Saturday in the City

My Saturday was the most perfect Saturday. Even if things didn't go to plan, everything that happened was wonderful. To have every day like today would be a dream.

On the ride up to Oakland, traffic stopped momentarily on 17. I was wondering if there was a wreck, but then a deer bounded by my car and it was obvious people had stopped to let it pass. Things picked up and off I went. I used my GPS to navigate to Robin's, and I bought a car charger for my phone (only $15!) so now I don't have to worry about my phone dying on the road.

I parked at Robin's and we got through the catching up and what's been going on and all that happenings. Her apartment has really been furbished out since last I visited. It looks great! I drove down to the Bart station and parked on a side street, and we rode over to the Ferries Landing or whatever it is called. Turns out the stop was further from the museum than we originally thought. Like a whole bus ride further. Oops! Robin showed me how to use my GPS (well Google Maps) to figure out the bus route to take, and there was a free shuttle to the Presidio! Booyah! But I'm getting ahead of ourselves. I held a spot in line at Blue Bottle Coffee and Robin fetched us sandwiches from Cowgirl Place Sandwiche Something (not the real title). We each ate half with plans to eat the other half later, but switch sandwiches. Mine was mozzarella and proscuitto, hers was turkey and some other cheese. She treated me to New Orleans style iced coffee (which has chicory in it) and got herself a coffee. Oh that was good iced coffee! Good enough for me to drink, and I'm not a coffee drinker.

We walked down to where my phone said the shuttle would pick us up, and we sat on the grass and talked and drank our coffee. It was a nice jaunt up through the Presidio, and the last stop was only a few blocks from the museum! Hurray! All this time I was texting Josh & Carmen who were going to join us at the museum.

The museum in question is the Walt Disney Family Museum. There is a special Mary Blair exhibit happening right now, with her original art works, and I had to see it! Mary Blair did visual development and illustration for Disney in the 30's and 40's. Peter Pan, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, The Three Caballeros. The exhibit was really nice. You could get up close to the originals. Some didn't look so well preserved as the paper had yellowed and we theorized that the color had faded on the paints. Still, her work was wonderful! And everyone dug it (Carmen and Josh showed up about 20 minutes after we did). There were many really nice quotes put up about her, and it really made it seem like she was appreciated. Of course it's easy to make it seem that way long after the fact, but hey! Her art lives on!

I picked up a few postcards and then we went out to get juice! Carmen drove us. I had fancy immune booster carrot juice and a wheatgrass shot. Went healthy! I drew in my sketchbook. We conversed. It was a windy, bright day. Afterwards, we got a life to the station. I hugged C & J goodbye, grabbed my Odd Owl poster, and off Robin & I went to hop on the train and go back to Oakland! It was an easy crossing, though I felt a total tourist for always putting away my card and having to take it back out. Robin had me drive over to this alley of artsy shops in Oakland, and we wandered around that area for a bit. I put on some foo foo that smelled like trees. I really liked it. I'm not much of a foo foo person, but I'll have that foo foo! I didn't get it though. Expensive! My car got a bit misplaced, but we found it! We didn't take note of which streets it was on when I parked, but backtracking returned us. I hung out at her lovely apartment and had some tea.

Before it got too late, we hugged out goodbyes for the time being, and I set out for 45 minutes south of Oakland: Mountain View. Garth was working late, so I hung out in In-N-Out with a burger, fries, and shake and my Kindle and read and had a little peaceful me time. Nice to just sit and read. Okay eating a burger undoes all the healthy eating I did earlier today, but whatever. Garth and I shared a pitcher at this little dive bar near his place. There was a darts tourney happening, and damn if they all didn't consistently hit the dart board!

All around, through and through a great day.

hootie and the trillfish

Friday:

Only had two tasks today at work: finish the jerseys and sort the work branded shirts. I came in early to get the jerseys done early. Weeding all the names for the heat transfers takes forever! But I got them done. It was just me in the studio. Kara was there for a bit, as was Jeff in embroidery. But it was just me in the main part.

Our work branded shirts needed a major organization overhaul. Plus they just needed to be refolded and sorted by size. We have so many XL tees. So I folded them all. And pulled all the old designs. And sorted the sizes and put the newly printed stuff on top. Took a lot of time. The sort of thing that is best done when no one else is in the studio so I could take up all the space and spread out. Ended up being a full days worth of work! And since I got in early, I was out early and had time to enjoy the lovely day!

So nice weather right now in Santa Cruz. SO nice. I accompanied Tara on a downtown errand and got some froyo for dinner. Then I watched Hannibal and other TV and went to bed early and slept in.

Saturday:

Odd Owl is playing at the El Rio tonight! I wasn't planning on going but since I can crash on the floor at Carmen and Josh's, I decided to go! But first: earlier in the day.

