sketch, sketch, paint, soak, draw, sketch, sleep

It's 1:30am and I just spent the last few hours working on a little portrait of Bofur for a friend (their birthday is coming up, and they don't read my blog). I really dig the portrait, but I'm not going to push myself to finish it tonight because I don't want to overwork it. It's a combination of watercolor with ink line art, a style I really dig.

Earlier in the day I designed my next card to mail out to people, and I worked on my design for the upcoming print exchange. I need to buy more transparency to draw on. I should just get a sheet of mylar, because even at a couple bucks a sheet, it is a lot larger than the smaller stuff, and I can just cut off to size what I need. Too bad the art store closes so bloody early, and Kinkos is open whenever.

Option B is to just use rubbing alcohol on the sheets that I do have and remove the images that are already drawn on it, which are the separations for the Lighthouse Field State Beach print and my last card. That makes them even more special, because I absolutely cannot print them again. Hmmm. Might just do that. I have no desire to print them again, and I have copies of the prints saved for my archives.

So yeah, very productive art day! I also took a bath and read my book and watched Groundhog Day and Pitch Perfect while working on stuff (and watching Walking Dead and Shameless in the evening).

That is it. Trillian out!

Burns always gets under my skin, but in a good way

I spent a good portion of the day sitting on the couch reading Charles Burns comics (X'ed Out and The Hive) and then I got really weirded out by all of reality. So I spent a few hours in a funk and did that drawing as a reaction to the whole experience.

Joey got some morning snuggles in.

I had eggs for breakfast and dinner. I went to the Santa Cruz Diner for dinner, because I was feeling lazy and I wanted an omelette. I had the Capitola omelette, which has bacon, ham, and cheddar, with hash browns and pancakes on the side and hot tea. Mmmm. I read NOT Charles Burns and took it easy.

I was supposed to run errands, but I read instead. Not the worst decision I've ever made.

back in black vinyl

More vinyl! This time it was a mix of big designs that were easy to weed, and little designs that took some effort to manage. There is more vinyl on the way, though I think it might be more big things, and less little complicated things. After the weeding was done, I cleaned the screens in the back. Now I have a tall stack ready for reclaiming! Hooray! It seemed to take less time than I remember cleaning screens to take, or maybe it just seemed that way because I've been cleaning 20 or so screens in a stretch, and this time there were only 10.

Anyway, that was a nice full work week. Good hours, good variety of duties. Still have all my fingers.

At home I watched my telly, had some dinner, and thought about making art but I got distracted by sentimentality and didn't do that.

I was browsing through my blog and my entries used to be a lot longer. Probably because my day to day varied a lot more during school. And some of my older posts seemed more conversational in tone, where as these...I guess not so conversational? I dunno.

I'll still blog. I like having my blog. My little record of the day to day.

the land of the north (aka up yonder over 17)

Today's shift was spent doing one thing, and one thing only: weeding vinyl. There were several sheets, and I weeded out 100 stickers from them. I then papered the vinyl and by the end, had it bagged and ready to give to the client. So that was a lot of time spent listening to Tobolowsky Files and Snow Crash.

The time did move fast though, oddly enough. Get in the weeding zone.

I got some groceries. Apples, PB, J, and other staples. Then I went up to San Jose to see Steve. He made dinner! How wonderful. Chicken and ravioli. Num nums. It was a nice night. And a nice day. The weather has been really swell lately, though I eagerly await sunbathing season.

Aaaand my car has officially reaching 5k miles since last oil change. That seemed to go fast, then again I was living in San Francisco during the last change, and that was about 7 months ago, so maybe not that fast.

So that is another thing to do. Probably this weekend. This is going to be an designated errand weekend. I have errands that need tending to.

Fizz! Buzz! HAVE A BANANA!

Another excellent day at work. Started by cleaning squeegees and floodbars. Gotta get them clean for more jobs, because there are more jobs to run! Andrew set up the job, but I ran it and Stu caught. Went pretty well. Did a buncha pallet changes. Also ran shorts, which was fun in its odd little way. Those got boxed up, I broke down the press, and called it a day. All those things took a good full shift, well maybe not as full as could be, but my arms were pretty tired by the end.

I predict tomorrow will have...burning and cleaning.

