I Write Like An Artist

Let's talk about sensory description.

You know the basics, there are five senses: touch, sight, taste, smell, and hearing. Each of these senses is unique and important on it's own, but they work in tandem with each other. The age old example: Scientists say that roughly 80-90% of what we taste is actually derived from smell.

As a writer it is extremely important to pay attention to all of the senses in order to envelope the reader in the world you have created. For living in a world where no one ever feels what it's like to touch something feels surreal, just sort of 'off'.

Now lets back up a little bit and talk about how artists (of the visual sort) create sensory experiences.

An artist uses images, and thus they get one sense: Sight. That cuts them down to 30% efficiency right off the bat. They learn how to bend and play with sight to create illusions of other senses, and even more powerfully, they learn how to connect images with emotion. Thats the big one: Creating an emotional cognitive response from the viewer, that's what an artist does.

They get very good at this, and essentially are attempting to master the sense of sight.

Now, hand that artist a word processor and a keyboard. Tell them to describe something. I guarantee you that they will primarily focus on the visuals, they will try to explain every intricate detail of what this item or place looks like. They will likely forget about the other senses, or at least pay far less attention to them. It's in their nature, it's how they experience the world.

What happens when this artist decides to write a book?

You can see the problem. An artist who is arting is all just fine and dandy, but an artist who is writing is at a disadvantage. It takes extra attention to remember to describe things in their whole, combining the senses takes more work.

I write like an artist.

Damn.

Procrastination Station

Guys, don't procrastinate.

Don't do it, it's not worth it in the long run. Sure, that project might be big and scary, or just a pain in the ass, and your email client is far more interesting...

But don't procrastinate.

I spent 12 hours yesterday finishing a project. Twelve. Hours. I worked from noon 'till one in the morning, with two half-hour breaks to clear my head and get some food. This is on top of school. (Admittedly, I did skip a couple periods at the High School. But I went to all the hard classes and my NIC course because I couldn't afford to miss them).

The end result is not the best work I could have done. There are some areas I know for sure could have been better. It's not bad; it's still quality work. But it's not my best and I am fully aware of that.

By procrastinating I short changed myself and what I could have learned, and I short changed my professor and what he was trying to teach me. Procrastination is more than me being fickle, it's also a loss of respect.

It's saying that you do not respect your teacher, professor, mother, instructor, boss, enough to give them the quality and attention they are asking of you.

Don't procrastinate, it's not cool.

And, on a completely unrelated note... I still want a camera. ;___;

Take Your Best Shot

I want a camera.

God Day-yum I want a camera.

I would like a decent camera, with good specs or whatever. But in all honesty I would be just as ecstatic to get a little easy 10 megapixel point-and-shoot baby camera. Why? Because I really want a camera.

Last Kumoricon I borrowed my Dad's camera to take pictures at the convention (see below, I never did finish those blogs...). I loved it. I loved figuring out lighting and angles and the art of transferring a moment of life into a little rectangle of representational visuals. I absolutely loved it.

I would be a fiend with my camera. I would be the sort of fiend that annoys the crap out of you because she's always snapping shots when you're not looking and would you PUT THAT THING AWAY. Yes. That sort of camera-toting, picture-taking fiend.

Sadly, a camera costs about 100$. That's a lot of money, a lot of hours. A purchase of this magnitude must be weighed and thought on before any decisions are made.

I've been looking around online, and so far this is what I've come up with:

Casio Exilim EX-Z16

This camera is a fairly new model out on the market, fresh out as of this September. It's 12 megapixels, a 2.7 inch display, and shoots video at a youtube affordable resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. It's also got that sleek sex-apeal thang going on with it's rounded off corners, small size, and general shinyness. Price wise it clocks in just barely under the hundred-dollar mark at 98$ and free shipping from Amazon.

Unfortunately, I'm not a camera person (yet) so I haven't a clue if that's a good deal for a point-and-shoot. I 'unno. We shall see.

Things That Make My Life Worth Living

Things that make my life worth living:

Singing along way too loudly (read: badly) to Lady Gaga.

Arguing whether Kesha or Lady Gaga write the more sexual songs.

