oh hey Tuesday

Sent off some ideas to Odd Owl, so that was productive. Their Kickstarter is at $3,721. Almost halfway!

Guess what I did today? If you guessed "ran shirts" you'd be right! Caught a discharge job, caught the backs of a sweater, and caught bags. Also weeded some tricky vinyl and cleaned stuff. It was a perfect day. Not too hot, not too cold. May is really shaping up to be a good month. Or maybe I'm just super enthused because STAR TREK FRIDAY OH MY GAWD!!

Uhm. Yeah.

Anyway, at home I worked on the stuff for Odd Owl. Research into themes for cover imagery mainly. I think I pitched some good ideas. Can't wait for the morning response.

Under the Dome is pretty brutal, though it is refreshing to read something where main characters are not safe. Too much safeness makes for some uninteresting stories.

Four years ago today I was the first in my math class to solve the Rubik's Cube.

a really good monday

This week is off to a good start. Our water heater was repaired this morning and now we have piping hot water. Bye bye lukewarm water! At work I burned just one lone screen, and spent most of the day with banners. Though only seven banners, and four of them were smaller in size. After banners I cut stickers and cleaned squeegees and floodbars. We have a lot of jobs coming up that need to be run. Like...three different jobs that I can name. So it'll be a nice busy streak for the next week or two.

I grabbed more eggs and headed out. At home I washed my car, because it was filthy with pollen, and I swept downstairs. Nice to start the week out on a clean note. Tomorrow I shall get down to some serious brainstorming and whatnot.

Odd Owl's Kickstarter is at $3,566!

over the border and into sunshine

Friday:

Yay! Friday! And it was a most singular task driven day. I had 11 10"x3" banners to do, and it did take all day to do them. Thankfully they were already cut longways, so it made the job go by pretty seemingly fast. Jeff tidied the rest of the studio. I started listening to Stephen King's Under the Dome. It is looking to be harrowing and brutal. Just the way I like my Stephen King.

Back at home I packed up, and at 7 I departed to meet Steve in San Jose for our weekend in Carson, Nevada.

It was a long drive, but no deer jumped in front of us crossing the pass (same road to get to Kirkwood and Tahoe). And we listened to Under the Dome, which was neat. His parent's bought a place, and some stuff had to be picked up, so we were there to pick it up.

All the grommets I punched at work did my shoulders in though, so I had a very restless night sleep. Not fun.

Saturday:

I slept in, and awoke to find out that Steve had gone to collect the mattresses on his own, so I sat in the small back yard and worked on crossword puzzles and snacked. When he returned, I helped moved the California King up the narrow stairs. Not an easy task. The twin mattresses were much easier. Seems like the house will be fitted for lots of various people to crash at. Steve's Dad's copilot Tim was staying there at the same time, but he was working on this plane thing so obviously he couldn't pick up the mattresses. Anyway. We went and got some Thai food for lunch, drove around a bit. It was a lovely day. Saw many Yellow Cars. Got Steve playing Yellow Car, though he has yet to listen to Cabin Pressure. We visited the airplane hanger where Tim and other machinists were working on plane conversion stuff, and got to check out the planes they were working on. It was pretty cool, seeing the interiors all stripped out and stuff. Made me think of Pa and Grandpa.

We made a Costco trip to see about getting sheets for the small mattresses, but there were none in the right size, so we just got a bake at home pizza and some ice creme. Yay for ice creme! We tried to find an ice cream place earlier in the day, but the GPS took us to an ice cream distribution center but not an actual store. Funny, but a bummer.

Back at the house, we put the pizza in and read our respective books while it heated up. It was very thick pizza, but tasty enough. Nice mellow day and night.

Sunday:

It was an early start, but not in a bad way. With no TV and Internet, going to bed at a reasonable hour becomes really feasible. We shared a waffle and had tea and coffee at a nearby coffee place, then returned to the house and packed up, and then headed back to San Jose. It was a scorcher of a day and soon I was melting. The ride went fast for me because I ended up taking a nap for about half of it. I'm a bad road trip companion. We had lunch at Carl's Junior and then back on the road we went. We got in to San Jose at about 3:30 and I got home an hour later. The traffic was pretty backed up, but going in the other direction on 17.

I took my time relaxing and catching up on Doctor Who, and then late in the afternoon I did my weekly grocery shopping. And I called Ma & Pa to chat.

Ooops! I wrote up this post early last night, but forgot to post it with the final inclusion of me watching Game of Thrones and eating salad.

Odd Owl's Kickstarter is at $3,426!!

I feel the weekend. it is almost here.

A relatively mellow day. Nothing was too rushed and it all seemed to work out. I started by reclaiming five screens, then set those aside to dry. I cleaned the remaining 11 screens of ink and by the time that was done, there was stuff on the other side of the studio to do. I weeded some vinyl, I cut some stickers, I caught a job that has been sitting in the works for a while. Chatted with Jeff. Coated those five screens. I'll need more gas if I am to reclaim those remaining screens. Gas for the pressure washer. Flatulence has nothing to do with reclaiming screens. I got caught up on The Unbelieveable Truth. Ma, did I give you that radio panel show? It just looks like there is Neverwhere and Cabin Pressure in the drop box. Lemme know if you want it, it's pretty funny.

I ran a Safeway errand. That is to say I bought a huge quantity of toilet paper and some Drano and Udon, and other things. When Trader Joe's sells larger quantities of TP and chemicals, I'll probably never need to go out to another store. I put back the candy I was thinking of buying, so I felt good about that...because I already had chocolate covered frozen bits of banana at home.

Anyway. At home I drew up a little something for Ma. Not my best something, but I hope she'll like it. It's in the mailbox now, so it will probably arrive after Mother's Day.

WHooo it's the weekend! And Friday/Saturday I'm going on a little minitrip of sorts with Steve. His parents bought this place and need someone there for these deliveries, so we are going to be the people that are there to pick up the deliveries (his parents aren't there). So I'll be gone doing that tomorrow night. So. See you Saturday! Whooo Friday!

slug lovin' sloth

My sore throat is almost entirely gone. Hurray!

Started the day by finishing a job that has been on the docket for a while. I taped some screens as well. And coated some screens. Always seem to be short screens these days. It wasn't always like that. Or was it? I think some screens are just tied up in jobs that get ran rather frequently, versus reburning them time and time again. Anyway. We finished the day by printing a single color front and back job, that was 600 units. Nice big job. The shirts came in in the morning and are ready to go out by the time we leave. Nice.

At home I modified a tee that was a bit taught on the collar (i.e. I cut off the color and part of the sleeves) and now it is really comfy! Hurray. OH MAN I was going to...errr I won't say what I was going to do. I'll just do it tomorrow. I get home, and I get distracted...time for a to do list.

Oh! When I was reclaiming screens yesterday, I noticed a banana slug but it was almost underfoot, so I made sure to move it to a safer spot.

I spent a lot of tonight reading Hyperbole and a Half. It's pretty good stuff.

Odd Owl's Kickstarter is at $2691!!

TRILL WILL ROCK YOU

Felt a lot better after that long sleep. My throat is still hoarse for some reason, but the rest of me is fine.

Starting the day, we guessed which band would start first on the classic rock station.I guess Queen, Chris guessed Rolling Stones, and Jeff went with Tom Petty. It started on ads, but then the first song that played...BUM BUM BAAAAHHH BUM BUM BAAAAHHH BUM BUM BAAAAHHH BUM BUM BAAAAHHH BUM BUM BAAAAHHH. I heard Jeff in the washout area go "AWWWW" and Chris in the office go "WHAAAAATTT" and the song continued "BUDDY YOU'RE A BOY MAKE A BIG NOISE PLAYIN' IN THE STREET GONNA BE A BIG MAN SOME DAY!". So awesome.

Sleeves were ran. I cleaned some stuff. I taped some stuff. We ran the backs on some stuff. I pressed some hats and reclaimed screens. A nice full day.

At home I cooked up some pasta and settled in for a night, well, in.

Odd Owl's Kickstarter is almost to 2k!

what a sucky monday

My body feels bad all over, and I'm going to go to bed soon. Maybe have some tea before.

My throat felt raspy and my extremities were just sore and tired. It made work a bitch. Hauling boxes. Cleaning stuff. I was moving at half pace, but at least the Boss was sympathetic. Generally I'm busy as a bee, always looking for something to do.

We ran the front and backs on a job and I started listening to Hannibal Rising.

At home I took to sitting but I still don't feel much better. Hopefully a long night sleep will remedy my pains.

Odd Owl's Kickstarter is at $1500!

