The older I get, the more I feel that there are so many talented artists around me. Back in elementary school, most people were only capable of badly colored drawings, often consisting of:

- Stick figures
- Houses that are just a triangle on top of a square
- Skies that are blue at the top but otherwise blank

By middle school it had improved quite a bit for some people, and by high school a few were drawing like pros. I find it funny, though, how almost every teacher I've met is terrible at drawing. The only exception is, yep, you guessed it, art teachers. The last art teacher I had, I think he used to be an illustrator. So of course if he wasn't a good artist he would've starved. (Well, maybe not starved, there are probably ways to get food...Like the lady I saw sneakily picking an orange from someone's tree because the orange was hanging out on the other side of the fence...)

Well, at this age, I guess people are starting to figure out what they're really passionate about and are deciding what they want to pursue, what they think is worth spending their time and effort doing. I know a lot of people who are pretty good at drawing, but there are a few who have really put in a lot of work and I especially want to point them out now.

One of them is my mom's friend's son. My mother just told me that he won the Fotodyne art contest. Apparently he spends a lot of time on a regular basis to improve his art and even goes to another city to practice sketching models (nude, I think, but it is important for artists to be able to draw the human body. After all, my art teacher said about naked people, "Eventually they become just another thing to draw"). If you want to see the full size version of his contest entry, click here. Actually, the style does remind me a bit of an artist on Pixiv. (Not that that's a bad thing. I greatly admire many of the Pixiv artists, wish I was more fluent in Japanese so I could understand more of what's there...Google Chrome's instant translate can be really confusing...)

As for the other person whose art has caught my attention, it is this artist. She has some very nice portraits in her gallery. Actually, a group in my Writing for Publication class last year made a documentary showing what three different people do on Saturday night. One of the people featured was her, and showed some of her drawings, as well as her practicing the guitar.

I must say that I really admire those who practice so much in order to better themselves. I've only ever had that kind of energy in brief fits, and I wish I could keep going at it long enough to make a significant change in my habits and my artistic abilities. I've been thinking maybe I should do something like the 365 days project, either with photography or drawing (or both!) so I'll be forced to practice at it every day. ...I just worry if I can come up with 365 good ideas... -_-;;

Labels: 365, art, change, contest, documentary, drawing, hard work, improvement, motivation, photography, pixiv, practice, project, winner, writing for publication

Yes, you've guessed right, this post has to do with yearbooks. Or rather, my lack of one.

Before this year I had always purchased the yearbook each year. I have the whole collection from my life as a student from kindergarten up through middle school. But this time, for once, I didn't buy one.

The only way to buy a yearbook at my school, or at least the easiest way, is to buy a certain membership card. This card grants you access to the dances at this school, and it comes with a yearbook as well. However, at the beginning of the year, since I decided I had no interest in attending dances, I didn't buy the card. I'd been hoping there'd be some way for me to just waltz up and purchase a yearbook, but I'd heard rumors that if you wanted a yearbook now, you would have to buy the card to get one. The card isn't exactly cheap, either, and I eventually made up my mind not to buy it.

I am a bit regretful now, as the yearbook looks quite nice (and heavy too! Lots of pages, certainly more than my middle and elementary school yearbooks). Though I did get creeped out at one point...I was flipping through someone else's yearbook and saw the page for the boy's swim team. They were all naked except for their Speedos. Not really what I want to look at.

I do wish, too, that I had brought along something for my friends and teachers to sign. One of my friends makes her own tiny books just for signatures. It's quite cute, and even has a few of her drawings on some of the pages (she's really good at drawing...too bad her scanner is broken D: ). She offered to make one for me next year, so I'm looking forward to that.

The yearbook that I'm really impressed by the most, though, is the one that another friend of mine has. She brought her old yearbook from when she lived in Korea. It's very fancy - there are very nice photos, such as of the school and of the places the students went on field trips. Even the students have their own individual photos, not like the ones we have in yearbooks around here. The students get to pose, and the photo shows not just their head but also their torso, so you can actually see what clothes they're wearing. They also have a nice background full of green bokeh. Looks like the students actually got to have their yearbook pictures taken outdoors. Not like the photos that have been taken of me each year: me sitting stiffly and tilting my head, pasting on a fake smile, with a lame bluish-greyish backdrop behind me.

