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This is the Big Show!

Friday, July 10th, 2009

Yesterday I went to the Calgary Stampede, aka The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth. For those not in the know, the Stampede is pretty much a glorified rodeo, fair, fireworks display, and late night infomercial channel all rolled into one. With food. Lots of food. Food that you really shouldn’t be eating, but do anyway. After all, it’s a once a year sort of thing, right?

Despite having lived in Calgary for the past four years while obtaining my degree, I had never gone to the Stampede before. Either I was working at the time, or no one wanted to go with me (or they forgot I wanted to go and went without me…). I would like to say that first and foremost that the Stampede was absolutely everything I expected it to be. With ah, a few shirtless, well-sculpted men thrown in for good measure. I’m certainly not complaining. It was fun.

A little bird I found on the way to the Stampede. Not a very relevant image...

The only thing I could have asked for in order to make it better would be some better weather. Just as the Grandstand Show began, it started to drizzle. A few of the more daring acts actually had to be cancelled due to the rain making the stage slippery and therefore more dangerous. That’s not to say that some cool things didn’t happen. The ones that impressed me the most were the circus artists, who were spinning and flying through the air on ropes that they wound and knotted around themselves. Other than that, it was a lot of prepubescent kids singing and dancing around. Which would have been alright if perhaps the lyrics they were singing had a little more substance. (“This is the Big Show!” Yes. I know it’s the Big Show. Thanks for reminding me… again. “The boys are back!” Did they go somewhere when I wasn’t looking? “Girl power!” I don’t think anyone can really top the Spice Girls with that one.) Of course, they were meaning to appeal to a younger audience… which I think they did really well.

Other than that, the fireworks were good. :) Not quite as good as July 1st at the Horseshoe Ski Resort in Ontario (they actually launch them off of the hill), but still good. I like explosions. Ka-boom! After the Stampede, there was hot chocolate and warm blankets. Unfortunately I still have the sniffles from getting so damp and cold, but it feels like something I’ll easily shake if I get some sleep tonight.

This weekend I’m going to be taking Aron to see “Evil Dead: The Musical” for his hatchday. I’m not sure which one of us is more excited to see it…

Tags: Calgary Stampede, Evil Dead: The Musical
Posted in Miscellaneous | 1 Comment »

16 Random Facts About Jodie

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008

This little survey has been making its way around a few circles of my friends now, so I thought I’d give it a go. The premise is simple, just share 16 random facts about yourself. Here are mine. :)

I have a severe intolerance to the dye Red 40 (Allura Red AC). It’s in a lot of beauty products, as well as candy, tattoo inks, cereal, baked goods, etc. It doesn’t matter if I touch it, or ingest it, the reaction is the same: itching, rash, swelling, and full body eczema that lasts for weeks. I’m pretty good at avoiding it now. I’m also allergic to chocolate and walnuts.
I’m not afraid of many things. I even like spiders and used to name the ones that I’d find in my bedroom. I do have one quirky little fear though. I can not tolerate people touching my feet, or more specifically, other people touching my toes. Getting a pedicure would surely be a nerve wracking experience.
I’ve been the same height (5’3″) for over 11 years now. I think it’s safe to say that I’m not getting any taller. Both of my younger siblings are taller than me.
Despite all of the sports I’ve played and general recklessness, I’ve never broken a bone.
When I was younger I used to believe that there were gremlins living in the ventilation system of my house. Like many kids, I also used to run and then jump into bed so that the creatures under it wouldn’t have time to latch onto my ankles. I know they were there.
I have no pets.
For a few years, everyone in my household played hockey except for my sister. I played on two teams, both my high school team as well as a league. The ice is my battlefield. >:]
Prolonged exposure to some types of fluorescent lighting can trigger migraines. In high school I used to think that I was dying… as it turns out, I wasn’t dying. The lighting was just so horrible that it was making me feel horrible. I’m glad that mystery was solved.
I am not a furry.
For as long as I can remember I’ve been an insomniac. I can clearly recall staying up past midnight reading Stephen King novels in grade four (those books are always scarier when read after 10PM).
My thumbs sometimes randomly “lock up.” When this happens, I either shake my hand real quick in order to snap it free, and/or smash it against something.
I can do a “shoot-the-duck” (backwards and forwards) in hockey equipment… and I like turning on/off light switches and opening/closing drawers with my feet. Flexible be I.
So, there was this one time when I got tossed into a garbage can… Can’t remember if that was the same day that Andy lit my socks on fire or not though. Same class at least.
English, History, and Visual Arts were my favourite subjects in high school.
I’ve had many people now comment on the “strange” way that I walk. It’s a lot more noticeable when I’m carrying something, or if I’m not wearing shoes. Shoes really put a damper on my normal stride (heel-less sandles even more so). Anyway, it’s generally referred to as “fox walking.” Great to learn if you like sneaking up on people and scaring the pants off of them. ;)
My current laptop’s name is Newt. My old laptop was named Wilson (courtesy of the movie Cast Away). My MP3 player is named Fetus (I giggle a lot whenever it’s in a Mac), and my thumb drive is called plain old Shriker.

Tags: facts, filler, meme, random, slapdash, survey, time waster
Posted in Miscellaneous | No Comments »

This is me.

