Next Stop, Pandemonium

 Anyone still interested in RPGing Survivor or some such lost island quest as a villain from any show, film or book of your choice?
If so, sign-up here!

I can't get over just how close this election is in the popular vote. But the electoral votes look extremely promising. I recall watching the 2004 elections and just feeling blow by blow as each state turned red. Although this popular voter turn-out is disappointing, at least the electoral college may pull through for once. Not to mention, I just feel proud for having participated in this historic election. It's not every day in your life that something like this may occur.

And back to the drawing diary:

[EDIT] So I totally lied about that. Here's my favorite portrait of the evening, a Ukrainian woman from National Geographic:

Now that I've been rehearsing curves, squiggles, circles, etc; I'm turn more attention towards human anatomy. Today was eyes, and some of the muscles surrounding them.






Larger version can be found i519.photobucket.com/albums/u357/allie_heather/Drawing%20Diary/eyes_10_27_08.jpg

 I've finally done it. No, sadly it doesn't involve a job. But, after over twenty years of it, I have finally given up 'the funny grip'.

I hold my pencil a bit oddly, to say the least. While  it's something that's uniquely my own, it has some pretty bad side effects: atrocious penmanship, stiff/angular drawing and a lot of pain in the hand within 20 minutes or so. I looked at my drawings, my job applications; and decided that if I want to go anywhere in either pursuit, it was probably time to let go.

After asking my mom to demonstrate the normal grip, I decided to try to practice drawing with it. Around about 100 circles and lines later, I have found out I actually like this grip. My drawing feels more fluid, curves come more naturally and I was able to go at it for two hours straight without a single cramp. So, I'm going to fit more practice in my schedule (including a lot of sitting down with Andrew Loomis' books), and will work on the writing as well. I suspect that will be harder, though. But if I can correct the way I sketch; I'm sure that I can have clear, legible handwriting. Who knows? It might be able to get me a job if the recruiters can actually read my phone number or email address...

 It's a new look, but I actually like it! Thankfully managed to avoid the Sarah Palin look (although I wouldn't mind Tina Fey). Mattie even agreed to pose with me:

 Crappy photo, but since they're my first ever prescription pair; I love 'em!

 After months of debating, I've finally set up a new LJ community:

http://community.livejournal.com/a_cafe_on_mars/

A Cafe on Mars is a creative community that is all about discussing books, movies, comics and games; as well as looking for help/collaboration on your own projects. Be sure to take a look, invite your friends and spread the word!

 Didn't hear back from Borders, so I assume that I didn't get the job. It may be just as well. Yesterday I went to both them and Barnes and Noble, and literally nobody I saw working there (maybe with the exception of one inventory guy) was under the age of 40. Whatever happened to the young, student-like atmosphere that we all knew and loved? Is this going to be the job experience for life?

Admittedly, it was very depressing. I really, really miss having friends nearby and was hoping that I could get some from the workplace. With a demographic like that, naturally it would be impossible. Now to figure out what to do next...

[EDIT]

I am seriously considering quitting facebook for good in light of this new layout business. It's not simply a matter of 'OMG new facebook suxx!!!!! u facebook people r assholes!!!!' kind of reasoning. The new layout is just the final straw in a series of troubling moves over the past two years. First was the newsfeed and the ability to be found on Google. When people got frustrated over that , Facebook enabled privacy settings, but gave no control over what appeared in your newsfeed. I found the latter to be annoying, but was grateful for the first. Second was Beacon and the many ruined holiday seasons. The lack of consideration for privacy was shocking, but the angry outcry at least convinced Mark Zuckerberg and company to take it down.

Instead of learning their lesson, Beacon just taught them how to make another annoying change at the expense of the user while minimizing outcries. The 7-week-long 'adjustment period' of the new facebook layout was evidence of that. I am not angry at the confusing layout, but the profound lack of respect Zuckerberg has of his customers; demonstrated not only by the last two years, but also the clause in the terms of use that allows Facebook to alter them at any time without notifying the users of a thing. For a site in which you entrust some of your personal information to, shouldn't it not have some obligation to respect the concerns of the customer? Employers currently use facebook to research job candidates. Just because you don't have a photo of yourself passed out on the couch surrounded by fifty bottles of lager doesn't mean you shouldn't be nervous. What if said employers started using facebook to learn about your political convictions, sexuality and religious views (or lackthereof) if they haven't already? I fear for what is becoming of this world if corporate entities such as facebook can just slowly whittle away at our right to privacy and simply expect us to adapt to every change without fully realizing what is going on.

On the plus side, I will be staying on LJ and have some amusing 90s clips to post! Except I can't post the youtube clips needed. I keep pasting the URL in the embed media option, but a blank space keeps registering where the clip should be. Do I have to get a youtube subscription to get the code needed for the clip to work?

Perhaps since the dawn of mankind, we have been asking ourselves 'Why are we here? What is our purpose?'. As a result, countless religions have formed to try to answer this question, wars have been waged to determine who was right, and most recently, the LCH Collider in Switzerland has been switched on in order to find the so-called 'god particle'. Are we a chosen people who must live righteously in order to get to heaven or be reincarnated? Are we really a chaotic result of the Big Bang? According to The Internet, there is another theory with even bigger implications: our entire existence is the product of the imagination of an autistic boy.

No, seriously! This is the theory of the Tommy Westphall Multiverse, which traces its origins to a 1980s medical soap opera called St. Elsewhere. After running for six years, viewers discovered that the entire show took place inside the imagination of a severely autistic boy named Tommy Westphall. According to this website (home.vicnet.net.au/~kwgow/crossovers.html ,) the revelation that St. Elsewhere existed only in Tommy's mind meant that other television shows that featured crossover characters and mentions of the parts of the ficitonal universe were also a part of the Tommy Westphall Multiverse. Through a complex excel chart of television shows spanning over five decades, dedicated 'Westphallians' have been able to demonstrate that at least 280 shows took place in Tommy Westphall's brain. Among them are The X-Files, Star Trek, I Love Lucy, ER and Seinfeld (The full chart can be viewed here:home.vicnet.net.au/~kwgow/crossovers(full).jpgWestphallians claim that many more shows may really also belong in the Tommy Westphall Universe, along with our whole reality. Consider the evidence: the reality show The Simple Life already has been proven to belong to it. Therefore, Paris Hilton is technically not a real person. The Tommy Westphall Multiverse Theory has thus evolved into an internet meme that has both produced an LJ community and a full scholarly rebuttal from a Cornell philosophy professor. Whatever your stance may be, there is no denying that the Tommy Westphall Multiverse theory is yet another example of humanity's quest to find our true purpose.