deviantART: by:QueenofZoompf

Wacom

~QueenofZoompf — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:51:41 PDT

Well, now that I reenrolled in college (it's been since 2005 and a nice major change) and have been going for a grand total of one day, I decided to stroll around the school library for a while. The second the Bamboo Fun Wacom tablet was in my vision, I WANTED IT. I HAD TO HAVE IT NOW. Of course, I couldn't have it right then, being that the onl place I could hide it was in my pants, and you try to explain why such a large hard object is in your pants when you are a woman.

So I drove home and begged my husband for it, and we went today to go get it. When we arrived, they were all gone! My brain started panicking but the clerk there had more in the back! And, they had it in black. My heart a-flutter, I took my wacom tablet home with me, and after watching a movie and playing an online game with my husband and my best friend, I finally used it. Just to be reminded of how much my drawing sucks. But the good thing is how much it will help me with photography and the postwork on my 3D images.

I didn't play with it too much, and it takes a bit to get used to, but it is definitely worth it. Plus the $10 discount in the store was a plus as well (about $89 total).

Clicky

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[link] to get the address.

The tour starts in July, and I will let you all know how it goes. Wish him luck!

Edit: Used TinyURL to create a link. This will take you straight to the page: [link]

Santa Claus is coming to town

~QueenofZoompf — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 22:38:21 PST

Skeleton Santa came to visit us in Red Stone as the start of the Christmas event.

Remember kids, ignoring santa makes him angry and thus will shower you with gifts.

Of course, then Santa got mobbed.

And attacked.

And sucked into some weird black thing.

And what was I doing? Waiting for Santa to send me a gift. Which he didn't. But tha's fine, it was great fun anyway. ^-^

...I really need to get out and do something instead of posting about in-game events. XD

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I've been addicted to another MMO... unfortunately it's not World of Warcraft since I can't afford to pay the monthly fee right now. It's called Red Stone, which is another one of those games where you can plkay for free, but they have a marketplace to buy in-game items with real money. Luckily, those items do not include armor/weapons/etc. The only nifty thing is an gem/orb that lets you get 20%/50% xp increase. However, you get a free gem anyway for registering the first time. They last 30 days, so perhaps I'll invest in one sometime. I'm pretty sure it'll be less than the $15+ I had to pay monthly for WoW when I was working.

It's a pretty nifty game... very old skool Diablo like. I play of course with my best budyy Allen. The quests aren't too simple, and honestly, Allen and I probably did quests that were quite a bit harder than our level. It was fun though, we like the challenge. I play a Tamer/Summoner. Right now I have a Kelby (some red hell dog thing), a Windy (a weird bird tornado hat floppy handed thing), and a Kolbold that I tamed that I grabbed. Cute little level 1 it was, now it's 16. It's having a bit of a hard time keeping up, I think.

Here's a screen shot:

(I finally decided to stop being lazy and use my own webserver instead of Photobucket.)

Allen and I go on Skype so we can chat while we play. Thank heavens for this computer that can handle it all. And thank heavens that Vista can run it!

Which I want to mention that Vista Home Premium can't run the original Manhunt, but Vista Ultimate can, and that ticks me off.

Anywho, nothing interesting going on this week. I was in the ER for another nosebleed. They cauterized it, gave me some fluids since I was bleeding for 3 someodd hours and hadn't eaten or drunken anything since the night before (and it was about 2:30 p.m. by this time). Trevor took me, bless his soul, because my mom has a bad back and can't sit in the ER chairs. Which is good that he did, since I was so lightheaded from losing blood.

Next week, I have the D&D game and a screening for an experimental IBS medication study. Anyhtin that will relieve the pain when I eat is great, even if it is experimental. Here's hoping that will go okay.

Especially because there's $550 when the study is completed.

Take care everyone! It's off to sleep for me.

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It's been a very boring week. Well, except for Tues. and Wed. since I played D&D on those days. But other than that, I just feel... kind of lost I guess. Right now I have no job, and finding one has been hell. Luckily, my parents are supporting me right now, especially because I keep getting so damn sick. I guess I'm a bit depressed at everything that's been going on, and the financial hardships my parents have been going through.

