Back to Basics

Lately I’ve been carrying around a drawing pad and my pens/pencils in efforts to encourage myself to draw a little more. Once I started creating artwork on the computer, my drawing pads started collecting dust. Here are just a couple of ‘doodles’ I’ve done recently. Nothing fancy. I’ve never been able to do portraits, so most of my drawings are still life or something ‘cartoon-y’/anime like. I hope to post more artwork in the future. Maybe I’ll even start painting again!

Photoshop Skillz

I checked out a pretty cool site the other day: worth1000
Lots of other designers may know about this site already as it has been around for some time. It features tons of Photoshopped images from just about every subject matter. The ones I found to be pretty interesting were Photoshopped images of celebrities infused in artistic masterpieces from such ‘old masters’ as Ingres, Holbain, and Rembrandt. Some of them are pretty good. Mind you, these are not photographs. They all have painterly qualities. These artists have some major Photoshop skills.

Crabby Weekend

I finally had some blue crabs this weekend! You can not be a true "Marylander" if you don't like crabs. Although, these days, it's hard to find true "Maryland" blue crabs as the population is very low, and there are loads of restrictions on catching them. However - I was still happy to eat my dozen (even though my hands are all cut up from picking at the meat). Crabs are definately one of my favorite summer foods. As Rachel Ray would say: YUMM-O!

What a Croc!

Aaron and I recently booked a trip to Hawaii! And, even though it's a few months away, I've started buying some cute summery stuff for the trip. The one thing that I absolutely needed were 'swim shoes', because the coral in Hawaii can really cut up your feet. Evidently, they do not make cute swim shoes for women...they're big, ugly, hot pink things. So I opted to buy a pair of crocs. They stay on in the water, and are great for swimming. Surprisingly, not all crocs are hideous.

My Beautiful Mind

My close friends and family members know that I have OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) tendencies. I’ve never actually been diagnosed, but I took a test once where I had to select how many OCD-like tendencies I had out of a list of 30 symptoms. I selected nearly 15 out of the 30. It’s so sad. I don’t think it disrupts my daily life, as I don’t wash my hands repeatedly, or toggle light switches over and over again. I simply have issues with organization and cleanliness. Here’s a list of a few OCD tendencies that I probably perform daily. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with them. In fact, these things keep me organized and sane.

1. The bed MUST be made every morning. If the sheets are disheveled when I go to bed at night, I have to first, make the bed, and then get in. I can not sleep in a messy bed.
2. When I ride the metro each day, I carry a large tissue in hand. The tissue is to hold the poles on the train. There are countless germs you can get from touching that thing. I swear I stay healthier by holding poles, door knobs, etc. with tissues vs. my bare hand.
3. I make lists. Lots of lists. I carry a list with things that I have to do weekly. My lists are color-coordinated depending on the importance of the task I have to complete. I have a weekly to do list, and a weekend to do list. I also have a list of things I need to do each year. Some of my lists have reminders to look at other lists at certain points in the year. Don’t look at me that way! I’m not crazy….I swear.
4. All of the picture frames in our house HAVE TO be black with white matting. It’s only right.
5. After I shower, I have to immediately lotion my face with my clean hands. If I touch anything else but the lotion first, my hands could get dirty and then transfer dirt to my face. No one likes pimples, right?
6. All pants, shoes and shirts have to go on with the left leg, foot or arm first. Hey…I AM left handed after all!
7. If you ever notice, I rarely touch/hug/kiss babies or toddlers. Most of them are Petri dishes of vile germs. I can actually see the germs crawling on their little hands and face. However, my niece and nephew are not contaminated. They have my seal of approval.

Presenting...Duchess Ashlene Von Bark Bark

Yes, that actually is the official name of our puppy - but we call her "Ash" for short. After years of begging on my husband's part, I finally gave in to having a puppy. I can't say that I've totally fallen in love with her yet, but she's growing on me. I never grew up with dogs, so I don't really feel the 'NEED' to have them. I'm still getting used to our old life with a new addition. And, I had to get used to the allergic reaction that I get from her fur (itchy, red hives!). I think I may have that under control for now.

For the most part, Aaron does all of the cleaning, training, disciplining, feeding, etc. I simply pet her occassionally. I actually walked her the other day! I was quite proud of myself. I have to admit, that she is cute. You want pet and cuddle her, but she's so wild right now, all she wants to do is bite and jump! It must be a puppy thing, since we're told she's going to lose her teeth around 4 or 5 months old. We hope after that happens, Ash will calm down a bit and be easier to train. At least she's getting the hang of crate training. She doesn't really do her business in the house anymore - which is nice.

Ben Affleck's Large Noggin

What's up with Ben Affleck's head? I saw this photo on People Magazine online. Is his head really that big?! It almost looks Photoshoped into the photo.

Busy Weekend

This past weekend was so packed - I still haven't fully recovered! I had a graduation party, a baby shower, not to mention my usual countless number of random errands (i.e., Home Depot, Staples, etc.).

One highlight though, was the Alicia Keys concert on Sunday at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore. Unlike most venues in Baltimore, 1st Mariner was actually pretty easy to find (Baltimore is a traffic abyss if you don't know where you're going...). The best part about the concert was - it was free! My cousin got tickets and treated me and my mom to the show. Alicia was great, but out of all the concerts I've been to, hands-down, Mariah Carey and the Spice Girls were by far the best (Zigga Zigga!). Here's a couple of photos from the show.

Welcome to my Blog!

The world must be ending, because I too have a blog. Oddly enough, this isn't my first one. As an assignment in college, one of my professors insisted that we all keep blogs. I thought it was a silly idea to write your thoughts online for all to see. I never would have thought 'blogging' would be so popular. Only if I thought to create an official blog template site back then...I could have been swimming in money!

My blog will feature some tips and findings related to my field of graphic design, as well as just random thoughts from my daily life. Keep in mind that I'm not a writer/editor, so I apologize in advance for bad spelling and grammar.

I hope you enjoy!