I apologize to those still waiting for some signs of life from me.
I brought some anime home with me and the computer has been monopolized the past week while my sister's gorged themselves on Bleach, Trigun, Fruits Basket, and the like...not a pleasant sight.

I still have two weeks to get something up, so there's not quite a valid reason to panic just yet.
The women, however, can start panicking now(it's their prerogative), since they tend to be illogical and don't seem to really require a valid reason to do anything.... ;p 

Anyway, I picked my general elective for next term(I'm going with Psychology), and i've gotten my marks from first term today. My GPA is currently a 3.75, so i'd say i'm doing good.

Merry Christmas all(Or, I believe the politically correct term is now "Seasons Greetings" or some such rot),

~Blaine 

Well, I have one more day of school tomorrow, and then i'm off 'til the 9th of January. The days of "blog-happy schoolgirl"-ness are fast approaching! Be afraid! =p

Um, really though, i'll be going home saturday(8 1/2 hour trip), so don't expect me to get around to answering my messages until...sometime after that, and updating my wikis...sometime after that. ;p

Well, until sometime after then,

~Blaine 

I'm so close. Just one more week of school, and then i'll have holidays coming out the wazoo. Hmmm...that could make some pretty disturbing imagery...i'm getting a mental image of somebody trying to pass a Christmas tree through their colon. "You know, this is why children should really chew their food."(The Iron Giant). I love that movie.

Anyway, i've just finished the last of my Imaging Systems homework. My landlady will probably sleep better knowing that i'll no longer be walking around her kitchen measuring everything. It kinda weirded out her guests the first time. *shrug*
She's more than paid me back in full with her various plots and schemes that center around getting me out of the house as their main objective. She's a sucker for lost causes, I guess.

I actually made it to a class rep meeting on Wednesday. It figures that the first one I attend is also the last one of the semester. =p Anyway, it turns out that the job has perks(probably the first job i've had that paid with chocolate), so i'm pleasantly surprised. I was nominated because there seems to be some sort of conspiracy involving people continually trying to make me more social. My drawing teacher is terrible for this with her "social immersion" exercises. *shakes head*

Another ironic occurence is that my most loathed subject matter in any medium, still lifes, has managed to net me my highest painting grade, to date. Don't worry Life, i'm laughing with you....

Oh, this also means that i'll soon have a lot of free time, so i'll be updating my wikis like some blog-happy schoolgirl. Yes, this includes pictures for those that are still scratching their heads over what the hell i've been talking about. I'll probably be expanding to include some perpective stuff as well. 

~Blaine

Heh, I find it pretty ironic that I was much more "social" online when I was living like a recluse. The world is a strange place....

In other news, my latest painting assignment looks like Willy Wonka. I'm talking about the Johnny Depp my-God-what-is-that-freakish-thing-?!?! version...well, a cross between him and the Crypt Keeper. My landlady's niece saw it this evening and started to cry. Damn, eliciting such strong emotion from the viewers...now that's what I call art! ;p

Oh, and if ever there was invented anything more gall-danged bloody boring than painting still-lifes, i've yet to discover it. If there is such a thing I pray, quite fervently, that it forever remains a mystery to me.

*sigh* It's back to painting for me....  

~Blaine

To my long-neglected fans:

I've been insanely busy for the past while with homework. The end of the first semester is coming up so all of the projects need to be finished up and handed in. I've still got seven paintings to finish, as well as a gallery write-up and some other stuff. The homework load should lessen in a couple of weeks so, I will get to your messages, it's just a matter of time.

Be very afraid. ;p

~Blaine

P.S. What's with all of these people telling me that I "seem" to be something?

There I times that I wish I had a camera. If anyone's feeling overly generous, don't be shy. And make it digital would you. ;p

For my 3D paper bag sculpture(of which i've posted the preliminary concepts on my house page), i've managed to make it look so good up until this point(wireframe) that i've even managed to impress myself.

The downside is that i'm now going to have to spend the next two weeks sniffing glue and half of my class hates me...*sigh*...it's so hard being me. =p

~Blaine 

Heh, I must be really tired, because responding to a message of "hey sup" with "No thanks, I already ate" struck me as inordinately funny. As does responding to another message consisting partly of "do I detect a hint of confusion in your typing?" with "Why, are your 'spidey senses' tingling?".

*shakes head* Lame puns are great, but I doubt these'll be half as funny when my brain is firing on all cylinders. 

God, I need some sleep. 

