There are many lines in life.
There are lines at Starbucks, lines for the most anticipated movie of the year, lines you cross when you make a dirty joke, "please stand behind the yellow" lines, and at my job there are "self-coloring lines." I have determined that if one line was to make me go mad- it would be those silly lime-green lines that make me have to make decisions like..."Is that the jacket, the ear, or the fishing pole?"
For the past two days, I have been working on a scene consisting of a person in a fishing outfit. There are many components to this outfit, including that endearing little fishing rod with it's even more endearing fishing line. (Yes, that's right, yet another line.) The problem has been that the fishing rod has no separation from the rest of the character. What does that mean? I have become a surgeon of lines.
Oh I know, if that's the worst thing to complain about-I've got it pretty good. However, do you know what it's like to "mouse-draw" (meaning using a computer mouse, not actually use a real-live mouse, which would make my job a lot more fun and interesting) every single millimeter of a fishing pole????
Just think, Fishing is not very exciting of a sport, now imagine - not even gettting to fish, but drawing the straight (yet very crookedly drawn by the original artist) fishing line about 54 times...that's right- I counted how many poles I drew. All the while I drew I sang that old song from down south, "You'll get a line, and I'll get a pole, and we'll go down to the crawfish hole!"
Tomorrow, i get to go back in and start my next profession - dentistry meets barbery. I get to discete where this character's mustache intersects with his teeth, which ironically are only a couple shades different from the next.
I kinda want to go fishing now.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
The not-so-clean Pine-sol Deception
It is 8:22 p.m. when I write this. I don't have much time. I risk much in documenting my findings. They are coming.
Okay, so I am not in great danger. However, I have always wanted to write like my life depended on it. Or maybe the lives of many others. Alas, my work really only saves the sensory organs of my family. That's right, my only spy work happened in my brother's room. Yes. It smells- of the great Pinesol deception.
Allow me to explain. Go back to yesterday. My mother confronted my brother on the odious smells emerging from his room. We aren't really sure when his bed sheets/clothes/trash were last....taken care of. There is great reminiscing of the great clean up in 2008- but there has been a build-up of who-knows-where-that-smell-is-coming-from ever since and the city has been threatening to evacuate the place for a scientific study of the grossness (all for medical safety of course). My mother pleaded, begged even, that he do a thorough clean-up.
He turned and walked into his room and shut the door. No one knew what was going to happen. We were all holding our breath (mostly because of the smell). Today, I walked by his doorway and smelled Pine-sol. Had he actually cleaned? Was this a sign of true change? Was the human race no longer at risk???
Upon a stealth operation, known only to a special few as "Tarawoza," (an Indian name meaning "only a few have lived who have smelled this") I snuck in (risking my life, and my nasal passages health) and looked to see what had happened.
Turns out- he hadn't done anything EXCEPT pour Pine-sol in a drinking glass and placed it on his desk. The bed was still unmade, the clothes still rotting in their messy pile on the floor, and that unknown disaster still lied under the bed. BUT- the smell was masked with the one true cleaner that reminds one of freshly cleaned floors and counters. You could say that this filthyness of a sin was covered up by cleanliness. A philosopher might ask....does Pine-sol cover a multitude of.....sins/odors??? As my mother is blind, she assumed the problem was fixed.
I don't know whether to call my brother a deciever...or a genius. I may never have to clean my room again, granted that I have Pine-sol and a glass.
I would turn him in....but I can use this. I believe that I shall save this "tattle" for a rainy day.
Excuse, I must find where he put the Pine-sol.
Okay, so I am not in great danger. However, I have always wanted to write like my life depended on it. Or maybe the lives of many others. Alas, my work really only saves the sensory organs of my family. That's right, my only spy work happened in my brother's room. Yes. It smells- of the great Pinesol deception.
Allow me to explain. Go back to yesterday. My mother confronted my brother on the odious smells emerging from his room. We aren't really sure when his bed sheets/clothes/trash were last....taken care of. There is great reminiscing of the great clean up in 2008- but there has been a build-up of who-knows-where-that-smell-is-coming-from ever since and the city has been threatening to evacuate the place for a scientific study of the grossness (all for medical safety of course). My mother pleaded, begged even, that he do a thorough clean-up.
He turned and walked into his room and shut the door. No one knew what was going to happen. We were all holding our breath (mostly because of the smell). Today, I walked by his doorway and smelled Pine-sol. Had he actually cleaned? Was this a sign of true change? Was the human race no longer at risk???
