AEM Day 30 - Done

Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

First, thanks to all the participants of AEM -- seeing what everyone else was doing and getting all the feedback and encouragement -- awesome. I know it's been a good exercise for me, despite the challenge, but it was easier with all of you out there, doing your own things. All separate, but all together.

Anyway, it's done. The collage. And Art Everyday Month. There are other things that have been trying to get my attention for weeks that I need to deal with, but hopefully I'll be able to start back up again, even without the challenge of trying to do something every single day.

As is always the case, there were some things that didn't quite come out the way I would have liked, but I think overall I like the result. And it was good to try something different. The words are the lyrics to Billy Joel's Vienna, from the album, The Stranger. It's funny, I had just read an article on Slate about Billy Joel that was fairly critical of him, but sitting at the piano last night really reminded me how much his music was a part of my high school experience. Several songs were personal anthems to me and my friends (some songs more than others, to some of us more than others). Many resonate with me simply because they were songs that I had learned and were a part of my repertoire that I could call on when I wanted to escape. It wasn't about performance or entertaining -- playing piano was a way to hide, to avoid uncomfortable social situations where I was incapable of being social. No talking, no thinking. It was a place where I could just be by myself and...do something.

Vienna is probably one of my favorite songs, but it also happens to be the one that I play the worst, or at least, that translates the most poorly when I play it, perhaps because I learned it by ear rather than from music. It makes me just a little sad, but I also find it amusing in a "well, that figures" kind of way.

Anyway, I think I missed my bed-before-1AM window, but maybe I'll make it by 1:30AM.

'night.

Slow down, you crazy child
you're so ambitious for a juvenile
But then if you're so smart, tell me
Why are you still so afraid?

Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?
You'd better cool it off before you burn it out
You've got so much to do and only
so many hours in a day

But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want
Or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through
When will you realize...Vienna waits for you

Slow down you're doing fine
You can't be everything you want to be
Before your time
Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight

Too bad but it's the life you lead
you're so ahead of yourself
That you forgot what you need
Though you can see when you're wrong
You know you can't always see when you're right

You've got your passion, you've got your pride
but don't you know that only fools are satisfied?
Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true
When will you realize...Vienna waits for you

Slow down, you crazy child
and take the phone off the hook and disappear for awhile
it's all right, you can afford to lose a day or two
When will you realize...Vienna waits for you

And you know that when the truth is told
that you can get what you want
Or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get half through
Why don't you realize...Vienna waits for you

When will you realize...Vienna waits for you.

AEM Day 29, in over my head

Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

After doing some online research for the school project due Sunday, I decided that I would rather play around on the piano rather than sit and try to come up with something to draw. I thought there might even be a chance that it'd give me some inspiration.

So downstairs I went where I toodled around a bit, and ended up playing a few things, or scratching at pieces of things, that brought back memories of "the old days" -- friendships, crushes, school, music... bits of history. Color entrances, but sometimes sound entrances too.

The SOOTTAD called while I was down there, but I already had an idea what I was going to do for AEM today. We talked as I went through and subsequently began ripping up random catalogs and junk mail. I was going to do a collage.

Dear God, what was I thinking?!

The SOOTTAD went to bed almost an hour ago. Gonna call it a night and hopefully finish it up tomorrow after class.

Without Merit

I've been using Rojo to keep track of the AEM blogs (at least the ones that have RSS feeds). Unfortunately, one of the consequences of this is that I tend to see more news headlines these days than I'd prefer. Which led me to Rumsfeld: Don't call Them 'Insurgents'

"This is a group of people who don't merit the word `insurgency,' I think," Rumsfeld said Tuesday at a Pentagon news conference. He said the thought had come to him suddenly over the Thanksgiving weekend.

*sigh* At it again, playing word games to try and change perception. Smoke and mirrors. Thankfully, the article provides us with a definition:

Webster's New World College Dictionary defines the term "insurgent" as "rising up against established authority."

And it all becomes clear. And sadly, I have to admit the man is right. It's not an insurgency. It's not an insurgency... because clearly the provisional government isn't really an established authority. You win some, you lose some.

But the article finishes with this gem:

At another point in their news conference, Rumsfeld and Pace had an unusual exchange in which Rumsfeld corrected his senior military adviser, only to have Pace gently insist that it was the defense secretary who was wrong.

A reporter asked Pace what U.S. commanders in Iraq are supposed to do if they find Iraqi forces abusing prisoners. Pace replied that if inhumane treatment is observed it is a service member's duty to stop it.

"I don't think you mean they have an obligation to physically stop it Â? it's to report it," Rumsfeld said, turning to Pace.

Replied the general: "If they are physically present when inhumane treatment is taking place, sir, they have an obligation to try to stop it."

It's a good sign when even the underlings are getting uppity.

