Here are the 50 finalists for my Go Green contest The 3 winners and 3 honorable mentions will be announced on the 31st

Thank you all for entering! I've lost count of the number of entries but I think there are over 400 entries! It was really hard for me to pick out just 50 finalists to feature in this journal. Some of finalists don't necessarily have the best rendered artwork or pageviews, but they make up for it in creativity, ranging from humor to horror, and games to poetry. I also read all the artist's comments which can make or break the impact. Artist's comments that says nothing but "I hope I win the prizes" actually detracts from the impact, while those that list facts or elaborates on their work adds to the impact. Of course, sometimes the work speaks for itself so artist's comments are not necessary. It's really admirable how much effort some artists put into spreading their work around to get the message across to as many as possible, and to that I say: Thank you!

I will pick out the winners while the 3 staff members of who helped me receive the entries will pick out the honorable mentions. Remember entries will be judged on impact, which is a combination of how powerful the entry is (does it make the viewer want to be more environmental?) and how many people actually saw it (but pageviews are not as important as the former).

Good luck everyone! and thanks for viewing!

They are not listed in any order and the same artist can be featured more than once



[link]











http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/28952787/ Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:32:47 PST FAQ ~*~ Commission ~*~ Augen Auf Playing Cards for sale

Finals are finally over!!!

I've been neglecting the notes, commissions, and contest but everything will be back on track once I get home

Have a great winter break everyone!

This lovely person made me a fanclub I feel so flattered, Thank you!!!

Here is the lasr part of the final entries for my go green contest [link] !

Sorry again that this journal came out later than expected, it's final exam season for us university students and sleep is a distant dream... =_=

BIG BIG thanks to and for taking in the entries!!! Go thank them! Seriously, they did most of the work! (and still I'm so slow with posting the journals...)

Now all entries are posted! Please check if your entry is in this journal or one of the previous journals linked bellow. If not, please note me directly. Thank you!

I will make one more entry later this week with all the entries in a collection folder.

Thanks everyone for participating!

Here is the second part of the final entries for my go green contest [link] ! since both the staff and myself have been too busy to update these entries on time (sorry!) too many have built up to fit into one journal. Partthree will be updated tomorrow so don't worry if you don't see your entries in here yet. After I update part three the day after tomorrow, I'll have a final journal with a link to all the entries in a collection.

Here is the first part of the final entries for my go green contest [link] ! since both the staff and myself have been too busy to update these entries on time (sorry!) too many have built up to fit into one journal. Part two and three will be updated tomorrow and the day after so don't worry if you don't see your entries in here yet. After I update part three the day after tomorrow, I'll have a final journal with a link to all the entries in a collection.

First thing's first, since people have been requesting, I'm extending the Go green contest[link] but only by 10 days. This is for people who have already started working but could not finish on time, not for people who haven't started yet and then want another extension. The final entry date is November 20th and that's final, no more extensions after that.

Second, I know I mentioned that I would update new entries in my journal every week but that hasn't been happening. Please understand that I am too busy to receive the entries myself and the kind people at has volunteered their time to help me with the contest by receiving the entries. However, they have a life too and they were too busy for the past few weeks to organize the entries. Please be understanding and thankful that they've have helped me so far or the contest would not even exist.

Third, once I received all the entries after Nov 20th, I will find a way to link all of them into one journal entry. I don't know if it'll work with the size limit for journals but I will try.

Forth, judging will begin on December 20th to give one month for all the entries to acquire some page views and have some impact. The winners will be announced the day before New Years.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other news...

Project WE is put on hold. I know I know... but it's for the greater good. I've thought it over and between 1000 Words, a short 56 page one shot and Project WE, a multi-chapter series (at least 10 chapters), I need more practice so I've decided to work on an intermediate length story that's around 5 chapters. I won't reveal anything about this project yet but expect some previews over Winter break. I aim to finish this by spring of 2010 (as opposed to Project WE which won't be finished for years to come.)

Look forward to it!

PS: For the people who voted in this poll [link] the correct answer is Herbert Spencer a cookie for the 5% of Deviants that got it right XD and good luck to the 31% who will have it on the Bio exam.

This lovely person made me a fanclub I feel so flattered, Thank you!!!

Here's more wonderful entries for my go green contest [link] ! Even more awesome artists have donated free commissions so there's lots more great prizes

Contest ends on November 10th so NOTE your entries to by then!

Important! Because there are so many entries, dA's journal doesn't allow me to put all the entries into one journal. Therefore only the newest entries will be featured in the new journal, while older entries will be linked. All entries will be featured for about a week so everyone receives even exposure. If you have seen your entry before in an order journal but not in the new one, this is why so please stop resending your entries. Thank you!

Also check out 's Halloween contest [link]

Here's more wonderful entries for my go green contest [link] ! A lot of kind artists have donated free commissions so there's even more great prizes

Contest ends on November 10th so NOTE your entries to by then!

I've added a scroll box because the journals are getting too long XD Thanks for the abundance of awesome entries!

My new tablet arrived! (sooner than I expected)

Someone suggested I should do a product review and compare it with Intuos3 so here it is

Intuos4 has a rougher surface to draw on, it has a texture similar to paper while Intuos3 has a smoother surface. This also means that the pen nibs on Intuos4 gets worn down really quickly. I weathered away the same amount of pen nib on Intuos4 in one day that took me a year to do on Intous3. Good thing Intuos4 provided a set of 10 extra nibs (Intuos3 only had 5 extra nibs)

There are a lot of new express keys on Intuos4, 8 actual keys, and 4 options with the touch ring. The express keys can be set to function as shift key, control key, etc to activate some functions on Photoshop or SAI without having to reach all the way over to the key board to press it. Intuos3 has this too, but it's harder to use because 4 of the 8 keys are on the right side.

The touch ring has it's ups and downs. Intuos3 has a touch "ring" but it was a rectangle, not a ring. You can zoom in or out of the drawing by moving your finger up and down the touch "ring" in Intuos3. It was placed next to the express keys and easy to move your figures over. Intuous4, however, placed the touch ring between the 8 keys and it's kind of inconvenient. It's also harder to move your fingers in a circular pattern than just up and down. However, the new touch ring comes with 4 options, so you can also change the size of your brush, rotate your image, and circle layer that lets you switch layers. The down side is these extra cool functions only work on Photoshop and a few other more mainstream programs. SAI doesn't respond to the touch ring other than zoom in or out.

That's about it I don't know too much about Intuos 4 yet. I just got it and I love it but not more or less than Intuos3 so I have no suggestions on which version to buy XD (what a useless product review...)

This lovely person made me a fanclub I feel so flattered, Thank you!!!

They say you can find anything on Ebay and it's true...

[link] (scroll down)
[link]

WTF?

And I'm not the only artist whose work has been turned into a cross stitch kit for the thief. There are 298 stolen works! I heard several dA artists were victims to this thief. Pleaese take a look to see if you recognize anyone [link] If you do see someone you know, please tell that person, also ask them if they want to get together and sue this thief.

Here's the thief's e-mail: designsinthread@hotmail.co.uk

Feel free to tell the thief what you think of its kind

This lovely person made me a fanclub I feel so flattered, Thank you!!!

Here's more wonderful entries for my go green contest [link] ! A lot of kind artists have donated free commissions so there's even more great prizes

Contest ends on November 10th so NOTE your entries to by then!

I've added a scroll box because the journals are getting too long XD Thanks for the abundance of awesome entries!

my Wacom Intuos 3 tablet just died on me. I've been trying to fix it to no avail. Before it died, it showed some weird symptoms of illness like I couldn't draw a straight line on certain areas of the tablet. Now it wouldn't move at all...

I just ordered a new Intuos 4 yesterday but it won't get here until early October (around 7th-10th) so no more digital artworks until then. I'm really sorry to all my commissioners, it looks I won't be able to finish their commissions on time (especially the ones that are meant to be birthday gifts for their friends...)


Wacom Intuos 3 Tablet
2006-2009
R.I.P.

This lovely person made me a fanclub I feel so flattered, Thank you!!!

Today, on 9/24/2009, at 12 noon, 5,000 UC Berkeley students and staff gathered at Sproul Plaza. This is a UC (University of California) wide protest against the increasing budget cuts, rising tuition (by more than 30%), and decreasing staff members. All 10 universities in California participated in this walk out. Needless to say, it was epic!

