comics, comics, comics...

so i've been battling on and off with myself for years now about starting a comic... any comic, really... but i am such a perfectionist, that i can never quite follow through. i've thought about doing fantasy comics and music comics and slice-of-life comics, but not a whole lot has really surfaced. i mean, i've started things and had "pending projects", but nothing ever gets finished. it's easy for me to go out and go to shows, or write reviews, but drawing more than just neat pictures here and there or doing a design gig from time to time is really tough. i don't think people really understand what a process it is to do a comic. i mean, sure you can just "do it", but if you really want to do something worthwhile, it takes time!!

so i've started penning ideas for a new comic and drawing up character sketches... i think i'm going to put my first and oldest comic project, "blifss", to the side for a while, officially... i want to do something a little more meaty first. i've kind of decided that blifss is one of those all-ages projects that i want to do when i'm in my thirties for my nieces and nephews (and kids, if i ever decide to have my own). mimo and i started it when we were in the 8th grade, and i really don't want to change the original playfulness of it in order to achieve the kind of comic i want to be doing now.

hopefully in the next few years i'll settle down a bit and find time to work on a couple of comics, because i don't really want to do just one. maybe after i get moved (hopefully within the next month) i can start building a reference library... i've been meaning to do that for years.

"oh, honey..."

i am patiently waiting for the next 3 minutes to pass so i can buy my muse pre-sale tickets at 10 am. i've been on the computer since 9:30. oh yes. me, mimo, and maygan. i'm getting theirs for them for their birthdays. they will be so stoked!!

so last weekend was my first official weekend working merch for the amazing and wonderful all-female AC/DC tribute, hell's belles. rock and roll, my children. so anyways, one thing i noticed was that the belles' crowd was generally an older one, but far shadier than i was used to. 40+ year-old whores bearing saggy boob-jobs, acting catty and wanting little tank tops, pathetic men hitting on julianne and i with horrible jokes... i could go on and on. gross crowd. but the one thing that bugged me the most was this: "oh, honey, you're probably TOO YOUNG to remember..."

no. fuck you. there is nothing wrong with me being a refreshing 23 and not being a saggy old leathery wench like yourself. i know far more about rock and roll (and music for that matter) than you do, and i'll be damned if you're going to patronize me for my age.

why the FUCK do people think they're better than you for having been around longer?? i can't help when i was concieved. i should not be required to know every fucking fact about AC/DC or van halen or black sabbath or whatever old rock band you want to talk to me about. fine, great, they were an epic piece of rock and roll history, that's wonderful... but if we all only listened to classic rock/metal/whatever category that falls into, then where would we be musically? hell, let's just ONLY listen to classical music, because that came first and thus is BETTER, so we must all bow down to it's greatness and worship it for all eternity. fuck rock and roll, it knows nothing of music theory and all that shit.

no. fuck all of you and your petty narrow-mindedness. i WILL NOT listen to one style of music. i WILL NOT listen to something that was made before i was born just to impress you, because YOU are an old, backwards-thinking shithead and can't listen to anything else, apparently. i WILL listen to whatever the fuck i please, and will know as much or as little about it as i feel is necessary. i WILL listen to old music, i WILL listen to new music, i WILL continue to pursue my interests in music theory, and i WILL take over rock and roll and devour every one of you rock and roll elitists with my crazy youthful ways.

don't mess with me, bitches. i will destroy you.

p.s. totally got my muse tickets. GA, punks!

i guess i'm just old skool

goddammit, i'm 23. i was born in 1984. why the hell am i listening to billy joel right now??

it's just a fantasy (oh-oh oh-oh)
it's not the real thing (oh-oh oh-oh)
sometimes a fantasy (oh-oh oh-oh)
is all you neeeeed

and furthermore, what is with the eclectic collection of cassette tapes in my car?!? mimo gave me glass houses on cassette for my birthday, and i was absolutely giddy. but tyler was giving my shit about it yesterday. "why don't you just get an ipod like everyone else?" yes, why don't i?? i'm a technology freak, but i still seem to be stuck in 1997 music-wise. i rock cassette tapes and a mini-disc player in my car. a mini-disc player.

and I LIKE IT.

