A loose collection of things make a life update
I made a big batch of crockpot thing last night, involving fresh orange and yellow tomatoes, red tomato sauce, tomato soup, pasta, chicken and various seasonings that turned out alright (salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried tarragon, basil and sweet basil just in case the other basil wasn't... basil enough). It came out okay, though heavier than I'm really in the mood for. I'm not a good judge of pasta proportion yet.
A light load of laundry is wet and swishing around.
A dark load of laundry lurks conveniently near the washer.
I just played with the dogs, who then had a nice run around the back yard and presumably left behind previously digested things they weren't using anymore. Simon came back inside and immediately started eating his healthy, no-grain new dry food (Evo), although Sable still shuns it and hopes for dog candy. The back yard remains free of the snakes' food source, so I still feel ok about letting them run so far-- although I keep an eye on them. It's getting warm, though, and that makes me nervous. Free play should probably stop as the snakes come out of winter lethargy, which is a damn shame. Sable's so pretty when he really stretches out and runs, and he can't do it in the house.
We discussed portfolio and identity yesterday at school, and the professor made a wonderfully Catch-22 comment about properly presenting oneself: in short, if my site looks too pretty I'll give the impression of being a graphic designer, not the interactive story writer and game designer I claim to be. While this doesn't mean I should make it ugly or without aesthetic quality, it is a good point-- I have to be careful to keep the pleasing visual aspect relatively muted and not too fancy, so it stays harmonious with my goals.
All in all, it sounds much like painting a house in neutral colors so that potential buyers can visualize the potential of the space rather than walking out because the living room is green and they can't imagine it in their own colors. The house is the same, but not all the buyers have the skills to see it the same way, so you have to help them see it right by catering to the least imaginative.
(I only wish that analogy were purely hypothetical. I'm told painters may come at the end of this week, which means I need to work on getting everything away from the walls in my old bedroom. Better now than later in the quarter with things are closer to deadline, though.)
Finally, I have two sexy new books-- Gary Rosenzweig's book on Flash ActionScript 3.0 and an absolutely mouthwatering collection of Corel Painter X tutorials courtesy of telophase's recommendation.
Hot.