Sunday, September 24, 2006
Wonder Woman Step by Step Part 3
You guys thought I was NEVER going to finish this, didn't you?! Yeah, well it came close. This little thing called life and work stepped in for a bit.
But now I'm back and better than ever! Ok, well the back part is true.
Here's Diana as she stands now:
I made her rope glow by selecting the inside yellow color and the darker orange lineart and then I feathered the selection by 12 pixels. I then created a new layer on top of the lineart and filled the selection with an even lighter yellow-white color. The feathering of the selection gives the selection soft edges when you fill it making an easy glow effect. I then turned the opacity down to 75% on the layer so that you can still faintly make out the line art and inside color of the rope. This is also a good cheat to make the rope appear to give off it's own light source that bleeds over onto her hands and body.
I also did her gold arm bracelets, crown, waist and chest plates using a similar effect. I created a new layer on top of all of the lineart. Then I picked my gradient tool. I set the gradient to radial, and the color to fade from my foreground color (white this time) to transparent. Making the gradient go from your foreground color to transparent makes it so you can do "spot" gradients without covering your entire canvas in color. Ok, so I used the gradient tool and just picked areas on her gold accents where I thought light might be reflecting off of them and did a small radial gradient on these areas. I then chose to fade the gradients by choosing Edit, then Fade Gradient in the toolbar to fade them to about 60% or so, depending on the strength of the gradient that I made. I then took the eraser tool, set the opacity and flow of that tool down to 25%, I set the tool to airbrush and brought the hardness of the brush down to zero. I erased around the edges of the gradient so they didn't look so circular and looked more like light and less like I did a gradient on them.
I'm sure you're all scratching your heads going "What the hell did she just say?", so ask me to clarify if all that didn't make a bit of sense.
I also did a little bit more coloring to her boots, but I'm still not liking how they are turning out, so I'll probably changes those again. Freaking shiny vinyl boots!!! I also added some color and shine to her lips. Sexy!
Next it's on to my LEAST favorite part of coloring! SKIN! I HATE coloring skin. My weakness at coloring, other than the obvious crap is that I'm horrible with light sources and shadows. Especially on faces and skin. I'm working on that, but I still end up crying and making Ben tell me what I'm doing wrong on things.
I've also started using the radtastic program Painter, which is like using real paints, but totally digital! It's REALLY scary but freakishly cool. The Swashbuckler and Cerberus illustrations in my portfolio were both done in Painter and I think they turned out less crappy than I thought they were going to.
Wonder Woman is going to be done in Photoshop, just because I need to get her done, and ladies look better when they appear to be "soft" and don't have smeary paint lines on them... at least I think that's what this illustration calls for.
So there's step 3 of Wonder Woman. On to the skin!
But now I'm back and better than ever! Ok, well the back part is true.
Here's Diana as she stands now:
I made her rope glow by selecting the inside yellow color and the darker orange lineart and then I feathered the selection by 12 pixels. I then created a new layer on top of the lineart and filled the selection with an even lighter yellow-white color. The feathering of the selection gives the selection soft edges when you fill it making an easy glow effect. I then turned the opacity down to 75% on the layer so that you can still faintly make out the line art and inside color of the rope. This is also a good cheat to make the rope appear to give off it's own light source that bleeds over onto her hands and body.I also did her gold arm bracelets, crown, waist and chest plates using a similar effect. I created a new layer on top of all of the lineart. Then I picked my gradient tool. I set the gradient to radial, and the color to fade from my foreground color (white this time) to transparent. Making the gradient go from your foreground color to transparent makes it so you can do "spot" gradients without covering your entire canvas in color. Ok, so I used the gradient tool and just picked areas on her gold accents where I thought light might be reflecting off of them and did a small radial gradient on these areas. I then chose to fade the gradients by choosing Edit, then Fade Gradient in the toolbar to fade them to about 60% or so, depending on the strength of the gradient that I made. I then took the eraser tool, set the opacity and flow of that tool down to 25%, I set the tool to airbrush and brought the hardness of the brush down to zero. I erased around the edges of the gradient so they didn't look so circular and looked more like light and less like I did a gradient on them.
