So... sick... Stuck in bed, feels like the flu but without the fever. Times three. Probably the worst withdrawal I've ever been through. Why do CVS pharmacists have to be so incompetent? All I ask is for them to fax the doctor my refill requests when I ask them to, rather than A WEEK LATER. When I say "I need this prescription within the next few days," it's not just because I'm being selfish and I want them to hurry. It's because THIS happens otherwise. Now even if they call me to tell me it's ready (which they still haven't) I wouldn't be able to pick it up because I can't even stand up without puking. I don't even know of anyone to call who could pick it up for me.

I would draw but I can barely put any pressure on the tablet because I'm so weak, so all the shakes come out in the lines. Plus my eyes are sore and I can't focus on anything for more than five minutes without getting a headache. The worst part is the suddenness and severity of it. Kind of like being hit by a truck. I started feeling a little wonky last night but I figured I was just tired. This morning I could barely drag myself to the toilet to commence emptying my stomach of what little food I've eaten lately.

So I'm forced to lie here in bed, wishing I could sleep but being unable to because they're repairing the sidewalk outside and they've been jackhammering the bricks since 9 AM. LOVE IT.

/rant

I has Thin Mints. Just because I dislike children doesn't mean I won't eat their cookies.

Things have been super weird lately. My schedule has been all kinds of screwed up thanks to alternating bouts of insomnia and sleepiness. Still losing weight, which is weird because I'm not used to being so freakishly skinny. To be honest I miss eating regularly. Dare I even say I miss campus dining food? What's the world coming to? SO much crap to do for classes it's not even funny, mostly lab reports. Only two more weekends between me and finals. Yikes!

I miss my peeps in Arizona (especially that one freak ). Four more weeks! I'll be there soon, and I'll get a nice summer job somewhere and have more time (and money!) to focus on whatever the hell I want, rather than always feeling hounded by exams/assignments/professors/obligations. I ordered some books from Amazon so that I can use the time to brush up on multivariable calculus and differential equations before Physical Chemistry next fall, but at least I can look at those at my own pace.

It's so nice to have something to look forward to.

As for art, I don't think I could be happier. I feel like I'm constantly learning and improving, even if it's just in small ways. I've discovered some of the joys of OpenCanvas, and some of the frustrations, and the same goes for Illustrator CS. Mostly I just enjoy having my muse back. Those of you who've been through a dry spell (as I'm sure you all have) know exactly what I'm talking about. The only thing I could want is more commissions (hint hint), not so much for the money but more for the joy of making things for people.

Hooray for rambling incoherent entries after another sleepless night! The sun is up now, so it's off to breakfast, the pharmacy, lab, and the chem computer room to study my ass off for that biochem test tomorrow! Yay!

Well, everyone's talking about it, and everyone seems to be posting journals about it, so I guess I'll jump on the bandwagon.

The original article that I (and I think perhaps many others) first read is here: [link]. (If you haven't read it yet you probably should scan it now so the rest of this entry makes sense.)

Right away I was suspicious because of the inflammatory nature of the writing. Clearly this guy is horrified by the information he's gathered, and he wants everyone else to share his opinion. It's easy to take one look at this article and panic. I know I did. But I managed to take some deep breaths and do a little more research via Google. These are the facts that I've found (if this bores you, skip down to the ** for the bottom line):

1. "An 'orphan work' is a copyrighted work where it is difficult or impossible to contact the copyright holder." [link]

2. The Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988 made the United States a signatory of the Berne Convention of 1886. (Yes, that's 1886. True to form, the US originally refused to sign the convention, opting instead for its own domestic form of author protection passed a full 66 years later in 1952, which lasted until the Berne Convention act was passed.) The countries who are signatories of this convention recognize the droit d'auteur ("right of the author") of any work created in their country, and pledge to also recognize it for any work created in any of the other countries who signed. Droit d'auteur states that copyrights for creative works are in effect from the moment of creation. As of 1988, anything you create is copyrighted to you automatically, and that copyright extends at least 50 years after your death. [link]

3. The Public Domain Enhancement Act was introduced to Congress first in 2003 and again in 2005. The Act in its latest form proposed a tax of $1 on any work 50 years after the date of first publication and again every 10 years after that in order for the original copyright holder to retain copyright. Both times this bill was defeated. [link]

4. Currently there is a bill that has been proposed to Congress (H.R. 5439, The Orphan Works Act of 2006) which states:

"Notwithstanding sections 502 through 505 [of Chapter 5 of title 17, United States Code], in an action brought under this title for infringement of copyright in a work, the remedies for infringement shall be limited under subsection (b) if the infringer sustains the burden of proving, and the court finds, that-- (A) before the infringing use of the work began, the infringer, a person acting on behalf of the infringer, or any person jointly and severally liable with the infringer for the infringement of the work-- (i) performed and documented a reasonably diligent search in good faith to locate the owner of the infringed copyright; but (ii) was unable to locate the owner, and (B) the infringing use of the work provided attribution, in a manner reasonable under the circumstances, to the author and owner of the copyright, if known with a reasonable degree of certainty based on information obtained in performing the reasonably diligent search." [link]

**So let's say the bill passes and you find someone who is using your work without your permission. You decide to sue. When you take them to court, it would be their job to prove that they actually really did try to find you and contact you, but couldn't. (It would be up to the court to decide what "a reasonably diligent search in good faith" means, but it's likely that a Google search wouldn't cut it.) If they found out anything about you at all while doing this search, for example an old website where the art was located or an out-of-date e-mail address, they'd still have to put that information down and attribute the work to it.

