Blade Runner

Last night mom, Greg and I decided to watch a movie. We didn't know what to watch so we started looking through our movie closet. My mom suggested Blade Runner, because she remember it being good, and it's one of Greg's favorite movies. In fact, he likes it so much that he bought it twice, and thus we have two copies. 

I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. I had heard it was dark and a little disturbing. But I hoped it wouldn't be to bad.

In the future, 2019, humans have created Replicants, which are basically fake humans. They looks just like us, act just like us, and have emotions like us. The only physical different one can see is in the pupil of the eye. These replicants are not allowed on earth, if they do come here though, the are hunted down and retired (killed). The people who do this are called blade runners. One of these blade runners, a man named Deckard must retire four replicants that hijacked a ship to earth.

It was a very good movie. So much that came after this film borrowed from it. It started a new era for film. It had good acting, visual effects that were extraordinary for the time, and a story that was completely new. It was dark, but not as bad as horror movies. In all it was a very good film. It leaves you with feelings that you didn't expect to feel in the beginning. When that happens, you know a movie is special.

One Year Old

Happy birthday! As of today, my blog is one year old! 

It has been so much fun having a blog! It's weird to imagine my life with out it. That might sound strange, but it's true. You get very attached to your blog, which might not be a good thing!

Anyways, I just wanted to thank everyone who takes their time to read my blog. I really appreciate it. It's nice the know that there are people out there reading what I have to say! so, thank you to all of you.

Brazil

Last night mom, Greg and I decided to watch the film Brazil. I love the films "Time Bandits"and "Baron Munchausen" which are by the same director, so I was looking forward to seeing more of his work. 

The film had many of the usual Terry Giliam things. A weird story, the actors Ian Holm and (my favorite) Michael Palin, a bit of Monty Python humor, and of course, a strange ending. It was surprising to me to see how young the main character (Jonathan Pryce) looked. In all it was a good film. Weird, but good. 

Brazil tells the story of Sam Lowry, a man stuck in a life that isn't quite what he wants. His dreams at night are of a night(himself) and a beautiful lady. When one fateful day he glimpses the real life version of the woman from his dreams, his word is shaken upside down. 

In all it was a wild movie. I recommend it if you are in a mood for something unusual. It was a little creepy at times, but not that bad. In all, it was a good, unique film.

The Taming of the Shrew

On Wednesday after camp, Ventana and I auditioned for the High School Repertory Play, the Taming of the Shrew. I was really really nervous, but I did well, and it turned out to be a lot of fun. On Saturday while I was staying with my grandparents, I got a call from Ventana saying she had received her part. She would be playing the widow and a hostess. I didn't know what to do. Since I wasn't be home, I wouldn't get the call. What should I do?
I decided I would call mom in San Diego and have her listen to the messages on the home phone. She called me back and informed me that yes, there was a call from the director saying I would be playing the part Viendello. At least, that's what I thought she said. I thanked my mom and dashed to a computer to look up my character. I stared at the list of characters, mine wasn't there. I asked my dad why that could be. "She must have said this one and you heard wrong." He pointed to a character called "Biondello." That was it! That was my character!
We had our first rehearsal on Monday after camp. It was very fun, but since it went until six, it got rather chilly.
I have a good part. He is a sassy servant, which is fun and challenging. Anyways, I'm very happy with the part I got and I'm looking forward to tomorrow, when we'll have another rehearsal!

New Hair

Last Friday, after camp My and I went to Ventana's. We ate homemade ice cream talked about camp. My wanted to make a movie, and while looking for costumes in V's closet, we found a bag full of her wigs. V and I used to get a new wig together every Halloween, it became a tradition. A new wig and then we'd make a movie with it. Each wig was better than the last. Of course, we had our favorites. For some reason, we stopped the wig-buying tradition and I forgot about our hairy friends.
We each grabbed a wig and stuffed it onto our heads. I chose the blond, curly one. My chose a red one, which didn't work on her, so she picked a pink curly one. V took the red one that My had discarded. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of her in it. In all, we were a strange bunch. We attempted to film a short film, but it didn't really work because we could decide on a story. It was fun none the less. We all looked really different, and I was surprised that I don't look that bad as a blond. Then again, I like my hair better!