I'm sure you're all scratching your heads going "What the hell did she just say?", so ask me to clarify if all that didn't make a bit of sense.
I also did a little bit more coloring to her boots, but I'm still not liking how they are turning out, so I'll probably changes those again. Freaking shiny vinyl boots!!! I also added some color and shine to her lips. Sexy!
Next it's on to my LEAST favorite part of coloring! SKIN! I HATE coloring skin. My weakness at coloring, other than the obvious crap is that I'm horrible with light sources and shadows. Especially on faces and skin. I'm working on that, but I still end up crying and making Ben tell me what I'm doing wrong on things.
I've also started using the radtastic program Painter, which is like using real paints, but totally digital! It's REALLY scary but freakishly cool. The Swashbuckler and Cerberus illustrations in my portfolio were both done in Painter and I think they turned out less crappy than I thought they were going to.
Wonder Woman is going to be done in Photoshop, just because I need to get her done, and ladies look better when they appear to be "soft" and don't have smeary paint lines on them... at least I think that's what this illustration calls for.
So there's step 3 of Wonder Woman. On to the skin!
Thursday, September 21, 2006
83 and counting...
At least that's how old she'd be today. If she were still here. I'm getting better now, the wound has healed, but I still bear the scar of losing her. I know that we're all destined to die, that no one lives forever. It still doesn't change the fact that I didn't have enough time with her. It still doesn't change the fact that I wasn't able to see her face smiling at me on my wedding day. It doesn't change the fact that she won't be able to hold hands with my children one day. It doesn't change the fact that I'm selfish and wanted her to be around for all of those things here, with ME.
What makes it even harder is that by some cosmic coincidence, one of Ben's grandma's shares the exact same birthday as my gramma. September 21st. The thing that makes it hard is that to me, this is HER day. To Ben and his family this is his grandma's day. His family flies in from out of town, we get together for dinner for her and celebrate her. Which is wonderful, great and joyous... but to me, it's still HER day. I don't get the chance to be by myself very much on this day, because it's spent getting ready for Ben's grandma, doing things for her, and it's hard for me to put on a pleasant face for everyone because I have two days out of the year that I allow myself my little pity party, and by coincidence, today just happens to be one of them. I know it's selfish, but that doesn't mean I can change it. It doesn't occur to them that I have a different significance for this day.
Thankfully this year we're having a party for her on Saturday, and not doing anything today, so I have today to call my mom and my sister and just make sure they are ok and talk about her with them.
My memories of her haven't faded. I still remember her crossword puzzles, her coffee, her cowboy dancing shows, her crush on MacGuyver (yup, she was one of THEM). I remember her picking me up from school before I got my driver's license. My friend Michelle and I would wait until we saw her little blue roller skate of a car pulling up to the front of the school and she'd honk at us. She always honked at us, even if we saw her and were already walking towards her, she'd still honk. I remember her yells of "WHAT ARE YOUSE DOING?!?!" up the stairs if my friends and I got too rowdy in my room and sounded to her "like a herd of elephants". This is how I remember her:
She was my funny face, my clown. My sister was her Pal, and I was her Baby. I remember seeing the movie Predator AND this horrible occult movie called The Believers in the same day when I was kid, (yeah, my Dad had NO idea that these were not appropriate movies for an 8 year old) and having TERRIBLE nightmares that night. It was my gramma that let me sleep in her bed with her, because I was too scared to sleep on my own. She always tried everything to make me feel better. Many times she'd also get me and my sister out of jams with our parents just because that's what grammas do. Us wrestling on my parents' waterbed causing it to burst and flood their bedroom, being one such time.
