With Wisdom Comes...

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

I hope you are all keeping well and staying healthy. Not that there is an "all" actually reading this quite yet, but we can pretend.

This week has been slow for art, some of which has not been my fault. I (and my new dentist) finally decided that it was time to remove my wisdom teeth. The last dentist told me it would be okay to let them grow in (probably to save my parents and I money at the time), and consequentially, they grew in completely, but took up the remaining quark of space in my mouth and caused a ton of pressure (and headaches, most likely) and a very slight misalignment of the rest of my teeth. So, yay! A quick pull without cuts or stitches, and my first experience of anesthesia. I admit I don't like the thought that there are approximately 45 minutes of my life that have vanished from my memory.

Next point about wisdom has been on my mind lately. People are determined to grow up as quickly as possible, it seems. I keep seeing people my age having children. Children!! To be having children at this point, I would expect them to have had a steady, hefty income for at least a couple of years. Some of them do. Some don't. This concerns me. I don't think that people actually THINK about children. Or marriage. Especially marriage.

People throw the word and the ceremony around like it's the newest fashion trend. They seem to glean more from everyone's REACTION to them getting married than the actual concept of the fact that they are (supposed to be) choosing the person they want to BE WITH FOREVER. Some of these people haven't even LIVED together yet. Terrifying! You can't know how someone will be until you have lived with them. This is common sense.

On that topic, sort of, I find it very common lately, especially in World of Warcraft, that people play the game but their wives can't stand it when they do. I have plenty of guys in my guild who want to raid but can't all the time because their wife doesn't like it. Now, I understand not having everything in common with a person. But if you LOVE WoW and you play it all the time, how is it that your wife doesn't? That she doesn't even know what it is? That she doesn't even PLAY VIDEO GAMES?!

While it is typical that men make relationship choices with 75% penis and 25% brain...why would you choose to be with someone who is hot but knows nothing of what you are interested in? You want to spend the rest of your life getting your "game time" when SHE wants to let you? Having your decisions overridden when SHE decides she wants to do something else besides raid? I've noticed this is common as well. Controlling wives. Why can't the husband decide when things are supposed to happen? Why do they ALLOW their wives to have this kind of power? It sickens me to watch a wife hold up the sex card and have their puppy-dog husband come running to their beck and call whenever they want. A marriage is a union of two PEOPLE, not a slave and a master. You're supposed to have individual opinions and things going on, yes, but you're supposed to do them when you want, not sacrifice them to prove your love to the other person. You supposedly proved that by marrying them in the first place...provided it wasn't a fashion trend wedding. Right...

Then come the kids. People, it seems, are obsessed with having BABIES. They are obsessed about posting every single sonogram, chart, picture, and grisly detail about their pregnancy...on FACEBOOK. They must make sure that every person in the world knows they are having a baby and exactly what they are going through. Following that, they post 150 pictures per week of every stage of the baby, even though it LOOKS LIKE EVERY OTHER FUCKING BABY we've already seen from the last friend who OMG GOT PREGNANT!!!!!! And did the same thing. Now. I understand being proud of your baby. You created a miracle! But I'm not sure this is the reasoning behind this obsessive display. Perhaps it is for some, but I get the impression it isn't for most. It is a trend. They spend thousands of dollars to get glamour shots of their cabbage patch creature just to MAKE SURE that all of their friends and family see it and marvel at how THEY finally reached their life goal of being married and having a child. Disturbing. Just wait until it grows up into a child...and then a teenager.

I have seen some of the people who set their life goals at being married and pregnant before 25. They look OLD. And tired. I feel bad for them. Once the novelty of the trend and the people mooning over your marriage and your kids is over, reality sinks in. You have now made a decision that means you CANNOT do what you want. All choices you make from here on are for this baby, and not for yourself or your spouse. Your fun is over. It's a baby, not a brand new Kenmore Washer, or a new 400$ cashmere sweater. You've committed for life. Oops.

The Customer Is Always Right

The Customer Is Always Right....

 Friday,18th May 2012

Wrong. This time, I have dealt with a client who has made such a mind-blowingly bad decision that I had to write a rant about it. But it has happened before.

So..let me ask you guys. When it comes to freelance art, should the customer really be always right? The thing is, there's a reason why I'm a freelance artist, and they're the client. It's generally because they DON'T DO ANYTHING ARTISTIC. Meaning I should have the knowledge of what looks great, not them, right?

