Man, I haven't posted anything here in a while again. Oops. Been busy as hell again. This past weekend was devoted entirely to 'work' for starters. And I don't mean I spent it in the office.

Friday night was a trip to Michaels and a mad rush to work on some bookmarks with my site on them, which I wanted to have with me for Saturday night. Saturday started working on a craft commission. Remember that blue floral hair clip I made a while back? Well, I got commissioned to do one in pink/yellow/white for a quinceanera, so I spent the afternoon working on that. And then in the evening I had a poetry reading in Piscataway--my first paid gig whoo! heh--which I think went over pretty well, though I still talk too fast. Whoops! I'll work on that. My mouth and brain just refuse to move at the same speed! Sunday was Dre and Paulo's Wedding! We got majorly lost between the ceremony and reception, but all's well that ends well, right?

This is the art I made for their wedding gift:

(Which I can finally post now that they got it first.) Overall I'm pretty happy with this turned out, so I'm making signed matte prints available. Use the 'Contact Me' form @ http://subsequentvisions.com if you're interested. Signed 8.5 x 11 prints are priced at $25. Mini (half page) prints can also be made available upon request.

And now that that nonsense is out of the way, I have been OBSESSED recently with Xenosaga. I know, I'm way behind schedule on that one. I haven't been able to stop playing since like five hours into the first game. Now I'm nearing the end of the third and I'm convinced that:

a) Shion is kind of a bitch.

b) Ziggy is the most awesome person ever and

c) I don't understand 90% of the religious references, but that's fine because most of the characters and the story overall are just awesome (even if the battle system in the second game was complete trash.)

And best of all, it seems I can stay on my 'Girls Only' schedule as long as I write like mad on my lunch breaks, which is a relief. I can actually have some illusion of free time! To play more xenosaga, of course.

Since the reading my muse has really been into poetry again, but i only expect that to last another day or two at best. Though, I'm already 40 pages into my next manuscript thanks to it so far! haha. I won't be looking in the mouths of any gift horses, you know?

As things stand, I don't think I'll be able to do Nanowrimo this year after all, as much as I'd like to. We'll see how October goes. (Can you believe it's already October?! Where the hell has the year gone?!!!)

Well, that's all I really have time to say for now. Will try to update again soon.

New Chapter!

Phew! Haven't posted an update here in a while. So, I've been basically working my ass off trying to get 'Girls Only' chapter two up by September first and, yep, you guessed it, I JUST FINISHED. It's on site and ready to read: http://subsequentvisions.com/go2.htm . So check it out.

I figure I should mention at this point, for anyone out there who's completely anal retentive, the views in the story ARE just the views of the characters and that I don't want anyone jumping down my throat about them. I refuse to justify the thought process of a fictional character. Most days I refuse to justify even my own. They're made up, their thoughts are not my thoughts, so there. The new chapter will hit fictionpress.com on or around the 15th, but you can read it on my site NOW. So go. Seriously. NOW. Why are you still reading my pointless babbles?

Added a new, pretty crappy art to the drawing and painting section of the site too, but not much else is going on. Now, I've got to update the updates section and then EAT SOMETHING. Did I eat anything other than two cookies today?

Until Next Time,
read my gosh darn story!

~Denryu~

Busy Busy

Thought I'd better throw in an update since it's kind of been a while (and I'm waiting for a report to load at work--so I've got 10 minutes if uninterupted--slow ass program). Regardless, this is going to be pretty abbreviated.

Still working on 'Girls Only', plugging away with an anticipated Chapter 2 release date of September 1st. But other than that no real news on that front to share.

At right is that lineart I just HAD TO draw when last I posted. My little

anime version of Azrael.

Also finally finished a piece I've been working on in some way shape or form since FEBRUARY--so glad that's done, you have no idea.

That one's below:

You can buy this one on the usual t-shirts, mousepads, mugs, etc. here.

The direct link to that shop hasn't been added to subsequentvisions.com yet--hoping to do that over the weekend (along with a billion other things).

Also adding some prints to my etsy. Only have This One up so far, but more will be coming soon. Check out http://tradejack.etsy.com/ sometime next week for more--or you can always order prints via email at my website as well. Who needs the middle man, right?

Anyway, that boring post is all I have to say for now. I'll try to do some of that meaningless rambling I so love later in the week if I can find some time to breathe.

Muses are Finicky and Have Bad Timing

So, anyone who reads this blog must already know that I'm both a writer and artist. And if you don't know, why the hell not? Haven't you been paying attention? Didn't anyone tell you there was going to be a quiz? I'll save that for another time though, so don't run away screaming just yet.

Now, as a writer, I've had days where I thought, 'I want to write' and stories that just haunt me and will not go away until I put them on paper for prosterity--not all of these stories have been good but, you know, that's just how it goes. There have been days that I have just HAD TO write. To not do so would be roughly the same as forgetting to breathe.

I'm pointing this out because until last night I have NEVER had that sort of day as an artist. I've never felt 'I have to draw. Today. Now.' I've never had an artistic idea that struck me so firmly that I HAD TO get it on paper immediately. Basically, art has always been something I had to think about. But here I am last night, driving home at 6:30 pm after work and a 30 minute stop at dad's to do some work on his computer, listening to one of the most random cd compilations in all creation, and this idea just hits me and BAM! All of a sudden I'm sketching the thing out in my brain--picturing the trajectory line, the arch of the shoulders, the way the knee should bend, the angle of the ankle and foot. And I'm thinking 'wtf?'