Slept in. Took a long shower due to the time it takes to wash my hair. Had some tea and creme cheese and celery. Walked down to the mall area and went to Ross and found a new pair of simple flats. My other simple flats are on their last steps. Then I went to Chipotle and got a burrito. It filled me right up! Yum. I'm glad I wasn't spoiled on burritos in my youth.

I got my cool clothes on and packed up my car for the night (bringing some reclaimed screens to Carmen). Swung by Trader Joe's and got some coconut water and used that purchase as an ATM for cashola for tonight (instead of going to an ATM and paying bucks to use the right and not getting anything in return). Had an easy drive up with minimal traffic. Sun was in my eyes though.

The Show:

I accompanied Carmen down to the El Rio and watched the stuff while she found parking. The El Rio has a narrow side venue and a back patio with lots of space. Nice place. This guy hit on me a little bit, but his American Psycho patch put me right off. I did a very good job of pacing my alcohol intake. Gold stars for me! I generally can pace myself the easiest with whiskey. Nothing hidden by mixers. Anyhoo!

The first band up was not a band, just the lady Katie Day. She played the guitar and the keyboards and did a cover of Remix to Ignition with backup dancers. She was lovely.

Adam, the drummer for Odd Owl, has a baby boy! Last time I saw Odd Owl, Vanessa wasn't pregnant. And now there is a baby. Time flies!

Odd Owl came on next and they were awesome as always. Got to hear a few of their newer songs, which I haven't heard live yet. Awesome. I was groovin' up near the front.

Ben, the drummer for Echo and Maw, called me Tricia McMillan. I told him we were instant friends because of that.

Echo and Maw were neat too! I bought their CD. They had a keytarist. They did a cover of Wrecking Ball and the audience sang along. Great crowd, lotsa energy.

I helped guard the equipment once again, and it was brought back to the space. We got back to the house at the wee early hour of 3am. Awesome.

Sunday:

Has a slow start. Drank lotsa water and had a bit of muffin. Watched Breaking Bad with Carmen and showered. Erin, Josh, Carmen, and I set out to find brunch. We drove through Golden Gate Park and saw the buffalo! The wait at the Beach Chalet brunch place was an hour! There was a line just to get your name on the list! So we opted out. Did I mention Erin is pregnant? Lots of pregnancies! Anyway. We found our way to Eats in the Inner Richmond area. A bit of a wait, but it's all good. A lovely day, but we were seated inside and in a place where a chill kept creeping over us. I had a bacon avocado tomato scramble and it was tasty. Not mind blowing but still good.

We coated a screen before we left, and we burned it when we got back, but it didn't wash out right so we coated a second screen to burn. That one washed out just fine, and it was set to dry. It was a later start than intended, but it's great to be in the City and hanging with people. The posters look so awesome! The colors look really slick and the teal/red one just POPS. Carmen noted that from the distance you see the ODD OWL text, but up close you see the owl lady. It's a nice dynamic. So we got the deluxe owl lady posters done, and then we did the drum head. Which required special fumey ink and holding the screen in place over the drum head and making sure it doesn't smudge and then quickly cleaning everything up with turpentine (well turpentino or some sort of alternative to turpentine). We did it in one and it looked AMAZING and then bam right into cleaning. We kept things well ventilated but still I feel like I'm missing parts of 8th grade from my memory. Oh well, it was just 8th grade.

But yeah, very successful printing!

9:30ish I headed south. Got home safe and sound and wow I am pooped. Time to sleep and then take on another week!

I know ash

Carmen and Josh have such a nice soft bed. Always get a good night sleep in it. Got up and had left overs for breakfast. Made some tea and then it was art time!

Burned the remaining screen, got the table all set up. And it all went really well! The prints look totally badass, and I'm going to get the artists proof, so THAT is cool. I'm just going to wait till it is signed by the whole band. Yaay! I hung around for a bit. Helped clean up. I'll probably be up again in a few weeks for more printing.

We walked down to Irving and got sushi (well Josh got a slice of pizza) and I got some Sheng Kee pastries for the road, but the sushi filled me up, so the pastries I just consumed over the course of time for the rest of the day.

It is so nice to be out of the house and making neat art. I really must make more art.

Had a nice effortless drive down. And then I made some chamomile tea and watched Sherlock and the episode was amaaazing. Ridiculous, fun, awesome, and I teared up a bit. AH such a great episode.

Welp. Sleep then work beckons!

printing in frisco

I want more days like this. Just hanging with neat people and working on great projects.

Got up early, loaded up my car with printing supplies and a change of clothes and off I went to San Francisco! Effortless drive. Arrived at 10ish. Today Carmen and I set about printing a Kickstarter reward. The four color print of the album art (not with the hands, just the full cityscape with some colors) specifically. Only six 20"x20" will be printed. One of the uber rewards.

