Saturday, December 26, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Oh yeah.
Sean: Why?
Fae: The art's really cool!
Sean: Is it comics?
Fae: How did you know....? Oh yeah.. it's ComicCon.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Happy belated fourth.
And then sometimes not:
Billy got back late last night and there's a bag of brownies been sitting on the counter all day, tempting me. And he just said, "By the way, you guys can have one of my moms homemade brownies."
And I say, "I saw those. And I really wanted one all day. But Sean told me I couldn't have one, because I'm not from Mountain Top."
Billy: "Oh.. really?"
Me: "And then he ate one in front of me."
Insert evil giggling coming from the bedroom, where Sean lays.
:P
- Fae
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Absent.
He's a 5 Star Chef, as well as an acclaimed artist and I am a movie music composer, as well as a best-seller writer.


Oh, I guess I should also add that on the 13th Sean and I celebrated our one year anniversary. <3 By taking a road trip to visit his family, to celebrate his dad's 50th birthday. We left the morning of the 13th, just the two of us, and it was the first I'd been back to his home town. I now can say I adore Mountain Top. So gorgeous up there.
We came back late Sunday night. I had a fantastic time, and I love my boy. It was fun to spend the weekend doing a mini-road trip and having some small vacation time. I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to do that.
Some shots I took on the trip back, during a gorgeous sunset in the mountains:



Tuesday, June 2, 2009
E3 so far.
1. Sims 3 (released today!)
2. Beatles Rockband
3. Assassin's Creed 2
And that's about it.
No, that's not actually it. I'm just still mad Nintendo did not say they're releasing a new Zelda.
- Fae
Thursday, May 21, 2009
A Link To The Future...

A little background on why I decided to do this. A friend of ours recently posted a piece of pixel art of the Zelda game "Link To The Past". This made me think, what would Link look like in the future?
Thursday, May 7, 2009
The Legend of My Love of Zelda.

So Hez made the mistake last night of bringing up the topic of Zelda. This made me launch into a multiple-text-long conversation explaining how many games there were, which systems they were available for and which I deemed "necessary".
So I thought I'd post here, about the game I've been in love with for more than 10 years, and even had a Legend of Zelda themed birthday party for my 13th birthday. There are 23 different Zelda games in all. Now I will admit that I have not played all of them, but I will post them in chronological order anyway. I'm leaving out the more obscure games, like the ones only released in Japan and such. I'm also leaving out the Gameboy only games, because I never owned a gameboy much to my dismay. So, here goes:
Original NES:
For such a huge Zelda fan, I am ashamed to admit I have actually NEVER played either of these. I did have an original Nintendo growing up, but I spent my time playing games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Super Mario Bros. 3 on that. I also had the original duck hunt/track combination game - complete with the handheld gun and running mat for track. Excellent.
By the time I discovered Zelda, sadly, my NES was no longer in working order. I have never owned an original Nintendo again, much to my dismay, but maybe I can redeem myself by stating that I do have the original golden cartridge version of Adventure of Link sitting on my video game shelf. Even if I have no system to play it on. (And even if it was a friend's game I borrowed about a few years ago.)
Super Nintendo (SNES):

This game is not my arch enemy of Zelda games (I will get to that in the next decade), however - I have immensly bad luck with it. I never owned a Super Nintendo as a kid, I only ever played my cousin's on rare occasions. It wasn't until I was 19 that I first played this game, at a friends house. We would have get togethers specifically to play this game and we got all the way to the fire temple, I believe it was. We got stuck on the boss for that level and spent months trying to beat it, until we gave up. When I then later became roommates with said friend, about half a year later, I decided to try again one sunny afternoon - I beat the monster and did a victory cheer/dance. I saved, ran to tell my roommate excitedly.. and when we turned it back on, the game had glitched and erased all saved games.
It took me another few months to work up the motivation to try to play it again. I got all the way to the same level, beat it easily, got a little bit further... and sure enough, the exact same thing happened all over again.
I have never tried to play A Link to the Past again, and I no longer have access to a SNES. I enjoyed the game itself, and would one day like to attempt to play it the whole way through, but we shall see.....
Nintendo 64:

