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May 10th, 2009

10:09 pm - Seattle So I've been living in Seattle since February this year. It's been a struggle to find work in the area, but I have been working on my portfolio and adding new things to it all the time. Hopefully something will come soon. In the mean time, I have been working part-time (make that VERY part-time) at Build-A-Bear Workshop since March. It's a fun job that I work a few hours every week at. I'm doing very well there. They made me their very first Employee of the Month! Haha. I hear there may be a position opening up soon for a store manager there. If nothing else, I think I am going to go for it. I've also been waiting to hear back from Nintendo, as well as some other game studios. I haven't just limited my search to Seattle either, I have been searching in Northern California, Oregon, British Columbia, and even Utah. The only area not in the Northwest that I have applied to is Boston, as it is the only other city I think I would enjoy living in. Jamie has been great since I got here. She has been helping me obviously by giving me a place to stay, but also with feedback and critiques in my job hunt. I really enjoy living here with her. That's all I have for now. Who knows when I'll update this thing next? All I can say is be sure to keep watching my website as it continues to grow and develop with more and more 3D art from me. Current Location: Bellevue, WA Current Mood: hopeful

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November 24th, 2008

12:35 am - Career Change So I've given this a lot of thought lately and I have decided that I am going to retire from art. There are many reasons for me coming to this realization, and I think in the long run, it will be a good decision. Physically it's getting harder and harder for me to continue in art. I can't do much with my arms anymore, which makes it difficult to draw and be on the computer. I'm also tired from all the emotional stress that it has put me through in the last several years. It's a bunch of stress that I really don't need. Third, and most notably, I have essentially lost my passion for art over the last several years. The industry has chewed me up and spit me back out. Several times. I'm fed up and tired of all of it. So I am done. Personally, I do not view this as the death of me as an artist, but rather, a rebirth of me as a new individual. Re-inventing who I am, if you will. Since returning home, I have an entirely different perspective of the world now and I feel really good about it. I can't wait to start exploring a all my new career options. I think I would excel in a Human Resource, Customer Service, or Hospitality job. Given all the experience I have from Disney, I think I would be best-suited for something in that area. Unfortunately, I think these are bad industries to enter into at the time. Simply because the economy is so bad at the moment and there are not a ton of jobs to go around to begin with. Jamie is going to introduce me to a bunch of different people when I get up to Seattle in February, and one of the careers I've been looking at for the moment is as a game tester. I've already been called by both Nintendo and Microsoft for positions doing game testing and I am considering both of them, however Jamie tells me that I can make more money as a software tester, so it's something else I need to look into as well. Current Mood: peaceful

November 8th, 2008

02:52 am - 2009: Return to the West Coast? I had a nice, long conversation with Jamie a few days ago. She invited me to come stay with her in Seattle next year while I look for a job. She's been wanting to get a place of her own for a while now and she's doing pretty well for herself, so she wants to be help someone out the way she was helped out. I'm so grateful that I have so many friends in my life that are always willing to help me out. Plus, she knows that I really want to live in Seattle and she wants to help that dream come true for me. I've already started applying to all sorts of jobs, 90% of them aren't even related to art or animation. I've actually been thinking I want to make a career change to coincide with this move as well. As much as I love my job at Disney and enjoy working there, I really can't see me spending the rest of my life there. The pay sucks and they all treat me like your average Disney attraction button-pusher. I love all the people that I work with and will miss them very much. I have a feeling that once I go back to the West coast, I'll be there for a while and may not get to make a visit home for a couple years. I've pretty much made my mind up that I'll be making the trip at the end of January or first week of February next year. I'm so excited! Current Mood: pondering

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October 29th, 2008

11:11 pm - Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts Demo!!! I could play this thing over and over again. It's amazing. Simply amazing!!! :-D Current Mood: excited

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October 17th, 2008

01:38 am - OMG I totally had the FBI looking for me at work today... Current Mood: shocked

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October 7th, 2008

12:32 am - My collection is almost complete... Cheers: Season 11 was just announced today for release on DVD January 27th! YAY! Current Mood: excited

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October 1st, 2008

05:58 pm - I'm never leaving work again. Every time I come home someone yells at me. It's mostly my parents, but some of my friends are starting to get on my case too. "I hope you become the 'old' Steven again soon." Some of them have said. Yeah, well, the "old" Steven has been crapped on by life just a little too many times and now he's angry and bitter. If it's not obvious enough already, I'm really hating life at the moment. There are times when I feel like I would be better off if I were dead. I've actually been sleeping a lot lately, and I think it's because I'd rather not be conscious at the moment. Things are getting really bad financially and my parents keep bugging me to leave Disney and become a teacher. I wish I had never went to Ringling. It was a complete waste of time, money, and effort. I thought I was making a good investment in my future, but now, I've found myself in a ton of debt and still in the same place I was before I even started school. So from now on, I think I'll just live at Disney. It's about the only place at the moment where I am happy. Current Mood: upset

