Losing In Style

Where's mah money? (I've always wanted to say that)

Okay not really.

It's impossible with the way things are going. Another temptation was brought home that would hinder my weight loss goal. Chocolate. And not just any chocolate, French truffles. O woe is me!

Which brings me to this: http://enchocolat.com/
I've only seen a bit of it but I really like it, especially the background and logo. But aside from that, I was genuinely upset at how I was gaining back the weight at an alarming rate. And that my mother was bringing unhealthy (but delicious) foods knowing that I'm trying to lose weight. However, she said somethings to help comfort me. One of them is that I'm leaving and that I should appreciate the time I have left. One of the many pleasures of being away from college is eating good food, knowing that you don't have to do homework after, and taking your time eating and talking with your family. She's right, I'm not going to let my vanity get in the way of my family and fun.

Now the harder news. I've known this for quite a while now and paid the consequences for it. I need to take responsibility and take my commitments seriously. Recently, I did a shoddy job for someone and now I need to apologize to him. Technically I have another problem of accepting jobs that I know I can't fulfill. His was one of them. The reason for that is because I didn't have my inspiration back and it shows. This isn't a very good reason and a scene from Daria made that clear.

Trent: I just couldn't get the music together.

Daria: Yeah?

Trent: That's it.

Daria: Why didn't you tell us you were having a problem? We could've made a back-up plan.

Trent: I figured I'd get inspired eventually. I still think I will.

Daria: Trent, it was a school assignment. We had a deadline.

Trent: I don't believe in deadlines, Daria. They stifle creativity.

Daria: Yeah, but agreeing to help us meant you were committing to our deadline.

So yeah, add that and a lecture from my mother and now I have to apologize. With this realization in mind, I fear college will be worse than I expected. I don't like deadlines, I don't like teachers telling me what to make, and I don't like that my school limits me from what I can make. But I made the commitment long ago to go to college, and now I have to stick by it. But for now, I think I'll take my time to smell the roses and enjoy the freedom God has given me.

Me too, after I'm done with college. ;_;

Although I love the entire soundtrack of Sonic R, this one somewhat relates to the picture above:

Fighting a Losing Battle

Bad news (funny for you) is that losing a significant amount of weight within a small of time is looking bleak. I'm really trying, but things just keep going downhill. My DDR pad is now officially broken, which means I'm stuck with just running. Normally I'd be okay with that, however everyday seems to be getting hotter than the day before. But I'll have to toughen up if I'm serious about this. Another problem that keeps getting in the way is my mother's cooking. Tempting me with bread, fresh out of the oven. That and corn, which makes me want to watch Secret Window.

Aside from that I've decided to post The Roost flyer, and hopefully I'll start/finish the other projects in college. When I was able to get back my camera, I was on a roll and worked all night on this project. You might recognize that I used the same technique from a previous logo back in high school. The hardest part was making the handle, and as you can see it's not perfect. But I'm happy with the result and I think it looks similar to my source. The font I used for the name is Betty Noir and I did some tweaking with the greeting's leading and kerning.

For just 200 Bells, you can have a nice, hot, refreshing cup of coffee.

I love watching Secret Window, the main character reminds me of a lot of myself. Especially the ending, that's how I am and look when working on some graphic design idea. (Maybe not the hair) Okay now I have to quote the movie. [Spoilers!] "'I know I can do it', Todd Downy said. Helping himself to another ear of corn from the steamy bowl. I'm sure that in time, every bit of her will be gone. And her death will be a mystery, even to me". Nom!

Drawings, Failings, and Blessings

Okay, so here are the drawings from college and their original pictures. Our class was assigned to draw a human (a portrait), and to be honest, I hated being in that class. Keep in mind that graphic design doesn't really involve drawing aside from quick sketches to perfect on a computer. Of course, this isn't as good as the original, but I really did try and never got it right. And remember that I can't scan these since they're too large for my scanner and I can only take bad uneven photos of them.

I couldn't find the original photo from deviantart, so I had to take a picture of the one I printed out. You can see the measurements I made on it. Another thing that leads to my distaste of the rules is the limited access to internet. Which means not being able to see images and thus making it VERY difficult to find sources to draw from. Luckily, my suitemate was able to provide a picture since she's taken a similar class before. I should probably stock up on pictures before I go back.

I'm very proud of this drawing, even though I got a lower grade than the one above. I really was heart-broken when I got my grade back since I honestly did try and actually liked the source. Oh well, no use crying over spilt milk.