I think what's really getting me down though is being sick all the time. I wish I knew what the hell was wrong with me. It's like my body is just shutting down on me at times. I have IBS, gastritis, GERD, acid reflux, slow digestion (with certain foods), migraines, tendancy to have posterior nose bleeds and damn hypothyroidism (to name a few, you don't want the full list, trust me). I went forever without taking hypothyroidism medication, and as a result everything else went to hell. My doctor then increased me to enough of a dosage that it could easily throw me into hyperthyroidism. I've been taking it for about 3 weeks now, but I see no improvement. This really worries me becaus your body basically does shut down when your thyroid isn't working. That little gland is pretty much responsible for running your body, and apparently mine doesn't like to function. I'm really wondering if that's why my stomach is having such a problem digesting foods. I was in the emergency room three times about two weeks ago (first time dehyrdation, second time because of stomach pain, third time because I vomited blood), and I'm just really sick of this. I want things to get back to normal. I want to be able to have a nice, normal life without not being sick everytime I eat ANYTHING. I want to be able to not be tired all day, be able to sleep normally.

With the financial hardships... basically living in Utah means one thing: the cost of living very much outweighs the pay rate. In other words, you can make a lot and still be poor because everything here is so damned expensive. My dad is making about $85,000 a year, and we still have trouble paying bills. I don't understand it since we moved from New York to escape this (at the time m dad was making about $60k in 1987 and the cost of living there at the time was just too much, just to give perspective on how bad it was then. It might have changed since...). Our house nealy went into forecloseure. We were behind on the bill and Beneficial, the mortgage place, basically told us we could either cough up $15,000 to pay off the rest of the house, or it would be auctioned to someone else on November 6th. This is so horrible because we were SO CLOSE to paying it all off. Basically, we contacted this company tat basically bought the house from Beneficial and they are leasing it to us for now, and then we'll buy it from them. And pay off THAT loan. We bought this house for around $80,000. We had that $15k left on the loan... we were just so close. We've been paying this off for 20 years, and it's like all of it went down the drain. I guess Beneficial went along with it because we have quite a bit of damage to the house (mainly interior) and they probably couldn't be arsed to fix it. And it wouldn't have sold for nearly as much. Although I hate to admit it, if it had gone to auction, I probably would have done some redecorating with the help of my friend Mr. Sledgehammer if you catch my drift. See how much you can sell my house for when it's missing both bathrooms!

Mom talks about us all moving. Sadly, if we do, it'll be to Saint George (as I heard my mom telling my sister on the phone this morning), which is way in Southern Utah. I'll miss this house, and especially, I'll miss my friends that live nearby that I love dearly.

Anywho, enough ranting. I just needed to get that off my chest. More talk about D&D!

I used to play Dungeons and Dragons with a group back in 2003, but some... complications arose and my friend Trevor and I left. Now Trevor is hosting his own group, tha right now just consists of him, his wife, and myself. His wife and I play two characters right now since the group is so small. I'm playing a cle...

Gizmoz

~QueenofZoompf — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 20:09:56 PST

Since DeviantArt apparently decided that their blogging tool wouldn't allow embeded objects, I can't embed the video that I posted on my Blogger/LiveJournal/Myspace blog. So you all get a happy link.

[link]

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No new art unfortunately. I've been sick and to the ER twice last week, so I am just too exhausted to even bother doing much on the computer. So if I say something incredibly weird, don't hold it against me. I'm on pain medications (Percocet/Oxycodone) and they make me pretty loopy.