Green Lips

Last Thursday, Mary and I went over to My's house. After talking, eating, and more talking, we decided it would be fun to dress up in fun outfits and do a photo-shoot. We radded My's closet and found things we liked, or that others liked for us. My chose a vintage flowery dress for me. Mary tried on pretty much everything in the closet before finding something she liked, and even then she was constantly changing it. My went through several dressed before settling on a wine-read beaded dress. Next we put on wild shades of lip stick and eye shadow, then we headed outside. It was very fun and we got lots of good pictures! We all had our own style, Mary was the hippie, My the London lady, and I was the fun, flowery, colorful girl.

Horsey Adventures

Last Wednesday mom and Greg set off for the San Diego Comic Con, leaving me to stay with Ventana. At Ventana's house I had no Internet so thus I was unable to put up a post a day. I'm sorry. I will begin putting things up starting today. If I had had the chance, I would have posted about all the fun I had with her. So much happened that I hardly know where to begin!

After camp on Wednesday, I went home with V (Ventana) . She needed to ride her horse, Quincy, so I accompanied her. I watched as she rode, then she offered to give me a "pony ride." I haven't ridden a horse in years, so I was a little nervous, but once I got on, I had a ball. V lead us up and down hills and we even got to trot a little! It was very very fun! That night we went out to dinner with her cousin. After we ordered, we waited for a free table. I noticed that one table looked as though it might be ready soon. A man sat at it reading a script. In surprise, I realized that the man was a character on Lost. He played a psychic on the show, his part was small, but big enough for me to recognize him. I didn't know what to do, so I just stared at him. I must have looked really weird for he kept looking over at me. He ended up leaving and we sat at his table.

Anyways, I got to ride Quincy another day and I had a great time staying with Ventana. I hope I can do it again sometime!

Drawing of the Day: Miles and Flora

I recently finished the book " Turn of the Screw" for school. I really enjoyed the book, although it was rather dense at some points. It had a neat story, and really intriguing characters. Turn of the Screw tells the story of a governess of a country house, plagued by supernatural visitors. I began my book report, but it wasn't going quite right so I decided to start on the title page. I decided to draw the two kids, Flora and Miles with the house in the background. They are supposed to be 8 and ten, but in the drawing they looked a lot older. I decided to re-do it, but I still liked the original drawing a lot. 

Drawing of the Day: Escher

Yet another drawing from school. I will do new drawings soon, I promise. Anyways, this one was hard in a different way than I'm used to. Shading the hands and making them pop, so to speak. Making them look 3 dimensional was a new challenge for me. Then transitioning back into the flat drawing that they pop from was even harder. In all, it was a very challenging piece. In fact, all of Escher's art is very hard. He was a brilliant, talented man. Now that I look at it, I think I like the lower hand better. It looks a little more realistic to me.

Photo of the Day: The Blue Air

I took this last summer, but I really like it and I think it is fitting as we're in summer! Last year after Theatricum one day, Ventana, Taylor and I went to swim at the "mermaid pool" which is by Ventana's house. It is a wonderful house and pool, very exotic looking. Anyways, I brought my dads underwater-camera along and we took a bunch of pictures underwater. This one turned out really really good in my opinion. Ventana and Taylor sat on the edge of the pool and leaned backwards into it. I went underwater and snapped the picture. I accidentally took it upside-down, but I think it looks better that way! It was very fun and I have a bunch of really great photos! 

Drawing of the Day: Horses

This is another drawing I did at school during my black and white drawing class. It was really really hard. I think I used up about five black pencils. It took a lot of work to get the darks as intense and strong as they turned out. Even though it took time, it turned out really good and I'm really happy with it.

