An Update that's Not a Whole Year in the Making

Check it out! It’s only been like... two months?
Christmas was wonderful. We stopped work at midday on the 24th which was a bit of a drag. My brother picked me up that afternoon and we went to see Star Wars Episode VII! It was actually really fantastic! I loved all the references back to the original trilogy. I freaking love BB-8; he’s so cute! As for the new characters though, I kinda don’t really feel anything for them. Except Kylo Ren. I won't say why for spoilers, but what an asshat. I do like the theory though that Rey is a clone of Luke from the hand that he lost when Darth Vader cut it off.
So yeah, Christmas was good. Nearly all the family turned up! Even Aunty Kaylene. She’s not doing well at all. Her cancer came back a few months ago and... it’s been so tough. They told her that after this round of treatment if the cancer comes back again, there’s nothing they can do for her. It’s just... Mum says it’s an awfully disheartening thing for someone to hear that kind of prognosis. So I’m glad we were all together.
Mum finally conceded to me that she has no sense of style whatsoever, so she’s been hoarding all sorts of lovely Christmas decorations over the past couple of years. It was finally our turn to host again and I went all out on the decorating. The tree and the table looked like something out of a magazine. Everyone loved it.

So sparkly...

We had a blast playing all sorts of water sports. We set up a black plastic slide in the front yard and played human ten pin bowling – you could either take a run up and attempt to knock all the pins down, or hold on a rope pulley and your family team could haul you down the plastic. Then we played a relay race where you had to line up and throw water to each other in buckets. The first family to transfer enough water to their end bucket and cause it to drop was the winner. The last game was very broken. There were little basketball hoops on peoples’ heads. Instead of having them catch the little ping-pong balls that came with the game, we switched them out for water balloons. As soon as the blindfolded people started tossing balloons the hoops broke. Eventually there were too many balloons in each net and they broke from the weight. It dissolved into a water balloon fight from there. Throughout the whole day, everyone was blatantly cheating – of course ^_^.
Another star of Christmas was the awesome pinball machine that Dad cooked up. A virtual pinball machine in a custom made cabinet. It has something like 20 virtual tables in it now and I played the hell out of it the couple of weeks I was home. I really liked the Star Troopers and Star Wars tables. Those ones were fun and I was slowly starting to learn how to actually play them rather than just hitting the flippers and hoping the ball didn’t go down the hole. Me and Dad did a great job of decorating it all the day before Christmas too! I stockpiled leftover vinyl from work and we planned out a design and used his CNC routing device with a blade attached instead of a drill bit to cut out the shapes. It was a tough time sticking them all on without application tape. But we got there, and it looks fantastic.

*furiously mashes flapper buttons*

I spent most of my holidays playing ARK. I developed a grudge match with some dude on a PvP Primitive server. I was busy building up my base and trying to tame some dinos when this idiot began accusing me of killing his raptor. He was adamant. I tried to explain that I had done no such thing, but he just wouldn’t believe me. I had to start looking over my shoulder and even keep an eye on the skies. Several times he tried to snatch me up on a pteranadon, but I had been too encumbered at the time luckily. So, the eejit gets an idea. One day while I’m logged off, he goes around and puts his own stone foundations at the four points around my base, effectively blocking me off from expanding. We had a verbal sparring match after that. After I had shouted at him in all caps and realised that wasn’t going to work, I switched tactics and began pretending like he was some little kid, a low level newbie who was sad and lonely. I told him I would collect the white supply drops for him because he was obviously so helpless. This seemed to get on his nerves. He reinforced the foundations the day after that. So, I thought “Two can play at this game...” I made a foundation of my own and put it directly outside his front door. He was pissed... Around that time, I started chatting with a bloke on an online dating site. After a few dates, I introduced him to ARK. He was online one day and was ambushed by the guy. They killed my trike and pteranadon. We were fed up with this guy, so we switched servers. I did log in one last time however and used up all of my wooden signs to write “Fuck You” in front of his base eleven times. I logged in recently too and found much to my satisfaction that someone has raided his base. Hehehe...
So we moved servers. This one has elevated taming, XP and gathering so it’s much more fun to play on. We have a small menagerie. Unfortunately it’s an unofficial server so it’s down a lot. But that has helped me in a way to break the addiction a little bit.

I went back to work in January – for only three days XD. On the Thursday of that week, I flew down to Sydney for RTXAUS! I took the train from the airport to the hotel and when I had finished settling in, I immediately got on the train again and headed out to Circular Quay. It was getting super overcast and began to rain when I got there. I found a nice walkway undercover where I was able to get some snaps of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House in the gloom. I checked the rain radar on my phone and saw that a HUGE red and yellow patch was headed directly for me. I watched as the storm rolled in, lightning flashes over the bridge. It was really kind of cool!

The train station had an excellent view

The actual even was very good I thought. Not as good as the Austin one. There were a few teething problems. I felt that the RT people were kind of isolated. I didn’t ever seen them in the VIP room. The event center we were in had all of these cool catwalks, so they were always up there. The main hall was not naturally air conditioned either. There were tons of people who found it much too hot. I thought it was warm, but not overly uncomfortable – but I could see that on the stage under the lights, all the RT folk were sweating like crazy.
I waited all day Friday for some notification of the secret thing they’d teased. They were shooting an Immersion in Sydney that day and I was hoping they’d ask for extras. Unfortunately the way they notified us was through the Rooteeth Facebook page. I was kicking myself. It would have been cool to be a space invader on the shoot... especially with Ryan as a lab rat!
The Lazer Team premiere was AWESOME. I looked fantastic (except someone else at the premiere was wearing the same dress as me) – and my super high stunning white shoes didn’t even kill me that much!

Faaaaabulous darling!