~Blaine

Well, i'm back in my bachelor pad after spending the past week at home. Did you guys miss me(my inbox says yes)? =p

Anyway, I just spent all day today experiencing, first-hand, the joy and majesty of inter-city transit. To quote Martin Lawrence from Nothing To Lose; "My ass is asleep! it's all tingly and shit!" =p
I have to say, a ten-hour trip becomes an eternity in hell when the bus driver decides to play a video of "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood"...i'm definitely an atheist now because, after that traumatic experience, I can't even begin to imagine there being a God(and I have an over-developed imagination). ;p 

I'll have to start replying to my messages later, because I really need to lie down right now....

~Blaine

Meh. Do you know what the hardest part of college is? It's getting back home....

To get home, i'd first need to take the public transit to the GO station and buy tickets to get on a train heading for Toronto. From there, i'd have to walk from Union Station to the Greyhound bus terminal, buy tickets, and endure an eight-and-a-half hour drive just to reach the service station at the end of my home street. From there, it's about a ten minute walk. And that's not even mentioning wait times, and all of the transfers i'd have to take...plus, I get to do it all over again, in reverse, a few days later...

...it'd probably be much easier(and cheaper) to just invent a teleporter. Is anyone any good with quantum physics? ;p

~Blaine

I hit the mother lode today for information regarding colour psychology and other art voodoo techniques. It seems that i'll be getting into colour stuff next week, so no more absract line drawings(thank God). The bad news is that I have a ton of homework(apparently, the teacher's here feel that Thanksgiving gives us another day to do homework so, accordingly, more homework was assigned), so I might not be able to upload the info to my wiki for a while.

Well, i've got some drafting homework to complete for tomorrow(isometric, axonometric, and oblique parallel line drawings of a car), so i'll add more when I have time. By the way, have you ever tried drafting on a ping-pong table? 

~Blaine

I did something tonight that should go into the "Mankind's Greatest Achievements in History" tome of greatness...I actually left the house...and went--wait for it--DOWNTOWN! *gasp* Please, hold your applause! ;p

Now, it may not seem like much but, for a guy that's been a virtual recluse for the past 4-5 years, possesses a chronic anxiety disorder, and is slightly agoraphobic, it becomes "one giant step for mankind". =p

I went out for some sushi(not bad, but the gag reflex needs some discipline), and am now a Semi-Jedi Master of chopsticks! I vow that I will master the art of eating with sticks! Hell, even chimpanzees can do it! ;p

Anyway, I have homework to complete for tomorrow, so what am I doing here, writing in my man-journal?

~Blaine

I just wanted to mention that i've got some Art Voodoo notes on "Rhythm" that I should get around to adding to my wiki sometime. It's pretty interesting, and explains why stores are EVIL! *cough* Er, just in case you ever wondered.... ;p

I'll also expand some more on the other topics(lines, shapes, etc) by adding some stuff from my textbook.

And pictures...must remember pictures.... 

~Blaine

Well, I had a weird day at school today....

I'd been doing homework since 8:00 this morning, so my eyes were starting to cross. I mean, there comes a point when staring into a mirror and drawing yourself becomes plain vanity...self-portrait my ass. XP The bad thing is that I STILL don't have a very good idea of what I look like. I really should've taken some pictures of myself, or something. *shakes head*

Anyway, class started at three, so that's about seven hours of continuous homework.
During today's class(Drawing), I think I may have been elected student representative for my entire class...I'm not really sure, but my teacher(Trelawney) was saying something about her choosing me because I did a drawing that she liked and she thought(I guess judging by that one picture) that I was a "together" sort of guy and really "with it".
Meanwhile, I've been singing "I am evil. Oh, so evil. E-V-I-L!"(Lord Fear from Ace Lightning) under my breath for the past half-hour. XD I also have GAD, so I suffer from a chronic low-grade anxiety, which is pretty far from "with it". ;)

The irony is just too much.

Now, I just need to design four more rough sketches and four finals of "depicting emotions through line, shape, and texture" and paint them in gouache. But that's not all! I also have to create a 6-8 frame storyboard depicting my own scene based on the movie "Run Lola Run". And I have to have it all finished by 10:00AM tomorrow...it's gonna be a long night....

Ah, the life of a student, there's nothing quite like it. ;p

~Blaine

Heh, my man-journal is getting a work out tonight(which reminds me, oddly, of a great episode of Dave the Barbarian). =p

Anyway, I watched a show on the paranormal yesterday, that talked about how scientist were getting involved with studying mediums and psychics, etc. There was one study with a medium done, and the scientist came up with an interesting theory.

