Batsu Games: 24 Hour Game of Tag & Some Engrish

I think I have become addicted to watching batsu games.

What is a batsu game? A game in which the loser gets severely punished, e.g. drinking some putrid liquid or getting the shit beat out of them. XD

I spent a good bit of my Saturday afternoon watching this 24-Hour Game of Tag.


And then watching the guys trying excruciatingly not to laugh as they watch some guy attempting to learn English. Badly.



XD I love these guys!

Helpful Links for YOUR New Year's Resolutions

Hey, everyone!

I hope you guys had a good New Year's celebration; I wanted to write a blog entry about it but alas, my battle with insomnia and sleeping in continues. ::g::

School's started for me and has forced me to adapt to a more regulated sleeping schedule; I woke up this morning quite invigorated, I'm proud to say. ^_^ I don't feel like a new year has dawned upon us but as mentioned in the previous posts, I have become quite insensitive to specific holidays and the like. However, I have mentally continued the tradition of New Year's resolutions even though I already constantly make goals for myself throughout the year. :)

Right now, I don't have super-important life changing goals for myself other than the ones still in progress. Though I've come a long way as a social being, I still want to improve my social skills. I still want to learn new hobbies and learn about new fields of interest. I want to maintain my good grades. I plan on expanding my business. I want to meet new people. Nothing new, really.

Lately, I've been helping out a couple of my friends with their social anxiety issues. I feel that I can help them out-- that I should help them out-- because I know exactly what they are going through. I've suffered social anxiety throughout most of my life and it's only been a recent development of mine to be more extraverted. I found that helping other people with this problem really makes me feel ... incredible. Suddenly, my experience and growth has not only benefited me but is now benefiting others as well. In fact, I was thinking about setting up a social anxiety group, free of charge, and just meet at different places and helping others this way. I really want to do it but I need to stabilize some other forces in my life to make sure I can even commit to something like this. But I'm extrememly excited about it. :)



So I don't have a great, big post on my resolutions this year. But perhaps instead of focusing on myself, I should offer help to others out there who may have resolutions of their own. 2007 was a big year for me, even bigger, I'd say, than the year I graduated high school and started college. 2007 was a year of hardcore relationship trial and tribulation, self-reflection, personality makeovers, and shifting social life. It was hard, but overcoming it brought amazing rewards. Consequently, I have gathered MANY resources that have helped me and I want to share them with everyone else.



To become a more social and extroverted person:

Succeedsocially.com is an intensive collection of articles that target people who have a lot of trouble approaching people, adapting to groups, and hanging out with people. It gives very practical, in-depth advice and touches on so many aspects of interacting with other people, even issues like how to MEET new people.

Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" is another classic that you should look into as well. See a comprehensive summary online.

Gretchen from The Happiness Project wrote an article last year on breaking away from tedious small talk. I still use these tips today and have stumbled upon some very intriguing conversations with strangers. :)

To slim down & be healthier:

ZenHabits' Best Soup Ever always fills me up and is absolutely delicious. I do variations based on this recipe as well and it doesn't have to be expensive at all. I try to eat more soups because they fill me up fast. :)

ZenHabit's Health Section is an overall good resource for not just excersie tips but how to STAY motivated.

One thing that keeps me motivated as well is to visit your local bookstore and peruse the fitness magazines and read the success stories. Usually, these stories are dramatic cases about people who've overcome severe obesity; it always inspires me instantly. :) Another way I keep myself motivated is to pick up a new physical activity. I plan on taking some rock climbing lessons soon and they should prove more thrilling than blindly running on the treadmill. ;)

To pick up or learn new hobbies:

Discover New Hobbies has resources to get you started in, well, new hobbies.

Instructables is a community-based collection of step-by-step instructions on anything from building a bookshelf to screenprinting and more.

5Min Life Videopedia also has a good how-to collection as well. :)

For you artists, how to improve your skills:

ChaosShattered has compiled a huge list of helpful tutorials on Deviantart and covers lots of different areas.

I plan on making up some tutorials of my own so look out for those too. :)

How to save more money:

The Simple Dollar is constantly updated with advice on living more frugally and making wiser financial decisions.

Also, the book How to Invest $50-$5000 seems to be an excellent resources for those who want to invest but do not know where to start.

How to Venture into your own business idea:

There are so many resources out there that I don't even know how to start. A few that I can come up with are:

Start Breaking Free, MindPetals, FreelanceSwitch, and Retire at 21 are sites I HIGHLY, highly recommend looking over.

Or discover blogging and its profitable potential at ProBlogger.

