Here’s a photo taken on campus with the diana camera

diana

A lot has been going on lately. And by “a lot,” I mean “a lot more of the same.” I’ve been having some pretty high and low points at school. One of the high points was in my photography class the other day when my professor gave me a little plastic baby toy camera, told me to go around campus taking pictures of whatever I wanted, then had me develop the film by hand. I’m sure the pictures aren’t going to turn out that well, but it was still a cool experience.

Last semester I quit my job as a graduate assistant at Lamar. I got a letter about a week ago saying that they had overpaid me by $873.74, and to repay it to the school as soon as possible. I am, as a result, no longer able to buy things I don’t need, and I really like buying things I don’t need.

I did another illustration for an online publication on Annalemma Magazine’s site, which you can find here.

My new living quarters are nice. There are some things that will take some time to adjust to, like my tiny room and the washer & dryer that also function as anti-sleeping machines when they’re turned on at night, but overall I like it.

I’m taking a trip to Houston with some friends tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to escaping responsibility for a day.

focus

I bought a new cellphone and a new cellphone plan on sunday through at&t. On monday, I saw this. I am considering a switch as a result, although the phone I’d get isn’t as good as the one I’ve got. And I say “cellphone” when it’s actually a “smartphone.” I hope I don’t invest as much time prodding around on mine as some of my friends do.

I recently launched a website, [ www.colinmumbach.com ] , if you’d like to check it out. It’s graciously hosted by CARGO, so I can make it look good without even trying.

Here’s a new illustration created with my pen tablet.

Hope you enjoy.

new frontiers

I’ve been making some big changes in the past few months.

1. I quit work at Academy after over 5 years. I had planned on quitting within the first few weeks of being hired. Better late than never, as they say.

2. I got two new jobs; one at the Art Museum (as stated in previous posts), and one at Games People Play. I am a graphic designer for both of them. This means I wake up at 7, go to my first job and sit at a computer, go to school and sit at a computer, go to my next job and sit at a computer, go home at 9 and sit at a computer, then go to sleep. Both of the jobs are turning out to be pretty cool though, so I’m pretty excited.

3. I’m moving in March. I’m glad to have a change of pace in my living situation, although living with Jarrod and Eric has been really good.

4. I sanded the frames of my glasses so they won’t be so glossy anymore. I accidentally sanded the actual lens on a small section, so sometimes I see the scratch and think something blurry is really close to me.

School has been going well so far. However, I somehow ended up in an advanced photography class even though I’ve never taken a photo class before, and I have no experience taking pictures on even a novice level, much less an advanced one. So instead of using film, my professor is having me take digital pictures. I therefore had to buy a digital camera, and ended up going with one out of my price range, of course.

weird: part II

Here is the link to the story for which I did an illustration on Annalemma magazine’s website:

http://annalemma.net/features/lightning-man.html

It’s a good story, and a really good magazine. Pick one up if you get the chance.

weird

There have been a lot of good things going on lately. I had a great time bringing in the new year lurking the outskirts of a bangin’ house party. I triumphed in a game of Harry Potter Clue. I’m getting an illustration published on an Annalemma magazine online publication. Things seem to be going my way for the time being.

However, a recent trip to Austin provided me with the insight that my current plans for the future may be changing. I experienced one of the top 10 worst allergy attacks I’ve ever had while in the self-proclaimed weird city, which is where I was planning on moving after university. After doing a little research online, I found that a common nickname for Austin is “The Allergy Capital of the World.” That means, being a person with some of the worst allergy problems I know, it might not be the best idea for me to move to The Allergy Capital of the M****R F*****G WORLD. It is still likely that I will do just that, though. What a glutton for punishment I am.

I will be starting the spring semester next week. I’m kind of excited, although it would have been good if I had been making things over the break to keep myself sharp. No matter. I will soon become the greatest graphic designer/illustrator The Allergy Capital of the World has ever known.

Here is a picture my sister took of my nephew.

pumped

Starting in January I will be working as an intern for the Art Museum of Beaumont doing graphic design work, among other things. I’m so pumped about this. Downtown Beaumont is really awesome and I’m excited to get to spend a lot of time there. Also, I’ll get to add something respectable to my resume.

The fall semester is coming to a close and although it’s been a really good semester for me, I’m glad to get a break. Working 50 hours a week and going to school full time can be hectic. I still have a lot of work to do before December, but I’m sure I’ll manage.

A few months ago a girl at work was talking to me about a guy she goes to school with that looks and acts just like me. So I said “He sounds pretty awesome, and handsome.” Then she said “No, not at all.” Then a few days ago, a different girl took my wallet from me and opened it to examine my driver’s license. She said in the most earnest possible way, and I quote verbatim, “Colin, you are very unattractive.”

