Thursday, October 27, 2011

grover and luke

i started playing the accordion this year. bought one off craigslist, found an instructor, and started documenting the process.

my accordion's name is grover.

here's the documentation:









unfortunately it's not going exactly as planned. i noticed the time i want to play the most is in the middle of the night, when everyone else in my apartment building is most likely sleeping. also, the instructor kinda turned into a creep.

so my interests have shifted to ukulele. it's not as loud and i can play whenever i want. plus, my friend's husband is giving me lessons. and he hasn't turned into a creep yet...

i named him luke.
luke da uke.

anniversaries

it's been a little over a year working my day job. and even though there were a couple of busy weeks a little while ago, most of the time it's dead. and now that we are getting into the characteristic 'slow time,' i thought it would be a good idea to take a look back at all the nonsense things i drew/made to save me from the boredom of the 9 to 5.

and maybe this will inspire me to do some more this time around...


before i started doodlin', i was reading about 8 hours worth of news articles from scientific magazines and other seemingly important but not retain-able information sites. i think i had read an article about the leaps of logic your brain makes when understanding something. anyway, that article made me draw up this:



i have a degree in medical illustration. which is how i get to draw up all those illustrations in medical/science text books and the posters in doctor's offices and things like that. i was pretty inspired by alex grey and tool videos growing up...but pretty quickly into the major, i realized the real reason i wanted to be a medical illustrator was to find out all the ridiculous guidelines and standards that exist...and then make fun of them. for example, to illustrate a carbon atom you have to do it in a certain color and a certain size in relation to another atom. as anal as it is, it makes sense and i get it - we are teaching people things...through illustrations... but i can still make fun of it all i want. so, because of that, i drew this:
not only does this drawing entertain my love of making fun of scientific illustration...it also includes my love of bill murray and ghostbusters.


i think i had just watched 'what about bob?' the day before, so i made this when i got into work:


this next one i can't remember why the hell i made it. i just think birds are beautifully stupid looking. i also wake up in the morning am have a phrase stuck in my head that repeats over and over again. and i can't get it to stop until i make something about it. anyway i think that this day must have been about a dodo bird.


and so that lead me to this:


and so then i started getting into doing really quick animations that were basically just studies of walk cycles. or at least that's what i told myself to make me feel like i was totally wasting my time..




i also really love dinosaurs, as much as i love birdies. so i made this banner for my etsy account (islandofmonsters.etsy.com) oh, and gene wilder is also another love of mine:


and then i made this. i must have wanted to turn these into bed sheets because the file is prepped for silkscreen...:


have no idea what made me do this one. i think it was another one of those days where i couldn't get  'hefalumps and woozels' out of my brain:


and then it started getting close to christmas time, so i made this and sent it to a few friends. it's a reference to saul of the molemen:


next i made this card. even though it says merry christmas on it, i want to say i made it for valentines day. but i can't honestly remember:


my brother michael suggested we do a secret santa for christmas last year. and i got him. so this was a sketch for a painting i made. he use to call me mad madam mim when we were younger. next to the drawing on the painting had the words: i hate sunshine, i hate horrible wholesome sunshine.:


i don't know why this line gets me so good, but i love it. so i made a drawing of it, because that felt right:


i think this was going to be another silkscreen. maybe wrapping paper or something. can't quite remember:


i was on a ghostbusters kick:


and this is a line that always seems to pick me up, and make me feel good:


well, that's a good chuck of the crap i do at work when there's nothing to be done.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

drinkin'

dependence

the desire to do everything, and the inability to do any of it - is frustrating to say the least

(i wrote this about a month ago. i've got a little bit of catchin'-up to do)

i've been having these moments the last few days of insanity, pure insanity manifesting itself and i'm not entirely sure what the cause of it is - so i'm writing again.

these moments where after having just eaten a cookie - for example - and taken a few silent moments, am transported into this little kid. a 5 year old that just needs to dance, to shake every limb, and get the ants out of their pants. for a solid 7 seconds or so.

