Before we start, an overall view:
1. I did not cross the Sanzu River
2. I am not and was not a victim of H1N1
3. Competition is good
4. Internet is like water and electricity
5. How did I live without Internet again?

Happy new year. Whoever you might be... who ever it is reading this, I thank you lots. Makes me feel all fluffy and warm inside knowing someone out there still cares about this lot in the net. I was pleasantly surprised to find comments from 3 different people on my page concerning my disappearance. I appreciate the concern, all three of you

I spent my first few minutes of 2010 sleeping in a hot, stuffy van, waking up to the sounds of fireworks. But that's not much of a story at all unless you were at the RSC. How was YOUR new year celebration?



I hope none of you here needed confirmation from point number 2. I really do :\

Allow me to explain the last two.

I did not have Internet for my holidays.

Now, see, in the housing area where I live, only one Internet provider that completely reaches us. They call themselves Streamyx.

Oh, don't get the wrong idea just yet. They're not that bad. 'cept from the bad customer service. Buuuut they're not that bad.

Anyway, like I said, we didn't have problems at all with the Internet... when it was working. The thing about Streamyx is that they really enjoy cutting off our connection from the cyber world every now and then. It's like they're run by sadists.

Or masochists. Since they rarely (Never, actually, but I'm being nice) warn us before they cut the Internet connection, they sure get a lot of complaints. I pity the customer service people.

My dad would call in and ask them what was happening. They were either:

A) Upgrading,
B) Doing maintenance, or
C) Repairing.

Now, internet loss (without prior warning) happened at least once a year without fail. But it usually lasted for, at most, 3 weeks. But this year, it lasted for 2 months.

Streamyx said it was an upgrade process.

I'm no pro nor do I have any knowledge when it comes to this, but, seriously? Two months? A friend of my neighbour was doing business through the Internet. And guess what?

He bankrupted.

Those who really needed the Internet were spending more than before, with the petrol and food from Starbucks or whatever eatery with Wi-Fi. Wireless Internet access is not provided by every cafe over here, though the numbers are rising.

Probably succumbing to pressure, Streamyx finally allowed Internet access for a few days before 25th of December. A day or two after Christmas, it was cut off once again. Time to resume the upgrade, I guess.

Streamyx said that it was probably our modem causing the trouble. So they sent their technician to our place.



This sounds like a normal Internet-less story. But what made the whole thing somehow scary was that there had been several burglaries in my lane. The robberies all happened during the "upgrade". I didn't even notice, until the "technician" from Streamyx came to our house to look at our modem.

And he literally LOOKED AT our modem. He just stood there, stared at our modem, then saying the cable isn't compatible with my mom's Macbook, and that was that.

My mom was furious. She wondered whether that technician was a technician at all, and not some guy who looks inside a house just to rob it better. And she's been using the same cable with her Macbook since '08. "So why the heck is it suddenly NOT compatible?" she asked. The guy shrugged.

I don't know what happened after that, but basically the "technician" didn't do much. My mom didn't allow him further into the house, even if he wanted to "look at" our computers too.



My mom did make a couple of calls. They kept passing her call around whenever she asked what was happening. Some of them replied by reading from some history logs ("A technician came to your house to fix the problem on <insert date> at <insert time>... correct?") but my mom was all, "No, I don't want history. I want to know what exactly is happening NOW."

The whole issue was resolved when the call was passed to some chap named Marvin or Melvin or something like that. I'm not sure what happened (wasn't there) but the next day, two technicians came and actually DID something. I'm not sure what, I wasn't up at the time. And I wouldn't want to bug them anyway. The point is, Internet was BACK.


We got Internet back on the last day of 2009. It felt it was faster than before, but, thinking back, it was probably because we haven't seen a site load for a long time!



But seriously. Just because we have no alternatives, these people think that they can do things in whatever way they want. Well, actually they can. But it's just not right.


I can't wait until P1 WiMax expands its borders.



