Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Animals
This morning I was set up with InDesign. I recently applied for this job at Williams and Sonoma and it requires a basic level of CS work.
I decided to make a Crested Gecko care sheet because I'm not sure if I told you all, but my gecko laid eggs and the eggs hatched and yeah. So now I'm a gecko farmer. Here is the first draft of my care sheet in all of it's unrefined glory. Just 2 hours of blindly bumping around the program.
I also finished a pair of shoes, but the thing is, the patron wants to be surprised, so I don't think I should post pictures until he gets them in the mail. The lame thing is that I haven't even shipped out the box yet, so it probably won't be for a while.
Other than that, I haven't really done anything worth while except for some weird and random drawings in my sketchbook.
I'll post the shoes as soon as I can though. They really turned out exceptionally well.
--Katie
I decided to make a Crested Gecko care sheet because I'm not sure if I told you all, but my gecko laid eggs and the eggs hatched and yeah. So now I'm a gecko farmer. Here is the first draft of my care sheet in all of it's unrefined glory. Just 2 hours of blindly bumping around the program.
I also finished a pair of shoes, but the thing is, the patron wants to be surprised, so I don't think I should post pictures until he gets them in the mail. The lame thing is that I haven't even shipped out the box yet, so it probably won't be for a while.
Other than that, I haven't really done anything worth while except for some weird and random drawings in my sketchbook.
I'll post the shoes as soon as I can though. They really turned out exceptionally well.
--Katie
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
"I'm Not Dead- A Memoir" (WARNING: DISTURBING IMAGES)
And when I say that, I actually mean that I am not dead, because last week there was a reasonably real chance that I would be.
I finally found an apartment in San Francisco with my cousin (who is currently staying there by himself). I took the time on Monday to move all of my ish out of my friend's parent's garage and finally get some sort of settled in.
I spent all of Monday moving and by the time I got back to Alameda I has zero energy left to do anything but have a glass of wine and pass the fuck out. I woke up ungodly early with a pain in my throat. Now I'm not stranger to sickness, it seems as though every year or so I am struck with a debilitating illness, but this was unlike anything I had experienced. It wasn't super painful, but enough to wake me up. It sort of felt like a bee sting or something. So I laid there until it was a reasonable hour, had some tea, and tried to relax until Julia's mom drove to the BART station.
Things were getting a bit worse after that, I thought to myself "okay I'm definitely getting sick" though still only experiencing the symptoms of a sore throat. Growing more and more uncomfortable, I realized, to my horror, that I had gotten on the wrong train and was headed to Castro Valley (seriously, who messes up BART?). Anyways, I ended up spending an extra 30 minutes on the train, and to my dismay, my condition was rapidly worsening. By the time I got to the Union City stop I could hardly swallow without my eyes watering with tears. I stopped into the nearest convenient store and chugged a hot coffee, but this seemed to be the last thing my body wanted.
I had an hour layover for my Dumbarton bus and I spent most of that time curled up in the fetal position next to a tree using my book bag as a pillow, occasionally sitting up to spit on the ground ( I could no longer swallow at this point). Meanwhile the rest of my body was beginning to feel terrible.
The bus finally arrived and I sat there trying not to drool all over myself. Still, I was mostly just REALLY uncomfortable. I texted Sam and asked her if she had any antiseptic at her house since that's where I was going. I postulated that maybe I was having an allergic reaction (to what I have no idea, the only thing I had consumed in the past 24 hours besides the coffee had been tea, pears, dried mango slices and almonds). I had no choice but to endure for the rest of the ride.
About 15 minutes later, I was sobbing quietly, drooling all over the floor of the bus (I know, gross, but I didn't really have much choice). I can't even describe how much pain I was in. I thought back to every rugby injury, every illness I had. I compared every time I thought "This is absolutely the worst" and it didn't even come close. Minute by minute I was sweating, clawing at the seat in front of me. I could not sit still. Every once in a while I let out a cry until finally I couldn't hold it in. I was literally yelling and writhing in agony on the bus, praying for death.
I managed to get off the bus and choke out to some poor passerby "Where is urgent care?" she replied that it was just down the street.
