Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Riff, Wild Beasts, Bauer Letter, Animation, Zine

Below is a new riff I made and am playing with. It's a rough bit, but I like where it's going. Mostly I enjoy how these things really do hit me like an epiphany. So take a listen!



In addition to that stumblage of good riffage, I was introduced to the Wild Beasts, whom I have not stopped listening to since I first heard their song "Hooting and Howling". They have a very warm sound, but are definitely jammin at the same time. Check out their video!



Now for the mass of feel-good news!

It all started on Monday morning. As I was finishing my drawing something inside me clicked back to its normal state of optimism. I was ready to go! I went to Drawing class and fully enjoyed working in there, which doesn't always happen. My portrait of Ryan turned out pretty splendidly, and I left in a chipper mood.

Walking home, I noticed the boys rolling on the skateboards behind the apartment buildings. 'Twas a gorgeous evening and the sun was balancing on the edge of the world, thus I decided to take a seat and bask in the fair weather while I could. Carl and I had a short heart-to-heart and then Fowler joined us. After a an urging to check the mail via a phone call from my mother, I headed in.

A week earlier my dad had called me and asked for my address and website information. I inquired on the reason, but was left quizzical. I didn't think on it again until I checked the mail on this flouncy Monday, and when I held the letters in hand, it suddenly dawned on me.

Now, one must know that my dad works in a twenty-story condominium, whose residents are the millionaires and billionaires of Kansas City. Since he started we've been furnishing our house with their leftovers and attending baseball games with their extra season tickets. I really believe his good character and giving personality has made a huge impression on these sometimes haughty people.

And thus the letter.
It had no return address and was not in my parents' handwriting. On the back it had a green embossed "Bauer" in the center. This was from one of the residents from my dad's building. I thought to myself, "Man! It would be so awesome if they randomly decided to give me some money!" (Before they had opened a scholarship fund for my sister and she made bank, so my thoughts were kind of there....) And so I opened the letter with no real expectations. I read the note and in essence it said that his daughter (34) had passed away and that he thought she would have liked this money to go to me to help with my education. And behind the note was a check for $1,000.

I was a bit caught off guard, to tell you the truth! Also in the envelope was, what I'm assuming was, the card given out at her visitation, a newspaper clipping about her, and another paragraph of information about her life. It was cool to learn about someone I hadn't even heard of before, and to have been blessed by her life even after her death.

Following this shocking mail, I got a lovely letter from Erin, complete with mixed CD, kreeture doodles, and letter. It was a perfect start to my good week. I love her so much. She really knows me, in ways that she herself is the same. Sometimes I'm in disbelief at our likeness to one another. And it boggles my mind that we have spent more time apart than together in the entirety of our friendship. That's really something.

So later that night the pallies and I played some Catch Phrase for Recess Club. It's been dwindling, but that's partially my fault, not being able to make it the past couple of weeks. Tomorrow night, however, we're playing our annual Halloween costume Ghost in the Graveyard in the MIA courtyard. I can't wait.

Tuesday was one of the best days I've had in a long while. It was sunny and warm and I had no classes. I woke up at my leisure, signed up to work the art sale, had lunch with Charlotte, sent out some mail, and began my animation. I worked from 1-8 and then headed over the girls' for a bit of a retreat. I ended up bringing my workstation there and we watched The Brothers Bloom whilst finishing homework. At midnight I came home and kept working until about 2 and then headed to bed, really satisfied.

This morning I woke up and added some finishing touches on my sound animation. I wanted to do a few things differently, but that's usually how it goes. All in all, I'm very proud of it and am even more reassured that animation is for me. You can watch it below. The assignment was to take the provided sound clip and make an animation based of it.



And then tonight I had to do my Language project for my Ideation class and came up with the solution of a zine after many Plan Bs. Basically I used the phrases and lingo of my friends and had them each draw the word and whatever else they wanted on one page (as to give it their own "voice"), and then combined them into a zine. It's not my favorite piece of work, but it'll do. Eventually I want to combine these and more into a book (which was my original idea) and make it more polished. Below are some images from that.

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Sunday, October 25, 2009

Things I Like

I'm going to take a break for a blog.

Because I wanted to share my satisfaction of grape soda and curly straws.

Also, to share my satisfaction of chillin' with the girls and taking silly photos.


And also to record a few things.

