BORING!

I'll post something of substance eventually. Right now though, I'm thinking I should make a new tag called hair because I can't seem to shut up about it.

My bangs are too short, duh, that's what was said in the last post. However, they're not as ugly as I though now that I've washed them, and slept on them, and let them calm down. I still don't think this was a good idea, but the point is, I've come to terms with my mistakes, and now feel much better about this whole thing. Note to self: Youtube videos are not worth it.

Does winter make anyone else act like a hermit? I've been locking myself in my room, and refusing to go anywhere but work and the gym (which is on the way home). I've been talking to the same five people, and anyone outside that group seems to be shunned. Normally I'm all wigged out about not seeing Tyler as much as freaking possible, but today I barely noticed we didn't phone. My social skills seem to by hibernating and I really hope this doesn't keep up because all I do is laugh at peoples problems (accidently! I'm not being intentionally mean) and knit till my fingers fall off. Oh crap, I'm totally an old lady.

I had my first cheese steak yesterday night. It tasted ok, but the idea of eating another one is really grossing me out. They're way to greasy for me to eat more then once a month I think.

What a BAD idea.

So let's just say you're feeling a bit stressed, a bit crazy, and a bit impulsive. The number one thing you should not do (if you're me) is pick up the scissors and cut your own bangs. This was such a bad fucking idea. I've cut my hair more then a few times before, and the results didn't look terrible, but this? This is like a lawn mower attacked the front of my head, the hair is really uneven and sticks out in the front. This is terrible and the only good thing about it is that my hair isn't stabbing me in the eye. D:

Oh, and in the spirit of recording my dumbness, here's a video:



The eye cream I got seems to have made a difference already.

Art?

No, not really. I left all this stuff I need to scan at Tyler's house. :( Here's a work doodle to tide you over (and make it look like I'm posting).



In other news, I got super sticky eye cream, not sure how I feel about it.

Decompress

Something that was not a new year's resolution, but seems to have been born about the same time, is an overwhelming need to be in control of my emotions. I feel like I've spent a good portion of my life letting people and situations govern how I feel, and though it's easy to sit back and be an emotional wreck (because they'll never think what they should about you) I've had enough. I've been trying to reflect on the way I feel and why, and it's working. "Yeah this really annoying thing happened, and it's a big inconvenience, yes you're right for being upset even though there's nothing you can do about it, but don't dwell on it because you're going to waste time and spend even more time dealing with it, just get it done with and move on."

Unfortunately most negative things in my life are coming from work. I'm not going to go into it on a public blog, but things at work are weird and really putting my practical optimism to the test. I'm not on anyones shit list (as far as I know, eep!), and I know all this stuff will be packed up with a nice bow on the top in the end. Some days it's hard though, I feel like I try really hard to make progress, but there's always more to do, and understandably management expects it all to get done. I strive for a high level of performance, but I think that it's very important to take time for yourself and to forget about work on the weekends.

If I keep typing about this I'll probably end up divulging some secret or opinion that shouldn't be known. I'll end on a happy note though: I promise, to myself, that I will do my best to choose my emotions. Things can be stressful and dramatic, but allowing yourself to let go allows you to be happy and approach the situation from a calm perspective.

Man, I need to get more art on this blog!

The War on Fresh Air

Here's a story: The hallway outside my door smells like smoke, very strong probably smoking in the hall smoke. This bothers me to some extent because on bad days, the smell can drift in to my apartment. I know I'm not the only one bothered by this, because one day a plug in air freshener, and fan were positioned in the outlet right out side my door. The fan was on and the air freshener was turned all the way up. I loath air fresheners for the simple fact that they are full of dangerous chemicals. The smell was noxious, so I unplugged the air freshener and turned the fan off. Next time I walk by, the thing is plugged in again, so I unplugged it. I think you can see where this is going, and I played the game for a lot longer then I should have. When I got sick of unplugging things, I left a note next to the unplugged air freshener asking the owner to remove it. I'm glad my neighbor was considerate and took their chemicals back, because this could have escalated into all out tenant war.

