David Carradine.

I decided to draw a portrait. I haven't done one in awhile. I have a bunch of portraits that I've torn out of magazines that have intrigued me in one way or another and this particular portrait of David Carradine shortly after his death grabbed me. Are there things I could've done differently? Sure, but with a pen, you embrace each of those marks you make because once you put them down there's no going back.

Pottermore.

So, I got into Pottermore (along with Matt Benyo, Nathan Bou, and Brother Chan). We had been looking forward to our acceptance emails for some time now and they finally came Sunday. Of course I was at the DIA so I was clinging to my phone as Matt Benyo texted me about it. We were all being jerks to each other about the sorting and Matt kept saying I was going to get into Hufflepuff and I was all like NO WAY blah blah blah. Well, he got into Slytherin and I was really nervous about my sorting, but guess what, I GOT INTO SLYTHERIN TOO. Brother Chan got into Gryffindor and Nate got into Hufflepuff. I wanted either Slytherin or Gryffindor so that works for me. Monday and Tuesday I revolved my nights around the amount of time it took to brew potions because these potions work in real time. One of them took 95 minutes. 95 REAL LIFE MINUTES TO BREW. So, I'm sitting here like, alright I can go out, but I gotta be back in time to take care of this potion. It's ridiculous, but I have successfully brewed like 3 potions and earned house points. I want to duel Matt Benyo, but wizard duels are down. For those of you reading this that are feeling jealous; don't. That website sucks. It's broken almost all the time because so many people are trying to access it. Pretty much the only time it works is between 2 and 5 am (and it breaks then too). I think it's an interesting idea, but it needs to be fleshed out more. I was addicted it to it for the first couple days, but now I'm kinda meh about it. I think if everyone was into it, I'd be more into it. It's just not as fun after you get through all of the chapters and you're sitting there by yourself brewing potions.

DIA & JM!

I was at the DIA on sunday. I got to draw on a table cloth and talk to people about CCS. It was a fun day. I pulled an all nighter though so I was dead by the time I got home, but that was okay too. I was the most excited about finally meeting one of my favorite bloggers, Julia Maiuri, and becoming real life friends and not just internet friends. She's so great and her art is fantastic. Check it out. When she left, I finished my collage. I had everyone using GEL PENS. Gel pens are so great. Everyone that drew on the table LOVED IT because it's something you can't do at home ;)

Girls Aloud.

This evening was productive. I ate sno cones, rented Goosebumps from the library, read it to my pal Rhiannon, & made this vlog. It's for my little Cheryl Cole lover.

A Dash of Color.

Shelby read me my horoscope this evening. It was something along these lines: A dreamer set out with a map looking for buried treasure, but got bored with the route he was on so he took a different route. He didn't find the buried treasure, but he saw some great scenery and met some amazing people along the way. You can keep looking for the treasure, but don't lose sight of what you've already found along the way. It got me thinking; Here I am, wayward, on some weird, beaten path searching for who knows what and things haven't been going the way I thought or planned, but I value who and what I've got. I recently cut ties with a friend who stabbed me hard in the back (cut out the weeds; keep the roses is what someone told me) and it has made me appreciate the ones that I have even more. They are so invaluable. So, I may not be rich in funds, but I am in good company and I'll take that any day. I know I say cheesy things like this, but it's times like these that I just have so much appreciation for the things that we take for granted that I want to remind everyone to value those things too. If that wasn't a colorful enough speech, here is a dash of color from a scratch sheet I found with some colorful lyrics.

Ink.

Messed with the brush pen in a "not so loose, but more contrived" kind of way. I've been doing a lot of black and white stuff. I need some color in my diet; stat.

Fun Fact #20!

Raley Rendezvous!

I had an eventful weekend, but the only documentation of it happened at the Raley Residence. Kim came home from KZoo and a handful of us hung out, ate pizza, and acted like animals! I've also been wearing that Halloween sweater every other day and two people have said, "It's not even Halloween time yet!" I can assure everyone; it is. Houses are being prepared/decorated as we speak. It's getting time.

Fun Fact #19!

Here's another fun fact that has nothing to do w/this: Today Nick Jonas turns 19!

