heres a bunch of images... because i am bored, and feeling generous

i posted a bunch of wedding stuff on my flickr... but these items are all mine... sort of. the shrug is being made custom for me in black, which i think will be amazing.

i like charley harper.... who doesnt?

these are examples of several stages of the tomato hornworm.... aka "steve". i have been drawing this mf-er all day.

i have not been very good about updating this thing or any other thing for a little while. my camera is broke, and its a lot less for to update without new pictures. this weekend has been no fun. i somehow managed to accomplish very little, when in reality i had very much to do.
i did, however, manage to scoot over to h&m and buy some cute satin stretch pants that i am quite pleased with. ugh. i am so sleepy. i hate the fact that i spend all weekend running errands and cleaning and have no time to do the things i enjoy, like working on new paintings. i am so excited to go to maine and cool off for a few minutes.... also, it will be nice to tie up all the last loose ends for my wedding planning. (or at least the brunt of them)
i think i made a new friend. its such sketchy territory. i feel like people treat me differently because justin and i do tattoos. its hard to trust people, and ive been disappointed a lot lately. i really want to try to create some more distance between myself and the rest of the tattoo community. i feel like i spend every minute talking about tattoos or listening to shit talk about other artists, and im a little exhausted by it. i mean, when i worked in printing i didnt want to go to a bar and see every other printer in town. i just need to draw some sort of line between work and play.... maybe im asking too much.
i think i just want distance from richmond people in general. i kind of miss red necks and military guys.
i think i just want some "normal" friends.
end rant.
im just really tired today. i had to get up early and deal with the diamond people, the bank, and the FBI. after some severe threats it looks like we will be returned the 2000 plus dollars that was embezzled from us. yah.

a.

i am shocked and irritated by the fact that i am sick.... again! oh and my kitty broke my keyboard, rendering my shift and control keys unusable until justin gets home and fixes them.... i attempted but found myself far too impatient and cranky to deal with the little parts.
i feel like summer is almost over and i havent really done anything to enjoy it. josh will be here next week and i am hoping that the the three of us can take a fun trip somewhere or something. i want to go to the beach in maine and crawl on rocks. i am slowly trying to prepare the house for amys arrival, but it seems as though every time i clear out one area, justin sees the space and begins piling. i found some leftover antibiotics from the last time i was sick and started taking them... just in case.
anyway, im bored out of my mind.

a.

okay. so its been a day or two since i have updated. things have been hectic... stressful. however, i have managed to cross some MAJOR things off my to do list, which is AMAZING. do we need this stress in order to motivate us? fear is the greatest motivator.
i think at some point recently i realized that i was not in control of my own decisions, and it really started to eat at me. i think that people have a tendency to take advantage of you when they realize that you need them more than they need you. is this vague? i will try to clarify later... maybe.

i guess im just in spring cleaning mode. i let things pile up all around me until i am so stressed i cant see. i have started to clear things up. dumb stuff like re-loading all my mp3's back into itunes, and getting my cpr, first aid, and blood borne pathogens certifications. flossing.... literally and metaphorically. having WAY too many social obligations.

anyway... this is boring me.

i am SO tired. so many odd tasks seemed to go undone during my illness. sigh.

i went to my first gym orientation earlier, informative.
went to target to exchange some work out clothes (why do they run so damn big?)
cleaned
did countless loads of laundry
bought groceries

tired.

turtley died today (not pictured). its amazing how something that you barely have contact with could cause such heartache. justin and i inherited turtley from his little brother timmy, almost a year ago. he was a tiny little guy, maybe an inch and a half in length. i noticed a week ago that his shell seemed soft and fragile, so i started running the lamp for longer hours. i have been sick for the past couple of weeks, so i didn't pay much attention to the tank. last night i noticed that he was laying in the corner of the tank, with his head stretched out and laying on ground. he looked sick and barely moved when i poked at him. his shell had become extremely soft. i googled "sick turtle", and determined that it was a lack of uv rays and proper nutrition that led to his illness. i placed him in a separate impromptu tank with very little water on the ledge of my window sill. this morning he had moved down from the rock i had given him, and had eaten a little pellet food. i decided that this must be a good sign, even though i wasnt too happy abut the fact that he was sitting in the water with that soft shell. justin and i then dismantled our 55 gallon terrarium and relocated it to our trunk room (which is like a small office), directly next to a sunny window. after we completed the move i was going to put turtley back in the tank, and when i picked him up, he was lifeless.

we buried turtley in my downstairs neighbors front garden (sorry, laura).

i feel like such a bad mom. i wish i would have done more research on his particular breed of turtle, or kept the tank a little cleaner. i wish i could've saved him.

in response to our loss, justin and i have erected the "turtley memorial terrarium" which is basically our old aquarium, but with a new faux rock waterfall filter, live plants, water conditioner, moss, and new buffet style food (with krill and nasty shrimp).


in other news....
i am still on the hunt for the perfect bedroom set, and to be honest i am leaning towards the "MALM" set on IKEA. i know IKEA is cheap, but its also versatile and they have lots of different pieces for each set and the sets come in a variety of colors. Plus, i'm probably not going to want this bedroom set forever anyway. i think i am going to have to make a little road trip to potomac mills and check it out in person. justin and i went to EQ3, west elm, pottery barn, and crate and barrel today, and didn't see anything that either of us really liked.

i joined the gym today. exciting. if anyone goes to golds in the fan, we should work out together. aimee and i are going to "body flow" (cheesy name) class tomorrow, and to get myself extra inspired to start working out, i bought a really cute outfit... too bad i realized when i got home that it doesn't match my sneakers!

oh... we are obsessed with the showtime series "the tudors".

kit is coming in town tomorrow.

lars is helping me do some work to my bike tomorrow... riser bars, bmx kiddie grips, and new tubes.

