headed for the hills

Saturday:

I made a road trip snack run Friday night, and when I got back, Ben was there! Hurray! We three got up at 7ish and Helen arrived at 7:30ish and then we hit the long road for Kirkwood. There was a Starbucks stop. We played road trip games. I'm really bad at I Spy. Helen is really good at it. It was a bit crowded in the Prius, but we all fit.

We arrived at Kirkwood Mountain Resort at around 11. I decided not to snowshoe, and instead to just hand out at the base and draw what was around there. Helen rented her snowboard, Ben got his boots and board. We had some food, and then those three went up the lift and I was left to my own devices. I trotted up the mountain in an area away from skiiers, and got fairly far up but I kept going down to my knees in the snow, which wasn't quite fun because my shoes were not right for that type of snow, and I was just in jeans, and my shoes quickly filled with snow which got my socks wet. So the rest of my day was spent in wet socks, which made the going cold. I got some drawing done, regardless of the cold. Drew people, drew the mountain a bit. It was hard to find a good place to park it though, and I didn't have waterproof pants so my bum would have gotten soaked fast. Ah, learned some lessons. Bring waterproof pants (except mine are in Washington and are being worn these days by mom), wear better shoes, bring lots of extra socks...yeah that should do it. Helen finished up a bit early and we hung out by the fireplace in the lodge. Nate and Ben finished at 4 (when the lifts closed) and we all head back down the mountain. We stopped at Hoot N' Annies, but I was tired and took a nap in the car intending to come into the restaurant a bit later...but slept through the whole meal. I plugged in my MP3 player and we listened to jams all the way back to Redwood City. Ben headed out, I put on dry socks, and chilled out a bit, and then I headed back to Santa Cruz. It was a nice drive, though a chunk of 101 has really bad road.

Sunday:

Steve was in town early in the day, so I mixed up a bigger scramble for a late breakfast/early lunch and we went for a walk up Ocean, over on Soquel, down Seabright, and back on Broadway. It was a beautiful day. He headed back relatively early, and I spent the afternoon cleaning house. Swept the hardwood floors and kitchen, scrubbed the kitchen floor, did the dishes, washed my work clothes. Making it all look nice.

I wish this weekend had an extra day...hahaha. When I do something I always want more time in which to do nothing. Funny how that works.

Some photos, courtesy of Nathan:

up north a bit

Nathan doesn't have anything in his fridge. He has nothing at all! It isn't even turned on! Doesn't even have ketchup. What's up with that? Had some tea though. He has tea and dry stuffs. Right now I'm waiting on Ben to arrive, then tomorrow we three are going to Kirkwood Mountain! They will snowboard and I'll snowshoe, and it shall be fun fun fun!

Work was relatively short. (Nathan says "HEEEYYYY!!!" I don't think he likes me blogging about him). Anyway. I ran the job, and ran the sleeves on the job as well. Broke down the press, cleaned things. It was a sunny day. A little bit rainy, but overall really nice. Looks like winter is over in Santa Cruz!

I did some laundry and washed the dishes, and then I headed up to Redwood City. I have a key to Nate's, so I let myself in and relaxed and dug through the cubbards looking for food, and came up wanting.

Anyway. Tomorrow should be fun. Pedersen cousins assemble!

problematic Prometheus

Went to Redwood City and watched Prometheus with Nate and Josh. Visually it was amazing. Great sets, costumes, actors, special effects, all that shebang. The plot though was a bit...it brought up a lot of questions but didn't really answer them, and as Josh and I talked about it on the drive back, it just got more confusing. We tried to reason some things out, but it was all a bit of a stretch. Need to talk to Madeline. She is the expert on the film series. Anyway, yeah, the script was a bit, errr, but it was lovely to behold.

We three ate dinner at Milagros. Nate & I shared a quesedilla and chips, Josh had a stuffed pepper. It was a nice warm Saturday.

Earlier on, Josh worked on his portfolio and I went and got some frozen yogurt (this was when we were still in San Francisco, of course). I took my froyo into the park and listened to 11/22/63 and sketched and relaxed. I caught a lot of sun on my shoulders, so now I have some tan lines, and hopefully freckly shoulders. My hair unfortunately also is part of the tan lines, but I've never had an even tan. Anyway, it was nice to just kick back and get some sun and snack on stuff. Another chill day. Gandered a bit at more jobs. Had a sandwich. Had tea.

