Arts and Crafts

Growing up, it annoyed me to hear "Arts and Crafts" said in the same breath. Like they're the same, if you did one you did the other. It annoyed me because I considered myself an artist, but not a crafter. And I really didn't want to be a crafter. I drew and painted and illustrated and created and experimented. I didn't craft.

Of course, I had a very specific idea of what crafting was. Crafting was what those moms with the clean houses did in order to make their clean houses all decorated and cute. They'd find some cute thing someone else had already made and follow the step-by-step instructions and end up with the same cute thingy to put on their cute, clean doors or tables or whatever.

(DISCLAIMER: there is nothing at all wrong with having a cute, clean house.)

I wasn't interested in cute. Or in cleaning for that matter. Getting paint all over myself, and the canvas--now THAT was something I could handle. And getting ALL the dishes dirty in the creation of a beautifully delicious pie, or leaving bits of paper all over the carpet after a snowflake cutting session. (Those are mandatory every winter. No exceptions.)

Snowflake cutting was the closest I came to crafting. But snowflakes were kind of brainy and creative, if you know what I mean--making them with six points is a challenge for awhile, but then you do them with five, and then with seven, or three (four or eight points was just too easy). I did it enough to kind of intuitively know what the final snowflake would look like. It always baffled me (still does, actually) that people would follow a pattern to cut a snowflake. I mean, seriously? You follow the directions on how to fold it--that makes sense. And then you make something unique and cool! You know, that whole every-snowflake-is-unique thing? You don't follow a pattern.  Seriously?

So if I was never really interested in crafting, why on earth would I apply for a job at a crafting company?

Easy answer: I didn't.

A fellow illustration major did. He was offered the job but didn't feel like it was the right fit for him. He ran into me on campus and mentioned there was an opportunity for a vector-based illustration job, and I was the only one he knew who really liked working in vector, so would I possibly be interested in that? Sure, I said. He told me that if he decided not to accept the job offer, he'd recommend me. They contacted me about a week later and it ended up working out, and there I was, working for Cricut, designing crafts.

So it wasn't that I applied at a crafting company, it was that someone recommended me for creating vector-based artwork.

My first project wasn't an easy one, and I can now actually talk about it because it's released for everyone to buy--the 3D Floral Home Decor cartridge (http://us.cricut.com/Shopping/detail--3D-Floral-Home-D%C3%A9cor-Cartridge-0-12660.aspx). So not only was I doing paper art, I was doing fairly complicated 3D paper art for people to decorate their cute clean houses with (I mean, Home Decor is right in the title) for my very first project.

And I discovered something about myself. I'm still not interested in having a clean, cute, decorated, trendy, etc. house. (I fit the disorganized artist stereotype pretty well.) What I am interested in is visual problem solving--figuring out how to make something work. And then how to make it better.

Some of the coolest flowers on that cartridge came from seeing something someone else had done and saying, ok, thats cool, but how can I make something even cooler? And some of it I just completely made up.

And it was so. much. fun.

And now I can't stop. I've designed and assembled about 5 new Christmas ornaments by this point, cut out on my awesome Cricut Explore machine. Its taken multiple tries to get them right, and my garbage can is full of failed attempts and the carpet is covered in paper confetti.

And then, when I've finally got something that works, what do I do? I might take a quick snapshot for instagram, and then I stick it on the shelf, along with the other final versions and a bit of dust (I don't clean, remember?)--and start a new experiment.

It was never really about creating something to display and look cool.

It's about creating something cool, period.


I think back on all the projects and mediums I've gotten really into--ambigrams, stained glass, even oil painting, and a freaking upside-down picture book--they have specific limitations, and then you have to take those limitations and say, ok, what can I do? What will work? To me, thats the most interesting reason to do arts and crafts.

Yeah, I said them together. Arts and Crafts.

Lah de dah de dah de dah de dah...

I used to write in this blog alot. Well, maybe not alot. But with some frequency. Ish. Lately, I haven't. At least, not very frequently.

So I'm writing just to write, but I don't really have anything to say. Lah de dah.

Life is kind of in a weird place right now, because I'm still in Provo, but not taking classes, and not quite graduated yet. So school is over, but not. I'm also in a weird place where I want to stay in Provo but also really want to leave and go somewhere ELSE.

