Monday, October 30, 2006

Tomorrow night, he sets me free.
I've been waiting a year for this.
A night to meet who I wish to meet..
...to eat who I wish to eat.

Boys and girls, your darling psycho has returned.

I'll bring you a smile even for just awhile.

So come with me and bare your teeth
Show me the joys you have within
If you don't I'll carve one into your face
So smile, my dear, with Mr. Grinn




Tell me, my dears, what do you all have planned to celebrate this years eve? Disappoint me not, boys and girls. All I can say for myself is that I'll have a night full of tales to tell. Until then...

Smile for me.

- Grinn -
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Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Don't worry. You're at the right place.
The thirteenth is coming up. Something wicked should happen.

The thirty-first is coming up as well. I'm rather thrilled for this years eve.

These past dozen nights and days have been good to me. I'm smiling. Constantly. I do have stories to share but I'm quite occupied with other business. I am doing well though. That's all you really need to know, right?

Well... There's also band news, girl news, midnight adventures by the cliffs news, drinking news, school news and of course the mindless babble I so dearly love throwing in here and there....

...but you don't wanna hear me drone on about alllll that now, do you?






Cheers.

- enin -
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Sunday, October 8, 2006

C'mon... Let it consume me...
I'm so fuckin' busy yet I'm so fuckin' lovin' it.

I love you all too.

Ah... I couldn't be happier...




Cheers.

- enin -
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Monday, October 2, 2006

Wheeeee! First day dancing fun!
I'm goin' to schooooool today! I'm goin' to schoooo-oool! I'm goin' to schooooool today! I'm goin' to schoooo-oool! I'm goin' to schooooool today! I'm goin' to schoooo-oool! I'm goin' to schooooool today! I'm goin' to schoooo-oool! I'm goin' to schooooool today! I'm goin' to schoooo-oool! I'm goin' to schooooool today! I'm goin' to schoooo-oool! I'm goin' to schooooool today! I'm goin' to schoooo-oool!



*inhales*




I'm goin' to schooooool today! I'm goin' to schoooo-oool! I'm goin' to schooooool today! I'm goin' to schoooo-oool! I'm goin' to schooooool today! I'm goin' to schoooo-oool! I'm goin' to schooooool today! I'm goin' to schoooo-oool! I'm goin' to schooooool today! I'm goin' to schoooo-oool!




Eheheh.

Cheers.

- enin -



P.S. Fanart is up. Go and have a look if you're interested. And by the way... I'm goin' to schooooool today! I'm goin' to schoooo-ooooooooooooool!
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Thursday, September 28, 2006

Sleeping madness
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.... Only a few more days to go!



You're all probably sick and tired of me saying this but I am so totally stoked about goin' to school. If school were a girl, I'd hug and her pinch her bum. Yeah.. THAT excited.

October 2nd is when I start. Hooray for first day of classes! I'll be attending the second part to my orientation this Saturday at the institute. The first part of my orientation was all the info and crap. This part is more focused on teambuilding, ice-breakers and socializing with the people you'll be with for the next year and a half.

Hopefully, I don't turn shy with these people. But they're pretty people. I can't handle pretty people! Eh, I think I'll do fine. Wish me luck anyway.


So since my life as the household crazy will be ending soon, I've been living it up lazy-styles at home and elsewhere for the past while.

My mom said it best after a funny moment in my room. I was talking to myself for some reason and using different voices and accents. My mom knocked on my door and asked who was in my room with me. I nearly died from laughing. She walked in with a confused and worried look on her face. "Honestly, Josh. You CAN'T be twenty! There's gotta be some sort of witchcraft behind you.."

I certainly don't FEEL twenty, that's for sure. So what if I ride cardboard boxes down the stairs, or play with Star Wars Lego, or eat ice cream before AND after breakfast, or put on Batman bandaids just for kicks.

*laughs* I love what I do.



I was recently replaying Suikoden IV and after a short chat with Jason (A.K.A. Yamchaa) and some motivation from a dream I had about going to a mall where there was a pencil festival, I decided to finally do another piece of fanart.

Akaghi & Mizuki are the two subjects of my new piece. The link directs you to official game art which I based my fanart off of. I'm not THAT good. I don't know if my submissions went through yet but they'll be in my portfolio soon. Their story is simple. Close relationship yet too shy to admit their crushes for each other. Anyway, I hope you all like it (when it's up).


Most of you already know I'm a tea fanatic. But I also enjoy coffee and other coffee related by-products as well. Recently, I've been drinking a cup of coffee just before I go to sleep. I got the idea from the film "Coffee and Cigarettes". Obviously, I'm not using it to stay awake. What happens when I have a cup of java before bed honestly blows my mind. Literally. It's said that drinking coffee before bedtime adds a rush to your dreams. They'll zip by one after the other.

