You Are 29 Years Old

29 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Your Linguistic Profile:

60% General American English

20% Yankee

15% Upper Midwestern

5% Dixie

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Your Brain is 53.33% Female, 46.67% Male

Your brain is a healthy mix of male and female You are both sensitive and savvy Rational and reasonable, you tend to keep level headed But you also tend to wear your heart on your sleeve

What Gender Is Your Brain?

I was surfing the web and came upon this picture of Michelle Kwan. You'd think that they'd pick a better angle than one that makes her look like Cotton Hill. (Bonus points to anyone who knows the reference.) 

So taxes are done and I'm getting a nice refund. I filed for the second year in a row with H&R Block online e-file because it's a free service they have for people that make less than a certain amount. Actually, I think they waived that income restriction and instead will let everyone e-file for free as long as they get to "suggest" upgrading your service (for only $49.95!) every five minutes.

I'm so poor, it's annoying. I signed up for the stock investment plan at work, but I found out it's a post-tax deduction, so I don't get a savings on taxes. Anyway, the plan basically takes 10% of my paycheck into a fund, and at the end of the quarter or whenever it was, they buy as many Starbucks stock as possible with that fund, at 15% off the lowest of the opening or closing prices. All I can say is that had I started a year ago when I could, that stock would have doubled in price by now. Sigh.

Anyway, that means my paycheck is really small, and so that refund doesn't mean "extra money" but more like "keep-paying-the-rent money." Whateley talks about going to Vegas this summer like last summer, and as much as I would like to, I don't think I can currently afford to.

Spring Break has been pretty good so far. By coincidence, Whateley was over in Santa Monica for three days to train (only two blocks from my store!), so we were actually able to hang out during the week. It was cool. A lot of beer. And wine. And cider.

Speaking of wine, I watched "Sideways." Good movie. Makes you want to get into wine. I guess there's more complexity to it than I think. It made me think of the coffee tastings that we did as part of Starbucks training. Well, all I can say about that is, "Umm... it tastes like coffee?"

Another movie I watched recently was "Sin City." It was brutal, but because of the style of the movie, it wasn't gory. I was a bit ewww about Jessica Alba and Bruce Willis, but it's part of the story, so it's not so bad. And Elijah Wood! I... I don't think I can look at his baby blues and think of innocent little Frodo anymore.... I don't care if it's against protocol, I'm going to tell him he was great (and freaky!) the next time I see him... I hope there's a next time.

Anyway, to end this essay, I'm going to work on my bit for the Animation Club. I think we're going to use our funds to get T-shirts since we're nowhere near completing our movie before the year's up. I'd debating on taking a drawing class this summer. Eight all-day Friday classes... but worth it? Four animal drawing, four costumed figure drawing. I guess it wouldn't be too bad. As long as there's no homework.

I haven't been posting my schedules lately, but due to an opener quitting, I'm scheduled to open all next week (except for Thursday and Sunday), and I'm working thirty-two hours. Yipes. Well, it'll make up for the lack of hours I was getting earlier, but it just means that I will have to work on stuff more now.

Okay, off to the computer!

I went ice-skating for the second time in two weeks. It was fun, and I didn't fall this time! Yes Whateley, you don't have to hear me whine any more.

They offer figure skating classes, and I am tempted to sign up (during the summer, of course, when I'm less busy). I saw some kids (and adults!) that were doing some spins and jumps, and... well, it just looked cool. I wanna do that! I love watching figure skating at the Olympics, so I'm a little wistful.

The main bad thing about that, though, is that ice is not a natural occurence here, so basically, you can only ice skate at a rink. So it just seems sucky to have to pay the entrance fee for everytime you want to participate in your hobby. And that's what it would be, essentially. Boy though, to be able to do a jump... that would be mega-cool. Though right now, I'd settle for being able to go backwards.

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On a different note, I've been thinking more and more about grad school lately. UCLA has a pretty good program (and they don't charge an arm and a leg for it... just a few fingers and maybe an ear) and I might have a chance to actually getting in. But the thought of more school, and incurring school loans, isn't so appealing right now. But getting an animation gig straight out of school is hard, especially out of SMC, so any help would be nice. I mean, right now, my options are to get an entry-level job at a visual effects company and prove my skillz to the higher-ups after a coupla years, or go to grad school, come out with a killer reel, and perhaps start off as a low-level animator at a visual effects company.

Anybody wanna offer an opinion?

To Bleusky: I visited you in 2000, because the plane was empty on Jan 1, 2000, though it was packed ten days later. Ahhh... good ol' Y2K fears.

One week 'til Spring Break! Erg.

anim.usc.edu

Okay, it's a grad program, and why do their animations suck?