geektastic.org

I have not abandoned this blog.

I just don’t know what to talk about. I was going to go off on a rant, but I am not sure if I want to do that just yet.

In other news, pixel is not feeling well :[ I hope she gets over it tonight!

February 9, 2010 at 6:01 am | Uncategorized | No comments

Pixelness and other cuteness galore!

So, I am a fan of Doe Deere and her Lime Crime makeup line, so when I saw she was posting a Weekly Glee edition on pets, I figured she needed to see the cuteness that is Pixel. I also shared some bunny facts that I remembered off the top of my head. Bunnies really are the best.

Check out the sweet post here, as well as see which picture I submitted with Pixel. You may not be able to tell which one she is in the photo, as she’s with friends :p

January 19, 2010 at 4:05 am | Pixel | No comments

and now, a new decade.

Happy New Year! I always find myself reflecting around the end of any year, but with people discussing what happened a decade ago, I find myself reflecting on that as well. I was 14 then, and some of my memories from the time make me cringe a little bit. I still love The Moffatts, though! No shame there :p

I am not a huge fan of resolutions, as I feel like if you’re going to do something, you should just DO them and not wait for a new year to have the excuse. However, I almost feel like the excuse is a helpful push sometimes. To many, a new year means a new chapter, a new leaf, an attempt to clean up after any messes made or thoughts thought. I like the idea of a new chapter, so I may try this resolution this time around. It won’t be a huge one, just one that I hope will actually work out.

For my resolution, I hope to complete one painting. Whether it’s good or not doesn’t matter, as the idea is to try to get myself to tap into that creativity I found burned out a couple of years ago. So many years in school where I had to channel energy in ordered ideas, I find it hard to release my own now. I hope to break that block this year, and with that I am writing down this resolution in hopes of doing it. I feel like if it’s here, I will feel more inclined to do it, since at least one person will see this :p

I was looking at a New Year’s Resolution Generator, and after laughing at the facebook and twitter ones, I really liked one that said “be remarkable.” I wonder how one goes about doing that, but it made me think about it and remember only that resolution over the others.

What will you do this year? This decade? I think I will just try to make it my own (whatever that will mean). I’ll find out in time.

January 1, 2010 at 5:13 pm | Food for Thought | 2 comments

I am a fucking beautiful and unique snowflake, tyler durden!

I’m a huge fan of unconventional furniture and style. For instance, I’d totally want a Scrabble Room or a couch full of Social Media Pillows. I just like taking that curveball in general, and sometimes it would be pretty practical, too! Take, for instance, a living room with this table:

And how about some dry erase walls? Do you know how much space I’d save with notebooks and stuff if I could just write all over the place? and imagine if you have kids- “oh, it’s okay dear, just use these markers on that wall over there and scribble the crap out of the wall!”

So, let’s see. That would be a good idea in a studio, maybe. Regardless, I know I do want a coffe table xylophone. A coffee table xylophone?! Why yes! Observe:

If I can’t have the ginormous piano FAO Schwartz has in their store in NYC, I’ll take a freaking xylophone coffee table.

You are probably wondering how ridiculous it would be if I were able to design my entire living space with anything I wanted to. Oh, it would be quite mad. I already want to have a museum look to post all of the artwork I have. It is probably a good thing I didn’t go into interior decorating- I am sure the people who do this job and do it well would cringe at my style.

Is there anything off the wall that anyone out there reading likes? Or any guilty pleasures? This is just one of mine.

December 22, 2009 at 5:07 am | Art | No comments

something different tonight.

Since this is a fairly new blog, I thought I’d try this out. Ask me anything you like here. If it’s nothing ridiculously personal, chances are I will answer it.

I already lost the game through it, so you can’t ask that :p

December 19, 2009 at 5:37 am | Food for Thought | No comments

Titles are difficult.

I had started a post since Friday, but I just deleted it to start from scratch. I tend to do this often with everything- artwork, web sites, music, words. It’s a nervous twitch of sorts I suppose, but I can’t help it. I’m a perfectionist at heart and eventually I just give in and try to finish things before I change my mind again. It’s quite a long process which fortunately does not occur when I’m working on things that are for other people, because at that point there are usually ideas to follow.

