2010 / New Year's Resolutions

Overall, I have to say that 2010's been okay. Thinking back to the beginning of the year, I remember the good times from the end of sophomore year. Spending time with my friends was easy, much easier than this school year when I've been swamped with AP work. I enjoyed life more during Sophomore year. 

Summer was okay, there was just more work for the honors classes than the summer before. I still spent a lot of time with friends, but towards the end of summer was when the work started to get in the way. I had tried to get into a chemistry class at the community college, but due to the class size, I was one of the ones who was dropped.

It's okay, though. So Junior year started. Medical Science I, Chinese III, Orchestra Winds, AP US History, Pre-Calculus HP, and AP English and Language Composition filled my days. I always knew that my history class was going to be the most difficult. History was never my strong suit. Turns out, though, that the worst class ended up being English. Who knew that one "this isn't a real essay" would turn my C into an F. Now I have two weeks before the end of the semester, and the teacher said that the best grade I can hope for is a C. 

Drama's been great. The recent play The Matchmaker turned out to so far be my favorite from all my past plays. It was a costly production, but hopefully next year's productions can be just as great without so high a cost. 

So now for my resolutions. I'd like to stop procrastinating. Even over break, I procrastinated. I have to finish chapter seventeen of the cornell notes for my history class, and I'm in the middle of chapter fourteen. Wonderful planning. 

I'd like to get more work done, but that sort of ties in with procrastinating. I'd like to finish up at least more than one cosplay. I just need to keep myself focused and stop distracting myself with my phone, games, etc.

A few weeks ago, I started to feel really depressed, and I guess it's because the holidays have always been a depressing time for me since it was only in 2007 when my father passed. I'd like to be sad once in a while, yes, because it's sad, but I don't like feeling depressed.

Hopefully 2011 turns out better than this year, even though 2010 had some really great times.

What Happened to DeviantArt?

deviantART Loves You by *akreon on deviantART

I would have never found out about the issue going on on deviantArt if I had not browsed a page, saw this comic, and decided to read it. This comic changed my entire perception of the art site I once loved. I decided to check out the article that was mentioned in the artist's commentary. What even adds to the irritation is how much space deviantArt took in this blog post and only about half of that area is given to the art.

I'm irritated because as an unpopular artist with mediocre work, this limits my artwork from expanding past the pages of the internet. Sure, I could post it up on here, but out of my three watchers (all friends from school), does anyone even look at this? This is depressing.

On one hand, I feel trapped. All of my artwork was posted on deviantArt, with a couple exceptions where it was on my photobucket and from there linked to sites like gaia or facebook. I used to post my art on myspace, but stopped after myspace died (as well as the fact that I went on myspace only once a year). I feel like my work has less of a chance of recognition now. My most popular piece, below, has been featured in two journals and used as part of the heading on a website (you should check it out!). While this brings me happiness, it also saddens me, for it was a photograph. I do enjoy photography, yes, but the main reason I joined deviantArt in the first place was to share my artwork, more specifically my drawings. This should encourage me to leave deviantArt and find another art site, since I was feeling trapped on dA anyway. But that's another reason on how deviantArt makes me feel trapped. I would be completely new on another art site. I wouldn't know where to start, I'd have to learn everything all over again.

Three Roses by *PrincessPomeranian on deviantART

 This is where the other hand feeling comes in. Maybe finding another site is the key to stop feeling trapped. I've felt trapped by my artwork for a long time now, but I think most of that has to do with my OCD. The only reason my most recent deviations have been photographs is because I don't have access to a program to color my drawings. My OCD kicks in with my drawings because I refuse to let myself post them out of the order that they were drawn in. If I were to start over on a new site, I wouldn't have to update it with drawings that should have been posted a year and a half ago.

I hate having multiple accounts and I know if I get an account on a different art site it'll be just another thing to check and a different account may be discarded for the new art site, as has happened in the past. I certainly don't want to leave deviantArt for good, either. I have friends on there, I have added artists that I met at anime conventions to my watch list. I've been on there for well over two years (I would have an exact date but I can't remember my previous account's username) and through that I've been through much more than just posting art. There are actual people there that I enjoy having conversations with. DeviantArt has become part of my daily routine, in fact it's the first tab that's opened up when I log in on my computer. Leaving deviantArt would only make me feel more trapped by it.