The Hep.

I'm still up and rolling with the punches. Sister Shelby bought me a Halloween sweater from the thrift store for 50 cents and THE LIFE AQUATIC for $3!!!! I AM SO EXCITED. We went to the Cider Mill (at 8) and we were the only ones there. We were also shivering. Here is a drawing I did awhile ago. Inspired by one of Audrey Hepburn's portraits; I chose it based on the flat-graphic quality.

Fun Fact #18!

I love David Bowie's version of "Life on Mars", but I'm currently listening to Michelle Branch's and it's pretty good! In unrelated news, tomorrow the episode of Nate Berkus I went to will air and you can look for me (and my hair) in the front row.

Alan Garner.

I woke up with a strange tattoo. Not sure how I got it; not a dollar in my pocket and it kinda looks just like you; mixed with Zach Galifianakis.

Apple Charlie's.

Saturday, I taught little kids how to draw. One such thing I taught them was how to draw some of the features of the face. While they drew, I drew with them.Then I went to Matt "I'm gonna update my blog" Benyo's to hang out with him, Nathan, and Betsy. Together, we ventured to Apple Charlie's because it was perfect apple orchard weather. Matt decided he was going to pick some apples and THAT was exciting because I have never picked an apple before; nor had Betsy or Nate. So, we all picked some apples. We also looked at the animals. I walked up to the Llama and it hated me from the get-go. It turned away from me and stared at me out of the corner of its eye. Then I started making hissing noises and it started kicking its feet back at me and its ears went straight back. Then it turned towards me and I was scared it was going to spit on me. THERE WAS NO GATE TO STOP IT. Well, from the waist down there was, but that thing had a clean shot if it wanted to spit on me. After the llama drama, we got cider and donuts and enjoyed them at a picnic table while bees flew around us. One such bee flew in Matt's face and he swatted it right into mine and we didn't get stung so it was a good day. I want to go back once it becomes actual fall. Sunday I went to sleep at 8 am and woke up at 11 pm. I'm still up from that Rip Van Winkle nap. Good times.

Real Steel.

Guess what comes out October 7th: "The biggest movie [Shawn Levy] has ever made" that's what. Do we see it in imax or regular theaters? DECISIONS. lolololol

Ipod.

It has become a routine for me to pick Shelby up from work. I'll sit at Leo's really late until she gets off. Tonight, I was so tired, but I put my ipod on and started writing out the lyrics from songs I was listening to. I also drew the type from the sugar packets:Today is the two year anniversary of meeting Nick and Kevin Jonas in Toronto. To think about it blows my mind. I was on my way to Toronto at this time. Actually, I think we might've been in Toronto and were looking for a hotel to stay at. JUST THINK; if we had found one cheap enough, we would never have met them. IT WAS MEANT TO BE. None of you will ever understand what this day was like for me. It was indescribable and it was magical so of course it should come as no surprise I had a meltdown after it happened! I also like how Nick and Kevin look like they wanna murder Rhiannon. Must be the side braid. [Side note: That green wrist band thing was from a previous Jonas show and I believe it was our good luck charm. I said I'd take it off if we met them. True to my word, I did] Never forget.

Art Battle.

I went out last night to a bar in Ann Arbor with a handful of my friends that I haven't seen in awhile. The bartender didn't charge me for my sodas! Here I am with JJ.I had an art battle with JJ. We always get into art battles when we see each other. JJ won this one because I refused to do any harm to Harry Potter. Who am I? Dobby?

Harry Potter Party.

Over the weekend, Matt Benyo, Nathan, and I had a Harry Potter marathon. Nate and I made an unbreakable vow that we would do this so it had to be done. We watched all of the movies and went to see the last one at the IMAX at the Henry Ford. We were beyond prepared for this party. We had Bertie Bott's, a GIANT chocolate frog, PUMPKIN JUICE (from HP world. It tasted like liquid apple butter), and we made Butterbeer which tasted IDENTICAL to HP world's. We got through the first 2 movies fine, but after that, this is what it looked like between Matt and I:We turned into animals. Nathan also joined in to tickle me until I cackled like a witch. He even slammed his knee into my head and I saw green lights. He basically Avada Kedava'd me. Around the 4th movie, we started "Nagini-ing" each other. That's where you pinch with 5 fingers and it's like Nagini the snake biting you. It got out of control quickly, but was still a good time. Seeing the movie in IMAX 3D was fantastic. I cried again and even though the epilogue is cheesy, the combination of the music and Harry saying, "Albus Severus" KILLS ME.

