friday

Got to work early. Missed the text from my boss telling me I didn't need to do that. But hey, coming in early means I get to lean earlier! We are going to be changing to a 9 to 5 in a month, so now I'll have more time in the evenings.

I did the heat press thing, and the weeding vinyl thing, and the papering and cutting of vinyl thing. Also applied some patches to screens and coated them at the end of the day.

I swung by Discretion Brewing and filled up the growler that Chris left behind when he moved out. I drank a bunch of it, but damn a half gallon of beer is a lot of beer! I can't drink all that beer. The growler Janet had for Mountain Brewing was much smaller. Probably around 32oz. I made pasta and I watched Pacific Rim and Scott Pilgrim with Dee in a livestream (basically a video stream that people can watch online, also fun for streaming your art making practices).

Then I went to bed.

February 1st is Hourly Comic Day, so my blog post for that day shall be all the comics I made. Basically you draw a comic every hour of what you did in that hour. A fun exercise, but as I'm still awake, I'm not done with it just yet. But I'll probably be going to bed soon. At least to lay in bed and read.

looking up and hey it's almost the weekend

My throat was sore all day, but the rest of my body was fine. So that is good! Boss got progressively more ill through the day, which is bad. Hard to do stuff when you are sick. I'm coming in early tomorrow to get a jump on things, so we can get it all done in good time. Jersey printing, ya know.

I weeded vinyl for most of the day, and did heat pressing. Jeff and Ryan printed lots of odds and ends and thises and thats. I also taped a few screens.

I mailed some stuff before work.

I worked on a list of things in regards to upcoming stuff. I am set on doing something every day to moving towards my big goal. I'm not quite ready to put it out there in the public. But soon. Eventually.

Home I had some more potstickers and... some candy. And I watched another episode of "The Returned" and now I'm watching "The Musketeers".

candy before dental

I just took an antihystamene, so I better blog now because I figure I have an hour till nap sleepy time. Eating some potsticker from Trader Joe's. Num num. I felt ill all day. Just like my eyes would pop out of my head and I was oozing snot. Had a bad nights sleep, so that probably tortured my body. Uhg.

Today's work music selections were Odd Owl, Kaiser Chiefs, some Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Ratatat, Stromae, Electric Six... just a mish mash.

There was so much vinyl to weed. SO MUCH. And some shorts to put heat transfers on. And shirts to count. And more vinyl. And a window applique to cut down to size. And I cleaned some screens. A nice full day.

Oh, and Boss gave me a 5.75 pound bag of assorted candy as a belated birthday gift!!! Like, holy crap! So much candy! I wish I felt better so I could eat a ton of it and feel sick! But I don't so I won't...yet.

At home I had some tea and talked to Ma. And made some potstickers. And oozed snot. And got some things sorted out. I'm planning things! Just need to keep working at it. Keep working forward and upward and excitingward!

new goals

An uhg day at work. Not so bad but I just wasn't feelin' it all day. My head felt funny. And now my body feels funny. I'm feeling a lot of anxiety right now, and it doesn't feel good.

Heat pressed some stuff. Weeded some vinyl. If only I could heat press some weed. JUST KIDDING, I DON'T LIVE IN WASHINGTON OR COLORADO.

Uhm. Yeah. I started work on my taxes, but I need some info about my Kitsap Credit Union, to see if I got any cash from the savings investment. I was hoping for a larger return than I seem to be getting right now. I worked so hard, and damn taxes! If only I could choose where they went to. Don't mind taxes for schools and health. Do mind them for war.

My goal is to every night do something to advance my progress to this certain goal I've set out to do. Today I accomplished six things relevant to my goal.

SAVE THE SLOTH! PART TWO!

Saturday:

The long drive back. So exhausting, even though I did no driving! But first...we slept in till 11ish. A well deserved sleep in. Adele made pancakes and eggs because Adele is awesome like that. We loafed around for a while. Packed up. Rich did some video chats. Ariel and I looked at makeup pics online and we all talked about makeup and the challenges of learning how to apply the damn stuff.