"Are you okay? Do you want me to call 911?"
"No! I'm okay!"
(Aside: no one is ever allowed to call an ambulance for me. Unless I am dead or clearly dying. Otherwise, I will hate you forever because an ambulance ride is fucking expensive as shit)
After wandering around Palo Alto like a crazy person, drooling and wheezing trying to discern my blackberry navigation to get me to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. I staggered in the front door and was almost immediately taken back to see a doctor.
"So what's going on?"
*points to throat*
"Well I'm just going to have a look here"
Convinced he was going to find my throat actually on fire and oozing acid, imagine my surprise when he said
"Your throat seems fine"
"You have got to be fucking kidding me." (NOTE:ACTUAL WORDS)
"I'm not kidding."
I was then taken up to see the Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) doctor who stuck a scope up my nose and found this.
So, apparently, this is what Epiglottitis looks like. I'll save you the trip, according to Wikipedia, Epiglottitis "is inflammation of the epiglottis - the flap that sits at the base of the tongue, which keeps food from going into the trachea (windpipe). Due to its place in the airway, swelling of this structure can interfere with breathing and constitutes a medical emergency. The infection can cause the epiglottis to either obstruct or completely close off the windpipe."
it goes on...
So that large swollen thing in the picture was my epiglottis rapidly expanding to shut off my windpipe. I was immediately taken (in a wheelchair, which was awesome) to a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV of Benedryl, steroids, and some antibiotics.
My fever increased during the 5 hours I was there and the doctor had a heart-to-heart with me.
"You don't seem to be improving, in fact, you're doing worse"
"mmmhmmmmm"
"I think it's best that we send you to the hospital over night"
"How much is that going to cost?"
"I'm not sure but, I'll be frank with you, this could kill you."
"Hospital sounds good"
Ironically, I did have to ride over in an ambulance, but as my EMT friends Jared and Paul explained, there is no way I'd pay for it. I felt kind of sad for them. But mostly happy for me.
Here is Jared taking my blood pressure in the ambulance
And here I am, thinking of you all, documenting my experience
So there I stayed. As you can guess, my condition steadily improved and the next day my epiglottis looked like this...
Obviously no longer life-threatening. Anyways, that's pretty much the whole story. I actually have more to post, but I wanted to get this one out there. Since I still have no job I'll probably be updating sometime tomorrow.
--Katie
I finally found an apartment in San Francisco with my cousin (who is currently staying there by himself). I took the time on Monday to move all of my ish out of my friend's parent's garage and finally get some sort of settled in.
I spent all of Monday moving and by the time I got back to Alameda I has zero energy left to do anything but have a glass of wine and pass the fuck out. I woke up ungodly early with a pain in my throat. Now I'm not stranger to sickness, it seems as though every year or so I am struck with a debilitating illness, but this was unlike anything I had experienced. It wasn't super painful, but enough to wake me up. It sort of felt like a bee sting or something. So I laid there until it was a reasonable hour, had some tea, and tried to relax until Julia's mom drove to the BART station.
Things were getting a bit worse after that, I thought to myself "okay I'm definitely getting sick" though still only experiencing the symptoms of a sore throat. Growing more and more uncomfortable, I realized, to my horror, that I had gotten on the wrong train and was headed to Castro Valley (seriously, who messes up BART?). Anyways, I ended up spending an extra 30 minutes on the train, and to my dismay, my condition was rapidly worsening. By the time I got to the Union City stop I could hardly swallow without my eyes watering with tears. I stopped into the nearest convenient store and chugged a hot coffee, but this seemed to be the last thing my body wanted.
I had an hour layover for my Dumbarton bus and I spent most of that time curled up in the fetal position next to a tree using my book bag as a pillow, occasionally sitting up to spit on the ground ( I could no longer swallow at this point). Meanwhile the rest of my body was beginning to feel terrible.
The bus finally arrived and I sat there trying not to drool all over myself. Still, I was mostly just REALLY uncomfortable. I texted Sam and asked her if she had any antiseptic at her house since that's where I was going. I postulated that maybe I was having an allergic reaction (to what I have no idea, the only thing I had consumed in the past 24 hours besides the coffee had been tea, pears, dried mango slices and almonds). I had no choice but to endure for the rest of the ride.