Stolen from Hen's journal:

Your boy side

[x] you love hoodies.
[x] you love jeans.
[] dogs are better than cats (HA!)
[] it's hilarious when people get hurt.
[x] you've played with/against boys on a team.
[x] shopping is torture.
[x] sad movies suck.
[] you own an x-box. (I'll be getting a 360 when I get a new job though. )
[x] played with hotwheels cars as a kid.
[x] at some point in time you wanted to be a firefighter.
[x] you own a DS, PS2 or sega. (I like my PS2 best though. )
[x] you used to be obsessed with power rangers.
[] you watch sports on TV.
[x] gory movies are cool.
[x] you go to your dad for advice.
[x] you own like a trillion baseball caps.
[] you like going to football games.
[] you used to/do collect baseball cards.
[x] baggy pants are cool to wear.
[] it's kinda weird to have sleepovers with a bunch of people.
[x] green, black, red, blue, or silver are one of your favorite colors.
[x] you love to go crazy and not care what people think. (Dancing in supermarket isles = fun)
[x] sports are fun.
[x] talk with food in your mouth. (At least I cover my mouth. I have some decency you know!)
[x] wear boxers. (I have boxers with bugs printed on them )

Total = 18

--

Your girl side

[x] you wear lip gloss.
[] you love to shop. (Not for clothes. For electronics maybe. But for clothing, I want to get what I want and get out.)
[x] you wear eyeliner.
[] you have some of the same shirts in different colors.
[x] you wear the color pink.
[x] go to your mom for advice.
[] you consider cheerleading a sport
[] you hate wearing the color black.
[] you like hanging out at the mall.
[] you like getting manicures and/or pedicures. (I trim and file them when needed. Who really cares?)
[x] you like wearing jewelry. (I'm just lucky that my mom makes amazingly gorgeous jewelry )
[] skirts are a big part of your wardrobe.
[] shopping is one of your favorite hobbies.
[] you don't like the movie star wars. (How can one NOT like Star Wars? Please explain.)
[] you are/were in cheerleading, gymnastics or dance.
[] it takes you around 1 hour to shower, get dressed, and put on make-up and accessories. (30 min. tops.)
[x] you smile a lot more than you should.
[] you have more than 10 pairs of shoes.
[x] you care about what you look like.
[x] you like wearing dresses when you can.
[x] you like wearing body spray/perfume/cologne. (Only if it's a fresh, citrus or minty smell. None of that flowery sweet crap for me. Gives me migraines.)
[x] you wear girl underwear.
[x] used to play with dolls as little kid.
[] like putting make-up on someone else for the joy of it.
[x] like taking pictures of yourself with your cell phone/camera when you're bored.

Total = 12

18 to 12? Bah, tell me something I don't know. I'm not very girly other than outward appearance. I guess that would explain why I have like 3 friends that are women and the rest are all guys.

Quick Update

~QueenofZoompf — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:28:48 PDT

Nothing too spectacular has been going on lately, especially since I've been unemployed. However, that hopefully might change this week or next. I'm meeting with someone from Daz Productions, who said there might be some positions open if I'm interested. Apparently he saw my artwork, and living in the same area, and so I was contacted. I'm just ecstatic because my artwork is far from anything spectacular. Have you SEEN the stuff just on that site alone?! I feel like a 2 year old holding a box of crayons staring at the Sistine Chapel.

Even if I don't get a job, I'm very excited. I've loved and respected this company for years.

(Edit: This next part is probably going to be terribly boring to everyone. I'm like a kid in a candy store with this stuff, so give me a bit of a break. )

Beyond unemployment woes, I've been messing with the theme/homescreen on my T-Mobile Dash. I've had it for 6 months now, and I still act like I barely got it. Usually I'm all over anything electronic I get for a couple of weeks, then I lose interest. It's wonderful since I just read RSS feeds to browse forums on it when I'm not on the computer. I love hoping on our wi-fi, although I have to use EDGE to connect to the net when I'm in my room since our wi-fi mysteriously despises reaching that far all of the sudden. Which isn't so bad... it's actually pretty fast. I remember when I had to use GPRS to connect to the net. Heck, I remember when I just had a WAP phone. It's a spectacular phone, although a bit lacking on IM. The Sidekick 3 wins out on that.

I also tend to still teak the registry to get the phone how I want it. Especially since I factory reset it (I thought there was a problem with the hardware when it turned out to be the battery). Now I can re-tweak things all over again. This stuff is really exciting for me. That and updating my website to the latest version of PHPNuke. Woohoo!