See that black pixel in the lower left center? That's me XD

The walkout at Berkeley began around 5 AM with staff members picketing the university's entrances. At 12 noon, everyone gathered for a 2 hour speech about problems we are facing and how we're not going to stand for it. After the speech, everyone paraded around campus and then marched onto the streets for another hour and a half.

And here's a video from ABC news [link] <--- this vid has some awesome areal shots of the massive amount of protesters.

UC Berkeley is the #1 Public university in America, but the rising tuition is making it into a private organization. Of course the proud students and staff of Berkeley and all the UCs will not stand for this!

Here's another video of when we're on the streets [link]

I'm so proud of everyone who went to the march (so I'm bragging about it on dA XD) Despite the horrible sunburn that we're going to suffer for weeks to come, it was totally worth it

This lovely person made me a fanclub I feel so flattered, Thank you!!!

Here's the first batch of wonderful entries for my go green contest [link] !

Contest ends on November 10th so send your entries to by then!
























http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/27065037/ Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:01:20 PDT FAQ ~*~ Commission ~*~ Augen Auf Playing Cards for sale

In the spirit of environmentalism, I'm holding a GO GREEN Contest

First thing's first: PRIZES!

(I might add more prizes later. Also if you would like to donate a prize, I would really appreciate it!)

1st Place Winner:
~ $150 worth of commission from me in any combination (1 painting, 2 colored lineart, etc anything that adds up to the amount) Commission examples [link] and info [link]
~ One seasonal eco bag of your choice These bags are donated by the wonderful Starving Artist Bags company [link]
~ One deck of Augen Auf Cards
~ 2 character [black and white] commission donated by
~ One sketch/lineart commission donated by
~ 1 cg request donated by
~ 1 character lineart donated by

2nd Place Winner:
~ $100 worth of commission from me in any combination
~ one OC with complete background donated by
~ One seasonal eco bag of your choice
~ One deck of Augen Auf Cards
~ 1 character [black and white] commission donated by
~ 1 cg request donated by
~ 1 literature piece donated by
~ 1 character lineart donated by

http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/26994094/ Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:45:00 PDT FAQ ~*~ Commission ~*~ Augen Auf Playing Cards for sale

I haven't had internet for over 4 days and I don't know how long this is going to last! I had a few minutes to check my mail and do my hw with the computers at school but that's yet D:

My stupid and only cable provider, Comcast (who fails with a customer rating of 1.5/5 stars) broke down and they can't fix it until who knows when. So until then, there'll be no new deviations. Sorry everyone!

This lovely person made me a fanclub I feel so flattered, Thank you!!!

So yes, I'll be going back to UC Berkeley tomorrow and moving into our new apartment. There's no internet there yet and no furniture either so I'll be busying settling in and probably won't be on dA for the next few days.

New school year is gonna be awesome! I've got the coolest schedule: Drawing, Sculpting, Japanese, and INSECTS!!! My love for creepy crawlies shall finally be satisfied

I'm going to have to learn to cook now (no more dorm food) and well, if you guys never hear from me ever again, you'll know I died trying to make those pancakes XD

Also, if you go to Berkeley, I propose we hang out... at Yogurt Land!

This lovely person made me a fanclub I feel so flattered, Thank you!!!

Quite a few people (mostly Americans) told me that America sucks SO MUCH that I have no reason to be patriotic enough to make Dance Dance America [link] WTF?

Can you feel a rant coming on?

Their general argument is America did this and that bad no no stuff, and America doesn't have this and that goody things which equates to "HOW CAN YOU POSSIBILITY BE PATRIOTIC OF THIS SHITTY COUNTRY?! WHAT'S SO GOOD ABOUT IT?!?!"

To answer that question, let's use compare and contrast shall we? As you might know, I was born in China and have lived there for 9 years, then I lived in America for 10 years. I believe I have lived in both countries long enough to say I know what they're like.

1. In America, the internet is not restricted by the government. I was just in China this June-July and could not get on to dA sometimes because the Chinese government blocked access to dA. This is not the kind of blocking you can get pass with a proxy, they sever the connection to the server so when the Chinese internet police doesn't want you to go on LJ, Wikipedia, Deviantart, Youtube, etc, then you're not gonna get there. So why do they block the internet from time to time? To limit the spread of news, like a village of people dying from cancer caused by substandard pesticides.

2. The American government would never spontaneously decide to kill every dog in a state just because 3 had rabies. This actually happened in China, which is why I drew "Selfish" [link] I saw the whole thing on the local news while I was visiting in China 3 years ago, though the news of this event never became wildly know in other countries for obvious reasons explained in #1. Can you imagine walking your dog on the street, a police walks by and shoots it on site? Or have your dog beaten to death with sticks because they're too cheap to use a more humane way of killing? This is what happened to 50,000 dogs in a province in China, it didn't matter if they had their vaccine or not, they were all slaughtered because the government felt like it.

3. In China, the food and water is so unsanitary compared to the US that every time I visit China, I would get diarrhea for a few weeks. The air pollution is so bad that my voice would change and I would cough up lymph all the time. The dust is so thick that even if you mop the floor everyday, if you walk barefoot in the house, the bottom of your feet will turn black. In America, when I walk my dog barefoot on the street, my feet are still 10x cleaner.

4. Education is free in the US until college. That's not the case in China, any school, be it pre-school, kindergarten, elementary, middle, or high school, costs money and a lot of money for that matter. Can't afford it? Then no education for your child, but wait, there's always the option of child labor. You can make your 6 year old kid work on the streets everyday to pay for his own schooling, it'll be fine as long as he doesn't get kidnapped and have his organs stolen.

5. On the subject of school, ever had the shit beaten out of you by your teacher for scratching an itch when you're not suppose to move? Or not allowed to go to the bathroom and just pee in your pants? That's how school is like in China. School uniform everyday, mandatory boy cut short hair for girls and nearly bald shave for guys. And the students in America bitch about school restrictions on skirts that show your panties.

I have a lot of other comparisons but I think the point is clear. America is not perfect, no country is perfect, but for what it is, it's a lot better than some other parts of the world. Every country has flaws that we need to improve but that doesn't mean we can't be proud of the good things we have already accomplished. For all my negative points about China, there are still good things about that country and I don't hate it and I would never say "OMG WHY WOULD YOU BE PROUD OF CHINA?!"

I think most Americans who bitch about America are like spoiled emo kids. They grew up thinking that the unlimited internet, clean food, air, water, and the lack of mass dog slaughters are luxuries that every country has. Well, it's not.

It's okay to hate the bad things about a country, but it's also not wrong to love the good things about it. I am proud to live in America! http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/26152518/ Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:14:01 PDT FAQ ~*~ Commission ~*~ Augen Auf Playing Cards for sale

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! It's so great to be in the mosquito free US with unlimited internet access again XD

While I was in China going through some serious family drama, my 4 red sided slider turtles were having some serious adventures of their own. I have had them for over 5 years and during that time they grew big and fat (like all my fat pets...), they were getting too small for their tank so before I left for China back in June, my mom and I went to buy a pond for them. Since they're my turtles, it's my responsibility to dig out the pond and provide everything they need and that's fine except I had to stay on the other side of the world for a month and a half. We agreed to wait until I get back to finish the pond and everything but my mom and stepdad decided they were good enough for the job. Well...

They dug out the pond and put my turtles in and everything was fine until a wild animal (probably a raccoon) came along and tried to eat my turtles. Even before we bought the pond, I explained to my parents that the pond will need a cover at night to protect my turtles from predators. They didn't listen. My largest turtle took to blow and lost both it's front limbs. It survived but it's crippled for life. I almost cried when my mom told me the news over the phone. I told her to move the injured turtle back to the tank and keep a close eye on it and to PUT A COVER OVER THE POND! She told me she did, well...

I don't know what she was thinking but she built a wall of potted plants around the pond and put some metal wire fence over the edge of the pond but not the entire pond. One of the pot of plants got pushed over (probably by the raccoon again) which fell on top of the metal wire and made it dip into the water. 2 of the 3 remaining turtles escaped by climbing up the metal wire. One found it's way into our pool, the other one was no where to be found. I almost cried again when she told me over the phone. Seriously, Mom, what were you thinking?

