Ugh.

Or perhaps not so ugh. School has started up again, meaning that my free time has dropped well below zero. Between cross country and AP homework I have barely enough time to sleep and eat, which could concievably account for my extreme lack of posting. Not that anyone notices. It's cool. I understand. Besides, I'm keeping the promise in the url. AP Studio is definitely my favorite class of the day. Sit and draw while trying to ignore Sophie shuffling papers and trimming photos across from me. No, she still isn't really talking to me in the normal sense, but at least I'm not getting cold shoulder anymore. A "hi" in the hallway is a tremendous improvement, dear internet, and one that I am content with for the moment. As I have said, it's better than nothing.
There have also been new developments on that front. In talking with my friend Leah, I have discovered that the reason she dumped me was because of "bad timing". I honestly don't know how Leah thought that was possibly justified; in the beginning Sophie was plenty ready to work out some system of meeting. I think that was just the excuse she told all of her friends, or used to justify it to herself. It just has that kind of logic where you have to believe it before it makes sense in order for it to make sense. Like religion. Anyway, there is a LOAD more I would like to say about that, but on the off chance somebody I know stumbles across this page, lets just say I'd rather them not know some things I have noticed. I might come off as paranoid and overly analytic. Maybe I am. That's what you think, isn't it? ISN'T IT??
Ah well. I can't really decide for myself if I want her back or not. Perhaps with this separation we will have gained a new appreciation for each other's idiosyncracies, but chances are it will never be able to be the same. There will always be that hesitancy, the caution, like treading on eggshells and trying not to break any. What I really want, I guess, is for her to have never left in the first place.

College

As the summer grows old and senior year draws ever nearer, I have found that my thoughts have turned toward my future after high school; namely, college. This is fairly unprecedented for me, as I am usually the kind of guy who procrastinates like crazy; thinking even a day ahead is a genuinely rare occurrence. I took the SATs late in the last school year, June or something like that, and did VERY well for myself. My overall score was 2300, one of the top scores (I assume) in the school, with Math and Writing accounting for 760 each and CR (usually my weakest subject) supplementing those outstanding scores with a 99th+ percentile 780 points. This resulted in an influx of recruiting letters from establishments of higher learning of great repute, such as Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Dartmouth, MIT, and others. After these results were released, I also recieved the scores for the Advanced Placement tests I also took late in the year. I recieved 5s on every one I had ever taken (5 total) which is the maximum score possible. My inflated ego decided that it needed to protect itself by getting a jump on applications, and here I am, unsure of what to write about for my essays. If anybody has any ideas, feel free to suggest them. I would be very greatful, especially if the ideas are good (; Just kidding, though. It isn't coming up with ideasa that is difficult, it is narrowing them down to the best that is proving troublesome. Anyway, that was my immodest post for the season. Usually I don't brag unless prompted to, and often not even then, but if I don't express my hubris often enough I feel I might be destroyed by the pent-up, unvented pride. Obliterated.

So I finished "The Secret Armory of General Knoxx" expansion for the videogame Borderlands. It was pretty good. The plot was iffy and the ending was pretty anticlimatic but overall I found myself pleased with it. It gave me a chance to practice my no-scoping with my Elephant Gun. (800+ damage, bitches!) I would recommend it to anyone who had the time to dedicate themselves to it for long periods, because unlike the main game it was pretty hard to jump in and out of campaign.

Well, cheers, all. I apologise for the short post that can't really compare to the previous in terms of length, content, or emotion, but this is better than nothing, right?
...Right?
...
Guys?

PS- Also thought of a new painting idea, inspired by Stephen King's The Shining. It MAY be epic. But it WILL be posted. As soon as I follow through with it.

Cheers, all. I know I promised a physics post, but I don't think any of you are interested in this at all, anyway. Who cares about Physics? This is the summer, for christ's sake! So, I shall wait until school starts up again before springing this intellectual burden upon you poor, unsuspecting internet-goers.

So life is same-old-same-old. Work, blah. I have made considerable headway on the new portrait I am working on. Having convinced myself that nobody is reading this, I guess I can tell you that Sophie is the subject. If there is nobody to do the telling, then why bother keeping it a secret, amiright? Sofar I have painted the background in pure raw umber (something I prefer to use instead of black. Black ends up being too dark and too blue, and never ends up looking really black enough. Thus, dark brown works excellently. It also blends more smoothly.) and added some of the darks around the left side of the face and around the eyes. Since I had previously done a portrait of myself in blues, it would have been tacky to repeat that cholor scheme, so the entire thing (besides, of course, the umber) will be in shades of red and yellow and everything in between. If I may say so, it looks REALLY good so far. Perhaps once it is finished, I shall quote a song at the bottom or on the back. I am thinking Beatles, either "Hey Jude" or "I Saw Her Standing There". They both have their merits.