I made a friend in the lobby as I was waiting to hail a taxi and we shared it there. There was some traffic so the driver told us it would be easier to walk the rest of the way. It began to rain and I was wearing heels walking uphill. Wanted to kill the cab driver. (Later on I found that it is actually harder to walk downhill in heels. Man is that hard.) We waited in the line and chatted and became good friends. Her name was Emily and she was from Adelaide ^_^. We milled around for an hour, and then another half an hour because the RT peeps were late – there’d been an accident where Lindsay had cut open her face during the Immersion shoot and she’d had to get stitches.
The movie itself was really, really good. It wasn’t the best movie ever, but I definitely enjoyed it and the humour and hard work and just everything that Roosterteeth poured into it. The twist at the end was fantastic, although I did sort of guess it a little. And it had Michael mooning the audience, which was amazing XD. All of the cameos were brilliant too.
When the movie was done, the cast and crew came out for a Q&A and, surprise, surprise, who turns up? Well, Mr. Michael Jones of course! I was so thrilled! That was one good part about not being an extra on the Immersion shoot I guess. He was a lab rat with Ryan lol.
The after party I thought was good, but a little bit of a shambles. All they had on the tab that was EXTREMELY short-lived was cheap champagne and beer. The venue was MUCH too small and there was a cordoned off area where the special guests could escape. Not saying it was a bad thing... but the Austin VIP party was MUCH cooler. There was nowhere they could ‘escape’ too. I talked to Chris Demaris for a little bit, which was fun and then me and Emily watched in dismay as the crowd around poor Ryan just would not disperse. His audience was like three people thick for several hours – and even when the party was winding down and he was trying to leave, they cornered him outside and it happened again. The poor thing was too polite to get away...

I really enjoyed my time in Sydney. It really is a beautiful city. It also helped that there was McDonalds directly outside my hotel, so I did not have to go without breakfast each day. I explored a bit on the Friday and found my way to a Max Brenner chocolate store, and all manner of shops and markets and stuff. I could seriously consider living there if I had to.
We met up with a lot of Roo Teeth people at King Pin Bowling on Circular Quay on the Sunday night. I had a blast beating all my new friends at air hockey and a game of bowling. We were getting drinks and thinking about leaving when who got in line behind us but Freddie Wong! We had a solid hour of chats where we taught him about the Aussie and Kiwi accents, our money, our education system and the State of Origin. He’s is a super funny dude! The day after he tweeted that he’d had a good time, so I replied to him and told him that if he needed any more special fifty cent pieces (he was fascinated by their shapes and the custom detail on the special editions one) that he knew who to talk to. He actually replied to me! It was super fun.

I made a new shirt for the convention. I did up a super cool vector art piece with Ryan in his GTAV face paint holding his skull mask. It’s kind of creepy. I painted it onto a lovely white shirt and wore it the second day of the con. I didn’t get to show it to him unfortunately.

Lots of black paint...

The Wednesday I got back, we had the Lazer Team Tugg screening at the Cairn City cinemas! My brother came along too and he loved the movie. We were sitting in the dark waiting for the movie to start, munching on out KFC, when I saw a pair of people across the aisle. They were older folks and the bloke was wearing a Lazer Team shirt. I stared at them for a while and eventually tapped my bro and said “I think that those are the Dunkelmans.” The Dunkelmans being Barbara Dunkelman from Roosterteeth's parents. They love to go to everything she does and support her. Brother was like “Nah... It can’t be.” I was positive. I had actually sat in the row behind them at the Sydney premiere and said hi after I’d seen the fella hugging Barbara down on the walkway! So I worked up the courage and went over and asked them. Sure enough, it was Larry and his wife! I asked them what on Earth they were doing up in Cairns. Turns out they were sightseeing. They thought if they were going to go to Australia that they would explore a bit at least. It was just so bizarre! It was like they were stalking me lol.

This is the photo Larry took! I'm way up the back.

The first date I went on with the new boy was absolutely wonderful. We met at Grill’d on the Esplanade for lunch and totally hit it off. I didn’t really want to leave. He was so lovely. He was 25, he was taller than me, he had an excellent job (he was going to start uni very soon, but still had tons of savings) and he was ripped as hell man. So, we hung out and continued to chat. We got frozen pine lime slushies from Maccas. We hung out more on the Esplanade itself, walking up and down and sitting on a bench. Eventually, he put his arms around me. It was lovely. As the sun was setting, he kissed me. It was funny; our glasses clashed. I was having a ball. We had dinner on the esplanade too; crepes. And then a few hours later, gelato for dessert. I think we ended our lunch date at 10:30pm!

Unfortunately, due to many different things after a few more dates he told me that he was sorry, but he had to break it off. He just wasn't ready for a full on relationship. He had a lot of valid reasons and... I dunno. I just feel really kind of lonely now. It's hard to get used ot being single again. I'm not alone - I have my friends and my family, but not having that special someone is just making me a bit lonely...

I watched Life on Mars. It was really good! The music was awesome and the concept was rather gripping. I’m a bit undecided about the ending, but it did seem fitting. I’m now watching Psycho Pass. You can blame the two on the Roosterteeth Anime Sponsor-cast.

Work has been okay. I felt a bit overburdened yesterday though. My colleague quickly took a few jobs off me and made it a little better. I’ve been slacking I guess. I’m always checking my phone or I’ve got my kindle out actually. It’s kind of stupid. I should really stop doing it. But I find that I sometimes just can’t concentrate and after a few minutes of it, I can get back to what I’m doing. I hope I don’t get called out for it. I would really hate to get a warning, or even lose my job. I hate warnings. I feel so terrified when people direct that kind of disappointment and anger at me. I think I would rather be injured than disappoint like that. I’ve begun taking record of all the duff ups that I make in an effort to improve. Mum keeps telling me to ask for a pay rise, what with the INORDINATE power bills I’ve been getting and the fact that my brother is no longer living here. He moved out just before Christmas when Mum and Dad could no longer afford to pay his rent because of Dad’s job loss. But, I haven’t had the nerve to ask for a pay rise. It’s just so regularly that I get reports back that I’ve made mistakes and whatnot. I don’t feel like I deserve a pay rise yet. I need one and I think I should have one. I have a bachelor and I’m approaching two years of experience now. I should be getting paid more than what pretty much amounts to minimum wage. But I just... keep making mistakes...

So overall, January has had its ups and downs. RTXAUS was great and I am so going again next year. Alan Rickman and David Bowie both died at 69 and of cancer. That was a real downer. Monty Oum’s anniversary just passed which was a harrowing reminder. I had a beautiful few weeks, and then a sudden crashing reality check with a guy.

It feels kind of nice that I have no obligations at the moment. Nothing to plan for, nothing to look forward to. Just the weekends, curled up in bed, reading or watching stuff. It feels nice to just drift a little – coast along and enjoy the fact that I do have a solid job, I do have a lovely home and I do have enough income to splurge sometimes. I am lucky and grateful. And now I’m hungry. Gonna go eat the rest of my taco mince.
Ciao!

Feeling: I have this weirdly sore elbow. It doesn't hurt to bend it or when I massage the skin, but just resting the tip of it on something - anything, will make it hurt.

Listening to: X Gon' Give it to Ya - The song from the Deadpool trailers. Frikin' Deadpool man... I saw it today and it was BALLS TO THE WALL AMAZING.

