I wanna publish 'zines and rage against machines

Hmm. Would anyone located in SF let me crash with them for about a week (Dec 10-Dec 17ish) ? I will repay you with lots and lots of food and love and gratitude! And I'll buy you drinks on the weekend/in the evening heehee. I contacted a doctor at University of the Pacific and he's letting me shadow him for a bit, but since the school is located in SF, I would find it a little wearisome and expensive to commute from Davis every day. This is where the institute is located.
Any help would be so appreciated, thank you! :)

After posting that last Vampire Weekend video, I googled "Oxford comma" to clarify what it was exactly that they didn't seem to give a fuck about.

The serial comma (also known as the Oxford comma and the Harvard comma) is the comma used immediately before a grammatical conjunction (usually and, or, and sometimes nor) preceding the final item in a list of three or more items. For example, this three-country list can be punctuated as either “Portugal, Spain, and France” (with the serial comma) or as “Portugal, Spain and France” (without the serial comma).[1][2][3]

Opinions vary among writers and editors on the usage or avoidance of the serial comma. It is routinely used in American English, but more likely to be avoided in British English.[4][5] In many languages (e.g. French,[6] German,[7] Italian,[8] Polish,[9] Spanish[10]) the serial comma is not the norm – it may even go against punctuation rules – but it may be recommended in some cases to avoid ambiguity or to aid prosody.(Wikipedia).

Huh! Throughout elementary, junior high, and high school (and there it is!), I was always taught to use the oxford comma. I kinda like using commas in general, actually; I think they add a certain cadence and clarity to most sentences. But anyways. I guess I don't really care about the oxford comma, as long as what you're writing makes sense.

PS! This will be the last time I'll ask, but if you want to trade x-mas cards wif me, comment here! I'm going to try and do tiny watercolor paintings with every card :) <333

And I sweeeear I will get them out haha, so the writing might be brief in your cards (but still personal!). I tried doing Valentine's cards like 2 years ago? Haha oh man. I STILL have those cards, so if you want those, I can send them too! I made them really beautiful, filled them with confetti and chocolate and then sealed the envelopes shut using sparkly glue and stickers. What eventually ended up happening was that I wanted to send them all out at once, and some cards were taking longer to write than others, so I let them all sit for a long time in my drawer. I forgot about them once I went back to school and when I came back home, I was hungry one night, and then opened all the cards and ATE THE CHOCOLATE. HAHAHAHAHA. Oh man. I swear I won't do that this time though.

Oh man.

:]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

Would anyone like to trade X-mas cards with me? I think I'm going to print some of my own art for once (!) and make them into cards/postcards. I also maybe want to buy a pack of those artist trading cards and draw tiny drawings for people too? :D

Comments are screened! Let me know if you wanna do this thang and include

1) yo' name as you want it to appear on the card and
2) yo' mailing addy :)

thanks babies!! :D

(AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!)

First, a song.



So my life today: fuck YES. Neuroscience M3 key just went up and I definitely did not fail, haha. I nailed all the "hard" questions, and the only problem I completely missed was the fill-in-the-blank eyeball anatomy section, which was worth 20 pts out of 150. 'Twas frustrating since those should have been easy points but I completely skipped studying those slides because 1) my professor has constantly emphasized and illustrated through past exams that the application of concepts is more important than memorizing names and 2) this was material that we learned in the 2nd week of school aka M1 material. Das so messed up.

But then, only one more exam this week, which is tomorrow! Krebs cycle krebs cycle krebs cycle. My biochemistry professor gives me the butterflies. I would do him. There, yes, I said it. He's like this neato sexy older man who's this kinda old school 50s Race Bannon type kinda guy, kinda? I get giddy nervous when he answers my questions during office hours.

And then freedom! Which means... ARTSES? I really miss drawing. I just...! I don't even know where to begin. I really want to start working on my style again, especially since I finally finished my commissions, which I did in a totally manga style since it's what I was doing at the time of payment (aka I assumed that was what was desired). I'm stopping commissions indefinitely and would like to do something just totally different from my older things... My thought is a more retro western cartoon look. FUSION! But blah, so much work to do, I hope I can actually do something about what I'm saying. I just want to be great, sob.