Film was printed out and assembled. Screens were coated. I took a break to walk down to 19th and procure tacos. Screens were burned and painstakingly washed out. Screens were set to dry. Ink was mixed. Paper was cropped down to the... oh wait the paper was 20" x 20", the print was 16" x 16". Then we ran an errand and got an 18" squeegee from the screen printer supply shop (a legit shop with the actual proper chemicals and screens, not like the crappy section art stores have!). Back to the house. Josh got Thai food. We had dinner. And then we started printing! And it all went pretty smoothly. First went down the blue, then the green, then the gray. When the black lineart went down it was just. Wowza. I drew the original stuff so small, so it is great to see it SO BIG! And I'll get a copy for myself (the funkiest one). I'm so stoked on it. I need to print more. Poster just look so GOOD!

There is still a final layer to do, but we'll do that in the morning. I don't know if I'll be printing more (there is a deluxe Owl Lady poster, but that is only two colors and the owl lady is already burned).

I'll just have to see what tomorrow brings. Besides the new episode of Sherlock.

Neil Gaiman is awsome

Friday:

I was so excited to sleep in but it just didn't happen! Took the day off work and toodled around. Had breakfast. Had a bunch of my new tea that arrived today! It ships quick. I love my new tea brewing thingy. It steeps and then you put it on top of a mug and the tea comes out of the bottom and the leaves are separated. Really cool gizmo. Anyway. I put on my loudest top and I packed up my things and headed out at around 3:15. Traffic was horrid on 101! So much slow going and then stop and go once I got into San Francisco. I didn't get into the parking garage till 5:30ish! The line for the theater went down a couple blocks and wrapped around the block. So many people for Neil Gaiman. I struck up a conversation with the guy behind me in line, Anderson. Pretty nice chap. His friend Susan arrived in line too, and she was really nice. Some people on tour buses asked who we were waiting for. "A band?" "A writer!" When Anderson, Susan and I got into the theater, we ended up sitting together on the mezzanine. It was a nice vantage point, and we were right on the edge so we could lean over and spit on the front row (we didn't do that).

Neil Gaiman came onto the stage to massive cheers, and when he made a little “shhhh" motion and everyone went silent in seconds. Amazing. He talked, he read from The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Fortunately, The Milk, and answered questions. All of it was enjoyable and lovely and just all around great.

The signs said “no photography or film" but they DIDN’T say no sketching. Okay granted it is really difficult to sketch in the dark of a theater from a far off point of view, but I gave it my best, though I could never figure out how to draw his hair. At 8:20 he started signing, and the theater put people into line based on seating section, which was awesome! Being up high and clearly far back in the signing time frame, I had the chance to go get something to eat and hang out with Steve a bit (who came downtown). I was so hungry and the pizza really hit the spot.

It also gave me the time to chat with Susan and Anderson about such topics as speculative fiction, Ramachandran, travel, eye brows, and all sorts of things. Really cool people to sit and chat with. Much better than standing in line for hours and hours. And my oh my were the signing staff efficient! They had people getting the names on sticky notes, then the to be signed materials were handed down the line to someone who opened it to the correct page, so that all Neil had to do was sign and interact (not that interacting with several hundred different people in a few hours is an easy task). While sketching the signing line, I found that when I drew someone at the back by the time I finished, their stuff was already signed and they were off the stage! Amazing!

I got into the line at 11:40 and I was through at 11:59. Neil and I had the briefest of interactions. He saw my name and I spluttered out a “my parents are big Hitchhiker’s Guide fans" and he said “Nice to meet you Trillian" and in my book there is a little heart (along with his signature and my name). He looked very tired, but oh so understandably so. He took breaks, sure, but damn he signed for hours! I hope some day I get to meet him again, but I don’t know what exactly I’ll say. It was an amazing night for memories both new and old.

I met up with Steve again after the signing, and I drove us back to his place in Daly City. It was nice to sleep there instead of driving all the way down to Santa Cruz.

Saturday:

Steve and I got brunch at Boulevard Cafe in Daly City. I had the eggs benedict and they hit the spot. Not the best that I've had, but they were pretty good. From there we went to the ocean and walked along the bluffs for a little while. I got sand in my shoes and the back of my arm and my back is a bit pink from the sun exposure. It was a nice mellow day of hanging out and enjoying the sunshine. I was melting yesterday as I drove up to San Francisco. 99 degrees! No good for lil me!

I returned to Santa Cruz at around 5:20ish and set about scanning my sketchbook. I finished my current one off whilst sketching the Neil Gaiman signing. It's so exciting and fulfilling to start a new one. Have to have some more adventures soon!

Tomorrow I shall read The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Maybe I'll sit in the sun and read. Get some rays. That'll be nice.