Did summer even happen? I swear it was May yesterday. Time is making fools of us again. But I am getting excited for fall. I love apple orchards and Halloween! I cannot wait. I want to watch scary movies. I need a great costume. I need to come up with ways to scare SOME people for payback from last year. I'd also really like to give pumpkin carving another go because last year I carved my first pumpkin and this year I will not let it be terrible. All the fall aside, I wish the radio was playing Christmas music because I'm ready for it. Best time of the year; hands down.

Sister Shelby and I hung out tonight and I attempted to make Butterbeer as good as Matt Benyo. I was surprised by how well I made it considering I messed the recipe up. Shelby, upon taking her first sip, said it was the best drink she has ever had. I told her we were going to drink 1,000 mugs, but after 2, I nearly puked.

Click this link and go down to recipe #1. It's a process, but it's worth it and it's delicious. I did just read the comments though and some guy offers a simple way of doing it. Oh and from personal experience (both times), do not use 6 tablespoons of butter. I used 3 when I made it and it was still too much. I'd say 1.5-2 would be better.

I'm going to focus on making some art. I have some stuff I've wanted to do, but have been putting off. It's gonna be a good time. Good luck to everyone starting school. Be good students, but make time for ME so I don't feel forgotten and for those of you not in school; why aren't we hanging out?

NY In A Nutshell.