it's like you're in a trance, shaking until the moment is done, and you freeze and stare. and the person you're with says 'what the hell was that?' in this case, that was adam. we had been working on some movie props together and took a 5 minute breather. but the minute he spoke, the pendulum that had swung so far to the one side and caused me to dance, started heading the opposite direction. and continued so far the other way i began to laugh so frantically no sound came out. my face was stuck in a pained expression - similar to those snapshots of people on roller coasters. i had no idea what just happened, or what caused it. and that not-knowing made me panic, which made me laugh more.

all i could think to say when i calmed down enough to talk was,
                                   "that was just, that was a really good cookie..."



a similar situation happened at work. i was struck down with a case of the giggles. a tickle in my gut that came out of no where - but i was not in the comfort of people who have known me for years, so i had to keep silent. laughing hysterically with NO sound coming out. to the point where tears are streaming down my face. and that fear - the fear that at any moment someone could walk into my cubical and see me red faced and pained. hysterically laughing in silence. and looking at my computer screen to see that i've been reading an article about the decade since the 9-11 attacks, and then having to explain that, 'i swear! that's NOT why i'm laughing!'

but how would they understand the truth? 'honestly, it was like all the insanity of the day had bopped me on the nose and everything suddenly made sense...'
'nicole. it's 9:15am - how long has your day been already?'

i'd rather they just think i was an insensitive prick.


(the good news is: in the month since i wrote this, i've figured out what what causing the insanity. and it is no longer apart of my life. and that's a good thing)

today blows

today is one of those days where
noises piss you off
especially silence.

and you do work,
but you do it slowly.
and time crawls by even slower.

and there's no position you can sit in
that makes you feel comfortable
or at least,
is just comfortable enough
to make you forget you're uncomfortable.

the music you're listening to and are familiar with
pisses you off
because the good parts aren't happening fast enough
and the unfamiliar songs
annoy the hell outta you
because they all seem boring and gay.

i just wanna go back to bed.

time travelin'

i tried to find the mad tv clip where this scientist invented a time traveling machine, and presented it to a crowd of people. punchline: the machine ends up just being his bed.

but i couldn't find it.
so this will have to do. it is my favorite scene about insomnia:

i got home from work last night, and started watching the movie seven (which, believe it or not, i had never seen). i got 2 kills in, and started fearing i was going to fall asleep before it ended. so i put the movie on pause to take a quick nap. i was out for a solid 12 hours. i'll have to finish it tonight.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

politics

i don't know what it is about this man's head...but whenever i see herman cain:

i think of this guy:
...a goomba from the super mario brothers movie.

victory beer

(this happened a few days ago...)

i just got out of a meeting with my brother michael and our mentor-dude guy. he had us meet with this lawyer lady who is helping get our intellectual property crap in order.

we are no longer in the little leagues, my friend.

it was a very good meeting.

the whole experience is a very silly one. michael had just come from class to meet me at my apartment beforehand. i had come from work. quickly ate some ramen, and then played around on my uke while i waited.

we joked around for a bit, but then headed out. and as we were walking up to the skating club to meet with the others - serious mode kicked in. and all the last minute checks were run through one last time.

"you got your book?"
"yep."
"you gotta pen?"
"and a pencil."
"your phone on silent?"
"airplane mode actually."
"ooooo."

the lady is really great, and seems like a good addition to the team.

after the meeting i asked if michael wanted to grab a beer, "to, you know...celebrate."
"man, i'd love to, but i gotta get back and do homework."

understood. but i had him go with me to the library real quick to pick up some items that were in. it's a little sad when the only person who seems to call me anymore is the automated library message telling me my books are in...

this time i had 9 cds in. the librarian handed me my items, and as we walked away, i whispered to michael, "don't ever buy another cd. rent them from the library. burn them onto your computer. and return them."

and so now i sit here.
drinking my victory beer.
writing.
as i burn the latest radiohead cd onto my computer.
wondering if i'll ever lose this ramen-eating, cd stealing side of myself.




every time we go to a meeting, this clip plays in my head. no matter how many times i meet with these big wigs, i always feel like i am a little kid pretending to know what i'm doing...