Also, I'm working full time. With like, a real job. Part of what makes this so weird is that I wasn't even job searching--I feel like, if I had been searching and applying and thinking about getting a job, I would feel more normal about now having one. But I was only planning on doing my internship this semester, so having a job kind of fall in my lap has been extremely strange. And the fact that I have a job doing art that is NOT in a movie or game studio--jobs like that actually exist? Why did nobody tell me this? I make shapes on a computer, and then a machine cuts them out. Its kinda cool. Take a look at cricut.com for more cool stuff to do with that.

Also, I have a car now. Just a little old 2002 Toyota Corolla. Her name is Martha. I'm still figuring out this whole car-owning thing.

And I'm tired. I'm going to just post this now, just to have posted, not because I said anything interesting or substantial.

The end.

What does Thumper say?

Maybe kids now don't grow up watching Bambi, but I believe that at least most of my generation did, and have therefore had reason to be reminded of Thumper's little saying, "If you can't say somethin' nice, don't say nuthin' at all."

Seeing the types of comments that come up on almost every blog post or article I've read online recently, I've been thinking about this a lot . There are a whole lot of people saying a whole lot of not-nice things. And this is basically what you expect to see when you scroll down to the comments section.

And the fact of the matter is, the world isn't black and white, and sometimes there are not-nice things that need saying.

So I am proposing my own version of Thumper's mantra:

If you can't say something nicely, don't say it at all.

By this I do not mean that we should say rude or sarcastic things prettily. What I mean is, if you disagree, feel free to do so. Do it tactfully, intelligently, chivalrously, without mud-slinging or name calling.

Can you do that for me, internet?

and then I lost my phone

Today was a happy day.

Note, I said a happy day, not a good day.
Isn't that the same thing, you ask?
Not really, at least in this case.

Today was very normal, overall. I went to work, made some progress on my current project. Went to class (Womens Lit), talked about cool stuff. Next class (Senior English Course--wait, you're not an English major, you say. Well, so what, I say. Anyway, I'm just auditing it. I'll have to tell all two of you blog readers about it sometime, its a pretty interesting class.) Talked about cool stuff again.

Next class was sketchbook. I drew pictures. I tried out my new brush pens, which are awesome. Sketchbook has been a kinda weirdly hard class for me so far.

Wait, what? Sketchbook, hard? Don't you just go and draw pictures the whole time? Yes. I have... a kind of interesting relationship with my sketchbook, and with sketching, which I've really come to realize more lately since my two illustration classes are Sketchbook and Head Painting--very different.

TANGENT. I keep meaning to take pictures of my paintings and sketches to post on my art blog. And I keep forgetting when I'm at school, and I remember when I'm at home and my pictures aren't. Blah. END TANGENT.

Anyway, long story short, in sketchbook class I've been experimenting with different sketching media because pens just aren't fun, and I really am loving the brush pens. I got the idea to use them because I've been having SO MUCH fun in head painting DESPITE the fact that we use no color, or even white paint for that matter. Paint just works so much better with how I think than pen does. Its not as.... stiff. Brush pens unite the convenience of a pen with the looseness and real-estate-covering qualities of a brush. Which makes Sarah happy.

So while I'm having all this fun with my new brush pens my phone decides that it wants a bit of sunlight so it sneaks out of my pocket and then, not satisfied with just getting some sunshine, decides to play hide-and-seek too. So far, its winning.

And then class ended early so we could eat before going down to the guest artist lecture by the awesome Jillian Tamaki. I'm really glad I went, it was overall a very interesting and encouraging lecture, and I had maybe a smallish epiphany as a result. Epiphanies of every size are happifying.

Also, today I wore one of my favorite outfits. Mom/Aunt Allisons old couduroy paisleyish jumper with pockets. I love jumpers with pockets, and paisleyish things.

So I would call today a happy day, not a good one. Because it really was just a normal day. And I lost my phone, which is very not good, because I actually really need to use it. But... I just felt happy anyway. Despite the fact (or because?) I lost my phone.

Also, happy talk like a pirate day, world. Despite being made aware of the holiday before even going out the door this morning, I failed to celebrate it in its traditional way. And was happy anyway.

Grin and Bear It

I haven't really blogged in awhile. I've really fallen out of the habit of blogging.

The other day something reminded me of an old blog entry I'd written, and I decided to go back and find it. I ended up looking over a bunch of old blog entries. I'd for gotten how often I'd written, and how much. I wrote in more than one blog, too. And, even if I do say it myself--some of my blog posts were really entertaining. I ended up laughing out loud when I read a few of them.