I’m pretty grateful for the people who surround me. No one’s perfect, but I can honestly say I have some really good friends who, despite my difficult moments (and I can be stubborn), they’ll stick by me and are willing to try to cheer me up. See below:

Now, in case you’re keeping tabs, I would like you to know that the way into my heart is red velvet cake. Mail is also a nice little gesture. To have both of these things collide in a surprise even though I should have known?! Priceless. It’s not every day you get freaking CAKE in the mail. I totally listened to the band while I had a slice. Liz and Wil are the best. I had my last slice of it today. RIP in my tummy. The first night everyone in my house tried some.

I have quite a number of friends who are willing to sit around and try to cheer me up either by sending me silly pictures and videos, or just plain changing the subject. I send lots of glompsauruses after my favorites- you know who you are.

I’ve been getting some awesome mail lately. I received a >kurt halsey original in the mail, and it is pretty gorgeous:

It was the last piece I purchased because I have holiday shopping to do, but it just spoke to me. I may have to start selling some of my other pieces I own (SAD), but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes!

I also received an absolutely adorable painting by Kristin Tercek that is definitely worth mentioning. If I see something with bunnies in it, I find myself drawn to it. But when it is a WHITE bunny, oh no. And of course, I didn’t just photograph it, I allowed Pixel to inspect the piece for me:

Sniffing, tasting, inspecting…

Cuddle. Success! This means the painting is officially Pixel approved! I couldn’t help it- the little guy looks like Pixel in red contacts. I have a hoodie that even matches it! I will not pull it out right now, though.

I just realized how long this has gotten. I will leave you with a question- what are things that cheer you up when you’re down? What are things that make you happy, regardless of your mood initially?

December 15, 2009 at 5:24 am | Art, Food for Thought, Pixel | No comments

Friends and Art = Love

I will elaborate more tomorrow when I have some pictures to share, but as of right now I will just say I am grateful for the company I keep and the beautiful artwork and imagery that surrounds me.

In the meantime, check out these artists:

I will stop linking before this list gets too long, but I definitely have more to share.

Smile! Someone out there is hoping you will.

December 11, 2009 at 5:16 am | Art | 4 comments

Some people get struck by hands, I get struck by chords.

“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.”
- Chuck Close

There is a reason Chuck Close is one of the top two artists who have influenced me to continue in my journey in keeping my creativity and imagination flowing. This is a man who, after being dealt a really difficult hand of paralysis, continued painting and truly showing the world that you cannot shut an artist down if they are willing (and needing) to continue in their craft. I consider him the human computer, because he probably has a better understanding of pixels on a screen than anyone I can think of. Looking at his more recent works up close you will find that they are merely shapes and circles in a grid, making no sense whatsoever to the eye. Step back a few feet and you find an impeccable portrait. Before this mosaic form of work, all of his art was photo realistic, but you cannot deny how fascinating his work is now.

Sidenote: please tell me that I am not the only one amused by the fact that his last name parallels what people do when they see his work in person. I don’t think anyone can pass by a Chuck Close portrait without leaning towards it as close as the barriers allow you to in a museum.

When I was in college, I’d find myself thinking of Chuck Close and everything he has accomplished. I am definitely not that talented, but I do know from his story that it is possible to do, as long as you work and are driven to. With everyone it’s different, but with me I have found that the trick is to find your driving force. Sometimes I’ll sit at photoshop or with a sketchbook for hours, turning out pages of crap or deleting image file after image file. I think if the keys of my keyboard were to pop off right now in terms of most used, it would be the command + Z buttons. I suppose that I’m an amateur in that way. I can’t just do.

The point isn’t to just be able to do, though. The way I see it, you need to weed through a lot of crap in order to find what you’re looking for. It’s rooted deep inside of you, whatever it is. It’s between the swirls and repetitive characters and ugly noses and knees that are impossible to draw. It’s rooted between your grocery list for the week and your multiplication tables that you can’t seem to forget because they were grilled into your head at such an early age. You just have to do some spring cleaning.

