The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Ah, Halloween.

How I love it so.

Especially when I manage to find a decent costume. Last year's was damn fun. This year started rocky but is getting better. I was happy to have the syringe effect work without too much of a hassle. I won't tell you the engineering it took to make it happen, but I can tell you that I was able to *gasp* dance with it not moving anywhere I didn't want it to.

The photo you see here was taken on Saturday night at a small party that one of the husband's co-workers hosted. It was pretty amusing to have duelling Umas present. We didn't fight; we just contented ourselves with taking a photo together. Oh, the blonde cheated...she was wearing some hellish high heels while I flat-footed it. She's still quite striking, isn't she?

Tonight we're staying home and passing out candy to the kids. We get a buttload of kids in our neighborhood because of the amazing house decorations some of our neighbors have. The decorations draw people from all over the Westside. A couple of blocks down the street there's a major "keeping up with the Joneses" Halloween decoration competition going on that's been happening for the past five years or so. We checked them out last night and got tours of the people's houses and everything. They keep adding more and more every year and make it better and better and more elaborate. I'm jealous that they have the time and energy to spend on it.

Maybe next year.

Blogger finally behaves

Two days and many screaming fits later, blogger has decided to let me upload my photos.

Bastards.

Anyway, here's my comparitive anatomy page of human, ape, dog, and cow skeletons for research purposes.







Here's my highly extensive and exhaustive stack of subject fodder for the project at hand.














This is what I came up with for the lid.


















Here's the inside of the lid. The seat will be dealt with later.

Jeez, you think I could draw more rough on this last drawing?

Next I gotta prep the seat and find tracing paper so that I can actually start painting. The painting's the easy part, it's the clearcoating that's always a pain. Especially now that it's starting to really cool off weather-wise. I have until December to finish. I might juuuuuuust make it.

I also have another commission to start. A bellydancer. Woohoo!

You'll just have to take my word for it...

...when I say that the Mudsock commission is coming along nicely.

I sat down with an anatomy book, some other reference, and a stack of paper and sharpened pencils to sketch out what the next in commissioned toilet seatery will look like.

It's funny.

In a good way.

Unfortunately blogger isn't letting me upload this brilliance, so just close your eyes and imagine the detail, the nuance, the absolute genius of what I just described in such nitpicky detail.

Well, Mudsock might be able to do it.


The Halloween costume is almost done. Just one more detail needs to be added, and it's ready to go. Unfortunately I found out on Wednesday that this idea was done by one of the Derby Dolls last year, but I was too busy getting completely blotto at the time to remember. Dammit. So the husband and I had to come up with another idea for the derby-related Halloween party that we're going to tonight. It's barely acceptable, but it's comfortable and it involves fake blood.

Tomorrow night we're going to one of the cool-kid studio's party. I was amused to get an invite, as I'm no one's idea of cool, but we're going. Funny, I can go to their parties, but I need to take a test to see if I'm good enough to work for them. Ah, irony!


Skating was good last night. Most of the team was there, getting their groove on. It was the first practice since the last game where I felt the team was together. Next week we really have to get our butts in gear for the game next Saturday. The all-ages game in Little Tokyo. The Championship game. The game that will knock everybody's socks off, and if you miss it, you'll regret it for the rest of your days!

Shot Down Again

It's happened again.

The passive-aggressive shootdown for a job via test.

I had to take a freakin' test for a potential job last week. It was one of those "PLEASE hurry up and do the test because we're on a tight schedule and we need to know ASAP whether you're good enough to do revision work for an ugly tv show!" situations. Of course I was also on deadline for finishing my actual freelance that was paying me. And then of course I was prepping to leave town for the weekend for the Everything Nice art show in Sacramento. More on that in a minute.

So I hurriedly did the test. Did I do an amazing job? Apparently not. Does that mean I don't at least deserve a FREAKIN' PHONE CALL telling me so?! That's all...a damn phone call saying, "Don't hold your breath, it ain't happening" is all I need, so that I can get back on the horse and try for another job(hopefully a job that doesn't require stoopid tests). But noooooo, just the deadly silence telling me that I'm not worth the two minutes it would take to get them off the hook. Rude, just plain rude. I want to know the test results of the production people and executives in this damn industry. Oh wait, they don't put themselves through that humiliation, but artists do. What's up with that?!

OK, end rant.

So on to better things.

The art show in Sacramento was freakin' great. The show was curated by local artiste Kim Scott, who is one of my fave Sacto. people. She did an amazing job. The variety and quality of the show was astounding. And I'm not just saying that because I'm in it. The photo is of the two pieces I slammed together for the show. The toilet seat sold quickly, much to my chagrin. I really don't want to be known as the "toilet seat girl" a la Dead Like Me, but apparently that will be the case for awhile.

