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!