Wearing: My Deadpool shirt of course.

Time Flies (As opposed to blow flies. Which are annoying. And gross.)

Instead of apologising, I'ma just jump right in -

Sometime right before my birthday in July, I had just a normal flu. After a few days of dealing with a sniffly nose etc, I felt my sore throat come back. This was unusual. Generally colds finished with a whole lot of snot and that was it. Gradually my sore throat got worse and worse. It was a Friday when I finally called in sick and then lay in bed all day. I got brother to take me to the medical clinic where I waited for a few hours to finally have a doctor take one look at my throat and go, “Ooh. Yes, that is definitely tonsillitis.” Yey.
Facebook post from 15th July:
"What? COMMON COLD is evolving! Congratulations! Your COMMON COLD has evolved into TONSILITIS!"

I have recently become a fan of Deapool. That mad, mouthy, mercenary entertains me to no end. I think I read the comics for about 12 hours straight at some point. Cannot wait for the movie to come out in February! They had an excellent joke going about it; there was a bit of uproar when they announced that it would be PG. Later they released an ‘interview’ with Ryan Reynolds where they were discussing the rating of the film. Ryan (in the Pool suit) comes in from off screen and destroys the interviewer with a huge set light and informs the viewers that of course, Deadpool will be rated R. I thought it was a perfect combination of silliness and the fourth-wall-break-ness that Deapool is famous for XD

I don’t think I’ve played proper Minecraft in several months. People on the RT server probably think I’ve died. All of my time has been taken up by my beautiful prehistoric scaled babies... ARK Survival Evolved is amazing. It’s a first person shooter survival game. A bit like Day Z, or Rust, but with DINOSAURS. You can ride raptors, and pteranadons, and giant proto elephants and FREAKING T-REXES AND SPINOSAURS. It is simply glorious. The maps are so beautiful. I actually went out and bought a new (second-hand) computer so I could play it. Speaking of my computer – his name is Kable after the character in the Deadpool comics. And like his namesake, he is prone to fits of insanity and sometimes comas. Several different issues have arisen since I’ve had him – there was the time where he would not boot properly. In Windows 7 he would just do this ridiculous thing where he’d restart after reaching bios. Then, after upgrading to Windows 10, when that issue was fixed, he began having this stupid issue where it would appear that the computer turned on, but both screens would just stay black. I eventually figured out (all on my own, might I add) that it was a graphics card issue. Instead of using the actual graphics card, it was using the little onboard graphics processor on the motherboard. Then he began having extreme issues with booting again! At one point he didn’t even boot. The next day I reinstalled windows 10. I thought I’d had everything backed up... I lost most of my emails. *is grumpy*
He is back to being awesome though. Boot times are phenomenal. Windows 10 is fantastic. I fixed up my ITunes library – AGAIN.

July also brought Cairns’ first every convention! Tropicon lived up to its name – it was a con, and it was tropical. The middle of an Australian FNQ winter and it was SO HOT. My Maleficent cosplay went nowhere, so I dressed up as the Cheshire Cat. It didn’t help that I was still getting over my tonsillitis (or perhaps I was in the process of getting it?). But I had a good time. There were so many more people there than I expected! And tons of cosplays! A Five Nights at Freddy’s costume eventually came in first place – and it was indeed spectacular.

In all my Cheshire glory

In early August, I went to RTX. I could die happy now. I really should have written everything down each day I was there! There is so much now I probably don’t remember! It was a blast! The trip of a lifetime! Oh, god, it was so amazing. I met so many people, it’s not funny. I hugged Ryan Haywood. I HUGGED RYAN. TWICE. Just... Glorious... I should really describe the whole trip:

Leading up to my trip I had my 22nd birthday party! I really shouldn’t have, but I was disappointed from not having a 19th or a 21st. So me, Lee Freestone, Lucy Raymer, and Penny Dobinson, some of my new awesome friends, hung out at my place, got inordinately drunk and played lots of party games. Penny made me red and blue cupcakes with RvB quotes one little flags stuck in them! They were adorable!

Planning that party caused me to put off packing for my trip, which was very dumb. I was up till late still packing the night before, and it was dark when Mum and Dad took me to the airport. It felt bizarre, like I wasn’t actually doing it! Me and Dad hung around and looked at the history of the airport in this little hallway. It was really quite cool. I tried to buy some breakfast at a cafe – nothing else was open. They wanted to charge $18 or something ridiculous for a large puff pastry thing. I said “Screw that,” and had a museli bar that I had packed. The flights there were very uneventful. I remember I watched Avengers 2 again on the long haul. There were a couple of other movies I can’t remember. The Qantas in flight service was really good. I really enjoyed the hot breakfasts. It was the first time I had eaten scrambled eggs and they weren’t that bad. My seat was a middle seat. The two girls I sat with were very nice. One of the most interesting parts of the flight was how cold it got outside the plane. It was going approximately 1000km/h and the temperature outside dropped to -58.0degreese Celsius at one point. Amazing. Arriving in the Las Angeles Airport was a little lacklustre. I didn’t get to see much of it – we were taken on a bus to what looked like the oldest part of the airport for my connection to Austin. I did not enjoy the Austin flight – I had forgotten my jumper in my bag and I nearly froze. Note to self, always take a jumper on planes. It gets cold up there man. Arriving in Austin was exciting. The shuttle that was supposed to be there for me wasn’t though. I had to convince the people at the counter I had a voucher for it. The hotel I stayed at, the Radisson, was very nice. I had a freaking King bed. That was glorious. I learned to sleep in the middle after a few nights.

My first day I had free. I went for a walk. Of course, the first thing I wanted to visit in America was a McDonalds. On my way there I saw a squirrel! I was shocked! Then of course I took a photo. McDonalds was a novelty. I had to message my brother pictures of the receipt and the sign for the price of mcnuggets. My breakfast probably cost me about $3 US. And apparently you could get 50 chicken nuggets for $10.00. Insane XD

First day of RTX was a blast! I immediately began making friends when I lined up in the VIP line to get my badge. Alex and Nikki were media people and were super awesome. I started a trend where everyone in the lines sat down. I hate standing XD First panel I went to was the Happy Hour panel. I was in the front row egging Geoff on to drink the snake wine XD

I can’t remember if I made it to the RTAA panel (it’s on my schedule here, but... hm...) I definitely went to the Founding Fathers panel – that was a gas. Best part was they showed an extended version of the Lazer Team trailer! I am so psyched for that movie!