It's all good.

Trill loves S.C.

Ohhh I'm tired. Long day. I need to get used to driving, because if I get the job I interviewed for today, I have a bit of commuting I'll have to do before I can get relocated to Santa Cruz.

So. About that job. We'll get right to it, shall we?

I feel really good about the interview. We had a good chatterly manner about things. I pumped up my skills in a good, honest way. And we had a good dialogue. I didn't feel all that nervous, compared to the two previous interviews I've had. I was honest about my skill levels, and asked what I think are good questions, and my enthusiasm was genuine. The shop does commercial screen printing and has a nine arm automatic press. SO HUGE AND COOL! Anyway. I feel good about it. It was a good environment, and Chris, the bossman, was really nice. He complimented my tattoos (he had full sleeves) so that was a good impression maker.

The shop is in a garage down a winding road, just north of Santa Cruz. Pretty cool little place. An hour and twenty minute drive from San Francisco, which is long but not unfathomable in the short term. I'll hear back sometime between Monday and Wednesday. I really want this job. It's perfect for me. If I get it, I'll be probationary to start, and hopefully they'll keep me on. So much hope!

I had a good morning. Had toast and egg. Left at 11:30. Stopped at a Starbucks on the way down and got a treat. Got to the shop right on time. Had my interview, which lasted about an hour, which gives me a good feeling. Then I drove further down into Santa Cruz and had lunch at Cafe Delmarette in the sort of downtown area. I people watched and read City of Thieves and thoroughly enjoyed my sandwich. I crossed the street into the used bookstore and perused the stacks. Picked up a William Morris collection. His sort of Marxist writings, not his artwork. It was on sale, and it seemed to have to do with creativity. Always good to get different points of view?

Then my meter was running out, so I drove to Lighthouse Beach and sat on a bench and soaked up the sun and finished City of Thieves. It was a good book. Had some great turns of phrase. Maybe not totally great, but I enjoyed the characters. Now that I've finished a book, I can start another one! That science fiction time traveller book! Yay!

I drove back, and returned before the sun set. Now I'm chilling out and feeling pretty good about today.

And also feeling tired.

Monster & Creator

Got up nice and early. Showered. I think my hair is a bit longer on one side than the other. Ah, oh well.

Had a nice eggy breakfast, though now I've eaten so many of Carmen & Josh's eggs, that I have to replace them, which I did, same brand too so as not to be that type of person that replaces consumed food with lesser food. And theirs were getting a bit close to expiration date. I don't think they are that big of egg eaters. I am though. Yum yum eggs.

When I opened up my email to print out my Frankenstein tickets, there was an email response for a job I applied for! A Santa Cruz screen printing job! A couple email exchanges later and I have an interview tomorrow! AHHH!! I finally got one! An interview for a place I applied for. Holy cow! Here is hoping it goes super well. I don't want to talk too much about it, so as to avoid any kind of jinx. Still. YAY! AHHH!!!

I had a Vietnamese sandwich for lunch, and treated myself to some buns to eat later on. At 4:15ish, I packed up and headed off to Redwood City. I left plenty of time because I knew there would be traffic, but it never got to a stand still, which was nice. I started listening to Stephen King's 11/22/63. I really like his work in audiobook form. Something about the way he writes, I enjoy more when it is read to me.

I did some food shopping at Trader Joe's and dropped it off at Nate's apartment, and then pretty soon it was time to walk down the street to partake in the enjoyment of Frankenstein! AHHH!! I've waited so long for this, and have been so excited for it. The audience was surprisingly older, like more theater goers than Sherlock fans (though I could spy a few). I chatted with the guy behind me, Carlos, about the book and tattoos, and then it was time for the show to start.

And oh it was good. The set design and lighting were amazing. It was creative and not quite minimal, but not quite detailed. Danny Boyle was amazing. Benedict Cumberbatch as the creature was amazing. He acts all the way through to his toes. They actually had the creature be intelligent, instead of just some silent monster, which was awesome. Great script. Johnny Lee Miller was great as Doctor Frankenstein. The cool thing about the show is that the two actors reverse their roles, so tomorrow there is a showing with Miller as the monster, but that is a bit much for me to do two nights in a row. I'm happy I saw the version I did. Oh what a version. Wish I could have seen it live on stage, that would have been awesome.

