i swear, every time i eat rice, i think it expands and then i get so full i want to die.

another one of my friends got engaged today.... how exciting. my friend melissa has been dating the same guy for seven years, and he totally surprised her with a ring. i kind of wish my engagement was going to be a surprise, but i am too much of a control freak... and i couldnt have handled an ugly ring. (im a bad person)

im starting to feel a little better. my lungs are still crappy, and i get tired really quickly. Getting sick has definitely put a bunch of things on hold, which is annoying to me. i have been really wanting to go sign up with the gym, and do things around the house. blah. i really want to change some things, but as of right now, i am stagnating. in bed. fan on.

get gym membership.
buy groceries.
cook more. stop eating out.
save money.
read books.

it feels like lately as quickly as money comes in, its going directly back out. i sold my car and gave Justin $500 for a Tatsoul chair.... (lame name) They are supposed to be the new hottness as far as tattoo chairs go.... and we are also planning something BIG, more on that later.

anyway, i know there has been a serious lack of links and pictures lately. i lost all of my bookmarks during the crash. I am also pretty sure I lost all of my music too. lame. i havent even dealt with digging out my external to see what was backed up.

i need to get a cute little list book.

dress shopping with amy tonight. exciting.

okay. im going to go die now.

i dont even know how its possible to be this sick. its really frustrating. parts of me seem to be getting better, but other parts are worse. i have been coughing less, but my head and sinuses really hurt.

it was nice talking to amy on the phone tonight. hopefully she will actually move to rva, and not prove herself to be totally full of shit.
i feel like im really sick of people right now, perhaps more annoyed than even my general annoyance. i deleted about half of my "friends" off myspace, which felt good... liberating? i see no reason to have people on my friends-list that i not only never converse with, but really thoroughly dislike. im kind of over it, social networking. its kind of pointless and takes up too much of my time.

four eyed monsters has FINALLY updated with four new episodes, but dont get too excited because they are each only 10-15 minutes long, and they are only putting episode 13 on the new IFC DVD. So, basically, if you've already bought a DVD, youre going to have to buy another DVD in order to watch episode 13. lame.

arg. i just want to feel better and get back to drawing and tattooing.

a.

i feel cruddy. i have been completely useless for the past week, and its really annoying. i havent been to work all week, technically.... i keep going in in the morning, and then feeling like crap and going home. this blog is really boring. i have exciting things to say, but not yet... therefore, i have nothing to say.

a.

i am slowly uploading pictures from justin and my trip to the lovely city of baltimore. joy. initially the trip started off a little rocky, but things definitely got better once we got to the aquarium.... except for all the damn children. i decided that they need to have a "children-free" day at zoos and museums and such. its shocking to me that parents let their children run around like animals in public.
we also went to ikea and bought some new presents for the house.... although we were unable to attain any of the things i initially wanted to get. i want to re-do the bathroom. i have had to same "theme" of orange and bright pink for over four years. i want something a little more ethereal. we got a really cute set of matte grey dishes, and some planters. i think our trip to ikea took as long as the aquarium, there were definitely as many thing to look at.
bleh. i have heart burn or acidey-something or other.

i havent posted any pictures in my blog, eh??

bleh. a little too much fun and good conversation last night. i cant even remember the last time i stayed up til 530am.... crazy!

justin and i were supposed to be heading up to philly today, in order to attend the philidelphia tattoo convention, however, justin has hurt his back really bad and is unable to get out of bed. its a pretty big disappointment, since we are rarely ever able to get out of the city.... but hopefully he will be better in the next couple of days so we can at least go to the baltimore aquarium or something.

things have been pretty intense since i started my apprenticeship. a lot of my other responsibilities have slipped, temporarily, under the rug. i need to re-organize.

my computer died last week, but thankfully, after hours of tinkering with it, Justin got it up and running. hes so cool.... and useful.

anyway, im hungover.

a.

oh annoying. i had written this big long post and then safari crashed. lame. justin and i were super busy today...lets recap:

new ipod dock
goat cheese, spinach, tom pizza
new thrift store dining set
trading and re-organizing rooms
panera broccoli and cheddar soup
succulent gardening
hanging overhead light above sink

so tired.

tomorrow...

bringing crap to thrift store
organizing studio
hanging framed art

tattooing is the hardest thing i will ever do... probably.
im so exhausted. i always am on mondays... the weekends kill me. yesterday i painted my room and moved some more stuff in.
im tired.
come and get tattooed. i wont fuck it up... (hopefully)

is it just me???

or are embroidered pen15's totally charming???

today is super relaxing. we were both off on sunday (easter), so we accomplished most of our weekly chores then, which has left today open for lounging around. how lovely.

i posted some new stuff to my flickr add me as a contact...suckers.

justin and i will be attending the philly convention next month....oh joy!

umm... okay. bye.

it all makes sense now

do you ever pick up "highlights" magazine at the dentists office and play that game where you pick out all the things that are wrong with a particular picture, and then feel really smart??

genius take a minute to read the comments....amazing.

art by cory lenherr...
im starving slash exhausted. i updated my OS to whatever the newest version is....tons of fancy bells and whistles.
go to kitsune noir for fun radiohead inspired desktops (and lots of other awesome info)
okay. im bored.