She was the epitome of everything that you ever think of when you think of grandparents. My grandfather on my mom's side died when I was 6 months old, and I think she spent most of her time making up for the fact that we were short one grandparent on that side by showering my sister and I with her love and wisdom twice as much.
I often wonder what she was like, before she had kids. Or when my Mom was young. I wish I could go back and ask her to tell me more stories of her when she was my age or younger. That's what I regret most of all, that I didn't learn enough about her, so I can't tell my kids enough about her when they are growing up. This wonderful, intelligent, strong woman that they'll never get to meet.
There are still so many things I experience everyday that remind me of her, or make me think that it would be something she would enjoy. This helps me to keep her spirit alive and it surrounds me in what I know to be her essence. I hope she's proud of me, of the woman I've become.
So this day, is for you, Gram. May you find peace, light and love wherever you are right now and know that your light still shines brightly within my heart. Every day.
What makes it even harder is that by some cosmic coincidence, one of Ben's grandma's shares the exact same birthday as my gramma. September 21st. The thing that makes it hard is that to me, this is HER day. To Ben and his family this is his grandma's day. His family flies in from out of town, we get together for dinner for her and celebrate her. Which is wonderful, great and joyous... but to me, it's still HER day. I don't get the chance to be by myself very much on this day, because it's spent getting ready for Ben's grandma, doing things for her, and it's hard for me to put on a pleasant face for everyone because I have two days out of the year that I allow myself my little pity party, and by coincidence, today just happens to be one of them. I know it's selfish, but that doesn't mean I can change it. It doesn't occur to them that I have a different significance for this day.
Thankfully this year we're having a party for her on Saturday, and not doing anything today, so I have today to call my mom and my sister and just make sure they are ok and talk about her with them.
My memories of her haven't faded. I still remember her crossword puzzles, her coffee, her cowboy dancing shows, her crush on MacGuyver (yup, she was one of THEM). I remember her picking me up from school before I got my driver's license. My friend Michelle and I would wait until we saw her little blue roller skate of a car pulling up to the front of the school and she'd honk at us. She always honked at us, even if we saw her and were already walking towards her, she'd still honk. I remember her yells of "WHAT ARE YOUSE DOING?!?!" up the stairs if my friends and I got too rowdy in my room and sounded to her "like a herd of elephants". This is how I remember her:
She was my funny face, my clown. My sister was her Pal, and I was her Baby. I remember seeing the movie Predator AND this horrible occult movie called The Believers in the same day when I was kid, (yeah, my Dad had NO idea that these were not appropriate movies for an 8 year old) and having TERRIBLE nightmares that night. It was my gramma that let me sleep in her bed with her, because I was too scared to sleep on my own. She always tried everything to make me feel better. Many times she'd also get me and my sister out of jams with our parents just because that's what grammas do. Us wrestling on my parents' waterbed causing it to burst and flood their bedroom, being one such time.She was the epitome of everything that you ever think of when you think of grandparents. My grandfather on my mom's side died when I was 6 months old, and I think she spent most of her time making up for the fact that we were short one grandparent on that side by showering my sister and I with her love and wisdom twice as much.I often wonder what she was like, before she had kids. Or when my Mom was young. I wish I could go back and ask her to tell me more stories of her when she was my age or younger. That's what I regret most of all, that I didn't learn enough about her, so I can't tell my kids enough about her when they are growing up. This wonderful, intelligent, strong woman that they'll never get to meet.There are still so many things I experience everyday that remind me of her, or make me think that it would be something she would enjoy. This helps me to keep her spirit alive and it surrounds me in what I know to be her essence. I hope she's proud of me, of the woman I've become.
So this day, is for you, Gram. May you find peace, light and love wherever you are right now and know that your light still shines brightly within my heart. Every day.
Monday, September 18, 2006
CAPE 2.5 to benefit Lea Hernandez
As I'm sure most of you know, Lea Hernandez, comic diva extraordinaire, lost almost everything in a house fire. Thankfully, Ben and I are involved in one of the best comic scenes in the country, because immediately, after hearing the news, a call to arms was sent out to raise money to help Lea get back on her feet.
