Arkratirma | Jillian Lambert | JML

Tuesday's visit with Kat and Cameron was pretty cool. We watched an Eddie Izzard DVD, Kat and I kept spilling drinks, and then I drove the three of us to Longs to pick up some snacks.

I pulled the World's Worst Parking Job out of my ass and parked so close to the curb that, when I backed up, the right rear tire bumped over the curb and crushed many planter flowers. D: I felt really bad about that, but we joked about those poor flowers on the way back to Cameron's grandparents' house. (...I really should have told someone. The massacre of those flowers will haunt me for the rest of my life.) *shakes fists of not-so-sarcastic sarcasm*

To be honest, having one more guy at that little get-together would have made me slightly more comfortable. Cameron has a girlfriend, but... that really doesn't change how many guys act or what they talk about, does it?

I drove Kat back to my place around 8:40 PM after we watched some Family Guy. We gave Cameron lots of hugs, I called Mom and Dad and apparently confused them a lot, then finally got started back home. I only figured out how to make the display brighter when almost home. Aaand I left the parking brake on by accident (thankfully only from Cameron's house to home), so the van stank when I pulled into the driveway. I've done that several times now. Lose!

Kat and I looked at Saturn, Jupiter, and the moon through Dad's telescope, watched the end of a nifty space program on The History Channel, then watched Ice Road Truckers. FUCK, those guys are INSANE. Sixteen inches of ice holding up 16-ton+ trucks? No, thank you. Extremely interesting program.

Had a trippy dream involving The Circle (a clearing behind my landlords' house in Weimar) and experimentation kennels. VERY cool dream - Kat was in it, too, in another part involving a field trip to some distant, misty mountains. I think Ms. Laughlin was also in it.

Wednesday morning, Kat and I watched some of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. It is incredibly fun making your own commentary for movies, but Star Wars gets extra stars for being especially commentary-awesome. It's just so funny in parts. OH MY GOD EWOKS! Warwick Davis got to hug Harrison Ford's leg, hehe.

Darth Sidious is one creepy bastard.

We're such geeks, Kat. <3

After Kat's mom picked her up, I took a shower, called Katy, and took off for her house down the back roads (from Magnolia to Dog Bar and so on). My first solo solo drive was wonderful! NO cars behind me during the entire trip, a couple construction zones.... I had to back up a bit off of the first one-lane bridge, because I didn't see the red car already nearing my end of the bridge, but I had no trouble backing up. Whew!

It felt fantastic to finally drive by myself. I got to Katy's house and was greeted by Heather, her younger sister (her nickname used to be 'How-Do', which is how she used to pronounce her own name). Katy came out soon afterwards, we headed up into the house, and then Katy and I decided to ride bikes to my old place. Heather pointed out that I left my lights on (not again!), and I thanked her for that.

Now, I have been riding my eighteen-speed mountain bike almost every other day for the past couple months. Riding to my old house, up that steep driveway, on a seven-speed cruiser, was enough to make me feel faint. My old house is now finally occupied by another family, and it was neat seeing how the place has changed.

Katy and I hopped the fence onto Dick's (no, his name is not Richard) property ("Wedemeyer Plaza" - we believe "Wedemeyer" is a mispronunciation of Weimar) and walked the bikes up to The Circle. Lifted the bikes over another fence and walked around. Rick (Rick and Dick, huh?) still hasn't built anything up there; the place still looks deserted. We rode down past The Circle onto Sun Valley road, where even more housing sites had popped up since I left Weimar in 2003. Walked-slugged up the hill, rode back to Katy's driveway, and walked up her driveway. Tell me about exhaustion! With my own bike, I may have been able to ride up her driveway, but we had to take three breaks on the way up.

Back inside, we chugged cold water and ate Fla-Vor Ice while seated in front of the swamp cooler. Great way to cool down. Afterwards, I drove Katy to Weimar Hills and she showed me how the place has changed. Placer Hills was shut down, so Weimar now accommodates grades four through eight. New portables all over the place, plus a new playground. (The 'flooring' for the playground is very spongy and SO cool to walk on.)

Before heading off, Katy noticed the bucket of pony beads and string in the van, which I had planned on dropping off at Salvation Army. Katy asked about having it, and I said certainly; we used to make a lot of beady lizards back in the day.

On the way back to Katy's, we stopped at the local itty-bitty gas station and I filled the van for the first time on my own. Katy helped me remove the cap and held it for me as I pumped the gas.

Not long after getting back to her house, Katy's mom drove us to Trackside Tavern. Katy's boyfriend and some of his friends were there, and we watched lots of people go up for Karaoke Night. The elderly Elvis impersonator was very good. Katy and I agreed that, after a while, we were both bored. She said goodbye and her mom picked us back up.

Stayed up late, ate lots of popcorn, and watched some of The Rundown on Katy's computer before it froze. Chica, Heather's new kitten, slept on me for a long time. SO cute.

Had a yummy breakfast Thursday morning, left at 12:00, got onto the freeway, got off at Dry Creek, headed up 49. Again, I felt wonderful being able to drive by myself, and I was pretty damn focused and observant. If I have no distractions, I really am a good driver.

Got home, brought my backpack inside, checked up on Lupin, Gimpy, and Draco. I heard our septic alarm ringing, shut it off, and raised the handle of the toilet in my and Cammy's bathroom.