About 15 minutes later, I was sobbing quietly, drooling all over the floor of the bus (I know, gross, but I didn't really have much choice). I can't even describe how much pain I was in. I thought back to every rugby injury, every illness I had. I compared every time I thought "This is absolutely the worst" and it didn't even come close. Minute by minute I was sweating, clawing at the seat in front of me. I could not sit still. Every once in a while I let out a cry until finally I couldn't hold it in. I was literally yelling and writhing in agony on the bus, praying for death.
I managed to get off the bus and choke out to some poor passerby "Where is urgent care?" she replied that it was just down the street.
"Are you okay? Do you want me to call 911?"
"No! I'm okay!"
(Aside: no one is ever allowed to call an ambulance for me. Unless I am dead or clearly dying. Otherwise, I will hate you forever because an ambulance ride is fucking expensive as shit)
After wandering around Palo Alto like a crazy person, drooling and wheezing trying to discern my blackberry navigation to get me to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. I staggered in the front door and was almost immediately taken back to see a doctor.
"So what's going on?"
*points to throat*
"Well I'm just going to have a look here"
Convinced he was going to find my throat actually on fire and oozing acid, imagine my surprise when he said
"Your throat seems fine"
"You have got to be fucking kidding me." (NOTE:ACTUAL WORDS)
"I'm not kidding."
I was then taken up to see the Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) doctor who stuck a scope up my nose and found this.
So, apparently, this is what Epiglottitis looks like. I'll save you the trip, according to Wikipedia, Epiglottitis "is inflammation of the epiglottis - the flap that sits at the base of the tongue, which keeps food from going into the trachea (windpipe). Due to its place in the airway, swelling of this structure can interfere with breathing and constitutes a medical emergency. The infection can cause the epiglottis to either obstruct or completely close off the windpipe."
it goes on...
So that large swollen thing in the picture was my epiglottis rapidly expanding to shut off my windpipe. I was immediately taken (in a wheelchair, which was awesome) to a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV of Benedryl, steroids, and some antibiotics.
My fever increased during the 5 hours I was there and the doctor had a heart-to-heart with me.
"You don't seem to be improving, in fact, you're doing worse"
"mmmhmmmmm"
"I think it's best that we send you to the hospital over night"
"How much is that going to cost?"
"I'm not sure but, I'll be frank with you, this could kill you."
"Hospital sounds good"
Ironically, I did have to ride over in an ambulance, but as my EMT friends Jared and Paul explained, there is no way I'd pay for it. I felt kind of sad for them. But mostly happy for me.
Here is Jared taking my blood pressure in the ambulance
And here I am, thinking of you all, documenting my experience
So there I stayed. As you can guess, my condition steadily improved and the next day my epiglottis looked like this...
Obviously no longer life-threatening. Anyways, that's pretty much the whole story. I actually have more to post, but I wanted to get this one out there. Since I still have no job I'll probably be updating sometime tomorrow.
--Katie
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
All the things I know right now...
Right now I'm hanging out in Alameda surrounded by sleeping animals. Kuma and Mizuki (akitas) are here on the floor, and Cliff the cat is nearby on a chair. Snoop Dog the cat is nowhere to be seen as usual but he's probably sleeping too. How did I get here you ask? Well...
I moved out of Los Angeles last Saturday. My lease expires tomorrow so I made it just in time really. Every plan I had made for the past 3 weeks or so has dissolved in some way, yet, I continue to live and breathe and have a roof over my head. Since this epiphany I have taken to going with the flow. Ever since, I have been floating around northern California, currently located in Alameda at my friend and former teammate, Julia's house.
I had plans to move to San Francisco, but as expected, that didn't quite work out. It now appears that I have a prospect in Oakland, but again, who knows if that will come to fruition. What is certain at this point is that I am jobless and not currently paying rent anywhere. Not an entirely bad situation, in fact.
Since I have secured a free place to store my things for the next month (thanks to Julia's lovely parents) I plan on using my foreseeable "funemployment" time to go back to Oceanside and LA to visit and say goodbye to some people. I left in kind of a hurry.