I could pass many days like this, and be content

Saturday:

Started my weekend at the dog beach with Janet! Had a couple doughnuts. Met Susan and Alicia. And met many many dogs. It was a gray morning, and just a bit on the side of cold, which was disappointing because of how hot it has been through the previous week. After the dog beach, I gave Janet the "Beware of Dog (she is adorable)" print that I bought her for her birthday. She really liked it and said she'd put it up at work (because Joey goes with her to work). Hee hee.

Back at home I had a scramble and watched Doctor Who. In the late afternoon, I packed up and headed to San Francisco. I prefer to tag along with Carmen to the Odd Owl shows, because it is easier than arriving later in the day and trying to find parking downtown/driving back late at night. Anyhoo. I accompanied her to their practice space, which was cool. It's sort of neat to think about a warehouse filled with band practice spaces, and all the bands have their own thing going on. All that stuff going on, tucked away in an industrial area. Anyhoo. We picked up Stephen along the way to the space, and then we went to the venue, Amnesia. And found great parking! Less than a block away. Sweet. Anyhoo. There was unloading and stuff. I took a little walk to this scifi book store, though didn't find that much of massive interest. And I got a burger from a little burger place and talked to Madeline on the phone (the band was doing band stuff). When I returned to the venue (which was a narrow bar with a small stage), it had filled up a bit and Adam, Vanessa, and Phil were there. I bought a drink but it was this ginger licorice beverage that took a while to consume. Ehhh. The other musicians were New Spell, a three piece band, and Anita Stryker who was singing with a wide variety of backup people. Odd Owl went on first and were quite swell. Of course. The venue was packed and everyone was really into it.

Anita Stryker had a voice like she should sing the next James Bond theme. Really lovely. She had a violinist, and a dude on cello. It was all quite nice. New Spell had a funky rhythm and sound that I dug. Because I ended up not paying the cover for the show (what with being with the band) I used that money towards buying the New Spell CD. Gotta support artists! After the show, we unloaded the stuff at the practice space and I crawled into bed (at Carmen & Josh's) at the nice time of 2:30am...

Sunday:

And I woke up at 7:30am, so that I could meet Robin for breakfast. Having gathered directions the night before, I tip toed out of the house and headed to the sort of Tenderloin area of San Francisco. It was a quiet Sunday morning, so I didn't have to fuss with traffic and I found parking on the street by the apartment complex. Hurray! We got tea, and then went to a little bakery place and got some pastries, and then we returned to the place she is house sitting and Robin whipped up some tasty scrambled eggs. Yum! It wasn't much time, but we did get some catching up done. Just a little bit of good company goes a long way.

I left San Francisco at 10:30 and was back in Santa Cruz by noon. This weekend felt long. Maybe because I got up early both days?

Anyway. I took a nap late in the afternoon. Helped Janet install a shelf above the stove. Took it really easy and the time crept past. Now I shall eat a salad and watch Game of Thrones.

What a weekend!

Oh and Odd Owl has a kickstarter that you should totally support. I'll make a full post about it soon, but here is the link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/oddowl/odd-owls-first-album-as-a-full-band

No spring in Santa Cruz. It just went from Winter to Summer.

The weekend is here! And what a weekend! Tomorrow will start with the dog park and then I'll go up to San Francisco for the day & night & morning. Then back to Santa Cruz. Fun fun.

It was so friggin' hot today. High 80's, probably 90. And I was at the end of the dryer, so that was extra hot. I caught jobs and cleaned up stuff and melted. Ran a plastisol job and then some more discharge with lots of this and that. Not a bad day, just really hot. And we got some nutritional freebies from a company we run stuff for. Sweet!

I went grocery shopping and got some cash for the show tomorrow night. And I got some frames. Two for art that I've recently bought, and one for Janet's print. All were 20% off. Don't know where I want to hang my new art though. The frames don't quite match my other frames, but maybe hanging them by my desk will be good?

I did laundry as well. Yay. Clean clothes. I have so many shirts. How do I end up with so many shirts? I just get shirts and then...I get more shirts. I'm a shirt kinda gal, what can I say?

So on Sunday you'll get another double post with all the fun stuff I get up to this weekend. See you there!

Guy Pearce, hubba hubba

Ohhh I went to see Iron Man 3 in 3D. The regular showing was sold out, so I just went for it. Ohhh it was super fun. It had a really awesome cast, with plenty of awesome action sequences. Some people seemed to this the plot was a bit basic, but...it was super fun so I enjoyed it. I was grinning through several parts of the movie. Popcorn and soda became my dinner. Treat yo' self!

So my parents (hi Mom & Dad!!) got solar panels for the house. SO COOL! That'll probably start saving the moolahs as time goes on. Proud of my cool parents for being ahead of the curve like that.

Work was another long full day. Blimey. And I think it will continue like this for a good while. Printed the front and backs on these shirts, then printed the front design and side design. That took most of the day. Then we printed the fronts and backs on some other shirts. That took the rest of the day. I also managed to squeeze in three burned/double coated screens. It was all discharge today, so that was a lot of washing out of screens. My work shirt got a lot of splash back. So now what was a pretty clean shirt is now moved down the work shirt stack to "not so clean". I wear them cleaniest to dirtiest, though the really dirty ones don't really get worn much unless I continually forget to wash my work shirts.

Anyhoo. It was long. And I saw that there was a 9pm Iron Man 3 showing, so I went for it. And there went the rest of my day. But it was a damn good day. I very much enjoyed it.

when Peter met Harriet

We printed those towels and they looked AWESOME. Totally rad. Vibrant colors. No breakdown. No mistakes. Flawless job. I cleaned out the screens and all that, and by that time it was time for lunch.

Finished Godfather of Kathmandu. It was good, but it was sort of lacking....it's a book in the middle of an ongoing series so it just didn't have the weight that a first or final book would have, ya know? But still I dug it. Onto more Lord Peter Wimsey! Onto Strong Poison!

We ran the backs on one job, but the white shirts were an inferior product that were incapable of being printed on. So at the end of all that...I reclaimed 10 screens and called it a good long day.

Had some pasta for dinner. Put my feet up. Though about projects and Star Trek and Iron Man 3. Movie season is here!

It's so busy! But busy is good. Busy is work. Work is money. It's all good in the end.

this week will drag, I can tell

I'm almost at 30k pageviews for this blog! That's pretty cool. Granted, it's the same handful of people checking in every day. Still. Neat.

We finished up the bags. I double coated and prepped a bunch of screens for discharge. Jeff set up the discharge job. Andrew made the ink. Then there was some stuff with the ink not quite working as the color, and one of the screens wasn't quite right either...so we removed all the ink from the screens (can't leave discharge ink in the screens like you can with plastisol) and we shall resume that job tomorrow. Printing towels is fun! I picked up another dozen eggs.

I had a huge salad for dinner, but I put almonds on it and I forgot how farty almonds make me. Yeah. No more almonds for me. My tummy feels all..funky.

IT'S ONLY TUESDAY. GAWD.

Umberto & I

Monday was off to a mixed start. I cleaned stuff, so that was good. It's all ready to go. Though a job we ran will have to be reran, for...reasons. Though it will be ran better this time, because it will be ran with discharge. We started heat pressing some carry-alls. It was my duty to unpack them for Andrew to press, and then to box them back up once they were pressed. Basically halving the amount of time it takes to do the job, instead of having one person take twice as long. The bags came two to a box, and arrived about 7 feet high on five pallets. It was a lot of boxes...a needless amount of boxes because the bags don't fold. Anyway. That was done, and it will continue to be worked on tomorrow. I also unboxed some supplies and burned two screens. Tomorrow there will probably be more set up and stuff. It's looking to be a busy week.

At home, On Ugliness, edited by Umberto Eco, finally arrived! I found a good used copy online (as opposed to the $50 copy I saw in Powell's years ago). Excited to look at all the pictures (and read the captions as well).

I feel very tired, so I'm going to bed. I guess it isn't much earlier than usual but still. Mmm.

canadian cinema & california burgers

Saturday:

Blessed Saturday! And it was a really good one. I slept in. I watched Doctor Who. I had a fried egg sandwich. I went food shopping and finally found where they moved the granola bars to in Trader Joe's. It was also a LOVELY day. In the afternoon, I sat on the porch and solved a crossword puzzle. I say I solved it...actually Janet and Alana helped too, when they saw all the fun I was having outside. And it was solved in record time too. Just the knowledge of three brunettes on a warm Spring day.

I also disassembled my at home exposure unit, because I don't really need it anymore. Still have the lights and the planks, so I could reassemble if need be.

Later on, Steve came down and we got pizza and then in turn ate the pizza, watched Doctor Who (again in my case), drank beer, and watched the very awesome Canadian movie Pontypool.

