perevision

Have been doing some more digital work, stretching my legs in Photoshop and vector programs. You can see it on the art blog:

New banner header

Inkscape Inkspace

In related news, my MacBook Air has been incredibly slow lately. Is it the heat or the workload...?

So many of my favourite anime series revolve around the twin concepts of 'loneliness' and 'friendship'. More precisely, almost every anime I've seen from the simplistic to the weirdly convoluted hinge on the idea of 'connection'. Sometimes it's more 'you are like me', but often it's also 'I did not expect to find this common ground with someone so apparently different from me'.

Lately I found myself between projects (trying not to translate this in my head as 'unemployable'), so I finished the Natsume Yuujinchou anime and the Nodame Cantabile manga. They are surprisingly similar. Beings with talent, finding each other. Growing a connection between them, and working to strengthen it.

Sometimes anime has a funny way of externalising these inner concepts. How lonely do you have to be to make friends with spirits? Or defeat someone (often brutally) in battle, before they can become your friend or lover?

I can't say making friends in the 'real world' feels the same as trying to get along with a giant tikbalang or being punched repeatedly in the face before someone pity-friends you. But as someone who grew up VERY awkwardly socialised, even meeting people the normal human way is a bit difficult. It's easy to add someone on Facebook, but isn't it better if you know this person thought about you at least a few times a week? If they kept you in mind? That seems to me just as hard to achieve, sometimes, as battling monsters.

Ok, this is going to be super hard, given that I have never given up anything for Lent before and I barely even consider myself Catholic these days.

I am giving up fanfic for Lent.

I'm still going to be listening to the podfic I already have, as well as fandom podcasts, but I am not allowing myself to read, download, or look for fanfic for the next 40 days (ohgod). The reason for this is nothing to do with fanfic itself. It's because I am an addictive personality who spends nearly 6 hours a day on it, hours I really need to be doing stuff like preparing my portfolio for moving to the UK, earning some money now that I've quit my job, and working on the book project I'm doing with a local children's publisher.

I spend more hours on AO3 than I do on LJ & Dreamwidth (posting included), Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest combined. So that needs to go...just for a while. At least I'm not swearing off the Internet altogether.

Well...maybe on Fridays. :) I doubt it, though.

It's my cousin's wedding and in my family, that means the grand pre-dressing hair and makeup ritual.

( in which someone who knows nothing about makeup drones on and on about it. Is there geekery? Of course there is. )

I'm FRIGGING COLD.

We had a snowstorm this weekend and there's still a lot of snow on the ground (and the trees, and the roofs, and...) Haven't dared poke my head out of doors; been drawing instead. Also eating.

Consumed in the past 2 days: plates of bacon; raisin bread with butter and marmalade; potato wedges (proper chips, with the skin and everything); baked potato with beans, scrambled eggs and mushroom gravy; strawberries wrapped in prosciutto; many kinds of chocolate; a fair few cups of PG Tips and coffee. I've been doing short workouts in my aunt's basement with the trampoline, the yoga mat and a weird balloon-like balance thingy called an Aeromat, but they are...very light and pretty much just to keep me warm.

Speaking of which, I'm hungry.

Sorry about the radio silence recently; I was busy, then away--and then my Internet went down!

There are a lot of people on here who were on the East Coast; I hope the storm left you all safe and dry. Mom and my aunt live up there; my aunt was in a particularly dangerous area and too stubborn to move, but nothing happened and now she says it was no big deal. Sigh.

Things I have been doing recently:

• Getting over a terrible sunburn
  
• Ticking off my bucket list--white water rafting! Another place in this country that I've visited! And the fish foot spa! That was really interesting; it's like being attended by a hundred tiny self-animated emery boards. It's very ticklish at first, but then you get used to it and space out watching all the little fish nibble your toes. :)
  
• Doing lots of small watercolours. I got a Prang and a Golden set, as I am a lazy person who doesn't want to bother with tube colours, and ever since my mom sent me Blue Heron waterbrushes, it's been absurdly easy to paint with the trays. My friend Xabi gave me an amazing set of Pelikan colours she's had since she was a kid, and they're still great! You can see the results on my art journal.
  
• Trying to get the Internet back!
  

Have also been worrying about money a bit as I have barely enough to get me through to the coming payday on Thursday. But no worries! Have an illustration!

Had a lovely time last night with one of my BFF triumvirate, who's in town for a visit with her hubby and son--also my godson. It was very, very, very nice, after the time I've been having.

She also hinted that she might be back soon, which...yay! Just yay!

Have been having some trouble with my eyes lately and a visit to the doctor confirmed it: I needed reading glasses. I have 20/20 for distance but 50/50 for close range.

I was honestly expecting a much worse diagnosis so it was a relief to learn I only needed them for reading and while on the computer. (Yes, I know that's pretty much most of my time, ha ha.) They're only slightly graded, plus anti-glare. I wasn't looking forward to actually wearing the things, so I was really excited to find the cutest pair of glasses ever!

( at last my fondest dream is realised...or is it my fondest fetish? )
The webcam couldn't focus far enough away so I don't get to show you that I'm wearing the Batgirl heels. Wehhh. Anyway, and I never thought I'd say this...yay glasses!!!

Ok, I miss drawing so much. Soooooooooooooooo much.

I've been so uninspired. A lot of things have been more immediate, and there's things that need to be done before I can get to work. I can't draw unless I have space, and I won't have space unless I clear my desk, and I can't do that until I clean up elsewhere....

But my drawing hands are starving. STARRRRRRRRRRVING.

Dammit I will draw something tonight if it kills me.