Monday, March 26, 2007
02:06 a.m.

So, I’ve been pulling a lot of 14 hour days at the school recently. It’s been ok, but I’ve started to notice my arm is weaker than usual... not to mention my ass is getting sore from sitting so much. It makes me feel like I’m getting towards the end; if the promises of days in bed and movie rentals aren’t already doing so. I’m a little behind in the production schedule, but generally I think I’m ok.

I’ve been blessed with the help of some earnest hardcores.... Tim is, as always, grounding me and being awesome, and I’ve got a couple people doing boiling holds and Dorian is doing my scanning! SO HAPPY! The good thing is realizing you DO have people you can depend on.

My process right now is rapidly getting faster and faster. A few months ago it literally took me a month to do a scene, now it’s about 3 days. My focus is a strong, coherent story (unintentionally 7 minutes long), so I’m taking the advice of someone who knows her stuff and building from the bottom-up. Even with this in mind, I find myself going on tangents now and then (like today... THREE of my shots were not on my story board). So, yes, I’m behind because of this, but I’m following my gut with these things. I’m finding it’s making my film much more quirky; which I believe is good.

Anyways, it’s been tight and it’s getting worse, but the end is in sight. My goals are as follows:

April 19th- Grad Panel- First Cut with animation as-is.
April 28th- Second Cut with good sound for grad show
May 30th- Final Cut for Film Fests
August 30th- the last of the animation tweaking is done. I will not touch the film again.

Just typing that last one gave me a little emotion ocean there. My baby!

Man, I’m so glad I went to Emily Carr. I’m glad I didn’t have to learn 3d or make a film with the tri-crap logo (One witty character, one prop and a fucking punchline!!!!!). I’m not sure how people will receive my first work, but I love it and I’m happy with the ground I’ve explored. I like drawing too. Yay.

Colleen updated, so I thought I ought to as well.

Hmmm. Basically, it’s all been work for the last little while. A couple weeks back we went to a party in a neat building, there have been many D4 nights, then the Ottawa Screening, the cabaret on Friday, and I’ve been sick this whole week with a really crappy cold. But other than the cold everything’s been great. Though, the stress level about my film and cash flow has been up and down.

Bah, it’s all good.

I got a package from my mom the other day; it was the best thing ever. Shoes I left in Edmonton (just in time to wear out that night), candy and vitamins. My mom RAWKS!

Ok, tonight I have about 5 huge pictures to do. But you know what? If I successfully pull this sequence off.... I will have something really huge finished for my film in very little time at all. That’s an exciting thing, since I’ve been working on this one scene for a while (hopefully it’ll be finished tonight as well) and need to MOVE ON! STRESSSSSSS! But the good news is... life is good.

Boch out!

Music: Grizzly Bear and Of Montreal and Final Fantasy and Arcade Fire.

What a weekend. WOW!

In between D4, 13 hours of LOTR extended addition, curries, parties, and comic con; I didn’t managed to get much work done. Which is why I’m totally putting my foot down and not having anymore more fun. Or I guess I could have some fun, but not everyday.... ha ha ha

I’m really looking forward to doing comics. Seriously.

This week I have to animate like mad. And I have to find a sinus medicine that doesn't conk me out. Suggestions? I took some last night, benidril or whatever, and I was out like a light even though I still had work I wanted to do....

Man, once again the universe has got my back. I was feeling a down (stress over money and work load) but then you know what?

My mom sent me a package that I got in the mail today. Inside were many many wonderful things like Grandma’s homemade candy, hot chocolate, books, toys, health things, AND the third installment of the Batman Animated Series box set; all covered in post-it notes with little messages. MY MOM IS BEAUTIFUL!

My baby went to the Snowy Mountain Top (store) to heal the poison (stress) by picking the red flowers (leeks and vegetables) to heal me; now I will make us leek soup for supper.

At school this morning Colleen pointed out the stand full of bulbing flowers, I bought a Hyacinth. His name is Hyacinth. Now I have to pick one of the pots I have for him. A hard choice, but I’ll tough it out.

Tonight Tim and I are going next door to play a wonderful game with wonderful friends.

I just got contacted to do another cover. Which is money in my pockets and pride in one.

Whenever I feel down and stress I need only remember that the good is much more huge in comparison to the bad. Thanks Universe.

It’s been a while since I had this kind of night; I just can’t get to sleep no matter what position I try. So rather than keeping Tim awake with my tossing and turning I decided to sit at the computer and review my leica. What’s most annoying is that I feel tired, but every time I lay down I feel achy, sore and stressed out. SO WEIRD!

The food turned out really awesome last night. I rewarded myself by playing PsychoNaughts for most of Sunday. I Fiannly called it a day when I got to a level that seemed most annoying so far. It's a good game though; fun and funny. Maybe that’s why I can’t sleep, too much tv glare or something. Blah. Also, before going to bed I covered my sketchbook with a map to make it fancy (the love will stay strong).

I’m listening to Wilco right now. Wilco always reminds me of my summer job two years ago. I think the sound has grown on me more since then. I guess I like their newer stuff; less twangy. They came to Edmonton during the summer, the tickets were fair and it was at the Jubilee Auditorium. At the time I didn’t go because I knew I would either be bored or hate the crowd and I found out later from a friend it would most likely be both. Who knows.