My stepdad found the whereabouts of my missing turtle while chatting with the neighbors. Apparently it was on the street when my neighbor saw it but couldn't stop the on coming car in time so my turtle got hit by a car. It also survived but now it has a chipped belly shell and bloody stains. Again, I almost cried over the phone.

So, WOW, that's some serious turtle drama. At least now my turtles are all back together and still alive. I'm still heart broken though, my poor poor turtles, they will never be the same again.

Any dramatic pet stories you like to share?

New note: Looks like my stuff was removed and a few others. However there is still a lot of stolen art and he is obviously not banned.

A BIG THANKS to everyone who have helped and gathered the list of artists wronged by this thief Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

There's still some art on there so if you know these artists, please tell them. If he gets reported enough, he'll be banned sooner. Thank you!

PS sorry I didn't update sooner, I'm still in China and just woke up XD

Original post:

Someone informed me an idiot is selling my drawings on [link] WITH MY WATERMARK ON IT! Can you say total moron?

I will get him banned D:<

PS All the other products he's selling are also stolen, and a lot from dA so if you know the artists of these works, please inform them. Thank you!

I don't think I've properly thanked everyone and dA for everything.

I have a story that I believe should be told... after a month of submitting "Tape it Back Together" [link] I was reading through the comments when one inspired me to create "1000 W0RDS". I didn't reply because I couldn't find the words to say but if you're reading this, I hope you'll see "1000 W0RDS" as my reply. I won't say who but the person told me the first time s/he saw the drawing, s/he thought it was sad, but a month later his/her parents divorced and now s/he is sobbing. It made me wonder, had s/he shown a taped drawing of the family like in "Tape it Back Together" to the parents, would it have made a difference?

What I'm trying to say is, your comments inspire me the way I hope my art inspires others. Though I don't have time to reply to every comment, I do try to all of read them and take them to heart. I get comments that begin with "I know you won't read this..." or "This comment will just be lost amongst all the others..." but I do read them (though I miss a few once in a while.)

I've never told anyone on dA this but one of my projects for my college Freshmen art class was a page of 100 comments from dA. I literally screencaped the comments, printed them out, and taped them on the wall. Everyone's thoughts and opinions were on display as art in itself.

You guys are my support and inspiration, I only hope to return the favor.

Thank you!

Haha wow, I got a lot of comments in my last journal, everyone is so into the weight topic XD I noticed a lot of misunderstandings in the comments so let me clear things up.

First of all, I'm Chinese. I was born and raised in China for nine years (during which I was skinnier than the average skinny Chinese), then I lived in America where I got "fattened" up XD So Asians are skinny partially due to genetics but also due to the diet (rice is not nutritious at all).

Now since you're all just dying to know (sarcasm) I'll tell my height and weight. It's really not a big deal... I'm 5.6 1/2 and weigh 125lb right now and my shoe size is 7 1/2, all of which are average in America but TOO BIG in China =_= I'm trying to loose the Freshmen fifteen (legend says in your first year of college, you'll eat nothing but dorm food or takeout so you'll gain almost exactly fifteen pounds, which is what happened to me XD)

And yes, my dad really did say that to me. But no, he's not joking, he was concerned XD He still lives in China so he's super skinny and thinks like a Chinese dad (ah Chinese dads...at least my Chinese dad doesn't beat me.)

Last note: Internet is slooooooooooooooow here so it's a huge pain to wait for pages to load. I haven't read most of the comments (I have like over 700 unread comments and 100 unchecked deviantiions) I've been only checking the notes and reading a few random comments here and there. I usually answer questions asked in the comments but those will have to wait until I have fast internet again. Sorry about that!

My dad took me shopping for clothes yesterday (because it's supposedly really cheap compared to America, but it's not). Before college, my weight was below average for my height, after the infamous Freshmen fifteen, my weight is on the lower end of the average range. I usually wear small-medium size clothes, but in China it's "I'm sorry, we don't have sizes big enough for you (cuz you're too fat)." Even the shoes are too short for me so they offered me men's size... All the while I couldn't find anything that fit me, my dad kept saying "see how fat you are? And why don't you have boobs?" =_=

I want to crawl back to America where I'm not some sort of over sized freak...

Haha first I'd like to thank everyone for their support you guys are so nice

Well, I've survived my 16-17 hour flight to Chengdu and just got over my jet lag I realized I left my camera driver thingy back in Berkeley so I won't be able to upload any pictures until then, but I've been taking plenty Expect to see A LOT of pictures of koi fish from me a month from now

I don't have any exciting stories yet but I can tell you China is plenty strange (compared to America). The sky is always gray due to smog from construction and coal burning plants, the air sucks and is full of dust. It's ridiculously humid and hot all the time and there's mosquitoes everywhere. However, the same humid environment is great for fish, frogs, bugs, and water birds. There's a lot of them, even in the city, you see tadpoles in random water puddles.

The traffic is horrific, everyone drives by their own rules and there's no such thing as pedestrians first. You either move out of the way or get run over =_= I was in a taxi driving back from the airport and a woman was crossing the street, the taxi driver actually speed up and I thought he was gonna hit her...freaked me out.

A lot of the people here believes in old wives tales like my family so they sit and sleep on wood chairs and beds without cushion or mattress,(they think it prevents clogging the blood vessels or something...) it's like sleeping on hardwood floor so yeah...my butt hurts... XD

Well, that's all for now!

Woot! So I finally got a new flight on Air China's CA 0984 which takes off at 1:40 AM tomorrow (Which is the same as tonight) and then a transfer on CA 1405 to Chengdu. I hope nothing bad will happen this time, I don't think I can take anymore crap when it comes to these things D:

As for EVIL China Eastern, we canceled the credit payment through the credit card company so they didn't get our money after all I still want to sue them for all the shit they put us through and risking our safety, but that will come later when some of the other passengers have returned from China. Then we can all get together and take China Eastern down