After work I swung by Safeway. Another reason to prefer Trader Joe's: no crappy magazines in the check out aisles.

There was nummy candy and Cabin Pressue waiting for me when I got home. Yay!

And now I am pretty tired. This week is taking a lot out of me, but in a good way.

I have dinner plans tomorrow. With Steeeeve. Tee hee.

this Tuesday feels like a Wednesday

I felt like I had ingested pool water all day. You know that sort of chlorine feel? Yeah.

 But I worked like a badass today! Got in, set up the single color back, ran that (Stu caught), set up the front, ran that. No problems. It all was at the right height. The discharge looked great. Stu boxed that. I ate lunch. I cleaned the screens of discharge. I counted shirts and shorts. I taped up screens and plopped those in and lined them up. And I think the boss only had to BARELY tweak one of the screens, the others were fine. At least, I don't remember him tweaking them. BOOYAH! That felt good. I ran the shirts on that and Andrew caught. A nice full day full of goodwork and plenty of Snow Crash and Tobolowsky.

At home I had some pasta and my tummy continued to hurt. I'm almost out of apples. Have to make an apple run.

I think apples are one of my major vices. I just have to have them! I've been trying out Gala, as opposed to my regular Granny Smith. Shhh don't tell the neighbors. I typically eat them on my way home. It's my "done with work" snack. Apple at the end, banana after granola bars, granola bars and peanuts after tea, start the day with tea, main lunch item (sandwich/chili/burrito) sometime after granola bars and peanuts, though often broken into a few chompings. I like having a job where I can munch during the day. Plus the hot water dispenser is good. I just have a box of economy teabags (English Breakfast) at work, so that is what I do when I first arrive. Fill my travel cup up with hot water, maybe some sugar, plop in the bag, sign in on my time card, turn on the lights, get a gander and what needs to be done, and if need be ask the boss what to do. I like my routine. My days change a lot, but it is also a routine.

I wonder where the plays happen in Santa Cruz. I sort of want to see a play. I miss seeing Brynne in plays.

I do have a case of the Mondays

Money woes are getting me down. It's no fun being tight and regretting every transaction that isn't food related. All I can do is work really hard, and hope the hours are long. As well as hope my tax return comes soon.

Being an adult sucks.

Today had some good long hours. Ran the backs on a job. I coated some screens. I tidied up. I broke down the press. I listened to The Tobolowsky Files. I redid the palette peels. I unboxed and counted in shirts. Not all in that order. Not a bad day at all.

Got home. Had some dinner. Watched telly.

oh no, he has a violin, how am I going to draw that?

Odd Owl gets better and better every time I see them. The songs sound better, more refined while also having new vibes to them. Always growing. The new music was great, of course. And the screenprinted drum head was awesome. Viva Carmen for screenprinting it!

They played It's The World I Love, Little Pink Carnations (I forget if that is the song title or just a lyric), Lonely Island (again I should know their song titles better), Radioheart, The Way Home, Some People are Spaceships, among other awesome tunes. Steve and Phil were in suits, Adam was not. They were just swell.

The venue, Yoshi's, was beautiful. All seated seating, chairs around tables. A really nice way to enjoy a damn good band. Nathan, Helen, and I were the second row of tables back from the stage. Josh found us after Odd Owl's set and joined us. We three had sushi (you could order at this venue, which was good because I was hungry). I drew a bunch in my sketchbook. Some really good stuff that I'm very pleased with. My Carmen sketches are my favorite.

What a lovely night! I drove up to Redwood City and met Nate, and we carpooled in and found a parking space just two blocks from the venue! Booyah!

My morning was filled with sleep, scrambles, and some painting. Felt pretty good, despite the bummer that was Saturday.

Today was a very good day in terms of art productivity and good company.

Wonderful.

Thanks to this blog, I know that December 28th, 2009 was when Carmen first mentioned Odd Owl to me, at Grandma Marilyn's memorial. She inquired if I would be interested in doing art for this new band she was starting. Over three years it has been. Pretty coo'.

Odd Owl was followed by the amazing Foxtails Brigade. They had a lady vocalist on the guitar, a guy who stomped on a tamborine while playing the violin, and also playing the guitar, a guy on bass, a guy bonking bottles and drums, and a full on drummer. The singer was fantastic. She sang in French. She had a duet with her brother who wasn't in the band. The violinist was also very talented. I tried to draw him playing the violin but my brain couldn't quite comprehend what a violin looks like. They had such a wonderful plinky plonky sound.