The story doesn't end their either! My room mate picked up a phallic air freshener to leave on the toilet. AND!!!!! Today at work I walk into the bathroom at work and there are TWO!!!! of the same phallic air fresheners open all the way filling the bathroom with fake floral doom. I guess I missed the memo that bathrooms smell so bad that we have to kill our sense of smell with dangerous chemicals.

Yes that's right, air fresheners are dangerous! Volatile organic chemicals are a given, they're in paint, they're in pretty much anything with a sent, and there is no escaping them. Here are some health effects of VOCs from the EPA's website Eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches, loss of coordination, nausea; damage to liver, kidney, and central nervous system. Some organics can cause cancer in animals; some are suspected or known to cause cancer in humans. Key signs or symptoms associated with exposure to VOCs include conjunctival irritation, nose and throat discomfort, headache, allergic skin reaction, dyspnea, declines in serum cholinesterase levels, nausea, emesis, epistaxis, fatigue, dizziness. No that does not sound good, and air fresheners pump all that stuff into our air.

This is rather fantastic as well, Apparently air fresheners contain phthalates (link to pdf). Phthalates are used to soften certain plastics and rubbers, they're probably in your shower curtain, carpet, and mattress. Babeland has a short FAQ about phthalates in sex toys. They recommend covering the toy with a condom before use so the phthalates can't be sucked up by your mucosa membrane. The wikipedia article on phthalates has a brief list of health effects, and to back this up, I heard an interview with a doctor on NPR blaming phthalates for sexual mis-development in boys (can't find the link). I have no idea why rubber softeners need to be in air fresheners, or why they need to be blown into the air at all.

On top of all this, the government doesn't regulate what chemicals go into household products (similar to cosmetics), and EPA has been petitioning for some kind of government regulation.

Now I'm completely exhausted on this subject, and even more pissed off. I feel like these huge companies are filling our bodies with horrible chemicals, and when we die of cancer and our children have no sex, they'll get away with it. No one is making us buy these things, and if you are going to buy air fresheners, at least be informed about what you're exposing yourself to.

Random link I couldn't fit in anywhere else to a Science Daily article.

Power Outage

The power for my entire block went out last night at around nine. It was super erie because first there was a pop down the street, then the lights went out, then a bright flash on the telephone pole outside my building, and then everything was quiet (minus the freeway). The moon was full, and I could clearly see the people in my building walking out on their balconies and leaning out their windows. Cars continued to pass in the dark, and all around us you could see the lights still on in buildings a few blocks away. Eventually the fire department showed up and stood around staring at the telephone poles, but the lights didn't come back on till five this morning.

Every since I've moved here all kinds of crazy stuff has happened: My neighbor's door was kicked in, and TV stolen, the range hood in the restaurant below the condos here caught on fire, which called five fire trucks and five fire SUVs, and last night with the power. I'm not sure if I'm happy with all this excitement, on one level I'm happy life is happening, but on another, I like quiet and I don't like danger.

I think I'm living in the wrong neighborhood sometimes. This part of Seattle has a lot of low income housing, shelters, and services for people who need them. I don't think I'm being classiest by recognizing that some of these people are not well, and could be dangerous. Being a woman and alone in the dark here is disconcerting; a person could just be walking behind you on their break from washing dishes, but they could also be a mugger or a rapist. I'm not enjoying this uncertainty. :(

On a happier note, Kinokuniya was having a magazine sale, I took an excellent bath and sewed a case for my makeup brushes.

