Good news, everyone!

celebrating with expletives

I got a 2:2, which is what I expected (when I was stable enough to not be expecting failure, the disapproval of my friends and loved ones, and being put down for my own good). My mum was so excited! And my dad told me that he's been published, which is SO fantastic. My dad's pretty much the best.

Ben got the First that he SO deserves, not to mention a bajillion exciting authorial opportunities. That boy's going places, I'm telling you. B. John Shaw Liddle, keep an eye out.

Also, gay marriage is now legal in New York! Seems to be a good day all round, really. I hope you've got something to celebrate, wherever you are.

I went to a fancy dress party last night, actually wearing a fancy dress for once. It was SO fancy. I haven't uploaded the photos yet, but here is an artist's impression:

Much love to the incredible @irkafirka for that picture! Trying to remember which children's illustrator this reminds me of. It's a bit Horrible Historyish, but I don't think that's it... answers on a postcard please. Anyway, yes, I'll upload photos at some point. I've been taking a lot more lately, which is a lot of fun! They're all going up on my Flickr account, as usual, but here's a couple of recent ones I like:

Back to school

Well, what a week... on Tuesday, I had my first 'proper' job interview. I'd been saying for a few days that I felt really confident about it it, but as I took the 15-minute train journey to Penarth, I got increasingly jittery. The truth is, I had no idea what to expect. My good friend Tony had given me a few tips, told me what questions to ask etc -and I was racking my brain trying to remember them.
I arrived about an hour early, taking punctuality to new and unnecessary levels. Just as well I did, really, as I got lost. I managed to arrive a reasonable ten minutes early, filled out a form, talked to some people, and then was led into a side-room where I would either be murdered or interviewed. As soon as it became apparent that it was the latter, I relaxed, and answered every question confidently and with a smile on my face. They'll let me know in two weeks, and I'm quietly confident. Can you still be 'quietly confident' if you're telling everyone that you think you got it? Let's say yes.
The next day, I went back to university for the first time in almost a year. The second I got talking to a couple of lads outside my class, I knew that this year would be interesting. The one with a ponytail had perfected the sleazy wink that has been used (tragically, quite successfully) on me in the past, and one with ginger dreadlocks and a massive coat seemed like a generally lovely chap. The class itself was more or less what I expected, but I'll be honest, I was more interested in Mat and Ben, for those are their names. They made me laugh, they were friendly, and I ended up spending the day with them.
Mat was handing out CVs in town, and ended up getting an interview while Ben and I talked on the steps outside. It was fascinating to speak to someone with such a different philosophy to myself, who nevertheless seemed very much on my wavelength. I went back to Ben's and watched half of Dark City before I had to go.
Today was a much quieter one, but I'm delighted to say that I have made a personal breakthrough! Ohyes! It's a matter of record that I have never, ever managed to draw a man that doesn't look horribly deformed or like a serial rapist. Often both. But today, I drew this chap:


... and I'm really quite pleased with him.

Achievement Unlocked

Ladies n' gents, I've done a guest comic at Interesting Times! Check it out!

Stream of consciousness

I tell you what, you know you're a creative type when you almost wish you could get your heart broken just for the kickass poetry / music / art you'd get out of it.

It's been a long time since I seriously put out creative content regularly. I don't count these blog posts because, if I'm brutally honest, I put less effort into these than I would a poem or a picture. I guess that's one of the drawbacks of finding writing easy; it makes you lazy.

The past couple of nights, I've been staying up far later than I should wishing that somebody in particular was online. Somebody I've never met, and have nothing to say to. A sure sign of mental illness! He's... I guess, a blogger, and before that he was a youtuber, and I get the chance to chat with him every now and then about how things are going. I find him very exasperating, for reasons I won't go into here, and I have no idea why I suddenly feel like I need to hear from him.

Also, sheesh, how many times can you put "I" into a paragraph.

I used to have youtube vids up myself, actually. Only three or four. I found them today, having not watched them for a couple of years I guess, and it was really interesting to get a fresh look at myself. I could see how eager I was to please, to seem confident and interesting and fun. How much I wanted to look pretty and unique. It's interesting how deep-seated the need for approval is in some people. Aww, I told myself I wasn't going to do this, but: name-drop ahead: I was talking to Robert Webb on Twitter, and he seemed very aware of the fact that he seeks approval from everybody. He said it was the performer character-type, and I think I understand.

So here I am again, up at 3:22am, thinking too much about the wrong things instead of sleeping. I've got church in the morning and everything.

