Nonfiction 

47 creative works found

• *Writing Challenge* - Journey
  by Xavier Russo

  OK, so let’s kick off a writing challenge, just for fun. Poems, short stories or non-fiction of less than 500 words on the theme “*journe…

  OK, so let’s kick off a writing challenge, just for fun. Poems, short stories or non-fiction of less than 500 words on the theme “journey”. Add your contribution to this forum topic and as a journal entry. That way people can read them all from the one forum, as well as having the writing show up on your profile.

• Doctor Who Flung Dung
  by FlickerLightStudio

  In our journeys through time, we happened to make the acquaintance of a strange and really different being. This character is Doctor Who …

  In our journeys through time, we happened to make the acquaintance of a strange and really different being. This character is Doctor Who Flung Dung™. The Doctor has a propensity for flinging all kinds of things, but is really well known for flinging dung, hence his name. We are planning to write a bit more about Doctor Who Flung Dung™ at another time. Look for the first installment of “Doctor Who Flung Dung™” coming soon :-)

• Skydiving - Non Fiction
  by MissKristy

  Finally, as I allowed myself to gaze at the curving world below me, I remembered how small I truly was. And how humbling an experience, h…

  Skydiving – I need to go again, very soon. Who’s coming with me?? :)

• About Me
  by bchrisdesigns

  I love art. I can’t even define what type of art I love best, because I am moved by so many different forms of expression. Film, Music, a…

  I love art. I can’t even define what type of art I love best, because I am moved by so many different forms of expression. Film, Music, and Theater have always been mediums that have influenced me. However, I love the written word almost more than any other art form out there. I feel like sometimes I have so much to say. Sometimes, having that much to say can make a person chaotically mute. Living and growing up in Southern California can be frustrating and awesome all at once! It is a muse beyond muses and, yet, sometimes I feel like everything is so overly suburban. Maybe that is because I live in the burbs? I hail from the San Gabriel Valley, one of the most culturally diverse areas of the entire nation, which is why I am open-minded to all types of foods and cultures. I love living here, but sometimes I wish I were somewhere else because of the “go-go-go” atmosphere around here. Either way, I have a love-hate relationship with my wondrous state! The only other place I have lived was in London, which I loved beyond belief and miss everyday! I am slightly bohemian by nature and a true Pisces!!! For me, “Art” is everything, “creativity” is a driving force, and I have a feeling that, no matter what I do, I will always be creating something because that is what I am drawn to do. My second love is photography – digital photography in particularly. I am never without my digital camera (and even when I am, my cell phone has one built right in, so I am never truly without one). A few times I have been left stranded – no camera, no phone – and it feels like sickness, like part of me is missing. I need to capture images as much as I need to put thought onto paper. It is like a secret drive deep inside. I can hardly explain it or expect anyone else to understand it. It is like, when I am driving and see a beautiful sunset or a building whose lines arch across the horizon like some beautiful poem made into design and then not being able to pull over and capture that onto film makes me sick and leaves me empty. As you might imagine, I am a pain to travel with because I can spend hours in one spot capturing its essence over hundreds of clicks of the camera’s shutter. I particularly love to photograph architecture, cityscapes, nature, and people in those environments. I also have a love for common items that most people surpass, but when studied they offer some insight into humanity and some inner beauty that only the lens of a camera can capture. I am also getting the hang of this graphic arts thing. I love Photoshop. I would not be able to go on without it. It is almost becoming as valuable as my camera…or my pen. My favorite digital art mediums/techniques are: photo illustration, creative portraiture, pop art, composites, collage, lomography, cross processing, tilt shift photography, selective coloring, mixed media design, vector art, and t-shirt design. In fact, one goal is to eventually have my own t-shirt line under my design name: b.christopher designs. My creativity also flows beyond the computer, camera, and page. I have a soft spot in my heart for all things handmade. I am currently learning to sew because I love plush and want to design some. I like working with paper arts, mixed media, and jewelry. I am also a fan of ATC’s and ACEO’s and have created a few. Greeting cards also speak to me. Another goal of mine is to have a greeting card line. Greeting cards make everyone happy. I like that about them. As you can see, I have so many areas of interest. And, because of this, I am constantly busy with something or other. But, I always have time to make new friends and give feedback – so, don’t be shy. I would love to know what you think about my artwork. There is more to come, so stay tuned! And, if you are interested in hiring me or commissioning/purchasing one of my works, please contact me at b.christopherdesigns@yahoo.com. Thanks! Best Regards ~b.christopher

• The Monkey's Top 11: Eleven Facts I Hold to be True
  by bchrisdesigns

  #9 – If I were you, I’d be reading this right now.

  This piece of creative prose was written in March of 2005 for the, now defunct, web journal “Pretty Witty”, where I used to write a monthly column entitled “Save a Cow, Kill a Chicken”. I am not sure if the links in this piece are even still accessible, but those are just bonuses anyway. Enjoy and let me know what you think! Remember, this is merely an opinion piece created for the purposes on entertaining and humoring and nothing more. / CREATION INFORMATION Medium: Writing – Creative Prose, Humor, Lists Tools: Microsoft Word, My Brain/Imagination Topic: Top 11  

• Photoshop CS3 (and CS2) Brushes
  by bchrisdesigns

  I just wanted to share some really cool brush resources for those of you interested in adding some plugins to your Photoshop software. I…

  I just wanted to share some really cool brush resources for those of you interested in adding some plugins to your Photoshop software. I have used some of them and they rock! All are freeware and some cite that you must give a link back to them in order to use them. The following is a comprehensive list of ALL of the websites where I have downloaded brushes from. Any of my pieces that feature a brush from one of these sets will be linked back to this journal for proper crediting. Brush gurus: 50ml Brushes Seishido Pixel Chick Damned in Black Dubtastic Juuichi Aquired-taste Photoshopsupport.com’s Brush Page I hope you all find these as useful as I have! If you need help installing these, check out my Photoshop Tip #1: Where to get brushes? journal entry. These are my pieces which use any of the above dingbats/fonts (will add as I create more):

• Photoshop Tip #1: Where to get brushes?
  by bchrisdesigns

  Okay, so you’ve seen some amazing work online and wondered where the artist got all those astounding background effects or how they did t…

  Okay, so you’ve seen some amazing work online and wondered where the artist got all those astounding background effects or how they did that cool layered effect. Well, as surprising as it may sound, some of those effects were done using a very common Photoshop preset: Brushes. You may be asking yourself, don’t I already have brushes installed with my Photoshop CS3 (or CS2) software? Well, yes, you do. But those are the basics. There are a ton of awesome people out there in internet land who are making additional brushes (and other plugins) for you to use with your software. These plugins are very easy to download and install. I will try to give you a short rundown of what to expect when installing these brushes. For more information as to how to use them or for more detailed installation information or installation for a MAC OS, please consult the very wonderful Photoshopsupport.com, a very neat index of everything Photoshop! (Please note: The following instructions are very, very simplistic because I wanted even the novice Photoshop user to be able to use these tools. I know there are a bunch of different ways to do these things (even some that are easier), but I wanted to put it in basic terms without all the fancy language and extra steps because I remember how it was when I first started teaching myself to use the Adobe programs. Plus, this is not intended to be a full fledged tutorial.) The first step is to download some really cool brushes from an online provider. Some brush sets you will have to pay for, others are free with some restrictions, and others are completely free. Make sure you read the website’s policy before you use them. You can view my Photoshop CS3 (and CS2) Brushes journal entry to visit the websites where I have downloaded most of my brushes from. Most of them have free areas or are completely free and all you have to do is link back to them. Once you have chosen the brush set to download, simply download it to your computer. Because the files are normally saved in a Zip file, I start off by downloading the file to my Desktop first and then moving them over after (this is to avoid confusion). However, if you feel comfortable unzipping them right into the proper file, then by all means go-ahead-with-your-bad-self! After you have downloaded the Zip file to your Desktop, you will need a program (such as WinRAR, which is what I use) to unzip the file. At this point, you may be asking where you unzip the file to? Well, inside the Zip file may be a read me (.txt) file and other junk (which may be of interest to you) and there should also be a brush (.abr) file, which is the one you want to unzip. You can unzip the brush file onto your Desktop and then move it over manually, or you can unzip it to the Photoshop directory itself. Regardless of which method yo use, your ultimate goal is to get that .abr brush file into a specific folder in your Photoshop program’s file. For brushes, the file you will want to place your .abr brush files into is the “Brush” file within the “Presets” file. So, how do you get there? Open your My Computer and find the drive which has the folder “Program FIles”. Now, open “Program Files” and then find the folder labeled “Adobe”. Next, open the “Adobe” folder and you will see ALL of the Adobe programs, which are installed on your system. Locate the “Adobe Photoshop CS3” (or CS2) folder and open it. Find the “Presets” folder and open it. Finally, you will see a folder called “Brushes”. Open it. You can now see ALL of the brushes that are installed to use with your Photoshop program. This “Brushes” folder is where you want to place all of your downloaded .abr brush files. So, the quick breakdown to find the “Brushes” folder is: Program Files >>> Adobe >>> Adobe Photoshop CS3 (or CS2) >>> Presets >>> Brushes Once you have unzipped the files or drag-and-dropped them into this file folder, you can close the folders. You will also need to re-start your Photoshop program in order for the brushes to be finalized and installed and ready for use (sometimes, you have to re-start your computer as well). After you have re-booted your software, open a blank file and click on the “Brush Tool” or simply press its keyboard shortcut ( B ) to activate it. Now, right click anywhere on the page and your brush palette should appear (this is where you control the brush size/hardness, etc.) and in the upper right hand corner you should see a little black triangle with a circle around it. Click on that little triangle/circle icon and…. whaaaaa-la! Your newly installed brushes are there just waiting for you to experiment with them! All you have to do is click on a preset and it will ask you if you would like to load those brushes. Click “Ok” and they will appear in your brush palette waiting to be used and abused! So, go have fun with your new brushes and get creative! The last step, of course, is to add your comments below! Add your brush tips (pun intended) below so that we can all learn from each other! Cheers!

• Artist Spotlight - 21 Questions with Philip Rogan
  by bchrisdesigns

  / Artist Spotlight – 21 Questions with Philip Rogan...

