Simply put:

July: Working a co-op placement (Free labour in exchange for “education”) I did learn a lot about editing sound files and recording. I also learned how dull 9-5 really is, oh god. Ended the month with a trip to Montreal for Otakuthon with a whole ton of people to promote our own convention, Con Bravo. It was half awesome, half stressful. The convention itself is great but I think everybody was a bit on edge and after a couple days that ended in fights and stress and horrible things. (Too many people in too little rooms, travelling too far, on too low of a budget. Ah!) In the end I did get to see Montreal which is such a beautiful city. We went to old downtown in pouring, pouring rain, but I did get some photos. (Yet to put up…) I would love to live there even for just a few months, even with my complete lack of French.

August: We get back from Montreal at around 4:30am, and in the morning I’m due to start a week of paid work! Now this is sounding good, money is nice, work is nice. We’re setting up for a week long sound art festival for my co-op place. Full days of cabling, hauling stuff, and more cabling. I didn’t do anything else that week, it was wake up, work, wake up, work. Which also sucks because there was no balance. Lots of tylenol was devoured that week. On Saturday the 8th I finished work around midnight and went out for the night! I had just turned 17! Awesome. Sunday morning I picked up various friends from around and took them to a fancy all you can eat sushi place. They have good prices, great sushi, and good service. ($18-$25 a person, depending.) Then we headed back to my place on the subway, and once we got off we looked up the road to my house and only saw dark clouds. Starting raining like mad! Had to hide my amazing Scott Pilgrim painting under my shirt as we ran home. I don’t really have birthday parties, so chilling with my friends playing Nintendo 64 in the basement was the greatest thing. That week I had the most amazing luck with everything, it was awesome.

I also went draining for the first time in August. After lots of deciding and walking and injuries aside we braved our feet into a muddy little thing in Rosedale. So here I am, crappy fabric shoes, jeans rolled up, wading through ankle deep mud, garbage and whatever else in a little drain guiding a creek under majors roads into the Don Valley. That’s were we got out, and found ourselves near the big subway bridge. We walked along the train tracks until we got back to the entrance of the drain. We went to another one, a clean water one thankfully, so I could wash out my dirt filled shoes. This one was a long walk, kind of chilly, but big and dark. A few … “interesting” catwalks. (No floors!) and finally we were heading out through a manhole cover. (Dirtiest part of the drain) Right out onto a small street of Yonge street, in front of a huge group of kids. Oops! “Stop swearing, there’s kids!!” All 8 of us jumped out and headed towards somewhere to dry off. The night finished with more walking, a huge basket of onion rings, and me heading home in wet shoes. (”Why am I wet mom? I was in uh… a river.” Hey, it’s close to the truth.) It was fun! More than a little claustrophobic but I’ve been looking up more and I can’t wait till the next one. Just need to be better prepared.

This week I’ve been preparing for Fan Expo. My friend has a table and I’ve been recruited to help him color some of his work. These past two weeks I’ve been up till 3, 4, 6, 7am etc. We finally finished everything, I just need to print out my business cards to cut out. (Ak!) Then it’s a crazy weekend of Fan Expo, and I’m kind of excited because it really is one of the best dealers rooms in Toronto, and all the great at AA! Going to spend all that work money, damn.

And then on Monday, after all this crap, I’m heading to school a week earlier for an assembly. The grade 9 orientation people emailed me and asked me if lighting crew was going to be there. We’re not lighting crew until school starts! Guess not. Also schedule pickup, looking forward to that. (I kind of want to change into World History though, I have a feeling me and animation are not going to co-operate…)

And that’s summer! I did some stuff downtown, I explored, I went to conventions, I worked! I stayed up really, really late.

Oh, also, remember this? I’m sitting at it. It’s pretty close to my diagram, has a tiny slide out drawer for my scanner, and it’s a lot more than I ever though it could be. I wish my dad could live off the work he does, because he has the skill!

See the top of the page? Where it says “if only I had a monitor to match…” I finally gave up on my tiny crappy monitor (16″ ?) and bought a 22″ wide screen monitor. It’s so choice. Working with Adobe products is just lovely now.