How to improve your study skills:

Cal Newport, author of "How to Win At College," aslo runs a blog on optimizing your study skills. REALLY great advice and breaks out of the conventional and ineffective study habits that plagues many students.

He also has compiled a list of 25 articles every student should read.

Scott H. Young's 50 tricks is an article I suggest you refer to as well. VERY nice tips there.

For overall positivity and productivity:

Lifehacks is the blog that started it all for me. :) Though I'm still working on it, it has been the most effective force in eliminating procrastination and other unproductive habits.

And you just can't be productive if you aren't positive. Build your optimist habit with The Positivity Blog and The Happiness Project.

Whew!

I hope that's going to help SOMEONE out there. :x Good luck and hope 2008 is a great one for all of you guys.

Insomnia

Last night, I slept around 3 AM; sadly enough, that's early for me these days ...

... only to wake up at 2:40pm. Ack! I am disappointed in myself. I was supposed to have lunch with a friend who's going through some troubles but I completely slept through it. I hope he'll forgive me. :{

Maybe I should make use of some of these sleeping tips. Hehe.

I've been trying to finalize a business card design but I am feeling totally uninspired. I then need to order those heat transfers. I really need to fix my sleep so I can be productive again.

Also, a Prada store in the middle of a desert. Rofl.

Candy Boy

Look what I found on /u/ last night!



Wow, this looks like it could potentially be a very high quality shoujo-ai series. :D I want to find episodes online but I haven't run into any! Yuri series tend to have such thin plots but this one seems like it might be good. ♥ The addition of that third girl makes me think of Lost & Delirious. If anyone knows where I can find this series, tell me~! XD

I saw Enchanted today! ♥

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I am just so thrilled-- not because it's Christmas (although I'm happy about that as well ::g::)-- but I've just come back from Disney's Enchanted! Yeah, I know, I know, I'm late. To be honest, I was afraid that it would be another Disney flunkie but I am delighted to say that I was wrong.

I remember being so excited upon seeing concept art and stills from Character Design. My boyfriend went deaf when I saw the start of the preview for it because I was squealing with joy--that is, until I saw that the animated portion was just a tiny bit of the movie. I was disappointed and heartbroken but I still wanted to see it. However, I walked out of the theater with a very genuine, newfound hope for Disney.

It was actually a very fun and very charming flick. I feared that it was going to fall into the footsteps of Shrek, heavily dependent on parody jokes. Disney picks on itself for its fairy tale conventions but also executes the story in a very unique but undoubtedly traditional fashion. Reminiscent of Disney's fairy tale classics, it successfully carries on that baton of tradition yet wears a very modern sense of humor and appearance. I absolutely enjoyed watching the movie; my hear melted in the first few minutes-- oh, how I've missed traditional animation. Regardless of its shortness, the movie was still very endearing to me. I haven't been into the animation fandom as much as I'd used to since CGI has taken over. Not too long ago, I heard news that Pixar actually opened up the Disney traditional animation department. With that in my head and with the success of Enchanted, I hope this is a sign that Disney will soon rise out of that rut and start making animated movies again! Cross your fingers with me! ^^

Picture is a still from the preview. Enchanted is copyrighted by Disney and I do not claim ownership in any way.

Chrismas Eve

It's Christmas Eve and I feel completely defeated. It's depressing because I've tried and tried this year to get into the holiday spirit but I just couldn't. I listened to Christmas music, tried to think of gifts to give others, made a gingerbread house with my boyfriend, decorated the Christmas tree and it still felt like it was still November. Even last year when I didn't really feel the enthusiasm I usually do, I had emotional spikes where I got incredibly giddy about getting people presents.

I couldn't even begin to think about what to get for my siblings. Even though I hang out with them more than I did last year, I had no idea. I wanted to at least draw something for everyone and I couldn't think of what to draw for anyone. How depressing is that?

I've often entertained the idea of perhaps celebrating Christmas every other year. I know a friend who celebrates Christmas on a random Thursday in December to try to make it a bit more special. Who knows?

Ah well. It's not the end of the world, I guess. Merry Christmas anyways, everyone. ^^;;

EDIT:

Something to entertain you:



I still can't believe how much win this guy is made of. :P

How Commissioning Artwork Can Help Promote You

I've been actively trying to meet new people and start conversations not necessarily to directly network or promote my art (although that's a big part of it), but to ask for feedback about my starting business. Fortunately, many people have given me very positive responses and very helpful advice whereas there were a couple of people who said, “Do people really buy art?"