Updated: this is the Fox 11 video in case anyone is interested [link]

~~~~~~

Fox 11 News was at the LAX airport today to film the riot of over 400 angry passengers (myself included). Here's the full story of my oh so fabulous adventure:

First of all, I'm finally home... in America (still). My flight to China was to DEPART on May 31st at 1:30 PM. We didn't even board the plane until 1:30, first sign of omen. After we boarded, we sat in the plane for 3 hours not moving because they were trying to fix some mechanical problems. Then they told us it's fixed, we went "YAY!" and waited another 2 hours in the plane. Finally they admitted they couldn't fix it (so they lied the first time) and kicked us off the plane. We then waited in line to register for the hotel they provided for another 3 hours. Then we waited to get on the shuttle that takes us to the hotel, well a nice man called a taxi for a few of us so we got there first but everyone else had to waite a few more hours.

They told us they don't know what will happen so we should call them in the morning (of today) at 7 AM. So we woke up at 6 AM to eat breakfast and get ready; we called and no one picked up. We waited until 9:30 AM and they told us our new flight will depart at 12:30 PM on the same broken plane that they failed to fix. (Can you see what will happen next?) We all waited in line for several hours more to get new tickets and screened for explosives (yeah...we had to do that 3 times) by 12:30 PM, half the people are still in line to get tickets (since there's over 400 of us). By 2:30 we boarded the plane and after one hour of sitting in the unmoving plane, they kicked us out again because, guess what? The plane is still broken.

WTF? If the plane is broken, why were we told to board the thing, not once, but twice and only to get kicked off? Well, the truth is the China Eastern company doesn't want to send a new plane because they're greedy and cheap. They told the pilot to fly the broken plane regardless, but the pilot refused in fear of killing us all. We only found out about this because a flight attendant was brave enough to leak the info.

Now, obviously in a normal situation a responsible company would transfer us to another plane, another company, or refund us. However, the riot started because they refused to transfer us, and refused to refund. Basically they're saying we must board their same broken plane (which was scheduled to fly again at 5 PM tomorrow but was canceled indefinitely). If we want to take a different plane, we must pay for it ourselves and basically waste over $1000 because they refuse to refund. Now they've confirmed that the flight is canceled tomorrow and the day after. There MIGHT be a flight on Thursday on the SAME BROKEN PLANE. Board a broken plane or trash $1000? Great choices.

Well, in response, over 400 of us angry passengers rioted and refused to leave until they transfer us or refund us. After a few hours of arguing, Fox 11 News arrived to film the situation right before 6 PM. Polices were everywhere and we we all dying from hunger, thirst and fatigue. They did not provide us with any food or water since the 6 AM breakfast back in the hotel, that's 12 HOURS of waiting in lines, being herded on and off the plane, back and forth with no food or water!

I couldn't take it anymore so my stepdad picked me up and drove me home. I don't know happened at the airport or if we will be transferred or refunded but it doesn't matter because we are planing to sue. The passengers all exchanged phone numbers and we'll get a lawyer together. Not only do we want our money back, we want compensation for making us suffer for 2 days. I was on the verge of fainting and I'm 19, but there were children and elders! Most of the elders only speak Chinese and I heard one went missing because she boarded the wrong shuttle to the hotel and the company isn't taking responsibility either. So I guess the lesson to learn at the end of my loooooong rant is NEVER TAKE CHINA EASTERN!!!

Now please excuse me while I crawl in bed and die =_=

So after sitting in the plane for 5 HOURS and not moving, they tell us to get off because they couldn't fix the plane's mechanical problem. Then we waited for 4 more hours in the gates to get to a hotel they provided. I still don't know if we'll have a new flight today or not. I am soooo stressed and pissed =_= I don't have internet either (except 15 min in public area) so again, sorry I can't reply to any important notes, and I don't know how long I will be stuck here...

My flight to China on May 31st (I thought it was 30th...) so I'll be unavailable for a few days Also China's internet police has been know to block access to Deviantart at times for no apparent reason (probably due to the nude art) so if you can't reach me on dA for a week, try my e-mail akutenshiyuumei@yahoo.com

Other than that, please vote for my entry for the Bring your Vision to Life contest (the prize money will help pay for the plane tickets and college, I haven't seen my dad in 3 years ;_; ) just fav to vote



I'll be working on 1000 W0RDS (and commissions) while I'm China, so hopefully I can finish it before I get back in mid July. And I'll be sure to update you guys on any exiting adventures

Yeah...just one more year closer to the end...officially, but technically time is continuous so birthdays don't actually signify anything XD My cells have been fighting against oxidation and free radicals for 19 years but I'm still only 2 at heart

Aside from my depressed view of my inevitable aging, here's a video of the FLUFFIEST puppy in all of existence [link] I think it's an Alaskan Malamute; they're a pretty fluffy breed but this one takes the cake

Plans for the future:
So I'll be visiting my dad and other family members in China this summer. My flight is on May 30th so I won't be available to answer any urgent notes around then. If any of you guys want some authentic Chinese art or craft objects, I can try to find them for you (but you must pay in advance because I don't want to waste time and money buying something you might decide you don't want anymore). I'll be doing some wall scroll painting shopping and hopefully I can learn the SECRET ARTS of making sugar art animals [link] It's all sugar, all edible

Another thing I hope to accomplish it is take pictures and document these giants bugs and arachnids that live in the mountains. I didn't have a camera the last time I went (3 years ago) but I saw some of the weirdest and largest insects ever and since we all love those little critters (yes you do), I want to take pictures to share them with you all on dA

PEACE AND LOVE!

I just made a poll about the Armenian genocide, if you haven't taken it yet, please do [link]

Here's a brief explanation on why I'm doing this other than to get the word out about the genocide. My art professor assigned an art project on the concept of entropy. We can interpret entropy in any way (I chose entropy of the information theory), and I decided to do it on the "entropy" of memory of events and how some events are slowly forgotten more or less through time (generations) and space (countries) .

I was in my sophomore Pre-AP world history class in high school when my teacher told us about the Armenian genocide. She explained that this subject is not taught in many other schools in America because it's not part of the curriculum since America did not officially recognize the Armenian genocide. This is because America wants to keep its military base in Turkey, the country that committed the genocide in 1915 (back then known as the Ottoman Empire). One and half million Armenians were killed but even today, Turkey and America officially denies this ever occurred. However, 42 of the US states do recognize the genocide, just not America as a country because they want to stay on Turkey's good side to keep the military base.

In 1939, Hitler gave a speech about the invasion of Poland and how every man, woman, and child should be killed without mercy, because "Who, after all, speaks to-day of the annihilation of the Armenians?" The full speech can be found here [link] . A Turkish commentator denies the authenticity of this speech.

I hope you can see, with that kind of logic in mind, Hitler was confident in the Holocaust because he believed no one would remember or care like no one had cared about the Armenian genocide.

The purpose of my poll is to see the level of "entropy" in my dA watchers about events of this kind. Of course this kind of poll is too simple and limited with too many uncontrolled factors to give me any statistically significant results but I still want to get the gist of it. I plan to incorporate the poll results in my art project somehow though I'm not sure how yet so feel free to give me your suggestions

For all of you who didn't know about it, now you do I didn't go in depth about the genocide itself, more about the situations surrounding it but now that you know of its existence, go do some research, keep it in your memory, and tell others; don't let "entropy" take over

Muahahaha!!! Okay, so there are billions of awesome artists out there that deserves more love, thus I will have a feature section in my journals from now on

These are some fantastic artworks by fantastic artists. Check out their gallery and give them some love!







http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/23884235/ Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:26:00 PDT FAQ ~*~ Commission ~*~ Augen Auf Playing Cards for sale

Haha so I'm sure most of you have taken this poll [link] by now It's time to analyze the results!!! XD (You're all thinking "what? this isn't a scientific survey!")

But first I would like to thank for the lovely subscription, without it, I wouldn't have been able to make the poll (and I'm still figuring out this css thing) Thank you!

Also, my work time at home for spring break has been cut short because I must travel with my roommate to Yosemite for 3 days or else I can't get a ride back to Berkeley It'll be fun but that means less time to take care of business like the art theft on Ebay situation (I'm still working on it) and some commissions.

Now the poll analysis!!! XD As of now, this is the response for "Gender"

53% female
17% "gender" is for people who are too afraid to say "sex"
14% It's a trap!
11% male
3% both
2% none (I chose this btw)

What does it all mean? (besides the obvious) Let's see, for all of you who chose It's a trap, good job! The poll is a trap XD (you knew it, didn't you?)

Where's the trap? The "gender" is for people who are too afraid to say "sex" choice. I understand this choice could have been taken 2 ways:

First, people who know gender is mental, sex is biological, and think a lot of people say "gender" because they don't want to say "sex". If this is why you chose that, then you didn't fall for the trap.

Second, people who don't know the difference between gender and sex and truly believe that people say "gender" because they're afraid to say "sex". (because of stuff like this ---> sex: yes please) If this is why you chose that, then you fell for the trap D:

Basically the poll was a trap to see how many people who watch me didn't know the difference between gender and sex, but due to the 2 ways it could have been interpreted (I didn't realize the until later) the results are unreliable.

Quite a few people who knew the difference between sex and gender thought I didn't know and tried to correct me, but they could have figured it out because I asked for gender, not sex, and I gave so many choices such as both and none. There were plenty of clues to hint that it's a trap XD

What's up with the huge difference between 53% female and 11% male? Possibilities are:
a. My art appeals more to the female gender
b. Males might be more tempted to choose the other choices such as the trap and gender/sex one.
c. There are less males on dA because the internet is for porn XD jk [link] <--- youtube link to the song
d. All of the above
e. None of the above (just like AP exam choices XD )

I'm done analyzing XD haha feel free to give your own anaylsis

Where did you learn to draw?

I grew up in China where parents compete and show off their child like some sort of hobby, so drawing class was one of the many things I had to learn. I really loved it so I took more classes but not too much. All my Chinese art classes focused on realism and drawing from live. That gave me the foundations to draw everything else but drawing is not a magical process where you take a class, and BAM! you're an artist, it's all about hard work and practice (like everything else in life). So if you want to draw, sign up for a drawing class. It's really boring drawing basket of fruits at first, but it will teach you the fundamentals of shape, lighting, shading, etc. The rest you'll learn on your own as you practice and be inspired by other artists.

What materials do you use?

I use mostly digital mediums but I use traditional materials sometimes. I have a Wacom Intuos 3 Tablet that I bought for around $450. I use it with Photoshop and Paint tool SAI create drawings like this [link] . I draw most of my things in SAI and touch up on the colors and add texture in Photoshop but I drew everything in Photoshop before I discovered SAI so don't worry if you don't have that program. I do recommend SAI because the line art is crisper and the colors blend easily but each program has it's own advantages. Don't have SAI? Have a 31 day free trial! [link]

I just started with Macromedia Flash and barely taught myself some basic things through dA tutorials so please don't ask me to help you with Flash because I can barely help myself

The traditional mediums I use most frequently are pencils and ball point pen. They are great for shading and line work that has a unique texture not found in digital mediums, for example [link] or [link] On rare occasions I use watercolors like this [link] and even rarer occasions I use acrylic paint but I'm a messy person so if I paint, all my clothes go to hell. I don't use Copic markers because I lack $$ ;_;

I use to make ceramic sculptures like these [link] out of low fire raku clay painted with water color in my high school ceramic class but ever since I came to college, I don't have the materials anymore. I'm experimenting with polymer clay but have nothing to show for yet but expect them in the near future!

How long does it take you to finish a drawing?

That's really hard to answer because there are so many variables. It depends on the complexity, medium, how inspired I am, and how busy I am with school but the actual time I spend on a drawing isn't too long. I'm usually pretty fast if I don't have other things holding me back.

Your style keeps changing, why?

I like to go back and forth between different styles. I focused more on big eyed anime style when I was younger, now I prefer a more realistic style but it's still considered anime. Every once in a while I feel like drawing in my old anime style, especially for those child like moments of wonder

Also, artists' style will change through out life as we experiment with new techniques and improve or skills. It's impossible to stay with a static style forever. The chan... ]]> *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/22660430/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/22660430/ Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:26:21 PST
~~~~~