I had cosplayed that day as my Minecraft character who is half enderman. I also met Gaelfox who is a fantastic RT community fan-artist! Saw many other cool cosplays, namely an Ursa grimm from RWBY, and Zer0 from Borderlands 2. Met so many people in the VIP Lounge! By the end of RTX I managed to get all of the Achievement Hunters to sign the art I did of them, well, all except Ray who left earlier this year. One awesome thing that ran through the whole of RTX was a sort of game called Murder at RTX. There were rooms set up as crime scenes and clues hidden everywhere and suspicious voicemails and if you completed all the clues and solved the murder, you got badges! I did not get to compete unfortunately; I was having too much fun running about going to all of the panels... I did get to see the first crime scene though, which was pretty awesome :D

I think the highlight of the whole thing was the VIP party... On the Friday night, I ran home in the middle of the Cards Against Humanity panel, which was super funny, and in a huge rush, scrubbed off my black facepaint, washed my hair, washed my hair AGAIN, dressed quickly, shot town to the lobby, took a pedicab through gorgeous downtown Austin (mind you, my contact were out of prescription, so everything was just a gorgeous glittering blur) and made it to the Market. I hadn’t had ANYTHING to eat that day, so I had two free drinks and I was GONE. My friends I’d made that day found me and fed me water. I was witness to Bruce Greene and Adam Kovic from Funhaus being super gay. I met and talked with so many people. Notably, I talked with Gray Haddock, the voice of Locus and Torchwick, I had an argument with Ashley Jenkins over Maroons vs Blues, I had a long chat with Nick from a Simple Walk into Mordor, and I’m pretty sure Chris Demaris was hitting on me XD. I was wearing the most gorgeous blue dress and Gus nearly choked on his drink trying to tell me how nice he thought I looked. I met and hugged nearly all of my idols, and it was FUDGING GLORIOUS.

Red vs Blue panel was bright and early the next day. Then I went to a signing with Burnie and Matt – I got them to sign my Bagshot. They were super impressed!

The Ten Little Roosters panel was EPIC. They aired the trailer for Eleven Little Roosters there, much to the surprise and delight of everyone. Also, Miles Luna totally kissed Adam Kovic.

X-Ray and Vav panel we got to see that day’s episode, and then the next week’s episode! Which is arguably the best X&V episode ever – The mad King in his cell... just delicious...

I didn’t get to see the Patch... I think I went to a writing panel? It was very good actually!

Later that evening I went to the Meet the Lazer Team panel. It was a lot of fun! It did mean I missed out on the special concert thing, but I wasn’t too fussed. I wasn’t really a fan of RWBY at that time. Not I quite like it though.

When I got back to the hotel from that, I walked in to see Kerry Shawcross standing at the top of the stairs to the ballroom. This was the RT Side Quest Charity Auction I had hear Nikki and Alex talking about. I messaged them and was like: “Dude... So jealous... tempted to put on something nice and crash that party...” “DO IT.” Was their response. And I sure did it. That was an amazing time too. The auction was actually just wrapping up, so I hung out and met some more RT folks and generally tried to not look shifty. I had a great conversation with a very drunken Josh Flanagan. I met Matt Bragg. And then I very shyly went up to Miles Luna and asked him if I could get a selfie with him. He gave me three amazing pictures. When I asked him for a hug he exclaimed that I was adorable and then picked me up and swung me around. I’m pretty sure that made my entire life right there.

The convention hall floor was so cool! There were so many booths of cool stuff! I got to sit in the replica warthog and on the podcast set and see the Lazer Team suit and everything! I even sat on the model of the Mad King’s throne – not before Ryan darted forward and caused a huge commotion by lounging on the thing! On a sadder note though... In February of this year, our dear, beloved Monty Oum was taken from us. It was like he knew he was going, and he made up for it with the insane amount of stuff he created... I was so distraught when I hear the news he was in a coma. Apparently he’d gone into hospital for a routine procedure of some sort, had a terrible allergic reaction and then they just couldn’t wake him up. Monty was 33 and married to his wife of a tear... There was a memorial for Monty on the convention floor. I wrote a note on the walls – one of thousands left in remembrance of Monty...

Day three started off with the RT podcast. I couldn’t believe I was there in person. Also, I just wanted to mention how FREAKING AWESOME my VIP badge was. It got me everywhere and I skipped ALL of the queues. Then it was the second Achievement Hunter panel! Those are always fantastically funny.

The last panel I went to that day was the Let’s Play Live documentary panel. It was run by a fella named Daniel Favelo. I had been chatting with Daniel the whole weekend; he was sometimes in the VIP seating. I had no idea he was staff until the panel. Here I was going, “I hugged Jack and Geoff and...” and he had filmed them all for weeks leading up to LPL. He has since done the best Immersion episode to date; the Five Nights at Freddy’s and is doing tons of other stuff. I knew Daniel before it was cool XD

I finished off my trip by lounging in my hotel room away from the heat of the Texas summer and occasionally venturing out to eat. I went to Gourdough’s, this place where they make hamburgers out of donuts. It was delicious, and I even met another fan there!

On the Monday after that incredible weekend, I was scrolling through new vids and trying to catch up on the livestreams of the panels that I missed. I watched the week's Achievement Hunter Weekly Update and nearly fell off the bed. I think I might have screamed a little. I finished the vector portraits of all the AH guys – I have nearly all of them signed and hanging in the stairwell now – and the featured art of the week WAS THE PICTURE I GAVE GEOFF. I was so stoked!

Below: The last three pics & bonus AHWU screencap!

AHWU #277

My last day in Austin was a bit of a disaster. The same stupid shuttle company that was supposed to come get me didn’t even turn up. The Hotel kindly called me a taxi because the international sim I had was no longer working (there was a lady there from the shuttle who was to pick someone else up, and she was very helpful too) and I made my hasty way to the airport. Of course I missed the stupid flight, but it wall turned out fine because I was booked on the next available one at no extra cost somehow and made my connecting flight. I took the long haul home with two boys of Asian descent who were immigrating to Brisbane. When I got back to Cairns, and collected my luggage and then was picked up by Mum, I turned to her and said, “I just went to the other side of the world. How did I even do that!?”

I went to get free comics on Free Comic Book Day at Kersplatt in the city. People who went dressed up in cosplay got free goodies. I, of course, went dressed at the Cheshire Cat again. It was pretty funny seeing all the looks! Biggest surprise of all was when we walked past this pub and some dude, a waiter I think, ran out and gave me his number! XD

My new favourite movie of all time is now Mad Max: Fury Road. Just... hot damn. That movie is a masterpiece in my opinion. Never have I seen such excellent storytelling with so little dialogue. And the props! Oh, gods, the propmakers in that movie! And the stunts and the characters and just... the whole thing, even though it was a car chase from start to finish, I absolutely loved it.

