starting up again

Yesterday:

Another miserable pointless day.

Today:

Point has been found! I went to William Temple House with Kristen to check out the self help section, because there might be some research potential in there. Get some cheesy stuff about social groups or whatever. I walked away with Cat Fight: Rivalries Among Women - From Diets to Dating, From the Boardroom to the Delivery Room, The 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, The Healing Connection: How Women Form Relationships in Therapy and in Life, Quality Living in the Semicircle of Life, and The Farther Shore: A Natural History of Perception. All for 2 bucks or less. And I picked up a kicking pair of white heeled booties. Yeaaah! The reading I had was way out of my depth. This stuff seems more on my level. And I'm actually a little bit excited about them. Especially Catfight. I was talking with Kristen about how women sometimes reinforce negative self image through the repetition of negative words like "fat free" "dieting" and other things. Like...women bring each other down more than popular media in my opinion. So I got to thinking about that, and the way my self image has changed since women have come into my social group more dominantly. Actually that comes into my mind often.

There might be something there to talk about. Something that interests me. What kind of art would come from it, who knows. But the idea that peer groups can also be negatives...who knows? All though Psychology Today reports that social groups with more women tend to have higher esteem, because women also toss out little compliments on a more regular basis. "Oh your hair looks nice" "great jacket" and so on. Two sides.

But yeah, once that thinking started, I began to feel a lot better.

House and Lie to Me were on tonight. Whoo television.

Tomorrow is just professional practices. But it is the scary class with Martin. But I have research materials to bring in! And thoughts to discuss! Then yoga! Then Glee! Then Raising Hope! But before that, Student Council. Well, I don't really need to go to that. Nothing I am interested in is up for vote and that would mean getting up at a reasonable time. I should probably spend time reading before class. Getting things sorted out and ready. Duh duh duuuh.

Actually looking at this Quality Living in the Semicircle of Life book...has a lot of medical stuff. These books are for sort of skimming and chapter jumping anyway.

bad

AHHHG BAD TRILLIAN WHAT ARE YOU DOING? NOTHING! AHHH!

Sod it all. There is no motivation, and this is the big kahuna. I don't understand what is going on.

I took a walk to get and make change for laundry. Takes a lot of quarters and I don't tend to have change. It was a nice walk. Sure I can get laundry quarters from Trader Joe's but it was a nice day and I felt like walking and listening to audiobook. The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. Narrated by Ron Perlman. It was a nice walk. Got some groceries as well. Made what I call sloppy burgers. Not sloppy joe's as I didn't try to follow a recipe. I just cooked up some ground beef, onion, and when that was cooked I added ketchup, mustard, and barbecue sauce. Then I plopped that onto some burger buns and had a salad. Yum! I have two left over for, well, left overs.

I haven't had this low of energy and tasks to accomplish for ages. Years maybe...if you exclude summer. I came back into school and being part time with no job leaves too much time.

I should get a job. It would get me out of the house. But then once I get cracking on the real school work....like...I like having the time to devote to my education but I'm in a free falling stand still now. I don't know what to do.

Bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad.

I just sit, sleep, eat, and stare.

Need to start making some lists. Some things to get done. Animation has some stuff. I have to sort through all my art back ups and track down the quality documentation files. Have to think about my damned thesis and get all WHOOO about it. I just want to draw portraits of people I like! I should just draw some portraits anyway, just for fun. Get me in the mood for other art practices. Yeah. That will be good. Also have to come up with some sketches for the advanced illustration assignment. Mm this is good positive thinking. Thinking of things to do that will get me on the right track.

love mondo's designs and use of pattern

I've been in such a fog and a mood. Every time I think about my project I have to back track and think about what it means and what it could mean and what I will talk about. I did come up with two different point of views and stuff, really general poorly written view points. But it just feels forced. I still want to do it, but it shouldn't be a struggle to find a meaning in what you do? Right? I mean, all art is sort of a self portrait and finding how it reflects you shouldn't be that impossible? What do I want to reflect and talk about.

It's hard. It's like trying to nail a fish to a wall, except you don't have a hammer or nails...so you just have this wall and this fish and no idea how to get the two to stick. Or something.

Chocolate croissants. Went to Friday yoga. It was a more relaxing, stretching, meditating form of yoga that helped center me for as long as it lasted. Which wasn't long enough. Drat.

And then I wasted the day in a slumpy mood. Not good Trillian. Not good. But I don't know how to get out of it. I don't know how to take that next step. That one that leads to utter excitement.

I need to read something. Find a fact that interests me. Some little kernel to clutch onto. It is a numbing panic I am experiencing.

Oh, have I told you what I know about pigs?

bye bye jay

Thursday

Got to school in perfect time. Whoo! In animation we discussed the reading. We broke into groups and then each group presented their consensus on the reading. As always I volunteered to go first because it is easiest to just get it out of the way like that. After that we talked about film scene composites and studied The Birds and the 8 different components of something something. For lunch Kristen and I went to Hot Lips and got pizza and breadsticks. Yum. Tabitha joined us. We chatted about stuff and some lady shook her head at us. We were not being vulgar, just opinionated. Ha!

Anyway, back in class we studied Hedgehog in the Fog and watched a bit of a documentary on Yuriy Norshteyn, who made the animation. Totally brilliant. Really intense drawing cut out stuff that is just flawless. Then we split into groups. One half studied cut out shape animation, and the other (mine) learned about the stop motion program Dragon. Pretty insane motion capture. It is what Laika uses. Laika did Coraline. Apparently after every stop motion frame, it took a minute and a half to process the image through the servers before it even came back to the computer. A minute and a half. Per frame. There are a ton of frames in a movie. Insaaane.

Cotey, TJ, and I animated some dinosaurs. Tippi helped. We got our stuff done which ended up being our homework so that is done. Whoo! Well it was some figures that move in on another one. I'll upload it eventually. The program and set up limitations are pretty intense, I don't know how much stop motion I'll be doing. I like drawing. But yeah. It took over an hour to do a simple animation moving five figures about for 8 seconds.

I returned home for break. Ate some mac and cheese. Picked up some art books. Got back to class right on time. We discussed our ideas for missing portfolio pieces and then talked about how we might construct our portfolios. I have a pretty good idea for mine. It will be a mailable fold out poster, instead of a book.

After break we finished up class with a documentary on the awesome Milton Glaser. The scope of his work is spectacular. And he got no money for the I ♥ NY design. NONE. But he didn't seem bitter about it. With that done, Karen and I drove over to the Florida Room to bid Jay farewell.

Jay is leaving for Oakland, with the intention to move to San Francisco. I know it won't be the last time that I see her and I'm so proud of her and she will go spectacular things. Still, she has left. Bought some drinks and some food and then a couple more drinks....haa. It didn't get crazy, I just wasn't paying enough attention. Thank god for designated drivers. Tabitha, Mel, Kristen, Heather, Danny, BT, Brandis, Dominic, Jax, Travis, and others came. It was a good little party. I cried. About three times. Not sobbing, just crying and hugging. Karen got me home and I just sort of shuffled into bed with my water bottle. Delicious delicious water.

Now I need to go to move to Monterey, which is close to San Fran.

Friday

Woke up to some text messages early on and couldn't fall back asleep. Spent two dreary hours watching Top Gear. Showered. Ate some stuff. Went to school at 1:30 to help Cotey and TJ slate our video animation project. Took a lot of effort to get that sucker into iMovie and add some names and stuff. Also our project exported with deleted frames, so we had to solve that problem with Bodven's help. That took about 45 minutes. Went back home. Did mostly nothing for the rest of the day. Watched Community. It was much funnier than last weeks episode.

Err yeah. Waste of a day. Totally. Well I did some homework.

It's hard to keep enthusiasm for a project when you have to step back and think "what does it MEAN". It is counter intuitive thinking to the major. I mean, not totally opposite but it isn't demanded of us from our program.

Talked to Madeline.

I'm not itching anymore!

okie doke

Just came back from Jay's going away party. She is moving to Oakland or whatever. Not going to be in Portland. I cried like three times. I'm going to miss my dear friend.

Anyway.

Party.

