To Grandmother's House I Go

I was sent to my grandmother's house last night and it was essentially without my permission. I know I need to see my grandmother more often and I really should volunteer it up, but really now. My mom keeps telling my grandmother that I am going to go over her house so that way she can get rid of me, but I am really sick of it. I really have no other plans though you would think I would be informed on this plan.
The good news was my Mom's aunt saw the Jewelry I had been making and I was able to turn a crystal into a pendent for her. I will be giving it to "Aunt June" (June isn't her real name, but i don't know her real name because it is really funky) any way, I am wondering if I am using too many spirals in my patterns. I really enjoy this abstraction, though my parents are now telling me I need to make "K"s on the back of all of them, and I think that would just take away from the work. They say everyone can do it like that, but I like them the way they are!

Jewery

Today I have been figuring out how to bind the glass jewelry in a professional way, so that way I can have that job during the school year. I think today was very successful and I made a few nice pieces. The triangle was my first, then the long one, then the green one and then the one with a dangling piece. The green one is totally mine and the two piece I made for my mom, who is going to pay me back with supplies to make more.
This is a cool new project and I can't wait to make more!

Blogs and Dad

I was looking through my bookmarks (in order to organize them) and I found a couple of blogs from last year or so that I had been interested in reading more of but never got a chance to do it. The really cool is they are also supported on blogger and now I can add them to the things I watch.
The first one is "Unbelievable Stuff." the first post I read was about the five year old girl in th 1930s who got pregnant at the ripe age of five (and had been having regular menstral cycles since the age of three, to give more info if you click the link her parents had thought it was abdominal bleeding...I may or may not have googled it some time later). I really look forward to reading more about these things as time goes on.
The second blogger is "Extra Ordinary Things" I can't exactly remember what I was reading with this one but there are a lot of really cool things on this site. Though some of the more recent postings are a bit risque.
...
In other news my dad really ticked me off last night, mainly because he wants me to have a job but doesn't count people who want to hire me (ie babysitting) a job. Also he isn't respecting the fact that my art is my work and that the things I am doing now are the things I am going to need for the rest of my life. I don't believe my parents understand the art field because they keep telling me things that are not necessarily true (Like saying Japanese is useless to me) and listening to all the things that he said, I now understand why I spent most of my artistic life uninspired.
I was told on National Portfolio Day a couple of years ago that I was really good but there was nothing behind my pictures. It felt to (I am guessing the UMass professor) Bruce that I had no passion and I didn't know what to say about that. Art is a part of who I am but I cannot really do what I want with it. It was always either too messy or it was money that wasn't going to be spent.
My dad was saying that you can still make great artwork if you are uber clean; I disagree with this. It came up when I said work comes out better when you get a little dirty. My dad went on saying how his father could paint a window with a four inch brush cleaner and faster than people could with a one inch brush and he was spotless and....so much more.
I still disagree, there is a HUGE difference between painting art and a window. My best drawings I came out with a little bit of charcoal on my hands.

Yesterday

I am very happy that yesterday I ended up planning a post and scheduling it ahead of time, because I ended up going out and staying past my normal posting time, but a lot of things have happened since then...
Right now I deciding on moving into my sister's house for the summer. The reason why this is different than what is going on now is it will be more obvious and everyone will understand what is going on. My parents are very stressed, and my mom especially, seems to be more stressed now that I am living at home.
I am very torn about that situation because I like being home. Though I also like staying at Kristen's house. They are both home and I really don't think I can deal with just one of them. Also I think it would really bother my father if I just move out. I am really leaning on the side of keeping my spot in both places. I am over Kristen's house a good amount of time during the week, and I am also getting my alone time in my house at home.
I am really a person who likes to set her roots in the ground. Moving around so much really bothers me, mostly because I have already set my roots, for now, in my home. My mom blames all of our problems on the house and really just wants to get out and move on. And although I hate my room as it is now (way to much 2 year old meets 50 year old) it still has the potential to get better....I think I really just need to change rooms in my house at home...maybe I should even ask to move in the basement. It would suck when I had to go to the bathroom, and eat, but I could probably get away with using my school fridge and using the cubical my dad got me for the basement. I am really not sure what I am doing, but I need to decide soon.