Not according to some clients. They want what they want and that's final. Too bad they're condemning themselves to a terrible-looking logo because they think it looks fantastic. But do I have the right to tell them it's terrible? I don't know, it's debatable. Right now, I'm struggling to regularly get jobs, so I don't really want to lose a client by telling them they MUST be colorblind if they want those colors.

For example. This week I sketched an awesome concept for a book cover. It consisted of what I had planned to be an amazing painting, simple and clean but just GREAT looking. I'll avoid posting the specifics so I don't piss anyone off. I sent it in and he completely trashes the concept and asks me to make a cover with a shitty logo on it...with a bright yellow background. (The book background color is royal blue, so you can imagine what that will look like). This is basically exactly what the book cover looked like before...and he wanted it improved.

So do I tell him "Dude...that's not improved. What you just did...it's like telling Frank Frazetta to draw you a shitty stick figure instead of that badass painting with naked ladies and unicorns he just did for you." ? I didn't say anything. At the moment, I won't complain, because I'm getting paid a lot of money to make a really ugly, 15 minute piece of artwork. But where do you draw the line? Where do you turn down a job because the client is just an utter moron? I don't even want to put this piece in my portfolio because I think it's too ugly.

On a similar tangent, where do you draw the line for clients who want "changes" made? At the moment, I try to flesh it out in the contract. Why? You would think it wouldn't be a big deal. "I think that hand should be bigger." "That tie should have stripes instead." That would be fine. A standard commission piece of artwork is assumed to need changes, especially in the concept sketch stage. BUT, I have had a client, and this is no joke, pull something like the following example:

Client: "I need you to draw me an elephant. I want it to look like this. It should be blue."

Me: "Sounds great!" (spends 30 minutes on a sketch) "What do you think?"

Client: "I love it! Lets go ahead and ink and color it!"

Me: "No problem, coming right up!" (spends an hour inking and coloring) "What do you think?"

Client: "Can we try a green background instead and give him bigger feet?"

Me: "Sure!" (somewhat irritated now because it's annoying to CHANGE THE FEET after the sketch phase is over. (spends 30 minutes editing)

So I have now spent approximately 2 hours on this elephant. (Example)

Client: "You know what...now that I've seen this..I don't think I want an elephant. Let's do a fox instead. Can I have a picture of a fox?"

Now, this particular client ACTUALLY DID THIS. Now, I think, after that much time and effort, I deserve to be paid twice. Once for the elephant that he isn't going to use but I spent two hours on...and once for the new fox. Of course he disagreed with this, but come on. Let's think for a second. This is MY TIME that he's buying.

I don't think people realize how much work goes into artwork. It is depressing how many people want it for free..or for mere pennies. I'm trying to make a living here! If I wanted minimum wage, I would work somewhere else that also gives me medical insurace. PAY US FOR WHAT WE'RE WORTH, goddamnit!!

Brief Movie Reviews

The first movie I watched this week was Cowboys and Aliens. I was excited to see it. Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, it can't be bad, can it? Well...yes, it kind of can. The movie was surprisingly bland and predictable. While this may be intentional on their part to have it be JUST LIKE an old, crappy western, they had WAY more potential, especially with their cast. Harrison's lines were crap. Olivia Wilde's were pretty crap, too. Daniel Craig was pretty good. The creepy flashbacks were also good. The rest of the movie bored me. The aliens, who could have been far more interesting, basically ran around like crazy gorillas and ripped people up or ate bits of them. The final confrontation between aliens and humans was terrible...cut scene....horses running..cut scene..aliens running...cut scene...one guy manages to kill and alien..cut...close up on Harrison's face...alien kills 4 guys...bla...bla..bla.

Next...Conan the Barbarian. This was not bad. As expected, lots of action and boobs. As my brother-in-law said, though, the movie looked a lot like something you'd see on a TV channel, sort of like the old Hercules series. Kind of cheaply made, and with about 5467 scene cuts all the time. In a scene at the beginning, there are in fact so many scene cuts that you can barely identify which person is Conan. Ugh. I'd say the movie has a definite fun factor, though. It was fun to watch, but I wouldn't buy a copy. And ladies, get ready for a fantastic naked butt-cheek flex. And lastly...I'm getting kind of tired of Ron Perlman. Can we cast him in something good again one of these days?