We set out at around 4. Rich's gas gauge doesn't work, so he is very diligent about when he fills up. Of course I did cover one fill up, as per the road trip rules. We listened to Cabin Pressure, Welcome to Night Vale, Museum of Curiosity, music, and a bit of Radiolab. We stopped at the Tejon Ranch chain store complex. Rich and Ariel got Subway. I had been snacking so I wasn't hungry, though I did get yogurt with toppings from Yogurtland. Mmmm yogurt. Ariel drove for a bit. We listened to Bohemian Rhapsody way loud as we passed by the mysterious burning piles. It was a nice drive, though long. Lots of miles covered. Good weather. Lots of conversation and laughs. I got in to Santa Cruz just before midnight, which was awesome!

I unpacked, tidied up a bit, and went to bed oh so tired.

Monday:

Got up, had breakfast, got all set to go and them BAM text from boss saying to take the day off because he was off doing installs. Hurray! A day to relax after a very active weekend! I did a shopping run and took a long hot bath and watched television (the new HBO show True Detective, which only makes me wish the new Hannibal season would start soon), talked to my friend Dee, talked to Tara who is a super woman who gets stuff done. A nice relaxing day.

BUT! I found out they are trying to change the PNCA mascot AGAIN! WHAT THE HELL! NO! DON'T DO THAT! THE SLOTH IS FINE!

very tired, will blog tomorrow

interns & special guests

Sleeping and waking up:

Had a nice sleep in the bed that was assembled on the floor for me. A very nice makeshift bed! I woke up before my alarm, however begrudgingly.

Tea and debit card:

I made a pot of tea and set about calling Kitsap Credit Union to see what is up with my card. I managed to get it reactivated for the weekend! I lounged about while other people we getting up. Ariel went out for some food with her Dad and Mom.

Pizza:

After I showered, but before I smeared makeup on my face I walked down to Pizza of Venice, at Adele's recommendation. I asked the lady to test my card before they made my pizza, and it worked! I ordered the "el diablo" but mild. I also got a soda. I enjoyed that soda and pizza very much! And I read from my Kindle. It was so warm and lovely. Just amazing January weather.

Prep:

I shoved a bunch of makeup on my face, and in what felt like record time to do: eyebrows, eyeshadow, blush, lipstick, eyeliner, and mascara. Ariel returned. We got our Welcome to Night Vale ensembles together. Lots of purple.

But first, second lunch:

We four (Me, Ariel, Rich, Adele) had set up to meet Ariel's aunt Claire for lunch downtown. Of course downtown LA is MASSIVE. And as it is massive and not actually "downtown" in any small place, Ariel made a reservation at a restaurant that isn't anywhere near the theater. By accident due to multiple restaurants having the same name. Whoops, easy mistake! So we got caught in traffic cutting down into LA, through Beverly Hills, and into wherever. Arriving late and pressed for time, we just had some appetizers and tea. It was nice though, if quick.

Largo:

And traffic was very easy on the way back! Not a lot of stop and go and slow. We got to the theater and there was a line, so we probably wouldn't be getting the coveted front row seats. Still! Awesome! Rich navigated parking and we secured a spot in line. The theater was the Largo at the Coronet. That is where they perform and record Thrilling Adventure Hour. It was a nice night for standing in line for an hour and a half. Good conversation was had. Lots of people were dressed up or they made things. Things that would take a lot of explaining to make sense of in this blog if you hadn't listened to the Welcome to Night Vale podcast. Either way, it was great.

F:

We got through the line, got our seat assignment, and then were told to come back at 7ish for when the gate would be open. We were all in row F. The auditorium fit about 120 people? So there wouldn't really be ANY bad seat. I went for a little walk by myself while waiting to be let in. Just down the street a bit. LA is so big and sprawled and so much visual information! But it just has that feeling of lots of stuff going on. I can dig it. But I also dig being able to drive around town in less than 20 minutes. I returned to the theater and we all went in!

Black and Tan:

I bought a black and tan at the little bar inside the theater, and also a poster for the tour. We were all very, very excited. Just buzzing and going EEEEEE.