I couldn't get home fast enough to sketch it out. Got in, changed into my boxers and t-shirt, got out my graphic pencils and computer paper and just pump it out. Had the basic lines done by bed time. Now, that may seem like 'big deal' but one night, 5 hours, is kind of a record for me. I'm what you might call a 'slow and sloppy' artist. In other words, I have to do a preliminary inking over my sketch just to get something recognizable enough to clean up. Then I take another pass at it in pencil with a second sheet of paper, THEN lineart.

This morning I woke up and instead of dozing on the recliner I continued said lineart. With any luck, I'll be able to finish it over lunch break and scan it tonight.

I guess there's something to be said for sudden inspiration, but I sure wish it would inspire me to work on projects that I'm trying to COMPLETE instead of new ones! haha.

And Now, For Something Completely Random...

Okay, so picture this:

It's 11:15 pm on a Thursday night and you're brushing your teeth before bed. Minding your own business. One of your psychotic cats jumps up onto the counter. (You have cats, okay? Otherwise this entire story makes no sense.) Anyway, your psychotic black cat jumps onto the counter wanting pre-bedtime attention like every night, so you turn your head, and that's when you notice the warning label on the bucket of kitty litter behind him. It reads:

"Warning! Children can drown in buckets containing only small amounts of water. Keep children away from buckets with water in them."

And so you think 'huh?' Apparently warnings don't need to have anything to do with the product in question. There was no 'kitty litter may be hazardous to your health if ingested' or 'do not apply to open wounds'. No. What's the Scoop Away signature warning?--Children can drown in here...if you ever put water in it. Wtf? I get that you can use the kitty litter bucket for other things after it's empty, but can the company honestly be held responsible for things that happens when their disposable container is used for purposes other than it's original intent--holding kitty litter?? Was Scoop Away sued for a baby drowning incident?

So, you go to bed, sullenly preparing yourself for horrific dreams of small children drowning in kitty litter, just like I did last night. Thankfully, I have no small children.

As far as other stuff, my favorite comic on Last Comic Standing--Papa CJ--was eliminated last night, so that's a bit disappointing, but not surprising after how horribly he BOMBED the prop comedy challenge. So now my top three are Iliza, Marcus, and Sean, in no particular order.

Also saw a preview for a new fall NBC Show starring Christian Slater, My Own Worst Enemy, so Mike and I are pretty excited about that. To use Mike's explanation of why we MUST watch this show: "It combines two things I love and two things you love! I love multiple personalities and spys, and you love Christian Slater and violence!" ...which makes me wonder just why it is that that statement makes me sound like the psychopath of the household. Action, Mike, not Violence. ACTION. And don't mistake 'love Christian Slater' in that "omigod he's so dreamy" kind of way--because totally no. It's more of a "there's something about Christian Slater that's just plain awesome" kind of way.

On that subject, I had a roommate in college, Shelley, who claimed that "Christian Slater is the Devil". She said if the devil had a human face, it would be Christian Slater. In retrospect, if Morgan Freeman can be God, then, well, why not?

Anyway, aside from Eli Stone, that basically covers all the TV I watch (what Mike watches when I happen to be in the room doesn't count.)

SubV stuff: I've added two new dreamcatchers to my ETSY: http://tradejack.etsy.com/ . As always my ETSY page can also be accessed through SubV's craft section. I made these a while ago but couldn't add them because of my camera being missing. Also took some better pictures of the jewelry--they're still not great, but they're better than they were before, so check them out if you're interested.

That's about it for now. I'm shooting to have chapter two of 'Girls Only' on site by August 1st, but I'm not too confident right now that I'm going to make it.

Until Next Time,

~Denryu~

Women Drivers!!

I swear, today I honestly wished my car had missile launchers. Now, before anyone goes crazy on me, there is a MAJOR difference between women drivers, and female drivers. I, am a female driver. ...and because of that I can say that women drivers have GOT TO GO! Seriously. I got stuck behind a lady almost the whole way home from work who for whatever reason insisted on applying makeup while driving. There are times it is NOT okay to multi-task, ladies, especially when it causes you to drift into oncoming traffic. This woman applied blush, mascara, combed her hair...! If you wear so much makeup that you can't put it on in the parking lot before going inside wherever it is you're going, then you wear way too much! The woman also kept checking a list or some sort of print out, which I could pass off as checking directions if not for the fact she had a passenger in the car fully capable of doing so. How do I know? Because the passenger kept holding up the damn print out and pointing at it! And then, right when I thought it couldn't possibly be any worse she starts CLAPPING...yes, while in motion. And then, stopped at a red light she proceeds to start chatting with the vehicle in the left hand lane. when the left arrow goes on and he/she turns...the wonderful lady in front of me runs a red light WITHOUT SHOWING ANY SIGN OF EVEN NOTICING! Honest to any deity who cares, I hope she gets into an accident--not one major enough to get anyone killed or permanently damaged, but enough to teach the damn idiot a lesson! Argh!

Okay, so I'm done venting. In other news, the revamp was a complete success and I finished it late Saturday. The prelude and chapter 1 of girls only are up in the writing section and ready to read. Once again, for those few of you who might not know already, the website is: http://subsequentvisions.com. So check it out!

Beginning Remodeling

Well, it's just before 2 pm, EST on 7/12/08 and I'm going to begin the rebuilding of subsequentvisions.com right after a quick run to the food store. I'm expecting to complete it some time tonight, but there are a few other little tasks I need to take care of throughout the day, so I may be working on it tomorrow night as well. Site will definitely be back up by Monday night at the latest.