Word Vomit

So, I have a lot to cram in here, so I'll be as brief as possible about all of it:

First: I have an x-mas gift for you Lexa, but I'm afraid the postal service might steal it like last time.

Second: I've come to really like kinetic typography. This is the video that made me like it (and enjoy language so much more):

and I took a stab at it:

Third: I got some awesome recording stuff. More on that in another post.

Fourth: this is twofold from something I stumbleupon-ed. The first is from Men's Health things guys want girls to know: Don't play hard to get, if you like us let us know. Stemming from this is the second thing: Girls say that if a guy thinks she's worth it, we'll go after her. I cheked with a friend of mine named Mike, and he agrees that this logic is flawed because a) we don't want to appear as stalkers, and b) how are we supposed to "just know" if a girl is playing hard-to-get or legitimately rebuffing you? Just a thought. Oh, and another thing (guess that makes it threefold): it would be so much easier if after you knew you had no shot at a girl you stopped liking her (just for clarity, I feel urged to say I am speaking in general terms here, not necessarily of myself). That way you don't go insane. Well, that's all for now. See you soon!

2010 End Questionnaire

So, in 2010:

Have you had a boyfriend/girlfriend: no
Done drugs: no
Smoked: no
Drank Alcohol: no
Defied your parents: yes
Got into a fist fight: no
Been in prison: no
Got detention: no
Learned to drive: no
Had your heart broken: no? What is considered a break?
Kissed someone and regretted it: no
Kissed someone: no
Had surgery: yes
Broken a bone: no
Gone on vacation: no
Been beaten up: no
Beat someone up: no
Got fired/expelled: no
Been to the beach: yes
Lied to your parents: yes
Lied to the cops: no
Mugged someone: no
Told someone you liked them: yes
Asked someone out: yes
Been asked out: no
Wanted someone you couldn't have: yes
Performed a public display of affection: no?
Been publicly humiliated: no
Bought a pet: no
Lost a relative: no
Been on stage: yes
Cried during a movie: no
Stalked someone: It's called Facebook. It's all stalking, it's just socially acceptable.
Been stalked: see above
Lost friends: no?
Protested: no
Been cautioned by the police: no
Been cheated on: no
Cheated on a test: no
Passed an exam: yes
Failed a class: no
Become vegetarian: no
Eaten something you shouldn't have: probably
Been in the hospital: yes
Been paid to date someone: no
Been to summer camp: no
Pulled an all nighter: yes
Been grounded: no
Used a tanning bed: no
Kissed in the rain: no
Learned a script: no
Had an X-Ray: yes
Been in a play: no
Been called a slut/man whore: no
Bribed someone: no
Dated someone for a dare: no
Been abroad: no
Skipped a class: yes
Taken too many pictures: no
Laughed until it made you cry: yes
Changed the way you look: yes
Dyed your hair: no
Been hit by a car: no

Check the following if applies to you:
Kissed over three people []
Kissed under three people [x] (0<3)
Tried something new you regret []
Tried something new that you're proud of []
Got into a physical fight []
Was kicked out of home []
Threw up because of being drunk []
Threw up because of eating to much food []
Got an A on all finals []
Got in trouble with the police []
Ate sushi []
Went trick or treating []
Went shopping 3 times a week []
Did something for your birthday [x]
Fell in love []
Did something to help the community []
Read the entire dictionary []
Done volunteer work []
Went to the zoo []
Failed a class []
Retook a class []
Voted for president []
Distanced from a friend []
Lost that friend []

Finally:
Did you change at all?: yes
For the better or worse?: better, I hope
Do you have resolutions for next year?: No. No resolutions means no disappointments.

2010 Reflections
Song of the year: How He Loves - DCB
Highest aspect of the year: Summer
Lowest aspect of the year: Beginning of fall semester
Best film: IDK. Inception? HP7-1?
How was your birthday in 2010: It was ok.

What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before? Didn't get my summer bogged down by drama.

Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Didn't make any, and won't.

What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010? The same thing I want every year.

What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? The Paramore concert, because that was a fun night.

What was your biggest achievement of the year? Not getting bogged down by drama.

Biggest failure? I still suck at the violin.

Best thing you bought: My 5 string bass, who is still unnamed.

Where did most of your money go? It's a split between tech and music stuff.

What events did you get really, really, really excited about? Concerts and camping.

What do you wish you'd done more of? Camping.

What do you wish you'd done less of? Wondering.

How will you be spending Christmas? Home.

Who did you spend the most time on the phone with? Idk. I don't do that much.

What was your favorite TV program? House. Or Mythbusters. Or Dexter.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Hate is a strong word. Dislike is more in order.

What was the best book you read? It's a tie between the girl with the dragon tattoo and what every body is saying.

What was your greatest musical discovery or rediscovery? Instrumentals.

What did you want and get? My laptop.

What did you want and not get? See "what did you lack".

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? See "what did you want".

What kept you sane? Breathing exercises. Seriously.

What political issue stirred you the most? Either wikileaks or jailbreaking.

Whom did you miss? A lot of people.

Who were the best new people you met? I didn't really meet many new people.

A valuable life lesson you learned in 2010: Just give it a shot.

What are your plans for 2011? IDK. I'll play it by ear.

My thoughts on 2010 - it was ok. Could've been better, but that's out of my control. Guess I still have some lessons to learn about satisfaction. It's funny, because at one time in my life I knew those lessons. Now I know what they are, but can't apply them.

Hodgepodge Of Junk

Hey guys! It's been a while. I was doing NaNoWriMo, so forgive me. I didn't make it to 50,000 words though. It got to a point where, even though I enjoy my book, I knew I couldn't make the word count. Which is why I've returned. Not much went on this month, building a comp for a friend, got some new apps, did a lot of thinking and questioning and wondering, pretty much everything I always do.

On another (potentially related) note, I've made a discovery about myself. I've discovered that when I really want to know the answer to a question, I can put off asking it, but it always returns. It's like most people with anything they crave, but don't want to partake in yet. They occupy themselves with other things, maybe even succeed at forgetting about it. But then, it comes back. And, in my case, sometimes the answers come to you without having to ask. A fleeting thought, a passing whisper, a loosely veiled question. Sometimes that "answer" isn't what you want to hear. Sometimes it is. Sometimes you have a hard time believing your answer, and sometimes you don't. And, at the end of it all, sometimes you still want to get your answer from the source, but still choose not to. It's rather maddening.

Anyways, I'm off to document some cool guitar riffs that spawned this month. Enjoy your Thanksgiving.

PS: To Lexa on her perf hour video: I LOVE those "Crap, I messed up" moments. Makes me feel... Good. Knowing I can still get better.

NaNaWriMo

So, its been about 1 year since I started Aurora. I have a lot done in the planning department, but not so much in the writing department. As such, I'm gonna be doing the NaNoWriMo (national novel writing month) 2010! Every day in November I'll be heading over to their website, and writing my 1667 words for the day. At the end, that adds up to about 50,000 words in a month, or (roughly) a novel. I'll be irritable, want to quit like three days in, and think my writing is crap, but I'm gonna try my best to stick it out the whole month. If I can, that'll be a pretty huge deal for me. So if I don't post much, (which I'll try and do) you'll know why. I hope to have a lot of fun with this, and I really hope you'll stop by and read some of my work. I start writing on Monday, so wish me luck!

