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Archive for the 'my cats' Category

Aug

Doors, opening, closing, and remaining ajar

By rei 3 Comments

Categories: art, my cats, Travel and places and work

As many of you (or the one of you who reads this) may know, my life has undergone some changes lately.

Most notably, my boyfriend of the majority of the last 9 1/2 years and I broke up. This has lead to further changes, and decisions and choices.

Despite my first post-break-up instinct of immediately running home to my mom, I ended up deciding to stay in PA for at least a while. I have a great job that I love, and I JUST graduated…I spent the past few years lamenting the fact that I was too busy and broke and living out in the boonies to enjoy the city in which I was living. I didn’t want to leave just when I could finally experience Western PA — socialize, and go to coffee shops, and maybe go to the Schenley ice rink this winter, visit the zoo and the museum and Lulu’s Noodle Shop and maybe even attend some art events. And at 31 years old, running home to mom after a break-up doesn’t show a lot of backbone.

Also, it turns out that despite no longer being a couple, we are still besties after 9 1/2 years, and it would be silly to run across the country from one of my best friends just ’cause we don’t get naked together anymore.

So, I’m getting an apartment. My first. I’ve never had my own place before and I’m a little terrified. The apartment I’m moving into is kind of tiny, and though I find it charming, I just hope my stuff will fit. And my three cats. Because I don’t have it in my heart to abandon the stray that adopted me. I’m going to have to buy new stuff too, and half of it hasn’t even occurred to me yet. I know I’m going to get a loft bed because 1) space saver and 2) I have wanted one for ages. I fluctuate between dreams about my charming apartment where I curl up in the tiny living room with tea and watch the snow fall, and nightmares about my messy, cramped apartment that smells like cats, and bills I can’t pay.

One of my soon plans is looking into more illustration freelance. Perhaps even the kind that pays market prices rather than what I charge the design partner of one of my professors from AiP.

It feels weird, at this stage of my life to just be setting out on my own, choosing the smaller, pricier apartment in town over the larger, cheaper place that has a friend living right downstairs in order to really dive into my independence feet first (also I’ll be closer to work and there’s a Trader Joe’s on my way home). I’m terrified and excited. The world is full of possibilities and who knows what will happen.

It could be awful.

It could be awesome.

Either way, it will be an adventure.

Dec

Long December

By rei 2 Comments

Categories: my cats, rants, school and weather

New Year’s Eve last year was rung in with a sick boyfriend and a broken TV. The rest of the year continued in much the same vein, and from what I understand, this was somewhat of a global trend. Something about 2010 seemed to be generally sucky, from giant oil spills and double servings of natural disasters on a large scale to hospitalizations, losses of jobs and places to live and loved ones on a more personal level.

My household didn’t suffer disasters as bad as those that many did…what employment existed, substandard though it may have been, persisted throughout the year. Though I have been suffering from senioritis, and recurring anxiety problems that I have yet to learn to deal with, and despite our poverty and general failure to take care of ourselves properly, neither of us was hospitalized. Overall, I did quite well in school, winning two scholarships, student of the quarter and having two pieces accepted into the student show, plus I got good grades, my teachers liked me and I got two internships. It could have been worse.

But seriously, it COULD have been better. In the last year:

Our house flooded
We had a snowpocalypse (which, yes, was kind of fun, but also a hugely inconvenient)
I probably fractured my kneecap
Our car broke down and stranded us in the middle of nowhere
Our car got reposessed (after months of struggling to get the title straightened out)
We had the most miserable hot humid summer since I have moved here
We had to deal with the Lenovo customer service people
I had an ass-hat for an optometrist
I turned 30
My cat tried to kill himself by eating ribbon because, apparently, cats CAN have pica and I think he DOES

I think there were one or two other issues as well, and all in all, I spent a lot of time wondering if I was under a gypsy curse. I still haven’t received confirmation one way or the other on that, but considering the year a lot of other people had, it was probably just 2010.

And now it’s over.

Here’s hoping, in the words of Counting Crows, that this year will be better than the last.

Nov

some cool stuff on a saturday

By rei 1 Comment

Categories: movies and tv, my cats, random links, school, videos, weather and work

Thanksgiving is blissfully over and today we are getting our first snow*. I have a cat on my lap, my boyfriend is threatening to do unspeakable things to my tea, I have a pile of unfinished homework that I keep trying to forget exists and the Top Gear Armageddon special queued up and waiting.

But before I surrender myself to the fabulousity of British Automotive shows, I had a few things I wanted to share.

1. My Next Internship:

After the prospects for this quarters’ internship ranging from a beer company to a childrens’ educational group, I decided to see what I could do about seeking out my own internship this quarter, as I was hoping to find something at an actual graphic design studio. So, a couple weeks ago, I sent out my resume and sample sheet to every design studio I could find in the area that actually had an email address.

To date, I have heard back from three.

One informed me that they did offer an internship program, and that it was 12 weeks long, unpaid and 40 hours a week. As I would be attending classes full time and getting ready for graduation, I had to let them know that the position wasn’t exactly what I was looking for.

One regretfully replied with the news that they were not looking for an intern at this time.

The third, however (well, chronologically, the second, but it is more dramatic in this order) wrote back and told me that they had just been discussing bringing an intern on board at the beginning of the year and that they were intrigued by my offer to fetch coffee. We set up an interview for the 24th, which was this past Wednesday.

My interview lasted about an hour and forty-five minutes. I got a tee-shirt and they told me that my work was very impressive. They told me about all kinds of stuff I would have the opportunity to learn and work on with them and I am pretty sure I am their intern this coming quarter. I am supposed to get official confirmation around the beginning of this coming week.

2. Star Wars Girl:

By now, you have very likely heard about Katie and her Star Wars thermos. (if not, go here to read about it).

Well, in the past couple weeks, the internet has rallied in a wicked cool way, sending this sweet little geek girl all kinds of mad love. Grown up geek girls (and boys…we don’t discriminate!) have written her thousands of messages, and there is an article about it here, including an interview with the little geekette herself. I admit I got pretty teared up reading/watching this. I wish the internet had been around when I was a little girl to tell me that there was nothing wrong with my love of reading and my use of big words.

Seriously, this is one of the main things I LOVE about the internet. Sure, there are trolls and jerks and idiots galore, but there is also the reassurance that no matter who you are or what you are into or how weird you may be, there are other people like you out there. And they will stand up for you.

3. On the Topic of Things That Warm the Cockles:

This post from IMMD was just kind of charming.

4. To Offset the Mushy, Something That’s Just Cool:

This glowing dress made of knitted clear tubes that move fluid around isn’t really a practical option for wearing, but is certainly awesome. Plus, who knows? Perhaps it will inspire some engineer/designer to figure out a way to make this work in an actual functional feasible fashion. Regardless, this is super cool.

5. Tangled

I went to see Tangled last night. It was awesome. That is all.

* application of ‘snow’ may vary. Company makes no promises regarding regularity, density or actual snow of falling snow. Two visible flakes/hour or above constitutes ‘snow’. Snow may be composed of falling frozen water, small pieces of dry leaf, or dirty windows viewed without glasses. Please enjoy your ‘snow’. All complaints and questions should be directed to…we’ll let you know when we have a department for that.

Jun