I'm in no place to write right now.

Bed time.

It was an awesome day, I'll write about it tomorrow.

BYE JAY! I LOVE YOU AND WILL MISS YOU!

whooo yoga whooo

Annnd it is back to wearing pants that stop at the knee. Holy cow weather, make up your mind!

Slept in. Got to to school for student council, and then remembered that classes were cancelled today because of some teacher thing and that also meant that there would be no student council. So I put up yoga posters and ate a microwaved burrito. Which proceeded to not sit well in my stomach, so I got some french bread and hummus and gnawed on that while waiting for the illustration rendezvous.

Chelsey, Morgaine, Dom, Sivonna, Jon, Samala, Beth showed up. We chatted about the assignment and got each other on the same page. Also discussed stuff and gave feedback and bounced ideas. Some people left. We chatted some more. Got some good buzzwords and a better frame of thought for my thesis. Is it people I know...or people that are currently important to me? what format? is it art therapy or art therapized? Self helped? If I go the sort of self helped, appreciation of my wonderful friends route then I have a direction of research to go (self help books and the desire for instruction in matters of the heart) of course this is also a sort of...well sappy route I guess. But it is generating a lot of thought.

We dispearsed. I nibbled bread and got lost in thought. Then it was time for YOGA! It is BACK! WHOO!! And the first meeting had about 10 people, which was awesome. Time passed and I felt I wasn't totally horribly weak. Though I have lost some of my flexibility. Still, great to have another part of my routine back.

Returned home. Relaxed. Kristen was dying her hair. I watched Raising Hope and then Glee. Which was a very fun episode. Lots of dream sequence dancing, and of course Brittany. Great character.

Read some animation stuff.

24 Hour Fitness has no sign up fee for students. I wonder if I had access to things like treadmills, it would encourage me to bump up the cardio. I'm feeling out of shape and a little down in the dumps and that is probably both causes of inactivity. Maybe join the gym? It is right next to school. Thoughts?

mumble mumble

blaarrggghhh

it was muggy and muggy days kill productivity

just sort of sat in bed way way lay and trudged around the apartment

put away some stuff, opening up the clutter in a corner of my room

Mum sent me a really good email that gave me a good perspective to think about on my thesis, just being able to express the points without laying it all bare will be difficult

Pressure is leading me to awful awful inactivity

I need to get something to do during my days off so I don't spent them doing so much nothing

gaaah

arrggh

no class, just the illustration discussion rendezvous

which will be nice. Just discussion and getting us all on the same page, whichever page that will be.

my energy levels are really low. I just can't get psyched.

work through it all, even lunch

Just watching my Sunday tellie. Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, and now Dexter is back! Whoo!

Slept in. Had my chocolate croissants. Went to Utrecht and got some paper. Vellum. 40 sheets. Precariously rode to school with the paper under one arm. Dropped the paper off. Got my screen and art from the studio. Photocopied and cut the stuff up to make transfers. Emulsified my screen. Talked to Carla. Exposed screens. Washed them out. Set up printing station. Picked out color. Tried to print the whole turban and text. It was too big. Printed just text. Printed face in pink. Printed turban. Printed from about..I don't know...3? to 8. It looks good. Not a very solid edition. Had problems with the flat of color. Turban looks a little crooked compared to the face. Need to take a second gander in the morning. Doesn't look as genius as I thought it did now. As I said, it needs another look. I maybe should have spent more time finalizing it and might have rushed the process. Hmmm. Still, idea to product in three days. That is pretty good.

Got home. Ate left over pasta. Watched my stories.

Tomorrow is thesis time. Time to work on thesis and think about stuff and things. Lots of stuff. Also have some reading to attend to.

Mmm.

But yeah, whoo back in the screenprinting saddle!

stu stu studio

We illustration majors are meeting on Tuesday (class is off for some reason) for an Illustration Rendezvous to discuss the assignment and help each other get on the same page. We are proactive about our success! We want to be the best ever. Be hard workers from the get go.

But the day was nice so Kristen and I walked around our neighborhood. Went to Portland Modern and looked at vintage clothing, most of it was musty and tacky and the guy would probably die from happiness if I brought in any of the actually good vintage stuff that I have (or rather mom has, because I don't fit some of that vintage wear anymore...erk I should probably exercise). But yeah, the stuff there, while well made, isn't very appealing. Bad vintage. Except for a really hot pair of shoes that look great on Kristen.

We got sushi. Just the right amount. Yum yum. Wandered around some more. I relaxed at home. And then packed up my computer at around 4:30ish and went to the studio. I spent the next five hours drawing me some Odd Owl poster art. Got the scale figured out (it will be 18x24) got the turban drawn (didn't take so long) got the face sorted out (drew it will pen in ink, not felt tip micron. I'm liking the pen nib actually, it is a little more reliable than a Micron though less transportable) got the brooch that sits on the turban drawn (took the longest to do, so much sketching and careful inking), and finally the lettering. Lettering always takes longer than I expect. Anyway, I am really excited to go and buy some paper and print this baby. Time flies when you are in the drawing zone, Top Gear is on your computer, and you have no windows to watch the sun go away.

But man do I love it. Love drawing, love when it works, love just puttering along working on something with a good show on. This is what I want to do. It really, really is.

But then I finished and went home and ate a late pasta dinner.

I'm itching a lot less. Like I still feel it, but I've been doing a lot better at holding back on the scratching.

Tomorrow I want to print. I think I'll just do a small run of posters, since it is larger. Keep it special.

turbans are in

Had an amazing dream in which I wore an amazing outfit. I had this gauze dress with a hood (but it was sort of a headscarf) and a turquoise tweed vest with matching blazer. Also had silver mini boots. Really fabulous. No one at the PNCA sports day pole vault even cared I was a late.

So woke up and found an email from the professors pretty much telling us how disappointed they were in us and how their expectations and our products did not match up on any level and how it appeared we totally neglected all sense of design. It was brutal.

Yeah.

But it was a wake up call to the fact we are bloody seniors and should be doing more, and not slacking. Martin has standards for us, and they are high. Which is good because he should believe in us.

Karen helped me haul my art supplies to my studio! I put the rug under my desk and a sorter on my AstroTurf. Also have a plastic tub for larger things and some other organizers. It is really coming together and looks quite cheerful. Yay! Afterwards I hung around and watched Project Runway. Then I went home, had the same lunch of halibut and salad, but this time with apple juice. Went to Trader Joe's to get my end of the snack spectrum for the "Get Stuff Done" party at Karen's.

At 7ish, Diana, Robin, and Lacey came by and picked me up and we went to Karen, BT, and Phil's to Get Stuff Done. We sat at the table in the garage and chatted and worked. I sketched my outfit in the dream and from the inspiration of the headscarf/turban/whatever I wore in it, I came to the conclusion that an owl wearing a turban will make a BRILLIANT Odd Owl poster. Really bold and graphic, and perfect for the style of printing that I do. BT did help with the turban line of talk, he suggested making a turban that looked like an owl. I helped him put stickers on his Man's Face Stuff mustache wax. Kristen and Tabitha came. Mel was there carving wood. Evan was there.

People left. And the people that remained played Apples to Apples. I won! Hurray! It was a good game. And it was a good night. It is good to hang with friends, talk about what is up, and brainstorm. I don't think I would have explored turbans as much if I hadn't gone. If at all.

New Odd Owl poster preview:

vlog - slapped

A Wake Up Call from Trillian Spencer on Vimeo.

ITCHEEEEEY

I'm so itchy and I don't know why. My thighs and stomach mostly. Places where I haven't put my new Dream Cream (the sampler of which didn't affect me at all). I wonder if I'm having an allergic reaction to my detergent, though why would that be affecting me now after months of wearing washed clothes. I have some Gold Bond creme, and it helps. But I want to know why I am so itchy? I did change body soaps, but it is the same brand. ARGH.

Slept in. Oatmeal for breakfast. Went to Trader Joe's. Got some frozen veggie medley, chocolate croissants, battered halibut, a new Trader Joe's bag (they also have freaking rolling bags now! with wheels!) bananas, apples, and so on. Had a nice fish, salad, and orange juice late lunch. Gotta get vegetables back into the rotation.

