Birthday Wrap-Up, Diary of a Cartoonist, and Podcasts, Oh My!

:: Birthday ::

Yesterday evening was an awesome ending for my birthday. My mom made healthy curry for dinner, which is always super-good and made up for us not going out to celebrate (Elicia had final projects to obsess over, so we changed plans.)

My grandma knitted me a blanket in my colors, blue and brown, which will match my apartment perfectly. Mom got me battery-operated tea lights (which I have been eyeing for a while, so as not to burn myself up in the pursuit of lighting my crazy candle holders), and linen-colored sheets (so Elicia can finally make the Asian-inspired drapes I've been wanting. And yes, I have noticed how bizarre my presents must seem, but I love them so hah!) And Elicia got me a Borders gift card!!! =) Like she said, it would be a cop-out of a present, except I have banned myself from frivolous spending so the card gives me a chance to buy something fun, just for me. (V. excited, but I haven't decided what to buy yet.) And apparently my dad got me art books for my birthday, always an excellent choice. Some women collect shoes or manga, and some men collect cars or action figures. I collect art books, yum. And no, I cannot stop my addiction any time I want to; I am too far gone for that and I don't care. So there. =)

And Elicia bought Host Club 5-6 and Deathnote 4-5!!!! So I had some fun reading yesterday. =) Bisco Hatori had some great asides in her mangas this time, as always, so I will be including those soon. (Sample reveal; she does do digital art, how cool!)

I also watched the Eyes of Nye and Everwood, two shows that I love to death but will never admit my love anywhere except here, because it is far too embarrassing. And I watched a bit of Sleeping Beauty, my fave Disney movie because of the dancing scene by the lake, and because Maleficent is like the best villain ever. Man, I love her. The eerie walk up the staircases, when Rose follows the green light, frightened me to death as a child, every time. I still get a delicious chill every time I watch it. =)

So all in all, it was a very low key yet sublimely perfect day for a somewhat older (yet I suppose no more mature) me.

:: Diary of A Cartoonist Videos ::

Speaking of manga and comics. . .

There is a cartoonist named Mike Johnson, who has an online comic called "Extra Life." He also does these video journals called "Diary of a cartoonist," which you can find at YouTube (I've posted one below.) He shows the process of how he does the cartoon, from sketching to markers to Photoshop. (He uses masks, which is a good idea, but I don't know why he doesn't just make selections and color in those; it would save him from all the erasing and only takes seconds. . . well, only takes me seconds anyway. I shouldn't critique, really, because all artists use the programs differently. And besides, since I am such a messy artist I would never dare to post video of me drawing on the internet for all to see, I'd be too embarrassed. So kudos to him for being far more courageous than I.)



:: Podcasts & InDesign Rant::

Mike also has podcasts, which I plan to check out soon.

Can I say how much I love podcasts? I watch Lost, and the podcasts are a great addition to the show. I also listen to the podcasts from my local radio music stations. Jack Black is doing "confessional" video podcasts from the set of "Nacho Libre," so if like me you are a fan of his I'd suggest giving them a glance. (His expression from when he gets his chest waxed cracked me up.)

Another podcast I love is one a friend of mine hooked me onto: the podcasts of This Week in Tech (TWiT), which are fun and make me feel very smart tech-wise afterwards. And every now and then they talk about tech stuff I understand and care about.

For example: this week they get into an aside on the trend of designers transferring from Quark to InDesign. I won't start a soapbox on the subject, but I will say that 1) since this trend has been progressing for years, it is not breaking news in the slightest to any active designer, so while I don't know why they mentioned an old trend it is still fun to hear about, and 2) It is a very smart move for any designers who haven't switched yet to make. I mean, it is a cheaper program and is far more intuitive, since it has the same layout as Illustrator and Photoshop. And InDesign is already bundled into the CS package, whereas with Quark you have to buy this expensive program that comes with no additional software as far as I know. Personally, I think Adobe should have offered the program for free at first, as an extra enticement to get stubborn designers to switch publishing platforms.

Ack, I did do a soapbox, I'm sorry! It's just that I hated learning Quark, and after I using InDesign I knew there was no going back for me ever. Rant over.

Back to the topic at hand: I am not a big podcaster yet, but I love a lot of the ones out there. My iTunes automatically downloads casts for me every week, so if you have iTunes and a good server I suggest going that route. Actually, all of the aforementioned podcasts can be gotten from iTunes, hooray.) Later on as I listen to more and more podcasts, I will have to post my faves. And post your fave podcasts in the comments section of this post, as I would love some good recommendations.