A happy me... and a lot of art

I've had a good week so far. Sunday, I got some lovely new gladiator sandals that look really good with the long skirts I wear... Shoe Carnival was having a massive sale.









After we came back from our usual Sunday shopping, I donned a shawl and went for a walk in this cursed sun with my mom. I'm glad I went because I got some lovely spring pictures...

I honestly didn't know how any of my pics turned out until I got home because it was so sunny, I couldn't see the digital screen of my camera... It was really hot and I thought I was going to melt.

Of course, wearing a black shawl didn't help. But it did keep me from burning!







I also started accounting at work.  Normally, I just do brochures or whatever needs to be done, but since if we expand and I run the new store wherever it may be I'd need to know how the accounting works. Honestly, as much as I hate math, I don't hate accounting. It doesn't really feel like math XD

Money makes sense to me. It doesn't have any confusing unknowns or letters that shouldn't even be INVOLVED in math in the first place. It's just numbers and they all have somewhere they're supposed to go.

I actually understand it well enough that I was nationally ranked after high school graduation even though I failed algebra twice (five times including college hehe)

I'm mostly just happy to feel like I'm really doing work.

Also, today I got another package in the mail! When I ordered my tablet, I also ordered the first three tankobon of Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge/The Wallflower. As much as I love Bleach and Death Note, I've never actually purchased the tankobon unless you count the free Shonen Jumps I used to get when I worked at Gamestop. I was expecting just a paper comic-type cover, but they're actually book-bound. I'm very happy.

I have only one complaint... While the translator did a good job of making everything more clear to people who may not understand a lot of Japanese culture references and translation quips, he made the translation really dry... A lot of the funny references were changed. Like "Been there, done that" simply became "She tried." So much less funny. Although, with The Wallflower, the art itself is so funny you can forget a translator's fails... Bless you, Hayakawa-sama, for making me laugh at the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over and...

OK!! Moving on to the latest art. You get to see a few sketches before I've even posted them on deviantART! Lucky you.

#1
An on-location sketch I did in the canyon one day when it was really cool, cloudy and windy. There was  a single dead tree surrounded by blossoms and greenery. I loved it. So I call it Dead Among the Living.

#2
I was hoping I could get this painted well enough to use as my deviantID and possibly as my banner here, but it's not going very well... I might go ahead and just overlay paint it. Or if it continues badly, I'll either start from scratch (it didn't take too long) or attempt photomanipulation. Anyway, it's a pic of me with Soren and Rollin. They're never far away when creativity is involved...

#3 & 4
Exclusive photo-comparison life drawings!

Well, now I'm exhausted. This was a pretty long post compared to the ones I've been doing lately haha. So yes! Enjoy that and my new signature pic!

Revocation of the Tragedy of the Tablet

Sorry for all the short posts lately, but I have to do another one.

I have another one of my famous migraines. At first, I thought it was just a caffeine withdrawal, so I had some coffee. When that didn't work, I thought it was a hunger headache, so I ate some food. When THAT didn't work, I thought it might be eye strain from my computer, so I turned it off. Finally, I gave up and admitted that I had a migraine. I took an ibuprofen and rubbed IcyHot on my head... but since I get migraines behind my eyes, I tried putting a little on my eyelids, hoping that it would help.

The bad news is, that burns like a thousand fires.

The good news is it distracted me from the migraine for a bit.

Also, my mom is amazing. She's way more tech-savvy than me. After I spent four hours yesterday looking for my tablet patch, she found it in like... ten seconds. :| Mommies are awesome. So now I have my tablet! 

It has a major learning curve, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. I know that if I spend enough time with it, I'll get it. That's part of the reason I will be doing quick illustrations for my blog from now on. Yay! So fun.

Also, I've been working on a new banner for my blog, which will double as my new deviantID. Since I started it before I got my tablet, it's in pencil. I'm gonna finish sketching it out, then scan it, and attempt painting it with my tablet. This thing is seriously amazing. It has opened up a whole realm of interesting and intimidating possibilities...

Well, that's it for me. I'm going to rest my head before it splits in two. 

Hope you like the illustrations, because there will be many more to come!

The Tragedy of the Tablet

I am so very depressed. Today was a very stressful day. Ironically, this is the one day in ages I decided to do something pointlessly motivational and post "Remember, 'stressed' is just 'desserts' spelled backwards!" on my Facebook status. I quickly lost the ability to believe that even dessert could erase my stress. Largely because today is Friday and everything sweet in our house is promptly devoured by munchkin company every Friday like clockwork.

Lemme tell you a bit about it and then I will post the comic I finished in hopes everyone will be of cheer.

First:
I am so exhausted I can barely get out of bed in the morning. I don't even try to resist the temptation of the snooze button. Being late out of bed means late into the shower. That means I don't get to spend as much time as I need and I usually wind up feeling greasy and gross all day. A greasy me is not a happy me.

Second:
I'm not sure why, but my normally delicious and life-giving Sumatra coffee tasted like soap. Not only could I not get that taste out of my mouth, I didn't have the coffee I need to normally function.

