Books. Drawing. College. Zombies.

I haven't seen any new movies lately. I haven't even rented new movies. I'm behind. I have however finished a book-Strange Candy, which is a collection of short stories from Laurell K. Hamilton. Strange Candy is a great collection of Hamilton stories ranging from two Anita Blake stories to fantasy stories involving wizards and such. It's the 24th book by Hamilton that I have read. I also finished Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness (volume 3) by Bryan Lee O'Malley, as well as Beyond Wonderland from Zenescope Comics. Scott Pilgrim is being adapted into a movie right now. I can't wait. Micheal Cera is playing the part of Scott Pilgrim. It's actually a pretty interesting comic, it follows Scott Pilgrim, but in a Video Game Style Way. He has to fight Ramona Flower's 7 evil ex-boyfriends in order to date her. It's very original. I love Knives Chau. She's one of my favorite characters.

As for Beyond Wonderland, if you don't read comics, I suggest you pick this one up. It actually starts with Return to Wonderland, and then is followed up by Beyond Wonderland. They are publishing the third book in the series, Escape from Wonderland in the coming months. It actually centers around Alice's daughter, Calie, and her adventures into Wonderland. It's definitely my favorite version of the Wonderland Tale. They also have a series called Grimm Fairy Tales. Which re imagines classic fairy tales with new and sometimes frightening twists.

I applied to WestWood College, but I've decided not to go. I read alot of reviews on the Internet on how the college was a fraud and a scam. I've also read alot of good reviews, but I'm still not convinced. It's a nationally accredited school but not regionally accredited. Which basically means, that the credits won't transfer if I decide to go to another school. So I've decided to wait. UNC Asheville has a design program and so does UNC Wilmington. I'm checking into other schools as well.


I started drawing again, but I have also joined a forum with a Comic Publisher where they have Drawing Challenges every week. Everyone votes at the end of the week and offers critiques on each other's pieces. It's not a huge thing, but it's fun and is kinda nice to have other people to talk to about comics. Alot of the people I hang around with aren't big comic fans, so sometimes it can be like a one-sided conversation. I'll post the pic, and the link to the website. It's for AspenComics. Which produces the titles Fathom and Soulfire, as well as a few others. I have a bunch of other drawings on my facebook if you want to check those out.

The main problem I have been having with drawing is style. Any fan of comics can look at the drawings I have done for the most part and tell that it's based off of someone else's style. I'm been trying to get away from needed to look at other artists work in order to draw my own. I'm still using some drawings, but just for reference, like what does Superman uniform look like? Things like that.

It's difficult for me. I'm a very visual person. Usually I need to see something in order to draw it. I can pull things out of my head and just create them on paper. I just don't function like that when I'm drawing. I can write like that though. So while I decide what I want to do with the rest of my life, I'm going to work to improve my art skills. Maybe one day I'll be famous and those drawings will be worth millions. Be sure to keep them, just in case.

I had a really weird dream last night that my dog Alaska, who died in Jan of this year, came back as a Zombie. He was 10 and had surgery on one of his legs. He did fine during the surgery, but he died later that night. The vet said it was most likely because he was old and his heart couldn't take the stress. Anyways, maybe I need to lay off the Zombie movies for a while. I watched Shaun of the Dead last night before I went to sleep, so I'm sure that was a contributing factor. So no more Zombies movies for at least......oh let's say......a week.

If you don't know what you want, you end up with alot you don't.

Knowledge is Power, or so they say. And I suppose in this world, it's true. I have an Associates Degree In English and it's basically crap. I can't do anything with it, there's no job that I can get because of it. Which sucks. I know I'm going back to school, but I have never been completely sure for what. I can be indecisive at times, which causes problems when trying to plan for the future. But now I've made a decision. I'm looking into online colleges for Visual Game Art and Video Game Design. It's kinda like an extension of Graphic Design. Except with Games. It's a growing field, with more and more of the gamers out there being in the age range of 20's-30's, it's not just for kids anymore.

The school that I am most interested in is Westwood College. It's roughly 4300 a term, which is two months. There are 15 terms total before you get your degree. Plus supplies and lab fees. Which would probably sit you somewhere around the 66,000 dollar mark. So, now to the process of getting to the point where I could be a student there. I have to sit down and figure out the grants, scholarships, and loans I would have to use to pay for it. The time that would need to be put into it. The admission requirements. I think it'll help with the basic classes that I already have one degree. Maybe it won't take the total 15 terms and will cost a little bit less. I'm hoping I get the job working at Oconee Nuclear Station in South Carolina. That would help alot. I don't really want to move down to SC, but I can't really say no to this job. It's to much money to refuse. And it's steady work. Which is apparently unheard of in the Nuclear business.

Plus, I think a change of scenery would be nice. I'm fairly tired of Lenoir and Denver. It's a bit dull and everyone's just...not there. I would be able to do online school where ever I went. Which is a plus. If I don't get the job at Oconee, I'll believe I shall call it quits on my Nuclear Career. The money's good. But I'm really starting to hate the job. It's ridiculous. All the drama and bullshit. All the crap. It's really just gets old. It's not a job I would want to do forever anyways. It's fine for some people, but not for me. I've been doing it for a year now. And like it was with the paper route, I'm tired of it. Do you ever get that panic feeling when you think about something? Like maybe how some people feel before they fly? Not really fear, just panic. That's the closet description I can give to how I feel about having to go back to work at another Nuclear Station. I really don't want to do it, but alas the money is a key factor. Damn the dollar bill.

I figure, once I finish school, I can get to paying off whatever loans I have accumulated by then as quickly as possible. The only thing I'm worried about is the fear that I won't be able to find a job when I graduate. Everyone is pretty confident that I wouldn't have that problem, considering the field is an ever-growing one, and it's not slowing down. More and more people plug into virtual worlds to escape reality. 65% of American households play video games. The average game player is 35 years old and has been playing games for 13 years. By 2009, it is projected that the industry will support over a quarter of a million American jobs. The average salary for direct employees is $92,300, resulting in total national compensation of $2.2 billion. It's no doubt, an industry on the rise. Still, I worry, because you have to think every situation through before making a choice as big as this. $66,000 is a large chunk of pocket change. And a figure that large should be spent wisely. I'm thinking about buying a lottery ticket every week as well. Just in case. That's a terrible fall back plan. I've heard worse though.

Anyways, I'm going to start checking out all the options I have within my reach and figuring out the best one. I don't want to work for Duke Energy forever. And I'm almost 24. I think I've waited long enough to decide. Time to quit fooling around and get down to business. Eventually we all have to grow up, right? I suppose Peter Pan didn't, but I can't fly either.

And with that, I've seen another movie, The Goods. This weekend, hopefully, I'll get to see Inglorious Basterds. Quentin Tarantino and Brad Pitt. What a combination. One that will hopefully make for an awesome movie.

The Goods. Live Hard. Sell Hard. A pretty decent movie. As compared to The Hangover, it's not quite as funny, but still has some good laughs in it. There's not much plot to it: A car lot in danger of being closed down gets help from out of town sellers. Will Ferrel appears....with angels. Jeremey Pivens puts on a good show. There's a boy band involved. And the Trans-Am from Smokey and the Bandits. Although it's not on my 'to buy' list, it's a see it at least once movie, theater or DVD.

For those of your who don't know, Northlake Mall has $5 movies Mon-Thurs all day. The theater was practically empty when we went to the 2:00 showing of The Goods. Concord Mills also has this deal. And there's always the $2 theater in downtown Hickory.