March 29, 2009

Debra

Well, got some of the layout done. I kinda like the half ass ness. But, since I don't have my massive art update ready yet, I have something else to show instead.



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And then here's a picture I revived from my massive template folder and decided to paint some more. Have so much to do...


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March 28, 2009

Updating blog

Debra

I have updates, but I'm frustrated with this template and I feel it's a real pain to display images in it so I'm going to fix that... right now... researching what code I need to use to style the elements, etc.

March 27, 2009

New Post FAIL


-Frank

I will admit and take full responsibility for the shame that we have not posted anything new in the past 11 days. It's a disgrace, I tell you!

Now that that's out of the way, I got back from my first of probably many AM jogs this morning. Good lord... What happened to my endurance? I get the feeling that it is there and that the muscle mass hasn't really completely left, but I'm wondering if it's because I'm carrying so much extra weight that I'm not able to keep running/jogging. Much as I hate to say it, it may be a good thing for now. I was reading up on running and all that good stuff on the net.

Apparently if I run too hard or much I'll overstress the joints and possibly damage them. Some of it says to do stuff like riding a bike or light jogging to drop off some of the weight, then start running as the strain on the joints is eased due to less weight being carried.

Even so, I'm aggravated at my lack of "good shape". That and I'm annoyed because now that I went for a run, I feel more awake and Deb has to go to school early for a test.

On a completely different note, I made a vast change to my head that seems to be for the better. By that I mean my hair. There were other things that I've been changing slowly already I think, but I needed something outward to go with it. The exercise, while good, hasn't given me too much of the outward change I'd like to see, so I figured I'd take a step. The other part of it is that if I truly am serious about this police thing, I need to get used to it. Not that I'll have trouble getting used to it, but I do notice that I don't have any extra "fwuffing" around the top of my head. I'll attach a picture for giggles.

On another different note, I was reading about some of the goodies about FN on the FN Forum that I joined not too long ago. I was reading on there that if you send them a nice email, praising them, they would quite possibly email you back asking for your email so they could send you an FNH T-shirt and/or a FNH digital camo ballcap. I'd be quite happy to have either.

Speaking of FN, Katie decided that she wants to go to the pistol range tuesday! While I'm not sure I'd want to start her on the 45, it's not necessarily a bad 45 to start on. Kick is really not all that bad and most anything learned on the 45 can transition downward more easily than upward. At least, so I'm told. I can imagine it though, after having shot a 9MM at one time. Not a fan of the 9, but after shooting a 45, regaining control of the 9MM as well as follow-up shots become much more natural, rather than the flinching from the higher powered round.

That's not to say I'm a FAN of the 9MM round... I've never been terribly pleased with how it felt to fire and I've heard far too many stories of more than 5 or 6 shots being fired and some wacked out insurgent still being more than happy to fight until the drugs wore off. Difference with a 45 has been said by some vets I talked to while I was in the pool biz was that the 45 got someones attention no matter how high they were just for the sheer fact that the size of the hole did make that much difference.

Still... I have been lazily looking at 9MMs for a while for Deb herself and for cheap target shooting. Who knows. Plenty of options! But that's far off when I have a job with enough disposable income to make it easy.

For now, I'm more interested in taking myself to a higher level. It's much slower than I really want, but that's my fault I guess. All the same, I'm hoping that everything clicks into place. With Deb going to school for teaching now and me working toward Law Enforcement, I pray that we'll be able to reach these goals.


March 16, 2009

"Mary"

-Frank

All she could remember was seeing the wallpaper with pink ribbons on it curling in a sickening black and brown fringed by orange go past, followed by the feeling of flight. As suddenly as she'd seen the wallpaper, she was just as soon sailing out the second floor window into the dark, cool mist of the night.

As she hit the ground with a heavy thud that knocked the wind out of her, she struggled to her elbows, fighting for breath. and noticed a smell that seemed familiar but was much stronger than she had ever remembered it. It was the smell of the fireplace that her father so carefully tended during the first few chilly nights of fall.

Looking up at her window, she could see the figure of her father, peering through the smoke to see if she was alright. He called to her through coughs that he was going back in to help her mother. She could hear the panic in his voice and noticed that her brother and mother were nowhere to be seen around her. He disappeared back into her room while she stared on in horror at the plumes of smoke rising into the night. She knew that he would be ok. He was a policeman. He always came home.

