Audible Commercial

As I have mentioned before, I love audible.com. I used to never read books. I enjoy reading, but I usually feel like I'm not being productive just sitting there moving my eyeballs- almost like TV but not nearly as bad. When I discovered that for $15 (or $7.50 if they're having a deal) I could get any book I want on my ipod, I thought it was a perfect solution. Hopefully now I won't be an idiot my whole life. I listen to books while I drive, paint, run, do the dishes, clean or whatever. I've gone from reading maybe one book since high school to having read 13 books in the past year including:
Freakonomics, A Short History of Nearly Everything, Mere Christianity, The World is Flat, Guns Germs and Steel, Collapse, Blink, Angels and Demons, 1776, A Walk in the Woods, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Screwtape letters, and I'm in the middle of 60 hours of Les Miserable, and I have Wicked waiting for me when I finish that.
I am a big fan of C.S. Lewis and Bill Bryson. So if anyone has some good book recommendations, I'm always looking for new books to check out.

Joy of Camping

I'm helping plan a Beehive campout that's coming up. It made me think about my beehive campout in the mountains in California. When it was really late there was a tent of girls still laughing and being crazy when they heard bears walking around our campsite. They heard the bears scratching on the big metal food boxes that each campsite has to prevent bears from getting into it. One of the girls in the tent felt like she was going to vomit, but there was no way she wanted to go outside with the bears. So she threw up ... in the tent. Then they all huddled close together away from the vomit and eventually went to sleep. D i i i s g u s t i n g. Glad I wasn't in that tent.

the solution is...

I usually keep a pretty good reign on my email inbox and archive daily to keep a nice organized 15-20 emails in my inbox. However, it has gotten out of control lately and I am thinking the best solution is to get a new email address. Wouldn't that be easier? Kind of like when your house is such a mess it would be easier to move. Or so many clothes are dirty you just want to buy new ones instead of washing the old ones? It's like that.

Boise is fun, believe it or not

We went up to Boise for the weekend for our friends' wedding. On Friday we had time to do whatever, so we went to the lake. It hasn't been warm that long, so even though it was pretty nice outside, the lake was still 54 degrees. I sat on the boat for hours watching my friends brave the cold (we at least had wet suits) so they could ski & wakeboard. Finally, after much indecisiveness, I too accepted the physical challenge and jumped in. Besides my fingers going numb, it really wasn't too bad. I couldn't do any great tricks or anything, I was happy just to stay above the water. Overall, it was a blast.

Pringles perfect match up

Brandon has such long arms he can reach a can of Pringles from sitting in the drivers seat, that are all the way in the back window of our Honda. And I can slide my hands all the way to the bottom of the can to get out the last hard-to-reach chips. What better way is there to compliment each other?

My husband is so funny

I was taking engagement pictures for some friends and I think Brandon was getting a little bored so he slid himself into the picture. It was my favorite one.

Ode to the perfect brown bag

For my birthday a few years ago, April and Marissa gave me the greatest gift ever. A brown bag they bought in NY. I loved it immediately. It was the perfect style, the perfect size, the perfect color, it was just meant to be. So years have gone by and I have dragged that bag everywhere. I always throw in my phone, my wallet, and a clipboard of paper (a.k.a. my sketchbook) and I am set for anything. It is getting holes and needs repair, which just gives it more character. I think I have been given more compliments on that bag than any other item I have ever owned. What excellent taste Ape & Maris have.

The all new illustration site

Thanks to some great help and support the layout was finalized and my website is complete. Here it is: rebeccamillerillustration.com
Tell all the art directors you know!

Costco Churros

They are delicious. Whenever we need to go to Costco that is the first thing that comes to Brandon's mind. One time when discussing with a friend how great Costco churros are, she mentioned that they really enjoyed them but they just didn't have enough sugar on them. I thought it was a little strange since usually you get sugar everywhere with each bite because it is so caked with sugar. Then I realized it was a joke. So if you haven't had one, you should try it.

First ER trip (picture included)

Here's the summary:
Saturday I went running while Brandon was at work and I locked myself out. I thought I could just slide the window open from the outside and climb in, but our windows are thin and old so when I pushed on it the glass broke and fell on my hands and gashed my wrist pretty good. I ran to my neighbors and banged on her door and she took me to the ER and Brandon met us over there. I've never seen someone look so pale. He had to step outside so he didn't vomit, which really isn't like him. We both survived the experience and now I will have a scar that looks like I want suicide attention, but really I just did something stupid.

Honda Accords aplenty

Honda Accords have got to be the most common car there is. We have one that Brandon has owned for a few years. When we were dating I never knew which car we were walking towards because his car looked like half the cars in the parking lot. So I memorized the first 3 letters of the license plate so I wouldn't look dumb walking to the wrong car all the time. And I still use that technique to this day as I try to find our car in parking lots.
Last night when we were leaving a friends house late in the evening we were walking towards our car from the side and there were two cars right next to each other that both looked like our car, but I couldn't see the license plate so I waited for Brandon to stop at one of them. He couldn't get the key in to unlock the door for me, but then it didn't matter because it was already unlocked so I just got in. As he walked around the car to the drivers side I noticed there was something different about the car. As he sat down we both realized it was not our car. We felt pretty funny as we laughed and jumped out of the random car and found ours about 6 cars away. So if that was your car we sat in, uh... sorry about that. We really weren't trying to steal it.

Deserted Island

Brandon and I just finished watching Cast Away. It brought up a discussion about which 3 items we would choose to have if we were going to be left alone on a deserted island. I chose fairly practical things like a really large swiss army knife, box of seeds for planting vegetables, and some kind of fire starting device. He chose a generator powered by pedaling, a TV, and a satellite dish. That way he can watch BYU games, and general conference. (that is exactly what he said) He is pretty certain those are the best possible choices.

Real Life Cartoons

Woodpeckers are one of those animals that I tend to associate with cartoons because they're not very common. I just picture this bright blue bird with a big floppy mane of red hair like Woody Woodpecker.
Another creature I affiliate more with cartoons than real life are fire flies. Growing up I thought they were fake, like fairies or something. I never saw a real fire fly until I spent the summer in NY. I was with a bunch of friends at Central Park and we were leaving just as it was getting dark (not a good place to be after dark, that's for sure) and there were tons of them, all these little lights floating around. Just like they show in Robin Hood, only they were real. I was amazed.
And by the way, we're looking into hiring a hit man. Not the normal movie kind, but more like the cartoon kind (only real) that shoot little woodpeckers out of the tree with a beebee gun so you can sleep past 6 in the morning. Let us know if you're interested.

so tricky . . .

When you go running it is hard to breathe without keeping your mouth open. But if your mouth is open then bugs can easily fly in.

Healthy Steps

I'm always trying to motivate myself to be healthier. I think it mostly comes down to my fear of pain from health problems that could come up in the future.
My latest plan is to take steps to gradually improve what I eat. The first step is writing down what I eat for awhile. It's pretty simple. I eat fairly healthy anyways, but it's no big deal if I eat some junk food. I just write it down. This is a great step. I think after I decide to analyze what I eat and start changing things, then it will be harder. One thing at a time.
So far I have noticed I really like hot chocolate, I don't eat enough vegetables, and I need to eat more whole wheat stuff. bleh
And just as a side note, when I came home from aerobics today I realized my pants had been on backwards the whole time.

teenage spazzes

YW basketball last night. I had no idea the YW are so crazy. And they don't stop talking for anything.
Their basic strategy was to run like 6 year olds after a soccer ball and then when the crowd is too intense they lob it into the air (without even looking) so everyone has to go running after it again- and hopefully their team runs after it faster.
And this cute little 14 year old told me how excited she was because this cute boy walked in right when she made a really great play. I'm not sure if she really knows what a great play is, but I'm glad she was excited about it. And then she informed me that she already knows he likes her. And she likes him. I had never met this girl before, but I guess she doesn't have any problem with shyness.

