Working on a project involving werewolves, looking at getting a new computer and a cintiq next year, and currently glaring at the trees around here that the city planted. Now, these trees do look pretty. They also produce enough pollen in later months to make the city streets look like they’re covered in snow and are an irritant to my sinuses, and are great homes for invader/pest species.

As far as summers go, it has not been that hot, all things considered. Just humid, and bright, with very little rain. Species of animals which were once much rarer are now pretty commonplace. Opossums seem to have out-competed skunks for the scavenger niche, at least in town, and redpolls, cardinals and some robins are now staying year around instead of stopping by  on migration. Terns, once a rare visitor, have now made appearances in the bay for 3 years in a row, along with cormorants, and coyote numbers are increasing. I haven’t had time to compare this to Audubon society records, but the ecology up here is definitely changing.

I will be attending the Wizard World Convention in Chicago on Friday and Saturday, I plan to be hanging out with Whitechapel folks and lurking about the Avatar booth, and just plain wandering around. This will be my first convention.

When a family commissioned architect Eric Clough to design their 5th Avenue Apartment, they got more than they bargained for- a home, and a whimsical, gorgeous, detail-filled mystery.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/garden/12puzzle.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-hidvElQ0xE&feature=related

I really enjoyed listening to this clip; I think you could apply most of the stuff he’s talking about to any of the arts.

Real Life’s been chewing up my time, my sanity, and all that fun stuff, as RL usually does; but the internet has not forgotten me. Case in point; an online friend who goes by the nickname of MuseHick on Whitechapel, who spotlighted my art here:

http://skullcull.wordpress.com/2008/06/04/take-art-jessica-wagar/

So, the 19th was my birthday; there’s a whitechapel post about it Over Here, and I got some birthday greetings from folks on twitter as well. It was very nice, and I’d like to thank everyone who said happy birthday to me, or got me stuff, and who have just been there for me to listen to me ramble on for the past year.

As far as celebrations go, I didn’t really do anything. I drank coffee, I drove the car around. I got a skeleton necklace from 86 made of moose antler, my box of comics from cata, and harley davidson swag from my mom, as well as money from the grandparents for coffee. We didn’t have a party or anything; and mom’ll take me out to see Indiana Jones and the Geezer Crusade for the Crystal Skulls in all it’s awesome glory next tuesday. Though there may be skeptics among you, who say Harrison Ford is a) Old and b)Cannot Act, I counter with the fact that as a child I was a rabid Indy fangirl. Your logic cannot sway my want to see this movie. It’s got INDY in it. It could be Indiana Jones and the Magical Butt Monkeys from Plannet Zeon, and I would still see it.

I did not start out as some totally awesome artist. To prove that I was not always super talented (childhood drawings making the paper be damned), I will share with you this childhood crayon drawing of a girl and some black sheep.

http://grinding.be/2008/05/15/update-on-homework-assignment-1/#comments

Got my homework done! HAH! It took some doing, but M1k3y got my stuff.

in addition; there’s also a few other pictures out there. Like these ones:

My E-house is still something of a disaster area (Hey, it matches IRL. I’m going for a THEME here).

1) get out any and all art related books, or books that may be related to art.
2) arrange books in artful piles within arm’s reach.
3) stare at the spec. sheet for the logo.
4) turn on computer.
5) Visit the Design Observer and Speakup. Comment on several posts, look at Brand New for ideas of what not to do.
6) Get a mocha.
7) Re-arrange piles of books.
Put on some tunes. Make a playlist specificly for this project.
9) Oh look, a design show’s on the tv. Watch design show.
10) More caffeine.
11) Look at spec. sheet again.
12) Go through art history books, design books, 3 years of magazines.
13) Read some essays on Design.
14) More soda.
15) Sketch a preliminary design, based on spec sheet, demographics, etc.
16) Make a nicer version of design. See how it looks on web, from a foot away, and from across the room, black and white, and in color.
17) Go back to Speak Up, chat a bit more.
1 Remember to eat something.
19) Stare at what you’ve created so far.
20) Under the influence of enough caffeine to power a mission into space and back at the speed of light, create the logo.

I’m working on reorganizing my ‘internet house’, if you will, sorting through stuff. Expect content to be moving around, some artwork, and a lot of chaos the next few weeks while I chew at it in my spare time.

~ROO.