Kysr_Gal

Name: Kysr_Gal
Joined On: Dec 31, 2005
Maintag: Kysr621
Age: 32
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Currently: Offline
Last seen: 8/24/08

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07/15/08

I got attacked by a fork

So tonight I have two gory stories to share. The first is not too bad, but the other I need to warn anyone who is the least bit squeamish. We are talking immediate vomit inducing type of story, so read on only if you dare. Perhaps I should have people sign something so I don't get sued.

I've never thought of forks as dangerous (unless of course you run with one held prongs-up with your shoe strings untied) until this past weekend. I was carrying a paper plate of food, barefooted, and the fork slipped off the plate. Can you guess what happened? It pitchforked my big toe leaving three evenly spaced bleeding puncture wounds. Now that is bad luck. It must have fallen at a perfect perpendicular angle to the floor for this to happen. Needless to say...OUCH!

Okay, are you ready for the really gross story? This was either in the New Yorker or New York Times, so it's one hundred percent true. This girl had a horribly itchy head for months and months and could not figure out what was wrong with her. Doctors theorized that it was a brain dysfunction that caused the constant itching--a signal of sorts that had gone haywire. It grew so bad she began to lose hair and would wake up with blood on her pillow from all the scratching all night. Well, one night she woke up with her pillow all wet.....it was brain fluid and brains. She had scratched straight through her skull in her sleep. The idea that this is even possible is incredible to me. I suppose it's not any different that the ocean slowly eroding away a cliff over time. Months of itching had warn away at the bone. Told ya it was bad, but interesting non-the-less. I'll be scratching my head with a lot more care from now on.

I love Family Guy so I'll end this with a clip:

Posted by Kysr_Gal @ 12:52 am EDT | Permalink | 10 Comments

07/04/08

All That Stuff About Putting Your Mind To Something Is Actually True

"If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything."

I've been away from gaming for quite a while for a couple reasons--well one of them is a GOOD reason. I got my first major trade book deals this year. In fact, I got three in a matter two months. I started an illustration blog back in 2004 and wrote pretty regularly about how I dreamed of illustrating picture books for kid. I practiced and tried my best to improve as an artist year after year, and some years I hardly got any work at all. I put everything I had into this dream for very a long time, and yes it's hard to keep the momentum going without seeing results, or at least anything to write home about. I guess it helps that even if I was never paid to do this, I'd still illustrate and write because I love it so much and because it's what I'm driven to do. It's what keeps me up late at night, and makes me feel excited in the morning when a wake up. I can't imagine life without children's books and the amazing world found within them.

My very first trade book assignment came in a couple months ago from the children's book publisher, Sleeping Bear Press. The story: "The Little Green Pea". I can't share any story line details yet as per my contract. Anyways, this in and of itself was enough to keep me excited and motivated for a long time - I was walking on clouds.

A month later, another book assignment comes in from Charlesbridge called, "Raj" about a cat that lives in a library. Wow! I couldn't believe this - two books hooray! I was over the moon!

A week later, I get a trade book offer from Dutton/Simon and Schuster (!) to illustrate "Baby Moose Visits". By this time I was feeling faint! What was going on? All this work in a matter of two months?

Three fantastic stories to illustrate, what more could an illustrator possibly ask for? My biggest dream is not only realized, but bypassed. I am booked solid for a year in advance which means for once I know I have money to rely on instead of wondering from month to month what I can or can't afford

To add to this amazing year, a fourth possible contract is being discussed with a UK publishing company.

Let's just say I haven't been sleeping well recently - but it's the kind of insomnia you really don't mind. I can't begin to express how appreciative I am of the generosity friends, other artists and fans of children's literature have shown me. Thank you for all the kind comments and encouragement over the years.

Posted by Kysr_Gal @ 2:17 pm EDT | Permalink | 21 Comments

04/01/08

GTA IV Is Coming/ My Intro to GTA 3

I have an hour before I go to a nerve wracking doctor's appointment so thought I would post about my all time favorite series to get my mind off it.

GTA IV is around the corner (April 19th)! Hurrah! My addiction with this series started with GTA III (still my favorite installment thus far). My brother gave it to me for a birthday present the month it came out and I hadn't heard a thing about it. I have to say I was reluctant to try it out because generally, I don't like car games. I'm a first person shooter gal, and even in Halo 3 I'll avoid vehicles like the plague because I just don't have as much fun as I do running and gunning.

So my brother sat and watched me play it for the first time and not without some groans of frustration and eye rolling. I was driving this ultra cool Mob car like a grandma, slowly puttering down the street with music from Scarface blaring out of the car's radio. The irony was not lost on me, but it was the best I could do at that time. I then accidentally ran someone over! Now in the past, when you ran someone over in a video game, they'd pop back up smiling and keep walking. This dude pancaked on the road with a very audible 'splat' sound. "Oh My God!" I said. I pulled the car back and sure enough, there was a bloody mess on the ground. "Oh wow, this game's insane" I said laughing.

That was the beginning of a beautiful love affair that changed gaming for me forever. The living, breathing city in GTA 3 was totally new and incredibly exciting. I spent just as many hours wandering around it with no particular purpose as I did playing the game as it was meant to be played. The phony radio stations, the excellent soundtrack, the hilarious dialogue. I was hooked. I was a much better GTA driver when my brother returned to visit several months later. I had played it enough to where I avoided a real accident while I was driving one day because I knew which way to turn my wheel to straighten out a skidding vehicle.

I was equally obsessed with Mario and Zelda when they first came out. I was given these two drugs for my birthday, and all the neighborhood kids crowded my room while we stared wide-eyed at shiny graphics and sound. GTA 3 brought that feeling back for me.

I'm secretly hoping that they keep the formula of the series and don't wander TOO far, while still evolving and bringing us something new. We shall see!

Posted by Kysr_Gal @ 12:34 pm EDT | Permalink | 6 Comments

04/01/08

Space Balls!

This movie was hugely popular when I was a kid. I completely forgot about it until someone used Dark Helmet as an icon.

Posted by Kysr_Gal @ 1:22 am EDT | Permalink | 7 Comments

03/20/08

Hottest Video Game Characters...

Some other gamers in my clan were talking about the new Cortana pictures and drooling heavily. This is always a fun topic, because, well, it brings out my inner geek. Cortana

Gorgeous gal, so I'm not surprised at their reaction. Here are a couple of my picks: Tommy Vercetti. I'm a huge fan of the GTA series, especially GTA III and Vice City. Pure hotness in Vice City. Italian bad boy (although I prefer dating the nice guys in real life).

I knew video games had really evolved into something extraordinary (in terms of story telling and graphics) when I had a dream about this guy after putting in a few hours of gameplay: