Update

Hi...

Been busy sorting things out in my life. My physical health has gotten a lot better. My mental health has also improved. But still I always think things could be better. I should work harder in every aspect of my life. Not give in to laziness. And I've gotten soooooooooooo lazy the past years. At least compared to how I used to be.

Written somewhere around may 2015...

The same but not the same

It's been a while since my last update and so much has happened. But then again nothing happened much really.

I still have this auto-immune disease. I still feel sad and lonely once in a while (but who doesn't). I still enjoy my k-drama's and Thai lakorns. I still watch a movie every now and then. I still meet up with my friends. I still like to play around with Adobe programs. I still love eating delicious food even if preparing it myself might not be as good as the original dish. I still love my parents (oh my). I still miss my relatives overseas. I still haven't been able to visit them. It's been 5 years now.

Processing food

Been cleaning up en compressing my harddrive. Wish I had the money to purchase the all and powerful Mac Pro! I'm not technical oriented, meaning I don't give a d*rn as long as it works to my needs.... Besides I don't have the patients to figure it out on my own. I'd rather have a technical nerd explain it to me than trying to grasp to notion of :

* The Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor
* 64-bit architecture
* L3 cache
* DDR3 ECC SDRAM at either 1066MHz or 1333MHz
* Error Correction Code (ECC) corrects single-bit errors and detects multiple-bit errors automatically. That’s especially important in mission-critical and compute-intensive environments.
*24 virtual core
*Performance is enhanced because Hyper-Threading enables the processor to take better advantage of the execution resources available in each core.
* A bidirectional, point-to-point connection — called QuickPath Interconnect — gives the Intel Xeon processors quick access to the disk, I/O, and other Mac Pro subsystems.

myself HAHA. Something as basic as this is sold at the minimum price of $2499.00 -€2035,40 OMG.
Ahhhhh, I'll keep on dreaming of me hitting a jackpot someday.....soon....

Chapters, drafts and sketches

Instead of continuing with the abstract thingy I mentioned yesterday, I took a complete different route....
I finished up adding a few more swatches in Illustrator...just to bulk up my collection  - -"...and came up with an idea for a page in my portfolio.
It all started with this idea on paper.

One night I was scribbling away on little pieces of paper I had laying around on my desk. After coming up with an idea on how to present my stuff to the outside world physically, (being it potential clients or employers) I now had to figure out what I want say and what my work is going to portray.
You can see the results in the following pics.
The colours I've chosen are just for contrast purposes...and to get a general idea on the physical look of the design.

Portfolio

Oh gosh, I was supposed to update more regularly but failed again.
I haven't been sitting still though...

Done some soulsearching....some what true...but not entirely.
Have been messing around with a portfolio or what not.
And I've figured it's pretty hard to put together something you haven't been able to put your mind to for quite some time. I wish I wasn't as ill as I have been. I wish I had enough energy to just be able to scribble on a piece of paper long enough that could have been of some use to me now, instead of having to take a 30 minutes break every time I moved an inch in or out of bed.

Other than fatigue, I was also lacking inspiration. But that's what you get from facing 4 walls(more or less) over a time periode of 2 years. And that's aside from visiting a few friends every now and then (once every 2 to 3 months). Just because I wasn't physically able to.

I've been missing photography a LOT. Once I was able enough to sit behind a computer for more than 10 minutes I finally bought a battery charger! And I've been taking some pics lately. Too bad I'm not happy with most of them hahaha. They're all nature and shots of doggies. I'll upload them soon.

But back to the portfolio. My interest are pretty broad in the literal sense of the word and so it's making it very hard for me to decide what to USE or create that's good enough for my portfolio.
I want to keep it simple and clean with an explosion of my eclecticness on DISC...LOL...
I've been wanting to create an abstract thingy with Photoshop today but decided in the end (after nearly finishing the darn thing) to RECREATE it in Illustrator! But then I stumbled upon some lovely color swatches that I HAD to add to my collection...and ended up adding them to my Illustrator swatch library.... I don't have a lot of money and so I just added them by hand which took me an entire evenening! Hence making it impossible for me to finish the abstract thingy in Illustrator before DAWN, having not even started with creating the much needed basic PATTERNS.

Abstract thingy in PS nearly finished

Swatches in AI

Anywho, I'll start on that first thing tomorrow! And so I bid you goodnight for now....

Poem for Nickelodeon

I got a little restless and so I've created a birthday card (poem card) for a

former colleague. His name is Nick (but my nickname for him is Nickelodeon), a married man with two children. He does have the link to this blog....so I hope he wont visit anytime soon, unless it's AFTER he received this card! I still have 20 days left, till the actual day, and so there's some editing time left.

The birthdaycard stays. 

But I think I'll keep the color variety, variety in layout and the font "Baar Sophia" for the poem part.

Everything else is susceptible to change haha!

Birthdaycard
Gefeliciteerd = Congratulations (in Dutch)

Bad memory

I can't recall when I've last written a letter...

Things used to be so simple. 

As a child you'd have the least worries in the world.

The hardest thing you'd have to think about was how to win at a game played outside with friends or how to please your parents in order to receive affection or praise (or gifts ....hehe).

Proverbs

Kind of hard to do when you're unwillingly put into a certain situation that makes you the way you are.
But I'd love to let go of what I am now.....a bit of a contradiction huh?
I'm trying so hard to literally let go of what I am. I am fighting this disease with all my might and will not give up until I've become my old self again. But then again I can never go back to the way I used to be so in reality I'm trying to become a better me. And that is sort of what this proverb means to me. Better oneself, pysically, mentally , emotionally and spiritually.

Delfts Blauw - Delft Blue

I'm inspired by the Dutch "Delft Blue" style nowadays. And so I've created a Delft Blue pattern, background, and Iphone wallpaper haha.

I started off drawing some vector images with Illustrator. I actually copied some photo's I've Googled and recreated them in Illustrator as drawings haha.

I only made 6 drawings, because I was getting drowsy and wanted to finish before I fell asleep entirely......

Food and stuff

I've tried something new........

DIM SUM pork flavored

It tasted great! It wasn't home-made though. Just a prepacked item I bought at an Asian convenience store.
I couldn't finish everything - -".... It was a bit too much for me alone. Moms didn't want to help eat some.
The only thing I did was mix the dip....... Haha. It was a mix of tomatosauce, dried pepperflakes and hot sauce.

Taken with my Iphone

Themed

Continueing the snapshot theme, I edited the pics I've taken this past Friday as polaroids also.

The "party" was held to celebrate our friend Hanneke for being selected to be this years bride for "Carnaval".

She's the bride of the "Boerenbruiloft" (farmerwedding literally translated) of our town, wich is part of the holidy "Carnaval".

EXPLANATION:

Carnaval is celebrated once every year around Febuary-March. The festivity was celebrated before it's actual set date nowadays and originated in the dark ages (13th-15th century) in the Netherlands. 

During the days prior to "Ash wednesday" 

(= a Christian holiday; the start of the 40 day abstinence/fast preceding "Easter") 

the community was completely indulged into mocking the hierachy of those days.

A temporary monarch ("Vorst" in Dutch), nowadays Prince Carnaval ("Prins Carnaval" in Dutch), will speak and/or mock staightforwardly and suggest the people to act unrestained. Wich was considered quite vulgar-obscene at the time.....haha. During the procession that's held straight through town, containing mostly the type of people the "common folks" love to to live without. 

Example of people joining the procession with the Prince at the front: 

* long-gone-nobles

* slackers

* gamblers

* drunks

* bossy women

* demons and savages

But also priests, monks and nuns joined in.

All in all, prior to the 40 days abstinence/fast, Carnaval allowed people to paint the town and do things they were normally prohibited to do. Their world was literally turned upside down in a good way....

Scattered polaroids of the evening in question

Digitally active

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, it's been a while again and I'm becoming more active on this digital highway called the internet.
Facebook has been a foe and friend of mine eversince I've signed on  in 2006 or so....and haven't done anything but accept a few friends and checked out some of their personal pages....
UP UNTIL a month ago.
Since then I've also posted stuff online. And even uploaded a few profile pics a week ago. LOL.

Just this tuesday I've received an email from a DiaryIs friend who has also disappeared from the diary radar haha. And so we've added one another on FB.


Just to note: I am one of those people who's quick to sign on to something new  BUT don't participate in the hype. I'm just curious by nature but also lose interest pretty fast if something doesn't hold my attention. Even if people lose themselves in the hype I'm more cautious and most of the time choose my own path in the end.

Tonight I'm visiting a friend of mine to celebrate a fake "hensnight" or bachlorette party.
We...."the people of this province in the Netherlands", celebrate this festivity called "Carnaval" (not comparable to the Brazilian one!) I'll post some pics on the next update.

Here are some pics I've taken with my phone during a little get-together I had with my friends a few weeks ago.

Fake coke on New Years Eve

Finally, after 2 years, I was able to recharge the battery of my digi cam!

And I've taken some pics with it for the first time during my "New Years Eve-get-together"

with a bunch of friends. They're all couples by the way. I am the only single person of the party, luckily they didn't make me feel like I am haha.

The first part of the evening started of with me and 4 of my friends having dinner, whilst cooking

it ourselfs on little pans/pots.

During the second part (chillin'-boozin'-chatting) two more friends joined the festivities (another couple). The third part consisted of champagne, fireworks watching, some more boozin', having a lot of fun and returning back home to get some shut eye.

Just keep in mind that I haven't touched my cam for over 2 years due to certain factors (and a low battery)....

So the images are quality wise pretty poor, if I say so myself.

That's the electrical pan/pot set.

Vectors & Typography

I've been working on some vectors like I've mentioned a few blogs ago.......  Well......they kinda s*ck haha.
And so I've been doodling with an emoticon tutorial instead. They're quite easy to make once you get the hang of the 'direct selection tool' options. I'll try some more icon designs later haha.

Vector EMOS created with Adobe Illustrator

The emo's are a creation I made a few weeks ago.
Here's something I started doodling with since this past Friday (12-02-'11). I wanted to try out this "stitching effect". After making the basic character style with Illustrator the rest was easy. I just had to assign that character style to whatever image, text or symbol I wanted and the program does the rest. Easy does it.

Icons in blue

Same icons but now in red

And here they are in yellow, just to give you a general idea

Close up, so you can get a better look @ the stitching effect 

Regal symbols with stitching added

I like this thingy

UBrand - ULabel

After playing around with lots of symbols, I decided to do something with my initial and turn it into a brand or label. Something that's stitched to clothing, jeans for instance HOOT!

Anywho......this ULabel stitch thingy made my interest turn to Typography. I love fonts and the things you can do with them! Here are the products of my imagination (and insprational tutorials) I made in Illustrator and PS for the past few days in chronological order.

U&D (Uma&Design) above the clouds

U&D glossy

U&D soft

"Seek not to know the answers but to understand the question" Old poster effect

"To reach perfection once must develop equally compassion and wisdom" Chinese proverb

Hue added, forgot the FONT name...jeez  - -" 

Another proverb ^^" 

Silly text making your eyes blurry, going to play around with layering and perhaps add some improvements some time again in the future

Added a color burn

Added a color blending option

Uma flowery initials

Uma flowery initials with a blue-ish light background

I was going for a dreamy atmosphere....... Anywho...I've done enough for today. My eyes are getting worse sitting behind the comp all this time. Reminds me of how I used to sit behind the comp doing stuff for school hahaha. I've had my share of all-nighters! Mostly just because I couldn't stop once I was in the flow of things.....not due to time deficiency LOL. But I also had some trouble with time management hehe..... Well, it's quite normal at that age I believe. Anything other than hitting the books is a better way to consume once time.

I rest my case for now.

Materialistic wishes

Lately I have been browsing for some goodies online, wishing to buy them one day for my own encouragement. I love electronical gadgets. I'm kind of a nerd in that department. Eventough the technical part can be a bit confusing. When it comes to cables, wires, connecting things and such....don't ask. I'm a fast learner when it comes to usage and getting an indept understanding of the equiptment.........just DON'T ask questions. lol

Anything related to photography, APPLE, Adobe or any sort of design grabs my interest too....haha.