Welcome to Night Vale:

How do I begin? The story was amazing. Just this whole extended episode thing. The show opened with a few performances by Jason Webley, who was great. He had an accordion and played it oh so well. And sang so heartily. He didn't even need the microphone, such was the acoustics and size of the theater. Then Meg introduced Cecil, and Cecil was just amazing. His voice is so rich and he can do so many things with it, but his posture and mannerisms! Wow! JASIKA NICOLE was THEREEE!! To play Dana. I was just in awe and so stoked and happy and like WAHHHH about her generally being on stage not too far from me. And. And. There was an Intern Wil. Played by Wil Wheaton. Which was a MAJOR surprise and the audience just went like WOOAAAHHH. The audience was very vocal and cheered and went aww, but at all the right moments. And even sang along a bit. Very great experience. Oh and they had the new Carlos voice actor. And more music by Webley. And just. The whole thing was this amazing experience. So worth the trip down. Would do it again in a hot minute.

Fink:

I managed to have my poster signed by Joseph Fink, the creator of the show! And I told him that I came down from Santa Cruz and it was worth it and I'd do it again. He was really nice.

Food:

We drove downtown a bit and parked and then had a helluva time walking out of the parking garage. We ended up going to P.F. Chang's for dinner and enthusiastic post-show chatter. Our waiter had great hair. We gobbled down entrees, and we three ladies had cocktails (Rich was the driver). And I was like "lets order dessert" and we ordered dessert and gobbled that. And everything was amazing and delicious and fun. And the sketches I produced in the dark of the auditorium during the show turned out pretty good! Can't wait to scan them.

Pasadena (or wherever, it might not actually be Pasadena):

It was a nice drive back. I washed my face. I miss my drawn on eyebrows all ready. It changes the way I feel about myself in public. Like I'm visually more of a dynamic figure in space. I feel like less of a wallflower when I'm all done or. Or less like I ought to be a wallflower. Like BAM HERE I AM, let's talk about stuff! I have photos to upload. Drawings to scan. And a longish drive to undertake tomorrow. But it's all good.

It's all very good.

girl from pasadena

I am in Pasadena! Lots of driving and several stops and some minor annoyances, but yay! It's 3am and we are here!

But lets start at the start. Work! I got up early because I wanted to leave work early. I arrived and taped up screens and then weeded vinyl. Then as the vinyl was placed on the truck, I stepped in to catch and box shirts. I broke down the press and I was outta there at 4!

Got home and quickly packed up clothes and snacks and little things. I was running late, but thankfully so were Rich and Ariel! They picked me up at six. Then went to Salinas to visit Ariel's cousin so she could drop off a present for her nephew. We hung out a bit there with them, then off we went! But first: In-N-Out! Where....my card was declined!! But I had cash, so it's all good. Well it's not all good. I need to call Kitsap Credit Union and figure this stuff out! But I had a burger for the time being.

Then we hit the road! Rich and Ariel switched driving for a bit. We alternated listening to Welcome to Night Vale and Cabin Pressure. The drive went pretty quick. We also played car games. The "My name is Anna from Alabama and I come bringing artichoke" one.

It was just a nice easy drive down...probably because I didn't do the driving.

There was this pile of burning stuff by the side of the road on the drive down. These massive piles and they looked like controlled burns. But it was so eerie and creepy, because it was this glow in the distance and then these massive embers right there on the side of I-5. It was a very spooky thing to see.

haven't really packed yet, eek

I christened my Tardis tea infuser with Tardis themed tea. Hahaha. Very good infuser! Hurray!

Work today was a bit of a waiting game. Waiting and tidying. Burned a bunch of screens at the end, weeded vinyl in the middle, and I mixed some ink! Which is something I don't do that often. It's all by weight measurement, which is easy but also much need for precision. I got a bunch of ink over my shoes and the hem of my jeans. I did that by way of having the ink on the ground while I use the mixing attachment on the drill and using my feet to keep the container of ink from spinning around. Didn't lose ink in the process, so that's good. Well... lost a bit of ink, but nothing consequential.

There are so many little things to know in my job. So many specific little tasks.

One of the episodes of the International Waters panel show podcast has JOHN FINNEMORE! AHHH!! I just adore him. So funny. Stoked on that. Cameron Esposito moderated the episode, which was extra neat.