I mean, really. Take a look at the yearbooks from the schools I've been to. We just get a headshot, and the photo is small. All the students pictures are lined up side by side in neat rows. Our names are in a column at the side of the pictures, so it takes a moment to match up each name and face. As for my friend's yearbook from her school in Korea, the pictures are bigger, and the name of each person is just beneath his/her picture. It's easier to get a feel for each person's individuality. I wish the yearbooks of the schools around where I live weren't so...impersonal. It makes me feel like I'm just one of many clones. Only identifiable by the 7-digit ID number assigned to me by the school.

Well, to end, I have some videos to share (though they're totally unrelated to yearbooks). This is a Matryoshka/Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica crossover. For some reason I found it highly amusing.


Here, I just like the mustaches. XD

Labels: card, comparison, contrast, dance, drawing, friends, korea, membership, money, personal, photos, school, sign, speedo, swim team, uniformity, yearbook

"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." - Thomas Edison

True indeed, because nowadays it seems like everything looks like something else. I was browsing images on Zerochan today and noticed a picture of Ruko, a character from a game called Tartaros Online. She looks remarkably like Gumi, a Vocaloid.

RUKO


GUMI


Also, there are three characters, but male instead, who look alike: the Vocaloid Gakupo, Kanda Yu (from D Grayman), and Alto Saotome (from Macross Frontier).

KAMUI GAKUPO


KANDA YU


ALTO SAOTOME


And Scout from the game Pangya looks like Ciel Phantomhive from Kuroshitsuji...

SCOUT


CIEL PHANTOMHIVE


I'm sure I could find more if I just thought about it. I don't know if it's just a wacky coincidence, but it does seem that there are plenty of characters existing out there that look like each other. It's been annoying for me because I'm trying to develop some characters of my own. I created them a lot earlier, more than half a year ago, but now I'm really honing in to determine their appearances, personalities, and such. Problem is, I don't want them to resemble characters that already exist, which is a much more difficult task than I bargained for.

For one thing, there's naming: I'd originally picked the names Hinako and Raymond for the main characters of the sort-of-story I was coming up with. I wasn't sure what to put as Hinako's last name and spent quite a while looking for one, finally settling on Sakaguchi. It was while I was Googling (to see if there are actual people with the names that I've come up with) that I found out that there's actually a yaoi mangaka called Hinako Takanaga... o_o;;

Anyways, though, about the character Hinako that I am coming up with. Her name, and that of her father (which I haven't come up with yet), are the oddball names in the "story". Those two are the only Japanese names. The rest of them sound European or American. (I would've renamed Hinako to fit the rest of the names, but I've gotten so used to calling her that...)

As for Raymond's name, I really like the name Raymond and it just felt like it fit. But then I saw that there's a DeviantArt user who has a character called Raymond, and I didn't want the names to get confused. I can't come up with another name that feels right, so I think I will just spell it differently - Reymond instead.

Well, it's been quite a long time indeed, but at last the characters are coming into their own and I am quite pleased. I just have to figure out how I am going to draw them...I'm not good enough at drawing to make them look the way they ought to, in various aspects, like hair, eyes, and outfits; it only comes out well once in a blue moon. I've really got to practice drawing more. -_-;;

Labels: alto saotome, characters, ciel phantomhive, design, drawing, gakupo, genius, gumi, hinako, kanda yu, name, OC, original character, originality, quote, raymond, reymond, ruko, scout, vocaloid

Well, I mentioned the butterfly effect in my previous post. In a nutshell, it's where one small thing happens, which leads to another thing, and another thing, and another thing, until a really big thing happens.

Shirayuki no Kimi called me a young grasshopper. I was rather offended and retorted, "I'm not young!" (After all, young can be associated with foolish. Like how in French, it's better to be called Madame than Mademoiselle because of such associated meanings)

SnK: Fine, then, old grasshopper.
Me: Dead Grasshopper.
SnK: Decomposing grasshopper.
Me: Hm...Worm food grasshopper.
SnK: Bird poop grasshopper.
Me: Mom's head grasshopper.
It kept going for a little while until it got to "Juppie's photo grasshopper", "Internet grasshopper", and then "famous grasshopper".

I remember that when I was at Yosemite, there was a pretty entertaining riddle that was shared amongst us. It goes like this: There is another world behind a green glass door. But not everything can go through the door. Here's some examples:

Daddies can go through, but fathers can't.
Kittens can go through, but cats can't.
Veggies can go through, but vegetables can't.
Scissors can go through, but shears can't.
Wheels can go through, but tires can't.