Afterwards, Carlos asked me out for a beer, and I said sure, so we had a beer at Milagros and talked about nerdy things like comics and books and art. He was a nice fellow. I said my goodbyes and went back to Nathan's. Nate came home, and we chatted a bit, but I left shortly after his return. It was late and all that. And I'll see him Saturday for Prometheus.

I hope tomorrow goes well.

My blog has tracked so much, and so many events, and so much growth and change. I wonder how long I'll keep it going? I don't have the biggest readership, but I think I do a lot of it mostly for myself. To keep track of things.

caramel by the sea

Spent a lot of the day driving. I don't like the road from Redwood City of San Jose. Too windy. The drive from San Jose to Santa Cruz & Monterey is nice though. Rolling hills, nice atmosphere, warm, not winding. It is a long journey from San Francisco to Carmel, quite the journey considering I was applying for service positions, and not art jobs. But I need interview experience, and if they are willing to talk to me because I show up, then I'm going to show up. Don't want to bumble in the (hopeful) eventuality that a studio will bring me in for a chat.

I printed out some resumes and left at 1pmish. It was a gorgeous day, and the ride was nice. It is an hour from Santa Cruz to Carmel, and an hour and a bit from San Francisco to Santa Cruz.

I applied first to this lovely resort ranch. It had deer and quail and everyone was really nice. They even gave me a preliminary interview! Chatted with Rosie and did a lot better at talking myself up and my strengths than I did with the prop rental company interview. She even introduced me to Clint, who was more in the department of the job I was sort of applying for (I wrote down server, but I'll take what they think I'd qualify most for). Pool server job. Keeping the pool area nice, tending to what people may need. Be outside and on my feet, and in a nice place (the resort is very pretty, did I mention the quail?). Not art job, but could be full time, and if it is full time then that gets me income and I'd move and start being independent. It was a long way to go for something outside of my field, but people within my field are not getting back to me. I need to be more patient, yeah, but...I'm ready to work! I'm tired of mooching, and being in transition.

I've been out of school a year now. A year!

And it is good to get familiar with the Bay Area to Santa Cruz drive. I like SC. Need to hit that place up some more.

Anyway, after that resort, I went to another one, though that was more a hotel. Applied there, but no immediate interview.

I drove to Monterey and had some pizza at a really sketchy place. The sign was really nice, but inside was really...dang. Looked like a front for some other sort of business. They didn't put any effort into maintaining it. Anyway. Wandered around Monterey a bit. Looked for bookstores and pastry shops, but they were closed. Found a watch repair store and he had a battery, so I replaced my watch battery on the spot. I almost didn't wear it today. Good thing I did! Now I have a working watch. Hurray.

From there, I headed back and made super good time back to San Francisco. Two hours is a lot of driving, but at least the roads are good and it isn't rainy and I'm in a car with good ga-oh man, it probably rolled over to 200,000 miles! I need to see if it did.

Got back at 9pm. Feel very tired. Tomorrow I'll apply for more jobs. Just have to keep...doing it. Eventually something will happen.

was that needed? probably not.

Nate and I went to see a late night showing of Men in Black 3. It was okay, I guess. Not really a needed third movie, and it was pretty obvious how it was shot to exemplify 3D filming. Ahh, oh well.

Woke up early. I couldn't get back to sleep, so I got up. Had some tea, had some toast, did my Internet rounds, watched some Star Trek with Carmen. I left San Francisco at around noon. Went to Redwood City for my usual Sunday routine of Game of Thrones & Nathan. I went to Michael's and got some things for projects. I did some shopping at Trader Joe's as well. Much easier to do it outside of San Francisco than within. No worry about streets and parking and people.

Anyway, got to Nate's. We did some more food shopping, though that was Nate shopping. Got some sandwiches, and ate them in the yard while chatting with Chad, Oleg, & other people. I worked on a drawing. Nathan played a game. We watched Game of Thrones, and walked to the theater for a late showing of Men in Black. Pretty fun day, all in all. Now it is late, and sleep is needed. I'm staying in Rewood City tonight and heading back to San Francisco early tomorrow.

