Inside Kimmy's Mind

Today is my older sister’s birthday, I obviously do not have a memory of meeting her what with being a baby and all but I do have plenty of memories of her after that.

We usually have talks discussing our childhood, moments of nostalgia that sometimes make us tear up, and it’s weird to imagine life back then and to see where we are now…it’s also amazing. She’s always been there to guide and help me.  She taught me how to play Barbies, which sounds bizarre but our games were planned out. Down to the many different outfits our dolls would wear. We matched. Sounds difficult but it was a lot of fun, and she’s the only one who could trick Kat and me into cleaning our rooms before playing “hotel”.  -.- What can I say, we really wanted to play with her. Growing up together taught us each how to share. Sometimes, if we were lucky mom would buy things in threes. But some toys, such as game consoles were how we learned how to take turns. SEGA Genesis, our first console where we trained our hands in ABBABBA codes and cheats. Finally getting to the last level in The Lion King game back when I was in middle school. It was magical. Summers staying up for the entire night after we got the ps2, simply because we didn’t have a memory card and Kingdom Hearts was exciting. We would pass the controller around during boss stages after one would fail, it continued going around until one of us was victorious. Magical I tell ya.

And now here we are, each with a 3DS and still playing games together. I’m still pretty obsessed with Animal Crossing and that’s all thanks to her. Thanks for that. She can be extremely inappropriate at times, and immature but I don’t think she’d be Nina if she wasn’t. XD I love that now we are older we can still joke or be serious and just depend on each other no matter what. And to answer your question Nina, I have no idea what we were laughing about nor why we were in the living room with blankets on the floor. I think it was during Christmas or something? I dunno, I’ve slept since then.

Anyway, the point is I couldn’t imagine my life without my sisters in it so here’s to you Nina, Happy Birthday! I hope you get to meet Alan Cumming while in New York or see David Bowie walk down the street or something like that. That happens in New York, you know?

Thanks for reading and commenting.

Exes….most of us have a few here and there buried somewhere in our past that occasionally cross our minds for whatever reason. But exes should always stay in the past. This is my opinion if you don’t agree with me then that’s ok, but I’m saying for me the past should remain in the past.

I came home for the 4th of July weekend to spend it with my family, I haven’t been home in a month and I finally got a weekend off to do so. Being here has now become this portal of nostalgia and my mind tends to wander into the past. But something happened that made me dive way into the past. I blame Facebook for this occurrence, THERE that red little square that appears when you have a new message. Usually I associated it with my boyfriend, up until he joined the rest of us soul less smart phone carriers, he would contact me through Facebook messages.  But now we text/skype/call so now these messages are usually friends with whom I haven’t spoken with in awhile or something of the sort. OR….they are for people to find you without having your cell number. We make it easy for people to get in touch with us, great for certain situations but also easy for those EXES to find and booty call us so as to validate them once again. (Unless they have been blocked of course) I check my cell only to see that red square and a message from him, the first actual ex. The one who had a baby? Still find it bizarre to say let alone type out. She’s adorable of course, but I digress. The message read:

… continue reading this entry.

I’ve always wanted a travel size watercolor kit along with an aqua brush and ever since I saw this particular post over on Michelle’s blog, I’ve been on the hunt for supplies. This is part of her blog series that she calls Journal Diaries,  she features a guest artist and their journals in each post. Seaweedkisses has always inspired me, she’s one of my favorite bloggers. And the other day I stumbled upon the greatest little art store.

I was very bad yesterday, I spent so much money….but let’s just ignore that part and focus on the goodies. 😀

Decided to stop by this fabric store in midtown, I’ve gone in a few times but have always walked out empty handed. One reason being, I’m still a novice when it comes to sewing so I get really intimidated when I enter this store. But today I finally bought some pleather, that’s right pleather. And I haven’t tried to make anything with it…yet. But I’m already in the mood to work with real leather. Perhaps a bit too ambitious for me, but we shall see.  Anyway, so I bought a yard of that and some sturdy interfacing.

