I'm with the band

Wheee! Spent all day in the recording studio with Odd Owl. I was filming them while they recorded. Eight hours, but it didn't feel like that long, all things said.

In the morning, I burned my first bagel, and cut myself cutting my second. Still, it was tasty stuff when smeared with creme cheese. Also had a cuppa tea.

At 1pm, I got the call and put the camera and tripod in my car, and off I went to Daly City! It was trafficy, but not too complex. Didn't even miss an exit. The recording studio was pretty nifty. Lots of equipment and cables and things I kept well away from, lest I mess something up. I got my tripod set up, and filmed bits and pieces of Carmen, Stephen, and Adam (Phil was working and wouldn't be in to record till later) and when they got into the full practices, I got shots of them going through the whole song separately, and from different angles when available. Hope I got enough for them to use, for whatever purpose.

There was an hour break, and Carmen, Adam and I got sushi. I got a tempura plate. Num nums. Phil arrived then, and he got some sushi as well. We chatted about Doctor Who and then it was back to work! Lots of set up, and Stephen and Adam took down the drum kit and other things. At the end of the day, it was just Phil putting his guitar track in.

I think the new track sounds awesome. Can't wait for them to complete it.

I had to park a few blocks over, but it's all good. I now have a key to the house! Yay!

Now we are watching Star Trek, and I'm snacking.

the sky is pretty at night

Had a nice long walk with C & J after dinner, which was tasty Pad Thai. Went into Golden Gate Park a bit. Found a quesadilla maker. They found one, in a box. And took it home. Hahaa.

Looked for more joby jobs. Want to visit Santa Cruz again. Somewhere more mellow. Carmen and I drove downtown and went to Trader Joe's for shopping. I got some Trillfood. It was so...crowded. Lots of people and big buildings and foreign roads. Ahhh. Overwhelming! Good to see a bit more of the city, though I haven't really explored.

I had toast and tea for breakfast. And we got some tasty buns from a Chinese Bakery. Num nums! And the pad thai was excellent. I've agreed to make dinner once a week, so I need to look up a recipe. A recipe I am capable of making. MMmhmm!

Phil dropped by for a bit after practice with Carmen (well he came back with Carmen) but he was on his way pretty quick.

I need to take some serious initiative. Get my feet moving. Get out there. Get my name on people's lips.

But I also really want to find work somewhere...more mellow. I'm a pretty slow paced person, I feel. Big cities are just so...big!

red shirts & risotto

My trial version of InDesign expired, so that makes it quite tricky to update my resume. Buuut, I saved all the various resumes that I wrote up, so I have a bunch of .pdf versions of different configurations. Like, ones for graphic design and production and screen print and all that jazz. Sucks but not totally awful. Applied for a few more jobs.

Carmen made shortbread, and combined with their jam? Ohhh boy. Good stuff. Totally getting spoiled with good cooking. I hope to learn a few tricks and things. I want to be a better cook.

For lunch, we went down and got some Vietnamese sandwiches. Nummy goodness, and quite affordable. Later on I finished up my pulled pork sandwich leftovers. Sandwich is for sure the type of food that I like the most.

I kept on the down low in my room for a bit while Carmen was giving some vocal lessons, then it was risotto time! Damn good cooking. Very hearty. After dinner, we watched some Star Trek. The original series. Ohhh the first episode did not age well. Quite, err, sexist...and strange. The next one was good, though still a bit odd. Amazing the difference 45 years can make.

Tomorrow? More jobs. Also will look more into those agencies. That is how Josh said he got a job...through a hiring type firm place. I do feel more motivated here, but that could just be the momentum from the move.

trill in SF

I am in San Francisco! Yay! And the job hunt continues with a fervor. It is also nice to have more people around, Josh & Carmen will be here far more than Nathan. And Carmen works from home, so I'll be able to pick her brain about things.

