We've Moved

Rather, I have.

Please update your bookmark to:

http://www.azaztheunabridged.com/fish/

The greatest quote that no one repeats...

 

When people tell me they are happy my ass begins to twitch.

-Luc to Kate [Meg Ryan] in French Kiss

It's official...

We'll leave the light on for you.

"Oh Lord, it's hard to be humble..."

It barely got finished in time, but it did! And now to unveil the final exam project for my graphic design class..

The assignment was to design a quilt (full-size or wall quilt size). We had to include the stitching pattern, because of course, the stitching often makes a quilt. We didn't actually have to make it full size, though, as long as we made it to scale and included the enlargement details and all.

I chose to make a shelf of books for children and young adults. Some of the books I own, like the Chronicles of Narnia and the Collier's Junior Classics set, but most of them aren't ones I have. Here is the overall view (you can click on it to see a bigger version):



Here is a list of the books that I included. Make sure to read all the way to the bottom. :)

Top Shelf:
The Sneetches
Goodnight Moon
The Cat In The Hat
Fox In Socks
Yertle The Turtle
Cinderella
Little Bear
ABCs
Little House In The Big Woods
Little House On The Prairie
Farmer Boy
On the Banks Of Plum Creek
By The Shores Of Silver Lake
The Long Winter
Little Town On The Prairie
These Happy Golden Years
The First Four Years

Middle shelf:
Pollyanna
The Velveteen Rabbit
Tuck Everlasting
Little Women
Little Men
Peter Pan
The Secret Garden
The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage Of The "Dawn Treader"
The Silver Chair
The Horse And His Boy
The Magician's Nephew
The Last Battle
The Borrowers
Alice In Wonderland
Sarah, Plain And Tall
Matilda
The Phantom Tollbooth

Bottom Shelf:
Collier's Junior Classics
1. ABC Go!
2. Once Upon A Time
3. Magic In The Air
4. Just Around The Corner
5. In Your Own Backyard
6. Harvest Of Holidays
7. Legends Of Long Ago
8. Roads To Greatness
9. Call Of Adventure
10. Gifts From the Past

And last but not least, children's books that never made it:
The Little Sissy Who Snitched
Kathy Was So Bad Her Mom Stopped Loving Her
Whining, Kicking, and Crying to Get Your Way
Fun 4-Letter Words to Know and Share
That's it, I'm Putting You Up for Adoption!
Daddy Drinks Because You Cry
Pop! Goes the Hamster...and Other Microwave Games
Things Rich Kids Have, but You Never Will
Your Nightmares Are Real
Who Shat in the Hat?
Controlling the Playground: Respect Through Fear
Dad's New Wife Robert

And let's not forget the stitching pattern... if I were actually making this design into a quilt, I would quilt around the bookshelf and each of the books. But I was running late and there was no way I was going to draw little stitches all over my adorable bookshelf, so instead I made this:



So what do you think?

Men are like drink machines...

You put your dollar in, and it spits it back out. You put it back in, it spits it back out. You smooth it down even though it's smooth to begin with, and it STILL spits it back out. You try one more time and for no apparent reason, it takes your dollar.

You say something, and they don't get it. You say it again, and they still don't get it. You reword your statement to make it even easier to follow, and they STILL don't get it. Finally, after you've almost given up, you say it just like you did the first time, and they get it.

A few things that are nice to hear

1. "You look nice today."
2. "I love your new haircut."
3. "Your average in Fundamentals of Animation this semester was so high, you don't even need to bother taking the final exam."

*happy dance*

It's been a while...

...but I'm back! I've had plenty to blog about lately, but it seems like I either don't have the time, or I have the time and just don't feel like it. I go in cycles like that, with everything, really. But anyway, here I am! It's time once again to dump out the mass of links that have accumulated in my "To Blog" folder. Brace yourselves...

Note to Firefox: I love you, I really do. Honest. I'm lost without you - when I use IE I feel like the internet's been shut down, and there's nothing to do. But I can't help but be a little irritated with you when you decide to force a Quality Feedback Form on me, and close all my windows! Sure, I can disable it, but how am I to know that until you've done it once? How would you feel if you had just typed a long blog entry, only to have it disappear through no fault of your own? Play nice from now on, and we'll get along just fine.

