arghhhh!

So I got a packet from Cornish today, and it told me that I should have my application in by November - fine, I can do that. But the portfolio review is in DECEMBER/JANUARY. I seriously don't know if I can have everything I need done by then. Cornish's requirements are 5 black and white observation pieces, and 5 pieces that have a central theme. Knowing what a slow worker I am, that could be a problem. But I am going to get on this right away! I'm going to start my flower concentration pieces ASAP, so if I have at least five done by the end of the year I should be set, and there's my charcoal still life that I'm almost finished with, and I'm planning on doing another self portrait (my last one was based off a photograph). So I need to come up with three more black and white things. I can do this!!

(Yeah, so basically right now Cornish is my first choice, Evergreen's my safety school, I'm visiting Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland next weekend, and I need to set up a visit to Western soon. Trish recommended applying to no more than five schools, so I should be okay with four, and even if I don't get into the other three, Evergreen is hella easy to get into. So it's all good.)


Anyway, my sketchbook. Goddamn, I love having a scanner!



The rough of my still life for APSA. We were supposed to do shiny objects but all the things provided in the classroom sucked, so I did most of mine at home. My attempt to satisfy the Rule of Thirds - the vase in the upper left, the wineglass in the upper right, the cup thingy in the lower right, and the middle candle slightly off center despite being in the middle segment. I'm still not done with the final, I'm having trouble with the wineglass and the candles. The cup and the vase look really nice, though. I might bring it in to Linda on Friday and ask her for help. It's due on Tuesday.



Notes (I write in my sketchbooks a lot):
Caroline @ Farmer's Market, 9/6/08
super rough draft. the eyes are all wrong.
It looks nothing like her. Decent starting point, I guess.
face is too long.
So yeah, that basically says it all. I'm working on this painting right now (acrylic and colored pencil) and it looks much more like Caroline! I might set it aside for a little while just because I can't use it in my Cornish audition, and those pieces need to be my priority... Also, the scanner fucked up the colors a lot - I DID actually color in her skin, it's not supposed to be glaringly white.



Elise @ the Farmer's Market 9/6
outlining shadows. some kind of weird shapes in there, w/her hair...
dark eyes.
i want her hair to match the flowers.
She looks too innocent, she needs to be more devious!
it has everything to do with the lighting.
This is going to be in oils, which I've never done before, so omgexciting. I may or may not use this for my flower concentration, but right now I'm leaning towards not.



Way to Normal leaked. I can't wait to buy it off iTunes next week. The sound quality of the ripped Myspace tracks is awful and makes my ears hurt (and normally I'm not a big stickler for that), and that's too bad because the album is mind-blowingly awesome. Delicious pop hooks, tons of profanity, hilarious tracks juxtaposed with heartbreakingly gorgeous ones, and piano hammerage galore!! What more could I want out of a Ben album? Let's have a dance off.


I went to a protest today and I might have pictures soon.

it's been a while

Yeah, I know. I haven't really been keeping up with this blog. I suck. I'm not really doing what I wanted to accomplish with this blog. I'll try to fix that.

So what has Annie been doing lately?

In the past month I've been to two gigs - Radiohead on August 20th and Vienna Teng on September 4th. They were both fabulous.

Radiohead:
15 Step
Reckoner
Optimistic
There There
All I Need
Pyramid Song
Talk Show Host
The National Anthem
The Gloaming
Videotape
Lucky
Faust Arp
Jigsaw Falling Into Place
Climbing Up the Walls
Dollars & Cents
Nude
Bodysnatchers

1st Encore:
How to Disappear Completely
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
Idioteque
In Limbo
Street Spirit

2nd Encore:
You and Whose Army?
No Surprises
Everything in its Right Place

I DID get Idioteque, thank god. The first encore was hands-down the best part of the show. Except maybe for when Thom fucked up Faust Arp and started singing a Neil Young song. I went with Chris and the Ayrisses, and our seats were pretty bad - very last row to the left of the stage. I found myself very jealous of those lucky bastards in the pit. (At least we weren't on the lawn. It started raining immediately after the show ended.) I'm compelled to compare this show to the Nine Inch Nails gig, and I'd honestly have to say that NIN was better. Partly because I'm more familiar with the music, partly because nothing is cooler than Trent's lightshow, and partly because I was in the pit for NIN. I like more intimate shows. But anyway, this was still a really great show and I'm glad we made the trek out for it.