This bill would basically put into law what your common sense as an artist should already tell you: never leave your work unsigned! Make it obvious to anyone viewing your artwork what your identity is or how to get in touch with you. If it's posted on a site like dA, it's automatically linked to your user profile and no one can legally claim it as their own. You still have the "right of the author" and are the copyright holder of every work you create up to 50 years after your death under international copyright law.

NOWHERE does the bill say that you will be required to pay to register your artwork with private registries for copyright. NOWHERE does the bill say that people can legally steal your work.

Does this bill benefit the large stock image corporations such as Corbis and Getty Images? Yes.

Is this bill detrimental to artists such as you and me? Probably not.

It's a sad fact that with the advent of the internet, it has become a lot easier for people to right click and "save image as." Simply changing the filename makes it nearly impossible to track the original artist. Signatures can be cropped out. The best thing to do is USE A WATERMARK. Yeah, it can take away from the image and looks kinda snooty, but if you're really concerned about art theft or it has happened to you in the past, this should be a small price to pay. Slap a watermark right across the most interesting or important part of your image so it can't be cut out. Or use dA's new built-in watermark! Regardless of whether this bill passes or not, this is a simple way to avoid a lot of headache and worry.

So there you have it. I hope that clears the air a bit, at least for those of you who read this. Happy artsing!

I'm feeling the Illustrator itch... I want to vector something! Too many unfinished projects.

I have returned to that land of rainbows and sunshine and really bad RP, also known as Furcadia. What can I say? I'm a masochist. To be honest I missed doing portraits. I know, right? (See below.) Anyway, hit me up on Loki sometime, I need to find my peeps. to ~Darcanddemongirl and ~Skadowee, I still gotcha on my list, you'll be the first ones I do.

In other news, weirdness abounds as I completely switch gears in my life. This winter I was completely obsessed with World of Warcraft. I somehow managed to become an officer in a raiding guild for a short period of time, which completely ate my life until the guild disbanded (dramas!) and kind of left me high and dry. Tried a few other guilds but it just wasn't the same, and my boyfriend had lost interest (and some random guy was starting to stalk me) so I just stopped logging on after a while. On the upside, I now have my free time back. Until about a week ago I hadn't attempted to draw anything more than a quick sketch in months, and even those attempts were half-hearted at best. I don't know why, because I certainly love creating art, but no matter how hard I tried I just hit a brick wall somewhere between the ideas in my head and the part where I put them on paper.

When my boyfriend came to visit in March he remarked on how little there was to do in my room when he got stuck twiddling his thumbs as I studied frantically for a test one night. So he went out and bought me a PS2 of my very own, one that I don't have to share with anyone! <3 In the same trip I picked up Silent Hill 2 and 3, and played through 3 (with no memory card, ouch!). The game was a lot of fun, and very creepy. I loved it. And something about it gave me the itch to draw again. I started doodling all sorts of macabre things on my class notes, and then it was like the flood gates opened and all my creativity came rushing back at once. (Ta-da!)

So I renewed my dA subscription and have started posting a few bits and pieces of stuff in my scraps. I'm a bit out of practice with the programs I use but I'm working on that. I'm in the process of finishing two or three pieces right now that hopefully will make it to the gallery soon.

And this is all super awkward for my schoolings 'cause exams are like two weeks away. I. Am. So. Screwed.

So the moral of the story is: STAY AWAY FROM WOW, IT'S WORSE THAN CRACK.

No, really.



Slots:
1. ~Darcanddemongirl
2. ~Skadowee
3. empty
4. empty

Furcadia Portraits for Sale:
$5. I can edit minor details to fit your character's description more closely. I may just end up giving them away, since they're just sitting there and no one is interested. Send me a note if you want 'em.




Character Portraits (traditional):
Black and white sketch, $5. Additional characters just $2 each.
Lineart, $6. Additional characters just $3 each.
Color, $13-$18 (depending on size and medium). Additional characters just $4 each.

Character Portraits (digital):
Sketch, $4. Additional characters just $2 each.
Lineart, $7. Additional characters just $3 each.
Color (flat), $12. Additional characters just $4 each.
Color (shaded), $15-$20 (depending on size). Additional characters just $5 each.

I accept -cash- payment via PayPal only. (If you wish to pay directly from a credit card I will have to increase the price by a small percentage, usually around $1, since PayPal extracts a fee from the payment for this service. Sorry for any inconvenience.)