As always, pictures are upcoming. Here’s to the two last weeks, to being one year older, and the last time I have to go back to highschool after what always seems too short of a summer break. Later~

When I first got my cellphone I looked through all the features and I saw it had a “planner” in it. A scheduler of sorts to put in everything I’m doing and make sure I stay on track. I laughed at it, put in my birthday, (as if I need a reminder of that…) and never touched it again. I was a “go to school, come home kind” of kid for a long time. In the past year and a half that’s changed dramatically. I didn’t go home right after school, and if I did I felt odd and empty. Suddenly my weekdays filled up with more school events to work on than I could count. Weekends filled up with social time. A part of me liked being busy, it was a busy I liked and I could control. The last two months of school where more stress than I could take though. Constantly working and slacking, and working, and stressing. Surviving the school show was one thing, passing all my classes was another. And then it finished, and I had one exam, and 2 weeks of break before co-op. Those 2 weeks were  great. I slept, I played video games, I talked to people, I hung out. I had not knowledge of date, or time. The weekend and the week were not a seperate entity to me. No planner in my phone is needed.

Then there’s co-op. Summer co-op is a chance for me, a student, to work at a place I could not normally work at with my lack of proper age, and lack of any expierience or post-secondary accomplishments. It’s a chance to learn something about the buisness you may want to go into in the future. It’s a chance to show you’re not a complete twit and not a complete slacker. This was my goal, and I think my goal failed. My placement was decided from my resume, my resume is full of sound work I’ve done at my school theatre over the past year. I’m sick of sound, really. I wanted to go into theatre. But currently I sit at the desk of a small sound art studio. Currently I am supposed to be transcribing, a task that is only interesting 4 hours in, and then NEVER interesting again. (I’m on my third radio show, probably a bit over an hour, and the track is only going through the left channel. If that doesn’t spell HEADACHE, I don’t know what does.) The best things I’ve done on the job are the soldering workshops. One of them I did before co-op started, another I did last week. I’m a hands on person! I like learning about little gadgets, and getting to make them. (Though I do not like the burn on my hand from hot solder.) Otherwise I’ve been cleaning and hefting heavy items. The irony of the entire thing is that my job title is “junior theatre technician” No, that is not an apt title for this job. 

I work a 9 to 5 schedule, which means getting up at 7 to take a bus, a train, a streetcar, and a bus. The routine is so engrained into my head I don’t even remember doing it by the time I get to work. I get to take this same way back home, right around 6. At which point I collapse in front of the TV because I can’t look at a computer screen again. And for anything else I have my phone. Oh faithful phone, I had to start using your planner feature. So now the month of July is filled with red squares telling me I have something to do on each and every day. 

My weekends were full at the start of the month. So first weekend is a big meeting for the convention my group of friends is planning for next year. (ConBravo!) On Sunday my parents took me to something amazing, Tree Top Trekking. It’s an incredible workout on your entire body. And the next day at work was “lift heavy shit day, grunt.” Amazing. Next weekend my father really wants to go rock climbing, and so do I. So it’s another early morning to downtown Toronto to learn about belaying and climbing, followed by archery which my mom set up for us at another place. (My parents are great, really.) Sunday we have another meeting for the skit we’re planning to do at a convention in two weeks. (Otakuthon!) These meetings are shouting matches, that I’ve caught myself participating in, unfortunately. They drain me like nothing else, but they get the work done. At least I can mostly sit back and just take notes. 

Where does this leave any time for myself? I couldn’t fall asleep last night because that was really the only time I had to think about life. The stress started pouring back in because I don’t have any breaks to let it settle. Now in less than 2 weeks I have to make a costume for Otakuthon, practice the skit, finish co-op (Including all the assignments we have to do.). On top of those things there’s stuff I want to do for myself. I want to spend time with my friends, I want to go to a Toronto urban explorer meeting. (Only happens once a month!), I want to make comics, I want to play GuitarHero2, I want to watch some damn anime! But I’m tired, and busy. Those little red squares are pouring into August, and then I just go back to school. Ouch. 