Third:
I went all the way across town to get Chick-Fil-A and there were 80 people in the drivethru. I seriously doubt that's an exaggeration. So I had to get Taco Bell. Unfortunately, the branch I visited has a veeeeery narrow, veeeeeery sharp turning driveway (on a hill!) and I was driving my brother's dually truck instead of my tiny VW. The fender promptly met one of those annoying yellow poles that keep people off the grass. But shhhh! he doesn't know yet...

Fourth:
The tiny people ate all of my comfort food and my mom got mad at me for sitting in the dark with a candle. Apparently, my idea of "relaxing" is her idea of "just plain wrong."

Fifth:
My tablet came in the mail! However, apparently it has a problem with my particular operating system and won't install. I'll probably have to send it back and pay $50 more for a different one... This is very bumming. I was really looking forward to painting tomorrow...

Today was one of those days even slob shorts and fuzzy socks couldn't completely fix.

However, I give you my latest comic! This is one from my personal series, Pandora's Box. They're basically about all of the inexplicable things that go on inside my mind so that you might understand me better.

Not really. They're just for fun XD

Click here to go to my deviantART account and see the full thing. Make sure you give me feedback!

A quick post

I'm going to make this abnormally quick because I am exhausted. I am way too young to be feeling this old. :|

I'm now open for commissions! I figured out prices and stuff. I doubt I'll get any for a long time, but having an idea of what to do when the time comes gives me something to look forward to.

I also finished a sketch AND a speedpaint, both impressive since I spent most of the morning trying to get my pot-less coffee maker to surrender a cup of coffee. I made an impressive mess, but I got my caffeine. I did learn that, apparently, when you barely tap a glass pot against porcelain, it gets a bullethole type... hole?  Also, with a styrofoam cup and a pen, you can make your coffee maker think it has a pot. Just be careful or you'll wind up with boiling coffee all over yourself, the floor, and the fliers you were supposed to be folding...

Uh... anyway, here they are.

Now I'm going to bed...

Some thoughts and a few new sketches with a side of comic teaser

Tomorrow is Earth Day. Yeah. You know how you can tell environmentalism is a religion? There are almost as many Earth Day movies and TV specials as their are for Christmas. Think about that while you're nomming Earth Day dinner with your family and friends.

I think that's 'nuff said.

Also, I'm pretty sure I'm having another bout with tonsilitis, this time on the other side. It hurts so bad I could barely eat my Sour Punch Straws. Barely. But if you know me, I wasn't going to let pain stop me from indulging in the delicious, zappin' apple taste asplosion.

Really, that's been it for me lately. I haven't done anything but draw and think about stuff I SHOULD be drawing.

Oh, and a singing contest I should have entered. The deadline for that whizzed by my head a few days ago. I lazily watched it pass from behind my pencil. Honestly, I was a nervous wreck thinking about getting or NOT getting accepted. It would have been at least four weeks until I found out for sure, and the stress would have eaten a hole right through my esophagus. Ignorance is bliss, and I'm currently content in my art.

I just today got my tablet ordered finally. It should be here in a week or so. I'm excited.

Which brings me to my most recent art. Ready?

#1
A group shot of five of my main characters from The Aoudanian Chronicles if I spent as much time writing it as I do drawing it, I'd be finished.

On the bottom is protagonist Aoudin being hugged by his younger sister Thei. Reading is Ces, with Leiliya and Eniath in the back.

I'm terrible at environments. My brother is much better. D:

#2
Sunako Nakahara from The Wallflower.

It's based off the murderous look she got when she decided she had to kill Kyouhei.:

She did try, but the other guys stopped her XD Poor Sunako.

I also did a life drawing, but I decided to not post any until I'm really good at it. I want to seek commissions and until I can do it right, I won't be posting. So you'll have to live with my other stuff for now.

Plus, here is a teaser frame from the comic I've been working on. It's one of my personal ones, so don't worry, it's not fanart :P

It's not so much a teaser as a chance for me to say ISN'T THE CANDLE EFFECT FREAKIN' AWESOME???? I love it!!!!

Ok, gloating over now.

In reality, it's incredibly easy. I just lay a 75% opacity orange and black gradient over the whole thing hehehe...

That's it for me for today. :]

Adventure in cooking and a do-it-yourself guide

I consider cooking an art, in case you were wondering, and I enjoy it a lot as long as I have room to experiment and am not just following some rigid recipe.

Anyway, since my mother and I alternate working shifts at our store, I figured it would be good to share work at home, too. That includes cooking. So tonight, I looked through a book of "quick, easy" recipes and picked a few that sounded good.

Let me tell you, none of the recipes in the "quick and easy" book are all that quick and easy. They usually include toasting nuts, chopping up a forest of celery, and pounding your own ginger. That's great if you like that kind of thing, but I work in the morning, clean in the afternoon, and cook in the evening. By the time cooking rolls around, I'm tired and want something that really IS quick and easy.

