| Recent Summer Adventures |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|03:58 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  mellow | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "We Close Our Eyes" - Oingo Boingo | ] |
What I've Been Up To:
Waded through a dense crowd of lovely gay people at the San Francisco Pride Parade... ( ...where I oggled as many naked boobies as I could. )
Visited the San Francisco Zoo with Chris... ( ...where we were rushed by this incredibly intimidating creature. )
Went to an Independence Day barbecue at Chris's mom's house... ( ...where a brave family friend painted Chris's disgusting toe-talons. *Shudder.* )
Other Things:
- I dyed the front part of my hair dark purple for a photoshoot on Sunday, and now I miss the blue tremendously. Blue's just felt right for months and months, and as soon as this stuff fades out, I think I'm going back to it for a very long time.
- Said photoshoot was fun. Part of it served as my first real lingerie shoot. Hopefully, I'll have photos to post by early August. (This photographer tends to take a while to send me the files.)
- I've been battling this... thing, lately. I don't think it's real depression, but it's a general discomfort and dissatisfaction with life. Except for one legendarily bad night I had in college, I don't know if I've ever felt lonelier. It hurts, and I cry at totally random times. Not sure what to do about it. Get a new job? Make new friends? I haven't come up with any really appealing or realistic solutions yet. =o\ |
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| "Good-bye zipper!"* |
[Jun. 29th, 2009|09:15 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  lonely | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Nashville Parthenon" - Casiotone for the Painfully Alone | ] |
 A few months ago, I was browsing the shelves of a small bookstore in Berkeley when my rat-momma eyes zeroed in on a thin paperback manufactured to look like its pages had been gnawed on by a rat. As a rule, I buy almost anything rat-related I happen to come across; so I purchased it without a second thought. Judging from the adorable packaging, I was expecting a Ratatouille-esque story--something "cute" and at least mildly enjoyable for a rat-lover like me. What I was not expecting to find was a genuine piece of Literature, with a capital L. Funny, touching, and tragic, Sam Savage's Firmin is my new favorite book. I'd like to think that means a lot, considering the fact that I've never been able to pick a single favorite book before. The first time I finished reading it, I was riding the train on my way to work, and I bawled my eyes out in front of everyone (I'm talking non-stop tears, raking sobs, and globs of snot, here). I've read it twice more since then and cried again both times.
You don't need to like rats to sympathize with the title character. In the basement of a Boston bookstore, Firmin is born the runt in a litter of thirteen rats to a drunken mother who only has twelve nipples. Shoved aside by his bigger, stronger siblings at mealtime, he soothes the ache in his empty belly by gnawing on the only other things in his environment--books. As he eats page after page, Firmin somehow absorbs the knowledge of the printed words and develops the ability to read. Soon, his literary consumption becomes more psychological than literal (though he continues to allow himself the occasional nibble around the margins). Unfortunately for Firmin, this newfound skill creates in him a deep longing for the human world. No longer a simple rat concerned only with self-preservation, Firmin yearns for connection and understanding--for someone with whom to talk about philosophy, art, fiction, history, science, and all of the other things he's learned from his precious books. But other rats don't understand those things, and he doesn't have the physiological ability to converse with humans. He is isolated, a small, seemingly insignificant creature full of burning passions, unequipped with any way to communicate them. Anyone who has suffered even the slightest bit of loneliness will be able to identify with Firmin. I did, and I do... especially these days. I seem to have so very few friends at this point in my life, and I'm quite thankful to have found a new one in Firmin.
If you love books, read Firmin. If you love rats, read Firmin. If you love me, read Firmin. It's really the most wonderful piece of art I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
*A Note on the Subject-Line: At one point in the story, in a desperate attempt to communicate with a human, Firmin tries to learn sign language. Without actual hands, the only signs he can easily manage are "good-bye" (an energetic wave of the forepaw) and "zipper" (a zipping motion of the forepaw up his belly). Thus, "Good-bye zipper!" becomes his chant--his greatest, most courageous effort at reaching out to others. I'm seriously considering getting the phrase tattooed somewhere. |
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| Highlights from Paris |
[Jun. 25th, 2009|03:56 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  okay | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Strange Powers" - The Magnetic Fields | ] |
Paris! Paris! Paris! It feels like a dream--a really long, crazy, beautiful, exhausting dream. ( TONS of photos this way! ) |
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| I'm in Paris!!! |
[Jun. 12th, 2009|07:42 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  happy | ] |
Be back soon, with many pictures to post! Love you all! =oD |
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| Semi-Old Photo Post |
[May. 15th, 2009|01:26 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  bored | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Can't Get You Out of My Head" - Kylie Minogue | ] |
I've been meaning to post these forever and just never got around to it... They're all pretty small; so I hope you don't mind that they're not under an lj-cut.
