Sometimes I feel illiterate

Reading Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian because The Road was so awesome and haunting.

The kid and his friend reached the hotel gallery and wiped the water from their eyes and turned to watch.  As they did so the tent began to sway and buckle and like a huge and wounded medusa it slowly settled to the ground trailing tattered canvas walls and ratty guyropes over the ground.

Like someone with attention deficit, I find myself reading passages more than once because my mind has wandered.  Not the fault of the books, it's more likely a result of too much internet which is where I am now.  Damn it.

Find a Place Already

If all had gone according to plan, I should be writing this from my own apartment right now, but that isn't the case.  I probably spent too much money on Europe and all the food and booze here in the Bay Area.  The silver lining?  I will be taking some classes in Photoshop, Painter (which looks like it's a digital painting class with other software being introduced), and a basic digital photography class which may prove too basic, but we'll see.  I just like the incentive that classes give me considering I haven't done too many creative things in the past five...uh...ten years?

I have to create a photoblog for class and will separate it from my Flickr page.  It will either go here or here.  I think both Tumblr and Blogger are about equal, but this could be a test to see which one I truly like better or which one gives me less problems.  Or maybe it's all due to the fact that I have a slight internet addiction that started getting worse last October.

The other good news is that Hot Tub Time Machine was hilarious and was just what I needed to unwind last Friday night instead of the usual eating and drinking out.

Not that I wasn't excited

I saw my "Unco Benny" at Best Buy on the 24th when I went to return a Christmas gift my mother didn't want.  He said he'd take a look at that broken hard drive.  Go, Unco!

When I got home, DR texted me that he saw Olivia Wilde at the grocery store.  I like the symmetry that was happening there.  Unco has been a friend of mind for a while, but I might let Olivia Wilde fix my hard drive if she wanted to.

Funky

Posted this on Twitter the other day, but here it is...embedded!

Eight Plus Years Ago

I flipped through an old sketchbook and found this list of things from a trip to New York from November 1st-5th in 2002.  Maybe Earl can add to this incomplete list.

"(not in any particular order)" (notes from 2011 labeled in parenthesis)

• the MET
• Grand Central
• Katz's Deli
• Junior's "Little Fella chocolate cheesecake"
• pizza (yeah that's vague. one had rigatoni on top -2011)
• Gray's Papaya
• Fat Beats
• Sushi Samba
• the Apartment
• Shine
• Chinatown
• WTC (Ground Zero -2011)
• Little Italy
• Bob's (??? -2011)
• Plant (?????? 20011)
• Angel's (??? -2011)
• Central Park
• FAO Schwartz
• deli w/pastries by ex-Jackie O chef (what? -2011)
• Earl saw "Michelle Branch"
• DJ Red Alert
• Crazy Legs
• "Teenagers from Mars" (??? -2011)
• "squirrel"
• "curb your dog"
• beat boxer
• Yellow Rat Bastard
• FCI (French Culinary Institute where Avila was studying -2011)
• JFK
• subway
• taxis
• miles of walking
• beer show (on tv -2011)
• liquor store across from Avila's
• bagels
• Gung
• Lizzy
• grey cat
• lobster ravioli (with tomato vodka sauce -2011)
• Sushi Samba hostess!
• pan-seared sea scallops
• salmon ceviche
• sushi/sashimi
• lobster tempura roll
• Yamato (tuna, foie gras, gold leaf)
• banana bread with coconut ice cream
• chocolate carnaval (??? -2011)
• chicken marsala
• bagel with ham, egg, cheese
• brisket, egg cream, assorted pickles
• 2 Gray's hot dogs, coconut champagne
• ham sandwich, chocolate mousse, hazelnut pastry
• Indian food buffet (looks like they moved to 118 Christopher Street -2011)

I know there was more, but this is all I have in sketchbook.  I'll probably add links to some of these when I get a chance.  There was also Canal Street and the cold weather.  The pogo stick incident inside FAO Schwartz will live in my memory forever.  I don't think Earl and I were on the same flight, but we met at JFK and took a taxi to Avila's apartment.  I don't remember his roommates—Gung and Lizzy—anymore.  Did we NOT check out a comic shop?  I wish I had photos; are they on this dead hard drive sitting in my room?  Was "curb your dog" about actual dogs on the sidewalk or about hot dogs?  And, of course, there were beautiful women everywhere.