im sleepy. its super quiet at the shop today... thankfully. it was crazy yesterday, and i worked my butt off...so much so, that my legs were actually a little sore this morning. only a few people have been in to get work done, and we are booked today, so i am just setting appointments and what-not.
a couple cute blogs ive come across...
scout
wool and water

my tummy is sick. i woke up at 4am, and was sick. bleh. lyn is out of work today, so there was no way i could stay home. i have been drinking "gingey" and eating saltines, so hopefully, ill start to feel better.

rikki kasso....tokyo undressed.
ive probably posted this before....?

meredith dittmar... too lazy to link... google it.

im at work.... its dead today. i made a new purse, its pretty sweet. i worked on two others today, but i keep fucking them up... i guess theres a little bit of a learning curve. sigh. im kinda tired.

bjork wanderlust

has everyone already seen this??
i think lindsay lohan is really beautiful, and i refuse to say anything mean about her, this photoshoot, or her freckley body. (shudders)

i know i rarely post links anymore.... so heres a super amazing one to make up for it: joshua davis

ugh. i am really not trying to work today. i started a new piece yesterday, and i have a lot of "piece work" to do before i actually get to do the fun part of putting the composition together. its insanely nice today. justin and i got chipotle and went to the mall to trade in some levis that i had bought and was just unhappy with.... guess what!?!?! i went down an entire size! (and that was after stuffing my face with delicious burrito-numminess)
then we went to stranges and i got three new tiny succulents for my collection. if you havent been to stranges at short pump, you should def. go, its so awesome. its just past the mall on the left, and it is the biggest greenhouse i have ever been to, they have pretty much everything.
anyway, i want soy icecream.

a.

wow. i am so sleepy after doing yoga this morning... i was doing okay until i sat down...bleh. i am still doing super good with my no soda/no red bull ban. i had a glass of ginger ale yesterday, but only because i had the worst headache EVER.... never let me drink andre again-PLEASE?!?!?
so, yeah, ive managed to do yoga three times this week, which is pretty exciting. i really want to get back to where i was, as far as flexibility/strength, because the month i took off over xmas, really did me in.
oh yeah, i still havent had one bite of meat.... im awesome.
i uploaded some wip (work in progress) pieces, from the latest piece ive been working on. i will upload the finished version today...and hopefully pictures from justins bday.
i got to see zhanna on friday night....unfortch, she didnt get in until 1am, and i was already deep in an andre induced intoxicated state, but we had a lovely time regardless. we went to ipanema for last call and then came back to my place for tasty spinach and feta pizza, followed by rest, followed by breakfast at joes inn. it was REALLY great seeing z, and she left just soon enough for me to not get annoyed with her...jk.

i seriously need to step things up, production-wise, i think i am starting to understand why most people have out-of-home studios. i feel like i spend FAR, too much time everyday cleaning. justin and i are completely incapable of picking up after ourselves...(esp. justin). a month is really not a long time to get a solo show ready, and i have definately never done so under such time constraints. i really dont want to be rushing things at the end of next month....like every other show i have ever done.
my soda ban is doing alright. i say alright, because today i am really wishing i had a coke. along with quitting my soda intake, i have also quit drinking redbulls...well, mostly.... i steal a couple sips from justin every day... and i am trying really hard to cut donw on my dairy intake. ive been getting super sick lately whenever i eat a lot of it, and in reality dairy products are really gross.
alright...enough screwing around.

a.

(image by ???)

okay, so im actually just updating because i am trying to put off walking my dogs. its completely grey this morning, and if the temperature in my bedroom is any indication, it is also freezing out. its not so much that i mind the walking part, more like the layering part...putting on millions of clothes. pants, socks, long sleeve shirt, hoodie, wool coat, scarf, gloves, boots.

tomorrow is justins birthday!!! yesterday we found a grey nipple hair... he laughed about it, but i think he was secretly bummed.... i probably shouldnt be announcing this news to the entire internet, but i have a sneaking suspicion that no one reads this blog anyway.

i had announced on myspace this week that i had something exciting in the works, and although i am not ready to make any further announcements... it seems that things are getting better and better. i should have more information after a meeting next monday.

ok....dog walkie time.

tiny palpitation on threadless

<a href="http://www.threadless.com/submission/151301/misinterpretted_owl" target="_top"><img src="http://www.threadless.com/subbanner/151301/banner1.png" border="0" width="220" height="119" alt="My Threadless.com Submission "></a>



q. how happy am i?

a. VERY!


ugh... i have been promoting my designs EVERYWHERE.... i am exhausted. i have been online for hours......bleh. i am going to do yoga when i am done... and clean. my house is messy. i have been doing an AMAZING job of being a wife... cooking, cleaning, making justin lunches... but the past few days i have been slack. i need to catch up on things today.

anyway, please vote for me on threadless.

man, things have been good.... i mean, really, really, good...and the AMAZING weather is just the icing on top.... seriously, flip flops in february??? SOO happy!
ive been working so hard on my digital stuff. im pretty excited. i have already submitted two designs to threadless and i have found a few other submission based sites... one for badges and another for skate decks.
i will post everywhere if my submissions are accepted onto the threadless site...and hopefully people will sign up and vote for me...(please?)
umm... im still trying to get a ffffound acct. if you are reading this and you have access to an invite.... have mercy on me please???

