What a day so far. Feeling toooo lazy. But I got an A on my Arwen project!

Well, I finally made the trip to Pearl Paint cuz I heard wonders about their prices. Eh. S'okay. It's not any better or worse than The Art Store or Utrecht. (All the art people know what I'm talking about. The rest of you could probably care less. Or maybe not. I mean, a lot of people I know like to do art stuff. Or wish they could do art stuff.) Anyway, there are only two Pearl Paint stores, one in LA (Pico and La Cienega) and on in Huntington Beach. Well, for those of you that understand LA driving, Pico and La Cienega are really crappy streets. They're large and busy-as-heck. (That's the reason for my previous I-hate-LA-driving rant.)

I'm really starting to get the hang of traditional animation. I would really like to show it to my two faithful readers, but it would require too much time and effort, not to mention a faster online connection. I don't even have them on video tape. I should do that. I do have to say, there's a reason why I like 3D more than traditional. In-betweening sucks. For those of you non-animation-savvy folks, that means that the head animator draws all the major poses, and then the runty assistant has to draw all the frames in between the key poses. So, for example, the head animator draws the person standing, then sitting, and the in-betweener has to draw the person's knees bending, bending, bending, until he gets to the sitting position. Yeah, it's a sucky thing to do. Now, if I had an assistant, then I wouldn't have to do all that. :) Wouldn't that be funny. "Teacher, can you get all of us students a couple of assistants each?"

But I do have to say, what I like about traditional (meaning pencil on paper) is that if you want your character to squish or twist or whatnot, you can just draw him that way. With 3D, you have to set it up so that he can do all that. And that requires tons of work. It means that before you can animate a single frame, you have to think about every single move your guy is going to make, and then set him up so that he can do that. (That's why those Pixar people can churn out "outtakes" and mini-movies with the regular characters after the main movie is done. The characters are already set up, you just have to move them around and then render.)

I've probably bored y'all. Eh. It's my journal. But please come back! All two o'ya!

Ugh. I hate LA driving. Remind me never ever ever ever drive in downtown LA during the hours of 4 to 7 pm. And during today's drawing class, I wasn't as "on" as I was on Tuesday. Maybe cuz I was a half-hour late (c'mon, it's a 5-hr class), but I think it was also due to the models not being very dynamic. I just want to be on time next week cuz then it's proof that I can be on time, cuz I really need to be on time the week after since we have a field trip.

I'm sooo tired. Makes me think back to the days when I had no class to teach, no school to attend. I mean, sure, I was bored out of my mind, but I was never tired. :) Never happy, ain't I?

I gotta watch out or I'm going to develop a (bigger) swelled head. My teacher complimented me a lot in class (costumed figure drawing) today. He said that I steadily improve every week. I think some of that is due to the other drawing class I'm taking (figure in motion, where every other week we have nudes), but I think a lot of that is due to just getting back in the swing of things. I mean, yeah, my drawing has improved over stuff I did in Berkeley, but when I started this class this semester, I hadn't done any figure drawing in 2.5 years. I was rusty and it showed. It took me a few weeks to get back to where I was before. But Doug (the teacher) saw it as improvement.

Also, (forgive me for my arrogance) I think I am one of the best, if not the best, draftsman of the class. That only tells you how crappy a lot of the students are. Many people have never taken an art class before, nevermind a figure drawing class. You see why it's too easy to get a swelled head. The drawing ability of the other class is much better (I think because it's actually titled "advanced figure in motion"). Anyway, I just have to realize that I should seek to make my drawings better than my own, rather than of others'.

Reading Christine's Blog makes me want to have a pet. :Þ

Back in school... and already memories of Spring Break are becoming a blur. I was late to class... again. I just couldn't pull myself out of bed earlier, and then Dad had another computer question. I mean, I'm glad to help and all, but honestly, most of those questions are stuff I don't know off the bat and I have to find out, and that is something he can do himself! I think I became a crutch for him. Before, he was forced to figure out everything by himself. But now, one little thing goes wrong, and it's "JEEEEAAANNNAAAA---YAAAAAHHH." "Yes, Dad?" "I clicked upload and it's not working!" "Dad, the program froze, you have to refresh the page and start over." "How do you do that?" Sigh. "Here, Dad." "How can you change this to get rid of the background?" "Well, Dad, you probably want to use Photoshop instead of Paint." "Photoshop? Where's that?" "Just go to 'All Programs'...."

You get the idea. Really simple stuff. Which only makes me realize why basic computer classes are so popular. Most people see the computer as such a mysterious thing that only an "expert" can tell them how to use.

Happy Easter! (Um... belated)

The women's ministry presentation went well. I actually felt nervous (I wasn't all rehearsal) but I didn't screw up, at least. It was really beautiful.

I checked out the video of the 1973 film of Jesus Christ Superstar. It's an interesting version. Because Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice didn't want to say for certain that Jesus was either God or not, it's a very humanistic view of the Passion, the main character being Judas. It's rather interesting inexploring why Judas would betray someone he loved so much. Well, the film didn't show Judas' love so much.

Anyway, so here's my question to y'all. Do you think if you were there that you would betray or deny Jesus? We could all say, heck no, but really, back then, the Jews were expecting Armageddon and for Jesus to set up a physical kingdom on Earth. You're all excited cuz the Romans have been oppressing you for years, and you expect paradise to return. Then the guy you believed would do that is not only refusing to wage war, but up and gets arrested and crucified. We have the benefit of viewing this event through thousands of years of study and examination, and keeping our focus on a heavenly kingdom as opposed to an earthly one. But back then... I don't know how I would have reacted. I'm just glad I live in this century.