The original is from National Geographic.



Weight Challenge Progress: A losing battle. And I mostly blame my mother, the audacity of the her to bring my favorite pizza and Brazilian chocolates when I should be exercising like crazy and watching what I eat. So far I fear I may never lose weight before I leave if things continue like this. But I shouldn't complain, my mother knows I can't have good pizza at college and the chocolates were a gift from someone who came back from Brazil. Okay, this will be the last time to indulge.

I thought the box and chocolate wrappings were pretty, so I took some pictures to show one of the many blessings God has shown upon me. God is still good to me.

Simplicity is a sign of perfection. I like to keep to that principle.

Try explaining the importance of font to non-art students. 

I love pink ^_~ 

Holy smokes! A frog with a human hand!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to eat my share of the chocolates. Oh snap! More inspiration!

Inspiration?

Well because of my recent viewing of the business card scene in American Psycho, I've become curious as to what's so special about this Dorsia restaurant. Apparently this restaurant is high class and is always booked, which makes it hard to get a reservation. I don't think they ever show the restaurant in the movie, and that it doesn't exist. However there are at least two restaurants with that name (in two different countries) and some people have made a logo or flyer for the restaurant. And I was thinking of making a logo for Dorsia, but then I thought about going that extra mile. Why don't I make an identity suite for Dorsia? I think it'll be a good idea. And this got me thinking about making an identity suite for The Roost instead of just a flyer. I'll be considering this change for my half finished project.


However there is always a problem. I really do want to lose weight (although many people believe my challenge to be impossible). And I'm dedicating these last days for exercising (and the Lord, of course). So I most likely will not make/finish the identity suite(s) before I leave, and if that's the case I'll just upload the finished poster and the drawings. Maybe they'll be done when I come back for winter break.


Anyway, more Animal Crossing: City Folk screenshots!

I heard that Dorsia has great sea urchin ceviche.

Another Rabbit Trail

Well its happened again. One idea leads to another, then to another, then to another. Earlier last night, I was watching a video about some guy praising his own business card, which looks like a haughty greeting card. After that I decided to watch the business card scenes from American Psycho, and can not understand why they are so adamant on showing off minor changes in a card. I cried out, "Dude, its just a business card. Who cares if it has a watermark!". Oh well, guess I'll learn more about this when I have to take my advertising classes.

As I was saying this led to more American Psycho clips, which left me a little disturbed. Ironically, it wasn't the blood that got to me, but the faces of the characters, specifically Patrick Bateman. It looked a bit pasty but with a tan, or like wax. Not very human. The best way I can describe it is like those male dummies (or mannequins), even down to the lips. And where does this lead to? My weight loss challenge. After American Psycho, I was watching a video on Hollywood's top ten weight loss and gains. If these guys could do it, then so can I.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to return some video tapes. Don't worry, I only watch good movies (which are very few).

Two Weeks

That's basically all I got left 'til I go back to college. I'll be leaving my family, my best friend, my games, and most of all, internet access. Yeah, so no more blog 'til winter break. And during this whole summer, I haven't done much... Don't judge me.

But I'm going to challenge myself. A little backstory for this. As everyone knows, college students in their freshman year gain weight, the typical Freshman 15. However, this was not the case for me. In fact I lost 30 pounds my first semester. That's great and all seeing how I was/still am overweight. But what really surprises people is when I told them I lost 12 pounds my first week and how everyday I would lose about two pounds. Now what? Well, since then I have lost more weight but not as fast as my first semester. However, since summer started I have gained back the weight I lost from my second semester, almost back to square one.

Now I'm challenging myself to lose weight before I go back. My goal: lose 50 pounds in two weeks. Yep, this frog is going to be thin. Now before I have people placing bets, I wanna say that I'm going to try, the keyword there.

Progress so far is little, The Roost flyer project is taking a while. I'm resisting posting The Roost poster without the flyer. But aside from that, since I got back my camera I'll take pictures of the only good drawings I did in college.

I think some music would be appropriate for this challenge.

News and More Seriousness

First the news: I'm halfway finished with The Roost project. In fact, I've been working all night for the first half of the project. The other half needs more time, and if takes too long then I'll scrap the idea and just post the one I finished. And I decided not to do the GracieGrace project because I have little to no inspiration and I believe that GracieGrace already has a great logo and doesn't need a poster. You can stop reading here if you want. It gets personal here, but I'm not gonna hide anything.