ok.bye

WANTED: a friend of my very own

i was thinking today that there is an apparent void in my life, a void that can only be filled with a little buddy.
i am good on paper. i have an amazing boyfriend, adorable pets, a decent apartment filled with increasingly respectable furniture.... and yet, no friends.
its not that i am a social leper, its not that i am not "friend-worthy", its just that all my friends have moved away, and i am not in a position for meeting new people. the few new people that i have met have all seemingly been at a different point in their lives... still in school, still bar hopping, still WAY to "scene" oriented, etc...

so, i know there must be others out there...others as in people in there late twenties, who arnt into going to the bar EVERY night, and therefore, i have no idea how to meet other people their own age...who are smart, and funny, and interesting, but are still without a special buddy.

so ive put together a list... read through it, and if you feel like you obtain a large portion of these characteristics, then message me. dont be "too cool", i promise i wont reject you (immediately)... plus being "cool" is lame anyway....

you should...

be female, and come with awesome, likable, funny, un-douchey boyfriend. (boyfriend should not watch sports, listen to new rock, or read maxim magazine... for that matter, niether should female)
be age 27-30-ish (mature 25 year olds and young 35 year olds will not be disqualified based on age.)
be educated, cultured, and well-read
have a dark, sarcastic sense of humor
be comfortable hanging out with crass tattooed people, but be mannered enough to realize that there is a time and a place for everything (you recognize that yelling about butt sex in a public restaurant, while surrounded by tables of families is inappropriate.)
be interested in art (artist prefered)
be familiar with new, young, artists, and not just the generic family of juxtapoz artists
have an extensive bookmark collection of above mentioned artists, to share with me.... additional knowledge of techiniques, inspirational materials, or cool equipment/facilities a plus
love good movies, in particular, indies, documentaries, and comedies.
have an interest in buddhism and/or yoga

(((basically, you should be a fun, inspiring, person, who can carry on a decent conversation on a variety of topics.)))

should not...

have children... sorry.
be pretentious...
be overly concerned with what the "new buzz band" is or other repulsively trendy crap. spending far too much time scouring the web for the newest, coolest, trend, will be interpretted as a lack of hobbies and a desire to be accepted.
be gossipey. i dont want to be around people who have to be mean in order to make themselves feel better.
blindly hate. racism, sexism, classism, etc. talking shit on people just because they are different is lame.
do drugs or excessively drink (a good time for you is not a good time for your friends)
be psychologically damaged (abused, molested, abandoned, etc.... i know this sounds harsh, but i have tried to heal one too many wounded birds.)
have food issues, complaining about ones weight or ones calorie intake will not be tolerated.
have loose morals.... stealers, liars, and cheaters, need not apply
be judgemental
should not offend easily, particularly by foul language.

(((basically, you shouldnt be a lame, shitty person, with a negative attitude.)))

if this is you, please contact me....so we can be friends....

a.

ugh. my horoscope was crappy this month.... not that i super super support horoscopes or anything, but i generally follow the belief that if the moon can influence something as great as the ocean, why cant it have a little effect on me? Maybe... your karma plants the seeds, and astrology determines when they will sprout??? maybe?
anyway... i read both the libra and virgo horoscopes since i am on the cusp of virgo, and i generally feel that my virgo horoscopes are completely unrelatable.
astrology zone astrology zone offers, by far, the best horoscopes on the interweb.
on the up side it did say something about having creative success, particularly if you work digitally....sweeet.

in other completely unrelated news....

ive been on this whole self-deiscipline kick, inspired mostly by ceasar milan, the dog whisperer.... and i swear, i am a whole new person. I actually googled "self-discipline" a few weeks ago and came across this article....

self-discipline

...and i found it pretty inspiring...esp. the little test. i realized that a big part of my problem is that i lacked self-discipline. I think you see it a lot in people who were raised by single mothers. My theory is that mothers are just not very good disciplinarians, that combined with the fact that I am basically an only child (my brother is ten years my senior), and my mom was always trying to overcompensate for the loss of my stepdad...and i am a big, doughey, piece of crap.... so ive started to change.

some things ive done to become more self-disciplined:

being a better dog owner... talking longer walks with more frequency. playing more games. and training with more regularity.
keeping the dishes clean... this sounds lame, but i would seriously wait until i couldnt get near the sink before i would clean them.
being generally neater and cleaner....making the bed, picking up after myself, organizing lots of things, re-arranging the kitchen.
proactively accomplishing things on my to do list. selling stuff, organizing stuff, bringing stuff to goodwill, completing projects, framing pictures.
making art work, doing research for long term projects, completing work.
getting a big calendar and writting everything down!
becoming vegetarian again... after two years of eating meat, ive remembered that eating meat sucks. it makes you fat and it isnt nice to animals. im hoping that my vegetarianism will slowly move into veganism.

so im pretty excited about "things". i feel like im moving in a positive direction, and hopefully ill slowly be able to get some things in my life back under control....diet, exercise, career, art stuff....

umm in closing.... here is my quote of the day via my "the office" daily calendar...