Kind of did nothing. Was feeling a little down for no reason I could identify.

My care package came! Pocky! Bed skirt! SOCKS! And other goodies. Thanks ma!

My friend Jay is moving to Oakland soon. Booo! But if I move to Monterey, then I'll be near a friend.

What is this about Monterey? Well, I'd like to go somewhere not Portland after I graduate. I like the city, it just isn't a place that I feel totally connected to. It just isn't where I want to be. Monterey sort of has a nice ring to it, and it was nice the one time I went there before with Mom on one of her little retreat thingies.

Anyway, yeah. Just sort of laid about. Watched Community. Episode wasn't up to snuff. Watched Outsourced. Not funny. Watched Raising Hope. HPublish PostILARIOUS! Reminds me of Fox programming 2002-2005. Not perfectly family oriented with good actors playing interesting characters.

Tomorrow I have some stuff to be done.

"I'm so jealous of your burrito right now".

Oops, forgot I wrote. Updated earlier, but not with words.

Yay weekend! And the next five days have a light work load. No animation to draw beyond reading. No big illustration assignments. Just lots of thinking to be done. Whoo!

But lets back up to the start of the day. Good old animation. We started with yet another drawl about a third of the class not having the files where they should be. Then we split into A and B and got to critiqued our walk loops. Tippi had a lovely sketchy one that sort of skipped. Cotey had this moose man that was shot in fours by accident. And a couple people misunderstood the assignment (no one reads the sheet, I guess. Oh well). I got a good laugh when mine came on and people really digged it. Kelly and Matt gave high compliments (the other group looked at all of ours). It feels good to do good. Rose paused it and when we were looking at the frames she said "look at that butt!". It had swagger, I must say.

Lunch! Talked to Karen a bit and then and put money down on a burrito. Food for all day. Yum. Ate a third, put it away. In class we looked at some Len Lye and talked about film and different film vocabulary. Then Rose brought out the 16mm film. Clear film. To be drawn straight on by us. WHOO! It was taped down to the table and we all worked in different sections. 24 frames a second. I did ink and nib drawings of a face and some scratched in ink stuff. I accidentally spilled my ink, but nothing was harmed! Kelly tripped as well. The white board is really....trip overable. But yeah, we filled up 2 minutes 30 seconds worth of film. We played it to different music and watched it several times. It was AWESOME. Hill's music synced up perfectly. It turns out that I had drawn upside down. Dang. Still, it looked cool. Very abstract, but some brilliant rhythms happened. Something I wouldn't mind playing around with some more.

Class was over then. Boo. I ate burrito, printed some stuff out, went to studio, and at 6:15 Karen, Madeline, and I headed down to the Museum of Contemporary Craft to see the Collateral Matters show and to get a special lecture from the curators Kate Bingaman-Burt and Clifton Burt. It was a show of the ephemera left from shows and receipts and stuff. Very much treating all these things like precious objects (Dad, remember the vase of Van Gogh's next to the painting of it?). We got some good talk on portfolio building and presenting yourself. It was cool. Walked back. Rest of class was a lecture on portfolio building and stuff. Karen, Kristen, and I looked at Madeline's portfolio and gave her our advice (I forget if it was solicited or not...). Shes amazing at digital art. Simply wonderful. We looked at Kristen's as well. It actually felt really productive. We were advised by the Burts to get a buddy and have them go through your portfolio and give advice, because they wouldn't have the same attachments to pieces that the artist does.

We left at 9:15. Wandered with Karen for a bit. Went home. Finished burrito. Watched Top Gear. Whooo!!

Before I know it, school week is over. Course it is moving REALLY FAST! THREE WEEKS! AHHH!!!!

I am really loving animation. I'm glad I took it.

New Yorker - Mrs. Warrens Profession

Mock illustration for a New Yorker article about Mrs. Warren's Profession.

2x4".

Acrylic and ink on bristol.

New Yorker - Old Traveling Cheese

Mock illustration for a New Yorker article about a really old piece of cheese that traveled the world.

2x4".

Acrylic and ink on bristol.

New Yorker - Red Riding Trilogy

Mock illustration for a New Yorker article about the Red Riding trilogy.

2x4".

Acrylic and ink on bristol.

walk cycle

my first walk cycle from Trillian Spencer on Vimeo.

whooo

It is 10:08pm. My check list is all checked off. My alarm clock doesn't go off till 8:40, and really I don't have to crawl out of bed till 9:40. HURRAY!

So I got to school at 12:30. Didn't try to do the before lunch ambitious activity stuff.

Voted on yoga. It was approved! Talked about tablets. The school constantly has to buy more of them, though no one is quite sure where they go and we have to keep the illustration ones from being stolen.

With that done, I went back to the studio and drew walk cycles till 2:45. Then I printed out my essay and took my poster of inspiration to class. Class was held in this little itty bitty classroom in the C4D (center for design). This was up stairs that I've only been up once and that was at the school tour me, ma, and pa went on three plus years ago. Odd to be at such a small school and to never be in this one area. We pinned up our stuff. Iskra talked to us about getting dead lines in writing. And one by one we got up and chatted about our little inspiration maps. I volunteered to go first, like a champ. I'm not afraid of public speaking, I just feel I'm not very good at it. I uhhhmmed and repeated myself, but I think I was able to explain the threads pretty well. It is good to go first because then you can chill for the rest of the class.

There were some good presentations and threads and some people who didn't quite understand. Still, it went fast. I bought some Quizno's during break. Turkey bacon guacamole. Mmm. Early dinner. Very good.

Class was over and back to the studio. A crew of illustration people (Jon, Sivonna, Dom, Beth and I) gabbed about class. At 6:45 I set back to work. Finished my walk cycle. I showed Karen it on the animation device known as the lunchbox (though the one that doesn't save because it is old) and it looks sassy and fabulous. Then I put it into iStopMotion and big bang that assignment was done. I am even putting it onto Vimeo right now and once that is finalized, I'll put it up on ye olde blog.

With that done I set in on the paintings. Just three rough things with ink overlays, like the Ravenous posters. These went faster than the animation. I'm feeling happy that they all look the same style, but I'm on the fence about one of them. Still, have some time to rework it. Tomorrow. I'm tired now. Going to watch Glee. And relax.

ALL MY WORK IS DONE! PARRRTYY!! I mean...relax.

writing about myself is easy

Huzzah! It is so wonderful knowing class doesn't start for nearly 13 hours. Naturally I have stuff to do before class, but I got so much done! And I feel good about it!

So I got up. Ate breakfast. Took my sweet time getting on with things and then decided it would be best to do the historical references at school instead of at home because I was doing nothing at home. So I went to my studio. Dropped stuff off. Went to Utrecht and got some paper and misc supplies (glue). Went back. Looked up references. Ate a burrito. Photocopied and printed stuff out. Cut the stuff up. Went to Safeway and got a bag of salad that included dressing and some orange juice and ate that. Get all the veggies I've been missing in one go. Need to get juice. And apples. And bananas. Anyway. Ate that stuff up. Then I cut and pasted the little presentation thing together. Set that aside. And got to work on my animation. It is less drawings that I need to do, but each one is a lot more complex. I'm at the halfway point right now. I like the way she walks, though the weight of the figure in the walk cycle fluctuates. Still, I'm excited to animate it. It is a silly little strut. And that took up a lot of time to do. Each frame was about 20-30 minutes of drawing and I did 7 of them. Watched Top Gear while I worked. What else needed checking off? Well At 9:30 I went home. Took a break. Then I got in on my little essay about me and my interaction with art. And stuff. It was a sort of vague, but not really, assignment all together.

Have about a paragraph to finish up now. Left to do: finish walk cycle and paintings for that one other class I'm in. Advanced Illustrations. So I'll get to school for lunch to vote for yoga to pass (yaaay yoga is back!) and then work in my studio till class. Turn stuff in. Go back to studio. Work work work then sleep.

I should probably get to school earlier than 12:30. But that would mean getting up at a specific hour and it is getting late. Well enough hypothesizing. Time to finish stuff up and go to bed.

listing lists

Dang, now there is an awesome new show about prohibition and it stars Steve Buscemi. Welp, I'll just watch this and then go to bed.