I may have picked up a couple of commissions for more seats from this show. I guess that's good, right?

I stayed with Kim and her husband Craig, who actually runs the gallery that the show is at on Friday night. They just finished building a house as part of an artists' complex in north Sacramento called, Surreal Estates. A group of artists got together a few years back and proposed building artist homes in a fairly blighted neighborhood(daytime crack dealers were the norm when they first broke ground on the project) with the help of grants and stuff from the city and state. They finally finished about two weeks ago, and the results are pretty cool. Nice, tidy houses with big ol' studios out back with big roll-up doors for maximum art-moving fun. I loved it.

Saturday night I found myself going to a Halloween/wedding party for a friend of my old friend from high school, Shonda. They had live bands and everything, which was fun. I did my derbygirl best in arm-wrestling and plain-old-wrestling boys. Luckily I didn't injure myself beyond bruising my hand from spanking people(I'm getting quite good at the spanking)and being a little sore from the wrestling(which I'm horrible at). All in all, a fun time. I drank a stoopid amount and ate an even stoopider amount of chocolate-covered pretzels(which are of the devil, I'm convinced).

So now I'm jobless, prospectless, and ready to tackle the issue of Halloween costumes. I have most of the details already, I just need the hairdo, the shoes, and one vital accessory. The husband needs a couple of wardrobe details and the hairdo. Which I have to shop for this week. At least I'm of use to somebody.

Yeah, baby!

I'm about to get dressed, pack up the car, and drive to Sacoftomatoes.

I finished my freelance and other pressing work matters, derby crap is on hold for the weekend, so it's time to go hang out with artists and rollergirls.

Tonight I'll be watching the August bout on HDnet. So should you, if you know of a sportsbar that'll show such things. I'll also be hanging out with aforementioned artists and doing a "drink and draw", which is something that socially is great, but I can't actually draw well when I've been drinking.

Like that's ever stopped me from being a doofus before.

I don't have a real reason to post the dramallama pic. I just thought it was hilarious. Goes to show what I find funny early in the morning before the Red Bull kicks in.

Oh, did I mention that my team won again last weekend? Ah yes, Fight Crew beat our old nemesis the Sirens. The score was something like 32-20. I think. I don't really remember. All I know is that we were down two key players but we still pulled a win out of our a$$es. One more game of the season and I'm done. Sooooooooo happy! The Championship game will be on Nov. 4 against the Sirens again. It'll be an ALL AGES show! The flyer for said game is hideous; I didn't have time to do a wonderful composition, so I just did the two anime skaters and someone else did the text, etc. Bleh.

Show up anyway. It'll be fun.

A Secret Wish

It's been brewing for awhile now, but I have a wish that's getting bigger and bigger, much like a tumor or goiter.

It's something that I didn't want to happen, but as in all things, it's signaling an end.

I wish I wasn't a team capitan.

It was fun for awhile, and gawd knows I've learned a helluva lot in the past two and a half years of doing it, but I think I'm done.

I'm done with the feeling that I'm obligated to show up to every single practice. That I'm babysitting. Hearing all sorts of excuses as to why others can't show up to practice or help with committee stuff or plan team events. Not being particularly liked. Not being respected. Getting crap from passive-aggressive members who haven't been real good about communicating in the past about my tone when talking to them. Not getting much credit for trying to improve. Not getting a "thank you" every once in a while. Knowing that the main reason I'm captain is because no one else wants to do it, not because I might be good at it.

The only person on my team that I feel that I'm really friends with is my co-captain. Oh, who got injured on Wednesday so she's not playing in the game tomorrow. Crap! She's a wonderful girl...everyone loves her. Now that I think about it, there are very few people I think I'm friends with in my league. Ironic, considering how much time I spend on it. Some of the reasons why are my fault, but much like those who have already left the league, I'm not in any of the league cliques. So I'm out of the social loop. Hell, I'm out of the loop in general.

I have to concentrate more on the art side of life anyway, so after this season I think stepping down as team capitan is a good thing. Then I can give the excuses when things don't get done. Wow, that would be an interesting change! I'd be curious as to who would step up; my co-captain won't, which is fine. How would the team dynamic change? Will they be nicer to me once I step down? I can only hope.

Bad Mood

I'm in a bad mood.

Work's stressing me out 'cos I have way more revisions than I thought I'd get. Out of a 225+ page storyboard, I think I've had about 10 pages so far that I haven't had to totally redraw. Jeezus. The whole thing needs to be done by the end of next week. I'll make it, but just barely.