Or it might not. Oh, goodness, I'm so confused right now. I know, I know. I'm just a teenager, my words mean nothing. But thank you, to anyone, if you've stopped by, thank you for just reading even a sentence or two, and a million thanks if you've read all the way to here. (:

When Twigs Dance

When Twigs Dance.

Laura is amazing. (: I love her so much and I know there are only people from my AP English Language class that follow me, but... if you don't follow her happy train blog, then I will be sad. And yeah, you probably don't care. Well, I'm off to rehearsal in six minutes and I'll be back home around six or so to post a few more blogs or so, but then it'll seem like I'm popping out blogs like breeding rabbits. So I shall wait a few days until my next blog post. (: Ta-ta!

Why the Hate?

My argument is, of course, on the basis of discrimination against homosexuals and the debate on gay marriage. Just because a person is different than what is considered normal does not make them a horrible person. Even "normal" people are different from each other. An athlete is different from a band nerd, who is different from a loner kid, who is different from the class clown. It is these differences that bring out the individuality in us that makes us who we are. Homosexuality is no different. So what if they are homosexual? It's their life and their business.

"I have a secret. I'm homosexual." "Do you like me or something?"

Just because a person is homosexual does not mean that they have fallen in LOVE with every single person of the same gender. Like everybody else in the world, they have what is referred to as "tastes". If I say I am heterosexual to a guy, is he going to immediately ask "Do you like me or something?" No, probably not.  The context of the conversation was probably along the lines of sexuality, and bringing forth my sexuality does not mean that I am "making a move" on anybody.

Gay people aren't allowed to get married. In the bible, it states that marriage is the union between a man and a woman.

Not everybody reads the bible. I read the bible on occasion, but I do not always follow what the bible has to say word for word. There is also the concept of religion. Am I the same religion at you? Probably, probably not. There are many different religions in the world, and not everyone is the same as everyone else. On the subject of atheism, they are not obliged to follow "your god". For the sake of argument, let's say that two homosexuals are atheists, and plan to get married. They don't believe in "your god". Does that still mean that they have to follow what "your god" says? No. By forcing "your god"'s teachings onto another, that is almost the same as forcing the religion onto them.

It's not right.

There are a lot of things that aren't right in this world. There are murderers, and thieves, and rapists. There are those who harm for the pleasure of harming others. Being a certain way does not make a person wrong. A person born without a leg isn't "wrong", are they? No, they were born like that and that is how they live their life. They aren't intentionally harming another, are they? So then why should we criticize a group of people like that?

What happened to America being the land of the free? In the Constitution of the United States of America, the Bill of Rights to be more specific, it states that we "are granted certain unalienable rights, of which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". In discriminating against a homosexual's right to wed, we are taking away their pursuit of happiness. We are taking away their unalienable rights. Unalienable means that under no circumstances are they allowed to be taken away. What has America come to, to end up like this?

Homosexuality means nothing. They are just like any other person. If this discrimination continues, America is just going to be torn apart, just like it was during the Civil War. I do not want a war, but I am willing to fight for the rights of others. Voltaire's philosophy dealt with freedom of speech, but his meaning can be related to this topic. "I may disagree with what you have to say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it."

Peace and love to all the lost loved ones. May the hatred towards homosexuality come to a much-needed close and may those who are any sexuality free and proud to be that sexuality, without any discrimination.

Peace, love, purple. <3

Art Thieves

Thankfully, I have not yet experienced an art thief stealing my work. However, I recently read an article on deviantArt [link]. Reading this made me realize that I need to be aware that while my art is still maturing, some people could find my art appealing and decide to steal it. I've gone back and placed watermarks on some of my images, though I still have a long way to go before I'm finished editing my work to add it in.

I really hope that art thieves will not steal my work in the future, because when I read about her experience, it sounds like a long and frustrating experience. I honestly do not know why people would have the audacity to steal art, it is an action that is low and really unnecessary. On the contrary, I hope that one day, my art will be recognized by people who are considerate enough to request my permission before use.