Things are good.

davos 4 ever

It feels so nice sometimes, to be back in that bed that I slept in for a month and a half while I looked for work. It's been a year!

Carmen made tasty scones, which I noshed on through the day while I worked on the video. I had some problems with After Effects, which took a good chunk of time to figure out, but I did get it sorted eventually and by the end of the day we worked out a calendar for the process, and I got the backgrounds into the video where the storyboard originally went, so now it looks more complete. Had exactly enough storyboards! Hurray! It was a lot of putting heads together. The next two weeks will be just...work work work. Well less that, because I want to get the finished animations to them on Friday. I'm not editing the whole video, Carmen is doing the final bits, I'm just producing the animated half. Thank Douglas it is not a FULL video, that would have been insaaaane.

Carmen and I took a little walk in the middle, to chat and clear heads. That was nice. Walked down to this store and she bought some ribbon to put the buttons on. She is really focusing on making all the Kickstarter rewards look reaaaally nice.

Had a nice drive back, not a lot of traffic. Chilled a bit, and worked on the video some more. Watched Game of Thrones. Ate dinner.

Crazy week 1 begins!

let the animation games commence

Had a pretty productive day all around.

Got up at 10ish, did my morning thing. Got to drawing and nailed out a few awesome backgrounds in less time than I was expecting! Booyah. I scanned them, backed and overnight bag, grabbed a snack, checked my tire pressure (my front tires look low but they both say 36, which the front is supposed to be at, right?). Then up I went to San Francisco. There was a lot of traffic...in the other direction. I've had some good luck on 17 lately, it always seems to be dense in the other direction.

Josh showed me some After Effects trickery as a refresher. I'll probably still need to look up some tutorials, but I think I have enough to go on. Carmen worked on editing the video, as it is a combination of live action and animation, and it does seem like less animation that I was originally expecting to do, which is nice. It's still a lot of tight animation with lots of little things, but I can do it! Just a lot of evenings. Hopefully work won't deck me out too much. I'll try to get a lot of drawing done tomorrow, so I can just focus on the program stuff during the week. Drawing and color. Whooee it's a lot, but it'll be cool.

I got to play around on Josh's Wacom Cintiq. The draw on the screen thing that is really cool.

We had take out India food for dinner. Mmm tasty. Josh and I played some Forza 4. A nice evening. Lots of work ahead, but it'll be cool!

Feeling good about things.

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!

last days as a 24 year old

Saturday:

• Slept in, of course. 
•  Got cashback at Trader Joe's and some snacks for the drive up. The couple behind me in line was really nice, and they were from Poulsbo so we bonded over being far away from the gray weather.
•  The drive up to San Francisco was uneventful.
•  Carmen and Josh bought some guinea pigs and named them Merlin and Arthur. They are quite cute.
• Carmen and I took the N Train to tonight's venue. 
•  The gig was Trails and Ways with My Satellite and Tremor Low.
• Phil and his brother Stephen were also at the gig. Phil and Carmen both bought me birthday drinks. Nice people. 
•  It was a good show. Not hop around and dance type music, but I dug it. Tremer Low moreso than Trails and Ways, which was the headliner.
• We ate sushi down the street and it was good. 
•  Cabbed it back, though it wasn't that late.
• It was nice to sleep in that big cozy bed that I slept in all those months ago while looking for, and eventually finding work.

Sunday:

• Woke up relatively early for me, though Sundays tend to be early days.
• Had some oatmeal and tea and chatted with Josh and observed the guinea pigs.
• I was a bit late leaving San Francisco for Oakland.
• And my GPS refused to locate any satellites.
• So I got turned around, and turned around again.
• And arrived on Lakeshore an hour later than planned
• But I made it!
• Finn, Robin, and I drove onwards and parked and had brunch at Cock-A-Doodle Cafe.
• We browsed the used bookstore while waiting for our table.
• I had the eggs benedict. It had avocado and it was delicious. I ate it with my hands and made quite a mess of it, and I probably embarrassed my companions but they have good poker faces.
• From there we returned to Robin's, where I parked.
• We walked down to Lake Merritt and went into another used bookstore (though it also had new books). George Grosz's autobiography caught my eye. I want to read more biographies and non-fiction, so this with my Lucrezia Borgia and Berthe Morisot tomes will make for some good historical reading when I eventually get around to it.
• Finn treated us to coffee, though I had hot cocoa, and we sat by the lake and Finn read to us from This Is How You Lose Her as the sun set. It was a nice time. Finn biked away.
• Robin and I drank wine and watched Clueless.
• Then we drank tea and watched a bit of Basquiat.
• Then I drove home.

And now it is past midnight, so I guess I am officially 25.

ending the year at the top

Ended up sleeping in San Francisco, because I didn't want to risk being on the road with many potentially drunk drivers. So here is a double post!

