Shoot Me

Trying to keep up with my production schedule. T minus 6 weeks...

Hope y'all are having a happy weekend. Beans and I attempted to go running earlier today. You know, in my hot pink sneaks? FAIL. We were both panting after 8 minutes of movement. Pathetic! Well, whatever. 8 minutes today, 16 minutes tomorrow... :)

Place For Hugs

Loads left to animate. *worried* I think I need a hug.

Note: "Place For Hugs" is my friend, Kevin's idea. And the doodle? I'm working on sketches for le cub and cougar wedding invite. Am planning to write and illustrate a mini love story, and the illustration above shows us "going steady". Do tweens nowadays still "go steady"? Sometimes I feel so old...

I'm Not Pregnant, I'm Just Fat

It's that time of the month, and I'm feeling like a chunk. Two weekends worth of binge eating alongside le cub did it to me. (He's a work-out fiend, and I'm, well, sedentary. Not proud of it, but I barely have time to sleep...) Must derive some sort of game plan to tackle my unwelcome ripples. I look like I've permanently swallowed a burrito. BOOoOOoOoOOoo.

Mr. Lion

Get a look at this shweeeet lion. I can feel the sunshine radiating from his mane from here! (Here is Los Angeles.) This lovely print is by uhohdeer on etsy. Looks like my engagement ring!!! (Which looks like the mascot for Mister Donut!!!)

I Can't Heeear You

Because my lame-o iPhone buds have died. They were crushed in my book bag. Really loving these WESC Bongo Blue headphones, but I'll need to conduct more research before committing. Any other recommendations?

Goody-Goody

Am motivated to animate because I spent much of my afternoon watching "How to Train Your Dragon" in IMAX 3D. To my surprise, the movie was amazing. LOVED it. $17 well-spent! The dragon, "Toothless" reminded me of Beans. (They're both black.) So cute. I now want a pet dragon...

Above. A test shot of Ethel on her stroll. (Rough animatic HERE.) Ignore her robotic legs. I will address them in the final shot...

note the cardboard buildings, the floral wire tree, and the clay hydrant. they've all been featured here before... it's all coming together! *whew*

White Dog

Unlike most dogs, Beans knows that he's a dog. That said, I think Beans thinks that le cub is also a dog. A white dog. He gets jealous when I spend more time with "white dog" than I do with him. And when the white dog and I sit next to each other on our couch, Beans gets nervous and insists on being the sandwich stuffing. Hehe.

P.S. For those of you who aren't following, "le cub" is my fiance. He's a tad bit younger than me - which makes me his cougar :) RAWR!

Girl Crush

On the annoying chic from "The Hills". I believe her name is Olivia. (Is it sad that I didn't even have to look that up?) Whatever. She looks fantastic in this photo taken by fashion blogger Tommy Ton for Style.com. Oh, how I wish I could look even half as hot as her. Love-love-love the mismatched outfit. The assorted textures, colors... omigosh... is that a leopard print Mulberry? I think my heart just skipped a beat, and I didn't even have coffee today. PATHETIC, much?

Secret Admirer

Urpo & Turpo inspire me.

Play Time

Staging my next scene. It's looking a bit like Sesame Street. Totally unintentional.

Wanted

Mulberry's Alexa... *le sigh*

photo by jak and jill

Saved

With the help of my advisor, the brilliant (and helpful) Ashley Hoffman, I've learned that I can key out the blue (er, purple) screen! Here's a still from the zoo gate scene with a temp background. Amazing, no?

Whew. I was afraid I was going to have reshoot the scene due to my improperly-lit blue screen. Thank you so much, Ashley, for salvaging an otherwise failed-shoot. I promise to pay more attention to lighting in shoots to follow!

Special Needs

After Effects, why do you hate me so? Trying to figure out how to best remove and replace my blue screen with something fabulous. Struggling. *le sigh*

Move It, Move It

My ass is getting huge. Chubby brides are frowned-upon. So I hear. Bought new sneakers a week ago. (My first new pair in 8 years!) These florescent pink beauties are cub-approved.

Must. Start. Running. Beans, you're coming with me.

Taxes are Taxing

But... I'M DONE!!!

Home Sweet Home

Seymour is a homebody.

Gimme a Break

Caught a stand-up show at The Comedy Store late last night. Alexis' friend, Justin McClure had a bit, and it was HILARIOUS! It really was. I'm not just being nice. My face hurt when I left the establishment because I was laughing and smiling so much. OUCH.

Set-building all day. This involves a whole lot of cutting, carving, gluing, painting... This film better get made on time. *gulp*

Registry. Le cub and I haven't gotten around to creating one, but we had better do so soon! I wonder if le cub will approve of the three "must-have" above. Cornishware tea cups (don't they look like the sky?), a chunk of pyrite (why not) and a pig dish (just because). Okay. There goes my five-minute break. Back to the garage...

Happy Monday!!!

