Archive for January, 2010
This past week hasn’t been very noteworthy. The major theme has been finance. Witness Dani and I rearrange our budget in order to keep up student loan payments in this week’s thrilling installment of WHAT HAPPENS AFTER COLLEGE! In all seriousness, the re-budgeting has caused me to examine how much money we waste, and it isn’t pretty. I hate wastefulness, and I hate hypocrisy, so I must really hate myself because I’m a wasteful hypocrite! Time to cut back and tighten our belts.
In the past our attempts at cutting back unfortunately involved reducing the amount of money we could sink in art supplies. Thankfully I stockpiled a bunch, and I’m only unearthing more forgotten tubes of acrylic paint as we set up the studio! It can be an easy trap to fall into, and the bleakness of a bare-bones lifestyle (especially during a New England winter, the kind of setting Ethan Frome took place in) can sap creativity, so here’s a couple ways I deal with it:
1: Stay Inspired
I don’t know about you, but there are some things that just make me wanna make stuff. Reading a good book, a specific piece of music (no fooling, I often listen to one song on repeat until Danielle is ready to bash my brains in) or a scene in a movie (don’t watch the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy though - there’s getting inspired and there’s wasting time) can really get the juices flowing. The same way smells can make you hungry or a song can make you warm, the inspiring piece need not be the same media you want to make. In fact it’s better if it isn’t, or you may find yourself plagiarizing by mistake.
2: Change It Up
Since we’ve already made a change that led to less creative energy, why not push the envelope? You might take to a new media or subject matter better once you’ve stripped away the habits and patterns of your old life. Use this opportunity to play around in watercolor instead of acrylic or oil. Doodle something in a digital program if you’ve stuck to the canvas before, or try sketching on paper if you’re a purely digital creator at this point. You’ve just thrown your old rulebook out! It’s only a tragedy if you make it one.
3: Play Historian
To see where you’re going, it can help to know where you’ve been. Take a breather and pick your favorite completed work. Come up with why it’s so important to you. When you start a new piece, focus on these elements. Far from throwing out the rulebook, this method can help you turn your collected work into a narrative and cause you to see the evolution of your work with new eyes.
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Last weekend was a three-day one due to MLK day. Danielle had to take it off from work because science never takes a holiday. It only takes sick days and vacation time. We decided to use the long weekend to check out the Harry Potter exhibit at the Museum of Science! I was very excited.
Excited to go!
Cameras were forbidden to all those who do not wish to die a most painful death, so I only got this shot of the chesspiece display:
Chesspiece
I also got to hang out with old friends from school. The whole week was very Potter-themed, and why fight it? Old buddies Steph and Irina came with and back to the apartment for pizza and drinks. I made an attempt at home-made butterbeer, but I think it failed due to the lack of proper ingredients. A good time was had by all.
I learned my old hometown, Pleasant Valley, is home to its own novelty restaurant, the Three Broomsticks Deli!
3 Broomsticks Menu
Go check ‘em out if you find yourself in that neck of the woods (and if you do, you have my deepest sympathies, it may be the most interesting thing to happen in PV in a century).
It snowed from Sunday to voting day. Danielle and I found ourselves adding to the already prodigious piles of snow at the edges of the driveway.
Snow snow snow
There you can see the snow pile is nearly as tall as Danielle, although considering she’s pretty short isn’t that impressive.
On the subject of voting day: politics bring out the worst in people. I am heartily glad to have the process behind us for a while,whatever the outcome. Ads, rhetoric, and soap-boxing can go take a vacation, or a short walk off a long pier for all I care.
The Potter theme continues into this week. I’ve been commissioned a drawing of the scene in “Deathly Hallows” when Ron
****SPOILERS BEGIN**** stabs the Horcrux locket. ****SPOILERS END****
Danielle is beginning a few Potter-themed projects. Check out starfalljewelry.com for more, in her own words! Now she HAS to update! BWAHAHA!
All in all, I feel happy with how the week went. Some stuff stunk, but the major theme was friendship, bravery and truthfulness. Those are the things that I enjoy about the Potter books, the things I enjoy about my friends, and the things I enjoy in life.
Next week I’ll update the progress on the illustration, and I’ll write a bit about some of the games I’ve played recently and give my thoughts.
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Happy New Year!
Lemme fill you in on what’s been going on. I know, I know, I said I’d keep you guys updated, but as it turns out Comcast screwed us up during the move. They kept shutting the wrong apartment off. We actually switched to Verizon in November and we’ve been loving it so far! So take that, Comcastic-craptastic. You drove away paying customers with apathy and poor service.
We moved upstairs in the beginning of November and what a difference. The move was a little tough, but seeing as we only had to go upstairs it wasn’t a huge hassle. The hardest part was being stubborn and independent. That’s right! Danielle and I moved our furniture with our bare hands! Over the course of a wee all our stuff was in, but in boxes.
It wasn’t until around Christmas that we finally got the place presentable. Our cat Emma has adjusted wonderfully. We’re enjoying the larger kitchen.
Oh yeah, and
The new studio!
Expect to see this room often! I’m still in the process of decorating it and organizing it, but this is my workspace. You’ll notice there’s no computer in the room.
In other news (since people who move can’t seem to talk about anything other than moving I made a conscious effort there) Christmas happened! I got a bunch of new games, and right now I’m working on Dead Space. The game is well crafted, but it has forced me to confront the fact that I’m a great big weenie. I cringe at every sound, break into a sweat when I see flickering lights, and exclaim loudly when Emma brushes up against me (as is a cat’s habit: affection at the least convenient moment).
More pictures!
The wall o' Mucha.
More winter trees.
Breakfast!
These were taken by the new addition to the family, a Canon Powershot SD780. Another upgrade in our move upstairs. The breakfast one was to test out the macro function.
Expect more frequent updates! My current work schedule has half a day on Wednesdays, so I can return from work, do my chores and stuff and then share the event of the week with all you happy people. And even all you sad and mopey people too. I also hope to have topics of more substance to pontificate about.
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