Zest Books Internship, Day #19: A little bit of editing, a little bit of Facebook-ing, a little bit of photoshopping, and a little bit of mailing.
Saturday, April 6th
Hanging out with family today. Went to see Oz: The Great and Powerful, which was pretty bad except for the opening credits and the Danny Elfman soundtrack.
Finished working on notes for The Man Who Never Smiled.
Wednesday, April 10th
Zest Books Internship, Day #20: Worked mostly on mailing today… I think I put together over 60 packages. Wrote a blog post for the Zest Books official blog about upcoming titles Little Fish and Super Pop! with an accompanying illustration — can’t wait to see this go up online!
Thursday, April 11th
Ran some errands and worked on some preparation for the Cannes/London trip.
Made an account with Storenvy and am beginning to set up my own online store.
Went with Wes to an event at San Francisco Film Society. Talked with some of Wes’s former employers and met a filmmaker named Joey who will also be at Cannes.
Friday, April 12th
Zest Books Internship, Day #21: Worked on some cover designs for an upcoming Zest Books title. Everyone really seems to like what I’ve done!
Invited to be an illustrator for an upcoming collaborative project with a small publisher. More details to come!
Worked on some upcoming blog posts.
Worked on setting up the online store.
Saturday, April 13th
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Went to North Beach to eat really tasty Italian food. ( ´◔‿ゝ◔`)
Sunday, April 14th
Date with Wes! Went to see The Place Beyond the Pines, which was interesting. Ate Vietnamese food afterwards. (・∀・)
Ran some errands and worked on some preparation for my Cannes/London trip.
Thinking of investing in a professionally printed preview zine of The Poet and the Flea to sell online and at expos. Looking into various local printers!
Zest Books Internship, Day #23: Sat in on staff meeting. Created a blog post for Earth Day. Worked on WordPress, editing some content.
Worked on some upcoming blog posts.
Saturday, April 20th
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Helped mom prepare for the art show next weekend.
Did some research on local printers.
Sunday, April 21st
Elias’s 1st birthday party! Bit of a strange day… Wes and I went to Gabe’s house to celebrate his son’s first birthday. Unfortunately, we didn’t actually get to see Gabe since he had to take his father to the hospital for a broken leg. Later, Wes and I went to The Ice Cream Bar since it was so hot outside and we needed to cool off. Then, we ended up eating at Sunflower Vietnamese for dinner and later had dessert with my folks and Nikki the shiba inu.
Zest Books Internship, Day #24: Put together some interview questions for Dan. Worked on some button designs in Photoshop.
HOLY MOLY MACARONI! I just received the most amazing e-mail. (A secret for now…)
♪(┌・。・)┌
Thursday, April 25th
Working on Blake Society talk!
Friday, April 26th
Wow, received another awesome piece of news. Can’t really say anything yet, but everything is really coming together it seems!!
Zest Books Internship, Day #25: LAST DAY! Finished button designs and ordered them online. The office ladies took us out for lunch, which was very sweet.
Spring Cleaning: Wanted to clean up my room and get rid of a lot of junk before leaving for Cannes/London trip! Now that most of the junk is gone, it should be easier to pack.
Monday, April 29th
Feeling under the weather today.
Tuesday, April 30th
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Helped mom with some photos I took of her work for various purposes.
Wednesday, May 1st
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Even put together some important snail mail today!
Finally got my hair cut! Now I feel like I’m almost ready for my trip. (◕‿◕✿)
Correspondence with a recruiter for a potential job.
Friday, May 3rd
Ran around EVERYWHERE today to finish up errands for the Cannes/London trip. Utterly exhausted!
Jotted some more ideas down for a future screenplay.
Saturday, May 4th
Today’s motto: 七転び八起き= Nanakorobi yaoki. Fall seven times and stand up eight.
Family Bonding Day! This is the last weekend before I leave for Cannes/London, so spent time with the folks. Ate lunch at a great Puerto Rican restaurant. Finally got to see Girl with a Pearl Earring and Rembrandt’s Century at the de Young.
Sunday, May 5th
Date with Wes! Went to see Iron Man 3, which really wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. Ate tasty Japanese dinner at Sanraku. Hopefully will see Wes one more time before I leave!
Monday, May 6th
New suitcase arrived in the mail.
Finalizing Cannes/London trip plans.
Continued correspondence with a recruiter for a potential job.
Worked on some upcoming blog posts.
Tuesday, May 7th
Ran some errands for the Cannes/London trip.
Finalizing Cannes/London trip plans.