And otherwise giddy giddy yay yay! Thanksgiving break is so soooon! SHOPPING SHOPPING SHOPPING hahaha I've never gone to Black Friday before but I want to experience it once. Maybe this year will be my year! I need a new laptop anyway. Speaking of crazy ass sales, I bought this $138 frock from Anthro last week for $30. YESSSSS sales. And I'm longing after a lacey top like this Free People one, but it's so expensive! But.. THE POTENTIAL. *__* Under dresses and rompers and jumpers? Over tanks and slips and bandeaus? They're like tights, but for your upper body! I found a few promising cheaper alternatives on ebay, but I'm just afraid that the second hand shirts will be too stretched out. Aggahahhggahhh want.

I don't know how to end this completely self-indulgent post. So.... how.... about... SOME VIDEOS!!! My wildlife conservation major man friend doesn't agree with this show's format at all, but I love it anyway. GREEN PORNO!!!!!!!!!

http://www.sundancechannel.com/greenporno/

♥ ♥ Isabella Rosselini ♥ ♥

I'm still freaking out about my roommate situation in general (AGAIN!), but I'm ok I guess. Right now. Ionno.

BUT. RECENT PRESSING MATTERS HAHA OH GOD, I don't know if I should laugh or panic and hide.

AAaaaahahaa..! !!! ! ! I just added someone on facebook that I meant to add on my own account??? AND OH GOODDDD I did it while logged in as Craig
WHICH i do on occasion because I'm a snoopy bitch and also I like sending myself gifts on Farmville
I even wrote a message like "I FOUND YOU! :DDDD" which is COMPLETELY uncharacteristic of him and
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HOW DO I EXPLAIN THIS HAHAHAH OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I'm so embarrassssssssssedddddddddd and worrrieeeeed noooooooooooooooooooo.

I fucking hate everything.

I was at a loss for what to do last night since I have no exams this week, so I tried drawing again. And I realized that I really really suck and am nowhere near the level where I thought I was, much less where I want to be. I definitely want to start focusing on original art though and pick up oil painting again. And comics! I think I want to try finishing that old story I started a long time ago on Tegaki, but in a completely different style.

Gad! I wish I were a little better at drawing faces and bodies and colors and composition and EVERYTHING! :( But where's the time to draw when my only extracurricular currently is Craig? Sigh.

Anyways, since art was a failure, I wasted time and made a mixtapeeeee and by mixtape I really mean a mp3 mix tape CD mix mix.

https://www.yousendit.com/download/TzY3ZGVaY3lEbUtGa1E9PQ

Comment if you take it and let me know if you liked it! If so, I might make another mix (more wintry songs? dance mix?) even though I spent a while gathering these treasures and trying to figure out what order to put it in. Thematically, 'tis music for the winter, but not necessarily due to the title or subject; I lined then up together because something about the musical arrangement or tempo or voices just make me think of tinkly chilly winter time.

Playlist:
Grizzly Bear - Easier
The Dodos - Horny Hippies
YellowFever - Cats and Rats
Sufjan Stevens - Bushwick Bunkie
Tapes 'n Tapes - George Michael
Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks
The Walkmen - We've Been Had
Fredrik - Na Na Ni
Bat for Lashes - What's a Girl to Do?
The Antlers - Kettering
Warpaint - Billie Holiday
Sufjan Stevens - Wolverine
Fleet Foxes - Winter White Hymnal
Run Toto Run - Sleepyhead (Passion Pit cover)

extra: Sea of Bees - When Gnomes Applaud

Songs that didn't make the cut because either I didn't know how to put it into the lineup or I couldn't find a download for them. Still worth checking out:
Sholi - Any Other God ( http://www.myspace.com/sholimusic )
Sea of Bees - Gnomes ( http://www.myspace.com/seaofbees ) ; I included an mp3 of this in the mix, but it's not the version I wanted. listen to the album version online!
The Cave Singers - Dancing on Our Graves ( http://www.myspace.com/thecavesingers )
Fleet Foxes - the entire album lol
Sia - Soon We'll Be Found