If you've already heard this riddle before, I suppose it'd be pretty easy for you to come up with some examples of what can go through and what can't. But see if you can figure it out if you haven't heard this riddle.

I'm pretty bad at riddles otherwise, though. I usually have to have someone tell me the answers. D: Either that, or the riddles really are that difficult. (But then again, if you know the answer to the riddle it must seem pretty obvious.)

Anyhow, though, I have a lot of things I want to do this summer vacation. Since we're going on vacation in July, it's not a good idea to go to summer classes because I might have to miss some of it to go on the trip (and so it wouldn't really be worth the money paid, eh?).
- Do some painting (I never get around to it during the school year :( )
- Practice on the tablet (Haha, I used it to color one drawing, but that is pretty much the extent of what I've done.)
- Drawing by hand (need to learn to do side views. And work on an eye style, as well as hair.)
- Make an OC - Original Character. Already have two but I want to change their looks a bit. And decide on the last name for one of them.
- Take photographs
- Do a 30-day challenge on EA Sports Active (Ugh. My dad bought another video game on a whim. But this one really makes you sweat...Not like Wii Fit.)

Unfortunately, my mom thinks I should get studying for next year, since there'll be SATs to take and whatnot. But maybe I can evade it, somehow or other. ;)

Labels: 30 day, butterfly effect, challenge, dead, drawing, EA Sports Active, grasshopper, green glass door, OC, painting, plans, riddle, summer, summer school, tablet, vacation, video games, yosemite

If you translated this from French to English, you would get "April fish" or "fish of April". That was what the French class at my school did on April Fool's Day (not sure whether the Spanish classes participated). We cut some fish out of paper and put tape on them, sticking the fish on the backs of unsuspecting students. My teacher even suggested that we try to get teachers, but only the ones that could take a joke.

It is harder to do than it seems. A classmate sitting behind me tried to stick his fish on me several times, but I felt it and pulled it off my back. My classmate attempted on the person sitting next to me, but she thought something was amiss and discovered the fish too. When the teacher came near, one student asked, "Hey, would it be okay to, just hypothetically, stick a fish on your back?" She said yes rather sarcastically before saying no. Then she looked at the person sitting behind me, since he was holding a fish, and said, "Oh no, I'm in the danger zone."

I tried to stick a fish on the back one of my friends, but she noticed, too. It really does take slyness to put a fish on someone's back. (Or you at least need to pick a target that is not particularly observant.) I gave one of the fish to another friend, who then proceeded to stick it in my hair and on my back while I was eating. (Ah, well. No harm done.)

I only made three fish in total, so I had only one left. I wanted to make sure that it would definitely end up on someone's back. At first I tried to stick it on the back of a boy passing by, but then someone came up behind him and looked at me suspiciously, so that was unsuccessful. I decided to try on a classmate this time. He did not notice the fish, so I felt like saying, "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!" (Excepted in a weird accent like Fox McCloud does in Super Smash Brothers Melee. You gotta hear it someday.)

But then I started to worry. What if he never did notice the fish? What if it ended up in his washing machine? I have no idea what the tape would do to a washing machine. I hope he or his mother noticed it eventually or at least that the fish fell off somewhere. (But it would be a shame if the fish got lost. Ah, well, it's not hard to make anyways, just doodle on a piece of paper and cut it out with scissors.)

My mother says she doesn't understand the point of April Fool's. Sometimes people are made uncomfortable or are even hurt by tricks that were played on them on April Fool's Day. (Personally I've never really had anything bad happen to me, which is a relief.) But it's also a day where we can be mischievous to a certain degree and not get in too much trouble for it. I'd like to play a prank, actually, but it'd probably be too risky, like if I did the old banana peel thing (what if a person broke their tail bone or hit their head and got a concussion? Yikes). But it might be okay to draw on someone's face or something. I actually saw that happen at a place I went to in the summer... I did hear from someone that putting ink on your skin shortens your life by a little every time, though. I wouldn't want to be taking away a person's life. D: Already my life is probably short since I have a long pencil in my pencil pouch and it keeps sticking out of the side and poking me. Not very pleasant.

Labels: april fool's day, danger, drawing, fish, fox mccloud, french, friends, fun, injury, ink, lifespan, mischief, pencil, prank, sneaky, super smash bros melee, tactics, tape, teacher, trick

Today, my mom said that I should put my drawings somewhere so I don't lose them. I definitely ought to, because I once had this great drawing of Lucario (well, I just looked at the Pokemon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew movie's DVD cover, and copied it, but whatever) and then I lost it! I was really mad over it. Maybe someday I'll find it again, though. Sometimes I do rediscover my old things.

