hell.... o

swiped from zerodoll.

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Sixth Level of Hell - The City of Dis!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	Extreme
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	High
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	High
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Moderate
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Extreme
Level 7 (Violent)	High
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	High

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test

spf

over at random and odd, kristine has asked to see these things from us:
~ Your Washer and Dryer.
~ Your Robe (if you don’t have one of these…wait, how can you live without a robe? NO ONE should ever have to live life without a robe! GO BUY ONE!)
~ A flower (it’s sposta be spring remember?)

and to this i say...

1.) my washer and dryer
i'm a renter and was lucky enough to have found a place that had a washer and dryer in the unit! yay me! yes, this means i get to save all my quarters for feeding parking meters instead of appliances.

the washer...


the dryer...


2.) my robe
sorry folks, this is as close to a robe as i have for you. it's my flannel pjs and i must say, there's nothing sexier than my girlfriend wearing my flannels. ooh la la!



3.) springy flowers
i admit, i took both of these photos a while back. sadly, the weather this week and the classes i'm taking have left me without a chance to go outside scouting for a good flower picture. i thought these were springish. (i was tempted to take a photo of a bag of flour but i thought i'd get roughed up for it. maybe next time)





happy spf, i hope you played!

terrorizing streets near you

picture rims

fredericks of hollywood circa 1977

lileks gives a great commentary on this lovely catalog

wtf?

a doggie thong to help stop stinky farts.
dog owners, would you ever buy something like this??
really?

via: gizmodo

long pose

i admit it, i'm shallow. the model this time didn't really do it for me. the pose was okay but really, the forms and shadows created by them weren't that exciting for me. i think i did pretty good on proportion and i like the way the legs were going but i guess i got bored or something. can i blame my new drawing pad? it's too big and flimsy, yeah, that's my excuse! anyway, i didn't get around to the face and oddly, missed the bellybutton but here it is anyway.

sculpture class - day 4

so there ya go.

people sue for anything these days

married man sues eharmony for refusing to help him find love.

(by the way, eharmony sucks as a dating service. stay away!)

sleeping and sculpture

what a day so far.
i woke up at ~5:15am to take my girlfriend to the airport. i was hoping to be über productive so i made it to the gym by 6:30am. sadly, this was not to be my day as i got pretty sleepy during my workout. i found myself waiting a really long time inbetween sets so i decided to go home. i was undressed and crashed on my bed by 8:00. i remember i had some really weird dreams that dealt with minature mechanical things, an older married woman coming on to me and saying that she was sure i had slept with many men and women, something about covering an entire toilet seat with toilet paper (and being happy about it), and i think something about me wanting to play catch with a couple other people but i couldn't get my shoes on. probably best that i don't really remember my dreams.

i slept for an hour and a half, rushed off to work and have been super groggy since. sculpture class was good. it was the last of the 4 sessions we had with this model so i've gone as far on this sculpt as i can. it's not accurate but it's mostly pleasing to the eye. (i'll post pics as soon as i get a way to upload them)

it's raining now. cloudy. grey. the trees are blowing around while their branches are whipping back and forth, abandoning leaves.

workout log

since it was freaking lovely outside today, my girlfriend and i went for a run.

sure, why not.

swiped from zerodoll. good thing my girlfriend is smart! (was there really a doubt though?)

Intelligence Intelligence is most important in a boyfriend/girlfriend. You like to be able to talk about everything that is on your mind, and if your partner can't keep up, well, you know. You are very attracted to someone who can challenge you, and make you see things in a whole new way. Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

shopping and stuff

friday night my girlfriend and i cooked at her house. we made this tuna melt and it was tasty. we also made some chili-spiced asparagus as a side. it worked out well, nice and spicy. well, that wasn't completely great as later she realized he skin was more sensitive to the peppers than originally thought. great dinner though, she made a couple stiff margaritas that had me babbling goofy things while we watched (or, tried to) america's next top model. we were actually pretty zonked and didn't finish the show.

oh! we had strawberries and chocolate for dessert. delicious!

i stayed at her place and she made some eggs for breakfast. we kinda got up early ~6:00, though we really didn't have to. she scuttled around the house getting things ready for her friend that was coming over. since i was taking up a lot of her morning, i tried to help out with a few chores like taking out the garbage and bringing in a package she picked up last night.

my gargage is being worked on so i couldn't get in there but luckily i found a spot on the street. i went inside for a bit and decided i needed to get out and shop a little (she was shopping today with her friend too). i ended up going to ikea and buying a cheap table, lamp, and chair. now i have a tiny work space that i can setup for drawing or sculpture or whatever. whee! ikea is such a strange place but i really enjoy going in there to look at stuff.