General Update

Hey guys! Sorry for not posting for a while, I've been busy. Gotten a few posts up on my music blog (stormmedley.blogspot.com), went to six flags with Mike and some others this past Saturday, got a new fingerstyle book and been going through that, reading some new novels (hello Heaven's Spite), thinking, all that jazz. Not much else going on here. Sat down to write a couple songs not too long ago, but I'm not sure of the style they are asking to be played in yet. I'll find out soon.

Odd Topic

So I mentioned to Lexa over at Cardiac Outbursts that I wondered why she wasn't at the world equestrian games. But this post isn't about her. It's not even about the games (which I really only put on when there was nothing else). I never really got too into horses. I've ridden one maybe 8 times in my whole life. When I see all that fancy jazz, I just stare at my shuffling feet because I have no clue what's going on, or why it's hard. But this isn't about my horse experience (or lack thereof) either. It's really about a job. See, when I was a sophomore in high-school I was out with some friends of mine when some random guy came up to me. I can't remember his name, but he handed me a business card and introduced himself, asked me my age, and told me that when I turned 18 he'd like me to give him a call because he wanted me to be a jockey for him. Now, IDK what that all would entail, but it can't really be that bad of a gig. Take care of a horse, ride him around a circle, give him some training, get a load of money even if you lose. All because I'm slim and light as heck. That'd be cool. I remember checking him out, looking him up, finding out he was a reputable guy, actually was who he said he was, all that jazz. And then my mom tore up his business card. There went that. Why do I bring this up? Partly because the horses spurred my memory (ha, spurred), also partly because there's a bunch of stuff I really wanna buy. Like the playstation Move, the makerbot, a car, some music stuff like a guitar and pedals, and a bunch of other stuff. Man I wish I won a million bucks or something.

Medleys Up And Running

Well hello again! I just wanted to announce that Storm Medleys is up and running, ready for your music-learning needs. Hop on over and check it out!

How do you do ?

So I got three of these, and I'm gonna consolidate and respond to only one. I'm pretty much well, how are you, whoever you are? Are you the same person that said hello?

I'll answer any question

"A Pair Of" Miff

This little phrase really gets me. You say a pair of sneakers. Cool. That's two. You say a pair of scissors. Not cool. It's only one! Do you refer to each blade as a scissor? Same goes with clippers, shears, stuff like that. You never refer to them in the singular, always plural. I'm ok with words that serve a dual purpose for singular and plural, like Deer, Fish, Buffalo, all that jazz.

Random observation: everything in that miff list refers to something that's meant to cut. Odd.

Rain And Storm

Edit: I used the wrong font for the "torm". Gotta change that. My bad.
Edit 2: All Fixed.
Edit 3: logo now viewable in an optimized rez (not full because full is HUGE).

Hey guys! Sorry, it's been busy over here. Planning posts for the new music blog (along with copious amounts of practicing, and playing Heavy Rain for the PS3) has really taken up my time. Plus, I spent an obnoxious amount of time on a logo for the blogs in the Ordered Storm network, so I didn't really have much time for a post today. Gotta figure out where I'm gonna throw it:

Anyways, if you own a PS3, you must buy Heavy Rain. Best psychological game ever. You gotta play it. Like an 8 hour movie, but one you control and you totally enjoy watching. It's amazing. Seriously. Well, other then that, I've got nothing to say. So... Whatever.

hello

Hello there.

I'll answer any question

test

? So, idk if this is a real question or not, but it'd be cool if it was, cuz it probably means another question is coming. Btw, I actually did see this as anon.

I'll answer any question

Uhh... Stuff

Hey there! So I've almost got the music site up and running, I'm just working out a nice posting schedule so I'm set for a couple of weeks as far as writing goes. Aside from that, I've been working on my Photoshop skills, reading The Girl Who Played With Fire, playing lots of music, playing Bioshock 2, and messing around with an iTouch app called SpaceTime (it does Calculus for you. Yeah, you heard me). I'm kind of looking forward to Hollywood's take on the Millennium trilogy, but so far the Swedish version is really good (I've only watched the first movie, because I've only finished the first book). I hope they don't screw it up. Well, off to bed. Or should I say, off to read more until I fall asleep.

Writing Thoughts

This may sound like a stupid revelation to you, but I really used to hate how whenever you read a story or watched a movie or something, there is almost always something that happens that's too good to be true to keep the story going. Like someone's going about their business in a mall or something in New York, and they never go there, and someone that they haven't seen in years who lives on the other side of the world happens to be there and bam, your story starts to unfold. It just seems so unlikely! Now, onto the revelation: without those one-in-a-million things "constantly" happening in entertainment media, we'd never have any entertainment media that was fiction. The stories most people read are full of those "what're the odds" moments. And so, even though it bugs me, I guess I can let it go.

Music Man

Hello! This is actually more of a "I wanna post but what I have planned isn't ready yet" post, so forgive me if it's rather sparse. If you follow my twitter, are friends with me on Facebook, or even have read my blog for a while, you know that I'm prone to different art kicks. Sometimes I'll spend weeks only sketching, and then all of a sudden I'll start writing, or composing, or not do a single artsy thing at all for a long period of time. Recently, I've been on a music kick. Getting my bass skills up to snuff is important to me, because being a solid bassist can really help you be a better guitar player. So, lately I've been practicing scales -something I've always hated, by the way-, trying to come up with some good runs, and learning some stuff from Flea. I'm sure you've heard of him. The bassist from RHCP, played awesomely on quite a few records, has a signature bass, all that jazz. Anywho, I've figured that without submitting things for review, I'll never know what other people think of my playing and so I'm going to start posting things of my own composition as well as things that I've picked up elsewhere for your review. Bot for bass and regular guitar, please expect all sorts of tips and lessons on rhythm, fingerstyle, classical, lead, blues, and other types of music. This will be on a new domain, which I will attempt to route to here under a new music tab, we'll see if I can work that out. When it launches, please comment! Tell me what you find useful, what you find useless, what you'd like to learn about, all that jazz. And, please, if you find it useful and know someone that would benefit from this information, please direct them to the site! If I get enough followers, I may even get to purchase a domain for exclusive use. That would be so cool. Well, that's all! Keep a lookout for the new page.