I used to keep a binder with my drawings. I was 9 years old at the time, so the pictures are not so great. (In fact, some of my pictures from before I was 9 are there. They are silly, but they're amusing to look at) It's been so long since I updated that binder. A few of my dad's drawings are in there, too. He draws really good, even if he was only drawing copies of what was in my "How to Draw Manga" book that I ordered from the Scholastic book catalog one year. I guess both of us are better at imitating other people's art than drawing our own. That's worrisome, because I don't want to be arrested for violating copyrights or something like that.

Not that I'm not interesting in going to jail. To me, jail is similar to school, except they have higher fences. I mean, I heard we have the same meal program. That's not fair, because the students committed crimes (uh...as far as I know, at least) but then, criminals are still people and have rights (though some might be a bit kooky). I heard they serve pizza in jail. That's not so bad, is it? But my parents say I am silly for being curious about going to jail because people beat each other up and it can be quite dangerous. Plus, I heard that prisons in my state are getting overcrowded, and one time there was a riot at jail and some buildings were destroyed and people were injured, so I guess I should find a place with a nice jail. Sydney, Australia used to be where the British sent criminals, I think, and there is still an old prison (not in use anymore, I believe) on a very small island in Sydney Harbor... It must've been the jail with the prettiest view in the world.

Back to the topic, though, before I get sidetracked (as usual! I don't really care if I get sidetracked personally, but it might confuse you, the reader). I also dug out my cello the other day. It's not actually my own cello - it was borrowed from a friend of my mom's. My mom's friend's son (well, one of them) wanted to be in Advanced Orchestra or something along those lines, so he took lessons out of school in cello, but he still couldn't give in, so I suppose he gave up and no one was using the cello. So I took it since at the time I was still taking orchestra. I haven't touched it for a very long time so the bow looks ruined, and the strings are really out of tune. Apparently, depending on the temperature, the strings get loose or tight, so you have to tune string instruments every day. Well, the cello itself is shiny still but it's hard to use it since there aren't notches in the bridge for the strings, so if you're not careful the strings at the very sides could actually fall off the bridge, and then you would to have to put them back on. Very annoying, and scary too. I've been urged to take cello again but I'm not sure if I should yet. For one thing, I am afraid to find out whether I even know how to play reasonably well anymore. And I only did take Beginning Orchestra, so although I have knowledge of music (from playing piano all these years), would I still be able to do vibrato, or hold the bow properly?

I think someday I have to get over that fear. I don't know when that day will come for me. It could be fifty or sixty years from now, when I am retired for real (although I really want to retire, it's unlikely, like WHO WOULD PAY FOR MY EXPENSES? My dad says he will give me his money, but he wants to retire as well).

I'm an easily distracted person, and sometimes I start thinking, and old memories that I had forgotten for so long come back to me. (Thus the title for today's post.) For instance, my carseat. I used to always have to sit in one. It wasn't all that long ago. Maybe third grade or so... I think I started to sit without a carseat in maybe fourth grade? (Hey! Maybe that's why I started getting carsick! I didn't have a carseat any longer) I wonder where it is now. Is it in the garage? Or has it been given away? Sometimes I think it's so weird how I could forget about something that I had for so long. But then again, I guess people are always preoccupied with their current lives and don't have that much time to think about the past. It's kind of sad that way. Life is so rushed, and technology actually seems to be making it busier instead of less busy...

Labels: australia, binder, carseat, carsick, cello, copy, crime, drawing, fear, instrument, jail, life, lucario, memories, orchestra, overcrowding, pokemon, retirement, sydney

As of late, we've been studying the Constitution in my history class. In one of the articles, I saw the phrase "yeahs and nays". I thought it kind of reminded me of the neighs of horses. I mean, the people at the time were kind of like horses anyhow. They even wore wigs which sometimes have "ponytails" on them.

Nowadays, instead of yeah and nays, it would be thumbs up or thumbs down, or just raising your hand to vote for something (while everyone's heads are down on their desks so they can't see who's voting what), wouldn't it? It might be fun, though, to be asked an opinion, and then to have everyone say either "Yeah" or "Nay" all at once. I suppose it would be considered a waste of valuable class time, though.

