Implode

 There are many important times in your life where your skills are tested... on your persuasive talents, and eloquence. There's school testing, job interviews, and even the everyday interaction with other brain-having people --however banal that may be-- there's a performance check to maintain.

But none so other as important as the closed Beta testing essays.

Brown University's exclusivity has nothing on closed Betas. BTW, I only know about that University because of Gossip Girl.

If you plan on signing up, you better not BS filling this out. lol.
They want you to write an essay explaining why they should pick you to be in the Beta.
It felt like an entrance exam, which essentially it is.
I wonder if there's a timer coded on that page somewhere...

Anywho I'm glad they're taking those measures. Even if I don't get accepted, I'll be comforted in the fact that they're taking this seriously and are assuring us the best of the best to get the job done.
They also asked for my computer specs. I'm a little nervous about that. Even though I have a nice rig, it could be better. These days, the graphics engines that these games work on are becoming less and less forgiving which just means I have to get my shit together and get me that shiny, new graphics card. Hm.

My Etsy shop is doing okay. I got a few more sales. Not a lot, but it's a start. The only thing I don't like is that there's a fee for everything. No wonder some of the prices on there for the dumbest things are so whack --to make up for the fees! It's cool though. I have some orders to finish today and ship off, and then I'm gonna work on possibly more BOI and Penumbra charms. They've gotten some attention on Deviant Art in those little communities and it makes me feel giddy ^_^

Also... look at these cute little guys!

 I saw something on Tumblr a while ago that made me want to make this.

Actually I see a lot of things on Tumblr that are pretty inspiring. Like those little pudding charms?

They were different on Tumblr but still, so cute.

Since my friend Ponies generously supplied my little factory with some blocks of different kinds of clay, I put some to the test! This little guy I made by mixing Fimo translucent with a little of Fimo D-20 (sparkley purple) and got this really pretty pastel. I thought it'd be perfect for another cepholopod charm because... they kind of are translucent, but also pigmented. Voila! It blended beautifully, I love it.

 There is a MASSIVE difference between Sculpey transluscent and Fimo transluscent. 

OH MY JESUS, is there a difference. 

ST is pretty much just lame. Or maybe I've been baking it shitty? I don't know, but amazingly... FT came out great! Crafters who work with these two brands said that same thing, and now I know why. Fimo r best.

PS: Cute ghost cupcake is cute.

I'm sure a lot of people feel this way. They try to help someone else through their pain, and offer a temporary solace.

Then WHAM, used up and thrown away! hahaha

Isn't it cute though!?

Look at its little face, it's so sad! Believe it or not, this little charm was ALSO inspired by various gross images on Tumblr. ha

I feel like a tool. There's a dnd blog I watch on there and my soul hurts.

:(

That's SOOOOOOOOOOO not Drizz't! Initially Pharaun Mizzrym came to mind, but he wouldn't wear that kind of armor... so it couldn't have been Pharaun. Pharaun is a Wizard. So he'd wear like.. flaunt a dress or something. Psyche, they ain't no dresses they're ROBES!! :D

But Gromph is also a Wizard. Except he's the most powerful one in the Underdark. So I guess he can wear whatever the shit he feels like. And there's reason to kill him. Makes sense. 

His daughter sort of reminds me of Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She's kind of a bitch. Calms down later though. 

Okay. Done being a tool.

Even though I'm incredibly thankful and love everything I've received, I hope the packages cease, lol. It's nice to occasionally receive little gifts, but I don't want to be that guy. Idk, it's just awkward to me. And that's probably weird to normal people who want to get showered with gifts every moment of their lives, like the Fraud Insurance Folk in Glendale. This doesn't mean I'm any less grateful, but I feel like I'm going to implode from modesty.

However, with my profits from my sales I've bought a few more things for packaging. Yay!

I also have an idea that is going to be SOOOOOOOO CUTE for all you PC gamers. OH MY GHAD I can't wait. It has to arrive in the mail, but UGH. Just wait. lol

Okay...

Boring entry is boring.

Also, Rot and I are going to our friends' show at the Viper Room on Tuesday! Both their bands are playing (cuuuuuuuute) and and and and... it'll be fun because it's like.. we know everyone, and we've all shared Tuesday Time and birthday times together. And it's been a while since that's happened, all of us together and stuff. So that should be fun. LOTS OF PICTURES. EXPECT THEM.

k.

Sillies

   Remember when I said that Disney more than likely wasn't gonna happen? Well, I was right. I should be more disappointed but I'm not. I have today mostly to myself, and tomorrow as well. Gvies me time to make charmsies and game.