One thing at a time though. Today I had a lazy, yet productive day. I finally made another TV and Toast comic which you can find at the bottom of this post, and I did some work for artrobot.net. I also got a little farther in the robot t-shirt process and as you can see, I am finally updating this damn blog.
As of late I have completed some projects. I recently designed a logo for a soccer team in Menlo Park, Ca.
as seen here.
I also put up some t-shirt designs on the art robot facebook:
and 
So those are the shirts, the other REALLY EXCITING thing is my business card that came in the mail. It turned out really well.
I have only been distributing it to my friends so far because artrobot.net isn't exactly up yet (though there is a cool graphic that you can check out right now if you'd like) but like I said, I spent a part of today working on it, and I'll do a little bit more tonight before calling it a day. I wanted to update the blog so that it wouldn't completely fall to the wayside. Though I suppose it couldn't hurt to let the 5 of you in on a little preview of what the basic page on the site will look like. Here it is:
Pretty Art-Robot-y I'd say. Anyways, once the site is up my life should be much easier, it will link up to all of my stuff like this blog and the facebook and paypal and all that.
The final change in life trajectory has taken the form of going back to school to acquire more skillz in the digital design area. I'm more or less decided on going to a community college to earn an AA in Graphic Design. It will be good to learn how to use things like Adobe CS, beef up my resume, and of course, a piece of paper saying that you know things goes a long way in the professional world. But as for now, I have some time to enjoy not having a job or any responsibilities, and so I leave you with this...
-Katie
I moved out of Los Angeles last Saturday. My lease expires tomorrow so I made it just in time really. Every plan I had made for the past 3 weeks or so has dissolved in some way, yet, I continue to live and breathe and have a roof over my head. Since this epiphany I have taken to going with the flow. Ever since, I have been floating around northern California, currently located in Alameda at my friend and former teammate, Julia's house.
I had plans to move to San Francisco, but as expected, that didn't quite work out. It now appears that I have a prospect in Oakland, but again, who knows if that will come to fruition. What is certain at this point is that I am jobless and not currently paying rent anywhere. Not an entirely bad situation, in fact.
Since I have secured a free place to store my things for the next month (thanks to Julia's lovely parents) I plan on using my foreseeable "funemployment" time to go back to Oceanside and LA to visit and say goodbye to some people. I left in kind of a hurry.
One thing at a time though. Today I had a lazy, yet productive day. I finally made another TV and Toast comic which you can find at the bottom of this post, and I did some work for artrobot.net. I also got a little farther in the robot t-shirt process and as you can see, I am finally updating this damn blog.
As of late I have completed some projects. I recently designed a logo for a soccer team in Menlo Park, Ca.
as seen here. I also put up some t-shirt designs on the art robot facebook:
and 
So those are the shirts, the other REALLY EXCITING thing is my business card that came in the mail. It turned out really well.
I have only been distributing it to my friends so far because artrobot.net isn't exactly up yet (though there is a cool graphic that you can check out right now if you'd like) but like I said, I spent a part of today working on it, and I'll do a little bit more tonight before calling it a day. I wanted to update the blog so that it wouldn't completely fall to the wayside. Though I suppose it couldn't hurt to let the 5 of you in on a little preview of what the basic page on the site will look like. Here it is:
Pretty Art-Robot-y I'd say. Anyways, once the site is up my life should be much easier, it will link up to all of my stuff like this blog and the facebook and paypal and all that.
The final change in life trajectory has taken the form of going back to school to acquire more skillz in the digital design area. I'm more or less decided on going to a community college to earn an AA in Graphic Design. It will be good to learn how to use things like Adobe CS, beef up my resume, and of course, a piece of paper saying that you know things goes a long way in the professional world. But as for now, I have some time to enjoy not having a job or any responsibilities, and so I leave you with this...
-Katie
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Sculpture or Painting?
So, I probably won't get a chance to update for a while, I'm about to be launched into my last bout of finals and then i have to scramble to find an apartment.