As she went to the front of the house, she could hear the sirens coming as the flames leaped out of the front windows. The neighbors were there but didn't seem to noticed her as they were entranced by the flames. The next thing she remembered was the sickening sound that would haunt her. She watched as the front door began to collapse in on itself. Through the brief break in the flames, she could see all three of them on the stairs that were beginning to sag.

The sirens wails grew louder and the firemen began hosing down the conflagration as fast as possible and she would sometimes see her father holding onto her brother and mother protectively, encouraging them to hold on a little longer. But it was too late. She knew it and she could see the tears in her fathers eyes. He knew it too.

A jerk suddenly snapped her out of her quiet stare as an ambulance worker placed her into the back of an ambulance, brushing her brown hair out of her face and asking her questions. She silently stared back at him, not knowing how, or what to say.
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Two years later, she sat in the coffee shop against a painted brick wall in Chicago with the half eaten pastry and a small cup of milk sitting on the table next to her. She had fallen into a quiet sleep. The blue lights around her didn't bother her sleep though. She knew what they were. Her smile was that of one who was at peace. She opened her eyes and knew the arms of her mother were around her while her father leaned against the wall, watching for any kind of out of the ordinary activity, just like he always had.

She could see the light glow of her younger brother fiendishly giggling at a thirty-something business man trying to flirt with a twenty year old cashier. Mary knew that her brother was always up to something. She could see his hands near the tip jar while the blushing cashier shied away from the older mans advances. Just like when he'd try to get into the cookie jar.

Her family had never been lost to her. People tried to tell her as gently as they could that her family had gone on a long trip, but she knew better. But she also knew that they were there standing around her and smiling while those people tried to tell her they weren't there. They were always there.

March 13, 2009

Take The Good Where You Can Get It!



Frank

For all our readers out there (har har) I'm doing what folks in radio call a "live appearance" more than likely on Tuesday, March 17th, at Rams Head Tavern. If I have my way, I'll be there starting at 2PM and will stay as long as I feel capable of standing! Deb will also likely be there "going home drunk" in her own words.

For once, my work schedule has finally worked to my benefit. I'll be OFF WORK Tuesday night and I intend to fully enjoy myself. Granted, I typically do not drink in excess, but on rare occasions I will go a little overboard, if for nothing else a reminder of why I DON'T.

So yes. Please show up? Or don't? All the same, details are up there.


March 12, 2009

New sketches, another week

Debra

I feel I'm beginning to really figure out what I want to do with my life. I am blessed. For payment in that respect, here are some sketches.



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Some of the regular sketches are from life. The first is Frank and the digitals are all from my life (in a local Borders).

March 11, 2009

Some Understandings

Frank

To start off, I'd like to give thanks to the local Indian man who runs the nearby liquor store. I was buying a bottle of scotch and, instead of letting me do that, he pointed me to the gift package. The same size bottle of the same Johnny Walker complete with 2 tumblers with the Johnny Walker emblem and logo tastefully placed on them, all for the same price. Kudos, sir. I'll be enjoying these.

Secondly, I want to thank Nickolai. Not his real name, but those who know me will know who it is. I normally am not a fan of anything "rap" oriented in the slightest. I can sometimes listen to much older rap at very rare intervals. The only enjoyable exception so far has been Linkin Park, until now. He told me about the Flobots. At first I groaned, I'll admit. These are the same folks who brought us the "Handlebars" song.

After taking my time with some other songs and finding the violin plays prominent notes as well as a strong focus on the bass guitar, rather than purely tired drum beats. The lyrics are powerful and potent. It's an interesting combination. Particularly some of the YouTube videos, actually. I like the song "We Are Winning" and the song "Rise".

The sad part about these songs is that while I am very happy to hear the message presented, I fear it is being misinterpreted by most of the youth who hear them. While Nickolai and I find messages of community and working together to better the situation we are in as well as the world around us, a brief net search results in most people praising the idea of Anarchy and destroying others to achieve their own idea of the "ideal". I don't think that's the message being put out by the artist. As far as I can tell, it's one of peace through working together and understanding.