Really Long, Inadequately Titled Post

Hey guys! So, as you may or may not know, I play music live on a regular basis. Every Thursday and Sunday to be exact. We've finally restarted practicing on Tuesday nights, and today's practice was for an opening of our new loft area at church. It's pretty dang sweet. You guys are all invited, here's the facebook event link: Loft Event. Pictures of our 98% finished loft:

This event is going to be awesome. I'll be playing my new bass, there will be tons of music, most likely free coffee, all that jazz. On another note, there's been something that I've been putting off doing, which is telling you how stuff panned out after the Freedom post from 7/11. To put it simply, it didn't. But, as I said in the post (and which I've been re-thinking and decided I still feel the same way) I'm perfectly fine with it not panning out. I was, and still am, satisfied with just making that first move. And, to be really honest, that makes me feel really good about myself because last year I would not have said that. It would've thrown me straight in the dumps. I don't know what to attribute this feeling to, but whatever it is is really cool. Finally, here's my last update on my Summer Checklist:

- Get at least halfway through writing my book.
     I didn't even get close to this, but I did do some work, and I will continue to do so. I will also continue with this for this year's NaNoWriMo, so I might even get it done before the year is out, If I apply myself to it.
- Learn to palm flip
     Didn't happen.
- to palm spin
     Didn't happen.
- to wall flip
     Didn't happen.
- to wall front flip
     Didn't happen.
- to Kip-up
     Almost happened! I'm so close, I hope to be able to do this really soon.
- to cartwheel (I still can't do one. At all.)
     Didn't happen.
- Run a 6 minute mile (sprint speed, not average speed)
     I'm not sure if this happened. I haven't tried, but I did do a lot of running this summer.
- to Kong Vault
     Didn't happen.
- to Speed Vault
     Happened!
- to Dash Vault
     This too!
- to run up a 10' wall (I can only do a 9' or so now, whatever height Mike is with his arms raised above his head plus 6")
     I can do 9'6", so better, but not my goal.

Now, onto stuff I did accomplish, but wasn't on my list:

• Made it more than halfway through language set 1 for Japanese.
• Started learning how to read people's bodily expressions.
• Bought a bass.
• Actually practiced my Violin on a consistent basis. I still suck, but I'm better than I was.
• Hung out. This is a rather new development, I've never really hung out before 2009 or so.
• Didn't stress out over a girl for the first time since like 2007.
• Learned a lot of new classical songs on my guitar.
• Got some semblance of abs, not just the natural abs you get from being über skinny.

Well, that's all for now. See you later!

Emphasis Miff

Hey guys! Post number two of the day here, and it's only 12:26 A.M.! I'm back with another English miff, or should I say miffs? There are actually multiple issues here, so I'll just do a list:

• Misuse of quotation marks. Example: someone wants to emphasize the fact that there is no running water in a bathroom. As such, they decide to put up a sign. It reads: No "Water". Really? So, there's no "Water" in the bathroom. Cool. Is there regular water? Did the bathroom ever have water, or was it just something that looked and acted like water?
• Misuse of underlining/bold text. Also another emphasis issue. Example: a sign reads "Wet Paint!". Now, there are worse uses of underlined/bold text, but I think this demonstrates my meaning nicely. As opposed to advertising that the paint is wet and therefore shouldn't be touched, at the very least for the sake of keeping the paint looking nice, what is advertised is that there is paint. Never-mind that the paint is wet,  all you really need to know is that there is paint, and so you should stay away.

Musically Challenged

Hey guys! It's starting to look like I'll be consistently posting on the weekends, and not so much Mon.-Thurs.. That's fine by me though. So, lately I've been trying more and more to write some music, and I have a lot of pieces floating around that I just can't really put down into one solid composition, which happens with my writing as well. I guess what I really need is to limit myself, because there are just so many cool places to go lyric-, music-, and story-wise that it's hard to not try and do them all at once. Maybe this problem only affects me, but I don't think it does. Aside from all that, it's also hard trying to get all the stuff together by yourself. With no-one to jam with, I can't just dole out music parts and have them play or sing the same section over and over again whilst I tweak other things. I need a band. Oh well, that's all for now. I'mma head off to bed, might post something else today. See you then!

School

Hey guys. Haven't been able to post this week because of school. Ugh. Quick update on that: My math class is so boring. 3 hours a day every Monday and Wednesday. Then econ, which is pretty fun. Tuesday's and Thursday's I have philosophy (of which my teacher is an anarchist) and then writing. Now, enough of school. I've started getting up earlier so that I can write more of my book every day (gotta start devoting good time to that), and finally got a whiteboard for brainstorming on. Also finished cleaning and setting up the bass that I purchased, among other things. I hope to have some character outlines for you soon. Well, that's it.

Last Day

Random thought: It's funny how the mind can lie to the body, or even itself, but eventually it gets figured out. End random thought.

Ugh, school starts tomorrow. This is officially the end of the summer. Gonna wake up in the morning and start writing before I depart for school. Maybe play music. I also got a new five string bass (well, new to me). That thing is gonna be fun to play. Also picked up Alice in the country of hearts 1-3 (manga) and some new notebooks and such for sketching and writing.

Paramore

So, I tried my best to keep this from taking too long to load. Anywho, Paramore with Lexa yesterday was awesome. This is us, finally inside after about an hour or so of waiting in line:

I look like an idiot in this picture. But, anywho, about an hour after that the opening band played, and I had a feeling I might have liked them if I understood what they were saying.

Then this band called New Found Glory played, and they kind of reminded me of a rather weak blink 182. Fun fact? They played a cover of Sixpence None The Richer's "Kiss Me". That was fun. And they had a random guy in a green body sock on stage.

And now random pictures of the sun setting:

During this sunset a band called Tegan and Sara played, and they weren't too bad. No pictures of them.

And now...

Paramore! Yay! This was a totally fun concert, and they played for quite some time, somewhere around an hour and a half. Pics:

 All those sparks were the fake ending. If you've been to enough concerts, you know what I mean. You play a song everyone is content with you ending on, but not what they would've chosen themselves, and you walk off. In reality, you have two or three more songs lined up and are just milking the crowd for mutual enjoyment. Random note: I thought I'd have to clean up that sparks image to sharpen it up. Nothin' doin'. That thing has been unedited, just shrunk down in size to save on loading. Now for the real ending:

As you can see, their true end song was off of RIOT!, and it was "Misery Business". It was a good show. They even got a random girl from the audience to sing it with them. Kind of. The girl couldn't really sing. But it was still fun! I had a great time, and so did Lexa. Not many things could have made the night better. And now, I'll end with a random pic Lexa took of me on one of the lions at the Art Institute:

Death by fire or death by freezing?

Do I have to pick? If I did, freezing. I'd enter a euphoric state before I died, and pass out before it really happened. Much less painful.

I'll answer any question

Summer Checklist - Nearing The End

Hey guys. First things first, we have a new reader! Hi Meg. Welcome to the storm. Now, on with the post:

You may remember my post Summer Checklist. I wanted to do all this great stuff, and I only kinda did it. Gotta get moving. I did a lot of work on planning my plot points and how this book that I'm trying to write will be written out, so now I've just gotta sit down and get writing. I've made zero progress in any flips, I still can't kip up, or pretty much anything else on my list. The only things on my list that I can now do are a Speed vault and a Dash vault. However, I did do a lot of tech projects, went to a bunch of concerts, and hung out a bunch with my friends. So, even if I don't complete my checklist, I'm still gonna call my summer a win. It wasn't so much about the end as it was about the ride, and even though the ride isn't over, its still been fun.

What's your favorite day of the week?