First: Drag Queens!
 
We visited the lovely creatures of Asia SF just before Jess moved down to SoCal. They are so mind-blowingly beautiful. LOVE them.
Second: Amazing Dinner!
One of the best dinners ever served at the impoverished Vinyard-Jensen household. Hot dogs and $6 pink champagne--fuckin' CLASS, y'all.
Third: Rats!
Buffy fell into a deeeep, deep, adorable sleep on our bed a couple of weeks ago, which meant that I had to take a zillion photos of her. My heart! She hurts it!
Sniffle preferred sitting in Momma's lap to napping.
Fourth: Voltaire Outfit!
I went to a recent Voltaire show in San Francisco, where two of my friends were supposed to meet me, but I got stood up by both! This left me feeling sad and lonely, although Voltaire made up for it by being extra charming and wonderful and remembering me from the last show. =o) Still, I went home and pouted and made Chris take a picture of me so that at least my LJ-friends could appreciate the awesome outfit I put together that night.
Fifth: Lovelies!
These two darlings stayed over at my apartment a couple of weekends ago (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) shyfayrie and her boy). Looooove you, Nedda! <3
Sixth: Zoe and Finn!
My boss commissioned a drawing of his kids from me--my first real commission, with a decent payment and everything! I was very excited, and he was pleased. =oD Larger version at DeviantArt.
Other Stuff:
- LISIS!!! I just bought the book-version of Let the Right One In and am reading it now. I like it super-much so far! It's way darker than the movie is. Thanks for recommending!
- Have any of you ever gotten a fix-it ticket? Is there anyone else you can get to sign off on your ticket besides a police officer? The stupid police station in Burlingame closes at 5 PM, so I can't get back from work in time to go there, and I take the train to work, so I can't visit the San Francisco station, because I don't have my car when I'm there. Halp!
- In less than a month, I am going to be in freakin' FRANCE! Spur-of-the-moment, crazy decision... I'll be staying in Paris with my cousin Lannie for a week. I cannot wait. I can feel the baguettes quivering in fear of my voracious hunger. |
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| Life Right Now |
[Mar. 29th, 2009|08:35 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | okay | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | The X-Files | ] |
 It's catch-up time! Since I haven't really done anything besides work over the last few months, here are the things that have been on my mind, lately.
Heavier Stuff:
- Jess (cloudberry): My semi-hetero lifemate moved down to SoCal to live with her boyfriend a few weeks ago, and it's really weird not having her around. Her absence makes me realize not only how important she is to me, but also just how few real-life friends I have. Sometimes, it's a bit lonely--but only sometimes. Mostly, I prefer being alone, anyway.
- Aging and Death: The older I get, the more the idea of death frightens me. I think of it constantly--when I'm driving, when I'm visiting my parents, when I'm spending time with my rat-babies. Everyday, I worry about myself or a loved one dying. I know 24 can hardly be called "a ripe old age," but after living "the adult life" for a full two years, I'm feeling less and less protected by the youthful beliefs in invincibility and endless possibility. Life feels fragile and short, and this makes me sad.
- Work: I am overworked and underpaid, and it's starting to wear on me. I don't half-ass anything (a life-rule I picked up from my dad, and the personality trait of which I'm most proud); so I put every ounce of energy and effort I have into my job. I often stay late and skip lunch breaks, and I'm mostly okay with doing that, because at the end of the day, the hefty pile of work I've accomplished leaves me feeling satisfied. But I can only maintain that feeling as long as I don't think too hard about how much I'm actually being paid. Chris helped me do my taxes the other night, and being forced to closely examine my yearly salary sent me into a depressive spiral that lasted the rest of the night. I'm trying to just be thankful that I have a steady job in this hellish economy, and I am, but... I can't help thinking that I'm worth more than this. So much more. =o(
- Body/Weight Issues: I've gained a solid 5 pounds over the last year, and it's wreaking havoc on my self-confidence. I know I'm not fat, and there are plenty of women heavier than I am whom I find very beautiful, but I'm bigger and squishier than I've ever been before, and my body just doesn't feel like my body, anymore. Outfits that used to make me feel pretty now cause me to cringe in the mirror. I'm not comfortable in my own skin, and I haven't felt truly attractive in ages. It sucks. I'm trying to eat better and exercise, but my willpower in that area is kind of pathetic. My short skirts and sexy shirts hang forlorn in the closet. I miss them so!
