i think we just got goth-served

[ans99]

we bought a new camcorder today to replace our dead optura 50!

well, technically it's used off ebay, so hopefully it will show up with all its parts attached. it's a panasonic gs-400, one of the better prosumer camcorders out there for our price range. it was actually kind of funny (and depressing)-- the original buy it now! price was 900 dollars, but we made a counterbid of 800 dollars, which was automatically accepted. so i guess that means that we could have probably gone lower... argh. everything is so expensive in the tech world, even used tech.

yeah, so expect to have a sorta kickass camcorder shoved in your face next time we meet.

in other news, we had two movie nights with friends in a row. last night we watched tokyo zombie and repo! the genetic opera with mario. leave it to mario to pick the weirdest titles (although i'm not blaming him for repo!, since that was technically my idea). i'm not sure which movie was odder, to be honest, although i will say that anthony stewart head (now and forever known as "tony head" for some reason on whedonesque) was the hottest thing ever in that movie, and his harmonizations with sarah brightman made me glad to be alive. thank you, darren whateveryourlastnamewas, director of saw 3 and 4, for making that special moment happen.

he also bought us ice cream as a belated birthday thing. that is, mario did, not darren wossisname.

tonight we watched happy-go-lucky with anna and anthony, and i was pretty similarly perplexed. i think we all were, honestly? the movie didn't seem to have a plot, and the main character was pretty much a carbon copy of pre-doctor donna noble except her job actually helped people. anna was annoyed with her within about five seconds flat it seemed. but we stuck with it, and we were rewarded with... meh, a non-ending for all intents and purposes. it was still entertaining and i liked the characters quite a bit.

after that we hung around a little while longer and ended up snarking and making up dialogue for a few dollars more, which is just... why did nobody tell me clint eastwood used to be that hot???

also, earlier today we stopped by central park (not the one in nyc, confused non-local readers) for some sort of hula hooping party that was going on. just tons of homemade hoops all over the green, and hippies (who owned the hoops, i'd suppose) wandering around showing people tricks. i've almost learned how to guide the hoop up above my head and back down, and how to shoulder hoop just by watching others get instructed. tomorrow we might go to ace and get the materials to build our own. i am far too excited about this, i know, but hoop dancing just looks so cool. for reference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juBHmLVYwD0 (lol, the first thing mario said to this was "she should get better taste in music" but i think he was mainly just jealous)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQRkWvMa_Zg (the girl i would marry in a heartbeat)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdm3LJxLxTM (hokay, that's some contortion work too, but still)

tomorrow ken and i are also going to the sspca, and who knows what we'll return with..... ?

finally, still taking feedback on my fauxpro website with drawings and photos mentioned in my previous post... http://ansate.moosheep.org/hieroglyphs/

things i'd particularly love feedback on:
-the directory name (i have been agonizing over this*)
-the functionality (can you find everything ok?)
-the art (do you think it's salable? is it ok to put up sketches of other people's photographs these days? and should the collection that's already up be refined more? i'm looking at you for this one alan)
-the bio (do you think it's too long and whiny?)

*you don't know how tempted i was to call the directory "buysomethinwillya"

Comments

[lidwina-n-siena.livejournal.com]

Ahem....as I was saying..

Anthony Stuart Head...::drools:: Ohmygoodnessohmygoodness!

That girl is hot (and flexible). I would marry her too.

[freyja.livejournal.com]

i know, i know. on both counts. man.

[eyeteeth.livejournal.com]

That dancing is something else! Can I call you "hoop faery" like one of the commenters on SaFire's video?

As for your website, I like it, the photos are pretty and you have arranged them nicely. I can totally imagine people giving you cash money for them. To facilitate this you have to put a prominent button on the page that they can click to buy, I think.

I don't think your bio is too whiny but I do think it comes across as arrogant in a way you didn't intend. In places it sounds as if you're saying you're too smart and talented to be happy. Do you think you can rework those parts?

[freyja.livejournal.com]

Can I call you "hoop faery" like one of the commenters on SaFire's video?

lol, only if i get as *good* as SaFire (which will probably never happen).

thanks for the feedback on the site. i have paypal now finally, but one of the problems i've run into with payment stuff is that i'm not sure i'm technically allowed to sell things direct from the site (it's a friend's server, running through stanford's something-or-other). so i'm not sure how to workaround that yet. thus the lame "email me!" thing.

In places it sounds as if you're saying you're too smart and talented to be happy.

BUT THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I'M SAYING EYETEETH WTF.

srsly, i'm glad i have you looking at this kinda stuff. for about two minutes i was torn between being really offended and really glad that someone was willing to tell me things like this. i never know how i come across to others and it's gotten me into trouble more times than i can count on the digits i have.

anyway, establishing that, could you tell me what parts in particular sound horrible? :/ because when i read it i just see "god what a mess this girl is."

[eyeteeth.livejournal.com]

Well, I hope you decided not to be offended, because I don't think that you are arrogant, just that your copy needs a little tweaking, to wit:

"i was too many things, a patchwork person with too many talents and too many interests, and i was distracted by my academic prowess"

You can see how that might come across badly, right? It's mostly the last part. The thing is, even if it's true, it usually sounds bad to complain about having too much of what is generally considered a good thing. Like those pop songs about what a drag it is to be famous. For the last part, consider something like "I was distracted by a desire for academic success." I think that probably expresses the idea better anyway; what do you think?

"i graduated with a b.s. in animal science a year earlier than my peers"

I see what you're getting at: you want to emphasize that you were pushing yourself too hard in the wrong direction. I think this may come across as trying too hard, though. I'd just cut out the part after "science."

On the sidebar: "the only label i will accept is artist. there is too much to do and see in the world to be anything less."

This is a somewhat alienating statement: the implication is that people who don't identify as artists are somehow inferior. Again, even if you believe this, it sounds bad, particularly to people you want money from! You want them to think of your artistry as something welcoming that can enrich their lives too (in the form of a nice print they pay top dollar for).

I know this kind of criticism can feel bad, but I am really really not criticizing you as a person (or as an artist). I just think your copy isn't sending the message you want right now. A few tweaks will make it way better. Let me know what you think. (I'm Waltering tomorrow through Thursday but the hostel has Internet access because we live in the future.)

[freyja.livejournal.com]

ooh, thanks for the suggestions on the lines :) i see what you're talking about now. stupid academics.

i'm not offended, i guess, so much as sad that i come across so badly when it wasn't my intention. it's less about this site or anything, just more that i just went through this foot-in-mouth/wrong perception thing with a group of people a week ago and now i'm terrified this same problem is going to follow me into my professional life. if anyone ever needed a pr agent it is me.

for example, the thing about the "label" was some sort of attempt to *not* be alienating by trying to express how i'm open and accepting of ANYTHING that could be considered in any way an art, or creative, or whatever. i don't want to be one of those people that is just like "photography or nothing YEAH!" or "culinary arts isn't real art" or whatever. but yeah, i could see how it might be looking down on people who aren't "artists"-- i guess the thing is they don't consider themselves as such but chances are i'd disagree with them. so what i said to try to convey that ended up sending the exact opposite message, argh.

i guess i should mention though that i wrote all this, including the dumb sidebars, not knowing at all what i wanted to say, so i have no problem rewriting this entirely. getting something like this right on the first draft didn't seem likely.

once again thanks for the honest feedback :)

[freyja.livejournal.com]

hokay, reworked the bio: http://ansate.moosheep.org/hieroglyphs/persona.htm

it's less standoffish, i think?

now to figure out what to do about those quote boxes...