Linkage or something.

I'm addicted to creative blogs. or something.
Whatever the following blogs are, I'm addicted to them.
They're kind of what I wanted this blog to be.
I mean, I just found them recently, but it's nice to see others doing stuff that you dig. You know?

Check 'um out.

Wish Jar
Hula Seventy
Curious Bird

Somehow Podcasts segway into storytelling.

I love podcasts.
I would say it is because I love getting information, and I like the ease podcasts provide.
I can listen to This American Life for free every week, get movie reviews from Filmspotting, etc.
But I've been thinking about what I like so much about them.

When I was little my mom got me this tape with the best storytellers from some kind of oral storytelling festival, and I listened to it religiously.
And the best memories I have from my family and friends tends to be the stories that they tell/told. Or the stories we create together, I guess.

I've been writing in my paper journal lately, I'm trying to find out what I want my art to be about. I keep coming back to the same things, or at least simular ones.
Communication, Memory, Collective Memory, Storytelling, Myth...
or at least I'm interested in these things. I just still haven't figured out how to make my art meet up with what I'm interested in exploring.

The only one of those I believe I work with at all right now is Storytelling, any of the paintings I do that actually mean anything, instead of being a still life or something done stricktly for the grade, has always been somewhat about telling a story. In critiques on those paintings I'll talk about what the painting is about, and tend to get into some big long story about the painting.

So I want narrative, I want storytelling.
I'll figure it out. Just letting it out into the internet ether.

My excuses are just babies of snow...

Happy Sunday everyone! 

The Carrot Revolution was kind enough to link to me the other day. Thanks again for the shout out and the nice words.

 

I sent out a  scholarship application to Penland School of Craft this week. I hope I get it. I want to do this summer program on lithography. (Well, the program also includes stuff on intaglio and relief, but I know those processes, so I hope that they'll let me focus more on the lithography, since I know nothing about it.)

But anyway, when I sent my scholarship application to Penland, I had to take pictures of some of my art. Those arts happened to be the paintings I've not yet posted here, so here we go. 

Okay, paintings. Uhm. This one is kind of dumb, but my painting teacher likes it. We had to do our paintings about something, and I kind of picked communication, or the lack of. 

Essentially, It's a wasteland. 

Okay, so this was my final for painting 2, I painted a painting for my roommate, because I owe her some money... No, just kidding, She wanted one of my paintings, so I made her one. She needs to quit smoking, but, smoke is compositionally really really wonderful. I like swirls. Her hair is really not that color. I made it much too blonde, but she says she doesn't mind... sketches of it here. 

This painting is really personal. It's the biggest painting I've ever done. It's about 4 x 5 feet. I'm happy with it. People tend to like it before they know it's about death, and then they're like, "oh, i see. uhmmm." Oh well. 

It's what I was talking about here. 

Anyway. It's snowing outside. It's the pretty big clumps of snow.... or at least it was. It's calmed down now. 

Anyway. There are about 12 things I should be doing that aren't blogging so... 

It's a link!

I'm very busy.

Well, make that I should be very busy, right now I should be reading books and doing homework and writing essays for scholarships and many other things.

but I'm not because I've found this great little website.

TED.com

It has speeches by lots of interesting people about lots of interesting things.

Technology, Science, Creativity, etc.

It's a lovely little site and I've already spent a few hours just clicking around watching videos.

To be fair, I found it off of my class' Blackboard page, so I started all this while trying to do homework.

I would reccomend this one. about happiness.

and this one, about if schools kill creativity or not.

but seriously most of the talks are really neat. I'm going thru the site still. It's just great.

Anyway. Thought i'd share.

American Elf!

I doubt anyone is really bored this time of year, but one of my favorite online comics changed it's format in the past month.

Previously American Elf required a subscription to read any comic but the one he put up last.

It's by an artist named James Kochalka who has inspired me in my sketchbook and comic pursuits, and racked me some overdue fees at my library for checking out and keeping his collected comics for weeks at a time.

Anyway, now they're all free and if you have any spare time, you should read them.

He does a comic of his day, almost everyday, and puts it up.
It's kind of boring sometimes, but addictive.
Mundane but nice.

Yes. I'm pretty pleased out it being free now. So should you. Check it out.

Sorry for not updating for so long. (any of you who actually read this. haha)
Ah. The internet. Ah. Doing nothing.
I hate my own apathy.

