February Goals

There are some things I hope to accomplish in the next month or so. Hopefully in the next month, mostly.

[ ] Make a stuffed animal a week
[ ] Do one colored illustration a week
[ ] Read at least 5 books
[ ] Finish a personal project
[ ] Spend more time with Laura and Brady
[ ] Finish Matty's scarf
[ ] Finish putting my room in order

I couldn't sleep until I put that down... :3

Go, Life, go!

After moving, recovering my back, and relearning to live with my knee, my room is coming together. :)

My computer set-up is more organized in this location. I have a shelf right beside my desk and I have decided to settle my printer/scanner there. That leaves me lots of room on my desk, so I'm very pleased about that!

My bookshelves are tucked into the wall too, so I don't have them taking up a lot of space too. I have beanbags in the corner and my guitar beside those. My dresser is by my closet. And I have a lot of free space in the middle. I'm thinking of putting a coffee table there. Maybe a cushion to sit on too. So many possibilities.

I added all the classes I need now. Full time student, that's me. XD Acting and animation fundamentals on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Principles of Animation and Art History of Mondays and Wednesdays. This is will be a good term.

Class!

An observation

Today, it occurred to me (through the assistance of a reliable friend) that I come across to most people as--ha ha--an airhead.

How, I do not know.

Okay. I lied. I am rather sure that this is because of my bubbly, happy nature and the high level of my passion for the things that I do. I live passionately. It comes through as excitement and, perhaps, shallowness. But I am not shallow. I get excited about things. I do things fully or not at all. I live, love, and show it. I never thought it would affect me adversely.

Life choices send me down pathways I would not backtrack or stray from. I will not--because I cannot--leave the field of art. I cannot live that way again because it is against my nature. But there are people who look at that choice and think I must not be intelligent enough to make it elsewhere. That's frustrating. I could turn the tables on them and call them boring for settling on whatever career they chose, when they could have chosen whatever field it was because they truly love it. I give others the benefit of the doubt and delve in for the interesting side of them. And I usually find it. But my ever-happy, ready-to-laugh side of me is interpreted as stupid and/or that of an air head.

It makes me want to cry, honestly. How could others think this? How can they not see beyond that? Do I have sit demurely and quietly to get their attention? Do I have to keep my interests and passions silent for fear of the misjudgment? I cannot do that. I cannot refute my nature, deter my ways, and overlook the gifts and passions put in my life by God. This is me.

But I must find a way to present myself--who I am--in a light that also shines on my intellect. On my mind. Show my happiness, show my passion, and show my wit.

I pray for the ability to do this and the clarity to see the way.

Top 10 Favorite Albums of 2008

A good year for music, in my opinion.

1. "Season of Poison" by Shiny Toy Guns

2. "You're Awful, I love you" by Ludo

3. "Fearless" by Taylor Swift

4. "Narrow Stairs" by Death Cab for Cutie

5. "Midnight Boom" by The Kills

6. "Yellow & Elephant" by Eye Alaska

7. "Red Album" by Weezer

8. "We Started Nothing" by The Ting Tings

9. "With Arrows With Poise" by The Myriad

10. "A Hundred Million Suns" by Snow Patrol

Music, for the win! :D

AH HAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Create Your Own Sea Kitten at peta.org!

PETA makes me laugh with their crazy craziness. And fun fish makers!

We are Pilots

Oh my goodness graciousness.

So, Shiny Toy Guns have 2 albums. We Are Pilots, and Season of Poison. Season of Poison is the most recent one, from November. But We Are Pilots has been out and about since 2005. And there are 3 different rereleased versions of it. I own 2 of them. The 2nd and 3rd editions. :)

The songs I have are from the 3rd version, and so I hadn't ever listened to the 2nd version. I was hiding it away to stare at it. 9_9 *cough* But today I popped it in to see if it was different--I had heard it was. And, whoa, it is. There are. Wow. I like it. :D

At least 4 songs that have changed between 2 and 3. It's crazy and awesome! I prefer the older version of When They Came For Us a LOT more. Shaken is good, but I like the newest better. I like Le Disko, but enjoy Chad's backups. I already knew I liked the older version of You are the One.

So, I'm importing older versions of the songs for enjoyment. :) Huzzah!

Maybe... maybe we will

It occurs to me that it is now the 11th day into a new year (2009, if you didn't know) and I have yet to write a single thing at all. ESPECIALLY concerning my amazing, spectacular new year's adventure!

Which was amazing.

Basically, it went like this.