This is a sign that I really need to get out more.

Well, that's about all that's been going on in a nutshell. I'll leave you with a pointless screenshot of my phone homescreen that I finally finished improving it. I'm pretty happy since I created almost all of it myself (they are in XML, which I now despise). It uses my own artwork, it has the plugins I like (the meters and the weather one), and I created quite a few of the little icons from Vista icons.

This is the version of my theme that I used for a few months

This is the final version of it that I completed yesterday.

Eventually I'd like to get rid of those lines and center the T-Mobile name and date in there better. But that's for another day.

Wish me luck on getting a job!

----------------
Now playing: Queen - Killer Queen
via FoxyTunes

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The 3rd Annual World's Coolest Dog & Cat

~QueenofZoompf — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 23:29:38 PDT

Please vote for my dog in The 3rd Annual World's Coolest Dog & Cat Show in the "Sleeper" category.

You do need to register to vote, but it's fast and free and I will love you for life.

Thanks!

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Right now I am laid up in my bed, typing this from my cell phone. I've had a bad back for as long as I can remember, but for some reason I had the strangest urge to move the 50lb. air conditioner from my window out into the living room. I didn't have a problem picking it up, however, I neglected to bend at the knees while putting it down. I just felt every fiber in my lower back muscles screaming at me. I didn't hurt much at first. However the pain progressed during the course of the day, leaving me unable to walk. That night it rendered me unable to go from lying down to standing without screaming my head off (literally... I tried to stand up and I screamed from the pain). It also prevented me from going to a job interview on Thursday. Now it's close to day 4 of this and I am still hurting bad and taking a narcotic for the pain (Lortab).

So this week has sucked, especially since dad has been in Sacramento for work, and mom isn't any better off than I am with her severely arthritic leg. We've been sharing as much responsibility as possible (her more than I since I can only sit and stand up super straight), but doing anything around the house is hell. Plunging an overflowing toilet with one hand while standing as straight as possible and using your feet to soak up water with towels is not fun.

Well, the lortab is kicking in again, making me sleepy. Will post more later on.

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<...

Unemployed

~QueenofZoompf — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 11:30:10 PDT

Right now I am thanking my lucky stars that I am now unemployed.

Never, ever, ever work sales if you know you do not have the personality for it. You will hate the company, you will hate the people you work with, and you will hate the people you try to sell things to.

I probably wouldn't be so bitter about it if I wasn't lied to. I tried a sales job before I went to 1-800 Contacts. I did not have the personality of a salesperson... I'm not a pusher. I'm not a charmer. And most of all, if I hear it in your voice that you don't want it, I can't will myself to be convincing enough to make you think you need it (I'm looking at you, "recommended" Aquasoft solution). I left that company right after the first week of training. When I had my interview at 1-800 Contacts, I specifically told the guy that I was not good at sales. I am good at customer service. He assured me over and over that there was very little sales involved. That we just offer the upsell once, and if they didn't want it, you were done. Well, that was fine with me. Something should have gone off in my head since if a business operated that way, they wouldn't stay in business that long. But I digress.

During training, I learned that was not the case when my trainer said I wasn't offering things like I should have. I was supposed to offer the package deal, which is a year supply of contacts with solution. If you said no, I was to offer the year supply without solution. No again, offer 6 month with solution. No again, offer 6 month. Then the 3 month with solution. Then just the standard 3 month.

They even wanted us to use the word "recommended" when we offered the solution. We were told that we needed to make you think it was something you had to get. They even went as far as to tell the customer that our solution was better than others. Trust me. I've used both Aquasoft and another called Optifree. There is no difference. Use daily contacts and don't need solution? Oh well, we have these lovely rewetting drops... recommended of course.

Anyway, I tried my best there, because I didn't want to have another one week stint stuck on my record. I was there about 4 months until I started getting really sick... half of it due to being stressed aobut the job. Just the usual sales crap, them harassing you ever 5 minutes because you aren't up to par with what they think you should be. Oh, I'm sorry that I have a conscience and don't want to push people to buy what they want. Of course, once of our big things was honesty. We were honest... we just flirted with the fine line between it and lying. We twisted words around to make you think something else.

