Avenged Sevenfold

It was crazy. That's all I can say about it. Okay, well not ALL I can say about it, but if I had to use just one word to summarize the entire night, crazy is about the best word in all of language-dom that could describe it =P.

Can you believe it I brought my darn camera and yet once they started playing all I could do was shove my camera back into my bag and hang on for dear life. It was all I did not expect and more. The insane heat! Malaysia at its very worse. Hot, balmy night with occasional short puffs of breeze. Then the crowd. It was like. I don't know. Sardines? Vacuum packed peanuts? Something like that. So imagine a hundred truckloads of vacuum packed peanuts in a microwave. And then imagine the peanuts going crazy and popping about and turning into popcorn (I know that popcorn is very technically made from corn kernels, but right now is no time to be choosy with similes =P). 

That was later in the night though. At the beginning of the day I still had time to wander about online and lunch on nasi paprik and take photos at the bus stop and places on the way to the venue:

Look at the crowd! And this is only waiting to enter, at around 6-ish. We were in line at 5-ish, and the crowd just grew and grew.

 Game faces on, yo! Though honestly speaking I was mostly quiet up to the opening act because I wanted to conserve energy. I should thank Akito-sama I did, because after that it took all the energy in me to stay alive. 

I was certainly not dressed for the rocker scene, though (Sarah was absolutely impressive in her all black garb and leather bomber jacket). I was more dressed for the weather in my L4D shirt (v2.0!) and denim shorts. Thank gawd tho. I've never had my shirt COMPLETELY soaked in sweat until I could have literally wrung the sweat out of it. As mentioned, I did not take a single photo/video of the performance, simply because I had no chance to. I only managed to get a shot of the stage before the crowds came in:

And then after the night back in Desa we had a mini group shot, a bunch of tired, rocked out peepers:

I felt like the concert was a twee bit too short. Maybe because everything was just a non stop action-packed sweaty mob-filled rockgasm. I think there were more cons than pros to my experience, but hell. I saw and heard Avenged Sevenfold. Completely worth it. And it was certainly a one of a kind experience. Made me appreciate life, fresh air and cold showers a whole lot more 8D.

That's all for now folks! Last post for April, let us all usher in May with wide open arms! \   ^O^  /

Lunch Break

Haha, I love looking at food when I'm hungry. It makes my tummy rumble and my mouth water even more. And then I enjoy my next meal more than I could ever imagine possible XD.

So last Monday Esmond and I went to Street Mall to satisfy my lust for spicy Indian food. We went to the Indian restaurant over there (can't remember the name) and man, it was surprisingly good! We weren't quite sure about portion sizes, but we were glad we agreed to split the order when the food came. 

We had mutton biryani and a potato naan:

The biryani comes with a side of cucumber raita and curry- yummy!!! It was deliciously spicy, and the mutton was very tender. The fried egg on top came as a surprise, lol. Wasn't expecting it at all. The naan had mashed potato and spices inside. Super yummy! But really filling; I don't think I would be able to manage it on my own. 

The restaurant had probably one of the most impressive menus I've seen in a restaurant as small as it was. The photography was impressive! I did not take any photos but I certainly will the next time I go. And I will most definitely go again, for the food and its prices! The individual prices are not exactly cheap, but what surprised me was that there was no tax. The bill, when it came, was a happy surprise for my wallet and I :D.

What are you all having for lunch today? Hope it's something yummy! Happy Monday everybody!

Nodin

Good morning my fellow brethren! Only two more days left of April. Another month just passed us all by yet again.

It feels to me that this semester is all about Native Americans, lol. First it was the dreamcatchers, then the presentation for Design Heritage, and now my marker illustration assignment. Even the comic one had feathers and sacred talking trees. Guess the tribal-native in me is coming to life =P. It came alive enough for me to work on this anyway!

Nodin

Nodin is the Ojibwe/Chippewa word for wind. And that was what I was trying to get at in this picture. Basically it's a non-too-conservative girl having a race with her spirit deer in a forest. I tried hard, lol. Yes I did. I wanted to do something a bit different, hence the oval frame. And I tried as hell to do something different with the markers. I realized I never really mastered the technique of gradients, particularly with two completely different colours. That's why I tried it out in this piece, blending lots of colours that are usually not so compatible with one another. I think I still need to work on my colour palette $k!lLz, lol. 

I love the feathers of the headdress tho ^^. And the bikini. And her skin though you can't fully appreciate the soft shadings I did. For some blardy reason the no-good scanner in Miso sucked the colours out of this and now it looks a tad bit unflattering. In the real thing the oval frame is almost glowing, but here it's a bit hard to see because it's kinda dark. Nevermind, stare harder and sink into its magical beauty :D.

