my handsome fuzzy pants
Kazoo showing off his very handsome fuzzy sweater! :)
photo field trip..
I uploaded a few photos:- I'm stoked on my new iPod case! I bought it at the mac store when Haylie was here, and truly I'm STOKED on this thing! I had previously just been using the case that comes with the iPod (I know, how lame!?) but that one was extra annoying in the car because I wanted to still keep it in the case to protect it, but every time I wanted to see what was playing I had to pull it out of the case. Actually same with the gym.... but now I can see it!! And I keep the backlight on most all the time cuz that's the way I LIKE IT! But I wish the iPod had a setting that let me set the backlight settings for when it's charging and for when it's not! I also uploaded a shot of my aux-in/charger combo set up in my car. Ya, I know, I'm a geek. Who takes photos of this stuff? :)
- Here's Haylie's beautiful painting of the roses! (see detail shot)
- Jeff & I had a late business lunch yesterday and then a mini photo field trip! We ate at Platanos, which was pretty yummy! We were the only ones in there at 2 in the afternoon, but I know it gets really busy for dinner and my friend Rebecca has raved about it. We started off with the guacamole and it came with plantane chips - crispy, sweet & salty - super yumm! The rest of the meal was yummy, too - but if you go, get the guac for sure! :)
After lunch we stopped off at the Mission Dolores Church for a little photo field trip. I had never been there before and it was pretty cool. It really is amazing some of the beautiful places we have in this city. We travel all the way to Italy to see their amazing churches and really we have some incredible places like it right here in this city. (like the breathtaking painted ceilings in City Hall!).
View all photos in this albumSo anyway - we went there specifically to take some comparison shots between the SD400 he was reviewing & my new SD500 (which he was reviewing, and then I bought it :). Here's his comparison shots he posted from the trip. Looking at the large sizes you can definitely see the 7.1 Megapixel vs. the 5.0 - even though I know that for all my purposes of the web, I'll hardly need that awesome detail - but ya never know! I still recall Maggie, after hearing my SD500 was 7.1 megapixels, saying "USE IT! Print huge posters!" :) I think that sounds fun actually! I should. But of what? My kitty? hahhaa. Umm, you laugh, but I just might!
Just in case you are wondering what the differences are between the 2 cameras - it basically comes down to the SD500 has more megapixels, a longer flash range, a tad longer battery life, is just *slightly* bigger & heavier - but still fits in the backpocket! - and the controls are a bit different (switching from play to manual mode to movie, etc). Also, as you'll see on the comparison photos Jeff took, the SD500 always looks more zoomed-in than the SD400. That's because the SD500 uses a larger sensor (because there aren't any tiny 7.1MP sensors yet), so the focal length changes (higher focal lengths are more telephoto). Thanks to Jeff for helping me state that in laymen's terms! :)
Alright now listen - since I talk about these camera's so damn much - if you're going to buy one of these, use these links to give me a kick back! My friend Misty just bought one & I coulda made 5%! What? I woulda bought you a beer or something! :)
- Buy the Canon Powershot Elph SD500
- Buy the Canon Powershot Elph SD400
stuff...
you should subscribe to hi-fructose magazine! it's a new deal from attaboy! oh my!check out my friend jen's nooworks tees & stuff - she's awesome! and she linked to me! oh my! I *SO* need to redesign - gah! but stoked on the linky none-the-less. she rules!
getting ready for coachella and am SO STOKED... our house we rented is only a few minutes miles away from the polo grounds so we can walk home if we want & avoid the horrible parking lot hell! And there's a pool! and we're going to be roaad trippin! Which I was thinking just might be one of my last road trips for awhile... I'm starting to get to the age that I will *so* spring for the flight & rental car. Speaking of - I'm planning a trip down to LA now, like in July or August! I have a ton of ppl I want to visit & need to make it happen! :)
Stoked also that this weekend the temps are high's of mid 80's (instead of the sweltering 104 we endured last year!), but the bummer of that is the evenings will drop to 60 - which I know we'll be even bigger babies about since we'll have been in the hot sun all day, even though we're totally used to it being 60 degrees all the time up here. Either way it sorta sucks we have to bring long sleeve shirts. I have to carry a bag! Last year Rick was my human carry-all :) His pockets fit my camera, lipshit, etc... so this year I'm on my own! oh well. I'm starting to psych myself up - a bag will be a good thing. I might even bring a little journal & doodle some indie rocker kids while I'm there! :)
I worked out yesterday & today - yesterday we did some hard core legs.. lunges and stuff.. which means tomorrow whenever we stop at a rest stop, getting out of the car is going to be stiff and painful. hahaa. And then the worst of today's arms workout will hit me Saturday and I'll have a hard time lifting the water to my mouth. hahhaaa Probably not that bad, but I'm actually stoked to be sore. Makes me feel all tough & in shape (even though I'm *SO* not - but I'm getting back into it!!)
I'm sad I'm leaving my kitty this weekend - but he's got my downstairs neighbor who he knows & loves... and I just took care of their kitties all week, so it's a good trade. He'll be fine - he's home & gets to play in the garden all day and then sleep in this cozy house at night.
Work is still a tad crazy - but getting a little more manageable which is awesome. Today is my illustrating day - which means it's dedicated to working on the 2 illustration projects I have! Not so bad to spend the day drawing. I love my life.