This is where CAPE 2.5 comes in. The good people at Fanboyradio.com, Popsyndicate.com, PVPonline.com, and Zeus Comics are putting the whole thing on and you can learn more by going to the CAPE 2.5 website.
If you can't be bothered with details, then know this: "CAPE! the Comic and Pop Expo presents CAPE 2.5, a live art show and comic art auction benefiting comic artist Lea Hernandez and family.
After a house fire claimed everything the Hernandez family owned including her art, the comic book community is rallying around Lea with a live comic art jam and comic art auction.
The event is scheduled for Saturday September 30th at the Metro Grill in Dallas starting at 9pm. While a DJ spins, comic artists work on oversized canvases before an assembled audience. Once an artist finishes a piece it moves to an auction area where anyone can bid on it."
Ben will be participating in the show providing art for auction and I will be on hand taking discriminating pictures and consuming massive amounts of adult beverages. Fun should be had by all. Lea herself is also going to be there, so this should be a night to remember!
I'm very proud and honored to be a part of this, even if I won't be contributing anything but my husband. It's just nice to know that people care and are willing to do things for their fellow artists. I hope everyone in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Area will come and join us to help out Lea!
This is where CAPE 2.5 comes in. The good people at Fanboyradio.com, Popsyndicate.com, PVPonline.com, and Zeus Comics are putting the whole thing on and you can learn more by going to the CAPE 2.5 website.
If you can't be bothered with details, then know this: "CAPE! the Comic and Pop Expo presents CAPE 2.5, a live art show and comic art auction benefiting comic artist Lea Hernandez and family.
After a house fire claimed everything the Hernandez family owned including her art, the comic book community is rallying around Lea with a live comic art jam and comic art auction.
The event is scheduled for Saturday September 30th at the Metro Grill in Dallas starting at 9pm. While a DJ spins, comic artists work on oversized canvases before an assembled audience. Once an artist finishes a piece it moves to an auction area where anyone can bid on it."
Ben will be participating in the show providing art for auction and I will be on hand taking discriminating pictures and consuming massive amounts of adult beverages. Fun should be had by all. Lea herself is also going to be there, so this should be a night to remember!
I'm very proud and honored to be a part of this, even if I won't be contributing anything but my husband. It's just nice to know that people care and are willing to do things for their fellow artists. I hope everyone in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Area will come and join us to help out Lea!
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Spoka, Chuy's, Norma and the Dahlia
This weekend was very action packed and fun filled! My friend Norma from Las Vegas recently moved to Texas with her husband and we got to hang out with them on Saturday. I hadn't seen her since my wedding almost three years ago and I was really looking forward to hanging out with her and her hubby, Randy. Thanks to the magic and glory of the internet and MySpace we've been able to keep in touch for a long time, but it's always great to be able to hang out with your friends in person.
So they came to Arlington, and we had lunch at Bennigan's and then drove to the Swedish furniture mecca known as IKEA.
And OH the time we had.
Some of you may be familiar with my obsession with IKEA that started when I was doing some research at work one day on marketing and came across THIS gem of a commercial. As soon as I saw that, I knew that they were gold in my book.
Since Ben and I had yet to visit the IKEA store here, and since Norma and Randy have a new house that they will be moving into next month, we thought that they might want to check it out and see if we could find some cool stuff.
No furniture was bought, but I did find these little cuties that Ben and I absolutely HAD to have. They are lamps for children, but who's taking notes here? Behold SPOKA:
That's what they look like turned off. Here's what they look like turned on:
Ben and I are pretending that these little lamps are "Halloween decorations" so we can justify their purchase to ourselves. They are super rad!
