ThisBirdTooHasFlown

I have an announcement to make:

Effective at the beginning of the year, I have stopped using Tumblr for more than posting artwork.  From now on, I'll be writing journals a bit more frequently... this is effectively my blog, now.    Probably once every couple of weeks, is all.

Anyway.

My life is... really, really good right now.  I feel better about things than I have in a very long time.  I've been very blessed, lately.

At the end of last semester, I was pretty miserable.  I had just applied to one of my school's art programs: Illustration.  It was a bit of a gamble - you only get so many shots to get in, and I am late enough in my college career that things are getting dicey.  However, I felt really good about my application - I'd talked to a faculty member about it, and he'd encouraged me to try.

A few weeks after I submitted the application, I got am email, announcing that the Illustration department had come to a decision, and that all of the applicants could come pick up the letters of acceptance (or not,) and their sketchbooks.  

I hadn't turned in a sketchbook - the website hadn't told me that I needed to.

I was in a panic - I thought that my application was a decent one, but suddenly it was missing a large piece.  It was mortifying.  I went to pick up my letter the next day, completely miserable.  The lady at the front desk told me that the sketchbook requirement was new, and they'd only mentioned it in a lecture class that I wasn't enrolled in.  She told me that if I didn't get, she could look up some advisers for me to talks to.

So I was 100% sure that I was out of the program, and... that was pretty rough.  I put off opening my letter for a while, because I was not ready to deal with rejection.

But, somehow, I got in.  I was shocked, and really, really happy.  I may have almost cried, actually.

I had to go to work right afterwards, and my coworkers all asked me about it - but it turns out they ALL KNEW BEFORE I DID.  The punks.    You see, I work for my school's online course department.  I'd pinned up some of my art in my cubicle, and my manager thought it was really neat, so she went and grabbed the lady in charge of the Illustrations for the online classes.  She was ALSO on the committee that looked over the applications for the Illustration program... and she recognized some of my work.

AND THEN... a few days later, she came in to talk to me... to offer me a job, working as an Illustrator.  Something that, I've come to find out, is unheard of for someone who just barely got into the program.  (She actually had to explain to me what "thumbnails" and "comps" were - I've just been calling them "roughs" before.  )

Anyway... as I said, things are really good for me, right now.  I'm a little bit intimidated by my job, and the art classes I'm in aren't easy... but I'm feeling a lot happier than I was about a year ago.

Hello, it has been a while since I've updated here!

I just got back from a very eventful vacation.  Me and my family went on a cruise!  An Alaskan Cruise.  On a cruise ship.  With a pool and dancing hall and lounges and all that.  Very posh, very fun.

Alaska - or at least the tiny sliver of it that we saw - was gorgeous.  Very green and overgrown, with amazing glaciers and mountains.  And we saw an impressive amount of wildlife - salmon, bears, whales, porpoises, seals, and more.  It was really, really neat.

I learned, on this cruise, that I really want to marry a millionaire.    Apparently, I have expensive tastes.  I loved being waited on.  I loved going to tea every day.  I loved eating things like lobster tail and souffles.  I absolutely adored dressing up.  xD  I think I have a problem, guys.

Now for the really fun story.    My sister was a part of the ship's youth group, and her leader was looking for someone who knew how to play the piano.  Now, my sister could play piano, but didn't feel like she had a piece committed to memory confidently enough, so she suggested my name.  As it turns out, one of the performers on the cruise, a violinist, had an act where he came up with a duet based on a piece that someone in the audience could play on the piano - and I got the part.
So at 5:00 that afternoon, I walked into the room where they were practising, expecting to see some tall, severe guy in tuxedo.  Much to my surprise, though... it was a young guy, probably no more than 5 years older than me.  And rather cute, if I'm any judge.  ^_~  Anyway, he was super polite, and the practice went exceptionally well - I know how to play a really gorgeous piece, and he loved it.
And after, we talked about college stuff, and it was great - he actually pulled out a friend of his to meet me, too.  Who turned out to be another performer - the magician.
Too bad I screwed up the performance.  xD  I recovered, but I lost it somewhere in the middle, and ended up hitting a measure full of sour notes.  Oh, well!  I was still highly praised for it all, and for the rest of the cruise, people would stop me in the halls of the ship, and ask if I was that girl who played the piano, and it was really, really nice.  The cruise comedian actually sought me out to shake my hand afterwards, which was really cool.  And the violinist and the magician would greet me in the halls and make smalltalk and stuff, which was also really cool.
Anyway, that's the story of how I met some kinda famous people, and sorta flirted with a guy with a wikipedia page.  ;D