Oh, but I love that shirt on you (^_^)

Lately I've been thinking about how people perceive me and how different each view of myself is. I understand that it doesn't matter what people think about me, but I don't want people to get the wrong impression of me. All the ideas people get about me are very conflicting and kind of make me confused about myself. My old roommates and family believe I'm a lazy bum that hasn't worked a day in her life, while strangers get the impression that I'm a hardworking ambitious girl. The same roommates think I'm a laid-back person with a somewhat rebellious attitude whilst others think I'm militant and disciplined. Another common one that almost everybody believes of me is that I'm smart, even my own family thought of this.

This should be a postcard that says "Wish You Were Here!"

I would like to clear up some things and tell the truth as best as I can. All of those views except the last are true, however conflicting they may be. I am extremely lazy and haven't known the true experience of a hard day's work. But I am ambitious, with mostly academic goals set in mind. Along with my laziness is my being very laid-back, often procrastinating 'til the day before a deadline. A previous post of mine ranting about my school's rules is a great example of my rebellious side, but not without good reason. Again, I clash these previous perceptions with a long record of good behavior throughout all the schools I've attended.

I'm also no longer tanned!

The last one takes a bit more to explain. I am not in the least bit smart. Some have complimented me on my vocabulary, however I'm just throwing a couple of big words in the middle of my sentences and often use gobbledygook. Look that up and you'll understand. The next part in my explanation is rather disheartening. As I previously stated, I procrastinate yet I turn in my home/classwork on time. And when I say classwork, I mean papers and a speech. The same goes for studying; wait and study ten minutes before a test or quiz. The sad part (for everyone else) is that I still pass my classes. In fact, I usually score higher than those who study way longer than me or do their work ahead of time. An example is a History test that I took. One girl that I knew has to study for more than an hour in order to get a C on her test. I, on the other hand, studied for five minutes and received a B (and my teacher gave out harder tests too). I'm not smart in the least, only shown a great amount mercy and grace by God. This is where I got yelled at by an old roommate. She said I could be an A student if I actually worked, to which my other roommates looked in a combination of awe and disapproval at me.

It had to be this day when a joke backfired (;_;)

Hate me enough? Well there are some redeeming aspects about me. That scolding was from my first semester. Since then I have changed noticeably. I am working harder and will be taking classes that I actually love, so no more half-hearted attempts of work. In a nutshell, there are two sides of me that people see. There is the steely, quiet, shy exterior that everyone sees, but there is also the fun-loving, happy-go-lucky, loud jokester that only a few are able to see. You know that as me, the Mental Frog.

A Little More Serious

Lately I've been watching a lot of Let's Plays of scary games. Amnesia (Dark Descent and Justine), White Day (a Korean horror game), and Penumbra just to name a few. I've noticed that in all those games and a lot of other scary games too, is that light plays a vital role in the gameplay. Whether it is to help the player see, or more importantly, keep the player from panicking. (By the way, I didn't make the picture, I just found it).

But we also use light mainly for these reasons. I don't know about you, but I know I can't survive long in complete darkness and its usually because I'm scared. Not because I'm scared of the dark, but of something that could be there that I can't see. Waiting for me when I'm unable to defend myself. You know, fear of the unknown. Yes, this frog can be scared too.

My point is: Light is needed. And I'm glad to be called by God to be the light in this world of darkness. I always knew that light was needed to see, but I never realized it was also needed for our mental and emotional needs. It gives us hope, comfort, and chases away our fears. That is what God does for us, all we need to do is ask.

[SPOILERS If you haven't played Amnesia: The Dark Descent]
I know that after the player is done hiding in the shadows, he/she quickly goes to a light source to help give the character some relief from the fear overwhelming him. One particular moment in Amnesia that really affected me was entering the back hall after going through the water part. After going through a terrible experience: having to be careful trudging through the water, an invisible enemy on your heels, and with only a little bit of oil left in the lantern. And then running for your life, jumping over boxes, and opening every door with trembling hands. Once you reach the final door into the back hall, you are greeted by a stairway that leads to a wide (peaceful) area with the most light throughout the castle (from what I remember). To be honest, I teared up a bit when I heard the music.

This is an extended version of the music:

Mental Frog's Folly

I don't mind that I'm silly, and a lot of the times stupid. I still have fun and get to laugh a lot (except at college). I believe that you have to (sometimes) lower your intelligence level in order to get a laugh out of something. Whether it be laughing at someone hurting themselves or tripping, or drawing a unibrow on someone you don't like. It's immature, but funny. And I happen to have a lot of immature moments.