"im a provider for my workers, ie., family. i give them money... i give them food-not directly, mostly through money. and i heal them. im in charge of picking a great new health care plan... does that make me their doctor? in a way. like a specialist.
-michael

holy moly...i manged to cross SEVEN things off my list of things to do... VERY exciting.

ive been feeling a little down the last couple of days. maybe because i had been moving so quickly for so long and now things are begining to s l o w d o w n

ok. im hungry.

oh yeah.... ive updatedmy flikr and my website.... how awesome am i?

im hungry.

grannies+hypodermic needles=scarey

a little project i started for my favorite little buddah.

ugh. i feel crappy today. im not really sure why... i think the big glass of orange juice mixed with last nights beer and shots, which resulted in some kind of chemical reaction (like foaming drano) and now its burning holes in the lining of my stomach, and all the other squishey stuff inside.

last night was lynns birthday, which was super fun. justin and i danced for the first time EVER. can you believe that? it seems pretty impossible considering dancing is my favorite.... anyway, i discovered just one more thing that makes me absolutely astonished that HE is dating ME. he is the cutest dancer EVER\\\\\\ <---kitty typed that. (she always lays on my desk while i am working.) seriously, how amazing is he? how lucky am i to be completely anamored with him after all this time!?!?!

anyway, i am proving to be the best housewife EVER. i cooked us eggs and turkey for breakfast, and then i packed justins lunch. i am awesome. now i just need to build a robot (or robit, as zoidberg says it) that will go to the store and buy me red bull.

did i announce that i am applying to adcenter?? i think i was keeping it quiet in case i didnt get it.... i am almost completely finished with my portfolio packet, which was insanely extensive. i got almost all of it printed yesterday, and now i just need to do a little proofing and re-print a couple things.... i was SUPER happy with the quality. i am going for a tour on wednesday and hopefully ill be able to turn my packet in then.

umm... okay. that is all.

p's

holy crap... i finally updated my flickr!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tinypalpitation/

it has been a million years, i know, but my camera had some really dumb crap wrong with it, so i was having to go through this huge process of uploading my pictures onto justins computer via card reader and then burning them to a disk or emailing them to myself.... just a big pain. long story short, justin fixed my camera.... he is very rarely useful, so this is super exciting.

umm... ive been doing a lot of design work... i mean, A LOT! i really dont think ive been operating too far out of my realm though, which is a bad thing, so i think i need to read some tutorials or something... if anyone knows of any awesome sites for tutorials... pass them along.

ummm.... i had something else to say.... crap.........
oh yeah.... i think im going to start trying to sell some illustrations to stock companies. if anyone knows anything about this it would probably help.... for instance, if you have sold illustrations or photos or whatever and you can recommend some sites or whatever, that would be fantabulous.

i should be updating my website soon... with lots of designs....

p's.
a.

giant SIGH!

The past couple of weeks have been a complete wirlwind. Traveling for the holidays was a complete distaster... however, the several inches of fresh fallen snow we recieved on Thursday made it almost worth it. Justin and I had a really great Christmas. We had an exhausting time playing with my niece and nephew, and we ate FAR TOO MANY deviled eggs... (justin moreso than me.) We got SO many great gifts... To name a few:

A yoga mat with koi on it and matching tote
SO many good books... Jim Henson "The Works", Learning to Love you More, design books... SO MANY...
limited edition USB drives... (i needed this one really bad!! My CD burner is shot!)
Hand screened pug/min pin prints
Lots of DVDs

We made out. Definately.

We ate SO much good food! Home made meatballs, ham dinner, butternut squash, calamari.... clams, shrimp, and scallops, oh my! giant steaks! It was great. We went to dinner at beautiful Maine restaurants that hoovered over the harbour.

Anyway.... I know I have said it a million times, but now I should REALLY be able to post pics.... sooon.

a.

when we think, empires fall

does anyone know why the color on all my design files is off? does the web run on rgb or something. i need to get to the bottom of this.

so the xmas season is in full swing in my house and..... ive been decorating!! this is the first year that i have been to xmas in maine since i was 18 or something.... so im really excited.... the fact that justin will be there to meet all of my family for the first time is just the icing on the cake. ive been spending all my extra money on gifts and i think i need t slow down because i am going to be tight for money the next two weeks.

i got justin to buy me the future farmers "harvest" book... which normally runs $45-50 but i shockingly found it at you work for them for $12.99. its a 184pg hardcover book!! thats crazy.

im unmotivated.

linx:
why have i never heard of this guy???
yet another amazing blog
another thing i like.

ok.bye.

things have been rough lately. ive been insanely stressed out at work.... to the point of tears, on more than one occasion. I came home the other night so worked up that i broke into sobs when i realized that i had forgotten to stop and pick up some frozen corn. its ridiculous.
anyway, im not even going to get into it.... its the weekend and im not going to get myself tense and stressed out.

in very good news, i am in such good holiday spirits. some of my xmas presents have started arriving! i love buying presents for people and this is the first year that i am doing well enough for myself to be able to splurge on everyone.

the convention is this weekend and we rolled down there last night... it was super fun. i got to reunite with some old friends, which is ALWAYS nice, and meet some new people.
Josh and Oshun might come up tonight, which would be awesome. i miss my gloucester people.

anyway... its 2pm and im still in my jammies. im going to do some yoga and clean.

a.

unfortunately i dont think this ad will ever make it to print.... if you want some cheap design work done, let me know.

a.

ha. just previewed this.... the color is all fucked up. click on the image to enlarge and see the correct color.