Life Without a Salad Spinner

I have a confession to make: Today, is the first day in my life that I have purchased lettuce in not bagged/boxed form. My excuse it pretty lame as well, I've only recently started eating salad on a regular basis. When I moved out, my pallet really made a point of shifting away from all the foods that my mom insisted I eat that I didn't like. Salad was a probably the biggest. Now, however, I'm starting to be more health conscious, and with so much processed food in the world, a pile of greens sounds pretty damn good. Salad in a bag was really easy for me and had decent results, but it's too expensive so today I said "NO MORE!" I bought a head of red leaf lettuce, radicchio, and some kind of butter lettuce. All this had to be rinsed in cold water, and then I went though half a roll of paper towels trying to get the leaves dry. Excuse two for not buying unbagged lettuce: no salad spinner. I had absolutely no idea that a salad spinner was so important to the whole salad experience; dressing doesn't stick to wet leaves, toppings get soggy, and so on. I refuse to accept this, and I refuse to spend $30 on a salad spinner, so I turned to google. I wasn't expecting much, but there it was! A no cost salad spinner. The author cites this invention to a cooking show off the food network, in which the host wraps the salad greens in a towel and spins them to extract the water. One commenter said that she did the same thing with an old pillowcase, and I happen to have a pile of those. I grabbed a clean white case, threw the radicchio in and gave the thing a whirl, and hot damn! it actually worked. There is no need for me to buy a salad spinner, and there is no need for me to buy bagged lettuce ever again! I'm quite happy about this.

Fits of Nostalgia

For some reason that I'll never be able to explain, I logged into my old blogger account from 2002. I couldn't believe it was still there, public, and extremely embarrassing. Now I'm downloading all my old LJ entries via LJ Book. They are also still there, public, and yes, extremely embarrassing.

Was anyone else a moron from 2000 - 2006?

p.s. I wonder if I'll read this in 8 years and think it's extremely embarrassing.

p.p.s. I'll be posting some best ofs once I get through this angst. :)

HAIRS!

I need a hair cut, and this isn't me exaggerating a "want" situation. I walk down the street, and because it's a little windy, I can't see because my hair is blowing in my eyes. The mohawk is grown out, and now I've got a pseudo mullet with stabbing fringe of pain. I'd run off and get my hair cut in an instant, but the problem is I want to grow it out. I want hair that goes past my shoulders, and that I can tie on top of my head like a Japanese girl.

I like this hair, but i think it's chopping too much off. I also don't think it would solve the stabbing bangs of doom either.


I think I look better with short hair, but I want long hair because I haven't had it since I was little. I don't want another short hair cut, because not buying make up and feminine cloths + looking like everyone's Korean bother = BUTCHY! I can't have long hair now, because my hair is mostly short. I need this freaking hair cut before I walk into traffic. :(

I think I'm just going to go in and have Janae do whatever she wants.

Oh Apple...

Well that was the most predictable MacWorld ever. Thanks a lot Stevesie.

I think the MacBook Air is the most redundant piece of machinery ever. We all knew that apple had some kind of super small sub pc type thing in the works, and they pull out an ultra thin regular sized laptop? I'm sure they'll sell great, but it's a weird product. The size is strange to me, why is the screen so big? Why is there a full key board? I was much more excited about my friend's prediction of a book sized Mac, something along the same lines as an iPhone, but way more practical. I'm unimpressed with the price, but that's a given when it comes to Apple.

I'm working on posting something relevant, I promise.

World War Z

I picked up a copy of World War Z (Amazon) yesterday. I'm 50 pages into the book, and I'm really disappointed. I'm not sure what possessed me to buy this book, but I should have looked into it a little more before spending money on it. It's written by Max Brooks, the author of The Zombie Survival Guide, and from what Tyler has told me WWZ is similar to how the history of zombies is written. WWZ is divided into sections, and each section is made up several page personal accounts of the stages of war with zombies. I wouldn't say the writing is bad, but this format for a full length book is a big turn off for me because you meet a different character in each account, you start to like them, then they're done and you never hear from them again. I like to get attached to characters, learn about them, and be sad when they bow out. This book is basically speed dating.

I don't think it's all bad though, the predictions Brooks makes about the future (right before the outbreak and after) are interesting. They follow how various countries rise to power, makes peace, and fall apart. It's also interesting to see how various people and organizations handle the idea of walking dead.

Thus far this book has made about the same impression as The DaVinci Code, which I hated. I don't think I'm going to hate WWZ but I doubt I would re read this, or recommend it to anyone but a zombie enthusiast.

I'm voting for Princess Leia?

In this post, Kottke links to Star Wars Guide to the Candidates.

Hillando Clintrissian
Here's the thing. The Millenium Falcon was hers to begin with. She only lost it to Bill on a bet. Then she got caught up in that whole Cloud City thing in the Bespin system, which proved she could govern, I guess, but she's kinda hoping you won't remember that she totally sold out the Rebels to Darth Vader. That's how J'han Solo wound up encased in Carbonite and Leia ended up in a bikini on a chain. Hmmm. Actually, not so bad! And Hillando did do some nifty piloting against the New and Improved Death Star. Didn't she also record "Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run)"?

Sentimental 1s and 0s

Lifehacker brought up the fact that social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook don't allow you to backup. This is probably where I fail as a social networker, but I put very little weight on things that exist on Facebook. Now suppose the site(s) go down and all the photos and notes, and blogs and whatever are lost forever, for me, it's not like the party never happened. I still have my own memories of these events, which usually have better composition and color then Facebook photos.

Maybe I think this whole thing is melodramatic because I've lost sentimental things on the internet, and even though I was disappointed, my life wasn't ruined and I still had my happy memories. I met a boy off the internet, and after emailing and IMing, we met in person and dated for a few months. This was in high school, and last year I tried to find those emails, but they were deleted with all my other really old mail. I also lost an web page that had photos of all the boys I've had crushes on, the actual website could be resurrected, but I never saved the photos. That was more upsetting then losing the emails and I'm not sure why. Most of the photos were stolen from Myspace pages and couldn’t be found again.
If something is really important, you should save it, but if you're worried about losing pictures of your drunk friends, you have the wrong priorities. Not only do your drunk friends have the photos saved on their computer/camera, they will continue to have drunk parties to create more fun photos at. I'm mostly disgusted that Lifehacker expected me to be worried about all the crap on the internet that could go up in flames. I think the only thing I'd be upset about losing are journal entries, and I've even let go of hundreds of those.

Fun on Youtube

Here is some stuff from YouTube that I like.


One of my all time favorites, this video is so cute.


Commercial that uses some fun stop motion toast.


David Lynch on the iPhone (or any phone that plays movies).


Thomas Edison trying to prove a point by electrocuting and elephant to death. Link to Wired article.


Similar to the toast stop motion, only this time with making of.

Santa Claus Is a Perv

Every year my sister and I have out picture taken with Santa Claus at Macy's (previously The Bon Marche). When we were little, it was cute, but now that I'm in my 20s and Miya is almost out of her teens, Santa is looking a lot like a perv.



I think in the future we're going to have to ask to stand behind the chair, because this is just getting weird.

Here's an article about a woman who groped Santa, I guess the perv goes both ways.

I can't think of a titled...

On my way to the gym from the bus stop today, it started to rain, then it started to pour, then the wind picked up and my umbrella broke and I was drenched in a matter of minutes. Weather like this sucks balls because it's unpredictable and even when you plan for almost every scenario you still end up cold and wet because the weather snaps your plan in half.

I had a really good day at the gym, but I'm stumped as to what to post about. Here's a video I found on this Kottke post. It's an eye opening look at people with autism.

Transdermal Implants

For anyone that doesn't know, the summer of 2005 I had two transdermal implants added to my list of body modifications. Here's a picture of me right after the procedure was done.



The implants are a flat base which lays under the skin, and a piece of whatever size sticks out through the skin. If you're lucky the skin with heal, and scar tissue will form a pocket around the base of the implant. Here is the BMEZINE wiki for transdermals if you want to know more. At the time mine were done, it was still a fairly new thing in the modification world and I'm pretty sure I was at the beginning of when artists started to go public about offering them. I knew this was an advanced technique, but no one in the community had any idea how dangerous the implants could be (see this entry on modblog blood warning!). I went to an excellent artist in Seattle (he has now moved on to other locations that are unknown to me) who treated me with the utmost care and did a fantastic job. It was expensive, painful, and really hard to heal, but I've kept the implants all this time.

Times have changed though, and I think it's time for the implants to come out. I really enjoy their look, but certain things are more trouble then they're worth. One of the ways I've managed to be so successful at keeping the implants in, is constant care and babying. Nothing but clothing gets within an inch of the site, and I've trained myself, and anyone who would touch that area to stay far far away. Even with all the precautions there are moments where they go back to being less healed, and I have knocked them before with bloody results. I'm not into DIY, so I'm going to get a referral to a reconstructive surgeon from my doctor some time this year. I'm hoping it wont be too expensive and I also hope they'll be able to keep the jewelry intact so i can make a necklace out of the implants.

I'm excited for this new phase in my life, and when it's all done with, I might get a memorial tattoo.

Happy New Year!

First off, to clean up the archive pages, I moved all my previous posts to today. Sorry if it things end up on your RSS twice, or you get very very confused.

My room mate, Elliott, threw a New Years Eve party. I got kind of weird early on and stole the camera. Then I stole it again to make this post.


Here's a picture of me dressed as a man, looking kind of sleazy and gross.


Elliott ended up looking quite fabulous. Of all the men who I've seen cross dress he was the most convincing in the face.


Tyler put on a sweater dress and ended up looking like a bearded hipster girl.

I'm not going to describe the rest but keep in mind I don't know most of these people, and the pictures are out of order.

Trying So Hard

I'm really trying to update once a day. Hopefully this will encourage me to draw more.


Random thought.


This Vietnamese place across the street from my apartment. I slapped some color on it because the pencil was so light. I probably should have put more effort into the color since the sketch was involved. I spy on the people that eat at this sandwich shop, just a heads up.

Sweeney Todd Review

I saw "Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" a few days ago with Tyler and his friends. I know nothing about the stage version, and the movie has it's weak points, but over all I enjoyed it.

Normally I'm a bit bothered by how often Tim Burton casts Johnny Depp, I think he's a fine actor, but I have a hard time separating Johnny Depp the person, Jack Sparrow, Edward Scissors Hands, and all the other weird characters he's played, they all kind of meld together and i start wondering where dreadlocks went. However, in "Sweeney Todd" this was not the case, Johnny Depp, though not a strong singer, plays an excellent Todd. I was able to get over all his previous rolls and see him as the character. The rest of the movie was decently cast as well. I'm a huge fan Alan Rickman and Jayne Wisener as Johanna fit very well with the aesthetics of the movie, I wouldn't be surprised to see her in another Tim Burton film. I think that Mrs. Lovett came across as quite young, and if Helena Bonham Carter hair and make-up had been more matronly, the look of the character would have fit the part better.

Tim Burton always delivers when it comes to visuals, and I can really appreciate that. The costumes, make-up, and sets in "Sweeney Todd" set up a consistent mood of drab, dirty, goth London. While in the poorer areas this styling is expected, when it's carried over to the rich neighborhoods, specifically Judge Turpin's house, the effect is quite menacing. If this movie had not been so strong visually, I wouldn't have enjoyed it.

In the end I was disappointed with the plot and the character development. None of the character's seemed one dimensional because they embodied cliches. We assumed Todd had deep feelings and love for his wife because we've seen it in other stories where the husband returns to find his family torn asunder. I assumed all kinds of things about Mrs. Lovett, Judge Turbin, Johanna, and Anthony just because I've seen their characters in other settings. There was very little in the movie that made me feel anything about the characters or offered up any complexity. The plot scooted along at an odd pace, while parts of the movie dragged on, the ending was a whirl wind of resolution that blew past me in a matter of minutes. This left me pretty indifferent, and I left any emotional attachment I had to the characters in the theater.

I enjoyed the movie, but it had about the same impact on me as "Transformers" (my sister forced me to watch it with her a couple days before). I wouldn't go see it in theaters again, and I don't think i would rent it. However if someone pulled it out and really wanted to watch it I wouldn't object.

Making Toffee!

I've been meaning to post this for days. Please go find a real toffee recipe if you're going to make it, and don't follow this, I don't think it's right. I'm not very happy with how the last three panels turned out... practice practice practice.

Grrrr... (and not in a good way.)