After hitting that store I made my way to the Houston Press office to pick up my first paycheck, have I mentioned how much better direct deposit is? -.- Well it is. But on my way to the office I noticed this art supply store, I’ve must have walked by this building a million times but have never really noticed what it was. To be honest, I thought it was abandoned and was excited to go and look around. Sitting on the counter was this chick, her head was shaved minus the top part that she pulled into a ponytail and it was this neon green color. She chewed on a pen when she talked to me and asked if I needed help finding anything. I was so overwhelmed with the store that the words aqua brush came out without me even realizing it. She showed me the different ones they had in stock. While I was looking over which one I wanted she asked me if I was looking for anything else, and again my voice just answered on its own. It was as if my brain were on autopilot, answering the neon girl’s questions while I examined the brushes.  She showed me the only travel watercolor kit they had and then returned to her position on the counter. After deciding which brush I wanted, there were multiple sizes and I have decided on buying more later, I looked at the watercolor kit. Luckily, she offered me a 20% student discount. Didn’t actually help too much though but I was still very grateful and I’m in love with the items I purchased. I painted a few pictures using the brush and my normal watercolors. I also have tube watercolor, I’ll pull those out when I’m home and use the pallets for when I’m out and about. Still painting my character with minty green hair, I think it’s a great color and would love to sport it myself…if only my job would let me. >.< I’m thinking of getting some extensions and just dying the ends of those and then use those as a compromise, I’ve never dyed my hair before so I don’t know how it will react to it.  Also, my drawings tend to come out with an awkward smile, almost as awkward as mine in real life. hehe

 Well, I’m off to paint some more, let me know some of the art brands you like to use. Also, if you’ve dyed before, did you notice a huge change in your hair? Until next time…

Thanks for reading and commenting.

My sister and I have always wanted to go on a double date, but we’ve never been in relationships at the same time so we haven’t had that opportunity yet. However, we did manage to go on a double date the other day with Cloudy Chase and her sister. XD That’s right a sister double date!

It was a lot of fun! I had Melissa and her sister Michelle meet us at the science museum. I figured it would be a nice treat to show them around my work place at the museum.  I can get people in for free as long as they are with me and my majorly important work badge. :3 I finally got to see the Egypt exhibit, it was a lot bigger than I thought, and there were several mummies. Did you know their coffins were made of wood? I thought they were made of clay or something.  I didn’t take as many pictures has I had hope. But that always happens when I’m trying to make memories that doesn’t involve me looking at it from my cell screen. But I did manage to take several with my disposable camera. I’m looking forward to getting it developed. I can’t wait to see how the pictures look, I’m loving this feeling because its the same I felt when I used it back when I was a kid. I have my fuji instax that I should use, but that always has flash so I have yet to figure out how to take nice pictures with it.

… continue reading this entry.

I finally cracked and bought Animal Crossing New Leaf. After Kat bought it I totally made plans of getting it myself, it’s unbelievably adorable and I couldn’t resist.

The weirdos also have it and when I went to visit Jobro’s town I stopped by his museum and to my surprise his T-Rex matches one at work. We call him Y Rex and he’s a bobbed tail dino. I found it hilarious how they matched, also isn’t my character cute? Nina gave me the buns and minty hair color, seeing as how I can’t have it in real life I can live vicariously through game and art doodles.

This is definitely a game I’d suggest if you own a DS. It’s the kind that never ends, so you can put it down and pick it back up without worrying about starting over. Plus, customizing things is always fun, so if you’re a fan of that option then that’s another reason to get it. You should totally save up and buy yourself a DS if you don’t already own one. If you don’t consider yourself a gamer then again, this game is perfect for you and you will have tons of fun. Unless you’re the type that gets bored easily or hates games with no actual ending or point then this isn’t for you. -.- I get excited over simple things so easily, but I don’t care I find it fun. Here’s Kat’s character and mine watching tv in her house. Since I just got mine, my house is still small but reservations are in the making. The siblings and I always start off conversations with, “I got stung by bees…”Or “I missed an appointment…” So now as a rule we have to start by saying, “In Animal Crossing…” So we know we are talking game not real life. XD I’m late to the game but oh well. Ok, enough playing…off to bed I go.