After IKEA we drove them around Dallas to show them around and then we had dinner at our usual haunt, Chuy's. After many flautas and tons of queso, Norma and I stopped for a quick tribute to the King:
They had a long drive back, so we bid them farewell and then headed BACK to Dallas with Chris for a midnight showing of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. If you've never seen this movie, go rent it, it's probably one of the biggest pieces of 80's nerdery to EVER grace celluloid. It's got an All-Star cast that you wouldn't believe, and it's just tons of random completely incoherent fun. There are some pics of Saturday up in my photo gallery of Family & Friends.
Today, Lori, Lori's mom Naomi, Laura and I went to dinner and then went to see The Black Dahlia. Yeah... I love movies that have trailers that make you think the movie will be about one thing, and then it totally ends up being about something else. This explains The Black Dahlia in a nutshell. It's directed by Brian de Palma and based off the book by James Ellroy (who also wrote L.A. Confidential, one of my FAVORITE movies) so I was really looking forward to this. I think if I had realized that the movie was just about these two cops that were investigating the crime, sort of, and not about the murder as much, then I would have thought this was a good movie. But since I went in with a totally different idea of it, I came out pretty disappointed. I'll probably have to rent it when it comes out on DVD and I'm sure I'll like it better, but now that it's fresh in my mind, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
In other news, Ben and I did some "real" Halloween decoration shopping at Target today. I'm SO excited with this year's designs because they are FINALLY incorporating some Day of the Dead (or Dia de los Muertos to my fellow Mexicans) themed decor to the mix. I bought this really awesome shadow box with this festive senor inside:
I also found these super swank candy dishes for parties or just random fun:
They have a TON of stuff there and I hope to go back many times in the next few weeks and stock up on more of the awesomeness. Old Navy has some pretty sweet pajama pants every year at Halloween, I scored some with Pumpkins on them, and two really cheap glow-in-the-dark totes. One has a ghost on it and another has these bats on it that totally reminded me of that old Bugs Bunny cartoon where he meets Dracula in his castle and he outsmarts him numerous times. You know the one I mean: "Rest is GOOD for the BLOOD..."
Anyway, that was my weekend. It was jam packed with fun, and also it rained like 100 inches in 15 minutes while I was driving to pick up Laura to go to dinner, which was NOT fun, because I'm a nervous wreck in the car in the rain.
But that's another story, and this post is already a mile long.
So they came to Arlington, and we had lunch at Bennigan's and then drove to the Swedish furniture mecca known as IKEA.
And OH the time we had.
Some of you may be familiar with my obsession with IKEA that started when I was doing some research at work one day on marketing and came across THIS gem of a commercial. As soon as I saw that, I knew that they were gold in my book.
Since Ben and I had yet to visit the IKEA store here, and since Norma and Randy have a new house that they will be moving into next month, we thought that they might want to check it out and see if we could find some cool stuff.
No furniture was bought, but I did find these little cuties that Ben and I absolutely HAD to have. They are lamps for children, but who's taking notes here? Behold SPOKA:
That's what they look like turned off. Here's what they look like turned on:
Ben and I are pretending that these little lamps are "Halloween decorations" so we can justify their purchase to ourselves. They are super rad!
After IKEA we drove them around Dallas to show them around and then we had dinner at our usual haunt, Chuy's. After many flautas and tons of queso, Norma and I stopped for a quick tribute to the King:
They had a long drive back, so we bid them farewell and then headed BACK to Dallas with Chris for a midnight showing of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. If you've never seen this movie, go rent it, it's probably one of the biggest pieces of 80's nerdery to EVER grace celluloid. It's got an All-Star cast that you wouldn't believe, and it's just tons of random completely incoherent fun. There are some pics of Saturday up in my photo gallery of Family & Friends.