Yet again, I realized that in comparison with the other submissions I saw, mine did not look like the others. Not that I can tell if it's in a good way or not. Oh well. What do you have to say about this? Comments and critiques will be greatly appreciated :D. Better yet if you could amble over to my deviantart account and hit the fav button, lol.

I shall wander away for the night, as I will be going for the Avenged Sevenfold concert...wait what you didn't know? .___. Oh well. Now you do. Here's hoping I'll get some pwetty shots this time, haha. Whee! Happy Sunday everybody!

Fate

I present to you my 4-page comic, ladies and gentlemen.

There be many flaws but I still think I did a good job. 

First time working on a tablet and digital painting seriously. I tried my best to go into details for the shading and all the little elements. I must say, it took a lot longer than I expected. Halfway down the road I was wishing I made only one page and/or used cell shading. But then this came out and I was like 'hm, okay'. 

I wanted to type out a synopsis to the comic, but I think something that is only 4 pages long with probably only a movie review's worth of text doesn't quite need explaining =P. Just read it and be amazed by its awesomeness. 

I'll be absolutely honest and say that the idea is not completely original. It was based on a true story, something I heard from someone. Of course, I added my own twist to the tale. Because obviously trees don't glow and talk and turn into pretty girls. Not in your world anyway =P.

But the loneliness is true though. It is true that sometimes, somebody could feel alone enough in the world to talk to plants. And if they are lucky one day the plants would talk back.

Anyway, enough rambling. On with the comic!

Birdy Out of Cage

I'm going to be blogging from the previous weeks of April when you never saw my face around here. You've been warned. XD.

So I'm sure all of you remembered the fancy times when I ranted like an enrage warthog about being stuck in two places for extended periods of time. On the second weekend of April after much hard work and submission of assignments, Esmond and I went out on a two day shopping spree! Not that we bought much, really. But it was pure bliss to be finally out and looking at fresh new things. It was unfortunate that I was suffering from an awful sore throat and cough, but I enjoyed myself nevertheless. 

Thursday night was not short of excitement, though XD. After a day from mock presentation and submissions I came back from dinner with Esmond and his famileh tired and sore. I opened my cupboard to take things and put things in, and so brain dead was I that I did not notice one whit that I had a new occupant in the cupboard. Until Esmond flung the cupboard doors open dramatically at the last moment and pointed it out. And even then it took me a while to register.

Moral of the story: You do not try to surprise Joanne when she's brain dead. You will be sorely disappointed. 

Here's what I found in my cupboard anyway:

Yes, yes, YES! IT'S TOTOWO!!!!! ^O^

He's big, fat, and oh so huggable.

So fat I can barely put my arms around him when I sleep, but he's perfect as a tummy-warmer and for resting your chin on ^O^. Probably the nicest surprise I've had in a long while ^O^.

On Friday we went to Sunway for ramen and shopping. I think Ichiban Ramen has the tastiest ramen around. I love the broth, though it does smell a tad weird >w<.

 After walking round and round and going into countless shops we had tea at Krispy Kremes! The new attendant there was so nice and helpful. Talk about service with a smile :D.

I was quite prepared to go crazy and shop like mad but I ended up only buying two skirts on sale (30rm for two! Any awesomer and it'd be free 8D), one of which I wore the very next day to Pavilion. On a side note, it seems to me that I have this awfully big smile on my face all the time. But I had that annoying hoarse voice and cough. It's funny that I look so normal when I was dying inside XD.

Saw this adorable big yellow thing in Isetan, KLCC! Part of a mochi promotion. The melon flavoured mochi sample I got was yummy ^O^.

Esmond and I took the new walkway from KLCC to Pavilion after. It didn't feel quite so far compared to the last time I walked it. Back then it felt like it took forever to finally reach the other end .__. 

I managed to get what I wanted in Kinokuniya! The third and final installment of Howl's Moving Castle. Entitled the House of Many Ways. For some reason the imagery in my mind was a lot more dull and muted, compared to the brightness of the ones I have of Howl's Moving Castle and Castle in The Air. I need to read it a second time to polish and refine the images soon.

Anyway, there was this amazing spectacle outside Pavilion: rows and rows of Ferraris! It was some sort of gathering by the Ferrari Owner's Club, and the sight of so many beautiful cars was really something. But there's something strange when there's just so many of them gathered together. It doesn't look quite so luxurious as when it's just one car in the middle of everything. Still interesting though.