Lastly, I gave my first dino tour on Saturday, and the next two dino parties I will run on my own. I will have a trainer shadow me, but I will be in charge. >.< I am so freaking nervous. My first impromptu tour was not too terrible but I did not know how to time myself and went too fast. It should be 45 mins long. :/ I think I made it to 20 but that’s because my trainer kept reminding me to slow down. I know I will just need to practice, but I wish I could already be a the point where I know what to do. Here’s to practicing and improving

Kat and I went to Half Price Books last week where I found this comic illustrated by Matthew Forsythe. I had several books in my hands that I had planned on buying, but after I found this one I put the others down. I’ve been looking to illustrators a lot lately, they are again very inspiring and I really wish I could express myself creatively through illustrating.

Doesn’t mean I won’t attempt it. >.< I’ve been doodling a lot for fun, but I find myself getting frustrated when a picture doesn’t come out as well as I had hoped. The photo is from the comic mentioned above, how adorable is the art style? The artist is a one of the head illustrators that works on Adventure Time. Here’s the synopsis according to the cover of the book:

After eating everything in sight, Voguchi is sent to the market where a chance encounter introduces her to Jinchalo-a mischievous shape shifter. He sets our hungry heroine on a strange adventure into the sky, leaving her home far behind.

A little girl who eats everything?! Totally made for me. Speaking of which, my place is definitely in need of some groceries. -.- I keep putting it off, I’ve been eating cream cheese on graham crackers for dinner. Hopefully on my trip to the Kroger’s I don’t have to deal with a shape shifter. 😛 The ending sort of confuses me, so if you’ve seen it, I’d love to hear your interpretation of the ending. There are no actual words so the entire book is made up of pictures and your interpretation.  Moving on to Anya’s Ghost. Vera Brosgol is wonderful, she worked on Coraline and Paranorman, I can definitely see similar art styles there.  This and her comic, “What were you raised by, wolves?” is a bit darker. Anya’s Ghost is about a Russian immigrant who is trying to fit in her American high school, she’s bullied a bit and tends to see life in a negative way. And one day, on her way home from school she falls down a hole where she isn’t alone. Frannerd recommended this novel in her vlog a couple weeks ago, and it seemed interesting so I had to go and pick myself up a copy. I’m glad I did. I’m really loving this limited color pallet, along with watercolor. I want to start buying more Copic Sketch markers, they give off a watercolor effect. But they’re pretty pricy so it might take a while for me to get a decent collection. Plus I want to be able to use them correctly and I don’t think I know how to at this point. Also, I’ve been loving these illustrated notebooks from Scout Books. This post totally turned into things I’m currently loving.

I haven’t been keeping up with my disposable camera challenge, but the month isn’t over yet so I will make sure to try and get some nice pictures. I’m excited not knowing how they’re gonna turn out. Thinking back, that’s what I loved about it when I used them on class field trips back in the day. XD Of course, we would always wait years until we got them developed. I don’t intend to wait that long with this one. Let me know if you’re attempting the challenge.  That’s all for now, until next time…

Thanks for reading and commenting.

Today’s post has been written over and over again, I  had trouble figuring out the right words I wanted to use when writing this post and there are a ton of points I’d like to discuss. Most of you have heard about the horrifying events that happened two weeks ago in California…the shootings done by a disillusioned and misogynistic person. And all because women did not pay attention to him?