Speaking of Art, artscape was this weekend in Baltimore, and I went on Saturday (much to my chagrin, Sophie was not there. I hadn't actually expected her to be there, and it would have simply provided for an extremely awkward situation if it had, but nevertheless I am missing her terribly.). Overall, though, I had a tremendously good time. The music was good, the stalls were exotic, the people were funny, the performers were talented, and the booths sold good art. i bought a tee-shirt of a man punching a bear and another of a grizzly about to swat a defiant penguin. $35 for the lot of them, but it was well worth it.

Also on this weekend, I bought my first teapot. I have been an ameteur tea enthusiast for the better part of a two years now, but until this weekend I had exclusively used teabags. The pot I purchased from Teavana in the Towson mall cost me two hundred smalls for the set (pot and 5 cups) and is made of cast iron in the traditional Chinese style, called hobnail by the store attendant. Thus, they are prone to getting very hot, and are thus suited to cooler teas like white and green, but I made a pot of peach-flavored black tea the other day and it worked out perfectly anyway. I also bought 2 or so oz. of the rarest tea on earth for $18. It is called silver needle and is renowned for its alleged healing properties and age preserving ingredients. it can supposedly be picked on only two days of each year, which is what makes it so rare, and thus so valuable.

Well, that should be enough for a while. Anybody who is too upset over the lack of a physics related post, just leave angry comments at the bottom. I won't mind overmuch. Sophie, if you read this, I just want you to know that Studio II is going to be really awkard next year if you don't come around and start talking to me again, and that I miss hanging out with you and your quirky friends. You should have been more specific when you said that we could still be friends. I thought, like you once said (that we would meet again, some sunny day), that we would end up "BFFs", but you clearly meant "non-conversant pseudo-acquaintences". For those of you not in the loop, we have not exchanged a single word of dialogue since she left me on June 17 at 1:05 in front of my Dad's Loveton townhouse. And this after all of the things we had done? Forgive me internet for complaining, and forgive me Sophie for harping, but I had NO idea that you disliked me this much! As strongly as you insist that there was no catalyst to cause this unfortunate occurence, I am positive that it is impossible for anybody to simply change this fast. One minute you are sucking on the tips of my fingers on your creepy sex bed at your house after introducing me to your family (extended and nuclear), and less than a week later you are prepared to have nothing to do with me. This leaves two possible explanations. You never liked me (even in the smallest) and this whole escapade was merely a pity deal after I asked you out to prom, or I did something to lose your favor. I WANT TO KNOW, Sophie. You cannot possibly understand how distraught I am over this, even now a month later, and even though you will never see this, I IMPLORE you to PLEASE tell me. I fear I will go mad with despair.

Just some art I have done.

So, looks like I'm outdoing myself here. Two posts past the predicted limit of 4, and still going strong! Thanks to everyone for the support (*cricket chirps*)... Oh, yes, that's RIGHT! Nobody even visits this site! Well, thats fine then. One day somebody will stumble upon this veritable mine of information and art and be truly amazed, telling all of their friends, before suddenly realizing that the moderator has been dead for over four years. I guess that's okay. And have some art, while we're at it. Physics post for next time, I am thinking. Prepare to be amazed. You might even want to hold your breath. It'll be good.


formalistic rendering of mah face. mah BEAUTIFUL face.


a busted up violin i found in the art room that i thought would make excellent subject matter. strings and brigde are missing, so i coupled it with the bricks and brulap to give it a kind of rubbley/antique feel. inspiration comes from an episode of band of brothers where violinists and a cellist play string quartet in c-sharp minor by michael kamen. it was a moving scene and a beautiful piece, so i wanted to pay homage. they were playing on a pile of rubble after their town was destroyed (in WWII) and the allies had just taken it. they were either swiss or dutch, i cant remember. i think the episode was called "why we fight"

Digital art of guess what, a fist! Up and coming cover art for APUoG's next album.

Digital art for an album cover for A Prevalent Use of Groove's EP, Cherry Red Grouper. Might post that MP3, soon as I figure out how.

my dress shoes

me with an angry face

So, yeah. I gots some more stuff in the works. I have had to move my makeshift studio into the closet because the paint was fumigating the room. Art (at least the caliber at which I perform) is not worth cancer. (Although I wish I were that good.) Sofar I have almost completed a painting of a hand holding a poppy. Red poppy, like in Wizard of Oz movie. In case you were curious. (Personally I thought the book was better than the movie, but the movie was a classic, so it deserves recognition as well. Plus the whole Dark Side of the Moon sync-up conspiracy theory. Ask me about that some time.) It isn't an opium reference, because Red poppies aren't used in creating narcotics (even though they are toxic to a degree). Opium producing poppies are generally more complex in design and color, often being a purple or blue or gray (grey). It just so happens that someone i am very fond of is very fond of poppies. It's a pretty big painting, the second largest canvas they sold at Michael's art store. I know, I am ashamed to have bought pre-stretched canvas, but I am out of stretcher bars and sheet canvas, so... it's for convenience sake and all that. I also have a portrait lined up and drawn out for when I finish the cast shadows on the big 'un. Not telling who it is, but I'm sure the more attentive readers can figure it out for themselves (*gives a watery smile*). And beyond those I have a painting idea lined up for production that I am gonna start at my Mom's house and finish at Dad's. I have a fairly unique condition called sectoral heterochromia, meaning that a part of one eye is a different color than the rest. In my case, my dominant eye color is a blue-grey (gray) but in the lower left corner of my left eye i have a relatively large smear of amber, which takes up about a third of the iris. It is a pretty rare occurrence. Only 200,000 people in America are said to have regular heterochromia, and according to wikipedia, sectoral (or partial) heterocromia (what I got) is even rarer. So I was going to do a large and very formalistic/ emotionalistic painting of that, perhaps with a little artistic license. Hint: Escher.