I was just in the kitchen cleaning the stove (girl power!) and my roommate walks in and goes:

Him: "Ray Park is going to be signing autographs at that comic convention next month."

me: "Huh, that's cool." *wipes counter*

Him: "Yeah, I told Rot and he all he said was 'who's Ray Park?' "

me: "... Yeah, I don't know who that is either."

Him: "Darth Maul."

me: "Oh, that short Puerto Rican dancer guy?"

Him: "He's a martial artist, yeah."

me: "Yeah, short Puerto Rican dancer guy."

Him: "Haha, yeah."


The short, Puerto Rican dancer guy has a name! 

That's cool I guess. He was just so tiny compared to Qui Gon and Obi-Wan. =\ Like a little yelpy dog or something. idk. I'm a bad person.

I'm re-watching Buffy and can't believe how much I've missed. I'm so happy.

So last week on Monday night we had some guests. Most random shit ever but it turned into Tuesday time. Literally and metaphorically. Kristof and his lady, Vanna Bananna came over! They brought wine. I made Kristof play some of Penumbra: Black Plague but his attention span was shot to shit, or he was too tipsy to focus lol. Vanna Bananna and I talked about how shitty WoW has become. She used to play, too! We all were just chilling for a while in the living room talking about video games while Rot ignored us. :) That's my Peemp!

Suffice to say we all got silly from the booze that was at hand. I wasn't as silly, but the boys definitely sillied way more.

Vanna Bananna ^_^

EPIC DUCKFACE

 

Kristof was trying to get Rot in the picture.

Rot wasn't having it. So he tackled him instead.

Sillified Kristof is sillified. XD

Josh made them rice and beans, lmao. It was Tuesday so... it's kind of a thing.

Vanna is great. I really, really like her. They just got a new place and am happy for them. Wish them both the best. 

They weren't in any state to drive so we made them stay the night. Josh gave them his great grandmother's knitted quilt to snuggle in. 

T'was a fun evening ^_^

He invited me to go see them at Bat's Cave last night but I'd be kidding myself... =\ 

I dunno, I have to be in the mood to engage in that scene. Otherwise I'll just hate it. 

What can I say? I'm a boring hermit.

Then I think it was Friday night? That I went to get some sushi with me pal Eric. We met a while ago through mutual friends, and the only thing we talked about was Warcraft III. So we got dat sushi at Octopus and literally just talked aboot mostly WoW, and he ranted about Death Knights. Probably one of the most hilarious things because the passion in his voice was similar to how Jeremy from Pure Pwnage talks when he's going on about his Command & Conquer games. We ordered a shit ton of sushi. I ate most of it. Ugh

So good T_T I felt like a fatass for eating that much in front of someone, lol. buuuuuuuuuuuut idgf! hah! Then we went to that bar place that my co-workers go to all the time. Brick..something. And we talked about more video games and Salad Fingers. Which brings me to this!

I made a Salad Fingers cupcake. Is that retarded? Yeah =[ 

I had already made a Salad Fingers chibi and thought HEY CUPCAKES ARE CUTE. WHY NOT MAKE A SALAD FINGERS CUPCAKE!? He has black frosting oozing out of his head ^_^ heehee

You can buy a Salad Fingers chibi charm on my Etsy. Eric motivated me to make all of the characters. So they will be a thing very soon and up for sale :D

 

Eric's impersonation of Salad Fingers has me loling because WHO DOES THAT.

And speaking of clay things, my friend's generous gifts keep on coming! I don't even know how to react anymore. He's sent the baking mat, two Fimo blocks of transparent and glittery purple clay. Two Sculpey III blocks -Ballerina pink and Granny Smith green (perfect for Gir charms), a shirt (that he insisted on exchanging) and a book. And clay softener which I've been using religiously since I've gotten it. It works amazingly. Also he sent me a mini cookie cutter set. I've already used the Fimo clay from the sampler and I can't believe how easier it is to work with. No wonder people prefer it over Sculpey III. 

I can be artsy when I want to.

Also made my first two sales on Etsy. That was a weird feeling, but I'm learning to deal. I'M WEIRD. WHY DID THAT FREAK ME OUT? I don't know. 

Maybe I just need Ramen. I would've liked to go today but... I'm scared of walking to the train station (here in NoHo) alone. It wouldn't be just for Ramen though, I wanna pick up some things at the book store. And boba tea. And Ramunè. And mochi. And candy. And everything. And a new parasol. I left mine in a friends car and unfortunately he lives very far away. And and and... I just wanna go. 

Now I'm hungry.

Something stupid

   Even though I'm not constantly working on what society considers a tangible accomplishment or even just productive, I couldn't imagine just sitting in my room all day and doing absolutely nothing. Not even working. Just constant nothingness but looking at websites and living vicariously through them. And I do that a lot. I'd die without my computer. And I don't go out. Which is pathetic all by itself, but I'm supporting my pathetic self, so at least I can say that, lol. I dunno. I saw an image the other night and it made me think. Despite my bitching about having to work, I'm thankful I do.