Do you love the logos that Google comes up with? Have you ever looked at one and thought you could do better? Then Logoogle might be right for you. Some of the designs are rather poor quality, but there are some that are pretty nice. Take a look.

If that's not enough Google for you today, try Guess-the-Google, a nifty if easily conquered game by Grant Robinson. His other projects are definitely worth taking a look at, too - especially his Onion-skin prototype, which (thanks to my Fundamentals of Animation class) I now see a practical use for. :)

Another site worth your time is the NPAA's Best of Photojournalism 2005. I don't really care for the site's usability, but once you get to where you want to go, you'll be glad.

I like the design and concept of Pixilate. Of course, being a font nut, the fonts are my favorite part. But alas, they're not free. And we all know how cheap I am at heart.

Also scoring points in the design area is Jo Knits. I'm not quite sure what Jo knits (I haven't actually read any of the site), but I think her header image is quite unique and refreshing. And if you're looking for a change in your desktop background, check out DJ-Designs v18.

Ever wished you had a mini you? Yeah, I know you have, you're vain like that. WeeWorld gives the self-absorbed internet junkie the chance to indulge. They'll even put your image on a coffee mug so you can stare at yourself and put off all the work you need to get done. You don't even have to register to save your WeeMee (that sounds so weird) - just do a screen print when you're finished.

And now for a few games. In Bobbing Bob, your job is to take a bunch of coconuts across a river on barrels. I know, I'm easily amused. But when that gets old and you want to have to think a little bit, go play Tork. I have to say that I really like Tork - it's one of the most challenging but fun games I've played in a long time. Which is exactly why I'm linking to a Tork walkthrough in case you get stuck, or if you get halfway through and then are too lazy to figure the rest out on your own.

Speaking of lazy, Lazy Tools is a site that lists all those nifty little utilities everyone loves. I especially like that it tells you exactly why a utility is good for it's lazy users.

One of the places I've been hanging out on the Net since I last posted is DPChallenge. I even got up the nerve to enter the Minimalism challenge this week. I'm having fun over there - especially when I find a link like Black & White. There are some awesome B&W photos on that page!

Well, I have to get started on my final project for Intro to Visual Communications, so that's enough for now. Maybe later today I'll post the picture I entered on DPChallenge.

By the way...

That weird little mini-poem that's below that last picture? It wasn't an original, you'll be glad to know. It was courtesy of Angie McKaig's random poetry generator, which you can find by Googling her name, since I'm too lazy at the moment to make a handy-dandy link for you. So now that you'll be able to sleep knowing it wasn't my writing, I think maybe I'll go sleep.

Backward

backward, turn backward
last midnight
renew the vision of delight
when i looked into your eyes

Finding some inspiration

There's only about two weeks left in the semester, and this summer weather must be really getting to me. I don't know what it is, but there's something about the sunshine that just really inspires me to get up and do something. That can be good and bad this year, since it's inspiring me with website design - and I'm getting plenty of ideas that I just don't have the know-how to implement as yet. *sigh*

Nevertheless, I'm keeping a notebook filled with little sketches of layout ideas that come to me during the middle of Workplace Principles. And I've started on the huge Website Design book I bought, which should really help with CSS. I really like this book - it tells me all that stuff about HTML that Ryan tells me here and there, but all at once. It tells me about a lot of the HTML tags that are outdated now and what to use instead of them, and stuff like that. It will definitely be helpful in the long run.

I've also been using the web for inspiration - bookmarking sites with great layouts and designs, looking at who actually designed them. I found one last night while browsing The Sneeze. Way down on the sidebar is a little button that says "design & skinning by Moxie design studios". So I clicked.

Wow.

Check out some of these blog designs from Moxie Design Studios. These are only a few of my favorites.

Vermilion Dreams
Finding the Joy
Fremont Dads
The Little Hedgehog
Mama Write
Paper Frog
John's House of Pancakes
DaisyDo.com

On several of these sites (if not all), you'll find a little drop-down menu on one side that allows you to change the skin/design of the blog. Most of these skins have also been designed by Moxie, and all are awesome! Looking at these designs just makes me that much surer that this is what I want to do. Now if I can just be patient...

So...

I'd like to start this entry out by saying that it's been about seven months since I started this blog, and I've really enjoyed blogging to absolutely noone.