It's Monday. I have been awake since 4am. Enjoyed a hazelnut soy latte at 6am, and have been jittery ever since. Read on. You'll see what I mean. I'm making no sense this morning. Wahaha. And I refuse to edit myself. Muah-haha. Enjoy the rest of this verbal diarrhea.

Monique and her hairy legs were in town this past week. No, not Monique Lhuillier, but Monique of "Precious" fame. My pal Alexis got her hands on cheap tickets to see greatness performing LIVE this past Friday. Le cub was in town, so I had to turn down the invite. Sadness! Luckily, I'll be meeting up with Lil' Miss Block (Alexis) later today. Can't wait to hear all about Monique's fabulously hairy legs, which, apparently were on mega-display with the help of a mini dress and jumbotron.

Speaking of hairy legs, mine, along with my pits and hoo-hah are now bald and beautiful. I heart lasers. Bew-bew!

Pictured: A crazy-cute baby giraffe by Sharon Montrose to off-set all this gross talk about body hair. Hehe. He will be arriving in Burbank really soon, and I plan to hang him next to a photo of Beans. Battle of cuteness!

I've Got Sunshine

on a cloudy day...

Isn't this photo homage to Rothko bloody brilliant? Check out Richard Ehrlich's work HERE.

It was raining this morning when I drove le cub to LAX.
Birthday boy is traveling to Chicago for work this week.
No pity here, because his next stop (over the weekend) is New York!
Wish I could join him, but I've got a film to shoot.
How tragic.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CUB!!!

"If I tell you I love you, do I get to keep you?"

The merriest of birthday's to my macho-macho man.

See More

...of Seymour. An extra in my zoo scene.

Choco-Bun

Wasn't brought up religious. Never found religion... but gosh, I do love Easter. Any religious holiday that condones chocolate consumption and the hugging of cutie patootie animals is for me.

Get a look at these choco-buns by Vosges. OMG. Almost too cute to east. ALMOST.

Happy Easter, folks.

Dear God

Dear God, it's me, Debra.

Gravity causing my armatures to topple is caca.
Hot lights that heat up my garage are caca.
Hot glue guns that scorch my fingers are caca.

I'm having a bad animation day. A little help from you, or the Universe, for that matter, would be nice.

ARRRRRRRRRRGH!!! *me pulling out my eyelashes* (I do that when I'm stressed.)

View from the Top

Testing camera angles... (Zoo set remains unfinished.)

Mortimer

Ethel's Komondor pup, temporarily named "Mortimer", is nearly finished. He just needs a tail...

Leafy Greens

Tah-dah! Foliage test. The "trees" (fern leaves I pierced into tall styrofoam cone things) and bushes still need a little help, but ooh-lah-lah... GREEN! Shot under poor lighting-conditions (only my garage bulb) and without a blue-screen behind the set (am waiting for the cloth's arrival), this piece of the set is nearly-finished. Woo-hoo! Now onto the zoo interior! Yup, the work is never finished.

Gaga Aftermath

The evening was EPIC. This photo (of Alexis) says it all. AND the fact that this evening forced me and le cub to clean the home is a good thing. A very good thing. Check out what our place looked like BEFORE the lil' monsters arrived.

Professor Solomon

Alongside my two animating gal pals, Alexis and Natalie, I will be a teaching assistant for Charles Solomon starting Monday. For those of you not in the know *pssssh* Professor Solomon is an internationally respected historian and critic of animation. *mmm-hmm* He's "besties" with Pete Doctor and some of the other mad-geniuses at Pixar, and that makes him one super cool cat.

Alexis is building the class website, and well, I'll be providing some doodles to spice up the otherwise business-as-usual site. See my interpretation of Professor Solomon going "Oh hey guys!" and ourselves staring back at him intently. *teehee*

Pull My Finger

Bidding on this painting in an online thrift auction. In 3 days and 9 hours, I'll find out whether or not this woman who's pulling her finger will be mine. That's right. I love this painting because she's pulling her finger. (That and the fact that I find the colors and composition of the piece to be beautiful.)

Have a lovely weekend, folks.

Feel the Need to Feed

I'm not preggers like Joanna or Madge, but it's nearly that time of the month, and I'm totally feeling the need to feed.

Mint Oreo Fudge Cremes (a new product available at Target) have got the Girl Scouts beat. Trust me. They're amazing. I'm not a junk food fiend by any means, but these cookies... oh my. I literally salivate when I walk towards the cabinet that houses them. Yes, I'm no better than my dog, Beans. Pathetic, really.

Hmm. I should probably go give him a cookie (of the doggy variety) now. The power of empathy.

Pictured: Baby Beans feeding. Doodles to come... I promise.

Ma-Ma-Ma-MAH!

Bubbles Gaga Outfit DONE. Sunday night is going to be so much fun.

P.S. I'm not a blonde. That's a wig...

We Will Rock You

My very best friend, Pammy, of "Hammy Days" (check out her blog HERE) is fabulous. She names her tiny kick-me yorkies after rap artists (Snoop and Shady), plucks her pits (as apparently Kimberlina does and I did - prior to laser treatment), bakes a mad-delicious rum cake, and ooh, collected stamps and rocks as a child (as did I).