Set the alarm. Got up...eventually. Ate breakfast. Grabbed a burrito. Went to school. The writing about the pieces went really well. I felt I got a good connection with each of them. They still require some research onto the historical side of what they represent, but I know a good direction for that. Some good thinking happened. Talked to mum on the phone. Ate burrito. Thought about my walk cycle. Hole punched way too many pages. Good news is I won't have to draw as many things for the walk cycle as I thought.

Got a good part of what I had listed to do done, but by the time I got the stuff done it was too late to make a paper run. So tomorrow it is references, paper, photocopy and print references, essay about myself, work on the walk cycle, put presentation together (mostly just rewriting what I've already written and pasting) and then some sketching. It looks like a lot, but I'm not...too worried. It will be an earlier day and probably not the earliest of nights, but I'm not anxious.

Yeah. And I've made a list. So I'll get up. Do some flipping through stuff and take notes. Go to Utrecht. Go to school. Print stuff out. Photocopy. Probably take a break. Then write. Then draw. Then take another break. They break out the scissors and glue and pens and pant. Then maybe write some more. Then sketch.

If I keep rephrasing it, it will stick. Writing stuff out makes for a good reminder of what I need to accomplish and how much I've accomplished. If I don't do much, I can't write much and then I feel bad about slacking.

Congrats to Nathan and Rubie on getting their jobs at Microsoft.

I'm just down to a cough now. Hurrah!

Welp, going to finish this episode and then sleep.

If I do go in the direction of an illustrated guide to the people in my life, and use my blog as a resource, then I should invest more time in writing it. But at this point, there are not many new people in my life. Only one class has people I don't know in it. I'm trying to think of what else to say about my day. Living with Kristen is great? It is. My bike is muddy and since it is tan, every spec shows up. Poor Margaret. My jade plant is thriving. My suitcase is still missing. Did I mention I did my laundry a few days ago? Two loads! It was a lot of clothes that needed cleaning. Yup. I redid my fingernails. They are a more great turquoise color. I like having colorful nails. My room still needs a little more moving into. I need to go through my clothes again and change over to fall and winter stuff. Booo.

Yeah.

maybe if I listen to "I feel better" I will...

I'm going to try this "going to bed early" thing. Going to read a bit. And then tuck in. I keep staying up late and then having a hard time going to bed. No good.

I had a horrible day when it comes to productivity. I treated myself to some Lush Dream Cream body lotion. I had a left over container of this sample which gave me a discount and I noticed the discount was close to expiring. The cream is great because you need so little of it. But I think I'm preaching to the Lush Choir here.

My stomach kept coming and going. It would feel better and I would start to get a burst of energy and go do something and then it would stop feeling better. And I have a hacking cough. All that phlegm I inhaled is coming back out. UHHHGGG! I sat in my studio trying to be productive but nothing happened. I'm hoping a good rest after a day with a satisfied appetite will give me the energy to face tomorrow's now immense tasks.

Inspiration review, walk cycle for animation, and three little paintings. Erk. I'll do it. I always do it. Don't I? Yeah. I do. Because I'm Trillian. I get things done. Eventually. I just don't do well with being sick, though if you think about it I have a really good health track record these past three years.

For breakfast I fried onion, last nights rice, cheese, and two eggs together! It was so good. I had a burrito for lunch. Then some pasta for dinner. Carbs! Beans! Beef! Protein!

Also it has been furiously raining all day. Legitimate rain.

hula hoops, polish people, and the up and downs of being ill

My health keeps bouncing up and down and I didn't get a good nights sleep, but I have two days of happenings to report so lets get to it.

Thursday

Good night sleep. Woke up feeling good. Went to school and loaned Acey my copy of Blankets and deposited my check into my bank account. It was a horribly muggy day. The kind that looks cold but is actually warm and humid and you just sweat and it never evaporates.

And my bike tire ate my tote bag. It slipped off my arm and got caught and trapped in the tire under the fender. Thankfully I was stopped at a food line and some lovely people came and helped cut my bag out from my tire. No damage to the bike! Hurrah!

Treated Dom to Scott Pilgrim for his birthday. Even matinees are pricey. BT, Lacey, and Karen came as well. It is fun to have a crew to watch movies. I enjoyed it a lot the second time around, as did Lacey. Karen and Dom liked it. BT wasn't too enthused. He just isn't into silly I guess. Dom left to meet his brother and BT and Karen left for whatever they were doing. Lacey and I grabbed pasta. My sickness was coming back so I had to take leftovers.

We parted ways. I spent the rest of the day feeling icky and keeping hydrated and medicated. I forget what else I did. Just tried to eat here and there. Keep healthy.

Guantanamo Baywatch! I put on short pants and a Hawaiian shirt over a bathing suit, stuffed flip flops in my bag, and departed for the east side. I felt a lot better once I was exercising. The Works was pretty vacant looking on the outside. Mel and Jay were there. Morgaine came. Craig and Liv were right behind us when we were getting our tickets ripped. I was still a little frazzled from the bike ride for a bit (and probably being sick). I just drank water and loitered with assorted friends. There was a hula hoop in the beer garden and I played with that. The show started late. The first act was not Guantanamo Baywatch, but was some sort of caveman dressed group. The stage had a stage on it, and the rest of the stage had the sand floor that I worked on, and a giant dinosaur sculpture, and tons of little papier mache artifacts. It was awesome. People were encouraged to get on the stage and dance in front of the stage within a stage as sort of a performance for the people too shy to dance who sat in the audience. Anyway, it was super fun. Surf punk. I danced and danced and danced. Not very good. But I did.

Then it was a break time. I caught my breath outside. Then GB went on, and I grabbed the hula hoops from outside and hula hooped on stage! And other people did as well! WHOO!! I think I hulaed for about half the time, and danced a merry jig the other. I got so sweaty and energy and enthusiasm and just general free spirit and well being poured through me. It was GREAT!

I put the hula hoops back where I found them and chilled. Then hooped some more and got some free fries from one of the food carts! Then I hooped some more and this guy hit on me while I hooped. Finally I bid farewell to my friends and arrived home a tired sweaty mess.

I thought I would pass out but...

Friday

I didn't. I had a rough and restless night sleep followed by a horrible morning of intestinal issues. I took it nice and slow. I love have a five day weekend. I can take the time to recover and spend three days working hard as opposed to working hard for four or five days and having no time to recover while I do the work. I have no more TBA obligations Saturday-Monday. That is solid studio time right there. Booyah!

So I spent the day taking it easy. Ate here and there. And as my appetite grew back, I ate more. For dinner I went to Fred Meyers and got beans, rice, cheese, and tortillas. Cooked up my beef and made 10 burritos. I ate two and froze the other 8. Now I have a good thing to eat in a jiffy! It has dairy and protein and whatever the hell beans count towards in it! Healthy!

I watched Top Gear. Ate food. Rested. Regained health. Feeling good I went to see Radoslaw Rychcik/ Stefan Zeromski Theatre present In The Solitude of Cotton Fields. It was in Polish, but that was okay because the live performance had subtitles. There was a raised strip of screen about 15 feet above the stage (Winningstad Theater, not The Works) and the translation projected onto it. Two guys performed the play. They sort of danced and sort of broke down. They had a band which gave them a score. I couldn't quite keep track because I kept wanting to think it was a concert. It was amazing. Just very solid and dynamic. I only cried a little. I thought the video segment detracted a little, but it did break it up a little.

Yeah. Amazing performance to end the festival with. I wish I could have seen more, but I don't think I had the time for it.

Got back home. Now to try this sleeping thing and here is hoping it goes well this time.

tired but enthused

just spent 30 minutes on my bike after dancing and hula hooping and I'm super tired so I'm going to pass out now because I'm still not fully feeling well, but exercise probably will help gaawd I'm so sweaty.

Guantanamo Baywatch at TBA WAS AWESOME! Just showed up and danced. Didn't feel like drinking because I wasn't feeling well and had to bike home. Just had a good old time!