Also, the book was not written for Texans. We don't use ginger anyway.

Because of the taste issue the recipe I cooked called for ginger and other weird stuff in the chicken I decided to mesh together several recipes as well as my own Italian cooking skill. I say that because the only thing I could cook before tonight was spaghetti. My famous, mouthwatering, zesty spaghetti. 

Anyway, here's how I did it. It was mostly improvision, but it worked out really well. I got a solid rating of 4/5. I wish I had thought to get a picture of it before it was decimated, but I'm not the Mad Baker Woman my darling sister so I didn't think ahead...

***

Spicy chicken and mushroom pasta

You will need:

3 cups cubed cooked chicken (see below)

1 family sized jar Prego sauce (the recipe wanted me to make my own, but I told it no)

1.5 cups chopped mushrooms

1 box penne pasta, cooked to instructions on box (I don't know the exact amount necessary. I just eyeballed it)

Garlic powder, onion powder, crushed red pepper, parmesan cheese, walnuts (optional)

To cook the chicken:

Take whole chicken breasts and place in a medium saucepan, adding just enough water or chicken broth to cover. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Let cook for approx. fifteen minutes or until chicken is white and cooked throughout. (I also put a little onion powder and salt in with the broth).

To cook sauce:

Place cubed chicken, tomato sauce, and mushrooms in a medium or large saucepan and simmer, adding garlic, onion, salt, and crushed red pepper to taste. Let simmer for at least 15 min to improve chicken flavor. 

To serve: 

Pour pasta and sauce into a casserole dish, sprinkle with parmesan and walnut chips (optional). A green vegetable and french bread are good sides.

***

It was much more "quick and easy" than the original. 

Sorry about not having exact measurements. When I cook, I do it mainly by instinct and taste. I added a LOT of the crushed pepper to make it really spicy, but you can do it however... 

All in all, I was very pleased. The last time I tried cooking something besides spaghetti, it turned out horrible. The only good thing I learned is that shrimp is fantastic when sauteed in Italian dressing.

Art festival musings and advice on when and when NOT to collect treasure as told by a pirate

Today, I got to have fun browsing around our annual local arts festival. Granted, it's a big enough festival that we get a lot of displays from other parts of the country, but 75% of them are still local. I only had two issues with the whole festival: One, I forgot my camera so stupid and two, my mom and brother rushed me a lot and I couldn't look as long as I would have liked.

Every year, the festival has a feature theme. Last year was art cars (cars decorated in unique ways) and this year was Lego life art.

The sculptures some people made with Legos astounded me. Instead of the whimsy I had expected, I found that many people took a metaphysical route. My favorite two which I wish I had pictures of to show you were #1 a plain man in a suit with an inner man made of red legos tearing his way out of the abdomen of the suited man and #2 a grey man who was slowly dissolving. I was practically giddy with excitement.

There was more than just Lego art, however. Photographers, painters, jewelers, sculptors, weavers -- all were represented in some form. I was so impressed that I intend to be part of the next art festival, hopefully doing life drawings. There was someone there doing on-the-spot linearts, but I didn't see a single sketcher. I would have a year to practice until then and I bet I could make some good money.

The art festival has one hurdle, though. The artists fail to represent themselves as a business. They're displaying their work and charging outlandish prices for it. Keep in mind, I do know and respect the work that goes into art, being an artist myself, and I know that the work was overpriced. Even if they wanted to charge those prices normally, they should have been running specials for the art show. Or at least catered to the people like me who wanted to maybe buy a little sculpture, but couldn't afford $500 for a twelve-inch tall glass vase.

I did buy something, however. This beautiful sterling silver celtic knot ring set with garnet my birthstone.

It was reasonably priced, especially for the quality. A good sterling silver band alone can cost anywhere from $25-$40 and this one includes garnet. Yet it was only $25. His booth was packed with people. I'm lucky I managed to get ahold of this, to be honest. I really love it and I think it will join my Abstinence Ring as one I never take off my finger.

This was not the only thing I was tempted to buy, however. There was one booth that claimed to be selling bracelets inlaid with 2000 year old glass from the Indus river valley. Now, lemme tell you, I am a modern pirate. I hoard treasure like no one's business. I have tons of unset gemstones and many coins. My prized treasure is a pendant set with a Jewish coin dating back to the time of Christ. With that in mind, you can understand how owning an ancient Indian artifact so desperately appealed to me. All they were asking for this piece was $350, which, according to the salesman, was half off of the gallery price. Naturally, the beautiful deep blue piece I was eyeing was the most valuable.

I thought and thought and thought about buying it, leaving and returning to the booth time after time to look at the piece again. The salesman he did seem more like a salesman than an artist even took it out of its glass case and let me try it on. Silly people think I'm so easily influenced...

Honestly, it almost worked. The blue looked stunning against my light skin and the thought of owning it as treasure was nearly making me weak. I put it away and went off to think about it one last time.