Sunday:

This weekend's "Brunch with Steve" locale was Walnut Cafe. There was a bit of a wait, so I perused some cards in a card shop. So many lovely cards. We both went for lunch options, and thinking back on it I should have just tried the eggs benedict. My burger was good, but...errr a more brunchy option would have been nice. Steve had some stuff to do, so he left shortly after brunch. I had the rest of the day to relax, enjoy the warmth of the day, and generally be in a good mood.

Game of Thrones was super good, as was Mad Men.

Mother's Day is in a couple weeks....I should make a card or something. Hmmm.

the sun is a comin'

La la la. Friday! Finally! Not that it was a particularly long week, but I want to get some sun and relax a bit outside, ya know?

Anyhoo. We ran the fronts and backs on this job. It looked good. We ran a job on these polyester shirts. The kind for marathons, though not a large run. Still you gotta use a special kind of stretch ink and you have to flash it at a certain temp or it will crinkle. Learning all sorts of things! And we ran some sweaters.

Oh and I learned that Kara's name is spelled Kara! So if I have spelled it Karah or Cara...well that was wrong.

Not a bad day, and I listened to a bunch of my audiobook. It's a good one, though a book about a Thai cop, written by a Westerner, and told from a very "you don't understand because you, the reader, are a Westerner" point of view...is a bit odd. That coupled with the British dude narrating it. Though he is really good at accents. Still.

At home I whipped up some eggs and bacon for dinner and watched the Hannibal show, which was a bit grisly...not the best thing to watch while eating eggs. Don't have any major plans for this weekend. Maybe I'll  try working on a tan or something...tis the season. Of course I'll wear sunscreen! But ya know...get some vitamin D.

back to Thailand

What a day! A very full one. And it was a lovely so. So there is that.

Anyway. We ran a discharge job, and it ran beautifully. I taped up some screens. We ran another job, which resulted on a minor bit of troubleshooting.

I finally finished Plum Island. Just a really longwinded needlessly long by-the-books murder mystery with an ending that was a bit out of place in terms of violence and realism. Anyway. Started listening to The Godfather of Kathmandu. Good ol' Sonchai Jitpleecheep. And wouldn't you know it, but it opened up with a reference to Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. Ha!

Finished the day with coating screens.

At home, the neighbor kids kept loosing their balls over our fence. Cute kids.

Watched Hannibal. Texted and whatnot. Tomorrow is Friday and I am looking forward to that day.

building my art collection, one screenprint at a time

The skies were gray today, but I persisted and wore cutoffs. Just cutoffs AND a hoodie.

It was a solo clean up/prep day at work. 17 screens were cleaned and reclaimed by the end of the day. 9 Screens were burned. One screen was prepped for discharge ink. Almost done with Plum Island. This damn novel is so needlessly long. Like...whole chunks of the story could probably have been massively abbreviated with no real loss to the plot. It's not like it is fancily written! Not sure what I'll listen to next. Insurgent? Hannibal Rising? Strong Poison? The audiobook world is my oytster!

At home I watched telly and drank some tea that Alana prepped. Alana and I chatted about school and Rubik's cubes and the societal pressures to fit in and how being raised with different eating habits can affect your relationship to food as an adult. You know, girl talk.

Any recommendations for good books for me to listen to? Always in the mood to try something new.

Oh, and some Sera Stanton prints I bought on Etsy arrived. I need to get some frames for them. And to find a nice place to hang them. Hmmm! I bought this print for Janet as a birthday gift. I don't think Janet reads my blog...but yeah. I need to get a frame for that too. At least my Stanton prints and that print are standard sizes. Nice and easy! Etsy is such a trap for me. So much art! And really well priced. Though those prints are all that I've bought from Etsy in the past couple months. And the second Stanton print was a special deal sooo.

another day, another dollar

I caught another job that Jeff ran, and all was good. I also trimmed a banner. With that done, I also emptied the trash and cleaned floodbars and whatnot. Listened to more Plum Island, which is starting to feel like the longest audiobook EVER and I really wish whatshisname would solve it already.

Bosses chickens are laying tons of eggs, so I turned in a carton, so tomorrow I should be getting another dozen. Hurray!

Janet made a quiche with some of the previous eggs that my boss has given me. It was a very yummy quiche. Mmm.

I hung out in a livestream all night. A livestream is when someone put a live video feed of the art they are currently working on. It's pretty cool. And there is a chat. So I talked with the other people watching the stream. It's fun stuff.

More Quick Sketches

all sketches roughly 3" x 2" 

micron and ink wash

RÅSKOG

Spent the day catching jobs, as well as helping set up jobs. We ran the fronts and backs on one that needed many color changes. We meaning Jeff and I. Did I mention that Jeff is a new sort of ongoing temp that will run jobs? Anyway, he is pretty nice and has decades of experience. I dig meeting people who have been at this a while and seem to know so many other people. It's a small world, ya know?

Anyway, ran that job and another job and that lasted all day. It was warm and sunny. All in all, very swell.

At home I boiled eggs and put some on my salad. And I watched the new Mad Men and watched some Broadchurch and did some quick little sketches. Having a scanner is really incentivizing myself to draw! I'm very happy with my purchase. Now I need to pitch some ideas and make some money.

But it's only Monday.

Quick Sketches

all sketches are 3" x 2"

brush pen and marker or ink wash

the air is filled with the sounds of birds and kids screaming (in delight I hope)

Had a nice relaxing Sunday. I slept in. Then had some tea and ate my leftovers. I hardboiled a bunch of eggs. I sketched a bit. It was a really nice warm day too. I hope Spring is here, and Summer to follow. Might even go to the beach next weekend. Get some vitamin D. Remember Mom, how you used to make me go outside? Now I do it willingly, AND I eat salad for dinner.

I'm all grown up! Yay!

Junk Drawer

6" x 9"

brush pen and ink wash

beaches, brunches, and bunches of company

Friday:

Boss brought in Jeff to run the press. Jeff was super nice. A dude with many years experience. He finished the backs and did all the fronts and meanwhile I did the other stuff. I coated screens. I mixed a new batch of emulsion. I cleaned screens. I reclaimed screens. I cleaned squeegees and floodbars. I broke down the press. Cleaned more floodbars. Coated more screens. A nice full day. This John Corey novel is SUPER long, like holy crap I could have listened to at least a Discworld novel in this time. But it is charming, so I'm sticking with it.

We got our new stove and it is clean looking and white and all that.

Steve came down later in the evening and we went to Hong Kong Charlie and got take out. We consumed the take out with a bottle of Riesling and it was all quite tasty. It was a very good night.

Saturday:

Steve and I were too lazy to make a breakfast, so we went out. Santa Cruz Diner had a line, so I drove back home and we walked to Zachary's, which I heard good things about. The wait was very short. I had tea with eggs benedict and oh wow was it good! I love me some eggs benedict. I ate it with my hands and I got quite messy, but I'd like to think that is part of my charm. That I'm a tactile eater. Either way, Steve didn't seem embarrassed by my sloppy company, so all was well.

Afterwards, we walked down to the boardwalk and beach. We walked through the surf. I bought some Dippin' Dots. We sat on the beach. We absorbed the rays. It was such a warm lovely day. It's so nice to be withing walking distance of brunch and beach. Steve's neck got a bit red, but I was pretty fine.

Back at home we watched the first episode of Broadchurch and the new Doctor Who episode. Then we took a nap. Then we said our goodbyes.

In the evening, Janet, Alana and I drank wine and ate nachos and girl talked. Janet worked on the junk drawer and Alana put things away. I sketched and tried to be helpful. It was nice to get to know the housemates a little better. It's a really nice living arrangement.

Things are just really good, ya know?

すばらしい

My eyes hurt. Too much computer? Or just too tired? Either way. What a day!

Finished those sleeves. I registered them like a champ. Boss told me that if I felt like they were lined up, I should just go ahead and print 'em. The better I get, the less work he has to do on this end of things. Which makes all things better. Sleeves and then I put on youth pallets and then 1100 units were counted in of this job that is due really soon. So we got started. We roto'd the first 100 or so, because there wasn't an underbase screen (roto = send the print around twice to get a second layer of ink instead of two screens, it is slower to print but it takes less screens and set up, so for smaller jobs it isn't the worst idea). Then the second screen was put in and it went so much faster. Got another 200 through the press and then I was tired and done diddly done for the day. Tomorrow will be the fronts. Andrew reclaimed the screens while I printed. Plum Island is an okay audiobook. The main guy is so sarcastic and sardonic, it's an enjoyable change of pace from, ya know, the cannibal guy.

Our stove will get wheeled out of its place and replaced. If they are just going to trash it, we might try and keep it for some back yard decoration.

