balloons are the only thing big enough to fill it up

The guy next to me woke me up with sounds of WHOOO and YEAAAH. That is mostly what I hear from him.

Gabe talked about this fritata he made that had a full pound of bacon and five eggs. It had a lot of the cheese in it as well but I forget what kind and how much.

It was a loafing around the apartment morning and afternoon. I worked on homework while watching Aliens. Then I cleaned up my apartment as best as I could. Well not the best but I emptied out the trash and wiped down the surfaces and shoved things under my bed. The usual.

I just ate a large portion of penne and garlic tomato sauce. Ohhh. So much garlic.

I have about 14 character facial designs. They are ending up pretty varied without pandering. I might throw in a couple that are similar, to give myself more of a challenge. This comic will be mostly character driven so the designs have to be solid. It causes a little bit of weakness to each one having to purge pages of design but through tweaking... I am not even to scripts or panels yet.

More YEAAHing from next door. I think the neighbor is 18, 17 last semester.

Dad called to thank me for the thank you card. All the ones I sent out are silk screened. I hope they all arrive, I sent out six.

I'm blogging early because yet again I have to head out to the train station. I did this routine two weeks ago. Another little mini visit from Llyw. I have a three day weekend all semester, perfect for visits from my Northern friends and family.

grubby little hands

Had a lovely breakfast of tea and pop tart and salad. Played Professor Layton while watching Alien. Good movie. Awesome on the projector. I love how my schedule doesn't start at 8am any day so when the weekend comes around I am not wiped out.

At around 4:30 I left to get the paper to print. I didn't dress that warm but the ride was quick. I ran into Junko at Utrect. I bought four sheets of overpriced paper. 16 bucks just for one crummy little edition. Outrageous! At least I don't have to pay for the ink and tools. The class was still hogging the space in the print studio so I chilled in the library for a while.

I grabbed a spot at the glass table in the Center Studio. Rainbow was there. I inquired a few riddles. Robin and Karen started doing some screen printing as well. I rolled up the ink, I prepared my station, and little by little I got advice on what I was doing wrong. Robin advised me about the ink spreading. Rainbow about the roller. Karen, well I forget what Karen advised maybe she didn't say anything. Both Rainbow and Robin encouraged me to use more pressure. Oh wait, Karen did as well. Robin also went, "ahh!!" and surprised me as I was laying the paper onto my block to print it. It was a frustrating time. Some of the prints came out really well actually. The block looks nice. It was a lot better once I switched to the press. The blacks were much more black. I like my print but I felt self conscious doing it around all the other more experienced printers.

My hands have the crud of ink on them. Whoo!

I swung by Trader Joe's to stock up on breadstuffs, pasta stuffs, and chili stuffs. Cheap food that could spread out a lot easier. I got some raisin cinnamon bread especially for the use of toasting.

Katie was making something for Dinner but I didn't have a share of it. I just had beef chili with bread. Then 9pm rolled around and it was time for Munchkin!

Poppy, Robin's sister, was over so we were teaching her how to play. The table was crowded with tea cups. We played Munchkin Impossible and only to 6 levels so Poppy could get a quick understanding. Adam won because he was fighting something that gave him 2 levels and we didn't notice. During the second game Karen and Diana left to do rounds. A couple of us snuck some extra levels because they were gone so long and we figured they wouldn't notice. Karen only caught on to Phil's mysterious nine levels. Adam was sitting back in his chair and I touched his arm and he fell over. It was funny. Adam has a bruise from being kicked in the head at his Ninja Fight Club that he goes to. I brought over my lollipop vase and shared the wealth. Karen won the second game by a lovely majority.

Phil was going to come over to watch Pan's Labyrinth after but hes allergic to cats and Katie was sleeping so we decided to call it a night.


The new hair looks great. The layers really bring out the curly nature of my hair. It is a wonderful update.

new 'do

Math was mathy. We had more probability stuff. More things about the birthday problem and adding probability of multiple things within set groups. Or whatever. I would take notes but I've found I loose track of what is being said when I try to write it all down.

Afterwards, Robin and I chilled in the South Studio and worked on our printing projects. A few members of the other class sat at our table and we talked about movies. Japanese movies. Korean movies. I finished my block up and had intention to print it after Digital Tools. I was forgetting something though...

I went to get some lunch and ran into Phil and we chatted about Mad Men. Karen showed up and we decided to go get haircuts! We both had a coupon for Bishop's so we went to the one in The Pearl. It only had one lady in there and Donna did both of our hair. Karen had some of the dead hair cut out but kept the same style. The lady styled it in a wavy way and it was a little too wavy for Karen. It added some volume but I think it was quite a surprise for her. Once she smoothed it out later in the day, it looked really nice. I had some of the poofy lower volume removed but it still has the length. The front layers cut back a little. The stylist flat ironed my hair so it looks different than it normally would. I think it will look good once it has my natural texture. It is nice and hip. Go me!