Upon a stealth operation, known only to a special few as "Tarawoza," (an Indian name meaning "only a few have lived who have smelled this") I snuck in (risking my life, and my nasal passages health) and looked to see what had happened.
Turns out- he hadn't done anything EXCEPT pour Pine-sol in a drinking glass and placed it on his desk. The bed was still unmade, the clothes still rotting in their messy pile on the floor, and that unknown disaster still lied under the bed. BUT- the smell was masked with the one true cleaner that reminds one of freshly cleaned floors and counters. You could say that this filthyness of a sin was covered up by cleanliness. A philosopher might ask....does Pine-sol cover a multitude of.....sins/odors??? As my mother is blind, she assumed the problem was fixed.
I don't know whether to call my brother a deciever...or a genius. I may never have to clean my room again, granted that I have Pine-sol and a glass.
I would turn him in....but I can use this. I believe that I shall save this "tattle" for a rainy day.
Excuse, I must find where he put the Pine-sol.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
The Canadian/French manual to cat whiskers and mouse ears: by Emily Philpot
You know the old saying, "I learned everything I need to know for life in Kindergarten." Well, that saying definitely applies to my new line of work. Coloring. Essentially, my new job abides by one key rule....stay within the lines!!!!
I was recently hired at a small animation company in L.A. My new job is in the ink and paint department where we color and edit hundreds and hundreds of frames for the animation department. My exact title at this company? Well, I waiver between calling myself an "inker" (not to be confused with stinker) an animation assitant, or a digital painter.
For those who follow my blog even occasionally may know thatI just graduated from college. Every new graduate knows that your first job is pretty important in setting the stage for your future career. Your salary history counter starts ticking, you break in your power heels and you learn to navigate the corporate world. For me...I stand armed with my colors and magic mouse (the Apple wireless mouse- not Mickey mouse or Mighty mouse or whatever mutant mouse would be magic...because that's just creepy) , ready to face "the man." Sure, I didn't picture starting out as an "ink and painter," but I never knew how fun this job could be.
What is my job like? First, you are assigned a scene that holds anywhere from three to 40 feet of frames. Each frame has to be colored individually. Just to explain - a frame is a picture of whatever cartoon is moving at the time. Each frame changes their postion slightly to give the idea of motion. Think of a flipbook. I have to color every page of that flipbook. Sounds easy enough.
Did I mention that I never really enjoyed coloring as a child? Coloring books were not as interesting as playing "house" outside. When I did color as a kid, I also never believed in finishing a page. The idea was to scribble enough color on the page to get the general idea and move on. Most of the drawings I did as a kid were....abstract and modern. Even if it was supposed to be a drawing of an elephant - it always looked like a painting someone did while high on crack (though in my case as a three year old, it was probably more like large amounts of sugary candy) and looked more like a grey wall of circles and dots with a florish of random blue lines zigging around the poor elephant's ears. Oh if I could only write a letter to me and warn little three year old me of the imporance of choosing colors and closing gaps.
My work is more difficult than just getting out crayons and "being inspired." The problem begins with the actual animation software. It's written by a Canadian/French company. Which means even if there was a manual (which of course there isn't) it would be in Canadian French. Better yet, even if this magical manual did indeed exist it would be like this...