Monday:

My last night on the futon. I set my alarm because my new mattress was set to arrive between noon and 1, and I needed to get ready for it. I washed my sheets, moved my futon off the frame, opened up the area around the bed to make way, and then I waited. When the mattress arrived, I found out that the one I ordered was backstocked or something, so they gave me the better mattress for the same price! Wowza! I can't wait to sleep on my mattress. As of typing this, I still haven't slept on it.

Anyhoo, my plans for Midnight became hanging out with Carmen & Josh and whoever else was at their house in San Francisco. But since I had the rest of the day before heading up, I took it easy, ate some food, and put the sheets and blankets on my bed. It looks so nice.

I didn't get up to San Francisco till 9, because I forgot what I was going to bring to the shindig at home and had to go back (I wasn't far, but far enough to make it a bit of a delay). Nate and Helen were there, as was Joe, Josh's engineer for his game. We played Apples to Apples (Nathan won, Helen came up second, and I third). Drank some hot buttered rum. Popped crackers at 11 indoors so that we wouldn't litter outside, and then at 11:20ish we walked up the hill to see the view. It was a clear brisk midnight, and we were bundled appropriately. I was wearing my blue silk Jon Valdi trousers that Celia gave me years ago, with a printed top tucked into it, and over that a sweater, and over than my gray longcoat and white shawl, wrapped as a scarf in the Sherlock style. I was stylin'. Joe departed for Oakland and did not summit the hill with us.

The view was lovely. Golden Gate Park was a dark strip through the glittering lights of Inner Sunset, and downtown (whatever area that is called) was radiant. The fireworks were big, though far away, but still big enough to OOOOOO and AHHHH at. Wonderful place to end the year at. I've come far, and can only go further!

I stayed the night at Carmen & Josh's.

Tuesday:

I helped Josh as a demo tester person for the game he is working on. Sorry mom, it isn't yet available on non iDevices. It is pretty fun game, with nice music! Had some tea and then off I returned to Santa Cruz and my yet unslept in bed.

I showered, tidied up, and put my feet up. Watched Miranda. Snacked on food stuffs. Later on Steve came down for a visit and we chatted about names and our various experiences on holiday. He has work tomorrow, so he left. I don't have work tomorrow, so I am staying up! Ha!

I feel pretty good right now. And my bed looks mighty inviting.

I didn't even get close to a Yahtzee...:(

Time just rolled back an hour, so instead of being 2:30am, it is 1:30am. Hurray?

Turns out the art store didn't open till 10am, so I had some time in the morning to tidy up. Went to the store, paid too much for a sub-standard screen, got mylar, and some better tape. Went home. Emulsified the screen, set it aside to dry (not with a fan, then I noticed how slow it was going so I rigged it up with a fan and it dried much faster). Screwed the bolts into the table, though I may reposition them tomorrow. Exposed the screen at different times (I also used some drawing fluid as a thickness/washout test). 15 minutes seems perfect. Washed it out. Ate some chili and a scramble.

At 4:15ish I went to Trader Joe's and got some driving snacks and a bottle of wine. Then I went up to Oakland and picked up dear sweet awesome Robin, and then drove into San Francisco for game night at Carmen & Josh's with special guest Helen & Nathan. The wine was for the shindig, and thankfully it was a good kind of wine. I just got something with a label I liked. I also gave Carmen & Josh my thank you gift of a Belgian waffle maker! They had talked about wanting one, so I went and got them one. When Carmen opened the wrapping she said "is this actually a Waffle maker, not just the box?". And so on top of Carmen's amazing sandwiches, we had waffles. Mmm!

First we played Dixit, which is a sort of imagination/image take on Apples to Apples. It was quite fun, and Nathan won. Then we played Bohnanza, a bean based game that SHOULD have been named Beananza. We got the hang of it eventually, but played a shorter round. Carmen won. Then we finished up with Yahtzee, and Nathan won that, beating my high score which was on the sheet he was playing on. We gabbed, and there were several caterpillars which had to be picked out of the sandwiches (the lettuce was very fresh). At 11:45, I drove Robin home, and then returned to Santa Cruz. So excited she is back in the area! Gotta have a day trip with her and Finn.

I prefer night driving. Less cars, just lights. It just seems easier to navigate.

awesome day!

Had an awesome wonderful day! Was all up in San Francisco with my favorite people: the band members of Odd Owl and their friends who are becoming my friends slowly but surely.

Alarm went off at 7, was out of the house at 8:20. Magic! Filled up my tank and away I went to the great North. Well, the great slightly more northern. It was a nice ride and there was parking on the street. Boom, easy!