I'm not used to having a huge gap of 8 hours where I'm doing *nothing*, so I'm already feeling myself planning uber productivity for the car ride down. I can read! (currently reading The Kite Runner) I can draw! And if I were super motivated I might even go buy the transperancies and indian ink to start drawing up some things to silkscreen next weekend with Darren!! But part of that sounds messy & stuff... so I think instead I'll just sketch out some solid ideas for what I want to silkscreen.
I'm also tempted to bring my laptop. This is when I need that solar power charger for sure! I could just set that in the back window & be charged the whole trip down there! Bummer is I'm not sure we'll have internet down there - and taking it for it only to last 2 hours on the way down, and the way back seems somewhat silly - especially considering the cramped quarters I think we'll have with 4 of us in Jem's little car. BUT I could watch a movie on it on the way down, which would be cooL!
OK enough typing all these silly thoughts out... I must get back to work. :) Have a great weekend everyone!
photos
Here's the photo album from our weekend together. Haylie has more that I want to add to this [UPDATE: She has added a few & will add the rest soon!], since I'm missing lots that she 'documented' for us, but this will show you a few of the things we did! :)
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Also, I've posted photos from last weekend's party at Jem & Tania's!
sisters weekend!
We had a blast! (see the photos!)Thursday night after we came back here to drop off our stuff, immediately I grabbed a pen & paper to make a list of all the things we wanted to do so I was sure we were maximizing every minute of our short weekend together! And boy, did we!
Haylie mentioned that she wanted to go to Sanrio & Chinatown - and looking at the rest of our weekend, I was like - OK, let's go now!! So we headed downtown and hit the SF Center (Sanrio is now on the bottom floor there, instead of their huge flagship store), Sephora (one of Haylie's favorite stores!), Urban Outfitters, Apple store, and then finally to Chinatown. We were going to go to an IMAX at the Metreon, but by the time we'd wandered around and done a little shopping, it was too late to try to fit in dinner & then the movie - so we mosied around some more & then went & had a late dinner at the yummy Emmy's Spaghetti Shack. delish!! Hit the spot, cuz we were hungry!
Friday I worked, but Haylie was delighted to just hang in her PJ's on the computer at my place.. and she had some sites to work on, too. The girl is a photoshoppin, html'in, ftp'in girl just like her older sis! :)
Around 6 we got ready & went to Blowfish Sushi! They play anime and loud music & I thought Haylie would dig seeing such a funky restaurant. She's not an anime fan - and neither of us really liked the music - but the sushi was good! :)
We made it over to the Brain Wash cafe just in time to see our friends & chat w/ Jem & Jasmyn before they went on. Tanya, Misty, Ted & Darren were there - which was great for Haylie to meet all my friends! It was really cool to see my girl Jem sing & play! I had no idea she had so many skillz - she was playing the keyboards & singing, and then her acoustic guitar and singing. It was wonderful to see her & Jasmyn play all the songs they've been working on for the last month or so!
Jem has a really sweet, soft voice and I wanted to yell "More Vocals!" but I was afraid she'd say back to me (since I was just a few feet away) "Then it won't be soft!" :) Overall I was so happy to be there watching and supporting my favorite Jemmy Jem. I even wore my 2 JEM pins in celebration. I'm the pres of her fan club!
So after that Haylie & I were like "What should we do?" Go rent Napolean Dynamite! Yesssss! And the video store even had ice cream there - saved us a trip! woohoo! So we came home, and like the geek that I am while we watched the movie I organized a bunch of CD's that needed to be placed into the A-Z's. Awesome, because I'd been meaning to do that for months!!
Saturday we got up & went to breakfast at my favorite: Boogaloos! Cam & Jenna came to meet us, but were a bit late due to some unforseen chaos Cam incurred... but we at least got to see them on the way out! Cam is a sweetie (and a spaz) and gave Haylie a big hug & swung her around and Haylie loved it :) I was glad she at least got to meet them! We would have stayed to chat, but we had to rush over to our 11am class!
Haylie & I planned on taking a Silkscreening class at the Mission Cultural Center - and it was awesome!!! It was a 4 hour ordeal and our teacher was so nice & the facility is great! We had SOOO much fun & I can't wait to go back there & do more silkscreening!!
After we were done w/ that we were ready to come home for our scheduled "chill time". But Haylie was on a creative roll! So after checking email & such, she was like "Did you say you had paints? Cuz I really want to paint these roses out your window." And so I went & grabbed my paints & we set up Haylie a little painting station & she painted the beautiful pink roses that are blooming out my window. It came out great too!! She gave it to me (yay!) so I'll have to take a pic or scan it - it really came out amazing. She's so talented!!
While she was painting, I watched this documentary I've had on Netflix for awhile and was so happy to finally have time to watch it! It was on Robert Rauchenburg - who's one of my favorite artists & I have been wanting to see this for a long time. It was really quite timely too - because he's one of the foremost artists to use silkscreening in his work to the magnitude that he has. Truly amazing! I learned a lot about him and it was nice to relax a bit.
Saturday night we had dinner with Lyne at the Ethiopian restaurant on Valencia. I love Ethiopian myself and Haylie was a sport to try it! But unfortunately neither of the girls enjoyed it, which was a bummer. I guess Lyne didn't like the eating with your hands part - and Haylie's not a fan of anything with spice... and I think it was just too different for her to get into. Oh well! Now I can't wait to go with someone who enjoys it as much as me. It's like going to sushi w/ someone who doesn't eat fish! jeeshk! :) But I was happy Lyne got to join us for a bit.
