Freakish Lemon

Another year, another Project 4 Awesome completed!

The first Project 4 Awesome was started by John and Hank Green, along with a crew of secret project volunteers, in 2007. Each of them made a video promoting their favourite charities and, in turn, commented and faved and rated the hell out of all the other P4A videos they would find.

Last year, I participated in the 2008 P4A and had an absolute ball doing it. I made a video and I stayed up for as much of the 48 hour commenting/rating/favouriting window doing all that I could to take over YouTube. Our efforts were coordinated through a live show on BlogTV and the response in the nerdfighter community was immense.

Things had to be adapted to accommodate our record numbers this year, including a LiveStream show instead of BlogTV, epic Twitter usage, and a brand new website to submit videos for consideration for community focus. Some of us were skeptical about the workings of our efforts this year, but they proved to work quite effectively.

( Project 4 Awesome )


Absolutely brilliant. Loads of charities get free promotion and donations, and we pwn one of the web's largest websites. Everybody wins.

And remember, don't french the llama.

DFTBA

I meant to do this days ago, but I have managed ONCE AGAIN to fail to meet my own deadlines. Such is my lot in life.

I always say I'm going to do things and I think we all know how that goes by now. I finally finished hemming thetinytauntaun's pants yesterday, and she brought those to me... two months ago? Fail. Still haven't finished my T-shirt hoodie completely or hemmed up those other pairs of cargo shorts. I've barely caught up with the on-going shows I watch, and I'm lagging so far behind on the new Fullmetal Alchemist series. I haven't read any updating manga in weeks and I still haven't finished the Xena game.

I staretd Ender in Exile before the fall semester and finished it only a couple of days ago.

Personal deadlines are very much NOT my forte.

BUT I did finish my NaNoWriMo novel in November and after this week of trying to catch up in the middle of finals and funeral stuff, I am ready to get back to reading and crafting and generally GETTING SHIT DONE.

Maybe I won't be lying on Twitter anymore when I say that. That would be nice.

Entries shall be coming soon.

So, several exciting things are happening.

1- It's full-fledged fall. Leaves falling, wind blowing fall. Fantastic. Even better than that? We seem to have skipped that awkwardly warm part of fall. The part where it will be fall-like for about half of the day before it turns summery again. The part where you are either over bundled or over exposed and it's impossible to determine whether or not you need a jacket.

2- It's nearing the end of October and Halloween is my favourite holiday. I feel like it's the only holiday with any sort of intrigue or mystery or magic left. And I fucking love dressing up. I've sort of become one of those lame people who is dressed as the same thing every year, but I've put a lot of money and time into that costume and I'm very proud of it. (Even though I'm really excited about making a costume or two for FaerieCon next year.)

3- It's nearing the end of October. November 1st starts NaNoWriMo, which I'm really looking forward to this year. I'm going to starting on time (instead of almost a week late) and I have a general plot in mind for the thing. I'm excited. I might be able to write the kind of novel that I've always wanted to write. Dream come true and all that. Also, I think I'm going to post my chapters here as I finish them. I meant to revise last year's novel and post it for a few folks to read, but I never got around to it.

Those entries will be Friends Only, by the way. So, if you haven't friended me and you want to see them, you best get on that.

4- Over the summer, I started watching a bunch of shows while I was knitting and crocheting. Most of them have started back up again. There will be so much knitting getting done this season because of new episodes of Fringe, Lie to Me, Heroes, Merlin, and the Sarah Jane Adventures. Plus, we have a regeneration coming up in Doctor Who, which I am both excited for and dreading, but we'll pretend I'm just excited for. Add that to the continuing Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood series and the list of finished shows I'm tackling (like Xena), and I've got knit-spiration galore.

5- I can knit socks now. :)

I feel compelled to write a post because I haven't in a while and I have time to kill in the Writing Center.

I also feel compelled to write about a renewal in my faith in the Fae and the continuation of the discussion of myth with Coffey (via assignments, the class is too dumb to understand D:), but I don't think I can make those two things mesh into a coherent entry with the time I have right now.