I'm not completely bitter, however. It is a business, like every other one. The company isn't a bad one. It does have great deals. However, places like WalMart, VisionDirect.com, etc. have just as good of deals. 1-800 Contacts does have the best return policy (takes open boxes and replaces torn contacts), however I found a local place right down the street from me that will not only price match with 1-800 Contacts, but match their return policy as well. So as always, check around. I highly recommend ordering online to avoid the hassle of the sales people, and if you do call up, let them know right off the bat what you want, otherwise prepared to say no a few times before you'll get what you want. Be careful as well if you are exchanging your old prescription for a new one, or are getting replacements... some of the agents will try to get a solution sale out of you.

I feel bad in some aspects, because I did love it when I started, as you can tell in a previous post as I bragged about it. But how quickly things change after you've worked there for a while. I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised, with a lot of my coworkers who worked there for 6 months to a year saying they were looking for other jobs. I was just one of the lucky ones to be let go and not stuck there until I found another. It'll be a bit harder being on unemployment for a few weeks, but it's enough to pay my bills and let me keep my sanity. And that's just fine by me.

(Technically I posted this on my normal blog over a month ago, I just forgot to add it here for those who check.)

Now, the funny thing isn't the commercial itself (okay, well, the facial expressions on the women are hilarious, but I digress...), it is the music that goes with it. The music is the chorus from the song "Express Yourself".

How can I express myself with paralyzed muscles? Mysteries abound!

I know the point is to "express your natural, youthful self." But I still find the irony of it wonderfully delicious. Not to mention if I want to express my natural self, why would I be injecting toxins into my face?

I'll take marketing flaw for the win, Alex.

Because telling you once isn't good enough.

~QueenofZoompf — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 17:08:31 PDT

I tend to wander over to Bored.com every now and then. This is usually when I am past boredom, and so on the verge of not knowing what to do that drinking Drain-O becomes an exciting and wonderous idea.

They have a section where you can draw three types of things and have that thing analyzed. Your choices are a house, a person, or a tree. You also have the option of having it analyze your handwriting. Since I am left-handed and using the mouse with my right, I opted to not try the handwriting.

So how did my analysis go? Here's the picture, a bit cropped and resized to fit:

---------------

Your personality analysis based on this drawing:

You like to fantasize and think of ideas.You have feelings of insecurity.You are an open person and have a willingness to interact with others.You long to be loved.You long to be loved.

---------------

When telling you once isn't good enough, we'll just grab the knife and twist it.

I got a kick out of it, and it is pretty accurate. Go try it yourselves at: [link]

Well, that's about it for today. Other than a little conversation Allen and I had about my failure to edit this post correctly:

Steph says:
"Apparently telling me that I love to be once isn't enough."

Steph says:
Because I love to be once

Steph says:
Trying this again.

Steph says:
And now with

Allen says:
Because love to be more then twice is just playing with it?

Steph says:
I wonder what would happened if I loved to be thrice.

Allen says:
Don't even joke about that Steph.

Allen says:

Steph says:
Commence the spontenous combusting of little children.

Steph says:
Come to think of it, that might not be such a bad idea...

Edit:

"Note: The personality analysis given on this site is based on tests that are meant to be administered and interpreted by a licensed psychologist, not by a computer, so please use our results for entertainment purposes only since there is no guarantee that they are accurate. "

Because we all know how such websites provide accurate psychological analysis!

What's sad? Knowing they had to put that there because there are people who will think that.

My my my, how time does fly

~QueenofZoompf — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:52:18 PDT

Well, I haven't been here for a while!

Well, I'm still without a computer, nearly a year later. I found an amazing one that I am having custom built for about 2.1k... but getting that money is the problem. I have a lot of bills to pay, and since I am out sick often enough, there is just barely anything left over afterward. Although I did spend some money on a nifty battle axe! Yay!

So what have I been up to? I am literally working for one of the best call centers in the U.S., as labeled by J.D. Power and Associates. That would be 1-800 Contacts. If you want to here me ramble on and on about that job, feel free to check out my regular blog over at http://queenofzoompf.blogspot.com/. This way you don't have to be bored to tears.

Art-wise, I have been really slow at making anything. I guess the fact that I can barely do anything on this (my mom's) computer has me so bummed out that all I can do is look at Photoshop and want to cry. Weird, but true. My art means that much to me. Instead, I've been doing some photography and messing around with this drawing application at work (it's part of OpenOffice). I can barely draw for the life of me, which is why you never see 2d stuff in my gallery... I can do things like paint some hair and such to enhance, but the things that I see you all do... wow. Anywho, so I just mess around making goofy things from basic 3d images. Think of it as the MSPaint of 3d.

So, now that you've all been bored to tears by my ramblings, I shall be off. I am going to use a brownie mix to make cookies. Nice, yummy, soft, chewy, chocolate cookies. Maybe if you ask nicely, I shall share...

Taggified. :O

~QueenofZoompf — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 18:07:27 PDT

I've been naughty and have been AWOL since around August. >.> <.< But I am back! And apparently I was tagged by back in August.

Rules: The 1st player of this "game" starts with the topic "6 weird habits/things about yourself" and people who get tagged need to write a journal about their 6 weird habits/things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you are tagged" in their devpage comments and tell them to read yours....

Only 6? Bah, I could fill pages!

1) I love singing, but even more so in the car. At the top of my lungs. But only when the windows are rolled up. >.>
2) I love acting like a dork to make people laugh.
3) I've made a short film called "The Many Deaths of Lara Croft" back in the days when I could record what I was playing on the PSX.
4) I like weird smells like new cars and gasoline. Not that I visit dealerships or gas stations for a fix.
5) I talk to myself, probably sometimes too much. >.> <.<
6) I'm obsessed with eyes. I think they are just completely fascinating. So I have a habit of dramatizing my own when I do my makeup. Not bad, I just like making them stand out.

Who to tag this time around?

We'll pretend that I am picking 6.

Flagrant System Error. Computer over.

~QueenofZoompf — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 15:20:30 PDT

I shall tell you my tale of woe! Well, not really a tale of woe. But I am bored, and you are here, so you shall listen.

Basically, I was installing new Nvidia drivers, and I did the uninstallation of the old drivers, cleaned the presence of them out, yadda yadda. Things I was recommended to do and have done several times before. However, my computer didn't like that. Apparently after the loading screen, the display decided to freeze while Windows would continue to boot. It taunted me with the happy sound of Windows starting while showing a screen of black death.

So, thinking I've got the upper hand, I pop in my XP disc to repair. But alas, my computer would have none of that. Before it would get to the repair/install screen, it gave me a stop error BSOD. I tried the Windows 2000 disc. BSOD. I tried it on my 2nd hard drive. BSOD. I switched the IDE cables. BSOD. Having enough of this, I reformatted my main drive and tried to install fresh. But my computer was insistant. BSOD.

Fed up with this, I decided to call the place I had my computer custom-built at. They wanted $60. I have no job, nor do my parents have the money atm (some rough times), so that has to wait. So I install Fedora Core 5 thinking I can live with that. And everything was fine at first. I got my wireless card to work, I got the ability to access my NTFS second drive, I was happy. my computer had other plans. One day I turn it on, and my wonderful machine of utter happiness and joy decides that not only do I not need internet access (it kept my drivers installed, but deleted any presence of my card, and refuses to be fixed), it also thinks that I do not need NTFS support anymore.

Completely sick of the darned thing, I try to reinstall XP again, which now it just gives me a black screen instead of a BSOD. Win2k now gives me a different stop error on the BSOD. A joyous one that Microsoft tells me could mean that my motherboard is borked. A motherboard that is only a year old.

So that's been my wonderful tale of what has gone on lately, and why I haven't submitted anything. I've just been using my Mom's computer for the time being. A P3 733mhz of evil. o.@

Bonus points if you recognize the journal subject.