i took the day off work today. i went in, cleared a few things up, answered my emails, and then decided that i felt entirely too shitty to be there. i didnt sleep at all last night. it started at 7pm when i drank a can of coke. i never drink caffiene at night, and yesterday I had a starbucks and two cans of coke. no bueno.
in bed, a bug bit me, and continued to bite me for over an hour. in different places. i have no idea what kind of bug it was, or why it was taking up residence in my bed, but for the rest of the night i was paranoid. i was itchy. i was imagining bugs on my skin.

i think im going to try to focus more on digital stuff from now....or at least today. im feeling pretty inspired by the challenge of new media and design.

something weird is going on with my camera. when i attach it to my computer it imports old photos... photos i cant even look at on the lcd of the camera. wtf!?!?!?!? i dont know what to do and i am annoyed that i cant get my pictures off said camera.

i want a new camera.... and a G5. thanks.

nifty gifties

The brisk November air has motivated me to shift into homebody mode. plus, with all the running around i did last weekend and all the money ive been spending lately, it seems appropriate for me to lock myself up in my apartment, buckle down and concentrate on some crossing off some long over due things on my to-do list.

so this will be my last post before, gasp slash sob, i reformat my hard drive... and to be honest im terrified. i have everything all backed up, so hopefully by tonight ill be all fresh and clean and running CS2 on my comp.

exciting...

here are some places ill be doing some xmas shopping at this holiday season.....
pearl river

CB2

martha, martha, martha

alright. enjoy. keep your fingers crossed!!!

dog-dammit

these people are bad christians.... and they all probably sodomize eachother.

well. i was going to start the post with a cutesy little ad ive been working on, but alas, the colors are coming out all wrong. it must be because it is saved in spot colors and they must not translate to web colors...(whatever those are), my main artistic focus right now is design...(there is a crazy hmeless person screaming outside my house...nice) anyway... i like doing design because it stresses me out a lot less than regular fine art. fine art is so judge-ey. plus, design work furthers my career. fine art just gives me more crap to hang on my walls... does anyone want to buy some work?? i have a few pieces to get rid of. i hate having stuff laying around collecting dust.

so, i skipped yoga tonight. its the first night i havent gone in six weeks...aside from the first week when i had bronchitis.

i feel overwhelmed with things to do...lets see...

winterize the house.... curtains, weather stripping, putting down the storm windows.

xmas shopping... i will start early this year and avoid nasty holiday crowds.

design work... let me know if you need some freelance stuff done cheap-slash-free or for tradesies??

clean up/reformat harddrive... seeeeeriously.

finish cleaning/organizing studio



umm... i think thats it for now.

if anyone has any god links to design portflio sites/blogs pleawe forward them so i can rip them off....i mean, er, be inspired by them.

and one last thought....

i dont understand people who constantly complain/talk shit about things but absolutely refuse to do anything to try to change them. all they do is bring negative energy into my office. what can i do or say to get them to complain to someone else?

am i really complaining about people complaining??? hilarious.

have a safe happy halloween. i will post pictures of my exciting weekend soon.

so its been a slightly stressful/hectic week... speaking of.... im going to pour myself a glass of wine....

okay. im back.

on a side note... let me just say that i dont drink wine because i think its classy. i drink wine because i enjoy being drunk. tonight i drink my blush wine out of a chinese coffee cup with ice in it. there are SO many things wrong with that sentence from a wine drinking perspective...but i really dont care.

tonight i am drinking pink truck which is apparently "a pink wine you'd be proud to drink" because drinking other pink wine is just embarrassing...but will probably get you drunk. i bought it solely because i enjoyed the bottle.

anyway....i digress.

so i had some drama this week, but everything is fine. im a little bummed about my apartment. my landlord sucks really bad and has a major drinking problem...and now my ceiling is leaking....and since i got into a screaming match with him earlier in the week i now need to document everything that goes wrong with the place and put everything in writting. its really lame, but i have to protect myself and my rights. and you should too

these people prey on the fact that they rent primarily to young naive students who are unfamiliar with their rights, and we allow them to, so its our own damn fault.

breathe.
yoga helps. its changed my outlook on life SO dramatically in just six weeks. my forms are improving too which is super exciting. we added a few new postures to our routine which is very exciting and challenging.
now we are doing downward dog - plank - upward dog - downward dog
versus
downward - modified cobra - downward.
exciting.
Urdvha Mukha Svanasana (upward facing dog) one of my fav poses.

i dont even remember how i metpepe, or even how long ive know him. but i know hes super nice and he makes AMAZING art. i always get insanely excited and giddy when i see people i know making inspiring work.

umm... i know we are all irritated with the weather... especially those of us with little ones. but we need to keep in mind that the rain is vital to us and it is a great blessing from the earth. its kind of funny that we walk around...these giant fluid-filled, flesh-bags, but we hate to get wet.

someone puked on robinson outside of helens last night....luckily the rain washed most of it away....another reason to be greatful!

justin (my friend....not my boyfriend) and i are going on a fabulous trip tomorrow. i am very excited to take a day trip. even if it is just gloucester and hampton.

ok.ko.
im done here.

a.

i am absolutely bonkers over Miranda July, so much so, that she gets her name capitalized.

As of late, I am completely motivated. There is something about having a busy schedule, that makes you realize yu can always do more.

Last week I was a complete and utter bitch. Mercury went into retrograde and things got a little nuts. Luckily, I stayed level headed, managed to avoid any major decision making situations, and things seemed to settle down.