Carmen took a nasty spill on her bike, so I helped her haul some stuff into her car. Then we were off to Steve's! From there we rode to the venue (the street outside Candybar) and unloaded the car, and Carmen took the car back to Steve's because it was Sunday Streets, which is where they shut down some of the streets to cars. So we quickly unpacked and got the car out of there. Then we moved the stuff to the back and once it was all secure we went back to Steve's (which is Steve and Erin's and their roommate....ohh I've forgotten his name, he is German but it isn't a-FABIAN! He is name is Fabian. Okay). Anyway, it is multiple people's place. Because like many dense cities, there are as many people as possible crammed into houses.

Hung out there. Phil arrived. Josh showed up. We chatted and snacked and chatted some more. It was nice.

At 1ish we went back to Candybar (everything was all in the same neighborhood, just a few blocks from one another, OOHH earlier we dropped a speaker and stand off at the house that the second gig of the day was to be held). I mostly held guard while things were getting set up, and hauled this and that.

The set was awesome! Some of the tunes sounded different live. They played on the street, and lots of people congregated and listened to many of their songs. I danced a bit along with Erin and Dina and Robert. Dina petted many dogs. It was fun. It was warm. It was outside. And Odd Owl ROCKED! They always do, but yeah.

They broke down the set, and we hauled the equipment the couple blocks to the Wigg Party House Party Party thingy? It was another instance of getting things to a place and going back to Casa Steve and Erin to chill for a bit.

The Wigg Party shindig was full of nice people, though I mostly hung with those I knew. Steve had set up the entertainment and Julia, a street performer, was first. She has a beautiful voice, is talented on the accordion, is a superlative whistler, and can juggle AND balance on a ball? Her set was lovely.

Steve played some awesome diddys on his guitar.

The next guy whose name I have forgotten was also swell.

Then Odd Owl! Though it was the same set just about. OH! They had a cover of Very Superstitious which was awesome. So quality. It was quite chilly in the backyard of the house, where the show was happening, so we danced to get warm. I had my arms around Erin and Tanya and we did a three lady kickline. That was fun. I danced and ate corn and chatted and they sold some merchandise and I gave out my card. All was awesome. It was corn on the cob. Dina, Robert and I cheers'd each other with our corn, though it turned into a bit of a sword fight. My kind of party!

All was awesome today. Josh dropped me off at my car. I got back at a reasonable hour, and since I don't work till noon tomorrow I get to sleep in a bit.

Yay!

Santa Cruzian

Saturday

Slept in. Needed a good sleep in. Still, I got up at around 10. Odd how that seems late, when just a few months ago that would be early. Funny how things like that change.

A lot changed this weekend.

Anyway. Had a big egg and meat sandwich for a late breakfast. Relaxed. Finished watching Thor. Relaxed some more. I helped make dinner. Cut up the strawberries and tomatoes for the salsa, and made the marinade for the salmon. We played some yahtzee while the salmon marinated. Phil came over with nice beers, and we ate grilled salmon with tasty salsa and drank beers and chatted. It was lovely! A great last night in San Francisco.

Sunday

Slept in, though I should have tried harder to get an earlier start on the day. Did laundry. Packed up my things. Put my things in my car. Cleaned the floors, cleaned the sheets, did a little drawing for the new Odd Owl single (just a little owl in a spaceship for the CD, nothing too fancy). Everything got packed up and before I knew it, it was time to hug the amazing, kind, awesome Carmen & Josh goodbye.

They really are wonderful amazing people. Their kindness, and generosity, and all their everything! They gave me the time and living space, and because of that I was able to find a job in my field, and to get settled, and all this wonderful things. I wouldn't be here if not for them. Words can't express my gratitude.

I drove to Redwood City, which seemed a really quick drive now. Packed up the rest of my things into Nathan's car (I left some peripherals there). He loaded up my bike. And off we went to Santa Cruz! He arrived just a little bit before me. We quickly unloaded everything and then puttered off to Bed Bath and Beyond to try and find a bedding solution (unfortunately the Target won't be open till July 29th or around there, boo!). Got a fan, a mattress pad, some pillows, and a towel. Hurray! I'll get some curtains tomorrow, because I don't have curtains. I have some cloth draped, but it doesn't quite cover it all.

I sorted my stuff out a bit more. Hung some clothes. Nate & I got burgers for dinner. Yum yum! Then I said goodbye to Nathan, and settled into my room some more. Janet came home, and Joey the doggie came up to say hi (and smell my room). The leftover burger will be lunch tomorrow. I think I'll come in at 10? Set my alarm for 8...though that seems early. Ah, well, 8 is good! I like not being rushed in the morning. I need to figure out how long my commute will be. Or rather how short it will be. Yay! Short commute! And I have evenings once again!

My life has entered another stage. Graduated High School? Check! Got accepted to college? Check! Graduated from college? Check! Moved in with parents, got supplemental education, motorhomed around a bit? Check! Moved out of parents? Check! Found job? Check! Found place to live and moved into it? Check!