 Esmond was very colour-coordinated that day, yes.

The original intention for going to Pavilion was to visit a product exhibition at the top floor, just outside Tokyo Street. There were some pretty darn awesome ideas there. After that we went to Tokyo Street and came across this little dood:

The nights were spent hacking and coughing though D=. That cough took quite a while to cure. I'm glad it's all over now and I've got my sexy squeaky voice back XD. The week after was semester break, which I went back for a week with plans of going gangsta on the shopping. Hah. My plans were wiped away as easily as chalk off a chalkboard. I spent my waking hours sitting in front of me laptop working away on the 4-page comic that was due the week after. Then I got so mad I went 'fk this shyt' and went out to do grocery shopping on Saturday and bought 3 dresses and a pair of shoes, with enough groceries to last me a while besides. Anyway that one is done and happy, and all shall be revealed in the posts to come. And believe me there will be more.

Stay tuned :D.

It's Alive!

After the days of silence from me, I am back with much to say...AND THE NEW BLOG! *pops champagne bottle* 

Behold the breathtaking 360° makeover. From the bold Oriental, monochromatic reds of yesterday:

To the soft, pastel of the present:

It's pretty darn shocking, even for me, lol. All the pale turquoise and dusty coral. The previous blog felt so bold and in-your-face. This new one feels like a soft pillow. What on earth came over me? XD. 

Here comes facts. All the graphics were made by me: the header, sidebar headers, and buttons. It looks so soft and Copic like, don't you think? I guess it'd come as a shock to many that both main and side headers were coloured in Photoshop ^__^. I wanted the header to be a garland with things that I like inside it. That's why you see books and markers and Blooworm and Cauliflower smiling at you :D. After almost done colouring I realized it looked a bit dull, so I added the glitter texture for that wee bit of bling. 

I had to do a lot of homework to get the elements in exactly where I want them to go, seeing as I'm such a n00b in html/CSS. Followed a whole bunch of tutorials to do things like changing the sidebar margins, removing borders, amongst others. Made me realize just how much of n00b I am. But hey, I got the job done, right? I should pat meself on the posterior XD.

Did you see Totowo by the way? Did you did you? Isn't he adorable? ^w^.

It might turn out odd, though, if I got into major rant mode and swore my head off in this pretty blog. Guess it's another way to curb my temper! But even if I do, it shouldn't really matter since it's my blog after all and I can do whatever I want in here. I could jiggle about in a bikini made of bacon and no one could stop me. Not that I would jiggle about in a bikini made of bacon, but yeah. You know what I mean. Haha.

Have you any suggestions/comments to improve my blog? It'd be nice to know. I have so many things I want to blog about now that I'm free from the heavy assignments. It's time for the next half of the semester where we all go crazy for final assignments, but it's still in the sketching process so I guess everyone's taking it easy. Be prepared to see a bunch of posts coming your way in awhile more, lol.

Have a happy weekend! It's Bersih 3.0 today, and I hope the rally-ers are safe and that the weather over in the city is kinder to them then it is over here in Desa. 

Mini 'Date

Good day, folks! Yeah, some of you may be wondering at my sudden disappearance, after blogging almost continuously for so long. I've been sick and busy busy with the last days of the week before sem break. Had a couple of submissions as well as a mock presentation. Well I am proud to say that I submitted all I needed to and the presentation went very well indeed :D. Despite feeling rushed and completely drained afterwards, I'm just glad all went as planned. 

I do have assignments for the week long break, but I shall enjoy them. Now that there's the high speed connection and home comforts at my disposal. I still feel like shopping though. Haha. I went on a two day spree during the weekend but more is never enough, eh? XD. 

I shall post up photos of the shop-a-thon eventually. Right now my brain is in a different dimension and I just want to chill. Have a good week y'all! We're all going to work hard, sem break or not!

LOOSing-IT

It's a public holiday today. Not sure what the occassion is. Some Agung-something? His birthday? Coronation? I don't know, and I'm not quite bothered to check. Oh well.

Because I am celebrating a totally different thing today. THE LOOSIT ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!! 8D 8D 8D *pops champagne cork*

Amazing, it's already been a year. This time last year was end of sem 2 break and I was making my way back to Melaka, leaving my newfound lover in KL. LOL. I think I saw everything in a hazy pink glow then, haha. Kidding. I'm sure it's not as rosy-pinky as everyone says. I mean, you guys certainly felt like your stomach was dropping, right? Like a great black abyss just split in the ground and swallowed you up? You know, the whole adrenaline rush, the numbed feeling, the 'holy shit holy shit holy holy holy shit shit shit shit shit' chanting that goes with falling in love. The feeling that death was knocking at your door eventhough you'd already barricaded it and sealed all the windows and shit?