10 Things we learn from movies:Wizard of Oz

1. You hit a witch (with your house) you get cool shoes
2. Bad things happen when monkeys fly
3. There is a reason why villains smell...they are soluble, thus cannot take baths
4. Yellow brick roads will lead to good things
5. If you are a little rusty, just add oil
6. Home is always three clicks away
7. Always watch for the hanging munchkin
8. Men in makeup=ICU
9. A crown is no match for a wand
10. The original Twister
    

JOB!!!

I still really like where this dress, that I am making Abigail, is going. I still will not post it until it is finished because it is too much of a crop job for me to handle. My only wish is that I was more careful about it because it is really becoming a nice dress that fits Abigail. Sure Kristen May believe it is "Amish gone wild" but I am growing very fond of it.
Also, I called the man from that glass company today to find out what I should be planning for. Luck was on my side when he didn't answer and I left my first error free message. I was actually pretty proud of my clear voice, but I still didn't answer when he had called back, but my plans changed when he called me earlier.
He was really interested in my work, but he was concerned that there wasn't a lot of jewelry pieces. I told him I had done a lot of bead work in high school and I planned on learning what I needed to learn over the summer. He stressed the importance of the work looking professional when it is completed because the glass is very brilliant.
Another cool story behind it is, the glass is from an old factory that burned down. A bunch of old women got together and dug up all of the pieces. They polished and plan on helping me in whatever way they can. I am really excited because this will be a wonderful experience for the possibility of jewelry design. Also it will be yet another skill to add to my resume/portfolio.
And in the last bit of news possible I AM GETTING A HELLO KITTY CREDIT CARD!!! Also, possibly, a visa check card and check book....oh yea!
Things are looking up again!

Over Kristen's Again

This morning, or should I say afternoon, I got a call from Kristen asking if I would like to go over her house. After a long debate with myself I decided that it would probably be good for me because I am starting to become anti social again. Also, Kristen had finally decided on what she wanted to do with her blog and made it about her weight loss journey. I especially like her new header "fat without the ph."
I have also decided I should give Gwen her portrait (as seen in yesterday's post) and as you all know I have finished my portraiture site, though I do wish I could have more portraits for my "examples" section. I didn't want to put any of my old things because my style has dramatically changed since the last time I had done drawings like these.
There is also a three way tie on my poll! I urge any one who hasn't already voted to definably make a vote because I am really still indecisive on what to make my weekly (Thursday) themed post about. Also tonight I plan on working on my book for a little bit so I can post the next chapter as soon as possible.
Abigail hasn't been sleeping well so I will not be able to post this until a later date, but I got bored last night and randomly cut and sewn fabric until I basically ended up with a dress up dress. I will post it as soon as I am done fixing it up. Because when you randomly cut and sew it ends up very choppy!

Eventful Days

Today I had a plan to do nothing but relax and hang around the house, but I ended up doing a really cool portrait instead. I had written, as a comment, on one of Gwen's facebook pictures that I was going to draw her. I saw this picture and it was cute so I saved it on my computer and waited until I felt like drawing.
I woke up this morning looked around for food, and after I finally found some cereal to eat I was going through my stuff and had an urge to finally draw that picture (above). This is really good because I can't really use my site for portraits until I have a good amount of examples, so I am going to keep practicing on my friends and family. Maybe I will even draw a celebrity or two.
The real hight-light, more of a climax, of the day was right after I set up my stuff to play DDR my dad came home and really flipped out. I mean it would be understandable if when he said "Take it off the TV your mother doesn't want it on there" and I didn't listen, but I got yelled at for not listening when I was unplugging the system. I am really not happy at this because he clearly came home angry and took it out on me. I am still really angry, but I am calm enough now where it won't affect me.
In more news Samantha sent me a language learning website that I find very helpful. You can sign up for free mini courses and practice and then take tests for yourself. It is called Livemocha.com and I did my first two Japanese lesions last night and it really helped with some of my sentence structure questions. The only issue I have, which is actually a good thing, is you have to figure out how to write the sentences on your own because they just show the sentence, and if you ask it will tell you what it means. though I did find it cool that they wrote some things in kanji and I had to figure out the simple letters just by listening.
Though we will really see how helpful it is when I finish my 50 "class hours." I just hope I can still keep up when I start my Children's Lit. class next week!

