(not being a) Ex-phil major

Well it's the last day of the year. I'm thinking very abstract thoughts these days, and not in that intelligent ex-phil major with too much time on their hands kind of a way, but the kind of thinking that seems to go nowhere. Just leading you around in circles.

Anyway, I found a link off that Happiness Project blog that I'm strangely fond of these days. Strange because it doesn't seem totally up my alley... But anyway. So it's an article about how to be interesting, in case that is something you need to do. So happy New Year, if you are inclined to celebrate. (Can you guess that I'm not very?)

Pix n' Linx

Websites I've visited recently and liked:

• The Happiness Project blog.
  
• Planet SARK
• Adbusters' accounts of Buy Nothing Day events
• One of two spin-offs of Nano, DrawMo
• Woolgathering: nice artist's blog of daily drawings
• Gaswaternothing: same idea.
• Hyper Death Babies: very cool web comic which uses retro cartoons
• Ink Finger: another artist's blog...
  

photo on left: the exhibition from outside.

Observing SketchCrawl

Some drawings I did of my family members on Saturday SketchCrawl day... As promised. I like drawing people a lot more than other things... Mom, grandma('s hand), and Uncle (with fake sunflower partially obscuring his face).

Late Night Tahyees

Hey... It seems this month people are getting married right left and center. Crazy. Not crazy to get married exactly but just crazy the rate at which it seems to be taking place in my vicinity this month.

(Please bear in mind that I am not one of those people).

In other news... there isn't much. I finally sketched a little today, well actually drew, more (or further) than my plebeian sketching. I think Saturday's SketchCrawl helped unblock a little (I did a few sketches on Saturday). And today I broke out of my journal, which was definitely good. Nothing fancy, just plain white A4, but still a bit more liberating than my small black spiral-bound notebook.

Well I would share a few photos of all this stuff, and I will, but my camera was ... what, swallowed by the dog then kidnapped with a ransom of 10 million Big Macs which I refuse to buy because I don't want to support an obnoxious American corporation? Something like that. We compromised on 10 thousand Veggie burgers though (still from the big M).

Ah late night tahyees.

You already know the deal with Friday, if you don't, scroll down a little, your mouse won't bite (it shouldn't if you speak gently and make no sudden movements).

Anyway if you are reading this I will probably SMS you with relevant details.

Cheers all.

About SkethCrawl

• SketchCrawl: "a world wide sketching marathon event."* According to the website:

  The basic idea: to record nonstop everything I could around me with my pencil and watercolors. A drawn journal filled with details ranging from the all the coffee I drank to the different buses I took.

Upcoming on Saturday December 9... again you can let me know if you're interested in such a thing. You can also check out the Sketchcrawl blog. So every three months roughly a day is chosen when we all come together and sketch. Holding hands optional. I've never taken part before. *The founder of Sketchcrawl Enrico Casarosa describes it as such on his personal blog...

• The films I've seen so far at the film festival have been great. Finally the first year when I was free to go (in previous years exams prevented me).
  
• Finally this was something I felt a strange compulsion to make. I actually made it two weeks ago so it is Old, and it's kind of boring to post Old things on my blog, but I haven't been taking pictures, and I haven't really been drawing either (bad!), but oh well. So there you go, Old Stuff. Maybe the SketchCrawl + Open exhibition will change all that, or at least be some kind of catalyst for change/ interesting diversion.
  

Films, Book, Nano update

• Things I am trying to do: Go to the film festival and go to the newly discovered independent film festival (not the same). Unfortunately can't find a link to the latter right now. But will keep you posted. Clicking on the Conference Schedules tab will link you to the when what where of the movies.
  
• This is a really good article I read a long time ago about agribusiness... potatoes, genetic engineering, McDonalds. Okay, so this article inspired a woman called Ruth Ozeki to write a really good book called All Over Creation, which is a novel that deals with these same themes (plus has a good plot). The article is Playing God in the Garden and it's by Michael Pollan and it was published originally in the New York Times Sunday Magazine back in 1998, but you can now read it online for free. To educate you about what's up with GM food. Incidentally, Ozeki also has a blog that is worth checking out but sadly it seems like it's been ages since she last posted.
• I just wanted to add the thing I forgot in the last post: that I finished nano. I wrote 50,000 words (+) in November by hook or by crook. And I will start editing in January I think (I need a little break before I look back). I think it will probably successfully whittle down to a twenty-page story or so.