Seriously. Seven months and seven comments. Even though seven is my lucky number, that's just...sad.

Now I know I might be being a teensy bit hypocritical here, 'cause I read The Roman Empire every day and rarely leave a comment. But to be honest, my entries are soooooo much more interesting than all that ColdFusion stuff!

Something I've said or posted in the last seven months was interesting to you. I don't blog about the same thing every single day; I try to keep it a little bit interesting. Even if you find it boring, post a comment and let me know so I can work on being LESS boring.

Just give a little something to let me know you're here every couple weeks, alright? 'Cause if things keep going like they are, then I'll delete the whole thing and you'll never get to see the awesome spring photos I'll be taking.

So.

If I stand

There's more that rises in the morning than the sun,
And more that shines in the night than just the moon.
There's more than just this fire here that keeps me warm
In a shelter that is larger than this room.

And there's a loyalty that's deeper than mere sentiment,
And a music higher than the songs that I can sing.
Stuff of earth competes for the allegiance
I owe only to the giver of all good things.

So if I stand, let me stand on the promise
You'll pull me through.
And if I can't, let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You.
And if I sing, let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs.
And if I weep, let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home.

There's more that dances on the prairie than the wind,
And more that pulses in the ocean than the tide.
There's a love that's fiercer than the love between friends,
more gentle than a mother's when her baby's at her side.

And there's a loyalty that's deeper than mere sentiment,
And a music higher than the songs that I can sing.
Stuff of earth competes for the allegiance
I owe only to the giver of all good things.

So if I stand, let me stand on the promise
You'll pull me through.
And if I can't, let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You.
And if I sing, let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs.
And if I weep, let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home.

And if I weep, let it be as a man
Who is longing for...home.

Knights & Sheep

I like to play games, but I like the ones that will give me a mental challenge - puzzles, logic, word games, whatever. However, most of the popular games out there are action games, like Collapse, or the common get-three-in-a-row-and-watch-them-disappear games, like Bejewelled and countless others. So I'm always on the lookout for a good game that requires some actual thinking. Here's a couple that I've found.

I came across Knight Moves Problem the other day, and I kinda like it. Your goal is to turn all of the brown squares pink in as few moves as possible, using only legal knight chess moves. (If you've forgotten, like I had, the knight in chess moves in an "L" shape.) So far, I've completed it in 69 moves, but I still want to see if I can get less. If you play it and get a lower score, post a comment and let me know!

Another I like is Puzzled Sheep. It has cute graphics (something that's really lacking in mind games) and a good challenge. I do suggest that once you get to the higher levels, you write down the code so you can skip ahead next time - it can get old starting over once you've figured out the easy levels.

Here's a multiplayer online version of Boggle. After each round you can scroll down the page, and on the left side it'll show all the words you missed, or words that only you found. Nifty.

Like I said, I'm always looking for more games like these, so if you run across any, send me the link!

Oranges!

Check out Orangepulp, the blog about...oranges.

I particularly like the "Masterfruit" card.

Have a fruity day! :)

Google's funky text is all too flat.

Am I the only one who noticed that Google didn't have a special logo for Easter this year? In fact, looking back to the logos for '04, we didn't get one then either. We get World Water Day, Independence Day, Halloween, and MC Escher's birthday, but they won't give us just a little bitty cute image for Easter? Harrumph.

Now on to a couple new links. First up is amaztype (don't ask me to pronounce it). This is a nifty little interactive tool. Just type in an author, start the search, and be amazed. ;o) It takes a little bit longer to finish than I would prefer, but it's fun. And if you choose an author with more than one book (Dan Brown, for example), you can scroll over one of the images and click it for more details.

For those of you who prefer your browser with a little more bling, there's the always classy PimpZilla. And because it made me laugh, I'll forgive the creators for their typo.

If amaztype didn't quite satisfy your need for quirky text-related utilities, then try out Web of Letters.

So you've completed Crimson Room and haven't gotten your fill of impossible-to-complete-without-a-walkthrough-or-a-really-weird-way-of-thinking games, then have a go (ooh, I sound all British) at The Doors. (The game, not the band).

And last, at least for this particular post, but not least is All Too Flat, a weird but vaguely funny place to waste a few minutes. Kinda gives you the "this is so dumb, but hahahaha" feeling that I've heard you get from watching Napoleon Dynamite.