4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
5. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (2000)
Ocarina of Time is the one that started it all for me. I rented this game on a whim, at I think 11-years-old... and from there, I was addicted. I have beat this game so many times and it still remains exciting to me, I still get really into the boss battles and still almost cry at the end. The story is the best of them all I think, creativity wise. The bosses provide the most challenge. The characters still make me feel for them. Despite the graphics, it will always remain my favorite. And why I had this as a poster on my wall for my entire pre-teen and high school career (and even when I first moved out, tattered though it was - I kept it up on my wall):

Majora's Mask I have never beaten. If you've played the game, you'll know why it's so difficult. If you haven't... well, to explain - it's timed. You have three days (game time.. every minute here is an hour there, I think?) to complete the entire game and if there's a clock ticking the whole time. If you don't, you fail. So you get the ability to turn back time, but every time you turn back time - it erases what you did. It's... confusing. Hence why I've never beaten it, even with the strategy guide. And yet, I don't hate it. I've just never fully taken the time to sit down and make myself go through it, tedious though it may be.
6. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (2002)

7. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (2004)
Wind Waker..... THAT is my arch enemy of Zelda games.
I started playing this game exactly two years ago. I still have not beaten it. It's gotten to the point where I am only determined to beat it just to spite it, other wise... I would have given up on it long ago. For some reason I just really struggle with this.
The hardest part about this game is that when you put it down for too long... and forget what you were doing in it.... you're screwed. Because it does not tell you what to do next. You just have to remember... or, as I've experienced... process of elimination by spending hours traveling to previous islands to try and remember what your quest was, so that by the time you even remember - you don't want to play anymore! ANNOYING.
The one good thing about it is that it does have cool plot ideas, and I fashioned some good friendships over making people play it with me (usually until 5 in the morning and our eyes started to bleed and nothing we said made sense anymore.) In fact, Sean and I played it often when we first started dating and it is his insisting that the ending is worth it is one of the reasons I've yet to give up. However, I want to punch it in the video game face everytime I pick up the controller again. One day, Wind Waker... one day I shall best you...
Four Swords I have never played, so it has escaped my wrath and my review. However, it is next on my list of games to buy.
8. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006)
Oh, Twilight Princess.... how I love thee. I only played parts of the Wii version, the Gamecube is the version I own and played fully.
Twilight Princess is definitely the prettiest of the games, art wise. I certainly adored it and distinctly remember locking myself in my room for a week in order to finish it in time over Christmas break, and I loved the ending. This is my favorite depiction of Princess Zelda herself of all the games. However, I stand by the fact that I feel like the entire plot (minus the Twilight World stuff) was pretty much just a newer rendition of Ocarina of Time. Granted, all the Zelda games maintain the same theme and usually the same levels, just different variations of them, this I felt was just an updated version of Ocarina with a few extra tweaks.
That being said, it's my 2nd favorite. I've played this multiple times over as well and even if I find the boss fights to be too easy, I get super excited over the story and the fact that there are three main characters in this game - Zelda, Link and ..... Midna:

9. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (2007)
I purchased a DS for Sean's birthday just last month, and this was one of the first games I bought. The only game I've played since we got it, actually. It was good.... I think the fact that it was on the DS - my first DS game - made it more exciting to get to draw things to make the game work (and the more embarrassing moments of having to yell things into the microphone to progress in the game). I think I was missing part of the story itself, being that I never beat Wind Waker and this is the continuation.... but I figured most of it out. Pretty short game, compared to all the other Zelda's. However.... I still like riding Link's horse better than sailing on a boat, but maybe that's just me.
So there you have it. The history of Zelda, according to me. More than you probably ever cared to know about it. I am more obsessed than most people know. I have two Zelda posters, multiple strategy guides, I've already mentioned the birthday party... I usually wear my triforce necklace daily, I have about 7 different Zelda shirts, my mom made me a Princess Zelda costume for Christmas and my brother made me a wooden shield and Master Sword for Christmas as well. I've done fan art for Zelda:

