Printing!

… a friend of mine got beaten up by a gang of youths/chavs for having a foreign accent.
They didn’t rob anything from her, but simply punched her in the face repeatedly for being foreign.

In a country where many blame crime on immigrants, I find it curious that in this case, the ones dishing out the violence were pure-blood British and the ones on the receiving end of the hate were of another nationality.

Another incentive to stay indoors after it gets dark. :)

Oh god. I am feeling so incredibly embarrassed and ashamed right now.

I was waiting for the bus home about an hour ago. It was very dark outside and I had already met two homeless/weirdos/psychos on my way to the bus stop from Uni, so I was listening to loud music and generally keeping to myself (as you do).

Suddenly I found myself feeling slightly watched. A man came up behind me and said something. I obviously couldn’t hear him because of my music, so I pulled one plug out of my ear and turned it off. He repeated what he had said, but I couldn’t understand him. Half because I think he was mumbling and half because it must have been in either a very thick accent or in another language alltogether. I leaned over and went: “Huh?”
He repeated it again. I still just couldn’t understand. So he said: “I saw your badge. I have family there.” (or something along those lines.) I was completely lost at this point and must have looked like a moron, but I went: “Oh! Cool!” Gave him the thumbs up and a warm smile. That tends to make the weird ones walk off. He did.

I returned to my music, but I very soon realised what he had said, and that his accent probably had been Swedish, and that he probably had been speaking Swedish with me before, but my brain just hadn’t connected properly to my Swedish half to understand it. When he had mentioned “my badge”, what he meant was the flag badge I have attached to my bag which has a clear Swedish flag and the name of my hometown (Lulea) on it.

I suddenly felt VERY embarrassed and utterly ashamed of not being able to understand my own bloody language. In fact, so ashamed that I switched all my thoughts to Swedish and have banished any English from my own vocabulary this evening, unless it’s in a conversation with a Brit.

God, that man must have thought I was a complete tit.

Whoever you were, I am SO sorry.

Oh god.

*hides in shame*

I need to get my hands on some pictures of the horde, and not just of the people I know.. :P But hey, it’s a start.
Loads of people were taking pictures on the side, so hopefully those will pop up online somewhere.

The sink. :P Looks a bit like a murder scene. We DID clean up after ourselves though!

Before leaving. Getting into it!

A shot of the beginning crowd. More and more seemed to join in as we walked along though.

After the walk I went home in my gear to show Tom. He didn’t even recognise me (seeing as I never wear makeup.. or.. blood. Hrm.)

I got stopped by about 4 people on my way home, asking where the party was :P Also got comments by children “Ewww, a zoombiiieee”. So I had to stay in character. Couldn’t let the other zombies down!

This rose was originally made to be worn at the wedding in Nigeria, but I thought I’d use it for something else instead of letting it gather dust at home. :D

Today, a day after, I still have traces of fake blood around my mouth which just won’t wash off! So staying inside today… :P

Still collecting images from people (since I didnt bring my own camera), but here’s a few!

In character!

Out of character. Tsk tsk.

Pearl and Rich.

Mark and Adam.

BRAAAINS!

Guess who? :D

Guy with a bottle through his head. :D

One of my favourites. Top hat one-eyed zombie.

Liddle kiddie zombie. Attracted some “awww”s.

Motorcycle zombie.

This guy had to watch where he was going, because that saw was shaarp. But I dont think anyone got hurt by it :O

The zombie walk starts!!

This guy was playing out heavy metal music whilst limping along. First time I’ve seen that. :P

A group of zombies flocking around a bunch of “Jesus saves” guys. :P

Cute doggie. There was a guy in a bunny suit too.

Two unfortunate victims.

Pregnant zombie and tennis ball zombie. Also amongst my favourites!

Hare Krishna zombie! Awesome!

Be there noms around corner!?

More photos as I get them…

This first part of the second year of my degree is really like being tied to the end of a fishing-line, then mercilessly thrown into the deep end where you are expected to fight for your life against evil piranhas!

Yes… Something like that.

I have been chatting about scanning and posting my recent work here, but to be honest, I don’t think it suited for public viewing, as pretty much all of it is veeeery experimental to me. Let me give you an example of a brief.