After the show, I got some hugs, and I hope they sold lots of merch. Back to Redwood City we went, and back South to Santa Cruz I went. Another awesome week begins, lets do this!

good night & sucky afternoon

Saturday: 

I am finishing Saturday with a bottle of wine and period BBC television. Oh, and chili.

DOWNTON ABBEY!? WHAT THE HELL? You don't end a perfectly happy final episode on that note! That just...is just too mean. Boo! I am watching the final episode of Parade's End. Finally finishing up TV that has been in my queue for a while now.

Earlier today I ran some errands, and I parked downtown and put 30 minutes on the meter, but my errand ended up taking 35 and it was somewhere in that 5 minute window that I got a ticket. Bummer! Should have put in more. Better safe than...well ticketed. Anyway, I paid my ticket and put it in the mail to get sent off. No use fighting it. At least it was an unexpired meter ticket, not a improperly parked ticket.

And since I was in such a good mood from that ordeal, I filed my taxes as well. Hurray, I'll be getting money back! Enough money equal to about one paycheck, which will be sweet. I'll plop that right into my savings.

Early in the day was nice. Slept in, had some oatmeal, drew some more magnets.

Friday:

Work was short. We were running a job right when I got in, and that lasted a few good many hours worth of catching. Asked coworker for burger place recommendations. Just can't quite get the best burger in this town.

Boxed the job. Ran the front in black on four shirts, and swapped in the white and Boss roto'd that, and that was that. There will be a good amount of work to be done on Monday. Shirts to count, jobs to run. But that is good. Good to have light weeks and heavy ones. I'm ready for a big week.

After work I got my chili simmering. Janet's mom is in town for the weekend and I met her, and she gave me a big hug. Very sweet lady. Steve came down with a bottle of lovely wine to accompany the chili. A very nice dinner. Afterwards, we all (he, I, Janet, Janet's mom) played rummy. Steve and I paired and won the first round, but didn't come close in the second though we did do some nice plays.

It was a lovely night. I enjoy staying in and learning new games.

is it really Thursday already?

Had a very sparse day at work. I mopped the floors, though I don't like mopping because all mopping does is spread the cleaning solution and dirt around, it doesn't really life the dirt up that much. You just gotta scrub it with a sponge. Though the dirt on the floor at work is pretty dang affixed.

I also reclaimed some screens, including my own. Now they are all clean and ready for more art!

Left pretty early, as Boss was on site doing stuff. It was okay to leave early, I talked to the Boss.

I washed my car, as it was a bit dirty. It was a nice enough day too, and it is February! It's nice to have a clean car again. It's all shiny. I went and got chili fixings. There was a shopping cart abandoned in the parking lot next to where I parked my car, so I walked it back to where it belongs. It felt like a Chinese food sort of night, so I went to Yan Flower and got some beef with broccoli, rice and sweet and sour. I ate half of each and all of the rice and then spent a few hours just digesting. I ate way too much. But now I'll have lunch tomorrow! And lunch for Saturday! And once I cook the chili, I'll have that for the following week. Chili, burrito filling, PB&J, oh there is also the enchilada casserole. I like making things that last just until I am sick of eating them (which is about a week). Need to add more things to this list.

Did my work laundry. In my only pair of long work jeans, I wore a hole in the thigh, where thighs rub, so I fixed it with an iron on patch. Booyah!

So tomorrow is chili date night. Yay! Here is a cool video:

Wednesday, woah the week is half way over already!!

AHk, keep getting distracted by other parts of the Internet!

Anyway, I spent a chunk of time this morning on the phone with the DMV, and it took 17 minutes for the automated message to inform me I could make an appointment online, and it turns out I can't even get an appointment to take my test till the 21st. All that hurry for nothing!

Work was relatively short. Cleaned up the area a bit. Unboxed some shirts. Did some more tidying. Cut stickers. Listened to Snow Crash.

Tomorrow I'll probably do some mopping. It's another sort of seasonal studio clean, I figure. Also reclaiming.