Everyone felt that, right? Right??? @_@.

It was such an eventful year though. So many adventures and eats and fistbumps and punches and tickles and pokes and smacks and strangling and screaming and swearing and bickering.

Wait, I'm sure I mentioned huggling and kishking up there somewhere, too. Lol. Oh well. 

Packed day today everyone! So so many things to complete in time for submission tomorrow. Plus a happy fancy shmancy mock presentation tomorrow! Boo yeah! We may not be celebrating today together, but we shall. Soon. Shoooon....*rubs paws*

Cheers to the LooSit! \^O^/. Love you Esmond Sit!

Jingle Jingle Jingle

Hello everybody, it's the beginning of a new week! And I realized I never did share any Christmas photos  here. Not that I took that many photos. But here's a little selection:

Pretty shiny fairy lights!

I don't have any photos of myself, mainly because the few ones I took weren't exactly flattering. I can share with you a photo of my cousin with my stocking, though.

And one of my dad with his Christmas present wrapper:

 And one more of my sister with a bunny on her head.

Whee! Maybe you can see some photos of me this Christmas, fate willing. Have a happy Monday!

Lovely Breezes From The Past...

Lol, okay so I was reading my old posts and I couldn't help but recall my tendencies to fangirl over pixelated fictional characters. Such is the bittersweet of my childhood =P. So now I just want to...recall...my past loves. Haha.

WELL...my love for fictionally good looking men came about the dawn of the television and when I first got into the whole anime thing. That was a long long time ago, kids. Long before any of you probably heard about Japan, haha. Anyway, I started watching Saiyuki and I was like 'ohmaigawd who's that adorable green guy with the happy smile? XD' That was when I started going gaga over...Cho Hakkai. Minekura-sama certainly made the pig character of the original Journey to The West very attractive. Hakkai's calm, serene demeanor is Buddha-like, seeing as he has such annoying quest-mates, haha. And the whole 'truth behind the smile' thing. It's so cliché now that I look back to it, but it sounded so cool when I was a kid, lol. And Hakkai shoots chi balls! And cooks! And has a pet dragon that turns into a jeep! What's there not to like? 

 Then I started playing games like KOF and I met the one and only.

Yagami Iori. With his sexy maniacal laugh, swishy red hair and pretty purple flames. Ahhh.

I used to play KOF all the time just to play him and hear him laugh and shout lengthy phrases while he claws at his opponents, lol. 

Yagami Iori likes kitties and so should you!

Then later later when I slowly explored the world of pretty pixels I played DMC4 and Nero's glowing blue claw took my fancy. Lol. I wouldn't really say I fangirled over him, but I just thought his attitude was badass. So was his sword. And his glowing hand. Haha.

But then, of course. The only one dood then I went *fangirl fangirl squealsquealsqueal* about is...

...this guy.

Oh Gackt-sama. Why. Why oh why. 

I don't wanna blog anymore, lol. I just found out I'm reaching my quota limit and it hasn't even been half a month. You see what happens when I get too bored. I get online and waste my broadband quota and still remain bored. YOU SEE HOW DISASTROUS IT IS KEEPING A JOANNE IN UNPRODUCTIVE SPACES FOR TOO LONG. Now I'm going to be bored AND pissed off over my slow bband. Wtf. Moral of the story: sun your Joanne as much as possible to prevent wastage of resources. Amitābha.

Goodnight now everybody. Happy Sunday tomorrow!

Falalala

I wanna dance in a field of flowers and be freeeee~~~

Hello everybody, how's the weekend treating you so far? I've never quite felt so unmotivated, lol. SO many things to do, and yet I can seem to summon the powers to get them done. Teh force is weak in this one, lol. But I'll whack my lazy ass up and running right after this. Pinky promise.

One more week to the semester break! My goodness, it's already been half a semester .___. What's up with the world yo? Quit revolving so quickly and slow teh shit down. Lol. 

I need to stop going gangsta on the babble. Apologies.

Holy shit 10 more days to Avenged Sevenfold's concert and I'm still ticketless! Oh noes! Will they still be on sale I wonder? Sure hope everything works out. It's gonna suck balls when I'm all geared up to be sweaty and screaming with hundreds of other fans in a confined space, lol.