I have to start looking at college options, and the scary thought of university options, and the even scarier task of assembling a portfolio. I have to study for my G1, because I’ve been neglecting it all year and want to at least get it before I turn 17. I want to make comics! I want to make promotions for this site. I want to clean my desk, I want to make a painting. I want to stay up past 11, but it’s getting harder and harder. I want to sleep! 

Where is summer? Summer was supposed to be a break from stressing out, but it’s coming back in buckets. I really just want to throw out my phone, and not go to co-op anymore, and get away from all the people and things and tasks that are freaking me out. Little red squares that have boxed me in… Go away.

I’m stage managing the school show and so far it’s been about going to rehearsals and marking down exits and entrances. Not a big deal. The real game started on Friday with figuring out all the technical bits to the show.

While all day Friday was a HECTIC tech day. (All day in the theatre, hanging microphones, hanging lights, running out of cable, chasing around the school for power chords, falling off a ladder, and lots of taping… Not to mention dress rehearsal, setting all the lighting cues, and figuring out all the audio cues.)

Saturday was crazy though.

Had to go in and as quickly as possible fix the hanging microphones, all 4 of them. This involves lowering the pipes by hand and fixing their lengths. I had a crappy morning and dropped 2 of the mics while removing them, and while raising up a pipe I snapped one of the microphone cables.  On with the show! We were doing a complete run through, with lighting and audio cues. Lighting had written down and done all their cues on Friday, but for saturday I had to call the lighting cues. What this meant was copying down the cues from the other binder, while calling them, while following the show, while reading the script, while calling audio cues. I got yelled at very early on because I kept messing up the curtain call. (It really was a bad morning…) The people I have backstage are new and are confused by the house lights, and by the curtain. They’re new to the game, but that was the most frustrating part of my day. The curtain and houselights are the first thing we do, they have to be done right.

Thankfully I’m blessed with an amazing lighting guy, he’s seen the show maybe 3 times now? But he has good instincts. I was freaking out over all the new lighting cues. (There are A LOT, and they’re all pretty specific.) My audio guys left me alone during this, and are pretty much set for their cues, thank god.

I also have an awesome other-stage-manager who kept track of all the lighting for me because I know jack about lighting cues. But she won’t be there for when we do the actual show since she’s doing another show and I’m going to freak out without her.

Today is my break, and I’m going to relax. Tomorrow is another hectic day. 8:30 call for a tech dress rehearsal, and then we’re actually putting on a show for some kids from another highschool!

I’m freaking out, but I think I can do this… It’s been completely overwhelming and I still feel a little thrown into this position, but it’s been the greatest thing I’ve ever done. Given me a whole new look at theatre and spending full days just plain WORKING on something like this gives me the greatest buzz. I’m really, really thinking of going into this at a college/university level. (I kind of even want to do what our tech teacher does, and go back and teach this to a bunch of bratty highschoolers…) Highschool theatre and professional theatre are two really different worlds. We’ll see how it goes.

My school is putting on the musical Anything Goes! We built a classic looking set, and spent a few days priming and painting it.

I’m stage managing it (That’s an entire post on it’s own.) but I’ll never let go of being a tech crew kid. Man, do I love painting. The smell, the sounds, the finished product! I love the teamwork involved and the common goal we’re working towards. Also, man, does it look great painted. We’re not quite done, just need to fix a few little drips here and there. Not to mention dressing the set… This is going to be awesome. I’m really proud of us! It was a long night, and I’m ready for a good sleep.

Here’s the set:

Anything Goes set!

What you’re looking at is the front of a ocean liner. The floor has been painted along with everything else. (It makes ALL the difference.) It’s two stories with 7 doors along the front. The two panels on the left and right side on the lower level open up to reveal two rooms. (Two more doors!) The set build took a few days, as did the painting. Not the most creative set we’ve done, but definitely an immense build! (Also, check out our super awesome HD projector mounted on the cat walk.)(Top, center.) The show is coming up and it’s finally all coming together. I’ll talk more about the show in a blag post sometime. It’s been a big thing in my life.