Karen and I strutted it back to PNCA and grabbed some JoJos. Then we chilled in the computer room and worked on our projects before class. I listened to my Pandora station using my awesome new headphones. They are massive and amazing. I got a few oooohs and ahhhs at them.

The first chunk of time was spent going over our first mini projects. The clock wasn't so good but in general I liked the piece. Next we moved on to a digital version of a painting project that some of us did in Farel's class. We took some screenshots and were repainting the color schemes. Mine, thus far, as really rough and all over the place. They look cool but I'm not sure what he wants from them. Still, when he saw what I was working on he gave some approval. During break I stuffed my face with Macaroni and Cheese. Sooo good. I need to get into the lunch making habit again though. Bagels! Creme Cheese! I need you!

I had neglected to buy paper to print on so I couldn't print after class. I loitered a little bit with Karen while she started work on a letterpress assignment and then I went home.

I have been playing Professor Layton and the Curious Village on Katie's DS. It is a puzzle and riddle game centered around this mysterious village. Some of the riddles are really ridiculously hard. I needed help on about four of them. It was suggested to me by Katie as a source of inspiration for the comic I am about to undertake. I'm not wasting time, I swear!

Karen stopped by for more House. Luna cuddled with her during the episodes. Tomorrow I shall print. I have a lot of stuff that needs to get done early in the weekend.

upgraded

My comic idea has to do with puzzles and riddles and job interviews. Or something. I'm still fleshing it out. It was well received by the intensive people. I got a few good suggestions for just how I could take it (I'm just scratching the surface). August is still crazy but in all good ways. Lacey has some nice shorts in store and Maddison is doing something about Lucifer. Before the class I canvased the school with some fliers encouraging people to Vote Trillian.

Karen gave me her wood cutting tools to borrow. Class was mostly a long lecture about carving, cleaning, inking, and all that. We went over our designs. My heron was mostly sketched out on the board while others were tightening up their designs. I was carving while Yoshi was talking (I payed attention as well). Tomorrow, during the break, I plan to finish carving and start printing. I only have to do 3 of each method (hand rubbing and the press). I'm pretty thrilled by the design and I think it will print well. Whoo!!

Comic Club was during lunch. It was mostly the usual faces talking about nerdy things and the high hopes we have and the odds of anything actually happening. There was pizza! I ate a lot of it! I volunteered to do the posters for next meeting. Now I need an idea.

There was, in theory, yoga tonight. I couldn't locate them though so I went home to pick up a mysterious package the Goose was holding for me. What was in the box was so awesome: new headphones! A belated birthday gift from Llyw. They are boss (my old ones started having cord problems a few weeks ago).

Seriously awesome headphones. Every song I listen to just sounds better. They are massive monsters and very distinctive. Katie says I look like a robot with them. This was probably, as a whole, my most awesome birthday. It was golden.

Robin and Karen came over for a few House episodes. We watched the one with the Romani who swallowed a toothpick, the one where house debates reason with a patient, and the one with the CIPA patient who has a tapeworm (my favorite episode). It was fun, but now it is late and I have to get up in eight hours.

Oh, I also did my laundry.

Miss Clock with Color (work in progress)

Work in progress, about 2 hours worth of time spent.

Ink brush line art with digital color.

red bump rising

Snow! More snow! It was snowing when I got up. And it had even stuck a little. To be safe, I opted out of biking to school and walked with Karen. There was no word of cancellation so we trudged on in many many layers.

I got a couple problems wrong with the math work but that was mostly in the tally sections where I included some of the probable outcomes twice. He threw more probability at us, such as the probability of drawing this AND that and with or without replacement. Robin was very sarcastic and the teacher called her out a little. In a silly way. That girl, ooohh.

So after class, Karen showed me how to screen print! She showed me how to apply the emulsion, how to clean the screens, how to expose, how to set up an image to expose, and all that. We did it in two parts, separated by digital painting. It is pretty easy. I should get a screen, whoo! Have screen printing Tuesdays or something.

A guy came in and talked to us about our opinion of the school. He was looking to apply and wanted some student opinions so we gave him ours.