Drawing of the Day: Elizabeth Bennet

I recently had a Jane Austen marathon with myself. I watched Pride and Prejudice, then Becoming Jane and then the audio commentary on Pride and Prejudice. I have more films to watch, but thats what I got to. While watching the commentary I started drawing Elizabeth Bennet(Keira Knightly). I did it in pencil, then went to do color, but I decided against it. For some reason it felt like it had to be in black and white. It was really fun, but also hard. I tried to make it look like the actress, yet my own style still was present. It feels a little more realistic to me though, which is a good thing. Anyways, it was very fun and the commentary was very very good. The director, Joe Wright, gave really good insight into the making of the film. It was a joy to watch and I will do it again soon.

I really like how the drawing turned out. It is soft, yet has a presence. It has emotion and feels like a real person. 

Drawing of the Day: The Queen of Diamonds

As I'm sure you know, I'm a huge Alice in Wonderland fan. I just love the story so much! There are so many unique things and characters, for example, the Queen of Hearts. Some time ago, I came up with three characters that related to Alice in Wonderland, but were uniquely my own. The were the royal family of Diamonds. The three of them, Queen, Princess, Prince. Where they are from (Wonderland) the title of Queen goes to the youngest child, instead of the oldest. I came up with a interesting story concerning the three siblings. They each had a power, one could grow roses with her mind, another could levitate objects and the last could see glimpses of the future. I drew them many times over the past years. There were versions where they were older, younger, in different clothes, or faceless. I was looking through an old sketchbook and I found one of these drawings. I made me want to draw this family again, so thats what I did. I present to you now, the family of Diamonds. 

A Lovely Day for a Picnic

Today My came over and we decided to have a picnic up at this park near my house. We made sandwiches, filled water bottles with juice and packed them into an old fashioned wicker suitcase along with apples and yummy pastries. Then we walked off to the park with our lunch and a blanket. We set everything up in the shade of an oak tree and started our feast. It was really good. We walked around the park, which is more like a hiking area. We took pictures and enjoyed the sun. After a while it got a little to hot for our taste so we headed home. In all, it was really fun and I can't wait to do it again! Next time though, we'll do it on a day that's not so hot, or we'll bring an ice chest with us.

Jane Eyre

Yesterday I decided I wanted to watch a good romantic film. I went into my movie drawer and pulled out a few of my favorites. I had Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Jane Eyre. I had never seen Jane Eyre before, I had heard about in school during our Novel block so I knew a little of the story. I decided to go with it, try something new. I began to watch, and at first, it wasn't my favorite, but as the story unfolded I found myself growing found and attached to the characters. Soon, I could pull my eyes away from the screen. I eat dinner, then rushed back to my room once more. At parts, I held my breath, hoping that it would work out, that she would be happy. The films tell the story of tells the story of a young woman who becomes a governess at the ward of a Mr. Rotchester, a dark brooding man. She soon discovers that her feelings towards him are more then just the friendship they have acquired. It was a very good film. It wasn't amazingly beautiful to watch, but the story made up for that. The acting was well done, the costumes were good and the story, was well, amazing. In all it was a wonderful film. I recommend it to anyone in the mood of a romantic film. It was extremely good. 

Drawing of the Day: Jane Eyre

I was given the movie Jane Eyre on my birthday by my grandma Marilyn. I never got around to watch it until, today, when I wanted to watch something new and romantic. I'm not going to go into how I liked the film, I'll save that for another post. I will say that while I was watching it I was inspired by her drawings and decided I wanted to draw a nice face myself. I would have done a self portrait, but that would have meant looking away from the screen at a mirror, so, I decided to draw her instead. Of course, it doesn't look exactly like her, but I think it will do. I guess it just feels rather like her. I like the way it turned out, it still had my style, but it felt a little more realistic as well. This drawing I suppose is all thanks to Marilyn Neuhart. If not for your gift, I would never have watched the amazing film, and thus I would have never been able to draw this portrait. This is my Jane Eyre. The girl who started out with so little, and ended up with so much.

Drawing of the Day: Napoleon

I've haven't been drawing much lately so I decided to put something older up today. I did this during school in my black and white drawing class. It is a copy of Napoleon by David. It's one of my favorite pieces of art. I saw it once and it was absolutely amazing. 

