Kinder the Garts

Quiz time! Lookathis. Which is better?


These are two different pieces by two different people. One was drawn and ink-washed by a person who has been taking art class for ONE year, the other piece by a person who has been taking art for THREE years. Who drew which one?

A) Left: 1 year artist, Right: 3 year artist
B) Left: 3 year artist, Right: 1 year artist
C) Left: 1 year artist, Right: unmentioned 4 year artist
D) Left: 3 year artist, Right: Kindergartner

Whoa, "kindergartner" is a pretty bizarre word. Is it just me or does it sound pretty badass... like someone who likes to kindergart just for the heck of it.

"He kindergarts!?"

"Yup. He's a kindergartner."

"Dag, yo, I'll be sure to not mess with him..."

Or possibly a "gart" is something to "kinder". That, too, could make sense, although "kinder" doesn't have the alligator toughness that "kindergart" has, so I'm guessing "gart" holds all the balls.

And back to the quiz.

The answer? E) None of the above. (Hopefully you've read this blog long enough to know I'd pull the "none of the above" somethin-somethin like that on you. Cmon. If not, then, well, read more posts ya nimrod.) (HAHA) It's none of the above! Because I made BOTH pieces, of course!

Turns out I'm pretty mediocre when it comes to drawing faces from the front, but pretty good at profile views (or any angle that isn't just straight forward). I also found out how incredibly easy it is to positions pupils just SLIGHTLY off center to make the person look all kinds of psychotic.

This (the art, not the psychotics) brings me to my next point: I want to be a superhero. Not in a traditional sense, clad in skin tight spandex and hidden behind fruit roll-up masks. No, my OTHER definition of a superhero: to have so much knowledge in a particular field that awesomeness radiates from various pours of the hero's body. Something like that. I totally wrote about this in another post (found... HERE!), but I recently realized two things, one being that I'd like to label such a status as "superhero". (I name it superhero because when I see someone doing complicated stuff as if it were nothing, my mind immediately thinks "whoa... _____'s like a superhero..".)

The second thing I epiphanized was that one day, I will be a superhero in art. I'm gonna know "jargon of the pencil" that would make you scratch your head more furiously than a rabbit (except you wouldn't scratch with your foot [or maybe you might, don't wanna rule out possibilities]). Sooner or later I shall proudly say, "Yeah. I'm not an artist in training. Just an artist". And I think I'm 50% there.

Among other things, that's what makes life exciting, dontchaknow? (Haha I went Canadian on you.) You're not exactly sure how or what you'll be doing in the future, whether it be in 10 years or even tomorrow. But you keep moving forward. Because if you don't, then you're not making any more progress than a dead man.

Let's end this post with a beautiful analogy!
Life like climbing a cloudy mountain; you can't really see the peak, but you just keep making your way up there because you know you'll probably stumble across a nice river to bathe in because your pits are drenched in hoards of disgusting.

Wordpressed

Yesterday was EPIC!

Lemme esplain.

Since I didn't have much homework, I decided to work on my next new project: NEW BLOG TIME!! Yup! On a totally different site! That just in, I'm getting ready to leave blogspot for a lil' Wordpress. HOWEVER, it won't be done until like another half year or so, since I have to Photoshop a pretty layout, hard code a new template (Dreamweaver is for wussies! [but not really on the spare chance I might use it in the future]), and find a new webhost. Finding the webhost is probably gonna be the worse part, but hopefully I'll be working so I can pay for good hosting.

Previous paragraph summary: I'm makin a new blog (for the far fuuUUuuture) with a program thing called Wordpress.

If you're curious... www.wordpress.org (I'm not using wordpress.com)

ANYWAY... back to epicallity... so to use this program, I have to install it onto my computer by jumping through various hoops and rings for installation. Yeah I literally have to print out a striped circle and throw my body all the way through it-... nevermind lame joke.

For the sake of keeping it simple, I have to do the following to use Wordpress:

1. Download an "Apache PHP" thingy so I can test my site.
2. Set up a "database" for... well you don't really care.
3. Install Wordpress.
4. Eat some pasta.

I added the last one for my amusement, although I completed that step nigh ten times over.

Once I had a nice little Youtube tutorial ready, I was ready to be awesome! Oh wait, I was BORN ready! HAHA! HAHA! FUNNY CUZ I CALLED MYSELF AWESOME! I was ready to begin the installation. (Note: Downloading =/= Installing...)

Download XAMPP.

Check. (did that a month ago actually)

Download Wordpress.

Check.

Open up localhost and set up database.

Check.

Create a user and give it privileges.