In most cases you have more than one dream but even with just one, it's one helluva trip. I was skeptical before trying it but once I was asleep, it was REM chaos. In my dreams, I met people I haven't seen in a long time, visited places from long ago and done stuff I only faintly remember doing. And that's just the beginning. Not only did it jolt my memories of days past, it stimulated the fuck out of my imagination. I was seriously tripping out. Everything was so... so... insane. There's something in caffeine that just blends my mind into a rainbow of unreal stew.

Try it if you like. It may not affect you like it did to me but it's worth a shot if you're into experimenting.


I'm gonna have a cup now actually. Ta-ta!



(Damn... I haven't said anything about my Expo weekend yet, have I?)



Cheers.

- enin -

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Monday, September 25, 2006

Mmm.. Cheese fries...
It's her birthday. Go wish her an awesome one.

I couldn't think f anything extravagant to give her today. You should check out the wishes everyone else is giving. My words won't do such a gal justice. I sent her something dorky anyway.

+ Happy Birthday, Shantato. +

Cheers.

Your singing cowboy,

- Joshie-poo -
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Friday, September 22, 2006

I'm on my way.
Alright. I'll quit messing around now. Wanna hear the news now? Alright..


Well, I've left the clue in place. It's underneath my intro and above my music player. It wasn't much of a clue, I admit. But it's there and yeah, I'm lame.

So no, I'm not in love. I kinda am but it's not anyone in particular. I haven't joined another band, or found another sweet job, or am I traveling to a far away place to just escape this world for awhile. Nope. None of those wonderful things. What I've got now is so much better.


I'm going back to schoooooooooool!


Okay, I know it's not as grand as you thought my news would be. But to me, this is one of the best things that could ever happen to me. I'm overflowing with a joy that is rare in my life.

So I mentioned that many of you may or may not have wondered about a certain something about me at least once in the time you've known me. I assumed the certain something would be related to school/careers. I'm sure someone out there has wondered what I'm doing with my life. I mean, I do have a temporary ongoing receptionist job that pays just enough to buy me lunch every once in a while. And I did have that awesome job with my teacher's media company. But that's over.

Since finishing high school, I've been working. While doing so, I've also been trying to make up my mind about life. I honestly had no direction. There were plenty of opportunities opened up for me but I had no confidence in myself. I didn't know if I wanted to do any one of those options for the rest of my life. Even if I did, I had no faith in myself and I felt I wouldn't make it.

I was also afraid of taking something just for the sake of taking it. A lot of people I know change their minds about what they're doing 1 or 2 years after beginning. I don't want to do that. Not only is it a waste of tuition, it's also a waste of time. Honestly, taking this long to finally set myself a path was bad enough. Sure, I'm a bit useless but I value my time just as much as anyone else.


So all this time, I was wondering what I wanted to do. I almost went into teaching. I almost went into culinary arts. Both were quite appealing to me but a part of me didn't "feel" it. Here's the part where my former media job comes in.

As most of you already should know, I did graphic design work for them (among other jobs) for about 5 to 6 months. I truly enjoyed my job there. My employers were awesome. Those I worked with were few but awesome as well. We were a tight group of people. Not only was the environment good, the work was just as great. I loved what I did. As a graphic designer, it was my job to capture your attention by making things look good. My work was hands-on, fun, creative, and totally enjoyable. It made me feel good.

*lightbulb*

This is what I wanted to do. Computers + Art + Creativity . I want this. I need this.

*laughs* So I guess this is the "love" part.

My boss (the female one, not my teacher) introduced me to a school called The Art Institute. Obviously, she gave me information about The Art Institute of Toronto (because it's where I live.. Derr..). Basically she told me they were straight forward. They teach you what you need to know and ensure you a career. More on the school details later.

Nothing appealed to me more than an education that cut through the bullshit and gave me the essentials. So I was very much interested. After unexpectedly "leaving" my job, I still had the school in mind. I figured, I'll apply for the fall and just enjoy the summer. So that's what I did.

At the end of summer, I requested updated info online. I soon received a call asking me to come in for an interview and tour. When I visited the school, I was greeted by a friendly lady named Kristy. I went into her office and she asked me a bunch of questions about why I'm interested, what I wanna do, and so on. I answered honestly and she seemed very excited about every word I said. She then told me I'm just what they're looking for in a student. Two days later, I'm accepted (though Kristy said I was accepted the second I answered her questions).

So here are the details:

I'll be taking the Graphic Design course. It's an 18 month course broken up into 6 quarters. Each quarter is 11 weeks of intensive education with a 1 or 3 week break in between. 3 weeks for winter and summer vacation and 1 week for the other breaks. Makes sense so far, yeah? Alright. Let's move on.

