Year End Slump

2 more days until 2009.
It's been quite a December. But the last week or so has just been zipping by. Zipping by, but not in a productive sort of way. It always makes me kind of grumpy to refelect and know that I haven't been doing more. No motivation to PS lately. Hopefully after the new year, I'll get pumped by all the festivities and new year resolutions to start doing my personal projects again.

Most recently, my only "accomplishment" was that I finished the Twilight Saga. Instead of waiting up for Santa, I was up finishing the fourth and final book, Breaking Dawn. It wrapped up nicely. Needless to say that I was wound up and suffering from Twilight withdrawal.
The whole Christmas day was spent rereading the draft of Midnight Sun and sifting through fan sites and discussion forums. I know, sad isn't it?
On Saturday, I finally got to see the movie. I was in a state of disbelief! How could they screw up the movie so badly? The movie was set at a pace so fast that you couldn't understand where the attraction between Edward and Bella came from. I was prepared for a bad movie, but that was a whole new level of bad. It's true that most movies can't compare to the books they are based on, but it's doable. Harry Potter may lack in certain areas, but the scenes and acting were far better. The Notebook, the movie was (in my opinion) quite comparable to the book (if you like that romance sort of thing). Even the Da Vinci Code movie was good.

I've gone back to reading Twilight again. Just going over the story and trying to figure out what went wrong with the movie. Hahaha. I've gone a bit over the top.

On another note, I want you guys to know I don't live and breath Twilight. I recently saw Che. It wasn't 5 hours. I think it was about 4 1/2 hours. Be warned that it is $18/adult movie ticket since it is technically two movies. It was a long movie and since I am not polished on my Che history, I couldn't fully appreciate it. But it was a pretty good film overall. I'm catching up on my Che knowledge now. Viva la revolucion!

*Edit: Note that Twilight seems to only be liked by those with 2 X chromosomes. If you know any guys who liked Twilight, let me know. Haven't met one yet, so that would be interesting.

The Two-Five

Snow and a day off. Love it.

Don't Bring Me Down!

I woke up in a great mood. This doesn't happen too often.
Usually the cycle is to bitch, moan, roll around, grunt, bitch some more, roll myself out of bed, and be grumpy all the way to work especially because it's too damn early to deal with people who walk all slow in the subway. Then while at the VoS, I surf the internet and work intermittently.

I came into the office and the sink isn't working, so I have to forgo washing subway grime off my hands or run to the bathroom. (FYI, I nixed the hand washing, because I didn't want to walk down the hall to wash my hands. Don't judge me!)
Then as I was reading my morning emails and the big honcho announces that as saddened as he is by telling us, there will be NO bonus this year. Luckily I already knew through the grapevine or this would've really soured my mood.

Ah well, I'm hear to tell Murphy and all this other bad karma around me, "Don't bring me down!"
Happy Tuesday.

PS Robot

My oh my, I have had a long weekend of doing absolutely nothing. And who could blame me when the weather outside is so frigid.
Luckily I did do my usual routine of swimming on Sundays despite below freezing temperatures. And I practiced some more selective color in PS.
Not works of art or anything mind-blowingly spectacular, but more practice since I haven't really PS-ed in a while.
Here is Take 2 of the Easter Moon and Gold Fever flowers photo. If you compare the 2 pictures full size, you can really see the difference. (original post was done on 11/26/2008.)

And the rest of these were done in about an hour. haha. Results of speed "shopping".

Plus, I finished Twilight and the draft of Midnight Sun. (Book 5 that will most likely not be completed as the draft was leaked. boo hoo.) Twilight is honestly a pretty good (and entertaining) book for the girls (or guys who enjoy teen romances). I single out the girls, because I honestly don't know any guys who have read this book. Now I am anxiously waiting for the arrival of Breaking Dawn (Book 2 of the saga).

Do-Over

It's 2 am on Thanksgiving night. Jamming to some Prince music. I am experiencing extreme drowsiness from the long day and all the turkey hormones inducing food coma. But I could not let myself fall asleep before I made a less pathetic attempt at selective color in PS. So here is another picture of some lovely flowers.


And now I can sleep soundly. Good night.

BTW, I started reading Twilight tonight. It's not so bad, but I have high expectations considering all the things I have heard about this book from everyone. I am still on page 3, so the verdict is still out on what I think about Twilight.

Groundhog Day

On this Thanksgiving eve, I am thankful for so many things. I am thankful that I am healthy, I have a roof over my head, food in my belly and that I still have a job. As appreciative as I am to have a job, I must say that having the job I have is very draining. It's so repetitive and mundane. On the plus side, I have ample time to blog and surf the internet at work. One good thing that has come out of that is that I have become very good at the Facebook game Geo Challenge. I can identify 30-50 countries' flags. Hooray for useless trivia knowledge!