Monday, November 24th, 2008

Although I’ve had this website for several years now, I have never really written much about myself personally. For the most part it has simply been an art post every once in a while, so let’s change that. Let’s start at the beginning, or at least with an introduction.

My name’s Jodie. I’m currently a fourth year Visual Communications Design student. In just five more months I’ll be graduating with a Bachelor of Design, majoring in Character Design. I’m originally from a little township in Ontario called Oro-Medonte and went to high school in the lovely Sunshine City, Orillia (click on that link, I dare you). I moved out to Alberta all by my lonesome to attend ACAD and obtain my degree. As for what I’ll do after I get my degree, well, that’s still up in the air. I suppose we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

I don’t do a heck of a lot of web design these days, but I still do a lot of web development coding (mostly custom back-ends and small applications). My next web project (after finishing the secret one I’m currently working on… shh) is to give this site a much needed design overhaul. It’s been sitting around being stagnant and boring for far too long.

So we have art here, we have general internet geekery… ah, and then there’s one other thing. This site, as well of all of my other sites, have all been a part of something much bigger: a quest for knowledge. I am by no means searching for the holy grail. I’m just looking to learn.

Along with wrapping up my degree, I’ve also been undertaking a few more things. One thing I’ve been working at is trying to learn Korean. It is a really beautiful, and not to mention, logical language. At the moment I’ve almost memorized Hangul (the Korean alphabet) completely. With that first step under my belt, I’ve started to put together a very basic vocabulary list. Once I’ve got some basic words committed to memory, I’m going to get to work actual grammar and sentence structuring. I’ve got a vague handle on it already. So far it’s been really fun. :)

Another thing I have been pulled into is playing Dungeons & Dragons. It sort of felt inevitable, and by simply agreeing to play I felt my nerd cred rise by about twenty points. I’ve never played DnD before in my life. However, I’m willing to at least give it a try. I found it a little surprising how much I actually knew about DnD through other games. I’ve always been a bit of a gamer (predominantly consoles & handhelds). Anyway, so far all I’ve done is create my character. It’s some sort of creepy Tiefling Rogue critter. My DM is either going to love or hate me. I’m probably going to end up getting either myself (very likely), or my entire party killed.

Have I mentioned that I’m a girl yet? And single? Hahaha.

Here’s to new beginnings.

Tags: ACAD, DnD, Korean
Posted in Games, Geeky, Miscellaneous | 6 Comments »

One more year of my life.

Tuesday, February 5th, 2008

Being at college for 12 hours just takes something right out of you. I think that “something” is loosely connected to my will to live. At the end of the day, when everything has be said and done… you just don’t give a damn anymore. All you want to do is get something in that stomach of yours and sleep. Of course, sleep has to be stupidly elusive. Even though you want to drop dead from exhaustion — you can’t. Or at least I can’t. Instead I’ll be awake until two or three am. Mulling over this thing or that. Coding. Working on formatting a massive story I’ve got. Doing things that ultimately just don’t matter right now.

A lot of the time I wonder why. I also wonder what it is that’s driving me. What sort of monster is on my back and whipping me toward some unforeseeable goal. Is it really just my sole desire to learn? A never ending quest for knowledge? I’m never going to be as “smart” as I want to be. Maybe I’ll accomplish something worthwhile in my lifetime. Maybe I won’t. At least for the time being, I know that I’ve made at least a few differences. Touched a couple of people. Brightened someone’s day.

People often come to me for help. I help them. Nine times out of ten, when someone sends me a message online, it’s because they need something out of my brain. I don’t mind this. I really enjoy problem solving. I like being an “internet sleuth” of sorts. Sometimes it’s coding problems, sometimes it’s art critiques, college advice, parent and friend troubles, or simply someone to confide in. I’m a secret keeper. I house so many of them along with my own thoughts, it’s a wonder I haven’t spontaneously combusted yet.

Ramblings, of course.

Today I declared my major. I’m now a Character Design student, although I plan on keeping an Illustration portfolio as well. I’ve got a dream job in mind, though I’m hesitant to share just what exactly that is. Specially since I’m an ambitious person. Though I’m sure if I ever make it, you’ll all know. For now I’m just going to do what I can.

What does it mean when you have nightmares of high school French class? I woke up at 5 am this morning, scared half to death. I dreamt that I had missed some classes and had fallen terribly behind. It really didn’t make sense. I loved French in school, even if I was learning a predominantly Québécois version… and they’d laugh at me over the pond. Brain, I’m not quite sure about you sometimes. ~_~

Posted in Miscellaneous | 3 Comments »

Brain mush

Thursday, October 25th, 2007

Brain is mush. However, I owned my Art History exam on Tuesday. Now there’s just the essay to do in that class… and essays are easy.

I’ve got my new character all designed for Figure Illustration. He’s awesome. \o/ I also have the script all written out for the short graphic novel he’s going to be in. I won’t be posting the script online though… I want to see how effective my drawings are at conveying plot first, since it’s a ~5 page dialogue-less short.

I’m in Info. Design hell. Yeah, it could be worse. I at least have some bastardization of a layout working and my colours all picked out. All that’s left is a few more graphics and some text. Other than that it’s okay. Though it’ll most likely get another 15+ hours of work done on it.

Media Illustration is… uh. I don’t know. Just weird. It’s starting to frustrate me a bit.

I miss my cat. :(

Back to homework.

Posted in Miscellaneous | 5 Comments »