Haylie & I then headed over to the Youth Speaks' Brave New Voices event at Nob Hill Masonic. We got there around 7:15 - but I think by the time we waited in the super long will call line it had to have been 8:15 by the time we were actually seated. But it was cool! Youth ages 13-19 were competing in 5 different teams. There were 4 rounds, and we heard scores at the end of each 'performance'. It was really fun to hear which ones Haylie liked and overall to see the crowd of about 3000 people be so supportive and excited for these talented youth! I loved it!
We were going to go to Cafe du Nord to see Loquat afterwards, but we didn't get out of there till about 11:30, so the responsible (and admittedly tired) big sister decided we should probably go home instead, so we did. We both had had a long day & I was glad we decided to come home and get the good rest we needed!
Sunday morning we got around & headed out to Matt's for a DELICIOUS pancake breakfast! He even made us bacon & sausage too - and we had fresh strawberries & bananas cut up for our pancakes. It was sooo yummmy!!! Matt's the best cook and it was so great to see him and his cutie kitty, Donovan.
So then, to squeeze every little last minute of fun out of our trip before she had to go, we headed to the beach for a few quick pics of the Pacific! And then cruised through the Haight all the way downtown for a quick 20 minute stop off at the Paul Frank store :) Seriously we could have not squeezed in one more thing! We left straight from there to the airport & shipped lil' Haylie off, back to Steamboat.
Thanks for coming to visit, sis!! I love yoU!!! xoxoxooxox
pantone into outer space
I posted on Craigslist today: I need a PANTONE book. I'm doing so many print jobs lately that it's about dang time I have my own one of these. I'm loving Speedway Printing here in town, too.So, oddly enough at the bottom of my post, CL asked if I wanted to send my post to outer space. Neat! An alien just might have the PANTONE book I'm looking for! woohoo! Never hurts to try to make friends out there. I just hope they don't send me spam!
weekender...
this weekend marks the first in several that I won't be working all weekend - which is good & bad.the good: my little sister is coming to visit!! yay!! haylie (previously Haley - changing the spelling of your name just *happens* when you're 12/13 - go figure) is *13* and this is her first trip out to see me all by herself! should be fun!
here's some of the things we have planned:
- Tonite: go out & eat somewhere yummy! (boy I should have started planning this! but it's not hard to think of amazing places to go, and I suppose I'll just have to see what we're hungry for... but overall I hardly go out to eat anymore, so I'm excited! Emmy's maybe? Ethiopian? (what kid doesn't like to eat with her hands!), Firecracker (chinese), Goat Hill (tasty pizza), Thai, Dim Sum, Mediterranean - our options are endless!
- Draw!! and Play on our computers!! :) We're of the same blood, what can I say?
- Friday day: I must work! (so. much. to. do... so. little. time.)
- Friday night: Go see my friend Jem's band, Jean-Marie play at the Brainwash Cafe!! Come out & see them with us!! 8pm! be there! I'm excited cuz Haylie will get to meet a lot of my friends there - and it's just my luck it's at the Brainwash Cafe cuz she can get in there - yay!
- Eat sushi (at some point)
- Saturday morning - maybe take a hike up Bernal & then go have breakfast on Cortland?
- Take photos!!! My very lucky little sister just got a SD400! So we'll be finding lots of photo ops :)
- Saturday - Take a class! I'm hoping it's the Silkscreening on Paper class on Saturday! :)
- Saturday night we're hittin the Youth Speaks Brave New Voices Finals at the Masonic Auditorium!! A lot of the BAMboozled youth are going, and said it's going to be amazing! I think Haylie will really dig it (and me too!)
- Dinner w/ my lovely friend Lyne Saturday before the show, somewhere yummy in the mission
- Sunday morning - we're having breakfast w/ Mateo! Matt is my ex-boyfriend who I was with for 4.5 years and Haylie & him were very close (see photos on an old website I'd made for her when she was 9 or so). They have a secret handshake and everything! They haven't seen eachother since our split (2 years ago now!) and she was THRILLED when she heard she got to see him. yay! We're both really excited to see him, and I think he's going to make us his specialty: PANCAKES! Yum!!!
- Somewhere in there fit in other touristy things... maybe the Pier, or go check out the bridge - or skip all that & just go to the ocean! Feel free to leave any other suggestions you might have.
the bad:
I have so much work to do that I really needed to keep my run of working through the weekend... but as soon as I put her back on the plane on Sunday I can dive right back into my lovely 12 hour a day schedule. It actually will be quite nice to not work for a day & 1/2 & play instead!
Oh & I *must* get to bed at 12 tonite. I have no problems staying up until 2am - it's the sleeping in that's not working lately! I wake up at 8:30 on the dot almost every single day - and how annoying is that?! It's messing up my 8 hour goal! So tonite, it's a lovely 8 hours no. matter. what. Plus, when you've got family in town - it's best to not have any possibility of crankiness in your system. :)
:::
So I just got done putting something yummy in my tummy (before I forget in the flurry of cleaning up my house & going to get her at the airport). I just had a TASTY mozzarella and salami sandwich. yumm.