now i have to put stuff together.

blah blah bloggie

not talking too much am i?
what's been going on... work and girlfriend and art and sleeping and eating. that's about it really. i've been spending way too much time looking at photos and such on flickr. though i did run across this artist (allison sommers) and i really like her stuff. so much infact that i'm playing around with clay trying to capture the general look of her portraits. i think i've always liked the art deco era and her drawings somehow capture some of that... with amputated women and fishes and things. i'd like to have that level of imagination.

grrr. looking at flickr again makes me want to spend all my days taking photos. why can't i get paid to just run around pushing the shutter button?

long pose

look familiar? yeah, same model, same pose. new pencil, new (bigger) drawing pad. i'm not happy with they way i drew her head and i felt like i didn't have enough time to do what i wanted in the overall value but, it's okay. i didn't like the pose from the beginning and i moved all over the room tonight looking for something different but settled on the same view. here's hoping next week is better. blech.

workout log

not the best workout but i did make it to they gym so i'm happy about that. i was tired though. my knees are still a little sore (from what, i don't know), and i was taking it easy on my left arm since it felt like i had a strained muscle the past couple of days.

my stats.

sculpture - session 3

i'm not that happy with my progress. i see many things that aren't right and am having trouble making them right. the clay is still pretty soft even though i didn't seal the cover (bag) just so it'd firm up a bit. the back is still sagging and out of proportion. the chest is all wrong. the upper half in general just doesn't look right. all that said, i still have a great time sculpting and wish the class lasted all day so i could play.

a cautious architect they say

Cautious Architect

My Personal Dna Report

via overread.

workout log

jeez, i don't run outside for a few weeks and when i finally get out, it kicks my ass. yes it was a little windy but this run ( a meager 3.79 miles (6.09km)) was hard.
luckily, i had my girlfriend with me. she was feeling the pain too, so it wasn't just me. we were both really surprised how our bodies forgot how it was to run outside rather than on a treadmill. granted, on the treadmill, neither one of us is doing much more than 20 minutes so maybe we've adapted to that.

actually, it did feel really good to be outside again. the weather here hasn't been optimal for the past few weeks and i'm too dainty to run in the rain.

my stats.

spf

this week's spf is brought to you by the letter "C"

kristine of random and odd fame has asked to see these 3 things:

your couch
your coat
your candles

1) my couch
yes folks, this is my couch. what? you think it looks like carpet?? well, yeah. i don't own a couch so this is the closest thing i have to sit my ass on.



2) my coat
i actually just got this one. i had wanted a new one for quite a while as my old one was starting to fray at the sleeves and the color had faded pretty badly (i think my girlfriend was about to throw it out). it's a grey wool-looking thing. casual enough to use with jeans and nice enough to wear with dress pants. got it on sale to boot! yay!



3) my candles
my favorite candles are orange clove soy candles by bluewick. they smell really nice. but the picture is of the candle from my bathroom, it's ginger-something. i picked it up from pier 1.



there ya go. did you play?

for the woodworking chemist geeks out there

the periodic table.

using dna to make fun shapes

interesting stuff.

da blahs

painting class last night went okay. it wasn't spectacular, but i didn't feel quite as frustrated as i had been in the previous couple of sessions. it was a single pose all night and we concentrated on the portrait. about half-way through, the teacher came over and worked into my painting. he filled in the places i hadn't got to yet like the hair and he also adjusted a couple of proportion issues i had going.

i think the reason i wasn't so annoyed this time was that i was working slower and letting myself do what i wanted rather than trying so hard to do what the teacher wanted. i'm pretty slow on this stuff since i don't do it much and he agreed with me. he said if i was really wanting to learn more, i had to paint more. duh, right? maybe i need to try painting on some of the tuesday night long pose sessions or do it with all that free time i have (right!).

anyway, i don't think i'll post the painting since the teacher did so much of it. :)

long pose

not much to say about this one. i think i lengthened her torso slightly but overall, i'm okay with it. that was the last page of my sketchbook so i gotta hit the art store to get a new one. yay!

want an aisle seat on that flight?

it might cost you.

workout log

my stats.

sculpture class - session 2

the part i worked on last week had set up a little so i added most of the top half of the torso. i'm not too happy with the proportions right now as i think the upper part is too big and a little odd shaped. i was having a little bit of trouble with the clay being too soft and starting to sag. i've left the bag covering it partially open so hopefully it will firm up more by next week.

i think it's ~24" tall at the moment and i doubt i'll get arms or a head on it in the remaining 2 sessions. i'm having a great time though. :)

lunchies!