First signs of spring...

...at least the first ones I've gotten to photograph.

Contentment

I know, anyone who knows me is going to think I've gone absolutely nuts, but I've been missing puppies lately - you know, when they're at that sweet, silky, puppy-breath-and-happiness-and-endless-energy stage.

Like this:

http://marjkibby.blogspot.com/2005/03/contentment.html

The "New Math"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7317057/

"At 8.7 magnitude, Monday's earthquake was roughly half the strength of the December quake, which measured 9.0 on the logarithmic magnitude scale." (Emphasis added.)

Joshuaink

Many thanks to Ryan at The Roman Empire for introducing me to Joshuaink. Sites like that remind me why I'm going to college and inspire me all over again every time I look at them.

Poetry in Translation

Ever wondered what a famous phrase or proverb would say if it were translated into a different language? Well, Poetry in Translation is here to help. Just type in your phrase or sentence, and see what happens when it's translated into German, then to French, back to German, and finally, to English.

For example, "Neither a borrower nor a lender be" becomes "Neither a money taker nor a place kreditgebende are". Hmm..kreditgebende. I'm gonna start using that in casual conversation.

Photo Gallery

This is an awesome photo gallery, even if you don't look at the photos. Just play with clicking around, and watch how things move. Very cool. I can't wait to learn Flash.

Human DNA + Tree DNA = Biopresence

This is what the world loves about the American economy - you think of an idea, and you have the freedom to market it. Instead of thinking of some way to make life easier, however, some people choose to come up with very strange ways to make use of their freedom. Case in point: Biopresence. Living Trees. Weird, weird, weird.

Lonely No More

Am I the only one who thinks that this is the coolest single that's been played in ages? I've always been a Matchbox 20 (and Rob Thomas) fan, but even if I wasn't, this is just an awesome song. The one thing I don't like is that I won't be able to buy the CD till April. :( I guess I'll just have to play it on the website over and over and over and over...

Welcome to....Tucson!

Almost forgot...my Graphics Communications class was divided into four groups of four people, each of which was given a different destination. The group was supposed to create a travel poster for their given destination. The different places were Providence, Rhode Island; Asheville, North Carolina; Seattle, Washington; and Tucson, Arizona. My group got Tucson.

I will say that even though this was a joint project, most of it (including emailing a resort asking for permission to use their photos, creating the actual image in Paint Shop Pro, and finding a place to get the finished poster printed) was done by me. Here's the JPEG version of the final poster.

Don't forget that you can post a comment without being a registered user, so please take a second to let me know what you think about the poster! How am I ever going to get anywhere without feedback?

Whew...

Yeah, so I've been sick for a week and am exhausted after going back to school today, but my big brother complained that I haven't blogged for a while, so I've decided to dump out some of the links in my handy-dandy "To Blog" bookmarks folder...enjoy!

First up is the Ultimate Flash Face thingamabob. It's not really a utility, but it's interesting, and even though it's not a game, it's fun. My one complaint is that none of the facial features are girlish, except for the eyes.

Have you ever watched a movie more than once and you STILL couldn't hear that one line in the big scene? Well, just because you haven't doesn't mean that I'm weird. It doesn't mean I'm not, but it doesn't mean I am. Anyway, for all your misheard-line needs, try Drew's Script-O-Rama.

Ever since my brother told me about Newsbrew, I've been reading their comics each day. One that I'd never seen before is Pearls Before Swine. Definitely my new favorite...if you get a chance to read back strips, find the crocodile/zebra plot...you can't resist the crocodiles!

Here's another fun little diversion - TYPEDRAWING. (You have to click on the text to get to the actual content.) I don't have the patience to do it myself, but it was fun to browse through some of the artwork that others have created with just text.

Using Windows and hating it? For all those little annoyances that Microsoft likes to throw your way, I present to you Annoyances.org, a site devoted to Windows-related nuisances.

If you've encountered my brother at any point, you've probably proceeded to switch to Firefox. (How does he manage to make us do this stuff?) I for one am loving the switch, except for that little glitch wherein Firefox and Media Player had a fight and won't speak to each other. But anyway, for the curious among us, here's How Firefox Works.