To Redwood City and Back

Sundays are good days!

Carmen was busy with her music, Josh was busy with something...else. After tea and toast and snacks, I walked around the area a bit. Looked at the cool houses. Went up the hill, went up steps. I wish I could locate my rechargeable batteries for my camera, so that I could actually take some photos. I'm getting out and seeing things, but not taking any pictures. The fancy camera spoiled me. That one takes such nice pictures, and so easily! Ah, oh well.

I saw at 16th & Lomita and drew this pepto pink house. This cute guy on a bicycle totally checked me out. I cheered on this other guy who was huffing it up the hill on his bike. I know how that feels.

When I got back to the house, I put some color on the little drawing. I sort of like it...but it could be better. Need to draw more. Always need to draw more.

At 5ish, I drove to Redwood City. I needed to get my coats, but also Nate and I had plans to watch Game of Thrones together, because that is what we do. You gotta watch the show with people who know what is going on, and what is important. He had a burrito waiting for me. What a brother! We drank good beer, looked at the eclipse, and watched telly. Well, we watched Community and Game of Thrones and the last half of Wet Hot American Summer. Us Spencer Kids, we love our telly. Game of Thrones was awesome, as always. The next episode is set to be AWESOME. Ships and fighting and all that cool stuff.

My car is driving fine, which makes me happy.

Back in San Francisco, we watched Sherlock, because Carmen & Josh haven't seen it yet. Oh I've watched that first episode SO many times. Perfect way to end the evening...though I think I'm going to stay up and watch Mad Men. Having my own room has its downside...I don't have as early a bed time as when I shared a studio with Nate. HMmm.

vampires, zombies, nords, Oh my!

I made tacos! Delicious tacos! I should have bought eggs, so that I could make a scramble, but I feel they might go to waste because Nathan isn't around to cook that often.

I got my car back today! Dad did some sweet talk and got the cost of repairs down. The shop probably thought they could pull a fast one because I'm a gentle lady, but they weren't prepared for my papa! The car runs super better. A lot more was wrong with it than just the loss of power. Now it doesn't rattle and rev when it is idling at stop lights and such. Sounds very much less like it is having a fit, in fact it doesn't seem like it is having one at all. Go car!

Listening to The Fall by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan (part two in this vampire book trilogy) and Skyrimed it up. Probably my last night playing Skyrim. Waaah, sad. Well, I might play it a bit tomorrow before I head out to San Francisco.

Did some shopping. Nate is unable to play his precious Diablo III. He will eventually. He is playing the Day Z Arma II mod in the meantime.

I'm a good listener

Nate is bringing home the Jack in the Box. Yaaay. Fast food!

I should introduce exercise into my regimen...one of these days. I'll probably eat healthier with Josh & Carmen, but the good kind of healthy. Not the cardboard kind of healthy.

I had a sandwich for lunch. Good old sandwiches, they'll never let me down.

I listened to Douglas Adams do an audiobook of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, while I worked on job things. That was quite good.

Played some Skyrim. Have to beat them game before I leave! (Just kidding, there is no beating Skyrim).

It will be nice to be in a colder climate. I'm not quite ready for the heat. That being said, I do sort of want to visit Santa Cruz again. Want to get more of an idea of the place, because it seems like a "Trillian" sort of city.

Sunday, blissful Sunday

Had a sleep in. Had hummus and chips and lots of cups of tea. That was swell. Played Skyrim. Nathan was off mountain biking all day long. They went down to Santa Cruz, I think. I took it pretty easy this Sunday. Called mom. Drank more tea. Drew a bit. Nate came home, so in the evening, we sat out on the porch and ate pizza. I had Pida in my lap, because Pida is a sweet doggy. Not as sweet as Holly, of course.

In the evening, we watched Game of Thrones, and it was awesome.

I think I did more today, but I really didn't. Need to pack a couple things up for when I relocate to San Francisco. And make a list of screenprinting studios to ambush check out.

A list is what I need to make.

saturrday

Nathan is watching In Bruges on his monitor. Ahhh I love this movie.

I spent the evening drawing. Working on the Quentyn Martell drawing, and a little something something for mother's day. Nathan brought home a burrito after mountain biking. I watched Alien, he played this Zombie mod on a game. It was a good afternoon and evening.