I am going to run for Student Clubs Coordinator. I will be a little chunk of change at the end of the semester. I will help sort out the clubs and all that. I'm up against Jeremy and Melissa (not a Melissa I know, actually I am not even sure if that is her name err). I think I have a good chance. I'm running my campaign with "Accept whatever brings us together". Like, silly clubs are okay as long as people show up. That is the point after all. I have a poster ready to photocopy and post tomorrow. I might do a larger version as well. Get right on it! Yeah!

Digital Painting was super fun. We mostly played around with sketches in photoshop. Played around with layer blending and brushes and the massive Wacom tablets. Mine is so junior compared to these puppies. I am working on a picture of Miss Clock. It is mostly two color shading with minimal fancy techniques. I'll play with it some more on Thursday. For a late snack, Karen and I split some JoeJoes from Safeway. Mmm, warm potato wedges.

After class, Karen showed me how to print. The two MFA's were in there as well. They were doing this quite massive prints. The one I was doing was very tiny. It worked out FABULOUS! I still need to master the application of smooth color but I will get there. I pulled some quality, single color prints. Go me! We missed the streetcar by a couple minutes so we walked back. Our return home became a musical as we sang our thoughts and feelings and ideas in a lovely, tone deaf manner.

I worked on my campaign poster and my woodblock design. The poster, which is more of a flier, is done. The woodblock is readyish. I feel like it needs something...well I'll find out.

I sent out thank you cards tonight. Well I put them in the box drop so they will go out tomorrow.

Miss Clock - Rejected Sketch

A character sketch I did for my comic concept last night. The body shape became overworked so I scrapped it.

taxman

Illustration Studio! Whoo! I'm always excited for my core classes because well, that is what I am here for. The class has a large number of familiar faces (minus, sadly, Bekka and Madeline who are in the Friday class). Dominic, Robin, April, Kevin, Janessa and her boy, Jon W, Chelsey, and Marilyn are all there. The teachers switched and we have Joe instead of Daniela (same Joe that teaches Digital Painting). It looks to be a fun class. He has an awesome background and is very varied and hip and "with it". We started out with doing some doodles and exchanging them and making the doodles into something. Mine became a person recoiling, I thought it worked pretty cool. We were doing this thing while he sorted out the projector. The introduction was similar to the other class but I didn't stutter through mine as much. I mentioned liking Tony Moore and Joe mentioned knowing him. Everyone knows everybody.

We took an early lunch and I grabbed some soup from Yo's. He raised his prices sadly but damn that soup is good and filling. I sat at a table in the library by myself but then Mel and Melissa joined me, and then J (formally known as Jen), and then Madeline. It was a nice lovely feeling to have so many people around me. The early lunch ended short of an hour so I had to head back prematurely.

We did a drawing exercise and talked about the syllabus. We will be doing a steady amount of life drawing homework. Sounds great, I have a good rhythm for that type of thing. The last hour of class was spent pretending the classroom was a coffee shop and drawing one another. It was fun. I have high hopes for this class.

Got all my tax info in. Now to do it. Also got my shiny new license. Yay! No more wielding my passport around.

Finished rewriting my math homework in the proper form. Finished a drawing for some extra project. Wrote out most of the riddles for my comic. It was productive.

The girls came over for a few episodes of House. Robin really doesn't like his character, what with him being a jerk and all. A little House goes a long way. I worked on my work, they worked on theirs, and it was a nice little night.

day and a fourth

The metal bleachers hurt my bum. Stupid, affordable seating. I dressed too lightly for the kind of weather that was happening, namely snow. Bloody snow! Nothing worth sticking but still snow. I met Jason and Joe on the Max. They were on the blue and we coordinated so they wouldn't have to get off and meet me. Jason had about four layers on, I had three and no scarf and thin jeans. It wasn't so bad but it wasn't that great either. We switched to the Yellow and rode it all the way to the last stop. I've only gone to the last stop on the Red before (for the airport). The Expo Center is huge! There were like, three events going on. It took us a while to find the Rose City Rollers. Well not a while but when we found them, it was fairly obvious.

It was great to see such a turn out. There were 8 bleachers around a flat, temporary rink (it was some sort of large, constructed rubber mat). They all filled up. We sat on the high part so we could get a good view of the whole thing. Our little trio was there about 45 minutes early. The show started with an awesome drum line and then two annoying announcers came out and gabbed. The teams were introduced and each member went out and posed. There was The Guns N' Rollas, the Heartless Heathers, The High Rollers, and the Break Neck Betties. I was rooting for the Heartless Heathers because their outfits were not showy and they looked serious. Roller Derby is where girls on skates go in circles and one person gets points by overtaking the other teams skaters after getting ahead of them and getting back around. There is a lot of shoving and pushing and falling and about 6 referees are needed. All the girls had pretty amazing toned legs and a few had awesome outfits. A fun thing about Derby is that all the girls come up with puns for their names. My favorites were Wreck Deckard and J.K. Rolling. The first bout was between The Break Neck Betties and Guns N' Rollas. It was close but GNR came out on top. They had a really good strategy. The points can get racked up fairly quick in Roller Derby. Heartless Heathers beat the High Rollers by nearly double in their bout. They were near 100 by the end of the half hour period.