I like to chatter it up on a forum for my favorite band (Shiny Toy Guns). I don't usually go onto forums. Ever. But I was suckered into it and now have funny little ODD (lovable) friends. One friend and I had joked about her coming up to the Bay Area from Fresno to attend the next STG concert in my area. Ha ha, lol, rolf, etc.

Then they released the next date in my area--New Year's Eve. Not just the evening of, but a party of sorts. I died. Again and again. And then saw the tickets cost 60 dollars. Ew. EW. I couldn't--just couldn't do it. And it hurt to decide that. Oh, ache. I told Natty that and she agreed, heart-wrenchingly, with me.

BUT, life seemed to have ideas. And one day, I flitted to the tickets page (often I would go, to ache and pine away for them) and saw they were on SALE. 35 dollars! D: Now, yes, sounds very pricey, but considering this was to be a BIG party event and that the band of my preferred choice would be there... I thought it was the best price ever. I had also emailed the band with my concerns about whether or not the concert/party would be worth the money (back when it was 60) and they quelled the fears. So I was ready. And I told Natty she should come up. And she agreed. And we made plans. And bought tickets. And it was good.

They took trains and buses from Fresno. I picked them up in San Jose. We enjoyed my home town of Los Gatos (most awesome quaint place) and some lunch with my parents. Then we scurried back to my house.

We spent the evening watching STG videos and chattering. Hannah came over and we all got ready together. I made a pair of earrings to wear to the concert, and changed into my special concert outfit. We all looked fabulous! :D And off we went in Hannah's MusTANG.

Natty, unsure which camera to use

San Francisco is awful sometimes. And we got a little sort of lost. But I was smart and brought a fold out map of the area and we got back to where we needed to be, paid 30 dollars to park 2 blocks from the club, and in we went!!

Natty brought along a special painting she had purchased ESPECIALLY for the band to sign. It is a painting/print of a toy water gun. It's shiny and cool. And large. I brought a fairly rare promo window display available in the UK and only in select record stores. We were amped!!

The 21-year-olds

We got there really early (9:30). The show was supposed to start at 9, but the band wasn't on stage until 11. Warg! But because we got there early, we got the stand dead center, in the front. We gushed as we looked at the keyboards Jeremy would play, the drums Mikey would play like a dance, and the mic's Sisely and Chad would sing on. I almost screamed when they brought out Chad's Les Paul Epiphone Sparkly top and set it out, ready. Oh man. I was shaking Natty like a doll! XD

Gah! Chad's guitar!

Hannah, dancing

Then--oh then--they came out. Sisely had these spandex leggings on and a loose fitting sparkly black top. And these boots--ankle boots with BATS for buckles. AMAZING!! And Jeremy wore his signature T-shirt from another band they had toured with. As well as his old, buckle covered boots. And Mikey had his hair all styled and flippy and just looked great! And Chad had a sparkly silver New Years hat on and red velvet ... suit coat and a handkerchief around his neck.





I don't remember much after that. They played, I sang along. Natty and I screamed a lot. I forgot earplugs and it was SO loud. The first song, Jeremy played Bass on and when he was done he dropped his pick to the floor of the stage. I began to covet that pick and spent most of the concert eyeing it.



At one point, someone tried to cut in front of us and we almost slaughtered her. Ha ha, she backed down fast.. *gr* And then a short annoying boy tried to cut in front of the guys behind us (who were screamingly in love with Sisely and were begging for her to touch their hands) and they were upset, so I did them a favor and pointed out the short-jerk that they were there first. So he fled and the nearest of the Sisely-lovers draped his arm around me and told me I was cool. He took a picture with me and then proceeded to keep his arm around my shoulder for most the next couple songs. I was not pleased!!! I was very angry and therefore distracted through Poison (one of my favorites) and finally started shrugging to get him off.

That aside.

Sisely would be singing and she would lean right into our faces (we were so close, we could lean on the stage!!) and grab our outstretched hands. Chad would sometimes look right down at us and play right at us. And, about 3/4 through the concert, Sisely was dancing around and finally I just started pointing at the abandoned guitar pick (which had been trampled by her and Jeremy throughout the show) and she looked at me and at the pick and then handed it to me!! I got a lot of people trying to trade me for it in a instant. HA. Fail on their part.





Sisely, doing the count down

And when the count down began, they all counted with us and then uncorked a bottle of champagne and they drank some as they played. But not too much. Chad didn't drink any, he focused on playing. But Sisely and Jeremy went to town! >< And after about 1/3 the bottle was empty, Jeremy shook it up and sprayed it into the crowd. It was half gross, half awesome. BTW, alcohol doesn't small good. Fortunately, it dried up and we didn't even smell like it. :) Suddenly, it was over and they were off the stage. My friends started asking the stage hands for the play lists that had been on the stage, and the hands gave them to them. But when I asked for one, there wasn't anymore. So I looked down, kind of sad, and when I looked up he was handing a guitar pick to us and my friend grabbed it. I realized that that guitar pick was Chad's. The one he played the show with. And I traded with her instantly--Jeremy's for Chad's. She traded because she knew how much I adore Chad. I now wear that pick around my neck. Cause I'm dumb like that.