I made alot of good new habits on my mission, but I think I lost some good ones too.

I'd like to get back into the habit of blogging. I never really had a schedule before, I just wrote when I had a thought I wanted to throw out of a funny story to share. I'd like to try and see if I can get back into that habit again... if it doesn't work, I may set a more specific schedule for myself.

This is connected to a thought thats been rolling around in the back of my head (which I just posted as my facebook status). It is this: activities where I've learned to get over my mistakes and have fun are those that I've improved most in and bring me the most joy--art and dancing. Those that I still have a hard time getting over my mistakes in I haven't improved in and tend to avoid--specifically, speaking and writing.

What started me thinking about this was a little thing, really. In one of my classes I made a comment that didn't make much sense. It was actually a really dumb comment. I got some raised eyebrows and chuckles and the class discussion moved on. Nobody else in the class probably remembers my dumb comment, at least not very specifically. But all day afterward and into the next, I kept remembering the mistake and wincing. Why did I say such a dumb thing?

In dancing I am very aware of the fact that I'm not great, sometimes I slip or don't follow an obvious lead or, yes, step on someones toes, and thats just how the dance goes, and I laugh and keep dancing. After years of participating in art critiques, I'm pretty good at not getting offended at comments, instead just taking them as they're meant, analyzing them, and then applying those that I feel will actually be helpful--all without getting all hurt and offended.

Actually, I think this was one of the biggest reasons that I chose to major in Art rather than English (which, when it really comes down to it, are the only two majors I really considered--I can't see myself actually majoring an anything else.) I enjoy both. But I knew that I would have a much harder time accepting critiques of my writing than of my art, and would therefore have an easier time in art. Did I choose the easy way out? Maybe in this specific aspect of the choice. Overall, I don't think so. I chose the one where I knew I would be better able to learn from my mistakes.

Is that strange? It seems like someone should either be good at getting over any mistake, or not. You're either prideful, or not. I guess people aren't that simple.

Anyway. So I want to get back to writing a blog again, just as a way to do a little low-pressure writing.

This I Believe essay

For my Writing about Arts and Humanities class, we had to write a "this I believe" essay. These are essays collected and published by http://thisibelieve.org about (of course) peoples beliefs. Here is my essay--though imperfect, I'm mostly happy with how it turned out, and I feel that I was at least able to communicate my belief clearly.

Sketchbooks and Stick Figures

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We’ve all experienced hundreds of getting-to-know-you conversations. We all know the questions you’re supposed to ask. What’s your name? Where are you from? And for me and most of my peers, this next one is inescapable:

What’s your major?

Illustration, I answer.

Oh, Illustration, they say. Is that, like, art?

Yes, I confirm, Illustration is art.

Wow, they say. I can’t even draw a stick figure. You must be really talented.

After participating in variations of this conversation hundreds of times, it’s really got me thinking. What do they mean by that last comment—“You must be really talented”? Sometimes it seems like an explanation, or even an excuse, for being good at something.

I do believe that there is such a thing as talent—raw natural ability in a certain area. What is strange to me about the comment “You must be really talented” is that, in the end, I don’t feel that talent has very much to do with my success as an artist. Talent, or raw natural ability, is just that—raw, unrefined, and untried. Even a person that apparently doesn’t have talent can excel beyond someone who does—if they invest the required time and effort.

So, you can’t even draw a stick figure. This doesn’t prove that you’re not talented and could never do “good” art. It simply shows that you haven’t spent much time drawing stick figures—yet. You could, though. And you could get really good at it, given enough time. This is why artists carry sketchbooks.

I first learned the value of sketchbooks from my high school art teacher. Every week she would collect our sketchbooks, not to critique them, but to make sure that we were drawing, observing, and recording ideas constantly. “You don’t have to show your sketchbook to anyone if you don’t want to,” she’d say. “This is where you mess up and make mistakes. It’s where you think. It’s where you learn. It’s not to show off how talented you are to anyone else.” Through sketchbooking I learned how much time and effort is required to produce good art. The merely talented who aren’t constantly sketching get left by the wayside. Artists succeed because, even when they’re not in front of a canvas with brushes in hand, the have a sketchbook that they carry everywhere.

