Tools of the trade

Drawing:
Writing Tool: Digital (Desktop Tablet)
Non Digital Writing Tool: Sharpie

Photography:
Camera: SLR
Photo Editing Software: Easy Paint Tool Sai, Picnik

Fashion:
Type: Recon, prom, wedding,
Tool: Pencil and Paper

Northern Downpour (sends its love) - Panic at the Disco

If all our life is but a dream
Fantastic posing greed
Then we should feed our jewelry to the sea
For diamonds do appear to be
Just like broken glass to me

And then she said she can't believe
Genius only comes along
In storms of fabled foreign tongues
Tripping eyes, and flooded lungs
Northern downpour sends its love

Hey moon, please forget to fall down
Hey moon, don't you go down

Sugarcane in the easy mornin'
Weathervanes my one and lonely

The ink is running toward the page
It's chasin' off the days
Look back at both feet
And that winding knee
I missed your skin when you were east
You clicked your heels and wished for me

Through playful lips made of yarn
That fragile Capricorn
Unraveled words like moths upon old scarves
I know the world's a broken bone
But melt your headaches, call it home

Hey moon, please forget to fall down
Hey moon, don't you go down

Sugarcane in the easy mornin'
Weathervanes my one and lonely
[x3]

Sugarcane (hey moon) in
(Hey moon) the easy mornin'
Weathervanes (hey moon) my
(Hey moon) one and lonely

Sugarcane (hey moon) in (hey moon)
The easy (hey moon) mornin'
Weathervanes (hey moon) my (hey moon)
One (hey moon) and lonely

[Continues in background:]
Sugarcane (hey moon) in (hey moon)
The easy (hey moon) mornin'
Weathervanes (hey moon) my (hey moon)
One (hey moon) and lonely

Hey moon, please forget to fall down
Hey moon, don't you go down
You are at the top of my lungs
Drawn to the ones who never yawn
[x2]

Back Then

I miss the old days, I really do. I miss the days when girls were girls and boys were boys. The days when there was no such thing as an awkward silence or awkward sexual tension. The days when girls and boys thought that the opposite gender had cooties and it was more important to get the swings than it was to make eyes at the opposite sex. I miss the days when we could all run around shirtless and the words boobies were associated with the goofy blue footed birds. I miss the days when we played outside and climbed on the roofs of garages and pretended our three wheelers were cars. I miss the days when fire hydrants were really secret computers that only kids could see. I miss the days of beating imaginary friends at checkers and soccer and racing games. I miss chasing after the ice cream man so I could get a ninja turtle ice cream pop and eat the gumball eyes.

Those were the good days, man. Those were the times when the most difficult choice was where we should place those toys and our biggest issue was with mum yelling at us for dragging mud into the house after being a "baker" all day. That was fun.

Photography

So, I'm going to be doing semi-pro photos when I get my dslr. :D So if you're interested please email me at: Nicky@photographer.net . Thanks. :D

Rule #5: The Friend Zone

Here's how to deal with the "Friend Zone."
You can take it one of two ways; you can take it like a man (or woman) and accept it and be content to be friends or you can yell and scream and pout like a 3 year old. I prefer the former to the latter.

See, the friend zone isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Friends has benefits (and, again, I don't mean the sexual kind, though I suppose that depends on the girl). For example, Break ups suck; I know this, you know this, the whole friggen world knows this. Nobody likes to be broken up with or break it off with someone, it's just not fun. When you are only friends you can have a solid relationship of sorts with out the messy issues if one of you (or both of you) feels like things just aren't chemical. It also means that if they didn't feel chemical or even emotional at the beginning you have that wonderful chance to still enjoy that person's company without anything awkward.

Now it's true, some times things get awkward, but let me be blunt; generally things get awkward because ONE of you makes a Big deal about the just friends thing. You know it's true. Friends with the opposite sex is something you either
A) deal with and let it go
or
B) walk away from it and make friends with the same sex if you can't take the friend zone.

There's no point in wallowing in your misery (trust me, been there, done that, roll the credits), because no one else cares, not even your friend. Yeah, they'll feel a little bad, but if anything you're going to scare them off. So as Tallahassee would say "It's time to nut up or shut up." Go do what's neccessary and continue on with your life; there's no point in crying over things you can't change.

(This image is not owned by me. Thanks.)

Rule #4: Jerks wear the pants

This one is for the guys.
Guys, you always ask why girls go for the jerks. For the longest time I wondered that myself, and then I dated a pseudo-jerk (he was un-intentionally quite an a**).

Girls go for jerks because:
- They wear the pants
- They are leaders
- They are dominant

Most girls want a guy to make the moves, girls only make the moves themselves because culture has told them that if they make the move men will start dating them and start "dominating" the relationship. Most women prefer to be women and they get frustrated by the nice guys because the guys are so worried about losing their chance that they never try anything. So many guys are afraid that if they try something new the girl will stop liking them, when in fact this is the opposite. Women prefer men who will try things, be brave, bold, and open to new ideas.