Vienna Teng:
Whatever You Want
Gravity
City Hall
Blue Caravan
1 br/1 ba
Kansas
Green Island Serenade
Idioteque
Antebellum
Pontchartrain
I Don't Feel So Well
Harbor

Encore:
Grandmother Song

You see what happened there? I got to hear Idioteque at two different shows in the space of two weeks! Went to this show with Caro, Lise, and Lina, and had an awesome time. The Triple Door is a really nice place, and not only was our table smack dab in the middle near the front of the stage, I got to have really nice tea before the show started. Vienna is basically the cutest human being alive. The Dreaming songs translated beautifully with the band - I think it's been cemented as my second favorite album after Waking Hour. The new songs also sounded ace, particularly Antebellum. Harbor was a lovely surprise. I only wish that she'd gotten to play for longer. We got to meet her after the show, and I got her autograph. I accidentally left my camera with mom, because I am a FRIGGIN' TARD < /Captain Hammer >, so no pictures.



Also, I may or may not have a crush on Alex Wong. So, there's that.



Things Annie Is Currently Enjoying
-Being in a steady relationship. I love being in love and this is probably the best thing that's ever happened to me.
-Being in school. No, really. It's weird. It's like all of a sudden someone flipped a switch in my head and I suddenly want to know EVERYTHING, things I wouldn't have cared about this time last year. I'm finally appreciating the things I'm being taught. I think I'm finally growing up. I'm especially enjoying AP Studio Art (of course) and World Religions.
-Who Killed Amanda Palmer?. It is awesome and will be high on my year-end list. Leeds United is simply glorious.
-Sailor Moon Abridged. Ohhhhhh my god.
-My Pokemanz! Let me show you them, in fact!





Things Annie Is Currently Not Enjoying:
-MCCAIN/PALIN. UGHHHH. My hatred for these two seems to intensify with each passing day.
-My Creative Writing class. I am just not the writer I used to be and I'm already way behind. I'm glad that this is only for a semester.
-Way to Normal still has not leaked. This displeases me.
-Twilight. That isn't anything new, it is a constant source of animosity and headdesking in my life, but I despair for a friend of mine who has succumbed to The Sparkle. (Growing Up Cullen, on the other hand, well. That is something else entirely. That something else is EPIC WIN!)
-College is looming and I'm getting kind of nervous about applications and whether or not I'll have enough work in my portfolio by the time I need to and argh.
-Senior projects. Haven't even started mine yet but it can fuck right off anyway.


Next entry I'll post some stuff I've been working on for AP Studio Art.

yessss

Dear Hillary Clinton,

THANK YOU.

Love (finally), Me

it's alright

In light of recent events, here is my "Jesus Christ Annay, chill the fuck out" playlist.



Oh man, I need this.

senior year schedule

1st semester:
1st: AP Studio Art w/Molskness
2nd: Contract - Pre-calc (APEX)
3rd: Japanese 7 w/Kawasaki
4th: Creative Writing w/Henshaw
5th: World Religions w/Johnson
6th: Contract - Senior Seminar w/Trish

2nd semester:
1st: AP Studio Art w/Molskness
2nd: Contract - Pre-calc (APEX)
3rd: Japanese 8 w/Kawasaki
4th: Contract - Art w/Linda
5th: Contract - PE w/Dad
6th: Contract - Senior Seminar w/Trish

Yessss. I'm so glad I got this worked out. I can't take the actual senior seminar class because it's 1st period only, and I am NOT switching out of AP studio art, so I get to do it as a contract, and I think I'd prefer it that way anyway. I switched into APEX math mostly because I didn't want Swanson second semester, and because it worked really well for me last year. Japanese is going to be incredibly pointless this year, as there's only 5 fourth year students total including myself. I might be taking art lessons with Linda first semester and just not counting it as a contract. Creative writing with Henshaw should be...interesting.


I am going to see Radiohead tonight, ftw. I'll write back tomorrow, or whenever, but all I have to say is bitches better play Idioteque. They didn't last night and so now I'm nervous. I want spazzy dance time!

surrender

It's raining outside and I am drinking rooibos and listening to Vespertine, and oh lord this album is just perfect. Fucking perfect. I've heard it countless times and I never lose that same feeling of awe and deep, unspeakable comfort.

Undo has me this close to sobbing. I wish I could play this song for some of the people in my life. I wish I knew how to be there for them.


My brother's birthday is tomorrow, and I already posted this on my Deviantart, but I wanted to wait until after I gave him his gift to post it here:


(Oh, also, we got a scanner. FUCK YES.) I finished my own self portrait for Linda at the end of second semester, and Chris asked for one of him, and I only just got around to finishing it, for various reasons... I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Also, I painted my wallet with the Art is Resistance logo:

Just for the hell of it!


I'm currently attempting to teach myself how to use watercolor. I've never really had the patience for it, but I figure it's something that I should learn how to do. Oils is my next plan. So, my senior project - my plan is to produce several pieces - each in different mediums - each with personal meaning - each based loosely on a song. I have a couple in mind. Right now the one I'm going to focus on is based on One More Time by Daft Punk, which is kind of an odd choice, but I got this idea that I know I have to do. That song really represents my childhood to me, so I'm going to do it in acrylic, which is the first medium I really learned how to use when I started getting more serious about my work. It'll be in various shades of blue (I want to incorporate my synesthesia into as many paintings as possible.) There's a lot of emotion here - my childhood and leaving stuff behind, my religion or lack there of, oddly enough (I never thought I'd consciously associate One More Time with Christianity, but there it is. I think it's been there all along and I never recognized it), how much I've changed.