As this is a long weekend, I am trying to make the most out of it. No, not by searching for the best Black Friday deals, but by practicing my PS skills.
I know it still needs work, but I'm glad that I am putting PS to use.

Attempt 2 of the picture that I was working on last week.


Selective Coloring on Easter Moon Flowers.

(And thanks to my PLP and to Anatole for continuing to help me in learning PS when even "Photoshop for Dummies" has failed me.)
P.S. I am also thankful that the seemingly never ending work days are over for this week.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Last time, I swear

Okay, last time I talk about getting the James Jean Fable's Cover book, because the package came to the Vortex of Suck (aka the job) today! And I only ordered it on Amazon on Tuesday night. Since I saved some money on shipping and by buying through Amazon, I couldn't help but slip in Twilight by Stephanie Meyers in the shopping cart too. I have to see what the hype is all about.


So last night was my "stop being a lazy douchebag and try to do something" night.
And I did try to do something. I photoshopped while watching VH1's 100 greatest songs from the 90's. If y'all didn't know. I love the 90's. Here's the top 10.
Note top song #3! I knew they were pretty damn good! #1 was pretty awesome too, but no where near as cute.

100 Greatest Songs Of The '90s
01. Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
02. U2 "One"
03. Backstreet Boys "I Want It That Way"
04. Whitney Houston "I Will Always Love You"
05. Madonna "Vogue"
06. Sir Mix-A-Lot "Baby Got Back"
07. Britney Spears "...Baby One More Time"
08. TLC"Waterfalls"
09. R.E.M. "Losing My Religion"
10. Sinéad O'Connor "Nothing Compares 2 U"

My PLP (platonic life partner) was kind enough to encourage me to do some PS and to do a selective color (or color on B&W) picture on one of my many many many flower photos.

Here's what I got:
Original v. My version


Like I told her, I don't know how, but it looks cross-processed to me.

And here are her examples for me.





0, 10, 50, 100 feathering.

Not sure I can do that yet, seeing as I only know PS actions that change an entire photo.
I'm going to do an attempt 2, so we'll see.

Nothing Special

Just to update you all once again on the James Jean Book.

As predicted, the signed Fables Covers book is waaaay sold out on James Jean's website. But that's okay because I went and I bought it on Amazon.com with FREE Super Saver Shipping! That's right. I cheapo-ed out, but I got the book and I will track James Jean down until I get his personalized signature and a picture with him and my infamous cheese grin.
So that is something to look out for on my blog in January.

In the meantime, things have been going slowly in other aspects of life. I haven't been working on any projects, but I did go to a kick-ass show on Saturday, November 15th. The Giraffes, Prime Motivator Record Release Party at the Mercury Lounge. If you didn't hear about it, read all about it on Anatole's Blog.

I have to say that the show was a nice break from all the financial panic happening all around us.

I leave you with random pictures from the weekend.

(Yes, That's Adrien Grenier from Entourage behind Sohail. He was checking out The Giraffes.)

Two in One Day!

I know, I must be on a roll. Two posts in one day.

FYI. I decided NOT to buy the Fables Book...yet.
I thought I would try to get the book at Amazon or at Midtown and save one way or another.
Yes, that $8.75 S&H is a lot in a time of recession.
Then I will bring it to his show on January 10th in NYC and stalk him until he signs my book, "To Oi. With Love, James Jean." LMAO.

Okay, enough nonsense.
I actually wanted to post this link to Keith Olbermann on Prop 8.

Many religious people may think that homosexuality is a "choice". I may be super liberal in saying this, but each individual should have the right to choose what is best for them. So even if homosexuality is a "choice", shouldn't people still have a right to be happy living life the way that they choose?

Torn

I want this! But do I need it?

No, But it's signed!

Ugh! And shipping is $8.75!

I'm sure the signed copies won't last very long too.

People just love this guy.

So what should I do?!?!?

Picture Extravaganza

I know all of you guys have been on pins and needles waiting for me to upload photos! Cause everyone loves pictures! Not to sound too hokey, but pictures are worth a thousand words. And the blurry/not so good pictures might say 100 words or so.

Enjoy.

Everyone hanging out around St. Mark's on Halloween Night.

Cutest Dog in Costume.

Best costume. Look at this guy completely nailing the role of disgruntled clown.

APW Gallery Halloween submissions.

Monkey by Patrick Francisco.

No words needed to explain this...

Obama -Biden Win!

Celebrating with pans, flags and cigarettes on the streets of St. Mark's and 1st Avenue.

