out and about & in and din

Friday:

Ran the front and backs on a shirt. Broke down the press. Moved on to Moving Pictures, yet another Discworld audiobook. Burnt a couple screens. Sorted and stacked several huge piles of sweatshirts. Lots of printing is going to go down soon. It'll be nice to clock the hours.

After work I got some cupcakes and went up to San Jose and hung out with Steve, Kyle, Molly, Adam, and Jenn. We had pot roast and stew and bread and wine and played Settles of Catan (Steve won). It was a good night all in all. I got back late and promptly went to sleep.

Saturday:

Slept way, way in. Had some funky dreams. Had a massive scramble. Caught up on television. Ate some chocolate covered banana bits. Generally had a relaxing day. Quite nice, really.

I learned a cool trick to multiplying large numbers. It utilizes lines and counting intersections of things.

licensed Californian

When I got home today my mailbox contained my new drivers license (the photo doesn't look too good, but that is the way it goes), my second refund check aka the big one, and a letter from Serenity. Triple score!

Then the interior hall light when out when I turned it on. Oh well.

At work I set up and ran a job, and it didn't need to get the thumbs up from the boss man. I was all kinds of trusted to run it. That was awesome. I also did these heat transfers on these things. And set up the backs on another job. And did four banners. And cut some stickers. And cleaned squeegees. Pretty productive day at the studio.

Can't believe it is Friday already! These weeks are just going by too fast.

title for a post

Another lovely full day! Things are revving up. There are also many many boxes ready to be counted and sorted. That'll be a good deal of work. Hurray, summer season! Almost been here a year now.

Two smaller jobs were ran, but first I burned and taped all the screens. Also bagged the banners and weeded some stuff. Found out my coworker watches Game of Thrones, so now I have a third show to talk to him about. Hurray! Conversation!

I did a grocery run. Trillian recommends Trader Joe's sliced up chocolate covered bananas. Found in the freezer aisle. Yum.

Now the weekend is fast approaching. And March. Time moves fast.

Still waiting on my license and other refund. Come on money!

historical children's fiction, yay!

I had my beloved full work day today! Hurray! I coated screens. I need to mix up a new batch of emulsion. I cut stickers, I bagged stickers, I weeded vinyl, and I did banners. Banners are time consuming and it is hard to do them because you have to be gentle when you fold them over, so they don't get creased and damaged and stuff. I'm all caught up on Tobolowsky Files. Guess it is time to listen to some more audiobooks. First up: The Red Necklace. Narrated by Tom Hiddleston. Yaaay!

At home I had some oatmeal and tea and was properly tired for the rest of the night.

Still waiting on my license and other refund.

Oh and there was a shooting in a neighborhood about a mile from my house. Happened when I was at work. Yeesh.

time to read when all I want is time to work

Ended up working a very short day due to circumstances that should be resolved by tomorrow. I reclaimed some screens, burned and taped one, ate a pork burrito, tidied up the studio.

After work I took a very nice bath and spent more Amazon gift card money (The Marriage Plot, used for super cheap! and The Stockholm Octavo sounded cool). I had some garlic toast for a dinner snack, and took it easy with a big mug o' tea.

I'm hoping the hours will pick up soon. Like...tomorrow.

I suddenly have a case of the tireds, even though I haven't been through much exertion lately.

piles of pork

Saturday:

I think we know by now how I started my day. And what I probably ate.

At 4:30ish, I headed up to San Jose to see Steve. We met up with his friends Molly and Kyle and then we went out for Barbecue at Smoking Pig BBQ. It was a pretty damn authentic BBQ joint. Big cookers outside, food serving on trays instead of plates, piles of meat, live blues/jazz band, not a single air to put on. It was awesome. I ordered a pound of pulled pork, totally forgetting how much a pound of food is, quantity wise. At least I'll have plenty of left overs...for the next three days. I ate until I was properly stuffed (had a mac n cheese and corn bread side) and ate some more and even then it didn't look like I put a dent in it. Afterwards we hung out at Kyle and Molly's and watched TV. Last Exile, Outlaw Star, Archer. Good stuff! There were even Thin Mints, which made my night.

Stuffed with food, and pretty tired I opted to stay in San Jose instead of driving home. Better safe than rolled into a ditch on 17.

