You Never Know...

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

2006-08-25T09:31:00.000-05:00

Well, kiddies (both of you)

It's time for a change. This blog is moving to a new blogger acct. It seems there are some problems with Blogger-Beta users commenting on blogs who use blogger accts.

I'm moving to blogger beta! But of course, because I already used nerdyartist for this URL, my new one will be nerdyart

you can find me here from this point on.

Project Runway

2006-08-24T15:08:00.000-05:00

You all watch Project Runway, right? So, you saw last night's episode as well as last week's? If not, get caught up by reading these rundowns of the runway, and then come back.

I'll wait, really.

Okay, so obviously the writer of those entries wasn't very happy about the comments made in regard to Alison's model... but she's not the only one.

I have to say, that I agree to some degree about the comments made. A girl who is 5'10" and would probably blow over in a 15Mph wind should NEVER be regarded as fat, hefty, lumpy, thick, or anything else. (She also shouldn't be made to wear her own hair on her head as a bow, but that's besides the point...)

I do agree with the fact that this sends the wrong message to girls and women everywhere, but at the same time, while I respect the designers and enjoy reading about the industry...I never expected anything profound from Project Runway. I don't turn to it for deep messages or advice on how to live my life and perceive my body, and those who do probably have larger issues to address FIRST. Then they can move on to their weight and body image.

Just my two rusty coppers on the subject.

You rat bastards!

2006-08-24T08:50:00.000-05:00

Last night on Project Runway, the remaining 8 designers had the task of designing a look for the "everyday woman." Tears were shed and jaws were dropped as the "models" who came out were none other than the designers' moms and sisters.

The catch? They could not design for their own kin.

Of course drama ensued...Jeffrey & Angela bitched and whined. Blah Blah Blah. Yackity Schmackity.

The real tragedy of the night, besides Angela surviving the cut, was that ROBERT was out! What?! You're breaking up my ever entertaining duo of Robert and Kayne?! You can't! You simply can't!!

Robert and Kayne were really the reason I was sucked into this season. I had almost given up on this show, but it Kayne's over the top personality, and Robert's more subtle one that kept me here. Sure, now I'm not going anywhere. Michael was given more airtime, and I've grown to like him a great deal. Kayne is still around being...well, Kayne. And Vincent is like a car crash... I don't want to watch, but I just can't seem to look away.

See, I like shows like Project Runway and So You Think You Can Dance because these are two things I don't have in my life. I can't design or make clothing worth a damn and I have never had a stitch of formal dance training. And both of these things take extreme talent, and it' s a talent I don't have.

I don't watch alot of reality television, but these two shows (plus Queer Eye) have me sucked in. I will probably give them a chance each and every coming season until they lose my interest.

Or if their timeslot is opposit LOST. Sorry, but I'm not leaving LOST until it officially jumps the shark.

Running with Scissors

2006-08-23T15:53:00.000-05:00

On August 3rd, I signed in at 2:45pm the Financial Aid office and took my seat to wait for my name to be called. There was a girl sitting across the hall from me. She was eloquent and poetic as she screamed into her cell phone, "I's been here since 12:30, they's just now seen people from 11 this mornin'!"

Splendid.

Next to her sat a young dad with his toddler son. The little boy was big eyes and a sparcely toothed grin. While he provided to be entertainment for myself and anyone else who's heart isn't made of stone, I was soon bored. I wandered up to the desk to check my status in the list, and found that there were still 4 pages of tired and whiney people ahead of me. I headed outside to call my fiance and complain. (Hey, I was tired and whiney too.)

"Go buy a book." This was the sound advice he gave. And I'm happy he did.

I picked up Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs. By the time my name was called by a very helpful Financial Aid assistant, I was halfway through the book. The story of Augusten's completely fucked up childhood sucked me in. I mean, who doesn't like a good story about a self-made skylight, underage sexual discovery, pain killers and reading poop?

While there were many times when I would a.) laugh, b.)cringe, or c.) wish I was doing anything but eating while reading the book, I finished it in just 3 days. I found myself craving more. I needed more humorously told dysfunction. I then proceeded to pick up Dry.

Dry is Augusten's story about finding his own sobriety. I highly recommend it to anyone who's looking for a good laugh. Augusten takes us inside the world of advertising and the world of a drunk who believes rehab will make a great story, and will make him a better drinker.

I've become curious about Mr. Bourroughs, so I've checked out the audiobook of Magical Thinking and his newest book, Possible Side Effects. I'm curious as to what strange place Augusten will lead me next.

Only time will tell.

School daze...

2006-08-22T16:48:00.000-05:00

School starts again tonight. Back to running from work to school 4 nights of week. Back to bleeding money for petrol. Back to eating on the go, marathon bars, and a crap load of water.

I'm looking forward to this semester. I'm tellin' ya, going to school with goals is a whole new thing! Since I finally found what I want to do for the rest of my life, I am upset that I don't have enough time to take more than 2 classes a semester.