"real simple: weddings" appears to be the best wedding magazine i have bought to date. it has limited ads and really focuses on planning, with easy to read lists.

my ring still hasn't made it to Virginia. (sad face) i called today to check on it, and was told that it was running late and wouldn't go out until thursday. which means that justins tatsoul chair will arrive before my ring... even though it was ordered nearly two weeks after. sigh. i am tired of telling people that i am getting married, only to have them glance down at my bare hand. boo.

alright, its late and i've had and emotionally exhausting day.

a.

this video is super cute..... i really want to make zombie puppets now.

They have lots of sweet stuff on the zune arts site.....zune

as seen on kitsune noir

to bad the bums will just end up peeing onit

(they ruin everything)

so sometimes i am really fascinated by teenagers, i mean, we all remember being young a dumb... but i am SO thankful that i grew up pre-digital age. before camera phones and digital video and every personal aspect of your life being posted on the internet.

with that said i came across this website recently when i was searching for a cute new haircut.... bascially its a social networking slash photo hosting site, similar to photobucket or flickr, but for "emo" teens. the part that i found entertaining was the section devoted to "emo girls making out" and "emo boys making out" (at least these kids are practicing tolerance!). i guess the part that i find shocking is that they are posting this stuff on the internet for everyone on the planet to see, teachers, bosses, family, and creepy perverted dudes.

anyway, i had basically forgotten about that site til i came across some "emo porn" blog today, and saw all these video clips from you tube of emo girls making out.... its like, a culturally phenom. or something. so of course, i had to do a youtube search...


proliferation

i kind of feel guilty posting this.... but by rational side tells me its totally anthropological and interesting.

i just remembered how excited i am for SATC!!!

awesome

will everyone hate me if this becomes a wedding blog?

nobody reads this crap anyway....

so i haven't been to work in a week and a half, which basically means that my days are spent drinking prescription cough syrup (syzurp) and doing online wedding planning.... which may seem a little obsessive considering my wedding isn't for 15 months, but there are SO many damn variables... for example: we are getting married in maine, outside, which leaves us with a very small window of time to operate within, because the weather in maine is only tolerable (esp. for virginians) for about three months. so we decided on the first week of august, however, i then realized that the weather in the caribbean is super shitty and rainy in august. also, i want my wedding to be slightly off-season, so i can get a better deal on a honeymoon. so now i either need to change the wedding date to september, which might be colder than i will like, or change our honeymoon location.


this is SO cute. i want an old school b-boy dance off at my wedding.

offbeat bride is super cute.... and there is even an entire section on tattooed brides!

so i have done a good job at secret keeping, as of late, but i can no longer hide it.... IM GETTING ENGAGED, BITCHES. we ordered the ring yesterday, and im super excited. its basically this ring, but with an upgraded rock and setting. (platinum, wa-what)
i really have to thank kari so much for helping me with all the diamond info.... and for letting me steal her idea of getting a black one. i went into this without a damn clue about buying diamonds, and it really made me realize why young girls get into learning and planning weddings WAY before they get engaged. i kind of regret NEVER picking up a wedding magazine earlier, it would have made the whole process a lot easier.... thankfully, kari has had a subscription to martha stewart weddings since she was 12, and has been very helpful.

in other black diamond news...
carmen electra just recieved a black diamond from her fiance, and he actually bought the ring from my solitaire which has an AMAZING selection of black diamonds, and are very reasonably priced.

here is an awesome article about black diamonds. it has been theorized that black diamonds come from space!

i was initially feeling very overwhelmed with the prospect of planning my wedding (even though i have 15 months!) but then amy told me that she made her mom do all the boring planning stuff, and that her mom was super stoked about, and that made me feel better about it.

where should i register? suggestions?

also... im pretty sure i found my dress. i posted pictures of it in my flickr. DONT SHOW JUSTIN!

in other news... (involving people who are SO much cooler than me)
my awesome friends aimee and stacey got engaged last night! they are the cutest couple EVER (besides me and justin).... and i am totally voting for them for prom queens. stacey drove ALL the way from florida last night to surprise aimee and pop the question. i felt VERY special to be included in the surprise. we will all be at cous cous tonight to celebrate.

also....
my good friend from high school ALSO got engaged. melissa and her boyfriend have been together for SEVEN years, and he totally surprised her. That is the cutest shit ever.

jeez... all these surprise engagements make me secretly wish that i wasn't such a control freak, and let justin surprise me.... who am i kidding? if i waited on him, i would be an old dried up hag before i ever got a rock.

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!