open till 10am, so I had some time in the morning to tidy up. Went to the store, paid too much for a sub-standard screen, got mylar, and some better tape. Went home. Emulsified the screen, set it aside to dry (not with a fan, then I noticed how slow it was going so I rigged it up with a fan and it dried much faster). Screwed the bolts into the table, though I may reposition them tomorrow. Exposed the screen at different times (I also used some drawing fluid as a thickness/washout test). 15 minutes seems perfect. Washed it out. Ate some chili and a scramble.
At 4:15ish I went to Trader Joe's and got some driving snacks and a bottle of wine. Then I went up to Oakland and picked up dear sweet awesome Robin, and then drove into San Francisco for game night at Carmen & Josh's with special guest Helen & Nathan. The wine was for the shindig, and thankfully it was a good kind of wine. I just got something with a label I liked. I also gave Carmen & Josh my thank you gift of a Belgian waffle maker! They had talked about wanting one, so I went and got them one. When Carmen opened the wrapping she said "is this actually a Waffle maker, not just the box?". And so on top of Carmen's amazing sandwiches, we had waffles. Mmm!
First we played Dixit, which is a sort of imagination/image take on Apples to Apples. It was quite fun, and Nathan won. Then we played Bohnanza, a bean based game that SHOULD have been named Beananza. We got the hang of it eventually, but played a shorter round. Carmen won. Then we finished up with Yahtzee, and Nathan won that, beating my high score which was on the sheet he was playing on. We gabbed, and there were several caterpillars which had to be picked out of the sandwiches (the lettuce was very fresh). At 11:45, I drove Robin home, and then returned to Santa Cruz. So excited she is back in the area! Gotta have a day trip with her and Finn.
I prefer night driving. Less cars, just lights. It just seems easier to navigate.
Turns out the art store didn't open till 10am, so I had some time in the morning to tidy up. Went to the store, paid too much for a sub-standard screen, got mylar, and some better tape. Went home. Emulsified the screen, set it aside to dry (not with a fan, then I noticed how slow it was going so I rigged it up with a fan and it dried much faster). Screwed the bolts into the table, though I may reposition them tomorrow. Exposed the screen at different times (I also used some drawing fluid as a thickness/washout test). 15 minutes seems perfect. Washed it out. Ate some chili and a scramble.
At 4:15ish I went to Trader Joe's and got some driving snacks and a bottle of wine. Then I went up to Oakland and picked up dear sweet awesome Robin, and then drove into San Francisco for game night at Carmen & Josh's with special guest Helen & Nathan. The wine was for the shindig, and thankfully it was a good kind of wine. I just got something with a label I liked. I also gave Carmen & Josh my thank you gift of a Belgian waffle maker! They had talked about wanting one, so I went and got them one. When Carmen opened the wrapping she said "is this actually a Waffle maker, not just the box?". And so on top of Carmen's amazing sandwiches, we had waffles. Mmm!
First we played Dixit, which is a sort of imagination/image take on Apples to Apples. It was quite fun, and Nathan won. Then we played Bohnanza, a bean based game that SHOULD have been named Beananza. We got the hang of it eventually, but played a shorter round. Carmen won. Then we finished up with Yahtzee, and Nathan won that, beating my high score which was on the sheet he was playing on. We gabbed, and there were several caterpillars which had to be picked out of the sandwiches (the lettuce was very fresh). At 11:45, I drove Robin home, and then returned to Santa Cruz. So excited she is back in the area! Gotta have a day trip with her and Finn.
I prefer night driving. Less cars, just lights. It just seems easier to navigate.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Friday, November 2, 2012
weekend, it is going to be a full one
Friday was a short day. We ran the job. I cleaned up. That was it.
I forgot to mention that I mixed my first ink color yesterday. Now I can mix ink! Hurray! Another thing to add to my skills.
I ran some errands after work. Got some bolts for the hinge clamps, so now I can bolt the clamps to my table and print. I got nice bolts, because I'll be reusing them. In the shop someone noted my company branded sweatshirt and said they used to print for them, I absentmindedly said, "oh I print for them now." And then later thought, "oh shiiiit, what if his employment ended on an unceremonious note?" AH, oh well.
I got to the art store at 6:03. It closes at 6. WHAT ART STORE CLOSES AT SIX ON A FRIDAY? And it's like the only art store in town. What is up with that shit?
I ran another SECRET errand.