Fun?

I go and watch Brandon's basketball games all the time. He has some good friends he has played with since high school and they all play really well. So it's common for them to have games when they win by 20 points or more. It's really fun to see them win all the time.
Last Tuesday I played with a combined ward team at regionals. This was our first real game because when we played with the stake we never kept score and the teams didn't really matter since we were lucky to get 8 or 10 women out from the whole stake to play. So on Tuesday we had a good time but we were the ones that lost by 20 or more points. not as fun.

Vote for my website

I have been trying to come up with a design for a new front page of my website. These are the ideas I have so far. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Some of them might be hard to see because they are really small, just click on them to enlarge.

Juvenille

I don't remember the last time I checked a book out of the library that wasn't from the children's section.

More on bananas

I eat a lot of bananas. My mom used to buy a whole grocery cart of bananas when they were on sale because our family ate them so much (and froze them). And every time she did, people at the grocery store thought it was funny to ask her if she was raising monkeys. My goal is to someday buy enough bananas that someone asks me that too.


Here are some great ways to eat bananas:
And before you say ew, that is disgusting, you have to try it. (ie:#5)

1. chopped bananas with a little yogurt and a crunchy cereal like rice crispies, chex, or corn flakes. additional fruit like apples are good too.

2. peel the bananas, break them into chunks and freeze tons of them in ziplock bags. frozen bananas are delicious plain, or dumped into smoothies because they make the smoothies really thick.

3. Bananas are essential for any good smoothie: just add bananas, a cup or 2 of milk and maybe sugar or honey (and ice if they are not frozen). Or add to that a spoonful of orange juice concentrate and/or yogurt, preferably vanilla, but any kind works. Frozen strawberries and bananas are great combination also. And if you want to be really adventurous with your smoothie add a handful or so of fresh spinach. You get more vitamins and it doesn't really change the flavor of the smoothie but it will look green and gross but taste great!

4. toasted bread, peanut butter, sliced bananas

5. bread, ham, sliced bananas, grated cheese, cook it in the oven or toaster oven until the cheese is brown and it tastes SO good! (Some people prefer a ring of pineapple instead of the sliced bananas- weird, huh?)

6. lay the banana on its side and cut a v shaped trench and pour in chocolate chips and marshmellows in between the cut open banana. Cook in the oven until the banana peel is black and the middle stuff is melted.

7. mix bananas with canned pineapple, apples, pears, or whatever fresh fruit is on sale, with some strawberry yogurt. optional: add cool whip.

8. chop up bananas and put them in waffle batter, then make waffles. (I learned that from Ape)

9. banana crepes: eggs, flour, milk, sugar for the crepes, fill with bananas and either yogurt, cool whip, ice cream or frozen strawberries that you microwaved and chopped so they are more liquidish.

10. banana muffins or banana bread or bananas in jell-o.

Happy banana eating! I just decided I'm going to eat a #5 with maybe a #3 for lunch. And one more tip: don't leave bananas in a warm car. gross.

Borders: for people without real jobs

I went to Borders to hang out and draw the other day because when I'm at my apartment all day long I just want to fall asleep or write blogs. There were a few other freelancers there and I realized that it is a great place to work. And some random old guy came in and just sat in a chair for awhile too. I don't think he was a freelancer, but I don't think he has a real job either. So anyone out there without a real job, you should really join in.

Turnip Day

Tonight we're eating a tax deduction. I bought a turnip because I need to paint The Giant Turnip. It's great how you can buy anything and paint a picture of it so it's a tax right off. I should paint my dinner everyday.
I used to love eating turnip in Canada. I read on a random site though, that what people eat in Canada and call turnip we call rutabaga in the states. And the turnip I ate in Canada wasn't purple like that stuff I just bought at the store. So maybe I don't actually like turnip... I'm a little nervous. And I don't think Brandon is very excited about it because when I told him we were eating a tax deduction for dinner and he figured out it was turnip and not steak he said, "ew, gross."

My husband, the artist

Who knew that Brandon could paint? Last night I pulled out an old sketch from "The Monkey Story" that was printed on watercolor paper, gave him a couple of pointers, then let him go for it. Look at the natural talent. He's better at watercolors than I was when I first got into them as a 3rd year art student. Although, I did have to help him out when he wanted to give the kid red hair and used all red paint. I had to inform him that red hair is actually orange. So he fixed it up and it looks great.

Question:

I think one of the funniest questions I have ever been asked was when this self publisher asked if I knew anyone with a private jet going to China that could bring her books back for her so she doesn't have to wait on the slow normal shipping. And she was serious. I had to tell her no, no I don't know anyone with a private jet. sorry. Maybe I should have told her that sometimes my friends buy airplane tickets to fly places, sometimes even to China. I don't know if that makes a difference, but it's the closest thing I could think of to owning a private jet.

sports apologies

I think I apologize too much when I play sports. I make a lot of mistakes. I'm not too bad at defense and being aggressive in general, but I have no aim for shooting in basketball or passing or kicking goals in soccer. So then I have to apologize to my team for missing. Even when I do things right, like setting a good screen in basketball, I feel bad when the opponent runs into me. Or when they set a screen on me and I run into them, I apologize again. It's just an instant reaction I have for colliding with people. Do I sound pathetic?

congratulations to me

Today I have made some big accomplishments. First of all, this is my 101st blog. Congratulations to me, thank you. And.... I did my taxes! What a relief. I love BYU's free help. Thank you to Nate for being my free accountant. We do have to pay a little, but I'm just relieved because I knew it had the potential to be a lot worse. And I have to congratulate myself for being incredibly honest by claiming a lot of freelance money that no one even knows about.

Funny funny childhood

I think everyone has funny memories from when they were kids and they thought their family was normal until they got older and looked back. (my sister recently wrote a blog about our funny rules of remind me of all this) So to anyone who reads my blogs, let's hear a few of your own:

rules: TV dollars, we had only so many TV dollars per week and we had to pay a dollar for every show we watched.
I think my bed time was 7:30 until I was 10.
We had to stay in our church clothes all day on Sunday to try and keep us from being rowdy.
We had to check out exactly 10 books at the library so we would know if we were missing one when we returned them. (I still use this technique)

family foods: we ate (and still eat) delicious open face sandwiches that are made of a layer of ham, then slices bananas, and cheese, then cooked in the oven. REALLY good. But not normal according to everyone I have ever lived with since I moved away from home.
Also: I thought waffles and pancakes were a dinner food until I was in high school or something because we always had those for dinner, never for breakfast- that would have been weird.

fhe: there apparently was a shopping cart problem in our area, the carts were all over the city, so we spent a monday evening loading shopping carts into our suburban and returning them to the correct stores.

things I wore: Punky Brewster bold red, green and blue tennis shoes, maroon corduroys, and a pink blouse with frills all up and down the front and on the sleeves. And what Brandon refers to as our matching "valentine" outfits that we always wore, as seen in a picture of me on Santa's lap in that outfit.

favorite activities: sitting in buckets full of water in the summertime. making mazes out of moving boxes. Throwing Heather in the shower with her clothes on. Running around our kitchen in Spokane that had 2 doorways, one person would start at each door and we ran in circles until one person caught the other. Dressing up our little brothers like girls. Pico-Fumi.