::Pretend this next section is in snobby French:::
Oh yes, so to color your seemly simple sketch of a mouse(P.s. our company has created several cartoon characters that are mice) first you must stare at the screen for twenty minutes looking for impossibly invisible gaps between lines. We did this just to be snobby. Your life of precious minutes is not important to us. We invented the Canadian bacon (how we can turn pigs into Canadian citizens are beyond us...but still-we did it and you eat it) after all and are therefore better than you ::sniff::
We did not think that you should be able to just click on the section you want colored (say you want to color the mouse's jacket or shirt collar) a certain way. If even a molecule of space exists between separation lines...you will not be able to do anything. We created this program for the sole purpose of laughing at you. You are stupid. ::sniff::
Once you have closed the gap between separation lines, you will be allowed to color. But of course, you must click 1o different buttons hidden under buttons that have nothing to do with what you want to do. If you want to paint one of the lines that outline the character, you cannot just click "paint"- you have to click "repaint" even if you have never painted it before -you are repainting it because we said so and we are French. You can switch from the paint mode to the brush mode by holding down the "b" key...but don't even think to ask about a short key to switch back to paint...we didn't invent one- you have to manually find the "repaint" button on your own. If you are so lucky to figure out the process to get to the paint bucket and palette - you must now navigate through the true hell we have created for you - the invisible deleting button. ::sniff::
We tried to ease you into a sense of false security by creating false "short step keys" that should techinically trick you into thinking you can paint quickly and painlessly. However, we have hidden short keys that are also similar to your known short keys that actually delete frames - without telling you. What does this mean? You will think you are almost done with your project and will then learn that instead of using the "z" key to zoom in - the "z" key has been deleting frames silently (like a serial killer with a silencer). You now must color an additional 70 frames- once you can find them in the vortex of files of course. You must manually import each frame ONE BY ONE into your x-sheet. Because importing all of them at once would create a laziness that we do not want to support. (what is that? We are lazy for not creating a manual??? Need we remind you that we invented mustard??????) :::sniff::
Once you have successful manuvered through our program and colored the big sections of the picture of your cute zittle mouse (accent added for additional snobbery) your true talent (although we of course do not think you have any talent you idiot American inker who just graduated college) will be put to the true French test. You must perform the "self-color" lines drawing test. If you can do this we may permit you to eat a baguette as an award. However, do not become too proud in your accomplishments...you do not speak French and will always be inferior to us. ::sniff::
To draw the self-color lines that outline the character, you must protect every color you have already used- or we will ruin everything you have already done. Yes, if you don't protect every color you have used we will override it and erase the last eight hours of your work. Oh and if you try to use the "z" key to undo the last step- we will punish you by once again deleting some frames. And of course not tell you. Oh and we will spell "color" like "colour" just to show you that your spelling is inferior to ours.
If you try to switch from paintbucket mode to the brush mode and then back again to paintbucket mode, we have commanded the program to flip out and do random things like delete frames, use your credit card, call the French police, and of course - delete frames. We would apologize for this inconvenience but...we are the French- and we don't apologize. ::sniff::
We have also commanded our software to condense the lines that were so clear in the orginal sketches to all intersect with no distinct direction. This will challenge your weak American minds to figure out the difference between the whiskers, nose, and facial components of your cute little mouse cartoon. You will have to manually disect every line and continually redo your work when you find that you have mistaken an eyebrow for an eyelid. This is what you get for being inferior to us. Phewy on you!! :sniff::
If you need a break from staring at the screen all day, we suggest you get a flight to Quebec- it is always nice here and perhaps we can educate you to the more sophisticated things- like French wigs, perfume and animation software. Because as everyone knows...the French are known for their superior computer skills (sarcasm added by this American blogger to protray her bitterness towards this quirky software).
However, just in case anyone from my office or management team reads this (or even anyone who is French) please know that I write this all in fun. While the software has bugs and as everyone calls it "quirks", the whole idea of coloring for a living has kinda grown on me. It's kinda fun to design characters that I know little kids will watch and giggle because they are so cute and michevious. While the animation software does have some logistical issues, it does cut the process by quite a bit if you think about what they had to do before computers. So to the French....please hire some nerds and work out the "quirks" and make our (the inkers) jobs a bit easier.
Now if you will excuse me...I have to go find some deleted frames.
I was recently hired at a small animation company in L.A. My new job is in the ink and paint department where we color and edit hundreds and hundreds of frames for the animation department. My exact title at this company? Well, I waiver between calling myself an "inker" (not to be confused with stinker) an animation assitant, or a digital painter.
For those who follow my blog even occasionally may know thatI just graduated from college. Every new graduate knows that your first job is pretty important in setting the stage for your future career. Your salary history counter starts ticking, you break in your power heels and you learn to navigate the corporate world. For me...I stand armed with my colors and magic mouse (the Apple wireless mouse- not Mickey mouse or Mighty mouse or whatever mutant mouse would be magic...because that's just creepy) , ready to face "the man." Sure, I didn't picture starting out as an "ink and painter," but I never knew how fun this job could be.
What is my job like? First, you are assigned a scene that holds anywhere from three to 40 feet of frames. Each frame has to be colored individually. Just to explain - a frame is a picture of whatever cartoon is moving at the time. Each frame changes their postion slightly to give the idea of motion. Think of a flipbook. I have to color every page of that flipbook. Sounds easy enough.