I have five classes a week, four hours each. I recently received my final schedule for my first quarter so I'll be there from 8am-12pm and 1pm-5pm on Mondays (two classes) and 8am-12pm for Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

School begins on October 2nd. My first 5 classes are Design Fundamentals, Observational Drawing, Colour Theory, Typography Traditional and Digital Illustration (Adobe Illustrator class).

The classes to follow (in no particular order) are:
Layout Design, Design History, Image Manipulation, Digital Grid Systems, Concept Design, Illustration/Rapid Visualization, Typography Hierarchy, Digital Layout, Digital Pre-Press, Portfolio Fundamentals, Basic Web Design, Typography Expressive/Experimental, Digital Photography for Designers, Web Page Scripting, Print Production, Media Business Law, Corporate Identity, Web Site Development, Screen Design and Graphics, Advertising Design, Editorial Design, Design Marketing, Career Development, Graphic Design Studio, Digital Portfolio.

I highlighted the classes I'm most excited about because I really want to learn more because I know I'll benefit from it or I think it'll be fun. I'm not biased against the other classes. In fact, I'm looking forward to all of them.

Now I mustn't leave out the benefits of attending AIoT and not some other university. First and foremost, like I mentioned before, they're straightforward. The classes I'll be taking are nothing but essential to my career. No bullshit like minors in basket weaving or whatever. 'Nuff said.

Secondly, they're hellbent on making sure I've got a job after graduating. As in making a salary with bloody numbers in it. The Art Institute is directly connected with the industry so they've got more than enough connections to help me get started. They've got classes specifically for the creation of my portfolio. This is important to me because I never really gathered my collective work to begin with. They're going to make sure I've got something fuckin' awesome to show potential employers when they come around for the open house.

They even have workshops/classes for resumes and interviews, which I find extremely valuable these days because unless you're motivated enough to try this stuff on your own time, you'd never get the chance for it. *laughs* They've got mock interviews where you actually have to dress up and nice and talk to an "employer" while being videotaped. Then you review yourself to pick out the little ticks and such so you can work on them.

And most importantly, my environment will be quite similar to my former media job. It's a professional setting in a huge ass building with one floor full of classrooms and another full of computer labs (Mac AND PC.. SWEET!). The facilities are awesome but the people I'll be with are awesomer. Lucky for me, I'll be surrounded by artsy mother fuckers, just like back in high school art class. No jocks, no slutty shitwhores, no accountants or whatever. And the work is mostly hands-on. No endless hours of reading (though I still will read alot because the books are fascinating). Basically, I'll fit in like a square peg in a square hole. Easy easy.

My school is also located downtown. Close to the Eaton Center (a large mall/tourist attraction) AND Chinatown AND Queen Street (A wicked street). So after classes I can skip to the food courts, or check out a store, or be on Much Music or get some dim sum or pho. Location location location. Sooooo sweet.

I went to part one of the student orientation last Friday. I didn't need to buy my books and artkit that day because I picked it up a few days earlier with a friend (to help me bring them home. Heavy books and big kit, man..) During the week I enrolled, I frequently visited the school to hand in documents and ask questions so a few of the faculty and students knew my face already.

The orientation consisted of Graphic Designers and Interior Designers. There was another group of student coming in for orientation later on in the day for video game development or animation. I'm gonna meet them later. There was an even number of boys and girls in the room. After asking around and overhearing small talk, it became apparent that the girls were ID's and the guys were GD's (with a few exceptions here and there). It was a nice group too. Very attractive people. Each one in their own way. I liked them. And I should like 'em because they're gonna be my classmates for the next 18 months.

There was this one guy who seemed like a cocky dickfuck, but I won't let him get to me.

The orientation was a typical one. We watched a sweet video (created by students, of course) and had information about our future at the school dealt out to us. What kinda got to me was that they greeted us "Class of 2008". Fuckin' awesome. Everyone who spoke to us were awesome. There was a BIG guy who was the tech support dude. I forget the context of the joke but he said he was once a starving artist, looked at his belly then said "Well, I obviously didn't miss my meals... So nevermind.". Good laughs.

The girl sitting beside me (an Interior Design student) and I had a chat about tea! I thought that was cool. She said she doesn't like cold tea (as in Arizonas) because where she came from (I forget) they usually only drank hot tea. Anyway, it was a nice conversation.

We also took our student ID photo that day. They admitted it would probably be the worst photo you've ever taken because nobody is ever prepared. Thankfully, I fancied myself up for first impression sake so it worked out well. We're going to receive our cards and building passes later.