Random thoughts before bed

One:

This morning, lying in bed reluctant to get up, I suddenly thought I heard the sound of water. Not rain. I thought perhaps heating pipes, but I had that problem taken care of just a few weeks ago. I didn't expect it to have reappears so soon. Then I hear the scratching of fabric.

Oh.

Cat 1 is peeing in my duffle bag.

Two:

I think we have mice again.

I keep hearing strange scratching and rustling sounds coming from the vicinity of the stove. The last time around, their presence was confirmed when Cat 2 began puking a lot, and we found two half-mice on the carpet in the basement.

AEM Day 28 - "Backyard Tree"

Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

This was the tree in P's backyard, sort of as I remember it Saturday morning. I did have a picture for reference, but I mostly took it from the image in my head. I was kind of focusing on getting the snow on the tree to stand out, so I'm left feeling a little annoyed that the tree is totally out of scale from the small shed and woods behind it. Oh well.

Should have been studying or doing research for a school project that's due this weekend, but I ended up reading a book for a bookclub instead, mostly because I want to hang out with the people who are in the bookclub... but you have to have read the book to attend. (This also means that I won't get much studying done tomorrow night either.) And yet, I didn't get to go dancing or play piano tonight either.

*sigh*

There just isn't enough time in the day.

AEM Day 26/27 catch-up

Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

So it turns out that our friend P in Albany doesn't have wireless. Weird. And interesting that it's become so ubiquitous, even out in the countryside and wilds of central Mass in the 1800's farmhouse that is the SOOTTAD's parental homestead, that we kind of just assume that we'll be able to get internet access. (Well, I guess I was actually the one who set it up, so I guess I only have myself to blame for that...)

It was good to get away from it, but we kept showing signs of withdrawal: hey there was this really funny thing about the Flying Spaghetti Monster... oh wait, I guess I'll send you the URL. Oh yeah, we should show you the pictures from our trip to Italy... damn -- online gallery... and the originals are on my machine at home, not my laptop. Crap, crap, crap.

Nevertheless, it was a good visit. We caught up Friday night over lasagne for dinner and sitting by a fire in her living room. Saturday, a mellow party for P's 30th, with food, dancing and games. (It never occurs to me to play games, but I actually enjoyed my participation in Taboo and Cranium. Damn, I even had fun playing Boggle this afternoon.) Chillin' in the back room, the SOOTTAD and I fell asleep together scrunched into a loveseat, only moving to the bed when we woke up at 2AM. There's been a lot of sleeping this long weekend. I guess I've been a little sleep-deprived with all the AEM stuff and general busyness. I hope I'll be able to wake up for work tomorrow morning. Oy.

Anyway. P loves to make big breakfasts, so it was strawberry pancakes and bacon yesterday and french toast and bacon today. Oh yeah, bacon! She had a 4 pound box in her fridge for us and our mutual friend (and her boy) T (visiting from Northampton). The sketch from yesterday is of P frying up some bacon using a pair of chopsticks to flip the slices, a trick she picked up from T, and one which we're embarrassed to say we don't use ourselves.

We left around 3PM to get the SOOTTAD to Bradley airport in Connecticut. A pretty uneventful drive, but nice to have a little more time to ourselves. I had joked earlier in the trip that while her parents' house has no doors (they apparently don't close because of settling, so they don't bother even trying to close them), P's house has no walls. (she's been doing a lot of renovating recently. It's mostly done, but it turns out that there's only a curtain that separates the second bedroom from the back room. Hmm.) There's been more driving this weekend than I'd generally prefer to do, but it's always good to be able to spend more time with the SOOTTAD. Her parents met us at the airport to see her off, arriving just as I was finishing the second sketch of the main terminal check-in area. I was surprised but quite tickled to see that they brought Thanksgiving leftovers for both of us, as well as snacks. Schweet.

The drive home was mostly uneventful save the usual congestion around the 84 interchange... and getting rear-ended in a domino-like threeway fender-bender. The other two cars are SUVs. (Both from New York. And both smokers.) After pulling over, I shockingly don't find any damage (whoo-hoo 5MPH bumpers!), but the guy from the truck immediately behind me wants me to stay and to call the cops. I bail anyway after getting contact info -- I'm tired, I just want to get home.

Ah, home... it's good to be home.

But it'd be nicer to be home with the SOOTTAD.

AEM Day 25 - "Mirror, Bittersweet"

Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

More images from the SOOTTAD's parental homestead, this time sitting at the dining table, the mirror and branch of bittersweet hanging on the wall across the room from the entryway.

I ended up shading the wall with graphite because I was too lazy to stipple it in. Plus, we're heading out to visit friends in Albany, so I didn't want to risk having to stop mid-stipple and not be able to get back to it later.