Create an ABSTRACT book based on a short story of your choice.
The illustrated story in question may not include any sort of figurative drawing to describe the scenes. It has to be conveyed in an aaaabstraaact form.

If you know me, you know that I draw, quite a lot. And I ONLY draw figuratively. In other words: I draw very literally. I make everything obvious, straight forward and basic. What you see is what you get. To suddenly ask me to stick to simple geometrical shapes is like chopping my left arm off and telling me to draw with the remaining stump. … You get my drift.

So yes. I will not be posting work until I get the hang of this stuff, simply for the reason that it’s crap and I’m embarrassed to show it to anyone but my tutors and classmates.

:D

In other news. My ring has finally been re-sized so I can wear it on the right finger! Wohoo! The guy who did it was quite a character too. Man in his late 50’s, early 60’s with gray hair, thick glasses, unshaven face and fingers completely black from smith work. Must be drawn in the future!

Zombie walk tomorrow! Weather forecast says: Rain. But we shall not be deterred! The zombies of Bristol will walk through storms if it has to! So far about 780 people have signed up for the event, I just hope the bulk of them won’t decide to stay home because of the weather. We’ll see I guess. Can’t wait!

I am being flooded with baby pictures this week. Both my cousin and my friend have given birth and thus the inevitable pictures come knocking on my MSN and Facebook. It’s very cute, but makes me feel slightly old. It also made my biological clock sing a little tune, but I promptly shut it up with some selfish talks about wanting to experience the world before producing a pooing and barfing creature from my private place.

Hmmm.

Getting itchy feet for some reason. I have a long list in my head of places I want to visit (and re-visit) as soon as possible (that’s not England and Sweden)

Italy (Want to see how Tom’s sister is doing with their new house in the mountains of Montoggio.)
Canada (Just generally want to see what Canada is like since everyone keeps on nagging on about how amazing it is. I need to see it with my own eyes!)
America (Comic conventions next year. Also need the New York experience, and somehow meet up with a friend of mine there if possible.)
Paris (Loved it last time, want to go back with better French and get in to those graphic novel shops.)
Mauritius (My friend is half-Mauritian and has invited me and Tom to join her and her partner (Niiik!) for a holiday next year maybe)

Costa Rica, Germany, Africa…

Want to see it all really. Still being realistic, but there’s nothing wrong with dreaming a bit. :)

Time to check up on my book. Think the cover has dried now.

Watch out Bristol. On the 25th we will eat you all!

Hello! I’m alive!

I will attempt to scan some of the images Ive done later and post them here. Got lots of projects on at the moment and had to have a chat with my tutor (Jonathan! <3) about managing the stuff on my plate.

It’s a bit stressy at times, but I am structuring my weeks and trying to keep on top of it.

I’d rather be busy than idle, so this is not bad. :)

… And first time on the shisha pipe.
I must admit I was very skeptical, seeing at is is tobacco, but I was seduced by the sweet scent and decided to have at least one puff. It had a very subtle, warm and balanced taste. I liked it very much, and accompanied by some proper Lebanese coffee (which was amongst the best coffee I’ve ever had) it was pretty much a winner.

Shisha itself stirs up some pretty conflicting information on the internet. There hasn’t been enough research on it to determine whether it carries health risks, so people who enjoy it say it’s fine, and people who don’t say it is worse than cigarettes.

One thing is certain though. It contains tobacco, so it is not exactly healthy.
So yes, parents! I’ve had my first smoke. Don’t worry though, it’s not going to become a 20-a-day habit. :)

Yesterday morning, I was walking to University. It is a 30 minute walk through the quiet area of Clifton and all the way down to the bustling centre of town.

I was casually listening to Coldplays new album and found myself being almost overwhelmed with happiness while a certain song was on and I was passing through a little park where the morning sun was shining through the trees.

“It’s such a perfect day
It’s such a perfect day”

I tend to always be in a state of awe of my surroundings, but this time it took over me completely and I couldn’t help but smile broadly while walking with my art stuffs. :D

Then came down to the bustling centre during the morning rush hour where you are surrounded by tons of different people, all heading somewhere very quickly, some dressed in suits, some dressed as builders, some students…

“People moving all the time
Inside a perfectly straight line
Don’t you wanna curve away?
When it’s such…
It’s such a perfect day
It’s such a perfect day”

What can I say? I’m extraordinarily happy here.