Halftime had a not really all that good musical act. I was too busy waiting in line for the bathroom to pay much attention. A lady came by and directed the line to a secret ladies room father down the hall. No waiting! Hurrah! After that, Jason and I shared a lemonade slushie that had almost too much sugar for me. Chilly drink, chilly hall, chilly Trill, oh well!

The next two bouts were first the losers vs the losers and then the winners vs the winners. Break Neck Betties lost to the High Rollers by a larger margin. Near the end you could really tell how exhausted the players were. They just were not going as fast or being able to overtake one another. The Heartless Heathers won again by almost double again. They really slayed GNR. I rooted for them and they did it. Whoo! Roller Derby is fun but my attention would drift. It didn't change up enough that it was gripping for all two hours of it. At 9:30, we numbly staggered towards the yellow line. It was waiting there for us and we grabbed some seats. It became really crowded as its departure time loomed. We rode it to Pioneer Place and switched to the other train. A quick hug and a peck on the cheek was exchanged and I waved goodbye to Jason and Joe as they scooted off to Beaverton.

Katie and her friend Patty were watching Santa's Slay. I huddled up in my room doing other things for a while but I cam out when they put on The Hunger, a sort of Vampire movie from the 80's which stars David Bowie. It had nice direction but I was so tired that it went right over my head. Still, I watched it all and then went to bed.

Today I slept in! Big surprise!

I put on Dead Ringers and worked on the initial layout sketches for my first woodblock. It is going to be one of those pieces that several things collect together to make another shape. I am having several animals form to make a face. My face as it is for a self portrait assignment. Now I need to collect references and do a proper version. I also wrote out some ideas for my comic. Dead Ringers was WEIRD. It was good and it was a good psychological thriller but it left me feeling very disturbed. Jeremy Irons plays twin genius infertility doctors and their lives fall apart and they both go crazy. It was weird but well constructed. The madness descent was very balanced.

I finally finished watching A Very Long Engagement. Jean-Pierre Jeunet rocks.

I ate a gigantic dinner and then went over to Robin and Diana's for Munchkin and then I found out that they were preparing a dinner for all of us. I had a small little taco but that was all I could really manage. I was so totally stuffed. Beyond that really. But it is good to eat eat eat because some days I don't eat as much as I should. We played Munchkin Bites at first and it was fun but then we started exchanging riddles and word games and things and it fell apart. I left earlier than others. I wasn't feeling too good. Might have been the excess of food.

Tomorrow is the first day of my new Illustration Studio. New teacher. I heard that the class might be technique focused. Hmmn.

Initial thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Spencer. Thank you for the wonderful card, I promise I did not spend my birthday money all at once (I think I have some left even). Averie also sent me a card, that was awesome. Dad's fine wooden bowl is containing balloons right now and I am wearing the awesome Singapore shirt.

going out and staying in and standing in the door way

Bekka stayed the night and we both slept in till 11. Luna traded beds quite often. What a loving little kitty. We woke up with green tea and oatmeal and The Tick. I walked her to the Max and hugged her goodbye and quickly showered up.

The RA's were having a little food party with burgers and hot dogs and chips. Charades were also to be had for awesome prizes. I woke one of those elongated forks that you can use to steal other people's food. There were Da Vinci, Van Gogh, and Blackbeard toys but I really wanted that fork. Whooo!! There was a fair number of people around and coming in and out. I talked with Junko a little bit. My Japanese is horrible but it might be good practice to converse with her. Well it would be good practice.

My birthday was fun.

Today, well rather tonight, Jason and I are going to the Rose City Rollers to see some roller derby. It is a long way out and I don't know when I'll be back so I'm just putting this up now. I feel bad when I miss a post.

shindiggies

Whoo! Birthday Shindig was a huge success in my book. I got a late start but everything came together with plenty of time to spare. Ate breakfast, ate lunch, went to Safeway. I bought some more sake (cheap but good and cozy) and I wasn't carded. I had my passport out, ready to show him but I guess he didn't need to see it. Noticed I was ready to provide proof. Anyway, got my feeding friends supplies so it was time to prepare!

After cleaning!

And dishes!