Tired

Even though I had woken up very late (like 1 O_O) I still feel very tired today, I believe it is the mixture of the party last night and the fact that we haven't eaten anything really good for us....like...burgers all day, ewww (only because I have had barley anything else all day)
Though today was still very productive. I drove the highway for the first time and didn't die, even my mom was at ease during our drive. The only issue I seem to have is getting distracted and cutting into lanes, though it is ok because this only happens when there is no one else on the road and I relax....I will lose that habit soon...
Other news is I used iWeb to make two websites for myself. One is for my portfolio and the other is for my portraiture. Even though iWeb works great I realize the importance of adobe flash when making a website...I am actually starting to miss it.
In other news classes at CCRI start in a week, which means my night class will soon be in session Tuesday and Thursday 6:15-9:35!

Ashley's party

I really had a lot of fun at Ashly's (Melinda's sister) party today! Though, I have almost completely worn myself out...We had a moon bounce and got to swim in her chlorine free pool (I am going to need to see how that is possible later!)...the water was very soft.... Any way, the cake was amazing, three layers and completely edible (picture above). I am not sure of the place but they ordered it from Boston! I also think it was like a three hundred dollar cake! I wish I had the battery power for more pictures because this party was so gorgeous...but my new nickname seems to be "Ta-tas" which I really don't like...
...I also think Ashley liked her purse....

Making Bags

I didn't really do much today, but I have spent most of the day making my friend Melinda's sister a birthday present...I just found out I need to get up to leave at 6 instead of waking up at six....so today I am just going to post the pictures I have of the bag I made today (the "A" bag) and the one I made Kate a while ago and just finished up (the one that was confused for shorts)

Technically Thuresday

I know I have posted really late to the point where it is actually the next day, but some things came up. Nothing really important, but I was out with my mom till 10 and my dad was talking with me until 12 so....no escape.
The good news is a lot of cool things did happen today. I have a really cool new bowl (above) from the Christmas Tree Shop, 32 cents, really amazing prices there! I also got a lamp that my sister got Abigail (no picture available) and a frame for Abigail's portrait that I had done a while ago. I really love this bowl and I am so glad I was able to go to the store after not going for so long. Kristen's response "We po' so we can't go"....we may or may not have a problem with leaving this store empty handed...
Later, I picked up some of Aleene's Jewel-it Embellishing Glue™ and I will let you know how that stuff works after I use it to make Melinda's sister, Ashly (?), a purse and finish Kate's purse. There should be a lot of hard core gluing to do, so I hope it holds up. I wish I knew what brand, but my sister and I used some sparkling letters (iron on) from Wal*Mart that just didn't work. They were really nice looking, but not quite the quality one would expect (one letter was falling off at the end of the day!)
Any way, nothing else really happened today. I played DDR and emailed the woman who owes me money telling her, she owes me money!......more importantly, I REALLY need to start those purses!!!

10 Things we learn from movies:Greese

*Sorry that this is so late, technically I posted this on Friday, but I got caught up in some stuff with my parents and didn't get online till now*

Now for the 10 things we learn from Greese:

1. Greesy hair=being cool
2. Staying out past ten makes you a rebel
   
3. If you have a car you are automatically wicked cool(....Greese told me so mom Greese told me)
4. Pleather makes you HOT (Unless you are me!)
5. Having a penpal in the army gets you cool Korean stuff
6. You are not a whore till your pregnant
   
7. If you are called "Frenchy" it is not or your braids
8. A 30 year old woman can still pass for a high-schooler
   
9. Summer flings don't mean a thing (sorry all!)
10. Just because someone has pink hair DOES NOT mean it was intentional....but if you do decide to go to school and drop out, you get a cool ballad about it!
    

27 Dresses and Shimigami no Ballad

27 Dresses was a very cute movie about a woman named Jane and her apparent struggles with love. This movie was both very interesting, though at times, very predictable. I really enjoyed watching and it was a true chick flick (in fact we had to kick the boys out of the room a few times!). The only problem that stood out the most is one of the deleted scenes was in the first trailer...I don't know why but that really bothered me because it really made the movie so much better. It was a big love mess which was really emotional but fun to watch.

