Blue for Valdez

Here is the tee shirt design I created for this year’s Valdez Family Reunion. The color blue has been the color worn by the members of my mom’s paternal line from Las Aguitas, New Mexico.

We Made It!

Created with a loving heart by Felicia Lujan for the Turquoise Trail Charter School~ 6th Grade Class of 2017.

May has been a very busy month (creatively) for me. I have: finished the flowers for a wedding party; sketched, then painted a 10×10 banner; and created an almost 12 minute memory movie. Today was spent decorating the school for the big day. I’ll share more soon about what I’ve been working on over the last few weeks.

This memory movie is one of the things that took me hours on end to create. To make the movie, I: scanned hundreds of photographs; incorporated still, moving images and sound bytes; and created a custom mix of three songs selected by the kids for the audio layer.

▪On some nights, I had a cross-platform system on fire… scanning, editing, organizing. Both my PC and Mac took a beating on this project!▪

Darkness and Fun with the Coltons

We had a great time at Russ and Christina’s Halloween dinner party. Christina took the time to decorate almost every room of their home and their yard with the help of Russ. She made a paper mâché scarecrow to look like the crazy monster in the movie Jeepers Creepers and it looked amazing! He is in the opening of this video. She also made special bird skeletons to add to her decor as well as several other handmade creations. Her table scapes and drink creations were to die for and she really left no detail untouched. I have to recognize her wicked creativity… without a doubt and really enjoyed this get together with some of our fellow gym junkies.

Halloween at Work

Scenes from Carmen’s “Not 40 yet” Birthday Party

My Lil Hillerman Interview

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This interview is from the 2014 conference. It just went up on the Wordharvest channel on YouTube this week, so I wanted to share it. I’m honored to have my interview footage alongside those of several famous and infamous authors. Unfortunately, the sun was in my eyes, so I’m squinting through the whole thing!

Coincidentally, the video footage was edited by a guy from my gym. He recognized me and told my boss he knew me. He knows me from a very different world LoL. He was proly like… “is this the same gal? Hummm?” I never knew he did stuff like this. I guess you never know what iron lovers do on their spare time eh?

I’m looking forward to the 2015 conference. The author of Longmire will be there to talk about the move to NetFlix, which is awesome!!! I loved meeting him even though I don’t love any cowboys. Maybe I’ll ask him if he killed off Chase since I’ve only watched the first episode. I thought it was kinda symbolic in my real world.

A New Archival Storage Medium

ARMA Live Conference
San Diego Convention Center

Best piece of information I received today was in a records management/digital preservation session this afternoon. It was new information to me. The storage medium is said to endure the toughest conditions, lasting hundreds and hundreds of years. It has been tested. Do you know what this is??

#FollowBack: Issues Regarding Archiving Instagram

Very interesting read for archivists! This was a great post Kaufer!
~~~~Felicia

e.g.kaufer

NB: This was a paper I wrote for my library school course, LIS 647 Visual Resources on May 5, 2014. I have not made any revisions or updates since that time.

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, our culture has become saturated with images, from advertisements to television to movies. With the proliferation of social media and cheap camera phones, that saturation has become all but complete. Images and photographs are hugely popular on social media. One of the most popular platforms, Instagram, revolves entirely around photographs created and shared by users. Instagram is a vibrant, information-rich record of contemporary history. It is used around the world by average people to celebrities to cultural institutions and captures anything from scenes of everyday life to world-changing events. It would not be outrageous to say that Instagram photos and other social media content will some day become part of the collections…

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The Real 47 Ronin and Star Crossed Love

~~★The witch in her dragon form.★~~
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Just finished watching 47 Ronin. It was an awesome flick for sure. I started looking into the true story behind these samurai warriors tonight. It’s fascinating and I will surely write about this sometime soon. I learned tonight that fictionalized accounts of the 47 are called Chūshingura, though I assume this story is technically historical fiction. I need to do research to confirm that. These men were brave souls. I saw photos of their real graves online.

I love me some movies which feature culture, weapons, bravery, demons, spirits, witches, spells, and tragic/star crossed lovers. The movie was a tribute to the actual Ronin, but I also continue to wonder what truth is behind the love story which permeated the film. Was there really a half breed and a beautiful princess in this story? Is it true that Kai sacrificed his own life to save her life and restore honor to his people? People who gave him no respect until the very end?

~~★The supernatural spider infused with witch breath and Lord Kira’s blood.★~~
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There were three scenes I really liked. The first was when the witch uses a spider to poison Lord Asano. The evil witch seamlessly floats into the Lord’s room to drive him mad. She weaves around magically then hovers upside down above his bed while he sleeps. With crazy hair curling about looking like spider legs, she releases a supernatural spider infused with her breath and Lord Kira’s blood. The spider crawls across Lord Asano’s lips leaving a trail of glowing poison which seeps into his mouth.

Another scene I liked featured the witch becoming a dragon with no extremities. I adore dragons. The graphics in this scene were amazing! Critics who say otherwise know nothing about the artists and processing power needed to drive such a scene. The digital fight scene was choreographed well. When the witch was killed by Kai, the tail of the dragon shrunk back into her flowing gown. She laid dying on the ground. I also loved that her eyes were two different colors. Of course! I would have liked to see more spells in this movie for sure.

Maybe I am a hopeless romantic, but what can I say? I like to see the rise, fall and resurrection of an empire hinge on the power of love. It seems that Kai and his Princess, Mika were star crossed since their youth. Even though they couldn’t be together, they cared deeply for one another and vowed to find one another in another life. Before his death, Mika told Kai “my father told me, this world was only a preparation for the next. That all we can ask is that we leave it having loved and being loved.” He told her “I will search for you through a thousand worlds and 10,000 lifetimes until I find you.” With tears she replied “I will wait for you in all of them.” Lovely!

~~★Kai and Mika★~~
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If you haven’t seen 47 Ronin, I would say it’s worth a watch. It is a story about honor, bravery, magic and love. It would also be great to honor the real samurai warriors by taking some time to learn about their real story and sacrifice. I know as a lover of history and records, I will take time to learn more about these brave samurai warriors. This page on the 47 Ronin is a great place to learn about the real story.
~★~

Tech N9ne tackles bullying in latest music video

This new Tech N9ne song x Kendrick Lamar is awesome!!! It’s good that Tech uses his verse to highlight a serious issue, but Lamar has a better verse. His is about other things!! Being Fragile sucks.
~~~~Felicia