Have a great weekend everyone!
adobe acquired macromedia!
wow! check it out: Press Releaseupdate: looks like the adobe site is getting hit hard this morning - here's an alternate link.
:::
also on wired, this interesting article on "unplugging" one day a week. i should try that! ha!
for the record, part 2
I cannot WAIT for Coachella!!! wooohoooo!!!::::
Oh my god, my calves are SO SORE. I worked em out hard on Monday - so of course by Wednesday they were really sore... and we went & worked out again today, and although I only did 20 minutes of cardio (involving my legs, but we did weights on our arms) - my calves are seriously so frickin sore still. It's like I've permanently damaged them. hahaa (but I know I haven't). I actually love being sore... and boy am I! And tomorrow and the next day I have my arms being sore to look forward to! yahoo! hahaa
OK, back to work!
kazoobie's new favorite toy...
my cat is absolutely going NUTS over what is (and if he could talk he would clearly exclaim) the BEST. TOY. EVER*!Did it cost lots of money? Did I have to look long & hard & ponder over how much he might like it? No. It's a silver rubberbandy thing that came wrapped around a jewelry box... so because it was tied in a bow around the box, it's a loop of rubberbandy goodness he can easily swat at and it goes flying up in the air! He picks it up & carries it around. He gnaws on it for awhile & then swats it across the room again to chase it. My Fuzzy Pants is a happy little camper today! Every couple hours I hear him making all kinds of commotion, jumping up and down, meowing at it.. swatting it across the floor & then chasing after it again.... getting it stuck under the couch and then feisty-ly retrieving it again. Oh man, it's so cute!!
*It should be noted however that if he could talk, and I asked him if it was really his favorite toy ever... better than his favorite mice? He'd say no. He loves those mice! But this is a close 2nd!
adobe lovers rejoice!
I'm so stoked on the new Adobe CS2 release! Live trace especially! WOOHOO!::::
Sorry I haven't posted much, I've been working around the clock! Remember how I said I wanted to do all that fun stuff last weekend? Ya, well...
Friday night: Stayed home & worked.
Saturday: Stayed home & worked a full 10 hour day (till 9 when I showered and went to a show* for 2 hours & then came home & crashed!)
Sunday: Went for breakfast with Lyne (2 photos here), which was nice - but I really shouldn't have as by the time I got back home & working, I was then up until 1:30am finishing up stuff and had a 9:30am meeting downtown the next morning!
Monday: Worked out (woohoo! my calves are still sore! RAD!) and then worked all day into the night, even cancelling going to Deerhoof w/ Jem cuz I was so tired & had more work to finish up.
Basically it's been this way for a few weeks, and I knew it was coming. I was telling people in February how much I was enjoying the 'calm before the storm' and the storm has arrived! All the projects I knew were coming, and then of course my consistent clients all came out of the woodwork at the same time (isn't that always how it goes!?), so it's been quite the juggle!
BUT I would like to say right here & now that I am not complaining! If anything I'm just giving myself a big huge pat on the back. :) It's honestly hard to work this hard, and by yourself, for yourself... so yay for me! I'm loving every bit of it and truly get off on making several clients happy all at the same time. And considering the hunk of money that just went out to the Federal government, thank *insert miraculous being responsible for all the unknowns in our world* for me being busy as all can be!
I should be less busy come May 15, at which point I'll be in Toronto & NYC & then ready to take on a whole new slew of projects at the end of May... a lot of which are in the cooker right now. Also, in case you're reading & considering me for some work (I actually get a lot of work via frequent readers, which is so great!) please don't think I'm this busy all the time. I mean, thankfully I always have stuff going on, but this current crazyness will actually be a lot less even come May 1 as I'm wrapping up several things by then.
Anyway - let's hear it for working your butt off & feeling great about it! :) I love it. And the to-do list fanatic in me is having a hay-day. hahhaa I'm workin so fast and hard, I'm crossing stuff off left & right and then makin new ones. yeeeehaw!
*Rob Crow (Pinback & Thingy) and his band now called "My Band is a Mess", opened for Adam Green and I really enjoyed them. Here's a song of theirs I'm really digging: Helicopter
Adam Green was entertaining as always - and it was adorable to see Jem & Tania get so excited about seeing him, and hearing them sing along. I could only stay for a few of his before I lost my attention span & realized I was fried & needed to go home. But it was nice to get out and see the girls and have a beer (I can drink beer again! woohoo!) (not sick anymore for those of you like whu?)
::::
So, sorry to be all "sorry I'm just so busy working" boring blah blah on you. But that's about all there is to talk about cuz that's all I'm doing! So there! And I'm proud to say I'm working out again this week finally.. (again after being sick for so long). It feels good & I'm hoping to stay consistent so I can be feeling great for my trip to Coachella and Toronto/NYC! I'm ready to sport some VLC baby!
bay area local? want lasik?
I just got something in the mail - should any of you be googling & finding/reading this - The place where I got my lasik done just sent me a coupon for $250 off for me to give to someone I know. Email me if you want it: willo at willotoons.com - it says it's good till June 10, 2005.UPDATE: Apparently if you say that you were referred by me, you get a greater discount than this coupon can offer you. Best wishes to you all!
chris' photos added!
Ok, sorry if you already looked through them - but I just added Chris' photos to the album, and there's some great ones! They're all mixed in so that it stayed in order...
darren, lyne, me & chris in front of adrienne yan's work
thursday night made the "funnest night ever" list!