Lastly, Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I went into this expecting a slightly campy, moderately entertaining movie like the rest of the series. I was very pleasantly surprised. The animation is fucking PHENOMENAL. Andy Serkis is the genius behind the main chimpanzee character, Caesar. He is insanely good. Making all of the monkeys in the movie with the motion capture technique was genius. It was extremely believable in terms of features and movement. And the good things actually don't stop with how cool it looks. The human acting is great...the storyline is great...and never a boring moment. I don't really have complaints about it, to be honest. Action fans will like it, but so will non-action fans, because it actually has substance. Yay!

GOOD OR BAD

Good Or Bad?

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

Firstly, I would like to thank anyone who has been reading my blog posts. While I don't think so much of myself that I would presume to actually be popular, I have been getting some nice messages on Facebook concerning my opinions and writing. Thank you for the feedback, I love it! Bad feedback or arguments are fine, too. I don't expect everyone to love what I say.

On the rant agenda today is a touch on something I discussed with a good friend and fellow guildmate in WoW last week. We spoke, and this follows somewhat from my previous blog post, about how women are insane. Now, obviously this is a generalized statement, and I am also a woman, so be patient with me as I touch on this. ;)

We spoke mostly about the breed of woman who feels the need to control and change her mate. The clothing, the company they keep..he told me about a friend of his who stopped speaking to him for YEARS because his girlfriend did not allow it. Allow it? Really? Why is this guy letting himself be controlled as such? This is insanity! Women might as well start up a slave task force of drooling men if it is really so easy as that! I kid. But seriously. Sickening.

Following this, we talked about "good guys" and "bad guys". He mentioned that women don't want a "good" guy, and that they will put themselves through dozens of terrible relationships with "bad" men because that's what they like. Also somewhat true, and sickening.

Let me give it to you from a female perspective: No, I don't really like guys who fall all over themselves to do everything I ask or like things that I like. I don't think a guy who treats me like shit is appealing, either. Obviously each woman likes something different and I can't really generalize here, but if you can't be honest and be yourself with a woman, what kind of relationship are you lending yourself to? If you have to keep quiet about your porn collection and tiptoe around things she does not like...if you have to pretend you like something to make her happy..these are bad signs. If a woman cannot accept a man for who he is, she should be looking for another one.

Part of the problem may be mass media. Teenagers are brought up with simpering bullshit like Twilight or soap operas, where the guy who gets the girl is 100% charming, 100% giving, 100% in tune to the woman. He romances her and carries her off into the sunset. I used to have a friend who constantly complained about her boyfriends not being "romantic" enough. She read WAY too many vampire novels.

Girls, you are going to have to wake up and realize that this is reality. In reality, men have penises. They like watching porn. They fart and burp. They scratch their balls. They look at other women. They forget certain dates. They CAN'T read your mind.

Am I telling you to change these things? No. I'm telling you to fucking man up and accept them. Try watching some porn! It's actually fun, you know. If you're jealous about him watching other women, it's time to gain some confidence in yourself. He's with you because he wants you, the porn is just fun. REMIND him about dates. TELL him if you're not feeling well. TELL him that you're pmsing. He's seriously not telepathic, and most men have terrible instincts for detecting emotions. They are also easily distracted. These are just facts of life.

So, all you guys who are trying way too hard to be good, remember that while most females are insane and don't realize what men are actually like, you'll eventually find one who likes you as you are, and stop trying wayyyy too hard to be the perfect person. It's not worth it. It's obvious that many women really don't understand what they want, so the "control group" here is you, acting like yourself. Do it!

And, as this rant has gone on far longer than I thought, and I don't want to overwhelm anyone with a wall of text, I will write again sooner next time..

As a mini-movie review, I have recently seen Thor, Transformers 3, and Captain America.

In brief - Thor was great. Much better than expected. The actor who played Thor far exceeded my expectations. Also, he was sexy, and I rarely find blond men attractive. Natalie Portman was funny and not overly dramatic, and Loki was also great. Anthony Hopkins always wins. No real complaints...aside from the fact that I still think his hammer is way too small (applying to the comics as well). >.>

Transformers 3 was like a redo of the second one. It was still not really impressive. It was about 45 minutes too long; 20 minutes of those 45 was the scene with the skyscraper falling...and falling...and falling... The movie started out fantastic; Alan Tudyk as Dutch and JOHN MALKOVICH stole the show completely. They were amazing. Also, the new female lead is ...special. She could probably use about 25 pounds of sandwiches, and her upper lip looks to be inflated with about 1 pound of Crisco. Too bad they fired Megan Fox, I had more fun watching her in the second movie than I did watching the rest of the film. >.>

Captain America was amazing. It was just the right amount of corny. The female lead was awesome. All of the acting was awesome. Hugo Weaving DESTROYED (in a good way). Definitely watch this if you get a chance. It is definitely up in the ranks with Iron Man as one of the best superhero movies. I can't wait to see the Avengers.