What a blessing: the hair straightener

Wow. Scary, I know. frizzy, wavy, huge. This was the best of the non-straightened hair pictures. Brandon said I looked like I was on drugs or something. I responded, good thing for hair straighteners or you wouldn't have married me. He assured me that he still would have married me but he would have wondered how I got a job at the MTC.

And so, I just want to say how thankful I am that we have straighteners, because 99% of the time I am really glad that I don't look like I am on drugs.

Tip of the day: Don't rub sandpaper on your face

Sometimes boys don't shave and then their faces get scruffy. When I try to get Brandon to shave I tell him, in the nicest way I can, that his face feels like sandpaper. I tried to demonstrate how rough it is yesterday by pulling out some sandpaper and rubbing it on both of our faces and told him the sandpaper was even softer than his scruff. But a few minutes later we realized it really wasn't that soft and we both had sandpaper burns on our faces.

When does water expire?

Sometimes I have water bottles that sit out overnight and sometimes I wonder if it's still okay to drink. It's just water, right? Can it ever go bad? What if I put it back in the fridge, then is it okay to drink? What about a water bottle that sits out for a month, or a year? Is it okay? What about water in a glass? A few hours? A few days? At some point there is at least some dust collecting going on, if not more. What are your water drinking strategies? Do you have a reason behind them, or just habits?

I'll know I'm successful when...

There are a few things, besides money and power, that I look forward to as ways that will signal to me that I have become a super successful illustrator:

A. Bethanne will call and ask me if I will take an intern.
B. I get paid to travel to cool places just to write my name for people.
C. I have to get mad at people because they are copying my style.
D. I learn about copy rights and actually care a lot about it because people keep stealing my images. Maybe I even hire a lawyer, or just talk to Aaron a lot. (I don't know if Ronnie still exists, otherwise I might have mentioned him in there also)
E. My work environment has significantly upgraded to include my own computer, an art desk not in the living room, paints that cost more than $40 and maybe even a couple of ipods.
F. I no longer frame my artwork in frames from the dollar store or Michael's clearance rack. (I probably shouldn't do that anyways, maybe that's partly why I'm not super successful yet.)

I don't believe in ironing

It just seems so unnecessary. It takes an extreme case for me to think ironing is required. My mom told me she didn't realize how strongly I believed in not ironing until I transported my wedding dress in the car from Provo to Seattle and still didn't see much of a need to iron. I think clean clothes are important though, to an extent. Sometimes clothes with artistic stains are just inevitable and that doesn't usually stop me from wearing favorite articles of clothing. Clean smelling, that is what really matters. (Unless you are going to an athletic activity in which case it's okay to put on clothes that smell from the last athletic activity because there are just going to smell again anyways. And then you shower right afterwards.... right afterwards.) Let's hear it for wrinkled clothes everyone! Maybe if we get rid of our ironing board we will have room in the closet for our Christmas tree.

Special Skills

As many of my friends and family know I have a love of soap carving. I don't do it all the time, but I still really enjoy it. When I was in NY and saw people all over the streets by the Met selling art stuff I thought it would be fun to set up a little table and try to sell soap carvings. I only had time to go for an hour or so and no one bought any. However, I did have a lot of people admiring my carvings and people seemed really excited about it, especially the family from France who asked to take a picture with me. I have never lost hope that someday, somehow, this could be more than a hobby.
Well, every now and then I search the internet for people looking for illustrators. In the process I found someone starting a gallery in Salt Lake that is planning on exhibiting a variety of mediums from local artists. I emailed her about my soap carvings and she said she is interested in seeing my portfolio! I don't actually have my soap carving portfolio put together yet, but I guess I better get to work on it. I've heard they have professional soap carvers in Asia. I think it's time America branches out the art industry to include this great professional as well.

CM Party

Last night Brandon and I went to his Construction Management opening social. It was great, lots of good food, fun people to hang out with, even one of my illustration friends was there, a chicken wing eating contest, and the best of all: dance dance revolution. I have only played a small number of times in my life but I think it is incredibly fun. Even though I am not any good at it, no one else there was either. So I came away with 2nd place and a blockbuster gift certificate! oh yeah.

Partially eaten plastic spoon

We have a rice cooker and it comes with this nice flat spoon. It's wide and white and plastic and it works really well for browning meat on the stove because it's not wood and it doesn't scrape up the pan. Recently I realized though, that the spoon is getting smaller and is deformed around the edge. I guess when we scrape at a hot pan it melts and it leaves a little bit of spoon on the pan, which gets mixed in with the food, and then we eat it: the food, with a little flavoring of white spoon.

How to feel old when you're young

Recently I found out about my stake aerobics and yoga classes in the mornings, they are really fun and a great workout. Each day is a different teacher and I've experienced different areas of soreness on my body. After the workout yesterday I am having a hard time getting around, I have to move slowly and sit down careful, hold onto a chair when I pick things up off the floor, and my whole body aches. It's kind of ironic because these are the things that I hear you do when you get old. One of the reasons for exercising is that you are in better health so that you don't feel as miserable when you get old. But why wait for all those things when you can experience them now?

And that's how to feel old when you're young.

My basketball prime

I am pretty sure my basketball prime was when I was in 6th grade. I was really good in 6th grade and I think I've just gotten worse since then. Sad, I know. The other day I played some one on one with Brandon and I actually won! We played until 10, my shots counted as 5 points each, his counted for half a point, so I won 10 to 3 and a half. But let's be honest, he wasn't really trying. I'm planning on going to our Stake open gym night to play some more basketball, maybe what I learned in 6th grade will start to come back to me.

O Christmas Tree

Even though it is after New Years I think our little 4 foot tree still has pretty good odds of being up for awhile. Two main reasons:

1. we don't have many decorations in our living room and
2. we only have two places to store things, our coat closet (full) and under our bed (also full)

Santa Discovery

My friend Charlotte just wrote a really funny blog about how her little brother's comments about Santa and asked how other people discovered that Santa isn't real. I don't remember exactly how old I was, but I was already suspecting my parents from things like Santa's handwriting being exactly like my mom's.
Then one day shortly after Christmas I was over at my friend Karen's house wearing the sweatshirt Santa had given me with big Teddy Bear painted on it. Karen's mom said to me, "oh cute, I remember your mom making that sweatshirt!" My face kind of fell and I mumbled, "Santa gave it to me." Then I knew.

