Lucy and John

I've been admiring Lucy's comic work for almost 6 years, and she gave me the chance to show my appreciation!

Lots of Animation Goodness lately

"SIMBA!"

Being on a much-needed vacation these past couple of weeks gave me the perfect amount of rest that I needed before starting my new job tomorrow (!!!), and these past two days, I finally got some time to really dig into my love for animation by catching up on some cool stuff:

1) The LEGO Movie: 

Man, when a film has the perfect mix of comedic timing and voice acting talent, only great things can happen. The fact that this movie wasn't stop-motion animated doesn't surprise me, because it would've taken 10 years to get all those facial expressions and action sequences perfect.  The story?  Beautifully and cleverly done.  In the end it's all about the LEGOs - how they are perceived as both child & adult toys and how that becomes the center of the conflict.  The child sees the Business Man as the villain because he wants the LEGOs to not have imagination and keep things "glued" to order... wheareas the child just wants to have fun and build things without any conformity of what LEGOs should be built as.  It's a really cool concept for a story that really made me nostalgic.  That song "Everything is Awesome!" is still stuck in my head. 9/10

2) LEGEND of KORRA, Book 3

I finally got to my TiVo and watched the first 3 episodes, and man... the animation has definitely evolved!  The thing that concerns me, more than anything, is that Mike/Bryan are freely adapting their original Avatar universe in order to market the show for their 8-14year old target audience.  I can imagine someone from HigherUp said "look, I know the protagonists are older teens and need intense plot points, but can we please give the younger viewers stuff they'll enjoy?"  Cue the overwhelming amount of villains & action, funny side-commentary from Bolin/Bumi, and this new kid character named Kai.  -___-   I don't know.  All of a sudden airbenders pop up all over the place, and it becomes a semi-XMen situation of trying to find them and train them.  Didn't airbending deal with spirituality and peace?  The comic books implied that air acolytes were people dedicating their lives to learning the airbender cultures... so that eventually the bending would come back... but I guess, nope.  It just shows up again.  Ugh.  There are some things that I do like... such as Korra when she doesn't give a shit... and of course, ZUKO!  He's back and he has a fricken' DRAAAAGON!  So yeah, there are some thing that still keep me intrigued about the show.  Visually, it's just stunning - like a Miyazaki film in every episode! 7/10

3) How to Train your DRAGON 2

Oh boy... talk about an overwhelming amount of action.  I'm not disappointed, I was just expecting a good flow for a story sequel.  It's like people in the writing room discussed various ways they would continue Hiccup's journey and then decide, "hey let's just put everything in and see what works!"  Cue all the emotional turns and twists I had to endure to make any sense of this film's conflict.  So... Hiccup meets his mother, Valka (after 20 years thinking she's dead!!) and he has a wonderful time catching up and realizing they share the same bond for Dragon-Training.  But, there are villains who want to capture Dragons and train them specifically for an Army to Conquer Things.  Stoic reunites with Valka and their love rekindles.  Toothless becomes brainwashed by the evil Alpha Dragon that the villain controls, and kills Stoic.  Hiccup is devastated and turns Toothless away... but then changes his mind (???).  Together they defeat the Villain from conquering Berk.  Toothless becomes the Alpha Dragon, Hiccup the Chief of Berk.  Everyone's happy.  The End.  -_____-  So many questions, so many emotional turns, and way waaaay too many action sequences.  I do like how the other characters somewhat kept their personalities, but they were definitely not shown enough.  I could've gone for a much smoother story like Hiccup meeting his Mom, bringing that conflict of "should I travel the world with Mom?  or stay in Berk and be Chief?" into Hiccup's mind.  I liked Valka, but part of me wished she stayed as that adventurous woman among dragons rather than just coming back to Berk.  I dunno - I ask for too much!  Good news is there'll be another sequel, but I'm sure gonna miss Stoic.  6/10.

Legend of Korra is back in a WEEK!

Book 3 is almost here!  Too bad I will be out of the country when it premieres (and I feel like they just rushed into the marketing and execution of this season, but whatevs) but I'm still really excited to see what Mike & Bryan have set up for Korra and the Gang!  Nickelodeon released the above epic Book 3 Trailer!

My Reactions:

1) Combustion Man has a PEOPLE!!!??

2) So many villain-looking characters.  But who is the REAL villain?