Today, Lori, Lori's mom Naomi, Laura and I went to dinner and then went to see The Black Dahlia. Yeah... I love movies that have trailers that make you think the movie will be about one thing, and then it totally ends up being about something else. This explains The Black Dahlia in a nutshell. It's directed by Brian de Palma and based off the book by James Ellroy (who also wrote L.A. Confidential, one of my FAVORITE movies) so I was really looking forward to this. I think if I had realized that the movie was just about these two cops that were investigating the crime, sort of, and not about the murder as much, then I would have thought this was a good movie. But since I went in with a totally different idea of it, I came out pretty disappointed. I'll probably have to rent it when it comes out on DVD and I'm sure I'll like it better, but now that it's fresh in my mind, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
In other news, Ben and I did some "real" Halloween decoration shopping at Target today. I'm SO excited with this year's designs because they are FINALLY incorporating some Day of the Dead (or Dia de los Muertos to my fellow Mexicans) themed decor to the mix. I bought this really awesome shadow box with this festive senor inside:
I also found these super swank candy dishes for parties or just random fun:
They have a TON of stuff there and I hope to go back many times in the next few weeks and stock up on more of the awesomeness. Old Navy has some pretty sweet pajama pants every year at Halloween, I scored some with Pumpkins on them, and two really cheap glow-in-the-dark totes. One has a ghost on it and another has these bats on it that totally reminded me of that old Bugs Bunny cartoon where he meets Dracula in his castle and he outsmarts him numerous times. You know the one I mean: "Rest is GOOD for the BLOOD..."
Anyway, that was my weekend. It was jam packed with fun, and also it rained like 100 inches in 15 minutes while I was driving to pick up Laura to go to dinner, which was NOT fun, because I'm a nervous wreck in the car in the rain.
But that's another story, and this post is already a mile long.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Ketchup
Or catch up?
Yeah, that was lame. I'm all done with my coloring gig, and it was a ton of fun! I was helping out my good friend Bryan Baugh by coloring some art pieces for him for an art book that he's putting together.
Ben and his brother, Zach, helped me out by taking on some of the coloring chores for some other illustrations as well, so it was full-blown Hall team up. It was way cool coloring some of Bryan's art. I can't wait to see this stuff in print!
I conned Bryan into allowing me to put a couple pieces in my portfolio for your viewing pleasure. If you want to see more you'll have to go out and buy the book! I'll let you all know when it should hit the shelves. I'm particularly fond of the Cerberus illustration. This is what Chewie would look like if he were a three-headed dog, I have no doubt in my mind.
So now I'm finally going to finish my coloring step by step of Ronee's Wonder Woman pinup that Ben did eons ago. I'm sure she's forgotten ALL about it, and thinks that it was just a dream that we did this for her.
Also, I've lost 21 lbs. since I started my trek into a healthier me. WOOT! Only 4 of it has come from my monthlong journey in the land of GYM, but a pound a week isn't bad. It could be worse. There is one thing that troubles me everytime I go to the gym, however. Actually there's two things. The first being why would the powers that be that run this gym think that having the women's locker room constantly giving off the fragrance of baking cakes or cookies would be a GOOD idea? I know they want the locker room to smell nice instead of like smelly feet, but cakes? Cookies? I feel like eating a pound of sugar everytime I walk in there! Luckily, the second thing that bothers me is quick to dispel any appetite this may conjure up.
Listen up all you gym-going women! I know they have showers at the gym and some of you don't have the luxury of being able to go home after working out and changing clothes and getting ready there. Or you may just prefer to get dressed at the gym, that's fine. But PLEASE PLEASE cover yourself up if you do so. I'm not ashamed of the human body, but it does come as quite a shock to round the corner when I'm heading for the locker with my stuff into it and be presented with a woman and her "girls" hanging out all over the place. This would be fine if said woman were in the process of putting her bra on, or toweling off, but just sitting there with a towel around your waist while shuffling through your iPod just doesn't make sense to me. Especially when you've got all of your toiletries and clothes across the entire bench RIGHT in front of the locker that I chose to use that day...
Because, honestly, when I've got boobs in my face, I can't help but stare. It's like driving past a train wreck, you don't want to look, but you just can't help it. So yeah, cover them up, huh? Sorry, I'm a prude, so what?
Anyway, there's some stuff to digest.