And now for the less cool part of the vacation.  The waiting staff on the cruise were fantastic - friendly, helpful, and very professional.  We were very fond of one waiter, in particular, who hailed from the Philippines.  Anyway, yesterday we talked to him about the working situation... and found out that it wasn't so great.  They were working twelve hour shifts, seven days a week.  That's... hard.  And then this morning we were talking to our waiter, right before we left, and he mentioned a family back home.  Which was a bit of a shock to us - he looked, like, 21, and we just sort of figured that most of the staff were young single guys.  But, this was not the case, it turns out.  And we asked him when he'd get to go home to see his kids - and it turns out, they were working 10 month contracts.  10 months of solid work, 12 hours a day, with no days off.  All far away from their families.  Holy crap.
And the worst part is, the jobs, apparently, are competed for.  What must the alternatives be like, when jobs like that are the most desirable?  A lot of the workers were from eastern Europe and Pacific countries.  :\  I felt horrible.  Still do, really.

Anyway.  That was a depressing note to end the cruise on, and a depressing note to end this journal on.  So 'll just say that I've never been on a cruise before, but I had a wonderful time.  I probably won't be going on any more, but I'm glad of the experience.  Heaven knows, it gave me many new perspectives, if nothing else.  : )

I was tagged by ages ago, and now I'll finally do this!

What is Your Favorite Disney Movie?Judge Claude Frollo.  Prejudice, lust, and religious hypocrisy, all in a Disney film.  Heck yeah!  I also love Professor Ratigan, because... c'mon, he's voiced by Vincent Price!  He's spectacularly fun!
"Hellfire", from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  Or possibly "God Help the Outcasts".  Or "The Bells of Notre Dame".  What I'm saying, I suppose, is that the movie has a stunning soundtrack.

I stole this from VoiceActressKurutta because it looked like fun. 

Six Pairings I Like:
1. Spuffy
2. Tobey x Wordgirl
3. Dramione
4. Scully x Mulder
5. Caveline
6. Cangel

Three Ships I've Abandoned:
7. Borra
8. Willara or Twillow or whatever they call the Tara x Willow ship
9. Romione

Three Ships I've Never Liked:
(let's be controversial, yeah?)
10. Ummmmmmm Bangel
11. Makorra
12. Johnlock

Two Ships That Have Piqued My Interest:
13. Spike x Tara
14. Sherlolly


1. Why do you dislike #11 so much?
I took a disliking to it from the beginning, because of how predictable it was.  Oh, look.  The heroine has met a handsome but broody guy with hair that sticks up.  Like Angel.  But I'll get to that later.  Maybe my dislike of Bangel put me off at the beginning.  But it was completely justified, as it turns out.  The relationship, and the love triangle engulfing it, destroyed the series.  Plain and simple.  Character development, conflict, anything that makes a show worthwhile - they were all abandoned in lieu of Korra gettin' her man.  And that's all I really have to say.  What a disappointment.

2. Who do you know that ships #13?
Um... no one and everyone.  A lot of Spuffy shippers are willing to... entertain... other crack-pairings involving Spike and Buffy.  Especially Spike.  Because Spike is one of the most ludicrously shippable characters, ever.  I have seen, in my time, more than 40 individual ships involving Spike.  Wow.  Anyway, Spike and Tara are one of the more popular crack-ships, due to the fact that they were both in kinda miserable relationships at roughly the same time.  (Which means that Spike/Tara stuff is often dangerous, because sometimes it delves into gross Buffy bashing.  But other times it's just cutesy fluff, and that's a-okay.)

3. What would be your ideal scenario for couple #3?
Dunno.  I've seen it done in a couple creative ways.  I suppose anything that makes them work together and talk with one another.  Preferably after the series ends, when they've both grown up a bit.  Maybe they both get jobs at the ministry, and have to work together!  And they irritate each other horribly, because they're both horrendously arrogant people!  But then they begin to recognize each others' merits!  And then they fall in love!  Okay, that works.

