Thursday I didn't go into work, again, because Joseph was still sick and Donny was too. Thankfully, I still feel fine. So I spent the day working on touching up images so that they are ready for printing. This is an incredibly tedious and annoying process. It involves flattening the image and then duplicating that layer. Then I adjust "levels" which changes the contrast/exposure. Then I go through and use the burning/dodging tool to make certain areas lighter (and therefore come forward) and others darker (and thus drop back). When that's done, I can toggle that layer to see if I like the changes. Assuming that I don't feel like anything is too dark/light, then I can do the last step which is to enlarge the image and go through it in a grid pattern while taking out specks of pixels that don't seem to flow well. This part is the worst because it's so up close, but it really does make a difference. It's like with any detail work, it ends up making the piece stronger, I just can't stand doing it.
Day 37
I wasn't sure if they were going to want me to go in on Friday, so I started working on some buisness cards. I figured that I could get some printed like Donny did when we went to AnimeExpo; they were fairly cheap and we had to cut them ourselves, but i think they looked pretty nice. I figured that if there was a FedEx Office close to where I live (so that I could walk and get some printed without having to bother Donny) that I might as well get some printed for FaerieWorlds. Thankfully there is one that is about a half mile from my apartment, so I began the day designing them. I did so while watching Angel, so it took me the majority of the day, but I think the design turned out rather well. We'll have to wait and see how they look printed.
While I was just starting to work on the buisness card, Donny texted me and said that they were taking Joseph to the hospital. I still have yet to get the full story, but I gather that everything is mostly ok. I just hope he's feeling better by Thursday, since that's when we leave for Eugene.
After I had finished the buisness card, I decided that I really needed to get out of the apartment, even if it was just to walk to the Yum Yum and buy a donut. But as I got to Yum Yum, I decided that I really wanted to go on a longer walk than just to the corner and back. So I decided to walk to try and find the FedEx Office. This wouldn't be that odd if it wasn't for the fact that it was already 1:30 am. As Joseph pointed out, LA really is not a late night town; as Donny pointed out, no one walks in LA. I think I met maybe 3 people walking around on my mile walk. Which was fine with me.
I do like cities in a certain way. They have this energy about them that the country lacks. But in turn, the city lacks the energy of all the plant and wild life that the country has. It depends on what type of mood I am in which type of energy I would like. Last night I was definetly in a city mood. And even though LA is not what I would typically think of a city, and even though there were few people wandering around, it still had that vibe. It's hard to place. I think part of it is all the lights. When I walk in a city at night, I feel like I'm walking through the stars in some weird alternate universe where the sky is made of electricity and is on the ground.
While I walked home I was struck with the memory again of how when I was in high school, we all dreamed of going to LA. We all said that one of the first things we would do would be to run through the streets barefoot. As I thought of this, I decided that I would fulfill that oath. So I ran for a block or more with my flip flops in hand, laughing the whole way. I'm sure if anyone saw me they would have thought I was crazy; I guess they wouldn't be wrong.
Before going back to the apartment I decided to actually buy a donut, since I was hungry. I also made the mistake of getting a Mocha Chilla (which is like a dutch ice/slushie but with actual coffee in it). I didn't think anything of it until it was like 6:30 am and I still was not remotely tired. I ended up calling Alicia as she was getting ready for work so that she could wish me a goodnight. It was funny because I had been awake the entire time that she was asleep. I did, eventually, get to sleep. I'm definetly going to have a hard time adjusting to a normal sleep schedule when I get back to New York. Not only will I have jet lag, but I'll also want to stay up later than I can in order to go to school/work on time. But we'll deal with that when it happens I guess.
Day 38
Today I got to work from the apartment while Donny, Joseph and Maxwell worked on printing images to bring to FaerieWorlds. My goals for TOTF stuff were to update the blog on their website about getting ready for FaerieWorlds and also to add all the images that I put in their store into the Etsy store. That took a lot longer that I expected, but it got done eventually. In addition, I finished up two images that I was only half happy with. I still have to do the final touch-up stage (see Day 36) but I can do that tomorrow. For now, I think I'm going to read some of Brisingr (since I finally finished Eldest and am on to the last book in the Inheritance series!) and go to bed. And look, it's only 4 am. Gotta start somewhere, right?
PS: 9 days til I come home!
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