Somebody pimping his Obama goodies in Union Square.

An ecstatic fan in Union Square.

This crazy guy climbed on top of this light post in Union Square and knocked one of the bulbs down. Almost knocked another one down in the process of his flag waving. If you're wondering, of course he got arrested.

A hero's welcome for the bearer of good news. Anatole with the "President Obama" headline at 1:00 AM, 11/5/08.

(If you enjoyed the photos of Halloween, you can check more out on my Flickr. If you enjoyed the Obama celebration pictures, check more out on Anatole's Flickr.)

Blue Never Looked So Good

Quick note because I am tired from PARTYING in the STREETS until 2:30AM. As you all know, We did it! Yes, we did! Si se puede!

Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States of America.
It was a nice feeling, because I did my part and as tempting as it was, I did NOT go out and get free stuff for voting. (Just because I was stuck at work, otherwise I would have been all over that stuff.)

So Congratulations, President Obama!

More pictures from the crazy celebrations that happened in the Lower East Side and in Union Square as soon as it is uploaded.

Quote of the Day: "We're in the White House!" - Middle Eastern/Muslim Deli Man screaming from his Deli on 8th Street and Avenue A at 2:00 AM (True Story.)

Pumpkins and such

A new post about Some random fall things, because I am sick of the post about Pat aging. Aren't you guys? (And by "guys", I am speaking to my glorious readers. All 2 maybe 3 of you, Thanks.)

And on to the meat of the new post. Anatole suggested I do a great post exposing dirty dog orgies and fetishes at the 18th Annual Tompkins Square Park Dog Costume Contest. I'm not that great of a writer. So don't expect that from me. But I am posting some of the photos from last Sunday.

Here are two photos I took of Little Red Riding Hood and Granny. Even though I griped about my DC photos being too dark and orangey, I tried the shade technique again. The first photo on 'P' setting and 'direct sunlight' made the whites too bright in some areas. The 'P' setting and 'shade' gave me a nicer, easier on the eyes look, but a bit too dark for my taste. Still trying to work a middle ground out. I've been watching You Suck At Photoshop ('cause I do suck at PS), but I am still resistant to learning it.


And since tonight is HALLOWEEN, there should be more photos of the festivities as soon as I kick my butt into gear to post another blog update. I will be taking pictures tonight.
So just bask in the beauty of the photos I have taken so far.

And this is just a cute picture of my dog, Peko and his new haircut.

P.S. HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Merry candy grubbing.

Aging Ain't so Bad, Right?

Right, Pat?

LOL. 'Cause you are having a BIRTHDAY this weekend.
So Happy 21st Birthday, Pat!



Hope it's a good one.
Don't break a hip partying this weekend.
I'll see you tonight.

And in Other Uneventful News...

My eyes are blurry.
Today is another day in which a large number of brain cells could potentially die...

Over the weekend I went to D.C. to see Buckethead and be that annoying tourist taking pictures of really stupid things.
I was reading Ken Rockwell's Photography Blog last week and I remembered that he suggested taking pictures in "Shade" mode even in direct sunlight to get a nice warm and inviting (slightly orange look instead of blueish) look. I think it backfired on me and I got a bunch of dark-orangey photos. Maybe I didn't follow the instructions right. Seems like the powers that be are forcing me to use Photoshop. How dreadful! I'm such a moron when it comes to PS.

So this is what I have so far:






(Some were just too dark because I didn't put the flash on. But flash would have just created super glare. Any suggestions and tips either on photography, photoshop or just random rants are welcome.)

Planning my Escape

Today was an especially uneventful day.
So the thought occurred to me to write down how I can escape being a cube monkey...
But the recession we're in makes is scary to think about finding another job.

Well, here goes anyway...
1. STOP making excuses.
2. Give the resume a make over.
3. Look for jobs that I won't fall asleep doing. (Cause seriously, I've fallen asleep, many times at my current job.)
4. Just jump. Do it. Apply.
5. Don't cry about failing if you didn't even try.

Am I missing anything?

Cleaning House

I've been doing some Fall cleaning.
One good thing is that I'm taking out the garbage (or as much as I can bear to part with) and making room for an actual work space in my room.
While cleaning, I found an old phone with some photos that bring back memories.

Anatole after one of Pat's shows. He's still wearing his Doodlechimp sticker. What a great friend he is. ;)

Go visit Pat's site for some great artwork.
(BTW, newly posted on the site is a process video on a piece for the APW vinyl art show. Created by Anatole. Check out his work.

Pat's "Jawbreaker" skateboard deck listed at a showing at Think Cafe.

So check out their cool work.