Believing in effort over talent is extremely liberating—just think about it. I really can do, and be, and accomplish anything I want, provided that I am willing to put in enough time and effort. And so can you. Your hopes of what you want do and be and accomplish can be realized, if you are ready to do what it takes. Try it—invest a little time and effort. I believe in you.

Buhay pa ako....

Hello everyone who reads my blog! Which is to say nobody, at least lately, because there hasn't been anything for anyone to read.

Sorry.

I really do want to do better. I really enjoyed having a blog before the mish and I've wanted to post here, I just never got back into the habit once I got home... theres always something else to do and all that. Well, I'm breaking that right NOW by postpoing my homework a bit longer, again, to give a quick brief update on my goings-on, which I hope will get the ball rolling for me so I'll start posting things here again like I used to.

I'm really excited for this new semester, all my classes so far are great and I'm learning so much... my only complaint would be how busy I am, but its good busy so its not that bad.

On Mondays and Wednesdays I have History of Graphic Design with Stephen A Hales. So far I'm really really enjoying this class, its been really interesting and thought-provoking, which I can't honestly say about art history classes I've taken in the past--and I'm an art major! It seems that people's question here is, why History of Graphic Design instead of History of Illustration? Well, this is the class that had room and fit in my schedule, and now that it's started I'm glad it worked out that way.

Tuesdays and Thursdays start with Senior Illustration Studio with Brother Barret, which has been fun so far. We're basically just doing different projects we can add to our portfolio and enter in competitions. Our first assignment was on the theme of "buffet", and my concept has evolved quite a bit since I started but I'm having alot of fun with it.

After that I have my Foundations Global Leadership class with Anton Bowden. This fulfills the Social Science general education requirement for graduation which most people fill by taking something like Anthropology or Politics or some such thing. I just saw the course title and thought it sounded cooler than any of the other courses and signed up. I'm really glad I did, everything we've talked about has been really interesting so far--Personality types, Learning Styles, and Team Dynamics are what we've covered so far. We met our groups for the group project today and I think my group has alot of potential to work well together, especially because we can apply what we've learned in class about how teams work effectively.

Then I have Professional Business Practices for Illustrators with Will Terry. This class is really fun and interesting. We've talked alot how the market for illustration is right in the middle of a huge shift because of new technology like e-books and the i-pad, but this doesn't have to be a bad thing for illustrators if we take advantage of the technology available. I'm really excited about what we've been learning in this class.

Then on Friday we have Illustration 4 with Justin Kunz, which is the En Plein Aire painting class. I've only been once so far and it was difficult, but I think with time I'll get better at it.

And on top of all that I need to start/continue work on my BFA project... I turned in my proposal today, I'll probably know on Thursday if the Illustration faculty liked my idea and whether I can go forward with it or if I need to think of something else.



And that is my life recently in a nutshell.



Is anybody reading this? Just out of curiosity...

Skit, scat, scoodle-doot, flip, flop, flee.

Take a look at this.





Yep. Those are my feet... in flip-flops. I haven't worn flip-flops in YEARS. This is because flip-flops are flat and can't hold arch supports.

But.

I made arch supports. Yes indeedy!

I used craft foam, really good glue, and scissors. Of course I used my arch supports as a sort of guide.




I'm very happy with my flip-flops. Its so nice to not wear a full shoe in the heat!




Also: Kudos to the first person who can tell me what book the post subject comes from. (WITHOUT Google/internet help, obviously.)

mix and match

Yesterday was the first time I got really excited about clothes in a long time.

Mom and I went shopping yesterday afternoon, and now I have almost all the clothes I'll need for my mission. The shopping itself wasn't all that fun, but afterward when I had all my clothes laid out on my bed and I started putting together different combinations of shirts and skirts (and shoes--should I wear brown, brown, or brown?) Maybe once we have everything together (We're thinking maybe one more skirt, a pair of shoes, and a couple more skarfs--scarves? whatever) we could do, like, a photo shoot with all the different skirt/shirt/scarf/shoes combinations.

I've also been getting interested in (simple!) jewelry, for completing these outfits. I've been looking at etsy for some nice clip-on earrings, so I'll have a few of THOSE to choose from as well. (Clip-ons because I'm really not interested in poking holes in myself, and I don't care that everyone else is doing it.)

The storm before the calm

So my last few weeks have been pretty insane, one thing after another on top of another.