I could write write about my latest obsessions. I've watched up to mid-season 3 of Xena and being at college hasn't deterred my odd obsession with Welsh history and culture (not really modern culture though, more language than anything else).

And there's really a whole bunch of little things I can talk about, but I don't think any of them with be enough of a subject for one entry. And I don't really want to do a list post.

So, essentially, this is a post about about not knowing what to write. Awesome.

Seriously, how many of these do I post?

More than I should. Merg.

I've recently noticed that I rarely blog about good things that happen, unless I happen to be reviewing them. I don't know why, but I feel less compelled to hammer out one of these posts if it's about something that I actually like. I mean, it's easier to complain about everything, but I've been meaning to write about this weekend and the things I liked about it for the past four days.

Something about that seems not right.

Despite the continuation of the Torchwood fiasco via Lainey's first viewing of CoE, the weekend was a surprisingly enjoyable one. Probably because we were making the conscious effort to distract ourselves from the DRAMAZ and grief.

The good part of the weekend started with tacos, like all good weekends should. We had tried to make tacos earlier in the semester, but were woefully unprepared. This time, we had the meat and seasoning, tortillas, two kinds of cheeses, that weird salsa that comes in a pouch, lettuce... everything you need, really. It was delicious.

We ended the meal with hot chocolate and ice cream. Again, distracting and delicious.

Later on in the night, after much fanfiction and fix-it discussions, we warmed and spiced some cider. Again, distracting and delicious. Even though it hurt to drink because I had in fact been reading fanfic aloud and my throat was a bit raw.

I don't remember exactly how we managed to stay up until four in the morning, but I'm sure there was a lot of ranting.

Anyway, after we got up and made some breakfast Sunday after noon (cinnamon rolls and eggs with some left over Velveeta-chili dip mixed in), Lainey, Lindsay, and I went for a walk around Edgerton Park.

Oddly enough, we'd never walked in the park when the greenhouse was open, but on Sunday the doors were open, so we went in the poke around. The back was also open, and we went for a leisurely stroll in some vegetable gardens. It was pretty wonderful. And we discovered a brilliant picnic spot.

( We also started constructing The Great Wall of Ianto. )

Yes.

I forgot what my initial point was, but I'm sure I had one. Whatevs. I've got Xena episodes to watch. XD

( Letter #4 to the BBC )

( Things to be mailed out... )

Okay. I think we all need a break from Torchwood, don't you think?

Do you remember my mini-obsession with the Muppets a couple of months back? How I went through a couple of movies and repeatedly listened to soundtracks and downloaded Muppet Show episodes?

Well, I never finished watching all the episodes I downloaded. So, after lots of Torchwood madness and lots of Classic Who, I decided to take a break and watch some of those episodes.

One of these episodes had Christopher Reeve as the guest star.

These days, when someone says the name "Christopher Reeve," we think of his accident and how it left him paralyzed. We think about how brave and strong he was in his recovery and during his lobbying for spinal injury research. We think of the Christopher Reeve Foundation and the Reeve-Irvine Research Center. Superman, of course, floats around in there somewhere, but we tend to forget that, once upon a time, Christopher Reeve was a vibrant entertainer.

Christopher Reeve was on the Muppet Show just around the time when Superman II was being released. He was at the top of his game-- young and excited and, quite frankly, hilarious. He knew how to make people laugh and he wasn't afraid to make fun of his own success.

Not to mention that he's gorgeous. My little fanboy heart can hardly take it.

Here, have some clips. I'm sharing the love.

( Letter to the BBC: Contains Spoilers for Torchwood: Children of Earth )

I missed a blog on Wednesday because the second half of this week has been so poorly communicated to me that I was unaware that I would be leaving so soon and didn't have a chance to type anything out.

Wait.

What was that?

Leaving?

As in, leaving the house?

I know. Since when do I do that, right?

Well, a couple of weeks ago, my Aunt Kathy invited my mom and Pickleface up to a cabin in Sturbridge, Massachusetts so that my second-cousin Noah (who's about 8 years old) would have someone to play with. Aunt Kathy has some kind of Outdoor World membership that allows her discounts or, possibly, season long reservations on the little trailer cabins at Outdoor World locations. I'm not entirely sure how it works, but if we ever need to go somewhere out of state, we usually check with Aunt Kathy before we make any plans.