Gay couples can get hitched in California again.

My dog.

Whipped Cream.

Swiss Rolls with Whipped Cream on them.

Chocolate bars with Whipped Cream on them.

Granola bars with Whipped Cream on them.

More Whipped Cream.

Secretly cashing checks in order to surprise my mom with an AWESOME birthday gift.

School plays.

Free paper.

My bangs curl naturally and it actually looks good.

The MP3 player I want to buy to replace my lost one is on sale this week.

Scott Pilgrim.

New toilet seats.

Bathrooms that no longer smell like vinegar.

FRC kick off is only 89 days away.

NaNoWriMo is even CLOSER.

New characters that pop up in my brain uninvited but loved nonetheless.

Manga is still as crazy and ridiculous as it's always been.

Apollo Justice is a good game, even if Investigations wasn't.

Eating YanYan for the first time ever.

Coworkers who pull their fair share.

Coworkers who pull their fair share and then some.

The new copy of Jump has a special on the war in One Piece.

My hoodie finally went through the washing machine, so I can wear it again.

Discovering awesome French singers: Yelle.

International music in general.

I've got a jar of dirt (two of 'em, actually).

Buttons.

Card flourishes.

The fact that I don't live in a third-world country.

Origami cranes.

Winning an argument against my dad.

The smell after it rains.

And most of all, my Faith in God.

You know what? It's OK if you have a bad day. It's OK. You know why? Because there are still a million and one reasons life is worth living.

And I'm thankful for every one of them.

Scott Pilgrim (The Comic Books)

Y'know what? I love Scott Pilgrim. I *LOVE* Scott Pilgrim. It's a comic book, if you're wondering. Six books long. I picked up the first in a book store the other day, and like, I had no money so I didn't get to finish it. This led me to... uh... *not* pirate all six volumes through downloading them off of a torrent's mirror. Anyways.

Let me say it again.

I LOVE SCOTT PILGRIM.

I just finished it? Can you tell? I love it, by the way, if I haven't mentioned that already. I mean, I didn't like the art at all at first. And I have to admit the art really was kind of sloppy in the first volume, but it was different so I thought I'd give it a try. And the writing is good. Really good. Like, it's this weird clash between a story and a comic and a video game, yeah? It's sort of crazy and rediculouse while manageing to feel real and worthwhile at the same time. That is a really odd and possibly unique mix.

My favorite character is Wallace. ♥

I think the ending was perfect. ♥

*spoiler alert*

I totally didn't notice when Stephen Stills came out in Volume 5, I mean, I had my suspitions, but I didn't give it much thought because I was so engrossed in Scott's head (and he was having other issues). So in that last scene with Stephan Stills and Joseph at the end of book six? My face mirrored Scott's. I had a total fangirl freak out, and then I laughed my ass of at the last panel of that page ("God, I hate your friends." ... "Seriously, get new ones.").

Yes. So. go read it. If you need a download link just ask. |D I can not give one out on my blog for fear of the legal implications of such an act.

On a related note, I really love fiction with legitimate gay characters. I mean, fiction that ISN’T Yaoi or Yuri by trade, but just happens to have gay characters in it as well as straight characters. They tend to have more realistic portrayals, and I love that. Love love it. ♥

It’s late, I’m giddy on comic-high, I need to go to bed. XD Ciao.

Target

I love books.

Target by Kathleen Jefferie Johnson.

It's about a teenage boy who was raped, and it is really, really. good. It sort of reminds me of Speak by Laurie Anderson - but not in that copy-cat, shadow-of-the-original way. It's more like, a similar situation with a different person. It feels individual and unique, but is the same 'kind' of story.

It's a short book, only took about four hours to read, but the characters are Real. They are people, not words on a page. On top of that the story telling is excellent, there were times where I was literally laughing out loud with how wonderful these guys were, and times where I was shriveling up because I just wanted to cry.

Very good book, I highly recommend it. It's one of those books that reminds me why I love reading so much.

KUMORICON, DAY 1

Because it is...
KUMORICON, DAY 1.

(WARNING: The following post is IMAGE INTENSE, and not friendly to low-level internet connections!)