Dad and Cammy came home not very long afterwards; Dad bought some more king mealworms for Draco.

After Mom came home, my uncle Larry and cousins Jessi, Michael, and Maddie arrived from my grandparents' house down south. LOTS of laughs getting to see them before we head to Oregon. I'm so happy they get to visit us.

On Saturday, I will be bringing Elsa over to my house. We haven't seen each other in almost a year or just over a year, which is INSANE for us. I so look forward to seeing her, and I don't have to ask Mom and Dad for a ride anymore. Mmmm, independence! (In driving, anyway.)

HURRAY 80s MUSIC!

Soooo, yes. LONG post, I know. I'll cut it later if anyone asks me to do so.

Got to do some driving today (and yesterday! woo!). Picked up two Prismacolor markers, two sheets of nice, large art paper, and a pad of graduated grey papers (for tonal studies) at Ben Franklin Crafts. Dad bought an Ionic Breeze-type air purifier that was on sale, then we headed to K-Mart. He bought a mountain bike so he could ride with me more often, but he will be taking it back tomorrow. We started off on a ride to the mail boxes when he realized the gears were screwed up on his bike; he went back home from Tom Ray and I continued on my ride. I love riding my bike, and it's too bad I'd neglected it until just last month.

I researched portrait-drawing sites last night and found a couple that looked very helpful. I subscribed to the second for a free lesson. It'll help when I need to draw from live models.... Nyeh!

The sites are The Art Academy and Portrait Artist (.org).

Inspired by the lessons I looked over, I drew an improved profile of Finch. He looks so odd, being noseless and what not. ('What not', regarding Finch's odd appearance, includes naturally pointed ears and naturally elongated canine teeth. He'd make a great vampire.) Also drew a detail of his left eye, which has two distinct black stripes under the pupil. I love asymmetry.

Whereas Finch's face is almost always deadpan, his eyes are extremely expressive. I love him so. I love my characters, period. MUST DO THEM JUSTICE BY COMPLETING THEIR STORY.

I need to create detailed profiles for Chestan, Fieran, Rant, Anne, Deddedicht... the whole shebang. Not just drawn profiles, but written profiles as well. This would help for the animal characters I haven't drawn often.

Hmmm. Finch actually looks weirder from the side than he does full-on. At least he still has the bridge of his nose.

Yup, today I took my first drive on Highway 49. You hear how kids get apprehensive about driving on highways (I was, too), but they're so much easier to drive on than backroads - although backroads can be pretty fun at times. Paying close attention to your surroundings and reacting appropriately is key.

I need to get a hang of maintaining my speed on 49; I really have to gas it when going uphill, but I can coast downhill until the road levels out. One thing to work on the next time Dad has me go up to Grass Valley. Dad told me that speeds around 60 mph are alright when coasting. I actually hit 70 at one point, heh.

We dropped by The Pet Mine to ask its employees about bearded dragon brumation (or 'winter shutdown'). We ended up reading pages from an excellent care manual. Winter shutdown may last anywhere from only a few weeks to five months. Draco's been in this state for about a month now. We also learned that ideal temperatures for this period should range from 60 - 70F. I don't need to put the heat lamp on him at night, as it turns out - that can wait until it gets very cold.

Dad and I like looking at TPM's baby beardies when we visit, too. Two of the three they currently have do not look well at all; their food, though sprinkled with vitamins, is far too coarsely chopped for the babies' mouths. The two that looked ill simply laid their heads against the food dish; one's eyes were twitching slightly as it blinked in and out of napping, I guess. Poor little guys! The third was perched atop a piece of wood, seemingly fine. I should have told the employees about them, but unfortunately I did not. I could work at The Pet Mine.... That'd be fun. I'd be very good at caring for the various animals: I've owned cats, dogs, a cockatiel, and now a bearded dragon, and I've also handled snakes and rats. I pretty much love all animals.

Heading towards SPD Market, I made a harsh stop at an intersection without a stoplight; that was my biggest mistake of the day. Dad and I got groceries and then headed home. Other than needing to maintain my speed and that intersection incident, Dad told me I did very well. Made me happy!

Connected to MSN and talked to Kat. The day after Thanksgiving, we (and possibly Jessica) are going to go to San Francisco for the day. It's going to rock!

I finally began doodling in the sketchbook Kara bought me for my birthday. She left a very sweet note on the inside front cover; I need to call her up sometime. Alicia, too. The front page now contains a raven, a cat's eye, a horse, a dragon, an anthro cat, a hummingbird hound, a tribal wolf face, a couple horse-ish things, a beast-human skull, a fish, and a rat, all in ballpoint pen.

Kara wrote on the same page, "Every work of art is a masterpiece if you let it be. On these pages lie only but a fraction of Jillian's masterpieces." ^__^

I also walked Lupin to the post boxes and back earlier this afternoon. Felt really good; I should make it a weekly habit whenever the weather's fine. More scenic than TreadClimber walks, for sure.

I've comtemplated several goals to make between now and early next year, including producing art for friends, producing new art that I want to make for myself, adding to Brainsick / tying plot points together, and getting my driver's license by March or so at the latest (so I can go to Portfolio Day again with Brenna, Erin, and Alex).