We

During the fall of 2011 I was in a nonfiction writing class. One of the major papers I wrote was entitled "We." I wanted to express the times in my life where I felt like I was part of something bigger than myself, whether it was my own family, my extended family, part of a this country, or as a missionary. I did a terrible job because I didn't have enough time to really understand what I wanted to show. I have been thinking about this a lot lately. This week I went to a pageant and I got a chance to talk to a member of the cast (a friend from 10 years ago). He was part of this huge unified endeavor and it made me a little jealous. Throughout my life I feel as though I have rarely felt that type of unity that I sense is common among sports teams and plays . Which is something I kind of crave. I think that is one reason why I am willing to comment during classes, although I rarely talk to the people around me because it is against my natural inclinations. I consider myself an introvert. This is quite the internal battle at times this desire to be part of something more... but without reaching out to talk to people. It's kind of problematic really.

Pixel Art and Other People's Projects

So my brothers were working on a fairly simple computer game (It uses an OpenSource game called TripleA that is basically Axis and Allies). They wanted to do it based on the TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender.* I volunteered to do the pixel art for the units, and I have been thoroughly enjoying it although it has taken quite a bit of time and effort. But here they are. Hopefully if you are familiar with the series you can see some resemblance. 

They are 48x48 pixels and meant to be seen at this size. 

The Earth Kingdom

The Fire Nation

The Water Tribes

The Air Nomads/White Lotus

Sometimes I just think it is interesting though how much easier it is to be motivated to do other peoples projects then my own... But only sometimes. It might partially depend on how enjoyable it is to work on it.

*This art and blog are in no way associated with Avatar: The Last Airbender

Socks

My sister gave me a pair of socks that epitomize how I think of socks. Ironically they look like shoes, which is not the point.

Here they are as normal a pair of little purple shoe socks as you can get. But flip. . .

and they have little monsters popping out!
I like exciting, colorful, and weird socks. I have ones with reindeer, strawberries, rainbows, and sheep to name just a few. And compared to the rest of my wardrobe they are beyond boisterous (and garish). Normally I wear plain jeans or dark pants and monocromatic T-Shirts, polos, or v-necks. I feel much more comfortable wearing relatively plain clothes. But I like exciting socks. I think this is because they don't always show. Socks are rarely the first thing someone notices about you. Thus, I feel like I can wear them and show my slightly odd self but as a footnote (don't mind the pun) not as the main point. Thus these socks that are more wild then say a pair of plain white socks are not as wild until you flip them up and reveal a little monster, almost as an afterthought.