(since the thumbnail and images in general aren't working, click here instead) In celebration of this once-in-a-century moment, decided to this old piece of art I pursued when I was a junior taking Independent Art. Free to do whatever I pleased, I did nothing but large portraits of figures whose presence I found powerful, as well as various art commissions. This one, Deo et Maria, was completed on Easter morning at my mother's house. Many people assumed that, given that my mother is C
7 - Molly Mahoney "Mahoney Baloney!" says Professor Magorium. It must have been a delight for such a childish man to have an assistant from the normal world who inexplicably matched his youthful charm. If you think about it, Molly Mahoney is neither child nor adult. She's a fantasy person, because she can fit in with Magorium's magical toy shop as if she was born there, and yet she comes from the outside world and has her own real-life problems. At the Toy Shop, she gets along with th
I first felt emotionally directed towards the that one special girl before I ever even saw her. I was friends with a guy, paralyzed, who happened to be her older brother. I cared a lot for him. Then I found out that he had a sibling, and I thought that whoever she was, she must be a very cool person, naturally, having grown up with him. Several months later my infatuation was in gear. Once he graduated and wasn't around in school anymore, I found other reasons for liking her. She's a farm
8 - Selina Kyle What I like about Selina is that she's grounded. You'd think that since she wears a catsuit when ready for action that she'd be an action girl, and while she can often get her way out of tricky situations, she's not ridiculously good at fighting. Her skill set is dedicated more to the subtle art of cat burglary, which she pursues due to her own complicated Robin Hood reasons. Yet, in spite of her talent, she's not completely off the records. She needs a clean slate and
9 - Luna Lovegood She was what got me really excited to see The Half-Blood Prince. Hermoine usually gets all the credit for being the cool female lead, but I prefer Luna instead. She's smart, since she's in Ravenclaw, but in that way that requires abstract thinking. It sort of makes her an oddball, but then consider just how odd everything is in the Potterverse. I'd say she adjusted quite well. What really stands out about her is that she's pure. What you see with her is what you get.
I will do a few more "vs" entries before the end of the month, but in December I will start something new. The project is to be called Normal Everyday Writing Themes (NEWT). This is being advertised now on Tanksgiving (thanks to Lhikevikk, I realize my typo here, but because he's right about how epic it is I won't correct it) because today is a day for being thankful for all the things that we take for granted. Hence, the theme and style of this idea: every day for the next few months, starting
Area of comparison: Everything. Just argue the heck out of which character you like more, which has a greater meaning, which is cooler, which is the crown jewel of DC, which you aspire more to be like, etc. Vote Now
I have officially submitted my word count to the NaNoWriMo site, and it stands at 61,065 words. While this is short of my goal of approximately 80,000 words before the end of November, completion of this task and the first inklings of momentum in a long-distance writing ambition are reward enough. The novel at hand, which I consider concept art for a larger, more official canon, is entitled The Adventures of Mary. As this is an ongoing series, the working title for this particular installment
The above thumbnail links to a much larger image that counts as my first piece of artwork here in a very long time. It took about eight hours between the dates of 11/17/12 and 11/18/12. The dimensions are 11"x16". Also, while I usually listen to music while doing my art, this time around my audio diet was a bit anorexic, although I did listen to some Don McLean. It's interesting, because even though I titled this piece "That's Love!", I never met the people who commissioned it because a thi
A common term thrown about in the contemporary world when it comes to worldviews and analyzing the opinions of others is "radical". This word applies when one person holds views that end up on the extreme end of a spectrum. Now personally, I feel that when someone holds a basic philosophy that if they truly believe in it they will follow through on it to the extremes of its implications. This is called being purist. There's nothing wrong with that, other than that sometimes a purist is forc
Before I post anything, I'd like to say that I'm not trying to be controversial with this list, nor am I trying to define anything. I so much as mentioned the list to my mother and she didn't want to read my thoughts because she thought I was trying to come up with some unnatural structure for relationships. I was not trying to accomplish that with this list, nor am I trying to explain exactly what it is I expect in a relationship. However, this list was fun to write since it put me into the
The misconception that a marriage is supposed to be happily ever after has fortunately been snuffed out. The common couple now knows that there will be arguments and disagreements in a marriage, even moments where passions leave them. If this is all good, why do I feel that there is still something missing? Alas, I think it is because there's still some misconception about the type of people we marry. All too often, important matters of opinion are overlooked in favor of the passion of the
A pastor requested that I write this list and give it to him out of interest of my views on things, so here it is. It was interesting deciding how to judge this list, because these are certainly movies that I think everyone should see. There are quite a few movies I believe everyone should see, actually, but the reasons for each can be quite different. For many, I consider them must-sees purely because they redefined a genre, and for others because of their historic integrity and fame and for