However, all of this business has not kept me from pursuing crazy-ass art projects. Ever since I finished the pointillism, (which I scanned so it's now a digital file. Stay tuned for poster-size versions) I have embraced the idea of obsessive-compulsive artwork.
Inspired by my Notes on Color class, I went to Blick a few days ago and purchased about 9 feet of canvas (like 72 inches wide I think). I also purchased rubber cement, a hole puncher, and got a bunch of those free paint chips samples from home depot.
Figure it out yet?
I'm going to hole punch the paint chips and then glue the holes to the canvas as points. So it's not quite like using a .005 tip pen on paper, but it's comparable. The "points" are a lot bigger, but so is my surface area. Still...it's almost certainly going to kick ass.
I'll try to get around to scanning my actual sketchbook and show you the ideas I've been working on. It probably won't be representational because frankly I don't have the skill for that. I think for now, for the first project of this kind, I'm comfortable doing just a color study. Not to say there won't be any pattern to it at all, I'm just saying I'll probably stick to circles cause I'm into those lately.
Anyways, I'll check back later with my progress.
Cheers,
--Katie
However, all of this business has not kept me from pursuing crazy-ass art projects. Ever since I finished the pointillism, (which I scanned so it's now a digital file. Stay tuned for poster-size versions) I have embraced the idea of obsessive-compulsive artwork.
Inspired by my Notes on Color class, I went to Blick a few days ago and purchased about 9 feet of canvas (like 72 inches wide I think). I also purchased rubber cement, a hole puncher, and got a bunch of those free paint chips samples from home depot.
Figure it out yet?
I'm going to hole punch the paint chips and then glue the holes to the canvas as points. So it's not quite like using a .005 tip pen on paper, but it's comparable. The "points" are a lot bigger, but so is my surface area. Still...it's almost certainly going to kick ass.
I'll try to get around to scanning my actual sketchbook and show you the ideas I've been working on. It probably won't be representational because frankly I don't have the skill for that. I think for now, for the first project of this kind, I'm comfortable doing just a color study. Not to say there won't be any pattern to it at all, I'm just saying I'll probably stick to circles cause I'm into those lately.
Anyways, I'll check back later with my progress.
Cheers,
--Katie
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
UPDATE
Hello Hello. So I'm back from my weekend up north to see some rugby and visit Sam. The tablet really hasn't been good for my school work. I had a mid term this morning and I have to catch up on a lot of things this week. However, despite being super busy with un-art-related things I managed to draft up a design to put on the sample t-shirts.
behold...
So the shirts are going to be as follows:
t-shirt - black with light grey robot
tank top - blue with grey robot
v-neck t-shirt - grey with white robot
I'll try to get some visuals and once Keith e-mails me back with a price quote I'll get some samples on the way.
--Katie
behold...
So the shirts are going to be as follows:
t-shirt - black with light grey robot
tank top - blue with grey robot
v-neck t-shirt - grey with white robot
I'll try to get some visuals and once Keith e-mails me back with a price quote I'll get some samples on the way.
--Katie
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Tableta Rasa
The tablet arrived in the mail yesterday and I've been pretty much obsessed with it ever since it got here. First of all, it is beautiful and second, it can do pretty much anything. It does take some getting used to as you will see in a moment. The experience is not unlike trying to teach yourself how to play piano, or some other impossibly complicated thing. The thing to remember is that you need to practice, and that's just what I've been doing.
So here is the setup as I had it yesterday...
I originally just pulled up paint but found that wasn't working too well anyways, so I started using Gimp. That is, until I put together my graphic design command center and get CS5. But anyways...here are some things I did yesterday just to practice including a new TV and Toast cartoon.
"You're still not good at drawing cubes"
"Its front leg is lumpy. Why is its tail so far down?"
Just some of the comments I received for those. But finally, here is the new (properly)tabletized version of TV and Toast...
I think this is the start of something good.
--Katie
So here is the setup as I had it yesterday...
I originally just pulled up paint but found that wasn't working too well anyways, so I started using Gimp. That is, until I put together my graphic design command center and get CS5. But anyways...here are some things I did yesterday just to practice including a new TV and Toast cartoon.
"You're still not good at drawing cubes"
"Its front leg is lumpy. Why is its tail so far down?"