So first I had finals. The Sunday before finals week (I had two finals left) my roommate Michele told us she was NOT getting married in Brazil in a few weeks as planned, but THAT THURSDAY. Being the awesome roommates we are, we helped her put that together--THAT was quite a week. I had to bother and annoy all the people necessary in order to get my temple recommend so that I could actually BE at the wedding, as well as clean up our house for the reception.

This was during the time that I was GOING to be packing up and moving out and finishing up my last project at work.

So.

I worked until mid-afternoon on Friday and got my last project finished, then I went back to the apartment and started packing up.

Then I got a call from mom.

Breanna had a special Lagoon day the next day, and she'd only be able to stay until 1 o'clock, unless I could come supervise her and her friends... so could I possibly get all my packing and moving done that night?

I drove home at two in the morning.

We left Lagoon at four, and I slept.

Sunday was Sunday, and Monday morning it was off to CA with Kim, Becky, and Michelle to meet MWT. Who is made of awesome, just by the way. And my mom is awesome, for making it possible for me to go.

I got home in time to unpack and re-pack to head off to Florida. This was good practice for the mission, I believe--it was hot, and humid, and we walked and walked and walked and walked (though we didn't really sing much as we did). I can't say I really liked the climate, but I do think I could get used to it. I'll have to. (I'm very glad to be back in my dry mountainous desert, where my hair actually gets dry and I know North from South again.)


So this is all one of those hurry-up-and-WAIT scenarios. Because now I'm home, and I do have a few things on my to-do list, and three months to do it all in. The original plan was to have a month to do it all in, because my avalability date for the mission was June 1st. So I have nothing planned for June and July. I'll just... read, and paint, and shop for missionary clothes (etc.) and cook dinner. And go on a couple family vacations I didn't think I'd go on.

*yawn*

Well, off I go. To do... stuff. Yeah, stuff.

I'm still geeking out about it.

You guys.

I got to meet Megan Whalen Turner.

She Glowed, and floated three inches off the ground.

Really.

Hullo-hullo-hullo!

Yes, I haven't blogged in awhile. There is a very simple explanation for this--I mean, aside from being busy generally, which is basically my constant state so it isn't really worth commenting on it.

The keyboard that I had been using wasn't working. Most of the keys on the bottom letter-row didn't work, and a few others beside that. This made things like typing blog entries difficult. Yes, I could do it in a lab or on a friends computer, but I didn't consider blog entries to be so essential as that.

But when I was home this weekend my wonderful mother had found a different keyboard for me to use which works--Glory Glory Alelujah! So now I can actually write blog entries. I've been doing some reading, but I don't think that I'm going to try to catch the book blog up to where I am, I'm just going to pick up from here. I don't have time for a book blog anyway, let alone making up missed book reviews.

Life is good, this semester has been a busy but awesome one. I'm basically done with my generals classes, so all the classes I'm taking this semester are classes that I want to take, so even though I have a very full schedule (seventeen credits plus work) I'm enjoying it.

I recently discovered that comics/graphic novels are awesome. Where have they been all my life? Hiding behind stupid stereotypes, it seems. Humph.

I am very, very close to having the mission papers complete. Speaking of which, I'm going to go work on those right now, so I'll just make a sound like a hoop and roll away.

feeling crafty

On Saturday Kim, Kristy and Paige went to the craft store and came back with craft supplies. Paige very kindly let me use her fabric paints, so I made a couple awesome shirts--one that says "I CAN DO ANYTHING I WANT!" (a quote from The King of Attolia) and the other says, "You can't," said the Magus in question and on the back it will say, "I can steal anything," Eugenides corrected him.(A quote from the Queen of Attolia)

And, though my shirts are awesome, I am almost as amused by Paige's apron. She had meant for it to say: "Kissing the cook may be HAZARDOUS to your health. Take a risk." but she kind of ran out of steam before she finished. So right now the apron reads, "Kissing the cook may be HAZARDOUS."

I kind of like it this way better.

"I am eleventy-one today!"

Not that it really matters, as there are a few more days of this year left during which I will read at least one more book, but there are currently ELEVENTY-ONE titles on the 'Books I've Read This Year" list on the side of my blog. Thats right--111. I was entertained by this circumstance, and decided that I might as well share this odd fact with anyone who might be reading this.

I will, of course, post the full list, with thoughts and comments on it, once it is Officially 2010.