Saturday, I'd have to say. Sleep in, relax, hang out, all that jazz. Plus, there isn't work the next day, so you can enjoy your evening as well.

I'll answer any question

Stuff

Hey guys! This is really just an update, but meh. So, I read it somewhere else but can't remember where, but it struck me as rather astonishing that we as humans are duped by optical illusions every day, and never take notice. These optical illusions? Images! they exist in two-dimensional space, and yet our brain interprets them as three dimensional, assuming that if something is covered it is further back, or that shadow means depth. Weird stuff. Anywho, I also just picked up some guitar strings on an insane sale. 8 packs for $110, with a free $170 guitar. I sold the guitar, and ended up only paying $30 for 8 years worth of guitar strings. Sweet deal. I also picked up a ticket to the Paramore concert in Chicago on the 18th, gonna go with Lexa over at cardiac-outbursts. Should be fun. Start school in a few weeks. That's gonna suck. But I'll have Fridays off! Well, I think that's about it. Until next time, go have some fun.

Sound Foam

 

This is what I did today. I hung sound foam. And it was awesome. That sounds really lame, but when something goes from 45 dB to like 30 dB (about halving the sound in the room, because of the way the scale works) and it's because of you, it makes you feel good (at least, it makes me feel good as a musician). That's all.

Work

Hey guys! I've been reading and playing video games the past few days, so forgive me for not posting. Splinter Cell: Conviction is a great game, and I got books 2, 3, and 4 from the Jill Valentine series by Lilith Saintcrow. Good stuff. Anywho, my day at work today was NUTS. I was sitting with my friend Chris trying to figure out what to do when a guy comes in to test a fire suppression system for DuPont FM-200, less commonly known as 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-Heptafluoropropane. Anywho, to shorten up the story, all of a sudden power to our computer goes out. And to the server room. Which powers the internet, phones, and door locks for about 6 schools. Yeah. Not good. So, we spend a good amount of time getting that worked out. And then you know what happens? About ten minutes after that's all worked out, it happens again. Thanks a lot fire suppression guy, you made some tens of thousands of dollars worth of computer equipment very, VERY angry. You better hope we didn't lose data. Well, that was my day. Maybe I'll have a sketch or something for you tomorrow.

Eyes

Edit: My friend Lexa  is leaving on a trip tomorrow, and I'd like to wish her a safe trip and a fun time.

Not much going on here. Been busy writing a new song, but carved out some time to sketch these two sets of eyes. I don't think they'll work for my character though. Not cartoony enough. What do you think?

This set is bumpy because I drew it on a bumpy table. My bad.

Character Sketch

Hey guys! I've been working on an expression sheet for this character, but for now this is all I have to show you. Gotta do something artsy when I'm not playing guitar and writing, right?

Plus a bg I've whipped up for my other blog, which I will start working on again. Maybe.:

 

This is what I think is a cool guitar progression that goes C G Am F, and probably should be played on an acoustic, but this is through my electric. Enjoy.
Edit: I can't get the stupid media player to work, so just use the link:

Riffing In C

Cornerstone 2010 - Final

Edit: typed up the writing that hasn't already been posted.

So, here are the scans and pictures from cornerstone 2010:

Day 1: 4:50 AM
Leaving Chicago for Bushnell. Gonna stop in Princeton to meet up with Fred, a guy we camp with, and grab some breakfast food. Forecast for today is around the 80's, nice and sunny. I'll write you more when I get there.

7:18 AM
Just left Princeton, IL, our standard stop for gas and (for me at least) juice. Two hours in to the drive, three hours to go.

4:57 PM
We just fired up the grill, it'll take a while for it to get heated. We did finish -for the most part- setting up camp. Gonna go see Glenn tonight. Should be a good show.

7:28 PM
Campfire started. Cornerstone officially kicked off.

8:12 PM
No running water.

9:38 PM
Basically, I found a seat in a packed tent. That's really what it boils down to.

12:29 AM
And so ends my first day at Cornerstone. I lay down to feedback, laughter, crickets, stars, and my wonders. I'll try and give those up for tomorrow. Goodnignt.

Already posted.

 

9:00 PM

About to see Maron, but there's something even more exciting. What's that? Running Water! Yay!

And for Cornerstone pictures, go here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2052985&id=1140450369&l=03be26680e

Wayside

Hey guys! All of my pictures and writings from Cornerstone will be put up in the morning (I don't feel like firing up my scanner right now), which will be my last post on Cornerstone for this year. That got me thinking, and I realized there was that project that I let fall by the wayside, which I plan to revive. You can find the project here. After that, I thought of another project I let fall, which is my Summer Checklist. About the only things on there that I've worked on are my book and the mile run. And so, today I went for a run, and did a ton of stretching, preparing myself for those tricks I wanna be able to pull off. After that? I played Lego Harry Potter. I was pretty tired. Anyways, that's all for now. See you in the morning! 

"All But"

That little phrase really annoys me. In the English language, the phrase "all but" is commonly used to say something is "almost". Example: something that is "all but impossible" is interpreted as "near impossible", or "practically impossible". This annoys me. Why? Because when you say all, you mean everything. When you say but, you mean contrary, except, that, than, or only. So really, what this should come out to is everything but, or everything except. Substituting, "all but impossible" becomes "everything except impossible". See what happened there? Using substitution -and not invalid substitution- we have changed the meaning of "all but impossible" from "near impossible" to "everything except impossible", which is to say, not impossible, or possible. And this really throws my brain for a loop, because I know that both interpretations are right, but no-one will interpret "all but impossible" as "possible", simply because it is not commonly used that way. And that makes me angry, because I'd like to use it to mean "something isn't", as opposed to "something is". Would you agree?

Freedom

Second Edit: She did.
Edit: I think she just said yes.

I've just done one of the most idiotic, 6th-grader-ish things I've ever done. I asked someone out it what is probably the lamest (and slightly ambiguous) way possible. And you know what? Before I did it, it was one of the biggest things ever. Now that it's done? I could care less. I don't mean that in a bad way. Not at all. I'd be rather happy if she felt the same way. But if she didn't? I'd be perfectly fine with a flat no. I have no illusions to be broken, and no fear of rejection. I don't know when or how those things happened, but it's so freeing. The best way that I know how to describe it is this: have you ever gone climbing? Either on a rock wall or technical? If not technical, have you ever just gone on a hike in the woods? You start off, and if you're anything like me, you think through almost every possible scenario. Up until you set out there's an electricity that flows, at once scary and amazing. And then, you start. And once you start, you don't really care where the road leads. All that matters is that you started, and where you are. The road (or wall) will end where it ends, and if you have to take some breaks to get there, that's just fine. You're content with where you've gone, and you're ok with leaving with your experience, because you can always climb or hike again. Maybe in a different place, with different terrain, or shelf, or grade, but the journey still holds the same adventure, the same electricity. And there's peace in that. That peace is what I'm feeling. And so now that that first move has been made, whether it turns into something or not, I'm happy.