Poopshoot.
Yeah, that was lame. I'm all done with my coloring gig, and it was a ton of fun! I was helping out my good friend Bryan Baugh by coloring some art pieces for him for an art book that he's putting together.
Ben and his brother, Zach, helped me out by taking on some of the coloring chores for some other illustrations as well, so it was full-blown Hall team up. It was way cool coloring some of Bryan's art. I can't wait to see this stuff in print!
I conned Bryan into allowing me to put a couple pieces in my portfolio for your viewing pleasure. If you want to see more you'll have to go out and buy the book! I'll let you all know when it should hit the shelves. I'm particularly fond of the Cerberus illustration. This is what Chewie would look like if he were a three-headed dog, I have no doubt in my mind.
So now I'm finally going to finish my coloring step by step of Ronee's Wonder Woman pinup that Ben did eons ago. I'm sure she's forgotten ALL about it, and thinks that it was just a dream that we did this for her.
Also, I've lost 21 lbs. since I started my trek into a healthier me. WOOT! Only 4 of it has come from my monthlong journey in the land of GYM, but a pound a week isn't bad. It could be worse. There is one thing that troubles me everytime I go to the gym, however. Actually there's two things. The first being why would the powers that be that run this gym think that having the women's locker room constantly giving off the fragrance of baking cakes or cookies would be a GOOD idea? I know they want the locker room to smell nice instead of like smelly feet, but cakes? Cookies? I feel like eating a pound of sugar everytime I walk in there! Luckily, the second thing that bothers me is quick to dispel any appetite this may conjure up.
Listen up all you gym-going women! I know they have showers at the gym and some of you don't have the luxury of being able to go home after working out and changing clothes and getting ready there. Or you may just prefer to get dressed at the gym, that's fine. But PLEASE PLEASE cover yourself up if you do so. I'm not ashamed of the human body, but it does come as quite a shock to round the corner when I'm heading for the locker with my stuff into it and be presented with a woman and her "girls" hanging out all over the place. This would be fine if said woman were in the process of putting her bra on, or toweling off, but just sitting there with a towel around your waist while shuffling through your iPod just doesn't make sense to me. Especially when you've got all of your toiletries and clothes across the entire bench RIGHT in front of the locker that I chose to use that day...
Because, honestly, when I've got boobs in my face, I can't help but stare. It's like driving past a train wreck, you don't want to look, but you just can't help it. So yeah, cover them up, huh? Sorry, I'm a prude, so what?
Anyway, there's some stuff to digest.
Poopshoot.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Give a little bit... of your love to me.
5 years. 5 years ago today our country and lives changed forever.
Let's take today and not point fingers, place blame, call out our government's inadequacies, divide ourselves into left and right or project outcries of action not taken or action that should not have come to pass. Let's take today and remember all of the 2700 plus people that died on this day 5 years ago. Every single person who perished in this tragedy was someone's mother, father, sister, brother, wife, husband, daughter, son, lover or friend. Let's not forget about them, because they paid the ultimate price.
All of us lost something on this day 5 years ago. Some of us lost everything. Let's take today (and every day) to pledge a new commitment to unite ourselves not only as Americans, but as human beings.
I probably sound like a hippie, but that's fine by me. Peace, love and unity. That's what it's really all about.
Let's take today and not point fingers, place blame, call out our government's inadequacies, divide ourselves into left and right or project outcries of action not taken or action that should not have come to pass. Let's take today and remember all of the 2700 plus people that died on this day 5 years ago. Every single person who perished in this tragedy was someone's mother, father, sister, brother, wife, husband, daughter, son, lover or friend. Let's not forget about them, because they paid the ultimate price.
All of us lost something on this day 5 years ago. Some of us lost everything. Let's take today (and every day) to pledge a new commitment to unite ourselves not only as Americans, but as human beings.
I probably sound like a hippie, but that's fine by me. Peace, love and unity. That's what it's really all about.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
The Illusionist
We took the evening off to have dinner and see a movie with Ben's parents tonight. We ended up seeing The Illusionist.