1. Marissa is starting violin lessons and she just got her instrument yesterday. Being the hospitable roomie she is, she let me try it out. Now, I'm no violinist, but I did enjoy using her bow on my guitar. That's some Sigur Ros business right there! Now I dearly want a bow or this 'Piranha Guitar Bow' thing, which is like a mini bow in the palm of your hand, and it doesn't have the Rosin of a regular bow on it, so it won't make my guitar all nasty-nast. I would also like to get some sort of device to connect my acoustic-electric with my computer to record stuff and experiment. That's about $80 of equipment. If only...

2. I saw Eisley on Thursday night. I met Eisley Thursday night. I got Eisley's autographs Thursday night. I was starstruck. I was awstruck. I was wonderstruck. I bought their EP. I bought a v-neck brown and gold shirt. I got a litho print. All in all I was overwhelmed with happiness. Station 4 in St. Paul is a small venue, but it's perfect when you want to see one of your favorite bands up close and personal. I found a nice spot on the stairs, right next to the stage, and could have drummed along with Weston if I so wished. They were less than two feet away from me and I couldn't stop smiling. After their set, the three girls went to the back of the venue for a meet and greet before Say Anything went on. I nervously (and very straight-faced) approached the girls, litho print in hand, and introduced myself to them. I shook their hands and talked with them a bit. I wanted to get an interview from Sherri for my Sophomore Sem. project, but she denied her artistic abilities and talked about her creative side. Unfortunately I was so wiggin out over the fact that I was conversing with them that I can't remember for the life of me what she said. I wanted to talk to Chauntelle and tell her how much I adore her playing, but I was so nervous that I couldn't look at her! I was kind of upset at myself for that. But she was so sweet. Sigh. It's fun to relive that moment in my mind.




3. Lots of people have been dying lately. It's kind of overwhelming. Nathan's uncle Lanny, Jessica Hutton, Mr. Morlang, Michelle's friend's best friend. Add that to the list of all the celebrity deaths and my grandma's passing and you just have a poopy 2009. Then mix it in with the daily stresses such as homework, finances, and my failing computer...shwew. To say the least, I've been in a funk as of late. It's hard to talk about it with people because they can't really do anything about it, and I don't really want pity. However -- a break would be nice. I've skipped all my classes once now, and in the past week, but I'm still a bit unsettled and just have little to no motivation to do any of my work. I'm not interested in any of my work. I know that's a bit of the ebb and flow of school, but fuck. Shouldn't I be able to grasp on to something here and there? I suppose I've just been having second thoughts about things as of late. Although -- I don't know where else I'd rather be. That in itself is almost more frustrating. I'll figure it out someday.

Until then,
Sarah

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Slow Down Influenza, Get a Flu Shot

Disregarding the seriousness of my previous post,
here's something I couldn't pass up posting.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

CrazyCrazyCrazy

I'm just going to dump here. So. Here's the forewarning. I really hate openly confessing the worries in my life, but I feel like if I don't get rid of it, it's just going to boil up inside me. In fact, I dislike my own negativity so much that I'll probably end up turning this into a positive post....



Starting With the Now:

Last night Nathan came into the cities and brought me back to Annandale, MN (about an hour, twenty west of Minneapolis) for his uncle Lanny's funeral. To be out of the cities and in an actual home was healing, but the pain in everyone's eyes was a bit emotionally overwhelming. When we stepped in the house around 11 or so, Roxanne (whose home we were staying in) immediately offered me "bars" and leftovers. I knew this wasn't going to be the first offering of food during my stay, but I indulged anyway. Then I slunked into bed and had one of those wake-up-in-the-same-position-you-fell-asleep-in sleeps. Wonderful.

This morning I arose to people moving furniture around me. But nevermind that. We all got ready for the funeral and headed in early for a final goodbye. During the service I couldn't help but thinking about everything at home. (And at that moment, home encompassed Minneapolis, though KC slipped in here and there.) There were many words shared on love and God and pretty typical, comforting words, but the parts that really stuck out to me were about Friendship. They kept saying things like "Never underestimate the value of a good friendship" or "Tell your friends you love them because it might be the last time." And yeah, those are the kinds of sayings that you like to think you adhear to, but the next day they're kind of lost again.