Being the ugliest person alive has gotten me thinking… I should feel much better about my accomplishments in life (such as landing the internship at the museum) because I know I didn’t accomplish them based on my good looks, but rather my talents. And believe me, you have to be so freaking talented if you’ve got a mug like this.

I was going to get a new phone recently, but then quickly realized how much debt I’m in. It’s going to be so nice to have all of my stuff paid off, however deep into the future that will be. I have to buy a camera for one of my classes next semester and I’m not too sure how I’m going to pay for it. I’ll probably have to sell the wheels off my car and fashion some new ones with sticks and mud or something.

From the face only a mother could love,
Colin

nightmare wife

I had a few very vivid dreams last night. In one dream, I received a very nice camera for free and as a result, I went through half of my day today believing that event had actually happened. Boy was I in for a big disappointment. I also had another re-occurring nightmare about me getting married. It’s been a long time since I’ve had one of those, and they’re terrible. They are so incredibly realistic…I feel such intense remorse, sadness and claustrophobia. The nightmares are always a little different, but it’s always the same person I’m supposedly getting married to. In some of them, my dad and mom are physically pulling me down the aisle up to the alter while I’m screaming and crying. Last night’s dream, however, I just locked myself in the dressing room and tried to escape through a window that was much too small for me to fit through. The wedding party started putting snakes under the door to scare me out. My future nightmare wife never seems to have a problem with me freaking out about not wanting to marry her though. As horrible as those dreams are, it’s always such an awesome feeling waking up and realizing it’s not real. I only wish I would have instantly realized the same thing about the free camera.

I’m currently trying to learn actionscript 3.0 on Flash CS5 and it is hard as s**t, especially when you have to pay $450 for a college course to learn it and you end up having to teach it to yourself. Someone help.

4:30 am

I can’t sleep, because if I do I might die. I went to a wedding yesterday that took place in the woods. I was apparently allergic as hell to something out there because my asthma that has been dormant since I was 14 has been re-activated. Therefore, when I start trying to doze off I just stop breathing. This is excellent news for you all, though, because as a result I get to write a new journal post.

The wedding was pretty awesome. Everyone, save a few such as myself, was dressed in either traditional Scottish garbs, Musketeer uniforms, weird zebra or Futurama costumes. A single bagpipe played during the ceremony. It was like being taken back into olden Scottish times, if Scottish people from the olden days really really liked anime. At the reception there was a ton of great food, including 5 lb. turkey legs. I took one of those home. I think it might feed me for close to a week.

On the way home from the wedding there was a wreck at the bottom of the bridge that I have to drive across to get to my house. Traffic was backed up all the way across it, and it’s a pretty big bridge. I was stopped at point on the bridge that was pretty high up, and was there for about 45 minutes. It was nice just sitting outside of my car listening to music and feeling the breeze.

I have found a way to become as unproductive as possible in every way, and I will share this information with you now;

STEP 1: Buy a computer game you like.

That’s it. If you want to be productive and motivated to partake in worthwhile activities, don’t do that thing. I have been following this journal lately, so everything I do now seems lame in comparison. I need to do something adventurous as soon as my busy schedule of boring things allows.

Now I need to find something to do to keep me awake until I have class, or I’ll slip into Death’s icy embrace. Perhaps I’ll play that computer game I like.

fleeting

So far graduate school is going fantastically. I have never actually liked going to school up until these past few months. I guess it’s because I’m in a field in which I actually care about learning things. It is definitely a lot of homework though, and that on top of 50 hour work weeks leaves me with not much free time. I’m going to ride out this semester as it is though, but I plan on making some substantial changes in the spring.

For one of my classes my professor suggested I make business cards, so I did. The backside is a very light illustration of a bear I did a long time ago. I think when I make an actual website I’ll handwrite the address across the back over the bear’s face.

I haven’t had any time to work with my pen tablet lately, but hopefully in the near future I’ll get assigned some projects where I can implement it. The latest project I’ve been working on requires more rigid lines than I can accomplish with the tablet. Technical jargon.

The first watch is the preliminary sketch for the project. The second is the illustration I did. I’m shading it as we speak and I’ll put it on this post when I’m done, which should be in a few days. *Edit: DONE.*

I took a trip to a beach cabin that Morgan has access to last weekend. It was pretty fun, although I spent most of the time feeling pretty sick. That was my own fault though. I tried sleeping in my car but was only able to for two hours, and I woke up with a headache and a ribs-ache and I was freezing cold. I decided to drive home at 6 in the morning even though the fog was as thick as mashed potatoes. Also, I don’t think Morgan’s friends like me because they deleted all the pictures of me from the trip. That won’t stop me from going next time, however.

The End.
Colin