Where'd You Go?

Yeah. Finally managed to convert the songs I've purchased through iTunes into MP3s. Good ol' CDex. Good program... At least I don't gotta beat around the bush with a gazillion programs you have to pay for and that aren't as good. Gotta love freeware.

What else... Today I registered for ACAD courses. Came to ~$500 with tax. I'm having second thoughts about going into drawing. Maybe graphic design is the way to go. I'm much better at it... Oh well, I still need to draw to get a portfolio together. Good thing I have almost a year before I decide. Even then, it isn't the end of the world if I choose wrong. It'll work out. Me hopes.



Not much to say about it... I painted over a frame from the Fort Minor 'Where'd You Go' music video. It's supposed to be Holly Brook, but she way more attractive and less dead looking in the origional. It looks alright, but I definitely screwed up with the colour. The right eye is awkward as well. Bah.

About Holly Brook, though, I checked out her site (http://www.hollybrookmusic.com/). Listen to the music she has available through the little music player. I like it... Definitely gunna get her album, whenever it comes out. I subscribed to her mailing list.
-Cril

Tell me
What do you think of me now
That I've traded all my armour for a crown?
Common
What do you do with me now
That I've taken down the mirror on the wall?

Holly Brook - Giving It Up For You

*fizzle*

Ugh. Buf. Muh.

That isn't really supposed to mean anything in perticular, it just conveys how I'm feeling at the moment. Burnt out, I suppose. Work is pretty hecktic, and now my Aunts mom is on her deathbed. Things aren't going to great, and it doesn't look like there'll be relief anytime soon. The next little while is gunna suck. In other news, I'm signing up for some non-credit ACAD courses to help me build a portfolio for next fall. I also have to sign up for health care. I tried uninsuring my car over the phone, and wasted my entire lunch hour on hold so it didn't get done. Things aren't looking up.

But, I got my act together and painted something. I suck, but here it is anyways...



It was really crappy near the beginning, I almost ditched it. But, I fought it out and it turned out much better than I had feared. The water isn't too horrible, considering I've never done it before. I should've used a reference for it though. The body isn't very well proportioned and looks crappy. Yes, those are feathers he's holding. There's some problem with the balancing between foreground and background, it's somewhat difficult to focus on one or the other. I think the hat is the best part of the peice. Not for how well it was done, but for the element it adds.

I'm feelin' pretty down at the moment... Kinda of insignificant and not able to change anything. Exhausted from trying. Defeated almost. Definitly exhausted though. I'm not looking forward to the next several weeks at all.
-Cril

Closing time - time for you to go out, go out into the world
Closing time - turn the lights up over every boy and every girl
Closing time - one last call for alcohol, so finish your whiskey or beer
Closing time - you don't have to go home but you can't stay here

I know who I want to take me home
I know who I want to take me home
I know who I want to take me home
Take me home...

Green Day - Closing Time

Holy BS freakin' G.

Battlestar Galactica. Wow.

You have your Star Trek type season enders that only influence two or three episodes before it's forgotten. You have your Lost enders, which introduce new elements that will bend the next season around it. Then you have your Battlestar Galactica season enders, which totally change the situation of the series around. Wow, just wow. That was an incredible episode. They have a ONE YEAR jump. Normally a season finale revolves around one large incident. They threw that away with the circumstances you're familiar with, and practically rewrote the plot. That was freakin' incredible. The worst part is that we'll have to wait until October for the next episode. Personally, I'd like to see one ready for tomorrow night, but... I wish.

I reinstalled BF2. It looks (and runs) great on my new system. I was never fond of the netcode, though. I never ping well in Battlefield, and lag is really noticable. That and the ingame server browser seems clunky. I like my Steam. Oh well... There's a torrent running upstairs, so I can't play any online games if I wanted to. I get hella laggy... 'Guess I'll hafta draw or something.
-Cril


I, I can remember
Standing, by the wall
And the guns, shot above our heads
And we kissed, as though nothing could fall
And the shame, was on the other side
Oh we can beat them, for ever and ever
Then we could be heroes, just for one day

David Bowie - Heroes

Not that it matters, but this was the intro song for NHL '98. Ah, that was a great game...

The crowd starts to sing...

I've finally decided what I'm going to (try and) do with my life. Some form of visual arts is the name of the game. At the moment, graphic design and seem to be my forte, but deep down I want to do illustration/drawing/painting. I think I'm going to try for the latter. In order to get into ACAD, though, I need to have a portfolio which I am severely lacking. So here goes: I'm going to lean off on the gaming, and try to step up my... Arting. And the first victim:



It's Batman! Kinda... I'm surprised at how well I pulled of the positioning and proportioning of the body. It turned out not half bad, to my disbelief that I couldn't do a full figure without a reference. Well, a fraction of a body in this case. You'll notice that he's mostly hidden by the cape. At least I did a decent job on the cape's lighting as well... It looks like there's actually a person under there.

I stole the Batman idea from one Frank drew. His was mostly a portrait with the face. Either way, I had fun. Speaking of Frank, we had a good chat the other night. That guy is so much smarter than I am at this point in the game. He really understands where I'm sitting with school and what I need to do. Dare I say, he's pretty wise on the subject. His art is pretty good too :)

I FINALLY got my iPod back. I could've had it last Friday, but nooo... DHL is rediculous. I changed it to the work address online over the weekend, and it arrived at the house on Monday. I phoned and changed it with customer service, and it didn't even come the next day. So it finally came yesterday to the office. 'Bout time... Apple's service was bang on, fast and to the point (Although I was less than thrilled to pay $40 for shipping when I WORK at a shipping company...). The delivery left something to be desired though.

Props to Frank for his taste in music. I found out about The Fray and their "How to Save a Life" album through his blog. Not much of it made the cut to stay on the iPod (I only have 4GB of space, I gotta be tough...) but it's great listening. I really dig their style. The music is great, and the vocals are well done and seem unique. Me likes.
-Cril

And all at once the crowd begins to sing
Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same

Maybe you want her, maybe you need her
Maybe you started to compare to someone not there
Maybe you want it, maybe you need it
Maybe it's all you're running from
Perfection will not come

The Fray - All at Once

Feelin'... Brief.

Well, what a weekend this has been.

My first car is screwed and isn't repairable. Insurance here currently doesn't cover the likes of me, so I'm not going anywhere. I would've gotten my iPod this Friday, but there wasn't anyone home to sign for it. I filled out an online form so it should get to the office on Monday. Battlestar Galactica was pretty good, I haven't known them o do musical montages before. It worked. Lost was pretty good, although parts of it gave me the jibblies. I finished Red Alert 2 and played a bit of Generals. I'm sick of RTS at the moment, so I'll do some FPS for a while. The WWII mod for Generals doesn't work. Bah. The Minerva missions for HL2 was good. I got the Empires mod, which is fairly laggy. Fantastic 4 sucked. Got a $60 aviator jacket. I'm sick of trying to phone Jena. I went sledding for a few hours today. It was fun, but I'm gunna be a hurtin' in 24 hours. I need to answer emails, install (and use) my tablet, and actually write something in my physical journal. Humph.
-Cril

Testing 1,2,3
Can anybody hear me?
If I shed the irony
Would anybody cheer me?
If I acted less like me
Would I be in the clear?

He's everything that you need
You wiped out on your ten speed
And either he will succeed
Or just suck

Barenaked Ladies - Testing 1, 2, 3