This semester it is Design for the Web I and a math class. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for the light load this semester, but that's because the wedding is right around mid-terms. But next semester, I'm gonna take as much as I can, dammit.

Tonight is Design for the Web, which means I get to spend another semester drooling over a large mac screen and graphics software that I can't afford right now. Someday... someday...

That funky monkey...

2006-08-07T11:11:00.000-05:00

The original purpose of this blog was to post art & craft projects by myself. I created this blog after spending much time on one of my favorite websites Craftster. The Craftster community is friendly, creative, and talented beyond words.

I especially enjoy the winners and entries of the Craftster Challenges. Challenge 13 was Rockin' Sock Monkeys.

I thought I'd post a few of my favorites for all to see. These are amazing.

If Chimps could Kill: Confessions of a B-List Sock Monkey

Make my Monkey the P-Monkey: I wants to get Monk'd up!

Night of the Living Monkeys!

A long time ago, in a tree far, far away....

Oh, and while we're on the subject... how about a visit to my favorite monkey?

I always feel like, somebody's watching me...

2006-08-02T13:36:00.000-05:00

I have a confession to make.

I'm addicted to celebrity gossip. It's a disgusting guilty pleasure. Got dirt on Lindsay Lohan? Bring it on. Paris Hilton likes kissing a dirty ferret? Tell me more. Suri Cruise is a scientology created myth? Buy me the t-shirt. Nicole Ritchie is a singing nutjob?

For some reason, in the past month, I simply can't get enough. I think it's my vacation from the 351832156843121 things I have going on in my life. I have real things to worry about. I'm wrapping up on wedding plans. I'm doing major work on my condo. I'm planning an Art Fair. I'm getting my graphics work done for the theatre production. I'm in school. I don't get to party until the wee hours of the morning and only have a cigarette burn on my ass and a nasty letter from my boss to show for it. I have a real life.

So, maybe... just maybe.. it's okay to be a little wrapped up in celeb-reality. And if it's not... well... maybe I should just drive drunk and scream anti-semetic obscenities. Couldn't hurt, right?

So, you think you can blog?

2006-07-31T13:26:00.000-05:00

Been a while... I've been seeing concerts, getting in car accidents, cleaning our condo, shopping for party supplies, and other assorted whatnot.

Concert: Go see Pomeroy. Just do it. You can thank me later, after your junk is sufficently shaken. (Not stirred... that'd just be weird)

Car accident: My liscence plate is bent. Big deal.

Condo: Looking pretty damn nice these days. Still has a little work left, but I have to say, I'm happy about it.

Shopping: We're doing up the housewarming this weekend, so prep is in full swing.

Assorted whatnot: Work. With the theatre projects, art fair projects as well as day to day tasks, and storms mucking up everything in between... I've been busy.

Wedding: Still making entirely too much stuff for this wedding. Whatev'. I apparently hate freetime.

Gym: Still hitting the gym as much as I can. I should go tonight, but there is much to be done for work/party. I'll hit it tomorrow after work fo' sure.

I'm hoping to update the DIY-ness of this blog soon. Many projects have been getting done in the realm of condo, so look for them soon.

Suckage...

2006-07-21T08:30:00.000-05:00

Things that suck:

-humidity
-vacuums
-deadlines
-whores
-Speaking of whores, I have Paris Hilton's Stars are Blind caught in my head. Now THAT sucks.

I think so, Brain, but me and Pippi Longstocking? What would the children look like?

2006-07-05T12:50:00.000-05:00

Recommendations for the day:

-Listen to streaming lounge radio via Itunes, it will make you feel groovy.
-Shop online for larger selections
-buy a pair of comfy pants and wear them so much a homeless person would comment that you never change.
-Update your nearly forgotten blogger with random crap.

Update'd!

2006-03-30T16:18:00.000-06:00

Woah.

It's been quite a while since I've updated this thing. I suppose this is because I haven't worked on any new projects as of late, but that's all about to change.

My fiance and I recently purchased a condo that had been savagely abused by a paint brush and a housewife with too much time on her hands. We've given the condo one hell of a makeover, and I'm going to post up the pics right here. It is our biggest project to date.

In other news that is both Arty and Nerdy, I'm going to have a piece or two in a student art show. I'm currently taking a computer art course and my instructor would like to see my first two projects in the show. I will also post those once I have them.

In my personal arty world, everything's coming up Milhouse. I'm full time now at the Arts Center, so the added time here has certainly inspired me. The condo doesn't hurt either, as I'm hoping to get working on some projects to decorate the condo with.

Keep checking back, it should be interesting to see what sort of projects come out of me.

My robot can beat up your robot!

2005-12-29T08:14:00.000-06:00

I've placed The Sneeze on my regular roation of sites I visit. Yesterday, while killing the last precious minutes of the workday, I read through The Birth of A Robot Painting.

The conclusions I've come to are this:
1. Robots rule. I should continue with my zenbot series.
2. Eric Joyner is a pretty damn cool artist. I should check out more of his stuff and maybe order a print.
3. The low-fat French Vanilla latte from QuikTrip is crap. It's like drinking half & half with 3 tons of sugar in it, and an eyedropper's worth of coffee.