Tomorrow is a packed day! I get up, go get a screen, go back home, make a text exposure with that screen, then do another exposure and print something to test my printing set up, then clean up, then go to Oakland and pick Robin up, and then go to San Francisco and have game night with Carmen, Josh, Nate, and Helen, and Robin of course. Then go home. Then SUNDAY I print some posters for Odd Owl's Seattle show.
Make sure to buy posters. Buy ALL THE POSTERS AT THE SHOW.
So exciting!
I forgot to mention that I mixed my first ink color yesterday. Now I can mix ink! Hurray! Another thing to add to my skills.
I ran some errands after work. Got some bolts for the hinge clamps, so now I can bolt the clamps to my table and print. I got nice bolts, because I'll be reusing them. In the shop someone noted my company branded sweatshirt and said they used to print for them, I absentmindedly said, "oh I print for them now." And then later thought, "oh shiiiit, what if his employment ended on an unceremonious note?" AH, oh well.
I got to the art store at 6:03. It closes at 6. WHAT ART STORE CLOSES AT SIX ON A FRIDAY? And it's like the only art store in town. What is up with that shit?
I ran another SECRET errand.
Tomorrow is a packed day! I get up, go get a screen, go back home, make a text exposure with that screen, then do another exposure and print something to test my printing set up, then clean up, then go to Oakland and pick Robin up, and then go to San Francisco and have game night with Carmen, Josh, Nate, and Helen, and Robin of course. Then go home. Then SUNDAY I print some posters for Odd Owl's Seattle show.
Make sure to buy posters. Buy ALL THE POSTERS AT THE SHOW.
So exciting!
November. Time for chili!
It is November. The election is just days away. My ballot has long been sent in the post. Now I just wait, wait and hope nothing horrible happens. Like Romney getting elected. Guhhh. Last election, I was working at Gap Kids. Now I am graduated and gainfully employed in a job I like a whole bunch. A lot can change in four years. Yeah!
We ran a job at work. I burned and taped some screens. Ran part of another job. It was a shorter shift. When I got home, I went to Trader Joe's and got chili fixings. Then I plopped all the beans and salsa and secret ingredients and cooked sausages into a pot and set it to simmer, and I simmered the bajeezus out of it. And ohhh it was hot! But so good. Hot in temp, hot in spice, and it smelled damn good. It was so good to finally tuck into it, and I'm so excited to consume it throughout the week. Of course I also put on the communal whiteboard that my housemates should help themselves. Because it is a lot of chili, hhaha.
I'm going to draw a portrait a day for November. Use my tablet, improve my skills.
We ran a job at work. I burned and taped some screens. Ran part of another job. It was a shorter shift. When I got home, I went to Trader Joe's and got chili fixings. Then I plopped all the beans and salsa and secret ingredients and cooked sausages into a pot and set it to simmer, and I simmered the bajeezus out of it. And ohhh it was hot! But so good. Hot in temp, hot in spice, and it smelled damn good. It was so good to finally tuck into it, and I'm so excited to consume it throughout the week. Of course I also put on the communal whiteboard that my housemates should help themselves. Because it is a lot of chili, hhaha.
I'm going to draw a portrait a day for November. Use my tablet, improve my skills.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
the fauxnies
I put on my black cat socks, and that was as Halloween-y as I got today. It just isn't my holiday.
Work was spent doing three things:
1) Heat transferring images onto safety vests, which was more time consuming than usual because the machine kept over heating and I'd have to unplug it and let it cool. Not so bad, just little delays.
2) Heat transferring images onto safety hats. Easy peasey, lemon squeezey.
3) Helping apply a vinyl wrap to the side of a thingy. Tricky. Hold of holding taught of vinyl, but not too taught.
Got home tired and a bit chilled. I finished A Casual Vacancy. VERY depressing book. I almost cried while listening to it, right at the end. It's tragic indeed. Started The Eyre Affair, which is fun and such an odd but lovely universe to listen to.
Since I've listened to so many audiobooks, thought I'd give out some faux awards:
Best All Around Book of the Bunch: Reamde by Neal Stephenson
Best Stephen King Novel: 11/22/63 (runners up: The Gunslinger & The Drawing of the Three)
Best Narrator: Jeremy Irons reading Brideshead Revisted
Worst Narrator: Jim Dale reading The Night Circus (he came off as a bit too husky and strained for voices that, to me, needed to sound more youthful)
I Have No Interest In The Main Character and Can’t Be Bothered to Finish: The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco
Holy Shit That Was Dismal, Why Can No One Be Happy?: A Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
Best Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Book: Equal Rites (honorable mention to Color of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Sourcery, Wyrd Sisters, and Pyramids)
Best Wimsey Novel: Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers (runner up Whose Body?)