30 minutes please

I try to run everyday and sometimes it amazes me how it can take over 2 hours of my day to run 30 min.
First I decide it's a good time to go run and then I sit there and think about it for half an hour and try to get myself motivated enough to change clothes. I think about how far I will go and typically decide I will just go on a short run to make it more likely that I will even make it out of the house.
Then I change into running gear, that can take a good 5 minutes, then I stretch for awhile to prevent shin splints, further contemplate how this is really a good idea even though I'm not excited about it, and enjoy the warmth of my apartment a moment longer. (10 minutes)
Then there is the actual running part. Typically 30 minutes more or less.
Then I come back and stretch even more, again, preventing shin splints and just cooling down. (20 minutes) After that I usually think about doing some sit-ups and push-ups while laying on the floor for at least 20 minutes, typically longer though. Then I actually do the sit-ups and push-ups which takes another couple of minutes.
Then I have to shower and get ready for the day again because I smell from running of course and that puts me at well over 2 hours.
It seems a little ridiculous, I know, but what part am I suppose to cut out? The shower? The actual running time? Because I've already tried cutting out all the sitting around thinking and not accomplishing anything part and that just doesn't work.

new hobby

Chess is our new hobby. Maybe it has to do with not having a TV, but whatever it is we really enjoy it. Brandon and I are really evenly matched so every game is intense. I am currently on a losing streak, but that could change at any time - especially if I find a good place to practice online.
I like instantchess.com because you can play against people all over the world and the games can't last that long because some of those people get me in checkmate in 6 moves and also because you are timed. And I think it's funny how you have an option of 10 specific things you can say to your opponent like, hi or tell them they are good. You can say "blunder" too if you want. But you only get so many free games before you have to pay. Does anyone know a good chess site?
I know I may sound like a dork getting into chess but I recently found out one of my friends was the president of his chess club in High School.... at least I don't have a claim like that. Although I do remember that BYU has a chess club and if I can convince Brandon we might have to check that out.

"It's okay..."

Yesterday we had some nice Miller family time watching the Christmas devotional. Afterwards we went to Brandon's parents for dessert and visiting. Our little niece Lauren was telling us about how she cut her hair by herself recently (we think she's almost 5). I told her I didn't start cutting my own hair until I was 20. "You cut your own hair?" she asked. I told her that I did and she responded, "It's okay, it'll grow back."

So Sore

I decided it would be great if I started doing more push-ups and sit-ups. I figured I would be most likely to do them if it was a competition. So I invited Brandon to a weekly physical challenge. He graciously said that mine would count double, a necessary aid. I tried to do at least a couple sets everyday and kept track on our list. Then Brandon would just do 100 push-ups in one day and it kept things pretty close. On Saturday we were both doing push-ups all day long. I decided it would be a lot easier to just not let Brandon do anymore push-ups but that was not as easy as I thought. So by midnight (the cut-off time) I had 185 push-ups, which I am proud of even though I lost to Brandon's 380.

Thanksgiving anxiety: true or false

While we were helping prepare Thanksgiving dinner at his parents house Brandon informed me that he was nervous. Nervous? I asked. What could you be nervous about? He explained that he was nervous he wouldn't be able to eat as much as he wanted to, like his stomach just wouldn't have room or something. And the funniest part was that he wasn't completely joking. He said he bets a lot of people get nervous about that. I'm skeptical. Anyone else?

problem with paper

I have a disability. I do not have the capability of dealing with paper. I know I have never been the cleanest person to live with and I have realized the core of it is lack of knowing where to put paper. I create piles and piles on desks, the floor, under my bed. And then I clean up and they get put into boxes because I still don't know what to do with them.
Maybe I'll start drawing on every piece of paper I have, that way I can just bind all the paper I own and put it on my bookshelf as a sketch book. All paper will fall into the same category and I won't have to debate if I should throw it away or not.
When I need some old banking information, or notes from an important meeting, I'll know exactly where to look. Sort of. I have over a thousand pages of sketches so far. I think my life goal is 50,000 pages of sketches. Which means I need to stop throwing so many pages away. And I better stop getting carpal tunnel.

tis the season

okay, it's not quite the season yet unless you're from Canada, (they start their Christmas season after Canadian Thanksgiving, which is before Halloween) but yesterday we were a little tired of the same Sunday music we always listen to so we turned on Christmas music. It was great. And there's no turning back now.

new lifestyle

Recently I went to Costco and thought it would be a good idea to pick up some basic items like shampoo, conditioner and laundry soap. Of course, being at Costco everything comes in enormous quantities. I wasn't so sure about going for the cheap generic brands with these items. I said "why not, we'll give it a try." I was then informed by Brandon that buying so much of each of these items was not just "giving it a try" but actually accepting a new lifestyle. Well I went for it, and so far the new lifestyle is going fine.

voting confessions

When going to vote yesterday I realized I should have prepared a lot better for the day. I knew very little about the candidates, which is important of course. I had browsed through the websites and did some reading on the major issues. Everyone sounded pretty similar to me, probably because the lack of time I had to study in depth on each person. In the end, whether I wanted it to or not, I think the design of their websites played more of a role in who I favored than it should have. Next time I will have to be more involved before voting day.

I was really tempted to write in some random friends for the write-in spaces where there was only one candidate. Did anyone else really want to do that?

celebrity sighting

When I interned in NY my apartment had a list of celebrity sightings, it was a pretty impressive list as you might guess. We lived on the same block as Regis so it was pretty easy to run into him. They probably had 50 or so.

We all know there are a few differences between Provo and NY. Provo still has it's own collection of famous people though. For example: When Brandon and I stopped by the post office the other day we saw Lavell Edwards. Brandon was probably more excited than I was. (actually, there is no doubt about that at all) As we were leaving Lavell was leaving too and as we walked by he smiled and asked how we were doing. What a nice guy. (He didn't always look nice in his pictures) And one time we saw Willie Nelson at Smith's, complete with his Willie and friends van in the parking lot.

And I've decided I'm going to be famous too. I haven't worked out all the details yet.

Halloween confusion

As you can see from the picture, for Halloween Brandon was dressed as 3 hole punch Jim and I was Halloween Pam. (both from the office of course) Unfortunately, not enough people have seen that episode and everyone kept trying to tell me I was a cat. I guess I should have expected that though, not everyone is obsessed with the office.

I heard the greatest thing yesterday though when I showed a couple friends our picture from Halloween. One of them told me that on Halloween he saw this girl dressed up just like I was and he had gone up to her and said "Cool! Halloween Pam!" And she responded by giving him an odd look and saying, "No. I'm a cat"

Most of you probably didn't think that was as funny as I did, but that's okay.

2023

I have married into a very organized family. Every family does things a little different for the holidays. Each family has different traditions, different gift giving methods and amounts. My new family has the rotation system going on, which makes sense, and I just recieved an email that informed me of everyone that I will be buying and recieving presents for until the year 2023. I think I have the present I'm giving for 2015 figured out but the rest I'm still not sure on. I have had a request for a teleporter in 2018, I'm not sure if I'll be able to pull that off or not. Anyone know the year those are suppose to come out?

a story with a moral

Last week I ran out of gas . . . twice. The first time was on the scooter. It was a bit ridiculous because the gas gauge said it was on empty for about 3 days while I drove it around everwhere. When Brandon asked if we needed gas I told him the gas gauge was broken. I thought it was broken because I had just got gas a couple days ago.
What I had forgotten was that although I went to the gas station, I forgot to bring my wallet and therefore did not buy any gas. Somehow though my brain misplaced that information and all I remembered was that I went to the gas station. Then when I was walking my scooter 3 blocks down University Ave. on the sidewalk, suddenly that information came back.
And the second time Brandon was driving the truck and we just pulled off the freeway while we were headed to Costco when the car started dying. We glided for a little while but it started slowing down so Brandon got out and pushed the truck about 100 ft. until we made it into the gas station. I thought it was funny.

And the moral of the story is: check your gas gauge. And I apologize to Brad for not posting this blog before Monday.

the slipper transformation

I knew there would be a lot of things that I would learn from being married. I have to say that what I learned most recently is kind of embarrassing to admit. The other day I learned that my pink slippers are not pink, they are gray. They are so gray Brandon was shocked when I mentioned something about them being pink. Not just shocked, I think a little disgusted as well, and rightfully so. I got them as a present on my mission, they look like pink slippers your grandma would wear. (Only gray not pink, as I have now realized.) It was kind of like that story about the frog that sits in the warm water that is gradually heated up until it is boiled but he doesn't realize it happening. My slippers turned gray so gradually I thought they were still pink. I tried washing them. I think it helped.

what if we always ran?