That third one is just a bonus for all of you. I've made the mistake of buying it so you don't have to.

The Sneeze

2005-12-15T19:32:00.000-06:00

While I realize that this isn't art and/or craft of my own, I think that the ability to ingest things that you really don't want to is an artform all itself. So while stumbling, I came across The Sneeze which features a hilarious section called "Steve, Don't eat it!"

2005-12-01T14:45:00.000-06:00

This year, I decided to make my own christmas cards.
I must give credit where credit is due, that the majority of these creatures on here are from an awesomely cool website. This site features the artwork of the very talented Andrew Bell. I suggest you visit it often.

A few of these already have interior sayings, like the "Happy Holidays" one says, "...and all that crap." on the inside.

But if you have any suggestions on what to put inside, please let me know!

Details on the portabar!

2005-12-01T14:32:00.000-06:00

As you can see, the bar matches the coffee table exactly. The two suitcases must have been from the exact same line. Lucky us!

top left: Closed view of the bar.

top right: open view of the bar, fully stocked!

bottom left: another view of the stocked bar. I found plastic flasks at a liquor store to stock the essentials, as well as a plastic shaker. The cutting board, jiggers, and bottle openers (not pictured) are from the dollar spot at Target. (God bless Target!!)

bottom right: Close up view of the side "shoe" pockets being used to hold highball glasses. This secures the glasses in place and allows me to use them for storage of other items for the bar, such as stir sticks and bottle openers.

Details on the coffee table construction

2005-12-01T14:19:00.000-06:00

Top left: additional view of the coffeetable.

Top right: view of coffee table open. You can see the piece of plywood that is used as a means to hide what is being stored. This plywood can also be placed on top of the table to protect the suitcase.

Bottom left: Interior of suitcase. An I-bar was constructed using 1x2s and liquid nails on the bottom of the suitcase to reinforce it. The holes for the legs were drilled through the wood and the bottom of the case.

Bottom right: Close up view of the additional blocks used to take up the rest of the space on the bolt (on the interior)This was the easiest way to keep the legs the proper hjeight, as well as prevent us from killing ourselves on 4 inches of bolt (band name!) sticking up in the case.

Stitch, Beyotch!

2005-12-01T11:38:00.000-06:00

Happy Fucking Holidays

Interesting....

2005-11-30T20:53:00.000-06:00

So here you go. Ever wonder how far your pennies go when buying a keg? Apparently, a long freakin' way...

Arrrrrrrgh!

2005-11-30T15:47:00.000-06:00

Here we have Darth Vader modeling an eyepatch I made for a friend of ours out in LA. She had surgery to repair a detached retna and needed to wear an eyepatch. As her surgery was around halloween, I figured I'd make her a fun eyepatch to brighten her day. Mike Wazowski!

Peekaboo!

2005-11-30T15:32:00.000-06:00

Just a pic of my adorable kitty, peekaboo. She supports all of my projects! Especially those with knitting involved... she loves to chase yarn!

More of a lucky find than DIY...

2005-11-30T15:25:00.000-06:00

We didn't actually modify this particular piece in any way, but it was a damn lucky find. We got an entire 50's-ish bedroom set for $35 at this particular thrif store, and this would be the large dresser tha the mirror was removed from. It's now serving as our buffet. (not to mention home for our fondue pot and his humidor.)

I swear we're not drunkards....

2005-11-30T15:21:00.000-06:00

Yet we like to make things that involve drinking...

Here we have a short bookcase painted a mint green with a piece of pressed wood on top and placed in a utility closet. Ta-da! Instant bar!

Add a few tap lights (not pictured) on the two side walls, and you have a swanky area to mix drinks. :)

Three projects in one shot!

2005-11-30T15:14:00.000-06:00

Here you go, three of our projects in one shot. To the far right is the portable bar. A match for the coffee table, found three months apart. I will get a shot of the inside soon. I'm actually thinking of getting rid of the portable bar idea (We have yet to take it anywhere.) If I dismantle it, it will be to turn it into an ottoman for our massive armchair.

The center is a mirror that was once on top of a large dresser we picked up at a thrift shop. (Pictured elsewhere) We removed it, painted it black, and it now hangs on the wall. The shelf at the bottom is a nice place for candles and one of the surround sound speakers.

Third you have my fiance's woodburning project. He's taking your average tv trays from Wal-Mart and woodburning tiki designs on them.

Coffee Table

2005-11-30T14:52:00.000-06:00

This is a 1950s suitcase turned coffee table that my fiance and I made. We found the suitcase at an antique mall here in St. Louis. The suitcase matches the one we purchased in a thrift store in IL a few months earlier for our portable bar.

Here we go...

2005-11-30T14:22:00.000-06:00

This is my first attempt at blogger, so welcome to my site! I'm going to use this site as a showcase for my ramblings as well as the artwork and DIY projects of my fiance and myself.

The first few posts on here are going to be purely test posts, so please ignore until the bugs get worked out.