Secret places

I had a pretty good childhood. My family got on okay, and I lived on an island with fields and beaches and forests... life treated me well. But there was something missing from my youth, something that I've always longed for - I knew, as so many children do, that there are supposed to be secret rooms.

I'm sure you know what I mean. We've all read the books, haven't we? The ones where a tapestry conceals a hallway, or moss hides a door. Narnia's wardrobe, Harry Potter's platform 9¾... fiction is littered with secret doorways to unusual places.

It even happens in real life - there's Anne Frank's bookshelf; Queen Victoria's wardrobe in Osbourne House that leads into other rooms. I remember going into her room on a school trip as a child and being amazed that the Queen of England would employ such subterfuge. If I was queen, I would do the same.

Why have I never had a secret room?!

It's what I longed for when I shared my room with two other sisters, and it's still the most common dream I have. I dream of being somewhere familiar - my home, my church, my school - and finding unexpected passages, or a gap in a fence, or a big wall hanging beyond which lies a secret space that nobody knows about but me. I can't count the number of times I've had this dream. It used to be flying, but now I dream - sometimes as often as five times a week - of these secret places.

Perhaps that explains my love of exploring.

It certainly explains my love of Ben "Yatzhee" Croshaw's games; I've only played one so far, but secret rooms feature heavily. OH MY GOSH SEAMLESS LINK! Maybe some of you have seen his amazing game reviews (I don't care about gaming, but watch his reviews obsessively), but I want to recommend his own games. They're honest-to-goodness, point-and-click, pixel-art masterpieces. You can find them linked at the top of his site. (Where it says The Best Stuff.) The links will go, as ever, on the left.

Also, just for fun, I made a picture of myself in the style of Jeph Jacques (artist and author of the epic Questionable Content). What do you think?

Things what I have drawed

I was always a bit of a prodigy at drawing. As far as I can remember, I was the first person in my class to realise that faces don't consist of two blue dots and a smiley red line. I recall making a rather less-than-spectacular attempt at perspective at the tender age of 7 (prompting my friend to ask me why the bath in the picture was in the ground), and I distinctly remember someone once asked me to draw a well for them.

So with all this evidence of my artistic genius, it might be hard to imagine that there are some areas in which I struggle. I know! Doesn't make sense, does it! Me, Anna, being less than amazing at something!

No, actually, I want to be serious here because it's a great source of frustration for me. I can't draw men.

Women I can draw; I have a lot of fun drawing women, and I can see definite improvement when I practise a lot; but when it comes to the unfairer sex (sorry?), I just can't seem to get it right.

I blame my 'drawing manga' book. I bought it a few years back out of curiosity, and found out that it's actually astonishingly fun to draw girls! They have curves, in places! But when it comes to the strong, sexy, roughly triangular torso of an adult male, I have no helpful book, and I can't trace photos of myself. Rendering me helpless. And hopeless.







See? Look! WHAT is that about! The moment I decide to draw a man, I lose 30 IQ points and develop the drawing ability of an injured chimp. It's most upsetting. It's been this way for years now. Every now and then I'll pick up a pencil or plug in my wacom tablet, and produce something that I want to delete straight away for fear it might infect all my other pictures with The Crap.

Interesting thing of the day: UK types, you might have heard that Robert Webb (aka 'him off Peep Show') won Comic Relief's celebrity dance competition. This is the video of his winning performance, and I'm sure you'll agree that... uh... something.

I don't know if you can watch that video in America or elsewhere. Not that that matters, as you probably don't know who Robert Webb is. Or you might, I guess. I'm rambling.

REMINDER: Please vote me up again! The competition's hotting up!

EDIT: I'd also like to recommend ablog to you all: GavD's Wrestles with Life. He's a fantastic writer, and his latest post about the causes of ridicularity poses some interesting points.

We need a better idea

They're just a normal part of city living. We're used to seeing them flapping about in the streets, used to trying to avoid getting poked in the eye by one. We don't even blink when we see their mangled, pathetic remains lying in the road.

I am talking, of course, about umbrellas.

Don't get me wrong, I accept that they were a genius invention back in 1852, but this is the year 2009! We're living in the future now! Surely we can come up with something better than these wire contraptions that insist on turning inside-out at the slightest provocation?

This is what I was thinking about as I struggled home in the rain today. Well, technically I was thinking AWGH STOP TURNING INSIDE OUT, I SWEAR UMBRELLA, I WILL LEAVE YOU IN A TREE! but the basic sentiment is the same. Have we really got no better suggestions? At the very least someone should make an umbrella skirt, I think it's fairly obvious that they never keep you dry below the waist. Anyway. The sooner somebody makes a rainproof forcefield, the better.