September 23rd, 2008

09:32 pm - Blah. I hate life. Current Mood: frustrated

August 27th, 2008

08:28 pm - Mop Mickey! So I went in to work early today to practice drawing Mickey using a mop. Here is what Kathryn and I eventually came up with: Current Mood: creative

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August 25th, 2008

07:54 pm - Blech I'm so sick... Current Mood: sick

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August 16th, 2008

12:33 am - The Crowning Achievement I was asked tonight to come in next Friday to teach the Custodial Cast Members how to draw Mickey Mouse with a mop (as my drawing utensil) for the guests. Oh yes, this is what I spent four years of my life in college for... I'm obviously going to have to learn first before I teach them... I've never drawn with a mop before. Current Mood: amused

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July 26th, 2008

01:21 am - X-Files: I Want to Believe So... I saw the new X-Files movie today. It was great, I really enjoyed it. I liked how it dealt with Mulder and Scully's personal relationship little more directly. It also answered some questions that I often wondered about when television series ended. It wasn't an action-packed movie, in fact, it was fairly slow-paced, which I thought worked very well. I would even go as far to say that I liked it better than the first movie, which I thought was kind of confusing if you didn't understand the whole "Mytharc" thing that they created and continued throughout the series' run. Current Mood: pleased

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July 23rd, 2008

01:27 am - Boredom Stikes I totally just redesigned my entire journal. I dunno why, I never seem to post in it anymore. Needless to say, I can't wait for Banjo. Work has been pretty enjoyable lately. I have had my first official trainee this week. She's doing very well. Tomorrow we will start Day #4. See you 'round! Current Mood: bored

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July 11th, 2008

05:50 pm - I got to see Brendan Fraser today... ...after waiting in line for FOUR HOURS. Unfortunately, I did not MEET him. Still, it was really exciting. He was only about 10 feet away from me. I also got a free T-shirt, so it totally made the wait worth it. Current Mood: exhausted

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June 27th, 2008

02:37 am - WALL-E I think WALL-E might be one of my new favorite Disney characters! Current Mood: happy

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June 18th, 2008

02:28 am - YAY! I have a schedule! So... I finally have a set schedule at Disney. That makes me happy. No more random shifts! I can actually have a somewhat normal life and plan things with friends. For the summer, my days off will be Friday/Saturday with hours starting as early as 10:30 AM. Current Mood: happy

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June 2nd, 2008

01:55 am - Cheers Season 10 Package Art! So... looks like they're sticking with the plastic package. Oh well. At this point, I don't care anymore. At least they're releasing it. Current Mood: happy

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May 27th, 2008

12:41 pm - Grr... I keep getting in arguements with other artsits no matter how hard I try not to. I guess I should have learned by now that doing what's right will cost you some friends and popularity along the way. I'm mostly just tired of unprofessionalism between a few of the artists at the tour. I think it just mostly has to do with inexperience. The ones with the least amount of experience are the ones that seem to cause the most problems. Current Mood: annoyed

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May 18th, 2008

11:32 pm - Grr. There are just some people I can't stand to work with. So many of the artists at the animation tour need to have a serious ego-check. I got in a huge arguement with one of the other artists tonight after he had asked me for a critique on his drawing. The part that ticked me off is that not only did he not want to hear what I had to say, but he also talked about me behind my back to some of the other artists. Current Mood: frustrated

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May 17th, 2008

12:18 am - TV Friday Five I haven't done one of these in a while and I really liked this one, since it has to do with one of my favorite subjects: television. 1. What's your favourite TV network? It used to be Nick at Nite/TV Land, but I hate both those channels now. I think The History Channel is my favorite now. 2. If you could create your own channel, what would it be? I would have a channel similar to what Nick at Night and TV Land USED to be. Classic TV shows. I HATE what the two channels have become now. They never show Classic TV anymore. It's sort of like how Cartoon Network has pretty much become Anime Network. 3. What TV show did you watch as a child, that you wish they would bring back? Tiny Toon Adventures or Animaniacs. 4. What show have you always hated, and wonder why they ever made such a dumb show? The Facts of Life... gah, I hated that show. 5. What TV show's seasons would you buy on DVD? Pretty much every show that I like. I already have most of my favorites though... at last count, I had about 75 seasons of television shows on DVD... I probably have well over 100 now. Current Mood: bored

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