Justin has tattooed me twice in the past two days and my sleeve is getting closer and closer to completion. The one I got tonight may have replaced all others on my favs list.
FYI... the ditch and the elbow hurt as much as everyone says....and the arm pit.

look what i can do!
unfortunately...or fortunately...I cant decide.... I do a limited amount of "real" design...which makes it a whole lot more fun when I get to churn out cheap-o signs for crabcakes.

anyway... justin just got home. i want to take a bath and watch the office on DVD. ill update more tomorrow.

I am on a quest to re-own all the Richard Scarry books I owned as a child. I am dying for this one....busy, busy, world.... however, it goes for over $40 and I just cant justify shelling that out. I settled for "busy, busy, town" and "what do people do all day" each were a few sheckles a piece.
If you come across busy, busy, world or any of the brick books....(the covers are illustrated bricks) I will buy them off you.
awesome.

Anyway, things have been hectic since I started my new job....and after spending 9 hours staring at the computer my eyes and brain need a break....therefore, i havent been getting online as much....resulting in a lack of blog posts.

My new job is pretty amazing. It was initially quite intimidating, but im slowly becoming absorbed into the flow of things.
Yoga is STILL amazing. im getting a lot better which is really exciting. i am ACTUALLY progressing. i definitely didnt think i would catch on so quickly, but i have absolutely fallen in love with it and really push myself in class. Im thinking once my six weeks is up Im going to join another class too....so ill be practicing twice a week!!!
IM STILL NOT SMOKING!!!!!
anyway....
today justin (the other one...not my bf) and i had brunch at helens and went thrifting...the weather is absolutely AMAZING!
i heart jeans and sweaters!

ok. check out my flickr.... new pictures.......

oh yeah.... go out and buy the new miranda july book. its worth the read.

i swear this isnt a porn blog. Masuimi Max is just too cute. She looks kind of like a bobble head.
iamtrouble

so i have been in super-mega-bitch mode as of late. I really need to write some apology notes. I mean, I'm exhausted, thats all. I started my new job this week and its been completely hectic. Basically, I've spent most of my time fixing the last guys mistakes, so new incoming work has been piling up and I've been working late every night. I'm really into it tho... just not yet acclimated to having so many people be so dependent on me. Its a lot of pressure and a lot of responsibilty, I just dont want to let anyone down.
I went out and bought a new Illustrator book for CS3. I'm actually still using CS2 at work, but after looking at some of the new features that CS3 has I think I'm going to try to push for an upgrade. (The panels operate out of a collapsible dock, and you can customize and save your work space.)
Anyway..... between the work stress and having house guests, I guess I've been kind of grumpy....and after working an 11 hour day I really don't feel like coming home and finding an over flowing trash can. nuf said.
I finally recieved my natascha merritt book I had ordered off amazon. I was pretty annoyed to find that it was completely busted. The description said "Like new, slight shelf wear". Bullshit. It was not "like new" it was "like old" it was all busted and had a bunch of weird shit underlined and noted written in it.
Lame. I should report her.
I was going to go spend my west elm gift certificate, but it was too damn hot to be running around outside. I think I'd be better off to wait until payday anyway, as $100 doesn't get you far at the Elm.

alright.
Im out.
Hopefully this weekend will go a little smoother and ill be able to get in some mid-week blogging. i have lots of links and new pics to post.

a.

ps. watch the office and 30 rock on thursdays....both those shows are AMAZING!

i have no idea who did this photo...if you know, message me and i'll post it.

lots of new photos in my flickr and i posted a new link to my del.icio.us....

ENJOY!

in.turd.net

i wish i could tell you where this piece came from...its been so damn long since ive been anywhere near my computer, and my desktop is covered with nameless images.

Its weird using my computer again. I mean, its WAY cuter, and more comfortable, but Justins computer is a lot nicer. His screen is probably twice as big as mine...(i actually had to go get my glasses, because my comp was hurting my eyes!)
Its really hot. Far hotter than it should be this close to October. The afternoon's are the worst time for cravings. I always want to smoke in the afternoons.

Anyway...Im going to Lowes for new succulent soil....a couple of my plants have want I believe to be mealy bugs, and in order to get rid of them I have to dig up the plant, wash it off, and replant it in a new pot with new soil. What a pain.

Now that I have my computer back there should be lots of good link/pic updates.

a.

Oh bother. I can't upload a photo....I won't have this problem when I get the internet TOMORROW!!!!
How stoked am I?
(answer: VERY)

I decided not to return back to my crappy job. One of my co-workers sent me a completely inappropriate/unprofessional text message, which acted as a blatant reminder that I was only working there as a favor to them. So why bother?

I swear I am like a catch-all for shitty people. I give way too many chances and make too many excuses for people... and then when they hurt my feelings I can only be mad at myself. These are not new behaviors. I just want to save everyone. heh.

Don't get the wrong impression here. I'm really not sad....just recognizing the fact that every couple of years you need to clean house a little bit.

I LOVE buying things on the internet. Well, not really, I am more of a validation shopper. When I spend money I want something new and shiny at that moment...I have no interest in waiting three to five business days for my presents to arrive.
However, I DO absolutely LOVE coming home and finding presents on my door step.