Some seek inspiration, and I know I am one of them sometimes. The fact of the matter is that inspiration doesn’t just fall from trees (unless you are Newton, of course). Inspiration needs to be driven by something, I think. In order to be able to wait for something, I think you need to begin the energy first. Before a snowball can cause an avalanche, it needs to be pushed off a hill and pick up some snow in the process. Maybe I said that wrong- I’m native to Florida. You get it though, hopefully.

I thank @SirkRialb for paraphrasing the quote on twitter, because he made me want to look for the footage of him saying it (I had recalled it from something- turns out it was Charlie Rose). That quote slapped me in the face when I needed it most, as I am going through a minor dry spell when it comes to my own creativity. The design of this site came after maybe the 6th or 7th attempt to build something, and then I went dry again. My mind is reeling again.

I’d go into how my mind works, but I think this entry is long enough. If you’d like to learn more about Chuck Close, you can check out his Wikipedia Page and the references on there. Last I checked, they are accurate (and I would know- I have looked into his work and life a great deal). A quick google image search will show you why I admire this man.

We will leave the post about Tim Burton for another day. For now, I’ve got some work to do.

PS: it’s ironic that this quote would inspire me to work, I know. Just shows I’ve got a LOT of work to do :p

December 8, 2009 at 4:56 am | Art, Food for Thought | No comments

Let’s start at the very beginning.

When I first had this web address, I was sixteen years old and pretty comfortable with the idea of a personal website. I had already had several sites I had created and nurtured, only to move around or just plain get rid of. I had a lot of friends with websites themselves, and it was generally an easy way to keep in touch.

I cringe whenever I look back at it. It’s funny how you can look back at most everything that has ever graced the Internet, thanks to the wayback machine. It’s a time capsule that’s a little too detailed for me at times, as I can see how I used to talk and interact. I remember someone directing me to a link to a site who was comparing other geektastic pages on the ‘net at the time, because I suppose this person thought she invented the word herself and that no one else could possibly come up with that word on their own. I know that sounds like I’m taking a stab or something, but it was just the way the post came off as. Regardless, I remember finding it interesting that I was described as a “plucky 17 year old girl,” and kind of brushing it off because I was complimented on my design skills. I see the things I used to write about and I totally get it now.

I’m not really sure why I’m talking about this. I guess it’s a little insight into why geektastic. It’s a description I came up for myself in the haze of high school, when I was talking to someone via AIM. Or was it MSN? I can’t remember. I liked the way it looked after sending it, and I ran with it. I had a little guy I would use on every layout, and I changed my blog layout every month. I see how annoying I was now that I look back on it, but it was a good way to work on my web design on my own. Geektastic was mostly meant to be an experiment on design. I would push myself to draw all of my layouts in photoshop, pixel-art style (I think maybe one or two of them weren’t pixelated), and code everything out in tables. TABLES! Crazy. Tables are like the shoulder pads of the Internet or something. No, more like clear platform shoes with the goldfish in them- they sounded like a good idea at the time, but you look at it now and realize what a mess that can be.

Moving right along. Geektastic.org was taken away from me in ‘04, when my web host went bankrupt and took my domain with them. I was too young and naive to know how to aquire it back, and instead just tried to replace the site. It never really happened. Every other domain or site I attempted to create just stuck with the dreaded COMING SOON sign that I’d replace when I remembered I had to do something about it. I guess one can say I’m stubborn and attached.

So here I am, seven years later and trying to figure out what to do with this thing. Do I talk about one subject? Do I talk about myself? How the heck do I even talk about myself? I’m no good at that. I’ll probably just find this as an outlet to rant and/or rave about things I come across, or just to speak my mind. I’m not sure yet. Regardless, the original intent for my domain back then will stick- this is going to be my little experiment.

I hope you don’t mind being guinea pigs. If you do, then be a mouse instead. They’re cute and little, and I promise not to feed you to any snakes. Or anything, for that matter.

I’ll work on not being so awkward. There’s my new project.

December 5, 2009 at 9:28 pm | Site | 2 comments

Whee!

I really do not have much to say right now except that I am excited this website has been put together so quickly. Well, in terms of how long I’ve been brainstorming versus designing/coding/completing, it’s been pretty quick. Yay!

There will be more read-worthy content soon. I hope. But for now… yay!!!

November 29, 2009 at 8:20 pm | Site | No comments