  / Artist Spotlight – 21 Questions with Philip Rogan   / by Brian Jaime This week, I had the awesome task of combing through the group to find someone to be the first victim…er…artist to showcase in the bi-weekly Artist’s Spotlight. It gave me the fantastic opportunity to view many, many outstanding RB Artist Portfolios and I was very surprised by the talent that is represented in this group. I wound it down to a handful of emotive images, which caught my eye and then narrowed those down based on the over all portfolios of the artists. So, if you did not get selected this time around, who knows, you may already be on the list! For this first spotlight, I chose a wonderfully talented artist, Philip Rogan , who is based in Spain and whose portfolio is one emotive trove of visual eye candy! If you have not had a chance to check it out, you really should. He captures piratically everything in the emotional gamut, from anger to love, with a keen eye for composition and storytelling. I was delighted to be able to pick his brain about everything from Ireland to filmmaking, and his wonderful piece Young Actor. He has also presented some wonderful tips to artists about the business of photography and on how to capture emotions on film. And, if that were not enough, he was also able to tackle the dreaded twenty-first question with an answer that is poised and, well…emotive! One / So, tell us a little about you and your life. Not so much the artist, but the person. I am married to Maria, who is a whole six years younger than I am and who I met in Dublin six years ago at a beach party in a house. We now have a wee son named Patrick (very Irish, I know, it just felt like his name so he got it and it’s him now.) They both have a great sense of humor and crack me up a lot. Work wise, at the moment, I am looking at a pretty intense week ahead of me starting tomorrow. I am shooting an Incentive Trip, basically thirty business managers from around the world hiking through two canyons (river gulleys); and, I am more than a little worried about surviving the trip myself because my fitness levels, which were never great, are probably at the lowest I have ever known them to be. Living here in Mallorca it’s a bit of everything type existence. Two / You say that you were born in Ireland. Did you grow up there as well? Yeah, born and bred in Dublin. I am from Raheny, a suburb on the Northside of Dublin, whose recently most famous former-resident would probably be Ronan Keating of Boyzone. It’s a nice place, in many ways—near to the sea, Dollymount Beach and the great and magical St. Anne’s Park (formerly owned by the Guinness family). Three / Give us a glimpse into your childhood… Childhood. Mostly good. My dad, George, was an office clerk for Sealink, mostly accounts and suchlike, though he wrote a lot of Poetry and was quite a romantic at heart. There was never a shortage of food or clothes, though my Dad’s sister from Chicago used to send us awful, out of fashion stuff that my Mom eagerly dressed us in so that I ended up wearing flairs whilst everybody else was in drainpipes. I got slagged a lot for that and my straight hair and being so skinny. I was not a fighter but was okay in schoolyard fun fights, so I was never really picked on as a target in that way; but, I hated school and the taunts as I was so bloody sensitive. At twelve, the time you go to secondary school, I sort of made a vow that I have stuck to ever since, which was that nobody would fuck with me ever again. I hit a few idiots over the years and I do not believe in pacifism as a couple of cracks to the head of a bully is much, much better than stoic resistance. I had great friends over the years and we had some great times and some wild times too (nothing overtly mental). Mitching off school was great, as was smoking fags (cigarettes, to you Americans) and all that. Also, it was in secondary school that I was introduced to the likes of David Bowie, The Doors, Lou Reed, Led Zeppelin and Van Morrison. So whilst everybody else was mad about Duran Duran or Haircut 100 (or even the Cure), I was back in the 70’s with a BASF tape of some pure genius. Bowie is still my hero. Four / You are now located in Spain, how has that been different from where you lived previously? Well, the weather obviously is completely different. The languages are different—Castellano (Spanish) and Mallorquin (Catalan), and a lot of residents of Mallorca are German, so English comes in 4th place. I live in the weird society of ex-pats living in Mallorca, united by that alone whilst touching on the Spanish and Mallorcan societies through my wife and other colleagues via work mostly (well, existing, of course, but work is a common shared experience rather than just buying something or asking for a service). Mallorca is very, very beautiful and, as Gertrude Stein said, ”...it’s Paradise if you can stand it.” Read “A Winter in Majorca” by George Sands and you will understand something even though it’s over 150 years old, the character is still there. It’s an island with a massive airport and the number one tourist destination in Europe that is not a big city. Five / Is your art (or has your art ever been) affected by the places where you live? Yeah, to a degree of course, because you learn different stuff and the light is also different. Like, here in Spain, its sun-sun-sun with very little clouds, so, with no real soft light, it’s harder for me to take a portrait here than in Ireland. I honestly prefer the simplicity of a soft light, like Ireland’s, where the face is the issue rather than shadow management. That said, the fact is that here you can shoot cleaner images as you have all this light, lots of it, and almost everyday the chances are 70-90% that, yes, it’s going to be sunny. Otherwise, people are people and, as you can see, I like shooting them, and, to some degree, I have been doing a little less of that here over the last five years as my work has been about the film festival. Six / What mediums do you dabble in (i.e. photography, painting, writing, graphic design, etc.) and where would you say you are at in terms of an artistic career? Well photography, filmmaking and scriptwriting, poetry and writing stories (though I have the knack of not finishing them), and hopefully we will be doing a TV series soon (a pilot proposal and all that) with a writer friend of mine, Barbara Jago who has twenty-two finished movies to her credit. I draw in the doodle sense, but used to love it as a teenager and would spend hours, days, weeks drawing and usually copying material from a comic called “2000AD” of which I was a mad fan. In terms of graphic design, I wish I had more skill sets and tools that I was good at using, but I do art direct material particularly now for the Expo and before for the film festival. The good eye comes in handy and the brain for imagining stuff. We produced three years worth of visual material for the MFA Planet Europe Short Film Festival and I think I should post some of it up. Seven / Why is photography one of your chosen mediums? If I am anything, I am a photographer. I did not choose it as a medium per se. I would not really regard myself as an artist but as a photographer. I do not see photography as being art all the time, in fact most photography is not. It serves a purpose and art by definition, though this is a sticky one, does not. So wedding photography, no matter how wonderful, is a service and a product first and foremost and reportage is visual reporting, etc. Eight / What advice would you give to anyone who may be thinking “Gee, I sure would like to be a photographer…”? I suppose the only advice is go for it. If it’s in relation to making it a job, there are so many possible lines of advice, though one of which is that, to make money, you should follow a particular line of commercial work if you want to make a living. Unfortunately, for most it is true that, if you are shooting this and that and the other, you have to spread yourself thin and it’s hard to make a rep in any of them. So whether you do weddings, catalogs, fashion, reportage, etc., then do that as best as you can. Any other stuff, keep it as a hobby and enjoy it, and if it happens to generate some work on the side that you get paid for…great! Nine / Do you have a muse? Or, perhaps some other “person”, “place”, or “thing” that has inspired you to create works of art? My friends have been muses as such and their interaction as well, though I suppose some of them have been more interested in collaborating in front of the camera than others. Friends and actors, I suppose, have been the most like muses though there has never been a consistent one. Ten / Some artists are self-taught and others get degrees (and, still others learn what they want and then leave school). Would you mind sharing your educational background with us and how it has or has not helped you in your endeavors? Oh I am highly educated! I went to Colaíste Dhulaigh in Coolock Dublin in 1989, after secondary school (high school), which was a PLC or Post Leaving Cert course in communications. There, I studied TV, Sound, Photography and general Media studies for three years and specializing in photography in the third year. For example, the picture Orla: 70-80 Leeson Street was from my third year there and a project I did on seated or, as I called it, Chaired Portraits. Later, in 1998, I went back to college as a mature student and did four years in Dun Laoighre’s College of Art & Design in Film studies. That was a very practical course in the business of making movies, particularly shorts. By the time I finished, four years later, I had worked on somewhere like 30-40 short films in one capacity or another. Eleven / While viewing your RB portfolio, I noticed that you take a lot of photographs of people, both portraits and candids. Would you say this is your preferred type of subject matter? And, if so, can you elaborate as to why or why not? Absolutely preferred subject matter. I get more satisfaction out of a good portrait than any other type of picture. To get a good portrait is a collaboration between the photographer and the subject. People are simply more interesting to look at, particularly in a voyeuristic wondering sense—who are they, what are their lives about, why do they look so in this picture, etc. Also its where photography performs it’s most subtle, yet dramatic transformations. People are not as we photograph them, at least I think the better photographs do not depict people as they are but as something else all together more powerful. Look at Sebastioa Salgado’s biblical portraits of people, generally poor, all over the world. They are transformed into icons. The portrait of Che Guavera by Alberto Korda provided the raw communications material for legend building. I love portraiture from Korda to Leibowitz, from Avedon to Newton. Twelve / What’s your favorite photograph throughout your entire RB portfolio, it does not necessarily have to be an emotive photograph (but bonus points if it is)? I love Bikers at the Man o’ War because it’s probably the best photograph in my portfolio in terms of quality on all points; but, I also like Shopping with Mom because it was a street capture and it’s so balanced on normality and has an angelic quality that this bored shopping girl possesses. It switches I suppose, I love the portrait of Nuala in Irish Girl she is just stunning. I have an image that I have not posted yet of a friend chewing on his thumb whilst staring out the window all pensive, and that has always been one of my favorites. Thirteen / Do you have a favorite emotive photograph, other than your own, that you have sighted on RB (it does not necessarily have to be from our group, but bonus points if it is)? Why? Well looking through my favorites, I saw J+D by Paula Birch which I saw months ago on RB and which I really like for its fresh, natural and loving sense. It was a picture that I would have been very happy to have taken and to have in my portfolio. Fourteen / One of the photographs in your RB collection is “Young Actor”, can you tell us more about the background of this shot and why you chose to place it in your collection? Well I just uploaded it before I got your mail for this interview. I do not know the name of the child anymore, but the woman yes. Both were acting in a film I was producing in Dun Laoighre for my classmate Danny O’Dwyer, who had written the script and was directing it. It was a week of great madness in Cashel Co. Tipperarry. The story was about a young girl who wrote fairytales in which she featured as a defense or escape because her real life was just so awful. The actors in “Fairytale” were all non-actors as such (bar the hunchback, played by JP Dunleavy) and some of them were not too far from their characters. Danny weaved a certain grubby magic that week, and the film, though somewhat slapped together, was quite harrowing in its entire thirteen minutes. It´s there because the kid is staring at me like he wants to punch me for taking his picture. Fifteen / While the child in the photograph is extremely adorable, he looks rather unhappy. Was this the case at the time of the shoot? Adorable? Yeah, he was a bad tempered kid who was not happy to be on the hot set, but as he was there anyway he decided to stare us all out of it and let us know how unhappy he was. Sixteen / Some people say that children and animals are the hardest subjects to film and photograph. Was it a daunting task photographing a child? What has been your experience? This was not daunting, and, though kids are hard to photograph, they also present you with a million opportunities where adults have learned to clam up and provide you with three or four faces only (usually the camera “smile” which is about 85% of all the posed photos in the world). I think with kids you can have great craíc photographing them and though you might burn more film, nowadays with digital it’s not an issue. Seventeen / What advice would you give to other photographers about capturing the different states of emotion, which you have captured throughout your portfolio? Well keep looking, pre-empt if you can and, in posed images, work hard to get it right between you and your subject. I can be quite demanding of a subject and sometimes resort to “look here”, “raise your chin”, “now close your eyes…on three open and stare at me”, etc. I also move peoples bits and pieces, arms and legs primarily (ha ha ha), into positions that work for the camera. I also ask a lot of questions of the subject to see if we reach a common conclusion. They are transformations with elements of truth, but they are not “true representations capturing that persons soul”, that’s rare or maybe just bullocks. Eighteen / Are the people in your photographs acting for portraiture? Or, did you just happen to be in the right place at the right time to be able to capture such great emotiveness? As above yes, though not all of them. Sometimes, like in Love at the Man o’ War or Small Job you see something that is already a photograph and you just got to click fast. Nineteen / Acting in portraiture vs. real life candids, which do you prefer? Why? Real life candids, in terms of just getting a great lucky shot, but that’s normally a surprise, unless you are working a social occasion like a wedding and picking them off. But, more work goes into getting a posed portrait right and, so, it’s a different maybe more complete sense of satisfaction. Twenty / Where do you see yourself and your artwork in the next 5 years? What would you like to happen/accomplish? Nowhere, particularly, but I would love to exhibit on the physical plane and see how that might go down. Otherwise, I want to make a short film or two in the next few years, and my major ambition is to make a feature length film that’s worth making. I do not want to make a feature film that sucks or is just alright but not very emotive. I would like my audience to sit in their seats somewhat stunned, awash with conflicting emotions and unsure as to what to do next. I would make a rip roaring horror where its a laugh a second, as a second best option. Neither is an easy to achieve ambition and I have them on a long finger, before I am 50 is my general aim. And, now for the 21 million dollar question… eh, just adding dramatics… Twenty-One / If given the choice to either never take another photo again OR live in a world where you can take all the photos you want but everyone else would go blind and would never see those photos, which would you choose? Remember, you have to choose one of them, but you can tell us why you chose it. I would never take a photograph ever again and I would not be in the least bit bothered knowing that I had saved the world from blindness. Photography is important to me and images are important to man, but way, way down the list whereas music would be way up the list by a few hundred places. I can’t sing nor play an instrument, so go figure, but music moves me and I think almost everybody much, much more than a photo or painting. Stories are just after music or maybe before?