While my mother and Pickleface were up there, Aunt Kathy, of course, offered the family use of the cabin that she's got reserved up there. Last week, my mother decided that we were going to spend a couple nights there. So, Wednesday was spent trying to get everything packed and together while my mom was at work, and when she came home, packing up the car and getting out of here.

It was just my mother, the Gabbers, Pickleface, and myself, but it ended up being pretty relaxed. I read a lot and played a bunch of board games with Pickleface. I filmed a video while out on a walk. It was nice and quiet and a good break from the... nice and quiet.

Anyway, pictures will be up as soon as I sort through them. I've got a book review lined up and a couple of craft posts to organize. I'm also going to the New York Renaissance Faire this Sunday, so it looks like this will be a busy weekend.

( A Letter to the BBC - Contains Spoilers for Torchwood: Children of Earth )

Gah. I keep updating the day after I'm supposed to. Merg.

Anyways, I'm sure you're all a bit sick of this, but this will be another Torchwood post. Sorry.

Mildly spoilery, but not blatantly so.

One of the things that I use to gage my appreciation of a television series is how often I want to rewatch it. I'm a rewatcher. I rewatch things. I've rewatched Farscape over many years of reruns, I've rewatched Firefly just about everything they marathon that on TV, and I've gone back to rewatch specific episodes of shows more times than I can count.

Torchwood seasons 1 and 2 are very high on my list of rewatchability. After I finished it the first time, I turned right back around and started watching it from the beginning again. I've rewatched both seasons to show the show to at least two people, and I know I've shown specific episodes to about five other people. I get scenes from these seasons stuck in my head.

I have no desire to watch Children of Earth from beginning to end. It doesn't hold up the same way that the previous seasons do. CoE has more holes than ripped fishnet stockings, the only decent character development was for my least favourite character, and, while seasons 1 and 2 had their fair share of both of these things, they also had the apparently foreign concepts of HOPE and FUN.

I find myself unwillingly drawing parallels between my analysis of Children of Earth and the last Harry Potter book. Both left me with the sense that their creators didn't know what the hell they were doing and that they both were unfamiliar with their own characters.

The only reason that CoE hasn't quite sunk to the level of HP7 in my brain is because of a few specific scenes: Jack and Ianto nabbing the hitchhiker from the hospital in episode 1, Rhiannon confronting Ianto about his date, anything with Johnny, any scene where Rhys stepped up and proved he was awesome, Jack's rescue, and PC Andy's moments.

With the except of the 'Was Ianto gay?' conversation. That one I just didn't understand. I mean, I would have been fine with it if we had ever seen Ianto and Andy in the same shot in the entire series, but it honestly looks like Andy has never met Ianto. Why would Andy ask that?

But the stuff I did like, when combined, doesn't even fill one episode slot. So I liked less than 1/5th of the show.

But the rest? It wasn't Torchwood. It's already been delegated to TERRIBLE FANFIC status in my brain files. With the exception of the things I liked, it didn't happen.

There's been rumours about Torchwood being picked up for a fourth season, although nothing's really been confirmed. It honestly doesn't matter if I tune in or not, because I'm not shelling out any money for it, but if I do it will be in the vague hope of more PC Andy and Rhys. Everyone else has been twisted so illogically that, without drastic overhauling of characterization, they aren't worth watching.

The house I live in is pretty old. Not old like Colonial Times old, but certainly a lot older than most of the houses around here. Our guess is that it was built in the early 1940s, and a lot of things have been added to and changed in it over the years.

Home improvement is always an adventure here. Once, when we were redoing some of the walls in the playroom (it is now my sister's room), we found a old pair of canvas water-wings between the studs, and when we redid the family room, we found an old tennis racket in the walls.