I got it all tidied up in less time than I expected. I made the gluten free brownies first. Bought the mix because Diana is intolerant to the stuff. I think it turned out right. It was edible so I guess it was supposed to fall apart like that. I made a batch of chocolate fudge cupcakes. I bought the icing and had left over sprinkles so I went with last years decorating choice of letting my guests make their own. Everything was set out and ready to go! So I put on A Very Long Engagement and waited for people to show up.

Bekka and Madeline came together and it was awesome. We put on Fifth Element and got settled. Kristen and Chelsey followed soon after. Amanda was next and a little later came Karen, Robin, and Diana. We all managed to seat ourselves comfortably and the movie was highly enjoyable. Fifth Element is a lovely movie to watch with a group. Fast paced, easy to follow, and plenty of laughs abound. The cupcakes were devoured, cheese puffs were consumed, laughs were had. After the movie Kristen and Chelsey left. The remaining ones gathered in a circle and we played Uno with the new sleek cards that I got for my birthday. I can't quite remember who won but it wasn't me. I think Amanda won the second turn. Hmmn. It was really fun. Uno can go for so long. Diana and Karen skipped out to do some RA stuff. I set us up with Wario Ware and Mario Kart. I made some tea, brought out the sorbet, and tried to be the best hostess I could be. Could have been better but oh well. Karen brought a vegetable platter so there was a little balance to the sweets. There were a lot of sweets. After the games, Diana left and Adam showed up. I set up my speakers and computer and put on The Fall for the remaining crew. The sound went in and out on my horrible speakers but the gist of movie was caught. Anyway, The Fall isn't watched for the sound anyway. Lovely!

I had a wonderful birthday. Lots of people showed up, sweets were consumed, and I had fun. It was nice. Bekka is staying over because she takes the Max to Hillsboro. We are chatting while I blog.

pool and probability

Katie and I arrived at the theatre to find that JCVD was only playing late on the weekends. What a bummer! We ended up going to Momo's instead. There was a large enough amount of people that it didn't feel odd being there on a Wednesday night, but it wasn't so full that I was uncomfortable. Katie bought us a matching set of Long Island Iced Tea and we set in on them at a center booth. As I finished, one of the cute pool playing boys asked us to join them. We did. There were two of them, tall shaved head Jeff and shorter short haired Mikey. Jeff bought me a Kamikaze and Mikey bought me a White Russian. My drinks were spaced fairly evenly through the hours so I didn't PARTY HAAARDDYYY. Not my thing anyway. I was out to have some fun, and I did. We played some pool (Mikey was on my team, we won the first game and Jeff and Katie won the next). I sunk a few in. I hit my finger on the table and a chunk of skin came off. It sorta hurt but oh well. Jeff took an interest in Katie. Mikey held his interest in pool, which is fine because I still have my interest in that curled haired computer science major named Jason. We talked about which dinosaur we would want to be, school, art, and other things. We left at around 1:30am. It was a lovely little birthday all around, even though we didn't see JCVD.

Thank whatever that my class was at 9:30. I was still tired and drifted off a little bit but I think I understood the probability explanations. The homework wasn't due but I have it done. So I'm ahead in this one class! Hurray, what good news. After class, Robin was caught by the teacher griping about the pace. She is a smartie so artists math is a little easy for her.

I wasn't feeling up to riding home and back again so I took a nap in the library. Jen, Robin, Karen and I all commandeered the couches and poured over the artbooks. One by one they left and I was left to doze. Another girl took the other couch indicating that my idea was a good one. Eventually Karen returned and she escorted me to Quiznos. I devoured my sandwich while reading Terry's very personal zine. Terry rocks. He is working on an awesome Pushing Daisies piece.

Digital Painting was productive. Some of the little techniques went by a little quick for my learning but I picked them up well enough. We worked with overlaying things and transforming objects to look like they are on a curve. It was very educational but hard to follow. Like, you are doing it at the same time and all of a sudden the rest of the instructions have passed in a blink. It was a quick little class. I can't wait to get into the bigger projects.

On the way home, I got some stuff for my birthday shindig tomorrow from Trader Joe's. Picked up some gluten free brownie mix so Diana won't miss out on the sweets tomorrow. I love Trader Joe's. Picked up a lot of little things.

Karen, Robin, and Diana all stopped by for House. Karen and I watched more episodes. I think we watched three. Wonderful show. I really need to watch more of the second season. Tomorrow is my shindig! Have to bake and clean and clean some more even though it won't be enough.