/edit
Oh oh! The DRAW ME, MEME? :DDDDDDDDD it would make me happy if you could, BUT ONLY IF YOU'D LIKE TO I GUESS HAHA !! :D <333 Link me to yours if you've got one, so I can try my hand at you! :D

Did anyone actually like Where the Wild Things Are? As much as I wanted to love it, I was kinda bored by it. I did like the set and props very very much though.






My brother went as Max this year. The Audrey Hepburn he is screaming "FEED ME, WOMAN" to is his girlfriend lol and I'm going to guess that the half naked guy in the first picture is supposed to be Michael Phelps.

Speaking of kiddie book movies, here are some fun Alice videos. I didn't read the book(s) until recently, but I don't think I've ever actually seen this Disney movie? Hmm.



(Put that 1st Youtube video into http://www.yooouuutuuube.com/ @ 160x160 pixels for extra trippiness)



Last year me and my friends went as the whole Alice posse (I was the White Rabbit); I'd like to do something like that again. Group costuming is so much! I feel like I would enjoy cosplay except that cosplay tends to be so much more detail oriented than Halloween costuming. And lolita too, heh. I secretly want to wear those frilly dresses.

My Halloween was pretty average but whatever.





Mercedes est mon nom et l'assassinat est mon jeu. Et le garcon, il est Phillipe de Marseilles et ensemble nous ordonnons la mer. To be more convincing of my killer nature, I hid a spoon in my loaf of bread; I originally had a knife in there but many people advised otherwise, haha.

The 50s vintage sailor dress came down to my ankles and rehemmed it to a bubble skirt. I really want to wear that dress during a regular day, but I wonder if that would cross the boundary between retro-inspired and ridiculous costume-y?

Hmm. Livejournal is always so appealing when I have exams in the morning. Ugh!

SNAP, is anyone going to APE con this weekend? I've never been, and I'd love to go! D: JEFF SMITH IS COMINGGGGGGG (I mean, I think he comes almost every year but still.) and I want to offer him my egg(s).

I'm tentatively leaving for SF either Friday night or Saturday morning and be there for a large part of Saturday. I-if I do leave on Friday, would any of you San Franciscans let me crash at your place for a night? :]]]]]] I'll bring cooooookieeeeeeeeeeees!

♫ ♫ ♫ Everyday I'm blog-a-lin', everyday I'm blog-a-lin'. ♫ ♫ ♫


Exploring the creek.


Craig, discovering the sea.


Ben invited Craig and I to stay over at his aunt's cabin in Cazadero a few weekends ago. I wish I had a camera (alas, I rely on other people's facebooks)--firstly, this cabin was up on a ledge over a creek, so the view from the balcony was amazing. Secondly, The bathroom was crazy! Two of the four walls in the bathroom were glass and there was no curtain to the bath. So, when you showered, it was like being rained upon while naked in the middle of nature. Cool. I learned how to play chess, and there was sammiches, and I cuddled with Craig under the incredibly bright stars, and I slept in a loft, and we explored little hick towns with cute little bakeries, and we hiked by the beach... I had a good time.

I am now at the beginnings of my (hopefully) final year of undergrad education, and when I step back and look at the time I've spent here, I see that this city has changed the way I live and the way I eat. It would be hard not to, considering how green my school is; I mean, we were originally conceived as an agriculture college. UCD recently ranked one of the top 10 greenest universities and our farmer's market won this year's America's Favorite Farmer's Market. The latter is kinda meaningless as it is user voting based, but at the very least, it does show that there is a sizable population in my town who cares about local, organic food.

Last night, I went to one of four free campus showings of the documentary Food, Inc. A lot of it was information that I've already read in Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (corn!), but a lot of it was stuff I'd never known before.