• Red Bubble Tip #1: Adding a Portfolio Banner to Your Red Bubble Profile Page
  by bchrisdesigns

  I am not sure if someone else has already posted a tutorial on this, so I thought I would have a go at it. I read “this (How to add a Po…

  I am not sure if someone else has already posted a tutorial on this, so I thought I would have a go at it. I read this very insightful tutorial by admin Xavier Shay about posting a Portfolio into an email signature. I was toying around with the code, and discovered how to place the code on your Red Bubble profile page. I have noticed that some people have already figured out how to do this, so there are some who probably already know about this. I, however, did not know this until I toyed around with it and, so, I am sure that there others out there who might find this of value. I would first recommend that you read Xavier’s post and the comments that follow, as they were a very big help in learning how to do this. (1) The first step is to use the image location link that was provided in the forum tutorial: http://redbubble.com/people/username/recipe:banner;back_color:ffffff;orientation:horizontal;limit:4/username_banner.jpg (2) Next, paste this image location link somewhere in your “About Me” section between exclamation points, like this: !place the image location link here! (3) Now, notice the bold areas of the above link. You must insert your Red Bubble username (not your real name) where it says username (there are two spots in the link where you have to do this). So, my link would like like this: http://redbubble.com/people/bchrisdesigns/recipe:banner;back_color:ffffff;limit:4_;orientation:_horizontal;/bchrsidesigns_banner.jpg Can you tell where I have replaced “username” with “bchrisdesigns”? (4) Finally, if you take note of the italicized text in the image location link directly above, you will notice that the values of “back_color”, “orientation”, and “limit” are all italicized. These values are yours to control and manipulate to get the proper look and feel that you would like on your page. back_color: is the image’s background color, which you can change to any color using the standard HTML Color Code. Note, that you do not need to use the # (pound sign) that normally precedes HTML Color Code (i.e. ”#ffffff”) – you just need the code (i.e. “fffffff”). #ffffff is the color code for “white”. limit: is the number of thumbnails that will be seen in your banner. I have experimented with this in my blog and have discovered that the most you can set it to is “6”. On your Red Bubble profile page, the most you can really set it to is “4” for horizontal images and “6” for vertical images orientation: is the way your portfolio will be seen. This can be changed to either “horizontal” (from side-to-side) or “vertical” (up and down). And, that is it. Once you have decided how you want your image to look, just save your profile and presto! You’ve got a nifty banner on your page. BUT… If you would like your banner to be click-able, you need to add a link code to it, such as: ”! image location here ! ( link description here )” : hyperlink here You can copy and paste this example into your “About Me” section and then fill in the blanks with your information (make sure you delete any and all spaces). In the above example, replace the underlined text as follows: image location here: replace this text with the finalized image location link that we worked on in steps 1-4 above. link description here: replace this text with a description of what you would like people to see when they hover over your banner. (Mine says “View My Red Bubble Gallery”.) hyperlink here: replace this text with the actual hyperlink that you would like your image to link to (i.e. a specific Red Bubble section or your profile page; you can also link to your blog/website/etc.). Once you replace the text as indicated, simply save your edited profile and check out your radical awesomeness! Here is an example of mine (with hyperlink): I hope this helps everyone! Cheers! P.S. I am adding this to all of my groups in the hopes that everyone can use this tool to display their beautiful works of art (from Atmospheric Optics to Zoophoria). Much love!

• Say "NO!" to the Orphan Works Act
  by bchrisdesigns

  I found out about this ludicrous proposed law on Red Bubble...

  I found out about this ludicrous proposed law on Red Bubble and wanted to let everyone else know what they can do about it! If you have not heard about the Orphan Works Act, then you should research it and speak out before it is too late (especially if you are an artist, writer, and/or musician)! No, this Act is not about displaced children or found animals. It revolves around works of art (including fine art, photography, writing, music, etc.) that are not registered with newly proposed agencies. ANY work not registered would be considered in the public domain. This is a dangerous concept and just goes to show how greedy and capitalistic our society, government, and big businesses have become. According to GoPetition.com: “If the Orphan Works legislation passes, you and I and all creatives will lose virtually all the rights to not only our future work but to everything we’ve created over the past 34 years, unless we register it with the new, untested and privately run (by the friends and cronies of the U.S. government) registries. Even then, there is no guarantee that someone wishing to steal your personal creations won’t successfully call your work an orphan work, and then legally use it for free. In short, if Congress passes this law, YOU WILL LOSE THE RIGHT TO MAKE MONEY FROM YOUR OWN CREATIONS!” We would be forced into a world where big business can bully us and use whatever they wanted and not be penalized for it. And, this law not only affects artists, writers, and musicians. It also affect the everyday consumer! If you are planning to get your the photographs of your cousin’s wedding developed at a Wal-Mart or other big box retailer, then you better be prepared to get every image copyrighted or you may just end up seeing them on Wal-Mart’s billboards! Gone would be the days of having rights the minute you create something. Now, if you don’t pay to protect it, then it is like no one created the image and it is up for grabs! Who wants to live in this kind of world other than greedy politicians and businesses? And, it does not surprise me that this has all happened under the Bush administration. Who were the idiots that voted for him and thought he would do us some good? Well, seems like the joke’s on YOU! In an April 10th article in Animation World Magazine, award-winning animation producer/director and speaker, Mark Simon, writes: “It is currently against international law to coerce people to register their work for copyright because there are so many inherent problems with it. But because big business can push through laws in the United States, our country is about to break with the rest of the world, again, and take your rights away. With the tens of millions of photos and pieces of artwork created each year, the bounty for forcing everyone to pay a registration fee would be enormous. We lose our rights and our creations, and someone else makes money at our expense. This includes every sketch, painting, photo, sculpture, drawing, video, song and every other type of creative endeavor. All of it is at risk! If the Orphan Works legislation passes, you and I and all creatives will lose virtually all the rights to not only our future work but to everything we’ve created over the past 34 years, unless we register it with the new, untested and privately run (by the friends and cronies of the U.S. government) registries. Even then, there is no guarantee that someone wishing to steal your personal creations won’t successfully call your work an orphan work, and then legally use it for free.” So, what can you do about it? Well educate yourself on the issues, write to your congress men and women, and sign as many petitions as your can. To get your started, check out this petition, which I have already signed: Say ‘NO!’ to the Orphan Works Act on GoPetition.com Also, be sure to check out these resources for more information: Say ‘NO!’ to the Orphan Works Act on GoPetition.com Mark Simon’s Mind Your Business: You Will Lose All The Rights to Your Own Art IPA Orphan Works Resource Page for Artists U.S. Copyright’s Office Orphan Works Page ASMP’s Update on the 2008 Orphan Works Act You can also find more information about the Orphan Works Act on Red Bubble: Helen Bascom’s Protect Your Copyright – URGENT ACTION REQUIRED Erin Jay’s Something every artist should know about! Crockpot’s The Orphan Works Act of 2008 ~ RELEASE WanderingAuthor’s Writers’ Concerns bchrisdesigns’ Say ‘NO!’ to the Orphan Works Act The Red Bubble forum dedicated to this discussion Say No to Orphan Works Thread @ Burst Anime and Manga Mike Cressy’s IMPORTANT! READ AND ACT NOW!!!

• The Equation
  by bchrisdesigns

  I just read a very insightful journal entry...