Derby's stressing me out 'cos I want to kick the ass of one of the girls on my team. She's a selfish little twerp and it's been kicking into high gear lately. I really really hope that she wants to switch teams in January.

I'm still trying to recover from the sludgy cold I caught last week. I feel like I have asthma because I can't breathe worth a damn.

Beavis is at it again.


However, there are things that I'm happy about.

Next weekend is the group art show that I'm lucky enough to have a couple of pieces in. See flyer. This is another reason why I need to get my work done; so that I can go to the opening!

I also got a commission for another toilet seat. Luckily Mudsock is smarter than I look 'cos he read my blog about asking for art with a crappy turnaround time and so he got a good timeline for me to work with. It's a fabulous idea and I'm starting with some studies. I hope to do it up well, and I'm enjoying the research needed to make that attempt work.

November can't come soon enough; hopefully I'll be able to slow down a little bit by then.

A Note About Artists to Non-Artists

It's happened again.

I ticked someone off. Shocking, I know.

I got an email earlier in the week from an acquaintance asking me to do some artwork for them. They even wanted to pay me. Great! So how did I queer the deal? I asked about the timeframe. They needed the artwork right away. I couldn't give it to them right away. When I emailed them that information but offered to do it in about a month's time, they didn't bother to reply.

Uhm, hello. A helpful hint to those of you who ask for work from professionals: don't expect them to set aside their day jobs for your stuff. We may appear to do our work effortlessly, but it's still work, dammit. It may seem easy to just draw up some skeleton pirates with a couple of pin-up babes thrown in, but if were truly easy, you'd be able to do it yourself without asking the likes of me to do it for you. It took me years to learn what I have, and I'm still learning, as far as I'm concerned. So it makes me cranky when people assume that this is all easy and fun all the time. I wish it were, though.

I know that other professions get the same type of assumptions. I try to be aware of that, and so keep the asking of favors from such folk to a minimum. Now if they offer, well hey, I'm jumping on that bandwagon so fast I'd disturb the space/time continuum. I'm an opportunist, after all. I just don't want to be an assumptive opportunist!

Poo!

I hate being sick.

Yesterday afternoon and evening while I was Yom Kippuring away, a cold took over. Ugh. My sinuses are stoopidly stuffed, and taking sudafed isn't helping.

At least this happened this week instead of next.

To break the Yom Kippur fast last night, the husband and I went to one of the sushi places in the mall where the track is housed. I'm a new convert to sushi...I wouldn't touch any of it as recently as a year ago. Then I discovered the joy that is spicy tuna.

I looooooove spicy tuna.

We ate an amazing amount of edamame, tempura, and spicy tuna rolls. It was delicious, even through the stuffed-sinus haze that was enveloping my face. Hopefully if I stay employed we can discover the joys of the other sushi places in the mall soon.

Back to the ick in my face...

Isn't it weird how people don't carry around hankerchiefs anymore for when they need to blow their noses, wipe their eyes, and other handy things? I guess it's a generational thing...my dad still carries around a hankerchief. It was extremely handy when I was a kid for when I'd start crying like a real girl for whatever reason and my dad would wipe my face clean. I think it was the hippies that stopped the useful-hankie trend. Freakin' patchouli-smelling, pot-smoking, hair-growing, Social Security-breaking selfish bastards.

Alright, I need to switch medications and try some benedryl. I need sleep and a clear nose. Here's some more derby stuff from the last bout to watch. The 3D stuff is still viewable even if you don't have 3D glasses. You have to watch that one especially 'cos it features ME.

Atoning

I'm a bad Jew.

A very bad Jew.

Especially since I'm not even Jewish. I think the husband is an even worse Jew, especially considering that he didn't marry a Nice Jewish Girl. If Jews had hell, he'd definitely have his own section there just for that.

Today is Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. One is supposed to not work, wash, eat, drink, watch tv, wear leather shoes, have sex, put on make-up or deodorant, or goof off for extended periods of time on the internet. It's hardly halfway through the day and I've hit all of those but one. God would kick my ass for that, if I were really Jewish.

Why aren't Jews supposed to do any of that stuff? Because they're supposed to go to temple and pray all day to atone for their sins against god. I just found out today that atoning for sins against other people doesn't count on this day; you're supposed to atone for those sins before Yom Kippur starts. Well damn, that throws off my whole schedule. The husband and I are not eating, though.

So right now I'm goofing off while taking a break from work. I'm hungry, of course. Yesterday's pre-Yom Kippur meal was a cheeseburger at a local cafe. It was quite delicious, and we had some killer sweet potato fries with spicy mayonnaise that was as addictive as crack. Yummmmm. Tonight we'll be breaking our fast by visiting one of the sushi places in the mall where the track is. Oh yeah, I'm running practice tonight. I'll be all weak from hunger and stuff, but that's OK.