This 22 year old boy had no respect for life and instead of opening his eyes he allowed himself to see the world as this miserable place where he alone would not find happiness. Of course his idea of happiness was also warped, from the vlogs I have watched it appears as though he was unhappy for not having sex. -.- I realize that sex is an important life experience, but through his eyes it was the ultimate goal that led a person to the only happiness worth living for. Developing relationships makes life exciting and meaningful, but to base happiness solely on the physical aspect of those relationships is bizarre. He complains in all of his videos, saying the same thing over and over again, how women do not desire him, how they prefer these ugly losers and do not give him the time of day. Going on and on about the injustice of it all. Injustice? It is beyond sad that some people believe love and affection should be owed and not earned. This boy had everything society says you need in order to find happiness….or in his eyes, everything required to attract women. Money, nice car, nice clothes. You create your own happiness, you find joy in all aspects of life. You only have one life, why waste it being hateful? If you’re unhappy, that’s because you choose to take the bad things that might happen in life and instead of moving past or learning from them you wallow in them. … continue reading this entry.

I’ve always loved blog entries where the blogger shares the contents of their bag. I don’t know why, I guess I find the photos interesting so I figured I’d try my hand at posting my own.

On a normal day out, I’ve been using my olive green satchel that I bought from Forever21 a couple months ago. It’s on the smaller side so I can’t carry as much as I usually do. This bag causes me to condense the items I choose to bring with me so I enjoy that. Sometimes I add or remove a few things from the list, but this is what I carried in my bag the last time I went out.

1. Pocket Juice: This is my favorite new thing, as long as I remember to charge it after using it. It gives me enough battery power to last the day after I use my cell to take tons of pictures and navigate me on my travels. It’s a nice thing to have and a good size, I’ve seen smaller but this one is rechargeable by outlet not double AA batteries. I absolutely love it.

2. Keys: These don’t really need an explanation, apartment, mailbox, bike lock. That’s it.

3. Mini wallet: This is what I carry when I use my smaller bag. It has my Q card, debit, license, campus id and some loose change. It’s actually falling apart so I’ll be needing a new one soon. But it’s a nice size.

4. Ipod: I love having my ipod around, it’s an older one so it only holds 1000 songs but it saves me from having to use up my cell battery listening to music.

5. 3DS: I love my Ds, and after buying Bravely Default I have been carrying it around more often but I don’t always carry it with me all the time. Especially when the weather is poop.

6. Altoids: I love mints compared to gum, and I love Altoids, but these are pretty chalky so it does get in my bag…I miss the sour ones but those were more like candy than actual mints. I’ll probably switch back to Tic-Tacs…got to have some type of mints.

7. Nivea bliss chapstick: a kiss of shimmer, I love how soft these leave my lips feeling. But I also have a fruity one that tastes yummy but sort of defeats the purpose of chapstick. So it’s nice to have this on hand, I have very thin lips so lipstick looks odd on me and lip gloss is messy. -.-

8. Star Wars Moleskine: When I use a bigger bag I carry my Star Wars planner but with this bag I like to carry this smaller notebook. It’s the perfect size and having something to write notes or ideas in is important.

9. Cell: HTC DNA. Like everyone else, my cell phone is something I carry with me everywhere. It’s my GPS, and contact with the rest of the world. Makes meeting up with people a lot easier. Of course I remember a time before cell phones were a necessity.

So that’s pretty much all I carry in this particular bag, like I said it changes when I change the bag I use. Now I’m off to make some dinner and finish washing some clothes. I start my first event on Thursday for Houston Press. I’m hopping it goes well, I’m a bit nervous about it. Wish me luck and until next time…

Thanks for reading and commenting.

Like all hair cuts, I doubted whether or not bangs would look good on me. Questioned it over and over again and then finally I took a chance and went with it. Now here we are five years later and I still have the trendy fringe. However, when you take on this particular hair style then it’s something you have to keep up with. Because hair grows. And seeing as how it can block your vision it cannot be ignored. So occasionally, I daresay…I trim it myself. >.< I know, if there were ever a life tip that you should follow it’s NEVER TRIM YOUR OWN BANGS. Unless you are a professional hairstylist or have some type of knowledge of hair cutting and how to do it correctly. Because let’s face it…I do not possess that skill. Not that all hairstylist possess it either. :/ (This comes to mind)