I shall refrain mentioning that I want to go shopping. Though I still do, and the list of places is growing slowly but surely. Oh noes I've went and mentioned it. There you go =P.

Oh, oh, good news! I've been working on my bloggy and I'm proud to announce the buttons have been created, tested, and confirmed to be working fine 8D. I found a bunch of very helpful tutorials that aided the html n00b in me. Besides that, I have also prepared the lineart for the blog header AND the sidebar headers. Boo yeah 8D. I haven't quite decided on the background yet, but it'll probably be a nice plain white. Or something. I'll figure that out once I've completed the header and whatnot =D.

There, ramble done. Now for a little nap before I get industrious XD. 

The nuts and bolts

So you all probably heard one time too many how I want to get an industrial piercing. But yeah, the parents decree that I may never get one in the forseeable future. So I can only content myself by searching for pretty industrial jewellery and wish I may have them on my ear.

I think jewellery design is something of a niche market, particularly the less popular piercings. It's all pretty safe with common motifs and shiny gems and whatnot, making hard to find something that is unique. Aren't skulls and hearts and random rude words a tad boring? There are some that are fairly interesting, though not the most original.

Body Art Forms

The candy cane striped barbells are pretty colourful, but with weird colour combinations. Or is it just the metallic sheen? I wonder if there are more colours than these. The lightning bolt one, however, is really pretty. I wouldn't mind one of those myself :D.

Painful Pleasures

 These heart ones are pretty too! Love the cupid arrow idea. And the winged heart motif has always had a special place in my memory. But, that said, that is basically all there is to it to straight barbells. There are the occasional coiled ones that look like springs, or some curved or wavy ones, but nothing more 'out there'. I suppose the only way to get something really unique is to have it custom made, thought that would be expensive and hard to come by.

This is your regular weekend ramble. Thank you for your time.

Back to Fundation

It's the three day weekend again, yay! Be prepared to see a minor avalanche of posts from me due to much boredom and wanting to do anything else but assignments, lol. 

My morning was spent pottering about the place cleaning the floor and washing things and pooping. Haha. The need to clean and rejuvenate tend to overcome me when I'm bored or in one of these evil moods of mine. At least that's something good coming out of it all. 

Anyway, I was poking about my harddisk when I came upon my files from foundation. And I was like...whoa. Joanne. You made that .___. I did remember feeling a tad bit depressed when I working on my stuff; I kept thinking they weren't good enough. Now I'm looking at them again and I'm thinking 'man I should do something more epic than this now'. 

Analytical Drawing with Ms Yen Huei! It was all perspective and quality of lines and stuff. I looked at the Inspiration Machine (v 2.0, lol) and...well. I haven't actually done any artwork that incorporated such perspective before, lol. And I certainly should, for it makes all the difference.

In the final assignment we had to do some pencil portrait which I can't quite remember anymore. But I certainly remember working on this Beijing opera performer. Ye gods, all those details were quite the killer. But looking at it now, I know it could've been a lot better, particularly at the headdress area. I should've darkened some parts so that the little details would stand out more. Oh well. I thought it was pretty darn awesome when I finished it, and I guess I still do now. Haha.

Here we have the magical finale of the class that I can't quite remember its name (Creative Studies was it?) we had to juxtapose ourselves with something else and I chose an Oscar because I'm awesome that way =P. That's me on the rainbow dragon by the way *points*.

This whole thing was done in markers. Which I honestly darn well thank God I did because it took me ages to do, lol. Without the speed of markers I don't think I ever could've submitted it.

Little collage I had to do over sem break for Design Fundamental class (with happy Mr Eric! Oh those were the days). I had a lot of fun doing this, though I am perfectly aware how terrible this photograph is. Oh well. 

Then there was the second semester where we all went gangsta on paints in Colour Studies, and Esmond, Shakir and I made this awesome four panelled thingy (I did two because I had too much free time) .

And then there was Creative Technology with Ms Koosha! And the whole comic thing that took up ALL of the CNY holidays! This was the poster for it (I'm too lazy to post up the comic panels):

 I think it's blardy awesome, lol. I don't care what everyone says. 

And here are pages from the art journal we had to make. Mine came in a wonky blue cardboard box.

                 

Apologies for the bad photo arrangement. I should be ashamed of myself, but I am not. Haha. 

Were you happy with your time in foundation? I know I was! I had so much fun it really sucked that it had to end so quickly. I'm glad I have so many colourful happy memories of my time in foundation. 

This is a very image-heavy post, lol. Enjoy it anyway and have a happy Friday! TGIF for everybody!