21 on the 21st, my Golden Birthday

Last night (or rather this morning) was very fun! The sake was thoroughly enjoyed by me and the movie was hilarious because of it. It was shot all in sepia tone and had a long sequence with hopping Roman gladiators. It was bad bad bad but it was fun. And I had a pretty good sleep and no issues with getting up.

Graphic Novel is as was said. August, Lacey, and Maddison are in my class. It will be focused on one project with some deadlines. Most of the stuff will be due pre-finals in time for Stumptown. I think I might try and do a series of chapters, that way I can finish as many as I have time for and not rush a huge project.

I stopped by Office Max to pick up some notebooks, envelopes, and mechanical pencils.

For a little while, all the printmaking classes grouped together and they chatted about the department. I gave an invite to Madeline for my birthday. Then the two classes split up. My woodblock and screen class has Patrick (the one who I told off a year ago, he seems to be a lot more focused and joyful so I'm down with that), Phil, Diana, Devin, and Junko. A few others I recognize but don't know right now are there as well. It seems like it will be good.

For lunch Karen peer pressured me into going to On Deck, a sports bar a block from the school. We shared an order of onion rings and we each had a lovely pale ale to accompany it. Diana watched us drink. It was a nice cozy rozy little lunch (we have an hour at school to eat). Some people came in to sell us woodblock tools, I am sharing with Karen so I just bought some wood and a small u carver. Most of class was spent discussing what editions meant and what the assignments will be like. No tutorial yet but next week it seems like we shall be hardcore into it. The design for the woodblock is due then and we will start carving.

Rode home and took it easy. Karen stopped by for an episode of House. I ate some pizza. I got my box from home! My birthday box! I got the Leyendecker book, the Juxtapoz Illustration book, Bangkok Haunts, Stardust dvd, some new cons, some card games, and gummy worms and some other wonderful stuff. It was a big box of spoiled Trillian.

Now Katie and I are going out to see JCVD and drink a little.

Happy birthday to me! 21! The time goes by so fast.

bloga bloga bloga

School has started. Math used the whole class. We introduced ourselves and made sure to talk about something interesting. Jen, Karen, and Robin are in my class. It is the Rubik's cube class. We have homework. I was quick to call Jason for help after class. I think it will be cool. It is artists math after all. We did a quick survey to find out the probability of having two people with the same birthday in our class. No one had the same birthday but there were about 5 clusters that were really close.

9:30 is a much nicer class period to attend.

I worked on my homework in the library and checked out some movies. I talked to Gordon in the commons for about an hour. Chatted about fiction and nonfiction, I suggested some comics, talked about projects. He has nice, new glasses.

I rode home. Didn't feel like sticking around. Watched Daily Show. Relaxed.

Painting Techniques was introductions and some Googling and suggestions of artists. cool site, like youtube for images: http://ffffound.com Bryan, Erin, Lee, James (who got a free tattoo recently), Terry, Nathalie, Karen, Jen, and a few cool others are in the class. We let out early.

I called Jason for some more math help. Karen came over for House. The projector draws a big crowd. Karen, Adam, and I went to Safeway at 12:45am to utilize my 21 status. Now I shall drink sake and watch a movie with the crew. Tomorrow I am going with Katie to Living Room Theatres to watch JCVD (it is a fancy bar theatre). Yay!

Bacon Man!!

There was sleeping in and no going out this morning. I brewed up a pot of Billy Tea and all too soon it was time to stroll to the station. With an hours worth of time to do it, Llyw and I opted out of taking the streetcar or max. A guy was yelling at the Safeway cops. It was a lovely little visit but it ended all too soon.

I didn't feel like heading back to my place so I called Jen to find out if she wanted to catch the 2:15 matinee of The Wrestler at Cinema 21. I read Alex Garland's Coma while waiting outside the theatre for her. It is a brilliant day, not too chilly to get nippy and not too hot to overheat. With much time to spare, Jen and I went to the Blue Moon cafe for lunch. I had a root beer and a cheeseburger with tater tots. It was the perfect portion of food. The Wrestler was good. The character interaction seemed very real and it was a beautiful character portrait. Something just didn't click all the way through. It was very different for an Aronofsky movie.

Jen and I strolled but I split at 19th to go home. I took a bath to relax. I read some more of Coma. Felt like watching a bad movie so I watched The Happening. It was bad. Katie's friends Tom and Nikki came over and we watching Sharks in Venice. It is about this hidden gold that the Mafia wants and has put sharks in the Venetian canals to prevent people from getting it. Enter the emotionless Stephen Baldwin: archaeologist and diver! His leg got bitten off but...it wasn't. It was bad but good. Happening was just bad. Nikki (Nicky?)is pregnant. I suggested the name Bacon. The father's last name is Man(Mann?).