Sunday:

It was an absolutely beautiful day, from San Jose down to Santa Cruz. Back in Santa Cruz I made myself a pork, beef, beans, rice burrito for a late breakfast. Spent the rest of the day sitting back, drinking tea, watching stuff, and drinking more tea. ParaNorman didn't went Best Animate Feature, so that was a bummer. I couldn't find a good stream for the Oscars, so I just watched Ripper Street. The good stuff will be available online anyway.

Now the tired is creeping back up on me. The weekend is over already! Back to work. More printing is ahead of me. Printing and all that other jazz.

it was almost 60 degrees today, almost

Uhhgg I don't feel so hot. I got something lodged in my throat while I was eating an apple (possibly a bit of the apple) and I've been feeling off ever since. Maybe I'm just tired or something. Worn down a bit. I'll be going to bed soon, hopefully sleep will resolve whatever it is.

Today was a shorter work day. It started a bit later too, which was nice because it gave me time to run my errands. Got to Trader Joe's and got some snacks and got some cash back. I included some money in my print portfolio, to cover the cost of mailing me my portfolio when they are all assembled. I figure that giving whoever on the other end some money will make it a better incentive to mail me it, as opposed to expecting them to foot the bill. I went to the post office and got even MORE stamps and sent off my package. I'm so set for stamps, except now I'm running low on envelopes. Not dangerously slow, but I'll run out of them before I run out of cards.

At work I burned a bunch of screens, and then taped up those screens. More printing is on its way! And we are printing another seasonal run of the stuff that I first printed when I was hired! Oh how time flies. 9 months? Dang.

Went home. Worked on my correspondence. Went to CTV for movie night. Though it turned into watching Mr. Bean with Ryan, Sarah, and Vietta and then going to see Warm Bodies. So that was nice, despite my cough.

Warm Bodies was very delightful. I had quite a few good laughs, and it is always nice for the heroine in a horror film to 1) not die 2) not run around in heels 3) not have a full face of makeup ALL THE TIME. Anyway, I enjoyed it and the company was good.

Not sure what will take place this weekend. Depends on how I wake up feeling.

carded

Today was super good! My alarm went off at the not so agreeable hour of 6:10am. I got out of bed at 7am, showered, opted not to eat breakfast, put makeup on, and headed to the DMV at about 7:35ish. I arrived at just a bit after 8, which was exactly when they opened. My appointment was at 9, but I was put to the front of the queue, or rather near the front, so I got in at 8:15ish to deal with paperwork, so all was good! My paperwork was approved, I didn't even need to prove my address! Maybe people move more in California. Oh, and I didn't even need my Social Security Card...but it is good to have it, just in case. Then I got my picture taken. I don't know what I look like in it, so hopefully I look good. Then I took the test, and that was nerve wracking! I did pass, though there were some stumpers. The phrasing is what gets you. Still, I passed, and my new license should be to me in a week or so. Hurray!

I returned home, had breakfast, and then went in to work, and I arrived at work at my usual time! All that activity before my shift even starts. I'm very thankful for my 10:30am start. But due to the fluctuating nature of my work, it ended up being that there wasn't much for me to do that day. So after an hour and a half, I went home. Hours will be coming soon, this week was heavy on the off site install stuff, which I don't help with. At home I had a burrito, and set up my screen for printing. It went a lot easier this time around, because I was just using white and black ink for my prints. I printed the white on the card and the white on my "Luck" print portfolio print, and then washed the screen, and then once it was dry, I printed the black on the card, and then washed it out again. And that was it! A good days worth of personal work. Got another batch of cards, and my prints all ready to go. Popping the portfolio in the mail tomorrow and a few cards as well.

For dinner I had an eggy scramble. It was tasty. So all in all, a very good day for Trillian. And tomorrow is Friday. And then the weekend! Wowza.

yup

I reviewed my DMV booklet and took a bunch of the online tests and did really well! Hurray common sense and 10ish years of driving experience. Has it been 10? Well if I got my permit when I was 15 1/2, then yeah. Dang. I filled out the form, got some mail to prove this is my address (hopefully it is legit enough, I don't have any bank docs or bills in my name here).

9am. Tomorrow. DMV. Gettin' it done. I'll have to wash my hair and make myself all pretty for the license...and then show up at work looking all pretty, instead of my usual scruffy self.

I did some banners at work, and ran some shirts with Stu catching, weeded some vinyl, and cleaned screens and floodbars. After work I chopped paper down to size, now I just have to print it! That is exciting.

At home I made some burrito fixings and had some burritos for dinner. Also did my laundry and put the trash and recycling out (as well as emptied the trash and recycling, I'm such an adult!).