yum yum!

puttin' on the ritz

my girlfriend and i getting ready to head out to my company's party. she's so hot.



we had a great time. the bartender didn't even bat an eye when i took my hot chocolate over to her and asked for a shot of whiskey. yikes it was strong!

email meme thing

1. What time did you get up this morning? 8:15am
2. Diamonds or pearls? i think it's diamonds and pearls. by prince.
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? brokeback mountain
4. What is your favorite TV show? i don't watch tv but i used to love northern exposure.
5. What did you have for breakfast? super protein drink by odwalla
6. What is your favorite cuisine? ethiopian or indian sounds good
7. What foods do you dislike? meat on the bone, offal, giblets
8. Your favorite Potato chip? Ruffles cheddar and sour cream
9. What is your favorite CD at the moment? i never seem to have a single favorite when it comes to music
10. What kind of car do you drive? mini cooper s
11. Favorite sandwich? basic turkey and cheese
12. What characteristics do you despise? being petty, playing games, moodiness
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? anywhere with her
14. What color is your bathroom? walls are white, tile floor is tan
15. Favorite brand of clothing? atm, it's banana republic
16. Where would you want to retire to? someplace not too hot, not too cold.
17. Favorite time of day? the golden hour is quite nice
18. Where were you born? a quiet town in the midwest
19. Favorite sport to watch? baseball has started to be entertaining
20. What laundry detergent do you use? something without dyes or fragrances
21. Coke or Pepsi? i've been a fan of the coca-cola company more than pepsico.
22. Are you a morning person or night owl? either. it depends on outside influences
23. What size shoe do you wear? 8.5 van's old skools
24. Do you have pets? nope
25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with everyone? i got a great new rate on my car insurance!
26. Favorite Candy Bar? chocolate chocolate chocolate
27. What is your best childhood memory? too many to pick
28. What are the different jobs you have had in your life? fast food, mail room, sysadmin
29. What color underwear are you wearing? black. and that's not because they haven't been washed
30. Nicknames? jayfish
31. Piercing? double pierced in one ear
32. Ever been to Africa? no, is that a common place to go?
33. Ever been toilet papering? sure
34. Love someone so much it made you cry? yes
35. Been in a car accident? oh sure
36. Fruit or Vegetables? both can be yummy
37. Croutons or bacon bits? both please
38. Favorite day of the week? saturday
39. Favorite restaurant? trio bistro
40. Favorite ice cream? chocolate chip
41. Disney or Warner Brothers? disney/pixar
42. Favorite fast food restaurant? arby's
43. What color is your bedroom carpet? off-white?
44. How many times did you fail your driver's test? failed the first time i think
45. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? why would i want to do that?
46. What do you do most often when you are bored? masturbate :)
47. Bedtime? anytime after 9:00pm
48. Who are you most curious about their responses to this questionnaire? everyone!
49. Last person you went to dinner with? my lovely girlfriend
50. What are you listening to right now? she's brushing her teeth
51. What is your favorite color? blue
52. Lake, Ocean or river? ocean
53. How many tattoos do you have? 2
54. Who sent this to you and what is something you didn't know about him/her? i stole it from zerodoll and i had no idea she had been toilet papering
55. Time you finished this email? right around now

scary

a guy sends in a torn up credit card app and gets approved.

time to buy a shredder...

workout log

i woke up late and stayed in bed for a few minutes trying to decide if i should go to the gym or not. i ended up going. here's my stats.

spf

howdy folks! welcome to this week's spf!

this week the lovely and talented kristine wants to see the following from us:

1. Your Garbage Can

2 Your ‘Junk’ Drawer

3. Your Trunk

this is my take on it...

1) my garbage can
this is the one in my bathroom. i still haven't found one i like enough to buy for the kitchen (yes, i've lived here over a year). anyway, this one's a vipp brand step can. it's nice and quiet when it shuts, which was a requirement! they had a bunch of cool colors but i figured white would go with almost anything.



2) my junk drawer
this is the top drawer of my dresser. it's the drawer most likely to require a good sorting/cleaning a couple of times a year since so many random and odd things end up in there. how much of my crap can you identify? kinda like a treasure hunt, huh?