This is where the advice comes in. If you are planning to collect anything deemed "ancient" or "artifact," do not make the purchase unless you are holding a CERTIFIED certificate of authenticity in your hand when you buy it. Don't take their word for it, don't give them your address and ask them to mail it to you. Hold it in your hand. It's the only way you can be sure your "artifact" is genuine. I'm always careful with my treasure to read it over and double check everything. Most of the time artifacts are expensive investments -- you don't want to find out it's fake.

So did I buy the bracelet? No. I never saw even a line of a certificate. So, despite how desperately I wanted it, I walked away from it. Was it probably real? Yes. Maybe. Who knows? I don't want to take chances.

Be a pirate, but be a wise one.

One of THOSE days...

I absolutely hate it when I have a lot to do and find myself practically bedridden. Like today, I had to clean three rooms that should have been cleaned last week I'm a slob but I had such a severe backache that I couldn't get off my life-saving heating pad. I should have done it yesterday instead of today because I knew I was going to be wiped today you get the gist. Yet, somehow, I forgot.

Around 4 PM I managed to get my room halfway straightened up, but then I developed a severe headache to complement the backache. Fortunately, since it was a caffeine withdrawal headache I didn't work today, so I didn't drink coffee in the morning I was able to clear it up with a couple cups of extra-strong coffee my parents' coffee, unfortunately, which is disgusting.

Still, it was bad enough most of the evening that I couldn't even sit under lights. They're more of caffeine withdrawal migraines than headaches, to be honest. I get them every weekend. But anyway, I had to finish what little cleaning I managed with no light but one candle. Fortunately, I absolutely love candles and it actually calmed me down a lot, which also helped my aches and pains. I'm so easy to relax sometimes. Solitude, quiet, a candle in the dark, and cookie dough are usually all it takes to get me from an "I'm gonna rip your freakin' head off, boil it, and eat it with lettuce" kind of mood to an "oh let me make you pudding!" kind of mood.

But that's enough about the personal side of me.

On an updating note, I finished another sketch a few days ago. Even though technically I post all new artwork on the sidebar, I'll post it again to take up space and make this blog update seem more important than just a rant about pain XD

I added the fancy watermark to prevent theft, but didn't realize until after I'd saved it that I left the "L" out of "blogspot" so it really says "bogspot." Whoops!

*Cough* Anyway, I love drawing Leiliya. She has such personality.

I'm also working on another comic, this time featuring Soren, who has been torturing me lately. I'm starting to regret not splurging on those genie bottles...

Toothpaste tubes are dangerous

I've been experimenting with a new art style lately. I call it "pseudo-realistic DC/Marvel comic sketching." Obviously, I can't think of a creative name to save my life. But I honestly think I like it better than my more typical manga-realism style. Not to mention, I can do it without reference!

Here's a quick example of it:

This was my first attempt, so it's hardly perfect. It leaves much to be desired, but it DID give me a little first-hand experience in this kind of art. I'm working on another sketch right now that's turning out much better. Hopefully. I can only get better, right? At least, that's what I tell myself.

I've learned this and so much more from Sensei at idrawgirls.com I have no idea what his real name is, so I just call him Sensei. He doesn't just draw girls, though. He has tons of videos on facial construction, shading, and painting. And I love his voice. The first time I heard it, it lulled me practically into a coma.

Here is one of his videos, a short one that showcases what he can do and why I want my tablet!

I'm still loving deviantART but it does frustrate me a little that my comics which take about five hours tops to draw, color, and format are far more popular than my "serious" artwork which has taken anywhere from one to 15 hours. I guess that's understandable. I'm not one of the best at "real" artwork yet and everyone loves comics. Now that I think of it, I started following two of my favorite artists because of their comics. So I guess I need to take what I can get XD

I bet you're wondering why the title of this post is about toothpaste tubes when I haven't even mentioned them! Well, I'm mentioning them now. This morning, I sliced my palm open with one. Who does that, anyway?!?! It's a TOOTHPASTE TUBE!!! But slice it I did. It was just a hairline cut this morning, so I ignored it. Well, tonight it's expanded and infected. At least my teeth are clean.

WHAT'S WITH THE BLOG?!?!?! and other observations...

I'm sure that's what some of you are thinking. Fear not, for I will answer your question!

Since blogger has mysteriously begun having trouble with the comment block it hasn't worked on some blogs in a long time I decided to run a search for a comment widget I ran across while nosing about for interesting blogs to follow. As you can see from the comment form on the right, I did indeed find one. You just might want to mention which post you're commenting on XD also I am not including links because of the handy "get widget" option.

Obviously, I found much more than just that widget. I finally found a widget to post my YouTube demos and I think I have several others floating around...

But my favorite is my new blog cat, Kuroneko not the most creative name since it literally means "black cat". She follows the movement of your mouse pointer, meows if you scratch her head, purrs if you rub her belly, and bats at the cursor if you wave it over her head. I nearly died of teh cute when I saw it...

Anyway, go to widgetbox.com if you want to find some awesome free widgets.

Onto the "other observations."