That guy is awesome. I hope to accomplish this some day.

Moving on!

 I have two cakepops. mmmm. I had 3, but I ate one. I also had a cheesecake brownie. I don't normally like brownies, or chocolate anything, but I was PMSing, so.

Op.. now I have one.

...

...

and now I have... 3/4 of one :)


Aren't they cute? They're my favorite. Honestly I think all the other cake pops taste too... too much. They're quite rich. I suppose that compensates for their size.

So I think I finally saved up enough money to buy a new video card. I'm thinking of stopping by Fry's on Friday after work. I'd get it on Newegg but the shipping + tax is a bitch. And if Fry's has it then boom.Which, if I remember correctly, they did have the one I had my eye on, but that was months ago. I'm wondering if something better is out.

I'm writing this entry while listening to "The Garden Meeting" by John Williams for the Memoirs of a Geisha movie. Is that weird?

So a few days ago when I got home from work I saw some packages at my door. Not my front door, but like.. my bedroom door.

...Did the mail carrier come into.. my apartment? I'm so scared..
It was probably Josh.
I had already guessed what one of the packages were, but saw that cardboard one and was like wtf is that? Looked at the sender address and was like wtf is this? Amazon.
I'm really smart, so I immediately knew.
Still though, the gesture was incredibly generous and it humbled the fuck out of me. I don't want anyone to think that they have to get me gifts for anything, as I am a chick who has come to appreciate intangible gaieties and vices more than material things; ironically through a very expensive material thing.
 It was a gift from my friend, Ponies.

 Unbelievable. These were some of the things that I had kept my eye on on my imaginary shopping list. I couldn't believe it, but I was very delighted. The most exciting thing was working with Fimo clay, to see how well I could work with it. It's a more expensive brand, but a lot of people really, really like it and prefer it over Sculpey III, and so I had to try it. And I did. It's AMAZING. Way more workable! I finished charms in less time because I wasn't sitting there conditioning it for 10 minutes for every new color I needed.
The tool set is awesome. I've already worked with it and I'm in love with it. It's way better than the other shit I picked up at Michael's, lol. Actually, I'm lying. I have different tools with different heads for different purposes. But this one is easier to use because of the handle and how lightweight it is, but the heads are well made and sturdy. They stay in the wand using a magnet and come with a little stand for the different heads. Super nice.

Look at all these awesome caution translations. I love it.
Look at the Swedish (I think?) one, and then look at all the others. It's horrifying.
ACHTUNG!  --- that's like the sound one makes when they sneeze. Wtf is that, is that German?

And the extruder I've used once so far. Takes a bit to get used to, but I'm sure I'll end up using it way more. I'll never have to roll out little, thin snakes ever again! haha

The clay has to be rather soft in order to use this tool. With sculpey that may be a bit of a challenge, but it's progress.

And what was in the other package?

My mailers. boring.

Wanna see something really stupid?

Not this. These are cute though. I wanted to put SBUX logos on them buuuuut then thought about... how like if I sell them with the logo I could literally get sued. So I did this as an alternative. That frappucceeni to the left has extra caramel... just how the latinos always order it.

"Is that Conan O'Brien?"
The answer is yes. Yes it is.
Believe it or not, it's a commission piece. I had no idea how to even approach this to be completely honest. However I'm happy with the final results considering how a couple people have already just taken one look at it and asked that exact question. Btw this isn't the stupid thing.


This is:

It's Chibi Conan O'Brien on the red carpet at the Post-it Awards!

okay bye.

Short

  
    I'm sitting here while dinner cooks on the stove. Our place smells like... only something I can conjure! It's delicious. If I could afford to make a huge feast of nothing but my cooking and bring it to people and watch them melt, I would. Even if they didn't eat it, the smell would intoxicate them.

The request-off calendar from my work.

The boss lady blocked it off. My plans aren't ruined, we're doing something. However it looks like other people were a little surprised. I don't know why that's funny to me.

The only way to make this funnier was to be a troll. I think that pretty much applies to everything, though.

The mail fairy was generous today. The best thing about ordering things online is that it's somewhat like window shopping, and there are times where I'll forget I actually bought something... so when the package comes in the mail it's quite delightful.
Sorry for the lack of pictures this post. So here's one of me being short.

I worked today, and did a few errands afterwards. Came home, did some stuff and business talk with Rot, took a nap, woke up, made dinner aaaaaaaaaand now thinking..

Wondercon is approaching (not even close) and and and... ugh. God, you guise don't even know how stoked I am for this. And of COURSE Harley's Joker is going to be there! I can't wait to see him again. Bet everyone in the world $5 he'll recognize and remember me. BECAUSE I LOVE HIM. jk.. If he was taller I'd just... I don't even know what I'd do. I'd probably die. I'll try to take video footage while I'm there this time.