His theory is that mediums can't really "talk to the dead" but, instead, are able to tap into and read their subjects thoughts.
He went on to explain that it was possible that we humans may have used telepathy as a form of communication but, because it was so innaccurate, we came to rely more and more heavily on verbal communication(because it was much more accurate) and that our ability to use telepathy just sort of de-evolved because we no longer needed it...like many other human characteristics(teeth, nails, hair, etc).
So, his theory is that mediums and other psychics are people that still retain a slight form of telepthy.

Not really probable, but a cool idea nonetheless....

There was also a segment on reincarnation(good stuff) and near-death experiences(there was talk of doing experiments to determine health benefits from them).
It also made mention of studies being done on conciousness because nobody really knows what it is/where it's located. Most people thought it was located in the brain, but an experiment was done that seems to have proved otherwise(a scientist tried to prick a guy's finger(who was hooked up to the monitoring equipment), and the finger had the impulse to move a half-second before it registered in his brain). 

There were also some experiments involving having your body put to sleep but having your mind/conciousness still active. So, basically, seperating your mind from your body...like astral projection, or what is said to occur during near-death experiences.

Everyone should take up an interest in the parnormal and parapsychology(actually, studies show that more and more people are).

~Blaine  

Wow I just now noticed the alternate journal entry 'modes'...can't believe i've missed that for so long....

I've been using "public" because the bathroom's are always clean. ;p Er, no, wait....

Anyway, I don't see the point of a "Friends only" entry--All your friends will be notified! OMG!--as all of my *coughnumerouscough* friends are probably watching my house--the stalkers!--anyway, and so, are already informed when my man-journal has been written in.

The "Personal Secret Diary" entry A) sounds rather redundant to me, and B) gives me the horrible mental image of a young teenage girl frantically scribbling in an excited scrawl such passages as: 
"Dear Diary, Today Mark made eye contact with/smiled at me for 0.32 seconds in the hallway at school!! OMG!!!1oneone!eleven1!! *spazzes and dies*..." while hiding under a sheet, with a flashlight, on her bed after lights out(of course, I doubt said young teenager would have such good grammar. ;p)....

*shudders* I think i'll be avoiding using that mode.... ;) 
 
~Blaine

Um, no Art Voodoo techniques to pass on this week(I may put pictures up this weekend). I just have another homework assignment involving more of the "depicting emotions through lines, shape, and texture(way harder than it sounds)", blah, blah, blah...my teacher is a sadist. XD He mentioned he was going to have some hand-outs on colour psychology soon though(my notes only scratch the surface), so look forward to that.

In my drawing class, i've got to create a LIFE-SIZE drawing of MY skeletal system. I actually have to measure where all of my bones are--and then draw it! *shakes head in despair* Wasn't the two hours I endured of drawing a nude man enough for you!?! *cough* Er, yeah, anyway....

For those movie buffs of you out there, I recommend "Run Lola Run"(i'm sure there should be some commas in there, but the title says not).
It's a German movie with English subtitles(not as bad as it sounds). The quality's not going to win any Best Picture awards, but it's got some great funny parts(it's kinda like one of those movies that are so bad they're good).
At first, it actually kind of reminded me of the movie "Kill Me Later" that I previously mentioned in an earlier entry.
Anyway, if you've got some time to kill, definitely check it out. I give it my personal seal of approval. ;) 

Meh, I heard on the news that there's a BIG hurricane heading for Texas now...Hurricane Rita or some such. For some reason, hearing the word/name "Rita" always reminds me of Rita MacNeil(coincidentally, also big). Now, let me have a brief moment to be an insensitive prick(It's a guy thing) by saying that if I saw this: http://www.canoe.ca/EncyclopediaImagesM/macneil_rita.jpg coming for me, i'd be evacuating my home and heading for the hills too. ;p

That's all for now.

~Blaine 

Well, I have another art voodoo class tomorrow, so I may have something to add to my wiki. Plus, I swear i'll get some darned pictures so you can all see what the hell i'm talking about. ;)

I'm just finishing up the homework I was assigned last week. 42 sketches using lines, shapes, and textures to convey emotions...oh God, my head and eyes hurt. Plus, I still have to paint them in gouache...