UHGGG

Bleh. Felt like bleh all damn day and it was a long damn day.

Animation was critique for the first, before lunch, section. Got some good reviews on my can. Some really interesting hopping cans in class. Yup. Got a thing of soup and some bread from Safeway. Ate half and saved the other half for dinner.

Back in class we got lectures on Avant Gard cinema and its relationship to animation. And some Muybridge. And some McLaren. I did my best to stay focused through stomach pains, nausea, and fever. Obviously I would have left if I felt it was that bad. Just enough to stay. But it did get better. Our next 45 drawing assignment is a walk cycle! Whoo! It just keeps getting more complex. But pretty soon it will be not drawn animation. Groovy. Have a lot of illustration stuff to produce over the next five days. Thursday is recovery day though.

Sketches during break. Illustration was a sketch review. The assignment is 3 mock illustrations for New Yorker articles. I'm excited. Paint some. Whoo! Finished my soup. We talked about layouts and idea generation and stuff. Class dragged.

Tomorrow I'm catching a matinée of Scott Pilgrim! Yay! Also my check came for the business card I designed for Ben. Money! Yay!

Sleep time. Last night was very restless.

New Yorker Mock Article Illustration Thumbnails

Colored sketches for mock New Yorker articles.

A sketch for Mrs Warren's Profession, a story about an old piece of traveling cheese (turn your head), and a portrait of Andrew Garfield for The Red Riding Trilogy.

Sketch and photoshop.

drip drip drip blegh

I just took an antihistamine and I think I forgot to get the non drowsy kind so I'll make this quick.

I'm rubbish at getting up when an alarm goes off. But I guess it is good to get my clock running on a certain time. I think as my projects start to pile up, I'll be getting up on a regular basis.

Robin promised to treat me to lunch so at 12:15 I went to drop my haul off at the studio and when lunch rolled around, Robin, Karen, Kristen, Tabitha and I went to Sushi Land. It took a while for a booth to open up and we gobbled down sushi. Mmm. Then we hauled butt back to school. I went to the studio, did some writing, did some analyzing of my 10 pieces, and before I knew it, it was time for class.

For the first half we discussed project ideas. Jon had a rad one about making faux civil war relics with soldiers fighting dinosaurs. Beth had a great idea about the novelty of the naming of groups. Leo was thinking about the pasts idea of the future (aka now). Chase is between lucid dreaming and concept art of this planet. And there were some other cool things. My nose was running like crazy. Bleeeh. All this phlegm is nasty nasty.

Second half was all about pricing, dealing with clients, contracts, and all that jazz. A lot of the stuff is sort of dry but it is good to know some of the terms when it comes to the real deal.

Went back to the studio. Chilled a bit. Got some antihistamine and a sprite to settle my tummy and some lip gloss. Because I wanted to feel pretty. And it was marked down uberly. Forgot to buy shower soap. But just as well because Rite Aid tends to be over priced when it comes to certain things.

Went home. Ate some frozen Trader Joe's food. Drank water. Still felt gross and feverish. Where did this come from? I'm pretty clean and haven't been too cold...

Going to review the articles and then crash. My body isn't up to a late night. Gasp, I'll be in bed before 2am!

OH! Also I got my animation all captured and it looks great. I'm very pleased with it. Once I figure out how to make the files smaller, I'll post them.

left early, that no good

I started getting ill during Gare St. Lazare and had to leave early. I felt bad about doing it, but my stomach wasn't up to the task and I felt really hot. I couldn't stand sitting there any longer and I was missing bits of the performance, which admittedly I wasn't liking so much. An Irish monologue about love and death. Some good turns of phrase in it, but ehh I wasn't up to the task tonight. I should have eaten more. Oatmeal, snacks, and a couple pints. Not a good days eating that is.

Had my oatmeal. Had my shower. Lounged. Went to Trader Joe's. Mango slices were cheaper so I stocked up. Went to school. Finished my animation. Nearly finished my little thesis idea write ups. Dominic stopped through and we went to Yur's for some drinks. Hung out with his friend Mark. Josh and Janessa showed up. Went back to the studio at 6:45ish. Left the studio at 7:45. Went to the play. Yeah.

Tomorrow got some writing and stuff due and gotta scan in my picture. I'll go to school early and all that. I feel crummy now. I had an enchilada from Trader Joe's and that isn't doing so well in my tummy still.

always and forever jerome bel

Saw my third Jerome Bel piece tonight. Saw a performance of his a few TBA's ago and a video as well. Brilliant little choreographer. It's hard to do the "I'm going to stand and look at the audience and be really minimal" thing right. But that wasn't what Cedric Andrieux was about. The piece was named after its sole performer and I was almost front row center for it. Just a little off center and it was an amazing place to be. For 90 minutes we heard the story about the career of Cedric. How he started dancing. Auditions. Joining companies. Joining Merce Cunningham. He gave dance performances as well. Some of his old auditions. The warm ups. I tell you what, I've never been so close to a man in a unitard before. It was amazing and he made near eye contact with everyone in the audience. So talented. So...cutely accented. So so blonde. Tee hee.

But anyway, it was amazing. I was sad the audience wasn't fuller. I think most people just don't know how when Jerome Bel's name shows up in TBA YOU GO SEE IT. Just brilliant. Hearing about 20 years of a life, and how 8 years of hard work can be so minimalized into a chunk. It is interesting that every day is different in someway, but all the work you do in months and years has the potential to not be notable outside of a whole concept of the years...I mean when you have to boil your life down...what gets removed is fascinating.

It was a nice ride to and from the Winningstad Theater. I really love my bike. I feel like I can feel every little grit and piece about it. Like when it goes shuffly for a bit then stops. Like a twig gets caught somewhere and dislodges. It is so much lighter and I can just cruise through town on it. Really lovely.

And I love my studio as well! I just go down to it. Put on something...and the hours melt away. I'm pretty much done with my animation. I want to get it photographed tomorrow so I can see how it moves and if I need to change anything. I also have some writing and more sketching to do. But that is okay because the studio just oozes productive energy. I don't have Gare. St Lazare Players Ireland till 8:30 pm. So that is a good amount of time. I'll bring down some lasagna and headphones because I don't think everyone nearby (see: Joey and Israel), even when it is down, wants to listen to Top Gear. Haha.

Yeah. So I slept in. Ate some oatmeal and salad and snacks. Went to studio. Drew drew drew. Ate some toast. Went to show. Enjoyed it so so much. Relaxed with True Blood (ohkay lame ending, could have been so much more) and Mad Men (odd monologue but good episode).

Now to...sleep I guess. I'll set my alarm because my body needs to temporarily get back on schedule. Having a private sanctuary on 14th&Johnson really makes it easy to be productive. It is my place in a me color and it is mine to make art in. I can't wait to return to it. I need to spend more time there. Even with a computer and wifi, I feel less distracted. And the table is a nice little size.

Things are good. They really are.

This studio, my new apartment, my beloved bike Margaret, and the Time Based Arts Festival are resetting my emotions and it feels so very good.

twice my age, four times as fit

Last night was long and fun. I just came back from a 2.5 mile bike ride across an unfamiliar bridge. I am tired. I just want to tuck into bed, but I'll do my best to write this stuff up.

So we three got primped and waited forever for a streetcar and then when we did get downtown, we ended up one stop after where we should have gotten off. Still, we arrived on time and Mel was there looking fabulous. We reserved a big table and with just four people there, it looked very unused. Robin came, Phil came, Jim came, Dan and Tabitha and Kara came. I think that was about it.... Huber's has very fancy drinks and so people were not enthusiastic in their ordering. I ordered one and a well drink later to pass the time till happy hour. Because that is when 3$ burgers happen! So good. Calamari and all sorts of good things. People plopped cash down and magnificently the remainder was just what I owed. Nice! I stopped spending money for the rest of the night, but we ended up going to a ton of places and I mooched some drinks.