  I just read a very insightful journal entry by DanielMartin about “Writing and making things that come from the heart that maybe no body will like or things that lots of people will enjoy which is cheap and crappy but earns you more money?” I wanted to write him a comment and found that I had more to say about it than I originally thought (and I hope this is helpful to all). Thank you, Daniel, for such a thought invoking query! Here is my response: I find that writing form the heart means “being true to one’s heart” and, thus, true to one’s self. There are a lot of artists out there who create only for profit because money makes the world go round. And, sometimes, rightly so. I know and have lived through and seen the cost of “Bohemian lifestyles” and what a toll it takes on one’s life and the lives of those who care about them in order for one to be “All about the art” and live and breathe “Only art from the heart” (shoot, I am living that life right now at this moment…and it is bittersweet). I have battled with this concept as well and will admit that I have thought about just giving in and producing what will make the most money. But, I haven’t…yet. I have always just produced what I liked and hoped others would like it too. I too have felt that some pieces were unpopular and that popular pieces are those that “sell out” because the artist/author is pandering to the masses and not being true to their own voice. But, maybe some of those creatives aren’t always “selling out”; maybe, they have just figured out the formula and have solved a very simple/complex equation. Lately, I have been trying to find a certain place in my work: producing what I like and what is from the heart and, at the same time, making it what people want (and by “want”, I mean “buy”). I am slowly beginning to learn that what people want is actually to buy something from someone who believes so much so in their own work that others have no alternative but to see it as if it has come from their own hearts as well, and thus want to buy it. What people want is passion – passion for the creation process, passion for the sales process, and passion for the way the piece speaks to the world (or what it says about that world). A photo is just a photo, a poem is just a poem, a graphic is just a graphic, until someone (meaning us creatives) shapes and molds it, and gives it meaning and purpose. Every piece we produce should evoke some sort of human emotion (other than boredom). If a piece makes someone happy…or sad…or enraged…or inspired…or ready to fight for a cause…or…you get the point… Then, we have done our jobs as creatives. It is when we get no response that we have failed (this does not literally mean “no response in our comments sections”, but rather if the piece evoked no inner response from the viewer/reader). This is why it is so important for us creatives to offer constructive feedback and honest responses to our fellow creative comrades. To comment on someone’s work with “Excellent” or “Wow” or “Lovely” (you get the idea), might actually do us all more harm than good. Think about it. These words are filler words. I, myself, have been guilty of using them from time to time when in a rush. But they are just adjectives and they do nothing to show the workings of the inner self. Some of the best comments a creative can receive (and, I am sure most of you can attest to this) are those that give some insight into how the piece affected the viewer. For example, these are some comments I have received which exemplify my point. I first must say, that I appreciate ANY and ALL comments on my work, even constructive criticisms. These are not necessarily my most favorite comments (though some of them very well may be), however, I randomly selected them because I feel they illustrate my above point and are very good examples: “I love it to death!!!!” from Anne van Alkemade on Snail Mail Project – Page 1 “I love the romance of this composition” from Michael J Armijo on Faerie Dust “Just love the extreme fright one feels when looking at this image and reading the narrative.” from ltruskett on HE Waits “The stuff nightmares are made of.” from Paul Compton on No Escape “It looks so lonely!” from Sarah Moore on Little Tree ”...the thought of murdering Barry Manilow has surely occurred to others besides me hasn’t it?” from deliriousgirl on This One’s For You “I will never stop laughing.Thanks for the boost.” from MIKERUSSELL on Sitting Now, I did not mean to leave anyone out, so please do not be offended if your comment is not shown here as an example. There are just so many comments and these just popped up at me as ones that would help to make my point. If you notice, they all share a common thread: they let the creator of the piece know how their pieced affected that particular viewer. And, for an artist/writer, knowing how a piece affects another human being is worth its weight in gold. So, take this into consideration the next time you leave someone comments. I know I will try to. I am not saying to not leave the standard “Awesome” or “Excellent”, but maybe follow that up with a few words about how the piece made you feel or react. It only takes another few seconds from your busy life, but gives a world of knowledge to the person for whom you are leaving the comment. Ask yourself: How did this piece make me feel/react? Is the comment telling/showing how this piece made me feel/react? Am I leaving this particular comment because I have nothing else to say about it? Is my comment truly constructive? How will this comment help the creator of the piece? Am I being honest? Or, am I using filler to hide the fact that the piece caused an emotion in me that I think is not too positive (i.e. scared, afraid, creeped out, angry, enraged, turned off, sick to your stomach, etc.). [If this is the case, you can always send a private message to the creator of the piece letting them know how you feel. Remember, there is always a way to express a negative emotion in a positive way.] So, why did I go off on this tangent about leaving comments? Because, your simple act of leaving a comment can help that artist/writer to discover what it is about their work that makes others tick. Is their work inspirational? Does it scare the viewer? Is it shocking? Does it induce fond memories? Does it convey the original emotions/feelings the artist originally intended on delivering? How are we supposed to know these things unless we tell each other? And, most of us here are creative types, so why not use each other as tools? After all, one of the best tools of our trade is feedback. And, as artists and writers, we can take that feedback and learn to solve that ever popular equation: What we love + What they want = Art that does not fail What I mean by “art that does not fail”, is art that is both from the heart & soul and that also touches the hearts and souls of others. Creative pieces should accomplish both of those tasks. And keep in mind If a few people think a piece is boring or it evokes no inner response…choc it up to a difference in taste If A LOT of people (especially people whose opinions you highly value) think it is boring or that it evokes no inner response…try looking at your work from outside your own box and getting honest, helpful criticisms (and appreciate those criticisms, which so many of us tend NOT to do). If you’re piece evokes less-positive responses, ask yourself if that was your intent. Did you mean for the piece to scare people? Were they supposed to get grossed out, or offended, or angered? If the piece upset someone or caused them to loathe what you created. Ask yourself “why?” Because, if that was the intent of your piece…then a job well done! Re-examine your work often and update it (especially if it has had no response). First recognize how that work makes you feel/react and then ask people if it does the same for them; if not, re-examine it and try again. Ask yourself if your piece contains personal reflections that no other person, except those involved, would “get”? If so, try to re-imagine the piece so that anyone, anywhere, and at anytime can be involved with your piece and understand its meaning and relevance. Read/view other works of art and keep in mind what others are saying about those pieces. Remember, the best writers are readers; the best artists are connoisseurs. Remember that you should be the biggest fan of your work. If you don’t love it, then how can you expect others to? If you are not “moved” by it, then how are others expected to be? And, remember, we artists and writers cannot please everyone. So, don’t even try. Just please yourself…umm…that came out bad…I mean…just know that if you build it, they will come…okay, so I went from smut to cheese, but you get the point! Artists. Writers. Photographers. Illustrators. Poets. Sculpturers. Designers. Architects. Songwriters. Graphic Artists. Webmasters. Screenwriters. Painters. Chefs. Sketchers. Filmmakers. Assemblers. Decorators. Bakers. Playwrights. Crafters. Creators. And, “Smiths” of all kinds… The equation is OURS to solve. Anybody got a calculator? © Copyright Brian Jaime and bchrsidesigns, 2008. All Rights Reserved. Note: I am posting this to ALL of my groups as it is about art/writing in general and I hope all of my fellow creative comrades will be inspired by it. Cheers! ~ b.chris

• Red Bubble Groups = Hot Tranny Mess!
  by bchrisdesigns

  / “It’s a hot tranny mess up in here!” There has been much talk recently abou…

  / “It’s a hot tranny mess up in here!” There has been much talk recently about Red Bubble Groups and how things need to change. Some common gripes include: There is little group involvement (so why even join in the first place, people?) People complain about bubble mails (I am not one of them because by joining a group, I pretty much expect it) Hosts complain about investments of time and resources RB admins claim that groups are just a dumping ground for images Many members simply use these groups for shameless self-promotion without even reading the rules and/or following them correctly (you know who you are!!!!) New groups that could possibly be beneficial have been put on hiatus because there are supposedly “too many groups”...gasp! Some groups, which are hosting off-site blogs and websites to promote their groups and give their groups additional functionality (which could actually help members with free promotion), have come under fire for violating member’s rights Group challenges are either lacking in entries, votes, or overall support (even when money is involved, which is beyond me, quite frankly) Many hosts feel taken advantage of and under-appreciated by the Red Bubble community, and subsequently abandon their posts or lose interest and the groups suffer for it Hosts are sometimes at a loss with going about how to feature work and artists in their groups, and what constitutes “fairness” Many members cannot understand why their work was not accepted and many hosts have either very unreasonable expectations or their expectations are way too low Adding your work to groups involves skimming through a long list of un-alphabetized and un-sort-able group names, which makes posting to groups a chore. I can understand why some people just click everything and submit and leave it to the hosts to decide. I have NEVER done this, but I can understand why some would. Groups get inundated with art/clothing/writing/journals and then visitors have to skim through 20 or more pages of work, which can make it daunting for viewers (I personally think this is just one more thing to complain about and not really that big of a deal) Many groups limit the amount of work a member can post (or can post at one time) and sometimes this seems unfair (I agree with this 100%); but hosts say that the purpose of this is to keep the galleries so fresh and so clean (which seems a bit nit-picky yet needed, to me). This represents just a few rants that I have seen expressed throughout the RB community, and some of them I share my opinion with because I have experienced it firsthand. Being a member of quite a few groups and also a group host, I have been able to see perspectives from both sides. And, having been involved in many internet groups in the past, I can attest that Red Bubble still needs to work it out for better functionality. However, what Red Bubble has is a diamond in the rough that has so much potential. Now, I know this is getting word-y and I have been criticized in the past for not exemplifying brevity. But, when I am passionate about a subject matter I cannot help but ramble on. All I can hope for is that people (especially RB Admins and Group Hosts) continue reading because I think I have some good ideas to toss into the mix. Currently, Red Bubble is talking about a sort of division that would make groups for the people and would establish galleries for the art. This is just an idea that Red Bubble has been toying with and their is nothing official about it. And, while this idea has many supporters, I am not a huge fan of it. I think it will initially cause a lot of chaos and confusion and require volunteers to offer more time, which many of us are already at our wits end with. I question why Red Bubble is trying to establish new features as a way to “help the group situation” rather than actually focusing on the group’s part and trying to revamp that. We do not need something new. What we need is for a better operating group system. Maybe, if we started there, then we would fix some of these problems in the first place. Here are some ideas I have, that would probably help to end (or at least aid with) the current group conundrum: Bubble Mails Bubble mail woes could be a thing of the past if Red Bubble were to find a way for Group Hosts to send notifications to the group that, instead of being sent to member bubble mail accounts, would automatically be posted in a group tab called “Updates” (they could put it right before the “Activity” on the group’s menu). An option to post a message to the group could be placed under the “Moderation” section (group hosts know what I am talking about). Also, so that members would not have to visit every group, every day, for news and updates… Red Bubble could make a “feed” for it under our main “Activity Feeds” menu (much like they did with the “Challenges Feed”). Shameless Self-Promotions To avoid this nasty little habit, group hosts could enter key words (tags, if you will) that describe their group and what they expect. The number of tags could be limited