While I personally don't believe that Utopia is possible, I certainly think the kind of help and bonding that people were able to show after 9/11 and other tragedies is something unique. Sometimes I wonder if the very idea of "fear" or "tragedy" is or has been used to try to maintain that unity. While I certainly understand and agree with the need for order and the like, I don't agree that the police and other agencies of the government are intending to hurt the populace. I can't say honestly that I have ever met someone in the police or the military who joined just so that they could hurt people and ruin their lives.

The funny thing is that my Thanks have seem to run over my initial reason for posting, which was much less serious than the items I presented previously.

My original reason for posting was more of a humorous sort. I believe that I may have finally figured out why women typically win arguments! Again, remember that this is more of an observation and less serious than what I wrote before.

A few days ago, I was unable to sleep due to the neighborhood kids outside. I work late nights, so it's not uncommon for the local kids to wake me up. This time was interesting though. I was laying in bed and listening to two little girls playing outside. I've seen them before. One is something like 5ish and the other more like 3 or 4. They were racing up and down the sidewalks outside the apartment complex. The older one would sometimes lose the race, but then turn to the younger one who had won and tell her she'd lost. The younger one, upset, would inquire as to why. The older one would say that the younger one had not followed the rules. Of course, this begs the question. "What rules?"

At this point, the older one would expound upon the something the younger had not done, like putting her arms in the air as she crossed the finish line. Or she had not jumped over the finish line. Or she had not touched her feet after she crossed the line. Or she had not spun in circles after she crossed the line.

Notice, I'm being VERY specific with the "AFTER SHE CROSSED THE LINE" portion. If men "cross the line", then "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned". Also, notice that the rules of the engagement or "race" had been changed to suit the older. That being the case, the rules are subject to change and never solid, no matter what basis of fact there may be. A win is suddenly a loss. Crossing the line in the race does not equal a win.

Similarly, if you've ever seen boys and girls playing "House" as children, the little boy will try something and the little girl will yell at them, telling them that what they did was "against the rules". Dumbfounded, you'll see the little boy either stop complying completely to this game and go do something else, or try to comply and understand. Either that or the little girl will tell an adult that the boy isn't playing by her rules. Strange... It sounds remarkably similar to real life at times, or at least stereotypical real life. The adult in that situation usually becomes the court of law and divorce lawyers. Same with when he just stops complying and wanders off.

That said, it's just interesting to see that kind of interaction, even between two girls. I have seen it between women occasionally though, where one takes a more "alpha" role and the others around her fall into line. If you look at teenage females, it's more obvious. There's usually one "alpha" girl and the rest follow her in a sort of hen house mentality.

Of course there are always exceptions to each generality, but after spending a lot of time listening to stand-up comedians both male and female who talk about their married life or relationships, it's astonishing at times how close they are to the truth. Of course, that may be one reason I like them so much. They aren't always just trying to be funny, but also try to convey a message, as exaggerated as it may be. If people were able to separate the truth from the comedic exaggeration, they'd be able to see some of the most raw and true societal commentary that is available.

Comedy, as much as it is meant for entertainment, also does a very good job of making things like politics and issues of the day accessible. Things like "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" are popular not only for their humor, but also for their capability to bring us news in all its absolute absurdity at times. Truly, some of it is completely absurd, but spun as life and death by the media. Laughter is powerful, but also is very useful for making people comfortable as you try to show them your message.

I could probably go on forever about this, but I'm going to stop for now. Felix the Cat just finished downloading, though I'm going to look up Fritz the Cat, per my Father at some point.

March 09, 2009

Going to bed, but before I do

Debra

I'm going to spend more time on gestures, I need to.



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March 08, 2009

Anatomy modification

Debra



I know it's not anatomically correct, but I really like the composition of the neck. Someone out there will hate me because the neck is too long. It will happen. The legs are a little too long, I need to fix that.

Much to decide...

Debra

I'm up way too late again, but at least I got some of my school assignments done. I'm doing a lot of thinking. I'm not sure what I will do after community, in regards to art anyway. I have thought and considered art schools, but the prospect of loans that would impact my quality of life while also weighing my physical condition being poor is not wise. I don't even believe that type of schooling to be necessary. Mostly, I want to satisfy my curiosity and go to a place that not only develops my skills, but develops my person. I am entirely aware that my growth would completely depend on what I choose to do during my school years... just like I work on my portfolio and art at home. I can accomplish these things on my own or at a public university.