(omg, stream of consciousness paragraph of DOOM.)

I have a couple other songs/ideas in mind, but no other really detailed plans.

still can't brain

Okay, I lied. I'll write about the project when I have a better grasp on what it is I'm doing and can actually explain in words what I'm trying to do.

mrph.

I visited Cornish today, and I got struck with an idea for my senior project on the ferry on the way over. And I want to write about it now, but I've been awake for too long already and I can't brain anymore, I have the dumb. So I will tomorrow.

Lights in the Sky over Seattle, Washington

I know, I know. I didn't get the opportunity to sit down and write about it until now - my week ended up being a lot busier than I thought it would be.

So, the setlist:

999,999
1,000,000
Letting You
Discipline
March of the Pigs
Head Down
The Frail
Closer
Gave Up
The Warning
The Great Destroyer
1 Ghosts I
25 Ghosts I
19 Ghosts III
Piggy
The Greater Good
Wish
Terrible Lie
Survivalism
The Big Come Down
31 Ghosts IV
Only
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like A Hole

Encore:
Echoplex
The Beginning of the End
The Good Soldier
Hurt
In This Twilight

And it was perfect. Seriously, this was just an amazing, amazing show. I couldn't have asked for anything more (except La Mer.) Personal highlights were:

1,000,000: I love this song sooooo much and experiencing it while being crushed in the pit was a lot of fun. Everyone's just going completely nuts and I'm having that moment that I always do at concerts when I'm still processing the fact that "omg [so-and-so, in this case TR] is actually RIGHT THERE playing this song". Whee!
Discipline: This is probably my second favorite song on The Slip and I am completely unashamed. I love when NIN does gay disco anthems. I am disappointed that I didn't see anybody take their shirt off and dance, but it's okay because it was still awesome.
Head Down: Most-wanted song, and I got it!! I wasn't too impressed by the DVD rehearsal vid, but it sounded like the band finally had it down. Also, the tambourine made its triumphant appearance, and I was pleased.


1 Ghosts I: This was AMAZING. This is where I mention that this was as much a lights show as a music show - the visuals were absolutely stunning. I was kind of wondering before the show started how they were going to integrate the Ghosts stuff with the rest of the show, but they did it.


The Good Soldier: The other song I really really wanted to hear, hooray! And more tambourine.
In This Twilight: I FREAKED because I knew he'd never played it before. It was really beautiful, especially the piano outro. The show ended on the perfect note.



I'm really lucky to be a NIN fan at this point in time - now that Trent's got himself straightened out he's churning out amazing material and putting on equally amazing shows in such a short period of time. He continues to be a huge inspiration to me.

(Oh, while I'm here, Crystal Castles was awful. Like, seriously awful. And it's too bad, because they have potential, I think - some of their beats were pretty cool - but that girl needs to have her mic taken away from her until she learns how to sing. And I mean SING, not just alternate between unintelligible whisper and equally unintelligible spazzy whine.)


And now that I'm talking about epic fail, let's talk about the most epic fail of all!


As evidenced here, here, and here.

Seriously. I have no words. Except for WHY ARE THESE BOOKS POPULAR. WHYYYYY. At least they are here for me to laugh at. Just. omg. SO AWFUL.

SATURDAY.

THAT'S RIGHT. I will write all about it when the day comes!! Provided, of course, that the pit doesn't kill me.

In other news, I am updating my DeviantArt account again, lolwat. Oh, you know, I'm looking at this page right now and realizing that I never posted my art challenge pieces here!!



(original stock image here)



(original stock image here)

finished product:


Val's prompt for challenge #24 was to use a picture of any couple (no Tori photos) and one of two lines from the song Lust: "lust in the marriage bed" or "you know you'll drink her". I chose the latter, and wanted to use a nameless anything couple rather than someones taken from a film/series as suggested. I ended up spending so much time on the drawing part (I actually went over deadline - Val was kind enough to give me an extension) that I didn't get to work much on the actual sig. I'm not fully satisfied with it, but I won, so I guess it's okay. Things never turn out the way that I see them in my head...
Lust is one of my favorite Tori songs, and also one of THE most intense synesthesia triggers. I tried to replicate that as best I could with the colors in this sig, and failed rather miserably by my standards. I did as best I could. To me the song is a very vibrant gold and crystal, a different shade than the background colors I ended up with. As far as the actual drawings go, not much to say really; the song's message is so deeply sewn into me that the blueprint for the sig showed up and I just ran with it.

