SWEET MOTHER OF LOUIS SULLIVAN, I have the worst headache going on right now, and although I'm not sure why, I'm debating whether or not to take some medicine (I'm a person to toughen up and fight these things, as stupid as that may be).

On a brighter note, I want to officially state right here and now that I'm changing the purpose of this almost long-forgotten blog.  To what purpose am I doing that?

A written (or "typed" if you're counting semantics) journal and/or diary of my architectural endeavors.  That is exactly what it sounds like.

A couple of weeks ago, my mom and I went to go see Julie&Julia, which,, when you factor in the hilarious and talented acting of Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci, is an awesome movie, riddled with romance and of course gourmet cooking.  Mmm!  But what I found even more inspiring than the deboning of a duck was the fact that Mrs. Julie Powell--a woman with nearly no professional background in the internet sensation known as "blogging"--was perfectly capable of staring a blog, and even garnering a FAN BASE out of it!  Superb, Ms. Powell!

Now, why in the name of Daniel Burnham is this important?  Is it because I doubt my own abilities to create such a site?  Well, as the evidence can surely point out: yes, that is mostly true.

But then, WHY do I have this doubt?  Julie Powell has successfully proven herself that she can create an awesome place for other "renegade foodies" to enjoy the musings and endeavors of herself, right?  But, if you look closely, THEREIN LIES THE SOLUTION!!

Since I started blogging a mere year and a half ago, I've finally noticed that not only did my blogs lack depth and "inspiring" reflection in more than half of the site (wasn't exactly written by a Nobel Prize winner either, I might add), but it lacked a coherent theme!  Julie Powell's blog related food and marriage and overcoming obstacles into the "computer terminals" of readers everywhere!

What have I done? I've complained. I've given you horrid accounts of my depressing thoughts and feelings.  I've wasted your time.

But I've finally seen the errors of my ways!  Because it's so painfully obvious that I need a theme to really bring purpose to my blog, I've decided to go with the one thing I love the most: architecture.  Interior design.  Lannnnnndscaping. 

I'm getting excited just thinking about it all.

So, as of today, I am officially renouncing all of the previous posts and once-thought-be-good ideas that I've forced you to endure for over a year and a half.  Instead, I'm forcing upon this blog itself a newfound hope and meaning.  And until I get around to posting a new blog under these new stipulations, I'm running out of things to say.

So....goodbye.

-Dynamite Morganne

Also as a quick note!!!  I'm officially selling designs off of CafePress.com, so if there's anybody interested, check out my work!

My shop at CafePress.com

I've recently decided to do some Photoshopping tutorials.  Really basic stuff, and eventually tricks and tips about how I do my own work.  I'll even include some useful links and LiveStream channel URLs for some live feedback and real-time "walkthroughs" from really awesome artists.  If the JPEG tutorials turn out really useful, I may end up creating "video tutorials" through LiveStream, and doing my own real-time walkthroughs.  Again, just basic stuff, but I'll have to get over my obnoxious voice, and maybe even garner a wider audience before I decide to do that.

So, just keep an out here for any updates on this development.  I'll be finishing the "Basics" tutorial series today (I hope), and then move onto more "Intermediate" stuff, like cleaning up lineart through adjustments, laying down color flats, and more.  All of that...hopefully before school starts.

-Morganne

Helpful people who know their stuff:

http://www.livestream.com/zatransis

http://www.livestream.com/digital_paint_tv

http://www.livestream.com/digitalheavens

J'adore le culture de France!!  C'est tres magnifique, romantique, et interresant, et je voudrais habiter la un jour dans ma futur.  J'adore aussi le langue, parce que c'est simple et beau!

J n'est pas du tout francais, mais vive le France!!!

-Morganne

Of course, they go so spendidly together, don't they?

I've drawn two really good pieces of artwork in the last few days, and I have to say they're inspiring me a little bit more.  The cool thing is that they're both of females, which I normally never do.  But now that I've been drawing them, the practice is helping me "refine" more of my style.