Working on Blake Society talk!
Wednesday, May 8th
Ran some errands for the Cannes/London trip.
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Finalizing Cannes/London trip plans.
Working on Blake Society talk!
Jotted down some more ideas for a future screenplay.
Dinner with Wes!
Thursday, May 9th
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Finishing up odds and ends of Cannes/London travel arrangements.
Packing for trip!!
Worked on some upcoming blog posts.
Friday, May 10th
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Finishing up odds and ends of Cannes/London travel arrangements.
PACKING!!!
Saturday, May 11th
Finishing up odds and ends of Cannes/London travel arrangements.
Flight leaves San Francisco at 7:05 p.m. Will arrive in Nice, France at 6:10 p.m.
Etcetera
The Poet and the Flea: 63 pages of written script (1 page of script = 4-6 illustrated pages), and about 36 pages (1-30 completed, and 31-36 in progress) of illustrated work.
The First Reich: about 1-10 pages of illustrated work in progress.
First Zine: 8 pages of illustrated work completed. Zine production pending.
This past Saturday, I attended the opening reception for an exhibit entitled “On Paper” at Gallerie Citi in Burlingame, California. The show features five artists who work in paper-based mixed media. I was there to support one of the artists — my mother Irene Zweig — who creates captivating pieces through deconstruction and reassemblage.
If anyone happens to be in the San Francisco Bay Area and would like to attend, the exhibit will be open through June 15th.
At the beginning of March, the chair of the Blake Society Tim Heath confirmed my invitation to speak to the society as well as asked that I put together a title, description, and bio for this year’s programme of events.
To give me a better idea of what to write, Tim offered to send me a copy of last year’s brochure. And, late last week, this beautiful printed booklet arrived (see photos below)!
I can’t wait to see how this year’s programme will turn out!
P.S. I only just realized that Philip Pullman is the president of the Blake Society. What!? I mean, it makes complete and total sense, but I’m still trying to wrap my brain around that fact.
Prepared for tomorrow — the first day of my new internship!!!
Wednesday, January 30th
Zest Books Internship, Day #1: Wonderful first day! Having an easy time getting into the flow of everything. Staff is extremely friendly and excited to get to know them better. Get awesome sneak peaks of upcoming titles. Friday, will be working on Tumblr and possibly doing some image research — can’t wait!
Thursday, January 31st
Not ready to announce anything yet, but amazing news (from January 20th) continuing to develop!
Received e-mail from follower Hannah Meiklejohn (bellusmundus.wordpress.com) asking if she could write an article for a magazine about The Poet and the Flea, yay! Excited to learn more details about the article and magazine. (^-^)
Zest Books Internship, Day #2: Worked on historical-themed image research for most of the day, which was mostly a lot of fun! Started working on Zest’s Tumblr (zestbooks.tumblr.com). Ate lunch in nearby park, which is very pleasant and relaxing and will definitely be repeated.
Saturday, February 2nd
Happy Groundhog Day!!
Filled out the rest of Cannes paperwork and made a checklist for what to bring (I’m Going To Cannes!!!).
Went to see Warm Bodies with Wes! Not the most brilliant movie, but adorable and a lot of fun. (︶ω︶)
For those of you watching the new Netflix series House of Cards, I highly recommend watching the original BBC version starring the brilliant Ian Richardson also available on Netflix.
Ran into a neighbor on the bus to work today, and she’d like to hire me to help her with her WordPress. We’ll see what happens… (^-^)
Zest Books Internship, Day #3: Worked on creating prom tips for Zest’s Tumblr as well as a mailing project. Getting to know everyone in the office better — everyone’s super easy to talk to. Took home a copy of Zoo Station to read.
Wow, I adore this new FX show The Americans! Amazing character development and really scary/exciting. Can’t wait for the next episode.
Zest Books Internship, Day #4: Continuing work on Tumblr! Sat at Ann’s desk today — she happens to have a David Bowie paper doll (with multiple outfits) taped to her computer, which brings me endless joy. Got to know fellow intern Olivia a bit better. Extremely excited to proofread/edit the back cover blurb for an upcoming book. Also got to share my opinion on some cover art!
Today’s constant companion: David Bowie!
Saturday, February 9th
Went to see Lewis Black with Wes and the folks! Stomach hurts from laughing so much!
Sunday, February 10th
Finally got to talk with my good friend from high school Tina! Talked on the phone for over 2 hours! (^-^;;)
Worked on TOP SECRET project.
Monday, February 11th
Went downtown today to pick up some more supplies from Britex for The Flea plush toy.