I had heard constantly about the book called Ready Player One. They had talked about it a bit on the Roosterteeth Podcast and I finally decided one day to pick it up. Oh, god, it is the most amazing book I have read in a long time. I started reading it at 10:30pm one night. I didn’t put it down until 5:00am the next morning. And then I ran out into the street in front of the house and danced because I was so elated. The whole story was just amazing! I so desperately want the Oasis to be real already! Along the same lines, I so badly want a self-driving car too. And then there was the day I freaked myself out a little by reading all about the exponential increase of technology and the singularity. Dude. Technology is awesome and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Cairns is slowly getting more culture! I went to this year’s Zombie Shuffle with my new friend Penny. My makeup looked out of this world. I had this huge open neck wound and a lovely big cut on my leg. I learned how to make really convincing looking bruises too and covered myself in them and then painted the whole lot with a bunch of fake blood. People really seemed to like it! When we were shuffling about, I had a blast going up and scaring people who had stopped to watch or take photos. Me and Penny went up and began banging on the windows of shops that were still open, much to the amusement of the patrons and staff inside. There was this one group of tourists who were standing on a street corner and filming. I made a beeline for the girl in the middle who was looking a little uncomfortable. She began backing away and then turned to run away and I still came after her as her friends began egging me on! I also made a whole outdoor restaurant seating area laugh when I pretended to go after one of the patrons sitting in a walled off area. I walked all zombie-like towards her, groaning, and then I ran into a table and chairs and pretended to stumble about while my hungry groans turned to pained ones. They thought it was rather amusing. Penny got some awesome pics and vids too XD

In all our gory glory

My Dad lost his job recently which meant my brother had to move out yesterday. I am going to be stuck with the whole rent to pay now... At least any messes will be mine now. And I can have the big bed if I want. I’ve been considering getting a housemate, but honestly I think I want to live by myself for a while. That would be cool. It’ll basically put me on a diet. No more takeout dinners lol. Well, until I get a robot car that is.

I was woken up at 4am the other morning. I looked at my phone, confused, wondering if the call I’d just missed from Mum was a butt dial from her while she was doing a night shift at the hospital. Then my phone rang again. Mum sounded out of breath and really, really upset. She told me to get Daniel, that it was an emergency. Brother talked to her for a second then hightailed it out of the house. Apparently parents had gotten up very early to get down to Cairns to put Dad on a flight to Brisbane for another of his adjustment meetings for his cochlear implant (Dad got a cochlear – it’s kind of exciting!) and they hit a wallaby right outside of Mareeba. Mum was just desperately still trying to get Dad on the plane. They missed it unfortunately and the radiator for their new Holden Trax was toast. To have that happen almost directly after Dad losing his job was just the worst. I think Mum and Dad are doing okay now though.

Sometime last year before RTX, something SUPER cool was announced – RTXAU! Roosterteeth’s very first international convention! I was so excited it was going to be in Australia! I bought my weekend pass almost immediately. I recently booked my hotel and flights too. Then I tried to apply to be a guardian. I thought it might be cool to hang out with those folks and make a few friends. But unfortunately, I didn’t make it. *shrug* Ah well, doesn’t matter now... BECAUSE I GOT ANOTHER VIP TICKET. Aw yisss... I am going to the LAZER TEAM PREMIERE. AND THE AFTER PARTY. *commences vicarious dancing and hip thrusting* I ducked home from work yesterday and sat here poised over Moshtix on my computer, laptop and phone and managed to snag one. I cannot freaking wait. Today I went shopping to find some more appropriate shoes for my beautiful dress I got at Dotti. I found some pretty cool white ones (they are sky high and bound to kill me though) for $14. I also got some gorgeous white opalescent earrings and a contrasting mini-clutch on special. I am going to look like a super model. If I don’t die in the shoes, that is. Wow. I honestly can’t believe I am going to do this... I spoil myself so badly XD One day I won’t be able to get a VIP ticket and I’m going to have a rotten time :P

Roosterteeth recently released a book – the Red vs Blue official companion book. It’s pretty cool. I preordered it the moment it came out. It took forever to arrive in the mail once it had been released. I had no freaking clue that Vic was a computer program. I thought he was just some moron who worked at Freelance HQ who was in charge of the Blood Gulch sim lol. The main reason I couldn’t wait for the book is because of the idea/plan I have for a series of my own books. I want to write an expanded RvB universe series about the other freelancers – the ones not talked about in the series. And perhaps a few of those anyway – Georgia maybe... Anyway, when I do write these and Roosterteeth picks them up, I will be in with them. Then I will request VIP tickets to RTX each year!

I got bored of having no food. Mum suggested I get some ingredients for baking and make scones and stuff. So, I did when I went Christmas shopping last weekend. I was dead when I got back. It is so hot here at the moment and my grocery trolley was so overloaded that it broke the stand and then almost when I was home it ran over my heel and left a huge purple bruise that makes it look like I’ve been shot with a paintball. I cooled off by going for a swim in the pool with Daniel and his friend Elija Ibell, and Eli’s girlfriend Georgia Aitkin (from church – small world, hey?). When we were bored of that, I made lemonade scones! I was too pooped by the end of it, so Eli and Daniel made their own whipped cream. Scones were actually pretty good. I’m not sure if they are supposed to dry out your mouth so much, but I think I remember eating other scones that did that.