What comes next?

a Thursday I got a hold of

Bought more food today, though I got sandwich fixings and granola bars (I always throw a couple granola bars in with my lunch, because they make the perfect thing to eat mid morning and late afternoon, much better than taking the time for one big lunch time. Space out the munchings). Yesterday I got fixings to make this enchilada casserole, as per my friend Petra's recipe. Today I prepared it. Tomorrow it shall be cooked. Hopefully it will be good. It has beans and cheese. Hard to go wrong with beans and cheese.

So I spent the night making that, and cleaning the place up a bit. Carmen & Josh return, so I want the place looking nice. Not that I did much damage, it is just nice to have things in their place once again. Ya know? Dishes done, counters wiped down.

At work was a clean up day. Cleaned some squeegees, cleaned some flood bars, broke down the press, removed tape from screens, removed ink from screens, removed emulsion from screens. BUT it was also a prep day, because now there are more screens to apply emulsion to and some screens were burned (Andrew did the burning) and taped up. Have some more to reclaim tomorrow, and some to tape up, but also some things to print! Yay!

I'm barreling through A Discovery of Witches. There was a lull in the story, but then it picked up, and now it's at a very tense part. Ohhh! So good.

By myself on a Wednesday

Today I slept in, did some dishes, got some good, cleaned the place up, watered some plants.

Generally had a relaxing time.

Also talked to ma, pa, Celia, Brynne, and Dan. That was nice.

It's my weekend...aaaaand it's gone

Woke up early because Carmen & Josh were heading out early. Had to move my car and all that.

Had a bunch of tea and some toast and eggs. Then I set out to run some errands! I got some frames at Aaron Brothers. Then went to Jiffy Lube and got my oil changed. They had a special half off deal going on, and they had hot dogs and drinks! Awesome! And they filled up my tires. The guy gave major compliments for how good of shape the car is in. Noted the clean filters and the levels of other things. All is well though. Yay good car maintenance. I probably won't be putting on a lot of miles on it, a week from now.

Because I'll be moving to Santa Cruz! Going to put in the moolah after work tomorrow (did I mention that I am pulling an extra shift on Sunday) and then I can get to moving in. Though that will happen next weekend. Ohhh so close! Soon I'll spend less time in a car, less time being tired in the evening, and just time to be! And be all like, living my life and stuff.

Anyway, as I was heading back, I got stuck in some sort of crazy downtown traffic. Ahhh San Francisco is not fun to drive in! I went to Trader Joe's and got some food stuffs, then went back. Started my laundry, ate some snacks, tidied up, and just generally mellowed around. That was nice. Now I have clean sheets, clean work shirts.

So yeah, I don't know how long I'll be working tomorrow. It seems like it will be a short day because it is fronts and backs, which pull faster than sleeves, but who knows? Still, I don't want to come all the way down for a short day.

I just met you, and this is crazy, so here is my number, but don't call me at work because I won't get it

My thighs are painin' and I don't quite know why. Just exertion I guess? Today I was away from ink and all about stacking and sorting and taping. Pulled hundreds of sweaters out of boxes and stacked them and tried not to be buried under the stacks. I also added to my work notes. Have a lot more adding to do, but it is off to a good start. Added the reclaiming process, how to start the heater/clean the filters, and how to start the generator. Oh! Also added emulsion. Bit by bit. It has an index, and the pages are numbered, though it isn't in the best of order. I'm going for the more filled page route, instead of putting each thing on its own page. I like having fewer pages to go through, instead of many simpler pages.

Anyway. Also taped up screens. We got a high volume of stuff coming up. Exciting! I'm going to be catching the beejezuz out of some stuff. Might even work on Saturday. Need to get my oil changed this weekend.

I listened to Cabin Pressure. Most of the first two seasons, but that isn't saying much because there are only six episodes in a season. Ahh I need more fantastic Cabin Pressure stuff! So good.

Drove back. Ate dinner that was cooked by the lovely Carmen and Josh. Then Carmen went off to hang out with Alicia (not Alicia Silverstone though) and I hung out with Josh as he played Dark Souls.

I found out that if I forget to turn off my phone at work, the constant searching for a signal will completely drain it by day's end.

Again, or maybe for the first time because I'm not sure if I've put it in my blog: there is NO cell reception at work. I can't get any calls or texts. I get the messages when I leave work and enter a land with reception, but I do not get them during the day. Your awesome news will have to wait till I'm done working. It is also a given that I can't check my email/Facebook. So yeah, when I am at work, I am working. And listening to Cabin Pressure.

Adam vs Annie

Drove down to Santa Cruz to look at apartments. I don't really like doing extra drives, but it was good to look at apartments when I'm not fresh out of work. Also good to roam the area a bit. One thing I've noticed is everywhere in Santa Cruz seems to take 5 minutes. And I'm getting a hang of certain streets, like Ocean, without having spent much time driving there. I think it is just the right size for me.

