The precipice

Having only graduated from something once before in my life, I am not very experienced at it, and the last time I did was 6 years ago, so I have forgotten pretty much everything. Luckily, I don't have to do much but wear a silly gown and a square hat, walk across a stage, shake a hand, and look pretty.

It's the after.

It's always the after.

I know you're supposed to start working and be an adult. But THAT is something I have never done before. Nor have I done this no-school thing, either. Not going back at the end of a summer? WEIRD. Almost panic worthy.

Not much else to say other than I'm a bit worried about what I'll do with myself (I mean, all I want to do is draw all day, but that doesn't get me fed).

Likes

Some thing's I really like.

The band Stars

Actual stars

The web-comic Bad Machinery

Twice looped studded belts

Wind chimes

Light through glass or crystal

A fresh pillowcase

My art

I'm selling some here, for super low prices.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/allibthomas

Go buy one! :D

Super Size Me

I watched Super Size Me for the first time today. Probably not the best day to watch it, as I've been nauseated all day, but all the same... I watched it.

I'm happy to say I almost never eat McDonald's. The only McDonald's I do eat are their soft serves, and I have one of those every 6 months or so. Nom.

But I don't eat well. I don't eat veggies or fruits very often, mostly because I have some stomach problems that limit which F&V I can eat, so I tend to steer clear all together. But I should make an effort. Maybe I can't eat tomatoes, but I can eat all the other veggies. Maybe I can't eat citrus, but I can eat the other fruit. I'm that lazy, huh?

And since I started going to SJSU, I've started eating fast food more. They have a Burger King right by my classes. I succumb frequently, if I have money on hand (which is rare, actually).

Anyway, I am going to make a new goal. For the next 30 days I will not eat any fast food. The only places I will eat out at will be sit down restaurants, and my portions will be small. At home, I'm going to really push my family to keep fruits and veggies in stock. It's going to be hard for me, especially with my addiction to cake and chocolate muffins. But I can handle this.

Somehow, this slipped my mind

I forgot to publicly announce the start of my first, official, webcomic.

http://collide.smackjeeves.com/
(Update: that comic address is no longer where my comic is hosted. If you go there, you'll find someone else's comic.)

You may or may not have seen the link for it around. But there it is. Officially. At this point it is 34 pages long. So few pages, and so far to go. So very, very far.

I'm excited to do this! I love this story!

Resolutions

Well, it's the new year. I decided I should do some resolutions--I never really have before. This will be much more official, and I can come back at the end of the year and see what I did. All right, here we go.

-Continue Collide, without fail
-Move out of my parents house
-Sell art at a con
-Finish editing my manuscript
-Be a better friend (aka, hang out with peeps more--I'm such a recluse)

Yep. I'll probably be back to edit more later.

Christmas

I am making few appearances here, I know. Whatever.

Christmas was awesome this year. Mostly, I was excited to give my gifts to my family. It went like this.

Dad got a set of paintings of the ocean.
Mom got a hard to find book of BoM paintings.
Gordon got Halo: ODST
Brock got a bike
Laura got a pencil drawing of a scene from her book.
Karren got a book of Haikus written by her friends and family.
Stu got a bear with a little doctor's coat and stethoscope.

I was very happy to give them those presents, as most of them were a result of a long time of planning and careful execution.

I got some neat-o things too!
A camera and case
A playskool flashlight, with red/green light features
Leggings
Lots of gift cards
Candy!
Earrings
A lovely necklace

^__^ So, happy Christmas, all!

Applesauce?

Three people ask the same question (what's 2 divided by 3?) and get different answers.

No.

1/3.

Applesauce.

And each of their answers makes sense to them.

Concert and Interview

So last night I went to The Sounds' concert in San Francisco. I went mostly to see Shiny Toy Guns, though, as I had arranged to interview Jeremy (keyboardist) after their set. As a result, I missed most of The Sounds set. But it's okay, I interviewed Jeremy for 45 minutes.

It was fun and crazy and I recorded the entire interview on my phone. I've been transcribing for a while now, but it's only a few minutes into the interview. I have a lot more to do.

Once it's edited, I'll post a copy up here. :)

EDIT:
Here it is! It has swears in it, I'm afraid.

APE? Yes.

I went to APE con. Here's the down low:

Error page win!

I came across this somewhere and quickly snatched it up. Take a gander!

Listen up!

I was recently exposed to an artist whose style speaks volumes to me. So I wrote this entry in my art blog.

http://bit.ly/14B5ml

It's frustrating having a dream and trying to balance it between school and a social life. School has to come first above the other two, and I usually end up sacrificing socialness to work on the dream. Not that I aim to avoid being with my friends, because I really want to be with them. So often.

Anyway, it's hard finding time to balance myself. Like I can't really draw until Wednesday evening--when my essays will be done.

Gr, 3 essays due on Wednesday. Gr.

Little things

I really enjoy life. Sometimes, as humans are prone to do, I forget. But some little thing will remind me how awesome it is. So here's somethings I like to rely on.

Cold Honey Bunches of Oats w/Milk
A finely sharpened pencil
Marbles
Knitting
Wind chimes
The first sip of new soda
Sunbathing on the carpet in the quiet house
Origami
Brisk wind
Scarves
Sunlight making green leaves glow
Caterpillars
A clean bathroom
A new fan of my art
Brady hugs
Blankets far larger than me

Anyway, today was frustrating and disappointing so I needed some time to enjoy life a little. I feel better.

Life accomplishments

My sister has a list of 100 things she wants to accomplish in her life. This is my attempt at seeing how many things I hope to accomplish in my life.