I'm Back...

...and I have a LOT to talk about. But, to save me from running out of material too soon, I will save some of the good stuff for later.



So... first post in a while. Fourth of July was nice, for the most part, but I couldn't help feeling a little bit disappointed. I had planned on asking Sophie down for the weekend to meet the family, but in leu of recent events decided that it was not really appropriate. Down to Ocean City, MD, that is. My grandparents have a place down there that is right on the water, out of the way but still within walking distance to everything good, kinda small in a homey, cozy kinda way, and right next to a beautiful dock where you can get a great view of the sunset. The sunset over water. Now, Soph, I know you said you don't like Ocean City, but if you have the appreciation for natural beauty that I think you do, you would have enjoyed it there enormously.

The weekend was good besides that, though, and I had planty of time for an 18 mile run to the inlet and back. It was pretty stupid of me to go that far while in the abysmal shape that I am in, but it was rewarding. Saw some interesting people and things and even made a new friend. I don't know her name, but she said I kept good pace. *wink wink*. There was a cool boat ride out into some atlantic island where we threw stuff for the dog to fetch. On the way I formulated a hypothesis as to the nature of the universe that will revolutionize physics and out-mode relativity. But that is for another post.

So when I got home from work today (inSANELY hot outside. like 110 degrees kind of hot.) I went into the basement and did some more drawing for a new painting I'm gonna start. Even though there is nobody reading this, I think I'll keep the subject to myself. On the off-chance that somebody I know visits this site... well I don't know how Sophie would react, and I'm trying hard not to estrange her any further (she still is reluctant to talk to me. bah.). It isn't anything gross or queer or socially unacceptable, but it could come off as a little creepy depending on how you look at or if you hear it from the wrong person. Like obsessive kind of creepy. But it isn't. I swear.

Well, that should be enough for now, enough to satiate the hunger of the audient void, or perhaps enough to try it's patience. See (Hear?Read?Write to?) you all later.

PS. I know there are people who are reading this, because who looks at a profile and not the blog? Seriously. Don't hesitate to comment. (be it constructive criticism or downright insulting.) Because, of course, I need the confidence boost.

PPS. I don't really. That was sarcasm.

PPPS. But still feel free to comment ;)

Okay, I kinda got tired of the video playing every time I come to this page, so I kinda took it down. Check out www.roosterteeth.com/archive/?id=1344 if you're still interested.

Alright, now I am definitely overdoing it

Okay, um. Right. This whole thing still feels a bit like a new toy, so it's getting really hard to put down. Beyond that, summer vacation has started. "Go outside, you freak," you might say, but then I could also point out that you are obviously not outside (and thus a filthy, lying Communist. I mean hyppocrite. I got nothing against Communists. Even if they are stinking pinko bastards), as you are currently on the computer, telling me to go outside. Or, even worse, you are using a computer outside. I just feel that, now that school has formally let out, I have nothing to do. I have already reached my weekly quota for running (10 miles) in two days, so I really don't want to overuse this (plus my legs feel like jell-o). I have nearly finished a 30'-40'ish oil painting (an further 10+ hours) and am kinda worn out on that activity. I finished 1984 (by George Orwell, not Van Halen) again, and the only book in the house that I haven't finished is Crime and Punishment. I might go do that... oh WAIT it's at my DAD'S HOUSE. So I think you can see what I am doing here- I AM BORED OUT OF MY FREAKING MIND. At least work starts on Tuesday- teaching ten year olds how to shoot air rifles and compound bows, in addition to making sure they don't fall off the zipwire. Yeah it will be eventful. I predict that one of the Green Groupers will definitely break something ten minutes in, or that John from Red Group will try to climb the zipwire while no one is around. So, in summary: Bored, Work will be a disaster, and Bored. Hey, I get off at 5. If anyone wants to show up at Padonia after then I can get you in for eight dollars or whatever it is. Just give me a ring.

[PS] I'm thinking of changing the password for this to something that i can't remember. Y'know, to limit my time doing stuff like this.

[PPS] Maybe "bgr3nht4". I could make that work, or rather, not. ;)