School tomorrow. Math. Digital painting.

"I like how scott is completely and totally stupid"

While Llyw reads Scott Pilgrim, I shall write!

The train came in right on time. A little brisk walk and a job landed us right on the Red Max to Goose Hollow. We relaxed a little bit and then it was time to introduce him to my friends. Karen, Adam, Diana, and Robin were at Karen's. There were macaroons and popcorn. Diana tucked in early. We tried to figure out Killer Bunnies and near the end we got it but then it was over and Karen won. I had a lot of carrots but no bunnies. After the game we stayed up for way too long chatting. The process of distillation was brought up, glass work, story telling, ninjas, what people would do for a million dollars, and more ninjas. There was a lot of ninjas.

At around 2am we crawled into my apartment. Katie set us up with a sweet foam thingy and sleeping bag. Gabe is locked out of his place. Gabe made us breakfast. Fritata! It was fluffy and delicious.

The ability to set right out adventuring was hampered by a Goose Hollow Pod meeting at 2. It was tiny and not really well attended. We talked about activities we would like to do. I ate some ginger snaps. Then it was back to my apartment and time to adventure! The general course of action was to go to Compound Gallery via the Skidmore Fountain Max Stop and work our way up. Compound had lovely prints for good prices. Not the most amazing selection. A significant portion of their current gallery show was lame and dull. There were some pieces that had some brilliant type and lovely hues.

It was time to eat again but Ichiban Sushi would not open till 4pm. We killed time in the Powell's Technical Books. We got in right on time. The place filled up quick. Heather the print aide works there and she was very nice and chatty. I stuffed my face and even tried a little wasabi. It was delightful.

Cold set in. We hobbled over to Peet's Coffee House and thus began a long series of ping pong voice mail messages to Auntie Celia. She was breezing through town and all she wanted was some coffee. When we got back to my place we Googled directions but she was already in downtown and just needed to be told to go up Jefferson. Starbucks was open till 7. She parked on the hill, we met her, we hugged. It was wonderful! I didn't get a good enough chance to catch up with her over break. She got a nice amount of coffee and, well, we caught up. She was wearing the awesome hat I gave her for Christmas. I miss my auntie C.

After that we spent the rest of the night in. We watched about seven-eights of Repo: The Genetic Opera. Played WarioWare (I didn't win). Time went by far too quick. By noon tomorrow Llyw will be on the train to Seattle. And then school.

big blue eyed bond

The fire alarm went off at 2:30. It was from an actual fire this time. It was triggered by someone on our floor. A sprinkler went off and the hallway had a big pool of water. They rigged up some fans to blow on it and dry it but seeing as how they set them up in the AM and the alarm is horrid, Katie and I couldn't quite sleep. Lots of noise and agitation. So we relaxed with Big Trouble. At around 4 we crawled back into bed.

And at around noon we both crawled into action. Jen and I met up at 2:15 to take another try at some cheesesteaks. Failure! Again! Where is that guy? We love him. We wanted his food. Boo! We went to Roxy's instead. A steak dip sandwich isn't nearly as good as a cheesesteak. Still, it was nice. A lovely little lunch. Jen's short do still looks great. It was one of those deceptive sunny days where you should have really brought a thick coat.

After lunch we walked over to Fox Tower to see about watching something indie and good. Slumdog Millionaire was the first choice but it was too crowded so we changed out tickets to Defiance. It was a long movie with nice sets and costumes. It is about how during the war, some Russian Jewish people hid out in the forest. They moved camp many times and started over. I like movies that focus on the hiding over the concentration camps. It was sad, of course, but you know a few of them have to survive because at the start it says it is a true story. Daniel Craig's accent wasn't too laughable and the battle sequences were knuckle biting.

I've got the snuffles. I don't know if it is a cold or if it turns out that I am actually allergic to long haired kitties.

We hugged goodbye and I went back home to try and get it clean enough. Presentable enough. Now to go get Llyw from the train station! Hurray!

boo on you Ooohreegaaahn

Okay. Seriously. What the hell, Oregon? $39 for a new ID? A million forms of proof that it is me? In Washington you just show up with your old ID and you can get a new one. No second form of proof, no verification of where you live, nothing. They trust people.

With a flask of Billy Tea shared betwixt us, Karen, Adam, and I went up to Vancouver, Washington to procure new IDs. We decided not to deal with the most irksome Oregon DMV and just renew our Washington ones. Also, it seems a better idea to just keep my parents address because it would be costly to change my address every time I move in Portland. If I move like, 4 times in the next five years then that is $25 a pop for new ones. Washington is just $10. Because I renewed it before I turn 21, the orientation is that of a minor but it doesn't expire till 2014. Whoo! I'm a big girl. They let me take my picture again because the lady thought I didn't smile. We waited about 20 minutes and we all were called in succession. We all got through it right quick. Like, under five minutes we were all done after our numbers were called. A little trust goes a long way when it comes to efficiency.