At home I had a salad and a headache was working its way back and forth. The heat in the studio was getting to me a bit too, I think.

I've been in shorts all this week and the week previous. I think those pants will be put away for the season. Yaay!

Chatted with Alana. Janet's birthday is soon so I quickly ordered her a present that I know she'll like. Etsy is great, and my talented friends who make great art are great.

out of luck, but I've maimed some rabbits for their feet

Tuesday (written last night but not posted):


So last night, on top of the stove and water heater, the internet went out at 1am. And at 10pm tonight, it is still out. I'll survive.

I microwaved a big bowl of water and gave myself a bath of sorts with that. It seemed to do the trick.

I burned and taped screens, and Andrew burned screens that I taped. I also cleaned some screens and floodbars and squeegees. I could reclaim a nice small stack any ol' day now. Nice to not have the big pile up of 20 screens all needing tape removed and ink cleaned.

I'm nearing the finish of Hannibal. There is a great part about Hannibals "memory palace" which reminded me of Sherlock's "mind palace" in the Sherlock series. I wonder if it is an homage? Kinda funny thing to reference, but both sort of function in similar ways.

Boss gave me some eggs. Now I have more eggs than I know what to do with and no stove to cook them on. Too bad you can't microwave eggs...not unless you like eating scrambled eggs off the side of the microwave...ha. Well, they'll last.

At home I felt very, very tired and took a nap. I think the weekend was still wearing on me a bit. And now it is 10:20 and I am feeling chipper. I can always read or watch something. It's kinda nice to take a break from all the multitasking and refreshing that being on the Internet fosters. Just some me time.

Alana moved in a nice shelf into the bathroom, so there is more storage. And a plant. It's feeling a lot cozier with her around. Too bad all these things went wrong RIGHT when she moved in.

Tomorrow is looking to be a print heavy day. Got one shirt with three different graphic placements (three different two color set ups), and another that still needs to be burned. Summer is rolling in.

Wednesday:

Woke up to find the internet functional! A plumber was checking out the stuff. It looks like the people who installed our water heater installed it wrong, so we'll have to get them to do it right. Thus far I don't think I smell. I managed to wash my hair, and that is the main thing that makes me feel gross...when it gets greasy like that.

At work we printed the sleeves on this one job, and then started the sleeves on this other job. It's a lot of color changes and weird set ups and it's quite the hassle. But we are the super team, we'll get it done all awesome like! I also burned a few screens. It was busy, and tomorrow will also be busy, and I predict Friday will wind down busy.

 I finished Hannibal. It did not end the way I expected it to, but I liked it. He got to eat this really awful guy, so I was happy about that. I started Plum Island, a John Corey novel. Never heard of him as a detective before, so I'm giving it a shot. Plum Island is a location referenced in Silence of the Lambs, so that is an interesting parallel.

At home I ate some rice crackers and creme cheese and drank beer and caught up on the internet. It didn't explode in my absence, so that was good. Hope things in the house get restored to normal right quick.

My lips are doing that getting really dry thing. I have to try and not to rub/chew them because then they'll crack and I'll pick at that and they'll scab. It's a vicious cycle.

well, this week is off to a good start

Came home to a report about a CO2 leak with our water heater and leaks with our stove. Apparently Alana smelled a leak, so this guy came and checked it out. Good thing, that! Hopefully the leaks will get fixed soon, because cold showers are sucky things. I don't have the strongest sense of smell, and the stove doesn't light automatically all the time...so hopefully our new roomie saved us all from being blown up by a rogue leak!

I should have washed my hair this morning. It was sort of the last day I can leave it unwashed and not have it be all...gross looking. Ahh oh well. I work with dudes, and they don't really care.

We started with bags, and I caught those. Then a two color back and one color front. Easy. Then a very long front print with discharge ink that was a bit more complex and took some creative flood bar rigging to get it to pull right. But pull right it did! Andrew and I had some good conversation about Game of Thrones and food (he dislikes feta cheese as it turns out).

I burned some screens. I counted in the shirts, and then boom right back into the boxes they went. A nice full day. Hurray!

I made my grocery run. I left my list at home, but I managed to get all that I needed.

Lucy Knisley Sketches

Sketches from Lucy Knisley's lecture and Berkeley Public Library. 4/14/2013 

Micron and ink wash in Moleskine.

Lucy in the Sky with Foie Gras

Had the plan to go to the Lucy Knisley book signing today. For her book "Relish" a comic memoir about food. I love her art, so figured it would be a neat adventure to go to Berkeley and see her. I texted the people I knew in the area and one was doing stuff later in the day so the scheduling would be too tight, the other had plans, and the third never called my back and the fourth I don't think got my Facebook message. So I went it alone, which was a bit lonely. I think my day might have been a bit more enjoyable if I had some company along the line. But oh well. Can't say I didn't try.

I left at around 12:45ish and arrived in Berkeley at 2:30ish. My written instructions were good because now I fully don't trust my GPS to connect at all. Found free parking that was only a couple blocks from the venue too, which was awesome (helped that it was a Sunday). I walked up Shattuck Ave and I went into Fantastic Comics and bought Relish ahead of time and then I stopped in Half Price Books. The books were indeed Half Price but I was able to resist purchasing. I got to the Berkeley Public Library with time to spare before the little book talk. The room wasn't totally crowded, but it had a good vibe. Lucy Knisley talked us through the first chapter of her book with photo references, as well as detailed her process. She talked about the length of time it took to do the comic (3-4 years) and other stuff. It was nice. The signing happened at Fantastic Comics, and she was drawing everyones favorite food in their book, so I asked for fish & chips and she obliged with an excellent drawing. So good. She was really friendly for the little I talked to her. Just being in a comic shop gave me good vibrations.

Afterwards I wandered back down Shattuck and got a cheesesteak and coke at a diner. It wasn't anything special, which was disappointing to eat after seeing a talk about a comic that is food centered memoir. But I didn't know where any better restaurants would be, and I didn't feel like spending 45 minutes walking up and down Shattuck and Univeristy looking for them. Guess that is the Spencer side of me. The "I need to eat something before this day will progress any further" side.

At 5pm I left Berkeley and headed for Santa Cruz. I listed to Hannibal and some music. Traffic was okay. Got home in good time. Pajamas were engaged, and Game of Thrones was eagerly watched. This weekend was so busy, but I guess that is a good thing! Can't spend all my days doing nothing.

ups and downs and all arounds

I did enough today to warrant its own posting, instead of double day posting like I've been doing a lot lately.

Dog Beach:

Because a potential housemate has a dog, we were going to have a meetup at Lighthouse Field State Beach to see if Joey and that doggie will get along. And I figured it would be good to kill two meetings with one stone, I got up at 8 and joined Janet and Joey at the beach. I met tons of Janet's pals. There is a big hooplah about leash laws and they are trying to take it back, so they have set times where people meet with their dogs on the beach. Established times and stuff. 8:30-10am on Saturday for sure. Anyhoo, so I met those people and they had coffee and doughnuts. I met so many lovely doggies. Friendly doggies. Fluffy doggies. Big, small, just...awesome dogs. Several times I was just sitting on the sand and I didn't have enough hands to pet all the dogs. There was Charlie, Perro, Jessie, Lou, Molly, Penny, and other dogs. Ah! It was lovely. Charlie was very sweet. It was seriously many kinds of awesome to just chill with happy animals and to chat with various people.

Alas the potential housemate did not show up.

Alana:

But Alana, a potential housemate who was referred through a friend of Janet DID show up. She was very sweet, is going to school and working, and was just generally like...nice! She was easy to talk to, easy to laugh, everything about her seemed good so....now we have her for a housemate! She liked the house, and seemed to have the right sort of energy for the way it is around these parts. And Ron Lemon, the across the street neighbor, stopped by for a chat with us three while we were all talking on the porch. So that felt very communal. Yay! New housematey.

Fridge and Pantry:

Alana departed to do what she needs to do, and Janet & I worked on making a little room for her. We cleaned out the fridge of food that wasn't ours, as well as Amanda's shelf in the pantry. She (Amanda) didn't have a lot anyway, and we didn't toss what was good so if she still wants it, it is here...it's just been sifted into the communal food a bit. There is so much more room in the fridge. There were several things that have been in there since I moved in, and I didn't know whose they were. Now it has been long enough to just toss some of the stuff. And there is much more room in the freezer. Hurray!

Egg:

I had a fried egg sandwich for lunch.