Edion World: Subsidy protest: Read text of President Jonathan’s...

Edion World: Subsidy protest: Read text of President Jonathan’s...: NATIONAL BROADCAST BY PRESIDENT GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, GCFR, ON THE DEREGULATION OF THE DOWNSTREAM PETROLEUM SECTOR SATURDAY, JANUARY 7...

pic of love

http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=xa-4d2b47597ad291fb

http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=xa-4d2b47597ad291fb

A MUST READ

A MUST READ 
touched by this
story – thought I’d
like to share it with
you. I don't really
take this as a
story on heaven
but an account of
your life on earth.
Just read before u
exit.
I can only imagine...
"THE
ROOM" as written
by a 17 Year Old
Boy.
This is excellent
and really gets you
thinking about
what will happen in
Heaven.
17-year-old Brian
Moore had only a
short time to write
something for a
class. The subject
was What Heaven
Was Like. "I wowed
'em," he later told
his father, Bruce.
It's a killer. It's the
bomb It's the best
thing I ever
wrote." It also was
the last.
Brian's parents
had forgotten
about the essay
when a cousin
found it while
cleaning out the
teenager's locker
at Teays Valley
High School in
Pickaway County .
Brian had been
dead only hours,
but his parents
desperately
wanted every
piece of his life
near them, notes
from classmates
and teachers, and
his homework. Only
two months
before, he had
handwritten the
essay about
encountering Jesus
in a file room full of
cards detailing
every moment of
the teen's life. But
it was only after
Brian's death that
Beth and Bruce
Moore realized
that their son had
described his view
of heaven.
It makes such an
impact that people
want to share it.
"You feel like you
are there," Mr.
Moore said. Brian
Moore died May 27,
1997, the day
after Memorial
Day. He was
driving home from
a friend's house
when his car went
off Bulen-Pierce
Road in Pickaway
County and struck
a utility pole. He
emerged from the
wreck unharmed
but stepped on a
downed power line
and was
electrocuted.
The Moore 's
framed a copy of
Brian's essay and
hung it among the
family portraits in
the living room. "I
think God used him
to make a point. I
think we were
meant to find it
and make
something out of
it," Mrs. Moore said
of the essay. She
and her husband
want to share their
son's vision of life
after death. "I'm
happy for Brian. I
know he's in
heaven. I know I'll
see him.
Here is Brian's
essay entitled:
"THE ROOM"
In that place
between
wakefulness and
dreams, I found
myself in the room.
There were no
distinguishing
features except
for the one wall
covered with small
index card files.
They were like the
ones in libraries
that list titles by
author or subject
in alphabetical
order. But these
files, which
stretched from
floor to ceiling and
seemingly endless
in either direction,
had very different
headings.
As I drew near the
wall of files, the
first to catch my
attention was one
that read "Girls I
Have Liked." I
opened it and
began flipping
through the cards.
I quickly shut it,
shocked to realize
that I recognized
the names written
on each one. And
then without being
told, I knew
exactly where I
was. This lifeless
room with its small
files was a crude
catalog system for
my life. Here were
written the actions
of my every
moment, big and
small, in a detail my
memory couldn't
match. A sense of
wonder and
curiosity, coupled
with horror, stirred
within me as I
began randomly
opening files and
exploring their
content. Some
brought joy and
sweet memories;
others a sense of
shame and regret
so intense that I
would look over my
shoulder to see if
anyone was
watching.
A file
named "Friends" was
next to one
marked "Friends I
Have
Betrayed." The
titles ranged from
the mundane to
the outright
weird. "Books I
Have Read," "Lies I
Have
Told," "Comfort I
have
Given," "Jokes I
Have Laughed
At." Some were
almost hilarious in
their
exactness: "Things
I've Yelled at My
Brothers." Others I
couldn't laugh
at: "Things I Have
Done in My
Anger", "Things I
Have Muttered
Under My Breath
at My Parents." I
never ceased to be
surprised by the
contents. Often
there were many
more cards than
expected.
Sometimes fewer
than I hoped. I was
overwhelmed by
the sheer volume
of the life I had
lived.
Could it be