I got Once Upon a Time boxed sets for Mum! They were marked down even more than usual at JB Hi-Fi. For Dad, I ordered the XKCD book and for Daniel, I got him some Star Wars stubbie coolers. I also had to get a secret Santa present for my boss's wife, for our Expressway Signs Christmas Party last night. I remembered from last year that the lady really likes her drinks, so I got her some fancy, novelty drink coasters from Target and a nice smelling hand cream thing from the Body Shop. Dinner itself was lovely. We had a great time at Cafe China at the Casino. I got confused at first and had Daniel take me to the other one in the city. We only figured out it was the Casino restaurant after I’d called Matt :P We all got super sauced – well except for Hannah. She’s having a baby! Matt, my boss, decided that we would play a game that he called “Who Shot Santa?” Whereupon opening your gift, you had to guess who got it for you. If you guessed incorrectly, or if you got it right first time and people suspected that you had inside information and had cheated, then you had to take a shot. I had to take a shot of vodka before I guessed that my secret Santa was Mel, our esimator. And what a wonderful pressie she gave me! I got a TARDIS stocking, stuffed with a miniature figure of Christopher Eccelston, complete with sonic screwdriver, and a set of dalek Christmas Ornaments! I think I squealed a little when I opened it. It was just the perfect present for me :P

Oh and as I was walking home today, a little green Christmas Beetle car beeped at me! I waved, confused and tried to peer in through the window to see who it was. It was my aunty and uncle come up from 2 hours down the coast! They were in town shopping and we’d just happened to cross paths. They did a U-ey and came back and asked me what I’d been spending all my hard earned money on. I told them I was going to a movie premiere :P

And, well, that’s it. You’re now up to date! I will write again sometime next year I’m guessing :P

Feeling: My tummy hurts. I'm not sure why.
Wearing: Geoff Achieve shirt. Down with pants!
Listening to: Sugar by Robin Schulz
Eating: Dinner was a meat pie

(Witty Title Apologizing for Being so Horribly Lax with Posts)

So... My  last post began with me welcoming in 2014. *twiddles forefingers* Oops. I'll just go down the list then... Behold! My year thusly passed:

One of the main reasons I stopped blogging was that I actually got a job! I landed a graphic designer position at a print... place that I will not name here. I had to pack up and move to a horrible little dingy share house bedroom with ZERO internet capabilities in less than a week and began work. It was hard to adjust from doing nothing all day to a 9 to 5 work-week. I also had to learn to feed myself. That resulted in way too much microwave macaroni cheese...

There was also the comedic moment when I went outside to do my laundry and the landlord accidentlly locked me out and drove away. *cue Mission Impossible theme as I climed in through the window*

I made an Enderfriend!

I managed to discover a new talent: I could stick Freddo Frogs to my forehead. I also, at some point, managed to drop the pointy end of a knife on the web between my toes. (I'm just pulling these snippets from my FB timeline XD) I also attended my graduation ceremony! Cap and acape and scroll and all! Woo!

After a few months in the dingy hole, I moved to one of my landlord's other share houses in the area. OMFG I loved that room. It was an old clapboard house that had been raised up on stilts. The ceilings were so incredibly high and the floor was polished wood and I had  FREAKING BAY WINDOW. It was amazing... The kitchen left much to be desired though - especially because it had a hot water tap that sounded like a jet engine taking off. That was in May sometime I think.

Then, comedy of all comedies; I was locked out out of the house AGAIN.That time it was the wind's fault. I had gone out to pay the pizza delivery gal and it slammed the front door shut behind me. Luckily there was an open window. Unluckily it was on the second storey. Luckily there was a ladder. Unluckily I had to set up the ladder precariously on the stairs. Luckily I could get into the window now. Unluckily my hips were too wide to fit. Luckily I was able to grab a chair inside and use it to twist around and get the rest of me through the window. Cue me feeling like a champion and an idiot at the same time.

By this point, I had spent a couple of months at *print place that shall forever be unnamed* and... well... I made some booboos. I learned a hard lesson, that was also incredibly costly, that 'ordinance' and 'ordnance' are two VERY different words... Also, that place was kinda dodgy. My boss could only use certain courier services, because they hadn't paid the bills for others... I still got my pay all and well, but I had a majorly hard time trying to get actual hard copy payslips out of them. The printer of 20 years up and quit, and the admin girl told me too that she was thinking of leaving, so I began looking around for a new job, and low and behold, I got a position at a much nicer, much more respectable sign company right down the street! ^_^ One that did not have mushrooms growing in the carpet of the storage room...

I am still with this new sign company. They're wonderful there; a much bigger team with much nicer facilities and ethics. And they have cake!

I turned 21! Woo! Did not really have a party though. Less woo. *shrug*

At the same time I got my new job, my brother transferred from a university down south to the one in my city. He was having quite a hard time doing the course he was, so decided to change paths and move closer to home. Because I was tired of sharing a house with people I didn't know, and of the grimy, awful kitchen, I agreed to find a place to rent with him. Our new place is really quite great. It has two bedrooms on the second floor, two and a half bathrooms, and a lovely kitchen and lounge area. There was some debate as to who would get which bedroom. Because my name was going on the lease and because I graciously agreed to give up my glorious bay window in the share house, I got to have the bigger room with the two (TWO!) built in cupboards. I did however let my little brother, who is in fact a giant, have the double bed. Which left me stuck with a single. AGAIN. Not once! Not once in my whole life have I had a bed larger than a single! *simmering rage* But it's cool here - that is when the bro does his share of the housework. And I'm just a block away from work, so I don't even need a car.

We have been on quite a few fishing trips! Here are some of the more eventful moments:

Yes. That is an octopus on a hook. O.O

Olive Seasnake right up next to our boat!

FREAKING HUMPBACK POD RIGHT NEXT TO BOAT! :D

We left off with me having written 10,000 words on Flare. I have since finished that novel. It's absolutely terrible still XD I haven't even gone back to do a rough edit yet.

I have since moved on to begin working on the sequel to my first novel, Soulless. It has recently acquired a name; Dreamless. I think I have a theme going here... Any-hoo, it is currently at 22,000-ish wordy-ma-jigs. Currently at a tricky part. Characters are being stubborn and... well, I can't think of a way to get past it yet. 

Getting Soulless published has gone nowhere. I think I've applied to three more agencies now and been rejected by all of them. I have actually run out of agencies to apply to within Australia, so I am now looking at international ones. I best get my butt moving on making up a new application soon. I just have been so caught up with work and TV and writing Dreamless though.

TV! Oh my gosh TV. Jut a rundown of everything I watch now:

Supernatural - It's been going for so long now! I'm not sure why I'm not tired of it. The storylines are getting a bit twisty.

Doctor Who: Oh gods, I love Capaldi as the 12th doctor! Some of the episodes though - and the Chrismas Special just recently... I dunno. They feel so try-hard. Other bits are genius though and make me have all the feels ^_^

Grimm: IS AMAZING. Fullstop.

Once Upon a Time: I got so pissed when I saw that the latest season would be Frozen inspired. I highly disliked the movie that so many people are now obsessed with. But, the season turned out okay. ALSO CAPTAIN SWAN. *swoons*

Brooklyn Nine Nine: Good comedy. I haven't been wathcing it lately though. Not sure why. *shrug*

Castle: So great still! Caskett is official and so completely adorable!