They might be Haikus.

I drew this picture forever ago, but it works for this post:

So I found out from the Wiki, I believe, that TMBG did a thing on Their myspace asking for haikus. They issued a 'Haiku challenge' apparently.
I don't have a myspace.
I don't want one.....
But I do like doing geeky things, and since They incouraged me..
...instead of doing more important things, i wrote some.
you know, like in solidarity, and why not?

They are broken up into sections:

----------

The Problem:

I'm no myspace ho
They tell us to write poems
Oh, you silly Johns.
----------

On John(s):

Hey you, John Linnell!
Will you teach me the ways of
an accordian?
---
Flansy! What is up?
Love your glasses and tummy
a nerd teddy bear.
-----------
The concert poems:

My senior year of

high school. You play nearby me.

very memorable.

---
I was front row at
the centre college show and
you played doctor worm
---
I was up front and
I think you smiled at me
but I looked down, John.
---
You didn't play my
favorite song but that is
okay. How could you know?
---

You didn't come out

afterwards. You are shy, I

know. ...I wish you had.

---
They might be giants!
Please tour kentucky again!
Hey! Take my money!
---------

"Fandom" poems:

I have some coffee
here. Would you like a sugar?
Do you prefer black?
---
All i want to do
is to punch "crying girl". Does
this make me evil?
---
They Might Be Giants
on the internet! Just say
no to slash fiction!

---------

Song Poems:

The nature of zen

What's that blue thing doing here?

That is beautiful.
---
I like you a lot
You taught me about mammals.
and Mister K Polk.
---
Went to Chicago
Saw Ensor at museum
you bet i was glad!
---

James K. Polk was a
manifest destiny jerk.
I think you knew that

--------

Other Poems:

They are lucky. I
wish Sarah Vowell was my friend.
...I guess I would drive.
---
Ah, My cassette broke.
Wish I had ya on vinyl
I dropped my iPod.
---
John! guitar solo!
Everything is catching on
fire! so worth it.
---

If you read all that, you are 1. a very good friend. 2. probably now clinically insane. 3. Might hate me now. 4. If you don't know who They Might Be Giants are and read this. then... what is wrong with your life?

Do you remember the first time? (I'm getting sentimental over you)

---

Even we are not immune.
It is an intresting thing, i think.

I wonder how many bands I've become obessessed over, and how my friend and I have been enables for the other music-wise. (along with emotionally, ha!)
--Did you hear this odd B-side from a Belle and Sebastian release?
--Oooh! Did I send you that They Might Be Giants live song I found? It was fantastic!
--I think we should start living our lives like Jarivs Cocker, if not in actually pratice, then perhaps in spirit.
--Did you hear the new Utada Hikaru single?

What came first the music or the misery?

Maybe it's just that we always seemed to relate over music, or that it was a selling point of our relationship. That she'd be the only one to care about when I bought the John Flansburgh solo effort for a quarter on Ebay, or that I'd squeal if she told me all about her Belle and Sebastian vinyl singles.

And then, of course, is our shared obession with the internet, pop music, and the book/movie High Fidelity. A movie we've left partys for to just sit and watch. (Albeit they were probably not fun parties, but I digress.)
How could a common obsession for music, mixtapes (playlists to those who don't use those 'cassette' things anymore), dorky comic books and collaging (ha!) lead us down a road where I find that I value her advice more than most? When something fantastic or awful happens that I can't wait to tell her about it?

If it weren't for her, I'd not know how hot Jarivs Cocker or Stewart Murdoch are. (ha!)
Or probably survived my third semester of college... or my senior year of high school.
Because even someone off hours away telling me she believes in me
it ends up meaning a lot.
Because someone across the table screenprinting music lyrics on shirts with you perhaps isn't the true meaning of Solidarity, really, but it still makes me smile.

Everyone in High School thought I was in love with her, which I find very humorous.
I just like her as much as she deserves, although she'd probably counter that point telling her that she's not so great.
But I can't tell.
I'm sentimental.
But I do know that I'm very glad to know her.

I'm not exactly sure what set this off.
Maybe watching music videos on YouTube all day did it.

---


Oh? yeah. The title?
A Pulp song and a They Might Be Giants song. Of Course!
boo-yah.
^__^

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