Light, Happy Stuff!
- Fave Recently-Seen Movie: Let the Right One In. Swedish vampire film. AMAZING. 4,135,367,852,903 times better and more touching than Twilight. See it. Now.
- Fave Recently-Read Book: Water for Elephants. Circus folk, romance, tragedy, danger, and an elephant! I really, really hope they make this into a movie. I've been dying to draw some circus art ever since.
- Recent Obsession: I've finally caught up with Joss Whedon's Buffy Season 8 comics, and holy crap, they are fantastic! I got my beloved Scoobies back! They'd left a big, gaping hole in my life when the TV show ended.
- Recent Crush: Jeremy Piven's character Ari Gold on HBO's Entourage makes me go all heart-gooey, these days. What can I say? I'm a cliche--a girl who loves assholes.
- Etsy Shop: In an effort to chase the impossible dream of someday living off of my art, I started an Etsy shop. Please tell your art-loving friends! |
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| Good Books in Bad Times (I'm Work-Whoring, Here) |
[Jan. 14th, 2009|10:50 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | meh | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Keane" - Bedshaped | ] |
Our company just started a blog called Good Books in Bad Times, to which I am a fairly regular contributor. The official press release says it's "designed for readers who are searching for thoughts, ideas, and wisdom from trusted sources to help them face these difficult times"--"difficult times" meaning the crappy economy + the standard stresses of everyday life. I think it's a really nice idea. Projects like this are the reason I wanted to work here in the first place: Our books help people. If you're feeling particularly unhappy about life and/or if you love books, check it out at www.goodbooksinbadtimes.com. You can recommend your own favorite titles by sending post submissions to goodbooksinbadtimes@yahoo.com, too. I'll probably be the one to post them for you. |
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| Martha Stewart: Transylvanian Edition! |
[Jan. 13th, 2009|09:34 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | discontent | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "What'll I Do?" - Alison Krauss & Union Station (A Mix Jess Made Me) | ] |
I did a weird 50's housewife/vampire shoot with Rocky back in November. We're thinking of doing vampire shoots for every decade--like, the same vampire throughout the ages. I've just gotta come up with proper costumes. Also: I need stronger facial muscles. Posing with your mouth open for six hours straight huuurts. ( More fun under here! =oD )
Unrelated: Has anyone else ever wrongfully gotten a "failure to pay toll" violation notice in the mail? I got one today, saying I didn't pay toll while crossing the Bay Bridge on New Year's Day, but I totally did! I don't understand why I got it, and I'm pissed... Not that I don't have the $30 or whatever for the fine, but it's the principle of the thing! >=o( |
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| MORE Unproductive Days in the Cubicle-Verse!* |
[Dec. 15th, 2008|10:28 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | amused | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "That Ole Devil Called Love" - Billie Holiday | ] |
PART II
From: Jensen, Jennifer
Sent: Friday, December 05, 2008 1:48 PM
To: Vinyard, Christopher M [chrisvnerd]
Subject: The Loneliest Whale
OMG, this has got to be one of the saddest things I've ever read! =o( =o( =o(
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2004/12/20/184723/82
[Stolen from amakasitae.]
----------------------------------------
From: Vinyard, Christopher M
Sent: Friday, December 05, 2008 1:52 PM
To: Jensen, Jennifer
Subject: RE: The Loneliest Whale
Damn, that’s depressing.
Makes me glad I found another malformed whale in you.
----------------------------------------
From: Jensen, Jennifer
Sent: Friday, December 05, 2008 1:53 PM
To: Vinyard, Christopher M
Subject: RE: The Loneliest Whale
Aaaw! You're my malformed whaaale! <3 <3 <3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART III
From: Jensen, Jennifer
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 10:16 AM
To: Jamsheed, Sheeda [My crazy-awesome co-worker, without whom work would suck extra, extra hard.]
Subject: OMGWTF!? Haha!
http://www.journalfen.net/community/sparklefield/5726.html
----------------------------------------
From: Jamsheed, Sheeda
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 10:18 AM
To: Jensen, Jennifer
Subject: RE: OMGWTF!? Haha!
Uh, yeah. I actually own that...