Footloose and Fancy Free

Finals are over and I'm home for the holidays! Well, temporarily at least. I'll be heading back down to Provo to work (gotta pay tuition!) but I'm home this weekend, with no homework to do, no finals to study for, and new books to read--what more could I want? When finals ended I splurged somewhat and bought myself a hardback copy of The Christmas Carol illustrated by P.J. Lynch, because I could...and it was on sale, so really, it wasn't that big a splurge :-}. I'm really looking forward to reading it--Charles Dickens was a funny guy, and of course the illustrations will be awesome.

Now that I finally have TIME to tell all you blog readers (like, all three of you ^.^) what's been going on I can't really think what to say. Hmmm... well, some big news of the last couple weeks (heh) was that I got and ARC (Thats an Advance Readers Copy, to you non-book-nerds) of A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner (the sequel to my absolute favoritest book EVER, The King of Attolia) which will be coming out in March or April and is MADE OF AWESOME (in case anyone was wondering). After I finished reading it I promptly passed it onto another obsessed fan, then to the next, then the next, who passed it on to several more, and I just got it back this morning and will be handing it off to the wonderful Shanelle tonight. (I really should try and count up everyone who has read this ARC, just to know, you know?) EVERYONE SHARE THE BOOK-LOVE. Book friends: I'm glad that you all understand me, and the awesomeness that is these books. And I'm glad that there is such a lovely concentration of us in Provo/Orem/SLC area.

We also had our roommate gift exchange and I got--wait for it--a Borders Gift card. Surprise! I also got a rather entertaining bookmark, with a pony on it--and it neighs when you press it. :-) I got Annie Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome... maybe as much for myself as for her, I'll admit, because I'll expect her to allow me to read it to her now. And she will enjoy it. Becasue Jerome K. Jerome was a funny guy.

I really don't have much else to say, so I shall now close :-D

Random Pictures

Everyone in costume!


OH NOES ANNILYN IS BEING EATEN.


Together at Brick Oven...


None of the roomies thought it could be done, but I proved them wrong. ALL my books ON ONE SHELF. Though this wouldn't work as a permanant storing methond... I had to give up my idea of reading a bit of Strong Poison before bed because I discovered that I'd very intelligently put it at the very bottom of a stack.

Books Read this summer

I was just glancing over old blog posts when I saw a post I'd completely forgotten about from last April, saying what books I thought I might want to pick up over the summer. I thought it might be interesting to say which of those I actually did read.

Of the rather long list of books I thought I might like to try reading over the summer, these are the ones I did actually read:

Jane Eyre
The Book Thief, by Marcus Zuzak I started but didn't finish. I did enjoy what I read of it and plan to finish when the Book Chooser Says To.
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver is another I started but didn't finish--I really liked it, but then the library recalled it. *grumble* Annie brought back her copy for me to read the next time she went home, but by then I'd kind of lost my momentum with it, yanno? But this is another that I fully intend to finish reading in the future.
The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
Ben Hur by Lew Wallace I didn't actually read during the summer, but I did shortly after school started. Well, I listened to it anyway, which counts in my book.
Kenneth Oppel's Airborn books.
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
More Diana Wynne Jones--specifically The Game and re-reading the first and third volumes of the Chronicles of Chrestomanci... and maybe some other stuff that isn't coming to mind at the moment...
I didn't read The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor, but I did listen to Through the Looking Glass, and the original should be even better, no?
I gave Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett another try--one of these days I'll be able to understand her prose. Maybe.
the Lord Peter Wimsey Books--oy my Lord Peter. I am so glad that I did pick these up... :D:D:D
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emma Orczy--Karen Savage is my Hero





Not a bad list. Of course I read many other books this summer, but these are the books that I did end up reading that I had on my summer reading list. And probably nobody is interested in this but me, but ah well.


And NOW I shall go do homework. Actually, I'm going to have dinner first. And THEN homework.

an odd thought

So I just had an odd thought while doing my Judaism reading, but it isn't a very complete one, if that makes sense. But it makes sense to me as far as it goes, and I rather feel like sharing it for a few reasons, the main one perhaps most easily said through the bromide of "two heads are better than one"--I'm interested in your thoughts on my Random Odd Thought.

As I said, this thought occured to me while I was doing reading for my Judaism and the Gospel class. How it came to me was this: I was reading an article which, in short, said "This is the way things were done". Then I got to the next section of the article, which was attempting to answer (or simply discussing the question of)--Why?