I made a road trip snack run and I picked up more of the Trader Joe's antioxident facial serum stuff. I ran out of it a week ago, and now my skin is being all weird and bad...I think it actually might be doing my skin some good! I've been slipping on my skin care routine. It's been looking good lately so I need to keep at it. Keep it looking good! Keep it moisturized and SPFed! Keep the wrinkles at bay. Not that I mind wrinkles, just that it's good to take care of your skin!

AHhhhh going to LA tomorrow! So exciting!

twenty SIX

Tuesday (aka MY BIRTHDAY!!):

I was woken up by some rustling outside my door. Upon opening my door, I found a little Mylar balloon! It said "it's your day!" and it was from Tara. How sweet!

I opened my box of prezzies from Ma & Pa. Book! Towel with Don't Panic on it! Tardis bottle and tea infuser! Lovely human rights tee. Sheets and socks too. I always need sheets and socks.

Work ended up being mostly solo, which was nice. Had some vinyl. I cleaned and reclaimed a full racks worth of screens. Counted out shirts (but I ended up goofing on my count, which wasn't good, ah oh well). A nice day indeed. I was wrestling back and forth with going to Discretion and filling the growler up and drinking by myself and being a birthday sad sack, or going down to 99 Bottles and texting people to see if anyone was down to hang and maybe being a lonely sad sack in a public space. I went with the latter, because hey I could just bring my Kindle and drink and read and whatnot. And plus it is raffle night!

But Marina said she could come!! So I only had about ten minutes of being by myself, and then she arrived and she gave me cookies and tea! I ordered some fish & chips. The sponsored beer of the night was Estrella. I tried a pint of their lager. Not my favorite. I also had a pint of Longboard, which was my free-due-to-it-being-my-birthday-and-I-think-the-waiter-liked-me pint, and a pint of Speakeasy Amber something something. Buuuut I finished my drinks long before I drove home! Don't worry, I'm responsible. Anyway, Marina and I had a few solid hours of great conversation and girl talk and awesome stuff. When the Warriors got out, Ryan joined us (he works the Warriors games, for which I print jerseys. Did I mention that? I do that). And that was awesome. We three always sit at the same table in 99 Bottles (this one in the back on the wall). This lady came through the restaurant selling flowers for a dollar and we bought a couple.

It was just really nice to hang with friends, grab some beers, and just chat. All that good stuff. I dropped the two of them off at the Tannery and went home. Got some nice and late and went to bed satisfied.

Wednesday:

26 years young. Yay. But now it is just another Wednesday.

Printed shirts and boxed them. Then I tallied the screens and made a note of which screens to have restretched with new silk. 115 screens! That's a good amount. I weeded vinyl. I coated screens. It ended up being a shorter day, though I ain't complaining. Nice to have it a bit easy. Gotta enjoy it while I can.

Watched some telly. Drank some tea. Stayed in. Oh maaan. Tomorrow I'll pack up for the Welcome to Night Vale trip! Wow! It's so close and almost here and YAAAYYY!!

last day of 25

It is officially my birthday in this time zone! Time to sleep. Onwards to age 26 and what it may bring. Who knooows?

Work was pretty nice. I heat pressed the rest of what needed heat pressing. I quadruple checked the placement on the shorts because the spec sheet we are given is a bit backwards. I also burned a screen and taped some screens and helped out a bit. But yeah, generally I was on heat press duty.

It was nice and warm, but not too hot. I dropped a few things, but not in a damaging way. Some days I'm just clumsy, I suppose?

I swung by The Buttery and picked up some cupcakes and a brioche. The cupcakes will be for tomorrow. I supposed I could have bought them tomorrow and they'd be fresher, but day old cupcakes are still plenty fresh for me! I texted back and forth with a few pals. I painted my nails purple in anticipation for Welcome to Night Vale. Drank a brewski. Tomorrow I'll call ma and pa and unwrap my presents and then go to work and I dunno what I'll be doing in the evening, but I'll try and get out of the house and do something.

black cherry

Guess who slept in? Meee! It was me. And it was nice to do so.

I had my breakfast, then took a bath and read a book. Not my Kindle. Kindles should be used near water. Duh.