3) my trunk
at first i though she meant a trunk like a chest. but i doubt that many people own those these days so i went for the other trunk. in my case though, it's called a boot. cause well, that's what they call it. it's fairly clean at the moment. i think i've got a flashlight, some rope, a travel kite, a superball, and a blankie in there. you never know what you'll run into, right? i'll add a first aid kit once i get around to buying one.



yay! i played! how about you?

neato!

okay, i love my little nano and the fact that these guys are making it so you can run mame on it. that's just too cool. cooler still is the guy that built the "cabinet" for it!

hello apple!? you guys could make a killing by packaging mame with the nanos!!

why can't i paint?

went to painting class last night. ended up leaving about 30 minutes early because i was so frustrated. i can understand what the instructor is doing during the demos and when he's working with me but i can't seem to do it myself. i can't push the colors the way he wants. what i see is what i want to paint but the silly part is that in painting, you don't. you have to make things more saturated, boost the contrast, go darker than you think you have to. it's weird and i'm having a hell of a time making it work for me.

why do i feel like this is something i need to be able to do? understanding color would be a great thing. being able to use color via painting or pastels would be great. maybe it's because most of the masters were painters that i feel like it's one of those fundemantals that i should just know. it's really low on my list of enjoyable art mediums though. drawing can be frustrating but i can be somewhat happy with the results. sculpture is amazing. easy to add or subtract. i feel like i have a connection with sculpture (even though i'm not always happy with the finished piece).

sigh.

workout log

even after helping my girlfriend move yesterday, i went to the gym this morning. after the 4 day weekend, it feels a little tough to get back into the swing of things but i think i managed okay. maybe it was the chocolate doughnut i had for breakfast... :)

my stats.

long pose

only got about 2 hours on this one. we started late and the 2 other guys in class split early to go to a birthday party. i'm not particularly fond of this model (she's kinda masculine in the face) but i gave it a go anyway. i also tried to concentrate on her face since that's one of my weak spots.

sculpture class - day 1

i've been taking this sculpture class off and on for about 8 years now. it's only 12 weeks long, 2-2.5 hours per class, 4 weeks per pose. that's only 8-10 hours per sculpt which imo, ain't enough. it's not offered year-round which is another sad part. but it's free and that's the best of the best and i really enjoy getting my hands dirty and using them to create things.

the first class is always a short one. the new folks need to be shown the way things work, they do warm-ups, etc. so today i think i had a total of an hour and fifteen minutes to get into what i was going to do. another "always" is the teacher and her teaching style. she always starts out with a standing pose, then a seated, then reclining. just like clockwork. inevitably, i do a torso out of the first pose. i hate using armatures so free form kinda dictates that structure-wise, i start at mid thigh and work my way up. depending on the size, i might even get to the arms or head but that's a rare thing.

anyway, here's what i got for day 1 (of 4) it's roughly 12-14" tall so far:

workout log

felt really sluggish at the gym. maybe it was the weekend of eating heavy foods? maybe it was the lack of sleep? who knows. i stuck it out and did all the machines i normally do now i just have to wake up. get back into the groove.

my stats.

sleep number my ass

i had the "pleasure" of trying out a sleep number bed on my trip. these beds are terrible. they're really no better than any other hotel bed and i'm suprised that it was considered an upgrade.

they're noisy. it's just a giant air bladder sandwiched between some soft stuff. if you want it firmer, you have to fire up the compressor. we could hear the neighbors using the beds all freaking day (and not in that way!). similar to when you put air in your car tires, you can't tell what "number" you're at until you stop pushing the button. i think it goes from 20-100 or something like that and you can easily go from one end to the other in a few seconds. if you want something in the middle, good luck because you're going to pass it up at least 3 times trying to find it.

honestly, if i wanted to sleep on an air mattress, i'd go to wal-mart and buy one. i wouldn't be surprised if someone takes a hat pin and pops the suckers on a weekly basis.

i give the sleep number bed 2 stars out of 10.

back in the saddle again

i come home to cold and rain. blech. rather surprised it's not a monday.

i had an amazing weekend with e and her family. very relaxing. i sometimes wish i could freeze time or relive a few days over and over just so i can take it all in. memorize things. let it meld into me. it's kind of funny that i can so easily see this relationship working so well. it's almost effortless in the way we connect. she's truly an amazing and beautiful woman.

you say it's your birthday?

well, you're never gonna believe this but...





e and i are on a trip to san diego for the weekend. she told the folks on our flight that it was my birthday and this was the "cake" they made for me. they also gave us 2 barf bags filled with all the different snacks they had. really funny & really embarassing. yes, they announced it over the intercom.

have a good weekend folks!

workout log

i didn't want to get out of bed today but i dragged myself to the gym anyway. i think it's good for me to mix up the order of machines i do. too bad i forgot that my ipod was outta juice. grumble grumble.my stats.


mental note to self: don't forget to brush you teeth before you go to the gym. yuck!