... and I'm pretty sure my next tattoo will be a triforce.
I can't forget to mention that Link was essentially the second love of my life (after Johnny Depp... he got first place, because I saw Edward Scissorhands way before I played my first Zelda game)... I could post a million pictures, because I adore the art of every single Zelda game. But I will end on this adorable note:
- Fae
Monday, May 4, 2009
Sometimes....
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Love is a mix tape.
I have been busy since last Wednesday because my best friend drove down from Canada to visit me. A brief synopsis of our relationship would be to explain that we met via the internet as 13-year-old role playing geeks, and since then we've remained best friends for nearly a decade. Around 15/16, we first met in person and ever since then - we've been visiting each other once or twice a year, whether it's my country, her country, or a different country all together.
Sean may be my soulmate, but she is my other half. It was so awesome to have her here, as it always is when we get to see each other. I wish she lived here permanently, although I'm sure she'd appreciate an actual bedroom and not just a futon in the living room. Our week and a half highlights include pottery painting, a failed roadtrip to Cleveland, karaoke, 80s night and Cantaloupe Party, reading the manuscript for our book and our favorite - speeding through the Fort Pitt Tunnels late at night with the windows down.
It's always hard when we part ways, but we're very practiced at it. We only get to see each other a couple weeks in a year, but it's part of the reason why our friendship is so awesome and has lasted so long. We know how to make it work. So here's to looking forward to the next time we get together, which will either be Canada in the summer or England next year!
Love you, Hezabelle!
Love;
Faebala
(points to anyone who can guess the reference to that nickname)
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Tattoo fever.
Hez sent me this amazingly awesome tattoo website, (which I believe can be credited back to Court) where all the tattoos are literary based. It gave me the tattoo fever and I am craving a new tattoo.
I have two tattoos. One on my hip that I got in April of 2007:
The other on my wrist, in February of 2008 with my Hezabelle:
Inspired by that website that I was looking at, Hez and I got into this discussion about particular tattoos... which I then carried over to a neighboring IM, to discuss with Sean. Some of those tattoos on that website absolutely inspired me, so I told Sean that I wanted another tattoo - most likely something scripted from one of my favorite pieces of literature.
Sean says he doesn't hate tattoos, but every time we have this conversation - he tries to talk me out of it. He says he admires the artistry and design of tattoos, but thinks that if I like something that much - I should just paint it on a canvas instead of having it permanently branded on my body.
Now, I wouldn't just get any old tattoo - but at the same time - I adore tattoos and what they stand for. They inspire me. I agree that there are absolutely horrid tattoos out there, but I like to think that I have good taste in tattoos. My reasoning behind tattoos is that they have to absolutely mean something to me (I'm also very picky about the placement, but that's just my OCD).
For example, the two tattoos I currently have both have huge meaning behind them to me. They're both inspired by songs (one from a movie), and right now - I still melt every time I hear either of the songs. But at the same time, there's a world of meaning behind each tattoo on why I got it, that goes beyond the songs.
Yes, "Imagine" is a beautiful song by John Lennon - but it was also a testimony to my best friend (we got matching tattoos - same word, different font). There's meaning behind why I got it on my wrist and why I got it on my left wrist, that is personal. But I will always be an imaginative dreamer. The tattoo on my hip stands for the idea of true love and the theory that we each have a "other half" that completes us. It's two half faces that when put together form a full circle. "The Origin of Love" is the song that it comes from, and that song comes from a movie. I could end up hating that movie, or either of those songs - but I will always love what each tattoo stands for to me (love and creativity), and that's not going to change.
Which is why I will only get tattoos that have that sort of meaning to me. I have always wanted to get the Triforce tattooed on me, but I go back and forth on it because while I do love Zelda and have for ten years now - there's not much other meaning behind it than that, haha.
So Sean's questions are, why do I have to get something tattooed? Does it make it any more meaningful to see it on my body every day? Will it inspire me, will it make me sad, will it make me happy (depending on the meaning behind it)?
[Tasteful] tattoos, to me, are inspiring and do make a difference. I can appreciate what Sean says, on painting on a canvas instead to admire on a wall, but I also think there is an entirely different artistic level to using your body as the canvas. So, I for one, will absolutely get more tattoos!
So what do you, oh readers, think on this matter? Do you believe art belongs on the body or the wall? SHARE YOUR TATTOOS!!!
Here's a few tattoos I'm considering:
"What we have here is a dreamer." - The Virgin Suicides, Jeffrey Eugenides (Favorite book)
"Infinite." - The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky (on my right wrist)
"And the ones whose stories are over." - Wicked, Gregory Maguire
"Doubt thou the stars are fire;
Doubt thou the sun doth move.
Doubt truth to be a liar;
But never doubt that I love."
- Hamlet
But the one I'm most likely to get next will be a quote from Romeo and Juliet (favorite play), coupled with the heart symbol from Baz Lurhmann's version of the movie (my favorite movie of all time):Because again - I'm a sap. I'll always believe in true love, even if it is star crossed and ends in double suicide. It's so much better than that fluffy duffy love anyway.
- Fae
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Birfday, part 2.
Sean reigned supreme in tennis and neither Billy or I could break his winning streak.
Sean reigned supreme at baseball.
Sean reigned supreme in golf.
Sean did NOT reign supreme in boxing, but we did tie.
Billy flew by us in bowling, and I, well....I took pictures that they won't let me post.
However this photo had to go up because it was a pretty hilarious action shot:

- Fae
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Birfday!

Let's compare the past and present. This day a year ago, Sean and I weren't dating - however, I did have a huge (non-secret) crush on him. I spent the morning of his birthday last year feeling nervous because I'd made him a Batman birthday card and burned him a DVD. I dropped it off outside his apartment (now my apartment!) and went to work.
All day at work, I was freaking myself out. I get really nervous, and I thought too hard about it. I regretted putting the gift outside his house, thinking he'd think it was stupid. I wondered if I could beat him home before work, and take it back. (I really do think too much about things sometimes.)
I didn't beat him home. He got it, and he loved it.
This year, he had a half day at work. I spent the morning making him another card and excitedly awaiting his return from work. I love being at home with him. It's just funny to look back and realize that a year ago today, I was just a girl with a crush. Who liked Batman as much as him.
Now I just need to get him to actually let me take pictures of him.
I LOVE YOU!
- Fae
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Which Way To Pittsburgh...
My little vacation to Florida is about to end and I already find myself wanting to get out of here. Don't get me wrong, I am glad I came and the weather and festivities were great but I can't wait to get back to the colder, darker setting of Pittsburgh.
All was fun, yet I always had this slight feeling that I was missing something. Clothes, check, toothbrush, check, tickets and money, check. The whole time one thing was missing, and that was my Fae. All these interesting things I was experiencing I never received total fulfillment from because I left my number two back home. Never Again. For now on I will try to keep my Fae wherever I need to go.
Ta gra agam ort,
-Sean
AIM Convos.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Gone, baby, gone.
I am slightly pathetic, but I can't sleep when he's not here. So I will have to tough it through the weekend without him. <3
- Fae
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
This socks.
It came down to the socks, my least favorite thing to do. And I don't understand male socks. Let me show you, in photograph form, the difference between mine and Sean's socks:
There is no way to get confused about how to pair together my socks. Sean's socks, on the other hand? There is no way I'm attempting to pair those. I'll just leave them for him when he gets home.
- Fae
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Wii have a new roommate.
Friday night, my Batman phone broke. But that's not the eventful part. That was just annoying.
The real event was Sean and I helped Megan move out, and then turned around Saturday morning and helped Billy move in. Well, Sean helped. I worked all morning and got home around 12:45 and the mass majority of Billy's stuff had already been moved in. Then we spent the remainder of the afternoon unpacking and moving things around.
Billy brought all new living room furniture with him, so that's the most exciting part - the living room looks really great now. So I took some pictures and thought I'd post them up here:
Here's our new furniture:


The whole living room:

The fireplace/entertainment center (and the Zelda shield and sword my brother made me for Christmas):