I suppose I'm saying that I'm really thankful for my friends right now. As it may have been predicted, I am much more settled in at MCAD this year. I feel like I know who I am, who my friends are, and where and with whom I want to invest my time. It seems kind of vain to long for those things so much, but it's just where I am right now. Even last year, when I thought I was getting really "tight" with people, it's not the same as it is this time around. I feel like the few people I've been spending a lot of time with have been really worthwhile. (Not that people weren't last year!) But they just make me light up when I see them. And isn't that how it should be? I think so.

I know so.



Continuing on with the Past:

The last few weeks, I have been stressed, yes. More than I can ever remember being in the past. It's not a nervousness, but an intense, constant anxiety. It's like I'm tripping over myself and can't catch my footing. I keep trying to escape or to distract myself, but when it comes down to it -- I think I just need to deal with it. It sounds like a "duh" kind of thing, but it's easier said than done in my current state of mind.

I was doing some reading the other day and came across the quote, "Work for love's sake, not for work's sake." I love that. I love Love. And I think I've said that many times before. But I wish I could just get a 4 year degree in loving people because that in itself seems to be my greatest motivation. I know I don't talk about God directly all that much, but all that I know about life and living comes from the Word that I know. And I am so thankful for it. It brings me peace when I'm emotional. It reminds me of the power of love. It gives me strength when I can't seem to push through the day. It supplies my every need. And that's that. I just want to show that same stability to others.

Feeling extremely gushy,
Sarah


Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Fixed, Fire Kite, Plans

My computer is fixed! After getting the keyboard, faceplate, and track pad replaced, I had wipe it clean and get it re-imaged. Then the Air Port decided it didn't want to turn on, so I had no internet and consequently couldn't use any of my Adobe programs. After totally perplexing the technicians at computer support, the head honchos said a software update might be all that was needed and SHAZAAM! My computer is fixed completely. I have now reloaded all my music and and am working on a fresh new build. Exhale.

In other news, the new Eisley EP is here! They released one version of the Fire Kite EP for iTunes and will be selling a different one on tour, of which I will own as of next Thursday when I see them in St. Paul. They're also working on their third LP and I'm totally stoked! I don't know what it is exactly about Eisley that I love so much, but I can't help myself!

Below is a garageband demo of their song "Away We Go" on their iTunes version of the Fire Kite EP. I have listened to it at least 10 times today.



This weekend is going to be boss, to say the least.
Thursday = Midnight premiere of Where the Wild Things Are
Friday = Adventure to Redwing with Amara and Michelle
Saturday = Meg visits for the evening
Sunday = Teach fellowship and finish Space/Time project

From there on out it's Art Sale, Art Sale, Art Sale, where hopefully I'll make some big bucks again this year. I could definitely use it. Thankfully I haven't had to spend any money on my laptop, so I feel pretty good about the money I've spent thus far. :)

Feeling quite upbeat,
Sarah.

Monday, October 12, 2009

*¤O**o¤*¤O¤*¤*o* Snowflakes!

It's snowing outside! And boy is it beautiful. I woke up, made some apple cider, and started listening to some of my favorite Christmas songs.

Mariah Carey "All I Want for Christmas is You"


Coldplay "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"


Death Cab for Cutie "Baby Please Come Home"


It's kind of the perfect day. I'm not feeling very well, so Drawing class will have to wait, but it's oookay -- I would love to be stuck on the couch on a day like today!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Zombies!!!








To say the least, I've been a little involved with the world o' zombies as of late. Above are all the movies I've watched in the past week. If I had to rank them:
  1. 28 Days Later
  2. Zombieland
  3. Dead Snow
  4. 28 Weeks Later
  5. Evil Dead 2
  6. Dawn of the Dead
I'll post some zombie doodles when I get the time. Also -- I think I've found a way to incorporate zombies into my illustration assignment: Government Surveillance on Private Citizens. Aaaand we're probably going to be celebrity zombies for Halloween. Oh and I really want to own the game "Zombies!!!"




That's a lot of zombies....

Saturday, October 03, 2009

Success!

This last week was a super bummer. It seemed to be a snowball of bad mishaps. First, I spilled water on le computer, causing the keyboard to be "fucked up". And then I was all stressin about homework cause some of the stuff I was doing was digital. And then I thought my final piece was due for Illustration, but it turned out only the final drawing was due (and half the class missed that one!)

But it turns out all is swell.

I have an extra week to work on my illustration.
I took in my computer and they're fixing it free of charge.
And I have little homework due this week.

Feelin' better,
Sarah