4. What is your favorite moment for #1?
This isn't a single moment, I'm afraid.  But in season 7 of the show, they finally understand each other.  They have a relationship built on respect, forgiveness, trust, and all of those warm, fuzzy things.  And it's really beautiful, especially when compared to the nastiness of the season before.  I suppose if I had to pick just one moment, I'd go with the scene where all of Buffy's friends turn against her - except for Spike.  She's turned away from her own house, but Spike finds her and offers her comfort and unconditional support, and it really just warms the heart to watch.

5. How long have you been following couple #2?
Well, I got into the show in junior high, took a break for a couple of years, and then started watching it again in 11th grade.  So... a few years.

6. What's the story with #8 ? What made you stop caring?
Well, Willow became a horrible person and started treating Tara poorly.  That's about it, really.  People really idolize this ship.  Like, a few months ago there was a stupid poll on the Entertainment Weekly website - Bangel vs. Spuffy.  (Spuffy won, by the way.  )  Anyway, a number of the comments were something along the lines of "Neither!  They're both screwed up!  Not like Willow and Tara, lesbian queens!"   Ummm... no.  Willow invaded Tara's mind, erasing memories.  Memories of fights, memories of Willow abusing magic.  She manipulated Tara in really gross ways.  And when Tara found out about it, and threatened to leave - Willow did it again.  It was really, really sick.  So now I have a lot of trouble appreciating the ship at all.

7. Which ship do you prefer—#2 or #4?
Oh, definitely Tobey and WordGirl.  I have a longer history with that one.  I've only been watching The X Files for a little over a week.

8. You have the power to make one ship non-existent. Choose from #10 or #12:
Hmm.  Tricky.  You see, I have a greater dislike for #10 - Angel and Buffy's relationship pushes a LOT of my wrong buttons, and it just feels super gross and questionable to me.  Like, Angel fell in love with Buffy the moment he saw her... when she was 15 and he was watching her from a car.  Because he "saw her heart".  Um... no.  Nopety nope nope.  (He was a 200+ year old vampire who was physically in his late twenties, by the way.)  And their relationship was really distressingly codependent.  And involved dialogue like "When I kiss you, I want to die."  THAT ISN'T ROMANTIC.
Also, when Angel has his soul taken away, he has a disturbing fascination with corrupting innocence.  So I'd argue that Angel is STILL really fixated on innocence when he has a soul - but on PROTECTING innocence.  And that's what Buffy is to him.  (he saw her heart, after all.  gag.)  So he needs to PROTECT her.  And make decisions for her.  And interfere with her life even after he's left.
Also, a guy in his late twenties deflowering a girl who is just barely 17?  Like, it's actually her birthday 17?  Kinda skeevy.  And illegal in California, I think.
Anyway, so I REALLY don't like Bangel.  (Apologies to those who do like it - you have every right to enjoy it!  )
But... I'm not sure I'd want to make it non-existent.  Because the relationship was a major part of the development of both characters.  With Angel, loving Buffy is what gave him the motivation to become a hero, where before he mostly sulked around and was generally useless.  He became a great guy, and Buffy was key in that.  And with Buffy, loving Angel made her... um, well, it made her really reluctant to trust anybody.  Because Angel really ripped her heart out.  I guess that may not be a change for the better, but it was a major part of her character.  So I guess... I wouldn't want to take that away from either of them.  Bangel was important, no matter my feelings toward it.  (Maybe I could live with it being romanticized a little less, though.)
On the other hand, I really don't care for Johnlock.  If the ship vanished, I can't think of any negative consequences.  Just a more sane fandom.

9. What interests you about #14?
Frankly?  I think that Sherlock is asexual.  But there's this artist who draws Sherlolly and I love looking at her pictures.  The cutest stuff you'll ever see.  So I don't ship it, exactly, but... I guess I lean a little bit in that direction?

10. When did you stop liking #7?
When I realized that I did not like Korra as a character, and that Bolin deserved better.  Plain and simple.  I can't tell you exactly when that was, because I held on to that ship for a long while.  But... I'm over it, now.