2 Broke Girls: Another that I haven't been keeping up with. *more shrugs*

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD: Pretty great series. Been getting my Marvel hit to tide me over till the next Avengers.

The Vampire Diaries: I can't believe I ever bothered with True Blood (except for those bits where Alexander Skarsgard takes his shirt off). This is where it's at. And oh my giddy aunt, is Damon Salvatiore/Ian Somerhalder the TASTIEST thing in existence.

Sherlock: This show is the BOMB. It might only have three episodes to a season, but oh dear heaven, is it grippingly good.

Chuck: This show has been finished for a good number of years now and I have no idea why I never saw it and then resisted seeing it. It is so freaking funny and adorable and wonderful. My mother is now torn between me wanting to marry Munroe from Grimm and Chuck XD

Fairy Tail: A great anime. I am so excited now that I am getting to the dubbed seasons with the character voice by Michael Jones in it.

Gravity Falls: Dude. This is so not a kids show. AND IT'S AWESOME.

My brother bought an Xbox One. I played Destiny for about three days straight! Then he hid it away in his room and I haven't gotten to play it again... *grumble*

Art! I have been doing so much art! Mostly design at work, but it must have shaken something loose in me because I started doing a comic based on the retarded and hilarious stuff that goes down on the Minecraft server that I play on. The people on there love them and get annoyed when I don't post a new one in a while. It has certainly given me some experience and practice drawing people, which is fantastic.

The other art I have been doing is based around a fandom with which I am now completely obsessed. I am now, and extremely proud to call myself  Cockbite. I have nourished a liking for Roosterteeth for a while now, but now I am hard and fast in love with the whole kit and cockadoodle. I can't wait to get my Achievement Hunter fix each day and the Rooster Teeth Podcast is the highlight of my week. I have, since I began earning money, begun buying myself RT merch by the bucketload. These guys are my life. I am so psyched for August now, because in July last year, they had a campaign to fund thier first full-length feature film called Lazer Team. As part of that fundraiser, they sold 100 VIP tickets to thier convention RTX this year. I was one of the lucky few to grab one. I AM SO EXCITED. I haven't booked my plane tickets or asked for time off yet, but I still absolutely cannot wait to go.

These are the art pieces I have done:

The delicious Ryan Haywood in his GTAV costume

More Ryan!

Here, have some rude Geoff Ramsey too

(He retweeted this I NEARLY DIED)

And of course some lovely mingy Brit

aka: Gavin Free :P

This is a fanart of a fanfic... 

involving Ryan Haywood

Fic-ception!

More Ryan...

Not Rooster Teeth, but still video game inspired ^_^

From that same fanfiction...You may have noticed
that I am now a *tiny* bit obsesed with Ryan...

What's this? A craft project?

Painting finished!

A dog's breakfast...

But suddenly; a whole bag appears!

I call it... the Bag Shot.

It hasn't been all smiles and rainbows in the RT fandom of late though... Just last week, beloved animator and creator of the hit series RWBY, Monty Oum passed away. He was only thirty three, and slipped into a coma resulting from a server allergic reaction during a routine hospital procedure. It was a shock to everyone... I couldn't beleive what I was seeing when I woke up to the news that weekend, and then again a few days later when I started scrolling through Tumlr and saw 'RIP' posts... It was a crippling thought that someone so young and so vital could be snatched away from us... 

I saw the sweetest post on Tumblr about the whole sad situation. I can't remember what it was exactly, but, it was somehting along the lines of imagining that Monty would immediately be signed up to be a muse and instead of when you start on your next creative project and you expect your muse to be some ancient greek goddess with a robe to sit on your shoulder, you get this young asian man with tired eyes and a cheeky smile who dresses like an anime character and kicks ASS at DDR. So that is what I've been imagining lately; Monty on my shoulder, poking me in the face when I get distracted. I guess Monty will never die in that regard; he will live on through all of us, and all that we create from being inspired by him...

We'll miss you Monty; you were freaking amazing.

The only other news I can think of at the moment is my completely non-existent dating life. I have discovered that I live practically under a rock. I meet NO-ONE. I have been trying a few dating apps, but with very little results... I went on two dates with a bloke I could only really see as a mate. I seriously think that there are no men in my city. It's depressing and lonely... Ah well. I'll just have to finish writing these books, get them published, and become a rich, famous author. I should be able to go out then and meet other humans... right?

Feeling: Tired. Neck is sore from so much computer time. Also guilty that my weekend involved barely any writing.

Wearing: My Tower of Pimps tee! Also; pants are for bitches.

Listening to: The Nights by Avicii and Lovers on the Sun by David Guetta on repeat. SO GOOD.

Eating: I had KFC for dinner. That's porbably why my chest feels funny; all that cholestorol is getting to my heart :P

Flare; To Begin Burning Brightly

Good afternoon 2014!

Hah. Look. I spelled the date right.

So, following the trend a myriad of other online blogs, tumblrs, tweets and Facebook posts have, I will welcome the new year. Hi 2014! Nice to meet you. Do you take tea or coffee? Uh-huh, and how many sugars with that?

Honestly though, I don't think I'm as concerned with the change of the year as other people are. On Facebook I've seen posts saying things like "So sick of this year. Can't wait for it to be over. I hope things are better in the new year." I don't understand those people. You may as well say "So sick of this hour. Can't wait for the next one. Maybe it'll be better." There is literally no difference between 11:00pm on December the 31st and 1:00am on January the 1st. If you are trying to make things better in your life, why wait for an arbitrary human construct to give you permission to start? Why not just start right now?

This also means that I don't really make resolutions either. Sure, I have goals that I want to achieve but it doesn't matter to me what the date is. 

This might make me seem a bit like a cynic; I really do appreciate the celebration of bringing in the new year, but I just don't follow the hype as much as others do.

With that dry grumble out of the way, I have much news to announce! Many things have happened!

I finished my university degree! I am now qualified with a Bachelor of New Media Arts, majoring in Media Design.

I sold some art! Seriously, I keep accidentally selling art. I've logged onto DeviantART several times to find that people have just gone and bought prints of the same piece of Doctor Who fanart I did ages ago. I also sold a print of a painting in our graduate exhibition at uni. Go me!

I went fishing! All I caught was bait...

I applied for jobs! And was declined for them all. *sadface*

I'm thinking of making a Youtube channel! It will be a kind of vlog with me talking about all the weird and wonderful dreams I have. Also other things, like me being bad at games and good at writing. Go to The Ink Stained Brain to look at my as yet nonexistent videos and fancy channel art.