yes, i am proud of my odd fascination with the art of making mix tapes and collecting old cassettes. this doesn't mean i don't buy CDs, because there is nothing more satisfying than coming home with a new record and adding it to my itunes library, but the reactions on people's faces when they see the neat little row of tapes in my glovebox is just priceless. furthermore, tapes can be acquired for quite cheap, making mystery tapes worth the 25 cents even if they're horrible... but when you find a little gem, oh boy.

i love my tapes. maybe if you come listen to them with me, you will see how amazing they really are.

camcorder addict

so i lied. i will probably be talking about art stuff here too... like video, for instance.

i wanna do more video. i want another camcorder, in fact. but see, here's the problem... i want to get a sony because of the sweet nightshot function, but none of the sony miniDV camcorders have hotshoes or mic inputs... and then part of me wants to get another 3CCD panasonic, this time either the PV-GS300 or PV-GS250 (i already own the PV-GS150 and it is the shizzle). i love the colors and quality of the 3CCD camcorders... but nightshot is FUCKING RAD. really, that's the only reason i'd want the sony.

right now we have a sony DCR-HC38 at my place of business in open box for only $229 (that's $100 less than it's retail value)... but i really shouldn't be dropping that kind of money on ANYTHING right now. but oh, how i want it.

i do have a feeling that if i end up getting a sony, i'll probably end up getting another panasonic down the line anyway... because i am a quality fiend, and once you go 3CCD you don't go back. would it really be so wrong to own three camcorders??

also there's the issue that what i do with these camcorders has no financial kick-back. mostly i just make stupid videos with my friends... which i like, but you have to wonder how smart it is to own more than one camcorder if you're just a hobbyist. maybe sometime someone will actually pay me for my stupid movies. haha. but as long as i can keep doing them, that's really what matters.

speaking of my re-re films, it's high time i started a new one. i should do a documentary on my friend jeff miller.

typefaces

and just for the record, helvetica > arial.

yay for blogs.

so i deleted my old blog to start anew.

if you really want to read me rambling about my daily adventures, my livejournal is full of that shit (when i post in it... i'm less of a regular that i used to be).

oh yes, and those links over there?? all my shit. videos, drawings, side projects, LJ, portfolio... and the usual friendster-type sites (mostly for networking purposes and a good laugh here and there). just in case you were wondering.

so i will probably mostly talk about my obsession with music here, because that just needs it's own outlet. and i'm not just talking about one style here... my tastes go across the board. jazz, punk, new wave, baroque, funk, indie, alternative, bluegrass, grunge, you name it. this does not mean i am not picky, however. just because i like a certain style does not mean i like everything that fits into that genre.

i do not look at music for it's lyrics. because really, without the music most of it is just bad poetry. and who said i gave a fuck about your ex-girlfriend? no, my favorite part about the music is just the music. this doesn't mean i don't like lyrics, because who doesn't appreciate a clever line? all i'm saying is, a good song is not about words... and good words are an added bonus.

as far as music goes, it doesn't have to be technically profound for me to enjoy it... i've found that there are four kinds of musicians: those who know how to play, but don't know how to write well; those who know how to write, but don't know how to play as well; those who can both play and write well; and those who do neither with any sort of proficiency. my favorite are the two that can write, the ability to play really well is just an added bonus (and in some cases, is a hinderance).

i also think a lot of people forget that music is about having fun. i don't know when people started favoring the "emo-fied creative outlet" view of music over the pure enjoyment of sound, but i think it's time people started having fun with it again. yeah, it can be an awesome outlet for a wide variety of emotions, but i think it takes a much more creative person to write music for the sake of music than for the sake of feeling.

the last thing i want to mention is my weakness: bass. i LOVE bass. i believe a good bassline is the foundation for all good music. i can difinitively say that all my favorite music is very bass-centric. so if i have one major bias, this is it.

lastly, i'd just like to make it clear that i don't listen to top-40 radio for a variety of reasons. no, i am not against bands/musicians gaining popularity. i am against simplified bullshit marketed (keyword, there) for a gullible audience of under-educated people. i like supporting talented people, globally, nationally or locally recognized, in hope to diversify my own tastes and experiences with music. and who knows, maybe i'll influence someone else along the way.



holy shit. what a retarded rant. that was far more text than i had intended. oh man. totally re-re. time for something a little less thought intensive... like tim and eric. yay for adult swim!