Shimigami no Ballad I have not seen much of the actual anime of but what I watched was the first two episodes of the live action version. Surprisingly, unlike Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, it did not have a huge Power Ranger affect (monsters and fight scenes). The live action show followed a good story line and looked surprisingly realistic for what it was. I enjoyed the two episodes I watched and I also found them very moving.
At the beginning Momo gets introduced as the "eccentric" shimigami because she has a white appearance and is "A class." later we find out she seems to be the only one with a true soul (you will know what I am talking about by seeing it)
I found this show by accident looking for the Death Note movie, which I have only seen half of and still haven't found, but both of these are superior in the live action and are well composed! Though if anyone hears of the Death Note movie in English, please let me know because it will make my life slightly easier!

City Park Adventurse

As of today there really will be no more city park adventures with Carol. She has gotten a job for the city during our normal time block and it starts on Thursday! It all works out for the best though, because it seems that it was becoming more of a hassle for us to go. I really enjoy going but I will find something else to do.
It is going to be weird because now I need to start balancing my life on my own again. Carol and I use to go to City Park a lot last year and when it started to come up in conversations again I thought it was a cool way for us to see each other, while forcing me to get up in the morning. Before we started going, I was staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning and not getting up till way past noon. I was sleeping all the time and didn't do anything...I was really going into complete anti-sociality because all of my home friends were either working all the time or still in high school. It all reminded me how I missed my friends from UMass. None of them can talk because they have job as well...but soon I may be in the same boat as them, so maybe that will keep my mind off things.
If I can just get some of these freelance jobs I will feel better about my status in the workforce. Does any one have job ideas for me? It is really frustrating because I have no car, I have no car because I have no job, and I really don't have a job because no one can drive me to most of the places I need to go. Without Kristen I wouldn't have had anyone take me to most of my interviews (with the exception of the one Carol decided to take me to because we were going to hang out anyway).
I feel like I need to stop worrying about this, and stop thinking about all of this, but I just keep getting more and more obsessed with finding a job. I am thinking about posting an ad in the Beacon (Warwick), Phoenix (Coventry), and the Providence Journal for my Portraits. I also can't wait for my website, which UMass will provide, for my portfolio!

*I have also decided to start off with the 10 things you learn from movies, for Thursday I will have a list for Greese which are a few random things that I came up with one day when Carol was over. *

And that is really all for now...I am going to stop by Lisa's house to go have some fun times hanging out and if we end up seeing a movie I will let you all know how it is....we are thinking 27 Dresses

.....Later today:
So I went over Lisa's AND watched 27 Dresses (which I plan on having another post for shortly) We had some fun, but I realized why I never really do anything special when I hang out with people. We hung around, watched TV, ate.....just the normal routine...and then I decided that I am going to post about all the new things I find and things like that....Carol was the true inspiration though!
I have also realize that I have started to get my "summer fever" which is when I start losing track of time...until an hour ago I could have sworn it was Tuesday!

More exciting news!

My sister Kristen is now a blogger on this site as well! So occasionally there will be some parallels between us!

First Post! (With a little bit of freelance art advice)

I have tried blogs before and they have never ended successfully, but I have a really good feeling about this one!....
I guess I will start by talking a bit about myself. I am an 18 year old college student studying Graphic Design and Digital Media. I am not sure if I am keeping my double major status but I really feel as though it will get me farther in life.
I currently have no "real" job, but I am still searching. Today I applied for a temp Graphic Design job that I really want, but based on the past job applications from the past weeks, I am most likely not going to get. I am really frustrated in terms of this whole job market thing and I would really like to have one of my opportunities work out. The problem is I screwed myself over by not getting a job while I was in high school. I really have to wonder; is it too late?
On a brighter note I am also trying to start my own mini business by doing portraits for people, but so far I have not made anything from this. I am still waiting on customers, and my first customer from craigslist, which is an awesome job site, but from what I am hearing there are people who don't understand or manipulate the free market system. Any way this girl, I didn't know this till later, had been the same person I had talked to before I decided to officialize my business. Long story short she had been trying to get a portrait for free (or cheep) but then needed it now so she took my price of $50 for an 8x10 and had me send her a photo copy and I never heard from her again....

Things I learned from this experience:

• Take a down payment of 25%, even though I wanted (at the least) 50% when I handed her the original for her down payment (she was a payment plan customer) I still might end up with nothing.
• WATER MARKS!!!- I always knew they were important but I really understand I need to use them when I send copies
• Always expect the unexpected. I might hear from her but I am not counting on it.

And that is really all my tiffs...I haven't had a bad week, but it hasn't been good either. Though I am hoping that things will be looking up soon...my luck has already started to change with a potential freelance job with a band!