Post #101

I am currently having issues figuring out a good way to host the puzzles I have, as hosting them on blogger would make things way too easy. I'm shooting for an ouverture-facile type puzzle, just not in such a grand scale. So, while I figure that out, I've pointed some people over to my blog (mostly those that I know will at least read it this once) to read this post. Now, because those puzzles are going to take time, and those people (alongside you, my dedicated regulars) need something to commemorate this 101st post, I'm going to do something that I've done a number of times before, and point you to my formspring box on the side, where you can ask me any question your heart desires, and I will answer it truthfully. What? That's not special? Ok, if you insist, you can also send a more private (read: one that you wouldn't want others to know you're asking) question to my email address. This can be a direct email, and I'd kind of prefer it that way, but if you must remain anonymous, you can send me an email through http://www.sendanonymousemail.net/, just know that I'll have no way of sending you an answer, so I'll have to post it here. Then, at your request (through another anon email of course) I can/will remove my answer from the blog. I'll even answer you more than one question if you'd like. And, you can milk the system by asking two q's on formspring (1 anon 1 not), a direct email, and an anon email. Sound good? Great. If not, ask me that burning question you have anyways (or one not so burning, if you don't have any burning questions for me), and then sit around for those puzzles. They'll be coming soon.

Chaos

Chaos, Ordered? Can it be? A storm, tornado, hurricane, beautiful in its destruction.

So, now that my daily word is done with, welcome to my 100th post! Alright! Now, I've got some puzzles for you in celebration, but those'll come in post #101. Ok, that's all. I promise post 101 will be a bit more epic.

Would you rather date a lot of different people, or be in a committed relationship?

Committed, most definitely.

I'll answer any question

What's your earliest memory?

Eating cereal at two years old.

I'll answer any question

Wondering why I combined the two? After this my next post is post #100. I should do something special. But what?

Week End & Relational Musings

So, when all is said and done, I heard a lot of great music, met many great bands, and got three t-shirts, a guitar strap, and a good cd out of the week. A twloha write shirt, and alive shirt by the same, and the Cornerstone 2010 microphone shirt. You'll probably -if you know me in person that is- see me wearing them at some point.

Now, I don't know if this is only me, so any male readers I may have please speak up on this: why is it that between the time you decide to ask someone out and the time that you actually do so you begin to over-analyze? It's like we're looking for excuses to not follow through. The slightest inflection change starts to provoke thought. Well, not really, but you get my point, right? It's stupid! And yet we do it anyways. Wouldn't it be so much easier if you just knew? And not in the the girl drops hints so subtle you'd need an accelerometer to pick up on them (which isn't to say that girls don't believe they're being clear. We just don't understand most of those "hints") kind of way. I mean in the put-up-a-billboard-declaring-interest kind of way. Yeah, so the girl runs the risk of appearing a bit outgoing. That's not really a bad thing. On the flip side is that the girl may think that making us play the game is really fun, and if we won't play we're not worth their time. And that can be true sometimes. But better hints would be nice. At the very least.

Home

There's something about home that makes me feel good. On another note, it's raining. There's something about rain that makes me think power, peace, and relationships. Maybe I'll flesh this out a little bit later, but right now I just wanted to post off my trusty laptop. It feels good.

departure

we are leaving!!! two hours till princeton, then lunch, then two hours till chicago!!! i cant wait. need some friend and laptop time, pronto. yay home!

day 6 - end

just a few hours before i wake up and then head home. i cant wait. feel free to call or text it. its always welcome. even if i was sleeping. im always good to talk. well, sweet dreams my readers. see you in the morning.

comment on recent post under "humanity" for outbursts

seeing as theres no longer a comment feature, ill post it here. also, seeing as i lack the patience to type a long response on a tiny phone digital keyboard, ill just say this: good stuff.

day 6 - evening

sitting around, music filtering through. weve got a lot of camp taken down already, now its just some small stuff to put away in the morning. and then ill be on my way back home. just twelve, thirteen more hours to go. then a five hour drive after that.

on another note, xkcd.com/759 is hilarious, and 761 is amusing.

day 6 - post dinner

not much going on here. i just really wanna get home.

day 6 - afternoon

quick thought for my friend chris, who had acl surgery yesterday. supposedly, the anestesiologist gave him a bit too much, so now if he takes his pain meds the combined dosage prevents him from using the bathroom. so hes not taking his meds. thats gotta be rough.

well, not much going on here. just a lot of laying around thinking of what i could be doing if i was in chicago. such is life.

day 6 - morning

final official day here at cornerstone. tomorrow is just tear down and drive back. i kinda wish i was in chicago today, actually. theres nothing for me to do today. no bands to see or anything. in chicago i couldve hung out with some friends at least. ive got all i want from the merch tents (mostly. theres a ring i want but its cheaper online), and thats about all that i wouldve had left today anyways. oh well. ill be back tomorrow. thats enough i guess.

day 5 - end

I fielded 3 computer issues today. Not bad for a guy on vacation, right? Anywho, the crowder concert was good, and after that i sat around the fire thinking for a while. it was a good night. well, sweet dreams my readers. oh, and share the less-than-three. =)

day 5 - night

stars and fire. and daydreams. are they still daydreams if you have them at night but are still awake? idk. ill tell you this though: theyre still just as awesome, and filled with as many of your dreams and wishes as you can cram into them. did you wish upon that star yet? go for it. trust me. its nice.

day 5 - pre crowder

gonna be on my merry way to the concert soon. just thought id let you know that, if youd like to join me, i wished upon a star tonight. wherever you are, wish upon the first star you see. i had forgotten how freeing it can be to voice your wish to something. its a great feeling. join me in it.

day 5 - post dinner

not much going on here. even though i like it here, i kinda wanna be back in chicago with my friends. and have a guitar to play, i didnt bring mine. welp, imma do me some daydreaming here. check back soon!

day 5 - afternoon

not much going on today. sketched, merched, and got crowder later. gonna be good stuff.

day 5 - morning

no dream. oh well. it doesnt really matter. anywho, thanks for reading you guys. this blog is nothing without you.

day 4 - end

laying in my tent, looking at the stars. its awesome. i hope i remember my dream tonight. i hope its what i want it to be about. i wonder what other people dream about. wonder if anyone dreams about me. do people secretly wish other people sweet dreams? tonight is just full of thinking and wondering. goodnight readers. sweet dreams.

day 4 - fireside

i get a lot of good thinking done here. when i get married to my future wife (whoever that may be) let it be known to her that today, the first of july in 2010, i declare that wherever we live, i will have a place to watch my fire. if youve never done it before, next time theres a real wood fire, in a pit or surrounded by rocks, sit down and gaze into the depths. get some thinking done. work out some internal conflicts. if youre single, decide what you want in a partner. taken? think of something nice to do fot that special someone. whatever you do, make it some good thinking. it works out well. anywho, the skillet concert was awesome, as always. got crowder tomorrow. for right now though, its me, the fire, and my private thoughts. heres hoping one day theyre not only thoughts, yeah? =)

day 4 - post dinner

just had dinner. waiting around for skillet. not much else to do. still have no short story ideas. if you feel up to it, text it. stories, general conversation, all that stuff is fine by me.