I chat with her almost every single evening about nothing, really, and it makes me so very happy. One of our most recent discussions centered around the topic of ROCKS. OMG. We "heart" rocks. As a child growing up in the Valley (San Fernando, not Silicon), I could often be found throwing rocks onto the pavement in our backyard in hopes of smashing them open only to discover a beautiful geode. I never actually found a geode in my backyard (BOO), but I did manage to convince my kind mother to purchase a few for me from the mall at shops like Natural Wonders and Imaginarium. Children of the 80s, do you know what I'm talking about?

Anyhoo, check out what I found on the web earlier today. Click HERE. Wahahahaha, you can break your own geodes!!!

OMG, OMG, OMG. I am going to be a good girl this year. Perhaps Santa will get me some of THESE.

P.S. No, that's not me. That's some random uber-lucky kid with an uncut geode.

Come and Knock on Our Door

"We'll be waiting for you..."
Gate finished! Now for some foliage...

ZzzzZZzzZzzz

I've created my own time zone that involves hitting the sheets at 4am in the morning and waking up at 9am. Beans has been operating on this same schedule. Look at him. He's trying so hard to stay awake...

Bald and Bold

BALD PITS.

All my life, I've dreamt of being fuzz-free. As a tween, I admired my mom's hairless arms and legs. Seriously. I BEGGED for Nair. It's not that I'm hairy like a Yeti. But my skin is light... and my hair is dark...

Well, my days as a furry woman are coming to an end. This morning, I went to see a dermatologist. No, I did not go just to get rates for laser hair treatment. I went to see the good doctor about my the recent break-outs on my back. *collective EEW* Don't know if it's stressed-induced, diet-induced or what, but no bride wants to walk down the aisle on her big day in a strapless gown only to reveal a back covered with unwanted spots. Anyhooo, after discussing my back, we discussed my body hair, and then, with the help of totally-rad Dr. Benest, I got rid of some! TMI? Then don't read on!

I'm not a total hair ball. But what little body hair that I do have drives me absolutely insane. I wax my arms monthly, shave my arms and pits daily, and even then, they're still not stubble and bump-free. Taking matters in my own hands, I invested in a totally awesome laser hair removal package. Come August, my body is going to bald and beautiful. Pits, arms, legs, and the area where the sun don't shine...

Mood: ECSTATIC.

P.S. My doctor showed me her treated pits. Hahaha. I was shocked as well. But yes, they were totally bald. And beautiful!!!

Holy Holly!

How lucky am I?

VERY.

Rebecca (the best wedding planner ever of {Duet} Weddings) and I met up at the rad Culver City studio of Holly Flora today. For those of you whose minds aren't cluttered with wedding blog and magazine content, Holly Flora is more than just your average florist. Owners Holly Vesecky and Rebecca Uchtman are floral sculptors who produce unconventional yet drop-dead-gorgeous floral arrangements that will surely steal the show. (Totally fine with me and le cub as we dislike being at the center of attention!) The girls were fun and thoughtful. We totally clicked, and I could not have had a better time brainstorming possible concepts for le cub and cougar wedding. Am really looking forward to our "sample viewing" two months from now when all the flowers we'll likely be using will be in season. It'll be epic.

Check out Holly Flora's work HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.
Hmm. Holly Flora even has a Facebook page. I'm think I'm going to go join now.

Inspired

My favorite 2nd year film shown last year was that of classmate Sijia Luo. Her film, "Kidnap" was created in Flash. Strange and adorable. Watch it here :)

Gentle Giant

My veggie lovin' lion. He could use a puff of hair on his tail and possibly some brows. Test brows in shot below. Enclosure still in the works.

Work Hard and Be Kind

A Coco fan's take on the popular "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters. I want one.

Source: Clay Larsen via my friend Larry's blog.

Rock You

After napping for four hours, I carved rock work out of foam. They're for the lion enclosure :)

MuhmuhmuhMUH!

My outfit for the Lady Gaga party (click HERE to read more about it) has been decided. Will work towards making it a reality next week.

Speaking of Lady Gaga, Alexis and I stalked Ticketmaster this past Saturday and managed to snag tickets for her August 12th show. WOO-HOO!!!

Nailed It

I have not gotten a manicure in months. My hands and feet are not naturally. In fact, I'm highly-gifted in the cuticle-growth department. Anyhow, as much as I'd love to dash out and have the manipedi ladies save them, my fingers and toes are going to remain ugly (they look like ginseng) until I'm done building my set. EEEW. I miss pretty red nails. But the ones pictured above are pretty groovy as well. SPACE NAILS! Fierce.

Photo by Fiorella

Oh The Places We'll Go

Le cub and I have yet to choose a honeymoon destination. And we're taking suggestions! Santorini, Greece is looking pretty sweet.

Photo taken by Marcel Germain