My baby (complete with framed Johnny Depp above it and Amanda Palmer sheet music):

And here's the kitchen, which is connected to the living room:


So, I'd like to add as a final note that with Billy now moved in we have:
4 XBOX's
4 computers
3 HD TV's, 1 average TV
2 Playstation 3's
1 Gamecube
1 Super Nintendo
1 N64
And as of last night....
1 Wii.
Oh, and I bought Sean a DS for his birthday (early present), which I was just playing Zelda on but paused to write this post. Whew.
- Fae
Friday, March 27, 2009
Its What I Do...
Having been working 10 hour days for the last 3 weeks, which by the way last until May 15th, I thought that I might take the time to give a sample of what I do during those strenuous work days.....Plus I have been at work for 8 hours and I need something to do during the last 2.
I am a Game Artist at a game company outside Pittsburgh, where my day to day duties consist of Conceptual Drawing, 3D modeling characters, level assets, etc.
Here is a example of a character being designed start to finish.
-First I start with a rough drawing of the character in model sheet form (all done digitally).





-The 2d texture is applied to the 3d model.

-Finally, the model is then rigged by animators and imported into the game engine.

Its a lot of work, but I love my job. It beats working in a factory, waiting tables, or selling fucking TVs to assholes all day.
-Sean
Thursday, March 26, 2009
My little potato.
Last night, he had me laughing so hard. He was extremely tired around 11 and more than half asleep lying in bed on his stomach, and everything he said to me he kept elongating. He added like five vowels for each word. I personally thought it was hilarious and made fun of him for it. To which he responded, "Stoooooppp.." in a monotone, slow voice. I laughed more and imitated him. "Shuuutt uuuuupp..." More laughter. "Oooh myyy goooodd.." "Noooooo.."
His objections just made me laugh more. I cried and even drooled a little. But this is why he's great - because he makes me laugh and still loves me when I drool on him.
This morning, I guess he sort of got me back. Sometime around 6:30 AM he woke up and woke me up in the process, and from then until 8 AM I experienced what I imagine sleeping with a little kid in your bed might be. He twitched his feet, bobbed his head, rolled around and around. He rambled to me. I think he was playing some game of poking my feet with his toes. Obviously, I did not sleep much. After an hour and a half of that, he rolls over one more time, settles in, lets out a sigh, and goes, "I'm hungry."
I was cranky this morning, because I had to get up at 8, but in retrospect, I find it endearing.
To end this, there's this song my mom always used to sing to us kids that goes, "You're my little potato!" Recently, I've been wandering around singing it to Sean because it's a catchy tune. He says I'm being disrespectful towards Irish, even though I'm Irish too. So, at work yesterday, I drew a picture of Sean as a potato:

Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Where the Wild Things Are
-Sean
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Cleaning, part 2.
I've had random piles of my stuff lingering in the hallway since I moved back in November (eep...), and a million boxes of stuff underneath Dan's bed ever since he moved in in February.(His room used to previously be my storage room.. and when he moved in, things kind of got left over, under the bed.)
We're seriously lacking in storage space. And I'm a pack rat. As obvious by the fact that today I opened one of my small shoe boxes that had been hiding under Dan's bed, to find all it had in it were some cassette tapes of radioshows my sister and I recorded in my Dad's music studio when we were young, a pineapple shaped (and scented) candle from Hez and a mint case that looked like this:

Why, oh why, did these require their own box..? I have no idea.
Anyway, so I tore apart the living room closet, pulled everything out from under Dan's bed and from the hallway - and the living room was a mess. Then, I worked my magic and put everything back into that closet completely re-organized. It looks beautiful now. It was kind of anti-climactic to shut the closet door though after an hour and a half and turn around to see that the entire living room looked exactly as it had before I began cleaning.
However, I just want to add that I have never in all my life seen a house with so many extra pillows, sheets and blankets. I counted at least 6 pillows when I was putting away things in the closet, and I know there's more elsewhere in this apartment. Apparently the Kennedy's like to be prepared. So we are SET if anyone wants to come over and have a gigantic slumber party someday..... bring your own curlers and popcorn.