12 Things I’m Excited About Today
1. Denny is back from Hong Kong!!! And we have a date tonight! WHOOHOO!
2. Got to art-direct and shoot a super gorgeous photoshoot with my friend Linda. She was such a good sport, and it was fun to hang out with her! Still working on the project that the shoot is for, when I’m done I’ll post the pics.
3. Possibility of adopting a new animal soon. Cat? Dog? To be determined!
(Sidenote: By the way, my cat died of kidney failure a few days ago. She got really sick over the course of about 3 days, it seemed pretty sudden. Don’t worry, I’m fine! I did cry, and yes, I’ll miss her, but there’s no reason to dwell on the loss. “If you didn’t mourn them before they were born, then why mourn them after they’re gone?” I’m grateful we had her as a member of our family for 13 years! I’m also grateful for this practice in responding to death. I hope her atoms disperse throughout the globe and form new interesting things.)
4. I’ve been watching awesome inspiring films. DMT: The Spirit Molecule, We Live in Public, Ghandi, and The Truman Show. The Truman Show was amazing. Existentialism, simulated environments, surveillance…
5. My classes are wonderful.
In Spatial Design, I have already learned plenty about graphic design after only the first week. I expect to be thoroughly challenged and expanded. I feel like I will be able to design the bleep out of anything once I’m done with this! My Writing class is so far all about critical thinking and building arguments. Solid skills that will benefit me for the rest of my life.
In Media Across Cultures, we are already exploring some really mindboggling ideas. One of the last readings we did was about religion in unexpected places, like neopaganism and witchcraft on the web, roadside shrines to the dead, alt christian music festivals and shamanic rituals in parking lots and hospitals. Week 7 is going to be on “Cyborgs and Anime”, and some of the future readings include such titles as “Aural Sex: The Female Orgasm in Popular Sound,” “Exit Meat: Digital Bodies in a Virtual World,” and “Techno-Orientalism and Media-Tribalism: On Japanese Animation and Rave Culture”. And so many more. I LOVE IT. This class seems like it was made just for me. Global pop culture, media, art, spirituality, technology, and everything squished together.
I’m in exactly the right place. It’s glorious.
6. I was interviewed by TransLink’s Buzzer about the illustration work I did for them! The illustration is on the cover of the physical newsletter they print and place on SkyTrains and buses.
For non-local readers, TransLink is the company that manages the entire public transportation system in lower mainland of BC. I use their services pretty much everyday! My life would be so different without public transport.
Read the interview here!
7. The thing I drew is now cruising all around Vancouver!!! How cool is that?!
8. Spending time with friends that I haven’t seen in a while. I love how we can have serious group discussions about pokémon.
9. REAL LIFE SUPER HEROES. Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god. There are people who actually create alternate identities with costumes and go out into their cities and ACTUALLY FIGHT CRIMINALS (or work towards social justice in some other way). Wrap your brain around THAT one.
Apparently Vancouver has its very own Dark Avenger, Thanatos, who works to help people on the streets in Vancouver’s downtown east side. How did I not know about this until now?!
“I have taken on the persona of death,” Thanatos explains, “because I was told by a police officer that all the people living on the street had nothing better to look forward to than death. So if that’s the case, maybe death ought to start taking care of these people—and it might send a message. They’re getting it, they’re getting the message.”
And read the comments on his page (scroll down)! Wow, just wow.
Another example: Seattle’s Phoenix Jones.
Very, very cool. I can’t get over this.
10. The Burning Man Festival & Black Rock City . I have become obsessed with the idea of Burning Man. (Gee, thanks Halcyon.) Someday. SOMEDAY.
11. The fact that I have the presence of mind and focus on my priorities that I have put all freelance work on hold for this semester. I just know that this is going to save me from going nuts.
12. My new year’s resolution is going perfectly. I’ve shown up every day so far. Thanks, 6 Changes! I will post about what I am doing eventually!
What are YOU excited about today?
Posted on January 22nd, 2011
Filed under: Creating, Feeling Awesome, Learning, Living (All Posts), Making Money, Socializing
Topics: films, freelance, illustration, list, school, superheroes
6 Comments »
Cuddleupagus… byebye kitty. ♥
Ally, you are awesome, your life sounds awesome, and I really miss you. I’m hoping things will clear up at work soon so I can have some time off to spend with you. Even with a couple days off, it just doesn’t feel like enough time to get everything done…
Where did you get the DMT film?! I want it to come to Netflix! What did you think of it?!
I thought the concept was really interesting (a substance that transports your consciousness into an alternate dimension of love and ultimate understanding and connection?!), thought to me it kind of seemed like it was trying to stretch the info so that the doc would be feature-length – as in, they might have been able to present the information in half the time. But maybe not. It just seemed kind of slow for me. They had some really gorgeous fractal-y visual effects though! And it was interesting to hear the first-person accounts from multiple users of what the experience was like.
P.S. Thanks for inspiring me to try this post format! :D I enjoyed it.
Heatharr: Thanks Heather. Gosh, I can’t believe that she was 13 years old! I totally lost track of her age once she passed like age 7. Ha.
:D Yeah, my life is pretty sweet lately, even though some things are stressful I’ve found that it really helps to CONSTANTLY try to focus on the positive and the things that are going well and the things I want rather than the things I don’t want. Trying to make enjoying life my #1 priority. Yay.
I would absolutely love to spend time with you. My classes haven’t TOTALLY overwhelmed me yet… (it’s only week 2 or 3) but I’ve still been spending much of my time on projects. Blerg! But yeah, I know what you mean.
Hehe I downloaded the DMT film as soon as you mentioned it since I just finished watching a National Geographic episode on Taboo called Narcotics where Daime (a drink containing DMT) was consumed as part of a religion. I think it’s an AMAZING practice, using psychedelics safely and spiritually.
Superior thinking doemntrsated above. Thanks!