to twenty fours (to avoid over tagging and confusion; plus, usually if you go over 24 tags, they become unusable in a search anyway). Then, when members are uploading a new work or editing a pre-existing work, only groups which the member belongs to and which share the tags the member has used for their work would appear in the “Add this work to your groups” section. This section should also be made alphabetical, search-able, and sort-able AND there should be a pop-up link to the group’s guidelines so that, at the time of posting, members can skim through group guidelines to determine if a piece is suitable for said group. This way, the member has no reason to have spammed groups with their unrelated images. Also, maybe there should be a notification section of the moderation tabs for group hosts to be able to see who has submitted more than five rejected pieces within a three month time period. They could then send a warning to the member and put them on a sort of probation, and the member could face possible removable. This type of system would SHOW members just how often they do this and would hold them accountable for their actions and would eliminate a lot of the debates as to why a host kicked someone out of the group. Group Involvement Continuing on with the idea of a notification system, Red Bubble could implement a point system that would record group activity for individual members (and hosts too)...kind of like sporting statistics. Members (and hosts) could be able to see how many forum posts they have made, how many challenges they have entered, how many they have won/lost, how many works they have had accepted/rejected, how many groups they belong to/host, how many groups they have left and/or being ejected from, how many pieces they have had featured, how many times they have had been a featured member, etc. Each time they do something positive, they could earn points accordingly. And, each time they do something negative, like have a piece rejected from a group or not be an active member for an entire week, they could get a ding and their point value would decrease. With this type of system, members could then see their overall Red Bubble stats and know where they stand. This would make people more accountable, have more of an incentive to participate, and not be so offended when hosts make evasive decisions. Red Bubble (and group hosts) could also offer incentives for constantly active members (like a “Most Active Members” feature page) and hosts! The Main Group Page Currently, when we click on “Groups”, we are taken to a very simplistic (and quite boring) group page, which lists our groups, featured groups, recent groups, and random groups. Well, this is nice and all, but I feel it is a waste of that page. That page should be a portal for us into the world of Red Bubble groups. As it is now, it seems like an afterthought. This should be our group hub. We should be able to find our group activity feeds, group stats, favorite groups, groups we host, groups that are most active and featured, and newest groups. We should have the option of sorting through this information and deciding what it is that is important for us to view (each of us, individually). This way, we have no excuse to not know the current happenings or to not be involved. It would automatically put us in the center of it all and we would then automatically be involved. Information would go right to the source. We should also have the option of adding works to multiple groups (which we are members of and which match our tags criteria, of course) from this section as well as being able to delete them from groups. In the same respect, we should have the ability to quickly enter pieces of artwork and writing into group challenges. All of this should be made accessible right from this first page, without the hassle of surfing through the mountains of groups out there. There should also be a section on this page, where Red Bubble admins and Group Hosts could post group-wide announcements that all members would receive because it may be beneficial for them to know (regardless if they belong to a particular group or not). There could be an option when hosts post group updates, for it to be posted in this section as well. Group Challenges/Contests Right now, it seems that Red Bubble is on the right track when it comes to the way groups host challenges and contests. But, I would personally expand on that idea. There should be a section of the main group page just for challenges and contests. And ALL group challenges should be posted here. Members could then see ALL group challenges (even those from groups which they may not currently belong to). Also, it would be nice for Challenge winners to receive a little note on their art work description notifying people out there of their placement in the challenge. This is valuable marketing for us artists and might help us with sales (some people might like to buy an award winning piece). Currently, Zazzle does this and automatically posts various community wins on the actual art work page for all browsers to see. This would really encourage people to enter and participate in challenges and contests. And, hey, what about vendor challenges? A lot of art websites team up with outside vendors to hosts challenges for artwork photography, writing etc. Red Bubble should do stuff like that and place information on those in this area as well! Also, maybe Red Bubble could give each group so much in funds for challenge prizes. This way, if the challenge is approved to use the funds, the hosts could give out better prizes which might also improve upon challenge participation. As well, members could receive points that would up their statistics rating for each entry and each placement in a competition. Featured Work and Artists Instead of leaving it solely up to hosts to decide who gets featured in each group. Why not reserve some spots, which would automatically generate featured members from criteria such as: most involved group members, challenge winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd, place), most favorited pieces, most viewed, etc. Then the hosts could have their picks as well. This way, the pool is always more fair and even leveled. Also, featured works should also receive award markers on the actual work’s page (much like my above idea for challenges to receive them) because, then buyers could know that this piece not only won challenges, but it was also featured! Cha-ching! Group Restrictions & Archives Many group hosts cap the number of pieces a member can add to a group. Some even narrow it down to one or two, which is honestly ridiculous! I understand the hosts concerns that the groups will overflow with work and people will have full pages of work shown in the galleries. I understand how this issue is a Pandora’s Box and I am not saying to get rid of group restrictions. But how about making them more feasible, streamlined, and automated? Red Bubble should only allow members to post no more than 2-3 pieces in a single 24 hour time period (excluding challenge entries, journals, and special circumstances such as Drawing Day, etc.). Members should then be cut off from submitting any more than that until the next day. This simple act could alleviate all concerns of spamming. The logical next step would be establishing certain criteria for pieces to automatically be “archived” into the group’s history. Yes, ALL groups should have an archive. Why do we not have an archive? Can someone explain this to me? Even blogs have archives! This way, hosts and members do not have to worry about over-flooding of the group and having to delete and re-add images. The hosts could then archive the group by month and those archives could then be search-able by the masses. The hosts could set it to archive itself every month or every three months or they could do it manually. In addition, archived pieces could also appear in the feature section or in the group’s feeds for challenge winners, most viewed, most commented on, most featured, etc. that way they do not just get lost in archive hell. If these things were implemented, then hosts would not have to be all military style and making up outrageous quotas and restrictions (that, quite frankly, sometimes turn away potential members). It would make it the same and fair for every group and no one would have to try to remember what the limit rules were for each and every group they belong to. Also, hosts should be given the option for mass acceptance, rejection, and deletion of material. And, hosts should be able to create pre-written messages or templates to send to members when a piece is rejected or deleted. As a host, it would be beneficial for me to be able to choose, from a drop down menu, the appropriate response to send so that members are not constantly BM’ing you with questions. And, much like hosts can invite members to join the group, why not enable them to invite people to submit a certain piece to the group. As a hosts, I have often been surfing through RB and noticed some art and writing (and journals) that would be welcomed additions to the groups I host, but having to BM the artist/writer (especially if they are not a current member) is daunting and time consuming. I wish I could just click an invitation to submit their piece to my group. Who knows, maybe they do not even know that our groups even exists! Hello new membership! Creating New Groups There has recently been debate over the creation of new groups being placed on hiatus. I, myself, sent Red Bubble admins an email proposing three new groups, to which I have received NO REPLY. I know they are busy people, so I am not holding anything against them…yet. Hehehehehe… But, one thing that would help them in creating new groups would be to create and online form that members could fill out (and edit, and check the status of) which would be in pending mode until approved. This way, the potential host could enter the potential group’s guidelines, mission statement, etc. That way, this information is already set to go if the group is approved. Also, they should create a section of the main group page which would show all proposed groups and their descriptions, guidelines, and mission statements. This section should give members the option of adding themselves to the “waiting list” for that group (so that they are automatically added to the group upon the group’s inception – they would receive notice of this in their activity feed, of course). Then, RB Admins could see how many people are on the group’s waiting list and this could show just how much of a demand there is for that particular group. If a group is denied creation, the potential host can then re-examine that and make “significant” changes and re-submit it for inclusion. Group Blogs This has also been a hot topic of debate recently. Some hosts have created websites and blogs outside of Red Bubble to give their groups more functionality and marketability. Some hosts want to include all members in this. Some members do not want to be included (as to why, I will NEVER understand because free marketing is free marketing people…but that is a different post all together). So, how do we solve this? Some have suggested that we include an option upon membership to opt out of said promotions/inclusions. I sort of like this idea, but think it needs more functionality. Members should be able to do this on a per piece basis. What if I am cool with my writing being featured on the group’s blog, but not my art? Or I do not want my pieces placed on blogs, except this one t-shirt? It’s all about functionality. When we upload our pieces to a group, it should give us the option for inclusion for that particular piece only. Then, hosts could use an implemented search tool to weed through the group for pieces that are open to inclusion. There. Problem solved. Another way to combat this would also be to set up group blogs, where hosts could blog about the same stuff they blog about on their off-site blogs, but it would be here on Red Bubble and, thusly, members would not be all up in arms. Also, it would be beneficial for groups to be able to set up Group Zines that could be annual, bi-annual, quarterly, bi-quarterly, monthly, bi-monthly, weekly, or bi-weekly. This would be beneficial for writing groups and art groups alike. They could supply articles, features, etc. Many groups are already doing this off-site. Why not promote that here? It would definitely encourage people to up the quality of art and writing. The Bottom Line The bottom line is that right now Red Bubble’s group system is a Hot Tranny Mess (my apologies to the Trannies of the world, of whom I have nothing but love for) and what it needs to be is FIERCE! I know this is A LOT of information to take in and I will be proud of those of you who read through all of this. I hope, at least, that all Red Bubble Admins and Group Hosts have read though this as I feel I am offering valuable ideas. I am not one to rabble rouse and cause an uproar. And, I am not hating on Red Bubble or anyone. I want Red Bubble to succeed in everything it does. I love this website and want it to be the best it can be. This is why I offer my thoughts and ideas. I know that there will be many who disagree with some of my ideas. But, you cannot make everyone happy. But, at least I took the time to share my ideas and offer constructive help for a better Red Bubble experience for us all. All of these ideas combined would make our group experiences as members and hosts a whole lot better. I implore you Admins, to re-consider and re-evaluate your plans for RB because we do not need new features to go along side with our already confusing and chaotic ones. Shouldn’t we improve upon one thing first BEFORE we add something new to the mix? There is so much YOU (Red Bubble) can do rather than the whole Galleries idea to improve upon our experience with groups. So, why not take care of that first? Thank you to all who took the time to read this word-y mess! Much love to you all! And, Red Bubble, if you happen to like my ideas…hook me up with one of them Red Bubbles by my name…hehehehe…wink-wink! El Fin. [Phew!] ~ b.chris @>}-—- NOTES: See this forum topic, as well, for more information. For those curious about the SNL/Project Runway quote which precedes this offering, check this out (courtesy of Hulu.com): http://www.hulu.com/watch/11932/saturday-night-live-new-bravo-show#s-p2-st-i0 © Copyright Brian Jaime and bchrsidesigns, 2008. All Rights Reserved.