...remind me why i'd missed being a student again.... ;p 

~Blaine

For those of you interested, version 1.0 of Art Voodoo 101 is now up. *cue applause*

I'll be adding more information as I get(read: am taught) it and, hopefully, i'll have some time to create some designs to spruce the place up a bit.

I'll also try to get some visual examples of the different types of lines...i'm pretty sure everyone knows what a circle, square, and triangle look like...at least, I really hope they do. o_O Otherwise, no amount of teaching I could possibly give you would help at this point....

Next on the agenda is a wiki-page for the Dark Optimists. All hail the mystical rubber voodoo chicken of DOOM!(wow, I must have a thing for voodoo). ;p

~Blaine

Sometimes, you have to laugh at life's little ironies....

Tuesday was my 'day off', and Wednesday was my 'off day'. 

Wednesday was pretty horrible. I woke up feeling like crap, got some major cramps and sore ankles(yes, I have weak ankles, damn it!) walked to school, went to class, went into my "sarcastic little bastard"(as my sister calls it) mode(I do this when i'm in a bad mood), got out of class late, it was raining like mad outside(it's a good thing I had left one of my coats in my locker) and, on the walk back to my place, I had to stand in the rain for what seemed like twenty minutes before the light changed for me to walk and, just a few feet away from the place i'm staying, a poodle(a poodle!?!) tried to take a bite out of my leg!
Not even drawing nude ladies managed to improve my mood...which is when you know it's a REALLY bad day. ;P

Heh, there's actually a movie(no, i'm not going to quote it =p) that my day reminded me of. It's a 2001 movie called "Kill Me Later". It involves a chick that works at a bank, and her day just goes right to hell from the moment she wakes up. The movie, itself, I don't think was all that great, but the script was. There's a lot of twisted ironies wound into it that you might not notice at first. And twisted ironies are always good. ;)

So...are you laughing?(at life's little ironies, not me). ;)

Yeah, um, also, I had another "art voodoo" class today, so look forward to my notes on the subject, someday soon....

~Blaine  

Meh.

I'm trying to do some homework. I have to create a one-hour blind(read: can't look at the page) contour(read: outline) drawing using line sensitivty(read: varying line thickness).

The thing is, i'd realized that i'd left my necessary drawing materials in my locker at school, and it'd take me almost an hour just to go to the school to get it and bring it back to my place. Now, i'm a pretty lazy guy(when it comes to some things), so that option wasn't very appealing.

Then I remembered that i'd brought some newsprint from home(yeah, i'm weird like that) and I was proud of myself for having the foresight to have brought it.

Then I remembered that my conte was still at school, and my pride turned into a semi-resignment.

Then I remebered that I recieved a conte pencil with my art kit, and I was proud for having to have avoided an unnecesary trip to the school on my 'day off'.

Now, as I said before, it was a 1-hour drawing but I hadn't realized how long one hour becomes when all you're doing is sketching a simple outline....

Since around November, i've been watching, pausing, and sketching poses from movies/TV. See, the thing is, the show/whatever can only be paused for a few minutes at a time, so i've become quite proficient at sketching basic outlines/pertinent details in a very short amount of time.

Can we say "conflict of interest"?

The longest i've managed to sketch, so far, is about twenty minutes...the fact that the mirror i'm using is miniscule, and my light source(desk/reading lamp) keeps flickering doesn't seem to help matters any.... 

Meh.

~Blaine

I now have two more teachers to add to the "clones" list.

My first teacher of the day looked like an older version of Christian Slater, with a lot less hair. The guy could be dubbed "the eternal student" because he just keeps going back to school because he claims he likes it.
He's actually going to be teaching my class line, shape, and colour psychology(which i've already studied on my own). Interesting stuff really. Actually, I suppose you could say he's teaching us the subtle art of 'visual manipulation', where the artist can visually make the viewer do/look at want you want without them noticing they're doing it. Artists are very tricky people....

My second teacher looked like The Daily Bugle newspaper editor, J. Jonah Jameson, from Spiderman--with the personality to match. Picture the actor, J.K. Simmons, with rapidly thinning, white hair, and you have my teacher.

I have no idea why all of my teachers remind me of actors....

In other news, after class tomorrow, i'm going to buy the biggest damned cup of French Vanilla cappuchino I can possibly find, from Tim Hortons, because I always come close to drooling whenever I pass by that section of the cafteria.
Meh, take my advice and never develop an anxiety disorder(or 'condition', as they call it now)...the non-anxiety-invoking diet totally sucks. =p 

~Blaine