Honestly, that's all I can think to say.  Kind of a...busy day I guess.

-Morganne

Guns and Kimonos

Sadly, there's less happiness than disappointment.

I checked my status on the OC Contest, and it turns out I made it to Top 5...but just barely.  In fact, I was fifth place, that's exactly how close it was.  In all honesty, I think I could have at least made fourth or third place, but I won't really know without looking like a douchebag if I ask why I only placed fifth.  In my opinion, it sounded like (from the comment they used for my pic) that I could have used more shading or "umph" to make it worth more than fifth place.  Again, I won't really ever know, but I guess it's a lesson learned.

What bugs me most is that in the past two contests that I've entered where my drawing actually placed somewhere noteworthy of a prize, I always made the very last place in the highest standings, whether it was fifth today or third in the previous contest.  That's kind of...irksome.  I don't think it makes me feel bad as an artist, but if I'm going to be stuck getting "last place" in every contest's standings, what's the point?  I'm still participating whether my theory is correct or not, but I don't think I'll ever be excited about one ever again...

On a brighter note, my friend invited me yesterday night to go see Public Enemies.  Totally awesome movie; Johnny Depp and Cristian Bale were the hottest men in the entire film, of course, especially Depp.  Mmmm...dark black hair with some facial stubble to go with it...EPIC.  Although the ending was...unexpected to me, and rather depressing, I was overall THRILLED to hear one name used in that movie almost more than John Dillinger:

INDIANA.

Of course that makes me happy, I'm a total Hoosier, and proud of it, to my very core.  I always feel Indiana as a state never really gets its dues, but considering Dillinger was born and raised and of course WANTED in my beautiful state, it was hard to leave Indiana out of it.  Personally too, I always find it a smack to those other "popular" states always featured in great Hollywood films like California and New York (take THAT you overly pompous states!)  Every time I heard "Indiana", my heart died a little inside, with pure unrated happiness.

-Morganne
 

And so it begins.  Another blog space for me to start.  Counting all of the real blog places I've created an account, this is the fourth.  However, compared to the other two sites (one site had two blogs I was working on), I think I'll be a lot more comfortable here.  I feel like I can have a lot more ground to work with, especially with my own creativity and choosing.

Since this is my first journal entry, I guess it should be an introductory one.  The name is Morganne, or as I would hope most people could know me as, Dynamite Morganne.  I choose that nickname because I love architecture and physics, and of all the things I could think up, that sounded the best for me (plus there's a really dandy quote in Monty Python's Holy Grail where a rabbit is described as being "Dynamte!").  If you've seen me on DeviantART, you might know me much more as MardukIvanKalium, but I've grown seriously old of that title since it has always been a male character's name in my long running trilogy-never-to-be.  The last of my nicknames that might be known almost as well is Kelifer, which I'm using more and more less often since it also doesn't really fit me (the history behind it is pretty funny though).

As for what you'll see here in my journals, I write about pretty much anything going on specifically in a moment of my life, whether it's family or school or something I'm drawing at the particular moment and I just feel like writing about it.  I also post critiques and "opinion pieces" every now and then, especially if I've just seen a movie or finished a book/series, so keep an eye out for that if there's something you want reviewed unprofessionally.  Another habit I tend to make is posting random and "bizarre" things, like the very title of this entry, which has become a very commonly favorited phrase of mine (I seriously take good pride in it, belive that or not); this may include pretty "original" and "colorful" metaphors, and quite often strange word-usage (not bad word-usage like Flava Flav or "angry rappers" as some comedians have noted) as things to wrap your mind around like "Chef-tastic!"

Anyways, that's pretty much a good place to start.  You'll learn a shit loads more about me when I get more entries posted, and since it's the summer time and I'm nearly connected biologically to my computer, Phileus, you'll see me posting rather often here.

Good night, everybody, and stay classy.

  
 

-Morganne