How lucky am I to have 2 really super fun nights in a row!?!? Thursday night officially *ruled* in my book and kicked The Walkmen show off my funnest nights ever thus far in 2005 list (but it still remains on the top 10 best shows of 2005 thus far!).Chris Georgenes is a fellow illustrator/flash animator who I have emailed & IM'd with forever, and finally we met! He's a phenomenal animator and has basically crafted this "2.5D" style with Flash that has him speaking all over the place, not to mention an impressive client list. He inspires me to stick with my illustration and actually start animating my characters more (something I haven't done in a long time!) and just overall he *slays* me with his mad talent! And on top of it all he's SUCH a nice guy!
When we found out awhile back he was going to be in town speaking at this years Flash Forward, we knew we'd definitely have to match up while he was out here! (He lives in Boston) So as it worked out, he joined us for a night on the town Thursday, first to EVB's Art show & then over to 111 Minna to see Adrienne Yan's show! Darren, Lyne, Jim & Scott came out, too & we all had such a fun night!!
> VIEW PHOTOS (Chris has a few that are really good, too - I'll see if I can post those when I get em ADDED! :)
As I'd mentioned, I've been a fan of Adrienne Yan's illustrations for a long time, which was our main reason for hitting this 111 Minna show. I'd emailed her probably a year or so ago, but since then she's been quiet & hasn't updated her site, etc. So when I got the announcement she was in a show with the Ultra Mega art collective at 111 Minna I was stoked! Later on in the night I had a guy help me find her & introduced myself & she remembered me! She'd seen me on the mailing list and was hoping I'd get it & be able to come on such last minute notice... I was so pleased she remembered. She's awesome (pic of us!) and her work is fantastic and inspiring. Move to SF, Adrienne! :)
So - not only was it great to finally meet Chris, then get to see my friend Jason at EVB, and then finally meet Adrienne at 111 Minna AND have all my awesome friends around me, but to top it all off the art was great, the beer was yummy - and we DOODLED!
"What?!", you say. See, when I get together when another artist - I just want to sit down & doodle! Hence why I love the Monster Drawing Rally - because you can actually watch other artists CREATE their art - which is the coolest part!! So after getting back from talking to Adrienne, Scott had a pad of paper they'd found with wine spills on it (that he was creatively turning into SPILLISTAN). So, when I suggested to Chris we draw together, he recommended we play a game where we each draw a little of a person, and then fold the paper down so the next person can't see what you drew but just knows you left off at the neck (for example) and then it keeps going. So me, him, Darren, Lyne & Scott played that a couple times and the results were hilarious! It was also so fun just to see Chris & I's different drawing styles and actually be able to watch each other draw in person! SO FUN!!!
It was a great crowd and energy at 111 Minna and I swear, sitting around and drawing with good friends, good beer, and good music - that is like my dream night! :) It was awesome.
The next morning I got up early & Chris got me in to see his Advanced Character Animation session at Flash Forward, and then I hit his Q & A afterwards. I was pleased that I knew most of the things he talked about, but I definitely gleaned a few great tips.. things like how he does his gradients... and how he assembles his timeline. De-selecting "sync" in the properties box to use a different symbol on the same layer (oh my god that is awesome!) and just to overall see how he approaches the animation. VERY. COOL!!!
He's mad talented and a super nice guy and I'm stoked to have finally met him. And, you know when someone comes to town and you want to show them a good time? Well Thursday night could not have gone better - we had so much fun. :)
stuff.
Fellow Giant Robot enthusiast? You might dig this write-up featuring Eric Nakamura in SFGate! (thanks for the link, Darren!)Also check out whenyoustink.com. Jason/EVB's latest creation. It's hilarious.
all the things I want to do this weekend, starting TODAY
Holy cow... if this isn't motivation to work my butt off, I don't know what is... I just realized that there are SO many things going on this weekend that I want to do! Can I work my butt off & get all my clients taken care of AND hit some of these fun - and totally creatively fulfilling - events?I was planning to work through the weekend, anyway - but now it's become an overdrive plan as I'd really like to fit all this in!!
TONITE:
- Adrienne Yan is showing in the UltraMega show at 111 Minna opening tonite!! I *love* her illustrations sooo much, and she totally disappeared in the last year and now this! I'm SO THERE!!!! I've written her fan emails and everything. :D I can't wait!
- While I'm downtown I want to stop by my friend Jason's studio for the EVB Art Show!
- I was going to see Clem Snide @ GAMH tonite, too... but I haven't bought a ticket - and as much as I really want to see them.. I'm up in the air with it. But both Lyne & Lucia were on the fence about going with me, so if one of them pulls through - I'm there!
FRIDAY:
- Catch my friend Chris (Illustrator & Flash Animator extraordinaire!) speak at Flash Forward on Advanced Character Animation, and hopefully meet up with my friends Brendan & Cody who got sent there by their companies (*luuucky*) Yahoo and Antenna Audio, respectively.
- Friday night, Poketo Art Show @ Cowboys and Angels (salon), curated by Capsule 9. I LOVE Poketo!! And I know Omar and am totally stoked to go out & support him at this opening. yay!! Anyone wanna join me for this!?
- Friday night, go see Tussle play at the Hemlock! My drum teacher Warren plays some sick ass drums in this band that I've heard rave reviews about & need to go check it out for myself! Plus, I love the Hemlock!