If you really want to "get the girl," you need to stop cross-dressing, man up, and put them trousers back on. Do something different; move, be brave, be bold, be you, and be a man. As cute as skinny jean boys are, they're cuter if they can man up and do something creative, fun, and bold. Stop colouring your hair and start colouring your taste.

(I am not getting paid to make you want DQ. :] DQ belongs to Dairy Queen, I own none of it. Kay? Thanks.)

Rule #3: Hinting = mind reading

This is a rule/tip for you girls.
Most guys are not tuned to the same frequency as females, which adds flavours but also means things like hinting just don't work the way we hope they will. Sure you can hint and suggest, but to men that's about the same as "mind reading." When it comes to men, you need to be blunter than a baseball bat.

If that means planning all of your dates, then that means planning all of your dates.

Rule #2: Avoid the Bullying Hooker

When I say hooker, I do NOT mean the type who solicits you for money/sex.

The Hooker is a short term for hooker-up-er or that one friend who is always playing matchmaker, and not in a good way. We all know people like this, that one kid who is ALWAYS trying to hook you up with your crush, even if your crush would rather crush your skull between their hands.

I have a friend named Carrie. Carrie LOVES hooking up people in the WORST way. She even went so far as to repetitively bully my friend Tony into dating her best friend Jan. Jan is infatuated with Tony to the point of obsession! She's entirely sure that it's true love, Tony, who enjoys Jan's friendship, isn't really into her type and prefers her as a friend and nothing more. Now Tony does his best to not give Jan any ideas, but Carrie keeps encouraging Jan to like Tony. Tony has his eyes on other things and doesn't want to be bothered with the dating scene, but Carrie can't let it go. Carrie continues to bother Tony.

Ever been in this predicament? You KNOW how annoying it is. It's all fine if you were to both mutually like each other and have a mediator, but it's another thing to force people to be "in love."

When you run into this kind of person, do your best to avoid them and the person who likes you. If you are in the opposite situation, use your brain and avoid this friend, she will only encourage your self-mutilations and drive you to the brink.


Avoid the bullying hooker!

Rule #1: Dealing with the Over Sweat-ers

What's an over sweat-er? Well I'll tell you.
I know we can all sweat the small things at times, but there is such a thing as an over sweat-er. Over sweat-ers are people who sweat over little things too much! There are two people who come to my mind when I think about truly sweating the small things, let's call them Bob and Grace.

Bob knows how to gripe, the guy is a bloody master of griping. He could out gripe your most annoying female colleague. Would you like to know what Bob gripes about? Bob gripes about how girls won't date him, how he can't properly kill himself, how life is so miserable, etc. Do you know why Bob gripes about these things? He's a drama queen, that's right, folks. He is a 150% total drama queen. If you talked to the guy, it's obvious he's not really a depressed person (like he isn't clinically having problems like you'd find in people who have serious mental issues), the guy just likes to cause drama in his wake.

Picture belongs to: http://earlyrecovery.wordpress.com/2009/04/17/4th-step-drama/

If you know a person like Bob, stay away from them. They are bad, bad with a capital B. People like Bob care about no one but themselves, and not in a normal fashion. One could say it is very much a form of narcissism. Avoid this sweat-er if at all possible, they only sweat the little things because they want you to pity them and become a part of their personal soap opera starring them.

Let's move on to Grace, Grace is an un-conscious type of sweat-er. She sweats the little things because she lacks the capacity to understand things beyond her bubble. Grace's favourite sweats are: being picked on by a good natured uncle, having a crush on a different boy every day, and not listening to any advice she is given. This is all due to the fact that Grace refuses to understand anything that is beyond her bubble. In her world, she actually knows everything. No matter how many understanding, compassionate, helpful people try to give her advice when she asks for it, she refuses to see any angle beside her own. I would go so far as to say that this is a lack of an open mind.

Picture taken from this blog: http://blueroof.wordpress.com/2007/11/

I realise to some extent that we all tend to fall into this category at some point. The key to dealing with this person is ignoring them. If you have tried your best to be helpful and they have refused to receive the help that they asked for, there is nothing for you to do but to move on and ignore this person. Be kind and friendly, but do NOT attempt to help, merely sympathise with them and do not provide services beyond that

Ex: that person who you had to go out of your way to see while dating, but, inevitably, see more of when you’re trying to avoid them.

You know this is true. If you guys were dating, it would take you over a MONTH to get a hold of the dude, but as soon as you guys break it off you successfully manage to see him in the supermarket every time you go.

This is what I like to call Universal Irony or "galactic cutting." You inflict this pain apon yourself by dating and then having it not work.

Kids, avoid dating like the plague.