Shopping:

There were these nautical boat print swim trunks at JC Penney that I really wanted, so I drove up to San Jose to see if they had them (I should have called, but I wanted to check out Kinokuniya as well). I took a wrong turn on Tully, and it took me a while to realize that, but once I did that I got my way to the mall pretty easily. They did not have the shorts! And none of the other designs appealed to me. I need a new swimsuit, but I'm not going to buy one I'm lukewarm about. I really want those cool boat patterned shorts. And I'll just get a bikini top or whatever to go with them. I haven't bought a new swimsuit in about 5 years, ha. I wandered around the mall a bit. There was a Daiso, which is bad news. It's a Japanese store, but all the stuff is priced at 1.50, or a couple bucks more. And they have a little bit of everything. It's like a slightly more higher end Dollar Store, but they actually have a good stock of things like: wrapping paper, pencil lead, mechanical pencils, ceramic chopstick holders shaped like flounder and radish, yan yan, toothpicks, goofy hairbows, calligraphy pens, notebooks...yeah I did not make it out of that store empty handed, and if you think that description of items is oddly specific well, there is a reason for that. I don't know what I'll do with my little ceramic flounder, but I know that I love it. After that hooplah, I went to find the Kinokuniya. I remember seeing it on my way to the Imax to see The Hobbit, and it WAS on Saratoga and it WAS on my right when the theater was on my left....but I couldn't find it this time! I wrote up directions but I didn't write the address because my GPS is pretty useless at finding satellites, especially in San Jose. I drove down Saratoga till I hit residential, and then the other way till I got into a residential area again. No luck! I wrote down the directions to get home from the Kinokuniya, and thankfully the directions started with turning on Williams, and at least I had located THAT street. Naturally I turned left on Williams when I should have turned right. But that mistake was evident after a few minutes. I eventually got back home after a shopping trip that ended with no luck at the store I wanted to go to, lots of luck at the store I didn't plan on going into, and no luck at finding the store that I really wanted to go to. As it goes.

Evening Time:

I now have a calligraphy brush in each size. I had purchased two from Ichiban Kan in San Francisco (a store similar to Daiso) and so with the one I procured today, I have multiple sizes. So that is fun. Too bad they utterly bleed through my preferred sketchbooks. Still, I'll find a use for them. They have a nice weight to them. Alana has started moving in, so that is pretty neat. Lucy Knisley is doing a book signing in Berkeley tomorrow. Don't know if I'll drive up and see her, but I don't have any other plans. Might as well journey about on my weekend.

I welcome the sun and the weekend with it

Work was pretty short, which was nice because the day was beautiful. I coated screens, I taped screens, I patched screens, I prepped screens for printing. Not all in the order. It was a screen sort of day.

Went home and washed my car. Now it is all shiny and pretty. I finished Silence of the Lambs...which I started YESTERDAY! 10 hour audiobooks take me about 3-4 days worth of work to finish, and I often take music breaks. Took very few music breaks between those two books.

I met up with Ryan, James, and two new people: Camille and Marina to catch Danny Boyle's new movie: Trance, at the Del Mar. I got my standard clementine Izze and big popcorn, AND the girl at the ticket office recognized me so she didn't ID me. I'm now a recognized customer! Anyway, as for the film it was within the genre of dream within a dream and what is and isn't real, and it was pretty damn good for being of that genre. It was hard to get a hold of character motivations, but it was neatly wrapped up. Though it was confusing for longish stretches of time. It was quite a bit shocking at times, but it was quite the beautiful movie. And James McAvoy was neat.

Afterwards we went to 99 Bottles for beer (they have 99 varieties available). I had a pint of this oatmeal stout that was tasty. We chatted about customs, about art, about the movie, about other movies. There was a live band and Marina and I watched them play for a bit. It was all quite the nice evening.

When I was riding back someone said "hey dude on the bike, where's the beach" and I pointed to the beach and then pointed out I was a girl. I've never been assumed to be a dude before. Was it the polka dot helmet?

I now get the book references!

I'm halfway through Silence of the Lambs. You can tell I had a social day at work. Cleaned squeegees and floodbars. Burned screens. Prepped screens for discharge. Cleaned screens. Reclaimed 20 screens. Listened to a good book with a Strong Female Character. Not a bad Thursday, not a bad one at all. A full 8 hour day, too.

Trance comes out tomorrow. Excited to see that. We are going to review a roommate on Saturday. I'll be getting up early and going to the dog park. I'm staying on this side of 17. Don't feel like driving up yonder.

Hannibal the show takes on such a new light after having gotten through Red Dragon.

The warm weather is here, it seems. Hurray!

humpday gone and done

Work started a bit late, which was nice because I had time to talk to Janet about looking for new housemates and all that.

We ran the back on a job, and the front on a different job, and the back on the first job. It went pretty well, though damn did it get hot! Dryer running + 70 degrees of sunshine. I was hydrating like nobodies business. Summer is here! Shorts! Hurray! Though my pants are fitting a bit tighter. That whole "I should actually go through with that gym thing" idea is circling back on my mind. Just going to wait and go over my finances so they are nice and neat. Plus I think there are some other things I need to pay for first.

Erk like...health insurance. Ma, can you email me about what I need to to with that? And AAA...

I gave the bathroom a good clean, and vacuumed the carpets.

Almost done with the Red Dragon audiobook. Feel like continuing the creepy mystery genre with Silence of the Lambs. Then maybe I'll reset my audiobook mood with another Discworld book or two. Hmmm.

Tomorrow is a cleaning, reclaiming, coating, and taping day.

doodlin' the night away

I spent the night drinking wine, watching Argo, and making stickers to send to people. Here are some stickers:

Actually that last one I drew a few nights ago. Anyway. It's fun to draw on the sticker scraps from work. I have plenty of scraps! It's just the ends that get cut off and generally trashed because they are not quite big enough to print anything new on. Good to use for fun things. And the boss told me to take as many scraps as I wanted. Anyhoo...

At work I taped screens and cut stickers and caught a job and boxed that job and vacuumed the studio. Turns out the floor is a much lighter color. Huh! Whoddathunk? It was good to clean as it is quite dusty. Heck, my scanner has collected dust already. Where does it all come from?

It was a very warm day at work, and I stared to get a bit over heated. Time to don the cutoffs. Spring is here, and soon...summer!

It's Wednesday tomorrow. Seems later in the week.

quoth the man who caught Hannibal

I'm letting my cut finger air out tonight. I finally am able to crack the knuckle, which is something that has been bothering me for the past few days. I'll still keep it in a bandaid, just to protect it. But yay, it is healing nicely!

Cleaned screens. Reclaimed screens. Finished cutting the stickers that I wasn't able to cut on Friday due to cutting myself. Bagged those stickers. A short day, but hey can't complain about short on a Monday.

Even though I could go, I didn't feel up for gaming night.

I put Anathem on pause to listen to Red Dragon. I really liked the quote “He viewed his own mentality as grotesque but useful, like a chair made of antlers. There was nothing he could do about it.”. Something about it really resonated with me. Obviously it did, because I made sure to look up the quote when I got home. Antlers make for some powerful imagery.

I made a Safeway run, because Trader Joe's doesn't have everything. Though at least Trader Joe's doesn't have trashy celebrity mags at the checkout counter. Bleh.

Christmas Turducken

Pen in sketchbook.

the scanner is back in black

I kicked butt on running errands today! I got groceries for the week. Salad, apples, etc. Also tried the frozen Bibimbap from TJ's. It was okay. I was still sorta hungry after. I also did laundry and tidied up my room.

I also installed my scanner! It arrived earlier in the week, but I just haven't gotten around to doing it. So I spent the afternoon scanning my sketchbook. Hurray! So happy to have it. It's a sleek thing.

Game of Thrones was awesome. Diana Rigg has joined the cast as Lady Olenna Redwyne, so I dig that.

My finger is fine. It's still under a bandaid though I do have more movement. No infection, no stitches. Hurray! Lets see how I manage work though. That'll be something.

blood, sweat, but no tears

Friday:

Had a relatively easy end to the work week. Cut some stickers. Listened to Anathem, which is confusing me royally. Ran a couple shirts. Cleaned some screens. As I was cutting sticker at the end of the day, the Exacto caught on something and flipped out of my hand, cutting my pointer finger. The blood ran freely and I quickly washed it out. Andrew disinfected it, but I didn't even wince, and put a bandaid on it. That was super helpful as it's hard to apply a bandaid with your non dominant hand. I went around and cleaned up my trail of blood, and got a few stories from my Boss of the different times he has cut himself. The bandaid was good and secure, and waterproof so that it kept it properly sealed in. No leakage.

I kept my arm elevated and took it easy. Then I headed up to San Jose later in the evening. I think I milked the injury for a proper amount of sympathy from Steve. We got pizza, and then met up with Jenn and Adam and saw Jurassic Park in 3D at the IMAX. SO BADASS! It looked so nice up on the big screen. So crisp and remastered. Mmm. A good way to end the week.