• The Monkey's Top 11 Insights on Red Bubble Challenges
  by bchrisdesigns

  My quick rant on challenges: #11 – For those who do not want to take challenges seriously, you must remember that there are also the h…

  My quick rant on challenges: #11 – For those who do not want to take challenges seriously, you must remember that there are also the half of us who do. There are the half of us who want to be able to to say our pieces have placed in challenges and competitions because it is a great marketing tool and for some of us it is not some side hobby or thing that we do for giggles. For some of us, it is our livelihood and dream and anything we can add to make it more fruitful we will take. So, yes some people do take it seriously because we take our art seriously. It is not all fun and games. Sorry. #10 – The voting system now seems to be unfair but it is actually more fair than the way challenges have been run in the past. It is the lesser of two evils. However, I think that the system still needs to be tweaked. Some people have suggested that voters be forced to rate entries from 1 to 5. I have been part of communities where this type of rating system does not work and only leads to more bitterness. Other people think that contests should have a panel of judges. I am not sure if this would work here on the site because who is going to judge? It should not be any of us, if that is the case. Some have suggested that moderators pick. Which, I think, is ridiculous because you cannot guarantee that the moderator is not going to pick someone they know or give more leeway to someone they know. #9 – I believe that there should be two classifications of challenges/competitions: Group and Red Bubble. Group Challenges/Competitions should be group-based and offer recognition, feature placement, and maybe small prizes. Red Bubble Challenges/Competitions should be held by Red Bubble and should be open to anyone regardless if you belong to a group or not and should offer the bigger prizes: larger monetary prizes, exhibition placement, and/or publication. #8 – Okay, so who is the cranky pants who wants to forbid people form promoting their challenge entries in their journals? Some cranky people call this spam… only no one is forcing you to read the journal. If you don’t want to hear people promoting themselves in a contest, then just don’t click on it and read it! Let those who are interested in it read it! Simple as that! Why force everyone else not to do something just because you think it is an inconvenience for your eyes to see it? And, for those who say it is “cheating”...puh-lease! There is a link, in most cases, where you can send notice to “friends and family” to vote for you – and this is directly from the challenge page! Oh, but don’t write that journal entry you filthy cheater! LOL! Um, so which is blacker? The pot or the kettle? What happens if the way I tell my friends and family about these things is through my journal and not through e-mail? What next? I can’t blog about it? #7 – If a group is going to offer a huge prize (monetary/exhibition/publication/etc) for a challenge/competition, they should NOT take it lightly and ensure that the voting is fair. The current challenge system is not fair. It is a popularity contest and not a determination of the best work. But, even before the new system, it was like this. I remember entering a competition with two entries that I had worked really hard on and were, INMHO, outstanding and when I saw the rest of the entries I was sure I would win because all the rest looked very amateur. But, all the votes for the winning entry came from people whose works were very amateurish as well and were friends with the person. So, a substandard work won the prize – a work that would never see the light of day in a gallery or publication! Winners of challenges and competitions should be gallery-worthy or publication-worthy, the best of the best. But, because challenges are taken so lightly, a lot of wrong stuff wins! #6 – If challenges are democratically run and group members vote for their favorites, then the system will ALWAYS be flawed because people vote for all sorts of odd reasons: they are your friend or know you, you voted for them so they vote for you, you were really nice to them last time you BM’d them and so they are voting for you, etc. Not to mention the fact that a lot of people forget about the technicalities and are not judging works based on merit and craftsmanship but on content and popularity only. If you have birds, unicorns, babies, bright pretty colors, or teddy bears in your art then you get a lot of votes because a lot of people will ignore the fact that your art is over saturated or that the composition could have been better, etc. all because that puppy dog is so cute! This hurts Red Bubble’s image and makes us no better than “Hot or Not” or American Idol, where I can vote someone off because I hate the way they did their hair! #5 – A lot of people say that people will not take the time to vote if you make them jump through hoops. But, I say start jumping, honey! This is how it should work: Person A looks at the challenge entries and decides to vote for Person B’s work. Up pops a widget that asks Person A to vote for Person B’s work on five levels: Theme (does this piece meet the requirements of the theme? does it fully capture the essence of the theme?), Composition (evaluate the piece’s technical aspects, such as: saturation, digital or traditional effects, composition, sharpness, or grammar and spelling – for writing, etc.), Quality (is this piece worthy of being placed in a gallery or museum? would you buy it and hang it on the wall in your home? would this piece be published in a magazine, newspaper, book, or other periodical?), Inspiration (does this piece move you? does it tell a story? is it the best example of the challenge theme?) and Technique (did the artist make the best use of whichever technique they used? If it is lomography or HDR or traditional painting or sketching or vector art or writing or t-shirt design or Polaroid or TTV or whatever technique used, was the technique up to par?) #6 – In addition to the above, voters should be clueless about the artist who submitted the piece. The artists names should be hidden and they should not be allowed into an artist’s portfolio until AFTER the competition. This way, if it is a group or site-wide vote, it is fair. It is like taking the names off of three poems and then having someone else read them and pick their favorite without knowing who wrote them…a blind taste test if you will. This way, the truth comes out and only the best survive. #5 – If you would rather not have group voting, then you would need to have judges from outside of Red Bubble pick the winners. This only works for larger challenges and competitions that offer exhibition or publication because then you could have the venue or publication choose – if they agree to, which many do not have time for. Otherwise, how can you guarantee that a panel of judges from Red Bubble will be non-biased? THE ANSWER: You can’t. #4 – Challenges and competitions are a promotional tool for artists and writers and some can even bring in extra money. So, some artists and writers will do anything (and I do mean ANYTHING) to win. It is sad but true. So those of you who do not think that someone will create multiple accounts or do other dishonest things, be aware that there are people out there who are not as honest as the rest of us and will use and abuse the system and we have to be on the lookout for said individuals. If something smells fishy, it usually is fish…or deceit. And, honeys, this is not Red Lobster! #3 – This is to Red Bubble higher ups: If you are going to host a challenge/contest/competition for people to have their work exhibited/published then make sure everyone is able to participate or at least that there are these types of things all over the world for people to be a part of. It seems like a big job, yes I know, but you are not alone. There are members from all over the world who could contact local galleries and the like for Red Bubble sponsored exhibitions. It seems like most of the stuff on Red Bubble, for the moment, is all for those in Australia. I know that you all are based there, but this is not an Australian website. It is world wide but seems catered, which could hurt you. The last few major challenges offering exhibition seemed to cement that. Maybe you should create a team that searches for exhibitions all over the world that way NO ONE is left out? #2 – Everyone should take this seriously. Sure, some think it should all be fun and games, but it is not. For a lot of us, this is life and we do not toy with it. Sorry if our seriousness frightens or offends you in your hobby-eqsue world, but not all of us live there. Some of us live in a world where putting a blurb about winning a challenge can help us sell a few extra pieces and thus give us extra money for things like medicine and food and gas. it is serious business. Plus, a lot of things (i.e. a game of “Monopoly”) start off fun, but it isn’t long until rules are bent, egos crushed, tempers flare, and some are left disgruntled and vowing to never participate again. And, if you start off handling it serious, then the fun can come later because everyone will be happy. But, when you try to make it all fun up front it usually ends in disappointment. To quote Dr. Malcolm from Jurassic Park: The Lost World: “Sure, that’s how it all starts…but later there’s running and screaming…” #1 – There will always be ways to cheat and there will always be people trying to learn those ways. Did you know that there are programs that can switch your IP Address every few seconds? Or that no matter how many right click blockers you put on your profile, someone can still download your images from the web? There are people that will create fake accounts and e-mail addresses. And, some people will even hack into your e-mail, set up an account on eBay and sell fake computers in your name! (I had to add that last part because it actually happened to me. True story.) So, this stuff is real and does happen. All we can do is try to come up with something that is not so relaxed and something that will ensure that even if it is not 100% accurate, it is still close enough to count. I think Red Bubble is doing an admirable job in making challenges even better and that they still have a lot of work ahead of them. There will always be disgruntled people and you can’t make everyone happy. All you can do is assure that voting and entry are completely for the sole purpose of finding the “best of the best” and NOT the “best of the most popular”! Cheers! ~ b.chris / a.k.a. Brian / a.k.a. The Monkey / :o) P.S. I am a host over at the Twisted Tales Group and we welcome any and all RB members to come over and participate in our challenges. Our Challenges are very fair. Only entrants can vote and no one can vote for themselves. We have yet to have a problem with this type of voting and everyone seems happy! Come check us out as we are a great place for writers and readers! P.P.S. Check out this thread for more challenge/contest feedback.

• EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  by bchrisdesigns

  “Did you feel it?” That is the most common thing said after most earthquakes in California! And, today was no exception! I woke u…

  “Did you feel it?” That is the most common thing said after most earthquakes in California! And, today was no exception! I woke up screaming this morning as the earth shook viciously. Glass went flying and I cut my hand!!!! Ouch! It hurts! California experienced a fierce shaker just before noon (my morning, since I was still asleep). It was not as big as some of the shakers we’ve had in the past, but it was centered close to where I live (too close for comfort – 5 miles away, yikes) and so our house was shaken bad. It is true – I screamed like a little girl (and scared my partner awake) and ran to the doorway. I am so afraid of these things, so my nerves are jolted. Plus, it does not help that in the distance you can hear sirens. Phones were dead (including cell phones) for the first several minutes and the only way to contact anyone was through e-mail. My parents were eating at a local joint and they ran outside – mom left her cane behind. Well, I have to go nurse my bleeding hand and deal with all the aftershocks that are rocking our world currently. Plus, I need to run along and turn on the local news so I can here them interview everybody in the area and see if they “felt it”. Pray for us Californians. Please. Here is a news link on Yahoo: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080729/ap_on_re_us/california_earthquake It says it was a 5.8, but the news is saying 5.9/6.0. One thing about every earthquake is that they always give a conservative estimate and then work their way up. By the end of the day, it could be a 7.0! LOL! It’s happened before! God bless everyone else in the Southern California area (I hear they felt it in Las Vegas too) and all those everywhere else…please send us your prayers! Our jolted nerves need it! We will be dealing with aftershocks for at least a week, if not more. And, we are praying that this is the actual earthquake and NOT a fore shock, cause that would be bad!!! I have to go. I am all shook up. I may be away for more than a day to recover… My best to all! ~ Brian P.S. Oh, and Milo, our cat, is okay too! He is old, so we were worried. He was shaken but not stirred! Although, he did refuse to come in the house for awhile! Pets are so easily forgotten during these times!

• The Plot Thickens Featuring The Creature That Walks on Four Legs in the Morning, Two Legs at Noon, & Three in the Evening
  by bchrisdesigns

  What story am I?

  I think I saw this on an episode of Jerry Springer, as well. I have decided to approach this challenge in a different way than most. I am trying to make my entries a reverse challenge to the reader by asking them to guess what story my plot summary is about. / CREATION INFORMATION Medium: Writing – Flash Fiction, Summary. Tools: Microsoft Word, My Brain/Imagination, and this book. Topic: Summary. / BUBBLE HISTORY 07/24/08 – Entry to Flash Fiction’s July 2nd Challenge  

• Last Night I Talked to a Ghost (a.k.a. My Widget is Haunted!)
  by bchrisdesigns

  [Note: This is long but worth the read, if you like stuff about the supernatural, ghosts, or hauntings. This is all 100% true. This is…