Vacation has ended ;_; farewell, home, and my beloved doggy I hope that dead snake in my dorm closet is still there by the time I get back. I also hope my tablet will make it on the flight back as well XD

Okay, so my last journal resulted in a flood of comments. I think around 1-2% of which disagreed with my factoids for various reasons. Actually, I really don't know because I have over 1000 unread comments, over 700 from the last journal. I will have even less time to read them after today so I'm going apologize publicly instead of comment by comment. If you think my factoids are false, unreliable, unbelievable, etc, I'm sorry, and I'm sorry if it offended you or given the public the wrong impression, or implied sexist bias between gay men and lesbians. None of those things were intended.

With that said, have a wonderful school year everyone!

]]> *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/22588340/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/22588340/ Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:14:28 PST Equality for the win!

~*~*~*~*~*~

1. Being Gay Is Not Natural

And real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning, tattoos, piercings and silicon breasts...

2. Gay Marriage Will Encourage People To Be Gay

In the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

3. Legalizing Gay Marriage Will Open The Door To All Kinds Of
Crazy Behavior

People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has
legal standing and can sign a marriage contract. Lamps are next.

4. Straight Marriage Has Been Around A Long Time And Hasn't Changed At All

Hence why women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

5. Straight Marriage Will Be Less Meaningful If Gay Marriage Were Allowed

And we can't let the sanctity of Britney Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage be destroyed.

6. Straight Marriages Are Valid Because They Produce Children

So therefore, gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our population isn't out of control, our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.

7. Obviously Gay Parents Will Raise Gay Children

Since, of course, straight parents only raise straight children.

8. Gay Marriage Is Not Supported By Religion

In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.

9. Children Can Never Succeed Without A Male And A Female Role Model

Which is exactly why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10. Gay Marriage Will Change The Foundation Of Society; We Could Never Adapt To New Social Norms

Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

Repost This If You Think LOVE Makes A Marriage!

~*~*~*~*~*~

I'm really pissed that gay marriage got banned again in CA due to people like...my family.

Mom: Of course I'm going to vote yes on Prop 8! I'm a Christian and I believe in a Christian marriage between a man and woman.

My stepdad: What she said.

Me: What happened to separation of state and religion? =_= Besides, you're Chinese and your 3rd and 4th husband is white. Remember how mad you were when one of the neighbors showed us hostility because they were against interracial marriages?

Mom: Being gay is just gross. I can't understand how they can have sex or why they would want to do that.

Me: WTF? That has nothing to do with you! What they do in bed doesn't affect you in any shape, way, or form! You won't die if gay people married, so why keep them from happiness?

Mom: Well, I'm a Christian.

Me: =_= And you wonder why I'm an atheist.

(In case you're wondering about the severity of my mom's blind religion syndrome, she said "Of course evolution isn't real, if it is, scientists would be making new lifeforms all the time!")

P.S. I have nothing against Christians, just the fanatical ones that spread misery.

~~~*~~~

Since we're on the subject of homosexuality, I'll add some fun factoids I learned in my Human Evolution and Psychology class This is not meant to offend! (if it offends you in anyway) I just think these are interesting facts that others might like to know.

1. On average, gay men have a wider and longer penis than straight men. XD

2. Homosexuality is mostly (but not completely) genetic, hence why gay parents do not equal gay children.

3. Around 3-4% of the male population is gay, around 10% of male super geniuses are gay (like Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo).

4. From an evolutionary perspective, one popular theory on the evolution of the "gay genes" in males is that the same genes benefit the mother.

5. So far, scientific research has not found definite "gay genes" related to women, and only 1-2% of women are lesbians.

6. Most gay men are gay by the time of puberty and will stay that way for the rest of their life. Women can become gay anytime and switch back and forth.

7. One observation during industrialization, later supported... ]]> *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/20714042/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/20714042/ Sat, 27 Sep 2008 22:28:46 PDT PLEASE READ EVERYTHING BEFORE COMMISSIONING ME.

Commission status is OPEN but there is a long waitlist so you may want to try another artist if you don't want wait. Sorry about the inconvenience.

General Commission info

If you are interested, send me a note with the title "Commission" and the following info in the following format:

Type (lineart, colored lineart, B&W shaded lineart, painting)
Style (anime, chibi, semirealistic, Asian oreintal)
Subject (a human, wolf, fish, landscape, etc)
Amount (headshot, bust, waist, fullbody)
Pose and expression (Standing, sitting, side view, smiling, angry, crying etc) You can also choose a head angle out of these
Number (Two people, three wolves, etc)
commercial use? (will you resale copies for profit) yes or no
Payment choice: (immediately or wait list)
Your Paypal account e-mail
Additional description and/or reference

If you plan to use the drawing for commercial sale or profit of any kind, you must tell me because I still hold the copyright of whatever I draw. The cost of the copy right varies depending on what your using it for and how much copyright you want (like full rights to resale or partial rights to put in a commercial game etc)

Any additional details and references on what you would like the drawing to look like is welcomed but it's optional. Feel free to tell me anything you think I should know. If you're not sure which style looks like what (anime vs semirealistic, etc) just link me a drawing with the style that you would like your commission to be drawn in. Questions are welcomed

I will note you back with the price and you can accept or reject it, or we can find a compromise. Also, it appears that dA's note system doesn't 100% of the time so note me again if I don't get back to you in 3 days.

~~~ Price Approximations ~~~

This is to give you a general feel of what the prices are PER HUMAN CHARACTER with examples of each, but remember the actual price won't be given until you've noted me with the specific details. In general, the lower price range for each type is a bust while the middle range is for waist, and upper range is for full body. Animals are around 3/5 the price of a human so if a human colored lineart is around $75, the animal equivalent will be around $45. Detailed background prices varies greatly depending the complexity of the background.

Types:

Lineart: $55-85
http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/20553639/ Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:52:55 PDT [link] provided by The Defenders of Wildlife.

I remember during one interview of Sarah Palin (Governor of Alaska and Republican Vice President candidate), she stated her objection towards abortion because she "values life". I guess by valuing life she meant she would pay $150 for a severed limb of wildlife like wolves and bears. Yeah, severed limb.

Not only that, but she supports aerial hunting which allows the bastards to chase the poor creature on a helicopter until they can't run anymore before they shoot them, which they usually miss the vital areas the first few times so the animal would suffer intense pain before death.

Since oil prices are so high, it's expensive to fly a helicopter to trophy hunt, so she proposed a bill that would cover the gas fee and other expenses for trophy hunters. She sure values life, doesn't she? More like she'll do whatever it takes to extinguish life.

Even though Alaskans voted down the bill TWICE, she overturned it on account of special interest (my ass). So not only is she a barbaric supporter of murder for fun but when the people don't agree with her, she just overturns their decisions. Now she's trying to take away the Alaskan's right to even vote on the issue since they always voted against her. [link]

Needless to say, DO NOT VOTE FOR SARAH PALIN AS OUR VICE PRESIDENT. (And if you can't vote, pester those who can )

Here's another video by The Defenders of Wildlife: [link]

If you support The Defenders of Wildlife, go to their website at [link] They have plenty of petitions you can sign (like this [link] ) and ways to donate or spread the word.