While I'm talking about visual portrayals of Tori songs:


I got it on Monday! a day early! I love love love it. It's so neat to see how people interpreted these songs. How certain lines inspired the entire framework for a story - "counting my feathers as the bells toll" for Here In My Head, the "vanilla" stanza from Siren...and the artwork is just so beautiful! It's really amazing how varied each artistic style is from story to story. I actually feel kind of inspired to start something new...


Real Life! It still exists. I am doing great. I honestly feel like I'm the happiest I've ever been right now. ♥


Man, I just reread this post and I sound really pretentious. I'm sorry. I have a limited way of phrasing things...
To balance it out, I am having WAY TOO MUCH FUN playing Pokemanz. I am an uber dork. And how!

sigh.

I'm in an odd mood today. One moment I'm feeling great and the next I'm worried out of my mind all over again. It's frustrating. I just have to keep telling myself that everything will be okay - it always is, in the end.

I'm listening to Lycanthropy, and that helps. It always does.

Wolf Song is playing and I'm remembering how magical it was back in October. First song of the show and I'm already in tears. Something about it unlocks something...I don't know. I guess nostalgia is the closest thing I can compare it to. There's something very young about this song and something that hits me on an almost primal level. But it's hugely comforting. It's in there.
...Bloodbeat was brilliant live too. God, I can never get over how perfect this album is, just how much it means to me. Stop hiding! Get right down to it! Hunt it down.
(I guess I'm writing track-by-track now. Okay.)
-To the Lighthouse was my first P-Wolf song. Build your castles, stop collecting stones, and the riverbed shall not be your home. Great great minds against themselves conspire. Cultivating a sense of self, nurturing it...let too much doubt set in and it'll weigh you down. You'll drown. Oh god, the violin at the end kills me.
-Pigeon Song...it always makes me smile to remember that the movie at the cinema in question was Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. Hee. This song really sounds like London somehow. Or what I remember London to be. Moving my way home...
-Don't Say No. I used to say 'just follow your heart', but my heart always led me in circles. I used to say 'just follow your dreams', but my dreams always led me to murder. So now I don't say nothing at all...if you're brave enough you'll give yourself away. That rings particularly true for me.
-Childcatcher hurts so much to listen to. I can't even imagine. The last couple lines of the song - I've got no time for victims... - knowing that it's directed at himself makes it even harder. And I can't listen to this without immediately following it up with Demolition. It just aches. Also, the recorder is so beautiful.
-London really does sound like London. I kind of pair this song and Pigeon Song together in my head. Leaving home to go and find yourself again.
-Paris...god, how much could I say about Paris...but can't say because all I can do is feel. Every word goes straight to my heart. You, my love, you must come to joy, turn your head to the sun. It's all down to YOU. These are the things I tell myself when I'm losing hope. And that's what I love so much about this album - each song inspires me, in its own way and all together as a whole...I can't even describe it. It's pure beauty.
-Peter Pan is just about the cutest thing ever. It sounds almost like a b-side that got tacked onto the album, but it works. Remember, if it weren't for fighting, we'd be fighting forevermore. Da da dum da da da dum!
-Lycanthropy is absolute perfection and ties everything together so beautifully. Let go of all limitations and just be yourself in everything you do. Also, the recorder is just SO beautiful. (I actually think that on some level, one reason I'm so drawn to this album is because of all the recorders. Since I played as a kid, it evokes something in me...) The image I get from this song is a bunch of people singing and dancing around a campfire. Pure joy and freedom.
-A Boy Like Me is the perfect ending track (not counting the epilogue). It's emerging triumphant! I don't give up! I'm never going to give up on my dream.

...you know, I do feel better now.

We're halfway through the year!

And at the moment, this is how I would rank my 2008 albums:

1. Yoav - Charmed & Strange
2. Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
3. Alanis Morissette - Flavors of Entanglement
4. Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
5. Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
6. Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV
7. Lykke Li - Youth Novels
8. The Afters - Never Going Back to OK

So basically, I suck for only having 8 halfway through the year. I will fix that soon.

JAPAN.

WAS INCREDIBLE. And I know I haven't updated this blog in far too long, and I apologize.

So anyway, at the moment I'm taking a break from cleaning my room, more specifically my closet, more specifically my makeshift art studio. I went and organized all my stuff and it's looking preeeeetty classy. I mean, as classy as a high schooler's closet art studio can look. This evening I'm going to white out some old canvases.

Currently my list of projects looks like this -
1. FeelTheWord art challenge (I only have a week, AHHHHHHH)
2. Portrait of Chris (on hold for a minute)
3. Mailbox (need to do some sketches)
4. Painting sketches
5. General watercolor practice (I've decided that this is something I need to learn how to do, no matter how frustrating it is. But I need watercolor paper first.)

I also bought a portfolio (none of my pieces with Linda fit in there w/matting...I got it mostly for AP Studio Art next year) and some books from Barnes & Noble last week when Laura was here. This is going to be the summer of artistic productivity!