This big mess really taught me something, though. Internet is... well, a necessity to most of us. Without Internet, communication is practically cut off. Heck, when I logged into Facebook for the first time in two months, I missed so many things I decided to not catch up. I'm glad I don't do Twitter or blogs. That would suck.



Oh, don't worry. I wasn't in a state of depression when Internet was gone. I was playing Dragon Age. Hehe.


Again, I'm grateful to you folks out there who asked about my inactivity! I'm entering one of the most important years of my life as a highschool student. 2010 will be one hectic year; catching up with last year's syllabus and preparing for he national exam. The final, final, FINAL national exam ever. Phew! Since I really sucked last year, I should work even harder this year. Daymn. This is going to be the most hectic year of my life.


This all leads to inactivity to doing other things, though. Drawing isn't top 3 on my priority list, but it's certainly somewhere around number 5. I wish I hadn't delayed coming back to DA. Just when I thought of it, Internet died. No use regretting now, I guess.



I realize that, especially after my absence, this post would come and go without a word, but I just want to say that I missed you guys, whether these words are read or not.


But if they are... What's up? Any news? Seen Avatar yet? (For the record, I haven't)

I've been watching zombie movies.

Anyway.

Don't you hate it when you planned to say something awesome, only to immediately forget what it was?


... Anyway.

How ya' all doing? You might notice the new... "art" I posted. And the eccentricity that came along with it.


To tell you the truth, I forgot about deviantart.

I forgot.

That's like forgetting to bring my arm to school.

Or like forgetting to put on underwear.


The point is, I forgot about deviantart. I think I may need to reconstruct my hand to go back to drawing o_o Speaking of hands, I burnt my left hand with scalding oil the other day. One of the burn marks looks like a heart shape, and the other looks like a paramecium.

But enough about that.


How are YOU? Anything new that I should know? New pet? New hair? New pants? New eyeball?

Hello,

OM NOM NOM

OM NOM NOM

OM NOM NOM

OM NOM NOM

OM NOM NOM

OM NOM NOM

OM NOM NOM

OM NOM NOM

... I've been so busy. There are a lot of competitions going on and, although I joined few, it's hectic! Skit, solo, duet, band, and then there's the community orchestra x__x Not to mention, school orchestra too!

Of course, I'm fully content with the PCOC(Puchong Community Orchestra and Choir). I didn't go online last weekend because we had officially lauched the orchestra with an awesome performance! That means that we're an official orchestra now. Yay.


Then again, to those who aren't exactly interested in my musical endeavors, and are more interested in Pokemon:

Pokemon L/D!

Check it out! It's some community project to gather trainers! I'm trying to finish mine as we speak, but various activities are preventing me from finishing it! D: So send yours now! You can get the templates from ~illuminate001's signature or simply follow the following link:

[link]

The files are .PSD, and, according the ~illuminate001, you might not be able to open it if you don't have Photoshop CS2 or higher.


And, finally, to those who aren't exactly interested in Pokemon, and are more interested in something else:

OM NOM NOM

I just wanted to get rid of the tag post.


Oh, and I've recently watched a very good movie. It's called Slumdog Millionaire. I like it. Maybe you will too. Also try Son of Rambow.




On that note,











HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT TOO O:


I'm sorry. I'll just go take a shower and then go to bed. I'm sorry.

Hello,

Lately... I've been meeting with a lot of cockroaches. One even came to school... x___x

Anyway. On to the tag. A friend showed this to me, and she is not a deviant. Nor does she have any webpages featuring any form of artwork.

+
Collection of random questions for drawing artists everywhere!