Edit: I made the content frame of my site wider to support wide comics. It’s very… White right now, but that might change? We’ll see. I just LOVE that the 2nd panel looks like it’s going “LOOK THE PAGE IS WIDER OH MY GOD!” (In fact…)

As well… While my gallery is lacking, I added a nice touch with a banner for my photographs. I also added one in the sidebar. Just having some fun.

(Posted from my Facebook account.)

If you’ve managed to talk to me in the past 2 months you’ll realize I’ve been a bit busy. I’ve been meaning to go see a couple movies I wanted to see. March break happened and I saw 3 in one week. (Also caught up on a few other things, but entertainment comes first.)

Starting with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button:
I was feeling restless one night and just decided to go for it. I went to go see it alone, which I sometimes enjoy because I don’t need somebody whispering “did you see that?” That and for some reason nobody really wanted to see this with me that badly. Worried I would be in for almost 3 hours of boredom, I walked to the theater. And yet, I was not disappointed in the slightest. I didn’t notice it’s length, as it kept me with it the entire time. I laughed, I even cried a little. It was a great story to be told, and it was told very well. I was bothered by a few things here and there, but it really is my favorite of the 3 movies I saw this week. It’s about life, and hardships and an extraordinary man and the people he effects. Does this sound like Forrest Gump? Because I keep hearing it being thrown around as if they are the same thing. In one sense, similar things do happen to both men. But it’s so much more than that. Benjamin Button is not primarily a comedy, nor is it about people. It’s more so just about life and how we go through it. I was left very stunned at the end, wondering about my own existence. This put me through to the credits were I saw just how many people it took to make a movie this good. The filming was great, the writing had it’s witty moments, and the time period was so believable it pulled me right in. (It helps that 1920’s through to the 1970’s is a time period I love to look at.) Definitely not a movie I should have seen alone, it definitely had it’s “need to be comforted” moments.

It was a decision between Slumdog and Watchmen, after reading some reviews for Slumdog I felt they had taken away from the book. So we went and saw The Watchmen.

Wow, great opening, okay you guys have me hooked, what else can you show me? I like that we’re jumping in to this world right now, only showing us a bit of back story. I don’t mind that, it cuts out a lot of prattle. But… Not really. I didn’t care for Rorschach’s long winded husky voiced monologues, it all too much reminded me of the not-too-good-itself, The Spirit. (But, it worked there.) I tuned out and tuned back in during the action. Which is all this film said to me. It’s a movie for you, the viewer. The viewer who wants fight scenes, and long sex scenes, and a very miserable world with no hope of being saved. So the world is lied to. Okay? That… What? Is humanity really that far down in the dumps? Er. I don’t know guys. Granted I haven’t read the book, and don’t intend to. But as somebody who hasn’t this movie didn’t say a lot to me except some really good cinematic moments, some good costume work, and a few witty jokes here and there.
Otherwise? Some acting here and there was really iffy, some very weak, weak scenes, and all together it felt like they were trying to push the limits of gore and darkness. Also words, too many words. I don’t care for all that rambling in the slightest. Manhattan’s CG was great, but the cat has to go. Next action flick comes around, I’m saving my money.

Slumdog Millionaire.
I actually didn’t know what this movie was about for a while when it came out. Everybody was talking about it and I was drowning it all out. Eventually I looked it up and it seemed pretty cool, but I never got around to seeing it. Eventually it got very hyped up and it dulled my desire. Coming back from Quebec this past weekend, I decided to read the book. It reminded me of Life of Pi, and not just because it starred an Indian boy. It’s a very good book, the characters are great, and it casts a more realistic view of India than the movie does. I’m very disappointed in the movie, and this happened as soon as I started reading reviews and realized all the character’s names have been changed, and their relationships completely different. I thought maybe the review was bad, the movie was loved by lots of people, it might be really good. It was the shortest of the 3 movies I watched this weekend, and I got really bored during it. I can’t believe how horribly different it is, and how completely hollywood-ized it was made to be. It wasn’t bad, it was just… Disappointing. The big things are there, but it’s the little things that made it a very good book. A book that could have been made into a movie, it wasn’t long. I came out of the theater and I said “I wish I hadn’t read the book, I might have been able to watch that movie without disliking it.”

