May 2009 Archives

So I found this tutorial and decided that I needed to try it out. After a few tries with the waterfall image and a photo of the Little Lady I decided that there wasn’t enough contrasting colors in the photos to make it look like a nice oil painting. This photo I took of the lonely sunflower in a ton of wild mustard turned out quite well. I think it has to do with the fact that there are many contrasting colors between the sky and trees and then the wild mustard. The yellow on the wild mustard showed up a lot better than I thought it would.

Anyway, the image is 1024x768 and can be saved as a wallpaper if you so wish. Later.

So I finally uninstalled TweetDeck this morning. I felt that since I have anywhere from 3 to 10 internet tabs or windows open at a time, I have no use for it. Plus, since I have those windows open using TweetDeck simply uses enough system resources that it slows everything down even more so than usual.

So goodbye, TweetDeck. It was nice before I realized what a resource hog you are. It’s easier to have all the windows I need open instead. I usually have one internet window with tabs for Myspace, Facebook, Twitter and Gmail. Then I open another window for Disillusioned and my MovableType (you know, in case I see something to write about). Then sometimes I’ll have another window open to surf the internet, blogs I read, etc.

That much altogether uses enough resources that sometimes things tend to slow down. So no more TweetDeck, I’ll just Tweet from the Twitter page. And this way I can see all the crazy quizzes and other apps that friends are using on Facebook. I also tend to get my messages on there a lot quicker, plus it has a handy little chat thingie. Later.

Hot damn I keep finding myself some amazing authors lately. If you have previously enjoyed authors that I’ve mentioned here before (Hamilton, Harrison and Davidson) then you will also enjoy Richelle Mead. That’s right, I’ve devoured three novels in around 2 days (I’m going by actual reading time) because they were just so damn hot I couldn’t quit until I was done and now I’m aching for the next book due to a tease at the end of book 3. You’ll want to start this trip into fantasy with Succubus Blues to learn all about what’s going on in Seattle with Georgina and her friends.

Georgina Kincaid is your lovely thirty-something book store employee who seems to have it all. Great friends who enjoy hanging out with her, getting drunk and having fun, with her lovely sarcastic wit that sometimes pushes people over the edge and sometimes gets the fun started. You’ll find that trouble finds her instead her finding it most of the time. She has a lovely little quirk that I may have to adapt to stop devouring novels the way I have been - she only reads 5 pages a day of the author she obsesses over. FIVE pages a day! I love the reason she gives which is basically because it’s just SO good that she’d read it all at once and then have to wait forever for the next novel to come out. I can completely relate to this issue as I’m waiting for several series to continue right now.

You’ll envy Georgina because of the simple fact that she has the power to look perfect, every time, anytime, no matter what. She can simply shapeshift into any type of body, any clothing, whenever she wants as long as she has the power to do so. She gets that power by seducing men (or on occasion women) which also keeps her alive. Georgina can eat and drink, and sort of has to or she gets lightheaded. She has demons, imps, vampires and even human friends. There are only 3 or 4 humans who know what she really is. The true kicker? One ofher best friends is an angel. That’s right, you’ll love Carter but he’ll annoy you with his “mysterious clues” as to the things he’s trying to teach Georgina. I think I have a hint on that but I refuse to share.

It’s hard for an immortal being to have a love life, especially with a human, but she tries it anyway and it’s a wild ride. The relationship is an absolute rollercoaster of emotional torment and lust that, if fulfilled, would take time off his life. With everything that’s going on around her, between mortal concerns and immortal happenings, Georgina’s life is a ton of fun, heartache and sometimes fraught with danger. This series is definitely worth starting and following. Enjoy!

I recently finished watching the 25 episodes of Darker than Black. Since it’s been licensed by Funimation it’s awfully hard to find it anywhere to watch but if you look deep enough you can find it. I’m surprised that they haven’t put it up on Hulu or Veoh like they have done with other series they’ve done. Hopefully they will so you can watch and enjoy it, and be confused by it, as well.

The series starts out introducing you to Contractors, Dolls and Hell’s Gate. A contractor is killing another contractor, but they don’t tell you why, not really. At least not at first, it’s in there somewhere and you have to determine what’s going on. Not all of the episodes are strung along in a straight story but you get to go on missions and learn little details. Such as there’s no more moon and all the stars have vanished and been replaced with fake stars. These stars resonate with the contractors and when they are off doing bad things (like killing people or each other) their stars vibrate or otherwise show the astronomers that they are on the move. Contractors are also human but they have lost all emotion. They can pretend to be happy, but they don’t truly feel it.

So there are all these changes to the world. No moon, no real stars and everything sent up into space vanishes. The general populace doesn’t know about contractors unless they experience something firsthand and when that happens their memeory gets wiped. No one knows how the Gates (there were two - One called Heaven, the other called Hell) appeared or why. Anyone who enters the area goes mad or dies. Rarely do they return though.

The story is pretty darn good and it kept me captivated to no end. There still weren’t any answers regarding details as to what the gates were, why they appeared or what contractors really are. It had a pretty good ending though and was definitely worth watching for the excitment of the action. Enjoy!