When you say "I do," oh, I don't believe you

LIVEJOURNAL. Wendy on Wheels Goes to the Zoo is finally available for purchase: Here it is on Amazon! You can also get it at other bookstores like Barnes and Noble (probably only online, though). So go buy it! RIGHT NOW. If you don't want a copy, find someone who does and get them one, I don't know.

Also, I have drawings:



For Choose A Cat, Draw A Girl, where you look at some awesome cat drawings and then draw one as a lady. Or don't if you can't draw, but you should look at the artwork anyway because it's cool!

( I did another one, plus some other stuffCollapse )

Man, it's been awhile. So have some photos:



( Photos from the zoo, againCollapse )



( My fishtank also got an upgrade! Which means there's a pointless fish update ahead.Collapse )

Other stuff: I saw Of Montreal again! They were awesome again. Will definitely see them the next time they're around. I also went to a high school friend's wedding. The theme was red and black (kind of goth, but still classy), and my friend's dress was pretty awesome.

Rashied did a crazy thing and got me the one volume edition of Bone and some other books for my birthday. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited as hell to have these, but I never know what to do when people get me things like this. Like it's almost too much of a gesture because something simple would do just as well. No one should have to spend that much money on me, haha. Anyway, I started reading Bone at the library, but it's great to actually own it - I don't have to take photos of all the pages I like. Looking at the art makes me want to start drawing comics again, too.

I don't have much else to say other than I'm glad Proposition B passed; the gist of it is to have better regulations for dog breeding in Missouri, though apparently a lot of people were against it (Missouri: We Hate Puppies). It was the only thing I was passionate about voting on this time around. Every election I find myself becoming more disillusioned with the voting process and politics in general (like that's even possible at this point). Sometimes I wish I could shut off the part of my brain that tells me to care, but I can't. I don't know how anyone can - no matter how frustrating or disappointing things are, I know I would rather be frustrated and disappointed than apathetic.

( Photos from Belle and Sebastian's showCollapse )

And here are the videos:
She's Losing It
If You're Feeling Sinister
Boy With The Arab Strap

They also played The State I Am In and We Rule The School which was awesome since I love both of those songs. They also played a bunch of new stuff at the beginning that I didn't know. Here's the setlist for anyone who's interested.

The show was at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, which is where celebrities go when they die. You can see the Warner Brothers tower and the Hollywood sign from there. The event was set up as a movie and a show - apparently the cemetery holds movie nights once a week anyway, so I guess they just combined them. They invited people to have picnics on the grass, so Rashied and I stopped at Zankou Chicken (a California-based chain of Mediterranean style fast food - it's amazing) on our way there and ate the hell out of that while watching Trainspotting.

Belle and Sebastian were really awesome! I don't think I've ever been to a friendlier show, since they were constantly interacting with the audience and were so nice. Even the people selling merchandise were nice. They gave us free bottles of water even though we didn't buy anything, haha. During Boy With The Arab Strap, the band invited a bunch of people to come up on stage and dance with them, too. I'm so glad I got to see them, especially since I didn't think I ever would!

( My macro lens is about the only one that gets any use these daysCollapse )

I saw a hummingbird moth (more accurately, a white-lined sphinx moth) last week! I didn't have my camera, which was disappointing, though I'm not sure I would have been able to get a photo even if I did. They are so awesome! And so cute. I wish I could have them as pets. Or at the very least a garden full of them. I don't even care if that sounds weird. They are my favorite insect.

( Wendy on Wheels book 2 cover & a sketch, cut because they're kind of giantCollapse )


Some UmJammer Lammy fanart which I probably won't finish at this point. I had this idea for it to be some really epic, cool thing, started coloring it, then decided I hated what I'd done, printed it out, drew it again with brush & ink, did some watercolors, then decided that looked stupid, too. Both versions have been sitting around in similar unfinished states for awhile because I'm retarded or something.

At this point it is almost 100% certain I am going to LA (again, because my life consists of nothing but spending ludicrous amounts of money on flying around the country) to see Belle and Sebastian! With Rashied and some other people I met maybe once and haven't seen in a really long time! And those are pretty much my only solid plans for October at this point besides working.

Oh, also, Poseur Ink is having a liquidation sale and Side B (the book I drew a short story for) is on sale for $11.99! If you haven't bought it yet and wanted to, now is the time. These guys are going through a bit of a rough patch and could definitely use some support, so even if you didn't want the book you should take a look at the other cool stuff they have.