Did I mention that I never really enjoyed coloring as a child? Coloring books were not as interesting as playing "house" outside. When I did color as a kid, I also never believed in finishing a page. The idea was to scribble enough color on the page to get the general idea and move on. Most of the drawings I did as a kid were....abstract and modern. Even if it was supposed to be a drawing of an elephant - it always looked like a painting someone did while high on crack (though in my case as a three year old, it was probably more like large amounts of sugary candy) and looked more like a grey wall of circles and dots with a florish of random blue lines zigging around the poor elephant's ears. Oh if I could only write a letter to me and warn little three year old me of the imporance of choosing colors and closing gaps.
My work is more difficult than just getting out crayons and "being inspired." The problem begins with the actual animation software. It's written by a Canadian/French company. Which means even if there was a manual (which of course there isn't) it would be in Canadian French. Better yet, even if this magical manual did indeed exist it would be like this...
::Pretend this next section is in snobby French:::
Oh yes, so to color your seemly simple sketch of a mouse(P.s. our company has created several cartoon characters that are mice) first you must stare at the screen for twenty minutes looking for impossibly invisible gaps between lines. We did this just to be snobby. Your life of precious minutes is not important to us. We invented the Canadian bacon (how we can turn pigs into Canadian citizens are beyond us...but still-we did it and you eat it) after all and are therefore better than you ::sniff::
We did not think that you should be able to just click on the section you want colored (say you want to color the mouse's jacket or shirt collar) a certain way. If even a molecule of space exists between separation lines...you will not be able to do anything. We created this program for the sole purpose of laughing at you. You are stupid. ::sniff::
Once you have closed the gap between separation lines, you will be allowed to color. But of course, you must click 1o different buttons hidden under buttons that have nothing to do with what you want to do. If you want to paint one of the lines that outline the character, you cannot just click "paint"- you have to click "repaint" even if you have never painted it before -you are repainting it because we said so and we are French. You can switch from the paint mode to the brush mode by holding down the "b" key...but don't even think to ask about a short key to switch back to paint...we didn't invent one- you have to manually find the "repaint" button on your own. If you are so lucky to figure out the process to get to the paint bucket and palette - you must now navigate through the true hell we have created for you - the invisible deleting button. ::sniff::
We tried to ease you into a sense of false security by creating false "short step keys" that should techinically trick you into thinking you can paint quickly and painlessly. However, we have hidden short keys that are also similar to your known short keys that actually delete frames - without telling you. What does this mean? You will think you are almost done with your project and will then learn that instead of using the "z" key to zoom in - the "z" key has been deleting frames silently (like a serial killer with a silencer). You now must color an additional 70 frames- once you can find them in the vortex of files of course. You must manually import each frame ONE BY ONE into your x-sheet. Because importing all of them at once would create a laziness that we do not want to support. (what is that? We are lazy for not creating a manual??? Need we remind you that we invented mustard??????) :::sniff::
Once you have successful manuvered through our program and colored the big sections of the picture of your cute zittle mouse (accent added for additional snobbery) your true talent (although we of course do not think you have any talent you idiot American inker who just graduated college) will be put to the true French test. You must perform the "self-color" lines drawing test. If you can do this we may permit you to eat a baguette as an award. However, do not become too proud in your accomplishments...you do not speak French and will always be inferior to us. ::sniff::
To draw the self-color lines that outline the character, you must protect every color you have already used- or we will ruin everything you have already done. Yes, if you don't protect every color you have used we will override it and erase the last eight hours of your work. Oh and if you try to use the "z" key to undo the last step- we will punish you by once again deleting some frames. And of course not tell you. Oh and we will spell "color" like "colour" just to show you that your spelling is inferior to ours.
If you try to switch from paintbucket mode to the brush mode and then back again to paintbucket mode, we have commanded the program to flip out and do random things like delete frames, use your credit card, call the French police, and of course - delete frames. We would apologize for this inconvenience but...we are the French- and we don't apologize. ::sniff::
We have also commanded our software to condense the lines that were so clear in the orginal sketches to all intersect with no distinct direction. This will challenge your weak American minds to figure out the difference between the whiskers, nose, and facial components of your cute little mouse cartoon. You will have to manually disect every line and continually redo your work when you find that you have mistaken an eyebrow for an eyelid. This is what you get for being inferior to us. Phewy on you!! :sniff::
If you need a break from staring at the screen all day, we suggest you get a flight to Quebec- it is always nice here and perhaps we can educate you to the more sophisticated things- like French wigs, perfume and animation software. Because as everyone knows...the French are known for their superior computer skills (sarcasm added by this American blogger to protray her bitterness towards this quirky software).