This post will be very long & all photos were taken by my friends. Also, if you want to look at the photos bigger, just click on them. I went with my bffls: Matt, Nathan, & Betsy to New York City. We took the Mega Bus and left at 7 am from Detroit. We headed to Pittsburgh where we stayed the night. On the bus, Matt Benyo and I acted like animals, but what else is new? I really liked Pittsburgh. We got nomz from some sandwich place where I ate chicken tenders because sandwiches are gross.We then found some fun dinosaurs. Here's a Glamasaurus and a Ketchtop dinosaur!Then we thought we would walk 4 miles to our hotel. WRONG. Our luggage was heavy and we underestimated the distance to the hotel. Mostly we were hot, sweaty, and laughing at how ridiculous it was. Then some random stranger in a car told me he loved my hair and I was happy. We also took a bus in Pittsburgh to get nearer to our hotel and everyone on the bus helped us out. They were amused by us too.The next day, we boarded the bus around 6 am and headed to New York. We were staying in New Jersey though so we went to our apartment. After that, we went to a park and I played Nathan in Chess, but Matt helped me. Nate beat me, but only because I was rusty and I haven't played Chess in 10 years. After THAT we went to Serendipity for Frozen Hot Chocolate and it was so good, but then we went to try to see Daniel Radcliffe because he's performing on Broadway. We waited for an hour in a barricade with about 500 people all around us, but we saw him! All I wanted to do was touch his hand, but I had 2 people in front of me and they weren't letting me through. This mom asked me to try to get him to sign something. He signed the thing she gave me and I was kinda sad and wanted to take it, but I gave it back like a good person. I wanted to scream something profound at Dan Rad, but I was speechless. Also, he is 5'5" and you could barely see him. Good thing Matt is tall and has a long arm to snap photos.The next day, we dressed to the 9's and went to the Nate Berkus show. I don't know if you know who Nate Berkus is, but he's one of the most charming men on day time television. We get to the show and it's raining a bit, but we find out that the show that taped before us was his birthday give-away show and he gave away $2,000 worth of stuff. Guess what we got? Nothing lolololol. Here we are before we left:When we got inside, they put us IN THE FRONT ROW. You know why? Cause we looked PHENOMENAL. The show is going to air in mid-september. I'll let you know when it airs. Here is a sneak photo from inside!Here is a nice photo with Betsy. By the end of the day, I was pouring sweat. I don't know what was going on. Let this be proof I started out looking okay.We got some Jamba Juice and it was the best thing in the world (as usual)!Then we took a bunch of group photos so I just made a compilation of them. The bottom right one is from THE PLAZA HOTEL (which we snuck into). The outside one is from Staten Island. We went there for about 5 minutes. When we went inside to wait for the Ferry, this angry New Yorker tried to pick a fight with a guy standing there. He said he was going to "Knock him out" and then proceeded to have a fake phone conversation with "Joe". You're not fooling anyone, Angry New Yorker, you just pretended to have that conversation.We went to the MoMA and there was this giant thing that you whispered inside of. I was singing the Harry Potter musical into the mic because I'm cool.Sometimes I would get close to Nate like this one time in Central Park.This is my favorite picture of the entire trip. Matt tried to scare me right before this was taken by screaming BOBBY in my ear/face. I was surprised moreso than scared. Notice Nathan creeping inbetween us. SO GOOD!Later that night, we went back over to New Jersey and went out to eat at this place called Oddfellow's. It was a Louisiana style restaurant and LET ME TELL YOU; the Mac and Cheese was seriously incredible. Like, I could eat that forever and probably gain 1 million pounds and not even care. I had ribs as my entree and it's impossible to eat ribs and not look like a maniac afterwards:The next day, both New Jersey and New York decided to have a hissy fit and shut down all the subways so we were screwed and stuck in New Jersey for TWO DAYS because of Irene. This was our first hurricane. Everyone was going nuts; buying all the water and filling their tubs. Well, we went to the pier (minus Betsy) and got SOAKED, but Irene was no match for us. You know what we said? Suck it, Irene and also Come On, Irene (like the song by Dexy's Midnight Runners minus Eileen).The next day we went to the mall. It was 2 minutes away. I ate Popeye's Chicken for the first time. I got chicken tenders. Betsy and I didn't realize the mall was closing at 2 which sucked, but before we left, Matt suggested I take a picture with Justin Bieber for my 3 little pals (Jordan, Leah, and Alayna). Then I sprayed his perfume all over me and left the mall. That night we watched the VMAs and Lady Gaga performed as Jo Calderone. She makes for a very handsome male.After being stuck in our apartment for two days, we headed to look at the damage. We didn't even lose power while enduring the wrath that was supposed to be Irene. The worst we saw was some flooding that came up over our ankles in Hoboken.The only thing that did suck was that it was really windy that day and I was wearing a dress. Stupid of me. When we got to the city, Matt and I played around and Matt ran around like he was in Nebraska. Eventually he stuck my head underneath a fountain and I was a little sad (that's why he has me in the head lock).We were sad that Irene took away two of our days in New York so we had to cram a lot into our last night and we did just that. Monday came and we headed OUT. Matt and I were rat watching the duration of our trip, but then we saw this giant rat and became the Official Rat Watch Champions of 2011.After that, we went to Central Park where I wanted to find this Alice in Wonderland statue and take a photo with it. I climbed up onto it and here is a photo, but I am glowing and hard to see. Thanks, SUNSHINE.We went to Times Square and met up with our friends Cody and Kory.We took a group photo in Times Square. We didn't have anywhere to stay that night so we ended up staying in Times Square. I mean, we stayed up all night and sat in Times Square. Who said that New York is the city that never sleeps? We were the only ones there around 1 am! It was ridiculous. We killed a couple hours in McDonald's because it got cold, but I never thought I'd see Times Square empty.In between all of this, we went to Grand Central and it was completely empty.Then, Matt Benyo and I went to the main concourse and laid on the ground to stare at the painted ceiling. Betsy and Nate didn't join, but it was a magical moment. TWO PEOPLE LAYING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CONCOURSE. The handful of people that were there just walked around us.Then we left New York at 6 am. We were all so exhausted from waking up the day before and walking around all night that we fell asleep, but we had these two British girls behind us SCREAMING into their phones so we kept waking up. Also, our bus driver, Patrick, almost killed us because he was behind schedule so he drove like a maniac. It took us 16 hours to get home, but it wasn't that bad. Matt and I watched True Blood and all of us laughed about our fellow passengers and drivers. It was a really good trip. I can't wait to go back, really.