So far I have recieved....
"No one belongs here more than you" by Miranda July
"St Lucys Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" by Karen Russell
and...
An a book of John Currins work... AMAZING!

bye for now.

a.

today has definitely been my worst day as far as not smoking goes. I would've thought that the earlier days would have been worse, but apparently my withdrawals have kicked into overdrive. I haven't been sleeping. My sleep cycle is all messed up from being sick and sleeping all the time, so instead of falling asleep at eleven, I haven't been able to crash before 4am. It's been completely miserable. Top that with the stress of not smoking, and the anxiety I have about giving my notice a mere month after taking a job, and the results are one big frazzled mess. Time to start drinking?
My studio is finally 80% complete. At least I can work in there now. I have some ideas for projects and I've been attempting to get work done...to no avail. Oh, yeah, and I overdrew my bank account. Well, not technically, but I'm sure Wachovia will charge me anyway. They will charge you overdrafts for pending charges, even if there are pending deposits. Its lame. I really need to find a new bank. Any suggestions?

Also, in attempt to regain a little bit of a social life, I think I'm going to start having a movie night at my house....girls only maybe? Anyone interested?

....pray for me.... I'm really trying to stay strong through this whole not smoking ordeal.......it's insanely hard though, and any kind words/pats on the back would be greatly appreciated.

a.

reap the benefits of all my luck....a special little gift to keep you entertained....
TONS of links....

matte stephens matte does super cute Richard Scarey-esque paintings. He also loves good furniture....and I like that.

lena corwin has an amazing collection of vintage coffee mugs.

jeana sohn is sickly-cute, talented, and has great taste in furniture.

mark dean veca the stuff wet dreams are made of.

pretty girls...

i LOVE this place

im kind of scared to blog. my internet connection that i "share" with my surrounding neighbors has been completely non-existent as of late. At least my beloved blogger has an automatic save feature.

*note to self... add more links to posts! i feel guilty for not being a more responsible linker. my image file on my desktop is overflowing and my bookmarks are getting a little overwhelming. There are just SO many amazing blogs popping up all over the internet. Very exciting stuff.
Also, I'm going to try to be more conscious of my writing....make things a little more cohesive and fluid.

so yeah...

So many things happened this week, and all with out leaving the comfort of my bed. (Not so much comfort actually, my bed is too small, I've officially decided.)
It was my birthday on Wednesday... how lucky am I to share the same b-day week as so many amazing people...(Rosser, Tesser, and lots of others that I cant recall at the moment.) However, I became really sick on Monday afternoon and remained in bed until yesterday....bronchitis and laryngitis. nice. It was pretty crappy, but I did get to watch lots of episodes of The Office and 30 Rock.

Oh yeah.... I QUIT SMOKING! Its only been 5 days, so don't get too amped, but I'm trying really hard. I even went out and dropped $50 bucks on the damn patch. I don't really like it though. Its itchy and makes me a little nauseous. It also freaks me out a little. It comes with a damn bible on how to use it, and has really specific rules on how discard the used product and such. Its like anthrax or something. It makes me paranoid.

So back to whats important....presents. This year I was so sickly spoiled, I got way more than I ever deserved. Some of the highlights...

gift cards to amazon, target, and west elm

terry cloth short shorts from american apparel

and...

a million things from urban outfitters...lamp,owl bank, etc...(oh, and by the way...I'm not giving them anymore of my money. They are stealers and biters and haters....but thats a rant for another blog

OH YEAH! most importantly I got a new awesome job....without even looking! I sent out a million resumes and went on about a half a million interviews before I moved up here, but unfortunately the summer is the worst time to try to get a print job. Its the slow season as far as all that goes...I have yet to discover why.
So, I finally sucked it up and took a job working for the company I had been employed at before I left. I took a better position with more pay, so it all worked out. Well, since I accepted the position, I have received interview requests nearly every week, which I politely declined. However, I had interviewed at one place that I really wanted to work at and I never heard back....until this week!!! Its a HUGE promotion. I will be doing ALL the art/design/pre-press for a company that specializes in screen printing and product marking. I'll have my own office. A decent raise in pay and a lot better benefits.

Now i just need to tell my old job..... I'm really not stoked about this...but I'm hoping to make the situation a little better by helping them find my replacement.

So yeah...things are really amazing right now. I never would've thought that they could've gotten any better. Now I just need to finish my damn apartment....(yes, it is still not complete!)

you have no idea how excited i am to see this movie.

*edit.... im hearing that this is actually a fake movie poster.... too bad. its freaking adorable.

ugh. why cant i add an image??? things have been good. work has been insanely stressful, but i started yoga on wed. and that was lovely. i never realized how completely atrocious my spelling is. its kind of embarrassing. (blogger now highlights misspelled words)
i also rode my bike for the first time in over a year. it was pretty nerve-wracking. im so weak. i rode all the way to justins work, and then made him give me a ride home...hilarious. i was going to do it again today, but its raining out. sad. maybe tomorrow. im hoping to work around the house (as usual) tomorrow. i'd really like to get it done so we could have a little "welcome to richmond" housewarming....but im starting to get the distinct impression that the house is going to be quiet lived in by the time i get around to it.

speaking of. i think im going to try to get some cleaning done tonight, so i can focus on organizing tomorrow....versus, laundry, dishes, etc...that seem to take up a good part of the free time i have for getting settled.