On a brighter news, the last time I made a major journal about wolves in Yellowstone was when they were removed from the Endangered Species Act. With everyone's help and support from around the world, the The Defenders of Wildlife and other organizations successfully sued the Bush Administration and won the court case. Now wolves in those areas are protected once more! Thank you all who helped!!!

PS this is not about abortion so stay on topic =_=

]]> *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/20348804/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/20348804/ Fri, 05 Sep 2008 22:18:46 PDT
Other than that, OMG BERKELEY! XD This place is so weird but awesome and yet scary at the same time. I'm pretty busy and getting busier with school but I've also been doing plenty of procrastination.

My Berkeley grown friend showed me around and took us to the coolest hat shop. There I bought a beret which was the BEST DECISION OF MY LIFE! My roommates and I had so much fun making crack French videos which can be seen on my facebook (my name is Wenqing Yan)

My dorm, which is called Stern, is at the foot of a mountain so my roommate Diane and I hiked all the time. There are turkeys on a hill... She found a dead snake on the way down and I kept it now it's hidden in my closet XD Oh and I named it Orochi

The bad thing about living at Stern is that it's right next to (like 50ft) away from the Hayward fault and just half an ago there was a small earthquake. I was soooo freaked XD I was like OMG I'm gonna die!! D: XD so if I never update on dA again, I'm probably buried under a pile of rubble.

On miscellaneous matters: The squirrels here are extremely friendly and some will even eat out of your hands. The infamous tree sitters are on the same street that Stern is on so when I walked to class, one waved at me from the top of the tree. There is vegan "ice cream" in the cafeteria which is basically bean paste that doesn't even melt so I made little duck sculptures out of the "ice cream". Once, I hallucinated and imagined my friend telling me that her roommate is from Kenya when there was no such thing =_= Berkeley does things to your mind, and I think I'm losing it but in a good way XD

]]> *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/19976262/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/19976262/ Fri, 15 Aug 2008 19:07:26 PDT

By an overwhelming majority the people wanted me to go with the second company and that's what I will do. My father's trying to work out a deal with them so that we can still keep the quantity to 2000 decks.

Lots of people have asked me for a scan or picture of the too blue cards and I have a picture but my scanner died on me a while ago. I can post the picture but I think the lighting might affect the color so it's not accurate. Plus, the card stock itself wasn't the quality thickness I ordered and that's not something that can be seen in a picture.

For the people who've suggested that I should get both, I was advised by my father not to because it's not good to have low quality product in the market no matter what the circumstance or price. So sorry about that.

So that's that. My father is working on the contract with the new company right now and hopefully nothing will go wrong this time. Sorry again for making everyone wait for so long. ;_;

In other news:

OMG college D: For some reason Berkeley starts before most colleges so I'll be leaving the comfort of my messy fancy room on the 23rd of August and into a triple dorm. Goodbye privacy ;_;

I'm rather depressed about leaving my beloved doggy so I've been gorging myself with yogurt, strawberries, and uber spicy jerky all at the same time (but I lost weight...somehow) The combined taste was...well it was different. The only other time I ate something so different was when I ate a bag of Cheetos dipped in caramel =_= If you're wondering why I ate them, let's just say it was that special time of the month....

I believe I've grossed you out enough have a nice day!

]]> *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/19335576/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/19335576/ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:25:19 PDT They have really out done themselves this time.

Berkeley was awsome! The campus is huge with lots of nature. The food is cheap (boba tea for $1) and there's plenty of good restaurants everywhere. I found out that the all boys dormitory looks like Hogwarts [link] [link] which made me want to be a boy XD I'll probably be always in front of the building trying to draw it and looking like some sort of perverted stalker XD One bad thing is that the art class I wanted to take is already full ;_; oh well, there's always next semester...

On our way home, my awsome roommate's awsome parents took us to an awsome place *drum roll* the MYSTERY SPOT!!! [link] XD in Santa Cruz. Here's the Wiki def [link] but it's not very accurate. Here's a more accurate explanation [link] but it's really complicated. Basically this place has irregular magnetic field and gravity, creating a slight lean [link] this is not the result of an optical illusion like some critics who have never even been there claimed. When you go there, you can actually feel the angled gravitational pull, which is not caused by "the brain trying to habituate to a slanted environment".

All in all, that place is pretty cool. Not really a mystery if you know your physics, and definitely not a optical illusion if you know your illusions. If you ever get the chance, go there and check it out. The tour is only $5

~*~*~*~*~In other news~*~*~*~*~

I got tagged! by

8 Random Facts

RULES
1. Post these rules.
2. Each tagged person must post 8 things about yourself on your journal.
3. At the end, you have to choose and tag 8 people and post their icons on the same journal.
4. Go to their pages and send a message saying you tagged them.
5. No tag-backs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. I have a phobia of human infants. They give me nightmares...
2. I have very pointy nails that I use to sculpt and to scratch the living daylights out of my enemies.
3. I'm double jointed, especially my thumb, which can bend a total of 180 degrees.
4. I hate the smell of cars and new shoes so I avoid shopping for shoes as much as possible.
5. My dog has sectoral heterochromia. Her right eye is brown, but her left eye is half brown and half blue. This is very rare because most heterochomatic dogs have one complete blue eye, and one complete brown eye.
6. I have the messiest room in all of existence. I've even smuggled petri dishes from my AP Bio class to grow fungi and bacteria in my room XD
7. If I see a dead bug, I will pick it up and keep it
8. I keep having two of the same dreams. One is in which my four cockatiels had dozens of eggs and they all hatched. The other is about how my pool filter broke so that bacteria and algae grew, and then evolved into other protists and fish XD I wish both dreams were true.

I tag *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/19220049/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/19220049/ Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:01:15 PDT < but they will be out, eventually... hopefully before college starts...

Which leads to the next topic: COLLEGE! I'll be gone for a few days for college orientation. It'll be so fun except for the 6 hours in the car from Los Angeles to San Francisco and then back again. I also got a bulky package in the mail today from Berkeley and feared it was a giant stack of paper work but it was actually two DVDs XD My summer assignment is to watch Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and The Ice Storm by Ang Lee. BEST SUMMER ASSIGNMENT EVER!!! BWAHAHAHAHA college rocks!

Be back in a few in a few days!!!

]]> *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/18861493/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/18861493/ Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:39:41 PDT < ) But this is my first time so I'll learn from my mistakes.

So aside from that... ARTIST BLOCK! In a good way...maybe? I haven't been replying or even checking dA for the past few says, not even my notes (which are pilling up) so sorry if you're waiting for a response ;_; I'm in a weird mood in which I don't want to think about dA or drawing. I get like this every once in a while when I'm in sate of "learning"...sort of. Basically right now I feel like surfing the net to read, look, and watch a bunch of stuff for future use so maybe it's a good thing and when the block is all over and done with, I might get better than before, or I might be so out of practice that I suck XD but either way, it can't be helped. I don't know when the block will be over and I'll probably be avoiding dA until then so sorry but I'll be back

Also, hint hint, the "learning" is partly for my research for Project WE MUAHAHAA!

]]> *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/18653367/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/18653367/ Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:27:50 PDT
While I'm quite happy about the aid for wolves generated by my element wolves series, I'm also quite irked by a number of questionable comments.

I've always believed that ignorance is the lack of knowledge while stupidity is the lack of ability to process knowledge, but in these cases, I'm not quite sure which is which.

1. First several people have "corrected" my Chinese that was part of my wolf drawings. Many Chinese characters were incorporated into other languages such as Japanese and Korean through out history. Understandably some people thought I was misusing Japanese or Korean. I have no problem with simple misunderstandings.

However, one person insisted that my Chinese was wrong and that I didn't even know how to write my own name because I used simplified Chinese. I was born in mainland China and I was taught simplified Chinese like the other 1 billion people in China. This person was from Taiwan and grew up learning traditional Chinese. So we have slightly different versions of Chinese, no big deal, right? Well, according to this person, I'm wrong no matter what because simplified Chinese was a result of the Communists trying to erase Chinese culture, and by using simplified Chinese, I'm like a Nazi because I use simplified like most Chinese people, just like the Nazi who all agreed to kill Jews. What? If that didn't make any sense to you, then you are perfectly fine.