1. Get Married
2. Have kids
3. Live in a foreign country
4. Publish a novel
5. Publish a graphic novel series
6. Learn to drive stick shift
7. Become accomplished on the guitar
8. Learn to the play the Piano
9. Sing in a band (Just once, doesn't have to be famous)
10. Have a booth at ComicCon
11. Shoot a handgun
12. Ride a Bullet Bike
13. Learn Japanese
14. Go to Japan
15. Get a Bachelors Degree
16. Get a Masters Degree
17. Hike a Volcano
18. Go to all 50 states
19. Roadtrip with a friend
20. Travel across Europe
21. Go to Australia
22. Teach English in Japan
23. Go through the temple
24. Knit/Crochet a hat
25. Make something out of glass
26. Learn to dance
27. Make a quilt
28. See my siblings all married and become parents
29. Finish illustrating Collide
30. Illustrate at least 3 graphic novel stories
31. Learn to snowboard or ski
32. Meet the Prophet
33. Hold a monkey
34. Learn Welsh
35. See my children married in the temple
36. See my sons go on missions
37. Have grandchildren
38. Go on a cruise
39. Meet Kazu Kibuishi & wife, Amy Kim Ganter
40. Have a short story in a comic anthology
41. Be a missionary
42. Return to Wales
43. Never get cancer
44. Have a dog
45. Go to India
46. Go to Russia
47. Be accomplished on the Violin
48. Get a degree in Geology
49. Have some of my art featured on a book cover, or in a movie
50. See the Northern Lights

50 isn't so bad. :)

To do

I have realized I love making to-do lists. I get so much more done. Probably?

[ ] Knit Matty scarf
[ ] Read Geog stuff
[ ] Page 12 (or more)
[ ] Ancient Studies paper
[ ] Clean room

What to do first?

Figures?

I went through my Google Reader subscriptions today, and started unsubscribing from things that often post items that are... not completely evil, but they are not uplifting. Away they went. I'm not even remotely sad about it, either. I don't need to be bombarded by inappropriate sexual humor.

On the home front, I hurt my shoulder about a week ago. I was confined to a chair after that, and did basically nothing. No school, even. Which is a little stressful because I missed a lot of deadlines. But my teachers are being supportive and have given me alternatives and extensions. :)

I was feeling a lot better yesterday (each day brought me a little closer to fully healed) and was able to walk around and do a few things. I decided to sleep in my bed last night. Silly me. I woke up with bad neck pain again. The problem with my bed is that I roll around in my sleep and put bad pressure on my neck. It's always been a little rough on me, and I would wake up with neck pain more than a few mornings a week. But it always dissipated and I was fine.

Clearly, it is not fine.

But I will not be conquered by this little hill. I'll get past it, and find a solution.

A day that is really two days

Today was an interesting day. Why? I shall tell you. At this moment. Please proceed below.

Here.

And here.

Also, here. Good, I have you now.

I suppose my "interesting day" began last night when I watched a documentary called, "People Like Us" with my family and it brought to the realization that I am a high quality individual. Not that I did not know this, but I had forgotten. Or something akin to forgetting (Ignoring?). Such a realization instilled a burning panic that screamed, "Buy new clothes!"

So we went to Gilroy this morning, and my father was kind to me and invested some money into a very nice wardrobe for me, including but not limited to, 2 new skirts, 2 blazers, a silk blouse, and a white collar shirt. Also, a pair of caramel colored heels.

It's like my legs are dipped in caramel, making them delicious and desirable (Food analogies are the best).

I then proceeded to my sisters house to hold the baby while she had a very important conversation with a very important man about her very important book which she has devoted very important years to. The result? A fabulous, epic win.

An agent.

There was a lot of excitement when the phone turned off, followed by the phone reactivating as she called some loved ones. I was lucky and heard it first, being in the room with her. The baby was asleep and also has no conscious memory yet. I think.

This happening made me feel unaccomplished for a while. Then I realized that I am 22 years old, in college, teaching myself the guitar, writing 4 novels simultaneously, illustrating a graphic novel I spent 5 years writing, and saving infrequent dollar amounts to have an opportunity to sell my art in a public forum.

So, I'm not doing so bad.

Too many spiders

At this moment, I wish I had my own apartment.

So I could put paintings and illustrations up on the walls, and fill shelves with all of my books. To stick my guitar in the corner, near a chair and a plant. A shelf for my glass blue birds of happiness, and a wooden box for my video games. Also, a small filing cabinet for my art, since the little file box is too small now.

In the corner I could set up my dual screen, keyboard, and tablet, next to my printer/scanner, and CD burner. There would be open space and I would not feel frustrated at the lack of room for anything.

So, anyway. We're watching Hudsucker Proxy downstairs, so I'll probably be going down soon. Or just drawing something to sell.

Oh, and "Owl City" is a fabulous band. Especially, "If my Heart was a House."

So, what have you been up to?

What have I been doing for the past week and a half?

This.

Of course, you have be a member of the site to read the story, and though it's totally free, I know people are adverse to signing up to everything they see. Unless I'm the only one. Which would make sense.

Anyway, it's a story for a contest I probably won't win. But if they hadn't chosen the semi-finalists over a month ago, I might have had a chance. Because it's a cool story.

About dragons.

My birthday?

Why yes, it is my birthday! And yes, it is my magic birthday!

22 years ago, on this day, the 22nd, at this time, 2:22 am... I was born. Do you see what I'm getting at? It's my magic birthday.

I expect amazing things this year, as a rule.