I’m sorry Slumdog, I just can’t see why everybody was going nuts over you. You seem so very ordinary to me. And yet you seem so wrong to me. If you want a good story, that says a lot, go read the book. Realize what a fake world the movie has put you in.

This is from something that happened a few days ago, it was a pretty regular day of school. Thursdays usually are. Feeling a little out of it I head off to the subway on my own. Now you don’t know my school, but the subway really is just down this little street from us, 7 minutes. It’s a weird, basically dead end street and every afternoon it fills with teenagers all over the road walking to the subway. (Then we all nicely jay-walk across a perpindicular street, 50 feet short of the cross walk and enter the mini-mall which guards the entrance of the subway)

There’s also a small park that runs through the residential area, that once used to be a river. It’s just a small path snaking through the neighborhood that is now used by the smokers. So it’s not uncommon to see them hanging out on the road near one of the entrances. Also uncommon is the amount of them. But this time was weird, and I walk behind a few guys chucking snowballs at a kid up ahead.

Their target? Wilson. Who is this Wilson? Frankly I don’t really know him, I’ve seen him around the school a few times. (My highschool is pretty large, granted.) I only learn his name later, but what’s plain to see is that Wilson does not know English pretty well.  I don’t know many people who like having a gang of guys chucking snowballs at you, so Wilson turns around and says a hearty “Fuck you!”. This sends them into fits of laughter, what’s meant to be tough only comes out as “Fu-ah-k  Yew!”.

He’s pissed now, his limit has been pushed. They tell him to come over here and say it to their face, so he does.  A meek cry from the two guys walking beside him. “Wilson, don’t…” So there they are, face to face. Wilson vs. Twenty. There’s a group of girls walking past telling each other not to look, and there’s people everywhere. His friends turning their backs as I scream at them to go defend him! Who else will? Well, nobody. I screamed, I asked what the fuck was wrong with them, and then for whatever reason I turned around. I guess I listened to those girls, and just in time to miss whatever made the loudest “thwack” noise possible. There’s Wilson, in the snow, getting his stomach kicked in, almost his face. There’s the unknown attacker, getting pulled off by his group of twenty. They’re proud of themselves, proud they pulled him off before it got really bad, right?

In the most movie-esque scene ever I could swear a single tear rolled down my cheek, and I took a step forward, and I walked over, but somehow I was pulled right into discussion with my friends who were nearby. Carried by the conversation I found myself all the way at the subway. This is were I excused myself ran off to calm down.

What is this bystander syndrome that we can’t beat? I felt so ridiculously small at that point. Like a small and stupid girl I ran to the closest friends and then cried about how I did not do anything. I defend myself by asking myself “well, what could have I done?” Step between two angry males? Defend a guy who’s not asking to be defended? Wouldn’t that make the situation worse? Should I have taken my camera, shot some pictures, get them to the right place? I don’t even know. Is this one of those things that just happens, and we have to keep walking?

I got into a fight in middleschool, my first and last. Eva the tomboy vs the group of guys who would not leave her alone. I don’t even remember his name anymore, but he threw a tennis ball at my head and that was the last straw. I launched at him, his friends grabbing his iPod, the others cheering him on. To be honest, I lost. Four years of Judo down the drain, not even a low shot in the balls. A can of pop all over me, a nice wad of spit in my face, and that was the end of that. I didn’t get in trouble, and was told to be picked up from school for a while. I think one of his friends later told me he was sorry, or something. I think my brother went and found him, and cut up his bike. I think I got a lot of attention for being a victim. I think it was a really stupid thing to do.

Taught me that I’m just not as tough as I had built myself up to be. I still do it, out of habit. I don’t know why.