It’s Still Your Motherfucking Set

This is an awesome video. I love what he has to say about proper nutrition. He calls out the burgers and fries at McDonalds. He drops some major f bombz in this video, but it’s worth the watch. it’s about never giving up in the face of adversity. It’s about wanting to be on top and putting in the hard work it takes to get there. Awesome!!
~~~Felicia

Bringing Van Gogh back with 56,800 paintings

Oh my Gawd!!!
This is an amazing film project!!!
~~~Felicia

Tragedy and the Creative

If you have never heard the haunting voice of Christina Perri in her song Tragedy, you need to listen. She is amazing! Her lyrics are powerful and I embedded her lyric video for the song below. What a perfect song! You can hear the pain in her voice. I customized a portion for a new ringtone on my phone. Props to this lovely woman who uses tragedy to inspire creativity!!

“Light ‘Em Up”

This weekend I bought the new CD “Save Rock and Roll” by Fall Out Boy. I had been loving the new video for “Alone Together,” which I’m over. It’s been on a few countdowns. Figured the CD would be good since my hero Jimmy Kimmel likes them and since these singles mark the official return of Fall Out Boy after a brief hiatus.

These men do write some awesome lyrics. The beats are great for working out. “The Phoenix” and “Where Did the Party Go” are good songs, but “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light ‘Em Up)” rocks!! Those lyrics were flawlessly written by mad lyricists. The lyrics are absolutely perfect. I love words!

Now I gotta track down the remix with 2Chainz. I am sure that remix is smokin’ for sure! Wish I had that one when I hit some chest, back n bi today. Who doesn’t wanna “Light ‘Em Up?”

How Does Craig Johnson Write Great Dialog?

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Yesterday I attended Writing Great Dialog with Craig Johnson. The author of the Walt Longmire novels is very personable and funny. Johnson said writers are “meticulous.” By the end of his presentation, I wondered if he is a Virgo? With his trademark cowboy hat on, he gave us several pointers on how to improve our writing style.

Johnson said that relying on the key actions of a distinct character voice was something every writer needs to think about. Writers should also refrain from using “he said” and “she said” in their prose. It isn’t a good habit to have. I learned that we should scan our work to make sure that all characters do not have “the same patterns and rhythms.” I think this can be difficult for me as a writer since I am naturally poetic. “You need to look for a way to give them a voice of their own,” Johnson said.

When it comes to great dialog, we should “listen to what people say and how they say it.” Real world experience is key in the development of strong dialog in our prose. Johnson told us “if you hear a sequence of dialog and it sounds familiar, find a new way to say it.” That is a very good point. Writing is always about saying things in new ways. I found myself thinking that I need to start listening to people differently. Engaging conversationally in a new ways can improve dialog.

After reading from his new book set for release in 2014, Johnson discussed the importance of character development. Johnson told his audience that “there is dramatic conflict in the beginning of his newest novel that ropes people in.” A strong introduction of your lead character is crucial in the beginning of the book. Johnson confirmed that “people read the first few pages of a novel and decide if they want to read more.” A lack of character will not keep people interested.

I tend to be over wordy when it comes to my writing. I need to learn to simplify to become a better writer. Several of the famous authors have said that what isn’t incorporated into prose is what is of greatest importance. What is not being said is always important in dialog. Johnson told us that “sometimes it is infinitely more important then what is being said.”

Tonight Craig Johnson will deliver the keynote for dinner.
It is sure to be an interesting night.
Yeayyyy..
Longmire! 🙂