She looked into the mirror and saw

Saw what? A pregnant teen? Blood on her hands? Thousands of souls behind her eyes?

She reached out for him. He wasn't there.

The cool metal felt better than nothing. Not as good as him.

Blonde. Gray eyes. Pretty, she supposes.

She doesn't burn her. She never does. He hated that.

The knife isn't enough. She moves on. The pipe is crude. It gets the job done.

Shrieks of pain that are hers and not hers. The girl's legs are broken.

Hands next. Nose, then. Her face was too pretty.

She was begging. It wasn't difficult to tune out. They always do that.

A lock of hair, taken and tied with a string. In the cabinet with its sisters.

The red syrup was sticky on her face. That was how he liked it.

Maybe he would come back now. To raise their child.

The meat was warm still. Bloody still.

He would have liked it.

But he's not here.

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen!

I am new to this community and I'm really excited to get some input from everyone. I am a film student who is coming over to the graphic design side. I would like to get into illustration and animation. It's hard to say... there's so much out there to do it scares me!!! I really enjoy art, installation, and architecture. I don't really know what I want to. I'm spending my last semester in college trying to discover a path.

Anyways, enough about me... please check out my portfolio and tell me what you think.

Some questions to get the ball rolling:
Is it too messy and unclear as to what this portfolio is? Should I separate art and design?
Does it need more color?
What particular pieces are not strong?
Does the organization make sense?

Thank you in advance.

Fourth grade. There's a boy named Francine. Calm. Collected. A tough kid. Francine "collected" lunch money from the "poor unfortunates," for Edgar Day-Gas and the gang that couldn't pee straight.

Really. They'd line up at recess on days the playground wind was blowing girls' skirts around like sailors looking for a cove to anchor in for the night, backs to the wind on the edge of Ranker's Toe, and see how far their tiny-dinky streams could fly.

If the wind was right the golden drops would atomize, like something girls in Paris sprayed across their necks before they high-heeled it to a "brassiere" for wine and flirty talk.

Fourth grade's when the girls of Paris, Rome, and other "legged exoticals" made their first entrance in some boys' dreams, in stories from a playground a ways beyond the one at Wilson Elementary. On that playground, fun and games was like an entirely different language, the learning of which often doesn't make the Reader's Digest version of "My Journey From the Momma Oven, So Far."

Which is to shame, what a closed ice cream store is to a summer day.


20091211 01:59 Fri (188 words)

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

doorwindowwall
A stunning collection of images sure to delight anyone with a penchant for architectural elements, this talented community, largely from New York, is hoping to attract new members from around the world. Featuring an eclectic variety of photos depicting doors, windows, and walls, there's an interesting balance of interior and exterior shots, many from urban streets, some from ramshackle rural farmhouses. Wonderful!

Have you seen the new America Online logo?

I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks before I give my opinion.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/22/new-aol-logo-aolcom-photo_n_367115.html




(nevermind, I'm giving my opinion -- I threw up in my mouth a little)

*edit -- I'm leaving the above line here because of the comments that follow, but would also like to note that I shouldn't have written it. I should have been more constructive: I question the design of a logo/brand that depends on ever-changing images, when a brand by definition is supposed to bring consistency to your "look and feel."

Hello -
We are producing a document (a law enforcement training manual) that we want to be able to "check out" on CD, but prevent copies from being released. I know how to prevent the document from being opened without a password, and to prevent it from being printed, but is there a way to lock the PDF in acrobat to disable the "save as" function, or to prevent it from being copied to the desktop of a user's computer? Is there a way to make digital copies of the manual "self destruct" after a certain time? If that means we have to encrypt and burn to CD each time a user wants it, that is fine, since we will have the master copy, it's not like we will be distributing 100s of these, more like 2-3 but we need to be able to protect the security.

I know this isn't so much a *design* question, but it is sort of relevant - so....anyone? Thanks!

I posted this in Wed Design but didn't receive much of a response so I'm trying here!

I need to make a digital portfolio on cd. I know that I should have a portfolio website online, and I'm working on it, but for my interview next week Wed, I need to have something on a disc. I need a format that will look nice (I'd like to do something more than just files in folders), show images AND flash movies.

Has anyone done something like this, or know of any examples I can look at?

I have done some research and it looks like you can embed flash movies in PDF's - has anyone worked with this before? I have Acrobat Professional 8 - the only instructions/info I can find in a search is using Acrobat 9 :/

I'd appreciate any suggestions or examples you can give!

Stain the parchment with fictional blood—
mutilate the prince with the pen-point,
blacken the princess’ heart with the ink;
scribble a tempest of words for the villain’s eternal triumph
and rejoice.