SATURDAY:
- APE is back! Darren & I went last year - and it was fun to read back on that post because since then we have totally completed silkscreening and button making art dates! aww yaaa US!
- Hit the Ghetto Metro show at Lola Gallery before it leaves! Sirron Norris & Merikay MacKenna's Animal heads (that we saw last year) & I have a giraffe!) are showing!
- Saturday night, Jem & I are going to see Adam Green @ BotH!
MISC (besides loads of work):
- Have some girlfriends over for coffee & cinnamon rolls?
- Re-pot my poor plant that is dying as we speak because I haven't re-potted the poor baby yet! :(
- Drum lesson?
UPDATE: Things I'm missing -
- Beerfest Saturday night. Last year was SO. MUCH. FUN!
- Garbage, Sunday night @ The Warfield. I would love to seem them live, but $31? No thanks.
hijack the disco w/ send for help + the otherside
Lastnight was one of the FUNNEST (which should *so* be a real word!) nights I have had this year!!! (see full list in the previous post)First of all, it was the first official Bagel Radio Presents show, and it was a total success! I got there around 8:30 (rushing from being at BAM in the outer Sunset), hoping I wouldn't miss the opener. And I didn't.. I got there when they were just finishing up sound check so it was great!
Ted was already there, and Misty showed up moments later.... and all their friends (who I love! and I've met most of them between Ted's Bday and the PNYE 80's Prom) started funneling in. Then a few of my friends showed up throughout the night (Hai, Scott & their friend Sarah - who *small world* knows Dan Wolf too! - and then my other friend Mat, who brought his friend Mitch(?)).. and some other people I know through the indie list, like Tack and Anthony (Loquat's bass player - who is just down right adorable and AWESOME!). And, of course, Taylor, who is Hijack's keyboardist/vox Mike's brother (and I grew up with their cousin Molly Fletcher in Steamboat!) AND an incredible artist. He just started this sweet Animation Mentor course, so that was cool to catch up with him as always. I felt good because I had at least contributed 5 people to the whole event and upon leaving I even got 'thanks' from them for turning them onto such a great show! yay!
OH! And then - get this! The cute guy (Todd) I met at the Walkmen show (which unfortunately was followed by a bit of a post-noisepop downspiral - and yes, he'd read that. hi!) was there, and knew Gavin who knows Ted & Misty! It was good to see him... he is pretty cute, and very nice. Cool to talk music with, too. He owns Honey on Union Street, check it out.
OK - so the music! My history with Hijack the Disco thus far has been a sweet one, both in terms of making some incredible new friends - and discovering an awesome local band that is definitely on the way up! I had turned Ted onto Hijack the Disco... giving him their mp3's and then he finally saw them play at Thee Parkside back in February and loved them, and got a station ID and started playing them more. NICE!
Ted had given me The Otherside's EP and I had liked them, but really honed in on it (out of my gazillion GB's of mp3's) even more after realizing that the bass player, Mark, is good friends with my friend Jeff. So it wasn't long before I was loving their EP, and it made me so happy to see that they were on the Bagel Radio bill, as I'd been dying to see them! And they did not disappoint!! They were absolutely incredible lastnight!! The only thing I wished is that they'd been flipped with Send for Help, because too many people missed their set! They were *so* good, that I'm completely stoked on them now and look forward to seeing them again. They were even passing out free CD's lastnight, which is such a good move, especially considering so many people missed them. But the buzz was in the air, and I think they'll do really well. Ted has a great summary on how they're like so & so with so & so on (insert instrument here). I wish I could do that... Ted's the man! Anyway - as you know my show reviews are on a scale from dont mention them at all, to "they were ok" to "Awesome!" with maybe some notes on the fashion or excellent drummer here & there. hahaa :) Well these guys are AWESOME. Their level of rockin-ness sorta reminded me of a Stills Show. Where you think it's going to be mellow, but then it totally rocks your socks off. AWESOME! And the lead singer kinda looks like my friend Rob. :)
For some reason I couldn't get into Send for Help. I don't know what I was doing during their set, but I wasn't watching them I don't think.. I guess I was talking. Whatever they were doing, wasn't exactly pulling me in. But I'd give them another chance, cuz I'm nice like that. And I like some of their mp3's.
Hijack the Disco KILLED IT. Nailed it. Were on fire. Blew me away. Rocked my socks off. I LOVE THOSE GUYS!!!!! Trevor, their drummer, is AMAZING on the drums. He's like this crazy power drummer - that if you could hear me imitate would be like a machine gun on the drums. Totally powerful and yet he's up there makin it look eaaaasy. DAMN! And the guys, Mike & Dave, have SUCH incredible voices and kick ass energy while they're up their singing and playin guitar/keyboards. They're truly so good, and such nice guys - and I'm so stoked to see them do really well! xoxooxoxoxoxoxo And like a big nerd I wore their t-shirt out to the show. REPRESENT!!! :)
Overall it was *such* a fun night. Seeing so many friends out - I literally knew like 30 people there!! - combined with a rockin show... I smiled myself to sleep lastnight.