Best “I haven’t read it in a while, I should give it a listen”: tie between Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens
Best Interesting World Builder: Jasper Fforde with The Last Dragonslayer (runner up: The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde)
Best First Book In A Trilogy, Which is Unfortunately Followed By A Dissappointing Second Book : A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Best Douglas Adams: Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency
Best Sketch Comedy: That Mitchell and Webb Sound (runner up John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme)
Best Audio Comedy: Cabin Pressure by John Finnemore
Most Likely to Be Listened to Next: Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde.
Likely to be listened to soon: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, The Fall by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan, Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett, Forever Odd by Dean Koontz, The Waste Lands by Stephen King, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayer.
Yup.
Spent the rest of the night relaxing, eating chips, chatting online, watching telly, and generally staying warm. Tomorrow is Thursday! Already! Gee.
Work was spent doing three things:
1) Heat transferring images onto safety vests, which was more time consuming than usual because the machine kept over heating and I'd have to unplug it and let it cool. Not so bad, just little delays.
2) Heat transferring images onto safety hats. Easy peasey, lemon squeezey.
3) Helping apply a vinyl wrap to the side of a thingy. Tricky. Hold of holding taught of vinyl, but not too taught.
Got home tired and a bit chilled. I finished A Casual Vacancy. VERY depressing book. I almost cried while listening to it, right at the end. It's tragic indeed. Started The Eyre Affair, which is fun and such an odd but lovely universe to listen to.
Since I've listened to so many audiobooks, thought I'd give out some faux awards:
Yup.
Spent the rest of the night relaxing, eating chips, chatting online, watching telly, and generally staying warm. Tomorrow is Thursday! Already! Gee.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
the light at the end of my flashlight
Work was slow and spaced out. Lots of odd little things. Set up a job, but we haven't run it just yet. Put back the squeegees. Organized. Cut some stickers and things. Burned and taped some screens.
I twerked my leg a few days ago, I don't know how though. But there is a bruise on my foot. Don't remember banging it on anything. My bad knee has gone back to being my bad knee, and my hip feels funky. I don't like it. I don't exactly work a job where I can keep off my leg. Hmmn. Ah it will get better.
Met Daniel and his friend Wes for the 7:30 showing of Cloud Atlas at the Del Mar. It was lovely! I was a bit iffy towards the movie because they make a bunch of white actors look Korean, but they use the actors in just about every story (there are six different stories told during different parts of time, and each is told in tandem with one another), and they make all of them into different ethnicities. Though yellowface and blackface is still...yeah. Beyond that, it was really great. The cast was excellent. Lots of great roles, lots of great shots, good effects (aside from the makeup, which was a bit awkward). It made me feel really happy. The stories were uplifting but also sad, but also funny. It was well balanced and well paced, which is quite the feat with a two and a half hour long movie. I enjoyed it. I have the book, so...now I have to read it! To get the full shebang!
M cellphone fell out of my jacket pocket, so I had to wait for the movie to end to find it, my penlight was a bit too bright and I didn't want to distract people with my searchings.
Now I rest. Another day, more excitement awaits!
I twerked my leg a few days ago, I don't know how though. But there is a bruise on my foot. Don't remember banging it on anything. My bad knee has gone back to being my bad knee, and my hip feels funky. I don't like it. I don't exactly work a job where I can keep off my leg. Hmmn. Ah it will get better.
Met Daniel and his friend Wes for the 7:30 showing of Cloud Atlas at the Del Mar. It was lovely! I was a bit iffy towards the movie because they make a bunch of white actors look Korean, but they use the actors in just about every story (there are six different stories told during different parts of time, and each is told in tandem with one another), and they make all of them into different ethnicities. Though yellowface and blackface is still...yeah. Beyond that, it was really great. The cast was excellent. Lots of great roles, lots of great shots, good effects (aside from the makeup, which was a bit awkward). It made me feel really happy. The stories were uplifting but also sad, but also funny. It was well balanced and well paced, which is quite the feat with a two and a half hour long movie. I enjoyed it. I have the book, so...now I have to read it! To get the full shebang!
M cellphone fell out of my jacket pocket, so I had to wait for the movie to end to find it, my penlight was a bit too bright and I didn't want to distract people with my searchings.