I got called "very skilled" today by a premium artist for my Rukia: Peaceful sketch it's posted to the right. It totally made my day. I get a huge sense of accomplishment whenever I complete a piece, especially if other people enjoy it, too. I know as an artist that it's only a good piece if you yourself are pleased with it, but accolades from others are meaningful, as well. Especially advanced others.

I love deviantART. So far, everyone has been wonderful and encouraging. I know there are trolls everywhere, but for the most part, artists are willing to stick together.

It's the fanfic writers who are evil. That's a nasty craft, fanfic writing... *shudders*

OH and I owe the stupid library $3 for overdue books because a blob of ink made my due date look like the 13th instead of the 3rd. Pity. I didn't even like the books. But speaking of books, Ted Dekker's new book The Bride Collector was released today! You may have seen the widget I had for awhile... I didn't get it because I don't feel like reading right now, but it's high on my list the next time I get into the mood.

That's all for tonight, it seems.

Have fun playing with the new toys I installed XD

More updates on art

I can't believe I never really got into it before. After studying a lot of helpful material, I've discovered that I'm actually quite good. With sketching, anyway.

When I sketch something out in full in pencil, I'm 90% wholly satisfied with it. It may take me a day or so of minor line readjustments, but I always end up happy with my sketches. Plus, since I've been practicing more, I'm a much faster and more accurate sketcher and have the time and patience I need to add smaller detail. The whole experience has been fun and relaxing.

Hopefully, once I receive my graphics tablet, I will feel the same about painting.

I'm sure a lot of you have been wondering this, so I'll voice it... "What the heck IS a graphics tablet?!?!" Basically, it's a pad that lets you draw directly onto the computer screen as though it were a sheet of paper in your sketchbook! You can draw and paint with it as though it were traditional (non-digital) art without all the mess and expense. It responds to pressure like a paintbrush or pencil (the one I'm getting has over 1000 pressure sensors) so you can darken or lighten without having to change the opacity setting. And you don't have to fight with the inaccuracy of a mouse or trackpad.

Considering how I will admit it good I am when I'm just pencil sketching, I'm fully excited to see what the graphics tablet opens up for me. I will be able to sketch my underlaying art right THERE instead of having to draw, scan, and so forth... It will help save my attention span, because I won't be drawing it twice -- once on paper, once on the screen.

It's over $100, but I think that's a small price to pay for the betterment of my art, which, having grown moderately confident, I am excited to further pursue. The day I get my first commission request will be the day I cry for the first time in like 8 years...

Er... Guess that's all. XD Wish me luck in ordering my tablet and patience in waiting for it to arrive!

Oh! And I should have some new sketches up tomorrow if my scanner cooperates...

What I love about Sundays

Unless we're just too exhausted to even get out of bed, my mom and I go shopping every Sunday. Mostly we just window shop, but occasionally we're really out to find something, and today was one of those days.

We've both been in desperate need of a wardrobe makeover, mom because she lost weight and me because my style intensified since the last time we went update-shopping. However, money's really tight right now and we couldn't spend a lot. So I suggested we go to Savers. Savers is a massive, outlet-mall sized thrift store here in town that's actually fairly nice. I love it. You can get fair quality stuff for $2-$5 and they have lots of vintage stuff that I love XD

Even though I walked into the dressing room with a full handful of hangers dresses, skirts, tops, anything I could find I only actually left the store with a dress, two skirts, and four shirts. But that was that much more added to my poor empty wardrobe. Unfortunately, I found out the hard way that I'm an in-between size. Mediums are too small look like they're painted on my body >.< and larges are too large. So I had a hard time finding things that fit. I DID manage to get ahold of an ankle length purple silk skirt with sakura flowers on it for $3 though yay!

I also got a silver and black carved Victorian style candlestick. I'm very proud of it.

We went to a craft mall after that so I could buy the feather-thingy I've been wanting for a long time. It's impossible to explain the feather thingy, so I'll have to show it to you:

I'd been in there three times since I saw it originally, but I'd never sucked up my wallet and bought it. I just love that thing. It's totally unique.

But when I went to get it today, I couldn't find it! I started getting really depressed and having a fit about how I couldn't believe anyone besides me would even want that thing! The people I tried to describe it to said it was either scary or weird. So who would want it but me?

Then I saw it hidden in a corner and calmed down. Apparently, they had to hide it because it was scaring the customers.

OH! Also at the store, I found these two awesome "genie bottles." I got to wondering if muses were the same material as genies, because, if so, the bottles could be used to trap Soren and Rollin when they're being annoying. I was really excited about mental solitude, when I saw the price. Soren and Rollin laughed me out of the store. One day, I will confine them...

Um. Well I guess that's all. I got two awesome decorations and a lot of clothes today. Yay!

Sumimasen!

Taking a break from art and writing to give you an update on art and writing

I've been very busy lately. Not, you know, doing anything useful, but learning a lot and being creative. I've been in such a good mood lately that I even went outside and sat in the sunshine without my shawl le gasp! Apparently, Soren and Rollin aren't useless at all -- they were just trying to get me out of my routine and try something new. I love you guys *sniff*.