And so, I've tried to summarize one of the many points they make in order to tease you into watching this relevant and accessible documentary.

--

The coming to power of fast food joints in the past century has led to the meat industry being controlled almost entirely by a handful of companies. This is due to the fact that McDonald's wants McDonald's to taste exactly the same at any location in the world, and to meet that standard, the companies must "manufacture" their livestock in large, homogeneous quantities. To cut costs, the livestock are fed corn; corn is cheap and corn makes them fat. Moreover, for the sake of efficiency, the animals are also kept in small enclosed spaces, and what that means is if something goes wrong with one cow, say... mad cow disease, it affects all the cows.

Corn is cheap. The problem is that cows are supposed to eat grass--this is how their stomachs are wired. By eating corn, the acidity levels in their stomachs change to the perfect setting for e-coli. This passes to their manure, and their manure passes to the ground, and there's so little ground that the manure passes to every cow. So every cow is contaminated. When the cows are butchered, what is the probability that a fleck of contamination doesn't get into the meat you consume? What is the probability that this contamination doesn't reach the surrounding crops, like spinach?...

---

Truly, for something as profound as the food we eat, it's frightening that the vast majority don't know where it's coming from, how it's come to be, and why has it come to be that way.

I am one of the already convinced, but that film still shook me. I considered becoming vegetarian, but 1) I don't know if I have that kind of discipline and 2) the conventional vegetable industry is messed up too. While I do try to mostly eat organic and I don't eat much fast food to begin with, I'm making it a vow right now. No fast food for the rest of my life. I am disgusted. Watch Food, Inc.

It's probably this weather that's been making me so restless, but I just can't.. stop... online shopping! Even when the economy is failing, even when I have to pay rent and electricity and internet, even when I have absolutely no need for more clothes, I can't stop. Curse you, internet! Curse you for making purchasing at the click of a button so easy!

Nevertheless, I am excited about the things I bought; I made my first purchases on modcloth.com. *chills of delight* My only problem is that though Modcloth has been a longtime favorite site to browse, I've found it is more practical to use the site as a starting point and finding the outfits cheaper elsewhere. (My excuse for being patron to the store is because some dresses happened to be on sale.)

( Clothes, clothes, and more clothes! )

------


I haven't blogged in so long that I didn't really know where to start; a lot has happened in these past few months that went undocumented. So, I just tried to write about what I've been doing mostly these past few days, which was online shopping. Next time, I'll try to be a little more real. Like, HOW I AM SO HAPPY THAT MY PERIOD FINALLY CAME, HAHA. Happy doesn't even cover the emotion that occurred this morning. It was ... miraculous. Divine. Sublime. Just... totally freaking awesome that I was finally bleeding like a beezy off the heezy. I really thought I was pregnant for a while.

... !

I need some money to pay for my glasses, so I was wondering if.. um.. any of you would like to buy some artwork?? D:

I only have this piece ready to go:



(sorry for x-posting, anyone who also watches elefantdreams) $30? Is that reasonable D: I can go lower if no one wants it :(

I'd also like to offer one watercolor commission to anyone interested ,and to see more watercolor samples, please visit my art journal! PLEEEEEEASE I only need one commission! And I'm limiting it to ONE slot and for ONE character only. I don't want to take any more commissions for a long time after this so....... D: Please!!!! If you want something from me, please act NOWWWWWWW DDDDDDDDD: *needs money in paypal to see again*

elefantdreams

I went to my school's bookstore yesterday and was pleased to see that the Spanish workbook I had been working on was printed and currently on sale. Craig didn't really notice the mistakes, but on perusing the book, I was a wee disappointed to see that strange errors transferred to the print version (layers got switched on some drawings and the color layer is on top of the line layer; it looks very awkward). But to my deepest dismay, I saw that I was not credited anywhere in the book as the artist!

I looked at some other language books to compare, and the illustrator's name is always there. What to do, what to doooooo....... I don't really know what the rules are about this?