p.s. Right at the end of the night as I was saying goodbye to Ted, he introduced me to this adorable guy sitting near him at the bar. Who I had recognized and sure enough turned out to be Jason, the lead singer from The Red Thread. Hilariously *just* yesterday I had happened upon this post I had written about seeing their show last February and so it was so funny to not only see him again, but get personally introduced. He is soooo adorable! oh my gooooodness! :) So, because it was so fresh in my mind - and I had so apparently chickened out at the first chance - I told him all about just re-reading the post and how I had wanted to tell him how cute he is. heheee! He said to send it to him, which I'm totally embarrassed to do, but just might because it is pretty funny... and great to full circle it here a full year later. SUCH a fun night!!!
top 10 shows of this year
I had one of the BEST nights lastnight! Seriously it had me smiling the whole way home and thinking about how it is most definitely in my top 10 favorite shows of this year. (I couldn't get it down to 5 - I see a LOT of shows!!)In no particular order:
Hijack the Disco + The Otherside @ The Makeout Room (full post to come)
Arcade Fire @ GAMH
Death From Above 1979 @ The Independent
Hot Hot Heat + Louis XIV @ GAMH
Ambulance Ltd. + Autolux @ The Independent
The Walkmen + 20 Minute Loop + Film School @ Bimbos
Hammell on Trial @ 12 Galaxies
The Futureheads @ Slims
Communiqué + The Joggers (when they opened for Ted Leo at Noise Pop) @ GAMH
David Byrne + the Extra Action Marching Band @ The Fillmore
Heavenly States + Continental (@ BotH) gets honorable mention, because HS are great every time and that show was really fun.
Also, why I was thinking of this list, I was thinking of Top 5 *funnest* nights ever so far this year, and so here's that list:
In no particular order:
Hijack the Disco + The Otherside @ The Makeout Room (full post to come)
PNYE 80's Prom
Cameron, Jenna & Devin coming over for Scattegories and drinks
Hot Hot Heat + Louis XIV @ GAMH
The Walkmen + 20 Minute Loop + Film School @ Bimbos
Honorable mention goes to the night our band practiced and we actually played a song the whole way through! woohoo! :)
p.s. I snapped photos to most all of these events if you wanna take a look. Missing are the Arcade Fire in January (I think I was camera-less at that time), and there's no pics from the night Cam & Jenna came over, but it was SO FUN.
2005 KICKS ASS SO FAR!!!
my first show (in my dreams)
I had a dream lastnight that we were opening for some huge band! But it was in a high school auditorium of some kind, and a ton of people I went to high school with were there. ha!So we're all excited, but I start to realize we've TOTALLY forgotten to practice! WOOPS! I know the song we're going to play, but I sure has hell have no idea what the drums are like in it... ! We get on the stage and start setting up and I realize that the drum set they provided isn't actually a drum set. It's like an old wood credenza and some other boxes around it. uuhhh... how is this supposed to sound like the drums!?!?! Let alone if we do get it to sound like the drum parts, how the heck am I going to play them!?!?!?
Jem & Tania were my bandmates, and I can't really remember what Tania was playing, but I was confident if anyone was going to get us through this it was Jem wielding her hott turquoise strat.
At some point through trying to set up, a guy was up there trying to help me. We were looking for the plug or something to make this puppy sound like something different than hitting wood on wood (which actually wasn't even producing a high tick sound at ALL, it was more like I was hitting cardboard and I was stressin!!). So this guy looked familiar to me... and I'm talking to him about it all and trying to remember how I know him. He had changed his hair.... was it Sebastian from DFA1979? John Vanderslice? (I know, they look nothing alike) - either way, I liked that somehow I felt like I was on the same playing field as them.... sorta. Uh... except for the fact that I notice they're setting up their kit behind us, and I think ooh, maybe I could use theirs! And then realize I couldn't even use it for my set because it was so crazy... it was like a drum kit out of the future.... double decker and shit. I was *in* for it!!!
SO - we basically decided to just go with it and hopefully nobody would notice. (HA!) I think we played one song, and throughout it I did my best to thump, knowing it was only a level *I* could hear over the awesome riffs Jem was playing. I remember feeling sad, like my first big chance on stage and all I had was this dumb ol' drum set to play that didn't even work. hmph.
After our first song, apparently we had put together some kind of multimedia movie experience.. and Tania got up on the mic and started reading something off a piece of paper, and I had to whisper to her to talk louder. I still don't think she talked loud enough - and something was even off on our movie thing, so I had that sinking feeling that our whole opening act sucked.
At the end we all rolled it off, like "eh, we tried!" feeling the odds were against us in more ways the one, and it was just the beginning.
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Jem is *really* playing a show, and considering she is an incredible guitar player, even in my dreams - it's going to be great! Her & Jas are Jean-Marie and they're opening a show at the Brain Wash Cafe on Friday April 22nd! woohoooo!! I can't wait!
failed search query
from these crazy results, it's obvious that emusic does NOT carry 'help she can't swim'. right.ev's bday
Last Friday night I had cleared all my plans. I'd rescheduled a date and was all prepared to work the evening away, trying to catch up on all the work that didn't get done because of being sick, and overall just try to lay low to give myself the weekend to recoup, catch up & de-stress.However, Friday afternoon I got an email from Eric saying he was headed to Ev's bday party, and I just couldn't resist. I mean, a girl's gotta eat right? :)
I hadn't seen Evan and that whole crowd in forever. Minus running into Ev & Noah at coffee shops around the city and just knowing they were plotting something! (Odeo!) And then of course, Jeff and Leslie, who I seem to run into at shows quite a bit here & there. But it was crazy to think how long it had been since I'd seen Courtney & Lane! Lane & I email or IM every once and awhile about parties and shows, but it blew me away to think I hadn't seen them in possibly a year (!?!?!? is that right!?) crazy! Anyway... it was so great to see everyone and catch up. This crew is awesome because they're all fellow blogging nerds like me, so I feel at home! hahaa.. nobody is wondering why the hell I'm snappin so many photos, cuz they know! I mean, hello - we're at Ev's home, who founded the monster. Speaking of, it's beautiful! Man, money buys you SPACE in this town. What I wouldn't give to have space on both sides of my bed. Pretty much every square INCH of my place is carefully negotiated. Plus, they've got some sick views! nice!