I did a little shopping run. Got a new hairbrush. Got some apples. Said hello to Francesca at Trader Joe's.

In the evening, I did my makeup according to several "trends men hate" articles, namely bright/dark lips and lots of eye makeup. Have a hard time caring what random dudes think about what I should do with my appearance, ya know?

The Seahawks are going to the superbowl. I think I heard some cheers from a neighbor, but those cheers died. I'm in 49ers country, methinks.

It was a nice, relaxing day. I turn 26 on Tuesday, so that is exciting. I started this blog when I was 19.

Can't wait to open my prezzies from Ma and Pa!

good company and good treats

So the new housemate is: Justin! Not to be confused with Justen who just moved out. He will be moving in gradually. Seems a nice enough bloke.

Had my usual little oatmeal and tea breakfast and then headed out for some rendezvous and errands.

The Tannery is this sort of converted artist loft enclave place thingy. Cheap housing, variety of people, but hard to get into unless you pounce. My friend Ryan lives there, but also Marina, Rich, and Ariel (Ryan knows Marina and they both got Tannery housing at around the same time) (oh and Ariel, Rich, Marina, and Francesca all live together). Anywaaay! I am going to the Welcome to Night Vale show with Ariel and Rich, so we met up to discuss plans for driving down and I had to pay Rich for my ticket. All that stuff. I arrived at noon and we had a really good hang out! Sorted out plans, talked about contemporary media, Francesca, Marina, and I drew. I drew up a little portrait piece for them to put in their door sign (there are lots of decorated door signs). That was fun. I need to hang out more often, because it was a damn good time. I departed at 3:30ish because I was hungry and it seemed like other plans were a happenin'. Plus I had errands I wanted to run and wanted to get a bit of daylight enjoyment, because it was another lovely day in Santa Cruz.

I went to Chipotle and downed a burrito and was very, very stuffed. I read my Kindle a bit too, because wowza Kindles are easy to transport! I strolled over to World Market and picked up some sweets. Treat yo' self! Then I headed downtown a bit more to the sock store and picked up three pairs of really awesome socks, for when I have an occasion to wear really awesome socks:

SLOTH SOCKS!!! OMG!

Bright and pretty quail and poppy socks.

Some way cool patterned socks. Feeling a bit like Sherlock in Elementary. He often wears bright socks.

Then I headed home, snacked a bit, watched some telly, drank some beer. Don't have any plans for tomorrow. Ah, so used to being so busy! I work Monday, despite it being a holiday. Though what would I do with Monday off?

birthday celebrations commence kinda maybe

Santa Cruz continues to be unreasonably warm, though I'm calling it's bluff! I'm not bringing the shorts out just yet.

I did some jersey heat transfer things. Shorts and jerseys. Did a pole banner for the museum. It's odd, when I was first taught how to do them it seemed really tricky, but now that I'm doing it, it doesn't seem so bad. Unless I'm doing it wrong. Or maybe I'm just good at it. Counted out shirts. A nice day.

Trader Joe's has poutine! So I tried that out. I overcooked the curds I think, but the gravy bit was good. Though all the carbs just... it was a lot of carbs. Even for me.

I painted my nails. I'm letting them dry right now so that I can put on a top coat.

Tomorrow I am hanging out with Ariel and Rich to sort out the upcomming Welcome to Night Vale road trip. That should be fun! Outside of that I have no major plans. Hmmm.

Maybe I should buy myself some fun socks at the sock store! Treat yo self!

Well I should also save money for visiting LA next weekend. Exciting! There is a house we will be crashing at.

burgers

Wednesday:

Ended up being a rather abbreviated day at work. Had some screens to burn, some stickers to cut, and some banners to do. It is so hot in Santa Cruz! 80 degrees! Ahhhg! Oh and taped screens. Boss was away doing the vinyl on a monster truck.

At home I just relaxed, as usual. Hard to find motivation to do stuff in the evening. Surely there is stuff to do?