Hope all goes well at the DMV tomorrow. I wonder if Ma and Pa are proud that their daughter is growing up to be a Californian.

Ozma is a nice name. Time to listen to some Oz audiobooks!

It was a short, self motivated day at work. But that gave me ample time to do what needed to be done. Which was just get my screen exposed. I coated it with the rest of the stack, and exposed it with the others that needed exposing. I also cut stickers, both vinyl and not vinyl. And emptied the trash. And some other tasks. Oh, taped screens!

After work, I swung by the art store and got paper. I'm printing white on black, and it turns out that black paper is more expensive. But I still only needed to buy two sheets. I also got the paper for my next set of cards. Going with a slightly less saturated color scheme this time.

Now I just need to cut the paper down to size, but I'll do that at work tomorrow after my shift. I don't have a proper tear bar, and I don't want to muck up the paper. Cutting printmaking paper isn't quite the way you are supposed to go, but I'm doing it anyway. I'm getting more precise with my measurements...at least I think I am. Maybe I'm just more precise with my cuts.

Anyhoo. At home, I made myself some garlic bread after doing some shopping. I have a shopping run where I get bananas and apples and the things I eat within a week, and I do a shopping run of things that take me 2+ weeks to go through. So now I have more bread, and burrito fixings. I enjoyed those burritos, so I think I'll make another batch of the filling (it's just meat and beans, nothin' fancy).

I'm nearing the end of the Tobolowsky podcasts, and Snow Crash. I don't know what will come next. Maybe some Oz stories?

Can't wait to get printing!

I wonder how affordable scanners are...

My eyes hurt because I've had the desk lamp on while I work on my print for the upcoming print portfolio. But now I've completed it! Hurray! Well, completed the thing to expose. Now I just need to expose it. I'll only need one screen for the print and the new card, so that is nice.

I started the day with reclaiming. 11 screens, all pretty and awaiting emulsion! Perfect timing, because I'll coat my screen with them tomorrow. I also helped cut down these big prints for an install and weeded more vinyl. It's nice to not constantly be removing ink from my fingers. Good to give the skin a bit of a rest.

At home I worked on art. Got that painting done, and it is ready to be sent to it's owner. Did some magnets. Ate dinner. Then I got to work on the transparency for my print. I cleaned off three films that were left over from my Christmas print. Saving the film from the first card. Might be worth it to hang onto my stationary films, in case I want to do another run.

Not a bad Monday. Tomorrow is looking to be a solo task day at work. I am still not done with Snow Crash. Damn you Tobolowsky, you are too good to listen to!

sketch, sketch, paint, soak, draw, sketch, sleep

It's 1:30am and I just spent the last few hours working on a little portrait of Bofur for a friend (their birthday is coming up, and they don't read my blog). I really dig the portrait, but I'm not going to push myself to finish it tonight because I don't want to overwork it. It's a combination of watercolor with ink line art, a style I really dig.

Earlier in the day I designed my next card to mail out to people, and I worked on my design for the upcoming print exchange. I need to buy more transparency to draw on. I should just get a sheet of mylar, because even at a couple bucks a sheet, it is a lot larger than the smaller stuff, and I can just cut off to size what I need. Too bad the art store closes so bloody early, and Kinkos is open whenever.

Option B is to just use rubbing alcohol on the sheets that I do have and remove the images that are already drawn on it, which are the separations for the Lighthouse Field State Beach print and my last card. That makes them even more special, because I absolutely cannot print them again. Hmmm. Might just do that. I have no desire to print them again, and I have copies of the prints saved for my archives.

So yeah, very productive art day! I also took a bath and read my book and watched Groundhog Day and Pitch Perfect while working on stuff (and watching Walking Dead and Shameless in the evening).

That is it. Trillian out!

Burns always gets under my skin, but in a good way

I spent a good portion of the day sitting on the couch reading Charles Burns comics (X'ed Out and The Hive) and then I got really weirded out by all of reality. So I spent a few hours in a funk and did that drawing as a reaction to the whole experience.

Joey got some morning snuggles in.

I had eggs for breakfast and dinner. I went to the Santa Cruz Diner for dinner, because I was feeling lazy and I wanted an omelette. I had the Capitola omelette, which has bacon, ham, and cheddar, with hash browns and pancakes on the side and hot tea. Mmmm. I read NOT Charles Burns and took it easy.