Monday, October 24, 2011

my attempt to make sense of this weekend


and then we all got up in the morning and went apple picking, and got some prump-kins for carving.

and carved them, around a bonfire. (...but i don't have that pric-ture yet)

you look good in that sweater, and that aluminium crutch

this album is reserved for very special occasions. this weekend was one of those times.



....i don't even know where to start. so maybe i wont.

i got chinese food for dinner the other night....in bed.

this was my fortune:


and this is what i thought:

Friday, October 21, 2011

dinner with your doppleganger

i got dinner this week with my lovely friend tina colada at our usual spot, las habonernas, which we affectionately and incorrectly call: los hobos. we usually get dinner together once a month, for we are moon-cycle sisters. but things have been so busy for both of us, we haven't been able to meet the past few months.

however, the restaurant staff seemed to know us much better this time, despite our absence. tina reasoned that this was because our dopplegangers had been coming in to eat. this got me excited, and soon we were trying to figure out how long it would take for us to eventually run into each other so that we could all have dinner together.

it also made me think of this clip:

kangaroo slugs

i have been working on some costumes for an event michael (another brother from the same mother) and i got into. we came up with a game - a relay race - people can play. 2 teams race against each other, and there are 3 people to a team. each teammate wears a costume that inhibits a certain body part: legs, hands, or head/sight. the legs and the hand people run and collect all the giant puzzle pieces and bring them back to the head person. the head person has to put the puzzle together based on the direction/instruction from the other 2 teammates.

here's the sketch for the leg-blocker costume.
it's essentially a glorified potato sack. they are called kangaroo slugs because...you are inside of their pouch, but they have no legs...so they're slugs...obviously. here's how they turned out:
this was my attempt at the awkward kid smile.

here's the sketch for the hand-blocker costume:
these are 5 foot long sleeves made of duck-tape that are covered in balloons. the costume is done, but i haven't taken a picture yet though.

and finally, the sight-blocker:
the helmet is covered in buttons i've collected over the years. and yes, this costume does come with a cape. no picture of this yet either. sorry.

it's always an interesting challenge to design for a wide range of body types when making costumes. and this event has an extra challenge of having to design two almost identical sets.

 but it should be a lot of fun, and you should come out to play.

song obsessions of the week(s)

i am pretty in love with these songs right now.

the band is called those darlins. i suggest you check them out.

and a few weeks ago, i was in love with these:

this lady's name is dawn landes.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

fascinating!

i was walking down the hall at work, and had a PSR moment with my boss. when we finally broke the loop, i thanked him for the dance.


Wednesday, October 19, 2011

i don't know what i'm doing

homecoming

i was talking to my brother the other day in between going to a funeral and waiting for a wedding reception to start. we got some ice cream as i waited for his mechanic friend to diagnose my car. he was taping a high-school football game the other day. his job is to tape and edit them. this game, he said, was the homecoming event game. so before the game, the homecoming court goes out to the middle of the field for all to see. and while they're walking, the announcer says things like, "john likes to canoe, and fish, and his favorite quote is: never give up," or something lame like that. 

so adam asked me what my philosophical quote would be, and this is what i said:

this gave adam a good laugh, so we thought of others.

"john likes to canoe, and fish, and his words to live by are:

it was a good time.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

that dang duck is too much

the attitude of this duck's face and pose kills me. who knows what he and my brother had just been discussing, but clearly neither are satisfied with the results. all we can hope is that they civilly agreed to disagree.

suck it nerds! i've got a blurg




i decided last night (...or maybe it was this morning) that this would be a form of storytelling/documenting events in my life, through the use of pop-culture references that are constantly zooming around in my brain. not all the posts will be these references. sometime it will be a little more literal, with drawings or photos i've done.

so here goes nothin'

(this first one's a double whammy...30 rock referencing harry and the hendersons)

Monday, October 17, 2011

how come i can't have that?

my sister's tat

my sister has a tattoo on her forearm that she wants covered up. so my brother and i had a draw off.

this is her tattoo:

and this is what we came up with for her:










it's a tie between the chicken, the house, the cat, and the mustachioed man .