Anywho, there's this funny item I once saw posted on a blog 2 years ago. I thought it would make a GREAT birthdaygift (FOR ME) haha, since I don't know a lot of people with the same quirky interest.

The item I'm talking about is a DSLR mug! There's also a vacuum insulated thermos shaped like a NIKON or CANON lens. It's SOOOOO realistic (I like that kinda stuff), people do mistake it for an actual lens haha.

Mug

Digital B-day gift

A friend of mine celebrated their birthday last month and due to the fact that he lives in Thailand, I of course couldn't congratulate him in person haha. So I created a birthday card for him in PS instead.

He once told me (a few years ago) that he loves candy.....but I apparently forgot because I asked him once more last month what he would like to have for a birthday present.
We have the kind of friendship where neither age, social status or heritage are important and so I truly value the little time we get to converse online (either by phone or comp hehe).
He'll always be silly Cyder to me haha.
Perhaps someday I get to congratulate him in person and treat him to a meal when I get to visit Thailand again.

Here's the result of my PS & AI work. The lollipop and flowery background are made in Ai and vector symbols found online. The rest is layered and finished up in PS.

Endless tears

Tears kept rolling from my eyes when I was listening to this song on my way back home from the hospital.
I don't know why but it reminded me of how I used to miss this special person in my life. The lyrics are literally telling my story. After ending my relationship with this person the feeling of missing became worse. The agony I went through lasted for 2 whole years. After which I promised myself to never fall that deep again.
But then again....you cannot control ones heart.
Nowadays I'm just cautious. When I even get the slightest inclination of leaning in too much, I'll stop myself midway.

Redesigned an old doodle & dinner pics

I've found a funny thing I made in Ai. The original image was worse that this version is haha.

It reminded me of some techniques I forgot all about.

Good thing I save all my unfinished files....well at least the ones I've made on my laptop during the time I still attended school.....(2 yrs ago already - -"). I'll spare my own dignity by NOT posting the original from way back when.



Ai abstract vector redesigned

This is still very amateurisch...but I had fun doodling with the tools I've rediscovered in Ai thx to the WACK original I found on my computer! haha



Finished abstract redesigned in PS

I've finished the abstract painting in PS by adding some layers, lensflares, glow effects, and some layer effects. It brightened up the whole thingy. The original (again found on a tutorial website) was supposed to convey a burning solarsystem. The jiddery waves surrounding it is supposed to be "smoke". Strange how there are different colours of smoke huh? Well I guess that's what makes it an ABSTRACT painting!

I'll try to make some vector icons while I'm at it for the next update.

"Mama"- noodles Tom Yum flavour
IPhone pic

Something totally different: MY DINNER. Yes I do cook. If you can call this cooking. This to me is called "lazy cooking".

It consists of:

1. Boiling water,

2. Add the noodles when the water is boiled,

3. Add any type of meat you prefer (or going by the packaging flavour)

In this case it's prawns or as they say in Thai: "goong".

But I didn't feel like eating prawns so I added chicken instead HAHAHA.

Very common to do so.

Especially if you don't happen to have prawns.

4. Add the spice mix (added in the packaging)

5. Add veggies

In my case I've added some bean sprouts (taugé in Dutch) and put a few Thai basil leaves and fresh sprouts on top for decoration. But I also ate it OFCOURSE.

I've only "decorated" my bowl for the pic. So I don't normally do this....for anybody.

What am I.....a restaurant chef? NOT.

6. EAT

In my case:

6. Take pics

7. EAT

View from the top....yummy?
IPhone pic

AI & PS

Here's some stuff I've done when practicing with Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop.

After the "Earth" poster I decided I needed some  more skills in AI. So I had some fun creating the Supercow.

I've recreated an image I found online. Changed bits and pieces to avoid copyright infringement LOL. Same goes for the Kitty. I just thought it was a cute image. And very easy to recreate hahaha....

Hey I've got to start somewhere.......

Earth poster, all PS

Can't sleep

It's 0:43 am........................I can't sleep.

Will turn off my laptop after updating.

Me in paper cut-out, my profile image.