Did a little shopping in preparation for Cannes. A lot more shopping to do in the next few months.
Finished writing responses to Hannah’s questions. Just have to edit a bit and then send them to her.
Worked on TOP SECRET project.
Wednesday, February 13th
Zest Books Internship, Day #5: More historical-themed image research and Tumblr. Asked to do some brainstorming for book ideas. Ended up walking all the way home today since the bus skipped a lot.
A few days ago, e-mailed the Tate Gallery about information on their William Blake collection. Today, received response with good news. Will talk about this more in upcoming post.
Received e-mail from Hannah! She sent a draft of the article, and it looks really wonderful so far. Just have to answer a couple follow-up questions. \(^-^)/
Zest Books Internship, Day #6: More historical-themed image research and Tumblr. Also, talked about a potential book idea I came up with, and some of the staff seems interested! Next week, will be attending the Teen Advisory Board on Wednesday and a staff meeting on Thursday. Very excited!
Saturday, February 16th
Ordered a beautiful dress to wear at Cannes. I needed a maxi dress for pool parties, etc. and couldn’t find the right one in stores. So I browsed Etsy and found the talented Nicole Lebreux! Not only does Nicole have really fun designs, but also she was extremely helpful in answering my questions. So go ahead and check out her shop!
Went to see a simulcast of the new Met production of Verdi’s Rigoletto. The opera is usually set in the 16th century, but this production cleverly reimagines the story in 1960s Las Vegas. Wonderfully creative and engaging production with incredible singers! Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-zXLKd76fk.
Sunday, February 17th
Worked on some upcoming blog posts.
Date night with Wes!
Etcetera
The Poet and the Flea: 63 pages of written script (1 page of script = 4-6 illustrated pages), and about 36 pages (1-24, 27-30 completed, and 25-26, 31-36 in progress) of illustrated work.
The First Reich: about 1-10 pages of illustrated work in progress.
First Zine: about 6-8 pages of illustrated work in progress.
Today, set up an interview for a potential internship at a local publishing company! The interview’s Wednesday afternoon, so I have some time to prepare and de-stress beforehand.
Saturday, January 12th
Was going to go see Gangster Squad this weekend with Wes. But I’m definitely coming down with something. Hope I get better before the interview on Wednesday! ヽ(￣д￣;)ノ
I’m sure you’ve all heard about and seen the amazing giant squid footage recently captured by Japanese scientists. Well, I made a giant squid discovery of my own (see photograph below)! P. S. I love the Japanese word for giant squid – 大王烏賊 daiouika, which uses the characters for “big,” “king,” “crow/raven” (perhaps because squids have beaks), and “rebel/thief/bandit.” Yes, giant squid are awesome!!
Resident Squid at Woodhouse Fish Co.
Sunday, January 13th
Under the weather!
I just had to share something amazing with all of you. Recently, I’ve started watching a very strange show called Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy. The only way to describe it is Monty Python meets a live-action version of Yellow Submarine plus an unverified amount of crack. You might want to watch the whole episode if you’ve never seen it before to understand the humor. But I wanted to point you all in the direction of a skit about William Blake and The Ghost of a Flea (like The Poet and the Flea, but not)! Watch from 7:50 for The Flea.
Discovered this amazing review of The Poet and the Flea by Sarah Goode at University College Oxford on the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies’s website!
Brief but great meeting with Gabe! He seemed to really love what I’ve done so far on the final illustrations for Elias & the City of Cats. He didn’t make any changes other than adding a handwritten title to the cover and adding a second page for the part we call “cat craziness.” Plus, I sent Gabe a list of children’s book publishers I’ve compiled and he’ll look over it in the coming days. It’s wonderful to think that, once I’ve finished the final illustrations, Gabe will start working on submitting Elias to publishers!!!
Began reading Wes’s screenplay!!
Saturday, January 19th
Continued reading Wes’s screenplay!!
Sunday, January 20th
Received some amazing news — more details to come!
Saw Gangster Squad with Wes! Both of us agree that it wasn’t as bad as the 33% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Monday, January 21st
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Finished reading Wes’s screenplay!! Going to meet on Wednesday to go over it with him. (^-^)
Discussed screenplay with Wes today! I think he has a really strong screenplay (especially for a first draft) and already knows which elements need to be further developed. (︶ω︶)
Had dinner with a lovely relative from out of town.
Sunday, January 27th
Had brunch with our lovely cousins.
Date night with Wes!