CC Slaughters included dancing. Brian, Tabitha's friend, showed up. I danced and chatted. We moved onto The Tube. Which is a cramped little tube of a club. Way too stuffed full of hipsters. No room to really dance beyond simple moves. I got a lot of fresh air instead. Then we went to Boiler Room or Billiards room...Bsomething Room. That was a lot of fun. Outdoors, heaters, good tunes. Danced till 2:15am. Then we walked home, the ones of us that were still there. Got home at 3am. Drank water. Went to sleep. I was happy to be sober through most of the night. Someone needs to have wits about them.

*****

Kristen made us cinnamon rolls! I had some tea and did the dishes. Mel and Mark came over. Gabbed and chatted. Kristen and Mark left. We four walked downtown. We three walked back up. I packed up my computer back and hauled some art supplies down to the studio. Worked on my animation for a few hours. Half way through the sketching phase. Well I have some stuff to add to it still, but it is going well.

It's nice to be using my studio in a nice and proper fashion. I need some stuff on the walls though. Even with paint it feels barren.

Went back home. Had some lasagna. Got a jacket. Went to see Ten Tiny Dances! Such beautiful work. Sink, A Version, Dayna Hanson, and Clearly Another World were my favorites. The 10 dances are all choreographed around a 4x4x1 stage. Mike Daisey was even there. It was a cute performance. Dayna Hanson's was hilarious and Clearly Another World had me almost crying.

The place for the show was across the river. I went down Stark to Morrison Bridge on the way there, and it was nice. And I went up Grand and across Burnside Bridge on the way back. Also very nice. About 30 minutes both way, but it went really fast. Things don't feel long on a bike.

Tomorrow is time for more work. But it is fun work.

party at hubers

Blogging at 7pm, instead of whenever I get home from Kristen's birthday celebration.

Slept in a long while. Ate my delicious chocolate croissants. Ate some pasta later. Kind of chilled out. Didn't really feel like heading down to school to work on stuff. Tomorrow I don't have a TBA performance till late, so I'll get on that tomorrow. Yup. Draw lots of animation goodness.

My Threadless tees arrived! There was another sale online, so I picked up another giraffe design and this all over toile inspired print. Love them!

We girls started primping really early. Tabitha picked out my outfit. Jeans, my yellow short sleeved bomber-inspired jacket, an apple and stripe printed shirt. I straightened my hair and started smearing makeup on my face. Light shimmer, golden eyeshadow, red shiny eyeshadow, eyeliner winged out, blush, pink lipstick...the works really. But I look smashing. Kristen has way more. It is fun to be a girl and go all out with your look. Lady Gaga has been on a loop for the past hour and a so and now we are about to head out. If it isn't too late, I'll add the details later. But if it is, expect the festivities write up tomorrow.

Nightshade won

Cherish and I went to Ikea today! In exchange for the car trip, I bought her lunch. Delicious meat balls. I ate them at just the right time because I didn't need to really eat anything huge for the rest of the day. I should have...but I didn't get really hungry again.

I picked up an extension cord and some bag clasps and a little table. A nice little 20$ thing with a white top and red legs. Now with a table I can haul art stuff down and get started at making it a legitimate studio. But yeah, it was a fruitful little trip. Picked up more tea lights as well. Ikea is perfect for things you were not even aware you needed (like clips).

Ran some more errands. Got some birthday cards, a present, and a book. Now I'm really wary of the streetcar tracks.

I borrowed a power drill to assemble my table. So excited! Whoo table! Tidied things up and went home. Chilled with Kristen. We went to William Temple House to pick up some second hand mix and match wine glasses. We got caught up in the clothes aisle. Got a great Hawaiian shirt, a long sleeve Banana Republic shirt (for like six bucks! it is in great shape too) and a hat for 2$ that is seriously awesome. White with black band. Then I got some glasses. Ha.

Japanther was playing with Nightshade at The Works tonight to start off the Time Based Arts festival. I rode my bike over to Mel's and we caught the 15 together. The line outside The Works (the venue for shows and installations at the old Washington High School) was lengthy when we got there and it doubled as we waited. Doors didn't open till 10:15 and really that was just letting the crowd amass. We got through in a decent amount of time. A lot of fluids were tossed at the door.

There were some seats in the front to the left and we grabbed them. The venue filled up. The stage was set up with a huge sheet of paper blocking the performers. All we could see was the sheet, which a paper cut out puppet show was projected onto. Nightshade did all the cut out animations and blended it with the occasional silhouette of one of the two bandmembers in Night Shade. There were some other living people but mostly cut outs. FANTASTIC AMAZING CUTOUTS! It was great. We stayed standing in our seats, not wanting to get into the crowd at the stage. Which was good, because the security was insane. They pulled tons of people and even hauled a couple that were dancing a little too much out of the crowd. They also left the lights on a bit, which made it harder to see the puppets. Still, the 30 minute show was fabulous. Lots of energy and great artwork. They tore down the paper in the end and did another song. Mel and I left. She hugged one of her friends in Nightshade. We chatted with a couple people and went to catch the last 15 back into town.

This huge group of Goose Hollow kids started to crowd at the stop, so we walked up two blocks to the stop before it. HA! The bus didn't overfill, but it was nice to get good seats at the front. It was a nice walk back to my bike and Mel's place. Stopped for some Sprite. Now just to relax. Some more celebrating tomorrow night but a pretty open day. Set out my chocolate croissants. In 9 hours, those will be ready to cook. Yum!

I don't even remember any lyrics

Boy I am tired. One thing after another.

Animation! We split in half and got a lecture on this dudes theories on animation. A lot of sliding scales of one thing to another. Then we switched and critiqued our stuff. My video was shot in 1's when it should have been shot in 2's. So it went really fast. Still, there were some really creative animations with some good drawing.

Ate lasagna in the library for lunch. Mmm.

After lunch we split again. Got some more tutelage when it comes to object movement and got our new assignment. It is a hopping can with a tail this time! Whoo! We swapped and Rose gave us a lecture on the different timing and frames and stuff. Yeah.

I'm tired.

I finished my lasagna during the break. Got some paper, ink pads, and pens at Office Max. Screwed my coat hangers into the wall. Cherish and I are going to Ikea tomorrow! I need a table so bad. They should have some sort of cheap table. Maybe in the as-is section. I really need, and want, my studio to be ready to go for art. Especially since my animation assignments are lengthy.

In advanced studio we looked at Dom's site and talked about our illustrations and looked and Kevin's and mine portfolio and gave input. Then it was open work time. Which I wasn't feeling up to using.

At 9:05 I bolted. Dropped my stuff off at my studio and rode my bike down to the Crystal Ballroom to meet Kevin and see Panda Bear. We met at the Ringlers and after I caught my breath after the bike ride, we went in. The Crystal Ballroom venue is up a couple flights of stares and the floor is sort of bouncy. It took like, 30 minutes, for Panda Bear to start. It was quite crowded and the room smelled of smoke, but not that kind of smoke if you get what I mean. The show was....sort of not intense. It wasn't bouncy enough to really move to the music and it wasn't trance enough to put me in a trance. I sure did feel the beat. I dunno, not really my scene it would seem. It just felt long and drawn out...and I started getting nauseous. So not as fun as I was expecting, but it was good to experience something new.

Rode home. Stuffed my face with food. Now to pass out. Did I mention Ikea?

happy birfday dad!

oops need to correct photo booth, hold on a second...

Happy Birthday Dad! I'm so glad you were born. You are awesome. Keep being awesome.

iWhatever

I got injured on the 18th. That took a long long time. Nearly three weeks, though I only have enough pictures to count to nearly two weeks. I thought I posted every night...

Oh well! Another school week starts. Went to school and used up my TBA voucher. I decided to see the more dancerly performances, as I prefer those over women taping fish to their arms (seriously, this is in the Time Based Arts festival, it is David Sedaris' 12 Moments In The Life of and Artist). Took forever because it seemed like some of the people getting tickets had no idea what they wanted to see when it came to getting to the front of the line. I went quite quick. I am skipping Mike Daisy because I don't want to listen to him rant for two hours about the iPad. He is a smart man and a good performer, but I just don't want to hear it.

Then I went to the animation lab and found all the stations in use, so I went to the computer and fiddled around. There was a recorder audio thingy job through Student Services that was listed so I went to Rachel Allen and threw my hat into the ring. Five other people are interested, so I don't know the chances. But it pays 10$ an hour for 2-10 hours a work a week. That would be sweet.