Now I rest. Another day, more excitement awaits!
but seriously, nothing seems to get better for these characters
Yay! I got out of work early enough to go to Monday Game Night! Yaaay! Had the onion and bacon pizza. The make your own pizza thing is so customizeable, it's pretty awesome. Andy, Rob, and I played this Game of Thrones card game that was very complicated, but I got the hang of it near the end, and almost nearly won. Lots of rules that change quite often, but I managed. Nearly four hours of gaming! But it was a good time. I like getting out and playing games. Makes for my kind of social night.
Work started a bit late. Broke down the press, cleaned squeegees and screens, listened to A Casual Vacancy, which continues to be depressing. The Eyre Affair is next in my queue, and I'm excited for that. Not that I'm excited to be done with A Casual Vacancy, just that I am excited about what is coming down the audiobook pipe line. I become more literate day by day. Hurray!
Also weeded some vinyl and pressed some hats. The weather was nice. Seems like the weather is horrible everywhere but here.
There was a football game on at Woodstock's, and people in the restaurant would periodically cheer. I guess the team they were supporting was doing well. Mmmhm.
October has been a pretty good month for me. Kudos to you October!
Work started a bit late. Broke down the press, cleaned squeegees and screens, listened to A Casual Vacancy, which continues to be depressing. The Eyre Affair is next in my queue, and I'm excited for that. Not that I'm excited to be done with A Casual Vacancy, just that I am excited about what is coming down the audiobook pipe line. I become more literate day by day. Hurray!
Also weeded some vinyl and pressed some hats. The weather was nice. Seems like the weather is horrible everywhere but here.
There was a football game on at Woodstock's, and people in the restaurant would periodically cheer. I guess the team they were supporting was doing well. Mmmhm.
October has been a pretty good month for me. Kudos to you October!
Sunday, October 28, 2012
soonday
Rocky Horror Picture Show was sold out, so Ray and I ended up staying in and watching Hot Fuzz instead. Nothing says Halloween Party Weekend like Hot Fuzz. Hahah.
Finished up my bacon with another big tasty scramble. Mmmm. Tidied up my room a little, and because game night in San Francisco was off, I went up to San Jose to hang out with Steve. There was a Mythbusters interactive exhibit at the tech museum, so we went to that. Tech museum/science museum. One of those. It was fun. I've never seen Mythbusters, but it was fun to play with some of the things they had on hand. I also found I was able to dodge a paintball fired from 100 feet. Good to know! I had protective gear on, so I didn't get hurt when when other paintballs hit me (I also had a riot shield, haha). After the exhibit, we checked out the rest of the museum and fiddled with all the music displays, and light things, and power things. Reminded me of the Pacific Science Center. Except there are far fewer kids on a Sunday night.
We got some takeaway at this little vegetarian place, and it was quite the tasty meal. I need to figure out how to incorporate garbanzo beans into more things. Garbanzo beans are great!
And this time, I actually got Steve's suggestion for the easiest way to get back to 17, and made it home in good time. Normally I get lost in San Jose (because the GPS refuses to find a satellite there). With directions, it was easy!
I start work a bit later tomorrow, so time for Sunday night television! The Walking Dead, Homeland, Dexter, Boardwalk Empire, Downton Abbey, Misfits...well I only have time to watch half of those. But yeah.
Finished up my bacon with another big tasty scramble. Mmmm. Tidied up my room a little, and because game night in San Francisco was off, I went up to San Jose to hang out with Steve. There was a Mythbusters interactive exhibit at the tech museum, so we went to that. Tech museum/science museum. One of those. It was fun. I've never seen Mythbusters, but it was fun to play with some of the things they had on hand. I also found I was able to dodge a paintball fired from 100 feet. Good to know! I had protective gear on, so I didn't get hurt when when other paintballs hit me (I also had a riot shield, haha). After the exhibit, we checked out the rest of the museum and fiddled with all the music displays, and light things, and power things. Reminded me of the Pacific Science Center. Except there are far fewer kids on a Sunday night.
We got some takeaway at this little vegetarian place, and it was quite the tasty meal. I need to figure out how to incorporate garbanzo beans into more things. Garbanzo beans are great!
And this time, I actually got Steve's suggestion for the easiest way to get back to 17, and made it home in good time. Normally I get lost in San Jose (because the GPS refuses to find a satellite there). With directions, it was easy!