This movie was fantastic. I'm a bit biased towards all things Edward Norton, but my bias was not misplaced here. And then there's Paul Giamatti! I LOVE him in everything I've seen him in. Seriously. He's my second Alan Arkin. At one point, I almost busted my gut and passed out by trying to suppress my laughter in a scene where he beats cheeks after Ed Norton's character. It wasn't supposed to be funny, I'm sure, but his run had me gasping for air and left tears streaming down my cheeks nonetheless. Rufus Sewell always plays a spectacular bad guy, and Jessica Biel is lovely.
I haven't heard much about it, so I'm not sure how widely it's being received. Do yourself a favor and go see it. It's a wonderful story full of lies, love and of course, illusion. The cinematography was beautiful, complete with rinky dink fades for some of the scenes to keep with the old timey feel.
I also saw a trailer for another "magic" movie called The Prestige starring Christian Bale, directed by Chris Nolan. So, of course I'll be seeing this, but it actually looks pretty cool as well. Maybe magicians are going to be the new pirates. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Hopefully Scarlett Johansson will disappear in this movie and never return. A girl can hope, can't she? PLUS, David Bowie is in it! WOOT!
So anyway, go see the Illusionist. It's rad.
This movie was fantastic. I'm a bit biased towards all things Edward Norton, but my bias was not misplaced here. And then there's Paul Giamatti! I LOVE him in everything I've seen him in. Seriously. He's my second Alan Arkin. At one point, I almost busted my gut and passed out by trying to suppress my laughter in a scene where he beats cheeks after Ed Norton's character. It wasn't supposed to be funny, I'm sure, but his run had me gasping for air and left tears streaming down my cheeks nonetheless. Rufus Sewell always plays a spectacular bad guy, and Jessica Biel is lovely.
I haven't heard much about it, so I'm not sure how widely it's being received. Do yourself a favor and go see it. It's a wonderful story full of lies, love and of course, illusion. The cinematography was beautiful, complete with rinky dink fades for some of the scenes to keep with the old timey feel.
I also saw a trailer for another "magic" movie called The Prestige starring Christian Bale, directed by Chris Nolan. So, of course I'll be seeing this, but it actually looks pretty cool as well. Maybe magicians are going to be the new pirates. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Hopefully Scarlett Johansson will disappear in this movie and never return. A girl can hope, can't she? PLUS, David Bowie is in it! WOOT!
So anyway, go see the Illusionist. It's rad.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
A quick one while he's away...
I just got back from Dallas after picking up my wedding dress that I finally, after 2 years and 10 months to the DAY, got cleaned and preserved. Behold, the dress frozen in carbonite... or cellophane, whatever...
Chewie approves, apparently. At least he wouldn't get out of the way while I tried to take this picture. So that's a HUGE weight off my shoulders, and now it will sit in my closet and collect dust until I die. Because I've never met ANYONE who wore their mother's wedding dress at their wedding, or ever did anything with it ever again.
Well that's not true, there was that time in junior high school when my mom let me wear her wedding dress for Halloween when I was the Bride of Frankenstein. That was pretty cool, and that was the last time I was as tall as my mom. Hence the reason I did not wear her wedding dress at my wedding, because I would have looked like an idiot with the skirt ending at my knees.
Chewie approves, apparently. At least he wouldn't get out of the way while I tried to take this picture. So that's a HUGE weight off my shoulders, and now it will sit in my closet and collect dust until I die. Because I've never met ANYONE who wore their mother's wedding dress at their wedding, or ever did anything with it ever again.
Well that's not true, there was that time in junior high school when my mom let me wear her wedding dress for Halloween when I was the Bride of Frankenstein. That was pretty cool, and that was the last time I was as tall as my mom. Hence the reason I did not wear her wedding dress at my wedding, because I would have looked like an idiot with the skirt ending at my knees.
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