After the orientation, we were told of the second part of the orientation that is happening at the end of the month. It's more of a team-building/social to get to know your classmates and whatnot. It should be fun.

Oh.... There's a catch to attending an educational heaven. A big catch. A fuckin' blue whale catch. Biggest living thing catch.


The Tuition.

I'm gonna be blunt here. James Blunt.

$31,770.00


Yeah. It’s in Canadian funds so it makes sense. And since it will be 18 months of crazy education with all those orgasmic benefits and advantages, it's worth it.


So what if it's going to cost thirty grand? I'm excited. VERY excited. You have no idea how happy I am to be going back to school now. The next bit involves me getting a bit mushy so skip it if you want.

Okay. So going back to school may not sound exciting for most of you. Especially those of you who are already in school and whatnot. Some of you may try to warn me it's gonna be hectic and full of work, sleepless nights and stress coming out of the pores in your skin. You're right. It is gonna be hell. But I WANT that hell.

You see... I've been out of school for a loooong looong time. And some would think it wouldn't bother me but believe me, I felt distressed every fucking day. I had no direction in my life, I didn't know what I was doing. Everyday someone would have something to say about their day at school or work. Maybe it’s about the trip there or someone in their dorm or a funny story about a lecture or whatever. They had something to talk about. Whether they were sharing a moment they had that day or ranting their minds out, they made me feel left out. It crushed me. I felt like a useless loser. I never talked about graphic design or any creative about me much because I lacked confidence in myself. Yes. It's depressing but I couldn't help it. So for months and months on end, I constantly thought, ""What about me?".

Now, I'm going back. THAT'S why I'm so excited. I've gained a better feeling of purpose in life. Like, something to finally fill that void. Ahh, man, I'm so happy.

I've got one big workload ahead of me. A field full of challenges and projects. I'm finally going to suffer without sleep, work until my eyes bleed and my fingers crumble before me, stress until I collapse to the ground and curl up like a baby. Yup. I want this. Why? Because this is all a part of my development as a student, a graphic designer and most importantly, a person. I'm here to give it my all, to make mistakes, to learn and pretty much take a big step in life to continue fueling my passion to create.


I'm getting repetitive here but I'm really really excited. I'm so anxious to start. I've already started reading some of my books and have laid out a workspace in my room (though I'll be using the labs at school for most of the time). I went through my art kit a billion times to check if everything I need is there. I'm probably going to stock up on pencils and sketchbooks and everything else I'll probably being using often sometime soon.

Those I've told are quite excited about my return to school too. My parents and godfather are going to help me with funds because they've wanted me in school for quite awhile now. They're quite pleased to know I've finally made a decision. Mr. Vocalist is excited because I'm close to where he goes to school so we could meet for lunch and discuss artsy shit. Some friends of mine celebrated the news (along with my birthday) late last week by buying me spicy dinner and vodka. And everyone else I've told said they're either happy for me or jealous that I get to do something I'm passionate about and they're stuck doing what they're doing. It’s a bleedin’ ART SCHOOL. Specialty stuff like that doesn’t go to just anyone.*giddy laugh*


On a related note, I went to the bank with the parents to apply for a student loan. Yesterday it was confirmed that I've been approved and I signed a bunch of papers. Thank goodness. I was also approved for a MasterCard. Soooo I've go a credit card now too. Man, after every birthday, shit just starts happening for me. I didn't even want one but I'm getting one is 10 business days. Should be useful, eh?

On a non-related note, I'm going to climb the stairs of the CN tower for charity at the end of October. I need running shoes.






I guess that's it. I'll be sure to report when I've got anything else to tell you about. But yes, that's the big news. I'm happy. Sorry about dicking around earlier. It should be obvious that I won't be falling in love for a loooong loooong time. I'll shut up now. Thanks for listening.


Cheers.

- enin -




Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeheeeehahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Thursday, September 21, 2006

La dee da...
Oh dear.. It seems most of you missed a big clue.
PM me a guess, if you wish.
Cheers.

- enin -
You're all probably fed up by now, eh?
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Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Totally excited
*sigh*

Have you ever felt so excited or happy about something, you just get lost in your own little world, oblivious to what's going on around you?

Ahhhhhhhhhh.... I'll tell you about it soon.


Cheers.

- enin -

Stick around and listen to the song. Isn't it sweet? Raw sound, raw emotion. I love it.
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Monday, September 18, 2006

Excited?
I've got some really good news to tell you all. It's actually been something that I've been keeping to myself for the longest while but I just wanted to wait until the time was right.

Just to keep you on your toes, in the time you've all known me, I'm sure you've wondered or questioned something about me at least once or twice in your head. This news should answer it.


Sit tight, ladies and gentlemen. Until then...


Cheers.

- enin -


Any guesses?
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