With my help, my phone kicked it last night. Some aspect of the firmware is broken so I couldn't and still can't access most of the settings for the phone. Not to mention the fact it's super buggy. I really can't understand why a product can't work well when it's released. I went through this with the Sidekick and now I'm going through it with the Nokia, and all I want is a phone that wont randomly flip out. I'm thinking about ditching the smart phone and looking into some kind of internet tablet thing. Not that that's not going to be super buggy, I just wont loose all my phone stuff when this happens. I'm sure there will be more of this later.

Christmas Eve

Even in my most spiritual moments, I consider myself agnostic at most, so Christmas doesn't mean much to my life. The consumer in me does have a good time though, and now that I'm out of school and have a real job buying gifts is less of an issue.



Like the pictures says, I got Tyler a toy helicopter for Christmas (I didn't pay 80 dollars for it, wtf amazon?), and this is basically the nerdiest holiday ever because he's also getting Super Mario Galaxy. I'll admit that while shopping for gifts for him, I wanted to get something a little more... mature? cultured? not something my bosses 8 year old son would want? I did break down and face it though, Tyler would appreciate a subscription to Smithsonian, but it would not bring joy to his life, or spawn naked drawings. He was super excited when he opened the box, and then we had to rush off to the store to get batteries, and then (this was the really hard part) we had to wait half an hour for the thing to charge. The first flight was rocky, but full of grinning and edge of seat sitting. Seeing how happy Tyler was made me understand why parents are willing to go into debt over Christmas. There's a substantial wave of pride that washes over you when you know that the perfect gift was picked out, and it's making the person you love almost pee with joy. We'll see how mario does, but I definitely win this Christmas.

That picture with the helicopter is the first thing I've drawn in weeks, and I feel horrible about it. My new years resolution is to spend at least half an hour drawing everyday. Work and the gym take up a lot of my time, but I can stand half an hour less sleep!

ZOMG!!!1!!

I've spent the last three days trying to solve a puzzle that Tyler had gotten for Christmas a million years ago. The basic principle is simple: arange the pieces into a pyramid on the little board thing the puzzle comes in. The other four puzzle styles in this toy were easy, but the final pyramid with all the pieces really hurt my brain. It was driving me up the wall that I couldn't figure it out, and I had been working on it so much that when I closed my eyes all I could see were multi colored circles. But now?! Now it's done! I did it today after eating Pho with my Dad and Sister. Life is great.



In other news, I was messing around with the lolcat maker at icanhascheezburger.com. This is probably the one that makes the most sense, and it's also my favorite.



When a woman I worked with told me about how her 11 year old daughter loves lolcats, a little piece of me died. It's like when your mom gets myspace, or when The Queen gets a youtube channel; the internet isn't that confusing, but there's plenty of stuff that "normal" people don't see, and then it goes main stream, and a little piece of you dies. Being the love of 11 year olds aside, lolcats are past their prime. Most of the pictures either revolve around inside jokes (buckets and monorails and invisible nouns) or are not stupid enough to be funny (and some people would argue that they were never funny). Oh well, all things come to an end, but I'll always love the onomatopoeia "Nom nom nom".

To Start Anew

I am leaving Livejournal and venturing out into the wide world of blogging. This isn't the first time I've tried to abandon LJ, in fact my original blogger account was from before Google was even thinking about buying other companies, and part of me thinks it could still be unearthed (not that anyone wants to read that). Anyway, unlike previous attempts, I'd like to think this will stick because of the worlds new found respect for self publishing and my own maturity. I'm hoping to venture away from the super personal content that usually gets posted on LJ, and mostly focus on art and random snippets of things I find on the internet. I hope this blog will be an Aimee oriented/moderated version of Boing Boing. Who am I kidding though? There will be plenty of personal stuff, but I'm going to make a point of not letting it be anything that has to be deleted the next day. :)

I'm not much a fan of filling out profiles, so here's a little about me: My name is Aimee and I live in Seattle, WA. I was born here, and will probably die here, though I'd like to think that's a long way off. I went to a liberal arts college and studied studio art, and now I work for a fine art publishing company. Besides geeking out on art and comics, I like reading, watching movies, listening to music, and eating good food.