This drawing took me around four weeks; we had two, hour and a half classes a week. It is still a long period of time on one piece, especially for me. It was extremely hard. I couldn't erase the black pencil, so I had to make sure I did everything right the first time. I'm not used to drawing so big. Most of my work is in a little sketch book or on a regular piece of paper, this was on a paper two and a half times as big. I am really happy with the way it turned out. It was my favorite drawing I did in that class, and I did some nice ones. When I look at my Napoleon I feel accomplished and happy. I love it when I do something that is really really good. It is like the sun shone upon you for a few minutes. Just long enough to complete something special. 

A Lovely Day For a Photo-Shoot

A couple of weeks ago My and I went to spend the night at our friend Mary's house. She had a class at her school the next morning and we decided that during that time we would take a bunch of pictures on her campus. It would be like a little photo-shoot. She picked something for me to wear and I did the same for her. The campus of Campbell Hall is nice, it's not forest or very grassy, but it is still nice. It is very spread out and has lots of trees. If I didn't know it, I might think it was a bunch of apartment buildings. We walked with Mary to her class then set off on an adventure of our own. Since we had only been there once before we had to find good places to shoot. Places that were pretty and didn't have any kids taking summer classes. At first it was hard, but we soon found a nice spot. We wanted to have a school sort of feel, so we brought along my Pendragon book and two pairs of glasses. Unfortunately, we forgot one pair in the car so we had to use Mary's, which worked, but were not as good as the other ones. We had a ton of fun and got some good pictures! All the pictures of me were taken by My and all the pictures of her were taken by me. I can't wait to do something like it again!

Drawing of the Day: Birthday Card

I did this for my uncle Andrew's birthday which is tomorrow, July 13th. I had done something like it a while ago which turned out really nice and I really liked the idea. The drawing takes my doodle-like swirls and brings them a little closer to reality. They are still very symbolic and conceptual, but they also seem to be more solid. Anyways, it's simple, but unique. Looking at it now, I could say that maybe it represents speaking your mind. For somewhere in your words there will be pearls of wisdom. 

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Drawing/Story of the Day: The Golden Key

When I was little, my mom read me a story called the Golden Key. It was a really neat tale and as I grew up it stayed with me. I always loved it. It told the story of this two children. One finds a golden key at the end of the rainbow and journeys to a different realm in which he meats a girl named Mossy. I can't remember to much about the story, just how much I loved it. Maybe I will read it again some day.

One day I heard about a contest that Waterstones Books was holding where you could write a short story and it might be published in a book alongside JK Rowling, Neil Gaiman and many others. I wanted to write a short story for the contest and as I thought, an image/scene came to mind. It was of a little girl asleep on a bed in a small room. The room shook and a boy entered. He woke the girl and they ran off together down the hall. A story started to form in my head. I started to write and soon I had the makings of a nice page-long story. I re-wrote it over and over until it was as short and sweet as I could make it. I printed out the "card" that I was supposed to write my story on and went to work. When I was done I drew on the page to make it unique, beautiful and antique. By the time I was ready to submit my entry, the contest was no longer running. I really liked the way the card turned out. It looked beautiful and I liked my little story. It didn't make a whole lot of sense, but it accomplished what I wanted it to.

My writing on the card might be hard to read, so if you can not read it, I will put the story below.

The Golden Key

The house shook. There were footsteps then a voice.
“Tara. Wake up.”
She opened her eyes. A boy looked down at her, his stunning blue eyes so comforting, so familiar.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
He smiled. “It’s working.”
They ran down the stairs two at a time. She was still in her nightgown, but there was no time to change. On reaching the bottom of the steps they hurried down the hall towards a door at the far end. The boy pushed open the door and ran to the bed. He knelt, and pulled a tin box from under it. Inside the dusty box lay a key, a golden key. The house shook again, and soon they were off down the hall once more.
Soon they reached another door. The boy let go of Tara’s hand. He took the key and fit it into the lock. He twisted and there was a faint click. The door swung open. The room was empty save for a window on the furthest wall. Its white curtains blew in a nonexistent wind.
The boy turned to his friend “Go, you don’t have much time.”
He pulled her into a hug and they stood together, neither wishing the moment to end. They broke apart and she stepped into the room. Her bare feet patted across the floor until she reached the wall.
She turned. “Thank you Collin.”
He smiled, his eyes holding hers. “Go.”
She smiled once again and turned to the window. The white curtains parted under her fingers. Blinding light filled the room. He heard faint laughter and strained his eyes to catch one last glimpse of the girl. The light faded, the room was empty. He stood in the door way, alone. All had gone save the golden key and the whispered echo “I love you.”