I was supposed to run errands, but I read instead. Not the worst decision I've ever made.

back in black vinyl

More vinyl! This time it was a mix of big designs that were easy to weed, and little designs that took some effort to manage. There is more vinyl on the way, though I think it might be more big things, and less little complicated things. After the weeding was done, I cleaned the screens in the back. Now I have a tall stack ready for reclaiming! Hooray! It seemed to take less time than I remember cleaning screens to take, or maybe it just seemed that way because I've been cleaning 20 or so screens in a stretch, and this time there were only 10.

Anyway, that was a nice full work week. Good hours, good variety of duties. Still have all my fingers.

At home I watched my telly, had some dinner, and thought about making art but I got distracted by sentimentality and didn't do that.

I was browsing through my blog and my entries used to be a lot longer. Probably because my day to day varied a lot more during school. And some of my older posts seemed more conversational in tone, where as these...I guess not so conversational? I dunno.

I'll still blog. I like having my blog. My little record of the day to day.

the land of the north (aka up yonder over 17)

Today's shift was spent doing one thing, and one thing only: weeding vinyl. There were several sheets, and I weeded out 100 stickers from them. I then papered the vinyl and by the end, had it bagged and ready to give to the client. So that was a lot of time spent listening to Tobolowsky Files and Snow Crash.

The time did move fast though, oddly enough. Get in the weeding zone.

I got some groceries. Apples, PB, J, and other staples. Then I went up to San Jose to see Steve. He made dinner! How wonderful. Chicken and ravioli. Num nums. It was a nice night. And a nice day. The weather has been really swell lately, though I eagerly await sunbathing season.

Aaaand my car has officially reaching 5k miles since last oil change. That seemed to go fast, then again I was living in San Francisco during the last change, and that was about 7 months ago, so maybe not that fast.

So that is another thing to do. Probably this weekend. This is going to be an designated errand weekend. I have errands that need tending to.

Fizz! Buzz! HAVE A BANANA!

Another excellent day at work. Started by cleaning squeegees and floodbars. Gotta get them clean for more jobs, because there are more jobs to run! Andrew set up the job, but I ran it and Stu caught. Went pretty well. Did a buncha pallet changes. Also ran shorts, which was fun in its odd little way. Those got boxed up, I broke down the press, and called it a day. All those things took a good full shift, well maybe not as full as could be, but my arms were pretty tired by the end.

I predict tomorrow will have...burning and cleaning.

After work I swung by Safeway. Another reason to prefer Trader Joe's: no crappy magazines in the check out aisles.

There was nummy candy and Cabin Pressue waiting for me when I got home. Yay!

And now I am pretty tired. This week is taking a lot out of me, but in a good way.

I have dinner plans tomorrow. With Steeeeve. Tee hee.

this Tuesday feels like a Wednesday

I felt like I had ingested pool water all day. You know that sort of chlorine feel? Yeah.

 But I worked like a badass today! Got in, set up the single color back, ran that (Stu caught), set up the front, ran that. No problems. It all was at the right height. The discharge looked great. Stu boxed that. I ate lunch. I cleaned the screens of discharge. I counted shirts and shorts. I taped up screens and plopped those in and lined them up. And I think the boss only had to BARELY tweak one of the screens, the others were fine. At least, I don't remember him tweaking them. BOOYAH! That felt good. I ran the shirts on that and Andrew caught. A nice full day full of goodwork and plenty of Snow Crash and Tobolowsky.

At home I had some pasta and my tummy continued to hurt. I'm almost out of apples. Have to make an apple run.

I think apples are one of my major vices. I just have to have them! I've been trying out Gala, as opposed to my regular Granny Smith. Shhh don't tell the neighbors. I typically eat them on my way home. It's my "done with work" snack. Apple at the end, banana after granola bars, granola bars and peanuts after tea, start the day with tea, main lunch item (sandwich/chili/burrito) sometime after granola bars and peanuts, though often broken into a few chompings. I like having a job where I can munch during the day. Plus the hot water dispenser is good. I just have a box of economy teabags (English Breakfast) at work, so that is what I do when I first arrive. Fill my travel cup up with hot water, maybe some sugar, plop in the bag, sign in on my time card, turn on the lights, get a gander and what needs to be done, and if need be ask the boss what to do. I like my routine. My days change a lot, but it is also a routine.

I wonder where the plays happen in Santa Cruz. I sort of want to see a play. I miss seeing Brynne in plays.