Ha ha ha. This is me talking about Wilco because I am sleepy yet cannot sleep.

Right now the scent of baking holubsti is wafting through my apartment and I am watching Tuna watch a bird; I imagine the bird is also watching something.

At some point yesterday Tim and I realized it had snowed; we hadn’t made the effort to check on the outside world as it was our designated movie and lazy day (planned during Christmas) and that didn’t really seem important. However, I also remember vaguely thinking that the one of the rooftops I could see through the blinds looked like it was covered in snow, I didn’t believe it until I stepped out onto my balcony for whatever reason later on. It was a great surprise. Most of it’s gone now, just a few little loafs on the ground here and there, but the air smells like the cold, sweetness of Christmas; which is fitting.

Today I am cooking a Ukrainian Christmas Eve feast. I did most of the assembly last night and now am just letting everything cook during the day. It seems to get easier every time, and I’ve worked out my own style of doing things. Hooray! Happily, I’m slowly turning into a competent cook. I think tonight’s Holubsti will turn out to my liking.

Anyways, I’ve got things to do. Meow meow yumm meow.

Music: Everything is Illuminated soundtrack

It's SO WAY TOO EARLY to be up on New Years Day.

Off to the airport.

Sunday, December 31, 2006
12:57 a.m.

A long entry

The New Year is coming, again. It’s strange, but I was thinking about the past few New Year turn-overs and the remarkable events that seem to correspond with them now that I’m old enough to take note, and I have to wonder; does the cosmos try harder to stick to our arbitrary flow of time in order to make us believe in that crazy concept of reason and, though I hate to say the word, destiny? Who knows? I just think it’s interesting. While I have my doubts in terms of this day having any meaning to the other life forms that may or may not inhabit our particular time/space explosion, New Years Eve still has a great meaning to me. At the beginning of the school year I did a cover for a local magazine about the power of new beginnings, and in the case of this article, linking it more-so to the beginning of the school year rather than the calendar year. Even so, I can’t help but look forward to the difference a new day-timer could bring to my life ( I have my eye on those red Moles). It’s like allowing a period of your life to be put to one side, taking it’s lessons into perspective and hopefully growing into a being a little more prepared, and setting out to resolve the ambitions that always seemed to be within reach in the year 2006, but will definitely come to fruition in 2007. Resolutions, whether they stick or not, are about hope, right?

I’m going to make a few lists here. Past, present, and future hopes and experiences.

Personal/notable events of 2006:

Rediscovered the joy of Scrabble with Zelda music
Got a job with shoes
Saw Urinetown with my girls
Saw Silent Hill with Tim (importance of this becoming apparent later)
Co-curation of Neighbors Show with Colleen
Baba and Gido are ill but recover
Ruined a good friendship by dating
Started to become actively aware of the issues that haunt my generation
The best essay of my life written in three hours
Going to Tim’s to play video games (importance of this becoming apparent later)
The RADAR Friends do stuff
Eagle at the Marine Museum
Train to Edmonton for four months
Summer position as Art Camp coordinator at Harcourt House
Drumheller road trip
Tuesday rehearsals
Sunny days at the legislature
Jordyn and the Bochons album
My best friends are getting married
LRT scariness
Co-creator and performer in a Vancouver Fringe Fest. Play
Tim and I like each other (a lot)
I cook a midnight meal and he helps me pack
Trip to Ottawa for The Animation Festival
Finally Studied Bookmaking
Spent 8 months solid writing
Heather gets a job at a candy store
Hallowe’en is wonderful
Vancouver water makes everyone sick and crazy
My film is all-consuming
SAS, canzine, various conventions
YAND, and small print projects
Experimental musics
Spending every moment I can with
the apple of my eye
Spending every moment I can in the studio
Snow and snow day (we watch the shining)
Crazy Windstorms make me clean my balcony
Found a last name for Finnegan (Strapp)
Edmonton time with good people


That's what I can think of right now. The basic ideas? I overcame unhappiness with the power of friends, loved ones, and will power. I had so much good come into my life, and I feel good about what was accomplished.

At the end of last year I said this:

“2006? I’d like to meet someone new, create something beautiful, feel a little comfort socially and emotionally."

I feel these thing came to be, and without too much effort. For that I’m very lucky. In particular, these last few months have been wonderful. It's amazing how crazy stress and work loads seem like nothing at all when you have someone to share the experience with. Above all, I'm happy that Tim is with me, I'm happy I've been living next to two wonderful ladies, I 'm happy I have a family I can count on. My cat is awesome too.

In four months my film will be finished, I’ll have my first degree, and who knows? There are a lot of questions and anxieties that keep popping up, but I think if I’ve learned anything from the way my life has unfurled so far, it’s about working hard with what you have and letting everything else do as it will.

I’m going into 2007 filled with love, ambition, and a general sense of well-being in terms of who and where I am. What more could I ask for? Thank you, cosmos, I’ll return the good I receive in whatever way I can.

So?

2007? I’d like to continue on the path I’ve been going down, continue creating things that make me and others happy, share the love and the wealth with others, and see my four year goals come to fruition. Perhaps, also, since it’s the most common resoulution, I’ll get in shape. Ha ha ha

Music: Final Fantasy