Morning and early afternoon sucked. Took the car in to the shop, bright and early. Didn't seem like I really needed to make an appointment, but it was for the best I think. Better to have it, and have them ready for me. One of the car helpers said "Hey Washington" to me, so I dug that. But yeah, turned in my car and got a shuttle back. Had some orange juice, toast, and other breakfast. Nate went biking. I got the call about how much the repairs will cost, and I emailed Dad the amount. Lots of back and forth and now my car is getting fixed, and I'll get it back on Tuesday or so. Hopefully we'll get another 50k miles out of it without any other major improvements, ya know. Hopefully by the time it kicks the can, I'll be all employed and making bucks and things. That is a good thing to hope for.

So car bummer for the first half of the day, movie fun time and drawing and burrito in the second half. It balances out?

car-no-go

Well, I wanted to write up how awesome the Odd Owl show was. But I didn't get there. I was just getting onto the freeway, when my engine decided it was not having the idea of going faster than 45mph. The brake light came on, though I didn't know why. So I pulled off the immediate next exit, called Carmen to say I wasn't coming, and returned home. Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I have a car appointment. Going to get it checked out and all that jazz. 9am. Wheee. Prius man, when the warning light goes on you really have no leeway. You have to get that engine checked. Immediately.

Ahh.

Didn't get up to much else the rest of the day. Car stuff. Had some pasta.

Weekend is here. Let's see how this car stuff resolves itself. Booo.

Poor Quentyn

Just what I spent the night working on. About four hours. A piece of fan art of Quentyn Martell, from the end of A Dance with Dragons. Want to finish it tomorrow afternoon, before I head off to the Odd Owl show. The text isn't going to stick with the piece, it is just a placeholder...of sorts. Anyway. Yay! Drawing! I need to get a move on with my ideas and concepts. Keep making art.

I didn't play that much Skyrim today...because I got stuck in a really tough dungeon and now need Nathan to fight my way out of it. Speaking of Nate, it is Midnight and he isn't home yet. But I also think that on Thursday, he and coworkers go out for dinner or something.

Made another food errand. Nate needed his Ovaltine. Hahah. The check engine light came promptly on. I'm going to clear the codes after a drive into San Francisco, and see if the problems compound. Agghh. I did NOT want car troubles this soon. I know it is pushing 200k miles, but COME ON!

Anyway. Did more job stuff that feels fruitless, but gotta keep at it.

a common Wednesday

I'm totally kicking butt at Skyrim.

On Sunday I will relocate to San Francisco and do the job hunt from there.

So no more Skyrim for Trill, come Sunday.

Did another check on my car, and only one of the codes came up. Just need to keep a watchful eye on it.

Washed some dishes. Looked for jobs. Mmmhmm.

Listened to the radio comedy Elven Quest. It was silly. Needed a break from all the American Gods and The Unbelievable Truth I've been listening to.

Here is a drawing.

Introducing Nate to Lily Allen, because I explained that her song Alfie is about her brother Alfie Allen, who plays Theon Greyjoy in Game of Thrones. Yup. Nathan played my character on Skyrim tonight, and it is tough watching someone else play your character because they don't do it how you would do it. Yup.

Another day for slim job pickings. Boo. Need to start looking up screen printing studios to cold call and stuff. Mmmn.

Did the code checked on my car. Dad, I emailed you the codes, check them out and give me advice. Yup yup?

When I went outside, I just started sweating immediately. 81 degrees is 14 too many for me.

Later on in the day, I went shopping. Bananas, apples, bagel shmear, chocolate milk. Yumm!

Sort of a lack luster day. Hard to get enthusiasm for the job quest. But get it I must.

Ah, I also leveled up a bit in Skyrim. That will be a good thing about being at Carmen & Josh's. No Skyrim. That is a distracting game, and when I don't continually die horribly it only makes me want to play it more, because it means I'm getting the hang of it and getting better and all that jazz. Yeah.

mediocre monday, though I did kick butt in Skyrim

Jobs are slim pickings. Need to start the cold calling and awesome elbow my way in somewhere. Just been applying to people who say they want resumes. Well they SAY that, but they never get back to me, even the jobs for which I qualify.