Interesting thing for today: crayon art. I love unusual art forms, and this definitely qualifies! As always, the link will go up on the left.

(Also, quick reminder to
vote me up if you haven't already. Or even if you have. I'm not picky.)

Oh! Oh and another interesting thing: Pink dolphin found in the US. I'm no huge fan of pink, but on a dolphin, that's pretty freakin' rad.

Artitude

I've had a wonderful week. DanX's birthday celebrations were a resounding success, because I got to listen to people playing guitar and harmonica and singing. You have no idea how much I enjoy that. It was making me super nostalgic, and I don't think I shut up about Open Mic Nights for ages!

I've been making a playlist of songs from the OMN back home in Cowes; if anyone's interested and has Spotify, the links below will take you to it.
http://open.spotify.com/user/thiefree/playlist/5so5BVD4uX3HgsvjqhzwCh
spotify:user:thiefree:playlist:5so5BVD4uX3HgsvjqhzwCh
(I'm never sure which one you need.)

I've been having a lot of fun with my beloved wacom tablet! Here, check out my artitude:

I traced it from a pic someone sent me, and I'm pretty pleased with the result!

Well. It's raining, and i feel terrible that I've essentially done nothing for the past two days, so I'm going to shut down the laptop and... do... something. Maybe wander around my room in ever-decreasing circles.

Interesting thing of the day: A two for one today. Firstly, I Hate Jake: a grown man reads out a childhood diary entry. I've kept a diary for a long time, maybe I'll do this some day.

Secondly, Wonderwall... as composed by Microsoft Singstar.

This youtube account has loads of Singstar-butchered classics, well worth checking out to remind yourself what actual musical talent sounds like (i.e. not like this).

Thankful

In light of the extreme negativity of my last post, I thought I'd make a point of telling everyone what I'm grateful for.

My home



My friends


My family



How utterly gorgeous the world can be



Art and creativity!



My boy.

There are plenty of other things to be thankful for this Christmas, but these are a few of my favourites. They are precious and wonderful to me.

"I'm so useless", a rant.

I don't try things properly because I'm scared of failing. I've tried to learn so many instruments over the years, but I give up before I can have the chance to fail or succeed. I've never really worked hard to become good at anything.

Hmm, let's see. Over the years, I've tried to learn:
Guitar
Glockenspiel
Ocarina
Harmonica
Penny whistle
Magic tricks
Juggling
Poi
Piano
Fire staff
Painting
Drawing
Writing
Beatboxing

And the only ones I've achieved anything vaguely resembling success in are drawing and writing.

I'm basically not willing to put in the practise. I'm put to shame by the people who've got years of experience with their instrument, people who've got a real passion and commitment to something.

I'm not feeling very passionate and committed to much at the moment. Blargh. You caught me mid emo-moment, I do apologise.

Overthinking

So much paperwork, so little motivation. I'm just waiting for one thing, then I can get it all done. Hopefully.

Interesting thing of the day: spoof signs. Made me chuckle :)

Sometimes I say to people that if I were anyone else, I'd be jealous of me. I have a pretty awesome life. And occasionally I think about whether I might in fact be a bitter mid-40s businesswoman in the future who just paid people to invent the technology to write herself this childhood. And I'm just living that. And other times I wonder if maybe I think too much, and should just get on with it and stop being so introspective... meh. Such is life!

How are you, my beloved readership?

Reverse graffiti

What a day. Started out very well, with me actually managing to cheer someone up (gold star!), and swiftly degenerated into Issues in the afternoon. An old friend of mine got married this morning and very few people had any clue it was happening. Anyway!

Today's interesting thing: Reverse graffiti! Like writing 'clean me' on a dirty window, dust tagging is an awesome way of sending a message without a spray can. Here are some examples: car art and advertising. Yes it's graffiti, but is it vandalism? And how the heck do you prosecute someone for cleaning stuff?

My favourite reverse-graffiti story (nabbed from here):
"Brazilian Alexandre Orion turned one of Sao Paolo’s transport tunnels into a stunning mural last summer....

The authorities were certainly miffed but could find nothing to charge him with. They had no other recourse but to clean the tunnel — but only the parts Alexandre had already cleaned. The artist merely continued his campaign on the other side of traffic. The utterly flummoxed city officials then decided to take drastic action. Not only did they clean the entire tunnel but also every other tunnel in Sao Paulo."

Nice one X)