However, just in case anyone from my office or management team reads this (or even anyone who is French) please know that I write this all in fun. While the software has bugs and as everyone calls it "quirks", the whole idea of coloring for a living has kinda grown on me. It's kinda fun to design characters that I know little kids will watch and giggle because they are so cute and michevious. While the animation software does have some logistical issues, it does cut the process by quite a bit if you think about what they had to do before computers. So to the French....please hire some nerds and work out the "quirks" and make our (the inkers) jobs a bit easier.
Now if you will excuse me...I have to go find some deleted frames.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Junk in my Trunk
There is an orange in my car trunk…and I have no idea how it got there. I never put food in my trunk, and no one else drives my car. I noticed it about a week ago. I opened my trunk and was like, "What? Where did you come from?"
Normal people would have just thrown it away, or maybe even eaten it. Not me. I just slammed the trunk shut and forgot about it. Next day, I opened my trunk, and there it was. Still. I shrugged, threw my book bag in, and shut the trunk. Next day, the orange was STILL there!!! I mean, you would think the thing would just eventually disappear the same way it appeared.
I thought about getting rid of it. I mean, I am not going to eat it. I don't need an orange in my trunk. However, you just never know. What if I become citrus deprived someday? I could just go to my trunk, open it and hey look an orange!!!
Every day for the past week, I have opened my trunk, looked at the orange slowly decaying in there and slammed the hatch. I now feel somewhat like a scientist. The orange has now become an experiment to my otherwise dull life. How long can the thing survive in the depths of my trunk? Right now it's slightly wrinkly and discolored, but it still musters the strength to greet me with it's orangy glow. I just couldn't throw it away now…it's a part of my life.
I figure I will let the orange die in my trunk and maybe another fruit will appear. Who knows, maybe my car is like the goose that laid the golden egg….except with fruit. My car could get famous, and I just can't risk that fame by throwing away my miracle orange.
The Girl who loved lace, the Girl whose job was killing her, and the Girl who hated washing dishes
I am a woman, and I can turn on my computer, listen to my ipod, and use my hair dryer...hear me type!
March 24th has been deemed in the blogging world as "Women in technology blogging day."
(On a side note, is there really such a thing as a "blogging world"? I mean if there is...it would have to be metaphysical since there is no "blogging earth" rotating around the "blogging sun." And if there is a metaphysical blogging world, how was it made? With a big bang/computer crash? With a spoken/written word? Who is the God of blog? These are the questions I ask myself when I am this sleep deprived.)
March 24th is set aside to celebrate one particular woman's journey in technology- Ada Lovelace. The first thing you might notice about this woman is her name. Apparently, she loved lace. Perhaps she wore it everyday. Maybe she liked tying her shoelaces. Maybe she made her own lace since she was that awesome. What ever the case was, I think she just had weird lace fetishes.
Ada Lovelace born on Dec. 10, 1815 was the only child of famous poet Lord Byron and his wife Anne. She is widely known for building her own computer coding program. Lord Byron disowned her at a young age which most likely gave her daddy issues, which probably drove her to study more in an attempt to prove herself.
She is considered by most scholars to be the first official computer programmer. She translated an Italian mathematician's notes on the first "Analytical Engine," adding her own notes and sections which were later studied by programmers and considered to be very advanced for her time. She also wrote detailed descriptions for future computers and codes.
This girl beats Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, hands down. If she was alive today, she would probably own her own computer company called "Lace." Just think, we could have had the "Ilace," or the "laceberry." Want lace? There's an app. for that. Sadly, she died from too much bloodletting and therefore could not invent those wonderful ideas.
Second lady to honor on this day of women and technology - Marie Curie. She is the woman who can truly claim the phrase, "my work is killing me!"
Marie Sklodowska Curie, born Nov. 7, 1867, won two Nobel prizes, one in physics and one in chemistry. She discovered radiology by isolating polonium and radium. Interestingly, she named "polonium" after her native country, Poland. Using these radio-active elements, she blazed the trail in cancer research.
Probably the cutest thing about Marie was her love life. Her instructor at the School of Physics and Chemistry was Pierre Curie. He was studying magnetism and she became very interested in his research. She soon could not resist his "polar side" (har har har) and they were married. Nothing says love more than the fascinating world of cancer and magnets.