On to more woes…

I had trouble sleeping the other night, causing me to not get enough sleep. I woke up late for work and very sore, everything hurt this morning. I also had to race to try and catch my bus. But on my way to the bus stop I felt my ankle roll, there was no stopping me from falling. All I could do was fall and hope that it didn’t hurt that much. I scrapped my elbow and knees but more importantly I missed my bus because of that fall. -.- I laid on my back for a second and thought, “The minute I get up I will see bus 10 pass before me.” And sure enough, I got myself up and there went my bus. I of course let out some colorful words and just huffed a bit trying to walk off the additional pain I now felt. I walked in the opposite direction to try and catch a different bus, but as soon as I made it to the corner of the street there went bus 14. Some more color. I proceeded to that stop seeing as how I was already there. I ended up being 45 mins late for work. :/ I had three parties that day so being in a bad mood when having to deal with children is not good. So I made sure to lighten up my mood once I got there, was not going to let my bad morning ruin someone’s birthday party. Each party went great, the kids were adorable and for the most part well behaved so no complaints on that end. But I am exhausted, everything still hurts and I’m also sick of the horrible weather we have been having. It’s too hot! I miss sweater weather so much. I almost melted on my way to work. So gross.

I’m exhausted so I think I should end this entry here. I have a meeting at the museum at 3 today, so I don’t have to wake up too early which is always nice. I’m going to keep on doodling. But I’ve also wanted to try the disposable camera challenge. Have you heard of that going around on the blogosphere? I’m kind of interested in trying that out. Until nest time….

Thanks for reading and commenting.

I have been in a very artsy mood, all because of Frannerd! If you haven’t seen her vlogs or read her blog, then you are definitely missing out. Other illustrators I’ve been admiring are Mary Doodles and Courtney Wirth[it].

Fran’s simplistic style is fresh and just adorable, I wish I was an illustrator, but unfortunately I can’t just draw from my imagination. Mary’s style is like Grimm meats Tim Burton. Very sketchy but I love her use of watercolors. She does this one series where she doodles something without looking and then makes something out of that doodle. It’s amazing, and I wish I could attempt something like that. So I’ve decided to go and buy myself a sketch book, something small so I can take it on the go. I want to challenge myself and just doodle something every now and then. Like Fran, she doodles her daily tasks. I want to get in the habit of doing something like that and then move on to creating something out of a just lines and curves like Mary does. Courtney’s work is just beautiful, my favorite has to be these comic strips.The doodle above is something I made, after being inspired by Fran. In her latest vlog she mentions wanting to dye her hair pink, which I’m sure is the reason why she doodles herself with that hair color. So if I could dye my hair a bizarre color, it would be a minty green color. Very mermaidish. My doodle even has my awkward smile. It happened unintentionally, but hey that happens whenever I try to smile in pictures as well. So yay doodle me, for being somewhat accurate.

Other illustrations that I’ve been swooning over have been from games. Child of Light came out recently and it has a beautiful style that I have been enjoying. Also want to point out Don’t Starve and Bravely Default as well. I just recently purchased Bravely Default, I know, a bit late in the game but I can’t always purchase the new games when they are released. Bills to pay and whatnot. So I usually just admire from a far, or in the case of the 3Ds, play the demo. Which I did, and lucky too because it carried all of my street passes and that comes in handy for when I rebuild my village.  Loving it so far, Kat got Animal Crossing which seems like a less stressful game, and I’m sort of wishing I got that one too. But I can wait and perhaps find it somewhere cheaper/pre-owned. Of course, nintendo points are bonus if you purchase games new. -.- First world problems…I know. But anyway, so I’ve been in a major artsy mood, but have yet to figure out a way to get my art fix. Which is why I’m gonna try the doodle challenge. I don’t know if this will work out, I usually get discouraged when it comes to drawing/painting. And I turned the apartment upside down because I couldn’t find my small paint brushes. They will probably turn up when I’m not looking for them.

So, who are you artistically inspired by? Do share. And if you have any drawing/painting exercises to help improve my “skills” then I definitely want to know. Until next time….

Thanks for reading and commenting.