BILLY TEA! SO AWESOME!

After the quick IDs we all we to a Mongolian Grill, all you can eat. I only had one plate of meat and noodles and some vegetables but I had all I could eat of ice cream with caramel and chocolate dribbled all over it. Mmm. I like soft ice cream.

Matt came over for some movies. We watch Repo: The Genetic Opera. A musical about this guy that steals organs from people that can't pay for them. It came from a stage production. It was very silly but highly enjoyable. Good, gruesome effects. Of course it was watched on the projector. To round off the gore we watched Fargo. I was expecting a lot more from it. It seemed very simple and straight forward. People make mistakes. It doesn't work out. Did I miss something? Mom HATES this movie but loves Hot Fuzz? Hot Fuzz has more violence than Fargo. Ehh? Yeah. After the double feature I kicked Matt out. Well not kicked.

I had a tuna fish sandwich. Mmm.

Got a letter informing me that I am on the Dean's List.

trill vs the man

So today's big quest was to renew my driver's license so I could get a pretty one all fresh for my 21st year. Hurray! DMV wasn't a long wait. I had my passport, my old ID, and three proofs of where I live now to show them. Turns out I needed a sixth thing: proof that the social security number that I wrote down was in fact the same one I used for my passport and all that. The number was on my grades but he said he couldn't use that because how do they know that that might not be my school ID. I whipped out my school ID which has my school ID number which is clearly different. Still not good enough. I might have become irked and asked to see a higher up if the guy helping me wasn't so nice about it. I took the driver's test in the instance that later, if I found something with my SSN, I could come in and get my ID. I failed the test. It would be easy question, easy question, and then something about how you are actually supposed to slow down if someone is tailgating you. What? I always go the speed limit because slowing down just pisses tailgaters off. I slow down when they are passing to make it easier and safer. So even if I had the stuff, I would have waited a day. But still a day is fine. Now there is a big runaround. I asked mom to send me my SSN. Karen and I are going to Washington to see about doing it there because it is cheaper and requires less proof of identity. Be good to have my SSN anyway because I've run into this sort of problem before.

It is all screwy. Boo DMV, booo!!

Hung out with the girls tonight. Just sort of read and they worked on things and discussed RA stuff. Well they discussed RA stuff. I drifted off into space. Robin sewed some lovely buttons onto a shirt for me. They look awesome. Whee!

Started watching Peep Show. It is a two person point of view camera BBC comedy. A little silly and uncomfortable at times but it does have nice build up.

Tomorrow: road trip to Vancouver! And Saturday night Llyw is coming into town for a little visit. Yay! Oh did I mention I'm working on thank you cards? Because I've been working on thank you cards.

the teabag pod

Bad news! Daniel called me to inform me that the Graphic Novel course I was taking only had four people in it. It might become an independent study that focuses on one huge project due at the end. We would meet every couple weeks or so. Not be a steady class. Really sucks, it was the class I was looking forward to the most. But hey, might be good to learn now how to dedicate myself to a project that doesn't have a weekly class structure. Very important when it comes to comics. Booo!!

I caught up on my back issues of The Boys. Then I went to Powell's and treated myself to P. Craig Russell's edition of Coraline. As well as a couple really great deals in terms of anthologies. Less crowded than my last visit to Powell's. I had a lovely chat about comics with the guy who rung me up. He had no idea of the comic version of Coraline. It looks really nice.

It was very chilly but I didn't bring a coat. A little bit of chill goes away fast when you are scooting uphill on a heavy bike.

Robin stopped by for a quick Hi and I lured her into a viewing of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. I made a big bowl of popcorn and some tea and we enjoyed it on the projector. Having a projector says a lot about your status. Means you have enough money to own one and some place to project on. Robin was adorable during the suspenseful end of the movie. It does keep you on your toes.

After the movie we went for a lovely walk around the neighborhood. Peeking at peoples places and finding spooky spots. The usual. Some wonderful houses and some magnificent stairs. Lots an lots of stairs. Robin led and I followed. Near the end my thighs were hurting from so much exercise. A very foreign concept. After the walk we sat about looking at YouTube videos while waiting for Diana to return. She did. We all hugged and talked. I called it good night.

Whew! long day where I did stuff. Now that people are back we can start doing game nights again.