What to do in another world

I got to experience a really weird thing last week. I'm working on a new game team at school this semester, and we're working in virtual reality. We have tech that hasn't been released to the public yet, and it's really neat!

But, working in VR has a lot of things that you have to work around as you develop a game for it, especially with the specific tech we're using. Rooms can only be so big, you can't have horizontal movement, can't have chairs, and you can't have objects on the floor that players might walk through. 

I was warned what happens when you walk through objects in VR, but I wanted to experience it myself - can't be that bad, right? Nah. It was.

I put my leg through a box. My initial reaction was more along the lines of, "haha, this is strange, my whole body is telling me to move hahah okay, that was weird  hahahaha" but within the next 20 minutes, I felt so sick that I had to sit and stare at the wall for a few hours - retching, phantom pains, and the feeling of absolute dread. 

All in all, the after effects lasted for about 7 hours, but that was probably more on me. I couldn't handle the feelings of disphoria and depression, and I spent a lot of time pining over how bad I felt rather than how it was slowly going away.

It was a cool experience. Awful in the moment, but still a cool experience. 

I look forward to when I can share more about this project.

Nighttime

this post is going to be extra dumb and fluffy, but I have so many good pictures

It's kind of weird that I don't see much sunlight anymore. By the time I get out of class, it's always dark, but I like it. When it rains, everything reflects off of the roads

and the overcast usually makes the horizon glow orange

and the fog is so thick, you usually can't see past your hand - the perks of living right next to a river. I'm always frustrated I can't capture it via photos.

bonus picture of my friend and I at 2 am

Feelings

Hey, it's me

Oh boy, I haven't written in so long that I've kind of been lost. I don't really remember the semester?? My school is such a time vacuum. Even though it feels like summer was just a few weeks ago, it also feels like I've been stuck in semester three for as long as I can remember.

Anyway, this year is focused on digital art and 3D modelling. It's hard. At last, 3D modelling is hard. Digital art is fine, and I love it and I feel totally 100% in my element.

My photoshop class has been going just fine, and here is one of my prouder accomplishments so far:

It's me! yee

Took me about 6 hours of sitting on my living room floor to paint, got 93%.

The Beach Episode

I was having a bad week with friend fall outs and dumb boys, so one of my best friends took me to the beach! I didn't know I was so close to a beach like the one she took me to, but it was great! I had no idea West Seattle was a beach town; it looked like a wannabe L.A. with pine trees in lieu of palm trees.

Even the people kind of looked like L.A. folk.

My best friend was super motivated to make this trip work out! She organized it all herself and got everything ready. When we got there, she made sure we all got into 'beach mode' and made her boyfriend roll up his pants and made us all go in the water for a few seconds to get our feet wet.

But, after we claimed a fire pit, we realized she forgot most of her firewood at home and we only had a plank and some bark to work with. After an hour of not being able to start a fire, a group of men walked up and asked if they could use our fire pit. In return, we could use their fire. Okay.

We were embarrassed, but it worked out.

I like this picture because it looks like we have friends (but really it's just the group the kicked us off the fire pit since we couldn't start a fire)

 

Also these pictures because they show the real struggle of digital artists who never go outside.

It was super pretty though, and my friend did a really good job planning everything (besides the whole fire part).

Also the Seattle skyline on the way home

Birthday Away

I didn't expect to have a birthday this year. Since my birthday lands two weeks after finals, I figured everyone would be out of town, and they just about were. 

My actual birthday was uneventful. I went to school and drew a bit and ate lunch with my classmates. I got asked to dinner, but that dinner never actually happened. Instead, I kind of got duped into watching two Lord of the Rings movies back to back with friends. By the time they ended, the only food I got was a thing of fries from McDonald's at like 3 am.



But, Friday happened. None of my friends were at school during lunch. That was a bummer. I think I go to school mostly just to eat lunch with people I know.

A bunch of people I never hang out with though kept telling me we should get together. Well, that's a shame, because I already told like three other people I'd hang out with them? Oh, just kidding. They're going to be at the same apartment, that's cool.

I took a long nap and went over late, in my pajamas. I was expecting to sleep on my friend's couch and hopefully get some free food out of it. I saw all of my friend's cars in the parking lot, but when I showed up, no one was there. Okay. "They stepped out to get some things"

but one by one, they came in wearing party hats. The first one said, "it's really weird. There's a guy out there just giving out party hats and noise makers? weird." Okay. I could believe that. My apartment complex is pretty weird.

Then my best friend who I didn't know was coming came in with a balloon, "who wants this? I think you want it" and she tied it to my drink.

And as she did that, two of my best friends from a completely different friend group walked in and only then did it hit me what had just happened. My friend pulled out a cake from the kitchen and they all sang to me and said happy birthday and we played video games for the rest of the night.

And I feel weird talking about my friends on here because I know they can easily find this blog. I really just imagine my family reading these because they're the only ones I pitch this entire blog to, but I know how the internet works. Regardless, it felt good.

 I'm glad. I have good friends.

I may have gotten a bit teary eyed as they sang, and I might have had a hard time blowing out my candles, but it means a lot to have people out here to take care of me.

Final Skit

My acting for animation class is still really weird.

I was really sick the other week and I had to go home early because I was throwing up at school. My acting teacher really wasn't pleased though and sent me a pretty angry email, so my group had to film our skit before the next class.

It's really rough; it's the first time we ran through it, but we were short on time and energy.

I don't know if we'll have to record it again? but whatever.

Spring Break 2k14

Spring break was awfully quiet. My roommates were gone the entire week and I really just sat on my couch and watched netflix. My friend took me out one day though before she went home for the rest of the week.

I'm sorry I only really have photos of her? She took a bunch of me but I haven't seen them, so hopefully she doesn't read this and think it's weird

We went to Snoqualmie Falls, which is about a twenty minute drive away, where you can just drive up to and walk around basically. 

It was very Washingtony

Puppets

I'm taking acting for animation this semester which is REALLY DIFFERENT. It took me a few weeks to feel comfortable, and even then, I still have my moments in that class where I just, "why am I here??"

It's basically an improv class that's supposed to help us become stronger animators, but it's rough.

The Pizza Man

The class really liked my second still film, but my teacher stressed that I looked too much like my friend to be in the same project as her. Okay?? That's a first.

yo

but hahaha i actually really love this hat now

Hair Cut 2

My hair got a bit too long. Waiting for it to grow out is a bit too much, and one day in class I just got sick of keeping it out of my eyes, so I got it cut as soon as I got out.

But, there's a problem with going to a hair salon and asking for short hair. 

"Shorter, please"

"Are you sure, Ma'am? It'll look more feminine longer"

"Shorter, please."

I mean, my face is feminine enough. If I want short hair, I want short hair. So be it. Let it be done. Don't argue with my decisions, dawg. 

After debating with the man cutting my hair, I left it. He barely cut the bangs, so it's still in my eyes, and I look like a soccer mom. I tried taking webcam photos but couldn't not make unhappy faces.

It's really not that bad - it's just not what I was looking for, man.

BUT, I guess I'm warming up to it

I've been wearing a hat all week, and no one's really noticed I've even gotten a haircut \m/