Drawing of the Day: Father's Day Card

For fathers day this year I wanted to make a nice card for my dad to go along with his other gift. I decided, as usual, to do a girl’s face. I wanted her hair to be really flow’y and swirly. I drew the shape of the head and then went on to do the hair. I used several shades of brown, cooper and even a little bit of red, orange and gold. I worked on the eyes, which started out blue but ended up hazel. I did the background, first with lines of orange and red, then with yellow swirls. The swirls come naturally to me, I could do them with my eyes closed. It turned out nice, not amazing, but still a good drawing in itself. I guess she could look a little like me, but not really. Maybe if I had short hair, big eyes and a little nose. I don’t know her name, or who she is, that is up to the beholder.

Drawing of the Day: Painted Face

I did this over Spring, but I only remember about it a week or so ago. I pulled it out of a pile of books and realized that it was actually pretty good. I had been eager to try painting again so I found some painting paper and took some of my moms acrylics out of her box. Then I went to work. I sketched a face on paper, traced it then copied it onto the painting paper. I did the yellow background first, then moved on to the skin. It was fun, it was very time consuming! In the end though, I think it turned out really nice! I especially like the leaves and flowers I put in her hair! It was inspired by the amazing painter Audrey Kawasaki. I saw her piece called Karamari and thought to myself "I want to do something like that!" Of course, it doesn't really look like her work, but I guess it has a little of that feeling. Anyways, I hope to do more painting in the future, because I really enjoy it!

Audrey Kawasaki

Beginning Theatricum 2008

Yesterday (july 7th) was the first day of the High School Intensive Program at Theatricum Botanicum. When I woke up, excitement rushed through my veins. Me and My would be carpooling with another girl, Mallin, who I had never met and I was anxious to meet her. It turned out she extremely nice. We were the first ones to camp. We entered the main theater, turned in our paperwork and waited for everyone else to arrive. I didn't recognize anyone except a guy named Mark who I worked with a couple years ago. Then I saw Corinne. She had been in 5 out the 6 plays I did in the youth program. It's really great to have her there! Once Ventana arrived, Theatricum had truly started once again. The day went very very good. We played tons of games, did improv. I did a skit a really fun skit where I was in a kitchen with my husband and there was an omelet on the floor. We started doing the skit then someone would call out an emotion for either me or him and mid-sentence we would have to assume that emotion and make it fit with the scene. It was really fun! Everyone is extremely nice and I feel like and I have something to talk about with all of them.

This year we'll each be doing a scene with a partner and a monolog on our own. I received the part of Viola for my monolog (from the play Twelfth Night) the speech is called "the Ring Speech" and it is a really good one. In my scene I play Miranda from the Tempest with this guy named Max. I am really happy with my character, but annoyed about having Max as my partner because he is a little weird to be perfectly honest. I'm sure it will work out for the best though!

Anyways, I had a really great first day, and I'm sure the rest will be just as good!

Today (july 9th) was my second day. It was also a lot of fun, but it was extremely hot. This was made even worse because we were in a dusty lot doing Elizabethan dancing. It was unbearable at some times, but I lived through it! We had two new people join our group today. Now we have a group of 23 people. It was another fun day, we played more games, drew pictures of our voice and learned a ton about Elizabethan life! We also got to play Scorpion, a game which I used to dislike, but I now enjoy. In the game you divid up into two groups one in a circle on the outside and the rest in the middle. All the people it the middle close their eyes and a "scorpion" is chosen. All the insiders move around the circle, if the scorpion touches anyone they must make a buzzing sound and that person joins the "wall" (outside circle). It was really really exciting! I look forward to Friday when we'll play more games and I'll get to see all of my new friends again!