I've seen some very established Deviantartists who charge upwards to $80 a pencil sketch! Now, I understand the basic economics of raising your prices due to various opportunity costs: fullfilling a commission takes a LOT of time, time that artists must divide amongst school, work, family, friends-- but somehow, they pull it off. Sure, a $80/sketch rate will not penetrate the market as a $5/sketch would but an established, highly skilled artist CAN charge their prices high and expect to be booked for the next three months!

So we know that people actually do buy art, but why? Why have I, an artist myself, commissioned art in the past?

It's more than just simply getting someone to draw a picture for you. It's a great opportunity to build a relationship, to network with these artists. Besides the financial tradeoff for them, there are plenty of reasons why people commission art:

1. Building a relationship with the artist. It's one thing to bombard their hit counter with pageviews and shower them in praise and comments, but it's another thing to actually be able to work on a project with them. You are not simply a customer; you are generating the ideas and concepts behind the art. You are feeding them the subject; they are using their skills to execute it. You are in control.

In my experience, I’ve build many wonderful friendships through commissions. We exchange messages about the piece but we also get to know each other better. With all that goes on in their lives, artists cannot always respond to every little email or message that comes their way.

However, an artist—a good commissioned artist—has to maintain contact with the commissioner to know what they want and thus, giving the commissioner a prime opportunity to get to talk to and know the artist personally. It’s basic customer service. Artists cannot expect to be successful if they do not appreciate and reciprocate the connection with their customers. And hey, prices are not always final; artists are usually more willing to negotiate prices with the customers they are closest to. (But don’t take my word for it; some artists are very strict about these things!)

2. Promoting your characters or website. Think about it. When an artist finishes a commission, where does it go? In their Deviantart, in their website, in their portfolio! A good tradeoff for artists is that they get to add another piece to their collection to showcase to people and whenever their spectators look through their art and find your commission, they are most likely going to come across a link to you in the description.

You can even extend this benefit by requesting a piece with your own character or website mascot, even. The artist will definitely have to link it to your site; if s/he doesn’t, it would be reasonable for you to request it. This is especially helpful if the artist already does have a big fanbase or heavy traffic going their their galleries.

Or vice versa: perhaps you are the one whose characters or fanfiction or website is popular; commissioning an artist can promote his/her name. Either way, it’s an prospect not to be missed!

3. Seeing your characters, yourself, or a favorite character in another style. My favorite part about requesting someone else’s art is that I get to see my own creations in another style. Styles carry a strong visual signature of sorts and it is impressive to see an image from so many perspectives and formats. To me, it’s also something to show off; having your character in various styles shows who you know and where you’ve been. If you have a popular character or website, you are also helping them out as well, assuming you provide adequate credit. ^_~

4. Being able to study their technique. You can study their gallery to research their technique and figure out how it looks the way it looks and dissect anatomy, color, lighting, etc. but being able to study your own commission carries another advantage: the art started with your idea! Say you give the artist a very lavish description of what you want—the artist works on it, tweaks it, finishes it—you can examine your description and study the finished work and ask, “How did she render my character’s features? From what I gave her, how did she render my character’s personality? What about the lighting, color scheme, perspective evokes certain qualities about my character?”

Sometimes, an artist can even reveal a certain side of your character you may not have seen, turning a piece of artwork into a chance for character development.

5. Decorate your room. Again and again, I’ve been bedazzled by bedrooms with beautiful artwork on the walls. Commission digital artwork and you can rush to the nearest Kinkos, print out the piece in all sorts of sizes, and add them to your poster collection.

Another thing I like to do is get those clear photo holders from Wal-Mart and print some 4 x 6 copies. It brings out color in the room without having to paint the walls or buy new furniture. I also decorate my room with prints from various conventions I have been to.


6. Convention souvenirs. Whether it be commissions or prints, purchases from artist tables in conventions make wonderful icebreakers and conversation starters. Telling stories about crazy adventures over a con weekend is always fun. They can also show off the places you’ve been to and impress your friends if you’re one of those big-time con hoppers. ;)

7. Website layouts & Avatars. If you cannot draw at all, now you have a way of representing your character or mascot on forums and websites. As long as you credit the artist, you can have a very unique and lovely website layout that will grab your readers’ attention!

8. Being able to own a piece from your favorite artist. In the digital age, we see millions upon millions of images on the Net, including several from your favorite artists. How great would it be to be able to, to an extent, own a piece from your artist? How great would it be to know that you’ve worked on this piece with this artist as a team, to know that your ideas have flourished into existence from someone else’s hands?

A commission is in no way a mere transaction between two people. It’s about two people working on something together, building a relationship, strengthening networks to promote each other, and creating something of value for each other. When everything goes smoothly, it can be an amazing opportunity and great experience for both the artist and yourself!