We really wanted to get the band to sign our stuff, but they didn't come back out. We waited for half an hour or more, but still... nothing! Finally, Jeremy popped out for a drink, and Natty asked him if he could help us. He told us to off and fetch our stuff. So we did. And then he told us to follow him, and we trickled after him.

Into a thin hallway, into the back room where smoke and band gear filled the room. A small walkway led to a rickety stair case, which we tenuously followed him up. Up to the VERY small room. 2 couches, a coffee table, and a fridge. A mirror on one wall. And people, everywhere. They were smoking and drinking beers. I felt like a sore thumb, since I don't do either, but I didn't really care. It was just so amazing to be there.



But there was Sisely, chatting with Jackson (a facebook friend I had yet to have met). Mikey was talking to people, all smiles. Couldn't see Chad. Jeremy started trying to gather the band for us, looking at the painting and saying how cool it was. Then he saw my promo piece and got REALLY excited. He got wide eyed about how rare those are (SUPER rare) and everyone--EVERYONE--wanted to see it. It got passed around. The next time I saw it, it was mostly signed by the band. Just missing Chad's signature.



We talked to Sisely for a while, she called us her number one fans too. It was the best. We discussed why she didn't crowd surf this time (the loose shirt was a concern) and how she saw us there totally rocking out! We felt awesome. Got to talk to Jackson, finally. And then, I turned and saw Chad. He was sitting on the couch and talking to some guy. He glanced at me, and in a fit nerves, I stuck my tongue out at him. He started and then made a face at me. I laughed, ever nervous. And then he joined the group. Sisely was signing the painting now, and Chad focused on me and Natty.

Then Chad started saying, "I know you!" Right at me! And I was excited and then he said "You're always online!" Well... I was embarrassed that among the thousands of friends they have on their MySpace, the fact that I am always on stands out. He laughed and said "You're the one who really likes my hair short." And we agreed on that. Then he said, "Oh I'm never online but like you're always there when I am!" And I felt awesome. Then he signed my poster, and I asked him to sign it special and he couldn't think of anything and I said, "Be creative, Bucket head!!" (a reference to an interview the band did once and he had a bucket on his head the entire time!!). And he drew a really awkward picture of a cat, pointing to the V-birds and assuring they were birds and that, right there, was the sun. It was hilarious!



Then he wandered off and I got to talk to Jackson some more. He is Chad's brother in law! Emily's brother! How cool! :D We talked about the music video's and he told me they want to make one for every song from the Season of Poison album. He also went on about how the band appreciates the help from the fans and how it helps the band earn money, so I suggested they sell DVD's of the Music Videos they have made--either one DVD, or a DVD for each album. He looked shocked and thought it was a brilliant idea!! It was such a cool conversation!



And later I talked to Jeremy and asked him to play Chemistry of a Car Crash (my very FAVORITE song in the world) the next time they come to SF. He rubbed his head and told me to talk to Chad. With pleasure! So I found Chad again and said the same thing. He laughed and asked me who told me to say that. Then he got a little flustered and said they want to but no one else in the band remembers how to play it except him. I told him it my favorite song EVER and he got flattered and thanked me. And then I told him he should redo, or rerelease "What Happens" again but under STG (that song was originally released when he and Jeremy were in an older band of theirs and the version us fans have is only a minute and half long and very incomplete). He was kind of surprised and we talked about it and he said it was unfinished, but that's finished now. I got excited and insisted he should release it. He gave a thoughtful look and a promising answer and I think he will contemplate it and maybe actually do it! I hope he will. Hope so much.

Yeah. Then we left. Home we went, sharing the videos and pictures we had taken. Natty and I stayed up a little later then we planned talking and getting tired, but we went to bed around 4. Then I took them to the train the next day and they were gone. I miss those two, they were fun. :)



And THAT, in a very detailed nutshell, was my amazing STG new years. Ha.

Wow. I am long winded... And kind of a freak about this band. But, honestly, what is life if we don't get excited about things? Would it be very fun if we didn't allow ourselves to be completely devoted to something? Isn't that what we do when we fall in love with someone? I am not ashamed of my passion for this band; it means I have passion for life and things that matter to me.