I start work a bit later tomorrow, so time for Sunday night television! The Walking Dead, Homeland, Dexter, Boardwalk Empire, Downton Abbey, Misfits...well I only have time to watch half of those. But yeah.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
piece by piece, it all comes together
I have succesfully built an at home exposure unit! It's just a 500watt work light attached to some wood, designed to rest above a screen. But yeah, can't wait to test it out!
I slept in. That was nice. Had a big scramble for breakfast. Also nice. After that, I ran my errands. Went to the hardware store and got the light, some screws, a C-clamp, and a ceiling hook. Then drove on to the art store, perused their screenprinting materials, and got some drawing fluid and ink. Can't wait to get my at home printing set up done with! WHeee!
Back at home, I laboriously sawed scrap wood (from the shed) (err from inside the shed, I didn't take apart the shed) into the right sizes, and afixed them together. That took a while. Had some dinner, watched some telly. Think Ray & I are going to see Rocky Horror Picture Show tonight at the Del Mar. That should be...an experience!
Tomorrow I have plans to meet up with Daniel for a matinee of Cloud Atlas. WHooo! Weekend!
I slept in. That was nice. Had a big scramble for breakfast. Also nice. After that, I ran my errands. Went to the hardware store and got the light, some screws, a C-clamp, and a ceiling hook. Then drove on to the art store, perused their screenprinting materials, and got some drawing fluid and ink. Can't wait to get my at home printing set up done with! WHeee!
Back at home, I laboriously sawed scrap wood (from the shed) (err from inside the shed, I didn't take apart the shed) into the right sizes, and afixed them together. That took a while. Had some dinner, watched some telly. Think Ray & I are going to see Rocky Horror Picture Show tonight at the Del Mar. That should be...an experience!
Tomorrow I have plans to meet up with Daniel for a matinee of Cloud Atlas. WHooo! Weekend!
Friday, October 26, 2012
If I own a book, I will not listen to it as an audiobook
It was a shorter day at work. Well, a shift of the usual length, just short compared to earlier in the week? Now it is the weekend! Yay! Have some plans, but no Halloween plans. Don't even have a costume. Halloween just isn't my holiday like it is for other people.
Set up the job, though the separations were a bit weird so it was tricky to line up. Weeded some vinyl. Boxed the job. All was well, and it was a nice day.
Back at zee home, I ate some chips and dips. Washed my towels. Took inventory of things. I think I'll make myself some cocoa and settle in to bed and read. I really need to finish Shadow of Night so I can FINALLY read something else. I am committed to not starting any new book till I finish one I'm in the middle of. I'm in the middle of: Shadow of Night (which improves whenever Matthew is not in the scene) and Blood Meridian (so grotesque) and How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe (the writer is trying too hard and I'm having trouble getting into it). I have: The Blind Assassin, Neuromancer, The Patrick Melrose novels, Cloud Atlas, The Gunfighter, Lucrezia Borgia, Berthe Morisot (both biographies), and Houdini, Tarzan, and the Perfect Man. Alphabet Soup came in the mail, but that is more a browsing book than a reading cover to cover book, so that has been delegated to bathroom reading, replacing my Thrilling Tales short story compilation. Basically, I have a bunch of things I want to read, but I have to get through something to get to those.
So first I must finish Shadow of Night. Never have I gone from so excited to so drudging of a book...it needed like, 200 pages less. Ah. Oh well. Writing is hard.
Set up the job, though the separations were a bit weird so it was tricky to line up. Weeded some vinyl. Boxed the job. All was well, and it was a nice day.
Back at zee home, I ate some chips and dips. Washed my towels. Took inventory of things. I think I'll make myself some cocoa and settle in to bed and read. I really need to finish Shadow of Night so I can FINALLY read something else. I am committed to not starting any new book till I finish one I'm in the middle of. I'm in the middle of: Shadow of Night (which improves whenever Matthew is not in the scene) and Blood Meridian (so grotesque) and How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe (the writer is trying too hard and I'm having trouble getting into it). I have: The Blind Assassin, Neuromancer, The Patrick Melrose novels, Cloud Atlas, The Gunfighter, Lucrezia Borgia, Berthe Morisot (both biographies), and Houdini, Tarzan, and the Perfect Man. Alphabet Soup came in the mail, but that is more a browsing book than a reading cover to cover book, so that has been delegated to bathroom reading, replacing my Thrilling Tales short story compilation. Basically, I have a bunch of things I want to read, but I have to get through something to get to those.
So first I must finish Shadow of Night. Never have I gone from so excited to so drudging of a book...it needed like, 200 pages less. Ah. Oh well. Writing is hard.
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