its my birthday next wed. but the presents have already started coming. justin bought me a limited edition pink CHI.... (ceramic hairstyling iron) even the damn box is pink.... and hilariously foreign/generic looking, which is kind of shocking considering the price.

a.

first off...Lee Bul is AMAZING!

second....why the ef is it so hot? its freaking september! i just ate the most ridculous brownie for dinner, and washed it down with sierra mist. there is something seriously wrong with me. it was a brownie topped with peanut butter, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and a little peanut butter cup! kroger has seriously stepped up the dessert case. i bought justin a piece of cheesecake topped with strawberries....he's going to be a very happy boy when he gets home.

today was crazy at work. then i had to drive around in my unair-conditioned car, carry groceries upstairs, and walk the dogs. im beat.

hopefully tomorrow will be slow at work. its pay day...its friday....and hopefully it will cool off.

a.

creepy dolls by ayaka tsuji

im not feeling well today. something i ate is making me sick and im not happy about it. today is absolutely amazing outside, and im stuck in here....trying to piece together my studio. we have too much stuff and nowhere near enough storage. there is only one decent closet in the apt. and justin has all the shelves junked up with crap he doesnt even use....boxes of comics he refuses to part with, baseball cards from the 80's, instruments he never plays....i swear that guy wont get rid of anything!

i tried to get a hair cut and was DENIED. lame. i had to set up an appt. for a week from now. that sucks.

a.

$5 Knoll chair

so how excited am i to discover that my five dollar thrift store chair is actually a $350 knoll chair!?!?!?!? the picture posted isnt mine. same exact seat style, but mine has wooden legs (which actually look a little nicer) and a different upholstery.

its hot again today. i cant really get much done around the house....can you believe i am still not settled? ugh. hopefully tomorrow will be cooler.

i started my new job this past week, so ive been pretty beat....hence the lack of updates. hopefully, things will start to get a little more regular soon.

Its hot. A little too hot to accomplish much today, as far as the house goes. Things are definitely coming together though. Its nice to finally get things settled. I really need to focus and get stuff done today though, because i have a sneaky suspicion that I'll be distracted for the next few days...... DANA'S COMING FOR A VISIT!!! I'm super excited! Dana is one of my bestest friends and its been several years since I've seen her, due to the fact that her life is much more exciting than mine and she lives in a new place every year or so.

Ill probably be updating my flickr at some point today.

a.

The work of Neil Bender. Super inspiring. There are only a handful of paintings on this site....but he's definately worth a google images search.

Today has been completely exhausting. Ive been working my butt off in the apartment, and its finally coming around... i would say, i am over half way done with my unpacking and decorating. I really didn't think that it would take me so long to get things settled, but then again, I've never had to unpack for two!
I spent a good part of the day finishing up the kitchen and go through stuff. I didn't take into consider how much storage we were losing by moving into an apartment from a four bedroom house. I wouldn't really refer to Justin and I as "pack-rats" but stuff has definitely accumulated over the past couple of years. I have a lot of trouble getting rid of clothes, but I managed to sort out two garbage bags of clothes to get rid of. One bag that is just trash and another to give away. Hopefully, Justin will be as proactive in his process of uncluttering.
I changed the template for my blog and will update the links section soon.
I won't be starting my new job for another week, which I'm really excited about. It's a huge relief that I'll have plenty of time to unpack and get settled before I get back to the daily grind.
Things are going so well right now. I'm feeling really positive and excited about being back.

a.

today is a completely exciting day....
First.... THE HEAT FINALLY BROKE!!! What a freaking relief! After five completely miserable days of, essentially, being annexed into one little room, i can finally venture out and experience my new home!
I started a flickr account to document my ongoing process of decorating my apartment.
flickrrrrr
hopefully that link works.... its been a little while since ive done any code. (ive become so rusty at blogging!)
So anyway, I should probably be working in my apartment today, but i cant help wanting to venture out and do a little thrifting. im SO addicted.
In other completely exciting news.... JUSTIN and I both got jobs yesterday. Everything is coming together so nicely. Ill be making $3/hour more than i was making at my old job!
So, needless to say, we both had a lot of celebrating to do.... and we did! we had our first night out on the town last night. we had such a great time. it was SO great hanging out with my other Justin. im so happy to be back....however, we were definately feeling the drinks/dehydration this morning....ugh. (nothing a little red bull and gatorade wont fix!)
alright. im going to motivate. check my flickr later for pics from my walk to the store this morning.

a.

IM BACK!
Geez, a lot of stuff has happened since Ive been gone. For one, I moved back to Richmond on Monday.... OH JOY! Im really glad to back to civilization. Justin is commuting for now, and I am temporarily unemployed, but Ive got a few things in the works.
The heat here has been absolutely disgusting. So much so, that I got up today at 7:30am in order to try and get some work done around the house. Justin dug out my camera last night, so Im going to take so before and after shots of my new place. Its really freaking cute.
In other news.... ive decided that I am completely abandoning the fine art community. No, that doesnt mean I wont be making art, but I will be focusing more on interior design and making paintings and objects that are more design related.
I just feel like design is real and tangible. Its purposeful and has a clear objective. Im sick of the over-intellectualized bs of the fine art world....

I could barely sleep last night because my mind was racing with tons of ideas for new goodies to make.

a.