Speaking of which, I caught sight of something which I wasn't supposed to have seen. It's not something inappropriate or anything, so don't worry about that. I forgot to print out my homework for language arts class, but I had my USB drive, so I asked my teacher if I could print it out with her laptop. While I was preparing to do that, I noticed she had a Skype window. She was chatting with my history teacher. At first I thought, "Oooh! Busted!" but then I realized it was probably work-related since there was some mention of a meeting. Besides, I'd be in trouble if the teacher realized I was snooping, hehe. So I guess that rumor about my history teacher spending time chatting with his girlfriend (who is a teacher as well, in a different school, wouldn't they both be fired then?!) is not true, it's just my language arts teacher.

For a long time I was meaning to post a drawing that I made, except I kept on forgetting about it, so now I'm only posting it practically a month after I drew it. XD (If you've been actively checking up on my DeviantArt you may have seen it earlier) This is a drawing, or, two drawings, of the character Haruhi Suzumiya. I am currently working on a piece of Hatsune Miku (using GIMP to digitally make lineart and color it in). I will post the original sketch and the finished version up when I'm done.

Just the other day it was my mom's birthday, so we went out to eat at a buffet called Tatami. It's in a mall, and it used to be called Todai, but apparently it was sold. D: My mom got her food free since it's her birthday. (You have to be accompanied by two "paying adults", though. But I count as an adult now, so it's fine. Too bad there's no more kid discounts. I have to wait until people believe I'm old so I can get the senior discounts on things like museum membership) I am a plain sort of person, so I just like to eat kappamaki (cucumber sushi) and Philadelphia rolls (basically, sushi with salmon and cream cheese in it).

Ah, but what I really liked was the cookies they have there. When I used to visit Todai, I always ate those cookies. The light-colored ones are the best. I thought they were supposed to be sugar cookies, but I'm not sure. My parents say the smell of milk is strong, so maybe they're just "milk cookies". I would like to be able to buy them, but I have never found them. (They're not Nilla wafers, anyhow) My mother thinks that they could be a personal recipe of the restaurant that was passed on when the owner sold Todai and it got changed to Tatami.

The restaurant has a chocolate fountain and a vanilla fountain now, you know, those miniature ones you can plug in. It's pretty cool. The kids were fond of it, of course. I tried dipping the milk cookies, bananas, and big marshmallows into it. What was funny was a sign that says, "Please do not dip your ice cream into the chocolate fountain". It must mean someone actually tried to put their ice cream cone in there. I wonder how they reacted when they were trying to hold the cone and there was chocolate sliding down it.

I have been thinking that although the town I live in has a hefty population, it's still not all that exciting, because of something we were talking about in French class... My teacher said, "We don't really have a downtown here, do we?" And another student replied, "The library!" If the library is our downtown, then we can't say much for ourselves, can we? XD All over the USA, though, not many people go to the library regularly, it seems. It's kind of saddening. My parents say more people go to the library in my town because they're frugal and don't want to buy books. (Rather, they waste their money on brand name things and cars. -_-;; )

Labels: birthday, buffet, chocolate fountain, constitution, cookie, downtown, drawing, gimp, haruhi suzumiya, ice cream, library, skype, spending money, sushi, tatami, teacher, todai, yeahs and nays

This is apparently a phrase from the famous story The Three Little Pigs. (I may not have gotten it down exactly right.) I had a similar experience to this recently.

On Tuesday, where I live, there was some surprisingly stormy weather. It rained and poured until nighttime. I hadn't brought my umbrella, nor had I brought my raincoat, and so my not-so-waterproof jacket was my only protection. The rain started to become a hassle because my shoes weren't so waterproof either, and so my socks became soaked. It's a good thing that a teacher had her classroom open and I went indoors to eat my lunch.

Come fifth period, multiple kids were drenched from having to go through the rain to get to the classroom. The math classroom is a "portable", I think, since it has a ramp and the ceiling is not so high and such. And whenever someone stomps you can feel the room shake a little bit because it's not as steady as the "actual classrooms". (But schools still insist on having these "portable classrooms" for some reason) We were being punished for talking too much - for some reason, my math class has a lot of people, and so it is even louder - and we were not allowed to speak to each other. It was eerily quiet in the classroom, except for one sound...The sound of the wind. The wind was beating very hard on the classroom and it sounded like we would be blown in, like the Three Little Pigs' houses, but nope, it didn't happen. In fact, the teacher never even looked up. I guess not much can faze him.