Over the past couple of weeks, we've been finally getting around to redoing our terrible kitchen and the dining room. The first thing to go (once we got the cabinets and appliances out) was our cracked and ugly brown linoleum floor. Under the kitchen was your run of the mill basic wood floor. You know, the kind that would be under a nice wood floor-- made entirely out of 2x6s. Luckily, the water in the corner by the sink and the rot in the wall over there didn't get down to the floor.

The dining room, however, had a bit of a surprise. Firstly, beneath the brown linoleum was the ugliest green tile-like thing we've ever seen. It was like school hallway flooring from hell. Beneath that, then, was the remnants of what could have been a genuinely nice wood floor, if not for the aforementioned tile monstrosity that was glued to it. But even further, beneath that wood floor, was something of a very cool surprise.


( Beneath the floorboards )

I've got some more thoughts about Torchwood that didn't really belong in my last post or didn't really make sense to me when I wrote my last post. Any thoughts with spoilers to the plot of Children of Earth will be under a cut at the bottom of the post and will be clearly labelled, so my other Torchwood peeps can read the rest.

Anything non-essential to plot (like the fact that Ianto has a sister, which was written about briefly somewhere official)or anything revealed in seasons 1, 2, the one tie-in novel I've read, or the four radio plays are fair game.

The first thing I have to marvel at is my brothers' capacity for tolerance. My brothers (15? and 13, man I'm so bad at remembering how old Stovetop is) are fairly normal teenage boys. They like their first person shooter video games and calling each other gay and trying to be as manly as possible at their ages. Now, Stovetop's still working on the first two series of Torchwood, but I've gotten Pickleface to watch them all with me and they both have no problem whatsoever with Jack and Ianto as a couple.

I mean, with the way society is, no one's going to blink twice at Tosh and Mary as a couple or the Gwen and Carys snogging in S1Ep2, because as males, we are expected to fetishize lesbians. Unfortunately, it is still the norm for guy couples to be viewed as weird or wrong or whatever, and because of the way my mother is, I expected the boys to follow that form of thinking.

I was pleasantly surprised. Pickleface managed to watch Torchwood in a weird order (Children of Earth, then series 1 and 2) and after completing the circuit, he wondered why there wasn't more gay in Children of Earth. Like, out loud. To me. He didn't bat an eyelash at the kissing or the naked times or any of the relationship stuff. It was pretty awesome.

And, well, Stovetop and Pickleface are pretty observant blokes, I guess, as they don't think anything of it when I call myself a homo for Ianto Jones.

Again, I was surprised to learn that Pickleface has been trying to put together a Ianto Jones playlist for himself. You have no idea how much this amuses me.

At the end of Children of Earth, Jack mentions Suzie's death. I thought it was really interesting that he did so. I want to know more about her as a part of the team. We only really got that little glimpse into how she interacted with everyone and, when she was brought back to life, the episode was all about Gwen, so we really didn't learn enough to paint an accurate picture of what Suzie was like before the glove got to her. I'm particularly interested in how she would have reacted if she had been around when the big Cyberwoman reveal had happened.

I WANT MORE OF IANTO'S FAMILY. Seriously. They were the best thing about Children of Earth. I want to know what Ianto and Rhiannon were like as kids, how Rhiannon dealt with Ianto running off to London, if Ianto saw her when he came back from Torchwood 1, when he got back in touch with her, how did she meet Johnny, what did Ianto think of Johnny, if Ianto went to their wedding, how Ianto responded to their having kids, OH MY GOD EVERYTHING.

I am on A MISSION to find as much fic with them as possible, especially ones writter after CoE because now we know what she looks/acts/sounds like. Fucking BRILLIANT.

I would watch a Rhys and PC Andy show. Just the two of them hunting weevils.

And I don't mean that the way Jack means that; I mean actually just chasing weevils through the streets of Cardiff.

In Asylum, PC Andy learns about exactly what Torchwood is, and he gets to deal with weevils during Exit Wounds, and he gets to turn into action!Andy in Children of Earth. And action!Rhys keeps happening more and more. I want the two of them, running through Cardiff alleyways, arguing the whole time, but working together to subdue rogue weevils and dump them in the back of a Hardwood's lorry to go release them back into the sewers somewhere. That would keep me entertained forever, I think.