The people in my class at my old church in Berkeley (KCPC) are sending "annual update" e-mails about what's been going on in their lives. Some people have shocked. I'm amazed at the number of people going back to school, though. (One thing that bothers me is that it's always the same ol' people responding, and I would like to know what's going on with other people that I knew but don't have their e-mail addresses.)

Anyway, before I respond, I'd have to think about my life first. I've rather avoided the old KCPC group, scattered as they are. Well, last year I did that cuz I was going through issues and I retreated into my shell and only associated with the closest friends. (Meaning a lot of peripheral friends got cut off.) Anyway, my life hasn't gotten much better or worse. Sure, I've gotten wiser, but who the heck wants to read about that? (Oh, sorry readers....)

One big major life lesson: Relationships are hard work and if you depend on them to fix your problems, you're in for a major screwin'. So why have a relationship? I think because they're like kids. It's fulfilling. So they say. But you still have diarrhea diaper changes and 4-am feedings. Makes me wonder why I want one so much.

This time, I really am Arwen. I guess DirectNIC doesn't like ppl just linking to image files. If you would like to comment, send me an e-mail or sign my guestbook!

Well, my parents are back. I'm such a baby.

I'm sleeping so erratically lately. Part of that is due to my watching the news 'til too late. I'm glad that the major fighting of this war is over, but I wonder how things will be afterwards in Iraq. Will they still hate us? Gotta hand it to the Muslims. Some Christians may hate Jews but don't profess it. But for some strict Muslim sects, anti-Semitism is practically dogma. And I think as long as Muslims hate Jews, and Christians for liking Jews, there won't be an end to terrorism.

Unless, of course, it's nothing about religion and all about power and money, which most likely it always is....

Sooo tired... but... SPRING BREAK!!!!!!!!!!! Wooooohooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

Life's just passing by way too quickly. Months go by and I realize I haven't heard from a friend. I'm approaching my third holiday at church (fourth, if you count Valentine's Day) and Easter by far is the biggest deal. I'm part of a women's presentation (body worship, not quite sure of the title, but it starts, "This is my body given for you, this is the cup that holds the blood of the new covenant"). We had practice last night from 10 to 11!

I also had a long chat with my friend after. It started after I got freaked out listening to the Coast to Coast radio show. They were having people call in with scary things that have happened to them, and I get too easily freaked out by stories of ghosts, supernatural warnings, and even gnomes. Anyway, being in the house alone... well, I got freaked out and called my friend up. (The only other person I know who would have been up at that hour.) Well, I stopped being freaked... and got grossed out instead. :)

Ever since I saw the dinner theater production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat last February, I have been somewhat obsessed with getting the soundtrack. Not buying, per se, but looking for mp3s or else library copies. The Donny Osmond production was on TV recently, and it's pretty good. Eh, if anything, I'll be on the lookout for a cheap used CD. I did managed to download a couple of songs but I don't know who the singer is. I think it's Michael Damien, in which case, he's not that good.

So much school supplies! I think I'll have to look into getting (or making) a cheap light box.

I splurged today and spent $3 on my lunch. Hahahahaha. Yep, splurged. I know this habit is so incredibly bad for me, but I've been eating those 99-cent burgers for lunch (on school days), coupled with a Coke (cuz of the caffeine value). I don't know how else to save money on lunch (other than brown-bagging it, which is sorta hard to do cuz I'm always running late in the mornings). I just hope that I don't end up gaining too many inches so that I can't fit into my bridesmaid dress. Exercise? Umm... sure. I think my weight control tactic so far has been, "eat something fatty only once a day, and have a bowl of cereal and some bread later." How's it working for me? Not well. I'm not sure about weight, since some of my pants are a little looser, but I have zero-point-one energy. Really, once I get home, I just conk out. The only way I can function at all seems to be through caffeination. I suppose it's a vicious cycle, not having enough energy to exercise so I can get more energy....

I do have to admit, getting out of Berkeley definitely lessened my liberalism. But I am not a right-wing conservative!

Recently I caught the Woody Allen movie Everyone Says I Love You on TV (it's cute, a musical comedy, with an ensemble cast including Alan Alda, Goldie Hawn, Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts, and Natalie Portman). Alan Alda's son suddenly turned into an extreme right-wing conservative, to the dismay of his liberal Democrat father. Anyway, some of the things that the son spouted was school prayer and and no gun control.

And no, I don't support forced school prayer, and I do support gun control. Perhaps even banning firearms among civilians altogether. And even though I'm a Christian, I don't think forced school prayer does anything except alienate those that are confused or deciding. It's kind of a tough subject for me: evangelism. I mean, Christ commands it, but whenever I try to do it, it backfires. And a lot of it backfires. So I think that forcing school prayer doesn't help our cause any better than the non-Christians.

Just a thought.

Wow, sorry, I kept on forgetting to post stuff while online. My apologies to my two faithful readers. :)

I've had some interesting rants and whatnot about various people and things, but I'm not in the mood now, so I'll do that later.

It's been semi-crazy this past week prepping my parents for their trip. And now I have the house to myself for ten days! Though I still have school and work, and the only difference now is that I have to fix my own dinners. I'm listening to Dr. Laura on the radio, and boy, she's very abrupt and compassion-less. She makes a lot of sense, but dang, Dr. Phil has more heart.

I don't like seeing people away at airports. I feel like I'm being left behind. But... I couldn't go along. Money, schedule, etc, prevents me from doing so. I definitely want to do more travelling in the future.