After their wedding, they scarcely left their research lab....er...love nest. Sadly, Pierre was killed by a horse-drawn vehicle. Marie finally died from radioactive poisoning. She died trying to save the lives of cancer victims. For that, I tip my metaphysical blogging hat to you, Marie.
The third lady of technology is personally my favorite- Josephine Cochran. In 1850, a rather rudimentary machine had been invented to supposedly wash dishes. However, it was hardly practical and very cumbersome.
I don't know about you, but I HATE washing dishes. You have to touch yucky food that people nibbled on, and you have to scrub pans with oil that no matter how much you suds and scrub, the oily residue will ALWAYS be there!!! They were the enemy of my childhood, because instead of being about to play outside after dinner, I had to do the dishes. Oh and just when I would finish the dishes for one meal and feel good about my accomplishments- BAM! Different meal, more dishes. Now I see I am not the only one who hates this task.
Josephine Cochran is quoted in saying, "If no one else is going to invent a dish washing machine, I'll do it myself!" She went on to market her mechanical dishwasher at the famous World Fair and started her own company that eventually became KitchenAid. All I can say is...you go girl!!!!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Tik Tok on the Clock ~ Please Stop
6:30 a.m. ~ My phone vibrates under my pillow. I jar awake and groan. Tuesday. Bleck. I grab whatever clothes don't smell too bad and hit the shower.
I know some girls are fashionistas and it takes them two hours to get ready for their glamorous day- me, it takes 30 minutes from the time I climb out of bed to the time I pile into my car. I know someday I will regret looking like something that just out from under a rock, like the day I turn 40 and I am still single. But for right now, I don't own enough awesome clothes and make-up to look pretty, so I just wear whatever is lying on my bedroom floor.
7:15 a.m. ~ Starbucks. It's almost scary that the barista knows my order. Grande Peppermint Mocha, nonfat, with whip. I love my drink. I have it every day. The Grande part is so that I am not pigging out on the Venti size, but enough to fill me up with warm coffee, chocolatey goodness. The peppermint part counteracts any bad breathe the coffee part will inflict. And the mocha part - duh, I am a girl, I need my chocolate. The nonfat part is so that I can have the whip cream part. My day starts out with balance.
7:17 a.m.~ Driving to school, radio blasting. This is seriously the best part of my day. I have all of my homework ready, my phone isn't ringing. It's just me, my car, and the music. Tik Tok ALWAYS, and I do mean ALWAYS comes on the radio. I don't know how I feel about this song. I think it's one of those things that by the time the chorus kicks in, you just have to be car dancing. The lyrics are lame, I mean it's about a party. That's it. A party. No love story, no deep, emotional pull for you to find yourself. Just brushing your teeth with alcohol...which I am sure can only lead to cavities.
7:30 a.m. ~ Get to school. Run to the library. Check e-mails. Delete the junk. Answer the e-mails from the boss. Check facebook. Roll eyes at all the relationship changes/babies born/sleepless ramblings from all of my 300+ friends. Yes, I get it, you have a life. I don't.
8:00 a.m. ~ Go to class. I have a confession to make. It's hard for me to pay attention in class. I have eye sight issues, so half the time I can't see what the teacher is pointing to on the board, I can't read the equations and when the teacher just teaches by talking I can't follow what they are saying. I am a visually-impaired visual learner. Don't cry for me, just know that if you want me to learn, hand me a book. I love to read. The book is close to my face, the words make sense and learning occurs.
12:35 p.m. Lunch. Lately, I haven't been able to eat until dinner. I have no idea why I am not hungry. Besides my heavenly peppermint mocha, my first meal is dinner. I know it's unhealthy. Note, I am not trying to lose weight or be a weirdo, I simply am not hungry til about 3 p.m. So I head to the library and work on tax accounting/article writing/facebooking/music videoing/job hunting. This is such an awkward part of my day. I don't have enough time to jump into a large assignment because I have to leave soon to babysit. However, it's too large of a chunk of time to waste. So I listen to music and prattle around on the miscellaneous agenda.
Oh and I hum. I can't help it. In the library, you are supposed to be absolutely silent. But I hate silence, so I hum. It's usually a melodyless tune, one with no rhythm or climax. I probably annoy others around me. In fact, I know I do. But they sometimes annoy me with their glares and pointy looks. So I figure we are even. Sorry fellow studier- I mean no harm-I just need my humming. Kinda how a kid needs to suck their thumb.