Nate when off to work and I bid him farewell at that time. I played some Skyrim, and then got to packing things up. I left a good amount behind. Well, not a good amount, but enough to not overwhelm my guest status. Clothes, art supplies, etc. Every move, I can take less with me. That is, until I find a job and an apartment. Then I have to start getting things again. But that is...well hopefully not too far away.

I left Redwood City at 6:20ish. Car drove just fine on the freeway. There was a bit of traffic, but I wasn't too held up. An hour between here and there.

I arrived and then we drove down to the Tenderloin District to eat at Farmer Brown; a southern food place. I had pulled pork and a pint. There was also gumbo and jambalaya and catfish. Though that is what they ate. It was an excellent meal. Back at the house, there was street parking for me. Yay! Josh helped me bring my stuff in, and it didn't seem like that much stuff. It all tucked away quite neatly. It helped that there was a chest of drawers and space under the bed to tuck things away.

Nathan just texted me saying it was lonely at the apartment. Awww.

vampires, zombies, nords, Oh my!

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

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

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

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

I'm a good listener

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunday, blissful Sunday

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

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

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

A list is what I need to make.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to a lovely mummy!

saturrday

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

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

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

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

car-no-go

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

Ahh.

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

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

Poor Quentyn

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

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

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

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

a common Wednesday

I'm totally kicking butt at Skyrim.

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

So no more Skyrim for Trill, come Sunday.

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

Washed some dishes. Looked for jobs. Mmmhmm.

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

Here is a drawing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

mediocre monday, though I did kick butt in Skyrim

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunday. Sweet Sunday.

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

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

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

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

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

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

green & purple tell a tale

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

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

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

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

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

Ahhh Breaking Bad is so good.

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

Pida is a sweet doggie

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

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

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

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

Here are some cute pictures:

HULK SMASH!!

I got my ticket for Danny Boyle's Frankenstein. It will be a screening on June 6th, and June 7th. I MAY break down and get a ticket for the 7th as well. I will not be missing this, either way. In the show, the lead actors would change roles. So I would like to see it with both actors (Johnny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch) as both Frankenstein and the Monster. AHhhh!! I was hyperventilating a little bit when my purchase went through.

Anyway. Applied to some more jobs.

Ran some errands. Drove all the way down into Palo Alto trying to find a place to get fuel injector cleaner. I mean, I probably could have stopped at a bunch of places but I kept missing them and El Camino Real is a bitch of a road to go back the other way on. Anyway. Put that stuff in my tank, and got some gas, and then did some shopping at Safeway. Mmm food.

Had a bit of a headache.

Played some Skyrim. That made my headache go away. Also ate some fruit. Yay fruit.

Nate came home at 10:30, we chilled a bit, and then at 11:15 we went to the theater and got tickets for the 12:06 showing of The Avengers. Hurray! Summer movie season has started!

Movie did not disappoint. Action, characters, humor, all that fun stuff. It is 3am though, so I can't give it a full write up. Still. It was much fun. Hulk was really, really good.

Anyway. Goodnight!

just say YES to illustrators

Did y'all like the Odd Owl drawing?

After my oatmeal breakfast, I got back on the job hunting front. One job specifically listed "no illustrators". I applied anyway, but jeeze! Way to be all like "no" to talented people. Whatever.

But yeah, job hunting. Fun stuff. Applying and applying and hoping someone will through you a bone and get you in for an interview.

Nathan brought home Jack in the Box for dinner. His treat! What a nice brother. We watched Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows. Fun film.

Didn't run errands. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll run errands.

just worked on that piece. that is it. yes.

Was planning on job searching, but finishing the drawing for Odd Owl took all day. So much repetitive detail, and so much effort to keep from getting sloppy. Still, I am pretty damn pleased with it. Haven't drawn a house in a long while. I had Oz playing in the background and I drew drew drew! Then I finished it up, drove down to Kinkos and they scanned them for me. And it was a good scan too. Didn't need a whole lot of tweaking.

Need to make a grocery run tomorrow. And put gas in the car. Time to make an errand list! Oh, and look and apply for jobs. Need to start that cycle again.

Been here almost a month now. Blimey!