Etcetera
The Poet and the Flea: 63 pages of written script (1 page of script = 4-6 illustrated pages), and about 36 pages (1-24, 27-30 completed, and 25-26, 31-36 in progress) of illustrated work.
The First Reich: about 1-10 pages of illustrated work in progress.
First Zine: about 6-8 pages of illustrated work in progress.
Yesterday, received e-mail from Shannon. She has finished the entire first draft of our graphic novel collaboration entitled The First Reich!!! After she does some editing, she’ll be sending me a copy to read — I can’t wait… ヽ(；▽；)ノ
Saturday, August 25th
Taking a little break…
Sunday, August 26th
Continuing work on The Flea and The Man…
Received e-mail from a writer interested in collaborating on a children’s book. In the process of scheduling a meeting.
Two more Pixel-Flick Alliance meetings have been scheduled — one on September 15th and the other on the 22nd.
Monday, August 27th
Continuing work on The Flea and The Man…
After some correspondence, have scheduled a meeting with J.R. (jrbiche.wordpress.com) to further discuss his potential web series. Meeting on Monday, September 10th.
Tuesday, August 28th
Continuing work on The Flea and The Man…
Wednesday, August 29th
Continuing work on The Flea and The Man…
For Robert Louis Stevenson research, began reading The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Planning to contact Graphic Ladies!? on Tumblr about The Poet and the Flea.
Thursday, August 30th
Continued research for The Poet and the Flea.
Completed short screenplay The Man Who Never Smiled.
E-mail correspondence with potential production company about The Man Who Never Smiled.
E-mail correspondence with potential director/producer for Robots Are a Girl’s Best Friend.
E-mail correspondence with Brian (Pixel Flick Entertainment). Brian became the new organizer for the meetup.com group “San Francisco Movie Makers,” hoping to get more people interested in the Alliance. Would love to see the Alliance grow!
Did not make it to the next round of The Austin Film Festival Screenplay Contest. As I said before, I just have to keep doing what I’m doing. There are still about 5 more I’m waiting to hear back from. Anything could happen!
Friday, August 31st
Working on the script for The Poet and the Flea!
E-mail correspondence with potential production company about The Man Who Never Smiled.
Saturday, September 1st - Sunday, September 2nd
Taking a little break…
Continuing to read Jekyll and Hyde — it’s incredibly different from any adaptation I have come across. Fascinating!
Bought a JPLT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) N1 textbook from Kinokuniya. Started reviewing the material, and believe it was money well spent. Not sure if I’ll actually take the test, but would be a nice addition to my résumé. If I decide to apply to The JET Programme as a CIR (Coordinator for International Relations), would be very helpful!
JLPT N1 Textbook!!
Monday, September 3rd
Continuing work on The Flea…
Shannon sent me the entire draft of our graphic novel collaboration, The First Reich. In the process of reading and taking lots of notes. Project will require much period fashion/settings research, but is a welcome challenge!
Tuesday, September 4th
Today, I found out some exciting news. I hadn’t realized that anything was announced since I received no e-mail. But I checked the Kaos Films website, and lo and behold. My screenplay Death Is No Bad Friend is one of 292 qualifiers (semi-finalists) in the Kaos Films British Short Screenplay Competition 2012. (This means my script will most likely be read by judge Sir Kenneth Branagh!!) The finalists should be announced sometime around January. Awesome!
Continuing work on The Flea and The First Reich.
E-mail correspondence with potential director/producer for Robots Are a Girl’s Best Friend.
Finished reading The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I think it was a good experience. Next, thinking of reading The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells.
By the way, I’ve just developed a new, little obsession with bats. Just look at their faces below!! (゜▽゜;) Perhaps I’ll eventually develop a comic or children’s book with a protagonist named “Fluffernutter the Bat”™?
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these bat photographs!!
Etcetera
The Poet and the Flea: 45 pages of written script (1 page of script = 4-6 illustrated pages), and about 36 pages (1-18, 21-23, 27-30 completed, and 19-20, 24-26, 31-36 in progress) of illustrated work.
To Do:
Meeting with writer for children’s book on Monday, September 10th (noon).
Meeting with J.R. on Monday, September 10th (2 p.m.).
Schedule one-on-one meeting with Brian (Pixel Flick Entertainment).
Pixel-Flick Alliance Meetup on Saturday, September 15th.
Pixel-Flick Networking Event on Saturday, September 22nd.
Work on research, character sketches, etc. for Shannon.
Schedule second meeting with Shannon.
Sign up with IMDbPro.
Apply to the Bluecat Screenplay Competition (before October 15th).