Haven't done much today or yesterday because it feels like something is trying to chew its way out of my gut. That means it's Sims time! I tried to install some new expansion packs, but I guess they decided they weren't going to play nice with all the custom content in my game so I uninstalled them. My Sims will never get to go fishing or make snowmen or some other thing that doesn't matter because I don't play the game enough to care. I still don't have The Sims 3. But all I really want is for my Sims to have perfect hair and cool furniture. That is all anyone should want.



Aaaand the game starts right where it left off: Food poisoning!

( The Yearly Sims Update: Everyone continues to descend even deeper into the hell that is simulated lifeCollapse )

I figured I'd get in one good summer-themed sketch before it ends for good (finally. Bring on the fall). The more I look at it, the more she looks like Archie's Veronica with a haircut and a couple extra pounds. The other thing I just scribbled on some piece of paper I found while eating breakfast this morning. Eventually it will probably become something more involved.



( There is a small family of caterpillars eating up our flowers. Anyone know what these guys are going to turn into?Collapse )



One of my really fat fish finally popped out some babies, except I can't tell which one it was because I feed them too much and they're all fat anyway. The father is definitely my male platy - the babies look just like him minus the giant bloody splotch down his back. This is survivor one of two, which is already more than I expected. It might seem cruel, but I'm going to let them tough it out and fend for themselves. If I save every baby fish, I will very quickly end up with another tank full of platies. So... many... platies. Someone needs to invent fish birth control.

On that note, does anyone want some free fish?

( And what a goat it is!Collapse )



Here's something I did for Mabel's birthday - she likes baking and making breakfast, and her dog turned 4 a little while ago. I'm really happy with how it came out (and she was too), especially considering I haven't done anything with ink/watercolor since January or something, which is kind of wrong. I started another piece, but it's not coming out nearly as well. Guess I worked all my magic out already, dang.

Other stuff: Finished Wendy on Wheels #2 and got asked to do a THIRD. I'm gonna have books flying out my ass. It's pretty awesome. In pointless fish news (nobody cares but me, I know, but I GOTTA WRITE IT), Howard the loach finally won his his 2 and a half week long battle with some mystery starvation illness. I was scared he wasn't going to make it, but he's still kicking it and has been reunited with BFF Vince, thus making things sane again. I'm sure there was something else I needed to mention, but I'm too tired to remember it now. Next time!

I got two botia kubotai today, and a little green cory to add to the catfish herd. I saw them at Petsmart when I was volunteering yesterday and decided I needed them in my life. I named the small one Vince and the big one Howard, haha. Green catfish doesn't have a name yet, but I've been naming them all after members of the Kennedy family and associates (so far I have John, Ted, Robert, and Jackie O). I'm thinking maybe Monroe, after Marilyn, of course, because it's really pretty.

Howard does this awesome thing when he's too lazy to get off his ass and swim like a normal fish. He scoots himself along the gravel by walking with his fins. I love these guys already and I've barely owned them four hours. They were pretty expensive (11 bucks each! Jesus) but so worth it. Loaches are the best fish.

The baby kuhli loach is still kicking it. I've been seeing it around when I clean the tank. I need to do that again, but my betta and snail have been looking pretty sick since I changed the water in their tanks yesterday. That always makes them happier since they're all YEAH CLEAN WATER, SWEET, so I'm wondering if maybe something weird happened to our tap water. I'm scared to find out since it means risking the health of the rest of my fish, but so does not cleaning the tank.

Edit: While I'm spamming your friends lists with fish photos (trust me, there will be more to come. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED), Melissa made this for me just now:

Hee hee loach hat

Earlier today I came across a link to a documentary called Earthlings. A description from the website: "EARTHLINGS is an award-winning documentary film about the suffering of animals for food, fashion, pets, entertainment and medical research. Considered the most persuasive documentary ever made, EARTHLINGS is nicknamed 'the Vegan maker' for its sensitive footage shot at animal shelters, pet stores, puppy mills, factory farms, slaughterhouses, the leather and fur trades, sporting events, circuses and research labs."

"Sensitive" is a huge understatement. There's a trailer on the website that auto-starts when you load the page - unless you're willing to be absolutely horrified, I would steer clear. No warning is enough to prepare you for what is incredibly gruesome and graphic footage of animals being tortured and killed in a myriad of almost unimaginable ways.

I bring this up because the amount of what are basically animal snuff films - films portraying all of the despicable things done to animals without any real context - is disappointing. These are films designed to, as Earthlings' nickname implies, shock you into activism. And, quite honestly, I'm sick of it.

As beings who share our living space with countless other living beings, I feel we should be working towards eradicating unethical treatment of animals and people alike. I absolutely agree that we should be aware of this cruelty and that contextual footage of what really happens can be used effectively for this purpose. However, there's a point when image after image of torture and abuse becomes superfluous and almost exploitative. And that's an incredible downfall when you're trying to get people to care enough to make a real, lasting difference. How many brutal killings have to be filmed to prove cruelty is wrong? One? Ten? A thousand? How many people have watched them and cried, then decided the only thing they could do was to stop eating meat for a week because that somehow separated them from all the other human trash?

It's insulting to feel like filmmakers need you to be exposed to every horrifying instance of abuse simply so they can show you that it exists. And it's a pretty underhanded way of converting people to their agenda, if they have one. A picture plays to the emotions, but an explanation (hopefully a well researched one) gets people thinking. Both are crucial for real change. Shock value is not real change.

As much as I agree with the basic message of this film and others like it, the way it's presented is so frustrating. I'm already done with Earthlings because it compares animal cruelty to the holocaust, as if we needed the added sensationalism to get the point. I assumed that's what all the blood and mangled body parts were for. OF COURSE THE DIFFERENCE IS WE STOPPED THE HOLOCAUST, never mind that genocide still happens to this day. God, this movie is dumb.

On a related note, I saw a pretty interesting documentary awhile back about Temple Grandin called "The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow." Grandin has used her experiences with autism and her understanding of animals to design humane livestock handling equipment and procedures. It may not mean much to those who disagree with using animals for food, but I agree with her view that it's ethical as long as it's done safely and humanely, so it's pretty important for me to see someone working towards that goal.

Also, If anyone has any well thought-out and well researched documentaries they'd like to recommend, please do! They can be about anything, but I like them better when they're geared towards being educational, which is probably obvious if you read this far.

I did some flyers for my friends' bands, The Ultraviolents and Spelling Bee:



( One more and a sketchCollapse )

Work on the second Wendy on Wheels book is still going. Saturday was the official opening party for the first book - the author and I signed a lot of books and there was even a cake with my art on it:



It was delicious, too. There was also an interview with the author on the news today, which was cool. The website is finally up, too, if you guys want to check it out. It's wendyonwheels.com

I can't remember if there was anything else I wanted to write about, so just for the hell of it, here are a bunch of photos of my fish eating. Petco had bumblebee platies, and one reminded me of No Face so I got her and named her No Face II, because coming up with good names for things is hard.



( They're all kind of like this so I won't feel too bad if you skip them, hahaCollapse )

Oh yeah! I got a Wacom Intuos4 yesterday, and I can't stop talking about how fucking amazing it is. I'm in love with the buttons and the scroll wheel. It's replacing a tablet made by Aiptek I got in 2002. After eight years it's still holding up ok, though the plastic's all bent and scratched up, the pen has to be held together with tape, and the button won't stay on since I dropped the pen on the floor in class one day and nearly broke it (my dad had to re-wire it so it'd draw again). I don't think I need to go on about how the accuracy/sensitivity of the Intuos is a million times better! The pen isn't nearly as comfortable to hold as the Aiptek one, though, which is kind of a pain (literally). Maybe it'll just take some getting used to.

( I found so many bugs the other day. There are pictures of cute bugs and then pictures of spiders, so if you hate spiders you should scroll to the cute bugs.Collapse )

I cropped a lot of these photos for LiveJournal, but I think some of them look nicer at original size so I put those on Photobucket for anyone who's interested: http://s852.photobucket.com/albums/ab82/kittendrumstick/bugs/

Oh, and because fish are nothing if not depressing, baby fish died the day I wrote about how good it was doing. It only lived about three weeks. I wish I knew what happened, but hopefully I'll be better prepared for when the next baby fish comes along.

At the end of last month I went to Chicago to hang out with rocknrollpsycho, cheshcan, asscollection, and pantygeist, who was visiting from England! I would write about it now, but there's a crappy video that goes with a ghost transcript that I want to write up and include for completion's sake despite the fact that no one will give a fuck about it. I don't have time to mess around with video editing and YouTube uploading and whatever else right now (I'm working on Children's Book #2). Instead, here are a bunch of photos of unrelated things! If nothing else, I can always post photos.

On Monday, Melissa was like, "Hey, let's have a barbecue." I said sure, because what good middle-American doesn't like barbecues? And because, knowing us, something ridiculous would happen that needed photo documentation. I wouldn't be writing this now if I were wrong, so here are nineteen photos depicting some time spent using a crappy tabletop grill in a garage full of extremely flammable things. Yeah.



( But first we had to get Icees at QuikTrip.Collapse )



Baby fish is gettin' bigger! Here it is at about two weeks old. Go go baby fish!

( I don't think I can go more than a month without pictures of my fish, especially if I get new onesCollapse )



( I found this guy the other day!Collapse )

Here's another random print. I had a hell of a time scanning this and still think it looks awful (I had to use another scanner to get the colors right, but the quality of the scan sucks butt), but at least it's not red and yellow anymore. This is the best it's gonna look, so you'll have to imagine that it's hot pink, lime green, and offensively bright.

( Some other sketchesCollapse )

I haven't been doing much other work lately since I've been working on these children's books called Wendy on Wheels. They're a series of books about a girl in a wheelchair and all of the adventures she has despite being disabled. The first one is on Amazon right now! I'll post some images later on, once I get them off my laptop.

A week ago I decided to buy a bigger fish tank (36 gallon bow front). It had been a long time coming since some of my fish were getting pretty cramped and weren't really willing to play nice or share their space. Unfortunately the switch to the new tank ended up being a huge tragic mess and I lost five fish, including the three I bought the bigger tank for. They didn't even make it into the new tank. I still feel like a douche for that.



But, as it turns out, one of my now-deceased fish ended up having babies at some point. I found this little guy (a baby platy!) floating around in the old 20 gallon tank after I'd removed everything. I'm going to do all I can to make sure it grows into a big old happy fish. I can't decide what else to put in my tank now that I have so much space. I'm leaning towards more platies and gouramis since I'm now left with one of each and they're both a little skittish on their own. But I could also get some schooling fish like barbs or tetras, or an angelfish. What would you guys put in there?

( Photos of my tank and some fishCollapse )



( Cat photos!Collapse )

I got these photos of Beryl when I went down to Cherokee street for Cinco de Mayo. She lives at Apop records and is basically the most awesome cat.

...Sort of. I'm done with college. FOREVER. Until I decide to go to grad school and make my mom die, because she apparently wants me to stay in Missouri forever. Which... yeah, no. I also had my senior show on Thursday, and it went really well! I was expecting that, but it's nice when your expectations are actually met, haha.



So yeah, I'm Done. It's weird to be Done. I always said I'd be so glad to be finished with school, but now that I am, I kind of wish I was going back just so I'd have something to look forward to. Now I have to find real shit to do with my time that doesn't involve going to class and making pretty pictures. Lame.

Anyway, here's the final print in the series, which I never posted:



( And here's some more stuff from photographyCollapse )

Tuesday I saw Pearl Jam for the first time, and it was ridiculous. Here is a list of stuff that happened:

Are those what I think they are? - Melissa and I kept debating it over the course of the show. I didn't want her to be right, but then the lights came on at the end, and Eddie Vedder was, indeed, wearing sweatpants at his own show. He's been around for so long you can't really judge him anymore, I guess. Sweatpants it is.

Eddie Vedder dances like a pterodactyl - and sometimes like a tyrannosaurus. But he always (accidentally, but he could probably get away with doing it on purpose) knocks shit over, true to clumsy dinosaur form. Alcohol was also involved.

Don't forget to spray behind your ears - During some between song banter, Old Grandpa Vedder pointed out some dude in the audience and said, "Look at this guy over here losing his shit... he seems to have lost his shirt, too." Everyone laughed, as you do when famous people say something slightly amusing. Then he busted out with, "It looks like I can smell him from here. Someone get this guy some Right Guard or Febreze or something... Smells like teen spirit." Nobody knew how to react. It was the ultimate call out, from one sweaty guy to another.

"This is a song we don't play that often, and it's called... I'm not gonna tell you what it's called" - I like to think it's because he had a brain fart and just forgot the title right then.

It's not 1994 anymore - Every use of the word "fuck" in your songs does not need to be overly emphatic and enhanced with stage lights, especially now that most of your fans are no longer 14. This was the only issue I had with their show, really.

Eddie Vedder forgets his own song - The whole entire first chorus for "Jeremy" got lost somewhere in Eddie Vedder's brain and never made it out of his mouth.

Eddie Vedder forgets his own song (but nobody else knows it, either) - They ended with Yellow Ledbetter, and after hearing it live I'm convinced there are no actual words to this song except for "in a box or a bag." You know what's funnier than Eddie Vedder mumbling nonsense through his own song? Hearing the audience do it along with him.

Everything gets a guitar solo - Somehow that never got old.

Pearl Jam does an awesome cover of The Who's "Baba O'Reily" - so awesome.

Songs I was glad they played - Corduroy (!!! I got photos of this song since it's my favorite), Do the Evolution, Elderly Woman Blah blah blah, Glorified G, Rearviewmirror. I wish they had played something from Binaural since I really love that album. Someone will hate me for saying that, I'm sure.

( Here are the rest of the photos from LA. Some turtles, some bullets, a squirrel, and mountains everywhere.Collapse )

I didn't really write about what we did last time, but not a whole lot happened. Rashied went to work while I got my book done. We went to Trader Joe's a lot and beat Bioshock 2 (which was annoyingly familiar at the beginning but really good towards the end). We also got super excited for pizza and danced to funk music at the place we went to the last time I was there. We dicked around downtown Pasadena some. Talked about getting ice cream but didn't, then we came home and our pumpkin spice cake was moldy. Barf. Rashied introduced me to Hansen's soda, which I'll probably never have again since I don't drink soda, but I can't deny how magical it was.

We also drove around looking for a decently priced copy of Pokemon SoulSilver, which I finally gave in and paid the normal price for, along with California's ridiculous 9.7% sales tax. When will I stop playing Pokemon? Apparently NEVER. But I don't even care, because my Crobat is the most awesome thing ever. My friend code is 1119-2779-0313 if anyone wants to add me or trade Pokeymans or whatever it is you do with this shit.

Now for some photos from LA! I'm splitting this up into two posts because there are too many photos, and I don't know when I'll get through the rest.



( Bugs! Trees! Dirt! Stuff! There is a lot of it.Collapse )

I forgot to post these photos from February when Rashied came to visit, so here they are.



( A lake and a bear walk into an innCollapse )

Aaaaaaaaand I don't really have anything cool to write about this time. It's been really nice out (minus the fact that it's also 80 degrees in April. Midwest weather is kind of stupid like that), but I've been coughing a lot lately - it's gotten kind of insane. I'll wake up in the morning and have these crazy coughing attacks where I can hardly breathe. I'm blaming dust or pollen. Anyway, here's a photo of my dog makin' a face:

I have a lot of photos to post from visiting Rashied, but I'll get to them later since there are so many and I haven't even gone through them yet. Be prepared for pictures of bugs, mountains, and the best squirrel ever. Also, a duck fight. For now I'm just going to post some prints and some photos I made in my photography class using an empty can of oatmeal and some photo paper.



( One more print and three photosCollapse )

Yesterday a friend of mine invited me to a Train concert since he had an extra ticket. Although I'm not a Train fan it was definitely worth going, partly because of the opening band, Butch Walker and the Black Widows. The lead guitarist was rocking this 70s look with a green cowboy shirt, white pants, and a mustache. He looked pretty stoic the entire time, except when he smiled once at another band member. I swear I also saw one of them blow a kiss to the other, too. Basically they were hilarious and put on a really good show. It's a shame their music is so generic. I'll never listen to them again, but I'll always remember that green cowboy shirt.

For some reason I kept thinking Train was just one bald dude in his 30s with a backup band (maybe I was getting him somewhat confused with Moby), so when this American Idol looking guy walked on stage and started hamming it up for all the teenage girls in the audience I was really confused. They played Meet Virginia at some point, which is the only song of theirs I remember liking. Now my Train experience has been completed. The thing that surprised me most was how many Train songs I actually know. I heard one I learned at the show on the radio in class today mocking me, all, "Haha, now you know another Train song!"

The singer kept dragging teenage girls on stage to sing or slow dance very awkwardly with, and then at some point he attempted to crowd surf but had trouble making it back to the stage because teenage girl arms are sad and weak no matter how many of them are supporting you. At the end he and Butch Walker busted out a cover of Britney Spears' Toxic, and then left us with, "Britney kicks ass, I don't care what you say!" Indeed.

My parents got me a new phone while I was gone, too, since my contract expired and there was a sale somewhere. I went from having a phone that could barely handle text messaging to having a phone with Google's Android OS, THE INTERNET, a camera, and like five million other things I won't use because I'll never figure out what they are. It's ridiculous. I feel like an idiot trying to use this thing - I got it stuck on airplane mode today for hours until I could find a computer and Google how to turn it off. Phone hell is being in a place where you need the internet to fix the one thing that has internet and can't get it because you turned it off with your powers of dumb.

( More stuff!Collapse )

All kinds of cool things are happening lately. Rashied is in St. Louis TODAY, and I am going to see him later! I shouldn't be this excited but I totally couldn't sleep. Next weekend is the Magnetic Fields show, which is also going to be awesome.

The other cool thing that happened is I finally got a job doing illustrations for a children's book. I was seriously going to give up on ever finding work again, but there it is. The lady who hired me seems really awesome, too. Of course, it wouldn't quite be my life if there weren't one big catch - I have to have the entire thing done in a month. Basically I can't do anything else except draw until this is done. Yet here I am UPDATING LIVEJOURNAL. yes.