George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones Series

Reading book three right now and loving the series.  The books are huge and the all encompassing detail of the world Martin has created make this series a bit intimidating. But it is worth the read.  I recommend watching the first episode of the HBO series prior to reading the books.  That will just give you an idea of who the characters are, so that when you start reading you aren't completely lost.  Because let me tell you, they can get confusing.  Martin writes each chapter from the point of view of one character.  And within each book he write from about 5 to 10 characters.  So as the reader, it is like reading the history of World War II from 5 different countries point of views.  It gets to be alot.  And books that are written like this sometimes get on my nerves.  Because within reading a chapter you get invested in that characters story and at the end something exciting or bomb-dropping happens and then leaves a cliff hanger to which you won't get an answer for another 5-10 chapters.

I have read quite a few series, and it seems the ones that are most successful have a single character that it follows.  So the reader becomes personally involved in that characters life.  Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, The house of night novels, True Blood, The Maze Runner, Eragon, The Mortal Instruments, The Golden Compass, Twilight, etc.  All are written from one characters point of view.  Personally I like that style of writing better... it keeps me more engaged, to the point where I can't put a book down.  I love Game of Thrones, but I have to admit, it doesn't bother me to put it down and do something else for awhile.  Especially since I like about half the characters and am bored with the other half.  So the chapters from the characters I like, I'm all about... the rest of the chapters feel more like work.  Something I have to get through to get to the good stuff.  I'm not gonna lie... I do skim through a lot of it too.  Martin just writes with so much DETAIL!!! A lot of it doesn't really add anything to the story... its just detail.  Don't get me wrong... I am thoroughly impressed with how his mind works and this masterpiece of a world that he has created, but as the reader I could do without all the explaining everything.  As his editor I would have cut the books down by 100-200 pages, getting rid of all the unnecessary stuff.

But even with all that, Martin has written a must read for anyone that enjoys fantasy, history or reading in general.  My hat goes off to you, George Martin.  Well done.

Adobe Creative Suite Breakdown

What programs are for what? When I first started using these applications I thought the same thing.  There are so many! and I have no idea what they are for.  Well here is the breakdown....

Photoshop: Easy Peasy!  The most popular of adobe programs... photoshop.  Generally used to edit photos or create photo graphics.  Can also be used for creating website layouts.

Illustrator: This is the program I use the most for print design.  However it is most noted for your ability to create vectors.

InDesign: Used for desktop publishing.  Basically any really "wordy" documents or projects you work on should be done with InDesign.  Or anything that is more then two artboards, for example booklets, programs, manuals, etc.

Premier Pro: Professional video editing.

After Effects: Create short clips of animation for either short videos or to be uploaded to Premier and incorporated into a movie.

OnLocation: For capturing video

Encore: For making DVD's or bluerays. (Creating the menus and writing the discs)

Soundbooth or Audition: Sound editing software.

Flash: For creating flash or animation for the web, mobile, or any applications.

Dreamweaver: Create and mangage websites or any html projects.

Contribute: Web publishing program that allows multiple users to edit the content of a website without extensive knowledge of coding.

Fireworks: Create and optimize images for a website.

9/11 Tribute: A little girl's words to her father

This video will bring tears to your eyes and compassion to your heart.  This little girls words do more than any picture, video, song, or speech could do to remember not only the tradegy of that day, but also all the days that followed for the people that were directly affected.  My heart and prayers go out to those people every day.  May you be comforted by the people that stand behind you and by what our glorious nation stands for. Freedom, liberty and justice.

Minted Polling

Dogs and their antics

Let me tell you, I have had several dogs over the years, but Sophie (my current dog) is by far the weirdest one. It would take a novel to be able to describe everything that makes her... well her. However, this post is dedicated to just one.

I don't know where she learned this or picked it up, or if it was just ingrained in her character from birth, but she has a certain way of waiting for you to open the back door to let her in.  She sits by the sliding glass door patiently, watching and waiting for someone to let her in.  The second she catches your eye and sees you take a step toward the door to let her in, she slowly turns her head to the side and lifts her nose up revealing a lovely side view of her face.

I have several theories to why she does this.  Each one as unlikely as the last.  Maybe she is trying to act like she doesn't care "let me in if you want... it makes no matter to me".  Maybe she sees herself as the Master and Lord of this house and we are but her highness's humble servants to whom she deigns to even acknowledge our existence.  Maybe she thinks that is her good side, and if she looks prettier we are more likely to let her in "Come hither and gaze upon my beauty".  Or maybe she thinks if she acts mysterious it will peak our curiosity and we could do naught but let her in.

In reality, it is just silly and no theory really makes any sense to why she does this.  If only dogs could talk......

Vote for my Design!

Vote for my design on minted.™ see more from Janelle Otsuki vote for me! Check out my competition in Christmas photo cards and Save the Date cards at Minted.

Secretariat

I didn't really know what I expected from this movie when I saw it.  I hadn't heard much about it when it was released, but it is Disney and they always seem to find the best stories to make into movies.  But any expectations I had were surpassed by miles.  Not only was this movie extremely well done, and Diane Lane was fantastic not to mention John Malcovich who is genius in everything he is in... but above all this story is AHHH-mazing! So good you wouldn't believe it unless it was true.  And true it is.

I don't want to give anything away, but the feeling you get at the end of the movie made me want to laugh and cry and stare in complete awe.  It makes you want to stand up and cheer right along with crowd.  Its almost like you are right there watching history be made, watching a miraculous creature accomplish something that is so unbelievable it must be a gift from God.  Watching something so incredible that an animal like that can only come around once in a million years and you just feel blessed to be able to witness such an event.

Basically... you should watch it.  Everyone should watch it... especially if you don't know the story of Secretariat.  It's so much more than you would expect.

My Peru Trip!

These photographers gots skills!

Here are a few of my favorite pics from Yahoo's "This weeks best snapshots" list.  Actually Yahoo does a great job compiling amazing pics taken from around the world.

If Neverland was real... it would be here

Visit my new website!!!

Just finished my new website showing off my awesome design skills. haha.  Still learning coding, so I'm pretty proud of what I was able to do.  Gotta add all the bells and whistles... but as of now, design and functionality are finished!

http://www.jocreativeintuition.com

And welcome to J.O. Creative Intuition... aka Janelle Otsuki's creative intuition.  The name might be a mouth full, but its exactly what I wanted to convey.  Not only do I like the meaning of both those words, but I like the meaning of them together.  It also explains my talent and my most valuable asset.  My creative eye combined with my ability to infer what a client wants with minimal direction.  

Ok enough about me... go check it out!! 

Introducing Flare Surfing!

Talk about a game changer!! Probably the coolest thing I have seen in a long time....