2. I think it's quite obvious that I drew the wolf series to promote wolf rescue. The recent wolf delisting has already resulted in the untimely death of over 69 wolves; I think I have a right to be angry about that and I should also have the right to do something about. Apparently, several people believe I don't have that right because I'm just another stereotypical wolf lover who only cares about the cute and furry animals. I find it ridiculous that just because I'm trying to help one species, people would bash me for not helping another? Hello? I'm not stealing aid from other animals to give to the wolves and just because I'm helping the wolves now doesn't mean I have never helped, or never will help any other species of animals.

This happens every time. When I wrote about kids in Iraq, people bashed me about not talking about other kinds in 3rd world countries. When I drew "Selfish" to bring light to the 50,000 dog slaughter, people bashed me for caring ONLY about some dogs and not other animals. When I was angry about the puppy thrown off a cliff, people bashed me for caring about just ONE puppy. What, I have no right to be angry that a puppy died because it was JUST ONE puppy? And now people are telling me off because I ONLY care about wolves instead of lesser known animals. I'm ONE person and I can only do ONE thing at a time so just because I'm helping wolves right now doesn't mean I won't help other species. I thought this was a fairly obvious fact but after reading so many comments about the same irrational crap, I felt the need to to rant it out.

3. I'm not some dumb artist who can only draw and fail in academics. Not to brag but the fact that I'm valedictorian probably means I'm not as dumb as what some might think. This is why it irks me when people who have done zero research and have zero knowledge in ecology lecture me on how "wolves need to be killed because they are overpopulating, killing off all the prey, and will come into the city to eat people." Anyone who is not completely uneducated will know how false a statement like that is. At first I found it hilarious, but then I just found it sad. It's partly because of people like this that innocent animals are being killed for no real reason.

4. This has nothing to do with the wolves but it irked me on an equal level. I'm an atheist, so what? But I've received several comments that went something along the lines of this "I think you're cool and we like all the same things, we could be good friend, but you're an atheist/ but I'm afraid of atheists."

What? Seriously, I thought we lived in modern society, not the witch hunt era. My best friend is Christian, my entire family is Christian, my college roommate is Christian and we all get along fine. I'm just as good as any of them. My mom was angry when I first became an atheist because she thought that without my fear of hell for doing wrong or incentive of heaven for doing good, that I would stray from the right path. Is that why some religious people are afraid of atheists? Are they afraid that I'm someone without moral standard because I don't believe some divine being is watching my every move? I won't go into details on why I became an atheist but I can assure all religious people out there that it's not so that I can do whatever I want without fear of punishment. There's no need to be afraid of me because I'm not going to stab you just because... ]]> *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/18271683/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/18271683/ Sun, 11 May 2008 10:47:18 PDT
The price is set $15 per deck and shipping shouldn't cost too much because cards are fairly light and small. I will have about 2000 decks in stock so don't worry about running out of stock.

Soooooooooo yeah *cough* er....I'm 18 now D: What that means is that my mom can legally kick me out of the house now Awsome... I feel so ancient =_= where are my bygone days of youth?! T_T

I know I haven't updated anything in a billion years (hyperbole...) but I will start drawing again once I'm done with my AP Biology exam which is...tomorrow! (crap, I need to study) After that I will be working on a few end of the year school projects and preparing for finals. I will also have to write some BS speech about the great times in high school because they made me valedictorian. D:

Once I start updating, you can probably expect the following:

1. A very strange video (that will be on Youtube) about conservation and global warming. This will be my AP Bio final project but my friends and I will try to make this very entertaining and educational at the same time.

2. 3 requests for 3 awsome friends, two of which wants some Naruto related fanart. Believe it! *gets shot*

3. A series of 10 elemental wolves. I already have them all sketched out, I just need to ink and color them. If I decide to sell these as greeting cards, 50% of the profits will be donated to wolf protection programs (I need the other 50% for college ;_; )

4. A giant Evangelion poster that will have the 4 pilots. (But I might not do it, though I already have it sketched out)

5. A secrete project! *gasp* Code named Project WE which I will work on for the next few years (yeah, it's that big). But I will post promotional art every now and then

Well, I think that's all. Sorry again for being away for so long but I'll be back soon!

]]> *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/17935791/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/17935791/ Sat, 19 Apr 2008 22:53:58 PDT
Anyways, once they accept the files, they'll give me an exact price for the total cost of printing so I'll be able to give you guys a set price as well. From the looks of it and my calculations, each deck should be $15 without shipping. I hope that's a fair price but if it's not, I don't think I can go any lower. The stupid unfair truth is that I got into Berkeley but I didn't get any financial aid fromm FAFSA at all because of my stepfather's high income. They don't care if I rank #1 in my graduating class or that my stepfather won't help me at all because I'm not his real daughter, but that's not what pissed me off. People with lower grades actually got so much aid that they can afford better housing just because their parents earned less money. I thought FAFSA existed so that low income families had an EQUAL opportunity to go to college, not a better one. This is reverse discrimination that says if you don't work as hard and make as much, it's not just okay but actually better because you can get more free money and live a better life this way. Why work your butt off when you can be lazy and get more? Sorry for my rant there, but I guess my real point is I'm sorry the cards can't be cheaper because I really need the money to pay for college. I don't want to get in debt as the first thing I do in the real world so I hope you guys will understand. When the cards come out, please buy them or tell your friends, I seriously need the help ;_;

Thank you for reading!

]]> *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/17812452/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/17812452/ Sat, 12 Apr 2008 12:05:46 PDT
I'm sure most of you have already heard this since various popular DA artists have already talked about it but just in case you haven't, Orphan Works is a bill that Congress is trying to pass which will legalize art theft and take away your rights to your own creations unless you register every single one of your works including sketches, paintings, photographs, videos, music, EVERYTHING considered art. It basically say, if you don't spend your money to register your work, your work is an orphan that nobody wants and can be legally stolen. The law, as it is right now, says that a work is copyrighted to its creator the moment it is created, without us ever having to register anything. This is the law in the world right now but the US and UK are working to replace the current law with the Orphan Works law THIS SUMMER.

Why would something so stupid be passed? Well, it's all for money! It costs us artists money to register our work, and if we're losing money, the private registry businesses will gain money. Also big art companies who want to use our art without paying for them want this bill passed so they can take and steal all they want without fear of lawsuits. These companies pay millions to congressman to bribe them to pass this otherwise ridiculous bill.

How can we stop this? It's simple, just call, e-mail, contact in any shape, way or form, your representatives be it state or senate and tell them why you are against this bill. Here's contact info [link] and here's the petition [link] . Also spread the word by posting this in your journal entries. I found out about this bill because I read the journal entry of so please do the same and help spread the word. As artists, we need to stand up together to fight for our rights.

But if by some unforeseen reason this horrible bill does become law, what we can do is put GIANT ugly watermarks on everything that says something like "Copyright to _________. Don't like this watermark? Well too bad! Blame the Orphan Works law." This way people can steal and use our art all they want but they'll just have to deal with the ugliness XD

For more information, read [link] and listen to [link]
or check out 's journal with a more detailed summary of want kind of rights you will loose due to this Orphan Works bill [link]

New Info: has informed me that this bill is not as bad is it sounds and linked me to this [link] which basically says our rights will still be protected as long as we have a signature and contact information on our works, if we don't then other's can use them because it appears that they were abandoned. I still have problem with this. I didn't put contact information on all of my works on DA and even if I go back to do that, it's useless because people have posted my stuff all over MySpace and Photobucket. It's also easy for people to edit out the signature and contact info unless everything is heavily watermarked and ugly. Basically, even if the bill is not as bad as it seems, it's still bad because it says if someone wants to use your work but doesn't how to contact you to ask for permission, then they can just take it. This kind of crap happened to me multiple times where someone claims they don't know it was my work and that it was copyrighted to me even though it has my signature so they used it as promotional emo band posters. This bill would legalize what these people did to me and many others so that it can happen to you as well and you can't do shit about it because it's legal. One source says the bill will take away everything, the other says it will take away the rights of those who don't have contact info for their work, either way, I think it sucks but you might think differently.