If anyone ever doubts Gareth David-Lloyd's ability to act, I will send them the audio book The Sin Eaters. He does everyone's voices. Now, Ianto's voice is easy to pull off, obviously, but he does Gwen's exaggerated accent voice and Rhys' voice (to the point where I had to listen twice to make sure it wasn't actually Kai Owen reading with him) and even Jack's voice (even though some of his American accent is pretty horrible). He gets all the pacing of their voices and the pitch patterns in their speech and everything down so well. And we can't even see him. Fantastic.

(And, if that's not enough, there's a scene in episode 1 of Children of Earth that I've been watching on repeat because of his amazing acting. He says maybe six sentences in the whole scene, but you know exactly what he's thinking and feeling there.)

Still don't know how Jack becomes a giant head in a jar. Boo.

I liked Gwen in Season 3. She was just written a lot better than she usually is. More believable and less temper tantrum. More action and planning, and less standing around asking questions that no one's going to answer. She seems so much more condescending in seasons 1 and 2 after seeing Children of Earth.






( SPOILER THOUGHTS )

Tags: blog

I do not know what is up with my crazy cat, but I guess he's decided that he's sleeping in here tonight.


To be honest, I'm not sure what I should blog about today. I could blog some more about Jamie and how much of a fanboy for him I am, but I'm hoping to break that cycle of constantly talking about the same thing for weeks on end. Just a mention or two (like this) would be fine, but I need to stop the long gushy blog posts.

I could talk about some of the stuff that's coming up. Like Harry Potter or Connecticon or tearing the cabinets and floors out of my kitchen, but I'm going to end up talking about them after they've happened. That'd be a bit redundant.

I could talk about spending almost the entire day in the car running errands and driving Stovetop and a prospective girlfriend of his to the mall on the day when Waterbury decides to turn itself inside out, but long rants about traffic lights and navigating barely familiar streets is almost as bad as gushing about young Mr. Macrimmon

Although, while I'm thinking about it, I keep entertaining the idea of Jamie regaining his memory of the Doctor and then falling through the Rift and joining Torchwood post-season 2. Mostly because I think Jamie would be both bemused and amused by Jack's flirting and because Gwen would be a much better character if she spent her time gossiping about how adorable Jamie is than the character she is now.

Also, Jamie flouncing around in that short kilt around the Hub being chased by Myfanwy for a game of fetch? That could keep me amused for days. Especially if he only ever calls her "ye great beastie" like I think he would.

And Ianto would stand around looking all proud all the time because Jamie is always being pushed to the side by the bigger personalities because he doesn't always know what's going on, and he'd concede power over to Gwen and Jack anyway because they're the leader figures (and the woman), and Ianto would have to take him under his wing. Showing him how to feed the critters, teaching him how to use the computers, taking him grocery shopping and flat hunting so he can survive outside of the base...

OVER ACTIVE IMAGINATION.

That's what I've got.

And this has turned into a gushing about Jamie post. Once I finish these reconstructed episodes, I'll stop for realz. I'll have to adapt to new companions and use my brains for them.

OKAY.

Blog post done.

I meant to write an post yesterday. I really did. But then I made the icon I'm using and couldn't stop laughing for HOURS.


I have to say that when the iPod Touches, iPhones, and electronic book readers came out, I was a bit leery of the idea. Part of what makes a book so enjoyable (for me, anyway)is the tangibility of the thing-- the shape of the book in my hands, the scent of the pages, the general impression of bookishness that comes with books. I thought, 'How can I enjoy it without turning the pages? How can I sit down and scroll through pages and pages of prose?'

Never mind the fact that I've read novel-length fanfiction because it's a completely different entity. I don't have the same associations with fanfiction as I do with books. Curling up in an armchair with a good book is different to curling up in an armchair with a good fanfic.

