erga.utica

ups package tracking is fantastic. my package is in texas right now, after checking in at 1am...eta: tuesday...i forgot there is a holiday this weekend (july 4th, fireworks, yay!), so blah, it's missing out on a day of travel, lame. omg i want it NAO. i NEEDS new jewelrys NAO. omg, hurry hurry. do want do want. hurry hurry.

tomorrow i'm going to spend the day with my friend and we're going to have a LORD OF THE RINGS marathon (special extended dvds! whoooooo!), and then when it gets dark, we're going to climb to the top of the hill behind her house and watch the fireworks...from up there, we can see fireworks from all the college campuses, disneyland, knott's berry farm, and people's backyards...if it's REALLY clear, maybe even ones at the beach too. EXCITING!!!

now i have to go to the grocery store to buy brown sugar and flour to make cookies! :D

little update on my goings-on:

- the spring semester has ended, and now i am free for summer. i am so clueless as to what i should do with my time, but i hoping that i will spend most of it on art. i have a few drawings planned out, so that's exciting.

- the birds that nest in my backyard up under the patio thing have just hatched their second brood of the season. i'm so proud of them. such good parents. i saw daddy bird bring mommy and kids some fat worms for lunch, and then fly off for more. so responsible.

- i've been doing a bit of bird-watching in my backyard. so far i have seen black phoebes, house finches (these are the kind that are nesting there), mourning doves, mockingbirds, starlings, crows, and probably something else i am forgetting. they are all SOOOOOO different as far as character goes, and great fun to watch.

- i've found and read two of james thurber's childrens' books, the white deer, and, the wonderful O. they are DARLING. i have a series of drawings planned out in my head, inspired by the white deer. if you can find these books at the library, READ THEM. they are fantastic (and really short...less than 100 pages each).

- my birthday is next friday, you guys!!!! :D :D :D :D (i'm going to be 23!)

- someone has been calling my house every day at 11am for the last month. it's really annoying. D:

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

predicted temperature forecast for the next few days:

today: 92F
tomorrow: 94F
sunday: 94F
monday 88F

AHHHHHHHH *pulls out hair and then melts*

TOO HOT.

i put a dish of cool water on the backyard patio table for the house finches that are nesting there. maybe they can take some sips from it, or roll around in it or something to cool off. i feel so bad. they look terribly uncomfortable. momma bird is sitting on the nest, holding her wings away from her body, and panting feverishly. :( i hope the heat doesn't fuck their clutch of eggs up. :(

i took a soaking wet paper towel and clothesepinned it across my back to the straps of my dress, and i put menthol ointment on all my exposed veins, hoping that evaporation will come into play somewhere along the line and keep me cool...it's kind of working. better than nothing, i suppose.

i got an entire 24-volume set (minus volume 18 *sadface*) of collier's encyclopedia for $3 at school. when i go back tomorrow, i will look around to see if i can find volume 18, but even if i can't, it's still a damn good deal.

i had to get three people to help me carry all the books to my locker, and then after class, it took me 30 minutes and 5 trips to get the whole lot of them to my car by myself. (my locker is on the 3rd floor of the art building. THANK GOD we have elevators). i am SO tired, lol.

there is a HUGE book sale going on at my school right now. the library is trying to get rid of some older crap books that people don't check out anymore...trying to make more room i suppose. anyway, hardbacks go for $1 and paperbacks for $0.50......BUT, they are such lame books that people aren't buying them at ALL. so tonight, they put up a sign: $1 for all the books you can fit in a grocery bag!!!! so i dropped $2 in the change bin and grabbed 2 bags...and 44 books.

THAT'S RIGHT. I FIT 44 BOOKS INTO TWO GROCERY BAGS. i kick so much ass.

most of them i got because they had neat/old covers, interesting titles, or they were just about things i had never even thought about before...and because i love buying books for shit cheap. i saw two sets of encyclopedias there, so i'm going to get them tomorrow if they are still there. :D :D :D

( list of ALL the books i snagged )

has anyone come across any of these books before? feedback?

EXCITING!!!!!!!

i found an amazing desktop french easel there for $60, which i want to buy, and ALSO, OMG, I GOT THIS BOOK, the life of birds by attenborough/bbc, for $2!!!!!!!!!! YES. AMAZING. and i also got the marvels of animal behavior from national geographic for $2!!!!!!! YES. i rock so hard at finding amazing books for cheap.

(note: this was also posted as a bulletin on myspace, so a few of you can skip this entry, lol)

i went to the scholarship ceremony today at school.

i am so excited.
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

i have a bunch of certificates to frame now, and i can pick up my scholarship check on the 19th!!! YAY!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

my plans for the scholarship:
- another semester of art classes + replacing a few supplies
- an easel
- a lightbox

of course, what i spend it on depends on how much $ i actually get (i won't actually find out until i get the check is in my hands [oh, the anticipation!]), but i am still very excited. it is SUCH a good feeling to be acknowledged and recgonized for the time, effort and SOUL that i put into my drawings.