If WBNI Was Deleted Forever

but you were able to catch the last image below before it was, then I'd say this blog was worth it.  And yes, it's going up on my Tumblr, too.

What's the word under "Cursing?"  Man, my eyes are getting old.

Even websites are...

... telling me that I should go back to Japan.

How Old Is This?

Google Realtime.

Test with...hmm... comic books!

and... "stripper" (the guys were mentioning strippers last night) led to this:

@PinkRock Margie Brito

"You kinda look like a stripper... A high end stripper, for governors or team players" hhahahahaha

2 hours ago via ÜberTwitter Favorite Retweet Reply

That's funny stuff.

From An Old Job

One day I went into the breakroom and found the following sign on the broken microwave.

I never found out who did it, so thanks to whoever you are.  Maybe the fish should have some accessories, but maybe it probably would have been too much.

From Hard Drive to Paper

 

Here is the photobook that I made for the parents which they were very thankful for.  

For the ease of use, I found that MyPublisher was the way to go.  I wonder if there are other companies hand making books here in the USA.  Are there any using sewn in pages for durability?  In the future, should I learn basic bookmaking skills if I'm just going to make one or two books?  Hmm...

The softcover Ireland book is just about done and will be ready for upload soon, and it actually has some text.  If it turns out well, I'll print a book with England photos.

I like the interior of their shipping boxes.  What a nice surprise!

Even with Kanye

I like this song more than I should.  Yes, Lady Gaga does the hook. Maybe it's the drum machine and that little bit of scratching, but it all works together like disco fries (see below).

I'll probably get sick of this song soon enough, but here it is:

This Again and Again

FRIES  “Disco”  (Pork Sausage Gravy & Cheddar Cheese)  7.95  add fried egg 2

Eat it at the Norman Rose Tavern in Napa.  You could spend $9.95 on other things in life, but these are damn good fries worth your hard-earned money.

Needs More Testing

Not a very clear example of the white balance lens cap working, but you can see that there's less of that orange cast with the custom white balance set.  I think it will save me from hours in Photoshop when there are lamps in the background.  Will an average between those light sources and my external flash look better?  The next family gathering should prove to be a good test.

Q: (See Below) A: I really don't know.

Things I don't know the answer to right now:

• Why did you leave the restaurant industry?
• What time are you going to go jogging?
• Why did you start using your Twitter account?
• Why haven't you deleted your Facebook account?
• When are you going to move out of Vallejo?
• When are you going to post on your sketch blog?
• Are you visiting the nephews and niece tonight?
• When are you going to the market to buy some stuff to cook?
• Will you watch Dexter season three?
• Are you going to create a banner image for your sketch blog?
• What are you going to photograph today?
• Where are you going to draw this evening if not in your room?
• Are you going to the open house at your friends's gym?
• When are you going to shred all that stuff you set aside to shred?
• When are you going to play Super Mario 3 on Wii?
• What is going on this weekend?
• When are you finally going to get on Skype with the family in Europe?
• What are you going to accomplish now that you've been out of art school for almost nine years?  This one really stings.

The one I can answer: Are you going to allow profanity on this blog?

A: Why should I give a shit?

Still Amazed at This

(REUTERS/Casa Presidencial)

Honestly, I think Photoshop every time I see this.  It is pretty terrifying stuff.  I was just looking through 2010 in photos (part 2 of 3) on The Big Picture.

Two Quick Notes

Numero Uno: Seeing the Pixar exhibit at OMCA a second time was so worth it.

にばん (Niban): Megamind is a damn good movie. Donkey Kong reference, tons of Superman nods, good choices in voice casting, and more. I would like to see this on Blu-Ray on a 1080p 120hz television.  Thanks to lman1138.

I feel an animation kick coming on (not that I ever stop watching animation), and it's time to find a way to watch all the Ghibli and Pixar movies this year. I'll make do with dvds and the old Sony tv in the house. I want to see detail while sitting on the sofa, taking notes, and drinking beer.