Oh, also, this is completely off topic, but I just bought a Nintendo DS. I've spent most of the week playing Pokemon Diamond. I haven't played a new Pokemon game since Crystal and I'd forgotten how addictive it is! My current team consists of Empoleon, Luxray, Girafarig, and Sneasel, which is not much. I'm going to breed a new Girafarig and I'm training a new Luxio with Intimidate instead of Rivalry, and I'm going to look for a Tauros when I get a Radar. GOD I feel like a dork!

I've fallen completely and utterly in love with this song:
Lisa Germano - From a Shell

lays open like a road

I will be in Japan soon! I leave tomorrow morning. And I finally have my iTunes sorted out.

School is over! I can't even believe it. I keep telling myself, "Look, love, you made it, and see where you are now!" This has been a painful and wonderful year, and I wouldn't change a minute of it.


I started my EE Cummings book recently, and I think this poem stopped my breathing for a moment:

who are you,little i

five or six years old)
peering from some high

window;at the gold


of november sunset

(and feeling:that if day
has to become night

this is a beautiful way)

So it's Rorschach and Prozac and everything is groovy! or, 10 reasons why Nick Cave is awesome

I cannot stop listening to this guy. I'm pretty sure that this is going to be my Big Discovery Of The Year™ the way Patrick Wolf was last year.

The Mercy Seat
Of course. Acoustic performance of a portion of the song. The original is immense, but I think the stripped-down sound lends itself nicely as well.


Henry Lee
A duet with PJ Harvey, one of my favorite people. It's unreal how good these two sound together. Tis a shame that it didn't work out between them. Also, the video was shot in one take, which is pretty cool.


Do You Love Me?
Let Love In was my third album after Murder Ballads and The Boatman's Call. I remember the first time I heard this song, when the piano kicked in I'm like awww fuck yeah, son.


Stagger Lee
COOLEST BASSLINE EVAR. Also, dance moves.


John Finn's Wife
I can't find anything for this song on Youtube and that makes me sad. The strings. The STRINGS. I love how this song just races along and pulls you in. Also, awesome imagery.
Well, midnight came and clock did strike/And in she came, did John Finn's wife/With legs like scissors and butcher's knives/Tattooed breasts and flaming eyes/And a crimson carnation in her teeth/Carving her way through the dance floor/And I'm standing over by the bandstand/Every eye gaping on John Finn's wife/Yeah, every eye gaping on John Finn's wife...

Into My Arms
Beautiful.


Deanna
FUCKING NUTS. I love how unabashedly over the top ridiculous this is.


As I Sat Sadly By Her Side
Oh, it hurts.


There She Goes, My Beautiful World
I don't normally like gospel choirs (o hay Witness!) but this song is killer and I love it to a degree that it probably ridiculous. The lyrics are amazing. (Although this performance cuts out one of my favorite bits.)
The wintergreen, the juniper/The cornflower and the chicory/All the words you said to me/Still vibrating in the air/The elm, the ash and the linden tree/The dark and deep enchanted sea/The trembling moon and the stars unfurled/There she goes, my beautiful world..../I will kneel at your feet/I will lie at your door/I will rock you to sleep/I will roll on the floor/And I'll ask for nothing/Nothing in this life/I'll ask for nothing/Give me ever-lasting life/I just want to move the world.


Loverman
The full-length version of this song is 6 minutes of glorious and epic, even though he apparently can't spell 'know' or 'any'.

conclusions I come to

Sometimes I want the world to notice me, but for the most part I'm content with being different in my own heart.

I'm having a Boatman's Call day

and this song is the most perfect thing in the world to me right now-


With a crooked smile and a heart-shaped face
Comes from the west country where the birds sing bass
She's got a house-big heart where we all live
Plead and council and forgive
Her widow's peak, her lips I've kissed
A glove of bones at her wrist
And I've held in my hand
Her Spanish fly and her monkey gland
Her godly body and its fourteen stations
That I have embraced, her palpitations
Her unborn baby crying 'Mummy'
Against the rubble of her body
Her lovely lidded eyes I've sipped
Her fingernails all pink and chipped
Her accent, which I'm told is broad
That I have heard, and has been poured
Into my human heart and filled me
With love up to the brim and killed me
And rebuilt me back anew
With something to look forward to
Who could ask much more than that?
West country girl with a big fat cat
Looks into her eyes of green
And meows 'He loves you', then meows again.

I just want to float away with those strings. And I just LOVE when I get struck by inspiration in the middle of class...not. My creativity has awful timing. but now I have an idea for a new painting.

too beautiful to put into words - summer plans?