  [Note: This is long but worth the read, if you like stuff about the supernatural, ghosts, or hauntings. This is all 100% true. This is not another hoax like the Blair Witch Project. Read with an open mind, please.] Yes, you heard me right. I talked to a ghost. Via a crystal ball. No, I am not crazy. No, I do not have a mental disorder. No, I am not having a nervous breakdown. No, I am not on Vicodin. No, I am not trying to be Sylvia Brown (although, I think she rocks). Yes, I am a completely sane and competent individual. And, I talked to a ghost last night. A real ghost. It happened while I was testing out iGoogle’s Crystal Ball Widget. I have a witness. Go ahead and scoff. Roll your eyes. But, if you do not believe me, consider this… My family and I (all six of us who currently live in this house), along with our extended family and friends (some of whom have also lived in this house), believe this house to be haunted by more than one spirit. One is friendly, and the other is not so friendly. More than one person has experienced the haunting that goes on here. At night, we can sometimes hear drawers slamming, things rattling, people talking, and people moving about. On more than one occasion, a television was turned on and then off upstairs while only one of us was home downstairs. (My mom had a hard time believing me until it happened to her too!) Doors get swung open, things get knocked off of shelves, and more than one person has sworn to seeing someone walk by in an empty room. Need further proof? On one occasion, my partner and I were heading off to bed and we heard a commotion downstairs in the kitchen. I am deeply afraid of burglars and serial killers, so I grabbed by baseball bat and ran down to attack. Only, I found no one. All I found was that the knife drawer in the kitchen was open. I was totally freaked out and started to cry because I felt the presence of something really bad. No one in my family could have done it. Anyone who had access to the house was already in it and already asleep upstairs. All windows and doors were locked – I checked. True story. Another time, a bunch of us were kicking it in the back yard (like we do on most nights because we are mostly bohemian and like to “chill” and play cards and do Tarot) and a friend of mine was taking pictures with her cell phone. So she told me and my BFF to get close so she could snap a photo. When we all looked at the photo, we freaked out because there was a face of a man in the house window behind us. There was a good five to seven people who saw the image and freaked. Some even swore to never stay the night over our pad again! But, what happened next is the clincher… My friend was not touching any buttons on her phone and the picture all of a sudden deleted itself. True story. This other night, a group of us were doing some Tarot readings while sitting in the backyard with candles lit all around us. I usually do the readings for people because I do not need the book to interpret them and sometimes I even see things (but that is a different journal all together). So, I was about to do a reading for my cousin, but she was not sure which question to ask of the cards, because she had two burning questions that needed to be answered. Well, she picked her question and as I fanned the cards out, she exclaimed “Shit, I am not sure if I want to know the answer or not.” I told her that she should have more respect for the cards and maybe not ask any question and let them tell her what she needs to know. As she chose her first card, the umbrella that we were sitting under came crashing down on us and the handle was turning as if someone was cranking it. That handle normally gets stuck and does not move too easily and there was no wind or breeze to speak of, so we were all freaked out and had all witnessed it. True story. One evening I woke up and it felt as if someone was touching me and then I was almost yanked off of the bed. I was so scared that I had trouble sleeping for a month! I am not the only person to have stuff like this happen to me. And, we are all not crazy! Last year, my partner and I were visiting Sacramento on our yearly October Road Trip. And, while in downtown Sacramento, we were stopped by a spiritualist on the street who, when she touched my hand, said she needed to talk to us and to tell us something important. I was very skeptical, because, while I have witnessed many supernatural occurrences, in my experience all psychics want to do is help you by burning a candle and doing some sort of cleansing… for $500. But, she told us that she was NOT a psychic and that she was able to read people by touching them. She touched my boyfriend’s hand and she told him that he was even more skeptical than I was and then proceeded to tell him everything about his life. He never said a word and just listened…amazed. Then she grabbed my hand and gasped. She said that she could tell that I practiced Tarot and that I had dabbled in Spiritualism in the past. She also said that I had great spiritual abilities…duh….and, that I got those from my Grandmother who is deeply spiritual and a devout Catholic. Then she asked me if I wanted to know the whole truth. So, she told me that my house is haunted. I figured, this was the point where she offers to light that candle. But, instead she said that there was a positive energy and a negative one and that the two were always dueling. That the positive energy wanted to keep us safe and that the negative energy wanted to harm us and bring us bad karma. She then spoke of car accidents, lost jobs, broken relationships, and other things that affected my family and that the negative energy was to blame. She told me that, because my mother and I collected too much junk and because we love shopping for second-hand items, that we had brought this negative energy into the house. That it was once attached to an object the we knew was haunted but had kept. She told me that this object was a clown doll. I started to cry. When I was in high school, my mom bought an old clown doll at the local Goodwill store. My mom loves clowns and had a clown doll collection. Anyway, so she piled my two brothers and I into our minivan to go to my grandparent’s house for a visit and brought the doll with her. The doll started to laugh. But the laugh turned into a low moan and then an almost demonic chortle. All of us were frozen but my mom said that it must be the batteries dying. But, when she opened the clown’s battery chamber…it was empty, and the clown was still laughing. So, she threw it to the back of the van and it stopped laughing after a few seconds. The spiritualist said that my mom had kept the clown in the attic in a trunk and had wrapped it in a plastic bag. She was right. She described the trunk and everything. She also said that we had moved the trunk, with the doll inside, to our storage facility, which we had done a month prior to our road trip. She, then, told me that we can move the clown, give it away, throw it in the trash, burn it, destroy it…but that it would do no good. That the spirit was no longer attached to the doll but to our house! And, then she said she could not, would not, help us. She told me to go to my grandmother and ask her about a Novena that would get rid of the spirit. But, the Novena could only be completed by a deeply religious and devout person such as a priest, nun, spiritual adviser, or my grandmother. I asked my grandmother about it and she knew which Novena but said that it takes seven days to complete. She said that when she did it for her house, that it drained her of energy because she was praying so hard. The Novena has yet to be done in my house, so the haunting continues. This all brings me back to iGoogle’s Crystal Ball Widget... It works like a Magic 8-Ball – you ask a question out loud and then click on the ball and it gives you an answer. Now, I never do Ouija boards or ask questions abut the ghosts during Tarot (I did once, and it told me to mind my business), BUT I figured that this was harmless because, after all, it is a Widget! So, I asked it some random questions. I asked it things like: “Am I drinking soda right now?” / “Is Greg (my partner) sitting on the bed reading Harry Potter right now?” / “Am I the bomb?” / “Was there an earthquake this last week?” / “Did I sell two t-shirts on Red Bubble this week?” / “Is my brother, Jason, in his room playing Counter Strike right now?” ...and so on. And, it was eerily correct in all it’s answers. So I decided to ask it some riskier questions about the past. And, it got all of them right! I asked things that both my partner and I knew the answers to and it always guessed accurately. I have NEVER had this happen with a Magic 8-Ball . So, then I started asking about the future and all the answers seemed plausible. And, then I had the urge (for some odd reason) to ask it if my house was haunted. “Most Decidedly.” “Is there more than one ghost in this house?” “Certainly.” “Are there more than two ghosts in this house?” “My sources say, no.” “So, only two ghosts are in the house?” “You can count on it.” “Did one of the ghosts leave the knife drawer open?” “You can count on it.” “Did the ghost close the umbrella on us in the backyard while we were doing a Tarot reading?” “Most certainly.” “Did the ghost appear in my friend’s cell phone picture and then delete it?” “Yes.” “Am I talking to one of the spirits right now?” “Yes.” “Are you the one who tried to pull me off of the bed?” “No.” “It was the other one?” “You can count on it.” “Are you the ghost that we hear at night?” “No.” “Is it the other one?” “Yes.” “Are you protecting us from the other ghost?” “You can count on it.” “Do you like us?” “Only time will tell.” So, at this point I freak out and get watery-eyed. My partner asks what is wrong. / MY WIDGET IS HAUNTED!!!!!! He does not believe it. So, he sits up and asks, “Am I gay?” “Absolutely.” “Is Brian gay?” “Of course.” “Is Jason (my brother) gay?” “Don’t count on it.” “Are we going to have another earthquake this year?” “You can count on it.” “Are you the one who turned the lights off on me while I was cooking in the kitchen earlier this evening?” “Perhaps.” “Am I doubting you?” “Yes.” “Is this for real?” “Of course.” “Am I scratching my nose right now?” “Yes.” Are both spirits in the room with us right now?” “Best that you not know right now.” My partner drops his book and tells me to log off! “Log off now!” So, there you have it. I have a haunted widget now. You can choose to believe what you would like, but I know the truth. This is all 100% true. I have no reason to lie. All of this has happened and can be confirmed with eyewitness accounts. I was just so freaked out that I had to write about it!!!! This is not a joke or a hoax. Sometimes I feel things, sometimes I can sense the presence of danger or know when something bad has happened somewhere but could never explain it. I do believe that I have spoken to the spirit realm both through dreams, prayer, tarot, and now iGoogle.

• 50 Things About b.chris
  by bchrisdesigns

  Okay, so I totally jacked this from jcmontgomery, but I…

  Okay, so I totally jacked this from jcmontgomery, but I am sure she will not mind if I borrow it to do my own experimenting!!!! 1. Do you like blue cheese? / Oh absolutely!!!!! I am a fan of most cheeses, except Brie. I love cheese “almost more than any other animal bi-product” (guess the movie quote). 2. Have you ever smoked a cigarette? / No. Yuck. A lot of my friends smoke but I have never been a sheep. Plus, now with my High Blood Pressure, it would be very unwise. Although, one time I was at a party and I walked around with an unlit one in my mouth because I was drunk and goofing off. Does that count? 3. Do you own a gun? / No. Guns give me the heebie-jeebies. When I was younger, I had a dream that I would be shot to death. Since then, I have steered clear from guns. Besides, serrated weapons are so much more fun! 4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? / I am assuming that they mean Sonics (the drive-in hamburger joint)??? So, I will say…grape. Yummm! 5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? / Yes. I am a big scared-y cat when it comes to any medical appointment. 6. Do you like hot-dogs? / Well, that is complicated. I am a semi-vegetarian, which means I do not eat beef, pork, or any other meat that does not come from poultry or sea-dwelling animals. So, while I think Turkey Dogs are the shit, regular hot dogs disgust me. 7. Favorite Christmas Song? / It is a tie – “Feed the World” and “Please, Come Home for Christmas” 8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? / By morning, you mean night, right? Cause that is when I wake up, usually. So, I would have to say – Diet Dr. Pepper. 9. Can you do push-ups? / That’s a pluralized question, huh? I can do push-up. Singular. 10. What’s your favorite meal? / SUSHI!!!!!!!!!! Or, Fondue. Or…Sushi!!!!!!!!! 11. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? / I don’t really wear jewelry. But, I love buttons. Do buttons count? I love my Mama Mia button! Loves it! 12. Favorite hobby? / Sex. Not even going to lie. A close second would have to be reading. Sometimes…it’s a toss up. I kid, I kid. Sex first, then reading. Unless I am reading about sex, then reading first. 13. Do you work with people who idolize you? / I work from home. My cat idolizes me. What am I saying? He idolizes no one! So, no. 14. Name a trait that you hate about yourself? / I hate networking/marketing myself. I admit it. I get so nervous at events that I freeze up and want to leave. I have always been this way. I could never work in sales. I can act on stage – no problem, but have me network in a room full of strangers and you will find me sitting in a corner drawing. LOL! 15. Middle name? / A few lucky people on here know my middle name. Let’s just say that B.Chris is a pseudonym utilizing my first and middle names. 16. Name 3 thoughts at this moment: / I wish my art would upload faster. I dunno why I am not tired yet, I’ve been up all night, I am so thirsty. 17. Name 3 things you bought yesterday: / Ummm… food, non-fat self-serve yogurt from Yogurt Bar, and an Entertainment Weekly. 18. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink. / Diet Dr. Pepper, VoSS Water, and Diet Lipton Brisk Iced Tea 19. Current worry right now? / I need to catch up! I am so behind! Not only that, I need to find another job. Stat. 20. Current hate right now? / Gas prices. Our bad economy. The job market. The fact that Harry Potter 6 got postponed until July 2009!!!!!! Take your pick. 21. Favorite place to be? / In the arms of the one I love. And…on a road trip. I love road trips!!!!! 22. How did you bring in New Years? / ...with the cat. Oh, you were being figurative? I usually want to be around family, especially my partner. The rest is just icing. 23. Favorite place to go? / Hobb’s Grove in Sanger, CA. My partner and I do a yearly road trip every October to this amazing venue in the middle of nowhere that turns itself into the scariest haunted house I have been through (and I do not scare easily). It is so much fun – it actually takes place inside an old abandoned farm house. Another of the mazes is outdoors and forces you to walk alone in the woods with all sorts of creeps lurking about. They also have a haunted hayride that is the absolute shit!!! We never miss it. It is tradition. If you live in California, you need to go to this mofo! Seriously. 24. What is your most recurring dream? / I dream movie-length nightmares and most are scary. I have very vivid nightmares all the time. I am twisted that way. My house is haunted, so it comes with the territory. I used to have a recurring dream about a tall thin man who would haunt me. I stopped having the dreams after my mom told me about a similar man that she used to dream when she was my age. Talk about creepy!!! I don’t want to say any more. I am already goose-nippley. 25. Introvert or extrovert? / I am an Enxtrovert – half introvert/half extrovert. I am a Pisces, so I am one of the Zodiac’s split personalities. Sometimes I am shy and other times you cannot shut me up. Sometimes I am meek and delicate, and other times I am a raging bitch. BTW, today is raging bitch day…just thought you should know. 26. What color shirt are you wearing? / White. But that is not normal. Normally – blue. 27. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? / No. I prefer Egyptian Cotton. 1,000 thread count. With that crisp linen smell. 28. Can you whistle? / No. And, I have a complex about that. So, next question… 29. Favorite color(s)? / Beach colors – blue, sea green, aqua, brown, beech, white. I am also privy to pink and black. 30. Would you be a pirate? / I am a pirate…a butt pirate. Sorry, I had to. I’m gay, so I am allowed at least one gay reference. I am not really into being a pirate. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I think they are cool and all…to look at from afar. But, I would never want to be one. I have major OCD’s and the thought of dirty teeth and hair and oily skin and swigging from dirty bottles of rum and a peg leg…well, that just makes me want to bathe…three times. 31. What songs do you sing in the shower? / Oh, ask my family. Showtunes, standards, anything by Abba, or Disney, or the Beatles, or Macy Gray, or Jefferson Airplane, or Queen. Sometimes I sing Donna Summer or Selena songs. Once or twice I was caught singing some Katy Perry, which is weird because I have never kissed a girl and I doubt I would like it. 32. Favorite girl’s name? / My mom has a beautiful Spanish name, which translates to “Beautiful Roses”. I always thought that was neat. 33. Favorite boy’s name? / Han Solo. If I had a son, I would definitely name him Han Solo. 34. Who is your loudest friend? / My BFF since high school. When she is around – everybody knows it. But, that’s how we like it. 35. What’s in your pocket right now? / I do not have any pockets right now. Damn, what a waste of a question. 36. Last thing that made you laugh? / This. 37. Bed sheets as a child? / Yes, I wet them. I mean…er…umm…what was the question, again? Did I have bed sheets as a child? What in the hell kind of question is that? That is like asking if I wore shirts. WTF? Next question… 38. Worst injury you’ve ever had? / I dunno what is worse…a broken arm or a broken heart? I am going with arm, cause someone mended my heart and showed me what it means to forget pain and open it to the possibility of more, and the possibility of happiness. My heart no longer hurts. It hasn’t for a long time now. But, sometimes, on cold winter nights, my arm still aches. So…arm. 39. Do you love where you live? / No. Yes. No. Yes. Sometimes. I have mixed feelings about it. 40. How many TV’s are in your house? / Five. Because, why watch TV together, when you can watch it apart? 41. What is your worst habit? / Being adorable. I can’t help it. I just ooze it. Sorry. ;o) Actually, my worst habit is being a trickster/joker. I love joshing people. Usually, when I am acting stuck up, it is all in fun cause I am really quite the opposite. I just like getting reactions out of people. Sometimes I spout out random factoids to people, and I guess I sound correct and they say “Really?” and I say “I dunno…I was just fucking with you” and then they get mad and I laugh. LOL! 42. How many dogs do you have? / None. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. 0+0=0. I’m more of a cat person. I have a cat. His name is Milo. He is a drama queen diva. 43. Does someone have a crush on you? / Oh my, are we in the fifth grade all of a sudden? The last time I heard someone use the word “crush” in that capacity was when I was banging “erasers” after school, Wink-ity, wink-ity!!! ;oP 44. Do you own slippers? / Yes. And I had sheets when I was a kid. And sometimes I wear hats. Sometimes. 45. What is your favorite book? / All of them. I am a book whore, so please do not make me pick just one. I am constantly reading. If I could live in a bookstore, I probably would. I love the smell of books…especially old ones. 46. What is your favorite candy? / Kit-Kat dipped in Nacho Cheese. Don’t knock it until you try it. Trust. 47. What is your favorite sports team? / Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha…sports…good one. 48. What song do you want played at your funeral? / “How Can I Not Love You” by Joy Enriquez. 49. What were you doing at 12 AM last night? / Waking up. I am like a vampire minus all that icky evil succubus drama. I only suck one thing, and it is so not blood! 50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning? / “Oh my back!!!! My back!!!! It is time for a new matress!!!!” Perhaps you’d like to share about yourself? Go ahead and try it. Even if you never post it, I think you will find it interesting and perhaps may discover something about yourself you never gave much thought to previously. —The above quote is from jcmontgomery