Check.

Take a shower.

Thankfully, check.

Create a wp-config.php file.

Uh... check.

Install Wordpress.

Cheh-HOLD UP now...

It didn't work. For some reason, inputting the web address in my internet browser didn't bring up a page with a nice little "Install Wordpress" button. I just got an "Error" page. And I had no idea what the heck was wrong.

This tortured, racked, and groin-kicked my brain for almost 2 hours. Aren't computer problems just the worse? YES THEY ARE. Something on your computer could not work, and then it be like "I'zza not gonna tells you why yousa sucking!!", double annoying because it sounds like Jar Jar Binks. Gosh, that guy is horrible. Can you imagine Episode I without him? It might actually be pretty goo-...okay well maybe not. Yeah, I'm about 10 years late to this issue. BTW, the Anakin actor seems kinda ehh weeiirrdd nowadays. Go Youtube it.

Uh... yes, so this sucked! I couldn't figure WHY I couldn't install Wordpress. I ravaged through the internet all night looking for some kind of solution. When it was 11:00PM, I considered just stopping and giving up. I was stressing out, man, and I would've pulled out some of my hair if I knew how to wrap my hand around the thick mass that is my hair. BUHZING oh wait that was insult against myself. Nevermind. Dang. But I couldn't give up on this! I WAS SO CLOSE! I was one web page away! One step away!

I just kept telling myself "I'M NOT GOING TO GIVE UP".

I was kinda like the little engine that could, except I was not a train.

I was kinda like Leonidas in 300, except I was not shirtless and I did not die.

I was kinda like Marlin in Finding Nemo, except I did not blow up a submarine.

I was kinda like Sam in Lord of the Rings, except I'm taller.

I was kinda like Monk in Monk, except I didn't search for a killer.

I was kinda like Obama in America ("YES I CAN)", except I'm not black.

I was kinda like Carl Fredrickson in Up, except I am not an old man with a deceased wife and a floating house.

...I was kinda like a guy who didn't wanna give up.

I went through dozens of forums and blogs until I finally found one little post. It said something like "blah blah, it needs to be in htdocs, blah blah..". "Alright" I says "lemme try THIS solution now... it MIGHT work..." I dragged the wordpress file into "htdocs", and wouldn't you know it?

It worked.

HOT. ALL KINDS OF DOG. I was exploding with emotions - elated that I FINALLY got it, pissed that it took me so long, and confused because I didn't know how to release all my emotions. I wanted to scream, or yell (which is probably manlier than screaming), but my parents were asleep, so I just walked around my house briskly, releasing my energy with odd grunts. I was a butt with a cork in the hole, ready to fart, but I couldn't because I was in an elevator with other people, so I poked a hole in the cork to release it slowly. It's not as satisfying, but it gets the job done.

It was midnight and I could finally sleep peacefully! Alright I admit, my actual story and its events weren't too epic. But just my overcoming of this greater evil that is computer difficulties, building up that monsoon of emotions - THAT was the epic part, my good friend.

To make this post worth reading, here's a preview of what I worked on today for the layout. That's right - SNEAKY PREVIEW!!


Yeah... this took me a REALLY long time because I'm still learning how to use Photoshop CS4.


Also, sorry you had to read that butt cork metaphor. If you didn't read it yet, just go back 4 paragraphs. Once you've read it, go ahead and accept this apology.

Actually... I'm sorry you had to read this whole post! But not really. Because you loved every minute of it.

College is like WOW

Since Twitter wasn't working at the time, I decided to blog about some stuff. I feel so internety.

_

I got a free book cuz I was the only person at the Creative Industries Club meeting and my name didn't have to be drawn because I was the only one there so I was the only possible candidate to receive the free book! I agree that that sentence could've been worded better, but I'm pretty confident that it was almost a sentence palindrome.

_

First time at CSUF... at night! I walked around campus... at night. I went to a meeting there... at night. I talked to people at college... at night. NIGHT NIGHT NIGHT NIGHT NIGHT NIGHT NIGHT - nuh nuh nuh night nuh night, NIIIIGHT! (Anyone get that reference? Hopefully not.)

_

So college. Good stuff. It's very much like... WOW. No not that kind of WOW, I'm talking about the Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game... World of Warcraft. College, for me anyway, is indubitably as stated. Lemme esplain.

I've only played the game for maybe 30 minutes at a friends house a long time ago (so there goes my ethos), but I've played other MMORPG's similar to WOW, and college reminds me of them. I start off with not a lot, but I have plans to level up, so I go talk to people and they give me missions. You wanna join the newspaper? Go here. You're here? Go ask this person over here. I often times have multiple missions at once, so I'm never bored. So I run back and forth throughout campus doing these chores that help me explore my new world, and will ultimately benefit me in the end.