As with most things in my life, here I embrace the two ends of the spectrum. It's not unlike me to become fixated on the anachronistic- pocket watches, cars from the 1920's, oil lamps... Books belong to that side of me. Even newly published novels get pushed into the part of me that loves pieces of history. Fanfiction is the the spectrum's other end; fanfiction belongs to the part of me that spends hours constructing a new website or playing video games. In my brain, fanfiction belongs on a screen, but books don't.

I own an iPod Touch. Have for a few months now. I dabbled in the App Store for a bit when I first got it, but otherwise left that aspect of the iPod alone. Recently, my favourite podcaster Scott Johnson started AppSlappy and that podcast has been bringing all the different functions of the iPod Touch to my attention.

Now, I won't buy any apps just yet, but I'm completely willing to download any free applications that I'm interested in. In my search for new stuff to try, I can across several free downloadable books. Nothing new -- Grimm's Faery Tales, Alice in Wonderland, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, etc. -- but stuff that I wouldn't necessarily remember to buy at any point. So I downloaded them.

In the past week, there have been times when I was working on a drawing time lapse video and I had nothing to do for ten to twenty minutes. I turned on the iPod, saw my little icon for the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes on there, and thought 'What the hell? Why not?'

And it was fine. I had vague recollections of the particular adventure I was reading, so the familiarity might have helped, but I enjoyed what I read the same as I would have if I had read it in print. Possibly even more, as authors of that time tended to be quite verbose and the iPod screen can only hold a couple of sentences at a time. Also, this particular book app allows you to swipe the screen to turn virtual pages and bookmarks where you left off (with dark red bookmark with gold designs and tassel, in fact).

I doubt I'll be looking to make a switch from print to digital books full time any time soon. As long as I have the money and the space, I'll be buying print books.

But, I have to say, this digital book thing ain't so bad.

We all know I'm crazy. For the past half year, I've been going back and watching the earliest episodes of Doctor Who in all their rubber mask and black and white glory. While there are obvious differences between the mentality of the show and of the Doctor himself between the original series and Russel T. Davies' revival of the show, there are some things that never change.

Namely, the Doctor's need to have people travel with him. Anyone who's studied Who-lore knows that the Doctor first started traveling with his granddaughter and his first human companions come aboard because of Susan's influence. After the Doctor leaves Susan behind after she falls in love, he continues to bring people aboard because he no longer has any family. He has to make new families with the stragglers he finds on his adventures.

Everyone has their favourite Doctor's companion. Most of the people I know have favourites from the latest series-- Martha or Donna or Jack. It helps that a lot of people's favourite Doctors are either Number Nine or Number Ten.

But I think I've found my favourite Doctor's companion from all the way back in 1966.

Well, actually, from a bit further back from that. 1746.

James Robert Macrimmon was a young piper from the Clan McLaren in 18th Century Scotland. The Doctor, Polly, and Ben first encountered him in a series of episodes called The Highlanders and, by the end of the episodes, Polly convinces the Doctor to take young Jamie along with them to travel through time and space.

Although Jamie is the most disadvantaged of the three (having grown up without space ships, or any modern technology at all), he's got a big heart and is probably the most courageous of the companions. He often doesn't understand what's going on, but forces the smarter people around him to explain so that he can help, and he always finds a way to help, even when no one believes in him. When Ben and Polly decide to leave, he stays on because he recognizes that the Doctor needs someone to look after him.

Probably one of the most charming aspects of Jamie's character is that he comes from an age where chivalry is still prevalent. He is constantly looking after the women who travel with them (Polly, then the Victorian Victoria, and then the future-genius Zoe)and who they encounter on their travels, even though they are often more capable in the situation than himself.

Now, because of how many lost episodes of Doctor Who there are in the early days of the Second Doctor, I haven't really gotten to know Jamie when he first shows up, but along the way he encounters both the Cybermen and the Daleks (rarer in those days), as well as the Ice Warriors, Yeti, the Destructors, and the Quarks. He appears in more episodes than any other Doctor's companion to date and it's easy to see why.

Even though I've only seen the latest episodes of his stay aboard the TARDIS, he's beating out Sarah Jane (who I haven't watched yet, but I love her dearly) and Jack Harkness for favourite companions right now.