At home I had a scramble for dinner. I tidied up my room a bit. I ran a shampoo procuring errand. That was about it.

Have some more cleaning to do tomorrow, and food shopping. Making chili on Friday, and Steve is coming down. I like Steve. He's a tall bearded ginger who is well read. Of course I like him. Hee hee. He is also nice and easy to talk to, which is always good. Hm. Don't usually talk about people like this in my blog. Welp. There it is.

nazdar in the house

Ahk! How is it 1am! I keep staying up late and sleeping in. Not that I've been having trouble arriving at work on time, I always do.

Tomorrow before work I shall call the DMV and make an appointment for Thursday morning to get that license thingy.

At work I coated the screens and listened to Snow Crash and caught some shirts and double coated & hardened some screens. Not a bad day. A full day, but it is good to have full days.

Made way too much pasta when I got home and went into a food coma for a bit. Did laundry. Spent another $10 of my Amazon gift certificate. Only have $10 left. Duh duh duhhhh. I've bought five books with it thus far, so that is pretty good.

Tomorrow I must make myself get up earlier so I can make that appointment and wash my hair.

elementary my dear Joan

It was a solo day at work. Finished both The Maze Runner (not interested enough to move on to the next in the series, even though it is young adult the narrative style came across as really flat) and Nine Princes of Amber (the book felt very abridged and it was interesting, but the production on the audiobook was really weird). So I listened to Cabin Pressure.

25 screens were cleaned, 1 was set aside for future re-running, 4 were taped up for and imminent re-running of the job, and so 20 were reclaimed. Haven't done that in a few weeks. It was a good day for it. I also cleaned squeegees and floodbars. Not a bad start to the week.

In my audiobook queue now is Snow Crash and A Confederacy of Dunces.

At home I took a bath and read in the bath, something I am doing a lot more lately. It is a nice way to wind down after work, and then I climb into jammies all clean and smelling of lavender (the epsom salts have lavender in them, mmm).

Elementary is such a super cute Sherlock Holmes modern adaptation. Well, the chemistry between Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) and Watson (Lucy Liu) is really cute. It's a fairly standard police procedural, but it is quite charming. Sherlock wears great shirts:

Those are great shirts! I want them!

Anyway. Monday. And it is two minutes till Tuesday, so time to go to bed.

blunt the knives and bend the forks...

If I finished my California Driver Handbook, I promised that I would treat myself to The Hobbit as a reward. And I did finish it! So I saw the Hobbit, and it was lovely. I had my eye out for the Dwarf ladies with their muttonchops, and they did not disappoint. The goblin escape fight gets better and better each time. It was a lovely note to end my weekend on.

And now that I am done with that booklet, it is time to get my license! Wheee!

Slept in. Had my big scramble breakfast. Suffered through the booklet.

Now to go to sleep. Another work week commences! The screens are stacking up and are in need of cleaning. That will probably happen tomorrow...reclaiming soon!

the speed limit in an alley is 15 mph

Spent the day working my way through the California Driver Handbook. Learned that drivers CAN go into the bike lane to turn, so long as they do so in under 200 feet from their turn. There were a few contradictory bits, like pedestrians give right-of-way to drivers at places that are not intersections and crosswalks, but drivers give right-of-way to pedestrians at ALL TIMES. Which is it? Anyway. I shall finish the guide tomorrow, and that will be that. Then I just gotta get up early and go to the DMV and take the test and hopefully they won't throw anything out of left field at me.

I was woken up by doggy kisses.

Had bacon eggy scramble. Watched some telly. Chatted with Janet. Lazed about the house.

Once I get the license, then I am a Californian. Then I can start getting all the official California stuff, like insurance and AAA.

Adulthood, here I come!

fun friday in the little beach city

Blimey, I'm tired!

Work was, well, work. Caught several jobs. Cleaned squeegees. Got more magnet scraps. It was pretty warm, though it cools down fast.

After work I swung by Walgreen's and picked up some lavender epsom salts, and other things, and when I got home I had a nice hot bath and drank a nice cold beer and read a nice awesome book.

Later on in the evening I went out for First Friday. Janet had invited me to this show that friends of hers had work it. It was at the Felix Kulpa gallery, and the gallery show theme was work inspired by Tom Waits. It was really cool. Some of the reductive woodblock prints by Bridget Henry (who Janet knows) took my breath away. Just big, complicated, beautiful prints. Lots of layers.