11. How did your waning interest in #9 affect your interest in the book?
It was actually quite the opposite!  My waning interest in the series affected my interest in the ship.  For those of you who don't know, I developed a distaste for Harry Potter after the last book was released.  So at first?  I was really invested in Ron and Hermione.  But I started to grow indifferent and, eventually, bitter.  I felt that Ron and Hermione had the sort of high school drama relationship that would only last about 6 months in the real world.  They had nothing in common, aside from a best friend.  And you can't build a solid marriage on just that.  xP  Then I discovered Dramione, and never looked back.

12. What's a song that reminds you of #5?
"Don't Answer Me" and "Since the Last Goodbye" by The Alan Parsons Project.  Really, the album that the songs come from, Ammonia Avenue, is basically just Aperture Science in musical form.

13. Which of these ships do you love the most right now?
Oh, Spuffy.  I just really, really love Spuffy.

14. Which do you dislike the most?
Bangel.  It kinda makes me really uncomfortable, actually.

15. If you could have any of these pairings double date, who would they be?
I would die for a Spuffy/Cangel double date.  Buffy, Spike, Angel, and Cordelia all out to dinner.  Wow.  I'm sure that there's about a million fanfics where this happens, actually. 

16. Have #5 kissed yet? Elaborate if yes.:
Who knows?  In canon there were only vague hints about this relationship.  Officially, it was just a secretary and her boss.  But... there were definitely... signs.... that there was more goin' on.  So my guess is a yes.

17. Did #4 have a happy ending? Do you think one is likely?
I don't know!  I'm only in season 2!  But I really hope so, because they just complement each other so well!  And they have so much respect for each other, and both of them freak out when the other is in danger, and understand each other, and basically it's like a light version of season 7 Spuffy, but without all the painful history.  And, like I said, it's only in season 2.  So... I'd guess yes, though I hope the narrative never focuses on that too much.

18. What would make you start shipping #14?
If I started believing that Sherlock had any sort of interest in romantic relationships.

19. If only one could happen, which would you prefer—#2 or #6?
#6, Cangel, because I really, really wish that they'd had the happy ending that they deserve.  "I guess we missed our moment" is probably one of the most depressing lines to ever grace TV.  Also, if Tobey and Becky never get together in WordGirl?  That's okay!  Better than okay, really.  I'd rather imagine that they grow up, first.

20. You have the power to decide the fate of #10 . What happens to them?
They get over each other completely.  Buffy realizes that Angel, though an important part of her past, really doesn't have a place in her future.  Angel realizes that both he and Buffy are very different people than they were back when they were in love.  They remain friendly in that awkward way you see between people who used to be in love.  Buffy works things out with Spike, and Angel is happy for them both, because he sees that Spike makes Buffy happy - something that he, himself, couldn't do.
And I'd love it of Cordy could rise from the grave and sweep Angel off his feet, too.

The 4th of July is a sappy holiday.
But I'm kind of a sappy person.
So, actually, I really love the 4th.  Not gonna lie.  We had a barbeque, with friends over, went to watch a huge fireworks show, I watched scenes from 1776, and I closed the day by listening to "Saturday in the Park" by Chicago.    It was a pretty good day!
And then, today, our church had another barbeque, and, hey, I like barbeques.    And then we set off some fireworks in front of our house, because we had a ton of them yesterday, and ran out of time.
So, basically, it's been the 4th for two days, in my family. 

This last week I had a ~crisis~.  XD
I was doing research to find out how many hand-drawn films are being made worldwide - three, by the way, two in Japan and one in France - when I learned that Disney fired a bunch of people from their 2D department this last April.  Their statement was that they have no plans to make any real hand-drawn features in the future - not even shorts, really.
Wow.
I was... mad.  Especially with the fact that they just released The Lone Ranger - a lackluster film with a $250 million budget.  The Princess and the Frog only cost $105 million.
...
Good business decision there, Disney.
But, unfortunately, they seem convinced that CGI films sell better.  And maybe they do.  I'm just really going to miss traditional animation.  (Until it makes a comeback, which I'm almost certain it will.)
Anyway, the day I learned all this stuff, I pulled a ton of old Disney films off of the shelf and started watching them.  <3  That helped a bit.  Hunchback is even better than I remembered, honestly.

I'm now at that point of summer where I can feel my freedom slipping away from me.  And I'm sad - but also a little excited, because I'm sort of looking forward to next year at school.  I'm rooming with a cool person, and I have ~plans~.  And ~goals~.  (That will probably all fall apart - but a girl can dream, yeah?)