Now you might say, "Ankoru, shame on you. That is very mean". But hear me out. While talking to my younger not-mental-frog sister, the topic switched to Stephen Hawking. I pointed out that if he wasn't using his legs, he should just get rid of them. After laughing for quite a while on how stupid that comment was, my mind wandered onto the movie Doom. And after five minutes, this was the result of my comment and imagination. We ended up laughing even more from the sheer stupidity of it.

Here's something that always brings me a smile:

Waiting for My Camera

I can't do The Roost project without my camera, so instead I quickly made something that will give people an idea of how I am in college. These are just pictures I found and are not from my school. All I did was add me (the Mental Frog from The Ricky Gervais Show).

This is how I look and feel in a lot of my classes that are different from the classes involving my majors. It's basically English and Bible where I have that look. The "I have no idea what's going on" stare and everyone else in class has the answers. You know, the "odd one out" look. And don't get me started on Speech *shudders*

Oh no... I have to finish Speech this year. Why me?!

Aside from how I am in class, this is how I truly feel just being at college. Yep, the Mental Frog shows its face again. I feel overwhelmed, stressed, and about to lose it. And it's not just about classwork. It's all related to the school and its strict rules. I understand rules are needed, but they go way out of hand. Yeah, its time for a RANT!!! 

The dress code, punishment for minor mistakes, their "reasons" for the rules, a lot of the rules, lack of privacy, guilty 'til proven innocent attitude, and their inability to show grace. For crying out loud, Jesus showed us grace, why can't they also show it?! A lot of the times I've compared the school to a lot of things. Said they were reverting back to Amish times. That prison is more lenient than the school, and that North Korea is less strict in comparison.

Okay, gotta calm down. Now after all that, why am I still going back? Because I know it's God's Will for me to go there. And this is a very big trial that I must go through. I won't let them defeat me, God is on my side. Just three more years...

Finally I Can Sleep Again!

Well I did as I promised. I finished the banner, albeit very poorly and rushed. I really did try, but I really wanted to finish it tonight that I rushed trying to change the size. Now a lot of it looks blurry and I'm only satisfied that I finished it.

This was inspired by Ghost In The Shell (of course), and I tried to make it look like I was turning into the mental frog. Why? Because my own family has commented that I was starting to look like that mental frog. I personally think that was the best compliment I've had about my appearance. The font I used for my name is called 'stereolab', which I think is pretty cool. Later, I might upload my drawings from college if I'm able to get my camera back. Not only that, maybe I will draw a certain person and mail it to him. It's a guy that does commentary on Minecraft, and I hope I get enough confidence to do something that bold.

Now I have to finish those other projects, and I'm including a job my mother gave me for a co-worker. Hope I don't disappoint this time.

And now for my favorite song. I love the lyrics, how strong-willed the singer sounds, and how both versions sound great.

Worries Galore

Earlier last night something was brought to my attention, which then transitioned into another compilation of thoughts. Much like the work I do.

I'll have to be leaving soon for college, which I fear and have been dreading this whole summer. People keep saying that after a week I'll get used to things again at college, but I don't think they know how much I enjoy the freedom I have here. But there are more worries other than the loss of my freedom. The biggest would have to be money. Of course, every college student also has this worry, some worse than mine. In the case of my best friend of sixteen years, whose birthday is in a couple of days. She's also a college student, but is striving for medical school and needs money for her own food. I already know what to get for her but my situation hinders me from being of any help. Which really saddens me, because she's been such a blessing to me and has been there when no one else (aside from my mother) celebrated my birthday. I pray that God will find a way to be able to give her what she needs and what I need.

I fear losing my inspiration, losing the love I have for one or both of my majors, not having enough money for books or to even get back to college, buying the ticket to fly back, how am I going to buy and even get the supplies I need to live in my dorm, what kind of roommates will I get, if I get to continue with my major, new shoes and clothes, will my teeth be okay, can I get a job, will I be able to balance my schedule, will I almost go insane again, or will I just break down...

But I shouldn't worry. Easier said than done, but I know I have to trust God. He brought me to that college to do His Will, and He will find a way to keep me there. I know I've just said more than a mouthful and I haven't even finished my long list of worries and fears. But I must go on, I pray that God helps me through this very difficult trial.

The next project will instead be inspired by The Roost from Animal Crossing. The banner is taking way longer than expected.