The main part of any MMORPG is the walking. So much walking. It's almost never fun, but the walking makes reaching a destination just that much more satisfying. I have to walk all over the campus, and it sucks, but once I reach that air-conditioned classroom and take a seat, it makes the whole trip worth it.

Speaking of walking, horses always kick butt when it comes to traveling, but I can't fit a bike in my car to bring to school.

Servers are kind of like majors. Sure, you're playing the same game, but you see different people and stuff, and it's hard to get together unless you're taking a break from your epic battles with dragons or Minotaurs or whatever the heck you fight.

Arguably the best part about them online games is the leveling up, or translated to the real world, getting better and better. College does just that for me! My favorite part about college THUS FAR is all the opportunities it gives me if I just take time to catch them. I already applied for an art scholarship, and there's another one I found today that I'm going to get more information about. There's also an "animation pitch" contest I'll be submitting my stuff to this Friday, and I look forward to that. With every class I take, test I pass, or opportunity I apply for, I'm just gaining experience points and leveling up!

Finally I gots me some guilds. I really don't know how WOW guilds work, like how they form or whatever, but I'll just assume it goes something like "hey, wanna be in my guild?" and the other guy's like "alright! heheheheh!" "heheheh!" "heheheheheh!" and the nerdy giggling would continue for a few minutes. Well guilds are similar to clubs or just a group of friends. I basically collaborate with a bunch of people I meet and tackle an objective, whether it be a difficult test or a delicious meal. However, they usually don't include all that giggling, but that depends on your guild MMMMM...

Alas, not every aspect of WOW is analogous to my college life. If I meet a girl at school, I don't instantly think she's a hot babe that enjoys a little role playing. Unless she is. Then that would be my instant thought. But see, I don't make these crazy fantastical assumptions because I can actually SEE her. So there can be some discrepancy with my previously stated analogy.

If you're wondering what the moral to this story is, I shall tell you after these colons: College is an experience not like anything else! Except World of Warcraft. It's totally like World of Warcraft.

Also, I often run into a classroom without my classmates and yell "LEEEEROOYY... JEEEEEENNNNKKIIIIIIIIIIINS!!!". Amen to nerdy references.

_

Instead of ending the Kanga post with a moral (that would be ridiculous!), I'll stop my WOW talk and I'll end with a nice story.

I was taking the side streets home from school today (AT NIGHT), when I changed my mind and decided to take the freeway. I turned onto this street called Harbor Blvd, and to my amusement, the middle of the street was filled with a bunch of dark trees entangled in hundreds of thousands of Christmas lights (white/yellowish, not colorful). It was beautiful. It was amazing. It was like ten million fireflies (but I'm weird because I hate goodbyes). It wasn't like Pioneer, because Pioneer has a bunch of other streetlights that make the road look yellow. But Harbor Blvd was black everywhere except the tree lights and the neon lights coming from the buildings on the sides. I'm probably over exaggerating a little, but it was an incredible sight.

Now after my seconds awe, my next thought was... I have no one to share this with. There was no one with me to remember that moment, no one who I could turn to and share this experience with. Just me. Only I could appreciate it.

And I felt a little lonely.

_

Yeah actually that wasn't too happy of a story at all...

Oh well. Win some lose some!

_

Lemme stray away from that sad mood with some buffer...

You are reading my Kanga.

Kevin is cool.

Ladeeda, my son!

Hey man, whatchoo want?

Oh, golly gee.

Holy Batman, Batman!

It's itsy bitsy time!

These aren't really quotes, just random thoughts.

I gotta lotsa to doooooo!

There! Isn't your mind clear now?!

_

I'll end with this. Go to sentimental mode now.

I really appreciate it when you guys comment about my posts. Even though I don't reply to everyone when I want to, I don't think I should because there's gonna be that ONE weirdo who's like "weh weh LOLZ kanga knee high kicks and all GG NOOB!", and if I don't have a response for him, he'd be like "weh weh LOLZ kanga knee high kicks and all GG NOOB! Hey you suck.".

But in any case, I love it when you guys comment, it makes me happy. Keep it up.

Speaking of love, I just HAVE to say "love phrases" like Max in Trust the Hoe (a great movie BTW). "I... I love petunias..."

Like that.

"I... I love finishing Kanga posts..."

Addicting words.

_

P.S. I really don't mind if you DON'T comment on this post. For irony's sake.