3) OMFGSDISYFDJDGY ZUKO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4) Lava-Bending?  =S

5) Lots of crazy bending action scenes!  YESSSSH!!

I'll be putting my TiVO on schedule with much joy to watch everything I missed.

In other news, I GOT A JOB!!!  A real full-time, real salary and benefits, watch-out-world-because-I'm-a-BIG-Girl job!  It deals with student financial services at a university, doing a lot of coordination between education and outreach, which means I'm feeling a bit over my head about the entire position right now.  That's okay.  After months and months of just applying and waiting and interviewing and waiting some more... I got that phone call and realized that after 3 years of wanting to work at this university, I finally FINALLY got my foot in the door.

Of course, this means my artistic projects will have to be made slowly next year, but you know what?  I am on the brink of a career and I can finally be proud of a job title.  I can finally not feel broke or in debt, and I can save some money and start my 30s the right way.  I can still draw and write and get into animation, eventually opening another door, but honestly... it feels so good to start a career path.

Getting my Voice to be Heard

This was taken back in March during a voice-over workshop downtown!

Not since high school have I had the opportunity to test my vocal chops in a real recording studio, and I loved it.  I got to learn about the different types of mics and how a pop-shield and mic distance really makes a difference with voice quality.  I still have that semi-childhood-dream of voicing for animated characters, or even getting an audio-book deal where I can really let my natural pleasant speaking voice shine as a young 20/30-something making it as an adult yadda yadda.  It's fun!

In other news, I'm officially STUDENT LOAN DEBT-FREE!!!  ...til when?  Who knows.   It's such a tempting thing to not go back to school and deal with this stuff ever again, but I know myself.  I have that life-long passion and desire to learn, and right now, I want to go back to school for animation (again) and learn to do things that I've been intimidated to do for the longest time.  Stay tuned!

30 for 30 for 30

Today is April 30th, and my big goal of accomplishing 30 of my favorite things for 30 days to celebrate my 30th birthday, unfortunately, was missed by a few.

THE MONTH OF APRIL, 2014

1. Game of Thrones
2. See some Improv Comedy
3. Run Outside
4. Shakespearean Tragedies
5. Sushi!
6. Journaling
7. Broadway Musicals
8. Live Story-Telling
9. Baking for others
10. Yoga
11. Graphic Novels/Children's Books
12. Chicken Tikka Masala
13. Drawing
14. Florence & the Machine
15. Traveling
16. Karaoke
17. Salsa Dancing!
18. Stationery shops
19. Chocolate Chip Cookies.
20. Writing Letters to Friends
21. the Goo Goo Dolls
22. Kitten-snuggling
23. Meryl Streep
24. Swimming
25. Grimms' Fairy Tales
26. Coffee Shops
27. Learning to say "Hello" in new languages.
28. Voice Acting
29. General Life Coaching/Counseling
30. Animated Films

I will admit, this month was a terribly busy one, and I even caught a stomach bug smack in the middle of it while travelling to my dream destination of Portland, Oregon with my sisters and best friend... but in the end the real accomplishment is that I turned 30.  The day was beautiful and sunny, I got to run outside along the Lake in shorts after 6 months of dreary winter, and I spent quality time with my family and some of my closest city people.  

There is a lot about me that I am proud of having as a 30 year old woman, but I still believe that I have a lot of growing up to do - particularly in understanding how to be a leader and how to present myself as a strong, confident, ambitious, professional woman now that I have absolutely no excuse to look lost.  I can't just let myself be the "new girl" with everything that I do, as much as it is comfortable to stay that way: starting new jobs but not a career, making friends with the new people who come as revolving doors, and then just having all these hobbies but not making them valuable assets to my being.

According to a radio poll I had heard a while back, women see themselves as their most beautiful at the age of 30, so I'm making it a point to do what I want this year and not stall on my ambitions any longer.

I miss drawing.  I hate the fact that I didn't have anything NEW to post as an illustration with this post.  I hate that while I feel I have been working so much, I haven't found the time to really draw and put my skills out there in conventions/art shows as I did last year.  It's going to be a tough set of months now that my day job might change this summer and travel plans are in the works, and I'll be applying for a graduate program in animation to bring myself back in the grind after 3 years of regret.  I need to keep my drawing abilities fresh for any project - a graphic novel, an illustration portfolio, animation concept art - so I can find a great foot in the door to that industry.

I'm 30, and God knows I need a push right now.