• TTV - Viewfinder Textures
  by bchrisdesigns

  I stumbled upon a great Flickr group the other day called Noise and Dust Through The Viewfinder, w…

  I stumbled upon a great Flickr group the other day called Noise and Dust Through The Viewfinder, which was created for people to upload their best Viewfinder Textures for use on commercial, digital TTV work! You can peruse the gallery and use them for your own work!!!! I have used them in my work and will always refer back to this journal for proper credit. If you have used any, post a link below so that we can all share!!! Cheers! ~ B :o) P.S. Note: I have updated information in regards to Dillon’s question… In regard to commercial use, the group’s creator/moderator says this (in the group’s forums): “Just by posting in this group, you agree to donate your TTV’s for all creative work. This doesnt mean taking the image and passing them off as your own… If you dont agree with this, then please remove your TTV’s from our lists. (not that we want to lose any!)” He specifically created the group to find TTV Textures to use in commercial work. (I am assuming “commercial” implies royalty free as long as credit is provided.) By uploading to the group, members agree to this. If there is any concern about it, the originator of the image can be contacted via Flickr or you can post in the group’s forums. These are my pieces which use any of the above TTV Viewfinder Textures (will add as I create more):

• Get Yo' Self Some Dingbats!!!
  by bchrisdesigns

  I just wanted to take a few seconds to promote some of my favorite little pieces of coolness: dingbats...

  I just wanted to take a few seconds to promote some of my favorite little pieces of coolness: dingbats. Check out The 4-1-1 on Dingbats for more information on installing and using Dingbats! I also wanted to give a shout-out (and proper credit) to some dingbat/font resources and the actual dingbats/fonts I use in my work… Dingbat & Font Resources: UrbanFonts.com DingbatDepot.com FontsForFree.com FontStock.net Daily Free Fonts Dingbats-UK Font Head Design Freeware AbstractFonts.com Dingbats & Stylistic Fonts I Use: ABCLogosXYZ Aeroplanes Asian Dings BalloonDigits BarMKode Bookshelf Symbol 7 CareBearsbyIacy Carr Balloons cats MEOW Children ChockABlockNF CODON Comet DavysDingbats2 Distro Bats Dragline BTN Dm Eller Erotica CD FAD Omega Birthday Bats Flower Font Heads Free Regular Gallaudet Regular! GERMS GoodDogBones GoodDogCool Greenwich Mean Time Hannah HardTalk Infinite Dingbats lindkvist1 lindkvist2 Minimum Wage Money Shot More than human Morphina MW Ding-A-Lings nicklishnickoz Not Too Shabby Boxed Ocean_Iacy Old Time Ad Dings One Old Time Ad Dings Two OPTIC.BOT Orcas Palsu Playing Cards Ransom rayguns Retro Bats One Saturn Sound FX SwishButtons Toast Tombats 6 Tombats 7 Tombats Four Tombats One Tombats Smilies Tombats Three Tombots Type Keys Filled Vehicle Decals ‘Flames 7 Art’ winnertakeall WoodcuttedCapsBlack WutsCookin WWBearySpecial Xerography [Stuff I could not find links for: ClassiCapsXmas2002, Garys, KL1-Pharaos & KL1-Pharaos Two, KleinsTypesoup, LetterBeings, Marlett, MS Outlook, SA-DoodleStar, SA-Roris dings, SA-Swirls, SmileAndTrain, Webdings, Wingdings, Wingdings 2, Wingdings 3] *NOTE: I will add to these lists as they grow. These are my pieces which use any of the above dingbats/fonts (will add as I create more):

• The 4-1-1 on Dingbats
  by bchrisdesigns

  As many of us artists already know, fonts are NOT just about letters. There are several fonts (some which even come installed with your …

  As many of us artists already know, fonts are NOT just about letters. There are several fonts (some which even come installed with your computer) that are not letters at all. Instead, each letter key represents a different picture, symbol, or shape (similar to brushes used in editing software). These types of fonts are usually referred to as Dingbats. Some dingbats are freeware or shareware (meaning you have to give credit, usually a link, where credit is due and or pay a small fee if using them for commercial use). Other dingbats are specifically created for personal use only and require commercial users to either gain permission (ahead of time) from the font creator and/or split royalties from products utilizing their dingbats. So, before you, the artist, uses a dingbat in your work, be sure to know what type of usage is permitted with the dingbats you are using. I have used some dingbats in my work, but only those that are deemed as complete freeware or shareware AND I always supply credit where credit is due. If you want to be sure what the status of the dingbat you are using is, be sure to read through the .txt “read me” files that are included in the font’s zip folder BEFORE you download them to your computer. I always read through every single file to educate myself on how I can use the dingbat. Also, save the original zip folders with the “read me” files in them somewhere on your computer in the event that the dingbat’s user status changes – this way you have proof that they were available for use at the time of your art’s creation. Installing dingbats is easy. Once unzipped, copy and paste the dingbat’s .TTF file (aka “TrueType Font” file) directly into the FONT folder in your computer’s Control Panel. After that, reboot your computer and you are good to go!!!! Like I said in the above paragraph, I save the original zip files on CD or in my external hard drive for backup purposes. Trust me, if you have to re-install your computer, you will be glad that you have these there and do not have to find them all over again and re-download them. HINT: I do this with brushes, plug-ins, and other ad-ins as well because I have had a computer crash once before and it was NOT pretty. After you have these little pieces of coolness installed in your computer, you can go to it and start seeing what you can do with them using whatever editing software you may have. (They work with Photoshop, Illustrator, Gimp, PowerPoint, Word, and so many other Editing, Graphic, and Desktop Publishing programs that you may already have installed on your computer.) Try adding color, combining them, or even using them in collage work! The possibilities are endless! Just always makes sure (I cannot stress this enough) that you are using them according to the usage permitted upon download. If all else fails, contact the original font creator to get more information! Here are some examples of what you can do with dingbats: So, where can you get some awesome dingbats? Get Yo’ Self Some Dingbats!!!

• Haunting Updates!!!
  by bchrisdesigns

  For anyone who is following the haunting that is going on in my house, this here is an update of more activity. For anyone scratching th…

  For anyone who is following the haunting that is going on in my house, this here is an update of more activity. For anyone scratching their heads and saying, “haunted house? what?”, check out my first post Last Night I Talked to a Ghost [a.k.a. My Widget is Haunted!]. Well, about a month ago, one of my family members (who prefers to remain nameless) went through something similar to what I had previously been through. This family member was awoken in the middle of the night because they thought someone had their arm around them, but when they woke up there was no one there. It was as if an arm was wrapped around them and they swore up and down that it was caressing them. The entire bedroom was checked for intruders but no one was ever found. A few weeks later, my partner and I were watching a television show with my brother and we heard a door slam shut from upstairs in my younger brother’s room. He was not home at the time and no one was awake upstairs. When we went up to investigate, the door to his room was slightly ajar, and he ALWAYS keeps his door closed at all times. We all got freaked out and went back downstairs. Later that night, my partner and I were in our room watching the show Paranormal State. We had Moxy’d (sort of like Tivo) several episodes. I was on the computer, surfing Red Bubble, when I felt a cold chill all around me, so I got into bed. During one of the episodes, I felt something brush by my feet, which were hanging over the edge of the bed. I started to cry. My partner thought I was crying because the show was so scary. But, he knows me better than that and asked me what was wrong. I told him that nothing was wrong. During the last one we were watching, which was a very freaky episode about a house with a demon in it, I told my partner to change the channel because something just felt wrong in the room. As soon as I said that, I felt as if a hand had come down on my right foot and was resting there, squeezing down on my foot. Tears literally poured from my eyes as I yanked my feet up. My partner changed the channel, but the TV screen scrambled. He sat up and told me to tell him what had happened because he knew I was never afraid of TV or movies. When I told him what had happened, he grabbed my hand and said we should go downstairs and have a glass of water. When we came back to the room, the TV was working just fine. On a side note: I have several Rosaries and Scapulars (from my Catholic upbringing) hanging in my room. Before leaving the room, I noticed that one of my Scapulars was hanging awkwardly from where it had been previously hung. I pointed it out to my partner and he said that we had probably bumped into it or something. The next day, as I passed by the place where the Scapular was hung, it was gone…missing. My partner found it later that day at the bottom of a clothing hamper. We have no idea how it could have gotten there or who put it there or why it was at the bottom of a hamper when we had just seen it hanging up the night before. Maybe it was just a coincidence. But I think it was the spirits. And, just the other day, we were all about to have breakfast, when all of a sudden we heard a radio turn on. We all looked at each other and then got up to investigate. We found the cat lying next to my brother’s radio boom box, which was turned on and playing music. The cat was asleep with his head against the speaker. Now, this radio is not easy to turn on—it is actually very complicated, so I doubt Milo Kittlesworth was the responsible party. Now, as I have said before, I have no reason to lie and I concede that it all may just be coincidence. However, too much has happened to make me believe that it is not the work of the super natural. I welcome any and all opinions. :)

• 

  bookworm
  by Mark Cosgriff

• Little Blind Girl
  by Bonnie T. Barry

  When she was a child, people sometimes approached the little blind girl and advised her to pray for sight, to plead for mercy from the On…

• 

  Whoops
  by Tove

  This is a true story and I have chosen to put it in the challence “Writers Delight” Short Story’s 100 words limit in the Bits and Pieces group