We went to a wedding this past weekend for our friend Adrien and his lovely new bride Janet. The ceremony had the husband and I squirming because it was a)in the sun and b) a Christian ceremony. We didn't expect either, but we adjusted enough to get through it without being too embarrassing and we got to see everyone get nicely plastered at the reception. We got to find out who's pregnant, who's sleeping with whom, who's not sleeping with whom, if anyone went on any good road trips, and just how much beer can everyone drink, anyway? It was fun and I ate way too much.

I also got a pregnancy update from Mudsock and Starfish. Apparently she has strangers touching her belly when she's out and about. Um...ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Why would anyone want to touch a stranger's belly, whether there's a baby in there or not? That's just weird and creeeeeepy. But speaking of creepy, they're gonna have a cool Halloween-themed baby shower. That should be fun.

Alright, back to work.

How Do You Do That?

Today I was picking up some of the revisions that I have to do for the project I'm currently freelancing on. As the notes were handed to me, the supervising director said a baffling(to me)little fact. Not every storyboard person numbers their board pages or scenes.

What the..?!

How could that be? That can confuse the production assistant who has to xerox the boards and hand them off to the timers, animatic scanners, etc. if they drop the board and the pages go flying. Not to mention that even the artist themselves could get confused if they get the pages out of order. How do they do that and not get confused?!

This subject came up because I'm fairly rabid about numbering pages, scenes, etc. Not because I'm obsessive-compulsive, but just so that I can try to keep myself reasonably organized of what I already did and what I need to do. This attention to detail was noticed by the supervising director and production assistant of the project I'm currently on. They had some stories about certain board artists going off on production people when said production people asked the artist to at least number the board pages. Wow.

I wonder if those board people still get hired elsewhere.

Funny

Today I have a sense of accomplishment because I was able to mail off my artwork ahead of schedule. This is momentous, as I'm a fantastic procrastinator.

On my way out of the post office, I saw the funniest thing. A UPS guy making a delivery to someone working at the post office!

HA!

Pix

Here's some pix from last Saturday's game. This is the first time where there's good photographic evidence that I hit people while skating with my own team.

Above is the aftermath of me putting the smackdown on the Tough Cookies' Violet Fury. We both went flying, but it looked cool.

Below is a jam lineup ready to roll. I'm eyeing the off-screen Tough Cookies jammer. She's scared. Really.
















Here we have me taking Tough Cookies team captain Iron Maiven up to the rail. Haha, OW!
















Here's Maiven after I schmacked her. She was in the back of the pack, so I had to hit and run so that I wouldn't get a penalty for blocking outside of the pack. Yes, there are rules to this game. Who knew? Poor girl was pretty damn tired by this point. But I had a job to do. A violent, fun job.

















Right now I'm in the midst of figuring out how to pack up artwork to put in the mail. I bought bubble wrap and am trying to fenagle a way to shove one of the pieces into a just-barely-too-small box. Thank goodness I still have a week left to find a workable solution. Gosh, this being-an-artist stuff isn't easy!

Moving very slow today

I hurt.

A lot.

All because of Saturday night, where Fight Crew beat the living bejeezus out of the Tough Cookies 42-18(yeah I love my team right now!). The major stretch fest I had before the game thanks to the chiropractors that volunteer their time for us at every bout kicked my ass but good.

I asked for my legs and lower back to be stretched. The little guy who did it was very quiet, but damn, he was effective. I felt great during the game. I was feelin' fantastic and pumped full of adrenaline after the game. I drank an obscene amount of margaritas and Irish car bombs at the afterparty and was pleasantly hungover yesterday.

Today I woke up and thought I was gonna die.

My lower back is in pain. As are my triceps. I bruised the knuckle on my left ring finger. I have a strange, sharp bruise on my shoulder where the collarbone ends. My quads are beginning to scream at me. My stomach muscles are cramped. My ankles are sore. And this was from winning the damn game where I remember falling maybe about three times. Definitely a case of, "Wait 'til you see the other girl!"

Today I get to whine and mope because tomorrow I pick up revisions on the storyboard I'm working on. Woohoo! And then in three weeks I get to skate in this bout against our nemeses, the Sirens:

Expanding my Horizons

I can't believe I'm posting this, but what the hey, it's Friday and I'm in a mood.

This-here is a rough for a poster idea for the Derby Dolls championship bout in November. Because we're in new digs in Little Tokyo, several girls wanted a poster that's themed to the J-town atmosphere. So I decided to try out my anime hand. It's not as strong as my pimp hand, but I think when I add color to it it'll look more pro.