This short vacation has been good so far. Actually got about 11 hours or sleep last night, but it's been tricky trying to get a little bit of work done and to squeeze in some drawing amidst the holiday activities, low-key as they may be. And I'd really rather be front-loading on the quality time with the SOOTTAD anyway. I was probably being a bit ambitious when I packed schoolwork and that book I checked out from the library a few weeks ago... Oh well, can't really complain about that.

AEM Day 24 - "Window to Winter"

Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

View from the bedroom window at the SOOTTAD's parental homestead.

Happy Thanksgiving

Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

I almost considered submitting this for today's AEM -- a collage of turkey, bacon and oilcloth. (But I did actually find time to draw, so that'll be up momentarily.) Anyway, you can read what THIS was all about in last year's post. This year, the only change was to use two (count 'em, TWO) layers of bacon.

Oh yeah.

AEM Day 23 - toons o' me & meows

Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Late this afternoon, I sketched some stuff out that I wanted to play with.

I had planned to get back to it after the SOOTTAD and I got back from seeing Harry Potter together, but we ended up sneaking into a second showing (damn, haven't done that in about a million years) and got back to the 'rental homestead a bit on the late side.

So it's just sketches and doodles for tonight.

AEM Day 22 - "Smile"

Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Probably no explanation necessary -- just a sketch from a photo I took last night after dinner with a friend.

* * *

Tonight, another fine dinner with another fine friend. And a conversation that eventually veered into a discussion (perhaps more a monologue) about color and the lack thereof in my drawings. "Color entrances." There is a sublime beauty in some things that I cannot even begin to express that has nothing to do with form and everything to do with hue, saturation, and intensity. It's something I can appreciate but feel I cannot express or capture. And even thinking of trying to reproduce it leaves me empty because I have neither the raw materials nor the tools to get at its essence, its soul. And any attempt feels like it would do it a disservice.

So I stick to my lines and dots, and hope that in the contrasts and gradations I can allude to or evoke that sense in my head, that which I cannot create on paper.

I'll try eventually. Just not yet.

Waiting must be filled.

AEM Day 21 - "Abstracats"

Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

It was late; I was gathering things around the house for the SOOTTAD that I'll need to bring over to the 'rental homestead for turkey day.

I seem to be frequently falling back on doing drawings of the kitties, so I tried something different tonight. I like how it turned out, although I probably shouldn't have spent the time stippling the background seeing as it's almost 2AM now. (but of course, I just couldn't help myself.)

Ok, bedtime.

On the subject of elephants...

Well, sort of...

It's Penn Jillette's "This I Believe" segment on NPR, and his first analogy goes thusly:

"...you can't prove a negative, so there's no work to do. You can't prove that there isn't an elephant inside the trunk of my car. You sure? How about now? Maybe he was just hiding before. Check again. Did I mention that my personal heartfelt definition of the word "elephant" includes mystery, order, goodness, love and a spare tire?"

You may notice that I seem to be intentionally obfuscating the title and subject of his essay. And the reason for that is that I think some people might not like what it says. And to you I say: I'm sorry, but that's sort of his point.

I'm not greedy. I have love, blue skies, rainbows and Hallmark cards, and that has to be enough. It has to be enough, but it's everything in the world and everything in the world is plenty for me. It seems just rude to beg the invisible for more. Just the love of my family that raised me and the family I'm raising now is enough that I don't need heaven. I won the huge genetic lottery and I get joy every day.

Good stuff.

[thanks to Dave at Dave's Beer]

AEM Day 20 - Adversary and Ganeshas

Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

Yes, I am my own worst enemy.

*sigh*

So I started this sketch of Ganesha (Hindu Lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles) a few days ago when I had the whole Hindu thing floating around my head. No real reason to draw him in particular, only that I was familiar with his elephant-like appearance. (Although I could use some obstacle destroying, certainly. Couldn't we all?) I was pretty happy with it, up until the point I started inking him. Oh well. I'll learn one of these days to leave well enough alone.

AEM Day 19 - "Lap Kitty, top view"

Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

It's late. I just finished some writing for class and I really need to get to bed. I could just post something I did a few nights ago that I'm still working on, but that doesn't seem to fit the spirit of this challenge. So I try another sketch of the eye:hand self-portrait, and well, it just looks like another sketch. (well, the eyes are a little better this time...) But I wanted to play with it more -- so I try something else. (Hello, dude? It's late. You have to be up in like 7 hours, yo.) Ok, looks like another lap kitty. Different kitty, 'natch.

Man, sometimes I am such a dumbass.

AEM Day 18 - "Train Connection"

Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

I took the train into town to meet up with folks for the movie tonight. I brought my sketchbook with the crazy idea that I might sketch things on the train. I was definitely people-watching, but I have a hard time actually drawing people when they're sitting right there in front of you, doing their own thing. It seems invasive, and being so close on a train, it's even more difficult. And besides, the train was packed for most of the ride anyway, so it wasn't like there was much room. I spent most of the time trying to capture details in my head. Like the couple standing in front of me, in matching jeans and black leather jackets, the man, slightly shorter and a bit on the stout side, tenderly grasping the woman's left ring finger between index and thumb.