It was a pizza making party, ala Hillary & Dave's last year, and Eric & gladly "tasted" all of the pizzas that were coming out of the oven. :) I also absolutely fell in love with Sara's kitty, Moki. She's a calico/siamese mix and she's so beautiful and soft and sooo sweet! So the kitty lover in me snapped lots of photos, and even some videos, too! (vids are linked in a few of the descriptions under the photos - there's 3 total)
brighter & brighter
I'm completely feeling normal this week - woohoo! But one step better is that I'm really feeling *great*, inside & out. Last week was so insane and stressful (not to mention snotty!) and this week I feel like a new woman!I got some news yesterday that was a hard hit... news that is inevitable in any breakup... the ex has a new gf! gulp! It's always hard to hear that the first time, but it was bound to happen with one of us.
When I first heard the news, I got a lump in my throat the size of Kentucky, and immediately had to IM Misty. She's awesome... and talking it out a little with her helped *so* much. Truly, all the sadness is just mourning the loss of such a beautiful part of my life with a man that I loved so much. I know we made a decision - both of us made a choice - and it's been 4 months now, and we're both moving on.
I also know that it hasn't been easy for either of us. Especially this whole 'moving on' stuff. Comparing each new candidate to the amazing connection he & I had last year, and all of our awesome memories together... it's a hard spot to fill, that's for sure. But in the end I want him to be happy.. and if she can honor some of the things I couldn't, then good for them both. I just want him to be happy, because he deserves it! He's really an amazing guy... and I miss him. xoxo
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The great news is that I feel so happy that I know who I am. I am so ready for my 30th birthday this year, as life just gets better and better! I know who I am, and what I want in a relationship, and am clear that although I want to be in a relationship, I'm not the type of girl who needs one to make myself feel whole. I feel great about being independent and right now the world is my oyster!! wooohoooo!!!
btw - I don't usually read horoscopes, but hez (ya, hottie bass player!) linked to this astrology site and I happened to go check out my horoscope for this month, and it is on fire!! aww yaa, bring it ON April!!! :)
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This month is insanely busy with all the fantastic work I have right now! I know it sounds crazy to be so excited about work - but truly I love what I do so much and feel so fortunate to have such a successful business!
Doing my end of year taxes was really awesome, because it officially wrapped my first full fiscal year of doing business for myself, so I got to see from jan 1 to dec 31 what I made and I'm proud to say I am making what I was at my former job! But really even more than that considering I get to write so much off. Not to mention how awesome it is to work for myself, choose my clients (who are all so great and that makes it so rewarding!), all out of the comfort of my sunny little home with my fuzzy cuddly kitty. Life is so good!
And the great part of that, too, is that I pretty much always have an illustration job going of some kind, which has been so incredible. The last couple of which aren't even on my site - then again _none_ of the work I've done in 1.5 years on my own is in my portfolio on my site! Unbelievable! Luckily the work keeps flowin in, almost faster than I can keep up. SUCH a positive problem! :)
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I'm having one of those days where I feel like reaching out to all of my friends everywhere in the world and giving them a big hug, looking into their eyes and letting them know I'm so happy to know them and have them in my life. mmmooooiiii!!!!!
Have a great week everybody!
shining brighter
I am feeling SOOOO MUCH BETTER!!! Yay!!!!!I actually slept amazing last night (no waking up with a stopped up nose and dry mouth hell) and am finally feeling rid of the intense pressure in my face and everything! God love ya antibiotics! woohooo!!
It's sooo nice out today! I actually can wear a tank top & shorts in my house!? awesome!
Here's a few fun site's to spend some time on:
- Sky Time Lapse - These vids are cool. I found this site from seeing the examples listed on iStopMotion.com - which I found by checking out iVeZeen, which is a program that records movies from your iSight*... which (following the tangent) I found linked in a comment someone had made after Dunstan posted these INCREDIBLY adorable videos of brand new baby puppies!!! (there's a few more on his site, have your smelling salts ready) And Dustan's site I found through Eric, *who claims EvoCam is the best iSight cam software.
- Flash Forward Film Festival Finalists (say that fast 10 times!)
- Illustrators, Animators, or fans therein can enjoy daily updates at Drawn!... news that is right up my alley and I am loving it!
On my plate besides work, work, work, that I *must* do this weekend: 1.) TAXES! (kinda work related I suppose 2.) re-potting 2 plans in my house that are so desperately in need of new soil they are crying at me. :( poor plants... I need to give them this attention as literally their lives are at stake! 3.) Laundry. 4.) Anything that starts with an M and ends in ovie. (aka CHILL)
Happy Friday everyone!