Thursday:

We had clients in the studio to help print samples. Small run printing in wide style variety. The type of specific stuff where they want to try things in different placements/color ways. I cut stickers and weeded vinyl and generally assisted with catching shirts and burning. It was SO WARM! I should have been wearing shorts. It was that hot. I also heatpressed some jerseys. Got some basketball jerseys due soon, but I have several days in which to do them, so that is good. Goodish. It'll still take a while, but hey! Prime podcast listening time!

The clients bought us burgers. That was super nice. Mmm.

Another night, another nothing. Not the best habit. Trader Joe's has poutine now, apparently. Gotta get that next time I'm there.

My hand is healing pretty well.

Wow I turn 26 in a few days. That snuck up on me.

it's only tuesday and I'm bleeding already

Was weeding vinyl and accidentally stabbed my hand with the exacto. Oucch. It didn't bleed all that much, but my hand hurts.

Got to work nice and early, put some tunes on, and got to catching shirts and boxing them! Went like a dream. I also degreased some new screens, and coated screens later on in the day. And broke down the press. And weeded vinyl (like I said). A full day, and due to arriving early, I got home at a decent hour!

Yesterday I was driving behind a tractor that was behind a bus. Now that is slow. Thankfully it was only for a short stretch.

Worked on a bit of correspondence. Danced my stupid dance to music.

It's my birthday in a week!

januwarmyary

Going to work early tomorrow, so it is early to bed today!

Today we ran the fronts on a large shirt order. A nice, large two color front order. Nothing really out of the ordinary. Just printing. What a relief! I caught, Jeff printed. I put on tunes. Gorillaz, White Stripes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cake.

Nice to just run a job. No hecticness. I weeded some vinyl after.

Did a grocery run. Washed my work shirts. Relaxed. Those were the main errands that I can remember needing to do, and I did them. So it's all good.

I just had a weird feeling of deja vu.

It's supposed to be above 70 for the rest of the week. What the dang, California??

s(her)lock

Oh man! What a day!

Got up and did my Internet rounds before I had to shut it down due to Sherlock airing and not wanting ANY Sherlock spoilers. You know how it is.

So I cleaned the house a bit. Swept my room. Did some laundry.

Then I got to watch some Sherlock! Yaaay! OMG!

I say some, because we had to interview Alex. Nice fella. Easy to talk to. Scuba certified.

He departed, I watched more Sherlock. But I didn't finish it because I had made plans to see Her with Ryan, and I do not forgo my plans!

So downtown to the Del Mar I went. It was a nice night for a movie. I bought popcorn and smothered with with seasonings. Her is the new Spike Jonze movie, about a guy who has a relationship with his operating system. It was pretty damn good. The costumes and near-future set and props were what I loved. A solid film though. Very nicely acted. It really just... I dunno. Washed over me in this really lovely beautiful not quite sad way. Nice film. Good on ya' Jonze!

Dropped Ryan off at the Tannery and then I boogaloo'd home and watched SHERLOCK! WAHH! YES!

No spoilers on this blog but eeeEEEeee. Okay.

So a very excellent Sunday all around.

january keeps on truckin'

Didn't do anything! Whoo! Well that is a lie. I did do some stuff. I just didn't, like, go up to San Francisco or travel anywhere. Just did tidying up and stuff.

We got a guy Alex coming in tomorrow for a housemate interview.

My box o' birthday presents arrived! Yaaay!

I washed my car. It was getting a bit smudgey.

I tidied my room. It was getting a bit hectic. Still need to recycle some things. But on the whole, it looks better. So that is good.

I haven't done any crock pot cooking in a while! Egads! I should do that tomorrow. Oh wait... I'm going to be leaving the house tomorrow to go do stuff. Ehhhh.

I did a Target errand. Watched some Look Around You. Now I'm going to drink tea and read. That'll be nice.

quick week, little post

Thursday:

I did a banner, weeded some vinyl, caught some jobs. It was a rather short day. And I had another casual evening.

Friday:

Yay! Friday! This week went by so fast. I caught a job and then boxed it. I cleaned screens and squeegees and floodbars and sorted stickers. A nice relaxing solo day, mostly. Kara made tamales, which became my lunch. Go Kara!

This weekend I need to:

• wash my car
• clean my room
• trim my bangs
• see the movie "Her"
• paint my nails something fun
• read