]]> *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/17612034/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/17612034/ Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:38:08 PDT
We hiked a bunch, during the day and during the night (we were stumbling into each other at night...) On day 2 we hiked up a stream by jumping from rock to rock like ninjas and we called it X-Stream hiking (oh the puns...) but since were couldn't find the road pack down to camp, we had to jump back down the stream, except by then we were so tired we were stumbling into the water. We found lots of frogs, bugs, and even a turtle while we were in the stream. Day 3 we spent kayaking in the ocean during which I realized I get sea sick very easily XD. Then we walked around the beach and tide pools poking anemones and looking for fossils (we found quite a few fossils and a geode!) At night the wind was super strong so we built this giant fort out of camp tables so we could have a bond fire and not burn the place down. Today we talked about some conservationist issues and played more games on children's monkey bars, after which we were banned from by the campground officials because "the play ground is for children, not teenagers and (36 year old) adults". After that we bid farewell and returned to civilization (not that we were actually away from civilization to begin with. I mean come on, hot showers and ice cream? We can't escape civilization!)

MUAHAHAHA so that was that, now I need to return to school mood and prepare for the up coming AP exams in May =_= Oh yeah, I got reject from Pomona College ;_; *sob* oh well, I'll just go to Berkley instead, or maybe UCLA... but probably Berkley, anyone here who's going with me?

]]> *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/17546130/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/17546130/ Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:53:08 PDT
Aside from that, I've been unbelievably busy lately. I know I promised to have the Augen Auf cards up for sale a long time ago but I'm sorry to say I'm still working on the editing. There isn't much work left to do but I've been so busy I just didn't have time.

Reality is slowly catching up to me as I get closer to 18. I just got into UC Berkley, UCLA, UC San Diego, and UC Santa Barbara. There is one other private college, Pomona of the 5 Claremont colleges, that I've applied to but I don't know the result yet. So yeah, I'm going to be an adult soon.... Farewell youth and freedom ;_; Hopefully I'll be able to sale the cards soon to earn some money to pay for college. =_=

Have a nice weekend everyone!

]]> *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/17216796/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/17216796/ Thu, 06 Mar 2008 20:53:38 PST [link] but you can google it and a ton of links will show up.

Shocked? Angered? Disappointed?

While some people believe the video is a hoax, experts and vets who have examined the video strongly believes that the puppy was real and alive at the time of the toss. The reason the puppy isn't moving is believed to be cause by the plastic white tie around its legs

The bastard who did this is identified as David Motari and although whether its truly him or not is "under investigation" current evidence strongly suggests that it is him (since his family has refused to speak to the public, instead of objecting to the act). No official identification has been released in order to protect him from angry mobs who threaten to throw him off a cliff and see how he likes it. His home address and number has been posted over the net by hackers but he is currently stationed in a marine base in Hawaii.

The Marine Corps are investigating the matter and if Motari is prosecuted, the worst he'll get for committing this horrendous act of cruelty is to be expelled from the marines, and/or possibly fined and jailed moderately. However, it appears that the thousands of angry Americans will do worse things to him once he's out of jail.

I know there are many brave and kind soldiers that help and adopt animals from Iraq instead of throwing them off cliffs but we can't ignore the darker side of humanity. This isn't the only evil act by American soldiers, beside the video of soldiers making Iraqi kids run for water, there is another one showing Soldiers throwing rocks at an crippled dog and talking about killing it. And don't forget these are just examples that are caught on tape, who knows how many acts of cruelty were actually committed?

Why are these kind of people in the military armed with the most advanced weapons for killing?

]]> *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/16996366/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/16996366/ Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:27:18 PST [link]

It looks like the wolves have been delisted but the effects won't happen until March. But when March comes, this is what could happen to the wolves:

"Today, the Bush/Cheney Administration is stripping these amazing animals of vital federal protections, officially opening the door to the shooting, trapping, and killing of up to 1,200 wolves.

Under existing state management plans -- plans approved by the Bush Administration -- all but 300 hundred wolves could be killed. That’s 80% of the wild wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies!

Idaho officials want to use aerial gunning to kill wolves in their state. (this is what aerial gunning in Alaska looked like [link] now it'll be in Idaho too) Wyoming agencies have left the door open to the use of traps and poison to eliminate wolves. And officials in both states -- and Montana -- have proposed wolf hunts."

The wolves look pretty doomed but fortunately it's not end of March yet and there is still time to make a difference. The Sierra Club plans on suing them. Also the Defenders of Wildlife are working to save them like they did before. This happened once and they fought against it and won so please help them out again. You can sign the petition [link] or help fund their ongoing legal work (to sue stupid Bush), on-the-ground advocacy efforts and proactive conservation programs to save wolves and other wildlife, they need to raise at least $125,000 by March 20th.
[link]

Please help and sign and/or donate!!! I will donate at least $30 myself. If you're wondering if suing Bush would actually work, it just might. Not too long ago (a week or two I believe) the Supreme Court declared Bush's decision to allow sonar practice that are harming marine life in the coast of California illegal and forced the U.S. marines to stop. So our donations to fund this lawsuit can help the wolves, would you please contribute if you can? And if not, you can still sign the petition [link]
Thank you!

]]> *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/16984344/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/16984344/ Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:19:29 PST
"As soon as tomorrow (2/21/08), Interior Secretary Kempthorne is expected to announce the elimination of federal protections for hundreds of endangered wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies.

Please take a moment right now to call the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 1-800-344-WILD (9453) and deliver this simple message:

“My name is ________ and I’m calling from ______ (your city), _______(your state). I understand that the federal government may remove wolves in the Greater Yellowstone and Central Idaho regions tomorrow from the list of federally protected threatened and endangered species.

I want your department to know that I strongly oppose the weakening of protections for these wolves and expect you to fulfill your obligation to secure a lasting future in the Northern Rockies for these amazing animals.”

The lives of hundreds of wolves are at stake. Please call tonight (2/20/08, but it's too late for today) before 8 PM Eastern Time or first thing tomorrow morning (we still have time to do that, although I have school in the morning... I'm gonna try to call during class...)

In a matter of hours, newspapers across the country could be reporting on the Bush/Cheney Administration's expected announcement … and its potentially devastating impact on some of America’s most beloved wolves.

But today I need your help to let these federal officials know that Americans love our wolves and want to see them protected.

Please call the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 1-800-344-WILD (9453) and speak out for our wolves. Leave a message if you can, and remember to let us know that you called.

Respectfully,

Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife"

here's the official website for more info [link]

This is an actual footage of people hunting wolves in Alaska. The footage is old, but the act is still carried on even today.
[link]

So yeah, I'm not surprised that Bush is so stupid as to allow this but I'm still just as pissed. If you love wolves, or nature, and want to help protect these poor animals, please help out by calling. Thank you!

oh yeah, if you missed the call, you can still sign the petition here [link]

]]> *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/16886969/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/16886969/ Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:42:29 PST .............
.. ....

..
.... http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/16651872/ Wed, 30 Jan 2008 22:44:27 PST
Now all the parents at my school are freaking out and there are police everywhere while all the students are pissed that all the school events are canceled. =_=

Why can't people look past each others skin colors and get along?

For more info about the shootings: [link]

]]> *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/16337460/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/16337460/ Wed, 09 Jan 2008 23:02:48 PST
After all the changes are made, it'll take the company about a month to print all the decks, which will then be shipped to me. After I receive the shipment, I will take photos and scan some samples to post on DA. The company said that since these are not regular poker cards, they're not exactly sure about the price yet so I can't give you guys a set price for a deck but it should be around $15-20. I hope that's a fair price and I'm really sorry that it'll take so long. I originally planned to have a different printer so it would take less time (and I made adjustments to the cards according to that requirement but the current company has different requirements) but that didn't work out because the quality was slightly below my standards ;_;

]]> *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/15305821/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/15305821/ Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:19:37 PDT
]]> *yuumei http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/15165745/ http://yuumei.deviantart.com/journal/15165745/ Sun, 21 Oct 2007 21:50:49 PDT
But enough of my rambling, the point is, I don't know if I'll have time to draw a Halloween or even Christmas special this year because SAT is coming up, UC applications are due soon and so are the early decision application for the private elite colleges D: D: D: Why must everything happen at once? I still might be able to update some sketch doodles but I'm still sorry.

On a completely different note: WTF? "Selfish" has a mature filter on! Why? It's not porn! And I can't even see it which is stupid because if I drew, then I sure as hell won't feel "traumatized" to see it and sue DA or something like that. =_= DA, what has happened to you?

]]> *yuumei