1. Can you define art?
No. I can't.

2. State five things about you.
Five? That's quite a lot, and I very much enjoy my privacy. But if you insist:
a) My longest finger(middle) is about 7.4 cm
b) My smallest finger(pinky) is about 5 cm
c) There are those days when I feel like doing nothing but run around at the park
d) There are those days when I feel like doing nothing but sleep in my room
e) I have stated four useless facts about myself

3. How many times have you been tagged?
A few times. One or two. I'm not very tag-able...

4. Do you enjoy studying?
No, I don't. I know a few who does, though... Wonder how that feels like.

5. How messy is your working space, exactly?
Um, gee. I don't know. There are papers scattered all over, remains from the latest art project are still on my desk, a bunch of letters are messily piled up on my scanner, a small bag of chocolates is right in front of the monitor, and the wires are all tangled up like a bunch of snakes strangling each other. I also see glimpses of pens and pencils among the papers, but no eraser. My desk is definitely not dirty, though. Just unorganized.

6. When you are not an artist, who are you?
A musician, I guess. Or a comic-reader. My first years of Internet involved webcomics. LOTS of it. I was a typical "ghost" reader.

7. Have you ever went to an art class/course?
No, I have never been to art classes, except for the compulsory ones in school. The only "art class" I go to is the Internet. Yay for web-tutorials and friendly artists!

8. Do you, currently, make profit out of art? If no, would you do so in the future?
No, I'm not and probably never will. Who on Earth would want my drawings up on their wall? (Or on any object, for that matter?)

9. Photography: Art or no?
Art. Please don't argue.

10. Literature: Art or no?
Art. Some poems and stories are just so wonderfully written, just like how some paintings are just so wonderfully painted.

11. Have you ever attempted to start a comic of your own? Or do you already have a comic of your own?
A webcomic, yes. Hahaha... I've left it dead for a while now... Maybe I should update... yeah... It's about time we get to the drama... >_>

12. At what age did you first develop an interest in art?
9 years old. Now that I look back, the drawings were horrible. I still keep them, though. I wonder why...

13. Are you good at designing posters?
No, I don't think I am. I'd need plenty of opinions beforehand.

14. Do you procrastinate?
Yes. Stop asking this. We all do, even in the smallest amounts.

15. Do you enjoy meeting new artists in real life?
Oh my, yes. Yes, I do!

16. Do you smoke or drink?
No and no. Smoking and drinking results in a horrible smell and horrible health.

17. Glasses?
Yeah.

18. Do you like anime and/or manga?
Sure.

19. Do you like Marvel?
Sure.

20. Is there a particular art style that you dislike?
Nope.

21. Were they any video games that you grew up with?
I grew up with Pokemon. Pokemon Blue. That was my first one.

22. What is your birth date? (Include year)
September 29, 1993.

23. Would you like your significant other better if he/she could draw?
Huh? I don't care. It'd be nice, but I don't care much about that.

24. Do you have a special case just for your ink pens and/or drawing stationaries?
Yeah. It's red and is filled with ink pens. From two years ago.

25. What's your height?
153cm. Convert that yourself. What an odd question. O_o

26. Are there any people who you'd like to collaborate with?
Oh--oh, YES. Of COURSE! I'd LOVE to! Oh wow. I mean, I'd say who they are, but, ah, I don't want to. >_<

27. When was your latest artwork completed?
Two days ago, I think.

28. Are you different in real life than in the Internet?
Am I? I don't know. You tell me.

29. Do you have a family member who draws for a living?
No.

30. Finally. How far do you think you have gone, compared to the first time you ventured into drawing?
How far? Wow... I'd say really far. I mean, I started off pretty bad. Clueless. Hopeless. Did you know that I used the Dodge and Burn tool to shade and light? Wow. I'd say I've come pretty far, and I hope that I'll keep improving. I mean, there were times when I was told how much I suck at drawing(and, man, did it really HURT), but oh well. At least I try.

+

Now I shall tag 6 victims (and hoping that the tagged people will acknowledge this):

Arranged in no particular order. I was skimming through the watchlist.




And, if you're not tagged but found this tag interesting, then I tag you too.

So, uh, tag. You're it.





There's no one reading this, isn't there?