In fact, here's some of my favourite Jamie moments from the last story he was in (The War Games).









Oh Jamie, I shall miss you on this show.


FUN FACT: In the Doctor Who episode "Tooth and Claw" when David Tennant's portrayal of the Doctor meets Queen Victoria's traveling party, he introduces himself as Doctor James Macrimmon.

So, my blogger is back up and running, my Flickr is now fully tagged, and faenikins and I are going for fitness walks in the morning.

I feel pretty good. Tired because I'm not used to being up that early these days, but good.

Which means that I'm feeling confident and I'll probably do something stupid soon. I'll let you know.

Unfortunatly, this means that I don't really have anything substantial to blog about right now. When I feel like this, I often start a bunch of things and don't finish them for a while, or talk about them a lot but never actually do them.

So here are somethings that I want to get done before the end of July:

-Finish two or more paintings
-Finish two or more detailed drawings
-Write a new fanfiction

I mean, there's other stuff I want to do, but that's the gist of what I'm thinking about right now.

I've been trying to stick to the internet schedule that I proposed a couple of months ago, but it just isn't sticking. Part of it is my own inability to keep track of the days of the week, but some of it has to do with the fact that I no longer have the college class schedule to work around.

So, in order to keep the same amount of updates and increase my chances of keeping track of time, the internet schedule now goes like this:

Monday - Blog
Tuesday - Video
Wednesday - Blog
Thursday - Video
Friday - Blog
Saturday - Drawing/Artwork

Although, the drawing part isn't really necessary on Saturday. It'll probably actually be posted whenever I finish it, but I want to average one drawing a week. I've gotten so far from that part of my artistic endeavors that I feel pretty useless. However, I am working on a drawing that will take me a long time to complete and I'm feeling pretty good about it so far.

I've also decided to revive my Blogger blog. Blogger is the blog service that people actually use, and it's one that people will click links to. LiveJournal has an unfortunate connotation with whining emo kids, so it's hard to get promotion for my serious blog posts from outside of LJ. The Blogger won't have all the personal blog posts that this blog has, but it will have the reviews and the craft posts.

I'm already a day late with this, but I think I will be more consistent this time around.

And I'll be getting up much earlier to work on all of this, starting tomorrow.

There is nothing more satisfying than creating something that you imagine so clearly in your head and actually having it look like what you imagined.

I've been doing a lot of craft projects lately. With the way this whole internship is going, I'll be lucky to get one at all, and while I'm busy trying to figure that out, I've pretty much passed the deadline for summer jobs. I'm going to try to promote commissions and the Etsy store as much as possible so that I have some kind of income (Whore me out to everyone you know please!), but it's not going to be making me as much money as I'm used to getting over the summer.

I'm not really fine with this. I need an internship in order to graduate with the degree in accounting. Without the internship, I'll have to somehow make that fit into my class schedule and the work schedule of two other jobs at the college. Also, transportation is not provided, which will be fun for no-car me.

But more than that, this is the first summer in years during which I am not working. If I stop moving/cleaning/creating, then I start to feel the rising panic of not having a steady paycheck. I still live at home, so I'm not worried about rent or food or anything, but all I can think is 'What if this is it?' What happens if I actually manage to graduate next spring with my degree and this is still all that I amount to? I have this lingering fear that I will be the kid to end up like my Uncle Floyd -- a drunk with a low paying job forever stuck living at home with his mother -- only it'll be worse because 'his' won't even apply to me if I stay here.

So I've been knitting and sewing and doing anything to keep from dwelling on it. I know that I sabotage myself when it comes to my own self-view and I am determined to spend as little time as possible thinking about it. I've got years worth of shows to watch and a huge cache of yarn and scrap fabric. I will make whatever comes to mind.

But it's still nice to see that I can actually accomplish some things that I doubt I'll be able to complete. If all goes well, you can see my latest creation in a video tomorrow. I made it with absolutely no knowledge of how to go about building it -- just fucking high on the idea that I might be able to cobble it together for myself -- and I'm just so fucking PROUD.

It's not perfect, but it's exactly how I imagined it. And I can't wait to share it.