And finally, I accidentally wrote half a new book! Seriously. It's already half done. 42,000 words. Somehow, I wrote 10,000 words yesterday. It's boggling my brain a little bit. I suppose the reason it's been so fast and easy is because it's based on the first full novel I ever wrote, Sparks. 

I did a complete overhaul of the plot, deleted one character and added another. Some of the major themes are still there, but a lot of them have been trashed. And I started writing the whole thing from scratch. There has been no copy and paste, mainly because original Sparks was writing in first-person while the new edition, now called Flare is in third-person. I did enjoy writing first-person, but third-person gives a lot more freedom. It's more logical for if an when you want to switch between characters, or show a 'many years ago' style thing.

Which means I should probably update the Sparks info tab at the top of this blog.

Label for the file of notes for Sparks. I designed it to look like a laboratory
filing system label. All I need now is a 'TOP SECRET' stamp.

Now for a question for all you writerly types out there. How do you name your characters? Do you take names from people you already know and let the character take on aspects from them? Do you just pick names that you think sound cool? Do you research name meanings relating to the character's personality?

Personally, I prefer the latter method. I don't think people will ever pick up on looking up names to see what a character's true nature is like, but I like having those little in-jokes.

Feeling: Accomplished. 10,000 words in a day man!

Listening to: O Death sung by Jen Titus from the Supernatural soundtrack. Brr. Chilling. Also Short Change Hero by The Heavy, from the Borderlands 2 soundtrack. Delish.

Wearing: Grey shirt with pink printed tie and denim short shorts. It's an average day.

Eating: Had some Macca's for lunch. I have a miniature Boost bar sitting on my desk staring at me though...

Rejected! Yay!

Good day fine internetters.

So, I've been quite busy lately. I have had a surprising amount of university work to contend with. And contend I have. We aced a presentation just two days ago, and I have been highly commended for my graphic design work in another subject. Work is going very well too. I managed to find several of the posters I designed up in a tavern in town. It's ridiculously satisfying to see one's work actually being used.

But, the main purpose of this post is to let you all know that I got a rejection! Woo! The submission I sent to the Cameron Creswell agency about Soulless in July has finally gotten back to me. Here is the letter:

Dear Ms Hudson,
Thank you for your submission. We have now had a chance to consider this title and do not think we are the best agents to represent you. We already have a long list of client authors and only take on new authors if we believe very strongly in their writing and our ability to place the work.
However, another agent could well have a different and more enthusiastic response to your work and we suggest that you contact some of the other agents listed on the website of the Australian Society of Authors at www.austlitagentsassoc.com.au.
Thank you for thinking of The Cameron Creswell Agency and we wish you all the best in finding an agent and publisher.
Regards,
Sophie Hamley

Now, I'm not too sure whether this is an actual letter or rather a generic reply. But anyways, it's a rejection and the first step towards being published! When I tell people that I got a rejection, they always seem ready to commiserate,  and then seem confused when I smile and tell them that it's a good thing. I mean, I totally expected it. It really is the first step to being published. And now I get to go and ask someone else. I think it's important to have such a positive attitude about it, otherwise I'll just be completely miserable every time someone says no.

And now for other news. I went to a party dressed as a lego block. The theme was 'Toys from your Childhood'. I unfortunately have no pictures, but just know that it was the most epic fifteen-second costume.

I managed to get my hands on the latest Skulduggery Pleasant book, The Last Stand of Dead Men. My goodness. The feels. Me and every other fan I know just want to strangle the author. The moments of comedy were beautiful, but the low moments were so dark and dismal... I cried a couple of times. And the worst part is that I have to wait a whole year for the series finale.

I am now a Supernatural fan. I remember I watched the first season quite a while ago and got a little bored of the 'let's find dad' storyline. But I finally decided to get back into it because I really wanted to meet a character who would appear later in the show. I was so glad I did. The show got considerably better after the first season, and when they introduced that lovable, scruffy, poker-faced angel in a trench coat, Castiel, I was in love. I am now waiting very impatiently for the start of next season. For the start of all the new seasons actually. Everything I love is coming back sometime this October or November. It will be wonderful.
I also entered a Threadless design challenge! I've always wanted to see a Herobrine themed Minecraft tee, so I thought this competition would be the perfect opportunity to try and get one printed. It's my first submission ever, but here's to hoping. To see or vote for my shirt, go here: http://thrdl.es/~/2g3H

And now for some more Soulless art!

Rook and Evie being growly

Rook and Evie being less growly

My own strange version of a chimera

"Quintin Rthrant Xesi Esiorto at your service,"

Faaro Lovell

An old friend of Rook's named Turi.

Feeling: Like I should get back to work.

Eating: Gonna go get the last of my delicious birthday cake.

Listening to: Black and Gold by Sam Sparro.

Wearing: Short shorts and high school senior shirt.

My New Old Spirit 600

Oh. You again. *Narrows eyes*

I only managed 1,500 words today on Soulless, due to a terrible, splitting headache. I don't think I drank enough water. That added to yesterday's meagre amount - of which I do not remember - makes for a total today of nearly 56,000.

The only other thing I've been doing lately besides writing, is shopping. I had a bit of a shopping spree yesterday. My favourite places to shop actually happen to be second hand shops. Judge if you wish, but you can find some of the most fantastic things in opportunity shops. I have tons of big brand name clothes that look like they have never been worn, the most gorgeous shoes and - weirdly - several pairs of beautiful elbow length opera gloves and a white fake fur stole. All for a fraction of the price one would normally pay. Yesterday's finds were quite impressive. I think I got five gorgeous summery dresses, and a vintage Polaroid camera. I looked this model up online to find that it sells for around $100.00. I picked this one up for $4.50. I was thrilled to have finally found one. I know they seem a bit old, clunky and outdated, but I really seem to have a thing for retro of late. You can still buy film cartridges for the Polaroids, but prepare to pay for them. For a packet of 10 Polaroid films, prices average on $30. Because of this, I may never use the camera - but I love it anyway.

This also happened earlier today. I have been wanting to put a label on my folder of notes for Soulless for a while.. This is what I came up with. It may look simple, but it took quite a few layers and tweaks in Photoshop to get it looking old and rugged. After I cut it out, I roughed it up even more, damaging the edges with my fingernails. I'm quite proud at how it turned out.

Feeling: Ugh. Don't ask again.

Listening to: Nothing.

Eating: Had some delicious fried rice for tea.

Wearing: Grey, leopard spot shirt and comfy pants. I think I may be wearing these pants to death - they're starting to get holes in them.