PE was canceled that day because it was far too rainy. We were all hustled into the gym, which was muddy too (it being the last period of the day, and many shoes having already been in and out). We watched some Comcast Sportsnet videos, which were showing the "science behind sports". Apparently a golf ball can go farther if it is warm than if it is cold. So, couldn't you become better at hitting long distance by simply incubating your golf ball and then hitting it? (Though why you would incubate golf balls, instead of incubating chicken eggs like you should, is beyond me)

Does good handwriting matter a lot in life? My math teacher always stresses that we need to work at having neat handwriting. He said that sloppy handwriting is NOT a "style" of handwriting, and that teachers grade less harshly when you have good handwriting. "And don't go running to your parents saying how unfair it is! That's life! That's HUMAN NATURE!" he'd say. "If you have messy handwriting, then I have the urge to pick it apart for mistakes. I might overlook a mistake or be more lenient if you have good handwriting." I am going to try and work on mine. I think it is legible, but someone said I didn't "write like a girl". That's so sexist. Not all people write the same. I even hold my pencil differently. D: I started holding my pencil that way when I was young and I don't think someone corrected me, so now I'm stuck that way since I feel awkward if I hold pens and pencils the way almost everyone does.

Nowadays I sometimes draw things with pencil, then scan it, and color it in with the most basic of GIMP brushes (in other words, plain old circle brushes which come with GIMP when you download it). It's always so messy, though. In fact, I think my drawings might look better in black and white... o_O;; I've heard of something called Copic markers and I've been curious to see what they are. Does anyone have them, by any chance?

Labels: art, classroom, colors, copic, drawing, fantasy golf, gimp, handwriting, human nature, incubate, life, markers, pencil, portable, rain, storm, story, three little pigs, weather, windy

In French class, we asked what nationality the teacher was. She said that according to a student, "She was a vampire who grew fangs and sucked blood at nighttime". And ironically, the teacher grew up in Romania. Romania is the country where the famed Vlad the Impaler once resided (the guy who impaled people and decorated roadsides with them? Yup, that's the one. Sort of reminds me of how they used to put executed people's heads on the London Bridge). And Vlad was the inspiration for the stories of "Dracula".

Then we have my science teacher. We have an activity called Current Events, where the students present a newspaper or magazine article related to science (in my class we can't use the Internet since apparently that would make it too easy, or the source might have false information, or something like that). A few students present each week on Monday, or Tuesday if we weren't in school on Monday. Well, whenever the presentations are over, the teacher reads off the names of students presenting on the next week. Twice, she said "On the menu..." which made me think that she planned to eat the students, like Hansel and Gretel. And this week she said "victims". I don't mean to be offensive, but sometimes she does look sort of like a witch since she is old and has long, silver hair. I think she ought to dress up as a witch for Halloween.

I was trying to do my language arts homework, writing a memoir, today. We were using Google Docs to write our essays. I was able to use it in class, but now that I'm at home I seem unable to find the page where I logged into it. I don't want to use my Gmail for the Google Docs since the saved file is on a different account...Apparently, we logged into a specific CUSD place on Google Docs, but I can't work on the homework if I can't even get to it. I am just going to have to ask the teacher tomorrow, since it's not due yet.

A while back, I found some of my old drawings, I think I talked about it and how I used to be trying to make a calendar, hmm? I decided to assess my art style by comparing the two of them. It's a good idea to keep your old writing or drawing so you can look at it again in the future. Mostly I tend to laugh at it or smile at the fond memories they bring up. I tried to keep this images alike, but I did make a few changes for convenience. (Haha, the foot in the earlier one - which was draw around May 2007 - is weird)

Labels: art, comparison, current events, dracula, drawing, fairy tale, google docs, halloween, homework, memories, menu, problem, romania, vampire, victim, vlad the impaler, witch

Well, I did hear somewhere or other that there's a song called Pocket Full of Sunshine (I personally am not a big fan of it, but I like the name!) but what really reminded me of this was my math homework. There was a problem about a guy who had angles in his pocket. I don't understand how that's possible. Does he have drawings of angles? Or is his pocket a really weird shape? Either way, it seems to be nonsense. The whole textbook is pretty weird. I mean, I've seen something about a parallelogram who was depressed because he couldn't fit into a circle, and also a problem about some alien who talks to people walking in the desert. I have heard that people who aren't that good at math are the ones who make the textbooks. All I can say is that they have some...interesting ideas.

