Madame Butterfly and Parenting

I went to watch Madame Butterfly last night and it was absolutely amazing. It was everything that I think Opera should be.

The stage management was brilliant, the singers were absolutely fantastic. The musicians were very good as well. The orchestra was the municipal youth orchestra who did a very good job, though there were a few misses.

Some people cried, other people cheered but I think we all felt it. If ever I have been to a show that was worth it, that was it.

On the other hand, I used my Sunday to make a little demonstration of After effects parenting to demonstrate to Susan and to make the explanation of how it works a little easier.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, Parenting is a function in after effects that allows you to link one layer to another to allow natural movement such as one layer could be a hand that's attached to an arm. It has it's own movement but also fallows the arms movements.

Well, you can watch the clip and see for yourself. The heart actually get's attached and unattached as needed. This allows this kind of "attachments".

Here's the link to the clip:

http://tinyurl.com/dbkuh3

OK, so wow, it's been a while! Work has been really hectic but it's good to feel useful and productive. And to make money. The other day we had our "insurance" explained to us. The fact that it's in quotes should tell you more than something about what I think of this "insurance!".

In an effort to remain positive, I'll move on to other things. My car, as of today, is still in the shop and getting painted. Even if I did have it, I wouldn't really get to use it too much because I don't yet have parking at work. Fingers crossed though, maybe soon! I heard on Friday that there'd be a spot opening up these days, but wasn't really assured that I'd get it. As you might imagine, I'm not the only person around waiting for a spot to leave my car. Lord willing, it will be soon!

In an interesting twist, I got a call from a friend last Sunday (during church, go figure) which then turned to texting (because I'm not missing the sermon to talk to anyone)and he wanted to get some pictures done. So I grudgingly agreed, mostly because I'm pretty much helping him along with some photographs here and there to use for different self-promotion purposes. He's kind of making a name for himself in the LA (that's latin american) christian music scene. So, good friend that I am, I'll shoot his pics on a Sunday. And yes, my freelancing/photographer friends, I do charge him. He's the one up there.

In other personal news, my suspenders came in and I am LOOOOOOOVING them!!! you have no idea how comfortable they will be until you actually start using them. As I am not a small person by an stretch of the imagination, suspenders are just what the doctor ordered! I'll be sure to share a pictures of them ASAP.

Well, that's about all I've got going on right now (that I can think of). Hope y'all have a great night and a great Sunday (at church ;) I'll assume)

Rabbits, Tiffin, Valentines and haircuts

Happy Valentines day folks!

Today's post will be short since I only really have four minutes to write it. I'll just kind of give a rundown of what's going on. Yesterday I got paid! (yay!) so this morning I went to deposit the check. Once that clears I'll be able to get my Tiffin box! Tiffin, apparently, is a kind of holdover from English influence in India. It's lunch, from what I gather. So a Tiffin box is actually a lunch box, but cooler.

Also the Squishable.com bunnies arrived yesterday so Susans' gift is safely in my hands! That's what the pictures about. BTW, the rabbits are fair trade made in Thailand and 100% cotton.

I've also decided that I need to start eating more home cooked meals because I'm going to wind up fat and poor if I don't.

So I found a weekly meal planner template for excel that I'm planning on using to go shopping and buy the necessary ingredients ahead of time and on the weekend when I have time! But right now I need to go pick up my dad because he lent me his car so I could go on some errands.

I talked to the mechanic and it seems that my beautiful Jeep will be out of the shop sometime next week (I hope). whenever it comes out, you can bet that I'll have a picture to share with y'all.

Hope everyone has a great valentines day and weekend!

Work, Pizza, Studies and Money

So I am now delving into my third (I think) week of work. The more I learn about it the more interesting it sounds. Interestingly enough, the current Dilbert comic strip is all about working in Collections. Maybe it's just my "new worker" Naivety but it really seems like it'll be interesting work. The pay isn't too bad, the advancement prospects are reasonable and the people I work with are great. It really makes me wonder what would make people feel remotely bad about it. I guess I'll find out once I hit the floor and start making calls.

Last night I made another pizza. It was really good but I really made it to share. What I didn't really count on was having it disappear within two minutes of "unveiling" it. I guess it really must have been pretty decent as I've already been "strongly suggested" to bring in another one. Next on my to do list, however, is peanut butter cookies.

I've also begun studying for my comprehensive exams in March and April. Kind of a bummer and I don't really have anything to study with, but I hope that I'll at least pick up whatever I need to know from our study sessions. I was supposed to take in an analysis of a printed ad, but I'm just to tired and I forgot to do it when I could have.

As for money, I'll be getting a paycheck on Friday, for which I am incredibly grateful. I probably should have administered my money a little better but this month I only had about $100 to live off of for two weeks. You do the math. So I'll get paid on Friday just in time for Valentines Day and also a local store will be stocking iTunes Store prepaid cards on Saturday so I'll be able to afford one!!

So that's pretty much what's going on in my life. Leave me a holler and let me know what's up with y'all!!

New Threads

Today I have clothes. For work, that is. I went to the mall with my dad and my girlfriend and got myself some new threads! Not much to say about it other than I really like what she helped me pick out. Here's most of what I got:

A New Start to a New Day

This morning I woke up and checked my email. I got some interesting messages about Obama being inaugurated. Now, I was sure that I had read somewhere something about it being in the afternoon so you might understand my surprise when I log on to Twitter just to find a bunch of comments about the the inauguration! So I quickly turned on my TV to catch maybe half of Obama's speech.

I should clarify that I'm not real big on speeches but I really liked this one. He was very clear about what his goals are and didn't beat around the bush a whole lot when addressing things like the economy and water boarding (a.k.a. Torture).

While I'm sure that the poem that was read by, I believe, Elizabeth Alexander was good enough (though it didn't strike me as great) the actual reading of it was just awful. It was like a moribund moment that just wouldn't die! It just comes to prove that being able to write is not the same as being able to read.

The benediction on the other hand was deep, witty, well thought out and, despite the limited amount of time allotted, very dynamic. It was very refreshing to hear someone who is a good orator speak.

All in all it was very enjoyable and joyous experience.

I share with you a photograph of the 44th President of the United States of America, President Barack Obama by Jmtimages on Flickr.

Apples Galore...

So you'd think that apples had suddenly appeared at a dime a dozen, the way today went. Before lunch I decided to make some apple butter which I had bottled and in the fridge by 5 pm. After that I went to watch Valkyrie with my dad. I have to say that this is by far my favorite Tom Cruise character. Maybe just the first viewing, time will tell if his performance can stand the test of time.

But I digress. After the movie I decided to make apple pie. Also turned out reasonable well. At some point in the middle of this flurry of activity I managed to put together a little something for Susan.