Why? All the way through the article up to that point I hadn't really thought to ask this question. What was being said made sense with what I knew and had read elsewhere, and the question of why things were that way hadn't really occured to me. In the back of my mind, almost far enough back that I didn't fully realize I was having this thought, came the words: Why (heh) didn't you ask why? The article seems to assume that readers should be asking this question. Almost before I realized I was asking myself this question, the answer arrived almost right on top of it. Because you're not a person who asks why. You're a person who asks how.

This answer is what brought the original mostly-subconcious train of thought to the front of my mind. But it made sense to me. Some people ask why--the most obvious group to point out would be scientists, or people who think like scientitsts. Instead, I ask how. This question is a bit less inquisitive and more active, it seems. Though the questions are really very similar--if you ask why something happens you will usually get a very similar answer to the question of how something happens--but its the feeling behind them that is different.

And then I was thinking, what if we all have our different questions? To some who? is more important, to others, why? where? what? when? or how?.

I rather liked this odd thought as it occured to me, but I also have this feeling that it...isn't complete. So I come to my blog readers. Do you have any thoughts on my thought?

(My computer crashed during the writing of this entry. My first frustrated thought wasn't, why did this happen? but rather how do I keep this from happening again?. And then I thought about it, and laughed to myeself.)

Life is good.

Life is good. It is also very busy, kind of crazy, full of work and classes and drawing and homework with reading and sleep and suchlike filling in the cracks--but life is fundamentally, firstly, and generally... good.

I have noticed over the last few weeks that I smile alot more than I used to. A gentle smile, as opposed to a slight frown, has become my neutral I'm-just-walking-from-here-to-there-and-thinking-of-nothing-in-particular expression. I had come to accept that a slight frown is just my regular neutral expression, that I'm not a smiley person. I still don't think I'm a smiley person, but that does not mean that I can't or won't be "neutrally happy", if that makes any sense to anyone but me. Devins favorite joke on me is, "Stop looking so happy, Sarah." Of course he means it sarcastically, but seriously--I don't want to stop, now I've learned how. :D

First day of classes!

So today was the my first day of classes--woot! Not really all that much to report about it, to tell you the truth. I had work all morning (8-1) and right after that I had Advanced Life Drawing with Brother Hull. I'm pretty excited about that class. I feel that I'll learn alot, and most of the work will be in class (drawing from models) or stuff that I already do (sketchbook). Then I had my Advanced Computer Applications for Illustrators class, which might be more accurately titled "Digital Painting". If you want to see my teachers work, his blog is http://davemcclellan.blogspot.com/. It seems like most of the work for this class will be done in class. In addition, we can basically paint whatever "interests us". This means FANART.

On a completely different tangent, I've lost my phone chord. You know, the one you charge your phone with. This means that I am Without A Phone. So if you've tried calling me in the last few days and were sent straight to the answering machine, thats why.

Another completely different tangent--Scarlet Pimpernel at Hale Center Theater THIS FRIDAY. I am really excited to see it. Becky went to see it and told me that she thought they did a GREAT job. (Of course they did. This is Hale Center Theater we're talking about.) So that is one BIG THING I've been looking forward to for MONTHS that is Coming Right Up.

I'm planning--hoping--to try out for the folk dance team this Wednesday. The catch? If girls want to try out, they have to bring a Man with them. I have two days to find a man...


The Second Semi-Annual Utah Thief-Con was AMAZING. I now have a Nerd Rock. Well, its supposed to be Hamiathes Gift, but somehow in the two days since I've made it it has acquired the endearment "Nerd Rock."

"Hey, I like your necklace."
"Thanks! Its my Nerd Rock."

This amuses me immensely.
I'd show you all a picture of said Nerd Rock, but the way I would do that would be with my Handy Dandy Camera Phone which, as I said, is out of battery and not likely to be charged until next weekend (when I'll go home to Witness the Awesomeness of Sir Percy.) So maybe later.

Also, I'm planning on having Annilyn the Amazing help me make some awesome Nerd Shirts. They will be hilarious and nobody will really understand what they're about unless they've read Awesome Books.

Speaking of books, I'm going to be getting a couple free ones in the next couple weeks. I am rather pathetically excited about this.


Yes, it's been awhile since my last entry. But thats because not much has been going on. Now that friends and roomies are back and classes have started, hopefully there will be more Things Of Interest (To More Than Myself) to share.