day 4 - afternoon

sketching again. just a note to a comment: i should have said i /almost/ never dream. its a very special set of circumstances for me to have dreams i can remember. most of the time its that one dream a year where absolutely nothing makes sense. the dreams ive had letely have made sense, and were pretty dang awesome. go my subconscious. anywho, i was mistaken, skillet is at ten today. still gonna be an awesome show. well, gonna sketch some more now. tty soon!

day 4 - morning

no dreams today. that might be because i have had so many good ones lately, as well as a ton of awesome day dreams. gonna see skillet btw. today at 7 or 8. thatll be fun. well, enjoy your day readers. ill be keeping you in mind.

day 3 - sleep

hey. im gonna head off to bed, its been a long night. but also a fun one. i hope you had a great night too. whether you did or not, lets hear about it. well, sweet dreams readers.

day 3 - evening

just a quick thought for my friend april, who just had a seizure. it got me thinking about the fragility of life. made me think that at any moment, something huge -i just spilled my coffee- could happen to someone in great health. gets you thinking maybe you should excercise a bit more caution. on the other hand, it also makes you think you should do all you can. so, i guess maybe excercise caution before a decision (but dont dally too long!) and charge along once the decision has been made? i guess that would apply to all things.

moving on, gkb was a great show. two more bands to go tonight. see you at bed time.

day 3 - post dinner

about to see me without you, then head off for some blues. gonna be a long but fun night. check back soon, or text it. see you at ten!

day 3 - afternoon

Hey! Ive just finished sketching, now im transposing the piano for hikari to ocarina. still have no short story ideas. gonna go see mike roe at 1 and reilly at 2:15, and then head back to camp. well, thats all for now. ttyl! =)

day 3 - morning

woke up to the sounds of a woodpecker and metal. once again had an awesome dream. its sunny, but also windy, so its not crazy hot. gonna eat breakfast, sketch, maybe write, and then see what time it is.

Day 2

Had a wonderful dream... not that ill tell you about it.

deer passed by my tent at 12:42p.

saw the letter black @7, switchfoot @8, &maron @9.

post from 9:08p:

i couldnt keep myself away from the blog. noticed lexa posted. ill write my comments here. on sewing & the van, that sucks. on cameras: sweet. dating: i can understand that. /if/ youve got the rest of your lives, taking it slow is great, because friendships are nice, and tacking on dating makes it better. plus, you both have /lives/ that dont yet involve the other person. like, they dont need to know youre using the bathroom. if its just a fling or rebound, and thats what makes you clingy, get over it, and you shouldnt be dating yet. grow up, and live your life. you can have alone time. in fact, you kind of need it.

Well, starting now this is all fresh post! Yay! Anywho, ive got a /really/ long night tomorrow, so ill stop posting, make my internet rounds, and then head off to bed. sweet dreams readers.

Night 1

Hey! So, ive decided from now on im gonna post live, and just add pictures later. let me get you caught up on day 1, then well get to today, alright?  left at 5a. mostly finished camp by 5p. promised myself id post all my thoughts, my main of which was still the wonder from sunday. wrote a goodnight post at 12:29 am, went to bed.

Letters from Cornerstone

Hey guys! Im attempting to do this on my phone, so bear with me. Ive got no apostrophy key for some reason, so sorry. Anyways, Ive been writing in my journal a lot, basically blog posts that Ill type and photocopy onto here for you to see when I return. However, Ive got tons of down time right now, so Im posting the very first thing I wrote in it, and Ill add the picture when I get back. Ok? Great.

Letters from Cornerstone: Eve of Cornerstone - 10:00pm

Cant wait to get out there. Itll be so much fun! I did some thinking today. Im not sure whether or not I should post this, but I was talking to someone today (Sunday) and the shadow of a conversation called "relationships" passed by. Just an inquiry into whether or not an event was being viewed as a friendship outing. In fact, Id bet $100 that that person will within the next 48h have read this post. I wonder if theyre wondering. If they think theyre the person Ive referred to. Whether or not they think I do or dont. If theyre wondering. What that means.

Cornerstone

So, tomorrow I leave for Bushnell, IL for my week down at Cornerstone. I won't be able to blog there, but I will keep a journal of sorts and post it when I get back! There will be many pictures, as well as some insight into the bands there. If you wanna text me, I'll check my messages about three times a day, and will probably text back when I get them. I leave tomorrow morning at 5 AM, so also feel free to say good morning if you'd so desire. And, if you head on over to the Cornerstone Website, you can examine the set list and let me know if there are any bands you want me to check out. I promise to stay for at least three songs before I decide whether or not they're worth my time. The link to my hard and fast schedule (as in don't pick sets that interrupt these bands) is right here: http://www.cstoneschedule.com/DarkAurora. Anyways, I'll probably post at least once more before I leave, so check back soon!

Edit: I'll actually have use of my phone all day everyday, so don't hesitate to text in those requests for bands! Talk to you soon!

Worst That Could Happen

So I've finally decided, I'm gonna stop worrying about whether or not she is interested in me, and the next time I see her I'm just gonna ask her out. Worst that could happen is she'd say no and I possibly end up creating an awkward friendship, right? On second thought, worst that could happen is she says yes but doesn't really like me. Oh well. Something to worry about later. Right now, all I'm gonna worry about is building up my nerve. Here's hoping, yeah?

Upcoming Stuff

So I didn't do my daily word today because it was still beach. Annoying. Anyways, Cornerstone is coming up next week, and I plan on taking many pictures, writing many posts, and working on my novel and my ocarina skills. Yay! Also, I might be going to the carnival tomorrow (which should be fun), and am probably going laser tagging on Saturday. So, things are looking good right now. Now if only I could figure out if the one that I may or may not be interested in is interested in me, I could probably put this down as the best upcoming week ever.

Carnival

So, IDK who it was, but someone invited me to the carnival through formspring, and I'd like to know who and when. I posted the question on FB already, and now on here. I hope to find out who it was that asked. Maybe they're the one that I may or may not be interested in. And they may or may not know who they are. Should be an easy guess though. Anyways, that's all I've gotta say. G'Night.

Would you rather have the ability to fly, or the ability to breathe underwater?

Fly. The ability to breathe underwater would be cool, but my body would still get crushed by water pressure if I went too deep.

I'll answer any question

Rant: Beach

Wasn't the word for yesterday tide? Man, it's like the dev got lazy or something. stupid dev. Yeah, write about the beach. Pfft.

Wanna go to the carnival with me?

Depends on who you are. =)

I'll answer any question

Edit: And when this carnival is.

Interested in anyone?

Like, think someone is interesting? There are a lot of those people around. Pretty much everyone I meet is "interesting". Interested in another sense?... Maybe. Possibly something to blog about?...

I'll answer any question

Tide

Blue and white waves begin to roll in, wash­ing sed­i­ment up onto the island, untouched by man. The tide’s com­ing in.

Would you go for a girl if you knew she wasn't a virgin?

Yeah. So she made a mistake (at least I'd say so). Everyone makes mistakes.

