(Belated) Bay to Breakers

I have good news! My computer, which I thought was toast, is functioning again! The day after my dad and I dropped it off at the UCI repair shop, he got a call saying that he could come pick it up. Turns out they were able to turn it on, no problem, and they couldn't find anything wrong with it. So, while I may not know why my computer decided to crash for one day and then fix itself, I get to use it and it's working fine. And the best part is that I didn't lose any of my files! I'm now on a weekly backup schedule, just in case my computer designs to act up again.

I now know that you can never be too careful with things like this.

And now, as promised, here are some of my pictures from last month, when I went to Bay to Breakers in San Francisco. 

Justine loves America!

Thor, one of the first people we met. Looking back, he was one of the tamest!

Black Swan. It seemed to be a popular theme this year.

"Come on ladies, don't be scared."

SF's finest.

Uh, yes, that is a jersey made of back hair.

The Black Swans at it again.

Have a lovely week, everyone. And hope the sun finally comes out!

Disappointments

Hello, all. Do you ever have those days where every little thing that goes wrong seems to be much more important than it really is? I'm definitely having one of those days.

Last night, my MacBook Pro decided to crash on me. Now, I actually managed to not freak out too much, as it had happened before and I was pretty sure that I knew what the problem was. Instead, I calmly set up an appointment with the Genius Bar at our local Apple Store, and took it in this morning. The "Genius" was very nice, and the poor guy worked on it for nearly an hour before conceding that it was a harddrive problem that he couldn't fix. Fortunately, I can get the harddrive replaced for free. Unfortunately, we may not be able to retrieve any of my files from the computer, which (ironically enough) I was starting to back up when the computer crashed. 

Needless to say I left the store trying not to freak out in public. But what can I say? I have all my writing, all my music, all my artwork, and all my pictures from freshman year on that computer. Losing all that is like losing an entire year of my life. Well, that's probably a little overly dramatic, but that's how I'm feeling right now. Thankfully my dad knew of another repair shop, so we took it there where they are trying to diagnose the problem and see if they can save the data. That being said, until I get the new harddrive, I am stuck using this very old computer that I got in seventh grade:

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm thankful to still have a computer to use at all. But for a self-proclaimed internet junkie, this is a blow. This computer's ability to perform even the most basic of tasks on the internet is spotty at best, and it cannot handle videos at all. But, at least I can still write for all of you lovely people. In fact, this whole experience has really forced me to realize just how addicted to technology I am. Between my laptop and my Blackberry, I am almost completely controlled and indebted to the machines in my life.

To add insult to injury, I received an email from Threadless.com informing me that my design has been dropped from voting, and will therefore not be getting printed. Apparently I didn't get enough positive votes within the first 24 hours it was up. I blame the computer meltdown, as I didn't get to do half of the promoting I had planned. Well, that and the fact that it was only my first design and I'm still learning how to draw for an audience. I guess I'll have to just keep designing and submitting!

Thanks for listening to me rant. May the end of your week be better than mine.

I Need Your Help!

So, remember when I told you that I'm trying to get some t-shirt designs printed on Threadless.com? Well, my design is officially up for voting! I get one week (yes, only seven days) to get enough votes to get considered for printing. That means I need as many people to rate and leave positive comments as possible.

If you'd like to help me out, you can find my design HERE.

Don't be confused by the username littlespider. It is me, I promise! Thanks so much guys, and hope you all are having a fabulous week!

Playing Catch (Up)

Although I've been home from school for about a week, I have become incredibly lazy, and still have not gotten around to posting pictures from the various adventures I have yet to tell you all about. I will try to get to that within the next week or so, as after that I probably shouldn't even bother.

Picture obtained from the SF Chronicle at sfgate.com

There are a couple of things that I wanted to talk about in this post, and the first will be painful for any Giants fans out there. This past Wednesday, while playing the Florida Marlins, Giants catcher Buster Posey took an extremely hard hit catching a ball in front of home plate. Scott Cousins of the Marlins barreled into the young Rookie of the Year in an attempt at dislodging the ball and thus preventing himself from being tagged out. During the collision, Posey was forced backward, bending his left ankle awkwardly. It was revealed on Thursday, after x-rays and multiple MRIs, that Posey had fractured his lower leg and torn several ligaments. The injury will require surgery and probably keep Posey from playing for the rest of the season.

Now, this injury has become more than just a tragedy for the already offensively struggling Giants. Rather, it has sparked a nationwide discussion about whether the rules regarding plays at home plate need to be changed. And, as a loyal Giants fan, I felt like it was my obligation to at least voice my opinion on the play. Across the various Internet platforms I use, I have watched many people argue over whether or not it was a clean play. If you watch the video, it is pretty obvious that Posey was not, in fact, completely blocking home plate, and that Cousins opted to run into the catcher rather than take the open lane. However, from my understanding, that was a legal play; the runner is allowed to run into the catcher in an attempt to dislodge the ball. So then the question becomes, Should they make this kind of play illegal? I say, why not? The NFL has made attacks on defenseless players punishable with a fine, and I think that MLB should be able to incorporate a similar rule. I have read multiple articles that suggest that Cousins decided to go with the collision because he was trying to prove his worth and claim more playing time. However, if he had been facing a fine, he probably would have thought twice about committing to the play. So, while I agree that these collisions are simply a part of baseball, I also think that there are preventative measures that can be taken to help limit their occurrence.

Well, this post has certainly turned out to be longer than I was expecting. On an entirely different note, I have a favor to ask of you. I've been posting pictures of my artwork all year, and have been trying to find a way to make some money from it. Jobs are very difficult to come by in our current economic situation, so I have been looking into alternative ways of making money. One such alternative I found in Threadless.com. Here they print t-shirts designed and picked by the public. I have recently submitted a t-shirt for rating, and hope that it will get enough votes to be printed on t-shirts and possibly other products. I would greatly appreciate it if you would take a few minutes to look at the design and rate it! Remember, the higher it scores, the closer it will be to getting picked for printing.

Thanks so much for all your support. I know I don't tell you enough, but I really appreciate it and promise that I will try and get those pictures up soon!