Holy crap, school ends next week. Next week I'll be a senior. AHHHH. That is a scary thought. Part of me doesn't feel ready for the transition to college. But another part of me is welcoming it, and is ready to take the step towards independence and a life devoted to my art. This entire post is probably going to sound terribly pretentious, and I apologize in advance DAMMIT MY ITUNES JUST RICKROLLED ME

Anyway yeah. So summer. Next week I'm also going to be in another country (!! sdakl;gjasklh.;ask), and when I get home I can start looking for a job. I'm really hoping to get something at the teahouse, because that's something that I am actually interested in and would put a lot of effort towards. But if that doesn't work out I'll figure out something else (petsitting would also be ideal, but I need my license.) My goal this summer is to work like crazy - in any possible job I may get and on my artwork.

I really need to start accumulating work for a portfolio and seriously look into some WA art schools. And just work endlessly towards improvement. I'm only really disappointed in my artwork when I inevitably compare it to someone else's and realize how much more time and effort I need to put into this before I can really feel satisfied. I don't know if I'll ever be fully satisfied, but I want to get as close as I can. (forever incomplete...) All I want to do with my life is live in art. practice, practice.

I still need to remember to love myself.

I hear in my mind, all this muuuuusic

I just came across this quote from Alanis regarding Flavors:

"I think in terms of colors and the more sort of A, C, D songs, those chords are primary colors - yellow, red, and I think there's a lot of purple on this record, purples and dark emerald greens, and grays."

It's interesting, because as far as my own synesthesia goes with this album:

-Citizen of the Planet = the last chorus is sort of a light blue...don't get much for the rest of the song, though

-Underneath = blue + green

-Straitjacket = BRIGHT green + black + white

-Versions of Violence = dark purple

-Not As We = gray

-In Praise of the Vulnerable Man = a soft red, not pink but not crimson

-Moratorium = sepia

-Torch = dark green

-Giggling Again for No Reason = soft green

-Tapes = this awful murky yellow (I will never stop harping on my hatred for this song!)

-Incomplete = gold, bits of rainbow with the guitar

-Orchid = soft purple

-The Guy Who Leaves = kind of reddish...bits of gold

-Madness = don't get much of anything

-Limbo No More = ditto

-On the Tequila = tequila-colored, lawlz

-It's a Bitch to Grow Up = yellow + green (I just noticed that I haven't written about this song yet. I'm pretty sure I hate it. Not as much as Tapes, but it's incredibly annoying.)

-20/20 = bright blue

So yeah, I see some overlap there. Huh. Purples, grays, yellows...although I wouldn't know a C chord from a hole in the ground so I don't know which songs she might be referring to.

I don't even know why I'm writing about this. I like to think about colors. and think IN colors!

Things I Need To Do Before I Go To Japan, part deux

- buy a new backpack (Mom is going to REI this week)
- cash my bonds (did so today. I also got a card from my grandparents containing a $100 check, which is incredibly nice of them.)
- finalize PXK iTunes (still a work in progress, probably will be until midnight of the 18th)
- find out how much battery power PXK actually has (need to do this)
- go to the bookstore (see below!)
- buy a bitchload of disposable cameras (Mom's letting me bring the digital camera.)
- maybe get a trip sketchbook (Don't know if I'm actually going to do this, chances are I have an empty one lying around)

Anyway, books! ♥ I picked up:
-The Mists of Avalon - I've read this already, but I bought another copy because the one I do have is horribly mangled. (I lent it to Laura a few years ago and Luke nommed on it...)
-Bullfinch's Mythology - this is the book that I saw at B&N a few weeks ago but didn't get. I bought the abridged version because the original's HUGE and I don't want to be carrying too many heavy books around.
-Heroes, Gods, and Monsters of the Greek Myths - I don't care that I know most of these stories by heart already, I love them. ♥
-Myths and Legends of Japan - WHY NO, I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MYTHOLOGY BOOKS. I don't know any Japanese myths, though!
-Othello - My ongoing attempts to bone up on my Shakespeare.
-e.e cummings Selected Poems - I love him, but for some reason I never actually owned any of his work. the little horse is newlY is probably my favorite poem of all time.


I got a copy of what is close to our finalized itinerary for the trip:
June 19th: Take the 8:45 ferry to Seattle, take the 12:52 flight (ten motherfucking hours. it's a good thing I will have reading material/an iPod full of my favorite albums/my pokemanz to keep me occupied.)
June 20th: Land at Narita at 2:55 PM, take the bullet train to Kyoto
June 21st: Sightseeing in Kyoto- Kinkakuji, Nijojo, Kiyomizudera
June 22nd: Visiting Nara - Todaiji, Nara National Museum, feeding deer :D
June 23rd: Hiking in Hozu, Hozu river cruise, Saruyama, Arashiyama, Yuzen studio
June 24th: We still don't know what we're doing this day, we might be going to Osaka
June 25th: Meito High School in Nagoya, take the bullet train to Tokyo
June 26th: Kyoritsu Women's University, Imperial Palace Higashi Gyoen Park
June 27th: Tsukiji Fish Market, Akihabara, Harajuku
June 28th: Diet House, Ghibli Museum, Karaoke!!, Shinjuku
June 29th: Asakusa, take 4:55 flight, arrive back in Washington at 9:43 AM

AHHHHHHHHH.

Things I Need To Do Before I Go To Japan:

- buy a new backpack
- cash my bonds
- finalize PXK iTunes (I have about 300 songs' worth of room left...sigh)
- find out how much battery power PXK actually has
- go to the bookstore
- buy a bitchload of disposable cameras
- maybe get a trip sketchbook (I think a visit to Winslow may be in order.)

AHHHHHHHH. ACTUALLY GETTING KIND OF NERVOUS NOW.

finally

It's Barack!!

I wish I were old enough to vote.

Thought that occurred to me recently -

- if you told me this time last year where I would be today, I don't think I would have believed you...

DO I DAZZLE YOU?

Excuse me as I lol my face off:

If this is anything like the book, then I will totally see it when it comes out, just to marvel at how awful it is.

trips to Winslow.

I really really need to stop opening the emails that Ticketmaster sends me. They just depress me. First it was Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds in September, and today it's Stars. August 21st, which is the day after I see Radiohead, and also the day Chris goes back to WSU, I think. Curse you, world!! (This should be my motivation for getting my driver's license. If I can drive myself, then I can go to as many concerts as I like without having to drag someone else around. WHOA, dream big!)

So today I compiled a new playlist, entitled "Awesome Walking Songs" -

- and set off for Winslow for tea, as I am wont to do. There is something incredibly comforting about my simple 15-minute walk down to the teahouse and back. It's become a bit of a ritual this year. It's centering, somehow, especially with my music and the trees to keep me company. (One of the things I love most about Bainbridge is that you're pretty much always within sight of a tree.)

I got a giftcard to Oil & Water from the Hunts for my birthday, so I went down there today as well.

24 paintbrushes (and the case!) for only $18. I was powerless to resist. I am the happiest geek evar in this store. And now I want to do some painting tonight, although I'm not sure what of, and even though I have a metric ton of math and semester project-ing to do. Knowing me I will put them both off and paint anyway...

the sky looks like a road

I just got my final evaluation for my art contract with Linda, and it considerably brightened my day. Excerpts:

Attitude and independent learning skills

Annie has a positive attitude and tremendous self-motivation. She knows what she needs to work on, and follows through.

Creativity and analytical thinking

Annie is great at organizing her art process and analyzing what she could do to improve the next piece. It takes maturity to be that self-critical. In doing so, she is growing by leaps and bounds.

Accomplishments and comprehension of content

...I was pleased by the initiative to learn how to draw feet and hands. The studies showed much more confidence and strength than last semester.

Demonstration of growth or improvement

I have seen huge strides in growth from the start of fall term to the end of the year. She is much more confident and trusting in her own abilities.

It's incredibly heartening to read this from someone other than myself (someone who would know better than I would, in fact.) I really feel like I've been growing a lot artistically this year and I feel rather validated on that now.

"It takes maturity to be that self-critical"...I think I'm finally getting to a place where I can be self-critical without being negative.

bunnehhhhh

Look at what I found in Seattle today!

My old Daiso bunny cup!! And also, obviously, the inspiration for my blog header. I was so sad when my old one broke (and I still have it), but amazingly enough they're still carrying the same design over a year later. So that's pretty much made the rest of my week already.

I had a nice day in Seattle with Caro and Elise today; bought some summer clothes, went to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, went to Barnes & Noble and lusted over a mythology book and a hardcover edition of The Mists of Avalon but couldn't afford either, woe. Also, I got to actually listen to Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea IN a city, and felt like a happy dork. I've been on a bit of a Stories kick all this month, actually.

Oh, the bonus Flavors of Entanglement tracks have leaked. I like them all. I'm especially partial to Orchid and The Guy Who Leaves, and fuck you all I love On the Tequila too. Here is my tentative extended tracklisting -

1. Citizen of the Planet

2. Underneath

3. Orchid

4. The Guy Who Leaves

5. Straitjacket

6. Versions of Violence

7. Not As We

8. In Praise of the Vulnerable Man

9. Madness

10. Moratorium

11. Torch

12. 20/20

13. Giggling Again for No Reason

14. Limbo No More

15. Incomplete

I'm not entirely sure that I like the placing of In Praise of the Vulnerable Man inbetween Not As We and Madness, but I don't really know where else to put it. But I really want to keep it. So I shall be puzzling over that. I didn't include Tapes or On the Tequila because A) I still hate Tapes and B) On the Tequila just does not fit anywhere no matter how full of win it is. I'll try to include It's A Bitch To Grow Up whenever that shows up on the internets.

I mentioned Stories earlier and I want to share this -

PJ Harvey - Good Fortune (this video is how I feel on the inside whenever I hear this song)

fucking blue shells

I said in my Flavors entry that I was going to add Giggling Again For No Reason to my Mario Kart playlist. And then I remembered that I didn't actually have a Mario Kart playlist.

Now I do!

I feel like suuuuuuuuuch a dork for some of these choices. At least I am a happy one. (Voyager + Rainbow Road = EPIC!)

My ongoing battle with hands

...and to a lesser extent, feet. All of these are reproduced from Drawing Hands and Feet by Giovanni Civardi. (click to enlarge)

I've always had a LOT of trouble with drawing hands. I've been doing a lot of work on it these past couple weeks. I need to do more from-life sketches, rather than just working out of the Civardi book, but I'm feeling slightly more comfortable with it. I can contemplate the nuances of a hand and not be completely overwhelmed by its complexity. That's something. (I've never had much trouble with feet, but it is nice to get some practice in.)

Flavors of Entanglement

Well, goddamn! It finally leaked!

"...I thought I'd take a break from snowboarding in hell to write up a crappy review of this album that I just now listened to for the absolute very first time ever. Because that's the way to properly review a CD: listen to it one time and then act like you know it inside out and insist everyone should respect your opinion like it's printed in the Bible with red ink." *

In my defense, I've listened to the album several times by now. Onward.

Citizen of the Planet: Heard the 30-second Verizon clip last night and was FLOORED, especially because I had absolutely no expectations for this song. And the full-length does not disappoint. The strings are particularly brilliant (the bridge = omg!)

Underneath: I've heard this a million times already and so don't have much to say about it. I like it and I can understand why it was chosen as a single, but my first choice for a single would've been...

Straitjacket: YES. This is the sound I was hoping for. So hot. My favorite song on the album at present. My only criticism is that the distorted vocals at the end are annoying.

Versions of Violence: Leaked earlier, so I've heard it a bunch of times already. I really hate the lyrics for some reason - like, seriously, I have no idea why I dislike them so much, but I do. Thankfully the music and vocals are awesome enough to make up for it. I love how Lani uses her voice here, and the bells.

Not as We: Not drastically different from the House clip that's been around for ages, which is a good thing. I really love this song. Sometimes simple is best! I just wish the chorus weren't too high for me to sing along to.

In Praise of the Vulnerable Man: I am a huge dork, but I just LOVE this, in all its shamelessly poppy glory. It fills me with sugary glee. Thematically it's a lot like A Man, which is bar-none my favorite Lani song, so that's also good. And I love the strings (I think they're strings, they could possibly be synths, I'm a musical retard.)

Moratorium: Also leaked a while ago. More lovely strings. Just loving the strings on this album!! This has also become one of my favorite singalong songs.

Torch: God, this song is depressing. Depressing in that good, beautifully sad way. "I miss your warmth and the thought of bringing up our kids/And the part of you that walks with your stick-tied handkerchief" absolutely kills me. But I kind of wish that this were more string-based and didn't have such an electronic undercurrent.

Giggling Again for No Reason: This is the most Imogen Heap-like song on the album, in my opinion. I could see this being on Speak For Yourself. I really like it. It's nice to hear Alanis do a fun song like this. Also, it's going on my Mario Kart playlist.

Tapes: Only song on the album that I actively dislike. And I must be missing something, because it feels like 95% of people are praising it to Jeebus. I was expecting something more fast-paced. The rest of the album is such lovely, crystalline electro-pop, but Tapes just feels like a murky yellow dirge. (says the synesthete.)

Incomplete: I was really disappointed with both acoustic incarnations of this song, partly because one of the first reviewers hyped it to ridiculous proportions. The studio version is much better, and it works much better in context with the rest of the album as well, which is more than I can say for Tapes. I think this one will grow on me. I do love that some of the guitar bits have the same strummy rainbow quality that I sometimes get from harps.

The Verdict: This is a damn good album. A huge departure for Alanis, but definitely a welcome one! This sound really works for her. And, of course, with Guy Sigsworth at the helm, you've pretty much got it made. If it were up to me, I would replace Tapes with 20/20 (which I LOVE), and I say this knowing that there are still several bonus tracks that have yet to leak that I will probably end up adding to my hypothetical tracklist.

*meathead!

Godrevy Point

This blog will hopefully be -

-A place for me to post my artwork and write about projects/ideas
-A place to write about whatever music I'm listening to
-A place to write about whatever's on my mind
-More successful than previous LiveJournals/GreatestJournals/what have you
-An exercise in writing without feeling like I have to cater to an invisible audience, even if someone does end up reading this thing

-not too pretentious?

-Updated fairly regularly

...and I laid down at the top of the cliff

confessed my sins into the wind

and the sky lay a feather in my mouth

good lord what a beautiful day

for traveling, unraveling this heavy heart away

to forgive and forget myself

my enemies and my bruises washed away

today was the day I first said 'I belong'

here in the ghost region all alone upon the shore

on this changing line between land and sea

between a cease-fire and a war...