Saturday:

I spent the night in San Jose. Sometimes I feel like driving at night, sometimes I don't. It wasn't so bad heading back down. The Sunday traffic wasn't bad.

Back at home I got to work getting caught up on telly. Hannibal and Doctor Who mainly. I took a nap. Janet posted on Craigslist the advert for the room. It is looking to be a casual weekend. Gotta go shopping tomorrow. Fruit, veggies, all that stuff.

the difference a year can make

A year ago today (April 4th) I left Washington for California. I made it to Medford that day, and on the 5th I pulled into Redwood City to live with my brother while I looked for work. Nate has now moved to Menlo Park (or whatever that area is) and I found work in Santa Cruz. Work in my field doing what I dig. And today of all days, I got a raise! But I'm getting ahead of myself.

It was a vinyl heavy day, but rejoice the vinyl was cut a bit better so it was much easier to weed! And I only messed up once, and it was on one that was inconsequential. There were some big vinyl, and some small ones, and some tricky ones and some easy ones. I finished Odd Hours and....I dunno it was a bit odd. It suffered from that "set up" story problem that series often gets, though thus far hasn't been an issue in the series. I think the world building was a bit too unanswered and some of the characters a bit too...charactery. Ah, oh well. I started Anathem and...I'm a bit confused. But I'll keep with it.

I also taped screens, and cut stickers, and bagged stuff. And that was mostly it. I...I think I did something else? Can't quite recall. The boss asked if I'd like to get dinner to talk about work stuff, and I agreed.

At 6:30 we met at Hong Kong Charlie and I got these not quite spicy noodles with pork, and they were so very good. Mmm. Boss and I talked about travels and other things, and the work related stuff was in regards to how good I am! How reliable I am, how on time I am, and all my other good qualities. And then he gave me a raise! And a not too shabby one at that. I mentioned that I was thinking about asking for a raise, as I have had a lot more responsibilities  A little while ago I mentioned in passing how it's almost been a year since I moved to California, and maybe that comment is what spurred his thinking that maybe I should get a raise, for sticking around and being awesome? Either way, YAY RAISE! And yay for having a damn good boss.

At home I watched Elementary. Just such a damn charming show.

Now to do the adult thing and get a good night sleep!

trying to eat more greens

I loaded a good chunk of Anathem onto my MP3 player, so that'll probably be next in my audiobook queue. I've only got about 2 hours left on Odd Hours, so that'll last me through part of tomorrow. I've got a bunch of weeding to do. Way too much weeding. It almost seems like it goes fast but then at the same time it doesn't. I got really crosseyed. Damn cursive logos. So many little bits.

Still so excited about the Neil Gaiman tour.

He will be in Seattle on July 2nd, at the Town Hall Seattle, 7pm. It doesn't look like event tickets are up for sale, but it is a Tuesday. I'll keep you posted, Ma & Pa.

At work I weeded vinyl, cleaned squeegees and floodbars, burned screens, and weeded even more vinyl. It was a full day but it went fast.

Met Andrew's girlfriend who had a really cool name like Julalene...but not quite. Ahhh. She had really nice eyebrows.

Had salad for dinner, and rice crackers with creme cheese for dessert. Surprise surprise, I'm still a bit hungry. My body is too used to being shoveled carbs.

Tomorrow is Thursday! That happened so quick.

Neil in The City

I got my ticket to see Neil Gaiman! June 28th in San Francisco. A Friday. But I'll just take that day (or rather afternoon) off. And the ticket includes the book, so I've got that sorted! Nice. Can't wait to ask him to sign the book to Trillian. Ohhh what ever shirt will I wear!?

AHhh work was long and arduous. Printing a bunch of totes, but because the squeegee ran over the seam it sort of...damaged the screen. And a button on a polo also damaged a screen. Booo. Screens are all fine and dandy until you have to print over something not smooth. There is a pallet with an indent used for zippered stuff, but no such thing for tote seams. But the totes came out looking nice. I'll break down the press in the morning. It was a solid 8 hours and I was glad to get home and in my pajamas. It was a beer and pasta sort of evening. Been eating a lot of salad. Bags of salad are now on my "buy every TJ's visit" list, right there with apples, bananas, and OJ.

Tomorrow looks to be a "cleaning and prep" day at work. I'm down for that.

I am listening to Odd Hours.

Ahhh oh my god still excited about Neil Gaiman. Ma, if I know of a Seattle venue of his, I'll let you know! He was buddies with Douglas Adams, it would be great if you went to a signing and name dropped me. Hehehe.

trust no one on april first

Finished Divergent. I dunno, it started really strong but it had some weak points. Maybe when books are set out to be written as trilogies, then more can be left out of single tomes and so they don't have the best structure because experiencing it you know it is all just the first act. Still, it had some good parts. Though I think so much of the main body of the story was shucked a bit by the way it changed in the end, and there are some holes in regards to world building. Again that might be something resolved in later books, but it shouldn't HAVE to be that way.

Not sure what I'll listen to next.

At work we ran a common job. Took a lot of little tweaks, but we did it. Ran a small job too. I counted shirts. Burned some screens. All in a days work!

My arms hurt all day, I think my groceries may have been too heavy.

I've been taking it easy far too many days in a row, need to do something! Hmm.

Davos Seaworth Power Hour

Saturday:

Amanda moved out this morning. She was out quite quickly.

I watched the rest of Black Mirror, which is the awesome piece of miniseries BBC speculative fiction. Steve's friend Travis was having a little Easter shindig, so I went up yonder to attend that. I had two kinds of meat, brownies, apple crumble, cake, potato salad, veggies, and even more food. Mmmm. I should have had more meat though. It was good cookin'. I played Super Smash Brothers with Nargas' kids, but they were too young to really properly play and kept switching characters with me because obviously that is the way to play better...the in game person not the controls. Hahah. Anyway, that was fun.

I returned to Santa Cruz in the evening, and it was rainy so I went very slow on 17. Not a fun road to take in the rain, but at least when it is late you can take it as you like.

Sunday:

Watched the new episode of Doctor Who as I ate my breakfast, it was charming. I made an extending shopping list, as I needed to get things like rice and jam and the other stuff that I buy about every other month instead of weekly staples (like apples and bananas and granola bars). Went food shopping. Only using a hand cart helps prevent impulse buying, though Toblerones are quite light and small. Not saying I bought a ton of Toblerones, but I did buy more than one.

At home I kicked my feet up and gnoshed and watched Game of Thrones season two. Gearing up for season three, which premiered tonight and was awesome.

Besides food, it really was a do nothing day. Which is nice to have.

emotibrows

A short day at work to end a relatively short week as a whole. I did some banners, I cleaned some screens and squeegees, I counted an order that was all over the place (1 red M hoodie, 12 xxl black zips, 3 navy shirts, etc.). I listened to more Divergent, which is pretty good. 

Did I mention that my housemate Amanda put in her 30 days notice? Soon I shall be getting a new housemate. Hopefully a good one. Janet has good taste in housemates. Obviously, she picked me.

I went at the bathtub and bath tiles with Kaboom! cleaner. I plugged in my fan to aid in the ventilation. The tub looks much more shiny, but the grout could use a second assault. It does look nicer though. My bathroom just...doesn't look as clean as it ought.

I got bored so I drew some eyebrows on my face:

I kinda like them. I have such pale brows. I don't know if I have the courage to wear them out in public though. Baby steps.

letterwoman

Another lovely day at work. Stu and I ran three shirt jobs: a two color on underbase, and two white roto'd. I was pulling the shirts at a very good speed. Certain shirts are easier to put on and pull of palettes. I also coated the screens I reclaimed, and burned a screen, and taped some screens. Not the longest of days, but it was a nice one.

Divergent is quite good, I'll probably do some fanart when I'm done listening to it.

At home I had a scramble for dinner and tidied my room. Steve came down for a visit and I showed him my zines. Thesis is so very long ago, and Portland feels quite distant now. It's not the most fun of feelings to have. I hope I get some time off work soon, because I'd like to drive up to Portland and hang with Madeline, Heather, Daniel, BT, Serenity, Dom, Beth, Samala, and all the rest. Some day. Hopefully some day soon.

Yay, Friday is here! It will probably be a light day. I don't think we'll be running any major major jobs. Maybe some smaller ones.

I also worked a bit more on my correspondence  Just writing letters old school like. It feels nice to do. To write and send things. To old friends and new friends. And getting things back is always a bonus too.

"strop" is a good descriptive word

Now that my scanner is on its way, I'm thinking of projects to do! Yay projects. There is one idea I had of illustrating the bad advice that comes out of ladies mags, though I've been stuck on a title. On going projects. I need to increase my profile as an illustrator. Be popularrr.