When I was walking on campus the other day I saw this guy in a tie just sprinting somewhere. I've always wondered how our society would function if we all just ran everywhere we went. Everyone would start as babies just learning to run and we wouldn't really walk much, unless carrying large things like pianos or in the case of a serious injury. We would all be healthier and get more things done because we would save time by running everywhere. We would all have great stamina to run incredibly far, way more than we think is possible. That's my idea. Who's with me?

the history of your mom

Awhile ago at work some of my friends were telling their favorite "your mom" lines. Recently I was listening to a book called Collapse and it talks about all these different nations and what happened to them. One of these nations hundreds of years ago had your mom lines too. Who knew it went back so far? It was during a time where people were starving and cannibalism was starting for people trying to survive. So this book said the worst insult you could say to someone at that time was "the flesh of your mother sticks between my teeth." I would say that's pretty harsh.

I am dead

I recently discovered that I am dead because I have no blood pressure. I think that is a requirement for a live body, which I am not. I was with Brandon by one of those blood pressure machines and he sat down and got his blood pressure. So I sat down to get mine and it gave me an error message and said my blood pressure was 9. So I tried again and it did the same thing, then Brandon tried again, it worked fine, then I tried again and got another 9. I gave up. A week or two later I was by the machine again and tried two more times. Still no blood pressure. I'm just not really alive.

the comment dilemma

I have so many mixed feelings about this comment number attached to each blog posted on Provo Platinum. I definitely appreciate the ease in which I can see if there is something exciting I should read about, or even more importantly, read additional comments about. But at the same time I am intimidated to write whatever random thing I want to. Now everyone knows before even opening my blog how pathetically few comments I have. I can't decide if I should:

A. use that as motivation to write more interesting and/ or controversial blogs

B. pretend like I don't know everyone is going to be looking at how many comments my blog has

C. join the army and stop blogging altogether

D. somehow learn computer programming and start my own blogging friends website (that could take years... or longer)

E. make as many comments on my own post as possible so that people think it is a really interesting blog

entertaining public

Recently I've seen some really interesting people out on the street. I wish I had pictures but you'll just have to use your imaginations. One guy I saw was riding his bike along a pretty busy street but his bike was very unique because instead of a bike seat he was somehow sitting on the seat from some cushy office chair that had the legs taken off and a bike attached underneath it. I don't know how he managed to peddle while sitting on that mammoth bike seat, but he did.

The other event was when I was driving along and I saw this guy who had long straggly hair and a beard, with bleach streaks, and a button down shirt and super short 80's cut off shorts, and tennis shoes. It wasn't so much his outfit that caught my attention though but that he was just going for a jog down the street while dribbling a basketball. okay, maybe it was the outfit. This was along another busy street. He must've been 60 years old, former basketball star, and now he just likes to go jogging with a basketball. I've never tried it, maybe it makes jogging more fun? I really don't know.

Here are some funny commercials that I'm adding links to just because they make me laugh and I hope you like them too.

Art Show

To anyone who likes to check out art the BYU BFA show is currently hanging in the HFAC. My stuff is alright, but there are some amazing oil painters that I graduated with that are definitely something to see. We are having a reception for the show on Thursday August 17th from 7-9 in the HFAC jungle. I'm not sure what the jungle is, but that's what the advertisements they gave us say. I think it's just the area where they always put the tables of punch and cookies by the stairs. So if you're not into art you can just come for the cookies and punch. It's not a huge show, but still pretty good. And if you know any art directors, feel free to invite them too. We really wouldn't mind. I promise.

matching shirt day

It seems like I may have mentioned before in a blog about how we wear matching shirts to work every Friday. I love it because matching makes me laugh. So every Friday I wear the same navy polo shirt and then I walk into work and about 90% of the co-workers sitting in rows at computers all have on their navy polo shirts too. Which I also love because I don't have to think about what to wear. Last Friday however, (when I meant to write this blog but never did) I hadn't done laundry for awhile so all I had that was clean were some black cords. Usually I avoid wearing black pants and navy shirts, not the best combination. But for matching shirt day I make special exceptions. And that's what I wore all day.

amazing discovery

So Brandon and I were finishing registering at Target the other day and we overheard this couple talking to another couple that was registering also. They asked if they could give them some advice because they just got married recently. We half way eavesdropped, we figured we already knew what they would say because everyone we know who has gotten married has told us how horrible Target's return policy is. You can only return 2 items per person per year (they mark your drivers license or something bizarre like that) and they only give you in-store credit for that specific department, like only the home decor department or just kitchen appliances, etc. Really lame. People shop at Target though, and if they happen to buy you something on your registry that you need to return it's not the best (like stores that give you cash) but still way better. So it's easy to feel obligated to register there.

However, this couple had much better information. They explained what you have to do is change the wedding date on your registry so it's after your real one. That way you can just register for the presents you received after you're married and then you can return the ones you don't need. Ingenious! So if you ever plan on getting married and would prefer not to have 43 blenders and 12 toasters, (which I guess happens whether you register or not) plan your registry wedding date wisely. And tell everyone- except Target.

those hanging

Whenever I'm driving around and I say to myself, "oh that's a cute house" it almost always has a hanging plant in front of it, or lots of them. I think hanging plants are the key to good looking apartments. I think I will become a hanging plant collector. I don't know if that is a common hobby or if I could join clubs for that, but if not maybe I'll just start some.
My sister Heather and I have had this theory for awhile. When we lived in our super super ghetto apartment Heather bought us a beautiful green, flowing, hanging plant that changed our living room probably 2 whole steps to. (from super super ghetto to just ghetto) Unfortunately she moved home and I was left to care for our hanging plant and I guess it needed water more than I would think of it. After months of not even sporadic watering it was clearly dead. I kept it for another few months, actually even more than that, hoping it would come back to life. (I still didn't water it though) So that was my first hanging plant experience. But I think I've learned some things from it ( like watering more than bi-monthly is helpful) and I'm ready to try this plant thing again.

best compliment ever?

Brandon has given me tons of nice compliments ever since we first started dating, it's something I have really appreciated. The other day, however, he wasn't quite as smooth as he normally his. We were driving up to his house to have a 4th of July BBQ with his family and we stopped by this farm place so I could see where we're going to have our reception. (It looked really cool, just a pretty park with lots of trees and ducks) Sometimes I get car sick and I mentioned that I felt a little nauseous. Brandon told me that he makes lots of girls nauseous. Then he smiled sweetly at me and told me that there's only one girl that makes him nauseous. I gave him a funny look wondering why he was telling me that I make him feel sick but he was just kept smiling like it was a good thing to say. I let him know that people usually don't like to be told that they make them sick. After we laughed for awhile at how Brandon's compliment didn't really come out the way he wanted it to he insisted that it was the nicest compliment he has ever given me and that he was sticking with it, I make him nauseous. (apparently it's suppose to be like having butterflies in your stomach and being nervous, I'm not sure really how he came up with that)

work bonuses

One of my favorite parts of new jobs are the random things you get to learn that you didn't expect to. For example, at my current graphic design job I expected to gain more proficiency with illustrator and flash, which I have. However, I had no idea I would be learning and permanently ingraining into my brain what covalent and ionic bonding is. That's what happens when you spend many many hours trying to figure out how to get those electrons to spin the way you want them to.