Thank goodness Ryan left town last night, or I'd be in big trouble for telling you about Factbites, which seems to think of itself as the best thing since Google. It offers "meaningful, relevant sentences from every site in the search results". I in no way intend to give up my Google, but Factbites looks like it may be on to something. I haven't really gotten to try it out yet, but when I do I'll let you know how I like it.

So you think you're pretty smart, huh? Look at you, using both sides of your brain at once! Well, let's put it to the test...see how high a score you can get with this quick little brain game.

If you're the kind of person who has trouble saying anything but "yes", here's a few options just for you. 20 Ways to Say No

And last but not least, there's Area 404, where you can browse some of the interesting ideas webbies have come up with to spice up that annoying little "page not found" notification. Take a look, there's some great stuff.

Until next time...

Come on baby, light my fire

*tap* Is this thing on?

I've changed my settings so that my blog will now allow comments from non-Blogger members. *hint* So post a comment already, it's kinda sad to post for invisible people.

NEWS FLASH

THIS JUST IN:

When you find out that a person is rapidly approaching her twentieth birthday, it is not a compliment to tell her you could have sworn she was twelve.

Please pass on this important bit of information to everyone you know.

Thank you.

 

Odds and Ends

Some random links.

Anyone who's old enough to remember (or has a mother who taught it to you) James Taylor's "You've Got a Friend" will enjoy this first link. John Moe's Pop-Song Correspondences
Jump the Shark
morgueFile --this is not what it sounds like
Iconfactory
Very Big Design's Pixel Decor
NOAO's Advanced Observing Program Images --Browse through at least the first ten pages of these!
Troy DeArmitt: present day explainer

In loving memory

This Bible was given to my great-great-grandmother by the Illinois Central Railroad Union when my great-great-grandfather passed away.

Romans 3:23

faith & glory

Holy Bible

Chapter 15

St. John

Golden Book

This was my grandfather's Bible when he was 12.

Are you left or right?

Last night I took a handy test to see which side of my brain I use the most. It's amazing the things they can tell about you with 20 simple questions! Here's the link to the test, as well as the summary I received:

http://www.mindmedia.com/brainworks/profiler

Savannah, you are somewhat left-hemisphere dominant and show a preference for visual learning, although not extreme in either characteristic. You probably tend to do most things in moderation, but not always.

Your left-hemisphere dominance implies that your learning style is organized and structured, detail oriented and logical. Your visual preference, though, has you seeking stimulation and multiple data. Such an outlook can overwhelm structure and logic and create an almost continuous state of uncertainty and agitation. You may well suffer a feeling of continually trying to "catch up" with yourself.

Your tendency to be organized and logical and attend to details is reasonably well-established which should afford you success regardless of your chosen field of endeavor. You can "size up" situations and take in information rapidly. However, you must then subject that data to being classified and organized which causes you to "lose touch" with the immediacy of the problem.

Your logical and methodical nature hamper you in this regard though in the long run it may work to your advantage since you "learn from experience" and can go through the process more rapidly on subsequent occasions.

You remain predominantly functional in your orientation and practical. Abstraction and theory are secondary to application. In keeping with this, you focus on details until they manifest themselves in a unique pattern and only then work with the "larger whole."

With regards to your career choices, you have a mentality that would be good as a scientist, coach, athlete, design consultant, or an engineering technician. You can "see where you want to go" and even be able to "tell yourself," but find that you are "fighting yourself" at the darndest times.

How'd they know?!

The last straws

Actually, they're coffee stirrers, but "The Last Straws" was a much better title, I think.

Long road home..

Click photo for larger version.

"Chrysanthemum"

Click photo for larger version.

Photo © Savannah James

1st Place Winner in Under 21 Division
1st Annual Gene Boaz Memorial Nature Photo Competition 2004

"Savoring Grapes"

Click photo for larger version.

Photo © D. Wallace

Entry for the 1st Annual Gene Boaz Memorial Nature Photo Competition 2004

"Predator with Prey"

Click photo for larger version.

Photo © B. Wallace

3rd Place Winner in Novice Division
1st Annual Gene Boaz Memorial Nature Photo Competition 2004

Water Power

Creepy Crawler

Spinning Around

Shuffle up and deal...

Splash

Vine

Finally...

Now you can see the original color versions of the photos from Shades of Grey, and maybe even a few that don't look as good in black and white. Enjoy!