From the gallery I went to a movie night at the CTV station (where Ryan works and has the space to set up the projector in). Met Jesse, Veitta, James, and Daniel. We watched Slither, which was my choice and was backed up by Jesse. The majority hadn't seen it and we were feeling in a horror mood. It is so ridiculous and gross, but Nathan Fillion is amazing. We had a comedy cool down with an episode of Mr. Bean. The group hadn't seen the infamous putting on swim trunks OVER trousers scene, and they loved it. Then Ryan and I watched an episode of Peep Show and I said my good nights.

Tomorrow I maaaaay catch a matinee of The Hobbit. It is at 12:40, so I'll see how I feel in the morning. From then on, I think I'll read through my California Drivers Book and work on other to do things. Be a doer this weekend!

must be a Thursday...

Spent my night drawing on vinyl magnet scraps. That was fun! I have plenty more to draw on too. Just little portraits. I turned this magnets into "to do" list item holders. So each thing I have to do is written down in order and is magneted to my red metal shelf. I like it that way. Yup!

Got my W-2, so now I have to do taxes. Hurray! Should be...easy?

Work was another sticker printing/chopping session, with fun machine oil changing time. I rigged the air release valve so that I wouldn't have to sit and press it for 10 minutes. I rigged it with just a piece of tape to hold the thing down. Hahaha. Easy.

Burned & taped screens. It was a relatively short day. Weeded some stuff. Halfway through Maze Runner.

Future Present Tense is one of my favorite tenses. I like narratives that take place in that way. It's a false sense of assurance.

Went food shopping. Yay food! The cashier was named Steve. I've met a lot of Steves since leaving the Pacific Northwest.

jam on toast for dessert. mmm.

Hurray for respirators because we were using an enamel type ink and the solvents to break it down were pretty toxic. Amazing how they didn't eat through the emulsion though. That stuff is tough! It is neat all the different ways to go about doing this and that. Stickers have to air dry, and they have to be durable, so you have to use a specific ink different from the plastisol and waterbased kinds. Anyhoo, I think this is the second time I've been around for running these types of stickers. Making a note that chopping them vertical first takes less time than chopping them horizontal. Chopping = taking the sheets of dried stickers and using a paper cutter to chop them into individual stickers.

Today was very much a sticker day. Spent a lot of time cutting stickers down and weeding vinyl. Finished Unnatural Death and started The Maze Runner. Fun to go to the Young Adult genre every now and again. No swear words (ahem Horns). No one gets killed with shards of tile (ahem Die Trying). No one talks about voodoo sacrifices (ahem Forever Odd).

At home, I had some pasta and watched my telly. I'm taking it easy on the "doing things" front till after I've paid my rent and get my next paycheck. Then I'll do those things that really need doing...both fun and obligation wise things.

But I got the car rego and put that on my plate, so that is one thing down. Just a bunch else to do.

I should make post it notes of all the big "to dos" and post them, then as I do them, I can take them off the wall/wherever I stick them.

January just ran right out.

wow it is almost February

No jobs were run on the press today. My arms got a break. I burned some screens and taped them up. I weeded some vinyl. I finished Forever Odd. Almost done with Unnatural Death (I've been flipflopping between those two books). I also cut stickers and cleaned the pallets and removed the tape from the screens that are waiting to be cleaned and reclaimed.

At home I took a bath. I really need to get some epsom salts or something. Make my baths a real experience, though there isn't enough hot water in the tank to make a really big hot bath. Ah, oh well.

Had some pasta. Started watching Blackpool, this BBC series with random dancing interludes. It's also a murder mystery. It is a bit odd, but David Morrissey and David Tennant are in it, so I ain't complaining.

udon arms

My arms feel like noodles. I was pulling sweaters off the press all day (well half the day). Every muscle I have in my arms is quite used. But that is a good thing. More muscles = better worker.

My housemate Janet is back from her trip to Hawaii. Now the house doesn't feel so empty!

Also at work I set up the jobs, and broke down the press. My coworker is also back form being ill. All is well. It was comfortably warm at work.

I need to go food shopping again. I wish food stuck around longer, but I have that tendency to eat it. Boo!