I hope.

Tonight I'm going to El Coyote for dinner with my team. I've never been there before, so it should be an adventure.

Tomorrow will be the first bout this season that is played without substitutes for my team...or any of the other teams for that matter. I'm proud of my team for that. They rock.

But for the moment it's back to work. I'm almost done roughing out the board. Thank goodness!

Test Etiquette

It's now the norm in the animation biz to have prospective artists take a test to get on a production.

I hate tests.

I'm not in school because I hate tests.

If they called tests "auditions", it'd at least sound a little bit better. As it is, whenever I hear an artist talk about the test they're taking for a particular job, I feel like their talent and integrity is being challenged.

Why?

Because most of these artists are experienced. It's one thing to give someone straight out of art school a test...hell, that's how I got my first job in the biz. It's another to have someone with 10+ years experience be handed a test for whatever their forte is. That's what a portfolio and a resume are for.

For a long time I wouldn't take a test, because in my experience with these tests I felt that if I'm asked to take a test, that means I'm not getting the job. I used to do storyboard tests and never got a job out of it. So why waste my time on something where I a) wouldn't get the job, and b)wouldn't even get a callback telling me that I didn't get the job.

That's just damn insulting.

Recently I had to start taking tests again. I've managed to get myself in a situation where I had to swallow my pride and do tests again. Both recent tests were for people with whom I've worked with before. Argh. Both tests were done in the alloted time I was given and I was in contact with the "right" people so that the process should've been as painless as possible. I got a callback on the second test right away. The first test? Still no word after me calling them for a couple weeks straight.

That's crap.

If I ever find myself in a position where I'm giving others a freakin' test for a position(the thought makes me retch), the least I'd insist upon is them getting a freakin' call afterwards. Especially if I know them. Is it really that difficult to pick up a phone and make up some stupid lie as to why you didn't hire someone? Jeez, we'd appreciate the effort. Miss Manners would have something to say to you, that's for sure.

Edit: guess what? I got a call this afternoon from the folks with whom I turned in the first test. I didn't get the job.

I never thought I'd say this...

...but I'm beginning to miss spinach.

As a kid the only spinach I was exposed to was the usual cooked goo in a can. I hated it. Putrid, awful stuff. As an adult, I came across uncooked spinach, and my world brightened. It was delicious and nutritious. A bonus on the iron, since I have the Red Cross crawling up my telephonic ass every couple of months for blood donations.

I was in heaven a couple of months ago when I discovered that one of the local Whole Foods markets had spinach caesar salad at their salad bar. Throw some chicken on that and it's the perfect light lunch.

But now, my world has gone gray again because of the E coli spinach scare. I tried to get some fresh spinach at the store last night and was severely SOL. I had to settle for romaine lettuce. It's nice, but it isn't the same.

Stoopid E coli!

Boardin' it up...

The skateboard deck I did a couple months back for a skatepark in Missoula is up. It doesn't hold a candle compared to what other people did, but I'm glad I did it anyway. Check it out!

Huell Houser - SoCal GOD

Yeah, you read that right.

I stumbled across this today and laughed until I coughed up a lung. Which is interesting since I'm not smoking nor do I have a cold.

For those not in SoCal, Huell Houser is something of a local celebrity. He hosts a show on the local PBS affiliate called California Gold. It's actually kinda cool...Huell goes around checking out weird out-of-the-way stuff in California. Just when you think you've seen it all, Huell finds something else to top it.

The best part of the show is the man himself. He has the interviewing skills of a five year autistic child on LSD. Well, alright, the kid could do better. Huell also has a fun southern accent, which of course just adds to the lack of interviewing skills.

To top it all off, his fashion sense is distracting, in a fun way. Not that he's over the top in his wardrobe choices...it just adds the proverbial cherry to the whole California Gold experience.

To those in SoCal...if anyone actually tried the Huell Houser drinking game, we could set up a betting pool of how fast the participants would die of alcohol poisoning.

Sat. Sept. 23

I'm going to be a busy little booger for the next month and a half. Work and roller derby. Work and roller derby where I'm skating in the damn games.

See flyer.

Sat. Sept. 23 is the next game. It's gonna be a nasty, brutal game. You'll love it.

We seem to have a new space for ourselves, too. It's in Little Tokyo, which is about two miles from our current Chinatown location. It's indoors. It's in a mall. It's in an old bowling alley that's been turned into a dojo. It's next to a bunch of tasty-looking sushi bar establishments. It's looking to be pretty danged awesome.

So if you're in LA, come see me and my team skate.