Another solo day at work. Boss cut some easier to weed vinyl, and it was indeed easier to weed though it still took some attentiveness. I burned and taped some screens, and counted in some shirts, and did a 4'x8' banner, reclaimed some screens. All in all, a pretty good day. I finished Brother Odd and started Divergent. The "list" thing on Blogger is having issues, so it won't let me update the audiobooks as I listen to them. Hopefully it will be remedied soon. Till then, I'll keep track of what I listen to.

The Odd Thomas books have a really good narrator. Good on ya David Aaron Baker.

At home I had a bigger salad for dinner, and since I was still hungry I put some creme cheese on some rice crackers and ate that. I'm STILL hungry but it's late so any food I eat now will just digest as I sleep and not contribute to long energy. At least that is what I vaguely recollect about eating anything four hours prior to sleeping.

Anyhoo. Got a nice piece of correspondence, so I wrote a response. Got to use my "modern art" stamps, that are so cool. Kinda don't want to mail the Duchamp and Man Ray stamp though...

why did you have to dot your "i's"???

Finally ordered my scanner! Now I'll have to play it nice and fiscal. Less diamond studded yachts.

At work I started off my emptying the trash. Wasn't quite sure what I'd be up to. I did a more thorough press wipe, and hopefully I really got all the wet ink off the press. It tends to get in unusual places. Handles, fronts, backs, all the bits. Tried to get them. Then I dusted the press down. Some of the ink will need a more powerful chemical to get off, but I didn't do that today.

Next I weeded vinyl to float the text onto these die cut stickers. The vinyl was very small and I went very cross eyed doing it, and there is yet more vinyl to weed. Such little letters, though really it is the dots for the i's that give the most trouble. Such little things to watch out for.

I took down the trash and recycling and that was it for the day. At least my boss was sympathetic to my cross eyed condition.

At home I ordered the scanner, and had a salad for dinner. Nummy salad.

Now my eyes need a rest from all their....looking at stuff.

Can't wait to scan stuff!!

on the island (in cards and in television)

Had a very short day due to boss being at a conference thingy. So all I had to do was coat the 20 screens I reclaimed on Friday (some coated easier than others, due to patches) and do a press wipe. Press wipe being a cleaning of the press to make it all spiffy. Started listening to Brother Odd. As much as I like Peter Wimsey, I was missing Odd Thomas. The narrator is like an old friend. I listened to the first book while printing my thesis all those years ago.

At home I took a bath and worked on my crossword puzzle book. I've got 2 solved thus far, out of 200. Go me!

And for the first time I got out of work on a Monday with plenty of time to go to game night! So I went, and the regular familiar faces were there (Andy, Chris, Karen, erm...the others). I had a pizza and we played Around the World in 80 Days, this card game this Chris was testing, this other card game, this Pandemic-esque game. Fun! Hopefully more of my Mondays get out at good hours.

Relaxed at home. Watched Top of the Lake, a gloomy New Zealand set murder mystery with a strong female cast. Nice to see the NZ scenery filmed through a Pacific Northwest lens. Maybe it isn't all tropical and beautiful?

viva Mexican food

Saturday:

Agreed to help Nathan move, though I don't know how much help I actually provided. Anyhoo. Arrived in Redwood City at 3ish and helped pack some shirts and move some boxes out and whatnot. There will be several trips, so not everything needed to get Uhauled immediately. From there we (Nate, Helen and myself) went to the u-store place and Nate filled out the paperwork. Then we got Mexican food and went to Helen's (which was only a couple blocks from the storage unit) and had a late lunch and worked on crossword puzzles. We three solved one! Helen is really good at clues. Nathan got a few as well.

From there we went to Nate's new place in Menlo Park. It was... extremely cozy, to put it kindly. Unkindly, it is really small. But it is month to month, so it can give Nate some time to find a better place. I helped move a couple things in and out. Met the couple who owns the main part of the house (Nate is renting a space that is part of a converted garage or something). Met their dogs.

Nate & Helen set off for the Storage Unit and I set off for San Jose & Steve. Steve was watching King of the Hill when I arrived, and I got caught up in watching a few episodes with him. It's a really good show when you think about how Hank is content in his little life really wants to be a good father though he is at odds with Bobby, how Peggy is very dissatisfied and always wants something more, and the overall themes of small town people fighting big changes. We met up with Kyle and Molly and got ice cream. The chocolate/vanilla swirl that I got was BIG, holy cow! I didn't think it would be, but it was. We wandered around the street and then went off in search of Mexican food. There was a little hole in the wall place (much like the one I went to in the afternoon with N&H) and plenty tacos were bought and we four consumed them back at Steve's. They were damn good too. Mmmm.

I like driving home late at night, because I can go my own pace on 17. That is to say a slower and saner pace.

Sunday:

Broke my habit and slept in on a Sunday. I hade a big scramble breakfast, and did laundry, and had an avocado and creme cheese sandwich for dinner. Didn't really get up to much besides farting around the Internet.

Need to come up with a few more art projects. Maybe design a couple new cards. Oh! Scanner. Still haven't bought one. Dang. I need to get my work address though, so I can have UPS deliver there instead.

Franco, what a hoot!

Weekend! Spring Brea-oh wait, I'm not in college and I have a job. Spring weekend!

It was a solo day. I ran a mail errand before work. Good ol' post office. At work I started by reclaiming 10 screens, then I cleaned the ones that didn't have tape, then I removed the tape from the ones that had tape, then I coated a few of the reclaimed screens with Aquasol emulsion, then I cleaned the rest of the screens, then I reclaimed 15 screens at the end. Not a full day, which was nice. Just me and Lord Peter Wimsey.

My Threadless shirts arrived in the mail, so that was cool. Now I have some neat shirts to wear, wheee!

Had an avocado creme cheese sandwich for dinner. Thankfully I gave the avocado a squeeze and found it to be fit to cut open. It's a good thing to know how to test food ripeness. Avocados, those are fruit, right?

I saw Harmony Korine's movie Spring Breakers, because I was curious. It was a trip. Not quite my type of movie, though it had some nice film work.

Weekend!

it's on Soquel, so it is semi in the right direction for work...

Thinking about joining a gym again. I really want to be in better shape so that I can do my job better. And also getting in better shape while I'm young and it is easier to get in shape than when I'm old and it's...more difficult. Plus healthy, healthy, healthy! And a gym would put me in contact with people.

Hmm. I'd have to work out before work, and hopefully the energy would do me good.

Anyway. Ran the fronts on shirts, Cara/Karah/Kara helped me with a bigass banner. 15'x5'!!! So big. Way too big really, but I did it. And a smaller banner. And I cleaned stuff and chopped stickers. The banner was the doozy. Took a lot of effort, but before I knew it, the day was done!

I ran a little bookshop errand after work, though I didn't find the book I wanted, so I got a more contemporary crossword puzzle collection and a birthday card for Heather and Daniel (their birthdays are about a week apart, so I double dipped, haha).

Do you eat after a morning work out? Before? A little nibble to get your metabolism started?

Welp, I'm going to work on me crossword puzzle book.

in an octopuses topiary

I burned my hand a bit on the heat press. Booo! I was as careful as I could be, but still when you lightly graze something heated up to 315 degrees, it will burn. Though not too bad, it certainly isn't leaking puss.

Oh, there is a new radio adaptation of Neverwhere. I put the first four episodes in Dropbox Ma & Pa, so give those a listen.

Also at work I caught, I taped, I cleaned, and I heat pressed.

After work I went food shopping. Got some salad fixings. Awww yeah salad. Green stuff. I also remembered that avocados exist, so I predict a couple avocado creme cheese sandwiches in my near future. Mmmm. And I bought a shirt from my coworker, one of his octopus designs. It's a pretty rad shirt. Good deal for ten bucks.

I...I need to find something to do in my evenings. But by the time I'm home and cooled off from work, it's past 7. Hmmn.

oh Lord Peter, you crack me up

Taped zee screens, caught zee prints, unboxed zee shirts, printed zee more hats...I can't keep writing like that.

I started listening to another Peter Wimsey novel, though actually it is a collection of short stories. Just very delightful stories across the board.

I also hauled out the trash and chopped stickers.

At home I did jack and squatt. Not really...good. And I forgot to go grocery shopping! I'm out of fruit again (and vegetables).

Tomorrow. I'll do that tomorrow. And I'll have my paycheck by then, so I can go hog wild on salad.

new threads

Pressed hats for most of my shift, and I hope I pressed them right. Placement is tricky. Centering things is hard, especially when the graphics are lopsided. Ah, oh well, it is done so...it is done. Also pressed patches on hats, which is possible. I stamped them down real snug on the machine. I also burned some screens, and since they are for discharge I double coated and hardened them, so they'll be good to go soon.

