The Dragon Fish Without a Name

Today, I purchased a fish :) I am technically not allowed to have pets in my apartment, so instead of getting a cute little beagle puppy I settled for a Beta fish. I wanted some of those freakishly huge awesome fish you can get at the pet store but I can't have an actual tank in my apartment either (harder to hide when the landlords come over) so I settled for a little bowl. Here is my fish :) He looks like a dragon.

He's kinda camera shy. Every time I would try to take a picture he would hide behind the plants. This is the best pic I could get. I had to hide and just slide my phone up and hold still until he got into a good position. It's good practice for when I get to work for National Geographic lol. He's sneaky. I love him already. Only problem is, I can't decide on a name. Any suggestions? 

Sunny Side Up

Today has been an awful day but also a fantastic day. It started out with me having to go to the dentist and get two fillings replaced. Halfway through the process my dentist decided to step out into the hall and talk to sales reps for 15 minutes while I was tilted upside down with a hole drilled in my tooth. I need a new dentist.

THEN, I barely made it to the gas station before I completely ran out of gas and it cost $45 to fill it up. It's never cost that much. Yay for insanely high gas prices. 

THEN, I went to work and despite my beliefs that work could not get worse than it's been, it did. I'm convinced the owners are going to lay me off cause they're plummeting out of business. They're slowly taking all my responsibilities and giving them to their son and the butt kissing manager without telling me. It was the cherry on top of the crap I put up with there. I've applied at 5 places in the past week and haven't heard from any of them. Job hunting sucks. 

BUT, I found out Three Days Grace released a new album last month. 

They are in my top 5 favorite bands. I can't believe it took me this long to find out they had released a new album but I downloaded it the instant I got home and it's amazing. Here's one of their awesome songs from the new album Transit of Venues. It's called Chalk Outline.

I also finally went grocery shopping after not having food for like 2 weeks. I have my Fanta and fettuccine alfredo :) 

I finally cleaned my room. It is amazing how much better it feels to have a clean room. I got my comic books up on my wall and they look awesome. I only have one more wall left to decorate so it finally feels a little bit like home. 

My day just got a little worse when I had to clean up the whole downstairs of my apartment because my roommate is a disgusting pig. I just found 2 rotting jack-o-lanterns covered in mold sitting in our kitchen. It was nasty. 3 bags of garbage....all from her. She spends all her time making out with her boyfriend so I guess she doesn't have time to clean. 

I'm not gonna let it ruin my day. I'm gonna watch The Office and Park's and Rec while eating my yummy dinner and then listen to Transit of Venues all the way through :) 

Flatbacks and Paper Cases

I am still in Bookbinding and I am LOVING IT. Some people think it sounds lame, but that is only because they don't know how freakin fun it is. At least to me. And every single other person who has ever taken the class. Here are my latest projects:

Flatback Binding

This book has cloth on the spine and paper for the rest of the cover. This is the most common kind of book, and is also my favorite one to make so far. I will probably make a lot more with this style of binding. 

It has handmade paper stuck on endbands. 

Paper Case Binding

This book was the most expensive to make so far. The cover paper was almost $10 for one sheet that is about 24"x? something. It's called St. Armand paper and it's handmade, which is why it's so expensive. Plus the seashell pendants for the front, the leather, the beads, the special thread for the sewn on endband shown in the last picture, plus all the text paper on the inside. It also took the most time to make this book compared to all the other ones. 

The leather wraps from the back cover around the shells in kind of like an 8 pattern to keep the book shut. 

This is a sewn on endband. I'm not happy with the color of it but I bought the thread without having the paper in front of me so I didn't realize how badly it didn't match. Hand sewn endbands are not nearly as common as stuck on endbands and they add value to the book. 

All my books are completely handmade, other than the closures (leather, seashells, beads) used on the paper case book. I am in love with making books and will probably keep making them for a long time. I have started a shop on Etsy and will start selling books when I have made more. I am too attached to the ones I've made so far since they're the first ones I've made. I have a feeling it's going to be really hard for me to let go of books I make, but all artists have to come to terms with letting go of their creations at one point or another. 

You're The Man

This is exactly how I feel right now.

Rev Theory

"Falling Down"

Goddamn, you're the man

Higher than the world around

Goddamn, you're the man

Watch him as he holds you down

Black pants tailored man

All your words are so profound

Black pants superman

With the self-inflicted smile

Stream line so refined

Fell into yourself and drowned

Walk tall, no remorse

I'm about to lose it

Take your money

Take your empty dreams

Break the cycle

Cut the cord that feeds

I'm out here standin' on the

Edge of insanity

So take your money

Take your empty dreams

Cause I'm falling down

Falling down

Cause I'm falling down

Falling down

Goddamn, you're the man

Higher than the world around

Goddamn hypocrite

Acting like you feel concerned

Neck tie, inside's

Darker than the desk you ride

I can't understand

Why you let them do this

Take your money

Take your empty dreams

Break the cycle

Cut the cord that feeds

I'm out here standin' on the

Edge of insanity

So take your money

Take your empty dreams

Cause I'm falling down

Falling down

Cause I'm falling down

Falling down

It's the blow back

It's the premonition

It's the contact

It's the termination

It's the blow back

It's the premonition

It's the contact

Only if you breathe

Only if you breathe

It's the blow back

It's the premonition

It's the contact (Only if you breathe)

It's the termination

It's the blow back

It's the premonition

It's the contact

Take your money

Take your empty dreams

Break the cycle

Cut the cord that feeds

I'm out here standin' on the

Edge of insanity

So take your money

Take your empty dreams

Cause I'm falling down

Falling down

Cause I'm falling down

Falling down

Election Day 2012

This is how I'm going to feel if Obama wins the election:

I had that exact reaction when I found out one of my friends was dating her ex again. And when I got home to find my little sister had gotten hot pocket cheese and muffin crumbs all over the carpet. It's been a Toby-comes-back-from-Costa-Rica kind of day. Go Mitt Romney.