I'm looking at two more apartments, one on Monday and one on Tuesday (well rooms in houses, not apartments) but I think by then I'll have made my choice.

The first place I went to was Scotty and Adam, and their dog Pumpkin's place. It was nicely sized with plenty of common shared space and a nicely sized bedroom. I'd have my own bathroom as well, which is swell. It had a good atmosphere, was in a nice location that was near to a lot of places. I only met Adam, but he was really nice and we seemed to get on well, and we had common interests. And the dog Pumpkin was totally sweet. I like that place and when the day was done, I called Adam to say that if they were willing, I was willing, but that I had a couple more places to look at, but that I generally wouldn't mind being their roommate.


There was a second place I was supposed to look at, but the person never called me back/responded to my texts. I cruised by the house and it looked a bit sketchy/run down...errr. I think I'm better off looking at more places.


The third was place was an itty bitty bungalow. Annie was nice, but the place was a bit small. I think I could make it work, but I think spending the extra amount for a bigger/more central place would be better in the long run. We did have a nice chat, so in the end I may have made a friend.


I got a chicken burger at a restaurant and chilled and drove around while killing time in the day. The drive back always feels much longer than the drive down.


Talked to mom, which was nice.


Early in the day, I bought some more Earl Gray because I drank it all. Also got some frozen yogurt and toppings. Yum! Pretty good start to the day.


Another work week starts. Yay! Soon I'll move, soon I'll get evenings back, soon I'll be getting paychecks, which will be awesome (they will come bimonthly, not every Friday which is as I originally thought).

Irving and Thirty Five

I didn't really get up to much. Well, I contacted some people about apartments. Tomorrow I am going to drive down to Santa Cruz to meet someone about a place, it is one I'm really interested in. Carmen also gave me the great idea to call the people I'm meeting on Monday and Tuesday to see if they have any time on Sunday to meet. I could meet them any time and spend the rest of the day reading on the beach, or something similar.

Today I ate left over chili and watched stuff and got some vegetables and Sheng Kee baked goods. I also bought a little notebook and spent a few hours writing up my work tasks. Writing comprehensive notes about my job will help me remember the things that I have to do. I'm no where near done, and I'll add to it as time goes on. It is a good thing to have, and it helps affirm all that I know and have learned in such a short time. Willing note taking? Ahk! What have I become?

I introduced Carmen & Josh to Doctor Horrible. They seemed to like it, despite the sad ending.

We walked down to 35th after dinner, and chatted about dreams and things.

It was a good day. Things are really good.

chillin' in my Cadillac (shirt that is)

Blogger is doing this weird thing where it tries to log me in under my Google name, despite my account not being under Google, so it's all "do you want to make a blogger". Dangit, I've been doing this for almost five years! Let me do what I want!

Anyway. I thought today was going to be long and stressful, but it wasn't. Hurray!

I got up at 7:30am. Showered and walked down to the market to get chili makings (going to make a big pot of chili, though under a Carmen recipe, because that is tried and true and they don't have a crockpot so I can't make my chili recipe). I got a red bean paste filled bun on the way back. Drank some tea, then went to work.

I wore one of my new cheap Hanes shirts, and boy was it dirty by the days end. I'm glad I got work shirts. My first chunk of work was spent cleaning squeegees, the work stations, flood bars, spatulas, and other things. Lots of cleaning and lots of time at the sink. I wore a respirator because of the prolonged exposure to the cleaning solvents, so that was fun. I got some serious splash back from the sink, hence the dirty shirt. I'll heat set it next time we turn the heater on, so that the ink won't smear in the wash. I learned how to apply pallet peel to the printing pallets. And learned the shop method for taping screens. I listened to my audio book (still on 11/22/63, though it is reaching its climax). I learned how to do heat transfers on hats. And that was pretty much it. A short work day.

I decided to not pursue the first apartment, because the rent with utilities would take up way too much of my foreseeable income, and as I don't have what appears to be an exact specific set income, I need to go as cheap as possible for rent. The second apartment ended up being occupied. So I went home! Got back at 7pm. Chilled out. Put on one of my new company branded shirts (Chris gave me a couple! Now I can represent!). Tasty ravioli was dinner.

I look at another apartment on Wednesday. Hopefully.

Tomorrow I make chili. Oh wait, I said that. But yeah. I agreed to make a meal a week, and I think I'm a couple behind, so I'm making a big one with many available servings.

You can tell I like my job, because when the alarm clock goes off, I don't think "oh I wish I had two more hours to sleep". And when I see that it is 10:30pm, I think, "oh, time to put my pajamas on!".

I'M A MATURE ADULT! WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?