----------------------------------------
From: Jensen, Jennifer
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 10:19 AM
To: Jamsheed, Sheeda
Subject: RE: OMGWTF!? Haha!
LMAO, you are shittin' me.
----------------------------------------
From: Jamsheed, Sheeda
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 10:23 AM
To: Jensen, Jennifer
Subject: RE: OMGWTF!? Haha!
No, srsly, I rub my whole body with the Edward Cullen body glitter then roll around on the sheets. It is such a powerful spiritual experience. And so the bed sheet fell in love with the psycho...
----------------------------------------
From: Jensen, Jennifer
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 10:24 AM
To: Jamsheed, Sheeda
Subject: RE: OMGWTF!? Haha!
Hahahaha! I <3 <3 <3 yoooooou.
*I swear, one of these days, I'll start writing actual posts with substance again... One of these days. =oP |
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| Eee-hehehehe! |
[Nov. 10th, 2008|10:14 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  giggly | ] |
Dear Paul Rudd,
Your babies. Can I has?
Love,
Jenn
 |
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| Calling all Californians! |
[Nov. 7th, 2008|11:26 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | hopeful again | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Razor Sharp" - Collide | ] |
Hi,
I just signed a pledge to repeal Prop 8 and I thought you might be interested in joining me and more than 100,000 Courage Campaign members across California.
We have to come together right now to say that we refuse to accept a California where discrimination is enshrined in our state constitution.
Please sign the "Repeal Prop 8" pledge now and forward this to your friends as soon as possible:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/RepealProp8
Thanks!
Jenn |
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| Gigantic, Chunky, Updatey Picture Dump |
[Nov. 4th, 2008|08:12 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | hopeful | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Indecision 2008 | ] |
I keep taking photos with the intention of posting them here, but then I never get around to all the re-sizing! Here's what I've been meaning to show/tell you for like, a month and a half:
Wedding Season
I've been to six or seven weddings in the last year or so--three of which happened since just the end of September. I am so - sick - of - weddings, now. Ugh. I did, however, manage to take this fantastic picture of me and my niece Donna at cousin Nam's wedding. =oD
Monterey, 2008
chrisvnerd and I went to Monterey, CA again for our five-year anniversary. We didn't really take any good coupley photos, but I did document all of the amazing stuff we found. Exhibit A: The best postcard ever made. ( Exhibits B-H: vampire pacifiers, bad-ass toilet brushes, and more! )
More Walking in San Francisco
I've been good about keeping up with my walk-during-lunch-breaks-to-stay-fit regimen, and I usually take photos of good things I see on the way. I saw this sign on the way back from Union Square last week. ( Cool San Francisco sculptures. )
Halloween, 2008
cloudberry was a dominatrix, and I was her little bitch. We went to downtown San Jose, danced to old school 80s and 90s hip hop, and drank copious amounts of Patron. When they played Bell Biv DeVoe's "Poison," I nearly died of teh happee. ( More from Slutoween '08! )
Buffy-Rat-Love
Buffy is so fucking cute, it hurts. She licks chrisvnerd's fingers like this almost every time he picks her up. And her feet! LOOOK AT HER FEEET!
SUPER-IMPORTANT PS: Happy late birthday, shyfayrie! Hope you had a good one! I love you!
SUPER-IMPORTANT PS PART II!: WOOO-HOO! GO OBAMA, GO!!! =oD |
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| Semi-New Artwork: Shark Queen! |
[Oct. 4th, 2008|03:53 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  artistic | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Dinosaur Documentaries on History Channel | ] |
I started this one ages ago but only just now got around to finishing the color. She is the Shark Queen! Queen of the sharks! If you meet her, she will eatchoo!