Okay so I'm watching House, season two, the episode where they're treating a 9 year old girl with cancer, but it's not cancer related. And there's this part where she's in this room with Chase, and she's like booo I'm never gonna kiss a boy... hint hint. And Chase is like lol yea huuuuh! And she's like yeah right... can you kiss me? AND HE DOES!! He tries to talk her out of it for a little but she guilt trips him and he kisses her and omg. It's my favorite episode. Is that weird?

Now that I know my grocery store sells stamps... my life has changed entirely. I think I'm gonna go eat more and visit LoTRO.

Negative Nancy

The older I become the less I want to be treated like an adult. I don't wanna :(
I did an adult thing that I'm still nervous over; I invested in my own Etsy shop thing. It's gonna be legit and I'm going to push for it to be a secondary source of income so that one day I won't have to work so much! Hah! And maybe go back to school.

I bought a bunch of shipping things like bags and mailers, and even had business cards made. Of course I had to fuck that up by having a typo in it. Thankfully the company credited me back the price of bundles I got, so I was able to reorder another batch. The yucky ones came in today. They're really cute. I think they suit me well.
I feel so stupid for fucking that up.  What a waste.
Also I discovered that my grocery store sells stamps! Of course, just my luck, I go there last night and they tell me a woman had bought all of them already. I couldn't tell you how surprised I was.

The good thing is... I'm doing this. I just hope I don't freak out from pressure and quit.

More people from work requested some charms.
I think I feel pressured because theirs are all commission pieces. They're not pieces that I've already made, so I don't know how it'll turn out or anything, and I end up over-doing it and making a product I feel is worth more than what I told them because I was afraid to let them down. I don't know if that makes sense or not.
My style is not consistent at all. Some are rather simple. Some are more elaborate. Some are extremely detailed. I can't seem to stick to one style, which is cool in a way but at the same time can be tiresome. Not knowing how to approach a project can be intimidating.

Speaking of... I have some more pieces I need to finish, but since Rot has the flu I haven't been able to do anything. These were my two days off this week which were spent in darkness and mostly on my phone just playing Happy Street. That wasn't even enjoyable because the developers implemented this new update to change how you upgrade things in the game, and everyone is raging over it.

"we are biting the bullet and we are going to change the cost of the expands of the main street in coins. There are multiple reasons for this change:
1/ Some players are giving up the game in the early levels because they feel pressured to buy flooz and feel like they have to pay to progress.
2/ Having to pay the expand in flooz slows the progression especially in the later levels where expands have a much higher price"

basically stupid people with ADD were like omg I can't play this game durr change it
and they fucking ruined it for everyone else.
I've purchased flooz ONCE. Every other flooz and expanding and buying premium shit and stuff in the game I EARNED, just like a lot of other people. So they got rid of the flooz to the point where you're kinda fucked and can't get premium shit anymore, but you can expand your land with coins!

 Sorry. Yeah. So... Rot is sick. My computer is in our room so I couldn't use it much. When I was in my room it's dark, and I need my computer for referencing when I make commission pieces so... that was automatically a no. So my last two days off were pretty much shitty. At least this time it's because Rot is legitimately sick and not just hung over.

Point being, I couldn't even enjoy my favorite mobile game because casuals ruined that, too. Just like World of Warcraft.

Okay I'm going to stop ranting now and be positive.

I made these!

That HK and Mario came out so badass.


I wish there was more to write about but this kinda turned into a ranty entry. I've been cranky..

What I need is a nice, relaxing evening in Little Tokyo. Devon is gone, so ... oops. I'm being negative again. But I could go with....! Oh wait, no I can't!
I'd just have to go on my own. I would've liked to go today but... oops.. negativity. Sorry.

Positive.. what's positive? I went to work last night to get my lb of coffee and I ended up coming home with some goodies! They were mostly for Rot, but he's not eating them.

Shit sorry.

Yeah, I can't be positive.
My things will be arriving in the mail soon! But at this rate if Rot doesn't get better I can't make charms. I could go in the living room but fuck that. I need privacy. I NEED it. Otherwise I'll rage quit. It's like someone working, and this kid comes up to you and starts asking you questions about what you're doing and wanting to touch shit and just AAAAGGGHHHH PISS OFF.

You know what? I'm totally pmsing. That has to be it. That and I crave ramen and sushi.
Someone (quiet) bring me sushi. and gimme hugs. and chocolate. and orange juice. How am I not sick yet? I thought I was getting sick because my throat was sore and scratchy for a day, but it's gone now.

Is it time for Disneyland yet? =\