Drawing of the Day: Girl's Face

On one early summer's day, I decided to do a drawing that was a little different from what I had been doing at the time. I had grown into a habit of drawing very small noses on my people and I wanted to do something new. I wanted to do a face, a girls face, with blue eyes. I pulled out my yearbook and looked at some of the Twelfth graders that I thought were really pretty. I drew and managed to do a nose that was almost normally sized. It turned out really nice for a simple face which is what I wanted to do. I don't really have a name for her. I mean she isn't really anyone in particular, just a face from my head and a colorful yearbook.

Drawing of the Day: Twilight

After reading the book Twilight, the story buzzed around the inside of my head for days. I was so captivated with it, I had to do something, so why not draw a picture? I decided I wanted to draw Edward, the second main character in the story. Before I go on, I should probably tell you a few things about Edward. First of all he's flawless, he walks so gracefully it looks like he's gliding. The question was, how do you draw a perfect person? Do I draw from my head or look at scrap. I looked through the yearbook, but no one was quite right. I decided to compromise, I pulled up some pictures of good-looking actors as some reference, and then I drew from my head. It was hard. I wanted to do the character justice, yet not spend my whole week slaving away at it. I finally finished the sketch, then I went to color. In the story, Edward is so pale he's pretty much white, with perfect bronze hair. This should be fun. I pulled my bronze, gold, red and orange pencils out and I went to work. It took me an hour or two to complete it, but once I did, I was extremely happy with the result. He wasn't perfect, but he was good enough for me. One day soon I'll do the rest of the characters, then I'll have a series of drawings that I love, inspired my a series which I adore just as much.

Drawing of the Day: Pendragon

I recently finished the ninth Pendragon book, Raven Rise. It was a really really good book and I never wanted to put it down. I'd read in the car ride to school then have to put it away once we reached school. On one occasion, while we were watching slides of art in Main Lesion, I found my hand reaching for my bag and pulling out my book. I hid it under the desk and read away. During another Main Lesion when I felt that it would not be a good time to read, I starting drawing the major characters of the book. It took me three days to complete, then I went home and did it in color. It turned out just the way I wanted. Everyone looked how I imagined them and it was in all a lovely piece. The order is Courtney Chetwynde, Mark Dimond, Patrick Mac. Then on the next row Telleo, Bobby Pendragon, Alder. And on the bottom row Neeva Winter, Saint Dane, and Naymeer. I decided it to it in a pattern the girls in the left column the major character from that territory in the center and the traveler who was there to help that person. It's not completely accurate, but that's okay. I think it looks right and thats what matters. I have to wait a year till the next Pendragon comes out. Until then I'll be early re-reading all the books to freshen my memory so that when the adventure of the travelers continues, I'll be ready.

Hobey-ho!

Drawing of the Day: Delia

I did this drawing about the same time I did Adelaide. Her name is Delia. She is another major character in my story. She and Adelaide are the best of friends, they've grown up together in the countryside of England. Delia is the kind of girl who always has a plan. She is friendly, cheerful, and smart. Yet Delia fears change above all else. She fears the days when she and Adelaide will not be together, when they are grown and have moved away from the green countryside. That is what she strives to protect, her happy country life, by any means possible. In fact, Delia may be the reason that this story came into being. I was watching the trailer to Atonement on a day in last December. I watched as the character, that I learned was called Briony, ran through green grass towards a country estate. As she ripped open a letter and stared at it in horror. As she sat on the bed with her friend, telling her every secret contained in the lines of the letter. An image filled my head, an image of a girl, much like this one, who ran through the countryside, and read a haunting letter. But this girl was accompanied by a girl, a girl with brown hair. A scene filled my mind, a scene that would start it all. That would start the event that began everything, that set the story in motion. So even though Adelaide is the main character of the story, it is Delia who can take the credit for starting it all.