Cut stickers. Did banners. Finished listening to The Hitman's Guide to Housecleaning. Because the book was narrated with a strong Croatian accent, my internal dialogue got a bit of an accent as well. The narrator was really good at a broad range of accents. There was Icelandic, American, and err...others. It was a fun listen.

At home, I relaxed. Watched telly. Bought a couple Threadless shirts, because whenever Threadless shirts are on sale for $10, I have to give it a browse.

Mom, you should buy this shirt, so we can be twinsies! This is also a cute design, but I didn't get it.

Crap, still haven't ordered that scanner.

I wore pants, not cut offs, to work. It's supposed to be low to mid 60's for the rest of the week. Oh well.

There are shirts to print, but they are doing on site installs, so I don't know what I'll be doing during the next couple days. Maybe I'll have a day off? Wouldn't be the worst thing.

bulbin'

Saturday:

Just a stay at home and get things done kinda day. I made a Target run and got lightbulbs, soap, face wash, work shirts, and other household stuff. I got the fancy long lasting lightbulbs. Cuz I'm living large.

Annnd that was pretty much it. I didn't run errands till later in the day, and I didn't get out of bed and on with breakfast till afternoon.

Sunday:

I set my alarm because I didn't want to sleep allll the way in. Had a little breakfast. Got in touch with Nathan. At 2ish I swung by Trader Joe's and got some snackums and then I went up to see Nate in Redwood City. We played some Portal 2 co-op, watched some Adventure Time, ate some cupcakes and candies, and watched a bit of Attack the Block, which is a wicked cool British action alien movie. He had a dinner thing, so we parted ways at 7. I called Steve because San Jose is near to Redwood City, and I went over and hung out with Steve, Molly, Kyle, Adam, and Jenn. Had pizza, drank a few beers, chatted, watched stuff. Had a generally good evening.

Rolled into Santa Cruz late in the night, and all was well. Not a half bad weekend. Bring it new week!

stoked (did you see what I did there?)

Ended the week on a really nice note. It was bright, though not as hot as it has been, though I was still in cutoffs and my shirt, so I really can't complain. I coated the screens and caught the hat transfers that were run (as well as set up and broke down the hat transfers). With hats, you print the design backwards, then put this powdered glue on it, and send it down the dryer. Then you use a heat press to transfer the image to a hat (or any other fabric surface). The paper you print on just peels away. Pretty neat. So we made a bunch of hat transfers, and I finished the day by pressing a bunch of hats. There are more to press, but only a few got done. I also cut up some stickers and stuff. All in all, pretty nice.

Ryan and I caught a showing of Park Chan-wook's film Stoker at the Del Mar. I got popcorn for dinner and I put wasabi powder on it. Wasabi is a vegetable, right? Anyway, the movie was visually quite amazing and the performances were stellar, and oh that sound track! The script was written by Wentworth Miller, which surprised me.

I haven't been out to the movies in a while, it feels like, so it felt good to go.

Might hang with the Brother during the weekend. Or I'll just take it easy. We shall see.

fine for failure to observe mountain

Another relatively solo day at work. It was once again a beautiful day and I was in cut offs.

I burned a couple screens right at the start, then I got to cleaning. I reclaimed 11 screens, and got those drying, and I broke down the press, and I cleaned a few more screens, and reclaimed a couple more, and taped up some, and OH I coated the screens from yesterday. Tomorrow will be more coating, and then I think we'll have a good number of screens on hand to burn. We need to call some of the people to see if they plan on running jobs soon, because there are a lot of screens sitting, and they could be reclaimed any ol' day.

I finished Handmaid's Tale. So good. Started The Left Hand of Darkness, which is pretty interesting. I'm really getting through audiobooks these past couple weeks, it seems. But they are also shorter ones. I define short as 6-9 hours, which is about 3 work days worth of listening, because I sometimes break it up with music.

At home I washed dishes, had a fried egg sandwich for dinner, watched some telly. Might actually properly leave the house tomorrow. We shall see.

nanners

While I like having more daylight, my body still isn't liking the adjustment to Daylight Savings. Still, gotta force it to lay down.

Work was scattered and all over the place, but good news! I'm back in cutoffs! It is warming up. Yaay.

I caught, I cleaned, I reclaimed 3 screens and coated them, I reclaimed another 16 and those will be coated tomorrow. There are still a good 20 screens to clean, but not all are being reclaimed. Screens keep getting set in the "we may run them soon" pile. I think it is better to have screens on hand to run immediate jobs, but I guess it does save a bit of effort and materials if they are ready to go.

I've been sneezing, so I guess my mysterious vague pollen allergy is acting up. It is just sneezing though. Could be dust.

Handmaid's Tale is so good. A damn awesome piece of speculative fiction (not quite science fiction, though in a similar vein). I have it in my library, if you want to borrow it Ma.

After work, which was a nice full day, I went to get banana bread fixings because the bananas I had went really brown really quick for some reason. I doubled the recipe for double the tasty, and they baked up really well. I'll have to think of something to do with the extra buttermilk. Don't want to waste it.

See, with this week, Thursday really snuck up on me. I guess because Monday put me in such a mood that it sort of became this null in my mind. The lasagna has lasted me perfectly all week as a meal. I'll be back to PB&J soon. Unless I hard boil some eggs and make egg salad sandwich.

I just love banana bread. I made it with that turbinado sugar. Mmmm. Betty Crocker can't fail.

he has the haaaair!

Today was a very good day at work! A lot got done, and a lot went very well. It was also very, very warm. I think I might even wear cut offs tomorrow. It was much too hot, but of course the dryer was going and we were running jobs, which makes things much more warm. Ran fronts and backs on shorts, ran fronts and backs on shirts. I just checked the weather. It is supposed to be 70+ degrees in Santa Cruz all the way through the weekend. BOOYAH! Listened to The Handmaid's Tale. Ahh Margaret Atwood. Such a good writer. It was a full day of work. I wanted to make banana bread after, but I was missing some ingredients, so I did not make banana bread. I drew this drawing of Benedict Cumberbatch instead, because they are going to start filming Sherlock soon and I am SO EXCITED!

grumble grumble

Uhg. Tough day at work. Didn't go well. Stressful. Taped up stuff. Ran a job, and while my running was fine there was something with the shirt and ink. Not my fault but still, just...stressful. Things should go smoothly, or at least smooth enough.

Had a restful night sleep as well. Will probably be tucking in early. I guess my body still thinks of right now at 10pm. So maybe I'll sit and bed and read. Just want to relax. Don't like being stressed and stuff.

The lasagna was good for lunch. Num nums lasagna.

Got the package, Ma!

Today left me wiped. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Spring is coming

Be sure to check out the March 11th Google Doodle. It is in celebration of Douglas Adams' 61st Birthday. I wouldn't be who I am without him, seriously.

Saturday:

Got a full 12 hours in bed, and I woke up feeling great. This whole weekend has been excellent in terms of decompacting all the knots and stress that have built up over this past week. I ran some shopping errands, namely to get lasagna making supplies. I also scrubbed the bath tub and shower curtain and washed the bath rug and went at the no slip thing with the hose. My bathroom, since it has no fan, is a total mildew trap. Trying to clean that gunk out. I was mildly successful. The no-slip needs more work, but it does have a cleaner vibe as a whole.

It was an absolutely beautiful day.

Steve came down from San Jose for lasagna. He helped prepare it. Well he mixed the cheese mixture up. He may have been a bit generous with the portions as he likes cheese. While it was cooking we drank wine and worked on crossword puzzles. I've never put dry lasagna noodles in the lasagna, as the recipe called for, and I didn't trust it this time around, so I put cooked noodles in. It was a bit...well it became more a lasagna puddle and didn't hold its shape too well when it was cut apart. But it was still tasty. Afterwards we watched Ravenous, a favorite movie of mine.

Sunday:

For brunch, Steve & I went to The Buttery. I had the avocado, egg, tomato croissant sandwich and he had the egg, cheese, and bacon one. Also there were pecan and chocolate treats from the bakery side of things. It was all tasty, as The Buttery has consistently been. It is assuredly a place for me to take visiting relatives.

We walked about Santa Cruz after, because it was yet another beautiful day. Steve had errands in San Jose, so he departed relatively early in the afternoon. I ran my laundry and took it easy for the rest of the day. Watched some telly, folded some shirts, looked into scanners. Since I can get bulk shirts from work, I looked into the brands on the distribution site. Might get some nice solid colored shirts next paycheck. Mmm hmm.

I predict next week will contain a lot of cleaning, reclaiming, and coating, with a few smaller jobs ran.