In fact, while I was driving home today I got to thinking about my encounter with Demon Spider no, I'm still not over it -- I had to jump the threshold today and all of a sudden Soren starts having a grade-A fit! I turned my music off and listened to him. Turns out, he had a really great idea for a short horror story. It's been ages since I wrote anything, but I came home and typed out the beginning. I'm in such a good mood that I'll even show it to you!

***

            As I drove, I surfed absent-mindedly through the stations on the radio, not really listening to each as I passed. My mind was too preoccupied with other thoughts.

            They were going to be throwing me a birthday party at the office, for sure. I really hoped they remembered I was thirty-five, not forty-one. I’d been thirty-five ever since I was thirty-five. Last year, some idiot had given me a cake with forty candles. A month later, I fired him for mislabeling a case file. Two good things had come from that – one, no one ever dared mislabel anything again and two, they started getting my age right.

            Hmm… I wondered if Mr. Cruz had decided to file the charges against his wife? That would be a press-garnering case… Great media for our firm…

            I was yanked from my thoughts by a sudden searing pain in my left wrist. Forgoing several different defensive driving experiences, I yelped and released the wheel, grasping my wrist with my other hand. A thin red line had become visible across the veins of my wrist, throbbing incessantly. I stared at it dumbfounded.

            “What…?” I mouthed, a chill creeping down my spine.

            There was no way. It couldn’t be… I should have another year left, shouldn’t I? Right? I started counting in my head. 1992… 1993…1994…

            A car honked and I remembered I was supposed to be driving. With a gasp, I threw my hands back on the wheel to steady my car.

            Then I froze.

            A huge, bloated tarantula was creeping up the steering wheel, twitching its inch-long fangs as though itching to sink them into my flesh.

            A large red skull was marked on its abdomen.

            I screamed bloody murder and backhanded it across the car, jerking the wheel in a panic to pull over and run like hell. However, in my terror I overcompensated and found myself tearing across the median into oncoming traffic, directly in the path of an oncoming eighteen wheeler.

            Right before the impact, I glanced at the tarantula in the passenger’s seat and heard a raspy voice seeming to come from the spider itself say:

            “Time’s up, Caroline.”

***

Sounds like the ending, but it's not XD. You'll just have to wait and see. I'll probably post it as I write. Soren and I are still working out the meat of the story and I'm hoping tonight Rollin will throw in his two cents... 

In my artistic endeavors, I've made a scientific breakthrough -- people really like my comics *giddy*. I had thought they weren't funny because my brother never laughs, but apparently other people out there really enjoy them. It's really given me a lot of encouragement, as well as a lot of ideas to play around with. I'm still sketching and painting, but my distaste for time-consuming detail makes comics the more attractive of my options. I have no patience. 

I did sketch/overlay paint an illustration of Scott and Ann from The Five Trials. It's not my best and the background sucks as always, but I'll post it here. I did it in just a few hours, so don't hold the lack of quality against me XD

I've found that if you tilt your head to the right, everything looks better. I have a bad habit of drawing with the page and my head tilted, so everything's more in proportion if you do so as well. It really DOES make a difference so weird.

Um... I guess that's all for today except it's Friday and I still don't have my Bleach and Naruto :(

Sumimasen!

I'm not a wimp, though this post may lead you to believe otherwise

I had no idea what to write about lately, then life provided me with a story. Funny how it works out that way.

I'm hardly scared of anything, and I say that truthfully. All the things normal people are scared of, like the dark, snakes, ghosts, etc., I'm either not afraid of or actually like. 

I have only one true, marrow chilling fear, and it's a doozy.

Spiders.

Any spider larger than a dime. 

I am a SEVERE arachnophobic. The bigger the spider, the worse I hyperventilate when coming into close contact with it. I can't help it. It's an irrational fear, but that doesn't make it any less real.

Well, I had a nasty surprise when I came home today from work.

I opened the front door and BAM! Huge, black, nasty, shiny, pinchered, demon spider waiting right there in the hallway floor. I jumped about a mile, clear over it in heels, I might add, so it wasn't pleasant. Screaming like a lunatic and feeling very much out of my mind, I tore into the living room and hid in the corner. I knew I had to kill it. I didn't want to spend the whole afternoon sharing a house alone with that thing. But I didn't know how I was gonna kill it. Usually, I just scream and someone else my brother comes and kills it, but today I was on my own.

I called my mom asking her if we had bugspray, which, of course, we didn't. "Just get the flyswatter and beat it." was her advice. Good advice, normally, but I couldn't get close enough to it to do so without freaking out. So I tried plan B: Throw every shoe in the house at it and hope I squash it. I was so nervous, though, that I never managed to hit it. In fact, it wasn't even scared of the shoes zooming over its head. So plan C went into effect: Get this big bag of change my brother has and throw THAT at it. I thought that had worked -- I nailed it on its nasty little head. I was just about to go over there when out it crawled from underneath the piles of pennies, dazed but not dead. I screamed and ran back into the corner.