I was feeling pretty chipper today, though. I got lucky since my math teacher is forgiving. Otherwise I would've lost a lot of points because I didn't notice there was a last page on the math text we took on Thursday... A close save, indeed.

Mostly it was the weather that caused me to be in high spirits. I like days like today, kind of cool but with the sun still out, and a nice breeze. There have been pretty clouds for the last few days, too. In fact, I was surprisingly energetic and ran faster in PE than usual. Too bad we weren't running the mile today. (Or maybe it's a good thing. I had some pain in my chest sometime which probably means I have a heart problem or something D: )

I was walking around during lunch when someone pointed out a sign on a door. It was a sign with Sponge Bob, of all things, on it. I wonder what Sponge Bob is doing at school... I can't say he's particularly educational...Unless you want to sing the "F is for friends who do stuff together, U is for you and me, N is for anywhere, anytime at all, down in the deep blue sea" song.

I found a drawing from...fifth grade? Or was it fourth? All I can say is that it had a Bulbasaur and a Chikorita on it (both green plant-like Pokemon) in a forest setting. It was not a very good drawing but I thought it was cute. It sure brings back memories. The Pokemon represent an old friend of mine and I (in our Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team forms). There are other drawings I dug up in my house, like the drawings from the time I was trying to make a calendar with a seasonally dressed anime girl for each one. I abandoned the project when I lost those papers. (I'm sure it must've been in elementary school, when I still had enough free time to draw.)

I still do draw, though, in class, especially in my math notebook. I got the idea in seventh grade and have been doing it ever since. Maybe I should scan them and then erase them from my notebook so my math teacher will not be shocked when he grades my notebook.

Labels: angle, calendar, clouds, drawing, energy, fun, geometry, happiness, health, notebook, pocket, pocket full of sunshine, pokemon mystery dungeon, song, spongebob, test, textbook, weather

I have no idea whether I have translated that right, but it should be something along the lines of "The Beauty and the Beast". I just noticed something about The Beauty and the Beast. In the Disney movie, the girl is called Belle, isn't she? And the feminine French word for beauty is belle...Perhaps they did that on purpose and it wasn't just a coincidence. I have heard of secret goings-on with movies kind of like people comparing the villains Scar (from Aladdin) and Jafar (from The Lion King).

The weather seems to be changing all of a sudden. It's still sunny as usual, but now the temperature has cooled down. It's a nice change, but it's hard to get used to needing more blankets again...I was always annoyed by the summer heat but I'm pretty sure as soon as it's the thick of winter I will be pining for the warmth. The grass is always greener on the other side (well, not necessarily, if you have seen how dead some people's lawns are).

Speaking of lawns, I once heard that in certain places it's a law to keep your yard in good condition. Grass shouldn't be growing too wild, there shouldn't be too much weeds and you should prune your bushes, that kind of thing. Apparently you can even get fined for it. Wow... Well, we have nothing like that in my town, though, as far as I know.

I think the library is just really going downhill. Today I went to the library and there were strangely long lines for returning books and checking them out. I thought nothing of it until I tried returning the books and media that I had finished or that was due. It took a while for the system to make a connection, apparently. And then later I had to wait in line a long time just to check out what I wanted because the system is so slow. According to my dad it would take six months and a bunch of money to bring the library up to speed. Probably it's because so many people use the library (in fact, sometimes the recession is blamed for it since more people use the library during recessions) and also because the library hasn't got the cash. I suggested selling their fish tank (I'd buy it in a wink if I had the $$$) but my dad insists it's not easy to sell something like that, and it would be far from enough to pay for the system upgrade anyhow.

In French class we had a project where you color in a picture of a girl (or a boy, if you're male) and write a "paragraph" about yourself using words you've learned in class. I was trying to make my person have a ponytail since I almost always have my ponytail (in fact, the only time I took it down was for picture day). It was not going well, it always looked very awkward or in the wrong place or some other thing. I just gave up eventually and settled for something that looked so-so. The picture looks a little like me, but not much, because the hair has bangs (and I don't).

This is really out of the blue, but while working on some homework I stumbled upon a picture of a puzzle I remember doing when I was young. Click here to see it. I find Oklahoma's nickname really strange. What's "Sooner State" supposed to mean? Does that mean things happen sooner there?