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

i went to a ceremony today, and it was really funny, because, as most of you know, before i was doing art, i had been majoring in math and was on my way to becoming a math instructor. there were a few math/science instructors there that i had consulted when i was thinking about switching over to art, and ALL of them discouraged me from making that decision. they had all said that math/science are more important than art (that art is frivolous), and that i would be throwing my life away if i switched over to art. well, not that harshly, but they all thought it was a horrible idea, and that i would regret the decision.

it was SO GREAT to get all these awards in front of them.
it was like a huge "IN YOUR FACE!!!!! NYAH! you were wrong, and i CAN go somewhere/be someone/do something with my art! NYAH NYAH NYAH!"

it made me feel really good.
:D

and also, i want to thank every single person on here (livejournal/internet/earth) that has said good things to me about my art. it REALLY keeps me going, all that encouragement and such, and i want you all to know that i appreciate EVERY kind word (and criticism) that you have thrown my way. i am having a celebratory glass of sake right now, to which i toast in honor of you all. *clink*
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

( ETA: two more )

hey guys. i know i haven't been around for a while, (my computer is still jacked), but i wanted to pop in and tell you all something.

the student art show is currently underway at my school, and i have three drawings in it. there are good things and bad things about the show.

bad things: THEY HUNG TWO OF MY DRAWINGS THE WRONG FUCKING WAY. I AM SO PISSED about this, and i even talked to the art department chair, but she just kind of brushed me off as being cranky. HELLO. YES I AM CRANKY ABOUT IT. TWO OF MY DRAWINGS ARE HANGING SIDEWAYS. UGH.

good things: the drawing that was hung correctly got me FIRST PLACE in the "drawing" section of the art show, which means i get a scholarship! i don't know how much $$$ i will be getting, but i'm supposed to go to a fancy shindig this sunday where i will find out, and then to some ceremony thing on monday where i will actually get the check or something. i don't know. but YAY! $$$! maybe it will cover another semester of art classes, or maybe i can buy an easel or a lightbox! fabulous.

after i won the contest thingy, i saw a man looking at my drawing, so i went over to him and introduced myself...he asked me if i was selling the drawing, OMG, but i told him that i was going to keep it and hang it in my studio. yay!

here is the prize-winning drawing, imago dama dama



i'm so proud of it. :D

my new things lately have been the library (i've read about 7 or 8 books since my computer died...that's all the entertainment i have now! D:) and going to the park and finding crow feathers, lol. i found 15 feathers the last time i went! i bring them home and wash them, and then i stick them in a vase by my drawing table, or in my hair. yay.

anyways, i guess that's all for right now. i miss LJ. :(

my computer completely died monday morning and i lost everything. all my art, all my movies, all my music, all my photos, everything. i don't know when/if i can get it up and running again, so yeah. ugh. i'm on my dad's computer right now. i miss the internet. this is the first time i have toutched a keyboard or looked at a screen since monday. D: i feel OMG SO CUT OFF FROM EVERYTHING.

( waaaaaaaaah )

so anyway, i just wanted to let you all know that i will be absent from the internet for an indeterminate amount of time. i will pop in every now and then (once a week, maybe?), if i can sneak onto some one else's computer, but for the most part, i will not have access to the internet until i get my computer fixed, or until i get a new one. D:

krikrikri

p.s. the student art show runs from may 1st through the 8th, and i have two pieces in it FOR SURE (they even got a special sticker on them that guarantees their entry!), and a possible third which i will take in for review on monday. i'm so excited.

also, all the baby robins flew away yesterday.

it's 91F today. D: D: D: D: D: D: D: D:

i checked on the robin nest today, and OMG THERE ARE FIVE BABIES. they are losing their down and have most of their adult feathers, but they are still wee, and their beaks are still lined with bright yellow (so that mama can see where to put yummy bugs).

i tried to take some pictures, but ugh, i couldn't get anything fantastic, and WOW their nest is GROSS AND POOPY. D:



i watched them for about 10 minutes and saw mother bird feed them twice. they are greedy little bastards, and they are also exceptionally lazy. they just kind of sit there until food comes, and then they push and shove each other all over the place, flapping their little wing nubs and screaming at each other. i will try to get some better pictures before they all grow up and fly away. maybe if i'm lucky and quick enough, i can get some of feeding time.

( nao with moar arrows! )

i know i just linked to this only a few entries ago, but goddamn, i have listened to this song 17 times since i got home from class today. i swear to god. i love it so hard. go listen/watch because it's amazing.

blues traveler's hook

what makes it even more hilarious/amazing, are the lyrics. basically, the lyrics state that the entire song is so fucking meaningless...it's just that the chorus is catchy, so you will want to listen to it a billion times. seriously. that's what the lyrics say. ( example: the first bit (cut for the people who think reading lyrics are boring) )

i saw my first ladybug of spring on the wall outside my bedroom window today.



( three more )

IT IS RAINING RIGHT NOW IN SOCAL

omgwtfbbq

YAY!!! :D

mockingbirds
crows
sparrows
robins
mourning doves

all live in my backyard, and all day, they sing to each other and to me. <3

newest drawing finished. the three brides.


click for larger

11x15 inches, walnut ink, white charcoal, coffee-stained watercolor paper

original drawing by jan toorop

i hate monkeys, but i <3 the monkees. :D



one more

oi want these sandals. i would want them even more if they had a strap going across/behind/whatever the heel though.

EDIT: also, i drank 4 pints of water today. i think i peed about eighty million times.

here is a link dump from my art inspiration folder in my internet bookmarks.

snowflake photographs

train your eyes to see color again

the ones we love. photographers submitted six out-of door photos of the person most important to them.

roelant savery wiki entry

back to the basics: an faq regarding the foundations of creating art. conceptart.org messageboard thread

101 ways to brew up a great idea

miniatures + sweets!

star wars artist matt busch impersonates bob ross...this is so incredibly dorky and hilarious. this is like my whole childhood rolled up in one big happy ball.

panoramic view of athens

the polaroid kidd

the tattoo project. i've linked to this before, but it's too fabulous to just forget about. a graphic artist decides he wants a tattoo, so, obviously, designs it himself...but OMG he goes ABOVE and BEYOND it all to make it perfect. he renders himself in 3d, and then grafts the tattoo onto his 3d self. it's incredible.

that's all for now!