2:50 p.m. ~ Chaperoning. I don't really babysit because the kids really don't need to be watched. This is awkward because when I tell people I chaperone, I think they think of me with a fancy sailor hat sitting in front in a suit saying "Where to, miss?" If I say babysitting, the kids grimace because they are "all grown up."
They do however need someone with a driver's license and that's where I come in. I pick four girls up from two school, drive them to their houses, watch Full House for an hour while they change into their ballet clothes and eat a snack, and then make the drive into Canyon Country. Not very exciting, but it gives me $100 per week for spending money.
My job does allow me to view the world of junior highers. They are full of "OMG!! He totally sat next to me in history today. He was like, 'are you going to text me?' and I was like 'uh no, I don't want to' and he was like ' well then I will just wait until you do' and I was like ' that is sooo sweet!!' I totally hope he asks me out!" If you think that was just an exaggerated teen conversation, let me assure you I heard it come from the three giggling girls in my back seat. Every day I thank the Lord Almighty that I am no longer in junior high.
5:30 p.m. ~ The girls are safe at ballet and my eyelids are getting heavy. I haven't eaten and I am getting hungry. I drive back to school, eat dinner in about 10 minutes and head back to the library. I will then stay in the library until midnight doing research, writing, figuring out the 8 billion tax exemptions that the government uses to keep people like me from ever becoming a tax professional.
I do on occasion sneak in a couple of youtubes, hulus, groovesharks and googletalks. My friends definitely help me get through the day.
Midnight~ Drive back home. Tik Tok comes back on the radio. I groan...until "TIK TOK ON THE CLOCK, DON'T STOP...." comes on and I have to sing along at the top of my lungs. The end to my day is very similar to the start of my day. This is my circle of life.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Verbitizing Facebook/Twitter
What they should actually be teaching in school - how to write a facebook/twitter status, how to text with 100% accuracy under your desk where your teacher can't see your frivolous actions, how to google words you don't know how to spell- like Onomatopoeia (man, I LOVE that word!). These are the big concerns of the student body.
I think we need to add classes like "Facebook 122 - How to create a fan page" or "Twitter 204- How much is too much when it comes to tweets." "Youtube 422, how to find the funniest hamster dance video."
Another thing, I have no idea how to "verbize" what I am doing on Facebook/Twitter. Am I tweeting, twittering, updating twitter, twitterpating (bambi reference) , twixing...WHAT AM I DOING?!?!
Facebook, once just a noun, "Hey, look! I am on Facebook!" Has now become a verb of some sort "I am Facebooking!!" Really, am I "Facebooking"? Does that mean I am in the act of performing daily time-wasting functions on a social site that sucks the life out of billions of people world-wide? Is Facebooking really the only word that we could come up with as a society to describe what we do with every second of our free time? Did I just "facebooked?", or did you just get "facebooked?" Where are the grammar rules for my social networking lifestyle?
You know that famous excuse used by students, "I'll never use this in real life!!" Boy was I wrong when I said that about most of my assignments. "Alegebra, psssshhh, no one uses that anymore!!!" Or... "Computer science, dude that's just a fad, just wait five years!" If we added facebook/twitter/youtube class, students wouldn't have these excusees anymore, and I would get to learn how to verbitize all of my social networking activities.
I think we need to add classes like "Facebook 122 - How to create a fan page" or "Twitter 204- How much is too much when it comes to tweets." "Youtube 422, how to find the funniest hamster dance video."
Another thing, I have no idea how to "verbize" what I am doing on Facebook/Twitter. Am I tweeting, twittering, updating twitter, twitterpating (bambi reference) , twixing...WHAT AM I DOING?!?!
Facebook, once just a noun, "Hey, look! I am on Facebook!" Has now become a verb of some sort "I am Facebooking!!" Really, am I "Facebooking"? Does that mean I am in the act of performing daily time-wasting functions on a social site that sucks the life out of billions of people world-wide? Is Facebooking really the only word that we could come up with as a society to describe what we do with every second of our free time? Did I just "facebooked?", or did you just get "facebooked?" Where are the grammar rules for my social networking lifestyle?
You know that famous excuse used by students, "I'll never use this in real life!!" Boy was I wrong when I said that about most of my assignments. "Alegebra, psssshhh, no one uses that anymore!!!" Or... "Computer science, dude that's just a fad, just wait five years!" If we added facebook/twitter/youtube class, students wouldn't have these excusees anymore, and I would get to learn how to verbitize all of my social networking activities.
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