My First Digital Camera

I remember buying this Canon A70 from Best Buy in Pinole because I wanted to use it for art school and mainly for photo reference for my illustration classes.  I had some gift cards and maybe a coupon.  It no longer works, and I'm not sure how many photos from it I still have. Maybe there are prints of some files.  It could be that most, if not all, are stuck on a dead hard drive.  When I find that hard drive, I'll ask a friend if he can pull anything off of it. There could be old photos from Japan on there!

One of my teachers at CCAC had a bulky Sony that she was willing to share with students if they promised not to drop it.  It was huge, and now, I can't remember what model it was. Probably one of those Mavicas.

I feel like I've written this post before on one of my older blogs but finding this image in a back-up folder prompted me to reminisce about this thing again.

Feels Like 38°

According to the weather.com, it's 41° at Benicia Park, but I need to jog.  Maybe I'll wear my mountain biking gloves when I go.  I need to work off last night's ramen, drinks, and other goodies.

First Pixar Exhibit, Now This

Nausicaa's Glider, originally uploaded by Ochre Jelly.

I need to have an animation marathon here at home after seeing 25 Years of Pixar a second time and now discovering these Lego pieces by Ochre Jelly. This Nausicaa glider and the Totoro here are my favorites among a really strong set of Miyazaki tributes.

I came across Ochre Jelly's work after doing a Google image search for a Totoro face because my niece had contorted hers, reminding me of the Miyazaki character. I saw an image of Jelly's perfect capture of Totoro's shape and personality and just did a little digging till I discovered his sets on Flickr.

I commented on his diorama, and he mentioned Bricks by the Bay in the South Bay. Sounds like a good time that my family and friends would probably want to check out.

Time to find my bucket of Legos!

*more links: Bricks by the Bay Flickr Group & LEGO Flickr Group & Nibbler by Jelly.

Cannot Wait!

Uploaded my first hardcover book to My Publisher, and it should ship in 2-4 days.  I like that they are made in Valhalla, NY.  More things should be made here in the United States.

If all looks good with this first book, I want to try their smaller paperbacks with some travel photos or maybe just a mix of what I've tried so far with a camera.  Maybe this could get the ball rolling on publishing some sketchbooks and other projects.

In other news:  らめん (ramen) with friends tonight!  I hope my stomach is fully recovered from that bit of food poisoning last night.  I haven't felt that bad since I cracked my rib mountain biking.

1972

Not the year, but it's the number of photos that I'm backing up from my Flickr photostream onto a portable hard drive.  Flickr should have an easy way to download all the original size photos, but instead, one must look for an app like Bulkr which I'm thankful for.  I did not opt for buying the pro version, so I'm only downloading the "large" versions of my photos.  All this, editing all the holiday pictures, thinking of monitor calibration hardware, researching printer profiles, and recently purchasing one of those white balancing lens caps makes me wonder how much time I'm spending on this photography hobby when I should be getting back to sketchbooks, finished drawings, and piloting rocketships into the far reaches of outer space.

I'm sure a second trip to OMCA to see the Pixar exhibit will bring some well-needed inspiration.  I've already unearthed some old sketchbooks from the garage which I haven't had a chance to go through.  This is when a work studio with proper filing cabinets would come in very handy.

Besides all of the above, I really need to start thinking about the next job.  Is it in a kitchen as a pantry cook or making pictures somewhere?  Is it in the Bay Area or southern California?  Maybe it's something I haven't triet yet.  Good thing this blog is providing a false sense of accomplishment or I may do something rash like moving to Japan again.

I wish I could spend a few months wandering the streets of Tokyo.

I don't think it's too late

I need to eat some good luck food even though I'm not that superstitious.  I say that yet I find myself knocking on wooden dressers and door frames to avoid jinxing myself when making statements like "I haven't been sick since my friends's wedding early last year."  knuckles rapping on desk…There I go again.

Noodles are a standard luck-inducing food with my family, so I'll probably try some toshikoshi soba along with some type of Filipino-style noodle like pancit canton for good measure.  Though not a noodle dish, I'll even try to make some ozouni which I did not get to eat while living in Japan.  The recent cold weather (by Bay Area standards) has awoken a craving for some hot soup.

Happy New Year!

Not the nicest photo to start 2011, but I bet that kid's New Year's resolution is to drink less soda and eat less crap.  If anyone knows who took the photo, I'd like to give the person credit.  It caught my eye on FFFFOUND! here.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!