Frank has decided pretty much what he wants to do with his life and I think I finally have. Since Drawing I, I fell back in love with my craft. Never really considered it throughout school because of my various talents, and computers seemed more successful and thrilling at the time. But it doesn't satisfy my curiosity enough. And it brings me closer to things I hate... like rigidity. Art allows me to express myself, or at least show my hate of something through the process in my sketchbook when I am planning stuff. I still have to deal with people either way.

I discussed with Frank these things at length, and he knows I stand by mostly debt free living when it comes to this. I may just end up stopping for a few years after HCC, as much as I will hate to leave and miss the experience. I love school, and it's making me a better person. But I could use a few years to work on my portfolio and pay off current debt. It will also force me to get active outside the home, not just work... work alone is lame. But I thought of maybe working at a gallery or just getting involved in something else besides the same old bullshit.

Anyway, I am growing as a person everyday, so it's hard to say where I go, the sky is the limit. I talked to my mother yesterday and for the first time, I feel a little more fearful about if I ever developed Dystonia. I have a lot of other talents and I could find some other purpose in life, I'm sure. Being a mother one of them. But losing art would be a very large void. Not to mention, I wouldn't be able to type these blogs at 110 words per minute average like I am accustomed to. My internet rambling powers would be significantly inhibited.

Would be better to take time off after HCC which is probably what is going to happen. I don't feel my portfolio is good enough. Not to get in. I know I could get in. But it is not MY standard of good. In fact, a lot of things aren't my standard, which is why I am so focused on disciplining myself. But yeah, taking a year or two off won't significantly impact me, in fact, I will have more time to work on my art. And more importantly, work and then maybe it can be Frank's turn to pursue his education. Not saying I could support him, but I could definitely ease things a bit... maybe find a gallery job. I love working on my art more than I love going through a ladder of college bullshit. And Oh God, no more fucking green peace classes. I brought a charcoal of nature to that class, but I promise you, it was out of deep hatred because that picture is so not what that psycho mostly talked about. College Politics can kill trees too.

I'm grateful, because both me and Frank had our minutes raised to unlimited. (For a cheap price too). They also offered him additional hours for the pickings at some other location in Severn. We are doing pretty good all things considering. We replaced our microwave. This one is actually large and doesn't take double the time that our "Fisher Price microwave that broke" did. (As Frank humorously put it)

I'm happy that my internet finally got fixed, it has made things much easier, I'm able to check all my courses a lot quicker. Actually, this weekend I am not feeling too well, so I am not getting as much done much earlier like I wanted. I really wanna know what my math test grade was. And I have to remind myself to get another pad of Newsprint tomorrow... I'm out. I have gesture drawings due Monday (which is why I need Newsprint, for class and to redo my homework). A painting is due Wednesday which I'm a little nervous about because my value drawing is not where I want it to be and I really would've preferred to have redone it. But looks like I will just have to go forward with the color painting and hope for the best. First painting for the win.

Hiroshi sent me a text around 3-4AM asking me about my mailing address, so I replied and gave it to him. Apparently he's sending me something in the mail. I hope everything is OK with him. He said he is less willing to work on less money, so he follows less orders LOL. That sounds like good news, though I probably should be worried about his job status. I'm apparently not.

Frank bought some "Perfect Pushup" thing that he's been using and I'm glad to say he's actually been exercising. And I'm going to call him out in his own blog, EXERCISE REGULARLY DAMN IT. :/ So far it's been regular, but I expect more from my dark teddy bear. Much much more.

Which reminds me, he needs a new pair of running shoes... damn.

March 07, 2009

My internet got repaired

Debra

Yay! Go Internet!

So, now that that is out of the way. It's Friday night and I am getting back to my art before I restart the week again. Saturday I hope to get a majority of my assignments done for next week (like I did last week... that seems to work superbly). I had a test today, it went very well I think. I was really worried about that class, but seems like I don't have to worry at all.

But anyway, here is the beginnings of a value drawing from the previous sketches. They're little thumbnails of the face being developed, because I was sending them to Frank while he was sitting in his car at work.


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The figure is kind of stiff, but at least this way, I can feel the form and accurately make the values. For more flowy stuff, which I'm sure I will pick up on through gesture drawing, shouldn't be a problem later on. But for now, I'm getting a lot out of just this sketch. More of a concept sketch, my ideas aren't really all on paper and they could go either way. Modifying the costume as I go along, that stuff is easy to fix.