possible that I had
the time in my
years to fill each of
these thousands
or even millions of
cards? But each
card confirmed this
truth. Each was
written in my own
handwriting. Each
signed with my
signature.
When I pulled out
the file marked "TV
Shows I Have
Watched," I
realized the files
grew to contain
their contents. The
cards were packed
tightly, and yet
after two or three
yards, I hadn't
found the end of
the file. I shut it,
shamed, not so
much by the
quality of shows
but more by the
vast time I knew
that file
represented.
When I came to a
file
marked "Lustful
Thoughts," I felt a
chill run through
my body. I pulled
the file out only an
inch, not willing to
test its size, and
drew out a card. I
shuddered at its
detailed content. I
felt sick to think
that such a
moment had been
recorded. An
almost animal rage
broke on me.
One thought
dominated my
mind: No one must
ever see these
cards! No one must
ever see this room!
I have to destroy
them!" In insane
frenzy I yanked
the file out. Its size
didn't matter now.
I had to empty it
and burn the cards.
But as I took it at
one end and began
pounding it on the
floor, I could not
dislodge a single
card. I became
desperate and
pulled out a card,
only to find it as
strong as steel
when I tried to
tear it. Defeated
and utterly
helpless, I returned
the file to its slot.
Leaning my
forehead against
the wall, I let out a
long, self-pitying
sigh.
And then I saw it.
The title
bore "People I
Have Shared the
Gospel With." The
handle was
brighter than
those around it,
newer, almost
unused. I pulled on
its handle and a
small box not more
than three inches
long fell into my
hands. I could
count the cards it
contained on one
hand.
And then the tears
came. I began to
weep. Sobs so
deep that they
hurt. They started
in my stomach and
shook through me.
I fell on my knees
and cried. I cried
out of shame, from
the overwhelming
shame of it all. The
rows of file
shelves swirled in
my tear-filled eyes.
No one must ever,
ever know of this
room.. I must lock it
up and hide the
key. But then as I
pushed away the
tears, I saw Him.
No, please not Him.
Not here. Oh,
anyone but Jesus. I
watched helplessly
as He began to
open the files and
read the cards. I
couldn't bear to
watch His
response. And in
the moments I
could bring myself
to look at His face,
I saw a sorrow
deeper than my
own. He seemed to
intuitively go to
the worst boxes.
Why did He have to
read every one?
Finally He turned
and looked at me
from across the
room.. He looked at
me with pity in His
eyes. But this was
a pity that didn't
anger me. I
dropped my head,
covered my face
with my hands and
began to cry again.
He walked over
and put His arm
around me. He
could have said so
many things. But
He didn't say a
word. He just cried
with me.
Then He got up
and walked back
to the wall of files..
Starting at one
end of the room,
He took out a file
and, one by one,
began to sign His
name over mine on
each card. "No!" I
shouted rushing to
Him. All I could find
to say was "No,
no," as I pulled the
card from Him. His
name shouldn't be
on these cards. But
there it was,
written in red so
rich, so dark, and
so alive.
The name of Jesus
covered mine. It
was written with
His blood. He
gently took the
card back He
smiled a sad smile
and began to sign
the cards. I don't
think I'll ever
understand how
He did it so quickly,
but the next
instant it seemed I
heard Him close
the last file and
walk back to my
side. He placed His
hand on my
shoulder and said,
"It is finished."
I stood up, and He
led me out of the
room. There was
no lock on its door.
There were still
cards to be
written.
"For God so loved
the world that He
gave His only Son,
that whoever
believes in Him
shall not perish but
have eternal
life." John 3:16
If you feel the
same way forward
it to as many
people as you can
so the love of
Jesus will touch
their lives also.
My "People I
Shared the Gospel
With" file just got
bigger, how about
yours?
IF THERE IS ONE
EMAIL THAT I HAVE
READ THAT NEEDS
TO GO AROUND THE
WORLD, IT IS THIS
ONE, PLEASE PASS
THIS TO EVERY
ONE YOU
KNOW, CHRISTIAN OR
NOT! "LET'S FILL
OUR OWN FILE
CARD" AND MAY
GOD BLESS YOU
ALL!
You don't have to
share this with
anybody, no one
will know whether
you did or not, but
you will know and
so will He