The day starts with waking up late. No one remembered to set the alarm clock, unfortunately. So we RUSH to get to the convention center, by the time we get there the Opening Ceremonies have already started. So we drop into the Pre Reg line and grab our badges, which takes about ten minutes rather than three hours, as everyone is at Opening Ceremonies. SUCH a blessing. We get to opening ceremonies as the Taiko performance is finishing up, so we're not too late, but we're way back in the nose bleed seats (thank god for cameras with telescopic lenses).



Then our awesome Master Of Ceremonies makes his way onto the stage~!



After him we get briefed on the Convention Rules by some in-character Organization members who seem to believe we're applying for a job rather than attending a convention. They show us a video, which is actually pretty funny.



Master of Ceremonies than introduces us to the Pirates VS Ninjas Bucket Game. On the Pirates side we have Luffy, on the Ninjas side we have Sasuke. The most FANTASTIC match up, like way.



Luffy wins.
(I never doubted him.)

I wander around the convention center for a while, finding some fantastic cosplayers and the like:







...and eventually find the Dealers Hall, which for some reason is in the sub-basement parking lot. Don't ask me why, I haven't a clue. The line to get in is pretty short, but it still takes half an hour to get in. I wander around slack jawed and in happy awe for quite a while.

Eventually I find the dealer with the One Piece PVC figures (not the POP's, while I slobbered over those, I couldn't afford them).



I sink some cash and buy me Law. He's fantastic and standing next to me as I type this. I'll shoot some pictures of him later this weekend.

On the way up out of the Dealers Hall I run int Edgeworth~!



And Klavier!



They could tell I was a fangirl right away, as I happen to be wearing my "I BELIEVE IN MILES EDGEWORTH" T-Shirt. Which, by the way, I've had quite a few people tell me the love.

I continue to wander around happily until my first Panel, the FUNimation Sneak Peak. I got quite lost, but was helped along my way to the panel by a wonderful Yaoi fan by the name of Jason. He hung out with me for the FUNi panel. Which had a good turn out. Here we have the crowd:



But I didn't get many pictures other than that. They showed us some clips of upcoming shows, many of which were hilarious and the crowd laughed uproariously for. I was hoping for some news on One Piece, but no luck. I'll have to check out the FUNi industry panel later this weekend.

Next Panel was an Intro to Cosplay Photography, where we covered some basics. It was really fun, and we got to practice on some poor sap (AKA: Volunteer) from the audience. Here's my best shots (withOUT photoshopping them):




Then I went to go stand in line for the Apples To Apples: Convention Edition panel.



As for Convention lines, some things never change.

The Panel was really fun, I ran into Jason again and we played in the same game. It was insane and funny and quite fantastic.

I then went out to get some lunch with my dad. The convention was bleeding out onto the streets, cosplayers everywheeeere!




After lunch it was time for the next funtastiac panel of the day, Kumoricon Comedy Event. We got there early while the guys were still setting up, and said guys played 20 Questions with the audience until it was time for the panel to start.

The Panel was fantastic, really fun.The comedians were a little bit rusty, new to the game and all, but that didn't detract from the performance. I laughed a bunch and it was worth the time.

(The room lighting did not lend well to photos)






Although after a while in that underground room, I started to feel like a mole or something. XD The sunlight when we got back up to ground level was quite a surprise.

I took a spin around the gaming room, which is back underground and really does feel like you're back in your mother's basement:


...and that brings us up to now, where I'm taking a break from the Con. I'll head back over later this night at 8:30 to pick up my last panel of the night, a "Mini-Manga Contest" (no clue what that entails), and then I'll probably be off to bed. It SUCKS not to have an 18+ pass for the night events. >.>;

Also worth noting:
I never actually found the Artist Alley today. Apparently it's located down in the parking lot next to the dealer's hall, but I didn't find out until it was already closed. I'll have to make my way over there tomorrow morning to waste - I mean INVEST - the rest of my money.

(IF YOU ARE A COSPLAYER AND YOU SEE YOURSELF IN MY PHOTOS, EMAIL ME AT ONECOOLC@HOTMAIL.COM, AND I WILL SEND YOU THE LARGER SIZED PHOTO.)