Labels: belle, disney, drawing, fix, french, grass, lawns, library, map, movie, oklahoma, picture, ponytail, problem, puzzle, sooner state, system, temperature, the beauty and the beast, villains

If you think of the summer as a performance, it starts off feeling exciting. You might have a case of the butterflies from stage fright, or maybe you're brimming with confidence and anticipation, or maybe you're hiding in the corner from dread. But either way, the whole performance is ahead of you yet. And then eventually you get to intermission (or if not that, you get halfway through the performance) and you're beginning to realize, "Oh, already that much of it is done, we'll be through not long from now." And then now it's almost time to take your bows. But when it comes to summer vacation, there is no encore. You will not get summoned back to the stage for another round of applause (except for the Staff Learning Days and stuff, but that's different).

I am afraid that my summer is draining away before my eyes. I have not made preparations for school and have basically procrastinated and poorly managed my time a whole lot this summer. Also, one of my friends who was visiting for the summer will be going on back to Taiwan not too long from now. Even the school schedules have been put up on our grade viewer (whether on accident or on purpose, I have no idea) and those are all definite signs that summer is coming to its end. I would like to ask you all, how were your summers? Did you put on a spectacular show? Or are you glad to have it over with? Or somewhere in between?

Now, I don't want to spend too much time dishing out sappy lines, so instead I would like you to take a look at some photos and drawings and critique them. You can find more of them on my DeviantArt account, link at the side of the posts. Click on them for full view.





Eek, I know my drawings are kind of messed up (like how I'm so lazy that I made the person in the first drawing put her - because it is a girl, but dressed as a boy?! - hands behind her back, and how I imitated Arina Tanemura's style in the second drawing) but oh well. Practice practice practice!

Labels: accomplishments, critique, drawing, encore, end, performance, photography, practice, summer, time, vacation

A few days ago, when my mom was driving me to my summer classes, we saw a yellow school bus parked by the side of the road. I wondered if it was a field trip that a summer camp was doing (because school ought to be out unless you take "year-long" school) but then I saw that the people getting off the bus had golf clubs. So it must've been a group of kids who were taking golf classes. (The bus was not far from the Blackberry Farms Golf Course) Then, of course, my mom had to remind me that she wanted me to learn golf, and especially so since my dad wants me to take the classes so he can learn too.

Recently, I went to Petsmart. I usually go there to pass the time if my mom is going to the grocery store or something. (My dad accompanies me) We wanted to get another pet koi for our fish tank, but it's not a good time to seeing as I will be leaving for vacation soon. I mean, I heard there was a family that had a lot of fish in a big koi pond and they don't even go on long vacations because they don't want to leave the fish alone. So maybe we'll be getting a new fish after I return, in August. My dad wanted to get a greyish-colored koi. What do you think?

While I'm at Petsmart, I often look at the other animals, especially the cats. They take a few cats in and you can adopt them. There were two cats that looked very alike (I guess they were siblings) who were quite energetic and if you put your finger on the glass, then they'd seem to be trying to bite you. o_O;; And there was a Siamese cat. I really like Siamese cats because of their blue eyes and how their paws and ears are dark while the rest of their bodies are light. But seeing as my mom is unwilling to adopt a cat or dog, I'm stuck only looking.

My parents say the main reason why I can't be entrusted with such a pet is because children will often beg and beg for a pet until their parents give it to them, and they will promise to take care of the animal. But after a few weeks they won't take care of the pet, just play with it when they feel like it. And the parents are stuck taking care of the animal since you can't just "get rid of it" - It's a living being (this is sort of like the debate over whether abortion is humane). So my parents don't want that to happen if they do get me a dog or cat.

Still, I can't help wanting one because I'd rather find out for myself than just hear what other people already have to say about it. It's kind of like how everyone believed Aristotle's writings even though he assumed a lot of them since he didn't have time to discover everything himself. It wasn't until later that scientists proved him wrong, finding out the Earth was not the center of the universe, and things like that. My dad says it'd be nice if there was a "Rent-a-Pet" kind of business so I could have a trial run and if I'm responsible enough, then I could adopt a dog or cat. (That sure would be nice, but as far as I know there is no such business...)

I recently discovered how hard it is to draw umbrellas. I was doodling and decided to make the person hold an umbrella. However, it would turn out lopsided or it would be too high or too small or something. I had to keep adjusting it and finally I gave up and decided I would just leave it as is. Maybe I should get out one of my umbrellas and look at it to draw one. (It's easier for me to draw things I can see with my own two eyes.)

Labels: animals, broken promise, bus, cat, difficult, drawing, golf, koi, pet, petsmart, responsibility, siamese, umbrella

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