I'll answer any question

I have to add an addendum to the dating question: It may not have been her mistake (you can guess what I mean). In this case, still yes, and what happened was horrible. Not her fault. However, even if it was her mistake, still yes. I guess what I'm saying is, no matter what, yes.
http://formspring.me/DarkAurora

Bleach

The world stained, a small blip on the face of pure cloth… Grab the bleach, human­ity is imperfect.

New Direction

Hey guys! So, I've decided to scrap The Arts Friday's.In its place is going to be what I shall call "The daily word". It goes along with the new oneword.com link in the blog list. The idea is, (almost) every day I will hop on one word, and complete the prompt. The concept behind the site is this: you get one word, and have 60 seconds to write whatever comes to mind. I'm hoping that this will stir up more writing juices, and will give me something to blog about, leading to more updates, all that jazz. This will run starting tomorrow, and will continue indefinitely. It will however, be interrupted by this:

CORNERSTONE!!!

Yes, Cornerstone is just one week away. Now, I won't have internet access, but I'll write a post to publish everyday, and post it when I return. I'll also be writing and (attempt) sketching. Should be fun!

What's your favorite food? Sweet and not-sweet?

My favourite sweet food (I'll refrain from desserts and candy here) would have to be something either caramelized or something glazed/slathered with a nice, sweet/spicy sauce, a category into which ribs usually fall under. I know, they're typically considered savory or something like that, but a sweet sauce is truly amazing. Not too sweet though, that's what dessert is for. Not-sweet? I'd have to say probably a nice pasta dish, or maybe a steak. Depends on my mood.

I'll answer any question

When are you going to start publicizing tidbits of your writing again?

Of Aurora? I have no more planned public releases of its story, however I may get so psyched up about a passage that I'll post it. If it posts, then you'll hear about it either on my blog or facebook. Rest assured, I am writing it. Of anything else: I post regularly on my blog, but most of my creative writing has been consumed by my novel project. Maybe I'll take a break from that and write a short story in the coming weeks. If you have any ideas as to what you'd like that to be, PM me or write it here, just make sure I know what you're talking about.

I'll answer any question

I saw a Cardinal!

Ok, now this isn't really much of a post, but when you love the outdoors like I do and all you see on a regular basis are pigeons and sparrows, seeing a Cardinal in the city is pretty dang cool. There are pictures too!

You! Answer me stuff!

Sure. So long as you ask a question.

I'll answer any question

Words

Hey guys! This is more of a response blog than anything else, seeing as Lexa over at Cardiac Outbursts removed her comment function. The blog I'm responding to can be found under the title "You're the one I have decided who's one of my kind...". Note to Lexa: you still haven't changed the link on your blog to my new url. Just saying. Anywho, you can read the whole post over there, but I'm specifically responding to these few lines:

"Why do we all hide behind cryptic lyrics, quoting them to people, enamored with how they sound?/ Songs are so powerful, words are powerful, we are powerful. We hold all this power and so few of us learn how to use it to our advantage. Too few of us speak our minds and stand up for ourselves./ I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and stop hiding behind your words!"

Now, while there's nothing wrong with these words (they're pretty spot on about most people, actually), they do create a small issue in my mind. The problem is that not all of us hide. True, I used to hide behind those cryptic phrases, and sometimes I feel like using them time and again just for kicks, but most of the time I wield my words. They have become a sword, shield, and sanctuary. They can express what I think, defend what I believe, and create imaginary worlds of bliss.  For those of us that, as mentioned, actually learn to speak our minds, words become a powerful tool, and are no longer something we fear and avoid, quoting our interpretations of another persons phrases to make our point. In this way we do "hide" behind words, but can we truly hide behind words when we choose not to wield them? Just something to think about.

Tired

Wow. Long time no post. Sorry. At least it's not as bad as my other blog... I've gotta start posting for that. Anywho, I started work today. Summer job you see. I'm tired. Haven't had work in a while. Well, not much else to say. As I said, I'm tired. G'night. Oh! I got a new laptop and 360. Sweet.

Dysfunction

So my bloody birthday is tomorrow. I'm sure I'll have some fun with my friends at my party, but the rest of my day is gonna be how all my birthday's since I turned eleven were: one huge cluster(word that rhymes with "truck"). My Dad wants to see me, which is understandable seeing as my parents are divorced and he hasn't seen me for even one minute since September or October 2009. He said he'll bring me back by 6, and I said I'll check with my Mom. So I come home to tell her, she says I need to be home by 4 because I need to help set up for my party, cleaning and stuff. I say fine, but there's nothing to clean. I've dusted and vacuumed already, and who sets the table for a party? I don't care. Throw it down and people will grab. It's an informal 19 year-old's party, not a buffet line. But not my Mom. She gets angry at me, probably because she's throwing me a party and my dad hasn't done (word that sounds like skit) for us, according to her. And yet, I want to be with him. I understand her point of view, but I'm not sure she understands mine. So my Dad wasn't there when I grew up. So my golden hours with him were sitting in his room, in the basement, watching Star Trek an 10 P.M. because I couldn't see him any other time. You know what that made me? Grateful for any attention from a Father figure that I could get. My Mom is always there for me. My Dad... I need to get in all the time I can. Maybe I've got it wrong, maybe because I can't count on him I shouldn't bother. But I do. I've told this to a lot of people in private, but not in public, so I'll say it now. When my parents divorced and I heard I had visiting days every other Friday with my Dad, court-appointed, you know what I thought? It wasn't sadness if that's what you're expecting. Nope, it was joy. I was happy that I had guaranteed time with my Dad. It saved me a lot of pain. Sad that it went down that way, but whatever. It's done. Anyways, she gets really angry and decides to go for a walk. In the rain. But as a parting jab, she says I can come home at 6, when I would've come at 4 like she said to anyways. Didn't ask, by the way. Demanded. Maybe she'd get better results by being polite. Maybe I'm being hard on her because she's doing the best she can, but she should know that talking badly about my Father won't "make me understand" and see the way she does. I understand all right, but he's still my Dad, court mandate be damned. Her saying be home at 6 guaranteed I'd be home at 4 anyways, she knows when she does crap like that that I do what she said at first. If I don't, she gets angry. If I do, She gets angry. I can't win. And it happens every year. So, as always, happy birthday to me and my truckin' family. Let's hear it for dysfunction. See you on the other side.

Blues

So I finished the lyrics to that song, but I don't have chords yet. I've been practicing my blues scales for it though. I'm waiting to put chords to it until I solder up my pedal, which I ordered the other day. I did design the pedal though. It's gonna be a deep blue with white lettering done in some gothic font, with some clear coat over the top. It's gonna sound (and look) sweet. Other than that, I haven't done anything for this Arts Friday, sorry. Keep an eye out, I'll make it up to you.

Effects

Hey guys. I came across this site for kits to build your own effects pedals for guitars and stuff, and I so totally want one now. There's a Blues Overdrive meant to emulate the Blues Breaker, a really popular (and awesome sounding) pedal by the British company Marshall, and it's only $70! (Plus shipping, and any paint or labels you might want to put on, solder, soldering iron, all that jazz. but right now I'm set.) I'm really hoping to buy one soon, for two reasons (1) geek cred. I mean, soldering together your own effects pedal? Awesome. (2) The guitarist in me wants a bluesy overdrive pedal YESTERDAY, and for only $70 this is a really great deal (that is, a great deal for people who don't mind soldering. See #1.). Jonathan wantz, NAO. The link to the pedal follows: http://www.buildyourownclone.com/bbod.html

[General Update. Have No Good Title]

Not much going on. Finishing up the lyrics to that song, finished hacking my new headphones together (my old ones broke), stuff like that. Read a bunch of books, sharpened my knife, saw Iron Man 2, watched more Pani Poni Dash! on Hulu. All the stuff I'd expect to do in just a few days off. Planning for my birthday, drawing up ideas for a new background, all that jazz. Hopefully the ideas will be done soon and I can start on the end design. See you guys tomorrow.

Redesign: Part Deux

Hello again guys. I've been doing a little bit of work, and really all I have to do now is create a new background. But how's the header? Anywho, don't forget to update your links as the url has changed. See you around.

Redesign

So I decided on a new name, and I'm going to be re-designing off of that. So get ready for some updates. On another note, I just can't seem to stop thinking about the feeling, Ideas, and objects of love. This is getting redundant.

Aurora Wordle Stems From Boredom

The generic wordle for Aurora. I got bored and wanted an easy post.

Lemonade Anyone?

So, my mouth hasn't hurt at all even once since my surgery. Which I think is pretty cool. Also, it's my birthday this month. Also cool. And I made some raspberry lemonade! This stuff is amazing as far as I'm concerned, and I'm sure you remember my last post about it, which was The Grand Lux Cafe. Here's a glass of the stuff:

And yes, those are bits of raspberries along the bottom of the glass. I like it that way. Anywho, I don't really know what else to talk about, so that'll be all.

Swirling Consciousness

Hey guys! I just got home from getting my wisdom teeth removed. I feel a little dizzy, but that's about it. I've been thinking a lot about feelings lately (mainly love), and wondering about its intricacies, and ended up starting to write a song about it. It's not done yet, and I haven't yet even decided on a key, but I do know that's it's gonna be a blues song. Not sure if I'll do standard 12-bar blues though. Anyways, here's what I've got so far:
~
Sitting alone in your quiet hour
Wond'ring what it takes to make love flower

Maybe you wonder if it's just for the pleasure
Or it's something deeper,something science can't measure

I'm trying to tell you it's a worthy decision
But don't try too much; It'll be your religion


Sitting alone in your quiet hour
Wond'ring what it takes to make love flower

Maybe the rebound is your saving grace
It's really just you trying not to lose face
~
That's all I've got so far guys. I'll get around to finishing it and making my riffs in a few days. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you take the words to heart, because every word in it is true.


Roses are #FF0000

Strung Out

I'm still deciding on what I want the new layout to look like for the blog. And what the new title should be. But I'm not so sure yet. So this is the temp. layout. I've also been wondering (again) about how the narrative of my book should be, because right now I have to jump through hoops just to explain stuff, whereas with other styles of narration it would be so much easier. That, and I need to sit down and write out a whole storyline, because while I like just writing and letting the story flow, I also would like to leave those subtle plot hints that when someone re-reads a book makes them enjoy the book that much more. I hope I can do it.

Anywho, I picked up some new CD's the other day. They're all good, and I thought I'd make mention of them here. My Paper Heart by Francesca Battistelli, which has a rather unique sound that I like, The Invitation by Meredith Andrews, a Chicago artist that puts out some good stuff, and even though I don't listen to Paramore, I picked up the Paramore Piano Tribute CD by the Piano Tribute Players and the Strung Out On Paramore tribute CD by the Vitamin String Quartet. It's a good bit of acoustic rock, and you should check it out.

There's a bit more, but if I post it now then I won't have anything to talk about later! And who knows what I may be crazy enough to post when I come back home Friday tripped out on twelve shots of Novocaine and a few lung-fulls of Nitrous Oxide?

Fun Stuff

Once again, I have to say I LOVE my Harajuku stripes arm warmers. They're awesome. So, anyways, yesterday I went to a Chicago Rush football game. The Rush won. Yay. Today I went to a White Sox Game. The Sox Won. Even bigger yay. Then, I went to Medieval Times, sat front and center for the black and white knight, and he won. I may just have lost some of my voice after the yay that ensued. All in all, it was a very fun two days. Yay!

Sorry!

So I apologize for not having posted lately. Things have been a little busy. I'm getting my wisdom teeth removed next week Friday, and so I'm not sure how well I'll be to post for that Arts Friday. I should get around to posting that Thursday or possibly Saturday though. Wish me luck!

Edit: just picked up my prescription mouthwash  for the surgery, and I also got my Harajuku stripes arm warmers today! *cue cheering like a five year old*. Now that that cheering is over, I wanted to mention how awesome/cute these things are. Plus, the packaging was awesome, where the warmers told you that they were super kawaii (seeing as they're made in Japan, this wasn't surprising). But still! Yay!

Boredom

So I've been really bored lately. I should probably fill that time with writing, but I HATE it when my mom bugs/interrupts me while I'm writing (mostly over how to spell stuff and telling me I should be doing something besides whatever I'm doing), and so I prefer to write when she's not around. Not much interesting happened today, but I did finish up learning how to play kiss from a rose by seal. Just the one guitar by itself sounds a little empty at certain points though. Oh well. That's it for today. Hope I find something better to post tomorrow.

Roses are #FF0000

New Sketches

So I didn't do any writing this week. But I did tons of sketching. These are my three best pieces so far, so I figured I'd post them. This first is a vial that I drew weeks ago but that was when the scanner wasn't working:




These next two are sketches of images:








The one directly above this is actually a sketch of my friend Lexa, partly done because I felt like it and partly because her birthday is coming up! (Btw Lexa, I have your b-day gift. Whenever I can get it to you.) Pretty good for only using a number 2 pencil for everything, right? I should get a pencil set.

Anywho, that's all for this The Arts Friday. Hope you enjoyed it!

Roses are #FF0000

Sketching

Did more sketching today. Also started reading a new Saintcrow book (new to me, old in print) called Working For The Devil. Good read so far. Anywho, thought I'd show you guys my setup.




This is my pc, up on the right is the scanner that finally started working again. If you're wondering why I have two mice, the lower one is my wireless mouse, and moves the cursor at a much faster rate than the other mouse. As such, it is less accurate, so I have some software that kicks in to slow that mouse for accuracy, but the other mouse is still more accurate, so I use it for detail work. I do my sketching at that desk/in my room. For outlining/tracing, I kludged myself together a light table, shown here:




Now what this does is allow me to place an image and paper together on the table, flick on the light, and have it reveal to me the image underneath the blank paper. This let's me outline or trace, and (what I usually do) attempt to re-create the proccess by which the other image was drawn, or how I would draw the image if I were sitting in the scene.

Anyways, I'll be working on some more for Friday, and I hope you guys have a great day.

Roses are #FF0000