Just some of the comments I received for those. But finally, here is the new (properly)tabletized version of TV and Toast...
I think this is the start of something good.
--Katie
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Apologies and Exciting News
I am sorry that I haven't gotten a chance to go to the Library and scan the newest TV and Toast comic. I promise it will be up soon.
In other news, last night I ordered the first piece of my pending graphic design studio: a Wacom Intuous 4 tablet.
It should be here in about two weeks and let me tell you, this is going to be awesome. It comes in four sizes, small, medium, large, and extra large. I ordered the large which is 18.7" x 12.6" x 0.6" total with 12.8" x 8.0" of active area. I'm excited about it because I won't have to do things like go scan TV and Toast comics from my sketchbook (I also won't have to do tedious things like drawing in comic strip bars by hand wtf).
Next step is putting together a computer. Which is going to have to be broken down into several steps, but I'm putting the general plan into action. That's all the boring stuff for now.
--Katie
In other news, last night I ordered the first piece of my pending graphic design studio: a Wacom Intuous 4 tablet.
It should be here in about two weeks and let me tell you, this is going to be awesome. It comes in four sizes, small, medium, large, and extra large. I ordered the large which is 18.7" x 12.6" x 0.6" total with 12.8" x 8.0" of active area. I'm excited about it because I won't have to do things like go scan TV and Toast comics from my sketchbook (I also won't have to do tedious things like drawing in comic strip bars by hand wtf).
Next step is putting together a computer. Which is going to have to be broken down into several steps, but I'm putting the general plan into action. That's all the boring stuff for now.
--Katie
Friday, April 16, 2010
Pointillism, TV and Toast, and more.
I've been postponing writing a blog as to not overwhelm you all with my one-a-day posting. Really I just didn't want to set a precedent I couldn't live up to. But now that I have some down time I thought I would share the good news.
I FINALLY finished the pointillism piece that I had started just under three years ago. This isn't the greatest picture, but you get the idea.
I posted all of the detail shots on Art Robot and they're on my flickr too. I feel so much better. As much as I enjoyed working on it, I'm so glad it's finally finished. I can finally move on to other things.
other things like....
Yay TV and Toast. My plan is to post every Sunday and I have been posting primarily on Art Robot so that's where that has been. I dedicated an entire album to them for easy archiving.
Speaking of other things...I am about to embark on an interesting project. With the creation of this blog, and Art Robot, the need to go digital with my art is apparent. That is why I will be purchasing a Wacom Tablet in the next few weeks, and then putting together a desktop computer with Creative Suite 5.
I'll post more in-detail when I get back. Rugby nationals are this weekend and I won't be able to post a new TV and Toast until Monday. Suck it up.
--Katie
I FINALLY finished the pointillism piece that I had started just under three years ago. This isn't the greatest picture, but you get the idea.
I posted all of the detail shots on Art Robot and they're on my flickr too. I feel so much better. As much as I enjoyed working on it, I'm so glad it's finally finished. I can finally move on to other things.
other things like....
Yay TV and Toast. My plan is to post every Sunday and I have been posting primarily on Art Robot so that's where that has been. I dedicated an entire album to them for easy archiving.
Speaking of other things...I am about to embark on an interesting project. With the creation of this blog, and Art Robot, the need to go digital with my art is apparent. That is why I will be purchasing a Wacom Tablet in the next few weeks, and then putting together a desktop computer with Creative Suite 5.
I'll post more in-detail when I get back. Rugby nationals are this weekend and I won't be able to post a new TV and Toast until Monday. Suck it up.
--Katie
Friday, April 9, 2010
Comics
Finally, I have something going on. I spoke to someone about t-shirts and hopefully that will get off the ground pretty soon. I've pretty much finalized all of my designs, that is, which robots I want to put on shirts. However, until I get a price quote I won't know how much the t-shirts will be but I'll keep things posted on here and Art Robot.
I made two more comics today during class. I'm really excited about this project and I want to try to make it a regular thing. Though for the sake of consistency, I'm going to try and build up a collection before posting them every week or so. But since I'm still really excited about it, I'm going to post another one right now.
--Katie
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