At other jobs I've also learned random things. At my first job I had the Dewey decimal system mostly memorized, I knew what categories were where in the library. At the pie factory I learned how far in advance pumpkin pies are made before Thanksgiving, along with how you say "boxes" in Spanish. At the school supply warehouse I learned about drug dealing and how to use a box knife with great skill. At the grocery store I was pretty proud of my ability to name the aisle for any food item you might be trying to find. That's just a few examples, but I think you get what I'm talking about.

alternatives

I'm realizing that I'm a person that doesn't care too much about traditions. If they have a purpose behind them that's fine but why do we eat cake at weddings? Personally I think wedding cake is one of my least favorite foods. (that might be an exaggeration, but I just really don't like it) I was at a reception recently where all they had was really nice cheesecake and some kind of thick chocolate pie. No other random foods to snack on, no disgusting cake, I thought it was great. I heard of someone having cupcakes on platters with pillars as if it were a wedding cake. So it makes me wonder, what other wedding cake substitutes are there? Brandon suggested ding dongs. I think a couple of vermonsters from Ben and Jerry's would be good.

office excitement

This morning as I was clocking in at work I heard some girl yelling about something and I wondered what was going on. Apparently there was a weasel running around the office! We all thought it was a ferret at first but after doing some quick internet research we realized it was a weasel. We chased it around for awhile and watched it run up the wall and across all the computers. Eventually we chased it upstairs so KBYU had to deal with it. They thought they had it locked in the conference room for awhile, but then it got out. Eventually someone chased it outside. Kind of an unexpected way to start the week. great entertainment.

modern ideas

I was talking with some friends at work about the tradition of having rings when you get married. Jim mentioned he thinks we should go with brouches instead of rings. That was a fun idea to picture. The other idea was tatoos. When you get married you get a tatoo, but that way you don't have a ring getting in your way or scatching things or people. I think out of those ideas I'm still voting to continue with rings.

big news: my real love

You might not believe this, or you might be expecting this, but guess what I'm engaged! I'm really excited. Yesterday we discussed what kind of things we'll buy so we don't have to worry about figuring those things out later. We've already decided on nonfat milk and cinnamon toothpaste. And we've also decided to have matching scooters.

my new found love

I realized that I really really really love root canals. I always heard about them and had this fear, that it would be more painful than any other dental procedure I've been through. However, after having a root canal yesterday I would just like to say it is a GREAT experience. That might have something to do with the fact that I have been in pain for the past 2 months, and unbearable pain the past few weeks. I was ready to just drill the tooth out myself if root canal day didn't come quick enough. Ever since I got my root canal I haven't had any pain. (that might also have something to do with the special shot they gave me so I don't feel pain for a few days, the best investment I've ever made) So to anyone that has a fear of root canals as I once did - don't worry - they're great!

over the hill already

I recently heard that after 25 your body is a lot more susceptible to diseases and injuries, physical problems in general. After taking 12 pills of 4 different varieties in the past 8 hours I've decided that this is true.

the heater

The purpose of this blog is to publicly complain. All week the heater has been running at work. Not in the whole building, just the section where 30 or so of us have our computers all lined up. It's pretty bad. Whether it is 60 or 90 out the vent has been blowing hot air on me. I feel like I have a fever the whole time I'm at work and complaining to people at work hasn't gotten me anywhere so I thought maybe if I complain to more people it could become a more widely discussed topic and maybe someone will finally fix it. The saddest part is I am no longer wearing my pink sweater. Although I did recently receive an independent study polo shirt so at least I get to match half the people at work, that's the exciting part about Fridays- matching blue polo shirts.

now it's serious

The other day my friend came over and we were talking about how things are going with Brandon and he asked me if I had googled his name yet. I said no, not realizing that was an important thing to do. But apparently it is. He said, oh, I thought you guys were serious, but maybe not. So I googled his name the very next day. I found some guy at Iowa St., a race car driver, and a football player as the first three. It would take quite awhile to look at everyone with his name because his name isn't exactly one you'd classify as odd or unique. Then I was also instructed that I needed to check his name on the FBI's most wanted list, so I did. Brandon wasn't listed. So there, now it's serious.

pilot g-tec c-4

I can't believe I haven't written a blog about these pens yet. Anyone who knows me even fairly well knows I am obsessed with these pens. They can be bought in Canada, England, Japan, Singapore (at a great price too), but not in the States. It's a tragedy. Most illustrators I know also like these pens and love to draw with them. There really isn't any pen that is a suitable replacement. They either don't write smooth enough or aren't thin enough. I even emailed the company hoping to figure something out but there are some kind of patent laws that don't allow them to sell them here. So if anyone is going to any of those mentioned countries anytime soon, please buy these pens and my friends and I will buy them from you. It could be a great side business. Sometimes I see them on ebay for $5.00 a pen, plus shipping. It 's hard to justify when I can use them up so fast. (or lose them) Maybe I will just become an engineer and create my own. Or regularly vacation in Singapore. I think I better keep brainstorming for other options.

it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

Today when I came into work I was wearing my blue jacket I wear for my scooter. I walked up to my computer, pulled open the drawer next to it and pulled out my pink sweater that I wear everyday at work because the A/C is always on so high. I realized I am Mr. Rogers. I come in the same jacket everyday and change into the same sweater when I get to work. I told that to Brad and he pointed out that I had even taken off my shoes like Mr. Rogers does. (we were sharing scars, weird, I know) So there it is, I am Mr. Rogers.

my break through

As I've mentioned before, I really love my scooter. I recently started a new job out by Springville which is a little tricky to get to on my scooter because everyone is driving at about 60, and I'm lucky if I can get up to 40. I thought for awhile I would just get rides and take the bus. Then I hunted out some back roads through a neighborhood and I can't believe how great it works. There's got to be backroads everywhere that I haven't taken advantage. I've realized that I've really been limiting myself to thinking my scooter was only good for getting around Provo. Now I've realized I can go to Orem...Pleasant Grove... Salt Lake....Idaho..........and why not Mexico too?

death for real

Sometimes I wonder if the expression "die of boredom" is acurate. Today is one of those times.

bad lunch ideas

One of my really cool friends recently gave me a bunch of cup of noodle for lunch. I was skeptical if I would actually eat it but then when I was leaving for work one day and realized I needed something for lunch so I grabbed the cup of noodle and it turned out to be a great lunch. And since I have been pretty consistent with not getting up early enough to make a real lunch I think I've eaten 4 cup of noodle lunches. bad idea. Today when I went to eat lunch, once again with a cup of noodle in my hand, I was so unexcited with the thought of another cup of noodle I had to resort to buying a sandwich from the vending machine. Anytime you're buying a sandwich from a vending machine you know you have a problem. So I've decided cup of noodle is good on a once a week basis. And vending machine sandwiches... I just hope I never resort to that again.

great conflicts

At work I heard this girl behind me talking to another guy about how he is using some of her music files that she had saved in some of our public folders on his itunes list. And she was upset because she wants people to have to go to her itunes list on our shared music instead of his. It was probably the most ridiculous (and perhaps only) argument I've ever heard at work. The guy next to me said we should have conflicts like this at work at least 2-3 times a day. That way when we have job interviews we would actually have something to talk about on that question about conflicts with co-workers. I agree. And the drama was kind of exciting. And one of the girls behind me (a normal one, not the itunes nazi one) wrote a blog I thought was pretty funny: http://singingcicada.blogspot.com/2006/05/holy-crap.html

computer life

I've never had a job so computer involved before. I currently have 11 windows open. Most of the designers have 2 computer screens to accommodate this. I'm new and deprived so I only have one. I feel like I should know computers a lot more than I do to have 2 computer screens going. Or even to be working at a computer with 11-15 windows opened at a time. And not just opened because I haven't closed them but opened because I need them. Of course most designers just use their second screen for their itunes, msn and email purposes. I think I've convinced 3 of my new co-workers to start blogs. Sometimes I meet people who don't even know what a blog is or how to use it. I think there is a variety of blogs though so I'm not always sure what the best explanation of a blog is? What do you think?