By this point, I was seriously considering going through the back door and asking one of the neighbors to kill it for me. I was starting to seriously lose my head. Then I decided I would NOT be a wimp about it and I WOULD kill the thing if it killed me.

So I tried the flyswatter approach again I had been carrying it with me this whole time as self-defense. But I still couldn't get close enough to swat it without shaking. So I called my brother, asking him where his duct tape and large metal pole were. Of course, he had no idea, but he suggested I use the broom. Yay! I knew where that was! I got scotch tape and bound the swatter to the broom handle and faced off with demon spider, who was now making his way into my living room sanctuary. 

I beat him to a pulp with my extra-long swatter. Twelve times I pounded him. I know he was probably dead after the first three, but I wanted to make sure. Then I watched. He didn't move. 

Demon Spider: 10 

Me: 1

He may have won most of the battles, but I won the war.

Of course, now I'm jumpy as all getout and hiding in the living room desperately craving something chocolate. But I'm not getting back up just in case he brought minions....

Excerpt on immortality

This is kind of a really long comment on my friend Amy's blog, but what she said got ME thinking. She just finished reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels and started thinking about immortality.

"I wondered, what would it be like to live for hundreds of years? What would it be like to live through history and see the world change, not just hear about it?"

That, in turn, made me dredge up some oooooold writing from a previous re-write of The Aoudanian Chronicles where Leiliya is telling Aoudin exactly what it means to live forever. She's not a vampire, but she is immortal. I'll just post the bit and let you read for yourself...

***

Perhaps it was the stillness that made me voice the question I’d had since I’d begun traveling with Leiliya and Eniath, or perhaps it was that I was actually alone with Leiliya and knew it would be useless to ask for anything a bit more fun. Regardless, I glanced over at her where she lay back against the wall, staring intently at the ceiling as though it held the answers to the mysteries of life itself.

“Leiliya…” I began slowly. How was I supposed to ask something this ridiculous?

She turned her gaze to me and smiled wearily. “Aye? You look pensive. That’s rare.”

I scowled. You know, everyone says that to me. It’s tiring.”

Leiliya grinned. “I’m not sorry.”

“Of course you’re not.” I started to lose track of what I had been intending to say, but caught myself just in time. “Leiliya…” I began again. “What is it like to live forever?”

I couldn’t quite discern the look that crossed her face. I wasn’t sure if it was annoyance or pain. Either way, I hadn’t expected that kind of negative reaction.

“Why do you ask?” she asked after an awkward pause.

I began to feel like an ignorant child for reasons I could not explain. “I was just wondering. It seems fascinating to be able to watch ages pass. See it with your own eyes instead of just read about it, I mean.”

When Leiliya smiled, it seemed the smile of a very old teacher who only humored her young and inexperienced student. I had seen Leiliya act serious numbers of times, but never quite like this.

“Yes, put from that perspective it is rather fascinating, isn’t it?” she nodded and looked away from me, returning her relentless heterochromatic gaze back to the ceiling. “But what is it that makes history happen, Aoudin?”

“Fate…?” I guessed.

Leiliya shook her head. “People. People make history happen. So tell me now, Aoudin, what happens to people as history passes?”

“They die.” I was certain about this one.

Leiliya chuckled and shook her head. “Aye. They die. What you mortal types don’t realize is that death itself isolates us – the Simani and Aztriathans – from the rest of humankind. We can’t enjoy watching history pass when the people we would have to be involved with in order to enjoy it inevitably grow older and die, leaving us alone and not a day changed. As if they had never existed, except in history.” She paused. “… This is the reason the Simani do not leave our city of Elnestre and live among the mortals. True, we do have a weakness for human disease, but this is the real reason. It’s simply too painful to become close to people we will inevitably lose.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t—” I began, but Leiliya cut me off with a raised palm.

“Don’t interrupt. You asked, and you’ll be getting the full story now that I’ve started. As I was saying, it’s hell, Aoudin. You know, there’s a small town in western Hyrodoc I’ve visited once every year for the past 125 years. A very small town, currently with only about 30 or so residents. I know them all by name. But every year when I go back, something has changed. Someone has been married, or born, or died. And I see that difference. The endless circle of life that I miss out on. I see the great-grandchildren of the people who lived in the village when I first started visiting. They’re getting old now. Pretty soon, they too will die.”

This was a bit more long-winded than I had wanted, but I let her keep talking. It seemed as though she needed to talk about it.

“Eniath and I knew what we were doing when we took this job.” Leiliya shook her head. “We knew we would be getting attached to you all. Fighting alongside you, risking our lives. That forms a deeper bond than ordinary friendship. But both of us have thought about it… About how soon, you, Ces, Thei, all of our dearest companions will finish out your time in this circle and die, leaving us alone with only traces of that bond that shouldn’t be broken. Honestly, I doubt we’ll recover from it.”