Larger Version at DeviantArt |
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| Rat Shoot |
[Oct. 1st, 2008|08:57 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | rat-mama-y | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Random Indie Rock on Pandora | ] |
Not too long ago, I made a lunch date with Rocky of trillance.com to discuss photoshoot options. In passing, I mentioned my babies Buffy and Sniffle, and he immediately suggested doing a rat shoot with them. I was like, "OMGYESNOWPLZTHX!!!" and then these happened. ( Raaat baaabiiies! )
Also, here's that annoying 30-question meme. Sorry it took so long. ( I promise never to promise to do another meme again. ) |
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| Fun things, meee, and more meee! |
[Sep. 15th, 2008|10:37 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  sleepy | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | chrisvnerd reading Robin Hobb's Golden Fool to me. | ] |
Chinatown, SF
In attempt #36,849 to live a healthier lifestyle, I've been taking a half-hour to an hour-long walk around San Francisco each workday for the past two weeks. One of my favorite places to wander is Chinatown. Besides Hong Kong porn (which, yes, I did manage to buy, as I so boldly declared I would in this post), you can find some of the most fantastic stuff there. ( Exhibits A & B: Avenging Unicorns and Giant Wooden Penises )
Callie's Birthday Party
Recently, I attended chrisvnerd's sister's birthday party, where this happened. ( Then it got even hotter. )
Vampire Tour of SF
I also went on the Vampire Tour of San Francisco for Callie's birthday. Cheesiest thing ever. Good thing I live for teh cheez. I had good makeup that night. ( I also had good tights and shoes. )
Rat Butt+Head
Buffy's cute rat-butt on top of Sniffle's cute rat-face. They sleep in the very best positions together. I just... I think I could kill for them, I love them that much. *Heart-squeeze.*
Return of the Faux Hawk
Aaand the hair is gone again. I liked the last cut okay, but I can never keep the same one for very long. Anyway, girls seem to like me better with the short 'do. ( Another of me in the office bathroom today, for good measure. ) |
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| Forest Shoot Sneak Peek |
[Aug. 29th, 2008|12:27 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  good | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Cayman" - Mira | ] |
Sneak peeks from a shoot I did with Benaiah Art & Photography last month... It was the hardest shoot I'd ever done before, because I had to basically rock-climb in high heels. My muscles were freakishly sore for like, three days afterward, but it was way fun. I probably won't get to see the rest until our next shoot in September, but I like these. =o)
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| Three Things |
[Aug. 21st, 2008|10:19 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | artistic | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Dexter Season 2 | ] |
1 & 2. I now have red bangs, and work is boring.
3. I doodled a cartoon of me and cloudberry the other day. Now I kind of want to make a whole web-comic about us.
 |
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| Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series |
[Aug. 18th, 2008|01:22 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  embarrassed | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Time Is Running Out" - Muse | ] |
 Part of my responsibility as a marketing assistant for HarperCollins Publishers entails keeping up with the industry as a whole--staying on top of genre trends, bestsellers, etcetera by reading trade magazines and e-newsletters. So of course, I haven't been able to go to work over the past month without seeing tons of headlines and reviews about Breaking Dawn, the last book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series.
I thought I'd given up on vampire fiction a long time ago. When I was in junior high school, I read Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles like they were the freaking Bible, and I couldn't get enough of Christopher Pike's The Last Vampire series; but as I got older, I think I just got too embarrassed to actually sift through the mountains of awful, trite vampire smut to find anything else even remotely worthwhile. And then Stephenie Meyer showed up, and Publishers Weekly kept shoving her in my face, and the temptation and curiosity finally became too much for my inner 13-year-old vamp to resist. I bought the whole series and devoured all four books in less than two weeks.
...I liked them, and I'm ashamed as all Hell to admit it, because they are NOT GOOD. I repeat: NOT GOOD AT ALL. The prose is repetitive and cheesy, the main character/narrator has almost no personality, the plotlines (if you can even call them plotlines) barely exist outside of Edward and Bella's gushy-mushy tortured love affair, and Meyer viciously teases her readers with the vague possibility of a sex scene without ever really delivering the luscious, undead goods. It's bad, guys. Real bad. Still, I spent the last week plunging through every book like a crack fiend who just found a mammoth treasure chest filled with sparkling, magical cocaine rocks cooked up by Jesus Christ's personal heavenly drug dealer. It's just... the best, most entertaining, most ridonkulous piece of trash ever. With sexy, "dazzly" vampires. I emailed largerbarger about it earlier today and said reading all of the books one right after another was basically the literary equivalent of eating ten boxes of deep-fried twinkies in one sitting. Fantastically delicious, but now I feel a bit sick to my stomach. How did I enjoy it that much? And why? I'm still a little bewildered and nauseated, but I can't stop reading other reviews and snickering at the snarky ones. If you don't want to waste the hours actually reading the series yourself, at least read cleolinda's play-by-play commentary here. I dare say, it's even better than the real thing.
...And then I found out that they're moving the movie release up to my birthday--November 21st! WIN! That Robert Pattinson kid is teh YUM.
MMMMMM, cheesy, bloody vampire delectability! I CAN'T WAIT! OM-NOM-NOM-NOM...
This is so sick. My old literature professors should drag me into the streets and put me out of my misery. |
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