I do have a case of the Mondays

Money woes are getting me down. It's no fun being tight and regretting every transaction that isn't food related. All I can do is work really hard, and hope the hours are long. As well as hope my tax return comes soon.

Being an adult sucks.

Today had some good long hours. Ran the backs on a job. I coated some screens. I tidied up. I broke down the press. I listened to The Tobolowsky Files. I redid the palette peels. I unboxed and counted in shirts. Not all in that order. Not a bad day at all.

Got home. Had some dinner. Watched telly.

oh no, he has a violin, how am I going to draw that?

Odd Owl gets better and better every time I see them. The songs sound better, more refined while also having new vibes to them. Always growing. The new music was great, of course. And the screenprinted drum head was awesome. Viva Carmen for screenprinting it!

They played It's The World I Love, Little Pink Carnations (I forget if that is the song title or just a lyric), Lonely Island (again I should know their song titles better), Radioheart, The Way Home, Some People are Spaceships, among other awesome tunes. Steve and Phil were in suits, Adam was not. They were just swell.

The venue, Yoshi's, was beautiful. All seated seating, chairs around tables. A really nice way to enjoy a damn good band. Nathan, Helen, and I were the second row of tables back from the stage. Josh found us after Odd Owl's set and joined us. We three had sushi (you could order at this venue, which was good because I was hungry). I drew a bunch in my sketchbook. Some really good stuff that I'm very pleased with. My Carmen sketches are my favorite.

What a lovely night! I drove up to Redwood City and met Nate, and we carpooled in and found a parking space just two blocks from the venue! Booyah!

My morning was filled with sleep, scrambles, and some painting. Felt pretty good, despite the bummer that was Saturday.

Today was a very good day in terms of art productivity and good company.

Wonderful.

Thanks to this blog, I know that December 28th, 2009 was when Carmen first mentioned Odd Owl to me, at Grandma Marilyn's memorial. She inquired if I would be interested in doing art for this new band she was starting. Over three years it has been. Pretty coo'.

Odd Owl was followed by the amazing Foxtails Brigade. They had a lady vocalist on the guitar, a guy who stomped on a tamborine while playing the violin, and also playing the guitar, a guy on bass, a guy bonking bottles and drums, and a full on drummer. The singer was fantastic. She sang in French. She had a duet with her brother who wasn't in the band. The violinist was also very talented. I tried to draw him playing the violin but my brain couldn't quite comprehend what a violin looks like. They had such a wonderful plinky plonky sound.

After the show, I got some hugs, and I hope they sold lots of merch. Back to Redwood City we went, and back South to Santa Cruz I went. Another awesome week begins, lets do this!

good night & sucky afternoon

Saturday: 

I am finishing Saturday with a bottle of wine and period BBC television. Oh, and chili.

DOWNTON ABBEY!? WHAT THE HELL? You don't end a perfectly happy final episode on that note! That just...is just too mean. Boo! I am watching the final episode of Parade's End. Finally finishing up TV that has been in my queue for a while now.

Earlier today I ran some errands, and I parked downtown and put 30 minutes on the meter, but my errand ended up taking 35 and it was somewhere in that 5 minute window that I got a ticket. Bummer! Should have put in more. Better safe than...well ticketed. Anyway, I paid my ticket and put it in the mail to get sent off. No use fighting it. At least it was an unexpired meter ticket, not a improperly parked ticket.

And since I was in such a good mood from that ordeal, I filed my taxes as well. Hurray, I'll be getting money back! Enough money equal to about one paycheck, which will be sweet. I'll plop that right into my savings.

Early in the day was nice. Slept in, had some oatmeal, drew some more magnets.

Friday:

Work was short. We were running a job right when I got in, and that lasted a few good many hours worth of catching. Asked coworker for burger place recommendations. Just can't quite get the best burger in this town.

Boxed the job. Ran the front in black on four shirts, and swapped in the white and Boss roto'd that, and that was that. There will be a good amount of work to be done on Monday. Shirts to count, jobs to run. But that is good. Good to have light weeks and heavy ones. I'm ready for a big week.

After work I got my chili simmering. Janet's mom is in town for the weekend and I met her, and she gave me a big hug. Very sweet lady. Steve came down with a bottle of lovely wine to accompany the chili. A very nice dinner. Afterwards, we all (he, I, Janet, Janet's mom) played rummy. Steve and I paired and won the first round, but didn't come close in the second though we did do some nice plays.

It was a lovely night. I enjoy staying in and learning new games.