obsession number blue

so i really feel like playing poker again. ash and i went to greg and nikki's last night and watched some reality tv. i was happy to hear that they wanted to play again.

i havn't done any of my homework so far. saturday night i discovered this website (youareart.co.uk). they take your picture and they turn it into a piece of "art." they have a couple of variations from traditional oil portraits to warholian screen prints. my favorite style is the vectorized portraits.

i stumbled upon it while i was trying to figure out how to make my own paint by number. id had the idea to run a picture through macromedia flash and then clean it up adobe illustrator. i had this elaborate idea where i used the magic wand tool to select each color and apply a number pattern to it. then i was going to print it out on four sheets of iron on transfer paper and iron it on a 16x20 canvas.
i finally decided that the numbers were unnecessary and i could just print it in grayscale and paint over it.

the biggest problem was getting the picture to be simple like the examples at youareart. After trying endless vectorizing programs (flash, expression, silhouette) i still could not get the effect i was looking for. everything came out too jagged and lacked the broad, but controlled, curves at youareart. then i realized that illustrator had a "simplify" option and that helped a lot. i had to to copy a few areas to keep the detail in the hair and eyes, etc.

it still seems to lack their finesse, however.
after i got the vectors printed out i tried to iron it on to a primed canvas. next time ill use unprimed because i think the transfers will more easily attach.
at that point it basically becomes a paint-by-number.

now would be an appropriate time to start the discussion on "what is art?"

so i discovered this challenge on saturday night and spent the remainder of the evening trying to figure it out. i had a hard time going to sleep because i was thinking about it. i spent most of sunday working on it. it drives me crazy. i get started on a project and i cant stop. it becomes an obsession. in four days i wont care about it either way, but as soon as i get started i have a tendency to let things consume me. i should probably work on that.

please remember your wasted life

today is weekly inspection day, please refer to manual. the words loom on the screen of my printer every friday. they bluntly remind me that ive spent yet another week working here at the one hour photo.

i need to write my paper on lincoln steffens. i had to read his autobiography for my intro to mass media directed studies class. dr. simons told me "so-and-so said that if you haven't read to autobiography of lincoln steffens then you haven't been educated." it's a great book, i would highly recommend it.

today it has been so slow. its 2:15 and we've done about 7 rolls of film so far. i don't mind though, it gives me more time to write. we hired a new girl. well, jack hired a new girl. "we" didn't have anything to do with it. before he hired her i told him that i was quitting so he needed to hire someone who could take my place. ive never met her, but apparently she's our classic applicant: 18 years old, bubbly handwriting, went to sagus high, shot pictures at magic mtn, took some classes at coc. maybe she'll be really nice, but i doubt she'll want to take out the trash.

blue fuzz mobile

hurray! ash and i are getting a two car garage! we're pretty excited about it considering our current garage is only about twelve inches wider than our car. its bigger and its really close to our apartment. the only drawback is that its right next to the laundry room. they say that the blue fuzz from the laundry exhaust is going to stick to everything.

im really happy about the extra room because this summer i want to start throwing pottery. i downloaded some plans to build-your-own pottery wheel. ive been interested in clay and sculpture for a while, i just dont have time for it while im in school.

i cant believe im actually going to get my degree this semester. i dont feel educated enough to actually have a degree. i feel as if im only now coming to a place where i can actually learn. there are so many topics that i know nothing about.

i love my simon's class. i want to record each one and keep it on cd so hopefully i can listen to each lecture a couple of times a hopefully remember half of it. if i actually end up doing this ill probably post some here.

i would love to have an ipod with a belkin voice recorder. but for now i guess ill just have to prop up my ibook inconspicuously ive downloaded a direct to disk recorder simply called "Audio In." It seems to work pretty well for the moment.

by the way, i tried to get a free ipod. its nearly impossible to do, i wouldnt recommend trying it.

the first post

welcome to my blog.
they say the more you write the better you get. so, ive decided to try writing more often. i just finished a website for the foundation for children's dental health (fcdh.org). i started this blog because ive been in the mood for doing websites.

i still havnt figured out at my work who has internet access. (i work at a one hour photo in the mall.) my computer can see a wpa encrypted wireless network, but i cant figure out who it is. ive walked around about three times asking random employees if they have internet access and they always say 'no'. i think they just dont know if they do or not.

yesterday i went into gnc and this middle eastern guy was all, "can i help you?" i asked him if he had internet access. "what!?" he scowled. i repeated my question. "no!" he yelled at me. then as i walked away he muttered something about me being a stupid white boy. it struck me as odd that he was so offended by me asking that. maybe he's from a country where its not polite to ask people about their internet.