new job

I'm currently writing this blog while at my new job. I'm doing computer stuff right now that doesn't take much effort on my part but takes the computer awhile to process. So I get to sit here and try to think of new blogs to write. So far nothing very interesting has happened at work to write about. Although Brad and I did form an alliance, I was pretty excited about that. Our mission is to steal a computer for me on the graphic designers side. I'm currently an outcast on the communist side (as Brad referred to it) surrounded by programmers and editors. I need to find a way to get to the other side of the partition. Don't you love office jobs?

crazy man

The other day in the parking lot I was just talking to a couple friends when this random old guy with a huge beard walked by and just started yelling to us about how hard it would be to move a mountain as fast as a rocket or something and how amazing it is that the world moves the way it does. He was really excited about it and seemed to think we were going to start running around getting everyone else excited about it too. We didn't though. However, we were very excited to have the random guy approach us because it reminded us all of the good ol mission days. We don't have that crazy people magnetic power that we once had.

foot lotion

The other day when I was in the bookstore with Katy we noticed some foot lotion on display, one of which was labeled to be used as a tester. My question is who tries out foot lotion in the middle of the bookstore? You just whip off your shoes and see how you like the feel and/or scent of the lotion right there? Seems kind of odd to me.

poor unfortunate souls

When I was walking home from work today I saw the cutest kids running around on the grass. The only thing was they had beautiful light blonde hair that had been cut so horribly I couldn't help but cringe. It was more than obvious that their mom had no idea how to cut hair but decided to anyways. She took the clippers and ran it up the side of the little kids' heads to make a nice blunt bowl cut. I don't know what is so intimidating about scissors to people. We've been using them since kindergarden and they happen to work great on hair not just paper. So please everyone, when you have kids or a husband you want to cut hair for, don't give them a bowl cut. I highly reccommend using scissors. Or finding someone that will. Thank you for helping make the world a more beautiful place.

my big rock

So I found this rock recently that is so cool. I started carrying it around with me all over the place because I like it so much. Maybe you think it's weird to carry around a rock all the time but if you saw my rock you would understand. You might think of it as my lucky rock. I think by having my rock with me my day goes better. I'm not sure exactly how it works, but it just does. I didn't know rocks could be so great. I always thought they were just dull hard objects that are useful as paperweights.

most embarrassing moment of my life

I only share this because 1. it was hilarious and 2. I hope all of you will share your most embarrassing moments at some point as well. So there I was just cruisin into the parking lot by the wilk on my scooter when my phone starts ringing. I decided I would stop at the scooter parking lot entrance to answer it. I flipped open my phone and told Rick to hold on for a minute while I took my helmet off. I realized that was too challenging with only one hand so I just shoved the phone against my ear with the helmet on.
As I was talking I decided I could slowly drive my scooter towards a parking spot with my left hand (even though the gas is on the right side of the handle bars) while still holding onto my phone with my right hand. But then I started going a little too fast while heading straight at someone's nice huge motorcycle probably owned by someone that could kill me. So instead of having an accident with a parked motorcycle (brakes weren't an option either, that was too tricky to reach with my left hand) I turned to the left, but of course all of this was incredibly awkward and I was still trying to talk on the phone and balance the masonite board and watercolor paper I had by my feet. So I fell over. Not gracefully either. I was laughing and feeling stupid and then felt even stupider when I realized people had seen me because everyone was frantically asking me, are you alright? are you alright? Humiliating. So the moral of this story is: don't talk on the phone while trying to drive a scooter with your left hand.

running with toothpaste

On Saturday I did the Rex Lee Run, my first race ever. I had a great time. I was a little late, that was funny, both for me and the people watching me hear the gun go off while I was still running to the starting line a couple blocks away. Another funny part was these little bags they gave us at the end, mostly flyers, and then a tube of toothpaste. All the writing was in Chinese. I was a little skeptical to use it at first because for all I knew on the back it said is only to be used on dogs or something. But I tried it out anyways. Not bad. Kind of a minty bark taste. Fresh breath in general though. So if anyone is debating doing the Rex Lee Run next year, keep in mind it is good clean fun, you get the t-shirt of course and interesting toothpaste. and remember to be on time, it' s less embarrassing that way.

cooking 101

I will admit that cooking isn't one of my greatest talents. I'm not horrible, I think I can make quite a bit of decent food. Occasionally though, I just don't pay attention to what I'm doing or my non-measuring tactic doesn't work out. Sometimes I accidentally grab the poppyseed container instead of the pepper to throw onto some fried eggs. That's not really a big deal though, they're pretty similar. This morning, however, as I was attempting to make some rice pudding I went to a shelf of baking ingredients, grabbed the vanilla and threw some in. Suddenly something smelled really bad. No, it wasn't vanilla. It was apple spiced vinegar. ehlk. Not exactly the flavor I was going for.

ugliest cat ever drawn in the history of the world

It's going to published. I'm sorry. I just didn't have time to redraw it. I just thought I would warn all of you.

human glow stick

You know your friends are cool when instead of inviting you to go with them to the movies next weekend they invite you to go to puerto rico. What an amazing place, I highly recommend it. One of the highlights of the trip (no, it wasn't when my friend told me I looked like one of those ugly girls in the movies) was when we went kayaking to this lagoon at night and went swimming with bioluminescent algae. I felt like I was a human glow stick. You should try it.

you know...

You know it might be too cold to ride a scooter if:

1. you have to not only scrape your mirrors, but also your odometer, your ignition button and your seat.

2. you are wearing half of your wardrobe to stay warm.

3. you are wearing so much head gear you can't turn your head.

4. your arms are frozen to stick out in front of you when you arrive at your destination.

5. you can't find your scooter because there is so much snow covering it.

But other than that, a scooter is great year round. (although, more fun in the summer for sure)

changing the world

More like, changing the way I look at it. I mentioned before that my new hobby is science. What I especially like about science is how I look at everything differently the more I learn and I think about science, even though I hardly know anything. I can only guess how different life would be if I had a career studying this stuff. I've noticed myself just walking around recently looking at objects and thinking about what it is made of and all the tiny microscopic components that combine together to create whatever I'm looking at. Or sometimes I just think about breathing and how many billions of things are going on with my body right now to make it function the way it does.
Maybe lots of people do that but I used to only look at the design of objects, the way the light falls on it, or it's hue but I guess I'm branching out in the way I think. An example was today when I was washing my hair I was thinking of why we shower and how the chemicals work to make it so we don't smell. (I had just been running and...well, I smelled bad)

I used to think it would be cool to marry someone who got an undergrad in accounting then went to law school (there's a ton of legal stuff and complicated taxes with freelance art) but I think I would like to add a Phd in microbiology or physiology or something equally fascinating. Actually, maybe it would just be easier to get those degrees myself. That's more realistic than getting married.