I brought my animation into iMovie Motion Capture or whatever the iHell it is called. I went home, ate some microwave mac and cheese and an apple, went back to school. I love leaving my bike in my studio because when it starts pouring rain, my bike stays dry! And it sure rained. A miserable real rain. I didn't think I would have to haul my rain pants out of storage so soon. Or my sweaters.

In Professional Practices we asked questions about setting up a studio, and got many many lists about things to think about, sites to look into, and other basic real world freelance stuff. We also talked about thesis ideas and I, ever brave I suppose, went first. The idea first on my mind is to create a guide to the people in my life. This would incorporate drawing people, which I like, and drawing people I know, which people I know like. And it could potentially touch on subject of the psychology of loving seeing yourself in art, and also how we formulate friendships these days because some of the research of my guide would be aided by my blog, which has a comprehensive list of when and where I meet people and what we do. It is also something that has no real cap to the art I could make. Yeah. Other people piped in their ideas.

We got out a little early. And it was miserable. My hair was dripping wet after only 10 blocks of riding. Changed pants, dried my hair, ate some more carbs, and relaxed.

It was a lot of fun with Kristen and Mel last night. And now I'll be skint on Friday and let other people buy her stuff. I'll probably just have a burger. Huber's has really cheap happy hour burgers. Like 3 bucks.

I love having a studio. I can just drop stuff off an not worry about it. Straight after class tomorrow I'm going to see Panda Bear at Crystal Ballroom with Kevin. It is at 13th and Burnside, which is just 8 or so blocks from school. I'll just drop my stuff off in the studio, meet him there, have fun, come back to the studio and cut up Johnson and crash. Not sure if I want to walk or ride to the venue, as I'm a bit worried about living my bike in a more high profile area. I'm getting really cautious because I've heard of several wheel thefts. I think dad did something that makes the tire harder to steal, and as it is a non standard tire...but it is also a tan tire and thus quite flashy. Hmmm. But it is only 8 blocks and I shouldn't be a wuss.

blimey girls know how to have fun

Drinking water and eating carbs. Ohhh boy. Kristen turned 21 and Mel and I took her out. Went to O'Briens and had some booze. Let her be all "whoo I'm in a bar!" and all that exciting jazz. Went to Matador and drank more. A guy bought her a drink. We talked and gossiped. About four hours of chilling and having fun. Now I'm adding stuff to my stomach so I don't roll out of bed feeling like crap. It was lots of fun though. I don't go out like this all that often. Now I'll chill and watch some Top Gear and fall asleep.

But first the rest of the day. Uhm. Ate some stuff. Sorted some stuff. Went to Trader Joe's and got some snacks and bread. Kristen left for a picnic and Mel came over early so we chilled and watched some TV. Back to school tomorrow. Before I know it, it will be over. Tomorrow I should record my lunchbox animation and decide which TBA to go to. Guantanamo Baywatch for sure, seeing as how I helped slightly with their stage pieces.

No leg picture. I'm sure yall will miss those shots a whole bunch.

Mm yeah, can't think of anything else to say. Sleepy time. Mmm.

last photo of my leg???

Just peeling. Aquaphor!

Tabitha and Dan came over in the morning and chilled for a bit. I had a tuna sandwich. Did the dishes. They keep seeming to come out of the woodworks.

I read through my assignment sheet. I can't believe nothing is due in Professional Practices. But it just means our thought on our assignment needs to be so much more. And I am thinking...sort of. Yeah having this much weekend kills motivation. Well right now. Once I get things set up...though once it gets on a roll Focus Week will be here.

Mmm lasagna. I need to stop offering it to guests, because now I just have between a third and a fourth a pan left.

Kristen, her friend Mark, and I watched Ghostbusters because she has NEVER SEEN IT! I can't believe that! Who hasn't seen Ghostbusters? And apparently Mel and Tabitha haven't seen it yet either.

Mellow day. I got up early. Tomorrow is Kristen's birthday. OH I DON'T HAVE A PRESENT FOR HER! CRAP! She turns 21. The party is Friday though.

robin's egg blue

I organized my books by color today. Unfortunately I have put too many books into storage so there is a lot of open space on my shelves. But that is a good thing. More space means more space for more books! Color organizing looks really nice but you really have to know your books to keep track of things. I might reorganize it later for practicality, but it is a quick solution to tie what was a sloppy shelf before.

Karen came over and I fed her lasagna. We walked over to William Temple House to check out tables. They had some but I can probably find better. She got some snacks on Trader Joe's and then we went to the studio for painting fun! Well we stopped by Ace Hardware so I could get a roller and tray and some coat hooks. Then we went to the studio to paint. I painted all three walls all the way up a lovely robin's egg blue. It really really stands out because most of the rest of the studios are insanely white and mostly not moved into. Ali also joined Dom, Jon, and Sivonna. Nathan Henry-Silva moved into the studio across from mine. I also painted a little edge on the floor, sort of to cover up where I bonked the floor with the roller. I also did some creative splatters. I still have some paint left. At first I kind of wanted to paint the whole floor, but I don't think I will. Well...I'll see how it looks tomorrow. A lot of work and a lot of fumes. But I'm very happy with it.

Afterwards we picked up Lacey and went to Karen, BT, and Phil's for craft and art and getting stuff done night. I finished my animation, Lacey sketches some stuff for a wood block, BT painted, Tabitha and her friend Dan drew and Mel also drew. I did thumbprints and drew little things with the print to make them into things. Like the Top Gear guys, the Doctor from Doctor Who, both Zodiac, the Buffy cast, and other things. It was a lot of fun.

I picked the last bit of scab off today! It is now just dry skin and a couple nicks where I prematurely pulled scab off. Whooo!

Tomorrow is more studio prep time. I need a table....

suushii

LOOK AT THAT! One little scabby wabby left. It is just waiting to come off.

Another lovely sunny day. Perfect for eggs and bacon and dishes. I started rifling through my pictures books looking for the images that really inspire me. Our first professional practices assignment is to collect 10 images that we would want on a desert island to inspire us. 10 things that really move us. Right on my mind is Scott McKowen's cover for The Pillowman, Lucian Freud's Ib and Her Husband, this Missoni campaign from about a year ago, some Sterling Hundley... yeah. So I pulled out the stuff that jumped out at me. Need to go through my other art books as well.

Went to school and returned the Mad Men dvds and checked out some stuff. I've twice been disappointed to find that the Fassbinder collection was not Fassbender, so I decided to check it out so I'll stop being confused.

Went back home. Relaxed. Shot the tv with nerf.

Kristen and I walked down to school and met up with Tabitha and Mel to get some sushi at sushiland. The selection wasn't that good, so I didn't gorge myself as I normally do when it comes to rotating sushi. We wandered back. I did more image hunting. Watched some stuff.

Tomorrow there is a craft night (whatever that means) and I'm going to paint my studio. WhOO! Then time to get cracking on homework. I want to be on top of things and AWESOME this semester.

flash first thursday

The people were running the leaf blower in the courtyard at like 9am. ARGH! But it got me awake and up before 11pm, which is good.

Oatmeal. Emergen-C. Yum. Put my paperwork in a file folder.

Kristen and I went to Fred Meyer's for some shopping. Trader Joe's is great, but if you want cheaper cheese then you really have to go elsewhere. I got supplies to make a delicious lasagna. Kevin was coming over for dinner and then we were going to see Mesrine: Killer Instinct (part one, Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 is part two). But back to lasagna. I bought cheesy sauce and spinach sauce and cooked up the rest of my beef and put that in and damn did it look good. Threw it in the oven and real quick went to PNCA to see Robin's show.

Robin has greatly expanded her houses at night portraits and got a show in the BFA gallery at school! Great location. Thousands will see her art, and they should because she is awesome. Kristen and I also got her flowers for her accomplishment. Go Robin! I chatted briefly and then headed back. That was it for my First Thursday adventures. I was home not a minute before the timer went off. Perfect!