I take pictures... with my mind. whooooooooo...

I got home earlier than expected so here it is.

As for the movie, I think I enjoyed it, overall. I was a little annoyed with certain plot changes which weren't necessary for the film translation. And Steve Kloves apparently thinks he can write better dialog than J.K. Rowling. Um, not. I'll admit that there were certainly a few jokes that he threw in that were pretty funny, but in places where I was looking forward to some of the lines I really appreciated in the book, he seemed to feel the need to change them. And I don't know if it's the direction or what, but I'm not so fond of Michael Gambon's interpretation of Dumbledore. Oh, this explains it:

Empire: Are you kind of easing into the role a bit more now you have done one film as Dumbledore?
Michael Gambon: I just play him as myself, I donÂ?t ease myself into any role really. I stick a beard on and play me. Every part I play is just a variant of my own personality. No real character actor, of course, just me.

*sigh* I really wish some of these guys would at least read the books.

Ah well -- the one scene that I was really looking forward to did not disappoint. I'll be watching the movie again with the SOOTTAD next week, but at this point, Azkaban remains my favorite of the four films.

Bed before one! Bed before one!

AEM Day 17 - guilty sketch

Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

So for some reason I feel guilty about posting this sketch. But again... there it is. And really this was more an exercise in process anyway.

This had started as an attempt to draw a Shiva-like, Hindu-influenced, multi-limbed type of character. In my head, I was visualizing a friend of a friend I had seen performing traditional Indian dances many years ago, but as often is the case, I couldn't get it onto the paper, and frankly, the image was pretty fuzzy to begin with.

But the process. I saw this cool thing on Drawn! -- a flash animation showing a drawing evolve from a skeleton to a fully dressed woman -- and I figured I'd try to build the figure from the ground up, as it were. No erasing today, or at least no final cleanup. (although much is covered up by successive sketching layers and the final ink anyway.) Started with spine and clavicles, then femurs, humeruses... humeri? (ha, ha, that's funny!) Layers of muscle and then the first basic outline of the figure.

While (over-)shading the drawing from Day 15, at one point I thought a section kinda looked like shiny latex, which I thought was pretty cool. So I figured I'd try it here, and well... it didn't work, of course. So more cover work. But that's fine -- I'll try something else tomorrow.

And speaking of tomorrow, I may not post until late (like this is something new?) as I'm going to be celebrating a friend's birthday by seeing the new Harry Potter flick downtown. Whoo-hoo!

Aw crap. It's after 1AM again... *sigh*

AEM Day 16 - face/hand, eye:hand

Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

I originally saw this thing called eye:hand on Drawn! and thought I'd give it a shot. Of course, Kathryn (without even knowing it) already beat me to the punch as far as AEM is concerned. And I still need to either submit it to the moderator or post it to the group. But that's really secondary, I think.

It's interesting how much an expression changes with just a slight inflection (or dot) around the eyes. The photo which is... hmmm, maybe pensive, with perhaps a little frustration... seems to have translated into shock in the final rendering. (Or maybe something like "I'm gonna be sick!") And during the process of sketching it out, it would shift from surprise, to outrage, to confused, with just the slightest little change.

In some ways this is a blast from the past, in that the first illustrations (of a very few) I did in college were all-stipple, all-the-time. And I wonder why I kept breaking pens...

Ugh. After 1AM again. Why do I keep doing this to myself?

Marking the occasion

This is neither here nor there, but today was, in fact, the one year anniversary of my very first RIF.

Boy, that went fast.

And it's interesting to see how much things have changed, and how much things have stayed the same.

It also happens to be just a shade over ten years since I got my tattoo, a reminder of lessons learned during one of the worst years of my life most distinctly challenging years I've had, ever. The design is a reminder that life is change, that life is a cycle. And change is good. And necessary. Because change is growth, and growth is life.

And the things that don't grow? They die.

And it's interesting to see how much things have changed...

AEM Day 15 - "Shells"

Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

This didn't come out quite the way I had intended, but what does, really? I wasn't exactly sure how each layer was going to be visible when I started, but I'm pretty sure I hadn't intended it to be so dark. But at one point, I tried adding a contour effect and didn't like the way it came out, so I ended up covering it up, and then had adjust the rest to balance it out.

And of course, at one point, a partial shaded area actually looked kinda cool, but of course I had it in my head that each layer needed to be (relatively) uniform, so I just plodded on rather than leave it "unfinished."

Oy, sometimes I think I need someone sitting right next to me to just take the freaking pen out of my hand.


Hmmm, 11:06PM. I guess I should go study for that Physiology final we have tomorrow night, huh?