successful vs sellout

So as I've mentioned before in some blogs that I've been doing more and more freelance work lately. I love it, it's so exciting! I feel like I'm really going to be able to be successful at this. The only thing is that my professors keep telling me to make sure I'm getting paid what I'm worth. However, their perspective and mine is so different. They obviously are very picky about the work that they take because they have been successful illustrators for many years. I'm glad they think our work as students is worth so much but I really don't put the same price tag on my art that my professors do. Take the amount I would accept and put a 1 in front of it, that's typically the difference of our perspectives. I figure if it's paying me more than my current job, then, hey cool. (If it's less than that then it's pretty ridiculous, come on, this is Provo) I'm getting valuable experience, published work and I'm getting paid for it. And it's not like they're paying me to scrub floors or something, they're paying me to draw stuff, which is my well known addiction anyways. What could be better? Last year I drew all the time for free. What am I talking about? My whole life I've drawn for free. In my eyes, anything is better than nothing.
However, as Michael Dudash pointed out (a visiting illustrator who came to BYU last week) when students and young artists consistently accept smaller paychecks than the industry standard then it hurts everyone because publishers start to expect to pay less and then everyone, young and old, gradually are forced to accept less money for their work. I guess the idea is that we're not just getting paid for what we complete, but the billions of hours of drawing and experience that it takes to be able to produce professional art. My professors are my professors because they know more about the illustration world than I do so I should probably listen to them. I've tried asking for more money and it gets me a little progress, but not a whole lot. Should I just hold out for the better jobs and more money or be grateful for what I'm getting?
I'm curious about other people's opinions, at what point are you a sell out hurting the industry, and when are you just a student getting a foot in the door by having some published work under your belt because you draw really fast to make it worth your time? (obviously I would prefer to be the later but I know I have to choose some type of ground where I reject work)

And by the way, the reason Michael Dudash was talking about this subject was because when I walked into the middle of a class to sit and observe my professor pointed me out and asked about the bargain freelance work I had been doing and what his opinion was about it.

BYU perks

There are a lot of great things about BYU. And of course some not so great things, but isn't that always the case? One of the things about BYU that I especially appreciate is the (usual) efficiency of the Lost and Found. I have had a couple of items never show up there, a favorite scarf and a homemade hat I really liked, but that nothing compared to the many, many, many, *pause* many items that I have gotten back. Quite often I'm in there every week or 2 to pick up stuff I brainlessly left somewhere on campus. The other day I left a project at the library but I was already on my way home when I realized I left it. Instead of going back for it I just thought, I'll just pick it up at the Lost and Found tomorrow. Very irresponsible and naive of me to always expect things to turn up there, but what can I say, it works. So the next day I picked up my project worth about $200 (it was some partly finished freelance work). When I had to write down on the lost and found paper how much the item was worth I realized maybe it would have even been worth going back to the library to pick it up. but oh well, it all worked out anyways. yeah byu!

teeth are overrated

If I can convince myself to believe that I will sure save a lot of money. I went to the dentist last week and I have 3 cavities. note- not in the place where my teeth are sore, of course not, those teeth are perfectly fine, it's some other random ones. I think he's making it up. Come to think of it, I don't know why I went to that dentist anyways. My friend used to work there and thinks the dentist is nice so I thought, hey why not, he can look at my teeth. However, now reflecting on the 3 made up cavities he told me about that will cost over $200 to fix I remember that I almost got a job working for him, because of a recommendation from my friend. You might be thinking, oh a dentist job, you would answer phones or decorate the walls or something knowing my qualifications. nope, this guy was going to hire me to be a Spanish translator. Apparently I was a pretty good Spanish 102 student. It didn't work out but the funny part was that it didn't have to do with the fact that I didn't even know the word for teeth in Spanish. So I claim the cavities are a figment of his imagination.

Record Low

I realized I have reached a record low number of clothes in my closet right now. Yeah, there's a lot in a laundry hamper to be washed tomorrow, but I am pretty amazed with the pile I have on a chair and a dresser and, well, my floor too. It seemed like I would only wear outfits for 3 hours at a time this week, I just kept changing my clothes. And it seemed like I kept wearing the same thing over and over again, because I only wore them for a few hours I thought that was okay. I think it had more to do with the fact that my closet has gradually just been declining to only the clothes I wear for Halloween. (I bet you will all be interested to see what I'm wearing tomorrow)
My roommate's cute little niece who is 4 or 5 was over visiting today and she came into my bedroom and asked me why my clothes were all over the floor. The way she asked it was like she expected me to have a really good reason, like I had been robbed, or I had a picking-up-clothes-disease. I just mumbled something about being busy. But who knows, maybe I do have some sort of disorder. I'm sure they'll find a cure for it someday.
That reminds me, I was reading this interesting anatomy book the other day and it talked about the brain and how they figured out which part of the brain does what. The front of your brain has to do with your personality. The book mentioned how there was this guy who was shot in the front of the head and lived and then his personality changed to being really mean. So don't you think this would work just as well in reserve? It sounds so easy to cure mean people. I'm sure we don't have to shoot them in the head, but I bet someone could come up with a simple procedure that just made people more pleasant to be around. I think I'll so some research on that. Lots of people have art for a hobby, but since that's my career I need something like science to be my hobby.

Rick the girl

This blog is about my friend Rick because the only thing she could come up with for me to blog about was a teacher crush. like I know anyone that has a crush on their teacher. let's be real here.
So Rick (real name will remain secret) and her husband are pretty funny. They plan on moving to North Carolina soon. Charlottesomething. I guess they have a lot of publishing houses there so I might tag along. What I'm really hoping is that somehow Rick's insane work ethic will rub off on me. She takes a million (okay, that's an exaggeration, only half a million) credits and has the tendency to not care about eating or sleeping, she just paints. I on the other hand have a tendency to eat (lots), sleep, well, not as much as I should (but more than Rick), and goof off by reading science books and playing foosball. I don't know how to develop good work habits. I hear they have professional foosball players. I don't think it's too late to change my major. And that Tuesday afternoon assertiveness class isn't helping me. (well maybe it's because I haven't gone yet)

what do you want?

So a few weeks ago I saw this flyer posted at the library that had all these questions and I kept thinking "yes" to all the questions and at the bottom it said if I said yes to any of those questions then I should go to the Assertiveness Class. It sounded like a good idea so I planned on going for awhile. I figured it will help me have more effective discipline with the missionaries, be firmer with what I want from art directors, etc. However, today my friends said let's go hang out and I said, sure! And therefore I didn't make it to the assertiveness meeting. Maybe I am doomed to be weak sauce my whole life.

uh....uh....

I really don't know what to write a blog about. I just got a cell phone, I could explain how great that is and I'm sure my friends are so happy for me. Or how confused I get every time anyone's cell phone goes off because I can't remember what mine sounds like, I just think, oh yeah, I have a cell phone, it's ringing! But I guess other people have cell phones too. I could write about how fun it was to hear the music at the library last week. It's been years since I've done that. The music was alright. Kind of obnoxiously loud. I was trying to scan something, it was like they wanted me to leave or something. I could write about my classes, my job. How cool my teachers are about me being a slacker when they know I did some freelance work. I might change my job for one that pays less, but gives me better experience. It would be sad, but good. I could write about complicated relationships and trying to be normal friends with people you dated. I could write about how I realized today how grateful I am for bicycles otherwise I might be wearing some corset or something right now. very grateful. I thought if I rambled long enough I would come up with something interesting....maybe next time. But I didn't want to completely get out of the habit. I think blogs are great. And I would also like to add that I am really looking forward to AVP2.