IN MY MANY YEARS ONE WOULD SUSPECT THAT I WOULD HAVE IMPROVED MY ABILITY TO LIVE, and yet without fear of death I suffered a psychological detriment. The average man graduated from college and knew that at the very most he was twenty percent finished with his life, but such an estimation would be generous and his life would more likely than not play out to be shorter than that and render him already a third of the way throughout his course. Back in my heyday, man would read “Thanatopsis” and i
Reentry WE WERE IMMORTAL, BUT IT WASN'T A BLESSING. My name is John Silver, and I have been John Silver for a while. The only friends I have are old friends. It’s very difficult to find anything to do anymore that seems worthwhile. Yeah, it’s that sort of lifestyle. ..........The room was half lit and felt romantic. I was relaxed, sitting next to the fire, politics in the back of my mind. Beside me was another John, this one John Smith. I had known him since the war of 1812. Good tim
Inside the Enterprise it's slick and clean The crew is about as classic as it's ever been Yeah but Kirk can get too bold And anyone can make Bones fold But there's one who's made of gold He's enough for me, yeah me He's the one who's made of gold He's good enough for me, yeah for me! Singing I love Spock the most! He's from another time in the galaxy, baby I love Spock the most! He's a logical mind of clarity Ow! He his logic's based on facts unlike Captain James Who's impulsive acts wil
We were both young when I first saw you I close my eyes And the flashback starts You're standing there On a balcony in summer air See the lights See the party, the ball gowns You're the diamond angel in the crowd I bid adieu How I wish you knew That I was Romeo, and we were both rebels Your father said "Stay away from Juliet" And I was heading down the staircase My right told me "no" Juliet if only we could have a time alone I'll be coming All there's left to do is run I'll be the prince a
Today on my birthday I decided to throw myself a bone and watch Terminator 2. Got, how I have missed you. To emphasize just how great this film is I have to go through a checklist in my head of all the ways it has become iconic. It has one of the greatest heroines of all time. It as some of the best death scenes of all time. It has the most famous and most realistic depiction of a nuclear explosion of all time. It is one of the greatest time travel films of all time. it is one of the gre
In my entry yesterday I was initially going to say something completely different about music, but as I was writing the story "grew in the telling" and followed its own path about music through the ages. My original point got lost and I found no way to incorporate it into that personal essay. So I make my statement here instead. While listening to music in the car, the coolest album by far was Classic Queen. Their music was incredibly diverse, not only from song to song but even within the
I moved into my dorm earlier today at Western Iowa Technical Community College (known colloquially as WIT). Due to cultural osmosis, it feels very natural, as if I've been here before, but I haven't. This is the first time I've ever been in this atmosphere. having college friends and classes in high school definitely prepared me, though, because I can't shake off the feeling that I should be suffering from some form of culture shock. Unpacking was very easy. With the exception of a few thi
The moment arrived to sit on the curb To become one with the frail autumn leaves Alone, away from all the rest, to rest Never to let them see what could disturb A man who walks with his back to the breeze Away, away, to hold communion here With the dried remains of the Earth's substance With the still October air, with an air Of Death, which in earnest speaks in my ear How the door I seek is not an entrance Avant! Alas! The grimmer days I've found! The wind
Looking at superhero movies these days, among other franchises with ongoing characters, life has been a bit uninspiring. Famous personas are getting rebooted left and right, yet even though many of these movies are good, very few of these movies dare to create the definitive versions of their characters. I'm disappointed to see what Zack Snyder seems to be aiming at with the upcoming Man of Steel movie, which seems content to make it good but not great. I keep on imagining what the definitive
[Joker] Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha! I wanna chase'm and mess with the police Break'em let'em hit me in the middle of the street (I ship it) You might hate me now but when you cool down here's my card And when you try to hunt me I'll tell you how I got these scars Oh, oh, oh It's all for naught, you can't stop my plot Oh, oh, oh It's all for naught, you can't stop my plot Care if I tell you why I've got these scars on my f
I went to this movie knowing full well that I would like it. Bruce Willis claimed that it was the "best film [he had] ever been in," which is a pretty tall claim for an actor immortalized by a span of works that is not only great, but crowned by "Die Hard", commonly acknowledged as not only the definitive Bruce Willis movie (which it is), but the definitive action movie of all time. So with that in mind, this is a pretty tall claim from one of the trusted big guns that was put into this film.
People like to brag about their troubles. One person mentions how their life has been difficult, and I know first-hand that there will always be someone else who will say "Oh yeah? Well I've got you beat." You had emotionally abusive parents? Well he or she had emotionally and physically abusive parents. Your job had a cruel boss? Well he or she was in the military and had to go through a drill sergeant. You don't deserve to be sad with your life problems because there's someone else in A