I stared at her in amazement. “I had never even considered that. When I asked you to come with us, I wasn’t aware of exactly the pain I was asking you to suffer.”

“Of course you weren’t.” Leiliya grinned. “No one does. It’s not something people even seem to consider.”

“You have my apologies.”

This time, she laughed. “Oh, don’t go getting all sentimental. What’s done is done. Neither Eniath nor I would trade our time in this merry little group for anything. Sure we will suffer, yes, but we’ll always have fond memories. So don’t let it bother you.”

As if she had never been depressed, she began humming lightly and went back to studying the ceiling, not saying another word. Her mood had shifted back to her normal chaotic self.

She was happier this way, and so was I.

***

Leiliya is my favorite character to write XD She's totally bipolar. I will be working on a portrait of her soon, but I have a fair number of people on deviantART begging me for another comic...

But anyway, that's just an excerpt of Leiliya's and my opinion on immortality.

Sumimasen!

The most epic April Fool's Day prank ever

... I totally got it pulled over on me, which, as I mentioned before, really ticks me off. I'm usually pretty good at sniffing a scam Mr. Kazemerik from Nigeria has never gotten a penny from me! so it was rough on me. You'd also think that since it WAS April Fool's Day, I'd be weary of pranksters. But I'm not.

In my defense, I'm a zombie until I've had three cups of coffee. I don't even know what day it is until around noon, usually I've forgotten my own birthday the last three years. So it stands to reason that I'm not at the peak of my scam-sniffing ability until about noon because I don't even realize it's AFD.

Anyway, on to the prank.

My dear, pastor's daughter, sweet, innocent friend Mandy, who has never done anything quite so evil as that in all the four-nearly-five years I've known her on purpose anyway *lolz* decided to pair with a friend of hers and create the ultimate scam over a period of a few weeks. He "proposed" to her to be his fiancee for AFD and she accepted. Over the few weeks leading up to AFD, she posted vague "happy" status messages on Facebook that he usually commented on or "liked" so I got used to seeing his name and used to being annoyed that I didn't know what was going on I'm super nosy about my best friends but could care less about anyone else.

So the night before AFD, they changed their profile pics to ones with one another and changed their statuses to "engaged." I would have smelled a prank, except upon investigating so nosy I saw some people had posted something about them dating for three months. That and my subconscious memory remembered all of her ambiguous posts and it was early. So I totally fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

However, instead of finding myself excited over her "engagement" I flew into a vicious rage because she hadn't told me anything. Is that petty? Yes. Is it selfish? Yes. But that didn't stop me. I said something sarcastic to her and she immediately sent me emails and FB messages and texts telling me it was a scam. I felt like a total dork XD

Everyone fell for it though, so it wasn't just me.

You have to understand, though, that I'm pretty sensitive about that because it's actually happened to me before. My old best friend never told me he had a girlfriend even though we would talk all the time. I started feeling abandoned when he slowly stopped talking to me all together, which I later found out by the infamous update of the FB relationship status that he had found a girlfriend. I was so angry. Not that he had a girlfriend, but that he didn't tell me. Even more so that he wouldn't talk to me anymore because he simply didn't need me anymore. I had been abandoned on the side of the road. Plain and simple.

So you can kind of see why I was so upset...

I wish I could say I have learned not to be so nosy, but I haven't. If I stick my nose in your business, it means I love you. So deal with it.

Sumimasen!

Windy...

I had one of those days, you know? The kind of higher-you-go-further-you-fall kind.

Low: I hate April Fools Day. I'm very proud and don't take kindly to being tricked in any way, so a whole day dedicated to tricking me seems a bit extreme. Not to mention, I fell for the most epic prank in AFD history... but I won't say what just yet you'll have to wait!

High: I finished my first-ever digital painting! I'm extremely proud of it, even more so now that my favorite artist told me it was better than the first one she ever did! XD I will keep practicing!!!

Low: I was brutally reminded of my number one failure as a human being. While normally I refuse to speak when I'm angry because I know what I would say would be intensely and erroneously hurtful, I seem to say too much when I write about it. My temper is something I should control, or at least think of the consequences of what I say before I say it. So if I have ever hurt you with anything I've said, I'm sorry, sumimasen, gomenasai... That's not easy for me to say, but I mean it earnestly.

High: I was a top twenty featured writer for today on deviantART! Out of all the hundreds of thousands of submissions, the prologue for The Five Trials got selected as one of the best of the best! I am so honored. Since I am my own worst critic, this means so much to me. I can finally stop thinking that my poor book sucks after two years of writing and rewriting...

... I am suddenly reminded of a jingle my 4th and 5th grade teacher used to sing to help us remember the Coriolis Force that's it, right? High, Low, High, Low, High, Low, High... Winds always blow from a High to a Low...

So, as you can see, it has been a very eventful day in the life of me. Tomorrow I may have to work the afternoon shift, but I don't care. I may even stay late to work on a few new paintings. I'm not ready to do Libertas yet the lighting scares me but I will keep practicing until I feel confident!

Sumimasen!