March 06, 2009

I should really be in bed...

Debra

But I am not. So meh. We're starting color in painting next week ^-^ This is working on my imagination a little more. It has not received as much love lately as observation.


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March 05, 2009

Generating Interest

Frank

Sometimes I wonder how I could possibly write anything of interest that carries some weight outside of my own little circle of life. Any time I sit down to write something here, I always am wondering what I could say that would have an impact on someone else.

Then I realize by doing that, I'm doing myself a disservice and losing my entire purpose in writing this. By doing that, I'm negating my own views and my opinions which may indeed have an impact after all. Funny how that works.

The past few days have been engaging, as per the usual. Between losing a tire on the car in the parking lot at work again and then losing the donut the next day, I was wondering myself the same thing my father jokingly said about having a magnetic field. So far I've spent over 100 dollars in tires or patches. Amazing, I know, but true. More annoying is that the company apparently doesn't really care about it and hasn't even really responded. In the end, I took the donut off and filled up the original tire with the awesome Green Tire Slime. I've used it before on my tires and seems to be doing a helluva job on this one too. No leaks in that one so far.

In other thoughts, me and an old friend have been thinking of creating a show for the Discovery Channel. This is probably another one of our hair-brained "what if we could" schemes that would be a great experience if we ever were able to achieve it. At the same time, we also realize the likelihood of it getting off the ground. The basic concept is to run a small catamaran around the world with 3 "average" guys living on basic sustenance (think MRE's) and recording the whole thing. We'd also have a net connection and have occasional net chats with the audience as well as work something out with Google where you could use Google Earth to track where we were and where we'd been. We've been discussing the technical feasibility as well as the logistical implications. Of course, there'd be more to it than that, but those are a few of the current ideas kicking around. It is fun to think about, though I'm not sure it'd ever happen. Sure would be exciting if it did though!

For now, I'm waiting for my paycheck to show up in my account via direct deposit so that I can go get some stuff at Wal-mart. I was there with BB yesterday and did a little price shopping. Found a decent jack and some other little necessities I didn't expect to find there. We were surprised when we went by the ammo case there though. Generally when I go they're out of 45 ACP. Go figure. I get a 45 finally and then the world goes ammo crazy because of the political changes. Anyways, the surprising part was that whenever I go by, I check out the 40 SW ammo supply as well, since that's what BB uses. There's always FAR too many boxes on the shelf, so much so that they take it out of its usual slot and put it up top with the extra .22 ammunition. This time, it was ALL gone. All of it. 38, 40, 45, etc. Almost every single standard pistol caliber was completely sold out. Amazing.

We also were looking at this neat thing called "The Perfect Pushup". It's one of those "Seen on TV!" kind of things. BB grabbed the ones that were out of the box off the shelf and started using them. Having seen them before, I asked him how they were and he surprised me. He said they were great! Took the strain off of the wrists as well as engaged more muscles in the shoulders that are usually only used in knuckle pushups. That said, we started looking at some of the other things they had there. Time to do some homework on that stuff. I trust BB completely when it comes to health and fitness stuff. Since his parents have a strong medical knowledge and he himself has spent the past few years really dedicating himself to looking for the best way to take care of himself with supplements, exercise, etc, I have little reason to disbelieve. That and the fact that he certainly has lost some weight over the time I've known him.

It's always interesting talking to BB too, but I'll save that for another time. Same goes for KB, his sister. I've known them both for nearly 10 years now and we've all grown in some way or another. As I said though, that'll be saved for another time.

Deb just woke up and it's time to go get some exercise.

March 04, 2009

Painting, Swatches, and Sketch Updates

Debra


I really need to build my own template...




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March 01, 2009

Working on something for pop art? Something like that

Debra

This weekend I was fortunate enough to get the bulk of my homework done early, Yay! ^^ So this week I only have to worry about paint swatches (Wednesday), some gesture drawings (Tomorrow), and a test on Friday (which I have mostly studied for).


I'm working on some popart for my Myspace or at least playing with Photoshop and seeing what I can do to get something cool out of it. I took one of the portraits I did and sketched over it with the brush tool and filled it in with some pastel colors. Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but hoping to somehow paste it into a background and balance some other art around it.