Anyway. When I first opened my eyes this morning, I got a beam of sunlight right in my retinas. Gahhh. What a way to wake up.

Looked at meager jobs. Listened to The Unbelievable Truth. Ate a sandwich. Played Skyrim. Contemplated my life a bit. Swept a bit.

Drew a bit in the evening, but the image is a Tumblr inside joke that makes no sense outside of context, so I won't be posting it here.

Nate and I played this tandem car explosion shooter game thing. Can't remember the name of it, but it was quite fun.

Need to do some shopping tomorrow. OH and that diagnostic thing. Need to do that. I have all day yet still I don't get to doing certain things.

Sunday. Sweet Sunday.

Pretty mellow day here with the Spencer kids. Oleg and Chad were out doing something. Well, Chad was in Washington. Haven't seen hide nor hair of Oleg.

I made bacon & eggs for breakfast. It was good. We had fancy organic orange juice for breakfast with it. Nathan had toast, and I opted out.

After I made my internet rounds, and Nathan played his games, we went outside for a hike. He loaded his bike into his car and off we went to the Redwood City hills. It was a nice day for it. Warm, but not so hot. He peddled up the hills, and I hiked along aside him. I sat for a bit and read out of City of Thieves while he went up and down some hills. We looked at this sandstone formation, though Utah was much cooler in terms of rock formations. Wind and erosion can only get you so far. The park ranger dude that we passed on the way out was a UW grad, and he and Nate gabbed about being Huskies. I had to admit I brought dishonor on the family by being a PNCA Sloth. Oh woe.

It was a nice day to be out. Everyone on the trail was very friendly.

Afterwards we went to In-N-Out and got burgers. The pretty Chevy in the drive through in front of us had trouble starting. Nathan got out to help push it, but it started up before he had to. The burger was tasty. Mmm.

Back at the house, Nate and I sat outside and read and played with the dogs. We absorbed the last of the day's warmth. Then it was dinner time. Well, muffin and chips and hummus time. We are not complicated chefs. We watched more television (Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones). And it was intense. And awesome. Now Nate is all caught up on Breaking Bad. Ohh man it is SO GOOD. Yup yup.

green & purple tell a tale

Nate and I are watching Breaking Bad, because now we are at the end of the season and it is all intense, and you can't NOT watch a bunch of it.

Now that I'm on Twitter, I can find out things. Things like Simon Pegg, Zachary Quinto, Chris Pine, and Benedict Cumberbatch are in the Bay Area. Right now. Ahhhh!! How exciting. If I ran into any of them, I would probably implode.

Anyway. We both slept in and had oatmeal for breakfast. Saturday! Whoo!

We played with the doggies, and then went to Costco, because while we have food, we need more, and greater variety. This Costco was much larger, and quite disorienting. It also had much more selection, and different brands, oh, and hard liquor. It had my beloved Lagavulin, but I couldn't convince Nathan to buy it. Boo. He got me delicious cookies instead. Got bread and hummus and these lovely honey drinks that are made locally and all sorts of goodies. And we got hot dogs after, because we always get them at Costco. Yum yum tasty. Now we are up to our knees in tasty food. Need to get some shmears for the bagels, and some cheese to shred.

Back at the house, we chilled with the dogs. Played Skyrim. Watched Breaking Bad. Snacked. Tomorrow we are going to go hiking. Watched Adventure Time. Chad and Oleg are off doing something else for the weekend, so it is just the Spencer kids.

Ahhh Breaking Bad is so good.

Oh, we also got the mail and I got the car diagnostic thing. I'll do the diagnostic check come morning.

Pida is a sweet doggie

Applied for some more postings, though the pickings were slim. Still no word back from anybody. Ah, oh well.

Played some Skyrim. Ate a sandwich. Ate a banana and an apple. Drank tea.

Refreshed and looked for more jobs. It's a boring yet essential cycle. I wonder how fruitful things will be, if and when I stay with Carmen & Josh. There is more potential there, because San Francisco is a town town, where as Redwood City is just sort of...a place between other places.

Anyway. Nate came home early. We watched Breaking Bad and Community and looked after the dogs Pida and Mehki, because Chad is up in Washington for the weekend.

Here are some cute pictures: