It is too goddamned hot. I am going to die this way, this will be my end. It is 70 degrees celcius right now. Scientists predict that 52% of all human life in Toronto will be extinguished within the next 4 days. "Prepare thee for the coming days of pain" the preachers are already yelling, "this day hell opens up and swallows up all not tethered by conditioned air".
So I moved! It is cool and great and cool (other than the heat), but we won't have the internet until the 15th, which kind of sucks, but once we get it it'll be all "whoooo, so fast, I'm downloading EVERYTHING" and shit. Nice.
Also, for the winter, we have a fireplace and everything. I am excited. S'mores parties? You knows it.
I finished Lost, and I have to say, I don't know about their choice in casting Lou Reed as the evil Shaman who was watching over them the whole time. I did like it how they worked Courtney Cox's character from the opening sequence of The Longest Yard into the show at the last second though.
I will put up some pictures of the apartment once it is in a more unpacked state, we're still figuring stuff out. I also need to build shelves, how I build shelf? Some wood and then I ... hammer it into wall yes? Geniustown, population Keith.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
A particularly strange dream
I had a strange dream last night. I am no stranger to weird dreams, they happen all the time, I'm probably having one right now. But this one was ... dare I say it ...
The fourteenth weirdest dream I've ever had.
As it started I was baking a loaf of bread in my kitchen, and decided that the best thing I could to to make it bake faster (time was an issue here, because I was sooo late to meet George Carlin at McDonalds)would be to put caffeine in it. I did, and it baked faster. Upon going to meet George Carlin, I gave him a piece of the bread and he said that it was the greatest thing he'd ever tasted, calling it "Energy Bread". I high-fived him and he dissolved into bouncy balls. I looked at the cashier in the Mcdonalds and he screamed, but as he screamed more bouncy balls came pouring out of his mouth. Naturally, I decided the best thing to do would be to jump through the front window, and run down the street. As I did so, I lost one of my arms (the glass on the window cut it off) and I started screaming in pain. I soon realized, however, that it didn't hurt, and kept running from the bouncy balls.
I turned into an alleyway to hide, and the balls flew down the street past me. I turned and saw Alicia in the alleyway and asked her what she was doing here. She started speaking Japanese, drew a gun, and started shooting me, but the gun fired hammers instead of bullets, which for some reason meant that it didn't hurt me. I ran up the wall and got away, but when I got onto the roof, the building flipped upside down and tried to flatten me. I rolled away, which only seemed to anger the building (which now looked kind of like a Metagross) as it began to chase after me. I ran into a subway station and got on a train to Union Station. The only other person on the train was an old man who kept tapping his foot and saying "GOAL!" loudly. When we got to Union he ran out to block my exit and started spitting at my face. I punched him in the chest and he exploded, which burned my coat and set my (remaining) arm on fire. I dropped to the ground (which was covered in grass) and started to roll around to put out the fire, but after I rolled for a while I realized I was now falling down into Nathan Philips'Square, and I tried to make a cannonball, but eventually hit a trampoline that was made out of the light from a bunch of baseball players holding flashlights.
I bounced back into the air, and towering above the city was batman, holding a cellphone and saying "dude pick up your phone". I woke up with my face next to my cellphone and it was ringing.
What?
The fourteenth weirdest dream I've ever had.
As it started I was baking a loaf of bread in my kitchen, and decided that the best thing I could to to make it bake faster (time was an issue here, because I was sooo late to meet George Carlin at McDonalds)would be to put caffeine in it. I did, and it baked faster. Upon going to meet George Carlin, I gave him a piece of the bread and he said that it was the greatest thing he'd ever tasted, calling it "Energy Bread". I high-fived him and he dissolved into bouncy balls. I looked at the cashier in the Mcdonalds and he screamed, but as he screamed more bouncy balls came pouring out of his mouth. Naturally, I decided the best thing to do would be to jump through the front window, and run down the street. As I did so, I lost one of my arms (the glass on the window cut it off) and I started screaming in pain. I soon realized, however, that it didn't hurt, and kept running from the bouncy balls.
I turned into an alleyway to hide, and the balls flew down the street past me. I turned and saw Alicia in the alleyway and asked her what she was doing here. She started speaking Japanese, drew a gun, and started shooting me, but the gun fired hammers instead of bullets, which for some reason meant that it didn't hurt me. I ran up the wall and got away, but when I got onto the roof, the building flipped upside down and tried to flatten me. I rolled away, which only seemed to anger the building (which now looked kind of like a Metagross) as it began to chase after me. I ran into a subway station and got on a train to Union Station. The only other person on the train was an old man who kept tapping his foot and saying "GOAL!" loudly. When we got to Union he ran out to block my exit and started spitting at my face. I punched him in the chest and he exploded, which burned my coat and set my (remaining) arm on fire. I dropped to the ground (which was covered in grass) and started to roll around to put out the fire, but after I rolled for a while I realized I was now falling down into Nathan Philips'Square, and I tried to make a cannonball, but eventually hit a trampoline that was made out of the light from a bunch of baseball players holding flashlights.
I bounced back into the air, and towering above the city was batman, holding a cellphone and saying "dude pick up your phone". I woke up with my face next to my cellphone and it was ringing.
What?
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Quickly now
Oh man, almost done Lost. Aaaaalmost.
Just a quick update thing. I guess there were some protests that escalated into Riots downtown today because of the G20. Figures, I mean, big controversial political gathering, lots of people blah blah blah it's bound to happen. And don't get me wrong here, I don't agree with the G20 or anything it represents in any way, really I don't, but really people? destroy a couple of stores, set some shit on fire, you're accomplishing what here? A professor of mine said "with peaceful protest, the press will focus on the cause. with violent protest, the press will only focus on the violence." and he's got a good point. Look at the news, right now, the coverage of the riots? Are they talking about the G20, or WHY they were protesting it? No, they're talking about the stores that got destroyed and the people who were hurt.
You want to protest? Fine, protest, it's good. But if you're more interested in breaking bank windows and flipping cop cars then maybe you need to find a new cause, because either you don't know enough about this one to do something useful and intelligent about it, or you're 17 and you just watched V for Vendetta for the first time. Either way, breaking shit? fucking, a dozen blocks from where the summit is even happening?
Great job, take that Starbucks.
Just a quick update thing. I guess there were some protests that escalated into Riots downtown today because of the G20. Figures, I mean, big controversial political gathering, lots of people blah blah blah it's bound to happen. And don't get me wrong here, I don't agree with the G20 or anything it represents in any way, really I don't, but really people? destroy a couple of stores, set some shit on fire, you're accomplishing what here? A professor of mine said "with peaceful protest, the press will focus on the cause. with violent protest, the press will only focus on the violence." and he's got a good point. Look at the news, right now, the coverage of the riots? Are they talking about the G20, or WHY they were protesting it? No, they're talking about the stores that got destroyed and the people who were hurt.
You want to protest? Fine, protest, it's good. But if you're more interested in breaking bank windows and flipping cop cars then maybe you need to find a new cause, because either you don't know enough about this one to do something useful and intelligent about it, or you're 17 and you just watched V for Vendetta for the first time. Either way, breaking shit? fucking, a dozen blocks from where the summit is even happening?
Great job, take that Starbucks.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
New Fang
Just a couple of things, before I get to work for the day.
1) I am going to be starting a new portfolio with a blog integrated. Maybe not soon, but eventually. I'll update here with a link to that when it happens.
2) I am moving! On July 1st I'll be moving into a much smaller, slightly more expensive place further away from school and work. However, it is closer to everything else that I want/need. Cheaper food, books, art stores, printers, and all kinds of recreation. AND! I am moving in with Benjamin "Fighting" Nicholls, Kate"Chinese new year" Hudson, and Emma "something about bikes or the French" Allain, so that will be fun-city. Also, I'll have a wicked downtown place for FanExpo, which I am excited for.
3) I have been going to the gym 3 times a week now, and although keeping my diet in check is still a little tricky, it is coming along nicely, I think. I'm definitely stronger, and I can for sure see some development. Mostly it's just nice to be doing something regularly that is nothing but good for me. Now if I can just stick to the new diet I am trying out I will be a towering machine of pure muscle and beauty in probably 2 days, I bet. These things are instant, you know.
That's basically it for now. Nothing too exciting. Mostly Alicia wanted me to write a blog so I did. Did you know she is pretty great? I hear tell she may be the greatest, but don't tell her or it'll go to her head.
1) I am going to be starting a new portfolio with a blog integrated. Maybe not soon, but eventually. I'll update here with a link to that when it happens.
2) I am moving! On July 1st I'll be moving into a much smaller, slightly more expensive place further away from school and work. However, it is closer to everything else that I want/need. Cheaper food, books, art stores, printers, and all kinds of recreation. AND! I am moving in with Benjamin "Fighting" Nicholls, Kate"Chinese new year" Hudson, and Emma "something about bikes or the French" Allain, so that will be fun-city. Also, I'll have a wicked downtown place for FanExpo, which I am excited for.
3) I have been going to the gym 3 times a week now, and although keeping my diet in check is still a little tricky, it is coming along nicely, I think. I'm definitely stronger, and I can for sure see some development. Mostly it's just nice to be doing something regularly that is nothing but good for me. Now if I can just stick to the new diet I am trying out I will be a towering machine of pure muscle and beauty in probably 2 days, I bet. These things are instant, you know.
That's basically it for now. Nothing too exciting. Mostly Alicia wanted me to write a blog so I did. Did you know she is pretty great? I hear tell she may be the greatest, but don't tell her or it'll go to her head.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Man in The Box
Hey! Guess whose (almost) a third year design student?! It's Keith! That happened!
Haven't updated in a while, so here goes.
What have I been listening to you (probably aren't) asking? Well let me tell you:
Facelift by Alice in Chains has worked it's way into my "things I listen to entirely too much" list. It's so good though, man I wish I had known about these guys years ago.
Coheed and Cambria's new album Year of the Black Rainbow is great, just awesome. It has a lot more of a heavy kind of busy sound, lots of drum machine stuff and textured guitar. It sounds a lot like a more melodic version of their earlier stuff actually. A different sound than the Coheed and Cambria I've come to know and love, but still a great album.
Gorillaz new album Plastic Beach is just ... incredible. I overheard someone saying that it sounds like the contributors to the album have more of a hold over it than previously, calling it more of a "Gorillaz featuring:" album, but to me Gorillaz has always been that sort of music. I mean, it's pretty much Damon Albarn and whoever he can get isn't it? I'm not sure what some people were expecting. Also, Snoop Dogg's stuff on it reminds me of why I love that guy.
Lastly I've been giving In an Aeroplane over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel another listen. Really enjoying it. There's something about a band that can take 4 simple chords and write a really good song that's musically simple that I love a lot. Kind of like Marcy Playground, that way. I forgot how much I loved Two Headed Boy until last week. Dayum.
Music done, I must talk about Kick-Ass for a bit. I saw this movie with Rory, my girlfriend Alicia and Rory's girlfriend Linda, and I liked it a lot. It wasn't some incredible game-changing movie, but it knew what it was, and it never stopped being fun. I had read the comic a couple of weeks ago, and (unlike some of my friends, apparently) I am a bit of a fan of Mark Millar's stuff. I liked Wanted a lot (the comic more than the movie, although the movie was fun as shit) and Kick-Ass was a great comic. They changed quite a bit for the movie, but they kept the same overall tone, and to be honest the stuff they changed was really just because it wouldn't have worked as well in the movie **SPOILAR WARNING** For instance, in the comic you can pass off the not seeing Red Mist as being in league with his dad, but in the movie it would be a little difficult **OKAY SPOILURS OVER** The movie is the proud owner of my favourite single line in a movie in recent years. So that's something.
Speaking of comics, I got the first to volumes of Runaways this week, on sale for like 5 bucks in the TPB format. It's a great series by Brian K Vaughan (guy who did Y:The Last Man), and various artists. I'm liking it a lot, although it's a little more "teen-romancey" than I normally like. I need to finish reading it though, maybe if they're still on sale I'll buy the next one this week.
Started going to the gym this week, it's been a good time, although I need to start stretching after or my legs are going to RAPE me. I don't know how I'm going to do TaeKwonDo this week, especially if he makes us do that bending stance/sidekick conversion stuff. I feel like if I got into sparring today I might not be able to pull off a single back kick without falling over in pain, let alone a reversal (which he seems to be fond of). I realize though that I need to work on my non-linear stuff a lot more. My front snaps and turning kicks aren't bad now (aside from the control, which I need to work on still, core muscles whoooo), but side kicks are a bitch if I'm keeping proper form, and back kicks are damn near impossible. I seem to want to do them out of order, and I have a feeling that's going to get me punched in the neck if I don't start guarding my head better.
On the bright side my arm/hand work has been going great. I can pull off all of my knife hand/fist strikes pretty quickly and I'm working up to incorporating that oh-so-important sine wave movement into the whole thing. Practising on a heavy bag this week has really shown me how devastating a knife hand strike can be (even from close range and straight on) if I have the right wave movement, and if I throw my hips into it. 200 pounds of force being exerted through a centimetre of space is nothing to scoff at, apparently. I was actually kind of baffled at how far back the bag can go with one of those. Guards are a little tougher to practise alone, because I don't know if I'm fast enough for a real opponent or if I'm thinking properly when predicting movements. Once sparring starts again I'll be able to see if I'm getting a hang of it or not. Unfortunately the only other coloured belts in the class are black belts, so I might be up against them mostly, which is going to lead to a lot more time spent being kicked in the stomach than I would like to admit.
Haven't updated in a while, so here goes.
What have I been listening to you (probably aren't) asking? Well let me tell you:
Facelift by Alice in Chains has worked it's way into my "things I listen to entirely too much" list. It's so good though, man I wish I had known about these guys years ago.
Coheed and Cambria's new album Year of the Black Rainbow is great, just awesome. It has a lot more of a heavy kind of busy sound, lots of drum machine stuff and textured guitar. It sounds a lot like a more melodic version of their earlier stuff actually. A different sound than the Coheed and Cambria I've come to know and love, but still a great album.
Gorillaz new album Plastic Beach is just ... incredible. I overheard someone saying that it sounds like the contributors to the album have more of a hold over it than previously, calling it more of a "Gorillaz featuring:" album, but to me Gorillaz has always been that sort of music. I mean, it's pretty much Damon Albarn and whoever he can get isn't it? I'm not sure what some people were expecting. Also, Snoop Dogg's stuff on it reminds me of why I love that guy.
Lastly I've been giving In an Aeroplane over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel another listen. Really enjoying it. There's something about a band that can take 4 simple chords and write a really good song that's musically simple that I love a lot. Kind of like Marcy Playground, that way. I forgot how much I loved Two Headed Boy until last week. Dayum.
Music done, I must talk about Kick-Ass for a bit. I saw this movie with Rory, my girlfriend Alicia and Rory's girlfriend Linda, and I liked it a lot. It wasn't some incredible game-changing movie, but it knew what it was, and it never stopped being fun. I had read the comic a couple of weeks ago, and (unlike some of my friends, apparently) I am a bit of a fan of Mark Millar's stuff. I liked Wanted a lot (the comic more than the movie, although the movie was fun as shit) and Kick-Ass was a great comic. They changed quite a bit for the movie, but they kept the same overall tone, and to be honest the stuff they changed was really just because it wouldn't have worked as well in the movie **SPOILAR WARNING** For instance, in the comic you can pass off the not seeing Red Mist as being in league with his dad, but in the movie it would be a little difficult **OKAY SPOILURS OVER** The movie is the proud owner of my favourite single line in a movie in recent years. So that's something.
Speaking of comics, I got the first to volumes of Runaways this week, on sale for like 5 bucks in the TPB format. It's a great series by Brian K Vaughan (guy who did Y:The Last Man), and various artists. I'm liking it a lot, although it's a little more "teen-romancey" than I normally like. I need to finish reading it though, maybe if they're still on sale I'll buy the next one this week.
Started going to the gym this week, it's been a good time, although I need to start stretching after or my legs are going to RAPE me. I don't know how I'm going to do TaeKwonDo this week, especially if he makes us do that bending stance/sidekick conversion stuff. I feel like if I got into sparring today I might not be able to pull off a single back kick without falling over in pain, let alone a reversal (which he seems to be fond of). I realize though that I need to work on my non-linear stuff a lot more. My front snaps and turning kicks aren't bad now (aside from the control, which I need to work on still, core muscles whoooo), but side kicks are a bitch if I'm keeping proper form, and back kicks are damn near impossible. I seem to want to do them out of order, and I have a feeling that's going to get me punched in the neck if I don't start guarding my head better.
On the bright side my arm/hand work has been going great. I can pull off all of my knife hand/fist strikes pretty quickly and I'm working up to incorporating that oh-so-important sine wave movement into the whole thing. Practising on a heavy bag this week has really shown me how devastating a knife hand strike can be (even from close range and straight on) if I have the right wave movement, and if I throw my hips into it. 200 pounds of force being exerted through a centimetre of space is nothing to scoff at, apparently. I was actually kind of baffled at how far back the bag can go with one of those. Guards are a little tougher to practise alone, because I don't know if I'm fast enough for a real opponent or if I'm thinking properly when predicting movements. Once sparring starts again I'll be able to see if I'm getting a hang of it or not. Unfortunately the only other coloured belts in the class are black belts, so I might be up against them mostly, which is going to lead to a lot more time spent being kicked in the stomach than I would like to admit.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
We'll meet again
So something weird happened, and apparently over the course of the last little while I've written 15 pages on the topic of metaphors within design, without realizing it. I've never really written anything not for school before, and I'm sure it's riddled with grammatical and structural errors, but it's strange that I did it at all, really.
I'm interested in the subject though. It's sort of interesting to think that 50, maybe 100 years from now, the majority of computer users aren't going to have any reference for the existing metaphors in computer and interface design. By that I mean the use of the terms "desktop" "folder" "file" etc. I mean, when was the last time you ever picked up an actual folder? When was the last time you filed something away in one? Shit, people really only think about their desktops as a surface to put their computers on these days, and as we move into mobile computing being the norm, will that reference even still make sense? Sure, these things still exist now, but it's something that we need to think about in the future.
I've also noticed that some more advanced systems that we use (websites, for instance) use even more archaic metaphors. The home page is in technical terms the index page. This is a reference to the earliest forms of Hypertext (the early codices, and more specifically Diderot's Encyclopedia) , which while making perfect sense, is something that is becoming lost in our new language, at least on the subject.
Look at your keyboard, see the way the keys are arranged? They're arranged in the order that they are because that's how typewriters were arranged. Typewriters were designed that way because the speed of the typewriter meant that they wanted a longer gap of time between each key stroke, so that the letters had time to return to the carriage before the next one was struck. Essentially the layout of the keyboard is designed specifically to cause you to need to reach further to get the letters that would commonly come next (statistically speaking, based on the last key you pressed). Of course, this is now so engrained in our understanding of how these machines work that it would be a trying task to reconfigure the keyboard for real efficiency. And while that's all and good, who knows how these other archaic methods of representation are holding back progress in these things? Why do we treat applications like we used to treat toolboxes? Why do we need to click on an icon to open an application? It's all this old fashioned system of selection and usage based on a physical world that is just not important or relative anymore. I'm not proposing that all of this change immediately, but it's something I like to think about.
Who knows though. Some things indicate a move away from these metaphors. Apple's Springboard concept that the iPhone uses is a much more effective concept of space and interaction where there is no underlying contextual metaphor, and is still effective. There are still problems with it, I think, but I also think it's just the beginning.
Anyway, maybe after finals are over I'll open it up and go over it and maybe post it up here or somewhere, it might be something interesting to read, or it could be 15 pages of me rambling, I've been pretty sick.
Ja
I'm interested in the subject though. It's sort of interesting to think that 50, maybe 100 years from now, the majority of computer users aren't going to have any reference for the existing metaphors in computer and interface design. By that I mean the use of the terms "desktop" "folder" "file" etc. I mean, when was the last time you ever picked up an actual folder? When was the last time you filed something away in one? Shit, people really only think about their desktops as a surface to put their computers on these days, and as we move into mobile computing being the norm, will that reference even still make sense? Sure, these things still exist now, but it's something that we need to think about in the future.
I've also noticed that some more advanced systems that we use (websites, for instance) use even more archaic metaphors. The home page is in technical terms the index page. This is a reference to the earliest forms of Hypertext (the early codices, and more specifically Diderot's Encyclopedia) , which while making perfect sense, is something that is becoming lost in our new language, at least on the subject.
Look at your keyboard, see the way the keys are arranged? They're arranged in the order that they are because that's how typewriters were arranged. Typewriters were designed that way because the speed of the typewriter meant that they wanted a longer gap of time between each key stroke, so that the letters had time to return to the carriage before the next one was struck. Essentially the layout of the keyboard is designed specifically to cause you to need to reach further to get the letters that would commonly come next (statistically speaking, based on the last key you pressed). Of course, this is now so engrained in our understanding of how these machines work that it would be a trying task to reconfigure the keyboard for real efficiency. And while that's all and good, who knows how these other archaic methods of representation are holding back progress in these things? Why do we treat applications like we used to treat toolboxes? Why do we need to click on an icon to open an application? It's all this old fashioned system of selection and usage based on a physical world that is just not important or relative anymore. I'm not proposing that all of this change immediately, but it's something I like to think about.
Who knows though. Some things indicate a move away from these metaphors. Apple's Springboard concept that the iPhone uses is a much more effective concept of space and interaction where there is no underlying contextual metaphor, and is still effective. There are still problems with it, I think, but I also think it's just the beginning.
Anyway, maybe after finals are over I'll open it up and go over it and maybe post it up here or somewhere, it might be something interesting to read, or it could be 15 pages of me rambling, I've been pretty sick.
Ja
Friday, March 12, 2010
Holding rare flowers in a tomb
Music blog time!
So I've been listening to a lot of stuff over the last couple of months, mostly stuff that I have been meaning to get around to for a while. The one that I've probably become obsessed with the most is Alice in Chains (Dirt in particular, but most of their stuff is great). Down in a hole has been stuck in my head for days. It's fantastic. I realize that I am really late to this party, and it's a little bit like writing a blog post saying "man, Nirvana is a great band I just discovered!" but hey, it's 8:00 and I'm waiting for my class to start, and you chose to come to this blog so get off my back.
Also, the Alice in Chains Unplugged album. I'm not a fan of the 'Acoustic Album' in general, it's typically just slowed down versions of already radio friendly songs, and all in all it's just money making fodder. But there's been a few really good exceptions that I've gotten into where the band actually performs the songs differently, and in an interesting way (A Perfect Circle's Acoustic album is great for this, 3 Libras, holy crap). The acoustic album is so good in fact, that I think in my list of favourite songs by them, I might put the acoustic version of Down in a Hole at the top, or at least near it.
I haven't listened to any of their stuff post-Layne Staley, but I think I'll give it a shot, I just think I might miss his voice, it's a pretty good voice, that voice. Voice.
In other music news, ELECTRIC SIX THIS WEEKEND! I am in the middle of trying to fend off the flu right now, and no amount of medication (combined with my terrible immune system) seems to slow it down, so I might be really sick by time the concert rolls around but I.Don't.Give.Afuck. I've been waiting so long for a shot at seeing these guys, it's going to be amazing.
Oh, class is starting.
So I've been listening to a lot of stuff over the last couple of months, mostly stuff that I have been meaning to get around to for a while. The one that I've probably become obsessed with the most is Alice in Chains (Dirt in particular, but most of their stuff is great). Down in a hole has been stuck in my head for days. It's fantastic. I realize that I am really late to this party, and it's a little bit like writing a blog post saying "man, Nirvana is a great band I just discovered!" but hey, it's 8:00 and I'm waiting for my class to start, and you chose to come to this blog so get off my back.
Also, the Alice in Chains Unplugged album. I'm not a fan of the 'Acoustic Album' in general, it's typically just slowed down versions of already radio friendly songs, and all in all it's just money making fodder. But there's been a few really good exceptions that I've gotten into where the band actually performs the songs differently, and in an interesting way (A Perfect Circle's Acoustic album is great for this, 3 Libras, holy crap). The acoustic album is so good in fact, that I think in my list of favourite songs by them, I might put the acoustic version of Down in a Hole at the top, or at least near it.
I haven't listened to any of their stuff post-Layne Staley, but I think I'll give it a shot, I just think I might miss his voice, it's a pretty good voice, that voice. Voice.
In other music news, ELECTRIC SIX THIS WEEKEND! I am in the middle of trying to fend off the flu right now, and no amount of medication (combined with my terrible immune system) seems to slow it down, so I might be really sick by time the concert rolls around but I.Don't.Give.Afuck. I've been waiting so long for a shot at seeing these guys, it's going to be amazing.
Oh, class is starting.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Echoplex
Man, I haven't done something like this in a while, but March is the new November so why not?
I have to write an essay basically comparing a Mary Wollstonecraft quote about parents to my life, which is just leading to all sorts of depressing shit that I don't want to be up writing about at 2am (so I'm writing about writing about it?). And it just gets me to thinking about tons of stuff I just don't need to be thinking about at all right now. Not even logical shit like my money problems or how far behind I am in Interactivity. It gets me thinking about how happy I'm really going to be once I'm done here.
The reality is, that what I want is mediocrity, I want a relatively worry-free life where I can have kids that I can provide for and do something that isn't terribly boring to me. As long as I don't end up working in a fast food place (or designing annual reports, essentially as interesting), I'll be happy. But then I get to thinking that maybe when I'm 50 I won't be so in love with that idea. And that's what's terrifying.
I have two common daydreams that I go to recently. One of them is that I am going to just drop out of school, pick up a ton of sketchbooks, a bus ticket as far away as I can go, maybe somewhere without any snow, abandon all of my stuff, and just draw comics and cartoons all day long. I'd work in a coffee shop or a book store or a paint store or wherever I could, and when I got home at night, I'd draw until I ran out of ideas, and I'd never run out of ideas. I'd go to sleep in my tiny closet of an apartment above a convenience store, and I'd just live that way until I got tired of it, and then I'd go somewhere else.
The other is a little more impossible, involves a machine that stops time and lets me live like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, only I wouldn't come out of my room. I'd just stay there and draw and play guitar and make things all day long. And at night, when I went to sleep, all of the drawings I did would disappear, and I would never even get to think about selling them.
But, I'll never do it. Well, not the time machine one for obvious reasons, but not even the semi-feasible one. Why? Because I don't have the balls. I grew up in an environment where I was never sure of anything, never secure, never felt at home or like things were really taken care of. I grew up wondering if my mom had paid the water bill on my way home from school, or if it had gone to alcohol or whatever the hell else it was she spent that money on. I grew up in a place where if I wasn't home from school or work by a certain time I didn't come home at all, because I knew my step-dad would be drunk by that time, and quite frankly I wasn't as strong as I am now when I was 14.
And I grew up thinking that was normal, that everyone had to deal with that. So now that I know it's not normal, now that I know exactly what normal IS, no matter how much I want to just abandon everything and live some immaterial life on my own, I know I have to prove to myself that I can succeed where my parents failed. And knowing that means that I will never be able to give up the mediocrity that I'm looking for, because without it I'm just my parents. "A slavish bond to parents cramps every faculty of the mind" alright, possibly even imagination.
I have to write an essay basically comparing a Mary Wollstonecraft quote about parents to my life, which is just leading to all sorts of depressing shit that I don't want to be up writing about at 2am (so I'm writing about writing about it?). And it just gets me to thinking about tons of stuff I just don't need to be thinking about at all right now. Not even logical shit like my money problems or how far behind I am in Interactivity. It gets me thinking about how happy I'm really going to be once I'm done here.
The reality is, that what I want is mediocrity, I want a relatively worry-free life where I can have kids that I can provide for and do something that isn't terribly boring to me. As long as I don't end up working in a fast food place (or designing annual reports, essentially as interesting), I'll be happy. But then I get to thinking that maybe when I'm 50 I won't be so in love with that idea. And that's what's terrifying.
I have two common daydreams that I go to recently. One of them is that I am going to just drop out of school, pick up a ton of sketchbooks, a bus ticket as far away as I can go, maybe somewhere without any snow, abandon all of my stuff, and just draw comics and cartoons all day long. I'd work in a coffee shop or a book store or a paint store or wherever I could, and when I got home at night, I'd draw until I ran out of ideas, and I'd never run out of ideas. I'd go to sleep in my tiny closet of an apartment above a convenience store, and I'd just live that way until I got tired of it, and then I'd go somewhere else.
The other is a little more impossible, involves a machine that stops time and lets me live like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, only I wouldn't come out of my room. I'd just stay there and draw and play guitar and make things all day long. And at night, when I went to sleep, all of the drawings I did would disappear, and I would never even get to think about selling them.
But, I'll never do it. Well, not the time machine one for obvious reasons, but not even the semi-feasible one. Why? Because I don't have the balls. I grew up in an environment where I was never sure of anything, never secure, never felt at home or like things were really taken care of. I grew up wondering if my mom had paid the water bill on my way home from school, or if it had gone to alcohol or whatever the hell else it was she spent that money on. I grew up in a place where if I wasn't home from school or work by a certain time I didn't come home at all, because I knew my step-dad would be drunk by that time, and quite frankly I wasn't as strong as I am now when I was 14.
And I grew up thinking that was normal, that everyone had to deal with that. So now that I know it's not normal, now that I know exactly what normal IS, no matter how much I want to just abandon everything and live some immaterial life on my own, I know I have to prove to myself that I can succeed where my parents failed. And knowing that means that I will never be able to give up the mediocrity that I'm looking for, because without it I'm just my parents. "A slavish bond to parents cramps every faculty of the mind" alright, possibly even imagination.
Monday, March 01, 2010
Dear Canada
It is March now, you can stop being cold. Don't worry about it, we're cool, we won't tell anybody. If America asks us we'll act like you kept it cold all the way into August. So just ... go ahead and be warm now.
fuck
fuck
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Warforged Artificer
I'm pretty excited for D&D on Friday night. I haven't played it in a long time, and we've got a party of 5 people playing this time, and an actual DM, so it should be fun.
I'm playing a Warforged Artificer. Basically that means I'm a robot who makes machines and enchants things. I thought it would be a nice change of pace from my usual Elf/Human - whatever-the-fuck-has-big-swords. And now that I'm reading up on it more thoroughly I am finding that it's going to be a little complicated.
Basically I am playing a character who uses simple/melee weapons and attacks, but I have the ability to craft magical weapons that can deal crazy damage. I also have the ability to turn weapons that my allies and I wield into magical weapons by enchanting them. There's a whole system of rituals and shit that I need to figure out and it's pretty complicated. But I like it.
Also! Being a Warforged means I get all these neat little things. like the fact that I don't need to eat or sleep or breathe. Also, I have the ability, later on, to build myself a Homunculus, a little guy who I carry around (or who follows me around) who I can teach to carry out enchantments or to build weapons and items while I am doing other things. And the concept of a little robot dude following me around is ... hilarious. All in all I think it's gonna be fun to play.
Okay, that's enough of that.
I am nearing the end of the year almost, and it is becoming increasingly apparent that York isn't going to be helping me out with my money situation in any way. I just don't understand why, after jumping through ever hoop, and knowing full well the amount of money they have put away for these situations, I can't get any help. I have run into 3 barriers that were only there because I'm a design student. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense seeing as we pay much much more tuition than the majority of undergraduates here. Hell, we pay a little more than some grad students. So the fact that we pay more tuition means that we have ...less access to funding? What? I swear to god I am this close to switching to OCAD.
But ah well, the money things will be worked out somehow. I don't know how yet, but it's not going to keep me from going to school, I know that much.
Oooh, I have bananas!
I'm playing a Warforged Artificer. Basically that means I'm a robot who makes machines and enchants things. I thought it would be a nice change of pace from my usual Elf/Human - whatever-the-fuck-has-big-swords. And now that I'm reading up on it more thoroughly I am finding that it's going to be a little complicated.
Basically I am playing a character who uses simple/melee weapons and attacks, but I have the ability to craft magical weapons that can deal crazy damage. I also have the ability to turn weapons that my allies and I wield into magical weapons by enchanting them. There's a whole system of rituals and shit that I need to figure out and it's pretty complicated. But I like it.
Also! Being a Warforged means I get all these neat little things. like the fact that I don't need to eat or sleep or breathe. Also, I have the ability, later on, to build myself a Homunculus, a little guy who I carry around (or who follows me around) who I can teach to carry out enchantments or to build weapons and items while I am doing other things. And the concept of a little robot dude following me around is ... hilarious. All in all I think it's gonna be fun to play.
Okay, that's enough of that.
I am nearing the end of the year almost, and it is becoming increasingly apparent that York isn't going to be helping me out with my money situation in any way. I just don't understand why, after jumping through ever hoop, and knowing full well the amount of money they have put away for these situations, I can't get any help. I have run into 3 barriers that were only there because I'm a design student. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense seeing as we pay much much more tuition than the majority of undergraduates here. Hell, we pay a little more than some grad students. So the fact that we pay more tuition means that we have ...less access to funding? What? I swear to god I am this close to switching to OCAD.
But ah well, the money things will be worked out somehow. I don't know how yet, but it's not going to keep me from going to school, I know that much.
Oooh, I have bananas!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Death Magnetic
Random train of thought time.
So the iPad got announced ... kinda lame. It's a giant iPod touch mashed together with a kindle? Fantastic, I guess. It'll start at 500 bucks (for the 16GB model, and probably more like 600 bucks in Canada), it has no camera, no decent video out option, iPhone apps look AWFUL on it and for some reason, that I can't seem to deduce, it isn't even in 16:9 aspect ratio? That's just confusing.
Now, maybe once someone hacks it to run the Adobe Creative Suite and I can get some sweet multi-touch Photoshop Cintiq-esque action going on it'll be worth it. But right now it's just an expensive eBook reader. Meh. This kind of reminds me of the Macbook Air.
The one thing that I will say WOULD be good about the iPad is comics being in eBook format, that is pretty exciting and I think the iPad would be a good platform for that.
Speaking of comics, I've been in a drawing cartoons kinda mood lately. It's getting fun again, which is good because I kinda lost it for a while there. Maybe if I can get access to a scanner I can upload some of the stuff I've been doing, it's a little more developed than the last time I was drawing this stuff.
Still haven't figured out how to pay for school. That's getting more and more stressful every day. Also, I found out that OCAD pays almost HALF the tuition that my program does. HA-FUCKING-LF. If I could justify it, I would switch schools, but I'd only be getting a Bfa from OCAD and I get a BDes here. Although those letters are looking less and less meaningful every day.
You know how sometimes when you hear a word or phrase for the first time, all of a sudden you start to hear it everywhere? I hadn't heard the phrase "separate the chaff from the wheat" before, and after learning what that meant all of a sudden I noticed it in an Electric Six song, a Failure song, god damn.
So the iPad got announced ... kinda lame. It's a giant iPod touch mashed together with a kindle? Fantastic, I guess. It'll start at 500 bucks (for the 16GB model, and probably more like 600 bucks in Canada), it has no camera, no decent video out option, iPhone apps look AWFUL on it and for some reason, that I can't seem to deduce, it isn't even in 16:9 aspect ratio? That's just confusing.
Now, maybe once someone hacks it to run the Adobe Creative Suite and I can get some sweet multi-touch Photoshop Cintiq-esque action going on it'll be worth it. But right now it's just an expensive eBook reader. Meh. This kind of reminds me of the Macbook Air.
The one thing that I will say WOULD be good about the iPad is comics being in eBook format, that is pretty exciting and I think the iPad would be a good platform for that.
Speaking of comics, I've been in a drawing cartoons kinda mood lately. It's getting fun again, which is good because I kinda lost it for a while there. Maybe if I can get access to a scanner I can upload some of the stuff I've been doing, it's a little more developed than the last time I was drawing this stuff.
Still haven't figured out how to pay for school. That's getting more and more stressful every day. Also, I found out that OCAD pays almost HALF the tuition that my program does. HA-FUCKING-LF. If I could justify it, I would switch schools, but I'd only be getting a Bfa from OCAD and I get a BDes here. Although those letters are looking less and less meaningful every day.
You know how sometimes when you hear a word or phrase for the first time, all of a sudden you start to hear it everywhere? I hadn't heard the phrase "separate the chaff from the wheat" before, and after learning what that meant all of a sudden I noticed it in an Electric Six song, a Failure song, god damn.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Turnstile Blues
Money situation is bleaker than ever, but I don't wanna talk about that.
I've been listening to Failure a lot lately, the album Fantastic Planet might be one of the best things I've heard since I first discovered Electric 6. Those two bands are not even comparable so I don't know why I made that comparison but what's done is done and the backspace key is all the way at the other end of the keyboard. Point is- I like Electric 6 a LOT and I think I like Failure as much as I liked Electric 6 at the beginning.
Speaking of Electric 6 though, their new album Kill was so good. It was the hits, sir. The hits.
Anyway my love for Failure got me looking into their other projects. Failure was around during that whole grunge alt-rock thing in the 90s, and although they had that anti-harmony thing that all grunge era bands had, they also had some space rock-shoegazey stuff in there as well. They never really had a ton of success commercially (I guess Paramore covered one of their songs and named their E.P Summer Tic after a line in a Failure song, that's something, people listen to Paramore right?), but they had a lot of friends in the music industry. The drummer from Failure went to form this band Autolux that I've just started listening to. They're a three piece shoegaze alt rock band that is just wonderful. I had a moment where I looked at their video for Turnstile blues when I felt remarkably sexist for a second. When watching it I thought "holy shit, the drummer is a chick? But the drums are so good!" then I thought about what I had just thought, and felt bad for a while. I'm not sure where I got the notion that girls can't be good drummers, seeing as lots of bands I love have girl drummers. Maybe I was more surprised that she was wearing a dress. Yeah let's go with that.
All this shoegaze and alt rock stuff aside. I have an idea for a band that could actually work out provided that other people showed any interest. I have a keyboardist, a violinist, a flautist and myself playing bass all worked out. They would probably be willing to do it, time allowing. But we don't have a drummer, which is sort of a thing that we require. I KNOW a couple of drummers but they're both busy with too many other things to be considered. I don't want a guitarist though, I figure the flute and violin can trade off leads and melodies and things. I'll just play bass, if we need it to sound guitarish, I'll distort the bass, or the violinist can distort the violin. It'll be goooood.
God I need some time/money/distortion pedals.
I've been listening to Failure a lot lately, the album Fantastic Planet might be one of the best things I've heard since I first discovered Electric 6. Those two bands are not even comparable so I don't know why I made that comparison but what's done is done and the backspace key is all the way at the other end of the keyboard. Point is- I like Electric 6 a LOT and I think I like Failure as much as I liked Electric 6 at the beginning.
Speaking of Electric 6 though, their new album Kill was so good. It was the hits, sir. The hits.
Anyway my love for Failure got me looking into their other projects. Failure was around during that whole grunge alt-rock thing in the 90s, and although they had that anti-harmony thing that all grunge era bands had, they also had some space rock-shoegazey stuff in there as well. They never really had a ton of success commercially (I guess Paramore covered one of their songs and named their E.P Summer Tic after a line in a Failure song, that's something, people listen to Paramore right?), but they had a lot of friends in the music industry. The drummer from Failure went to form this band Autolux that I've just started listening to. They're a three piece shoegaze alt rock band that is just wonderful. I had a moment where I looked at their video for Turnstile blues when I felt remarkably sexist for a second. When watching it I thought "holy shit, the drummer is a chick? But the drums are so good!" then I thought about what I had just thought, and felt bad for a while. I'm not sure where I got the notion that girls can't be good drummers, seeing as lots of bands I love have girl drummers. Maybe I was more surprised that she was wearing a dress. Yeah let's go with that.
All this shoegaze and alt rock stuff aside. I have an idea for a band that could actually work out provided that other people showed any interest. I have a keyboardist, a violinist, a flautist and myself playing bass all worked out. They would probably be willing to do it, time allowing. But we don't have a drummer, which is sort of a thing that we require. I KNOW a couple of drummers but they're both busy with too many other things to be considered. I don't want a guitarist though, I figure the flute and violin can trade off leads and melodies and things. I'll just play bass, if we need it to sound guitarish, I'll distort the bass, or the violinist can distort the violin. It'll be goooood.
God I need some time/money/distortion pedals.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Up here in heaven
Quick update because that's the sort of thing I do.
I have a meeting tomorrow afternoon with a sort of a "holy shit I'm literally going to starve to death if you don't give me funding" sort of person at the university. I have printed out a bank statement, a diagram of my budget, a screenshot of the tuition I owe and a calculation of how I'm going to run out of money to feed myself. This is necessary because the requirements I need to meet in order to qualify for any funding are literally summed up (in his email) as "an inability to buy food or pay rent". I think I qualify as that, the problem is that I only qualify as such assuming that I pay my tuition, which he will want because he works for the school, but if the school is giving me money that negates the paying tuition doesn't it? Anyway, I've got my fingers crossed, if this fails I have to start mailing letters to government organizations, and trying to find personal loans.
It's been 2 weeks since I started to eat healthy again, my only lapse being a slice of pizza last Friday because someone in the office bought pizza for us (and I'm not enough of a dick to tell them I won't eat it). I feel alright, although I am a lot more tired and hungry than usual (probably more the fault of stress about money than anything). I am pretty much subsisting on Oatmeal, Bananas, Apples, Tuna, Yogurt, Vegetables, Pita, Bread, Fish and Chicken at this point. Actually, not pretty much, that's precisely all I've eaten. Appearance-wise though, I am back down to the weight/size I was in at the point when I had to give up last time (fucking November), so that's good.
Anyway, I'm off to finish work, go to TaekwonDo, worry about money and then do entirely too much more homework. Ja
I have a meeting tomorrow afternoon with a sort of a "holy shit I'm literally going to starve to death if you don't give me funding" sort of person at the university. I have printed out a bank statement, a diagram of my budget, a screenshot of the tuition I owe and a calculation of how I'm going to run out of money to feed myself. This is necessary because the requirements I need to meet in order to qualify for any funding are literally summed up (in his email) as "an inability to buy food or pay rent". I think I qualify as that, the problem is that I only qualify as such assuming that I pay my tuition, which he will want because he works for the school, but if the school is giving me money that negates the paying tuition doesn't it? Anyway, I've got my fingers crossed, if this fails I have to start mailing letters to government organizations, and trying to find personal loans.
It's been 2 weeks since I started to eat healthy again, my only lapse being a slice of pizza last Friday because someone in the office bought pizza for us (and I'm not enough of a dick to tell them I won't eat it). I feel alright, although I am a lot more tired and hungry than usual (probably more the fault of stress about money than anything). I am pretty much subsisting on Oatmeal, Bananas, Apples, Tuna, Yogurt, Vegetables, Pita, Bread, Fish and Chicken at this point. Actually, not pretty much, that's precisely all I've eaten. Appearance-wise though, I am back down to the weight/size I was in at the point when I had to give up last time (fucking November), so that's good.
Anyway, I'm off to finish work, go to TaekwonDo, worry about money and then do entirely too much more homework. Ja
Friday, January 08, 2010
S2E02
Welp, semester two second year, my schedule
Monday - Work 9 - 12, Evolution of Information Design 12:30-4:30, Information Design 4:30 - 8:30
Tuesday - Class at Sheridan: Reasearch in Design 1-4, Typography 3 5-9
Wednesday - Work 9-5, Humanities 7 - 10
Thursday - Work 9-5, Taekwondo 7 - 9:30
Friday - Interactivity 2 8:30 - 12:30, Work 1 - 4
Not looking forward to Interactivity (in it right now) but otherwise I like the looks of things.
Extremely depressed. Am trying to find scholarships to stay in school for next year, turns out being poor is a disadvantage to going to school. Who knew eh?
Monday - Work 9 - 12, Evolution of Information Design 12:30-4:30, Information Design 4:30 - 8:30
Tuesday - Class at Sheridan: Reasearch in Design 1-4, Typography 3 5-9
Wednesday - Work 9-5, Humanities 7 - 10
Thursday - Work 9-5, Taekwondo 7 - 9:30
Friday - Interactivity 2 8:30 - 12:30, Work 1 - 4
Not looking forward to Interactivity (in it right now) but otherwise I like the looks of things.
Extremely depressed. Am trying to find scholarships to stay in school for next year, turns out being poor is a disadvantage to going to school. Who knew eh?
Sunday, December 20, 2009
I'm treading so soft and lightly
It is entirely too late, considering I have to work in the morning, but I figured now was as good a time as any to write my 300th blog post, it's not like I've ever said anything actually meaningful here so why start now?
I saw Ninja Assassin ... that's all I'm going to say about that.
I am pretty excited for Trans Siberian Orchestra on the 29th, Ben Mary Claire Kate and I will all be going and it shall be a wonderfest. I watched a video of them on tour last year, in which they broke out into Layla part way through Sarajevo. I ... I can't stress enough how incredibly awesome that is. Just imagine Bruce Campbell on his knees wailing on a guitar that is constantly exploding into candy and also the Ninja Turtles are his band, that's how awesome this would be to see in real life.
Jay got me all 3 Starship Troopers movies for christmas, the first and third are awesome, the second ... was definitely a movie, I think? It was pretty bad. Did you know the first one won an Oscar? I mean, for special effects, but still.
I want to download all of Cheers, I think this is a good idea. I think this is a fantastic idea.
Oh god, I just thought about brownies. I had a bad experience with a type of brownie last week that has resulted in my getting a sort of a queasy feeling when thinking about them. *shudder*
So I guess it's almost Christmas again. Cool, I guess. I'm not going to Clinton at all this year because, well, if I was going to put myself in a place full of bad memories on purpose then Shelburne is closer. Also there's the whole thing about me not having a bed in Clinton, that weighed heavily on my decision. It sucks that I'm not going to see Sam's parents or go to the Annual gaming extravaganza, I will miss that, but there's not enough for me out there this year. Most of my friends will be here, and we'll be having New Years goings on in Toronto instead of Mary's place in Clinton for once, so that's good. Also Mary and Ben are going to be here as of the 27th anyway, so that we can go to TSO on the 29th. Sam can only be there until the 26th, and Jay and Rory aren't going to spend a lot of time at their respective homes I'd imagine. It'll be cool.
It's gonna be sort of weird, though. Waking up here on Christmas Day and being the only person in the house. As much as I've spent Christmas apart from my family over the years, I don't think I've ever woken up alone in a house on Christmas morning. That's gonna be a new one.
So far so good with Christmas though. I am still waiting for the old Christmas curse to come by and work it's magic on me before school starts again. Kill someone or something like that. I guess it usually either takes something away from me or gives me something I don't deserve. But I don't know, I've got a good feeling this year. I must have contracted some optimism somewhere, it's nice, I don't mind it. I think I could get used to not always expecting the worst — he says before a grand piano drops out of the sky onto his head.
(I missed a typography class where we talked about dashes, and I'm not entirely sure that I used that em dash in the proper way in that sentence, but I just wanted to use it because I figured out how to type the glyph on a mac)
I saw Ninja Assassin ... that's all I'm going to say about that.
I am pretty excited for Trans Siberian Orchestra on the 29th, Ben Mary Claire Kate and I will all be going and it shall be a wonderfest. I watched a video of them on tour last year, in which they broke out into Layla part way through Sarajevo. I ... I can't stress enough how incredibly awesome that is. Just imagine Bruce Campbell on his knees wailing on a guitar that is constantly exploding into candy and also the Ninja Turtles are his band, that's how awesome this would be to see in real life.
Jay got me all 3 Starship Troopers movies for christmas, the first and third are awesome, the second ... was definitely a movie, I think? It was pretty bad. Did you know the first one won an Oscar? I mean, for special effects, but still.
I want to download all of Cheers, I think this is a good idea. I think this is a fantastic idea.
Oh god, I just thought about brownies. I had a bad experience with a type of brownie last week that has resulted in my getting a sort of a queasy feeling when thinking about them. *shudder*
So I guess it's almost Christmas again. Cool, I guess. I'm not going to Clinton at all this year because, well, if I was going to put myself in a place full of bad memories on purpose then Shelburne is closer. Also there's the whole thing about me not having a bed in Clinton, that weighed heavily on my decision. It sucks that I'm not going to see Sam's parents or go to the Annual gaming extravaganza, I will miss that, but there's not enough for me out there this year. Most of my friends will be here, and we'll be having New Years goings on in Toronto instead of Mary's place in Clinton for once, so that's good. Also Mary and Ben are going to be here as of the 27th anyway, so that we can go to TSO on the 29th. Sam can only be there until the 26th, and Jay and Rory aren't going to spend a lot of time at their respective homes I'd imagine. It'll be cool.
It's gonna be sort of weird, though. Waking up here on Christmas Day and being the only person in the house. As much as I've spent Christmas apart from my family over the years, I don't think I've ever woken up alone in a house on Christmas morning. That's gonna be a new one.
So far so good with Christmas though. I am still waiting for the old Christmas curse to come by and work it's magic on me before school starts again. Kill someone or something like that. I guess it usually either takes something away from me or gives me something I don't deserve. But I don't know, I've got a good feeling this year. I must have contracted some optimism somewhere, it's nice, I don't mind it. I think I could get used to not always expecting the worst — he says before a grand piano drops out of the sky onto his head.
(I missed a typography class where we talked about dashes, and I'm not entirely sure that I used that em dash in the proper way in that sentence, but I just wanted to use it because I figured out how to type the glyph on a mac)
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
I'm still here and he's a ghost
Mid all-nighter. I am doing the following things:
Drinking Tea
Listening to Kupek (pretty good)
Eating pineapple
Writing this post.
What's missing here? Oh, yeah, the fucking HOMEWORK I have left to do! I have to code a website tonight, I should probably get to that. Damn.
But in the meantime, I think I'll update the both of my readers on the goings-about in my current situation. I am almost done first semester of second year in design school, and so far I don't have any thick rim glasses or ironic sweaters so I'm calling that a victory.
Next weekend Alicia and I are going to Niagra Falls which is going to be awesome because a) it will be the first time in months that we haven't had anything to stress about and b) there is an ihop in Niagra falls and diet be damned I am going to i god-damned hop.
Taekwondo is going well, I got my old rank back, so I'm, you know, no closer to that black belt, but I'm setting a goal for myself to have it by 2014. I mean, I could technically get it by late 2012 if I had more than one class a week, but given my work and class schedule I can only train on thursday nights, not the tuesdays they are starting to offer. Did I mention it's free? Yeah. Awesome. Hopefully once I get my green belt I can start going to friday night fights again, those were the best part, I think. I don't think my school work is going to allow much time for competition but friday night fights I can do. I hope.
I am listening to Kupek (the name that Brian Lee O'Malley records music under) and I'm enjoying it a lot. It has this homemade feel that I like a lot, and I don't know how else to say it aside from it sounds like Scott Pilgrim. I don't really know why, it's kinda mellow and a little depressing and melodramatic but I like it a lot, and it somehow still sounds fun? I don't know, I'm tired.
Oh, also, Dec. 16th Mother Mother is playing for free at MTV Live downtown. I called to reserve tickets. Amazing.
This is my 299th post, apparently. Jesus fucking Christ.
Drinking Tea
Listening to Kupek (pretty good)
Eating pineapple
Writing this post.
What's missing here? Oh, yeah, the fucking HOMEWORK I have left to do! I have to code a website tonight, I should probably get to that. Damn.
But in the meantime, I think I'll update the both of my readers on the goings-about in my current situation. I am almost done first semester of second year in design school, and so far I don't have any thick rim glasses or ironic sweaters so I'm calling that a victory.
Next weekend Alicia and I are going to Niagra Falls which is going to be awesome because a) it will be the first time in months that we haven't had anything to stress about and b) there is an ihop in Niagra falls and diet be damned I am going to i god-damned hop.
Taekwondo is going well, I got my old rank back, so I'm, you know, no closer to that black belt, but I'm setting a goal for myself to have it by 2014. I mean, I could technically get it by late 2012 if I had more than one class a week, but given my work and class schedule I can only train on thursday nights, not the tuesdays they are starting to offer. Did I mention it's free? Yeah. Awesome. Hopefully once I get my green belt I can start going to friday night fights again, those were the best part, I think. I don't think my school work is going to allow much time for competition but friday night fights I can do. I hope.
I am listening to Kupek (the name that Brian Lee O'Malley records music under) and I'm enjoying it a lot. It has this homemade feel that I like a lot, and I don't know how else to say it aside from it sounds like Scott Pilgrim. I don't really know why, it's kinda mellow and a little depressing and melodramatic but I like it a lot, and it somehow still sounds fun? I don't know, I'm tired.
Oh, also, Dec. 16th Mother Mother is playing for free at MTV Live downtown. I called to reserve tickets. Amazing.
This is my 299th post, apparently. Jesus fucking Christ.
Saturday, December 05, 2009
HEllo
I a absolutely drunk rifht now! so I apologize for any spelling and or grammar mistakes but I thought it would be good to see what a post while drunk this much would look like weird.
I am just a matrix of colours! I relized today! I am just a grid of patterns of colours going back ang forth in the light to be different shades and colours and my skin is made of little pixels.
Drinking is something I never thought I'd do but it makes me feel weird.
My best friends are : Zack and Chris and Mary and Andrew and Sam but I like all my friends just as much but their names are hard to write right now.
I think Alicia is just the sweetest and I wish she was here right now to keep me from writing silly blog posts while I am in this state.
I used to think that people were all the same kind, and certain people used to tell me that there was one kind of person and that other people were denying it. That person was wrong, and everyone comes in every different shape and All that's really the same is that they all think they're alone in thinking the way they do. Nobody fits into an archetype outside of a book or a comic or a song or a movie, people put them into those places because it makes them feel better about the fact that they fit into one. I fit into a couple probably but I don't fit into one.
I keep hitting Tab instead of ENter
I am gonna watch house and go to sleep
I might delkete this tomorrow.
I miss Easter Morning.
I am just a matrix of colours! I relized today! I am just a grid of patterns of colours going back ang forth in the light to be different shades and colours and my skin is made of little pixels.
Drinking is something I never thought I'd do but it makes me feel weird.
My best friends are : Zack and Chris and Mary and Andrew and Sam but I like all my friends just as much but their names are hard to write right now.
I think Alicia is just the sweetest and I wish she was here right now to keep me from writing silly blog posts while I am in this state.
I used to think that people were all the same kind, and certain people used to tell me that there was one kind of person and that other people were denying it. That person was wrong, and everyone comes in every different shape and All that's really the same is that they all think they're alone in thinking the way they do. Nobody fits into an archetype outside of a book or a comic or a song or a movie, people put them into those places because it makes them feel better about the fact that they fit into one. I fit into a couple probably but I don't fit into one.
I keep hitting Tab instead of ENter
I am gonna watch house and go to sleep
I might delkete this tomorrow.
I miss Easter Morning.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Diet 2
So a little while ago I started on a diet/excersize plan to help me get into better shape. The results were really easy to see pretty much immediately and it was really not difficult to keep up with it.
Then, of course, school started to get harder, and I started to sacrifice eating right in order to eat faster to save time when spending 56 hours at a time on a computer designing. This led to my being motionless for days on end, and obviously impacted me badly.
Mind you, I haven't completely relapsed in terms of diet/excersize. I started taking TaeKwonDo again, which is a help, but that's only one day a week which is just not enough. I also still try to eat healthier, I rarely eat fast food (in comparison to my usual pre-strike habits) and I buy a lot more healthy food in general. I've just lost time.
SO! Starting in December I am starting it up again. I will up my working out to AT LEAST include runs 4 or 5 times a week, as well as staying in Taekwondo. I will try to work in time at the gym on Saturdays as well.
Also starting in December I am going back to my old strict diet. This means, among other things:
NO fast food at all
No junk food (chocolate, chips etc.)
Eating all 3 meals each day
Cutting out red meats (except extra lean beef for protein on days I work out)
A lot more fruits and vegetables
Drinking ONLY water and green tea when I need caffeine
And a lot more.
Again, it's not a huge change from what I am doing right now, it's just I need to adhere to the rules a lot more closely this time around, I have a layed out goal for weight/size by the end of the school year, so I'm hoping I can reach that.
Here we go, round 2. Siiiiiiiiigh
Then, of course, school started to get harder, and I started to sacrifice eating right in order to eat faster to save time when spending 56 hours at a time on a computer designing. This led to my being motionless for days on end, and obviously impacted me badly.
Mind you, I haven't completely relapsed in terms of diet/excersize. I started taking TaeKwonDo again, which is a help, but that's only one day a week which is just not enough. I also still try to eat healthier, I rarely eat fast food (in comparison to my usual pre-strike habits) and I buy a lot more healthy food in general. I've just lost time.
SO! Starting in December I am starting it up again. I will up my working out to AT LEAST include runs 4 or 5 times a week, as well as staying in Taekwondo. I will try to work in time at the gym on Saturdays as well.
Also starting in December I am going back to my old strict diet. This means, among other things:
NO fast food at all
No junk food (chocolate, chips etc.)
Eating all 3 meals each day
Cutting out red meats (except extra lean beef for protein on days I work out)
A lot more fruits and vegetables
Drinking ONLY water and green tea when I need caffeine
And a lot more.
Again, it's not a huge change from what I am doing right now, it's just I need to adhere to the rules a lot more closely this time around, I have a layed out goal for weight/size by the end of the school year, so I'm hoping I can reach that.
Here we go, round 2. Siiiiiiiiigh
Monday, November 23, 2009
Essay - Graphic Design History
Haven't done something like this in a while, so I figured I'd do it in a public arena so that you can see the inane methods to my awful essay writing. This is an essay due tomorrow. I am starting it ... now.
Topic? Alright I think I've got this narrowed down to something like "how does war influence trends in design?" but more eloquent? ... hmmm "What is the effect of war on the climate of design, its aesthetic and communicative methods, not only during but after the time of conflict" Something like that, anyway.
Okay, need 3 images, graphic design from periods pre 1900, 1900 - 1955, 1955 onward. Hmm, okay, the 1900 - 1955 is easy, I'll go with "Cut with a kitchen knife Dada through the last Weimar beer-belly cultural epoch of Germany" by Hannah Hoch, photomontage, crazy dadaist absurdity, 1919, lots of german post war angst, perfect.
The pre 1900 might be the trickiest, trying to work in the art neauvau thing, I can't think of a crazy design movement that happened because of any war before 1900 (at least not one we've covered in class). I might have to come back to this one.
Okay, 1955 onwards. I know the international style was born out of WW2, there was the fact that there was a huge shortage of all kinds of stuff after WW2 that could have contributed to the minimalist feeling of the images. I think I'll go with the VOLG grape juice poster from 1962 by Brockmann for this period, a good example of the minimalist feeling. Plus I could talk about it being unusual in the sense that it's using an irrational tone in a rational design period. Good idea Keith, have a pomegranate tea!
(back 6 minutes later)
Okay, pre 1900s, hmmm, this is gonna be harder. There is the easy way that I could do this, that is take an example of pre-WW1 design and compare/contrast it with post WW1 art, that is not to say that it would make writing the essay any easier, but I just don't think I'm going to be able to find another image at this point. So I guess that is it. So, I need to find the most blatantly ornate and "art nouveau" looking thing I can find.
Wait wait.
Sudden Idea. This might be better, it's a sudden change of topic, but what about :
"How design is used as a means of individuality on both large and smaller scales"
or more like
"Design as Identity: culture to corporation" and the thesis could read like "How graphic design is used as a means of setting ourselves apart"
For this one ...
pre 1900 - one of Gustav Klimt's posters for the vienna secession should work just fine.
1900-1955 - 2 options here. I could talk about de Stijl and it's whole distinct European feeling, but I feel that wouldn't do the time period justice. I think I'll do something like Purism, a direct rejection of the idea of individualizing nations, an attempt to unite Europe in a big artistic field ranging over furniture design and all that fun stuff. For purism I guess I could talk about ... Le Corbusier, and his "Pavillion de l'Espirit Nouveau" interior design from 1925.
!955 onwards - I think it's obvious that here I should talk about the advent of Coporate Identity, logos and branding. It will not be difficult to talk about this at ridiculous length, but to narrow it down to just one image, I would have to say ... Paul Rand's 1956 design for the IBM logo would be an obvious choice. Just, all around a good image to drive the point home.
Allright, my 3 images! Now I just need to do an outline and actually, you know, write the essay. FUCK
Topic? Alright I think I've got this narrowed down to something like "how does war influence trends in design?" but more eloquent? ... hmmm "What is the effect of war on the climate of design, its aesthetic and communicative methods, not only during but after the time of conflict" Something like that, anyway.
Okay, need 3 images, graphic design from periods pre 1900, 1900 - 1955, 1955 onward. Hmm, okay, the 1900 - 1955 is easy, I'll go with "Cut with a kitchen knife Dada through the last Weimar beer-belly cultural epoch of Germany" by Hannah Hoch, photomontage, crazy dadaist absurdity, 1919, lots of german post war angst, perfect.
The pre 1900 might be the trickiest, trying to work in the art neauvau thing, I can't think of a crazy design movement that happened because of any war before 1900 (at least not one we've covered in class). I might have to come back to this one.
Okay, 1955 onwards. I know the international style was born out of WW2, there was the fact that there was a huge shortage of all kinds of stuff after WW2 that could have contributed to the minimalist feeling of the images. I think I'll go with the VOLG grape juice poster from 1962 by Brockmann for this period, a good example of the minimalist feeling. Plus I could talk about it being unusual in the sense that it's using an irrational tone in a rational design period. Good idea Keith, have a pomegranate tea!
(back 6 minutes later)
Okay, pre 1900s, hmmm, this is gonna be harder. There is the easy way that I could do this, that is take an example of pre-WW1 design and compare/contrast it with post WW1 art, that is not to say that it would make writing the essay any easier, but I just don't think I'm going to be able to find another image at this point. So I guess that is it. So, I need to find the most blatantly ornate and "art nouveau" looking thing I can find.
Wait wait.
Sudden Idea. This might be better, it's a sudden change of topic, but what about :
"How design is used as a means of individuality on both large and smaller scales"
or more like
"Design as Identity: culture to corporation" and the thesis could read like "How graphic design is used as a means of setting ourselves apart"
For this one ...
pre 1900 - one of Gustav Klimt's posters for the vienna secession should work just fine.
1900-1955 - 2 options here. I could talk about de Stijl and it's whole distinct European feeling, but I feel that wouldn't do the time period justice. I think I'll do something like Purism, a direct rejection of the idea of individualizing nations, an attempt to unite Europe in a big artistic field ranging over furniture design and all that fun stuff. For purism I guess I could talk about ... Le Corbusier, and his "Pavillion de l'Espirit Nouveau" interior design from 1925.
!955 onwards - I think it's obvious that here I should talk about the advent of Coporate Identity, logos and branding. It will not be difficult to talk about this at ridiculous length, but to narrow it down to just one image, I would have to say ... Paul Rand's 1956 design for the IBM logo would be an obvious choice. Just, all around a good image to drive the point home.
Allright, my 3 images! Now I just need to do an outline and actually, you know, write the essay. FUCK
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Things
10 Things That Are Getting Me Through This Semester Without Jumping Off A Bridge
1) Taekwondo
2) of Montreal
3) Caffeine
4) Television
5) Officina Sans
6) Alicia
7) Rush
8) Comics
9) DickBott
10) The Concept of Ownicon House
1) Taekwondo
2) of Montreal
3) Caffeine
4) Television
5) Officina Sans
6) Alicia
7) Rush
8) Comics
9) DickBott
10) The Concept of Ownicon House
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