Removed the foil. Cooked it some more. Did dishes. Kevin came over with a nice bottle of wine and a salad and dinner was wonderful. The lasagna cooked just perfect. Full of flavor. Can't wait to eat more of it. But shhh, don't tell people I enjoyed something with spinach in it. Mesrine was intense. It didn't try to paint a sympathetic picture of the criminal Mesrine. Not at all. Vincent Cassel was spectacular and there were some beautiful shots. I simply MUST see part two. Thankfully it is the next movie show at Cinema 21...and it starts tomorrow!

We parted ways after the movie and that was that. Nice little date. I keep having the feeling like I planned to do something, but I don't know what. Oh well. Sleep time!

Look at that! Just a little bit of scab left! Hurrah! Two more days and it should be gone. The red patch is receding and the pale, new skin is replacing it. I don't think even the knee will scar all that much, if at all. And the shin probably will be just peachy, if a bit shiny for a while.

at pnca we call it moving image arts, not animation

OH MY GOD I'M TIRED! GETTING OUT AT 9PM MAKES ME TIRED!

Animation! Animation is awesome! They added another section at the same time so the whole class is 30 strong and there are some cool people in there. Tippy (was previously known as Raquel) and Matthew Seely are in it. We are taught by Rose Bond and Anouck. Anouk? One of those spellings. I'm really excited. We did some get to know you questions. There is a Swedish exchange student named Andrin and a guy named Kelly with a Don't Panic tattoo. Awesome! We got a lecture on animation and looked at some Winsor McCay stuff. I got a burrito for lunch because I knew I would need a dinner as well.

After lunch the groups divided and we read through some stuff with Rose and discussed it and then swapped over and learned about Lunchbox and some animation basics. First assignment is a bouncing ball, falling feather, and falling sack of flour animation. Real simple. Did it before in Time Arts. Got a good start on it during class.

Karen and I made a quick run to Fred Meyer's for paint. The gallons were on sale so I picked out a nice teal color. It was mixed a bit light, but it should still look good. A nice teal studio. Picked up some color coded stuff for my keys and a nerf shotgun for 9.99. A good deal considering it is double barreled. I arrived at class right on time.

Advance Studio taught by Kristin something something. Editor for Bitch Magazine and Bear Deluxe. And generally really cool. We talked about things we would want from the class and the syllabus and introduced ourselves a little. During break I played with my nerf. So much fun! We got our new assignment and the run down for the EXTENSIVE stuff we will be doing. Lots of stuff. Thankfully I have enough time to keep on track of it.

Dropped the paint off at my studio, and speaking of my studio: I now store my bike in it! No more exposure to the elements. And no fear of missing tires. This weekend, Karen and I will paint paint paint away. But now: sleep. I'm so very tired.

tacos!

10:53pm. Get on a good track of writing early, instead of...later.

Got up at a good time. Showered. Clothed. Unfortunately summer has decided to be over and the weather now sucks. IT RAINED! Like, during the day! Lame! Anyway, got to school. At 11 was a mandatory meeting for all seniors. The Stevens Front was full of familiar faces and holy crap we are seniors now! It doesn't seem that long ago that we were just starting out.

Anyway, Linda the head of senior stuff gave us the run down. A semester lasts 16 weeks. Week 14 is focus week. By week 10 we need to have our idea, and some idea who we want on our panel. Also we need to start getting our presentation done at that time because there will be tons of practice when it comes to the presentations. We got a packet that runs it all down for us. A big thick packet. Well not that big, as it was printed on heavy paper. There was some chatter about the Professional Practices classes and then it was studio assignment time! We scattered. I found where Karen and Heather Birdsong were and picked a studio near where they are. Jon, Sivonna, and Dom occupied the studio that has the wall, and shares the divider with me. Israel Lund and Joey Lusterman are in the sections on the other side of me. I don't have someone in the studio in my little area yet. Eva was going to be there but she changed her mind to a studio that had her own outlet (I had one).

I plan on picking up a miss mixed thing of paint and to do up my studio nice and pretty. I'll also need a table. Should have thought of that. William Temple House! Here I come! After picking the studios, Madeline and I went back to my place for lunch. We got some beef and lettuce and taco shells and made delicious tacos! It was just the right portion. We gobbled them down and talked about Mad Men and True Blood. Then I did a chunk of the dishes, we watched Martin Sheen on Top Gear. Wait. Michael Sheen. The Brit.

Then we went back to school for Professional Practices. We met Iskra Johnson, one of our new co-teachers. She had a bloody amazing portfolio of letter design. She had a good humor. Professional Practices is all about getting ready for thesis and knowing fully about yourself as an artist. It also touches on billing and marketing yourself. It had another packet of information. Our first assignment is an inspiration analysis of sorts. We got out early.

Dom and I hung out in our studios, letting our bikes dry off and waiting for the rain to subside. We chatted about plans and played cards. Justin came by and we chatted as well. Once it cleared up I went home. Did more dishes. Watched Top Gear. Relaxed. Ate dinner. And now I must prepare for bed. Now, because it is what you have all been waiting for, my leg:

It's allllmost there. Mostly just a big scab that can't be picked just yet. It grows smaller every day.

vlog - senior year

senior year at PNCA begins from Trillian Spencer on Vimeo.

vanishing vlog

I deleted the old vlog posts and will remove them from youtube because I don't feel like continuing to post video entries with out of sync sound. I'm going to give Vimeo a try.

I am totally and utterly addicted to Top Gear. My internal monologue is now being affected. By which I mean: it is developing an accent. I only wish that my old Scottish accent would return. Maybe if I checked out some accents for actors tutorials...

There is the leg. Scab keeps getting smaller and smaller.

Tried some of Kristen's banana spread. Went out with her and Anthony for a little roaming. Went to Pop Up Shop, a little over priced vintage store. Everything was priced WAY too high to be reasonably sellable. We went to William Temple and for what one vintage paper back cost at Pop Up Shop ($14!!!) I got two American Apparel shirts, a skirt, and a short story collection book. With change left over! Amazing. And the shirts feel nearly new. Brilliant. Leslie and Randy met up with us at William Temple and I parted ways for home. Ate a sandwich. Relaxed. Put on my new shirt. They came back and relaxed a bit before driving back to Washington.

It was a nice relaxing final day of summer. Now to start my Vlog all over again...(I only had four entries, no big loss).

Oh I don't think I've had dinner yet. I'll boil up some pasta or something.

healination

Oops. Just realized that I never wrote up Yesterday's post. Just went to bed instead.

Friday's Leg:

Sunday's Leg:
It gets smaller and smaller. Nothing more is flaking off noticeably. I have a feeling that it will all peel at once, as this patch all had the same level of damage.

Saturday:

Slept in for a while. Watched some Top Gear. Kristen and Anthony went shopping. They came back with several bags and we all relaxed and watched Big Trouble. Then we drew and colored and sketched and talked about art theory. I also made my first Fruit Basket square. My triangle points are getting better. We listened to Odd Owl. I ate the left over pasta for lunch. I also rested the ironing board on my lap and it took me all of 2 seconds to realize this was a bad idea when the steam got my thigh quite hot.

They went to bed early and I stayed up watching Top Gear online. SO ADDICTED! Hammond, May, and Clarkson make a hilarious trio. Now I wanna drive cars around a track really really fast.

Sunday:

Set my alarm for 9:10, but I didn't roll out of bed till 11:30. Hit the snooze every 10 minutes. I trimmed my bangs. Needs a little touching up but they are once again above my eyebrows. Kristen's parents came down as well and invited me out on their wanderings. It was either join them or watch Top Gear, so I decided to take the social route. We went into a couple little clothing shops but I didn't spend any money. Anthony and Randy looked at cameras and we walked up to 23rd and looked at shoes. An early dinner was had at the sushi place on 21st. Chicken noodles were ordered and many servings of sushi. We gorged and there were no leftovers! I was surprised at how much I ate. Yum yum yum! City Market provided some nice upscale food stuffs, but I petted the dog out side instead (Archie, a terrier chihuahua mix). We returned to the apartment and chilled. Tabitha came over. Kristen's ma and pa left and now it is us four for the rest of the night.